Local war hero honored at State of the Union

10 News:

Royce Williams, a 100-year-old Navy pilot, was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor.

"Our post had the good fortune of having Royce with us for over the 10 years,” Peter-Rolf Ohnstad, District 22 Executive Board - American Legion, said.

“We all knew at some point in time, Royce Williams was going to get the Medal of Honor, and when he was going to get the Medal of Honor, we weren't sure. Because it was for u,s it was a 10-year process."

2/25/26 City Council meeting open thread

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2/18/26 City Council meeting open thread

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Wild weather

Nextdoor:

Okay that was a little wild…just drove my car through the eye of a little tornado and saw a dozen eucalyptus trees snap off at the intersection of Via Cantebria and Encinitas Blvd. Anyone else have any crazy encounters? 😳

More:

100 foot water spout in front of Cardiff, Swami's at before sunset. About 5:15pm

2/11/26 City Council meeting open thread

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Landscape designer runs for city council, opposes current majority

North Coast Current:

Lefkowits is positioning himself as an alternative to the current council majority, which includes Mayor Bruce Ehlers and councilmembers Luke Shaffer and Jim O’Hara, along with Marco San Antonio, who was appointed to the District 4 seat in January 2025.

UPDATE: And school board member Viskanta to challenge Ehlers for mayor. She'll have the Democratic Party endorsement and mailers, which might be enough. It worked for Blakespear, though she had much weaker opposition.

Leucadians to finally be allowed to cross railroad tracks

For years, Leucadians have had to climb over or cut the city fence to get to 101 or the beaches. Finally, some relief.

Union-Tribune:

Encinitas has just received a preliminary ruling from the California Public Utilities Commission that will allow it to build two, long-sought, at-grade crossings over the railroad tracks in Leucadia, the city manager announced.

“This is big,” City Manager Jennifer Campbell declared at the very end of Wednesday’s City Council meeting as she announced the news and praised the “huge team effort” it took to get to this point.

Audience members cheered, council members bumped fists, and the mayor declared, “Holy cow.” The two proposed crossing points — one at Grandview Street and one at Phoebe Street — would go within a 1.3-mile stretch of railroad tracks between La Costa Avenue and Leucadia Boulevard where there currently are no legal crossing spots.

Summery winter’s day open thread

Nice day out there!

LCC teacher arrested for child porn

Coast News:

A Carlsbad educator was arrested and booked into county jail this week following a California Department of Justice investigation involving alleged child sexual abuse material, according to a complaint filed in Vista Superior Court.

Joseph Anthony Zyburt, 55, a math teacher at La Costa Canyon High School, is charged with two felony counts of possession of child or youth pornography and one felony count of attempted possession of the material, according to a Jan. 26 felony complaint seeking an arrest warrant.

1/28/26 City Council meeting open thread

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1/21/26 City Council meeting open thread

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Lyndes out

The Coast News:

Councilmember Joy Lyndes announced she will not seek reelection this week following the completion of her current term later this year.

Lyndes told The Coast News that the decision is an effort to “push the reset button” amid a period of mixed emotions.

“After having done a lot at City Council, I felt it was time to refocus my time on personal things,” she said.