Settlement talks in bicycle death

 Coast News:

Teresa Worley, Jennings’ wife and the administrator of his estate, filed a wrongful death lawsuit in February 2021 against PODS Enterprises and the company’s driver, Epigmenio Serrato. In an amended complaint filed in August 2021, the plaintiffs’ named Shea Homes and the City of Encinitas as additional defendants, alleging negligence and strict liability.

The following month, PODS and Serrato filed a cross-complaint against the city, Shea Homes and Statewide Stripes. The city and Shea subsequently filed cross-claims against each other.

Despite three years of legal finger-pointing and numerous counterclaims, the Worley family filed a notice of conditional settlement on April 12, and the court generated a notice of dismissal in the case on April 19.

Ricardo Baca, an attorney representing the City of Encinitas, told The Coast News all the parties have started the process of “reaching a global settlement” in the lawsuit.

He's baaaaack

From the Inbox:

Shortly after his devastating mayoral run loss to Tony Kranz, the self proclaimed, Mayor of Surf, swore he was done with politics. Here we are a few months later, with some additional legal baggage, he now has his eyes set on District 2.

Note: Screen shot below is from Jeff Morris’ post on public facebook page “Encinitas Uncensored”

9th Circuit strikes down Berkeley natural gas ban

In 2021 the Blakespear council banned natural gas in new construction.

The federal 9th Circuit Court of Appeals just ruled Berkeley’s similar ban illegal.

Morris charges dropped as DA can’t contact witnesses

Coast News:

Three misdemeanor domestic violence charges against former Encinitas mayoral candidate Jeff Morris were dismissed on April 10 due to insufficient evidence, according to the San Diego County District Attorney’s Office.

A jury trial was scheduled to begin at 8:50 a.m. on April 10 at the Vista Courthouse, with Morris facing up to 2 years in jail if convicted.

However, the case never went to trial and was eventually dropped from the calendar.

“Despite extensive efforts to locate and personally serve the victim and witnesses, we have been unable to do so,” said Tanya Sierra, spokesperson for the DA’s office. “This case cannot be proven without those witnesses.”

Got solar? SDG&E wants to charge you huge fixed connection fees

 KFMB:

There are some big proposed changes to how you’ll be billed by SDG&E for electricity.

A new state law requires utility companies in California to come up with a fixed rate plan, as a way to help stabilize rates and make billing more equitable.

Those plans were due on April 7.

SDG&E, along with Pacific Gas & Electric and Southern California Edison, teamed up and a proposal to charge people based on their income.

[...]

Here's a breakdown of where you'd fall based on your income.

• Households earning less than $28,000 a year would pay a fixed delivery rate of $24 per month.
• Households earning under $69,000, that fixed price goes up to $34.
• Households earning between $69,000 and $180,000, that price goes up to $73.
• Households earning over $180,000 dollars will pay $128.

About those new neighbors…

from LA and SF…

A lot of them are paying CASH.

This is not your father's Encinitas.

HT: Bubbleinfo.

Fatality on I-5 south of Encinitas Boulevard

Times of San Diego:

One person died Monday in a traffic collision involving a big rig and several other vehicles on Interstate 5 near Moonlight Beach, authorities reported.

The fatal pileup occurred about 10:45 a.m. on the southbound side of the freeway, just south of Encinitas Boulevard, according to the California Highway Patrol.

Your new neighbors

Redfin has a tool that shows inbound and outbound search activity for a city. Encinitas is very popular with people looking from L.A. and San Francisco.

Orange County would probably be near the top of the list, too, but Redfin doesn't seem to break that out as a separate metro area.  IRS tax migration by county shows O.C. in second place behind L.A.

9th Circuit rips Lorena Gonzalez on anti-Uber law

 Coast News:

“Corruption.” “Backroom dealing.” “Pure spite.” “Naked favoritism.”

These are the words written by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals to describe former Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez’s bad behavior when crafting her anti-independent contractor law AB 5 (Assembly Bill 5), enacted in January 2020.

Stonesteps closure extended

 Encinitas Advocate:

Provided the weather cooperates and the contractor is able to speedily obtain the necessary specialty parts, the Stonesteps Beach access staircase could reopen just before the busy summer beach season, the city reports.

Initial forecasts were for an earlier reopening, but the project is a bit more challenging than anticipated.