Carlsbad

A revised version of an ordinance to regulate skateboarding in Carlsbad will limit rather than ban the sport, according to a draft released Monday. Despite the efforts to compromise on the ordinance, the City Council expects a large and vocal audience at a public hearing tonight for its first reading of the ordinance.

From the time he was a toddler, U.S. Marine Corps Lt. Col. Mario Carazo always dreamed of flying. As he grew older, he was able to meld that passion with his deep patriotism and fiercely protective instincts when he joined the Marines and trained as a Cobra helicopter pilot. So when Carazo, 41 , of Carlsbad , was shot down and killed while flying a combat mission over Afghanistan on July 22, his grief-stricken family and friends took a measure of comfort in knowing he died doing what he loved best.

Hang on, Carlsbad, (astrological) help is on the way. Louis Turi, known professionally as Maitre-Paris, has been granted $1,000 to do an hourlong video for community-access television explaining how Carlsbad is being pummeled by astrological forces: "I will use signs that have been drawn from the ancients to make them aware of the subtle, mystical energy of the universe that is affecting their city." He's 42, lives in Oceanside, and publishes the Divine Astrology Universal Predictions.

For much of his life, Army Staff Sgt. Casey James Grochowiak chose the most adventurous path. As a high school student in north San Diego County, he liked surfing and snowboarding. As an infantryman, he jumped out of airplanes. And as an instructor at Eglin Air Force Base in Florida, he showed soldiers how to catch a rattlesnake — with their bare hands if necessary. "He just loved to take chances," said his father, Edward Grochowiak, an attorney and architect who lives in Bonsall, near Oceanside.

Private investors Kenneth and Dorothy Bourguignon have paid $2.9 million to Mitsui Fudosan (U.S.A.) for a 47,770-square-foot industrial building at 2042 Corte Del Nogal, Carlsbad. The San Diego and North San Diego offices of Grubb & Ellis Commercial Real Estate Services represented all sides in the transaction.

David Thorpe of England and Andre Malherbe of Belgium will carry their battle for supremacy of world motocross to Carlsbad Raceway Saturday for the seventh leg of the U.S. Grand Prix tour. The two 45-minute motos will be the final 500cc world championship held at Carlsbad after 14 years of racing. Thorpe, the Grand Prix defending champion, leads Malherbe by 10 points. David Bailey, who moved from San Diego to Axton, Va., a few years ago, is the defending champion at Carlsbad.

The Ramona High School boys basketball team outscored Carlsbad, 20-6, in the final quarter en route to a 44-34 comeback win in an Avocado League game on Saturday at Ramona High. The win improves Ramona's records to 4-1 and 10-5 and moves it into a battle with El Camino and Oceanside for the Avocado League lead. It was the second straight loss for Carlsbad (3-2, 9-6).

Heralding what officials contend is the conversion of Specialized Systems Inc. into a low-tech retail business, the Carlsbad-based company on Tuesday said it had received a contract to produce $4 million worth of specialty T-shirts over the next two years. The contract with Van Nuys-based PMI Inc. of California, a promotional marketing company, signals Specialized Systems' entry into specialty T-shirt production.

MERCURY INSURANCE OPEN La Costa Resort and Spa, Carlsbad (seedings in parentheses) Stadium Court not before 2 p.m. Sloane Stephens vs. Andrea Petkovic (2) not before 4:15 p.m. Vera Zvonareva (1) vs. Sabine Lisicki (12) not before 8 p.m. Shuai Peng (4) vs. Ana Ivanovic (5)

When Debbie Davis first heard a few years ago about a massive, 1,000-acre resort and housing development slated for the pristine hills rising from Batiquitos Lagoon in Carlsbad, she was more than a bit worried. The project, planned by the billionaire Hunt brothers of Dallas, promised to crowd the virgin terrain with thousands of condominiums and houses, a scenario that had nearby residents like Davis concerned about everything from traffic impacts to the effect on home prices.