We will post important and breaking stories as they come to us, but posting will be light until after the new year.

If you’re reading this, you’re invited to the Parrs’ annual holiday party at our home in Montara. Coastsider readers are welcome to join us this Saturday, December 17 at 8pm.  This is the second year we’ve extended an open invitation to Coastsider readers. We had a great time meeting our readers last year.

If you’d like to come, send an email to with “RSVP” in the subject line, and I’ll send you an evite with directions to our house.

I put this off as long as I could.  Effective immediately, all comments posted to stories will be reviewed before they’re released on the site, and all people posting comments are required to use their real names.

I’ve been considering it for a while, but decided to wait until after the election because several pseudonymous posters were posting pretty heavily and critically on the site. I didn’t want anyone to get the impression that we were suppressing opinions.

Then, last weekend, someone posted something genuinely disgusting on the site while I was out of town.  By a stroke of luck, we managed to remove it pretty quickly, but I never want to repeat the experience.

This is a big step, so I hope you’ll be patient as we get the bugs worked out of the system.  My main goals are to avoid a repeat of what happened last week, and to lift the quality of the discourse by making posters responsible for what they say.

We will review new posts as quickly as possible.  We will require that posters get their facts straight and not make personal attacks. There will be more leeway in commenting on officeholders and candidates, but you will be expected to follow the Golden Rule.  If you don’t know what that is, ask your mom.

I will try to verify identities of posters.  If you’re going to post, you will need to click on the “Your profile” link in the left-hand navigation bar, and enter your real name in the field labeled “Name on your posts”.  If I don’t know you, I may ask you to verify your identity.

I’m sorry I had to do this. But, I believe this will improve the quality of the conversation on Coastsider in the long run.

If you’ve had a problem posting a comment on Coastsider in the last couple of days, we’ve fixed the system and comments are now working again.

The seven most recent comments posted by readers to Coastsider are now listed in the left-hand navigation bar.  Each comment includes the username of the poster, the first 20 words of the post, the date and time it was posted, and a link to the article on which it was posted.

This should be a big help in keeping track of what people are saying on the site, and I expect that it will increase the number of comments posted. I know that a number of users have been looking for a better way to keep track of new comments posted to the site.

Remember: you have to be a registered user to post your own comments. Now would be a good time to register.

Let us know what you think. Post your feedback as a comment on this story, and see it appear in the recent comments list.

ADDENDUM: Your comment will appear immediately on the story.  It will take about 10 minutes for it to appear in “Recent comments”.

We’ve modified the news feed we’re getting from the Mercury News. Instead of their top stories, we’re now running their Central Coast news feed.

Because the Merc is owned by the same company as the Monterey County Herald, the feed carries authoritative stories. Because it’s the Merc, we’re getting those stories that are of most interest to those of us in the Bay Area.

On Tuesday, the feed carried information on Felton’s vote on buying its water system from Cal-Am and a story about the problems caused by antiquated subdivision maps in Spreckels. Both stories have a Coastside angle.

We’ve added a news feed from the BBC below the San Jose Mercury News headlines on the left-hand navigation bar. This is one of the few feeds from a professional news organization that are licensed for commercial distribution. Fortunately, it’s a good one.  I’m using the World, Science, and Technology feeds, which are the most relevant for a US audience.

Please let us know if you find these feeds useful when you’re visiting Coastsider.

The Cunha Voice, the newspaper of Cunha Middle School, just carried a story about Coastsider in its final issue for the year. I had no idea this was happening until my daughter brought it home from school.

So, the Chronicle has written about Coastsider, and the Cunha Voice has written about Coastsider. Any bets when the Review will write about us?

The Chronicle featured Coastsider on the front of today’s business section and we’re getting a lot of new visitors today.

If you’re a new visitor, here are some things you might want to do while you’re here:

• Register: You don’t need to register to use Coastsider, but you do need to register to comment on stories.  It also gives us some information about who’s using the site.


• Read the top stories:  The most important stories posted in the last week are always listed in the “Top Stories” at the top of the page.


• Search the archives:  Coastsider has about 600 stories from the last year and all of them are available online.  Use the search field in the left-hand column to find out about stories you’re interested in.


• Post a classified ad:  Classifieds are free on Coastsider. The most recent ads posted are listed in the top right column.


• Sign up for alerts: Send us your email list and we’ll send you an email alert whenever breaking news is posted to Coastsider.


• Comment on a story:  Your comments are always welcome.  Just click on the link “comments” link below the headline of any story and add your comment in the box at the bottom of the comments page.


• Send us a story: Registered users can post stories and opinion pieces to the site. All stories will be reviewed by an editor before they are released.


• Send us an email:  If you have any story ideas, tips, comments, or suggestions, click on the “Email Barry Parr” link near the top of the left-hand column.


• Ask about advertising: We’re beginning to accept advertising. If you’re interested, click on the “Email Barry Parr” link near the top of the left-hand column

Coastsider is designed to be an interactive site. The more you participate, the more you’ll get out of and the better it will be.

I guess if Sheriff takes your picture, it’s going to make you look like a felon.  The picture at right is of my brand-new press card from the Sheriff Horsley’s office down in Redwood City.

I’ve been publishing Coastsider for nearly a year and I’ve generally been treated like any other news source by everyone I need to talk to.  With a few exceptions, people return my calls and are willing to talk to me, even when I’m reporting bad news. The folks at the Sheriff’s substation in Moss Beach, including Lieutenants Quinlan and Shiveley, have been helpful and responsive. They’ve treated me well, even when I was the first reporter (or photographer) on the scene at a murder in Moss Beach.

Generally, my Coastsider business card has been enough to make it clear that I’m more than just a gawker. Most recently, I rode on the press bus with the Review and County Times to the Devil’s Slide tunnel groundbreaking.

However, it also became clear that if I need to deal with the police or fire departments on the scene of breaking news, it would be useful to have press credentials.

I have had conversations with the police where I had to make it clear to them that I viewed their cooperation with me as First Amendment issue.  And you can imagine my reaction to the official who complained that I had an unfair advantage over the local weekly when it came to reporting breaking news. I will explain indignantly to anyone who’ll listen that police can’t be in the position of deciding who gets to be considered press. But I do understand that on the scene the last thing they want to do is to vet reporters.

This press card is a huge milestone for Coastsider and a genuine recognition of the impact we’re having in the community.