Senior Coastsiders has created an award for “random acts of kindness” for a senior or disabled adult on the coastside.  The Dorothy Tigerman Random Acts of Kindness Award, was named for Senior Coastsiders volunteer and local activist.

Nomination forms available at Senior Coastsiders, 535 Kelly Ave., Half Moon Bay. The deadline for nominations is November 15, and the winner will be announced in December.

The Stanford Daily has a story about 40 kids from low-income areas of Half Moon Bay spending the day at Stanford’s golf course, “Tiger Woods’ old stomping ground.”

“[The children] live across the street from two of the best-looking golf courses in the world,” [Wayne] Southerland said of his young charges. “Until somebody opens up a door for them, they don"t know what"s over there.”

In May of this year, while helping to organize the Half Moon Bay Chamber of Commerce Artichoke Golf Classic, Southerland saw an opportunity to benefit those who could not afford the nearly $200 entry fee for the tournament.

Coordinating with Susan Sanchez of Mid-Peninsula Housing Corporation and Kristen Flores of the YMCA, Southerland orchestrated a youth golf clinic prior to the main event. Two-time U.S. Open winner and ESPN golf analyst Andy North, on hand as part of the tournament itself, provided the instruction. Twenty-six juniors from Moonridge and Main Street participated in the clinic, and buoyed by the success, Southerland began looking for another venue for a similar youth event.

David Johnston, environmental scientist with the California Department of Fish and Game walked the 22-acre Nurserymens’ Exchange site and the Oak Avenue park site at the request of the city. He described 22-acre site as “the most developable site the city’s going to find.” He also said that a park on Oak Avenue would be a “huge bonus” for the site.

His net assessment was that a park on the Nurserymens’ Exchange site would be better for the wildlife than what is there now. “Not only has it been disturbed,” he said, “it has been covered up.”

According to Johnston, the site doesn’t have a lot of natural function right now, so there isn’t a lot to be preserved.  His principal concerns would be that snakes and frogs would be able to make their way from the creek to the lands across Highway 92, and that the pond might be a frog breeding area. The city might have to make sure that there are corridors in any parking areas so that reptiles and amphibians could cross. The holding pond is far from a ideal frog breeding area. But, if frogs were laying eggs there, this could be dealt with by carefully monitoring how much and when water is drawn from the pond for irrigation.

“We don’t see any significant opposition to the plan,” he said. And while he can’t speak for the US Fish & Wildlife Service, he doesn’t anticipate any major problems with them either.  “I suspect they’ll want to add more to the design than we would.”

“If you look at this site,” said Johnston, “and say that you can’t develop it, you’re shutting down all development between San Francisco and Santa Cruz.”

Due to a combination of strong winds, and low humidity in the dry month of October, the National Weather Service has issued a red flag warning for the Bay Area on Sunday and Monday, according to the Mercury News.  Nice quote:

“We’re recommending that people bring in lawn furniture so they don’t become projectiles,’’ said Shawn Weagle, a forecaster with the National Weather Service.

Click the “read more” link to see the warning.

The Chronicle features an article on Harley Farms—San Mateo County’s only working dairy farm. I know I linked to another story on Harley earlier, but this is really a nice piece and features the Vida Verde Nature Education Center as well.

Harley Farms not only offers tours, but allows kids to milk the goats themselves.  Or sometimes they just squirt them with milk right from the goat.

I’d never hear of Vida Verde. They’re a non-profit environmental education center providing free, outdoor, overnight field trips for at-risk kids in the Bay Area. They’re south of Half Moon Bay off Tunitas Creek Road. They offer programs for their visitors with goats donated by Harley Farms.

The Times has profiles of the four candidates running for the three open seats on the La Honda-Pescadero Unified School District board.

If you missed the construction of Moss Beach Park, or if you were just worried about cutting off your thumbs with a power saw, it’s not too late to participate.  For the next four Saturdays from 11am to 3pm in October the Moss Beach Park Renovation Project is holding Tile Painting events at the park.  For a $25 contribution to the park, people can paint their own 6 in. x 6 in. ceramic tile, to be included eventually in a wall within the park.  This is a fun and personal way to contribute to the park.

La Honda Volunteer and CDF/ County Fire Fighters rescued the driver of a crashed car and put out a fire that burned three acres at 11:00 last night.  The car, reportedly traveling at a high rate of speed left the roadway, snapping off a power pole before it crashed through a wooden fence and careened down a 50 ft. embankment. The car came to rest on its side trapping the driver.

The downed power lines created a grass fire that burned nearly 3 acres, and resulted in the closing of highway 84 for more than 3 hours. Control of the fire was delayed until PG&E arrived as the hot power lines fell across and charged a barbed wire fence surrounding the fire. It was difficult for witnesses to report the accident, because 911 service to most of the San Mateo County Southcoast was also knocked out by this accident for over 12 hours. The cause of the accident is under investigation by the CHP.

I visited Moss Beach Park today. It was the first time I was there since construction began last Wednesday.  The transformation is amazing. There were kids everywhere, having tons of fun in what just a few days ago was a huge construction site with over a hundred volunteers. Click on one of the pictures to go to the album of pictures of the construction and the remarkable result.

Congratulations to everyone on a job well done.

Welcome to Coastsider’s candidates’ forum for the Cabrillo Unified School District Board election.

I’ve asked each of the three candidates to prepare a statement that I would post under their name. Those statements are below, in randomly-chosen order.

Charles Gardner

Jonathan Lundell

John Moseley

What makes Coastsider unique as a forum is that you will be able to ask each candidate direct questions and their answers will become part of the permanent record of this election. To ask any candidate a question, just follow the “read more” link and enter your question in the box at the bottom of the page.  You must be a registered user of Coastsider, but there is no charge for registering.

When you post a question to the site, a copy of your question is emailed to the candidate, and they can reply by posting a comment after yours on the site. 

Please keep your questions civil. As moderator, I reserve the right to remove questions or comments that are disruptive or abusive. I’m also going to be asking some questions of my own. While users are relatively anonymous, you must have an email address to post, although users can choose whether their email addresses are known to anyone besides me.