Comments by Anneliese Agren

Photo: Downed power line blacks out HMB, causes fire

I wondered what was going on when I drove past that so late last night.  Thanks for posting Cheri!

Salmon population headed for collapse, season may be cancelled

At this point, eating vegetarian is not a silly fad, but a necessity.

Senator Yee proposes naming Devil’s Slide tunnel after Tom Lantos

Oops.  The link takes one only to Yee’s home page, so here is the original article:
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/09/18/MNR5S7S4V.DTL&hw=Digging+begins+on+tunnel+at+Devil+Slide&sn=001&sc=1000

Senator Yee proposes naming Devil’s Slide tunnel after Tom Lantos

Sorry for commenting again, however…

I found this exchange which pretty much settles the debate on the proposed naming of Devil’s Slide Tunnel to “The Tom Lantos Tunnel.” Tom doesn’t want the designation.

From the September 17th, 2007 ceremony, kicking off the tunnel’s digging:

“State Sen. Leland Yee, D-San Francisco, said the tunnel is an example of the public will prevailing over bureaucracy.

“This is about a community that felt it knew better,” he said.

Rep. Tom Lantos, D-San Mateo, surprised (Lennie) Roberts by calling her to the podium and telling her she would start the hole through the mountain. As a leader in the push for a tunnel, he said, she deserved the honor.

“This will be the people’s tunnel,” he proclaimed.”

source:  http://dist08.casen.govoffice.com/index.asp?Type=B_PR&SEC;={E917F382-8B46-4C4E-976E-64261965F209}&DE;={860D0D05-3548-464F-A176-E604EA2689F8}

Senator Yee proposes naming Devil’s Slide tunnel after Tom Lantos

Just for grins and trivia:

The naming of the tunnel as “Caldecott” is due more to the Mayor’s service as president of Joint Highway District 13 which oversaw the 1930’s construction of the multi-bore tunnel.  Previously, while it was a single-hole bore, that tunnel had been known for 47 years as the “Broadway Tunnel.”

:)

One other thought:  If we *need* a new name, let’s call it the “San Pedro Mountain Tunnel,” eh?  Mmm, still, not quite as catchy as “Devil’s Slide Tunnel,” but it is fitting.

Senator Yee proposes naming Devil’s Slide tunnel after Tom Lantos

There should be no surprise that this suggestion would stir up much debate, given the location’s history.  Too many years and too many people involved make this location not fitting for a single name.  Additionally there is the aversion that many people feel for monument markers on our state highway structures.

Our comments are merely voicing community support, as part of our larger democratic freedom, in opposition to a proposed legislation.  Without a memorial sign, the tunnels remain simply as tunnels, much like the Gaviota Gorge Tunnel or the Cuesta Pass Grade.  The California landscape remains as the indicator to one’s route.

Our Governor voiced his opposition to the possibility of “an undesired plethora” of named-for signs when he vetoed SB 652 this past October:

“BILL NUMBER: SB 652
VETOED DATE: 10/10/2007
To the Members of the California State Senate:
I am returning Senate Bill 652 without my signature. This bill makes a credible effort to clarify the often contradictory and confusing guidelines for the naming of state highways and structures. However, the process outlined in this bill essentially cedes control of the placement of these types of signs on the state highway system to local officials based on the desire of just one state legislator who requests a sign. This method could result in an undesirable plethora of signs throughout our state. Since these are state highways, any process devised must have the final authority for the placement of these signs reside at the state level, either in a full vote of the state Legislature or by actions taken by the Executive Branch. I encourage the Legislature to work on the development of guidelines that clarifies the naming process while maintaining the ultimate authority for the placement of these signs with the State of California.
Sincerely, Arnold Schwarzenegger”

From
“CalTrans 2006 Named Freeways, Highways, Structures and Other Appurtenances In California”
Page 5:
“Committee Policy on Resolutions for Naming Highways or Structures
Recommended Policy:
Regarding resolutions introduced on or after April 26, 2004, the Committee will consider
only those resolutions proposing to name or designate state highways or highway structures
which meet specific minimum criteria. The criteria shall include the following conditions:
a) Any person being honored must have provided extraordinary public service or some
exemplary contribution to the public good and have a connection to the community
where the highway is located;
b) The naming must be done without cost to the state: costs for signs and plaques must be
paid by local or private sources and there must be a small additional amount, as
determined by Caltrans but not to exceed 10% of the installation cost, donated to cover
ongoing maintenance costs;
c) The author or co-author of the resolution must represent the district in which the facility
is located and the resolution must identify the specific highway segment or structure
being named;
d) The proposed designation must reflect a community consensus;
e) The proposed designation may not supercede an existing designation unless the sponsor
can document that a good faith effort has uncovered no opposition to rescinding the prior
designation; and
f) When a resolution names a highway or structure in honor of an individual, the designee
must have been deceased for at least 18 months, except in the instance of elected
officials, in which case they must be out of office.”

Source:  http://www.dot.ca.gov/hq/tsip/hseb/products/2006_Named_Freeways.pdf

Dan’s http://www.cahighways.org write-up on Named-For Highways & Structures, includes an inventory of all State Highway tunnels (scroll to bottom of page):  http://www.cahighways.org/stats1.html

In all the State of California, there are only three named-for tunnels:  MacArthur, McClure, and Waldo, and yes, they are less-known as their “official name, but more often referred to as the Presidio, Santa Monica, and Rainbow.

Please let’s just leave it as Devil’s Slide Tunnel.

MWSD Keeps Water Flowing During “One of the Worst Ever” Storms

Yes to all of this well-deserved recognition for MWSD and SAM! 

If I may please add, that on that gray day when the rain blew sideways in that Fresh, Strong, and occasional Gale Force Wind, all of our uniformed officers seemed to be out-and-about.  These people ensured everyone’s safety by slowing and directing traffic around deep water and blown-down tree branches, clearing away the debris, and providing their presence to be as available as possible.

I don’t mean to take away or divert any of the good words mentioned in this original post, I merely wanted to recognize the efforts of our Police, Fire, and Sheriff.

Senator Yee proposes naming Devil’s Slide tunnel after Tom Lantos

The question that should first be asked is, “Why name the tunnel?”

or,

“Does this tunnel, or set of tunnels, require a name?”

Why not leave it as “Devil’s Slide Tunnel?” Or better, “The Devils’ Slide Tunnel?” hahahahahaha, I like the second choice better.

Granted, it’s a heck of project to drive by and regard, but all the work and landslides that led up to its inception to now the consideration of naming it, lead us back to its original name as its most fitting honorific.

Senator Yee proposes naming Devil’s Slide tunnel after Tom Lantos

Surely there is a more meaningful way to honor Congressman Lantos than his name on a green sign next to a tunnel?

I don’t have any ideas to offer for consideration, just criticism that this particular action would not match his many contributions.

Marvericks is on for Saturday

Woo-hoo!

Letter: Name the tunnel after Tom Lantos?

The question asked by Michaele:
“And how, by the way, did a little stretch of Highway One get named for Lou Papan?”

Answer:
http://info.sen.ca.gov/pub/01-02/bill/asm/ab_0201-0250/acr_234_bill_20020916_chaptered.pdf

In case of interest, there are other sections of State Route* 1, (originally Roosevelt Highway) named for people:

General Douglas MacArthur Tunnel (San Francisco)

Robert E. McClure Tunnel (Santa Monica “father of the Santa Monica Freeway")

CHP Officer John Pedro Memorial Freeway (Watsonville)

and then various Veterans’ groups claim portions of State Route 1 in So Cal.

I’m a bit of a Route 1 enthusiast, so, sorry if this comment is over the top!

Named-for signs along Highway 1 seem to go in contrast to the Scenic Highway regulations, such as:  “Prohibit billboards and regulate on-site signs so that they do not detract from scenic views.” But then again, not all of Route 1 is considered Scenic Highway.

To me, named-for signs serve more as a headstone than as a monument marker.

*Leonard! I’m using State Route instead of Highway!  :)

Letter: I sent this to Comcast today

Tim, your letter is funny, “I am feeling very Comcastic at the moment!” :)

Bob, Good Luck!

Ken, Good information that I had no idea about.  I just need more time to rig it all up.  In the meantime, I guess I’m paying a convenience fee for Comcast services...one way to look at it, I guess.  Competition would be nice.

Letter: I sent this to Comcast today

What else can we use besides Comcast coastside? 

I’m so fed up with their service, and customer service, that I’m ready to go without cable entirely.  I’ll use DSL for internet and then read Coastsider.net all day long.  ;)

Seriously though, what other providers bring internet and/or cable service Coastside?  I could only find Earthlink for internet connectivity as an option.  I don’t recall if DirecTV is over here?

SF Bay Oil Spill - Info From Surfrider

Hi Dot:
Yes, failure analysis is valuable, but we were commenting on the finger-pointing, blame-game occurring.

I thought of your comment while listening to this report yesterday on NPR:  http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=16245002

The double hull question is turned down as a solution, due to it being too expensive to rebuild the world fleet. (!) My question is, How expensive is the price to protect our beautiful world?  Another question is, Can we ever get off our oil dependency?

I only have questions, no answers.  :(

Mavericks waiting period begins Dec 7

How are the invitees chosen?

SF Bay Oil Spill - Info From Surfrider

Yes, real nice.  Some folks are already pointing fingers when we need to deal with the mess.  That was Surfrider’s quote about reserving judgement, not mine.  An email from Barbara Boxer hit my inbox this morning publishing her letter to the Coast Guard for an explanation as “to why it took an entire day to determine the gravity of this spill.”

Me, I see it as the Coast Guard was, perhaps, attempting to assess the situation during that day.  All efforts were towards analysis, not publicity and communication yet.  Seems reasonable.  But I’m not personally involved, so who knows?

SF Bay Oil Spill - Info From Surfrider

(continued...)

Also I saw this in the news.  It picks on the coast guard, which I am not ready to do yet (I am withholding judgment for now), but some excerpts are below.  For the whole article go here:  http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/11/09/BADRT9K8D.DTL
Coast Guard says it took too long to announce size of oil spill
Kevin Fagan, Peter Fimrite,Jonathan Curiel, Chronicle Staff Writers
Friday, November 9, 2007

“That is unacceptable,” Coast Guard Adm. Craig Bone replied when asked about the length of time it took for his agency to announce the magnitude of the spill.

Bone spoke with the reporters today at Fort Mason before Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger arrived to view the catastrophe. Officials from San Francisco to Congress have lambasted the Coast Guard for its response and promised legal action or public hearings on the matter.

“We needed to be better at communicating,” Bone said.

But he said the response to the crisis was appropriate and that there was nothing more that should have been done to contain the bunker fuel once it began to pour from the Cosco Busan.”
“On the bay, ocean and more than 18 beaches throughout the Bay Area from Hunters Point to Stinson Beach, rescue workers and volunteers have now collected 73 oil-soaked birds and taken them to recovery centers. At least 19 birds have been found dead. The total number of injured birds is expected to rise into the hundreds.

Bone said his agencies welcome volunteers, but cautioned that people should call a wildlife rescue agency instead of rushing out to the beach.

“The key here is, if you think you can handle birds or wildlife, you have to be properly trained or you can cause more harm,” he said.

This morning, the strong tides that race out of the Golden Gate brought another coating of oily sludge to Marin County beaches.

At Rodeo Beach, two-dozen hazardous materials workers in orange suits trudged around the sand shoveling gobs of black goo, mixed with beach sand, and putting it into plastic bags. A Caterpillar tractor toted away huge piles of the bags from the beach.

Meanwhile, other workers in white hazmat suits - biologists and officials from the Coast Guard and Fish and Game - walked the beaches monitoring the spill and determining what decontamination measures were needed.”

(END)

SF Bay Oil Spill - Info From Surfrider

(continued from above...)

To report oiled wildlife:

Call the Oiled Wildlife Hotline: 877.823.6926 to report oiled animals or oiled waterways.

Oiled LIVE mammals should be reported to the Marine Mammal Center at 415.464-5170. Oiled dead mammals should be reported to the California Academy of Science at 415.289.7325.

If you see a single oiled bird, call Lindsay Wildlife Museum at Montclair Veterinary Clinic & Hospital, 1961 Mountain Blvd. , Oakland , (510) 339-8600.

If you see evidence of oil affecting multiple birds, try International Bird Rescue Research Center, Cordelia, Solano Co. (707) 207-0380, ext. 110 (hospital extension) or Wildcare, San Rafael , (415) 456-SAVE (7283).

Natalie Cosentino-Manning at the NOAA Restoration Center is collecting pictures and information about the spill. Please email your photos and information to , please cc mlatta
Melissa Pitkin
PRBO Education and Outreach Director
3820 Cypress Drive, #11
Petaluma, CA 94954
(707) 781-2555 ext. 307

(continued one more time below...)

SF Bay Oil Spill - Info From Surfrider

(continued from above...)

This update just sent to me by Aaron Tinker of the Marine Science Institute in RWC

Please see the attached press release from NOAA and the Press Release/Incident Summary from PRBO Conservation Science below and on their website. Please also check out the SFBJV website over the next day or so for news coverage of the spill (http://www.sfbayjv.org/news.html ). Please distribute.

PRBO Press Release/Incident Summary

http://www.prbo.org/cms/452

PRBO’s Oil Spill Response Team have been deployed as of November 9. 2007, since the Cosco Busan spilled 58,000 gallons of oil in SF Bay, early Thursday morning. 

On November 9, 2007, our Oil Spill Response Team will be setting up the official intake and processing system for this spill at the San Francisco Bay Oiled Wildlife Care and Education Center in Cordelia , CA , an Oiled Wildlife Care Network (OWCN), and part of the International Bird Rescue and Research Center (IBRRC).

Identifying and documenting the oiled animals (live and dead) is a critical component of spill response- this is the scientific evidence used to legally assess the impact of the spill on wildlife.  PRBO’s Oil Spill Response Team is part of the state of California ‘s Incident Command Structure.

PRBO does not collect or rehabilitate wildlife.  If you would like to volunteer to help with the Cosco Busan spill, contact the IBRRC at 707-207-0380, or go to http://www.ibrrc.org/ or the Oiled Wildlife Care Network at http://www.owcn.org

All of PRBO’s biologists in the field are noting oiled wildlife.

As of Nov. 8, 2007, PRBO biologists have noted oiled Common Murres on the Farallones.  Island biologists are now conducting intense daily surveys of the island and are in direct communication with USFWS about the Farallon wildlife.

If you would like to speak to someone at PRBO about the oil spill, please contact Melissa Pitkin at 707-781-2555 ext. 307.

(continued...)

SF Bay Oil Spill - Info From Surfrider

Here’s the latest message from Surfrider.  (I have to split it into three separate comments, as it’s quite long):

Most of all, please stay out of the water this weekend, and do NOT take it on yourself to start cleaning up oil. Contact the appropriate parties below to see how you can help:
Contents
Where and How to Volunteer Hotlines and Contact Numbers Surfrider’s Sunday Beach Cleanup Important Volunteer Information

Where and How to Volunteer

The environmental group Baykeeper is soliciting volunteers at http://www.baykeeper.org.

Oiled Wildlife Care Network also have a volunteer hotline at (800) 228-4544.

Activists are unofficially organizing efforts from Sports Basement in the Presidio from 10am-5pm today and throughout the weekend. They’ve asked any volunteers to wear old clothes and shoes and bring dishwashing gloves.

We’ve also heard reports of people literally “sweeping” the coagulated oil clumps off the sand, into trash bags (in protective clothing of course). Surfrider cannot recommend this for safety reasons, but I thought I would pass that along.

Important Volunteer Information

Please do not try to handle injured wildlife yourself (that’s our official legal stance). Animals are being taken (by the appropriate authorities) to Fort Mason Center… they are being transported in warm and dark spaces with no loud sounds.

As for beach clean-up, technically, people have to be specially trained (HAZMAT) to conduct oil spill clean-ups in most areas. Beaches on the North and South sides of the bay, including Ocean Beach, Baker Beach, China Beach, Fort Point, and Cronkite are CLOSED for health and safety for the time being.

I also received this from Lynn Adams of the Pacifica Beach Coalition:

Thank you for the many calls/emails about the Oil Spill in San Francisco and your desire to help.  I have had no reports of oil on Pacifica’s beaches yet but the first report of oiled birds in Shelter Cove just arrived. 

The Marine Mammal Center is taking direction from the Oiled Wildlife Care Network (http://www.owcn.org) and suggests that anyone interested in volunteering check in with them.  I called the OWCN volunteer number 800-228-4544 and was instructed to go to the http://www.owcn.org website for instructions and updates.  Click here: UC Davis: Oiled Wildlife Care Network

The number for Oil Sightings is 985-781-0804.
The number for wildlife reportings is 877-823-6926

For more news on the oil spill, please feel free to go to http://www.ktvu.com or Click here: KTVU.com - Search

Should I hear more that we can do, I will keep you posted.  If you hear more, please keep me posted.
Of course we are all sickened by this development.  Perhaps we need to follow it up with action and also legislative pressure to have better safeguards and responses in place.

Thank you
Lynn Adams

(continued...)

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