This week, we conducted a test survey of Coastsider readers.  The questions were pretty basic, and there weren’t too many surprises, but I thought you’d be interested in seeing the results.

We received 72 response, with 50 coming in within 24 hours. This is pretty good considering we didn’t push too hard for responses.  The Survey Monkey service worked great. We will be conducting more reader surveys in near future.

There are disclaimers that go with all surveys of this nature. Those who responded are clearly not a random sample of Coastsider readers, let alone of Coastsiders in general. No biases were obvious from the results, however.  There is a wide margin of error in these results, so the numbers I’m reported have been rounded for readability and to avoid suggesting more precision than they really have. Despite these disclaimers, the results are interesting.

Where you live (no surprises here):

• 40% live in Half Moon Bay
• 40% live in the unincorporated Midcoast (El Granada, Moss Beach, Montara)
• 10% live south of Half Moon Bay
• 5%  live in Pacifica

Half heard about Coastsider from a friend and a quarter from a Google search.

The most popular features, not surprisingly, are the news and comments, with 75% saying news was just fine or that you loved it and 65% saying the same about the comments.  Classifieds, the calendar, Mercury News headlines, and weather were not used by about half the readers, but about a third of readers liked them just fine.

Three-quarters of respondents buy from merchants at Strawflower Village at least weekly (11% never do), and half say they buy downtown at least once a week (18% never do).  The next most-popular destinations were San Mateo (82% do that monthly) and Albertson’s shopping center (half buy there at least monthly).

In the open-ended comments, several readers thought Coastsider was a little biased.  Everyone recognizes it’s a personal site, so I wind up writing about what I’m interested in from my personal point of view.  If there are stories or opinions you’d like to see more of on Coastsider, you’re invited to send them in.

Patrick Worden, who pleaded guilty to vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated in a collision that killed two teens, has been sentenced to twelve years in prison, reports the Chronicle. This was the maximum possible sentence. His car struck Ashley Prather, 16, and Jihan Abdel-Gawad, 18, when they were waiting for help at the side of the road in Burlingame.

Abdel-Gawad lived in Mirimar and was attending Skyline College. Prather had moved from Half Moon Bay to Seaside in Monterey County.

Kekexili: The name is Tibetan, meaning "beautiful mountains; beautiful maidens". Kekexili is a relentless, harsh mountainous corner of Tibetan China. Nearly 4 miles high, it is the last refuge of the rare Tibetan antelope.

In 1985, the fashion world discovered soft and pretty pashmina wool, and widespread poaching of the antelopes it came from began. Within a few years, the number of Tibetan antelopes plunged from millions to less than ten thousand.

To fight the poachers, a volunteer civilian patrol was formed.  Led by Ritai, a retired Tibetan army officer, the patrol fought fierce battles with the poachers and aroused the attention of the outside world.  In the winter of 1996, the poachers murdered one of the patrolmen.  This cinematic masterwork tells the true story of Gayu, a journalist sent from Beijing to cover the unfolding saga.

Because of his reporting, the Chinese government declared Kekexili a national nature preserve and established the first public security bureau to protect it. The film won the Special Award in Tokyo International Film Festival, 2004.

Chinese film scholar, Dr. Jenny Lau, a Professor in the Cinema department of San Francisco State University brought the movie to the attention of the Film Society.  She will be on hand before and after the screening to take questions from the audience.

Friday, Feb 10th 8pm
Community Methodist Sanctuary
777 Miramontes, Half Moon Bay
Corner of Johnston & Miramontes
$6.00 donation per person

For more information see: www.hmbfilm.org

Burlingame City Council member Rosalie O’Mahony was voted on to board of the San Mateo County Transportation Authority on Friday, reports the County Times.

O’Mahony replaced former Burlingame Mayor Joe Galligan. Half Moon Bay Vice Mayor Naomi Patridge and Foster City Mayor Linda Koelling also ran for the Central County seat. The Transportation Authority oversees the proceeds of Measure A, a 20-year, countywide, half-cent sales tax for transportation improvements.

Patridge had served on the board in the past. O’Mahony’s priorities include the Broadway interchange in Burlingame, the Broadway train station, and a grade separation in Burlingame.

I confess that before I started Coastsider, I had no idea who my state senator was and had no interest. Sometimes it’s difficult to get perspective.  The Daily Journal has a good analysis today of the race for June’s Democratic primary for the seat representing San Francisco and the peninsula, the winner of which is likely to have a lock on the seat.

Three political heavyweights — Lou Papan, Mike Nevin and Leland Yee — are vying for the empty Senate District 8 seat. The seat is currently occupied by state Sen. Jackie Speier, D-San Mateo, who is making a bid for lieutenant governor, and was previously held by Quentin Kopp.

The district consists of 45% San Francisco and 55% San Mateo County residents, placing San Franciscan Yee at a disadvantage to former county supervisor Nevin. Yee has been increasing his visibility on the Coastside recently and speaking at the Coastside Democrats on Thursday.

Meanwhile, Nevin’s campaign says that Papan is running a spoiler campaign against Nevin because Nevin backed Gene Mullin against Papan’s daughter in 2002.  There are some tasty nasty comments between the two in the Daily Journal article.

Coastsider will be putting together a questionnaire for the candidates, focusing on local issues.

The San Mateo County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously yesterday to support the Endangered Species Act, which has been under attack by legislation sponsored by arguably corrupt U.S. Rep. Richard Pombo (R-Tracy).

[Supervisor Jerry] Hill stated that "over 200 species in the Bay Area alone, many of them residing in San Mateo County refuges such as Montara Mountain, Edgewood Preserve, San Bruno Mountain and the wetlands of Rockaway beach and those adjacent to Belle Air Elementary School in San Bruno, are officially designated species of concern."

It’s unclear whether the supervisors would offer an alternative of their own should the ESA be drastically modified.

Help test a Coastsider reader survey

We’re testing a new survey service, and we’ve got a short survey we’d like you to complete. It’s only a few questions and your responses will be kept confidential. Click here to take survey [opens new window].

Assembly Speaker Pro Tem Leland Yee will speak at the next meeting of the Coastside Democrats, Thursday, Feb 2. Yee is one of three candidates for the State Senate seat, District 8, now held by Jackie Speier. Yee will speak on the upcoming race and on his legislative agenda for this year in the Assembly.

The other candidates for Speier’s seat are ex-Supervisor Mike Nevin [campaign site] and ex-Assemblyman Lou Papan [no site]. Speier is termed out of the State Senate at the end of this year and will be running for Lieutenant Governor in 2008. Yee represents the 12th Assembly District immediately north of our 19th AD. The 8th Senate District has roughly the same boundaries as the combination of the 12th and 19th ADs.

This free meeting is open to the public so bring a friend or neighbor. There will be ample time to ask questions. The meeting will start at 7:30 pm at the Lesley Gardens Community Room, 701 Arnold near Main St. Please park in the east parking lot.

A man acting "crazy" in public is arrested for public intoxication, an El Granada man going 85 on Highway 1 in Moss Beach is found to be in possession of marijuana, an iPod and Blackberry are stolen from a bicyclist’s car, a public drinker is found to have a meth pipe, a drunk stumbling down Capistrano Rd in Princeton has a blood alcohol of .31, a suicidal woman is taken to the hospital, a man and a woman are arrested for an outstanding warrants, and a DUI in Moss Beach is arrested.

Moon Bay, the Chinese restaurant that has been a fixture on the corner of Highway 1 and Avenue Granada in El Granada [Google satellite photo] has closed.

According to a notice on the door, it will be the future site of Red Ginger, which "will offer a Pan-Asian menu features as delicious fusion of fresh, ‘farm-to-table’ foods from all over Asia."  The restaurant plans to open in March.  The number of the new owners is 726-2888.