Mary Bordi posted these photos of a turkey vulture on her blog Hununu.

I’ve seen this guy several mornings on my way to work. Usually he’s perching grumpily on a fence post with his feathers puffed out as if trying to keep warm. But today he was looking mighty fine with his feathers smooth and slick. He even put on a little show for me.

Turkey vultures, or as we mistakenly call them, "buzzards" are helpful scavengers. A very important part of our ecosystem, some people think they’re "icky" because they eat dead things.

Two widely respected marine organizations have partnered with Hatch School to present a week of interactive educational programming geared toward understanding and protecting the world’s ocean environment.

Scheduled for the week of February 13th,  the Farallones Marine Sanctuary Association and Gulf of the Farallones Marine Sanctuary are providing special support for this unique interdisciplinary program, which will engage students grades k-5 in a range of exciting, hands-on activities.

"Whether through math, art, reading, science or just hanging out for a night of conversation and ocean-friendly film, our whole school will basically be immersed," said Dru Devlin, a Hatch parent volunteer who also works at the Farallones Marine Sanctuary Association. "It makes sense to integrate our marine environment with the curriculum, much as it is integral to the fabric of our coastside community life."

Students will be taking field trips to visit the Gulf of the Farallones National Marine Sanctuary Visitor Center at Crissy Field in the Presidio; learning about water safety and wetland birds from rangers based at Half Moon Bay State Beach; watching a Cordell Bank National Marine Sanctuary-sponsored puppet show performed by parents; and participating in presentations such as the GFNMS "SharkMobile" and The Marine Mammal Center’s "Wonderful Whale" exhibit.

Personal responsibility and stewardship will be a special focus for fifth-graders, whose specially designed curriculum will include the perils of marine debris and other ecological threats as well as ways that students can roll up their sleeves and help keep beaches and oceans clean.

On February 9, the whole community is invited to join in Hatch’s first-ever "Family Ocean Night at the Movies,"which will include a presentation by local surfing instructor Dave Alexander and a feature presentation of the Academy Award-nominated documentary, "The Living Sea," narrated by Meryl Streep with music by Sting. Local writer and filmmaker Gail Evenari will also show clips from her current project about sea turtles in Mexico.

"The idea is to bring alive the critical role our marine environment plays - whether as a source of food, habitat, amusement or beauty," said Devlin, whose son is in the second grade. "Exploring and celebrating our oceans is a lifelong pursuit.  Why not start inspiring our children now?"

Joe’s in Half Moon Bay, on Highway 1 near Ocean Colony [Google map], suffered a two-alarm fire last night around 10pm.  The fire departments from Foster City, Pacifica, the California Department of Forestry, and Central County Fire responded, according to the Mercury News.

Signs on the doors say "Closed until further notice".

UPDATE: The Daily Journal reports that fire started in the kitchen after the restaurant was closed and the staff had gone home:  "Jolley put a preliminary estimate of damage to the restaurant roof, hood and duct system and kitchen appliances at $100,000."

In the wake of a big year, Half Moon Bay High School has been transfered to the stronger of the Penininsula Athletic League’s two divisions. The County Times describes the head coach as "miffed".

The move doesn’t sit well with Half Moon Bay. Head coach Matt Ballard had wanted his team to stay in the Ocean Division and had a couple of pretty compelling reasons to back him up.

"We had a well-laid-out argument (for staying in the Ocean Division)," Ballard said. "The first thing is that we graduate 22 players and will have only six returning starters. Our frosh-soph team finished the season with 14 players on its roster and had a 1-7-2 record.

"So if you’re looking at the coming years, as you’re supposed to do in a decision like this, moving up to the Bay Division is going to be a real hardship on us. We presented all this, but no one cared. If you win a CCS title, no one feels sorry for you, I guess."

Pescadero Conservation Alliance is holding a Geology Beach Walk   on the San Mateo Coast Saturday, February 18 at 1:30pm.

Geologic processes are responsible for shaping our changing coastline and making the San Mateo Coast a beautiful, special place. Come and join Irina Kogan of the Gulf of the Farallones National Marine Sanctuary to find out how the San Mateo Coast fits into the ‘Pacific Ring of Fire’ and take a walk on the beach to learn about local geology.

A short presentation will precede the field trip. The number of stops will depend on time and weather.

The walk will begin at a lecture/workshop is Native Sons Hall, Stage Rd, Pescadero (next to post office).  There is a $5 suggested donation per person or family. For more information, see the website of the Pescadero Conservation Alliance or contact Randy or Debbie Bennett at 650-879-0841

The following lecture will be March 18 on "Marbled Murrelets and Other Seabirds".

by Sonja Myhre, Co-Chair, Day to Make a Difference Committee    

Parents, students, teachers, volunteers, local officials, and all Coastside community members are invited to join us this Friday, January 27, 2006 from 4:30 to 5:30 pm for a celebration of the Hatch Elementary School Landscape Remodel Project.  The celebration will be held in the Hatch Central Courtyard and Multipurpose Room at 490 Miramontes Drive in Half Moon Bay.

The celebration will commemorate the hard work and dedication of nearly 200 volunteers who came together on Saturday September 24, 2005 for a Day to Make a Difference.

Under the leadership of Ralph Laughlin, a Hatch parent and the owner of CNH Landscape & Design, these volunteers transformed the grounds of Hatch Elementary with native grasses and plantings, a raised-bed vegetable garden, a brand new look for the central courtyard, and an artistic mosaic on the school sign.

The celebration will include:
 

• Dedication of the new courtyard fountain and commemorative bricks
• Day to Make a Difference slide show
• Light refreshments

For more information, contact the Day to Make a Difference Committee office at 650-726-9089.

On the other side of the hill, you can pretty much get whatever cell phone service offers you the best deal or the coolest phone. Here in paradise, it’s little more complicated. Cell phone coverage is really bad in unpredictable ways. 

Please share your experiences with cell phone service on the coast and make your recommendations. Tell us where you can and can’t get reception. Be sure to tell us not only who your carrier is, but what phone you’re using.

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EDITOR’S NOTE: We first ran a version of this story back in June 2004, but things have changed since then and we have a lot more readers.

The Board of Supervisors has ordered three critical flood control projects for Montara. All costs of design and construction will be paid by the County using the mitigation fees they have been collecting since 1990, and there will be no cost to the community.

At their January 10, 2006 meeting, the supervisors authorized the Department of Public works to move forward with construction of drainage improvements at:

• Etheldore Street and Sunshine Valley Road
• Cypress Avenue from Etheldore Street to Highway 1
• Cedar Street between George Street and Montara Creek

The supervisors found that the construction  "is allowed by the MidCoast Community Plan as said drainage improvements will meet the goal of the Midcoast Community Plan to ‘preserve and enhance the visual qualities of the coastal community which gives it a unique character and distinguishes it from other places,’ by minimizing the damage that happens each time flooding occurs in these areas."

Montarans United Against Flooding organizer Steve Lowens has promised to keep working the the Midcoast Community Council to develop a framework to prevent these problems from recurring, and monitor the DPW to make sure the projects really happen.

There were seven thefts from unlocked cars in one night in El Granada last week.  For details on this as well as arrests for meth and drug use in Pillar Ridge, a warrant arrest on Highway 1 at Tunitas Creek, two cases of public drunkenness in Pescadero, a warrant arrest at Miramontes, another home burglary in El Grandaa, an ATM card stolen in La Honda that has been used to buy thousands of dollars worth of stuff, a commercial burglary in Princeton, a DUI in El Granada, and sex with a minor in El Granada, click on "read more".