Bob Franko of Half Moon Bay was inducted into the California Outdoors Hall of Fame on Satudrday, according to the Chronicle.  A peerless offshore angler, Franko created the Coastside Fishing Club, using the Internet to create the the largest fishing club in Northern California. CFC has placed a member on the Pacific Fisheries Management Council. "My goal is to protect our fishery for our children through conservation, and to protect the rights of the recreational angler," Franko said.

There is a revolution happening in the farm fields and on the dinner tables of America—a revolution that is transforming the very nature of the food we eat.  Did you know that 60% of the processed food we eat in America currently includes unregulated, artificially created, genetically modified (GM) components?

The Future Of Food offers an in-depth investigation into the disturbing truth behind the unlabeled, patented, genetically engineered foods that have quietly filled U.S. grocery store shelves for the past decade.

Shot on location in the U.S., Canada and Mexico, The Future Of Food examines the complex web of market and political forces that are changing what we eat as huge multinational corporations seek to control the world’s food system. The film also explores alternatives to large-scale industrial agriculture, placing organic and sustainable agriculture as real solutions to the farm crisis today.

Catherine Butler, the film’s award winning producer, will be our guest leading the post screening discussion about the future of food.

The night will open with the short film Flowers in the Snow - The Health Crisis of Children in Tibet Teresa Harris and filmmaker Perry Pickert from the Terma Foundation will take audience questions.  (19 mins- starting at 7:30)

Details: Friday Feb. 11th, 2005 starting at 7:30 pm. Community Methodist Sanctuary, Half Moon Bay 777 Miramontes, Half Moon Bay. Corner of Johnston & Miramontes. $6.00 per person For more information see: http://www.hmbfilm.org

Not many people know that there are oil fields just a few miles away from La Honda. As you can see from the map, the oil wells are located on either side of Highway 84 between Redwood Terrace and San Gregorio.

The oil fields are divided into a main area and a South area that comprise 135 acres with 23 wells as of 1981. There was a small amount of production from this area in the 1920’s, and then in May 1956, interest in extracting oil from this area was renewed. The first well in 1956 was a dry one drilled by the Neaves Petroleum Developments. In October of the same year another well was drilled that produced about 75 barrels a day of oil. From then up until 1981, 783,124 barrels of oil and 104,519 Mcf of natural gas was extracted from this area. Estimated reserves in 1981 were 120,000 barrels of oil and 31 million cubic feet of gas.

In July 1959, The South oil field was discovered. The first well yielded 25 barrels of oil per day. From then up until 1981, 478,023 barrels of oil and 38,831 Mcf of gas were extracted from this Southern area.

The source rocks for this oil are from the Miocene age. Other nearby oil exists in isolated areas near Point Reyes, Half Moon Bay and Davenport. Some of this oil may have been contiguous at one point but may have been moved along with the San Gregorio and northern San Andreas faults.

These wells are on private property, so they are not assessable to the public without special permission according to Ruth Waldhauer, a Director at the South Skyline Association, who recently sponsored a lecture entitled "Oil Bearing Rocks in the Santa Cruz Mountains." However, Ruth added that there is at least one location where this natural oil can be seen by the public. There is a public parking lot just before the La Honda Honor Camp. If you follow the Tar Water Creek trail from this parking lot, natural tar is sometimes visible near where the trail crosses the creek. Ruth said that she has seen the carcasses of jays in this sticky tar creating a miniature version of the La Brea Tar Pits. Indeed, the USGS shows a photo of Tar Water Creek on a website with a note that, "Natural oil seeps like this one, at Tar Water Creek in the Santa Cruz Mountains, can degrade water quality and endanger wildlife" (http://seeps.wr.usgs.gov/seeps/environment.html). Ruth added that this tar is easier to find during the summer, since the rains wash a lot of it away during the winter.

A potential concern concludes the 1981 California Division of Oil Report, "Additional development could occur in La Honda oil field. In the Main Area, production from the shallow Burns sand may be commercial under today’s decontrolled oil prices. In the South area, all three pools may have the potential for some additional development. In both areas, there could be room for some offset and infield development wells, some of which may be placed upstructure from existing producing wells."

Hopefully, a long time will pass before we have to worry about oil derricks in our backyards.

Robert J. Dougherty is the editor of the La Honda Voice, from which this story is reprinted.

Star Lily (Fremont’s Camas) blooms in upland meadows on Ember Ridge in Rancho Corral de Tierra. While it normally blooms in March through April, these pictures were taken Wednesday, January 26, at 5:00pm

Christopher Church

Christopher Church

Christopher Church

The year-end statements for the Cabrillo Unified School District election campaigns reveal more connections among the members of current board, and the outgoing board as well.

The Gardner campaign still owes board member Jolanda Schreurs $1,813 from loans she made in August or September ($2,161 in loans, less a $348 reimbursement).  According to Gardner campaign Treasurer Susan Stuart, the campaign is still trying to raise money to pay off the debt.  Gardner also received $100 from outgoing board member Ruth Palmer on December 30.  Gardner’s largest post-election contribution was another $519.62 from the Committee to Elect Jim Larimer on November 13, bringing the Larimer committee’s total contribution to $1,519.62.  According to Stuart, this odd amount is the result of Larimer’s committee turning over all its remaining funds to the Gardner campaign. Larimer is a director of the County Coastside Water District. Gardner also received a $250 contribution from the Republican Party of California on November 9, one week after the election.

The Moseley campaign’s only significant contribution after the election was $1,500 from outgoing CUSD board president Ken Jones. This was received on December 10, the day after Moseley’s first meeting as a member of the CUSD board. This payment matches a $1,500 contribution made by Jones to the Gardner campaign on October 5.

The campaign statements also reveal how much it costs to run for a seat on the CUSD board.  Gardner spent a total of $11,246 and Moseley spent $9,536.

You can download (large) PDF versions of Gardner’s [2 MB] and Moseley’s [7 MB] final statements from Coastsider.

Coastsider is featured in an article in New Voices, the community online journalism magazine at the J-Lab, a journalism lab at the University of Maryland College of Journalism. It might give you some insight into what we’re doing here. Among other things, Coastsider’s kind of a lab for me to work out my ideas about ultralocal journalism. There aren’t many sites that are doing what Coastsider does, and it’s starting to get some attention in the industry.

There are also a couple of quotes about Coastsider from Clay Lambert, Managing Editor at the HMB Review, though at least one is pretty badly mangled. But I’m responsible for the most surreal quote in the piece:

"Coastsider is never going to be a replacement for the paper," said the site’s owner, Barry Parr. "But I’m providing information you can’t get from them and providing it sooner."

That’s me—providing information you can’t get from the paper, and providing sooner than it doesn’t appear there. Or something like that.

I just got this mailer from a "coastside real estate specialist" based in Montara who shall remain nameless.  Apparently, this agent is suffering from a case of lighthouse envy.  Our little Point Montara lighthouse is just a little too stubby. But the one at Pigeon Point—now there’s a lighthouse you can be proud of.

Click on the image to get a closeup view of the "Montara" lighthouse.

John Bayless,  superintendent of schools in Cabrillo Unified School District, is interviewing today for a job as superintendent for Public Schools in Somerville, Massachusetts, according to the Somerville Journal. He’s one of five finalists for the position, which pays $160,000 per year.

"He interviews quite often, but if he’s interviewing today I’m not aware of it," said CUSD president Dwight Wilson, President of the CUSD board. "When it’s serious,  I usually get a request for a letter of reference." He also mentioned in passing the fact that Bayless almost took a position at the San Mateo County Office of Education in 2002.

I called Dr. Bayless at the CUSD office, but he’s out for the remainder of the week. If he’s staying the weekend, I recommend that he have dinner at the Elephant Walk restaurant in Cambridge.

Two men wearing masks and gloves tied up a postal truck driver at the Montara post office some time after 6pm Tuesday night. The driver’s postal keys were taken, but the post office is saying that no mail was taken. He was reported missing, found, and freed some time after 10pm. No injuries were reported.

The driver was a contract driver who picks up mail on the coast. The suspects were described as two black men wearing masks and gloves.

The Postal Service is changing locks at its facilities in the area.

There is a $50,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of the suspects. Anyone with information regarding this incident should contact the office of the Postal Inspector at (415) 778-5991, or the Sheriff.

UPDATED Feb 3 at 9:40am

The County will begin enforcing its ordinance forbidding offsite commercial advertising signs along the Highway 92 corridor.

The number and size of billboards on Highway 92, the scenic gateway to Half Moon Bay from the Bayside, has been growing. These signs outside the Half Moon Bay city limits, so they’re under the County’s jurisdiction.

But, until last week, the county was not enforcing its own ordinances forbidding offsite advertising signs in the coastal zone. According to Dave Holbrook, Senior Planner, enforcement was awaiting the completion of a study of the signs on the highway. That study was begun in 2003, but had been sidetracked by changes in personnel and priorities.

That all changed last last week.

"Commercial offsite signage is not permitted in a coastal zone," says Jim Eggemeyer, the County’s Interim Planning Administrator—the coastal zone on Highway 92 extends to Skyline. "We will be enforcing the code on that corridor; identifying signage and sending owners a notice of violation." The law does not affect signs for the business at that location, non-commercial signs, temporary agriculture-oriented signs, or signs in the highway’s right-of-way.

The change was prompted by a call from Coastsider.  Just after the Martin Luther King holiday weekend, I was surprised to see a new billboard on Highway 92.  This one, for "Spyglass Living", was much larger than any signs—including existing Spyglass Living billboards—on the scenic highway.

I called Supervisor Rich Gordon’s office to find out who had jurisdiction over advertising signs on Highway 92. Supervisor Gordon’s office needed about a week of digging before they could get back to me with an answer, but it was a good one.

I was told the signs were illegal and that the county would enforce the law.

Supervisor Gordon told me, "After your call, I took a ride out there, and there was this big, brand-new sign.  I contacted staff first thing Monday morning. They told me these signs needed a coastal development permit.  I understand the needs of entrepreneurs, but the rules are the rules."