Paul Perkovic is a director of MWSD

Everyone takes water, telephone, sewer, gas, electricity, and cable utilities for granted, until something goes wrong. The intense rain and severe windstorm that struck the Bay Area on Friday, January 4, 2008, took out half of those services for many residents and businesses on the Coastside, causing significant disruption to people’s lives. But water and sewer (and PG&E’s gas) utilities performed well.

Montara Water and Sanitary District (MWSD) crews, along with those of Sewer Authority Mid-Coastside (SAM), kept reliable water and sewer services running throughout the storm with only minor problems. The rain brought much-needed water to help recharge our groundwater supplies. The storm itself, together with a regional power failure lasting nearly eight hours for most of our s

State Senator Leland Yee today announced he was introducing legislation to name the bore "Tom Lantos Tunnel at Devil’s Slide" in honor of the retiring Congressman.

Yee was joined by the mayors of Pacifica and Half Moon Bay at the site. He said (according to the press release) "No one single person is more responsible for this important project coming to fruition than Congressman Tom Lantos."

CORRECTION: An earlier version of this story said the announcement was made at the tunnel.

The Chronicle is reporting that the Mavericks surf competition will take place on Saturday.
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The contest, with a $75,000 prize pool, will be held Saturday morning off Pillar Point, with 24 surfers paddling into waves in a series of heats that will determine the winner. This will be the sixth time the contest has been held since 1999.

The timing of the event on a weekend may draw record crowds, but organizers have provided other ways for people to watch the show.

For over 25 years Joan Saffa has been producing award-winning non-fiction television programs. Her documentaries have been honored with several Northern California Emmys, Golden Cine Eagles, a national Emmy, and a George Foster Peabody Award.  Come meet her and see two of her extraordinary films about the treasures of the Bay Area.

Short: San Francisco In The 20s (60 mins)

SF in the 20s captures the frolicking good times, as well as the uncertainties lurking just below the surface of a decade  defined by prohibition, flamboyance and racism and ending with the great stock market crash. Narrated by Ed Asner.

Feature: Keeping Score: MTT on Music, The Music Of Aaron Copland (116 mins)

In this fascinating behind-the-scenes documentary, conductor Michael Tilson Thomas and the San Francisco Symphony take viewers on a guided tour of the music of one of America’s greatest composers. It’s a great ride not only for those familiar with Copland and his "American" sound, but for those willing to listen and discover this terrific music for the first time. The selections chosen cover Coplands iconic Americana classics (Appalachian Spring, Billy the Kid) but also lesser know works of a probing artist who straddled the popular-classical divide.

Fri. Jan 11, 7:30 pm
Methodist Sanctuary
777 Miramontes, Half Moon Bay
Corner of Johnston & Miramontes)
$6.00  

For more information, see http://www.hmbfilm.org

An informal Volunteer Recruitment meeting will be held at Seton Coastside on Saturday, February 9 from 9:30 to 11:00am. Refreshments will be served. Volunteers are greatly needed for:

• Friendly Patient Visiting Program
• Activity Assistance
• Clerical Duties
• Special Projects
• Occupational and Physical Therapy Depts.

The Fireside Room
Seton Coastside
600 Marine Blvd.
Moss Beach, CA 94038

Info: Marilyn Levene 650-991-6567

The county has issued its annual admonition to stay out of coastal waters following heavy storms, reports the County Times.

"You have all these (pathogens) building up during the dry season, above the creek line," [Dean Peterson, director of Environmental Health for San Mateo County] said. "So when you get the first storms, it will wash away this material into the creeks."

In San Mateo County, water quality experts on Monday tested various beaches along the 55-mile coastline and 20 miles of bayshore for elevated levels of the kind of bacteria linked to human and animal waste. If state levels are exceeded, a beach advisory is posted. Warnings, if needed, are posted within 48 hours, Peterson said.

Heal the Bay recommends staying out of the water for 72 hours after a storm.

Franco Carruba has bought Shoreline Station, Cunha’s Country Store, and San Benito House.  And he’s making folks in Half Moon a little nervous, reports Julia Scott in the County Times. Carruba moved here six months ago from Palo alto.

Carrubba, 59, a native of Syracuse, Sicily, laughs at his reputation as an international Man of Mystery. Few people know that he bought a home in Half Moon Bay six months ago that he and his family took residence in after leaving Palo Alto. Rather than tear anything down, Carrubba intends to preserve the buildings that house Cunha’s and the San Benito House and expand their business the best way he knows how — by adding an Italian touch.
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Carrubba made good on his vision right away. He kept all 35 employees at Cunha’s and added four more to help manage business on the second floor, half of which he turned into a wine cave stocked with rare Italian vintages. Italian frescoes adorn the walls, some so fresh they still say "wet paint."
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Few people took note when Carrubba — who owns Caffe Riace, an Italian restaurant in Palo Alto — bought Shoreline Station plaza on Highway 1 more than two years ago at a time when it had crumbling sidewalks, peeling paint and a 30 percent occupancy rate. Now every space is leased. Carrubba’s own Riace Wine Tasting & Deli opened there this fall, serving gelato, pannini, imported Italian cheese, pasta and wine.

The Fitzgerald Marine Reserve has gotten $669,750 in the latest federal appropriations bill to build an interpretive center, which includes a visitor center shaped like a keyhole limpet, reports the County Times.

The county’s parks department now must find the rest of the estimated $2.5 million to $3 million it will cost to complete the project at the entrance to Fitzgerald Marine Reserve, a narrow 3-mile strip of rocky coastline and tide pools near Moss Beach.
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The San Mateo County Parks and Recreation Foundation, a nonprofit fundraising group, has already spent $117,000 developing concept designs for the Fitzgerald project and completing early site work. Holland said the department is also applying for state and federal grants.

The first meeting of the Midcoast Community Council is Wednesday night.  Newly-elected council member Neil Merrilees produced a great video with Darin Boville describing what he sees as the Midcoast’s priorities for the coming year. But he wants you to bring your issues to share at the meeting as well.  This is great stuff and it’s good to see the MCC back in action after a long period of near-dormancy. The meeting will be 7:30pm at Seton Coastside in Moss Beach park in the upper lot, enter the main door, first room on the right.

The editorial in today’s Chronicle blames slow-growth policies for the Yamagiwa decision, leading with "The taxpayers of Half Moon Bay may find out that slow-growth policies can come with a cost."

Somehow the Chronicle missed the facts of the case, as reported by the, um, San Francisco Chronicle:

Walker ruled that the city had created the wetlands - and damaged the property - by botching a storm drain project and by allowing dirt to be removed for a nearby housing development. Its wetlands status meant the plot could not be developed under state coastal regulation.

The simple fable that environmentalists are responsible for the Yamagiwa decision is very appealing. It allows the assignment of blame, it sounds like poetic justice, and fits with a popular theme in right-wing radio: that property owners have lost their rights to busybodies. And you, sir, are no longer safe in your own home, author of your own fate, or master of your domain.