The Humboldt Squid, a large, pugnacious predator, has shown up in local waters, reports the Santa Cruz Sentinel.

A mysterious sea creature, up to 7 feet long, weighing up to 100 pounds, with thousands of sharp barbs on its arms. It hunts in packs of hundreds, flying through the water at 25 mph, changing color.

With a parrot-like beak and strong arms, it attacks and tries to eat nearly anything it sees, including fish, scuba divers, even its own kind.

...

Tom Mattusch, of El Granada, runs recreational fishing trips on his 53-foot charter boat, the Huli Cat, based in Half Moon Bay.

"This is like the creature from the black lagoon. They are very strange looking," he said with a chuckle. "Nobody here has ever caught anything like this.

The story suggests that the appearance of the squid, which are native to the ocean off South America, is an indication that their natural predators (such as large tuna, marlins and swordfish) have been reduced by fishing.

A man thrown out of his kayak three times by a great white shark that was gnawing on the boat’s prow Saturday morning off Bean Hollow State Beach, according to an AP story in the Merc.

"When he came up, he thought he had been hit by a boat, but when he looked the shark was still on the front of his kayak, latched on, gnawing on the kayak. He thought about it for a second and decided he better get back onto the kayak, even though it was still on the nose."

Prather scrambled back into his kayak, but the force of the attack had knocked his seat loose and he fell out two more times. The shark swam away, leaving Prather’s kayak with multiple scratches and punctures in its bottom.

The Greenhouse in Montara is sponsoring an event to raise awareness of the humanitarian crisis in northern Uganda, where there are 800,000 orphans in displacement camps who lost their parents to AIDS and civil war. Displace Me takes place Saturday night, July 21 from 8pm to 7am Sunday in the Montara Post Office parking lot.  The organizers have gotten all the official approvals.

The Greenhouse says that Displace Me has been attended by more than 80,000 other Americans this year, with 2,500 in the Cow Palace lot this Spring. 

Teens, parents, and Greenhouse Staff in Montara are sleeping out in cardboard boxes on the asphalt to learn about the plight of those Ugandan orphans.  This event will set the stage for a fund-raising garage sale next Saturday at 277 6th Street, at Farallone and Sixth.  All proceeds go directly to get Ugandan kids out of the camps and into residential schools with surrogate parents.

Darin Boville has re-edited his original video of the damage on Devil’s slide in April, 2006 as part of a series marking the anniversary of its re-opening in August.  It’s aready difficult to remember how much the slide dominated our thinking last year at this time.

Damage on Devil’s Slide, April 2006   | Quicktime | Flash |

Californians for Property Rights (CPR) is having their annual Rock with Local Bands Event at La Honda Gardens on Sunday 22 July from Noon til 6 PM.  Located on HWY 84 across from Apple Jacks.  Five dollar admission for adults, kids free.

We will have games for kids, silent auction, Cow Chip Bingo, Raffles for Hotel certificates, craft booths, and information on recent land use issues in the Bay area.  And, of course, Lots of Great Music with Blue, D. B. Walker Band, Lisa Kelly Band, Geoff Allen, Ed Dee, and friends.

Terry Gossett

On Thursday, the Half Moon Bay city government took on the California Coastal Commission face to face.

At issue was a house project on Terrace Avenue, which had been denied by a previous planning commission and city council, but permitted by the current commission and council. The applicant wanted to build a house within a 100-foot wetland buffer when feasible alternatives existed for building on the lot.  The permit was appealed by the Coastal Commission itself as being in violation of the city’s Local Coastal Program. Coastal Commission staff recommended against the permit [pdf of staff report].

What’s interesting here is that Half Moon Bay Mayor Naomi Patridge, Vice Mayor Bonnie McClung, and Planning Commissioner Tom Roman (as well as HMB resident George Muteff) went to San Luis Obispo to defend the permit before the Coastal Commission.

Lennie Roberts of the Committee for Green Foothills and Mark Massara of the Sierra Club spoke against the permit.

In the end, as it become clear that the commission was likely to turn down the permit, the applicant withdrew their request.

Thanks to Darin Boville of Montara Fog for downloading and editing this from the Commissions gavel-to-gavel video.

Introduction and Commission’s summary   | Quicktime | Flash |

Consultant for the Applicant makes his case   | Quicktime | Flash |

Mayor Patridge defers to McClung; Vice-Mayor McClung speaks for Half Moon Bay   | Quicktime | Flash |

George Muteff | Quicktime | Flash |

HMB Planning Commissioner Tom Roman   | Quicktime | Flash |

Additional citizen voices   | Quicktime | Flash |

The applicant’s consultant rebuts   | Quicktime | Flash |

The Commission deliberates and votes | Quicktime | Flash |

The video in its entirety for die-hard fans of local politics   | Quicktime | Flash |

CORRECTION: An earlier version of this story referred to Mr. Dall as the applicant’s attorney. He’s a consultant.