A petition drive is underway to help get a statewide initiative on the November 2010 ballot to use an $18 vehicle license fee surcharge instead of the California general fund to finance State Parks. In exchange, all vehicles subject to the surcharge would be entitled to free, unlimited day use access to all 278 State Parks.

Please add your signature if you see these petitions when you are out and about and are a registered voter anywhere in California.

This is needed because State Park funding has been cut back so severely that some Parks are now closed part of the year and may be shuttered entirely. The Parks budget has become a political football. If parks close, these lands will be occupied by folks who present a serious local law enforcement challenge.

Want to help collect signatures?

If you would like to volunteer gathering petition signatures, there will be a training session this Saturday in HMB at 4pm. Other training sessions are being scheduled in the unincorporated area. Stay tuned.

Please note that all volunteers NEED TO BE TRAINED to pass these petitions. You do not need to table at specific locations. You can just gather signatures from among family, friends and neighbors.

This next training session will be this Saturday, Jan 23, at:

Bloom Lane Clubhouse            
4:00 pm to 5:00 pm

Bloom Lane is in HMB, one block south of Cetrellas off Main St and one block north of Arnold. Turn onto Bloom Lane and immediately turn right into the parking lot by the club house.

The petition drive will end about April 10th.

The County Planning Commission will hold an open study session to discuss the items on the Planning Commission agenda for the Big Wave project and Draft Environmental Impact Report (DEIR). The session will be Wednesday, January 27, at 8am in the Supervisors’ Chambers, 400 County Center, Redwood City.

Members of the public are welcome to attend the Study Session. But because this is not a public meeting or hearing, speakers will be limited to one minute and to "remarks to questions that they believe should be addressed by staff or the Commission at the hearing on the item".

The session will be followed by the regularly-scheduled meeting of the Planning Commission at 9am.

The San Mateo County Parks Department and the Midcoast Park and Recreation Committee will be holding a joint public meeting to discuss a Draft Conceptual Plan for the California Coastal Trail from Miramar to Moss Beach.   The meeting will be Tuesday, Jan 26 from 7 to 9pm at the Half Moon Bay Yacht Club, 214 Princeton Ave, Princeton.

The proposed routes will be presented for public comment.   The Conceptual Plan for the California Coastal Trail from Mirada Surf to Pillar Point can be downloaded from Coastsider.   
 
For further information please contact Senior Planner Sam Herzberg at 650/363-1823 or [email protected] 

The Yacht Club does not have a parking lot.  Attendees are requested to use available street parking and be considerate of Yacht Club and neighbors’  and gates.

Jeff Clark says he’s suing the company that now manages the Mavericks big wave surf contest, which he founded, reports the SF Appeal.

Clark filed a complaint in San Francisco Superior Court today, alleging that Mavericks Surf Ventures Inc. CEO Keir Beadling and the company’s directors breached two contracts with Clark, withheld payments, and did not disclose basic financial information to shareholders, according to Clark’s attorney, Richard Mooney. [...]

In 2003, Clark partnered with Evolve Sports, which led to the creation of Mavericks Surf Ventures to run the event. The company announced last year that Clark was stepping down as contest director, however Clark has said in interviews and on his personal blog that he was forced out of the contest he founded.

"Jeff was ousted from his position," his attorney Richard Mooney said this afternoon. "They continue to use his name and likeness to promote the competition and the contest, even after they made sure he couldn’t have any connection to it."

You can download 243 comments on the Big Wave Draft Environmental Impact Report in one 17 MB zip file, or browse and download individual comments by the name of the sender.

Click the link below for a complete list of comments by sender.

The Cabrillo Unified School District board is holding a series of public hearings to discuss its developing budget crisis and possible remedies, in addition to regularly scheduled Board meetings scheduled for January 14 and February 11.

The four special public hearings have been scheduled for 6pm over the next few weeks.  The first hearing is Thursday night at Farallone View in Montara.

• Thursday, January 21: Farallone View Elementary (Multi-Use Room)
• Monday, January 25: El Granada (School Library)
• Tuesday, February 23: Hatch Elementary (Multi-Use Room)
• Thursday, February 25: District Office Board Room

From the press release:

Like school districts throughout California,  scrambling to respond to a structural budget deficit of nearly $2.5 million… and some key decisions will need to be made over the next two months in preparation for the upcoming 2010-2011 school year.

“It is incredibly frustrating,” CUSD Superintendent Rob Gaskill noted. “If we were funded at the appropriate level guaranteed by state formula we would be holding our own in these tough times. We’ve cut just about everywhere we can by now. The next round could prove really painful. The Board has some very difficult decisions to make by the end of February that will impact this school district for many years to come.” [...]

“We encourage members of our Coastside community to fully engage with us in developing creative strategies to cope with this imposing deficit,” Gaskill noted. “Everyone has something at stake in this one.”

From the NWS:

The National Weather Service in the San Francisco Bay Area has issued a * tornado warning for… Santa Clara County in northern California… This includes the city of Morgan Hill… Santa Cruz County in northern California… * Until 230 pm pst  * at 202 pm pst… National Weather Service doppler radar indicated a severe thunderstorm capable of producing a tornado moving northeast at 35 mph. This storm may produce quarter size hail

Cub Scout Pack 255 is collecting clean, reusable coats, sweatshirts, sweaters, hoodies, mittens, scarves (anything that can keep a person warm).  Between January 18th & February 7th 2010.

Collection box is located at Ink Spell Books.  All donations benefit Coastside Hope.

For more information on the national level see www.onewarmcoat.org.

On Friday January 22, The Visionary Edge will present an event on eating disorders inspired by the Nova documentary Dying to Be Thin in Half Moon Bay.  

In discussion with two local moms, Susan George and Dr. Keely Rollings,  Reba Vanderpool of The Visionary Edge discovered that the three women had something in common: a passion to bring interesting, informative events to the coast that will support a healthy lifestyle and foster a culture of connection and support.  The three decided to start a series of community events with the first one focusing on eating disorders.  

Babysitting will be provided for $5 per child for the evening with a 24 hour advance reservation. Call 650-207-3440.

Friday, January 22nd. Doors will open at 7:00pm, event begins at 7:30 at the Community United Methodist Church, 777 Miramontes Street (at Johnston), HMB. Suggested donation $5 individual, $10 per family. No one will be turned away for lack of funds. Call 650-207-3440 for information and reservations.