An El Granada resident has posted a series of photographs that show a crew clearing a lot of vegetation and, ultimately, a nest of what was probably a San Francisco dusky-footed woodrat.

The photos are a rare opportunity to see a bit of the local wildlife in the process of being wiped out. The photos show the lot being cleared, the nest in the middle of the newly-created clearing, and the same clearing without the nest. According to the person posting the photos, the lot was surveyed and the woodrat nests marked before the lot was cleared. He described the area as riparian habitat on the banks of a year-round creek.

San Francisco dusky-footed woodrat (Neotoma fuscipes annectens) listed by the California Fish and Wildlife Service as a "federal endangered and threatened species that may be affected by projects in Santa Clara County". 

Coincidentally, this woodrat may be holding up the development of five vacant parcels in San Carlos.

The Santa Cruz Sentinel follows a Cabrillo College archeology class digging for artifacts at an excavation site off Whitehouse Canyon Road, north of Año Nuevo State Reserve [map].

What they found was pretty prosaic: stone flakes, broken obsidian spearheads and shell fragments. But they are believed to be artifacts of the local Quiroste tribe from 250 years ago:

The Spanish described a valley with one large house in the middle of the village, spacious enough to fit the entire tribe of 200. The remnants of this house, known as the "round house" or "casa grande" by the Spanish, is the "Holy Grail" for the archaeologists searching the area, Hylkema said.

Chicago-based luxury hotel owner Strategic Hotel Capital says it is acquiring the Ritz-Carlton Half Moon Bay for $124.4 million.

“This is a genuinely unique, high-end hotel with significant growth prospects located in a market with high barriers to entry.” Laurence Geller, Strategic Hotel Capital’s president and CEO, said in a press release. According to the press release, the hotel took 20 years to construct. Barriers to entry, indeed.

The resort is expected to earn about $8.1 million in 2004 and $10.4 million in 2005, before interest expense, taxes, depreciation and amortization, according to Strategic Hotel Capital. Translation: it’s still not making money. The buyer blamed the post 9/11 travel slump and recession, but suggested that it should do better as the economy recovers.

Strategic Hotel Capital owns 14 properties and completed an initial public offering June 24, raising $246.4 million.  The company describes itself as "a real estate investment trust (REIT) which owns and asset manages high-end hotels and resorts" . Its hotels are operated by third-party management companies, according to Hoover’s.

Aloha in the Redwoods, featuring the music and food of Hawaii, comes to La Honda Sunday, August 29. All proceeds benefit the La Honda Educational Foundation. The Foundation is dedicated to raising funds for teacher salaries, classroom aides, educational enrichment, and the music program at La Honda Elementary School.

The event features slack key guitar and ukelele masters in concert including "Ki Ho ‘Alu" Slack Key Guitar Master Dennis Kamakahi and hula dancers beneath the redwoods. Kalua pig plate lunch will be sold by Ono Hawaiian Grill.

Aloha in the Redwoods will be Sunday August 29, 2004 3:00 ~ 6:00 PM, La Honda Gardens, 8865 La Honda Road (Hwy 84), La Honda [map].

Sponsorships are still available at the Web site, or by emailing [email protected] or calling 650-747-9633.

The judge in the MROSD petition case has implied that the county elections commission was not impartial in its counting, and extended the deadline. San Mateo County Superior Court Judge Carl Holm will hear oral arguments in the case August 5. Apparently he must reach a decision by Aug. 6 to place a measure on the November ballot. Holm gave the lawyers until next Friday July 30 to file briefs on the case.

Neither the Mercury News, the San Mateo Times, nor the San Francisco Chronicle gives enough information to really understand this case, although the Merc has the most detail. I think this has become too arcane for baysiders to be interested. I’d like to hear more about this hearing from people who were there, but most will probably keep quiet while the case is up in the air.

MROSD’s opponents are taking two approaches, attempting to have some 650 invalidated petitions declared valid and trying to get the judge to order LAFCO to call for an election regardless of the outcome of the petition review.

The Mercury News reports that the judge expressed his concern that the county elections commission was not impartial, referring to county elections manager David Tom:

"I was led to believe Mr. Tom was trying to do things objectively’’ rather than helping the annexation cause, Holm said.

 

FOR OTHER VIEWS: See comments on this story for a pro-annexation account of the hearing. See comments on an earlier story, for an anti-annexation account.

As of yesterday, the court has reached no conclusion in the MROSD petition count appeal and the judge is continuing the hearing. So far, County Elections Manager David Tom has found 64 additional valid signatures, including those with only post-office-box addresses and those with residential addresses written in by a third party. Petitioners were about 640 short of the number needed to force an election in November.

I’m looking forward to getting some first-hand accounts of the hearing from the participants.

Half Moon Bay will be the site the Ocean Blue Adventure Race:  seven miles of sea kayaking, 25 miles of mountain biking (with 3,000 feet of elevation gain) and about six miles of orienteering on foot.

The deadline for entry is Aug. 5, online or at REI. Cost: $145/person (includes two meals, two parties, big gear raffle). Entrants can be solo, or up to 4-person teams. Coed teams are the most popular. 530.546.1019 or http://www.bigblueadventure.com

It’s possible to find out your neighbors’ political contributions, how much they contributed and to whom the contributed it. Take a look. You’ll probably recognize some names. It’s no surprise that most of the donations were made to Democrats, but the degree of the tilt may be startling.

Click on the links below to see the results, which Fundrace is continuing to update. The zip codes in the southcoast are very small, and for some reason the results here consist mostly of stuff from Atherton and Los Altos hills. But you can pick out locals in the list.

Pacifica

Montara

Moss Beach

El Granada 

Half Moon Bay 

Pescadero

San Gregorio

La Honda

Loma Mar

It seems invasive, but it does serve an important public purpose. Fundrace.org uses information in the public record and provided by the Federal Election Commission.  Anyone who contributes "hard money" to political campaigns must provide personal information. This requirement limits the political influence of wealthy, anonymous individuals and allows the public to track financial contributions that may influence the political process.

The Coastside Infant Toddler Center will be holding its annual 45-family yard sale on August 7. Our daughter goes to CITC and it’s a wonderful resource for the coastside, so I’m a big supporter of the event.  Because most of the donors have young kids, it’s a great place to score baby and toddler clothes and toys. They’re collecting donations beginning July 23.

CITC is located at Highway 1 and Redondo Beach Road [map], just south of downtown Half Moon Bay on the west side of the highway. All items must be clean and in good repair; no junk please. Make sure all clothes are washed and on hangers or folded. They’re not looking for old computers or large appliances. For more information, contact Karen Corzine, 650.726.7416.

A California red-legged frog, a federally-recognized threatened species, has been found on the property planned for the Wavecrest Village development. The location seems to be part of the open space area in the current version of the Wavecrest development plan. The frog was found on June 7 by Chris Giorni, a biologist associated with the herpetology department of the California Academy of Sciences.

Photo by Chris Giorni

A california red-legged frog, photographed on the Wavecrest property.

The approximate location of the sighting is circled in red (based on the topographic map), near Smith Field and south of the proposed Wavecrest Village and middle school site.

In 1994, Giorni contracted with San Mateo county Parks & Recreation to survey the coastside for the San Francisco garter snake. He happened to be passing through Half Moon Bay last month and decided the re-visit one of the sites of his earlier survey. He heard what he thought might be a frog, and returned June 7. After a careful search, he was rewarded with a sight of the frog resting in the shade of a coyote bush on the property. The location is marked with a cross on this topographic map. "I haven't been involved in development in Half Moon Bay," says Giorni, "so I didn't know that it might be of so much interest."