UPDATE:  This appears to have cleared.

Traffic is slow on Highway 92 west of Skyline because of a downed tree and landslide. 511.org recommends using an "alternate route".

It’s 10:30 AM on Monday and so far, we’ve experienced two "wink out" disruptions to electricity (loss of power for a moment and then almost immediately back on.)

Given the predicted weather for this week, can you predict how many times will Montara / Moss Beach lose power? Bonus points for predicting the longest outage duration.

Going forward, I think we’ll experience 5 more outages between now and Saturday, with the longest one lasting 5 1/2 hours.

"Life’s Most Persistent And Urgent Question Is:
What Are You Doing For Others?"
- Martin Luther King, Jr.

Puente is raising funds for Partners In Health, a nonprofit organization working to bring desperately needed aid to Haiti, and we hope that you will join us!

Please learn more and help us reach our goal by making a contribution at:

http://act.pih.org/page/outreach/view/haitiearthquake/Puente

Thanks, Kerry Lobel for the board & staff of Puente

Supervisor Rich Gordon’s office will be holding Coastside office hours from 10am to Noon on Thursday, January 28 at the Sheriff’s Coastside Substation in Moss Beach.

UPDATE: The NWS has issued an urban and small stream flood advisory. Can track the storm on this Half Moon Bay weather station.

The National Weather Service forecasts high winds sufficient to cause property damage or power outages from 7am to 4pm on Monday.

Strongest winds are  expected near the coast… Particularly coastal areas south of San Francisco. ...High wind warning in effect from 7 am to 4 pm pst monday… The National Weather Service in San Francisco has issued a high wind warning…Which is in effect from 7 am to 4 pm pst monday.  This high wind warning covers coastal sections of San Mateo… Santa Cruz…And Monterey Counties. ... Winds: southeast winds of 20 to 40 mph are expected with gusts as high as 60 mph. ... * Impacts: winds this strong can lead to property damage. Downed trees and power lines will result in power outages.

Big storms are coming. You can pick up sandbags to divert water and protect your property here on the coast.  The county website says there is a limit of 15 bags -I suggest you plan ahead - it may take more than 1 trip.

From the county web site:

County residents in unincorporated areas may pick up sandbags free of charge at the following locations.  There is a limit of 15 bags; requests for additional bags will be considered on a case-by-case basis.  When you are done with them, feel free to bring them back to the yard for disposal or simply empty the sand on you lawn and throw the bags away.

Locations:

Grant Corporation Yard, 752 Chestnut, Redwood City – (650) 363-4103

Princeton Corporation Yard, 203 Cornell Avenue – (650) 728-7993

Pescadero High School, 350 Butano Cutoff Road

La Honda Corporation Yard, 59 Entrada Way – (650) 747-0341

This weekend, in their first house concert of the new year, they’ll treat the audience to this and other styles: classic Scots fiddle tunes from the Baroque era played in the style of the old masters, rip-roaring reels and heel-stomping jigs from the folk tradition, Gaelic airs heartfelt and mystical, intriguing world-music originals, and live improvisations.

   When: Saturday January 16 at 7:00 p.m.
   Where: Montara
   Donation: $12, and bring a potluck snack

Call 650-728-0862 or email [email protected] for seats and directions.  RSVP soon, as space is limited.

Colyn Fischer, a winner of national performance awards, is a virtuoso violinist and fiddler with grounding in classical music, Scottish fiddling, and jazz.
Pianist Shauna Pickett-Gordon has accompanied most of the great Scottish fiddlers on this continent.  Both musicians compose in a wide variety of genres and teach music.

Peat-Fire Flame Website: http://www.scotsduo.com/

You can find additional videos of Colyn & Shauna here:  Peat-Fire Flame video page.

On Jan. 13, 2010, the newly created San Mateo County Charter Review Commission met to begin discussing possible changes to the way our county is governed. This may include changing the way San Mateo County supervisors are elected from an at-large or countywide process to one in which supervisors must reside in and be elected by voters in a specific district, when supervisors can be appointed to fill mid-term vacancies or perhaps propose changes to some of the elected administrative offices such as the San Mateo County Treasurer’s post.

But the process for establishing this commission, as required by the county charter to conduct such reviews every eight years, is curious.

The 17-member panel was created out of whole cloth with little in the way of a transparent or public process. No members of the public were really offered the chance to volunteer for this important job and many of the slots were awarded to county organizations that do not necessarily have any direct relationship to performing such a task.

Ten of the 17 members were appointed by the San Mateo County Board of Supervisors and include many familiar faces who include former aides to elected officials, retired locals officeholders and others who are supporters of the supervisors who appointed them.

In addition, two of seats are occupied by individuals placed on the commission by virtue of their relationship to specific organizations designated as sponsors of individual seats including the San Mateo County Central Labor Council and the San Mateo County League of Women Voters.

Why both of these organizations, as well as several others, were designated to send delegates to this commission is unclear but certainly some logic could be ascribed to tapping the expertise