In an editorial in today’s Review, Debra Godshall writes,

In early July, the Review broke the story of the red-legged frog sighting at Wavecrest that all but derailed the Wavecrest Village project just days after the city had signed an agreement with Wavecrest Partners.

Actually, Coastsider broke the story on July 19.  Two days later, on July 21, the Review followed our lead with a report skeptically titled "Biologist reportedly discovers red-legged frog in Wavecrest".  Even then, the nasty adverb "reportedly" intimated that the biologist, whom their reporter spoke to, might be lying. The Review didn’t "break" the story and it didn’t happen in "early July".

The Pacifica Tribune has a great survey of the Harbor Board candidates, covering their view of the general manager; commercial, educational and recreational components of the marinas; and the future of the harbor district and Pillar Point Harbor.

The Stanford Daily has a story about 40 kids from low-income areas of Half Moon Bay spending the day at Stanford’s golf course, "Tiger Woods’ old stomping ground."

"[The children] live across the street from two of the best-looking golf courses in the world," [Wayne] Southerland said of his young charges. "Until somebody opens up a door for them, they don"t know what"s over there."

In May of this year, while helping to organize the Half Moon Bay Chamber of Commerce Artichoke Golf Classic, Southerland saw an opportunity to benefit those who could not afford the nearly $200 entry fee for the tournament.

Coordinating with Susan Sanchez of Mid-Peninsula Housing Corporation and Kristen Flores of the YMCA, Southerland orchestrated a youth golf clinic prior to the main event. Two-time U.S. Open winner and ESPN golf analyst Andy North, on hand as part of the tournament itself, provided the instruction. Twenty-six juniors from Moonridge and Main Street participated in the clinic, and buoyed by the success, Southerland began looking for another venue for a similar youth event.

David Johnston, environmental scientist with the California Department of Fish and Game walked the 22-acre Nurserymens’ Exchange site and the Oak Avenue park site at the request of the city. He described 22-acre site as "the most developable site the city’s going to find."  He also said that a park on Oak Avenue would be a "huge bonus" for the site.

His net assessment was that a park on the Nurserymens’ Exchange site would be better for the wildlife than what is there now. "Not only has it been disturbed," he said, "it has been covered up."

According to Johnston, the site doesn’t have a lot of natural function right now, so there isn’t a lot to be preserved.  His principal concerns would be that snakes and frogs would be able to make their way from the creek to the lands across Highway 92, and that the pond might be a frog breeding area. The city might have to make sure that there are corridors in any parking areas so that reptiles and amphibians could cross. The holding pond is far from a ideal frog breeding area. But, if frogs were laying eggs there, this could be dealt with by carefully monitoring how much and when water is drawn from the pond for irrigation.

"We don’t see any significant opposition to the plan," he said. And while he can’t speak for the US Fish & Wildlife Service, he doesn’t anticipate any major problems with them either.  "I suspect they’ll want to add more to the design than we would."

"If you look at this site," said Johnston, "and say that you can’t develop it, you’re shutting down all development between San Francisco and Santa Cruz."

If you’re interested in seeing the candidates for the CUSD board in real life, there are four forums coming up, including one tonight:

• Cunha, tonight at 7pm
• Hatch Elementary, Monday, October 18, 4pm (Cabrillo Unified Teachers Association members only)
• Kings Mountain, Monday, October 18, 7:30pm
• Farallone View, Tuesday, October 26, at a time to be announced

There’s what is usually called a "spirited exchange" going on between CUSD candidates Jonathan Lundell and Charles Gardner right now in the Coastsider Candidates’ forum. They’ve begun posting pointed, but respectful, questions in one another’s topics.  You should check it out. Follow the links in the left-hand navigation bar, right above the picture and the Mercury News headlines.

REMEMBER:  Anybody can ask a question in these forums. This is your best chance of asking these candidates a direct question and expecting a direct answer on the record.

This year’s pumpkin weigh-off produced yet another record.  Joel Holland of Sumner, WA brought us a pumpkin weighing 1229 pounds, 49 pounds more than last year’s 1180 pound record-setter.  Second place went to Jack LaRue of Tenino, WA at 1160 pounds, and third to Jim Sherwood of Mulino, OR at 1139 pounds.

The weather in the IDES parking lot was hot and windy, but MC George Ginilio and musician Jim Stevens kept the crowd entertained as the pauses between weigh-ins grew as the pumpkins themselves became larger and larger. Toward the end, pumpkins were so heavy they could no longer be slid off the forklift and had to be hoisted onto the scale with a harness suspended from the lift.

Eda Muller of Half Moon Bay took top prize for San Mateo County with her 612 pounder.

Olivia Zunino of Los Altos Hills won the prize for the Most Beautiful Pumpkin with her 487 pound entry, named "Bubbles".

Meanwhile, reporters from the print and electronic media swarmed around successive giants. The world record of 1446 pounds, set in Port Elgin, Ontario, Canada, is safe for the moment.

Complete results can be found on the Pumpkin Festival’s Web site. Click on any image on the right to see the album.

Due to a combination of strong winds, and low humidity in the dry month of October, the National Weather Service has issued a red flag warning for the Bay Area on Sunday and Monday, according to the Mercury News.  Nice quote:

"We’re recommending that people bring in lawn furniture so they don’t become projectiles,’’ said Shawn Weagle, a forecaster with the National Weather Service.

Click the "read more" link to see the warning.

Coastsider’s albums (Chili and Chowder Cookoff, HMB Wine Walk, and Moss Beach Park construction) have been tremendously popular.  We’re adding a link in the top menu bar to our Gallery, which will be the place to if you want to find some new albums or to return to an old favorite.

Look for more photo albums as we go into the Halloween season, an important time of year on the Coastside.