Tonight, MCTV, cable channel 6, will show “The Future of Schools: Inside and Out”, a program on school design.

The program, which was recommended to us by school board member Roy Salume, emphasizes the importance of giving schools a sense of purpose for teaching, learning, and development. Salume says, "This educational model is sure to be implemented in more schools across the country."

The program reinforces the premise that the brighter and less noisy the school, the more learning will take place. This program features the latest trends in school design from around the Country. The focus is on creative design, energy, heating, and lighting strategies in new and older buildings to save money and offer a better learning environment for students.

Tuesday, May 23rd at 6pm
Wednesday, May 24th at 10am
Wednesday, May 31st at 10am

The Season of the Horse (2005 China; 106 Minutes), a family friendly film is about a Don Quixote-type struggle by a Mongolian shepherd whose traditional way of life is under fire thanks to a combination of economics, short sighted Chinese bureaucrats and global warming. Ning Cai’s beautifully shot and powerfully affecting debut uses a simple story of a family’s troubles to cast light on problems of modern society and to raise awareness about potential solutions.

Shot in documentary realist style (using eye-level shots, and natural sound), the film is rich in ethnic detail—preparing the local milky tea and yoghurt, dismantling and packing up he family Yurt, and a close partnership between the Mongolian shepherd and the horse who provides him with the freedom to roam in the face of encroaching urbanization.

The story is full of details about the little things that push us over the edge, and writer/director Ning Cai sensitively presents a family torn between financial pressures and the desire to maintain their centuries-old lifestyle.  In a powerful scene, a group of workers from a local distillery suddenly invades the quiet steppes, coming to gawk at the quaint shepherds living in yurts.

Dr. Jenny Lau, Chinese film scholar, writer and Associate Professor at San Francisco State University will introduce the film and answer questions after the screening.

For more info see www.hmbfilm.org

Friday, June 2, 2006 8:00pm
Community Methodist Sanctuary,  Half Moon Bay    
    777 Miramontes, Half Moon Bay
    (Corner of Johnston & Miramontes)
$6.00 donation per person

Two juveniles escape from Camp Glenwood in La Honda by stealing a teacher’s car, a woman is arrested for domestic violence, planters are broken at El Granada Elementary, a mental health evaluation in Montara, minor at Pigeon Point is drunk and a companion has drugs, tools are taken from the construction site at Skylawn and public drunkenness in Pillar Point Harbor. Click for details

Driving without a license, two warrant arrests, drinking alcohol in Mac Dutra Park,  a bike stolen outside a store, a registration sticker stolen from a car, a probation search in Montara yields drug paraphernalia, siphoning gas from a car, apparent gay bashing at the high school, a DUI, and a seven-year-old child is reported to the cops for trying to retrieve a lost ball. You read that right. Click for the details.

Darin Boville sat down for a conversation with former Half Moon Bay City Council member Mike Ferreira, for the first video in a series of conversations he plans with interesting Coastsiders.

Mike joined Darin at Caffe Lucca in Montara to talk about about his transition from one side of the Coastside divide to the other, the role of highways and stoplights in local development, transit, and the Balkanization of the neighborhoods in Half Moon Bay.

What’s interesting about what Darin has done is to capture a person a lot of Coastsiders have read about, but not nearly as many have had a chance to spend some time with.

In addition to Measure S parcel tax, there’s one race on this June’s ballot where your vote really matters. Coastsider endorses Leland Yee in the Democratic primary for State Senate.

Until I started Coastsider, I didn’t pay a lot of attention to state legislative races, so I’m addressing this to those of you who haven’t given much thought to this race.  Most of the time, it doesn’t really matter, because the incumbent always wins.  This year, we have a real race for an important seat.  Incumbent Jackie Speier is leaving due to term limits.  Leland Yee, whose state assembly seat consists mostly of San Francisco, and former San Mateo County Supervisor Mike Nevin are fighting for Speier seat, which represents the two counties.  There’s also a wild card in this race:  former San Mateo Assemblyman Lou Papan seems to be running mainly to settle a score with Nevin [backgrounder].

This is an important race and one in which your vote counts.

I’m going to tell you why I’m voting Leland Yee, and you can decide whether he’s right for you.  In a race between Democrats, I’m voting for a candidate who is concerned about my community. I think it boils down to two things: environmentalism and interest in the Coastside itself.

Leland Yee has a strong environmental record.  On the Coastside, nearly every significant issue at the state level is an environmental issue: fishing, farming, the Coastal Commission, housing, offshore drilling, parks, beaches, open space, and water. Alone among the candidates, Yee has a prominent place for the environmental issues on his campaign site. Yee has been endorsed by Vote the Coast, Sierra Club, League of Conservation Voters and League for Coastside Protection. Yee’s environmental record should matter to Coastsiders. 

Leland Yee is clearly interested in the Coastside. In the last year, he has come to the Coastside many times. He will be here again Wednesday at a pre-election event held by the Midcoast Community Council at which Mike Nevin has declined to appear. Yee has clearly identified the Coastside as a key constituency in San Mateo County and has been working hard for our votes.  Even when he was in the San Mateo County Board of Supervisors, Mike Nevin gained a reputation for not caring about our community. When you come from a part of the county that is often ignored and treated shabbily when it does get attention, it’s refreshing to see a candidate who’s actively seeking our vote.

The county elections office has set up a universal polling place at Lesley Gardens, 701 Arnold Way in downtown Half Moon Bay [Google map]. Any resident of San Mateo County can vote at the site Mon to Weds noon to 8:00pm;  Thurs to Fri 7:00am to 5:00pm;  Sat 10:00am to 5:00pm, until June 5. The polling place will be closed Sunday and Memorial Day. The system is designed to accommodate the needs of handicapped voters, but any voter can use the system, according to Warren Slocum, the county’s chief election officer:

With the complexities of this year’s election, we have developed a plan that works to meet the requirements of the new Help America Vote Act. While the law requires that there must be an accessible voting device in each polling place, San Mateo County is not able to obtain 500+ accessible voting devices for the June Primary. We will open nine Universal Voting Centers with accessible devices in locations throughout the county to accommodate voters with disabilities.

The universal voting center uses the Hart eSlate (pictured) an electronic voting system that the county elections office says, "allows the voter to see and review a printed paper record of the votes they are casting or to confirm their choices by way of an audio playback."  (FAQ).

At the Wednesday, May 24 meeting of the Midcoast Community Council, candidates for Supervisor and State Senate will appear.  This is a great opportunity to see meet of the more powerful state and local politicians who don’t come to the Coastside often, find out more about the candidates, and encourage them to pay attention to Coastside issues.

Candidates for San Mateo County Board of Supervisors District 3 seat will answer questions and debate the issues.  Scheduled attendees are Rich Gordon (incumbent), Jo Chamberlain and John Hickey.  Unopposed candidate for the District 2 seat, Jerry Hill will also participate. This will begin at about 7:45pm and last about an hour.

Candidates for the California State Senate seat District 8 seat will answer questions and debate the issues.  Scheduled attendees are Leland Yee (D) and Oscar Braun (R). Lou Pappan (who appeared at an earlier MCC meeting) and Mike Nevin (who cancelled an earlier appearance) will not be there. This is scheduled to start at 8:45pm and will last about 30 minutes.

At about 9:15, there will be a debate of the pros and cons of Measure S.

I wasn’t able to spend a lot of time patrolling the comments last week, and things have gotten out of hand in some places.  Coastsider is a place where people should feel free to participate without being attacked. I can see that the Golden Rule is not sufficient when someone is spoiling for a fight.  Here’s what I ask:

• Respect your opponents
• Stick to the facts
• Avoid labeling your opponent. The label "no-growther" is especially irritating. I’m not sure there’s an exact equivalent for the other side. If there is, avoid it too.
• Avoid ad hominem attacks (based on the identity of the person making the argument, and not the argument itself)
• Refer to people by name to clarify whom you’re talking to, not to be condescending (e.g. "Jane, you ignorant…")

I probably missed something, but this is a good start. It all boils down to respecting your opponents. I shouldn’t have to tell anyone this.

Nearly 200 people participated in last weekend’s Solar Home Tour. Nearly all were from the Coastside. Dennis Paull reports, "There were too many folks and too much talking to hold the presentations in the same room as the vendor fair, so we moved the presentations outdoors. There were 7 presentations and up to 100 folks listening, depending on the hour."

The vendor fair ran from 1:00pm to 3:00pm. The home tour ran from 2:00pm to 4:30pm. "We had to shoo some folks from the vendor fair after it closed," said Paull. "They still wanted to talk to the vendors. And a few folks were still looking at solar enhanced homes at 4:30."

The weather cooperated fully with a cool but clear sky. And utility meters were spinning madly backwards on those homes with solar panels.