The San Mateo County Board of Supervisors approved the permits for the Big Wave development in a hearing today in a 4-0 vote.

The supervisors did not vote on the Big Wave development agreement because it has been changed from the original form approved by the Planning Commission. It will be considered by the commission and the supervisors at a later date.

Following about three hours of appeals, responses, and public comments, the board broke for lunch and reconvened to consider the proposals. After a little over an hour of questioning planning staff and county counsel, Supervisor Don Horsely moved that the board approve the permits.

Half Moon Bay city staff is recommend that the city move forward with a proposal by the San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office to provide the city’s police services, reports Julia Scott in the County Times. The Sheriff’s least expensive proposal will save the city $1.2 million.

The city will hold a community meeting on Saturday to consider the proposal.

A staff report lays out the city’s rationale for choosing the county instead of Pacifica. Not surprisingly, lower costs top the list, along with the fact that the Sheriff’s Office already has a presence on the coast. It patrols the mid-coast area and Skyline Boulevard.

Half Moon Bay City Councilman John Muller was quick to point out Monday that the council will have final say on the matter at the public meeting, which is scheduled for 1 p.m. Saturday at the Adcock Community Center on Kelly Avenue. But Pacifica City Manager Steve Rhodes said he’s been told his city’s police bid is out of the running.

“I expected it,” Rhodes said. “The county’s proposal saved them more money.”

The Sheriff’s Office presented four options; the least costly one would devote six deputies, a records administrator and three part-time community service officers exclusively to Half Moon Bay.

At the same time, the city would “share” four patrol sergeants, a detective, two other deputies and a lieutenant who already happen to be stationed on the coast.

It would provide round-the-clock staffing with at least one deputy during off-peak hours and give Half Moon Bay access to a detective and other positions the city has cut since 2007. Half Moon Bay already shares dispatch services with the county after hours and on weekends.

The council will also consider eliminating or outsourcing its Recreation Department, which now consists of two part-time employees, at Saturday’s meeting.

The Sheriff currently provides police services on the unincorporated Midcoast.

Make A Whale Of A Difference on Saturday, April 16, with the Pacifica Beach Coalition’s Earth Day Action and Celebration.  Everyone is welcome – fun for all ages – families, individuals, organizations and businesses will all be participating.

Earth Day Action - 9:00am - 11:30am Sites throughout Pacifica (Check out the Google map of current sites and project on our website)
Earth Day Celebration—11:30am - 3:30pm Pacifica State Beach (Linda Mar) south parking lot

Join the Pacifica Beach Coalition and premiere sponsor Recology of the Coast, by taking action and making an impact on our precious coastal environment. Clean-up at beaches, bluffs, public areas and neighborhood streets; habitat restoration at Linda Mar, Pedro Point Headlands and Mori Point; invasive plant removal; and, beautification projects will be conducted throughout the area. The site map, waiver forms and registration information are easily accessible online.  www.pacificabeachcoalition.org

After the Earth Day Action, Join the Celebration!  What’s Happening:

• Music by Pollo del Mar, the Linda Martians, and a special performance by local school musicians.
• Guest Speakers including Lincoln Shaw from Sea Shepherd Conservation Society (Whale Wars), a representative from the California Gray Whale Coalition, and local dignitaries.
• Additional organizations on-hand to share awareness and information including: The Marine Mammal Center, Sierra Club Loma Prieta Chapter,  California Gray Whale Coalition, Pacifica’s Environmental Family, Pacifica Gardens, Pacifica Shorebird Alliance, Pacifica Garden Club, Master Composters, Master Gardeners, Pacifica Resource Center, Pacifica School Volunteers, the City of Pacifica/San Mateo County Water Pollution Prevention Program, and more.
• Activities including:  Chair Massages; Segway Demonstrations;; Knock Down Litter Game; Earth Ball Activity; Face Painting, Music and Tot Play hosted by local singer songwriter Linda Tringali and more

Highway 84 is closed in both directions between Skyline Blvd and Portola Road due to landslides and fallen trees, according to the county’s alert system.  There is no estimated time for re-opening.

Half Moon Bay High School’s production of Beauty and the Beast opens tonight in the High School’s auditorium. This looks like a great show for all family members, with terrific music and a story that even the youngest theatergoer will love.

Tickets are still available at the door for tonight’s performance, or you can buy your tickets online in advance for any of the other upcoming shows.

Friday, March 24th 7:30pm
Saturday, March 25th 7:30 pm
Sunday, March 26th 2:00pm

Friday, April 1,  7:30pm
Saturday, April 2,  2:00pm and 7:30 pm
Sunday, April 3 2:00pm

Auto burglary in El Granada and Miramar in the same evening, warrant arrest, DUI crash at Airport and Cypress, auto burglary in HMB, warrant arrest, public intoxication in Princeton.

There are many reasons I am grateful I no longer live in in Maricopa County—but America’s Sheriff Joe Arapaio is a big one. He’s part of the Three Joe’s (sic) touring company that touched down in Montara this evening for a Tea Party fundraiser.  This will be the first and last time Montara makes the Daily Kos.

“Sheriff” Joe Arpaio is apparently sanguine enough in his recent thrilling victory over an unarmed chicken farmer that he will be defil^H^H^H^H^Hvisiting Montara, CA, tomorrow (2011-03-24) as one of the featured speakers at an anti-Obama fundraiser.

Literally, that’s what it is: “...the launch of the historic effort to Defeat Barack Obama,” organized by the Our Country Deserves Better PAC, whose director is Howard Kaloogian, who you may remember as the guy who posted a photo of a quiet street in Istanbul, Turkey, and claimed it was from liberated Baghdad.

The event is entitled, “Evening with The Joes.” Arpaio’s co-guests are Joe Miller—the Alaskan teabagger who lost his US Senate bid to Lisa Murkowski’s write-in campaign—and Not-Joe the Not-Plumber (Samuel J. Wurzelbacher). Yes, all top-shelf. No expense has been spared. VIP-level admission to the event is $2012.00. (Oh, I see what you did there…)

The depths of Arpaio’s moral bankruptcy are expressed with surprising succinctness in his interview with Joe Garofoli. He blows all the right-wing and Tea Party dog whistles, and does so with malignant glee.  He also dares protesters to show up and get in his face.

Still, the more I think about this, the more ridiculous it sounds. They’re flying in three guys to the San Francisco Bay Area to hold a fundraiser, but don’t hold it in the City proper, where it would be much more convenient. Instead, they drive all the way down to Montara (over Devil’s Slide, no less) to hold it in the middle of what will be a mud field if the weather forecasts pan out. Admittedly $2012.00 is fiddling small change as far as Republican fundraisers go, but still, you’d think they could have scored a ballroom at the Hyatt Regency Embarcadero or something…