Lizanah, Nomi Harper and Mark Kostrzewa, featuring edgy original lyrics and acoustic guitar will appear at Caffe Lucca, Hwy 1 in Montara, Saturday, June 27, 2009, 5 to 8pm.

Dan Burden (along with other experts) is coming to the Coast, to help us plan bike paths, safe highway crossings, and make our community more pedestrian friendly.

Burden is an internationally recognized planner and was cited by Time Magazine as one of the nation’s top innovators.

This first phase focuses on Miramar to the Airport, which includes one of the most problematic areas, Surfers Beach. The project is sponsored by San Mateo County and is headed up by Dave Holland, the Director of Parks and Recreation.

Everyone has an opinion—make sure yours is heard—starting June 25th (this Thursday) 7-9 PM at El Granada Elementary School.

Reprinted with permission from Montara Fog.

This coming Saturday, June 27th, the League for Coastside Protection will give away free Compact Fluorescent Lights at the Farmers Market, Shoreline Station, Half Moon Bay.

We’ll be there from 9:00AM until 1:00 PM or until we run out of the CFL’S.

Folks! Remember that CFL’S contain Mercury and are not allowed in the garbage. They must be disposed in accordance with disposal laws.

Ocean Shore Hardware and Half Moon bay Electric will recycle your CFL’S

John Lynch

Jeff Clark has stepped down as the director of the Mavericks big wave surf contest, reports the Santa Cruz Sentinel.

He will no longer be charged with the task of surveying weather conditions, swells and tides and deciding whether they will ultimately combine to create contest-worthy waves.

"Maverick’s truly belongs to everyone, so we’re looking forward to democratizing the contest direction process," Keir Beadling, CEO for contest organizer Mavericks Surf Ventures, said in a statement. "Studying the seasonal swell patterns and when to call the surfers is no small responsibility. We’re excited to pass the torch to the next generation of Maverick’s enthusiasts to assure the contest’s continued success."

Clark recently underwent a procedure to take care of chronic hip problems he believes were caused by surfing and asked Maverick’s fans to help foot the $30,000 bill. Whether Clark chose to step down is unclear. Clark could not be reached to comment Monday.

Reached via e-mail Monday, Beadling could not say whether a single person or a group would replace Clark as contest director, nor if the director would continue to have the final say on whether the contest could be run. He said the contestants will be key in deciding the future of the position.

The Sequoia Healthcare District is holding a public forum on Coastside health care, Monday, June 29 at 7pm.

The forum’s goal is to gather information on the unmet medical needs of the community since the closing of the Coastside Family Medical Clinic. It will be held at Adcock center, 535 Kelly Avenue, Half Moon Bay.

Sequoia Healthcare District supports community-based health care initiatives in Redwood City, Atherton, Belmont, Menlo Park, Portola Valley, San Carlos, Woodside and parts of San Mateo and Foster City from Skyline to the bay and is exploring the possibility of annexing the greater half moon bay area.

For information call 650.421.2155, ext. 202

There will be a Groundbreaking Event at Quarry Park Community Garden In El Granada on Sunday, June 28, from 10am to noon.

Please bring shovels, rakes and gloves, if you have them, and lunch. Drinks and snacks will be provided

AB650, the bill to give Half Moon Bay some assistance with the settlement it agreed to pay developer Chop Keenan, is officially dead. The bill’s sponsor, Assembly member Jerry Hill, say he will no longer pursue passage of the bill.

"Unfortunately, the collective actions of the City Council last week and the recent announcement that the city would not file for bankruptcy, coupled with the $20 billion state budget deficit impacted the willingness of my legislative colleagues to support AB 650," said the bill’s sponsor, Assembly member Jerry Hill.

At last week’s city council meeting, the city council agreed to a $15 million bond to pay the settlement, and raised the salaries of several key city employees.

The Coast Guard rescued a surfer in distress Friday evening. He was rescued at Pescadero Point and returned to Pomponio State Beach.

At approximately 6 p.m., Coast Guard Sector San Francisco received report of a male surfer in distress and dispatched an MH-65 Dolphin helicopter from Air Station San Francisco. Coast Guard Station Golden Gate also responded and launched a 47-foot motor lifeboat by 6:12 p.m. The Coast Guard crews searched along side boat units from the Pillar Point Harbor Patrol, San Mateo Fire Department and California State Parks before the helicopter crew located the surfer stranded in a cove at approximately 7:10 p.m. He was hoisted into the helicopter and transferred to a nearby beach to receive medical assistance from Emergency Medical Services that were standing by.

The man was last reported to be in good condition and received no further medical attention following assistance provided on the beach.

Supervisor Rich Gordon will be hosting his monthly office hours on Thursday, June 25 from 10 am until noon at the Sheriff’s Coastside Substation at 500 California in Moss Beach.  Everyone is welcome to attend and meet one on one with the Supervisor.

Scott Boyd is a member of the Montara Water and Sanitary District board.

Thursday night Montara Water and Sanitary District cleared the way for a new bathroom at Moss Beach Park.  Five years ago a broad coalition of community members came together to build the park, but at the time there was no provision for a bathroom.

Since then park usage grew, and the need became more pressing.  San Mateo County Parks and Recreation Department recently offered to fund the construction and maintenance of the bathroom with funds collected from park mitigation fees. In late April, Coastside Preservation and Recreation (CPR) brought news of the funding opportunity to the MWSD board.  CPR expressed concerns that the County needed to see that the bathroom project was reasonably free of problems and likely to reach completion or risk having the money allocated to some other project.

CPR, County Parks and Rec, and MWSD board members and staff all helped pull together a good bit of background information about the park property.  MWSD staff televised the sewer main on Virginia Avenue, and located evidence of an old connection.  In the 70’s the old school burned to the ground.  Precious little hard evidence remained, so this new find was great news.

Because of these special circumstances, MWSD’s board was able to approve a variance that will allow CPR to proceed with design, permitting, and construction of this long-awaited addition to Moss Beach Park, and to demonstrate to the County that they were right to put this project at the head of the list of worthy local projects to fund.

Video of last night’s meeting is available at http://mwsd.montara.org/?5234960