Two loud explosions and flashes at ground level hit Moss Beach last night at 11PM. High voltage lines on California between Carlos and Etheldore fell onto California. 911 was called. Sheriff and Fire responded within minutes. PG&E was on scene about 5 minutes later.

A lone PG&E crew member cut lines going from Etheldore down to lower Moss Beach (southwest of Etheldore) and reconnected further up California.  Power was restored northwest of Etheldore at about 12 PM.

Around 12:15am, PG&E was removing downed lines from California. Lower Moss Beach was still dark.  Power was restored to lower Moss Beach around 1:00am.

Thanks to Vince Williams of Moss Beach for the details.

A shark knocked a surfer off his board, which wound up with a shark tooth embeded in it, at Mavericks off Pillar Point Harbor at 5pm Wednesday, reports KTVU.  This is the first shark attack at Mavericks in three years, and authorities are deciding whether to close the beach.

UPDATE:  The County Times has a more-detailed story about this encounter.

Sewer Authority Mid-Coastside (SAM) has released a feasibility study on water reuse and an addendum. Water recycling is an important long-term issue on the Coastside, which has already exceeded locally-available water sources. Water recycling is also an issue in this month’s election in Half Moon Bay, with a non-binding vote on the ballot.

The study was conducted by Carollo Engineers, P.C., a leading engineering firm specializing in water and wastewater treatment facility design and water reuse systems.

Peninsula Open Space Trust (POST) opens Mel’s Lane at Pigeon Point Lighthouse to the public Friday, November 4 at 2pm. The Mel’s Lane segment of the California Coastal Trail will be opened to the public for the first time. The trail is named in honor of Mel Lane, the first chair of the California Coastal Commission, co-publisher of Sunset magazine and books and a founder of POST.  The Lighthouse is about 20 minutes south of Half Moon Bay on Highway 1. Following the event, refreshments will be served in the Fog Signal Building.

On Saturday, November 12, California State Parks staff & Pigeon Point Lighthouse volunteers will light up the original Fresnel lens at Pigeon Point Lighthouse State Park. It will burn for about 2 hours, from approximately 6 to 8pm.

Naomi Patridge’s campaign materials list San Mateo County Supervisor Rich Gordon as endorsing her, but Gordon has never endorsed Patridge in this campaign. Gordon has spoken with Patridge this week to make it clear to her that she does not have his endorsement. Patridge has agreed to remove his name from her campaign materials.

"If Supervisor Gordon had an opportunity to vote in this election, he’d vote for Steve Skinner, Jim Grady, and Bonnie McClung," said Deborah Hirst, legislative aide in Gordon’s office. "He and Naomi Patridge had a misunderstanding about his endorsement.  They remember things differently."

Patridge’s ad in the October 19 edition of the Half Moon Bay Review listed Gordon as an endorser. She ran no ad in the most recent issue, on October 26. Patridge did not return Coastsider’s call for comment.

The Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District (MROSD) is holding four public meetings in November and December 2005 to provide the public with extensive opportunities to advise how the District can best build relationships with its neighbors and amend its "Good Neighbor Policy".

The meetings will be held on the coastside, on Skyline Boulevard, and in Los Gatos at the following dates and locations:

November 1: Pescadero
(7:30 p.m.- 9:30 p.m.)
La Honda-Pescadero Elementary School (620 North Street)

November 3: Skyline
(7:30 p.m.- 9:30 p.m.)
MROSD Skyline Field Office (21150 Skyline Blvd.)

November 17: Half Moon Bay
(7:30 p.m.- 9:30 p.m.)
Ted Adcock Community Center (535 Kelly Ave.)

December 1: Los Gatos
(7:30 p.m.- 9:30 p.m.)
Neighborhood Center (208  East Main Street)

More than 350 Coastsiders came together on Friday night to learn about the help that the Coastside Opporutnity Center.

The turnout exceeded all expectations and everyone had a great time. Click on the photo to see the album. The first five pages of our album show the setup and pages 6 to 12 show the event itself.

The sheriff is called in when two large political endorsements signs on the are torn down, and sheriff’s deputies make whole bunch of drug arrests this week. Two cars that are pulled over smell of marijuana, a cyclist turns out to be carrying meth, two DUI’s, a traffic stop leads to a meth warrant arrest, and a man with a fake AK-47 was found to be carrying meth.

Click "read more" to see the press release.

The Coastside Opportunity Center threw a big party with a serious purpose on Friday night. The fundraising event, at I.D.E.S. Hall in Half Moon Bay, also marked the public introduction of the Center’s new executive director, Cheri Parr.

The identity of the executive director was kept a secret until her Friday night debut.

Cheri, the wife of Coastsider publisher Barry Parr, is known to Coastsider readers for several stories, and literally thousands of photographs, that she has contributed to the site.  We met lots of people at the event who told us they knew Cheri from when she took their pictures at one of the many Coastside events we covered this year.

Before joining the COC, Cheri was a publishing executive with technology magazines such as MacUser, CIO and Information Week. She’s a volunteer (and photographer) for the AIDS charity Academy of Friends, as well as a board member and treasurer in her church.

The event, titled "The Other Coastside" brought out a lot more people than anyone expected. Nearly fifty more people than the 300 confirmed reservations showed up. Casey Sample, COC VP and owner of Casey’s Cafe in Half Moon Bay, catered the party. The COC’s first formal fundraiser was created and executed by Tricia Dell, a professional fundraiser from El Granada.

After her announcement, Cheri introduced Farmer John Muller, who ended the event with good humor and a little arm-twisting.

Interim Executive Director Eileen Hansen said, "We hoped to bring together the diversity of the Coastside community—those who are comfortable and those who are struggling; the various political factions; representatives of community-based organizations and small businesses; clients, staff, volunteers and Board Members of the COC; and those who wanted to learn about and support our work."

Cheri’s hiring marks the end of Hansen’s tenure as Interim Director. She stepped in to manage the transition after Graydon Simser, who had been Executive Director and CFO for 20 years, retired in May, 2004.

The final tally of donations will be released Tuesday. Anyone who would like to make a contribution to the Coastside Opportunity Center should call Cheri Parr at 650.726.9071 or send an email to [email protected]

COC is actively looking for donations and volunteers for its Christmas Adopt-a-Family program, which last year provided gifts and assistance to over 300 seniors and families. For more information, call Judy O’Leary at 563-9910.

MCTV (Channel 6) will broadcast the two city council and CCWD candidates’ debates.

The Chamber of Commerce/League of Women Voters debate from Tuesday, October 25 will be broadcast on Thursday, November 3 at 7pm

The AAUW (Monday, October 24) and Chamber debates will be re-broadcast back-to-back on Monday before the election, November 7, with the AAUW debate at 7pm and the Chamber debate at about 8:35pm.