Cheri Parr, executive director of Coastside Hope, has resigned, and 30-year Coastside Hope veteran Fatima Soares has been appointed to replace her. I’m not doing any reporting on this one, because it’s close to home. Cheri’s going to continue as an active volunteer, but we’re looking forward to seeing more of her at home and hope she’ll be able to take better care of her knee.  Here’s the quote form the release:

"Cheri has lead Coastside Hope through a very difficult year of transitioning out of a transportation program that had been the foundation of the agency for over 10 years " said Williams, who has served as board president since July 2006. "On behalf of the Board of Directors, staff and clients of Coastside Hope, I want to express our deep gratitude for Cheri’s service as executive director over the past two years. We are a stronger organization as a result of her work and passion for providing quality programs for all those in need. While sad to see her leave the ED position, we are delighted that Cheri will continue with us in the vital role of community advocate and grant writer." 

The organization also announced the election of a new slate of officers: Judy O’Leary and Jeff Perls as co-presidents, Casey Sample continuing as vice president, Barbara Wright as treasurer, and Patricia Strohlein board secretary.

CLICK to read the press release.

Cheri Parr

Cheri Parr

Jamba Juice opened in Half Moon Bay today. Regardless how you may feel about chain stores, it's something a lot of Coastsiders have been waiting for. The line was out the door.

CLICK for more photos.

Beginning now, comments from trusted members will be released as soon as they are posted.  We will no longer screen them before we publish them. Anyone who has posting access to Town Hall (about 150 users) is already a trusted member. If you go into any Town Hall forum and see a "New Topic" button, you’re already a trusted member. It’s easy get your account upgraded to trusted status.

1. Set your screen name on your account to your real name. You can do this by clicking on "Edit your profile" in the top of the left-side navigation bar.

2. Send an email to Barry Parr asking to be upgraded. Use the link under "Coastsider" in the left-hand navigation bar.

We still review all comments on Coastsider to make sure they’re civil, not offensive, and on-topic.  If you haven’t gotten your account upgraded, you can still post, but we will review your comments before we release them.

The regrettable fire at the Methodist Sanctuary makes a temporary change of venue necessary for the Coastside Film Society’s monthly film screening. This month’s film will be screened at the Enso Gallery (at the end of Kelly near the Pacific).

Enso owner Mauro Fortissimo will offer a buffet of soup and salad at 6:30 for those who want a pre-screening meal.  Bay Books in Strawflower Village has tickets for $13, which include both the buffet and the film. Please buy your tickets by Thursday. Separate tickets for just the film can also be purchased at the door for $6.00 per person.
       

Yi Yi has been one of the most critically acclaimed films of the decade. The National Society of Film Critics gave it a "Best Picture" award. It also won the "Best Director" award at Cannes and both the New York Film Critics Circle and the Los Angeles Film Critics Association crowned it "Best Foreign Film of the Year" in 2000.

The movie is a portrait of three generations of a Taiwanese family. They live successful and affluent lives, haunted by life’s opportunities and doubts. Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times said "Only rarely is a film this observant and tender about the ups and downs of daily existence.

The movie is all about the currents of life, revealed through characters we can identify with and care about. The protagonist is an electronics executive whose comfortable world is rocked by a chance encounter with his first love; a girl maybe he should have married 30 years ago.  While he ponders his past and his present we gradually get to know the people who frame his life; his wife, his mother-in-law, his teenaged daughter, and the 8-year old son who always seems to drop his water balloons on the wrong head.

A.O. Scott of the The New York Times freely admits his eyes were damp as he watched the final credits "I struggled to identify the overpowering feeling that was making me tear up. Was it grief? Joy? Mirth? Yes, I decided, it was all of these. But mostly, it was gratitude."

Friday, July 13, 7:30 p.m. (buffet at 6:30)
Enso Gallery, 131 Kelly Ave, Half Moon Bay, CA

Buffet of soup and salad $7:00 starts at 6:30
Donation for film: $6.00 starts at 7:30

For more information and a short clip from the film see: www.hmbfilm.org

The Coastside Land Trust is looking for volunteers for a morning of native habitat restoration at their Francis Beach properties in Half Moon Bay on Saturday, July 21 from 9 to noon. 

California State Parks will start the day with a brief presentation on the art and science of native habitat restoration.  The volunteers will then spend the rest of the morning removing non-natives (hemlock, radish and mustard) and exploring this beautiful area.

Gloves, tools and refreshments will be provided.  Please check in at the Francis Beach parking lot kiosk (at the end of Kelly Ave. in Half Moon Bay) for directions to the restoration site.  Parking fees will be waived.

More information at 650.284.5056.

The County Times has additional details on the rescue of a hiker and his dogs on Montara Mountain. It turns out the dogs were a lot less trapped in the ravine that captured their owner than everyone thought at first.

The Coast Guard considered a request from the Humane Society to employ a helicopter to lift the dogs to safety, but rejected the idea, citing security concerns in rescuing two dogs, according to Delucchi.

"We were thinking, we can’t get any help from the air, it’s impossible to send a rock climber over the side and the last effort was to get a bunch of volunteers to go through the brush with chain saws."

That latter effort was about to launch at 7 a.m. Tuesday, but in the end there was no need.

"Everybody got there all prepared to do it and then the (hiker’s) neighbor came out and called them," said Quinlan. "And they came! They came running out like two puppies."

Julia Scott has a farewell article on Raman Bechar’s coffee and chai shop, which closes Thursday. She also notes that in addition to the hole this will leave in the community, the laundromat next door cannot be replaced.

At 5 a.m., he lets himself into his cafe, Coastside Gourmet Coffee and Chai, and starts grinding coffee for his first customers. There’s a line out the door by 6 a.m. and by 8 a.m., he’s served more than 100 cups of coffee, hot chocolate and his signature chai to customers who know him as well as they would a close friend.

On Thursday, Bechar’s coffee shop will open for the last time. He, and the laundromat next door, have been evicted in favor of a Peet’s Coffee.

...

Opening a new laundromat in town is nearly impossible due to the scarcity and expense of sewer permits. And Chai, 72, says he is too old to start over.

When the air is reasonably free of mist and fog we can see them out there, marking the horizon. The Farallon Islands [Wikipedia] rise up enigmatic on the edge of the continental shelf, familiar and yet mysterious. The islands themselves are protected and off-limits. Few Coastsiders, though they often see them in the distance, have ventured the twenty-six miles out to visit with them.

Kenny Howell, in this third installment of his video series Messing Around In Boats takes us there on a scientific research vessel, NOAA’s Fulmar.

If you haven’t been to the Farallones this is a must-see fourteen minutes. (It took us over seven hours on the water.)

Kenny’s trip to the Farallon Islands was generously sponsored by the Gulf of the Farallones National Marine Sanctuary.

Farallon Islands visit [14 mins] | Quicktime | Flash |

Courtesy of Montara Fog.

The Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District will host a volunteer project to remove invasive, non-native yellow star thistle. The event will take place Saturday, July 14, from 8:30am to 1:30pm.

Volunteers and District rangers will be hand-pulling invasive, non-native yellow star thistle. Hand-pulling is an effective technique to use on this invasive weed at this time of year.

Location and directions will be provided when you sign up, but the release promises "incredible views from the Santa Cruz Mountains". Refreshments, instruction, and all of the necessary project tools will be provided. No experience is necessary. Individuals, families, and friends are all welcome. To sign up, or for more information, contact [email protected] or call 650.691.1200.

Opening and proclamations | Quicktime | Flash  |

Oral communications | Quicktime | Flash  |

Council reports | Quicktime | Flash  |

Staff reports | Quicktime | Flash  | Docs |

Consent Calendar | Quicktime | Flash  |

Appeal of Planning Commissions grant of a variance to build a house in Open Space Reserve zoned land | Quicktime | Flash  | Docs |

Resolution of intent to correct 1995 error and rezone land on Redondo Beach Road as PUD | Quicktime | Flash  | Doc |