Bonnie McClung now leads Mike Ferreira by 14 votes, 1,859 to 1,845 in the Half Moon Bay City Council race, according to today’s update at the County’s election site.  In the Point Montara Fire Protection District, Bruce McKimmie leads Alex King 739 to 734.

The upset in Half Moon Bay was a surprise, because when the polls closed two weeks ago on Tuesday, November 8, Ferreira led McClung 1,549 to 1,490 (51.0% to 49.0%). But in the subsequent counting of provisional and other ballots, McClung led Ferreira 368 to 294 (55.6% to 44.4%).

UPDATE: The county says this is the final vote count. I have also corrected the headline, which originaly said that King was the winner by five votes.

Someone broke into a car on Skyline by smashing the windshield and he was apparently spotted within hours nearby. A suspicious person gave a false name to a deputy and was arrested for it.

Click “read more” to see the details, including a few comments from the Sheriff’s deputy about the importance of telling the truth.

The Santa Cruz Sentinel takes a look at Brussels sprouts, which are a big crop on the Coastside. Most of the ones grown on the 1,000 acres of sprouts in Santa Cruz County go back east where the Canadians and French eat them, apparently.

You’ll be hard pressed to find Bontadelli’s sprouts in local chain stores in the area, however.

That business belongs to Cabrillo Farms in Half Moon Bay and a few smaller growers who peddle the produce, which was going for $1.99 pound at Albertson’s in Capitola

I couldn’t stand them when I was a kid, but our kids love them. Epicurious has 42 recipes for brussels sprouts.

The Monterey Herald has an AP story that has been widely reprinted about the dispute between the crab fishermen and Pacific Seafood, the Portland-based company that dominates the West Coast’s seafood industry.

Industry critics call the company the "Wal-Mart of the Seas"—a symbol of what’s wrong with the seafood business. They complain the company has become so powerful it uses its dominance to dictate lower prices for their catch and also drives small processors out of business.

"It’s the Wal-Mart syndrome," said Pete Leipzig, who heads the Fishermen’s Marketing Association. "They are so large that they dictate to companies what to produce and what to pay."

Bonnie McClung widened her lead over Mike Ferreira for Half Moon Bay City Council in the results posted by the County at 4:30pm today. She now leads 1,858 to 1,843 votes.  Meanwhile, Bruce McKimmie now leads Alex King 735 to 730 in the Point Montara Fire Protection District race.

It’s unclear whether these are the final totals, but there may be new totals posted on Monday at 4:30pm.

A viewing of Wayfinders: A Pacific Odyssey, by local award-winning filmmaker Gail Evenari, will be hosted by The Visionary Edge, at The Depot in Half Moon Bay, Saturday, November 19. Ms. Evenari, a resident of Half Moon Bay, traces the extraordinary maritime accomplishments of ancient Polynesian seafarers, and documents the adventures of present-day Polynesians attempting the life-or-death voyages of their ancestors. “It is a dramatic and moving tale of indigenous people reclaiming their ancient knowledge and wisdom,” says Reba Vanderpool, co-founder of The Visionary Edge. “This remarkable film shows how preparing for a voyage is itself a spiritual journey. Ms. Evenari will talk about her motivation and experience of making this extraordinary film.”

Centuries before European explorers, Polynesians had sailed to every island in the far corners of the Pacific. Wayfinders: A Pacific Odyssey sweeps viewers into a seafaring adventure with a community of Pacific Islanders as they build traditional sailing canoes, learn how to follow the stars across the ocean, and embark on a 2,000-mile voyage in the wake of their ancestors. As with many indigenous peoples, the cultural identity of Polynesians has become obscured by Western belief systems, history, and economics. Evenari focuses on the revival of “wayfinding.” the art of navigating a canoe over long distances using only natural signs: the sun, the moon, the stars and the ocean swells.

As of 4:30 Friday, Bonnie McClung now leads Mike Ferreira by 13 votes, 1,853 to 1,840.

Bruce McKimmie leads Alex King in the Pt Montara Fire Protection District race 729 to 727.

The results can be found at the county’s election website. The county is still counting ballots, and expects to post additional results on Saturday and Monday after 4:30pm both days.

I put this off as long as I could.  Effective immediately, all comments posted to stories will be reviewed before they’re released on the site, and all people posting comments are required to use their real names.

I’ve been considering it for a while, but decided to wait until after the election because several pseudonymous posters were posting pretty heavily and critically on the site. I didn’t want anyone to get the impression that we were suppressing opinions.

Then, last weekend, someone posted something genuinely disgusting on the site while I was out of town.  By a stroke of luck, we managed to remove it pretty quickly, but I never want to repeat the experience.

This is a big step, so I hope you’ll be patient as we get the bugs worked out of the system.  My main goals are to avoid a repeat of what happened last week, and to lift the quality of the discourse by making posters responsible for what they say.

We will review new posts as quickly as possible.  We will require that posters get their facts straight and not make personal attacks. There will be more leeway in commenting on officeholders and candidates, but you will be expected to follow the Golden Rule.  If you don’t know what that is, ask your mom.

I will try to verify identities of posters.  If you’re going to post, you will need to click on the "Your profile" link in the left-hand navigation bar, and enter your real name in the field labeled "Name on your posts".  If I don’t know you, I may ask you to verify your identity.

I’m sorry I had to do this. But, I believe this will improve the quality of the conversation on Coastsider in the long run.

The County Times takes a look at the decision to reduce red-legged frog habitat by the Fish and Wildlife Service.

The Service seems mainly to be concerned with avoiding litigation. According to spokesman Jim Nickles:

"There’s lots of things we’re doing to recover the species. Critical habitat is a very expensive, time-consuming, litigious process," said Nickles.

Nickles says that it’s better to work with private property owners.  The Coastal Commission seems less certain.

Chris Kern, district manager of the California Coastal Commission, said that he was certain that the coastal provisions would shield the frogs’ habitat from harm. The rest of the county was a different story, however.

"The loss of critical habitat beyond the coastal zone could affect the future of the species very strongly," he said.

Furthermore, the federal agency’s proposal wouldn’t help take the red-legged frog off the threatened species list, said Kern.

Coastsider wrote about this decision on November 5.

Mike Ferreira now leads Bonnie McClung by a scant 8 votes in the Half Moon Bay City Council election and Alex King leads Bruce McKimmie by one vote, according to totals posted today at the County’s official election website.

As the county has been counting provisional ballots and verifying the identity of each voter, they have been posting successive sets of semi-official results.

On election night, Tuesday, November 8, Ferreira led by 59 votes, 1,549 to 1,490. King led McKimmie 599 to 594.

On Friday, November 11, Ferreira led by 30 votes, 1,727 to 1,697. King led McKimmie 648 to 644.

On Wednesday, November 16,  Ferreira leads by 8 votes, 1,780 to 1,772. King leads McKimmie 700 to 699

According to the County’s website:

Provisional Voting is an alternative Election Day voting method used when the voter has not met the new identification requirements or when the voter’s eligibility is in doubt.

Voters will be asked at the polling place to vote a Provisional Ballot if:

• Their name is not on the roster at the polling place.
• They are first-time voters and cannot provide the required identification to poll workers.
• They are listed on the roster as absentee voters, but do not have an Absentee Ballot with them. Voters who do bring their Absentee Ballots to the polls are not provisional voters.
• They moved and did not re-register at their new address.
• They wish to vote on a ballot for a political party with which they are not affiliated.

The County Elections office won’t say how many ballots remain or how long it will take to finish counting, but they hope to finish by Friday.