In crunching the Midcoast numbers from the 2000 census, whoever was in charge decided to move the mobile home park from Moss Beach to El Granada, moving it to a different mailing address, and water/sanitary district.  It made for a sharp drop in population for Moss Beach from the previous census and an unusual increase for El Granada, essentially making the 10-year comparisons useless.
If statistics are supposed to help planning, it seems counter-productive to assign a significant neighborhood population to a census area in a different water/sanitary/postal district.  One wonders what could have been the reason for this.  Was there a confusion about the location of the Pillar Ridge community because it was called El Granada Mobile Home Park at the time?

Lisa Ketcham

Did you ever watch the Little Rascals when they spontaneously decided to put on a show? Did you ever wish you could join them?

Now you can.

We are assembling our creative Coastsiders for an evening of brainstorming. Our idea is to develop an "Anything Can Happen" Cabaret. We want to create a venue where performers of all types can take the stage and share their talents in a safe and fun environment. Our The ACH Cabaret will begin with a gathering June 9th where we will share a meal and cook up some Cabaret ideas.

If you want to join us for dinner, arrive at 7 PM at "7th Street Montara" in Montara. We will begin the Brainstorming at 8 (and you can join us then if you prefer skip the meal).

Please rsvp by May 20 at the latest by responding to this e mail. Or if you just want to be kept up to date regarding Cabaret nights we will post information on Coastsider.com

Nancy Margulies [email protected]
Marilyn Handler [email protected]

Supervisor Rich Gordon’s office will be hosting its next Coastside office hours on Thursday, May 21 from 10am to Noon at the Sheriff’s Moss Beach Substation.  Also, in June Supervisor Gordon’s office will be going back to the fourth Thursday of the month with office hours on June 25th.

Coastsider will have a booth at Rock the Block tonight on Main Street in Half Moon Bay. Barry and Cheri Parr will be there to discuss the site, answer your questions, and take your ideas for stories or features.

Do you need a new profile photo for Coastsider—or Facebook? We will be registering new members and taking profile photos for new and current members.

California at minimum should monitor and probably should regulate groundwater use, according critics quoted in the New York Times.

Since 2006 the surface of the aquifer, in the Kaweah subbasin of the San Joaquin basin, has dropped 50 feet as farmers pumped deeper, Mr. Watte says. Some of his pumps no longer reach far enough to bring any water to the surface. ...

Recent scientific studies indicate that in the long term, climate change is diminishing the potential for the Sierra snowpack to generate enough runoff. Aquifers are thus a crucial insurance policy for water users.

Critics argue that refusing to monitor and regulate groundwater could prove catastrophic to the state’s real estate sector and its $36 billion agricultural economy. ...

But even Mr. Schwarzenegger is heeding the growing drumbeat on groundwater. Issuing an emergency drought declaration in February, he asked local governments and water districts for the first time to supply the state with data on groundwater supplies.

Compliance so far has been spotty, said Mark Cowin, deputy director of the state’s Department of Water Resources. "In a lot of cases," Mr. Cowin said, "it’s simply a matter of the information not existing."

On the grass-roots level, resistance to monitoring is based not just in a property-rights credo but also in a belief that the state can ride out any dry spell. ...

Don Mills, general manager of the neighboring Kings County district, sees only two solutions: recharging aquifers by creating asphalt- and agriculture-free zones where water can be pooled to percolate down to the aquifer, or pumping less.

San Mateo County’s recently-released groundwater study was unable to draw firm conclusions about the security of the Coastside’s groundwater supply because of inadequate data collection by the county. From the study:

However, as the study progressed, it was determined that safe yield and groundwater/habitat relationships could not be accurately assessed due to the limited availability of well data, concerns regarding the accuracy of the data, and information gaps regarding surface water flows.

Half Moon Bay’s bailout bill, SB650 in the state Senate, has more troubles, reports Julia Scott in the County Times. The Senate committee reviewing the bill has objected to its current structure as a grant from the California Infrastructure Bank Fund.  A version that included the I-Bank language passed its first committee vote in the Assembly, but this will send it back to square one in that house as well.

The bill was due to receive a hearing in the Senate committee this week, but committee chairwoman Sen. Fran Pavley, D-Agoura Hills, objected to the source of funding the city proposed for the loan, the California Infrastructure Bank Fund. She asked that the bill be rewritten to exclude the "I-Bank," a low-interest financing authority, from the bill altogether and come up with other, guaranteed sources of funding, said Adam Keigwin, chief of Staff to state Sen. Leland Yee, D-San Francisco. Yee is the bill’s Senate sponsor. ...

"The I-Bank is capped at $2 million for the amount of money they can loan for park acquisition, and these guys are seeking $10 million, so it’s not an appropriate source. They need to find a package of loans and grants that is lawful, appropriate and politically acceptable," Vellinga said.

Senate and Assembly bills with the same language must pass with two-thirds votes.

10 beautiful gardens on the tour, plus a special bonus feature with garden coaching and lavender essential oil production. Recipients can pick up their booklets and reception tickets starting at 9am at the info booth.

Hours: 10am to 4pm. Reception at Harley Farms from 4-6pm.

Info Booth opens at 9am in front of the Pescadero Post Office. Tickets are available online or on the day of the tour in front of the Pescadero Post Office at the corner of Stage Rd. & Pescadero Creek Rd.

• Gardens only tickets $25 each, $40 per pair
• Gardens & Reception Tickets $40 each, $70 per pair
• Reception only tickets: $20 each, $35 per pair
• Bring a friend save money when you buy two.

Proceeds benefit the children of the small, rural La Honda-Pescadero Unified School District through support of programs such as field trip sponsorships, art, drama, sports, fitness, scholarships for high school seniors, and educational travel.

I can’t resist saying it - I am in a jam.  A nice gooey, tangy jam.  A gorgeous golden gemmy delight and a  glimmering mess of bright jelly red.

The weather is to blame so lucky me, and lucky some of you around the Holidays as jam season has come early to Lobitos Creek Road. It seems those weird late rains made a mess of the raspberries and banged up the apricots, so I was able to get a passel of both on the cheap, and made jam in the fogbanks these past few evenings.  Apricot and raspberry.  Oh, my. 

I scorched the last batch of apricot while listening to Selected Shorts, which will not surprise my friend Elmer, but rescued it nicely by sauteing up a big ol’ pile of onions with ginger and rice vinegar, adding to the unintentionally carmelized apricots thus transforming the whole magilla into a very tasty chutney which I am looking forward to glazing a spring chicken with any day now. 

Really, I am looking forward to spring in general.  It was supposed to be here a few weeks ago, but seems to have changed places with late winter.

Coastside civic and non-profit groups, educational organizations and city agencies will share in the $85,000 in grants and donations announced today by the Half Moon Bay Beautification Committee.

Funding is generated through the annual Art & Pumpkin Festival, which has been operated and managed by the Beautification Committee since 1971. The grants and donations are above and beyond the estimated $400,000-$500,000 raised annually by local community service groups from food, beverage, game and parking sales at the Pumpkin Festival.

The largest single contribution ($25,000) went to the on-going maintenance and beautification of the Main Street downtown core. Among the efforts are seasonal planting of flowers, installation and repair of old-fashioned wooden benches, litter removal, cleaning, and year-round maintenance of Main Street.

Some of the organizations receiving funding include the Coastal Repertory Theater ($11,000), San Mateo County Sheriff Explorers Program ($5,760), I.D.E.S. Society ($5,000), Coastside RotaCare Clinic ($4,000),  Coastal Arts League ($4,000), City of Half Moon Bay Police Department PAL program ($3,000), Coastside Adult Day Health Center ($3,000), Senior Coastsiders ($3,000), Half Moon Bay High School Grad Night ($2,000), No Strings Attached Breakfast ($1,500), Sonrisas Communty Dental Clinic ($1,500), Seton Medical Center ($1,500), Young Actors Workshop ($1,000), and Boys & Girls Club of the Coastside ($1,000).

Additionally, $5,000 in college scholarship money will be awarded to Half Moon Bay High School students. The scholarships are named in memory of founding festival members Dolores Mullin, Patsy Dutra and Melvin Mello.

Come be part of the summer fun!

Auditions for TOMMY, written by Pete Townshend and Des McAnuff and directed by Michael Lederman, will be held on Saturday, May 16 10:00am-1:00pm at Coastal Repertory Theatre, 1167 Main Street, Half Moon Bay, CA 94019.  Callbacks are Sunday, May 17 6:30pm. No appointment necessary.

Rehearsals are May 26-July 23 and performances run from July 24-August 22.  Friday and Saturday performances at 8:00pm and Sunday matinees at 2:00pm.

Method of Audition: Actors and Chorus Members - prepare a modern Broadway show tune (accompanist provided). Actors and Dancers - dress to dance.

This award-winning, ground breaking musical written by Pete Townshend gave birth to a new genre, the rock opera. The play follows the coming of age of young Tommy, who becomes catatonic after witnessing his father murder his mothers lover.

Characters in Tommy: Four year old Tommy, Ten year old Tommy, Narrator/Tommy, Mrs. Walker, Captain Walker, Uncle Ernie, Cousin Kevin, Minister, Ministers Wife, Lover, First Soldier, Second Soldier, Nurses, Khmer Rouge, Judge, First Lawyer, Second Lawyer, Relatives (Kevin’s Mother and Father), War Protesters, Arcade Lads and Lasses, Pusher, Harmonica Player, Gypsy (The Acid Queen), Doctors, Specialists, News Vendor, Sally Simpson, Mr. Simpson, DJ. plus various other ensemble parts.

Singers for Greek Chorus/Church Choir- No dance or acting required!

Circus Performers, aerialists, jugglers and clowns encouraged to attend!

Dancers: (High School age and up) no singing required!

Directors Notes: I’m setting the show, in tribute to the records release, from 1969-1992.  I’m looking for performers from age 4 and up.  I want an ensemble ready to have fun and think outside the box. Team attitude is a must! I may not decide specific parts until we begin the process.     

Questions: Contact the director at (650) 726-0268.