NeighborShare and The Livability Project present the Coastside Livability Series, a series of lectures and hands-on events promoting local autonomy and sustainable living.

The series starts Thursday February 17th at 7:30 PM at the Ted Adcock Community Center with author Matt Savinar speaking on Issues of Survival on a Small Planet.

Click "read more" to see the full announcement.

The California State Parks Foundation has begun a three-year fundraising effort to build a $3 million visitor center at Año Nuevo State Reserve, with a $350,000 contribution from the California Coastal Conservancy. The Reserve is located on the southernmost coast of San Mateo County. The Coastal Conservancy’s contribution came from Proposition 50, a parks and water bond approved by voters in 2002.

From December until the end of March, the largest mainland breeding colony of northern elephant seals in the world takes over the park. Nearly 50,000 people visit the Reserve during the breeding season, guided by more than 200 volunteer docents. Reservations are required and are booked weeks in advance. According to the Contra Costa Times, more than 22,000 schoolchildren came on tours of the park, but an equal number were turned away because space is limited.

Coastsider is not entirely objective. It’s mostly written and edited by a single person—and I have a point of view. One reason I started Coastsider was that I didn’t think my point of view was getting enough attention in the local media. And I knew like-minded people were looking for an alternative. The challenge is that it’s impossible to separate my roles as reporter, editor, publisher, and citizen.

One thing I’ve done to signal that I am writing as an individual is to write many news stories in the first person. I want you to understand that there is a person behind the stories you see here, and that he probably has an opinion about what’s being said.

The age of objectivity in journalism is over, according to Dan Gillmor, former the computer industry columnist for the Mercury News. Last month, Gillmor quit one of the best jobs in technology journalism to start a venture in grassroots journalism.

Dan has written an excellent piece on his blog called The End of Objectivity.

Objectivity is a construct of recent times. One reason for its rise in the journalism sphere has been the consolidation of newspapers and television into monopolies and oligopolies in the past half-century. If one voice overwhelms all the others, there is a public interest in playing stories as straight as possible—not favoring one side over the other (or others, to be more precise, as there are rarely just two sides to any issue).

This idea isn’t new. It has been circulating among journalists for years. Dan has done a good job of crystalizing the thinking behind it, and suggests replacing (or at least leavening) objectivity with four other journalistic values:

• Thoroughness: Do your research.
• Accuracy: Get the facts right.
• Fairness: Give everyone a chance to speak, but don’t necessarily accept every assertion as equally valid.
• Transparency: Make your conflicts clear and open your sources for inspection.

Those are good values and I strive for for them every day. I think I get it right most of the time. You have a right to expect thoroughness, accuracy, fairness, and transparency from Coastsider—and from the mainstream media as well.

You should hold me to these values. If you think I’ve slipped, let me know. You can send me a private email or correct me in a comment attached to any story.

Last week, Sheriff’s deputies dealt with an illegal solicitor, one residential and two auto burglaries, two DUI’s and a stolen car.

Deputies were dispatched to Santa Anna Street in El Granada on the report of a solicitor who was going around the neighborhood selling magazine subscriptions and claiming that the money would be used to send her to London.  Deputies contacted the female and she was unable to provide any identification. County Communications ran a records check based on the information the female gave them and was unable to find a match. Once a match was made, the woman was issued a citation for violation of a county ordinance.

A citizen came to the Sheriff’s Substation in Moss Beach to report that his vehicle was broken into the night before and various items were taken.

Deputies were dispatched to the above address to take a report of an auto burglary. The victim parked the vehicle on the street in front of the residence the night before and when returning in the morning found that unknown suspects had removed the Kenwood stereo system.

Deputies were advised by county communications that a citizen had called in to report an erratic driver north bound on highway one. Deputies observed the vehicle before effecting a traffic stop. The driver, age 53, of San Mateo was found to be driving under the influence of an alcoholic beverage. He was arrested and transported to the county jail.

Deputies were dispatched to Higgins Purisima Road in Pescadero on the report of a residential burglary. They met with the reporting party who informed them that unknown suspects entered the residence, shed, and pool room and took various items.

Deputies were dispatched to a report of a stolen vehicle at the listed address. The owner of the vehicle had parked his vehicle in his driveway and locked it at approximately 1900hrs the night before. In the morning he returned to his driveway and found his vehicle missing. While deputies were writing the report, a call came in that the vehicle was found on Second Street and partially in a ditch. The owner was contacted to come and retrieve his vehicle. The vehicle was not damaged but various items were missing. 

Deputies effected a traffic stop on a man, age 22. He was found to be driving under the influence of an alcoholic beverage. He was arrested and transported to the county jail.

The Coastside County Water District (CCWD) is holding a special meeting Tuesday afternoon at 1:30pm. The agenda looks pretty interesting and is all about CCWD’s relationship with the city of Half Moon Bay: the disposition of the District’s ten remaining non-priority water connections,  the conditions placed on CCWD’s Coastal Development Permit by the City of Half Moon Bay Planning Commission, and proposed changes to the General Plan Amendment proposed by the City of Half Moon Bay.

The meeting will be held at CCWD, 766 Main Street, Half Moon Bay.

San Mateo County Sheriff Don Horsley intends to resign at the end of his term in January 2007. He has been Sheriff for four terms, since 1993. Undersheriff Greg Munks plans to run for the elected position in June 2006. One of Horsley’s big accomplishments as Sheriff was helping East Palo Alto with its crime and drug problems, after it was named Murder Capital of the country in 1992.

At a combined meeting of the Half Moon Bay City Council and Park Design Committee, the city chose MIG as its architects for its new city park. One committee member described the meeting as a "love fest".

But the actual selection was a nail-biter for two of the bidders. The committee actually tied 10 to 10 on whether to choose MIG or David Gates & Associates, in a vote conducted by chair Toni Taylor.  Ultimately, Council member Mike Ferreira overcame his own declared ambivalence and voted for MIG. Finally the City Council voted unanimously for MIG.

"I was really impressed with the openness of this process. It was very positive and constructive," said Laurel Kelly, project manager for the park at MIG. She added, "But we got the contract. What else am I going to say?"

The Peninsula Open Space Trust (POST) announced today that it has acquired 409 acres of scenic ranchland on the San Mateo Coast known as the “Diamond H Ranch.” The property is located in San Gregorio about two miles southeast of the junction of highways 1 and 84. The ranch features picturesque rolling hills, grassy meadows and farmland and offers signature views of the entire coastal landscape. It was purchased from private owners for $3.385 million. The acquisition is part of POST’s $200 million campaign, Saving the Endangered Coast.

Click "read more" to see the full press release from POST.

I know the city of Half Moon Bay has paved a lot of roads. They paved most of Kelly between Highway 1 and Main Street and most of the southern portion of Main Street just in the week and half since I ran my last pothole story. However, I just received this irresistible photo of Ethan risking his life to help us understand the scale of a pothole on the 400 block of Grove Street.

There are three auto burglaries and one home burglary in Montara and Moss Beach in this week’s report.

Unknown suspects used an unidentified pry tool to attempt to enter a residence on Bonita Street. The suspect damaged a screen on the window and left pry marks in the window frame. The subject did not gain access to the residence.

Unknown subjects used an unknown pry tool to attempt to enter a vehicle that was parked next to a residence on Bonita Street. The suspect damaged the driver’s side rear door and locking mechanism. The suspect also stole the chrome molding in the upper left corner of the windshield.

Deputies responded to a call on Avenue Granada regarding a possible residential burglary and a petty theft from a vehicle. The victim claimed that she left the front door unlocked and awoke to find a man at her bedroom door. She escorted him out the front door and locked it. It is unknown at this time if anything was taken from the residence.  When she went out to her vehicle later in the day she noticed that the face plate to her MP3/CD player was missing.

Deputies were dispatched to Park Avenue in Moss Beach on the report of an auto burglary. The night before, the owner of the vehicle used his remote control to lock his vehicle doors and activate the security system. When he returned to his vehicle in the morning he discovered various items missing.

On the above date and time, unknown subjects broke numerous locks off a bank of mailboxes on Tunitas Creek Road. Due to the holiday weekend, it appeared that there was no loss of mail to any residents.

Deputies were dispatched to 7th Street in Montara on a report of an auto burglary. Unknown suspects entered a vehicle through an unlocked driver side rear window and took approximately 40 CD’s of various artists.

A resident of Prospect Avenue in Princeton called Sheriff’s Deputies to report that she could hear someone outside her home knocking on the door and banging on the windows. Deputies conducted a perimeter check of the house and a neighborhood check with negative results.