The San Mateo County Resource Conservation District (RCD) encourages young people, 15 to 18 years old, to attend the June 18-23 California Range and Natural Resources Camp in Half Moon Bay. This is the 22nd consecutive year that the range camp has been held in Half Moon Bay at the UCCE Elkus Youth Ranch.  As the host conservation district, the San Mateo County RCD will be sponsoring two students for camp, which normally costs $350. To apply, contact the RCD at 712-7765 or email [email protected]

Range camp is designed to introduce young men and women to the extent, importance and value of California’s rangeland resources. It encourages leadership and good stewardship through interaction with recognized professionals in both classroom and field sessions. Students interested in natural sciences or agriculture will find this a unique opportunity to learn from range scientists about wildlife management, forestry, environmental careers, riparian watersheds, and other topics.  It can be an important experience for career decisions.  In San Mateo County alone there are over 45,000 acres of range and grazing lands.

This camp is sponsored by Resource Conservation Districts, University of California Cooperative Extension, the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service, the Society for Range Management, and others.  The application deadline is May 15.

Further information and photos are available at www.casrm.org  In addition, experienced Range Camp leaders in San Mateo County are available to answer questions and to speak with parents or teachers.  You can download the Range Camp brochure and flier from Coastsider.

The groundbreaking ceremony for our new middle school will be today at 11:00am at the site of our current middle school—Cunha Intermediate. To celebrate, we’re publishing the architect’s elevations of the new classroom building and library. The elevations are far from final, but they’re a good indication of where the design is going. Click on the pictures to download the full pdf’s.

Cabrillo Unified School District

Classroom building exterior elevations. Click picture to download pdf.

Cabrillo Unified School District

Library exterior elevations. Click picture to download pdf.

Ocean Blvd between Los Banos and San Lucas Ave [Google satellite map] has been closed by the county because of "subsidence".  The area has been zoned "Design Review—Geologic Hazard" for years, according to Neil Cullen, San Mateo County Director of Public Works. Even before the recent activity, Ocean Blvd was a very uneven surface.

This area, which rises more than 100 feet above the elevation of the Half Moon Bay Airport, is a "fault scarp" of the Seal Cove Fault. Cullen says that although the weather has dried up, there is still a great deal of water moving underground in the area and the county won’t be able to assess the situation until the ground is drier.

The Coastside’s first tour of solar-powered and energy efficient homes will take place on May 13th.  The project, spearheaded by Coastside residents Dennis Paull, Jeff Gilmore, John Wilmes and Shari Deghi, is designed to encourage Coastside homeowners to consider installing solar themselves, by talking to locals who have already done it.

The event starts at 1:00 PM with a gathering in the Cunha Middle School multi-purpose room, where visitors can speak to local and regional contractors who are experienced in upgrading homes for solar electricity, solar water heating, and passive solar home design.  A series of speakers will also cover topics relevant to home energy efficiency and production.

Starting at 2:00 PM, attendees can strike out on their own with a map of 10 nearby solar homes.  At these sites, they can view information about the systems and their economic and environmental benefits, see the installations, and ask questions of the homeowners.

"Solar has become a mainstream technology and solid investment" says organizer Gilmore.  "Many of these systems on the tour are poised to pay back their investment in six or seven years.  Since the life span of a system is 20 to 30 years, that means the owners are getting many years of free electricity.  When you can save hard cash by doing something that is beneficial to the environment, improves national security, and even helps maintain the power grid by contributing the most power when demand is highest, it is hard to understand why solar is not on every house.  When you can have all that for less than you might pay for granite countertops, then it seems to me that we just need to let people know about it.  That is why we are holding the tour."

The event is being organized under the umbrella of NeighborShare, a local group working on issues of sustainability, re-localization of energy, food and livelihood, and community cohesiveness.  NeighborShare currently organizes affinity groups for home food gardening and solar energy and holds educational events.

Coastside Solar Home Tour
Saturday May 13
Tour Central: Cunha Middle School, 600 Church at Kelly, downtown Half Moon Bay 1:00-3:00
Home tours: 2:00-4:30 at homes around the Coastside.  Maps available at Tour Central or on the web the day of the tour.
For more info, go to http://neighborshare.org/solar or call Dennis Paull at 712-0498.

Click for more photos.

Lou Papan, who is running against Leland Yee and Mike Nevin for the state senate seat that represents San Francisco and San Mateo Counties [background article on Coastsider] came to the Coastside Wedndesday night.  The Midcoast Community Council has invited all the candidates to appear.  Mike Nevin was scheduled to appear April 12, but cancelled and has not rescheduled.

Click on the picture to see the video, which is about 30 minutes long.

This morning from 9:00 until 9:45am, Highway 92 was closed in both directions near Crystal Springs Road.  NBC11 is reporting t hat a dump truck lost its brakes coming down the hill of westbound Highway 92, hitting four vehicles, including a CHP officer.  All injuries were reportedly minor.

Caltrans has set up a traffic camera at the intersection of Highways 1 and 92 [camera window].  It uses Windows Media Player, so you may need to install this first. 

The New York Times today features a story about the closure of Devil’s Slide and its effect on the community, focusing on Montara and Pacifica.  You won’t learn anything new, but it’s nice to be noticed.

The League for Coastside Protection has voted to endorse Measure S, the parcel tax proposal for local schools on the June 6 ballot. This is a big win for the supporters of the measure and a good indication of strong public support.  The LCP has historically been at odds with the school board over the location of the middle school and the fight over that issue has been a stumbling block for past parcel taxes on the Coastside.

The LCP, an environmentally-oriented political organization the Coastside, has traditionally not taken positions on tax measures. The League cited the need for quality schools, the school board’s decision to built its new middle school at Cunha. The LCP also cited "the school district’s stated commitment to providing a busing oriented tax measure in the near future".