Keep Sharp Park a golf course: Please try to attend the SF Board of Supervisor's meeting at SF City Hall, Monday, November 19 at 1 PM

I realize it's late notice, and people may have other things to do (like work,) but if anyone has the time, it would be really helpful to show up at the SF Board of Supervisor's meeting at SF City Hall on Monday, September 19 @ 1 PM. It's in Room 250.

Let the supervisors know you are opposed to starting the Environmental Review Process for Sharp Park over again. Brent Plater and his Frog Qaeda group lost in the court of public opinion, and hardly anyone in Pacifica claims to support turning Sharp Park into a useless frog-and-snake preserve anymore.

Please remember, Plater's champions in SF City Hall have been "Bruiser" Ross Mirkarimi, losing SF Mayoral candidate John Avalos, and unelected Supervisor Christina Olague, who just lost her bid to keep her seat. A bunch of winners, huh?

No doubt Plater and his merry band of twirly-dancing sycophants, students looking for extra credit, and Occupiers pulled off the streets, will be there.

These battles never seem to end, and you never know how these things will turn out, so let's keep reminding SF City Hall that the great majority of Pacificans do not want the Sharp Park Golf Course shut down.

Some of the Supervisors will likely run for State Assembly or Senate one day, and their districts will include Pacifica. It would be a mistake to think they'd blow off the opinions of the locals.

Here's what Wild Equity, AKA Frog Qaeda, is posting about the hearing -

http://wildequity.org/entries/3275

http://wildequity.org/entries/3276

Posted by Steve Sinai

CORRECTION NOTICE: New Eric Mar e-mail address

The e-mail address for Supervisor Eric Mar listed in our prior notice of another Sharp Park sneak attack, is incorrect.  His correct e-mail address is:  Eric.L.Mar@sfgov.org If you have already sent him an e-mail, please resend with the correct address. Sorry for the inconvenience. Save Sharp Park! -- San Francisco Public Golf Alliance Donations are greatly appreciated. To donate, please visit our website: Donations Page

We are on Twitter (@SFPublicGolf), Facebook and our website Contact us at info@sfpublicgolf.com   Submitted by Richard Harris

Urgent: Another Sharp Park Attack: Please attend SF Supervisors Hearing Monday, Nov. 19, 1 p.m.at SF City Hall

Dear Public Golf Alliance Members:  Please attend, if you can, on Monday, Nov. 19, 1 p.m. at San Francisco City Hall, Supervisors Legislative Chambers, Room 250 (at top of the grand staircase) a public hearing by the SF Board of Supervisors Land Use Committee, at which an Anti-Sharp Park Golf Course resolution will be debated on Agenda Item #5.  See the Notice of Meeting and the Resolution.  Members of the Land Use Committee are:  Supervisors Eric Mar, Scott Weiner, and Malia Cohen.  Also, please send an e-mail to the Committee members (with cc to Supervisor Elsbernd and Mayor Lee); see sample e-mail, below.  And send me a copy; I will collect the e-mails and deliver hard copies to the Committee at the public meeting.   The Olague Resolution would sever Sharp Park from the ongoing Natural Areas Environmental Impact Report process, thereby requiring San Francisco to start over in its Sharp Park planning.  Please come  to the Land Use Committee meeting and testify that you want to see the Natural Areas Plan EIR go forward, including the combination golf course renovation/species habitat recovery plan that was approved by the Rec & Park Commission in December, 2009.  The public has spent years on this fight, and San Francisco public agencies have spent thousands of hours of staff time and hundreds of thousands of dollars in consultants fees in development of the Sharp Park golf course renovation and habitat recovery plan.  And of course members of the public have collectively expended thousands of hours of their time in commenting and attending public meetings.  It would be irresponsible to unravel all of this time, money, and effort.  The City has better uses for its limited financial resources.  If you cannot attend in person, please send an e-mail to the Supervisors, with copies to Mayor Ed Lee and Supervisor Sean Elsbernd, strongly stating your opposition to the Olague Ordinance.  See a draft of such an e-mail, below, with the supervisors' e-mail addresses.  That draft e-mail briefly recites the procedural history of the Sharp Park plan and all of the public meetings, hearings, etc., over recent years.  Likely you have attended and/or written letters, and are familiar with all this process.  But if you need more details, send me an e-mail request, and I will respond.     Be certain to put your own home address and phone number on your e-mail comment.  Send a copy of your e-mails/letters to me, and I will copy them and carry hard copies to the Committee meeting.   RSVP:  Please let us know if you will be able to attend.  We will meet you outside the Supervisors' chambers at 12:40 p.m.  Circulate this note to your friends, and bring 2 friends to the meeting.  Thanks.  Save Sharp Park! San Francisco Public Golf Alliance Richard Harris  _____________________ Sample E-Mail _____________________ San Francisco Board of Supervisors Land Use and Economic Development Committee    alisa.miller@sfgov.org Supervisor Eric Mar         eric.mar@sfgov.org Supervisor Scott Weiner  scott.wiener@sfgov.org Supervisor Malia Cohen   malia.cohen@sfgov.org Re:  Please Vote No on Resolution to Sever Sharp Park from the Natural Areas EIR File No. 120619 Land Use, etc. Committee Hearing November 19, 2012, Agenda No. 5 Dear Supervisors,             I am a public course golfer, and I support the San Francisco Rec & Park Department's plan to save the historic and popular Sharp Park Golf Course, while at the same time protecting the environment by recovering frog and snake habitat in the golf course's wetlands.              Please vote "No" on the Sharp Park resolution, File No. 120619, which would require the City's Rec & Park and Planning Departments to start over on the Environmental Review process for the City's Sharp Park plan (overwhelmingly endorsed by the Rec & Park citizens advisory committee and unanimously adopted by the Rec & Park Commission in December, 2009).   Supervisor Olague's Resolution would mean a colossal waste of public time, money, and effort that has gone into the Sharp Park plan.  We cannot afford such public waste -- especially not now, in hard economic times, when we need to spend public money carefully.                  The City's Sharp Park plan is the result of more than a dozen public meetings in both San Francisco and Pacifica since April, 2009, by several San Francisco public agencies, including the Rec & Park Commission and its citizens advisory committee ("PROSAC"), the SF Public Utilities Commission (on the related issue of the Sharp Park Recycled Water Project), and the Board of Supervisors and its City Audit and Neighborhood Services and Government Audit and Oversight committees.                  Sharp Park has been part of the Significant Natural Areas Management Plan since the initial draft plan in 1995.  The golf course was very explicitly the subject of the Environmental Impact public "scoping" written comments and public meetings in both San Francisco and Pacifica in May, 2009, and again in both public testimony and written comment to the Planning Commission on the Draft Environmental Impact Report in 2011 and 2012.                 All of this represents thousands of hours of paid consultants' time public agency staff time over many years, and yet more thousands of hours of individual citizens' time in submitting written comments and appearing at the public hearings.   Supervisor Olague's Resolution would let all of this money, time, and effort go to waste. For these reasons, I respectfully request your "No" vote on File No. 120619. Yours truly, [your name, address, phone number, and e-mail address] cc:    Mayor Ed Lee                                ed.lee@sfgov.org         President of the Board David Chiu    david.chiu@sfgov.org         Supervisor Sean Elsbernd               sean.elsbernd@sfgov.org         Clerk of the Board of Supervisors     angela.calvillo@sfgov.org Donations are greatly appreciated. To donate, please visit our website: Donations Page

We are on Twitter (@SFPublicGolf), Facebook and our website Contact us at info@sfpublicgolf.com   Submitted by Richard Harris

City Council meeting, Monday, November 26, 2012

Attend in person, 2212 Beach Boulevard, 2nd floor.  Or, view on local channel 26, also live internet feed, pct26.com.  The meeting begins at 7pm, or shortly therefollowing.  City council updates and archives are available on the City website.

Item 6.  Appointment to the County Mosquito Control Board

City Council Agenda, 11/26/12. Items listed below may include embedded pdf documents, illustration and photographs of interest. 

A.    Closed session, 6:30 pm.  Government code 54957.  "Agency labor negotiator, Ann Ritzma report.  "Employee organizations:  Pacifica Pollice Oficers Assn.; Pacifica Police Supervisors Assn.; Police Management Local 350; Pacifica Fire Fighters Local 2400; Teamsters Local 856 Battalion Chiefs." 

B.    Open session (7:00 pm)
Consent Calendar (pass through)
1.     Approval of cash disbursements, 10/26/12-11/2/12, fiscal year 2012/2013.
2.     Approval of Minutes, city council meeting, 11/13/12.

3.     Authorize the Economic Development Committee to co-sponsor with the Pacifica Chamber of Commerce,  the KIMCO KEYS Open House to to discuss the KIMCO Keys Small Business Incubator program, (which includes grants "free rent" for up to one years, and mentorship).
4.     Cancellation of December 24, 2012 City Council meeting to allow for a vacation period.
5.     Director of  Wastewater Collections and Plant Operations, monthly salary adjustment for range from $11,200 - $12,880 (old) to $12,545 - $14,00 (new), with an additional 2% increase in benefits (absorbed in the current budget).  Continued from City Council Agenda, 11/13/12.*  

6.      Appoint Peter DeJarnatt as the City representative to the San Mateo County Mosquito and Vector Control Board of Trustees.  Advertising, and other consideration vacated.  Continued from City Council, Agenda, 11/13/12.*

Special presentation - Proclamation:  Oceana High School 50th Anniversary.

.Item 8.  Reusable Bag Ordinance, 12/25/12. Merry Christmas!    

Public hearings
7.     Recology of the Coast rate adjustment, effective January 1, 2013 through December 31, 2013, 1.42%. City franchise fees are not changed, but also not disclosed.  Citizen protest were 90. The requirement to challenge the audited cost increase is 50+1% of  11,714 total users (5,858).  
8.      Reusable Bag Ordinance. Restriction of single use carry-out plastic bags. The ordinance as presented is effective 30 days from November 26, 2012, or December 25, 2012,  
Adjourn.    

*  Reference - Continuation items from City Council meeting Agenda, 11/13/12:  11/26/12 Agenda Item 5 above, see 11/13/12 Items 8, 9. 11/26/12 Agenda Item 6 above, see 11/13/12 Item 17.   

Posted by Kathy Meeh

Half Moon Bay passes half-cent sales tax

Only 2 cents more for this coffee

Expected tax revenue from Half Moon Bay Measure J half cent sales tax is about $867,000 annually over a 3 year duration. The promise from Half Moon Bay city council is that most of the money will be spent on city infrastructure.  Would Pacifica welcome a similar tax?   

Half Moon Bay Review/Mark Noack, 11/15/12.  "Shoppers to see trio of new taxes."  HMB sales tax to jump to 9.5 percent.

Anyone making a purchase in Half Moon Bay should expect the brunt of three new sales surcharges coming from the city, county and state, respectively. A cup of coffee will cost an extra two cents, a sandwich, about a nickel more, and a new car, at least $200 extra. The tax trifecta means that Half Moon Bay now has a 9.5 percent sales tax rate — the highest on the Peninsula and second highest in the state.

Only 5 cents more for this sandwich

....  What will the taxes mean for Half Moon Bay? Charles Nelson, owner of Toque Blanche on Main Street, supports the tax increase. He sees it as a far less disruptive way to generate revenues than the city’s original plan to charge for parking downtown. He pointed out the sales tax rate was 9.25 percent about a year ago, so the higher rate wasn’t too onerous. 

....  Council members have pledged most of the new money will go toward fixing local infrastructure, like roads and sewers. They also promised to use a portion of the money to market the area to boost tourism. ....  This week, city leaders will begin drafting financial plans for the coming fiscal year. The new tax measures will go into effect next year.  Read article. 

Reference - Ballotpedia. "Measure J increased the sales tax paid on the purchase of goods and services in Half Moon Bay by one-half of a cent for 3 years."  54.02% of Half Moon Bay voters voted "yes".

Posted by Kathy Meeh

A single new, updated library for Pacifica

Pacifica Tribune, Letters to the Editor, 11/13/12.  "Library hours" by Ellen Ron, Co-President Library Foundation

Pacifica Library Foundation.

Conceptual new Pacifica library

"Editor, I'd like to clarify a point that was raised in Oct. 31's letters to the editor r

egarding library hours.

Currently, the San Mateo County Library System funds 60 hours a week that must be split between Pacifica's two libraries. This results in the limited days/hours of operation that can be so confusing.

One of the major benefits of a single new library is that it will be open seven days a week, with evening hours on four of those days. I can hardly wait."

Reference -  Current TV, 7/14/12, "A new library for Pacifica" video, 28:30 minutes. 

Posted by Kathy Meeh

Planning for the Thanksgiving holiday meal, less than one week away

The Daily Journal (San Mateo), Associated Press/Michele Kayall, 11/16/12. "Thanksgiving is about tradition".

But, your traditional meal may not look like this

"Thanksgiving exists as much in our minds as our stomachs, say cookbook authors and food experts, and it’s not the day to mess with people’s expectations. Remember the year you departed from family tradition by putting walnuts in the stuffing? Or the time you skipped Grandma’s Jell-O mold? Didn’t go so well, did it?

... “I suggest to people that they need to be honest with themselves about what they can really accomplish,” says Jack Bishop, editorial director of America’s Test Kitchen, publisher of Cook’s Illustrated magazine. “You can have this fantasy, but if the reality does not line up, then you’ve just created a nightmare moment rather than a comforting moment.”

.... “It’s Thanksgiving,” Sifton says. “You can have a salad tomorrow.”  Read article. 

Related -  San Francisco Examiner, 11/15/12, "Alternatives to turkey on Thanksgiving:  Lamb, fish, beef, roast, vegan ideas." About.com "Vegetarian Thanksgiving main dish recipes." San Francisco Chronicle, 11/16/12,  "Food Bank has Thanksgiving turkey shortage." And your cultural tradition may be different, plan to enjoy the holiday!

Posted by Kathy Meeh

A reminder to be thankful, thanks Tina!

Pacifica Tribune, Letters to the Editor, 11/13/12.  "Thanks to all" by Tina Jurado

 For all those who make life better

"Editor: I have never written to the newspaper before, but today I feel I should. This is a good time because it's near Thanksgiving.

I would like to express my gratitude to all the wonderful folks of Pacifica who have made mine and my family's life so much better. 

To the police and fire department for coming when needed.

To the staff and personnel of The Greenery for their rehab work and always good attitudes. Good Shepherd Church and School.

The nice people at Lucky and all the others businesses around our town. And last but not least the wonderful folks at the Pacifica Senior Center. The staff is the greatest. They have made a difference in my life. Thank you all." 

Posted by Kathy Meeh

PCT 26 telethon/auction, November 17th and 18th, 2012

Pacifica Tribune, Martin Anaya, PCT Executive Director, 11/13/12.  "PCT TV telethon/auction happens this weekend." 

"Here's looking at you, kid."

"We are excited to inform you that the PCT TV telethon/auction is this weekend, starting at 5 p.m. Saturday and 6 p.m. Sunday. It will be two days of fun and fundraising for the station, where you will get some amazing bargains heading into this holiday season.

It's also not too late to become a sponsor, with sponsor rates cut in half. Just $500 makes you a PCT sponsor for the year. Call me today to take advantage at 355-8000. Supporting community media is good for the entire community.

We can't wait to show you all the incredible things we've done this year. We are very proud and you should be, too. PCT is your station because you staff it. Let's get you watching this weekend. Channel 26/27 Comcast and world-wide via www.PacificCoast.TV..  See you at the Telethon." 

Note:  Logo and photograph from  PCT 26. 

Posted by Kathy Meeh

San Jose's Measure D, raises the minimum wage to $10

Silicon Valley Mercury News/John Woolfolk, 11/10/12.  "San Jose measure boosts efforts to raise minimum wages."

Higher minimum wage is a happy meal deal

San Jose's overwhelming approval of Measure D, making it the most populous city to adopt a higher minimum wage than state or federal requirements, has given a boost to labor advocates seeking to raise the pay floor for workers around the country.

Students and labor leaders who campaigned to raise minimum wages in San Jose are hearing from activists from Los Angeles to Eureka interested in similar measures for those cities. And they say the measure's approval by 59 percent of San Jose voters adds pressure on state and federal lawmakers for broader minimum-wage hikes.   

....  Many states forbid their cities from adopting their own minimum wages and only a few others nationwide have done so: Santa Fe and Albuquerque, New Mexico; Washington, D.C.; and San Francisco, Kern said. Voters in Albuquerque this week raised a minimum wage the city had established in 2006. And Long Beach, Calif., voters just voted to raise the minimum wage for hotel workers. 

 ....  The federal hourly minimum wage is $7.25, although a bill introduced this year in Congress would raise it to $9.80 by 2014 with inflation adjustments. President Obama has expressed support for a minimum-wage increase. California's hourly minimum wage is $8 and the highest state rate is $9.04 in Washington, which will increase to $9.19 in January. When it takes effect in March, the San Jose measure will establish a $10 hourly minimum wage citywide with automatic inflation adjustments. The San Francisco hourly minimum will be $10.55 next year.  Read article.

Related -CBS News, 11/7/12, "San Jose voters approve minimum wage increase", includes an audio report, 39 seconds.  Think progress/Travis Waldon, 8/2/12.  "One in four American workers will be in low-wage jobs for the next decade"

Posted by Kathy Meeh

CA Coastal Commission allows Bluffs owers to build concerte cliff wall

Pacifica Tribune/Jane Northrop, 11/13/12.  "AIMCO allowed to construct concrete tie-back wall for The Bluffs apartment building."

The Bluffs at Pacifica apartments, 380 Esplanade Avenue

"The California Coastal Commission has unanimously decided to give the owner of The Bluffs apartment building on Esplanade permission to construct a concrete tie-back wall. The wall will effectively stabilize the otherwise unstable soil slope and prevent further damage from erosion. Bars of concrete will be inserted into the slope and secured into place. 

Cliff erosion problem

Owned by AIMCO, The Bluffs at 360-380 Esplanade is near two apartment buildings that were condemned and evacuated during the 2009-10 winter storms.

....  "The original estimate was $10 million, but the way our costs are looking, it may double that amount," said Cindy Duffy, spokeswoman for AIMCO. "The investment is one that is needed to do this work. We are committed to our residents and to the community. We also appreciate the support of the Coastal Commission."   Read Article. 

Related -  360 Esplanade video, 13 seconds.  Several Yelp photos of the viewed damage. 

Posted by Kathy Meeh

The shuttle is again coming to Pacifica, weekends this time

Pacifica Index "the Blue Papers"

From Chris Fogel, Pacifica Index, 11/15/12.  Shuttle press release.

"The  shuttle will be open to the general public and will operate from 8 AM to 5 PM on Weekends. ....  Initial launch on December 1, 2012, 10:30 AM at the Pacifica Community Center."

With permission from Chris Fogel, Editor & Publisher

Posted by Kathy Meeh

City Council meeting of November 13, 2012 follow-up report

.Pacifica Index "the Blue Papers".

Pacifica Index, Featured Story 1.24 

"Several Appointments, but no Fireworks"

 Follow-up report of City Council meeting, November 13, 2012 

With permission from Chris Fogel, Editor & Publisher

Posted by Kathy Meeh

Bullet train, high speed rail in California is the future

San Francisco Chronicle/Los Angeles Times, 11/13/12. "Calif bullet train route will be engineering feat."

"It is the project of the century," said Bill Ibbs, a civil engineering professor at the University of California, Berkeley who has worked on high-speed rail projects around the world.

  Terrain.org, Graph from California High-Speed Rail Authority

The $68 billion first phase of the project is expected to run more than 500 miles between San Francisco and the Los Angeles and Anaheim areas by 2029. Eventually, supporters hope for high-speed lines running all the way from Sacramento to San Diego.

Conditions set for the project say it must be able to reach San Francisco from Los Angeles in no more than 2 hours and 40 minutes. The top speed for the Bakersfield-to-LA segment could be 220 mph.

In September, the Federal Railroad Administration approved construction of the first segment, a 65-mile stretch from Merced to Fresno in the Central Valley. Construction is expected to begin next year.

California hasn't considered such an immense north-south rail link since the 1870s, when Southern Pacific Railroad bored through the Tehachapis. Thousands of Chinese laborers dug and dynamited the way up and through the mountains, creating 18 tunnels on a route that climbed more than 4,000 feet.

While the engineering challenges are daunting they are not unique. Switzerland is building a 35.4-mile rail tunnel under the Alps. And China has a highway bridge 1,627 feet high."   Read more.

Reference - California High-Speed Rail Authority, includes interactive destination map.  America 2050 Regional Plan Association.

Related - the practicality.  Wired.com/Autopia Mass transit/Alexander Lew, 11/4/07, "California Needs High Speed Rail." Imagine if you could travel from San Francisco to Los Angeles in 2 hours and a half without having to arrive at an airport an hour in advanced or having to wait at a baggage claim. High speed rail in Europe and in Asia has made traveling trouble-free with stations located in downtown, no required advanced check-ins, and no weather delays."  

Related - the 2008 California vote that passed.  Treehugger, 10/25/08, "California to vote on high speed rail Nov 4."  Voters in California will be asked to decide on Proposition 1A, a $10 billion bond measure for high-speed rail in California. The biggest single infrastructure project ever built in the US, the 800 mile high-speed rail line would link northern and southern California. This video, from KQED  in San Francisco, takes a closer look at some of the environmental aspects of the revolutionary plan."  The video is 9:47 minutes.

Update -  Sacramento Bee, 11/16/12.  "Judge backs Calif. high-speed rail over farmers."

Posted by Kathy Meeh

California election celebration

California's budget is balanced, and Governor Brown's vision moves forward.

Silicon Valley Mercury News/Steven Harmon and Mike Rosenberg, 11/12/12. "California Governor Jerry Brown clear to embark on more visionary policy." 

Our state economy and vision are coming back

"The new revenue meant that for the first time in almost a decade and a half, the state had truly balanced its budget. And for the first time in more than 120 years, Democrats on Tuesday captured two-thirds of both houses of the Legislature, freeing the Democratic governor to embark on a more visionary policy path that may determine his ultimate legacy." 

Governor Jerry Brown's Agenda includes:
"High-speed rail: With President Barack Obama's re-election, Brown expressed hope in stepping up construction of the first stages of the $69 billion bullet train. 
Water: Brown hopes to work with environmentalists, Southern California farming interests and others to start construction of two massive water tunnels in the Central Valley that would ease water distribution and strengthen conservation efforts. 

Education: The governor wants to change evaluation and testing standards, as well as recalibrate the role of teachers, principals, school districts and the state "to give maximum but thoughtful authority to the lowest level." 
Regulations: Brown wants to ease regulatory burdens on businesses "where it's retarding investment in job creation," though he's mindful of the effects regulation changes would have on public health, the environment and working conditions."   Read full article.

Posted by Kathy Meeh

City council tonight, Tuesday, November 13, 2012

 
Attend in person, 2212 Beach Boulevard, 2nd floor.  Or, view on local channel 26, also live internet feed, pct26.com.  The meeting begins at 7pm, or shortly there following.  City council updates and archives are available on the City website.

City of Pacifica -  City Council Agenda, 11/13/12.

Fix Pacifica reprint article -  City council agenda, 11/13/12. 

Posted by Kathy Meeh

ocean erosion mtg nov `14

this committee is meeting again this week. i would suggest that anyone concerned with the direction this group is headed attend. this is a group that is meeting to decide how we should deal with global warming/climate change here in pacifica. managed retreat seems to be the ultimate goal. 

 

say goodbye to the golf course, fairway park, rockaway, lower linda mar. ultimately, that is what will happen even if there is no "climate change". 

 

i would venture to say that none of you knew about this meeting. see any public notices?

 

jim wagner

agenda here with reading material

http://www.sfestuary.org/projects/detail.php?projectID=58

 

Business energy tax, Proposition 39 - most of us voted yes

Silicon Valley Mercury News/Paul Rogers, 11/10/12. "California landmark global warming law becomes real this week with first cap-and-trade auctions."

For more than 40 years, California has led the nation in environmental regulation, from passing the toughest coastal protection laws to America's first rules banning leaded gasoline.

Clean energy

Now, this week -- after Hurricane Sandy pushed the issue of climate change back into the national spotlight -- California will become the first state to begin requiring a broad range of businesses to reduce their greenhouse gas pollution.  At 10 a.m. Wednesday, the California Air Resources Board is scheduled to hold its first auction to sell pollution allowances under the state's landmark cap-and-trade law. 

The idea is simple: The state sets an overall "cap" for California's greenhouse gas emissions, and companies must buy.  "For the first time, business will begin to understand what it means to put a price on carbon," said Stanley Young, a spokesman for the California Air Resources Board. "The program rewards efficiency. It will help move California away from its dependence on fossil fuels and toward a clean-energy economy."or sell credits to account for how much they pollute. Those that pollute more must clean up or pay more.  Read Article. 

Polluted energy

Related background -  Silicon Valley Mercury News/Dana Hull, 11/11/12. "Mercury News Interview:  Mary Nichols of the California Air Resources Board."   "SACRAMENTO -- Mary Nichols, chairwoman of the California Air Resources Board, is widely regarded as one of the most knowledgeable and influential clean air and climate regulators in the United States. In 2006, California adopted AB 32, also known as the Global Warming Solutions Act, which laid the foundation for a cap-and-trade program that sets lower limits on companies' greenhouse gas emissions and allows those who emit less than their cap to sell permits to those who exceed their limits. The first state auction of emissions permits will be held Wednesday."   Read Article. 

Reference -  Proposition 39.. KCET Southern California Public television explanation. And, California Environmental Protection Agency, Air Resources Board.

Related article - The Christian Science Monitor, 11/8/12. "California Proposition 39 results in $2.5 billion for energy efficiency." "California Proposition 39 results: 60 percent of voters approve measure to close tax loophole and fund clean energy and energy efficiency projects in public buildings. For a tax measure, California Proposition 39 had surprisingly little organized opposition."  Includes an optional knowledge based 30 question quiz about the effects of global climate change.  

Posted by Kathy Meeh

Devil's Slide tunnels should open in the first quarter of 2013

No hurry, the tunnel project is almost completed.   

Half Moon Bay Review/Sara Hayden, 11/9/12. "Devil's Slide tunnels delayed again."

"The long-awaited opening of the Devil's Slide tunnels has been pushed back into early 2013. It is at least the third delay for a $342 million project originally slated to open in 2011.

Only one lane each direction.  Odds of head-on collisions are less possible.

Chris Hunter, legislative aide for San Mateo County Supervisor Don Horsley, confirmed the rumors on Thursday. Caltrans has ignored repeated calls and emails seeking comment on the progress of the tunnels. As late as this summer, Midcoast residents were told to expect the tunnels to be open by the end of this year. Now the best estimate seems to be February 2013. The project is also costing taxpayers more than originally thought. Caltrans initially pegged the cost at $240 million. It hired general contractor Kiewit Pacific at a cost of $272 million. There have since been cost overruns that have added to that estimate.

The project began in 2007. Why the delay? "I think it's Kiewit taking full advantage of the contract and wanting the time," Hunter wrote in an email to the Review.

The tunnels linking Pacifica to Montara represent the first such new project built in California since 1968. Contractors have noted the complexity of the work throughout. One delay was blamed on the nature of the rock and water content of the mountain. It has required 80,000 cubic yards of concrete to construct tunnels that are 4,200 feet long. Ventilation, emergency vehicle storage and fire suppression infrastructure is in place and workers long ago completed a bridge on the north side of the tunnels, connecting the new work with Highway 1."

Related Fix Pacifica - Devil's Slide tunnel project reprint articles.

Posted by Kathy Meeh

Honoring our Veterans, 2012

New York Times/Corey Kilgannon, 11/11/12, "Veterans old and young gather to march, and to contemplate."

Veterans Day, Sunday, November 11,  2012

"There were Persian Gulf veterans and others from the Vietnam War era. Many of the older men from Korea and World War II showed their service with faded windbreakers from American Legion halls and AmVets posts. Even World War I doughboys were represented by a small unit of enthusiasts in authentic green wool uniforms.

Then there were the younger veterans, back not that long ago from Iraq and Afghanistan and wearing the latest Army camouflage. Many spoke about the pending withdrawal of the troops from Iraq, which then brought up a fact of military life: the complicated return to civilian life."  Read article.  Note:  The article briefly includes comments of one soldier's readjustment to civilian life. Embedded in the article is a 1.14 minute video, the New York Manhattan parade slide show, and link. The Veterans Day Parade has been a tradition in Manhattan since 1929.

Veterans Day reference - U.S. Army Center of Military History, Chronological history of Veterans Day.  U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, History of Veterans Day.  U.S. Department of Defense,  Special Report, Veterans Day, 2012.

Related articles -  Huffington Post/Politics/Associated Press, 11/10/12.  Veterans Day 2012 commemorations under way across the U.S."  "Saturday marks the first of what will be three days of Veterans Day commemorations across the U.S. The holiday falls on a Sunday, and the federal observance is on Monday. It's the first such day honoring the men and women who served in uniform since the last U.S. troops left Iraq in December 2011."  CBS News, 11/11/12, "Obama honors veterans, promises benefits," includes 3.27 minute embedded video of Arlington National Cemetery ceremony and abbreviated speech. The longer version of the President's speech was comprehensive, but that version does not seem to be on internet at this time.   

LOCAL update -  San Francisco Chronicle/Justin Berton, 11/11/12. "Crowds line up as San Francisco veteran's parade." "The 93rd Veteran's Day Parade passed through downtown San Francisco under blue skies, a lengthy procession of soldiers from at least six wars, politicians in convertible cars, high school drill teams and marching bands.  Though it's been years, possibly decades, since organizers recall well-wishers lining the streets with the enthusiasm befitting a Giants World Series Championship parade, the low-key affair still managed to attract supporters who wanted to honor those who served."

 

Posted by Kathy Meeh