Pacifica Riptide

Pacifica's Fine Feathered Friends

Paul Donahue spends hours on Pacifica's rocky coastline watching shorebirds (Wandering Tattlers, Black Turnstones, Surfbirds, Black Oystercatchers [see above]). "All of these birds spend their lives foraging close to the breaking waves, where the foraging is most productive," Paul says. See more of his pictures in the Pacifica Shorebirds photo album on the lower-right sidebar.

PG&E Sniffs Around Pacifica

Jim Alex saw a PG&E inspector testing for gas leaks in his neighborhood. "The guy was walking around with a meter on his belt and a gas-sniffing instrument that looked like a cane. He said they will be going block by block, street by street," Jim says.

Swing Girls

 

John Maybury's "Wandering & Wondering" Column in the Pacifica Tribune

Access John Maybury's Pacifica Tribune column "Wandering and Wondering." Downloadable/printable PDFs of the column are posted below as they appear in the newspaper. John's columns published before July 13, 2011 are archived at WANDERING AND WONDERING

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Metering Lights Back on Southbound 280: Vacation's Over!

Download Press Release Southbound 280 Ramp Meter

Slip Slidin' Away: Erosion Threatens Pacifica Landmark Dollaradio

CLICK FOR JULIA SCOTT STORY ON DOLLARADIO

Opinion: Dangerous Thoughts Threaten Pacifica Democrats

I usually don’t go to Pacifica Democrats meetings, finding the club too much of a listener, rather than an activist club whose members walk precincts.

When Pete McCloskey challenged the group to help elect Congressional candidates in close races in Northern California, he quickly realized he might as well have been asking them to take a walk in space.

But Supervisor Don Horsley was going to speak at Saturday’s meeting, and finding him a smart, reasonable guy, I decided to go and ask him whether the San Mateo County Transportation Authority would listen to Pacificans if we said we didn’t want Highway 1 widened to six lanes.

I left about a dozen flyers questioning the need for the widening around the tables where the Pacifica Democrats were about to gather for coffee and lard.

“Do you think these are appropriate?” Kathy Meeh asked club president Barbara Arietta prior to the meeting, picking up some of my flyers. “They’re NOT appropriate,” replied Madame Prez, as Meeh quickly gathered up the rest of the flyers.

“What’s the problem, you don’t like what I have to say? Are you trying to stifle my right to political speech?” I asked.

“You haven’t lived here as long as I have,” Meeh replied, thus explaining the need to protect Democrats from the perils of a contrary opinion.

Arietta, by the way, is a member of SMCTA'S citizens advisory committee, where she can be counted on to tell SMCTA board members what they want to hear. Don’t rock the boat, and the county establishment might reward you with another appointment.

I didn’t stay for the meeting after all. I was afraid of spoiling someone’s sausage by questioning whether expanding a portion of Highway 1 was the way to go.

BILL COLLINS

College of San Mateo Selling KCSM-TV?

CLICK FOR STORY ON SALE OF KCSM-TV

Warren Buffett: Stop Coddling the Super-Rich

CLICK FOR WARREN BUFFETT'S NEW YORK TIMES OP-ED

Bag It: The Film; Get Plastic Propaganda Out of Our Schoolbooks

Thanks to Ian Butler and Lynn Adams for the following messages:

Bag It has been garnering awards at film festivals across the nation. What started as a documentary about plastic bags evolved into a wholesale investigation into plastics and their effect on our waterways, oceans, and even our bodies. If you missed the recent screening at Owen Hall or the PCT broadcast, you can probably get the film on Netflix or elsewhere online. Also, please take action on the message below about the plastic industry's outrageous propaganda inserted into schoolbooks.

CLICK FOR TRAILER/PREVIEW OF BAG IT FILM

MESSAGE FROM ENVIRONMENT CALIFORNIA

We know plastic bags are terrible for the environment. They pollute our oceans and beaches, harm wildlife, and contribute to the Pacific Garbage Patch — that toxic soup of trash swirling off our coast that's grown to be twice the size of Texas. So why does California's new environmental curriculum include a section on "The Advantages of Plastic Shopping Bags"? Because lobbyists for the American Chemistry Council — the same front group that spent millions to defeat the statewide bag ban last year — convinced school officials to include it. [1]

What’s next? A lesson on the benefits of mercury in our diet? Please tell Governor Jerry Brown to keep polluters’ propaganda out of our kids’ textbooks. According to an article in the San Francisco Chronicle [1], parts of the textbook "were inserted almost verbatim from letters written by the chemistry council. The additions included: ‘Plastic shopping bags are very convenient to use. They take less energy to manufacture than paper bags, cost less to transport, and can be reused.’ ”

It’s no surprise that plastic-bag makers want to convince the next generation of Californians that their product is “eco-friendly.” But it’s the resposibility of school officials to make sure they get the facts:

The Pacific Garbage Patch — a toxic soup of swirling trash off our coast — has grown to be twice the size of Texas. In this zone, plastic outnumbers plankton by as much as 6:1.

Scientists are increasingly concerned about the toll plastic pollution takes on wildlife, who can choke, suffocate or starve to death if their stomachs become filled with plastic

While plastic breaks into smaller and smaller pieces, scientists believe it may never biodegrade.

Please tell Governor Brown to make sure plastic-industry propaganda is removed from kids’ textbooks immediately. Thanks for standing up for our ocean and environment.

Dan Jacobson
Environment California Legislative Director

P.S. Help spread the word by posting this to Facebook and Twitter.

[1] “Plastic bag lobbying group influences curriculum,” Susanne Rust, California Watch, San Francisco Chronicle, August 19, 2011, page A-1.