Sunday, May 20, 2012
Figure up from $9 billion projected in January.
Gov. Jerry Brown's recently revised budget numbers show that California's budget deficit is nearly $6 billion more than the governor projected in January. The New York Times reports that California now faces a $16 billion gap, up from $9 billion, in round numbers. How that'll impact cities, however, remains unclear – at least until voters weigh in at the polls in November on Brown's tax initiative. "This means that we will have to go much further, and make cuts far greater than I asked for at the beginning of the year," Brown said on Youtube, where he released his original statement. "But we can't fill a hole of this magnitude with cuts alone, without doing severe damage to our schools." "That's why I'm bypassing the gridlock, and asking …
Friday, May 18, 2012
At the movies for Friday, May 18: Here's what's playing around town.
This is just what one of the most absurd soap operas ever really needed — a tweak of the nose from offbeat director Tim Burton and the equally offbeat but charming Johnny Depp. Don't worry if you never saw the original Dark Shadows TV series in the 60s, it wasn't nearly as funny as the latest collaboration from Burton and Depp. Depp revamps the main character Barnabas Collins, a vampire who wakes up in the 1970s to find McDonald's, lava lamps and Alice Cooper — not to mention his old enemy, the witch who cursed him more than a century ago. Depp plays this innately over-the-top role with perfect deadpan humor — "The Collins Family has always held the greatest balls." That should have cued up the AC/DC soundtrack. Burton didn't miss a trick …
Thursday, May 17, 2012
Tell us about some local heroes and highlights in our community to get them the recognition you know they deserve.
When was the last time you took a moment to praise someone for a good deed, or yelled out to tell everyone how impressed you are with someone? Come on and give a shout-out to the person or group in our community you feel deserves the praise. Maybe that’s someone at the grocery store who found your wallet and turned it in. Maybe it’s your own child, you received all A’s on her report card. Tell us, tell the entire community, who did something special and should receive this praise. Not feeling all that positive and you’d rather sound off on what’s bothering you? No worries, we have a forum for that as well, just go here and join in that conversation.
Follow Nicole Nada's daring bike ride from Eureka to Greenbrae and her journey to kick breast cancer.
Nicole Nada is taking the trip of a lifetime, a six-day, 320-mile bike ride that will end six days later in Greenbrae, just in time for her first round of chemotherapy on May 21 at the Marin Cancer Institute. Nada, who is fighting breast cancer, is blogging about her journey on her site www.kickingmycancer.com. She is using the ride to raise funds and awareness for the Center for Integrative Wellness and Health in Greenbrae and the Humboldt County Breast Health Project. Here is her latest update. We'll post her blog entries here as they come in. You can donate to her causes on her site. *** Day 2 and I just limped into Garberville with sore feet and out of water. Highlights of Day 1.... The send off at my home...about 20 friends, …
Wednesday, May 16, 2012
Nicole Nada is riding her bike 320 miles from Eureka to Greenbrae to raise awareness about breast cancer and to raise funds for two support centers. We'll share her blog posts from her six-day trek.
Nicole Nada is on her way. The Eureka mother of two was expected to start her 320-mile bike trip Monday that will end six days later in Greenbrae, just in time for her first round of chemotherapy on May 21 at the Marin Cancer Institute. The ride is a celebration for Nada, a cycling enthusiast, but also a chance to raise funds and awareness for the Center for Integrative Wellness and Health in Greenbrae and the Humboldt County Breast Health Project. Nada, who is fighting breast cancer, is blogging about her journey on her site www.kickingmycancer.com. Here is her latest blog post from Sunday, just before she was due to leave. We'll post her blog entries here as they come in. You can donate to her causes on her site. *** Today is busy. …
Thursday, May 10, 2012
Regional association keeps displaying signs of a disconnect with the people it is supposed to represent.
I recently attended a Marin County Council of Mayors and Councilmembers (MCCMC) meeting to listen to a presentation given by Ken Kirkey, the director of planning to the Association of Bay Area Governments (ABAG). Kirkey gave an update on the One Bay Area Plan and the latest Regional Housing Needs Allocation. He was supposed to answer questions that councilmembers had submitted prior to the meeting but neglected to answer many of them. Residents were also given the opportunity to ask questions. In response, Kirkey oftentimes gave rote answers that had little to do with the actual questions, stated that the question(s) were outside ABAG’s purview, or simply stated that regardless of why a community would have difficulties complying with the …
Wednesday, May 9, 2012
Ross Valley Mother’s Club sponsors community based play group event
It was a beautiful spring day at Hal Brown Park at Creekside in Greenbrae as families gathered for the Ross Valley Mother’s Club (RVMC) play day. This was the third gathering of the four weekend event. Next Saturday, May 12th, they will be meeting at Andy Peri Park in Fairfax from 10am – 12pm. Families were treated to complimentary coffee from Marin Coffee Roasters and cookies from Sugar Mama Cookies. Elise Sambrano told me, “Many people are wanting to make friends in their neighborhoods…so we are starting neighborhood-based play groups based on school districts…” Elizabeth Misner added, “I just move to Marin about a week ago from San Francisco…I joined RVMC a few months ago in anticipation of moving here. I have a 3 ½ year old little …
Monday, May 7, 2012
Nicole Nada plans to arrive at her first chemotherapy session in Greenbrae in style — after a 6-day, 320-mile charity bike ride from Eureka starting on May 15.
It's already a long trip from Nicole Nada's home in Eureka to see her doctor in Greenbrae. Her next trip is going to take a lot longer. Nicole is planning to embark on a bike trip, beginning in Eureka on May 15 and ending at the Marin Cancer Institute in Greenbrae on May 21, just in time for her first round of chemotherapy. What a way to arrive. She's blogging about her journey on her site www.kickingmycancer.com. "Why the ride? Three reasons, most importantly for myself — I love to cycle and be active and it seemed like the perfect way to arrive at chemotherapy, something I am not crazy about receiving, but know I need," Nicole said. "My blood will be pumping, and I will feel healthy and strong going into it and that is important to me. …
Rants & Raves: What should Larkspur do with its parcel of donated land?
Just about everyone, it seems, has something to say about what the City of Larkspur should do with the parcel of land that it is expected to inherit from the New Home Company. Now it's your turn to sound off. The Larkspur City Council on Wednesday held the first public hearing to gauge residents' ideas for the site. By far, the most popular suggestion has been a new library to replace to cozy — some would say tiny — library at the nearly century-old City Hall building. But are there other priorities for Larkspur? Is there something city leaders haven't yet considered? Come one, shout it out loud! This isn't a fruitless exercise. We'll turn as many Rants into stories that we can, following up with the right people on the questions you want …
Saturday, May 5, 2012
Sen. Mark Leno has introduced a bill to stop the exploitation of seniors.
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Saturday, May 5
The following was circulated Thursday by the office of Sen. Mark Leno, who represents the 3rd Senate District of California, which includes Marin County and portions of San Francisco and Sonoma counties. It is hard to believe that some insurance companies and agents would purposefully take advantage of older military veterans for monetary gain. Unfortunately, that is just what is occurring in community centers, nursing homes and assisted living facilities across the state when senior vets are talked into "quick overhauls" of their finances that sometimes have disastrous results. In an effort to put a stop to this exploitation of our seniors, I have authored Senate Bill 1170, which protects veterans from insurance scams. The federal …
Veit
2:31 pm on Friday, May 11, 2012
I read that ABAG projects a 17% increase in jobs in Marin over the next 30 years, when in reality have lost jobs over the last two decades. How did they come up with that number? Esp. since that number is probably the big driver behind their inflated housing mandates. Any insights? Didn't Palo Alto want to hire Stanford researchers to check the assumptions ABAG used (see also Dick Spotswood's … more ›