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MoreMarin is a blog; more specifically, a placeblog. We aim to bring you the more interesting, more quirky and more controversial news about Marin, the SF Bay Area, California and sometimes, the World. So visit, read, comment- Interact More with your community!
A couple of weeks ago, we told you about the famous (infamous?) Berkeley tree-sitters, who've had a sky-high perch in a grove of trees on the UC Berkeley campus for the past eighteen months. The University wants to build an athletic center on the property and have begun stronger tactics (police presence, with holding food & water, etc) in order to get them down. Well in the past two days, four of them have come down, which leaves three still in the trees. Looks like this might end very soon. Stay tuned!
The stubborn Basin Complex Fire burning near Big Sur, jumped the fire lines and burned an additional 8,000 acres overnight. A mandatory evacuation along Hwy 1, closed the historic highway for 25 miles. So far, 17
structures have burned, but now, 1,777 are threatened. The fire is still only 3% contained, despite the efforts of 1,600 firefighting personnel who are battling the blaze. Workers were asked to leave the inns, restaurants and stores that line the evacuated route.
Firefighters have their hands full with over 1,700 fires burning in California right now. The fires have consumed nearly half a million acres and have destroyed 31 residences. For a look at all the fires see this link.
Click below to see the latest in your local news:
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Trail Blogger Gets Death Threats: Although San Rafael resident John Parulis knew his blog targeting illegal mountain biking would draw attention, he never thought it would bring death threats. (Read more) |
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3 Suspects In Bolinas Attempted Murder Arraigned: Two suspects in the stabbing of a transient in Bolinas will appear in Marin County Superior Court today in a bid to be released on their own recognizance. Ryan Patrick Lorne, 22, and Stefan Do, 16, both of Bolinas, were arraigned Monday. A third suspect Thoren Manetta, 19, of Mill Valley, was arraigned Tuesday. (Read more) |
What do an 1,100 pound, 7 year-old hog named Wilbur and a state-of-the-art, high-tech, 18 month-old all-electric bike named Pi have in
common?
Absolutely nothing, except that you can find them both at this year's Marin County Fair, "The Greenest County Fair on Earth" here in MoreCulture!
Here's a slideshow from the Marin County Fair- The Greenest County Fair on Earth!
See all the photos in the MoreMarin Photo Album.
Bolinas has always been the town that wanted to keep a low profile- so much so- that town residents routinely swiped the sign on the road that pointed the way to the seaside hamlet.
Last week, that low profile was blasted apart, after a homeless man there was set upon by four locals who beat and stabbed him to within an inch of his life. Three of the men- including one 16 year-old- are Bolinas natives. The fourth was apprehended just today, and all have been charged with attempted murder.
The town that prides itself on staying under the radar is now very much in the news, and out in the open. Bolinas has joined the unhappy club of communities rocked by obscene violence from a few of its uncivilized residents. Perhaps they might just as well keep the sign off the road.
Friday is the Fourth of July, and here's where you can see fireworks (legally!) in the Bay Area-
**Marin County Fairgrounds in San Rafael
**Sausalito waterfront
**Stinson Beach
**Fisherman's Wharf in SF
**Jack London Square in Oakland
**Berkeley Marina
Stay safe and sane- and don't use them illegally, especially this year when much of our landscape is tinder dry. (Photo from Sonoma West Times & News)
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Long Journey To National Title For Marin Rowing Coach: To fully appreciate the fact that 44-year-old Sandy Armstrong of San Anselmo finally won her first national title as a coach in the U.S. Rowing Youth Championships, one must know and understand her journey. (Read more) |
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Golden Gate Bus, Ferry Fares Up 5 Percent Tuesday: The fare increases are part of a five-year transit fare increase program that was approved by the GGBridge Brd. of Directors in March 2006. (Read more) |
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It should come as no surprise Forbes picked Marin as one of twenty top counties nationwide, for raising a family. They used a list of 10 criteria including cost of living, graduation
rate, standardized scores, home price, property tax rate as a
percentage of median home price, percentage of homes occupied by owner,
per-capita income, air quality, crime rate and commute time. The only thing that shocked us is the fact that Johnson County, Kansas came out ahead of Marin. Kansas?? Forbes says only reason we didn't make the top spot was the "staggering" cost of housing.
" Because of an outstanding school system and abundant employment opportunities, Marin County, Calif. cracked the top 20 despite a whopping median home price of $901,900."
Yes, real estate is expensive here...but Kansas??? Here's the full article.
SF Mayor Gavin Newsom filed papers yesterday to form an exploratory committee in order to begin collecting campaign contributions and run for Governor. The decision places the popular Mayor in a crowded field for the election which is two years away in 2010. Other likely candidates are former two-time California Governor and former Oakland Mayor, Jerry Brown and Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa on the Democratic side. For the Republicans, former eBay CEO Meg Whitman is considering running . The race is likely to be very competitive, and expensive, with each candidate expected to spend about $30 million.
Amidst an early and dangerous wildfire season for most of Northern California, Mt. Tam's fire lookout has just opened for the first day of the season. Check out this neat report from abc7.
The California death row system is on the verge of collapse according to a 117 page report just issued by the California Commission on the Fair Administration of Justice. The system costs $100 million a year to administer and has the largest backlog of cases in the nation.
Continue reading "Death Row In Death Knell According To Justice Report" »
Don't marry Betty Neumar if you expect to live. Officials are re-examining the deaths of four of the five dead husbands of the 76 year-old North Carolina resident. Neumar has just been charged with conspiring to kill her fourth husband. Her first husband was slain and that case remains unsolved, her second died of circumstances not discussed by authorities, the third after allegedly committing suicide, a fourth from shooting (she has been accused of soliciting his murder) and the fifth and final spouse died of a septic infection of an unknown cause.
If this isn't a case of a 'Black Widow', we don't know what is. US Today has the story...
With somewhere between 600 and 1,000 fires still burning in our state, firefighters are having to decide which to fight and which to let burn. Some fires will continue to burn for weeks, even months, as firefighters concentrate their efforts on the ones with more potential for structure damage. The situation was unprecedented in the scope of the number of fires burning at one time; on the weekend of June 21 Forest Service officials estimate 1,200 were active- a record for California.
To date, nearly 570 square miles of terrain has been scorched and dozens of structures lost. But on the positive side, no loss of life or major injuries to civilian or firefighter has yet been reported.
Whoa--- don't piss off the French! The folks at Louis Vuitton (LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton) claiming reduced sales due to faux handbags for sale on eBay, have won their case, and a French commercial court has ordered the San Jose based company to fork over $61 million dollars in damages.
The two-part ruling faulted eBay for "guilty negligence" for not doing enough to prevent knockoffs from being sold on the site and found the online company responsible for "illicit sale" of perfumes from the LVMH empire, which can be sold only through the brands' "selective distribution networks."
eBay, who hope to appeal the ruling, say they take counterfeit items off the site right away, and that the Louis Vuitton people are mad because eBay buyers and sellers cut out the middleman, in this case Louis Vuitton. Read more here...
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Ugliest Dogs In The World 2008: The 20th Annual World's Ugliest Dog Competition was held at the June 2008 Sonoma-Marin Fair in Petaluma, California. (Read more) |
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Gas Prices Step Up Attention to Freight Train Rail Track Repair Proposal: Businesses await line repair but lawsuit filed by the City of Novato has stalled the project. (Read more) |
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In the ten months before the end of May, California hospitals performed the wrong surgical operation, operated on the wrong patient or operated on the wrong body part 41 times. Additionally, foreign objects were left in patients after surgery, an astounding 145 times! That's the scary news compiled by the California Department of Public Health which is charged with keeping track of the so-called 'adverse events.'
Continue reading "California Hospitals Required To Report 'Adverse Events'" »
Thud!- that's the sound of your 401k dropping through the floor. Record oil prices, concerns over the credit crisis and general economic woes sent stocks hurtling south, and losing $2.1 trillion (with a "t") dollars in value; $1.4 trillion in the month of June alone! Investors worry we're entering a bear market- a drop of 20% or more- the first one since the internet bubble burst in the early 2000s. Let's see... real estate has lost its lustre, stocks are off- does that mean it's 'stash in the mattress' time??
No more vacations as Americans discover 'staycations' or staying at home. People who commute long distances to work might find it more cost effective to just quit their jobs, or retire earlier. Businesses would close in droves, as consumers find they have no extra money to buy anything except the very basics.
That's just a taste of life on $200 bucks a barrel. Not gonna happen, you say?
Oil closed at $140 dollars a barrel on Friday, and it only took a six months to get there from the once magic-$100 a barrel mark which was achieved on January 2 of this year. Analysts believe that $200 a barrel is not unrealistic, and maybe very likely. That would translate to $7 dollars a gallon for gasoline, and a whopping change in most American's lifestyle. Writer Martin Zimmerman, lays out this cheery scenario in this LA Times piece.
The usual rainbow colored attire was replaced with bridal gowns and groom-style tuxes during yesterday's 38th Annual Gay Pride Parade in the City. Huge crowds cheered SF Mayor Gavin Newsom for his efforts in the fight to legalize same-sex marriages, something gay couples have enjoyed in California since June 16. City organizers and tourist officials had predicted a large increase in revelers because of the new law, and they were right.
(Photo by Reuters)
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Heads up everyone! Starting tomorrow in California, if you're caught using a cell phone without a hands-free device while driving (like the photo on the left) you will pay the price. Beginning July 1st, the new cell phone laws will go into
effect. Every California driver over 18 will be required to use a
hands free cellphone device when driving. Drivers under 18 are not
allowed to use any cell phone while driving at all. For a closer look at the laws...read on.
Continue reading "Hands Free Or Cell Phone Use In Car Will Be Costly" »
As of Sunday evening, more than 1,000 fires still burn in Northern California and among the worst continues to be the Basin Complex Fire burning near Big Sur where 250 homes are threatened in the tiny town of Palo Colorado Canyon. The latest statistics:
* Total fires: 1,420
* Total acres burned: 364,600
* Personnel: 19,622
* 1,424 Fire Engines
* 926 Helicopters
By Sunday, the Basin Complex fire burned to within three miles of Palo Colorado Canyon, but firefighters had managed to cut fire breaks east of the fire to protect other areas in the famous wilderness, including the Tassajara Zen Mountain Center. Firefighters say the fire is still only 3% contained, and has consumed 32,476 acres.
Statewide, 29 homes have been destroyed and 7,500 still remain threatened. Thirty major blazes burn in the state, with all but five in Northern California. U.S. Forest Service say the weather has been predicted to get hotter and drier as the state heads into the traditional peak of fire season in late July and August. The report also said that summer storms will continue- many with lightening strikes- much like those that caused the rash of fires last weekend.
The good news for Marin residents is, the awful smoky air we all endured last week seems to have mostly lifted, at least for the time being. The beautiful and visible, silhouette of Tam on Sunday, was a welcome site for all of us.
(AP Photo)
Mike Altman, a 32 year-old rower from Marin, joins 11 other Northern California rowers who will head for Beijing to compete in the Olympics in August. Altman, a Redwood High School graduate, rowed for Marin Rowing Association in 1991 and 1992. He is a seven-time National team member.
(Photo by Brett Johnson)
We know it's not Tuesday, but we're doing the poll anyway. Yesterday, in a 5-4 vote, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down a law in D.C. that bans owning handguns, the strictest gun control law in the country. How do you feel about that?
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