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Wednesday, March 31, 2010

Volume ı ı ı Number 49 | 75 cents Serving the entire San Mateo Coastside since ı898 www.hmbreview.com

Editorial a 4A | Weather & Tides a 5A | Police Log a 5A | A&E a 2B | Sports a 5B | Real Estate a 1C | Classifi eds a 3C

Authorities to hear from Mavericks audiencePUBLIC HEARING COMES TO COAST

TUESDAYBy Greg Thomas

[ greg@hmbreview.com ]

Coastsiders are invited to share their views on public safety at the Mavericks Surf Contest at a meeting coming up Monday.

The meeting offers a plat-form for anyone seeking im-proved public safety for an in-ternationally famous surf con-test that has become infamous for injuries to surfi ng fans.

Spectators who swarm Princeton during contest day number in the tens of thou-sands and perch on precari-ous positions — in high surf zones, on unstable cliffs and

out near the wave break — for a glimpse of the contest.

Several people were injured, and a few hospitalized, during the contest in February when a surging wave washed over a section of beach at the base of Pillar Point, wiping out spec-tators, sound equipment and contest infrastructure. The damage drew unwelcome at-tention from national media outlets and created a stir lo-cally among law enforcement offi cials. Spectators have been seriously injured at past con-tests as well.

In the aftermath of Febru-

Mavericks safety hearing:What: Opportunity for Coastsid-ers to speak publicly about safety improvements at the Mavericks Surf Contest

When: Monday, April 5

Where: The conference room at Comfort Inn, 2930 North Cabrillo Highway, in Half Moon Bay.

Mark Foyer / Review

A San Mateo County Sheriff ’s deputy keeps watch during the February Mavericks Surf Contest. Sev-eral spectators were injured when they ventured too close to the surf and were knocked down by waves. See MAVERICKS a 6A

[ p u b l i c s a f e t y ]

Father-and-son farmers reap top honorED, DAVID LEA WIN FARMER OF THE YEAR

By Mark Noack[ mark@hmbreview.com ]

Ed Lea couldn’t land a date when he worked as a young farmer on the Coastside in the 1940s. None of the local girls wanted to date a farmer, he said.

“So I went up to San Francisco!” Lea joked Friday as he stood next to his wife and son in front of a cheering crowd of friends — many of whom he had known for most of his life.

Today, two generations of Lea farmers, Ed and his son, David, are sharing the Half Moon Bay Farmer of the Year Award. They received the award as a surprise at the 41st annual Mel Mello

Farm Day Luncheon at the I.D.E.S. Hall in Half Moon Bay. The father-and-son Coastside agrarians received the award for

their longtime commitment to local agriculture and the commu-nity.

“We want to thank you for the love of the farm, the love of your family and the love of the community,” said San Mateo County Supervisor Rich Gordon, who was among a series of local, coun-ty and state political fi gures who delivered their own recognition honoring the Lea family farmers.

Ed Lea farmed various plots of land on the Coastside after re-turning from military service on a gunship that was bombed dur-ing World War II. In addition to farming the coast, he helped to grow its children. He served twice on the board of the Cabrillo

Lars Howlett / Review

Ed Lea approaches the microphone Friday after receiving Farmer of the Year honors along with his son, David. The Lea family was honored during the annual Mel Mello Farm Day Luncheon at the I.D.E.S. Hall in Half Moon Bay.

[ w i l d l i f e ][ m c t v ]

SEABIRD POPULATION PLUMMETS ON COAST

BOATING RESTRICTION AT DEVIL’S SLIDE TAKES

EFFECT IN APRILBy Greg Thomas

[ greg@hmbreview.com ]

Two recovering seabird colonies on Devil’s Slide Rock, also known as Egg Rock, faltered last year as populations dropped far more than their relatives anywhere else in the state. Biologists are calling the event a “total breeding failure.”

By and large, year-to-year variations in ma-rine life don’t faze biologists who keep track of long-term patterns of environmental fl uctu-ations. But when reproduction comes to a vir-tual halt, scientists worry.

“It could just be a one-year change, but it’s not something that we’ve seen out there before in over 40 years of working out there,” said Pete Worzybok, a marine ecologist studying seabird populations on the Farallon Islands and at Devil’s Slide. “We haven’t seen this kind of disconnect before.”

Supes discuss changes to MCTVFUNDING IS LIKELY TO BE BIGGEST HURDLE

By Greg Thomas[ greg@hmbreview.com ]

Mid-Coast Television could be on its fi nal descent. Or it could endure, as it has for 25 years, as the Coastside’s sole source of local community televi-sion. Or it could settle into a routine of sharing community programming with other local stations.

The future of community television is uncertain in light of a county initia-tive kicked off last week, an effort to assess MCTV management and the needs of the community.

A subcommittee of the San Mateo County Board of Supervisors recom-mended Friday that supervisors cut the renewable contract between the county and MCTV from the custom-ary three years to 18 months — to end in September 2011. The move follows recent advice from county staffers urg-ing supervisors to look beyond MCTV for alternative localized public broad-casting on the Coastside.

Comcast has channel space to sup-port four public dducational and gov-ernment, or PEG, stations, between Pescadero and Pacifi ca, according to speakers at the meeting. Pacifi ca Tele-vision and MCTV occupy two of the spots.

“As I understand it, the channel spots are available. You need someone to step forward and say I want one of those spots,” said San Mateo County Supervisor Rich Gordon.

Enter Half Moon Bay resident and onetime Cabrillo Unifi ed School Dis-trict board member Roy Salume. He claims a band of about 12 unnamed Coastsiders with a range of applica-ble experience, under the working title Improve MCTV Coalition, are stand-

Comcast and the Coastside:

Comcast is on track to vacate its headquarters in El Granada by the end of October.

“We’ve seen a re-duced amount of foot traffi c in that of-fi ce over the years,” explained Comcast Regional Vice Presi-dent of Commu-nications Andrew Johnson. Keeping the storefront open “doesn’t make any business sense,” he added.

But the cable pro-vider’s work here is unfi nished. Here’s what’s on tap:

t Comcast promises High Defi nition on the coast. Johnson once promised the service would be available in 2010; now he says it will be here by the end of this year.t MCTV is mov-ing on the dial, from Channel 6 to Chan-nel 27 in advance of the transition to HD.t The cable com-pany says it is ex-panding Comcast’s offi ce in Pacifi ca, the nearest offi ce to Half Moon Bay.

Lars Howlett / Review

Wildlife biologists Lisa Eigner, left, and Sandy Rhoades use magnifying scopes to count common murre and their eggs near Devil’s Slide.

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SPRING/SUMMER 2010

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ART UPSTAIRSRecent art school grads start workshops downtown > 2B

B U S I N E S S

“The whole system is getting less and less predictable.”

— Gerry McChesney, Common Murre

Restoration Project manager

See SEABIRDS a 6ASee MCTV a 6A

See FARMER a 6A