This weeks North Coast Journal, Hank Sims has an article on harbor commissioner Pat Higgins wanting to transfer the management of the Humboldt part of the railroad to the district. Due to the large sum of $175,000 the NCRA owes the district. Unfortunately, you have to wait until Thursday to read it online.

I’m not sure how they can manage it, when, they are hurting for cash also. That is a question, Hank fails to ask, or answer.

Another question, is “With that section closed, the justification for the authority” is stated, but never seems to be finished. What was it’s closing of that sentence? That “With that section closed, the justification for the authority is to get the Humboldt short line going ASAP?”

Maybe, “With that section closed, the justification for the authority to sue the state of California, for not providing enough funds, to operate, on something other than a shoestring budget. Thus ensuring the failure of the railroad to keep up the maintenance, preventing a high cost of return?”

The thing is Higgins seems to infer that the NCRA and NWP aren’t working with THA, and trails. To what I’ve seen NCRA, and NWP have been very helpful to THA.

My other issue with NCJ is the failure to print my election letter supporting Dan and Richard.

Continue to celebrate the ocean with Ocean Conservancy, Surfrider Foundation’s Humboldt Chapter and Humboldt Baykeeper with Ocean Night at Arcata Theatre Lounge.

On Thursday, Dec. 3, Ocean Night presents the North Coast premiere of Dear & Yonder, the story of “daring ladies united by the sea” by Tiffany Campbell and Andria Lesser. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. Films start at 7 p.m. A $2 donation is requested. A raffle takes place after the screening. Check surfrider.org/humboldt for more information or call Jennifer Savage at (707) 477-8283.

The film features many women surfing their beloved home breaks (the “Dear”), such as San Francisco bodysurfer Judith Sheridan’s formidable waves and Santa Cruz surfer/shaper Ashley Lloyd who seeks out ecologically sustainable materials available in order to perfect her craft. Other women venture well beyond the comfort of their home breaks to the far reaches of the earth (the “Yonder”), including Liz Clark who is single-handedly sailing around the world in search of waves and new shores. Explosive top surfing rofessionals, Sofia Mulanovich, Stephanie Gilmore, Silvana Lima, Coco Ho and others travel to Indonesia and showcase their skills on some of the best waves on Earth.

Primarily shot on 16mm film by expert cinematographers: Thomas Campbell, Scott Soens, Bali Strickland, Tiffany Campbell, John Smart and Dave Homcy, the imagery is further enhanced by music selections mined from the vast world of sound including original compositions by accomplished violinist Jennifer Curtis, underground band of surfers The Rustangs and local musicians from the Tuamotus Islands. More music is provided by Vetiver, Black Mountain, The Magnetic Fields, Tim Cohen, Calexico and Tussle. Josh and Jason Diamond, editors of Seedling, Sprout, Thread and, most recently, The Present, apply their skills in the editing suite, and artists Jeff Canham, Nat Russell and Lori Damiano lend their talents throughout the project.

Campbell and Lesser tie these carefully crafted pieces together in a rare and genuine story about our human bond with the sea told from the female perspective: “Our hope is for the depth and beauty of the film to traverse perceived boundaries and for each viewer to take a meaningful piece with them that will percolate positively back into our communities and lineups. Dear & Yonder is our way of giving something back to the thing we love.”

The THA crew and numerous media folks had a grand day on the rails today.
A sparkling sunny day was perfect for photography. The consultants for the
trail study and the channel 3 reporter had a blast. We also got our
message out there that we are about win-win, and having both rail and
trail. The full story should be on at 6 and 11pm, on News channel 3 tv.
Check it out! Marcus

The local Borders is getting free wifi today.

We made it to Bracut with the clearing. It would be of the type the Army would call a hasty clearing. As long as the speeder was able to pass, it was called good. This is why in the areas we cleared, it doesn’t look to our usual standards, and brush can be seen on the right of way. Trimmed the trees in the southern part of Bracutt, and whatever got in our way after that. Even got the speeder down with the northern part of the equilipis trees. We didn’t quite make it to the Redwood Lumber company site due to time. Not one negative reaction to what we were doing. Plenty of smiles, and friendly honks both in the marsh area, and along highway 101. No problems with the partly washed out areas, and that vindicates what I have said. We even hauled one of our member’s bicycles.

I also took video, but that will be a little while. iMovie is trying to stabilize my video now.

The whole point of this work, is tomorrow the trails group for Arcata to Bracutt, wanted to film both from the air, and from the speeder. This seems to be part of planning.

Also I would like to apologize to the city of Arcata, for my forgetting to thank them in my last post for all they work they have done to keep the rails clear. True, it is because they want trails, but that greatly helped our efforts to get to Bracutt. The other thing that helped is the billboard company’s effort to keep their view clean.

Update: video of return trip to Arcata here.

The day prior’s day clean up on this section of line.

This venue has recently been added on Expopedia, the tradefair service finder. Visit our website for more information.

Humboldt Umspannwerk
Kopenhagener Str. 56-58 / Sonnenburger Str. 73
10437 Berlin (Germany)
More information about Humboldt Umspannwerk …

An overview of the available activities for Humboldt Umspannwerk …

• Stand construction: custom build
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• Rental: furniture
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• Subcontractor installation/dismantling
• Rental: party material
• Cleaning
• Subcontractor
• Artists agency / Animation

In preparation for running the speeder on Monday for the trails video between Arcata and Bracutt, Timber Heritage Association was able to clear most of the track today. We just made it good enough to run a speeder. Still a little bit of clearing of brush. Also scrape the dirt off, the rails, and out of the flange-ways of the trail crossing in the marsh. Nothing big on the trail crossing mind you, most people won’t even notice.

It is always interesting to visit the row in the marsh, it is getting more, and more artsy. With painted ties, and stuff nailed to it.

I do have to question those who say the railroad row has to be dug up because of dioxin. What about all these places with old pilings?

Tomorrow we will be meeting at 10am at the roundhouse in Samoa to load up the speeder to do test rides on this section of track. Don’t want to have problems on Monday. Last I heard, the speeder will be loaded up on Monday, at 8am at the roundhouse in Samoa.

This Friday and Saturday a short piece of track will be laid on the Samoa roundhouse grounds to put the passenger cars on. It will be on the pavement so no movement of soils will be done. To be clear, it will not connect to the NWP mainline yet. That connection will be a ways off.

Also electrical work will be started on Saturday for the buildings.

Like always volunteers are always welcome.

Video to come later.

No Wifi access, so I can’t do my usual live bloging. I’m slow at texting and thus won’t do many twittering.

NCRA counsel isn’t here, so discussions/replies can’t be done at this meeting.

EPIC

DEIR: wants more time to review, complaining that due to holidays people won’t have time to review it. Wants it to be extended 30 days.

Lady from Fortuna, doesn’t understand why NCRA did the lease for thirty years, when the current gravel mining permit will last for about three more years.

Pat Wiggins: Here as part to get a repayment of money owed to the Harbor District. Says chapter 9 is possible of NCRA, and thus ROW sold piece meal. Suggested that NCRA’s land/ROW be transferred to the Harbor district, so they can develop the trail, and tourist train.

Chairman Hemphill said they are identifying more sources of revenue.

Had just received an entire history of of Marcus, THA history, trail vs railroad, passenger cars, life the universe and everything.

Hank Sims left after that, must of got what he wanted, or something better happened.

Trail update, should have route for public review in January, for Eureka to Arcata. In four weeks should have clear idea of routes. Very happy and helpful to have meeting with John Williams yesterday. Meeting with THA today.

The securities vote is so they can explore various methods to increase revenues.

ICE-T funds only for Cloverdale south, not anywhere north. Quiet zone funding would only be around the city of Novato.

Caltrans, Rep says funds was for the entire line.

Chairman McDonald further defined that the funds was originally sought, for the Northern line.

Financial information, was disapproved by the board due to lack of accrual statements

? NCRA is currently undergoing yearly audit. Note board members were disapproving on the lack reports, rather than information presented.

SMART forgave NCRA’s loan for repair of Haystack bridge, due to NCRA’s work on shared portion of the line.

Draft EIR. Note comment period was already extended one week to make it to end of year. No approval of further extension of comment period.

Revenues of 800,000 per year, expenses of 1 million per year. 1/3 of revenue is car leases, part id property/crossing leases. Needs to complete repairs, and start running trains.

Sonoma county is the one doing the financial books.

Quaker hill project?

Tom McDonald’s report used by Pat Higgins, and SMART wasn’t complete, was intended to be an internal report as a call to action.

Operator’s report.

Supports THA efforts. THA is a possible source of income for NCRA. Needs money to repair track. Need to prioritize money for Northern project. Also supports efforts to put trail along side rail. Spent three hours yesterday, walking along track with trails person.

Suggestions for revenue. Consider suspending stipends until such time board is more solvent. Principal effort is to lift FRA order 21.

McDonald, wanted to correct that he was only over per deim is staying in Humboldt, during county fair time, and not by much. Thus the hotel didn’t offer government discount at that time. Same with Meyers. Atkins said she hasn’t submitted her expenses yet. She wouldn’t be able to be on the board, if expenses weren’t reimbursed.

Next meeting at Novato, hoping for that city council chambers.

No presentations by Dave at this meeting.

The one thing I like about the prevalent hippie food in Arcata is the fact that I can always find something with cilantro on top.

Written by Kurt Madar, The Triplicate November 17, 2009

Bay Area boats headed our way for Dec. 1 start

Due to a poor opening for the Central Coast commercial crab season, which began Nov 15, North Coast boats will be having to compete with vessels from down south for what may be another low-yield harvest.

http://www.triplicate.com/20091117107498/News/Local-News/Crab-season-could-get-crowded?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:+TheTriplicate+(The+Triplicate,+Cresent+City+CA+News)&utm_content=Google+Reader

Under the 101 Bridge, copyright Ruth Moon 2009

This month, Ruth Moon takes us to visit “the unknown Waterfront” as part of her Eureka Discovery Walks.  She says:

Called the ‘Unknown’ Waterfront, because this stretch of the bay’s waterfront is actually not visible or accessible along much of the way, this walk features several stunning views and some interesting back trails. We’ll visit the only official section, other than the Boardwalk, of the Waterfront Walk that is envisioned to eventually span Eureka’s waterfront from north to south. We’ll see  what are some of the obstacles to making that vision a reality.

The walk starts at 9:30 AM this Saturday, November 21, in front of the Adorni Center (1011 Waterfront Drive, near the corner of L Street).

I really like Ruth’s tours.  They are free and very informative, and you get a bit of not-too-strenuous exercise.  Whether I can attend will depend on the weather, as I’m recovering from a cold and strep throat, but I hope to be there.

I really love Cafe Nooner in Eureka.  I think of all the comfort food available for puchase in town, theirs may be the comfortingest!  I stopped there yesterday — it has become a Sunday tradition for my husband and I — and had their cream of porcini mushroom (mmm, with green onions and garlic) and their Rueben-style patty melt.  Nothing pretentious, nothing extravagant, but hearty, delicious and plentiful food with friendly service.

Some day I must try their decadent-looking desserts…

Although the original plan for the day was to paint a burning graffiti production at The Boiler Room in Eureka, things didn’t turn out that way. Sheik went to the Accident Gallery to get a box of Montana spray paint, and found the gallery closed. When I asked him why, he mumbled something like, “it’s the swine flu man.” I had actually flaked on buying the buff paint, and was relieved to hear this. Well, we had planned to paint, so we decided to break out the brushes and canvases and go find a dope spot to paint.
We soon found ourselves at the mouth of the Madd River, a few miles north of Arcata California. There was not a cloud in the sky, the wind was very mellow and the waves were large. We packed our gear (consisting of boxes of paint, canvases, chairs, and a radio) down the trail a little ways to a spot that the Sheik knew had a dope view. We got the the spot to find some dude there, eating some food, enjoying his solitude. Well, we came there for that spot too, so we came down the train and dropped all our shit and began scoping the view. The dude vibed out a few minutes later, we were to weird to chill near… and not too soon, for we began to puff tuff and get ready to slap some paint to the canvas.
All in all, the day was awesome. Quite a few hikers came by, only to turn back when confronted with two grown men, sitting in focused hypnosis, listening to Coast to Coast at rude levels, the smell of weed hanging in the air, posted up right on the trail… lol.
here are some pics…

Mouth of the Madd River, looking at the Trinidad head.

The Sheik at the Madd River

My view... and my shoe

The tree we sat by.

Gerade versuche ich mich neben dem Tagesgeschäft in die natürlich sehr umfangreiche Frage einzuarbeiten, wie Lernen und Lehren heutzutage aussehen sollte (und warum).
Mir ist nämlich so langsam aber sicher bewusst geworden, dass in vielen Diskussionen diese eigentlich grundlegende Frage kaum noch aufgegriffen wird. Oft wird von “neuer Lernkultur” oder ähnlichem gesprochen und erst bei näherem Hinsehen fällt auf, dass damit z.T. sehr, sehr unterschiedliches gemeint sein kann. Und: die Forderungen, die dahinter stehen, werden oft als “selbstverständlich” herausgestellt und an sich kaum mehr begründet. Darin besteht bestenfalls die Gefahr der zunehmenden Leere solcher Forderungen (und der daraus abgeleiteten Maßnahmen), schlimmerenfalls gar die Gefahr der Instrumentalisierung (z.B. wenn aus der Forderung nach dem “Praxisbezug” dann die einseitige Anpassung an wirtschaftliche Notwendigkeiten wird).

Bei der Suche nach Ansätzen, die mir bei diesem Unterfangen helfen, bin ich auf einen Artikel von Ulrich Welbers zu Humboldts Bildungsideal gestoßen, der den Anspruch erhebt, verkürzte Rezeptionstraditionen aufzudecken und zu zeigen, welchen Wert dieses Bildungsideal heute hat. Der Artikel hat bei mir einige Gedanken ausgelöst, die ich gern hier festhalten möchte.

Zunächst mal eine (kurze)  Zusammenfassung des Artikels (bzw. der für mich anregendsten Aspekte):

Zunächst wird Humboldts Weg zu seinem Bildungsideal beschrieben, der gesellschaftliche Hintergrund (absolutistische Herrschaft und aufstrebendes liberales Bürgertum) und die zeitgenössische bildungspolitische Diskussion beschrieben – in diesen Zusammenhang setzt der Autor das Diktum von “Einsamkeit und Freiheit” um verbreiteten reduktionistischen Interpretationen (Wissenschaft als nicht “weltorientiert” = “Elfenbeinturm”) zu widersprechen.

Im Rückgriff auf die Philosophie des Aristoteles, auf den sich Humboldt bezieht, macht der Autor weiterhin klar, wie die Forderung nach “zweckfreier Bildung” zu verstehen ist: Indem Humboldt den aristotelischen Gedanken, dass in der Materie immer schon die Tendenz enthalten ist, sich ihrer ‘inneren Idee’ anzunähern, auf den Bildungsprozess von Individuen bezieht, entwickelt er die Idee, dass Menschen diese ihre ‘innere Idee’ entwickeln können sollen (der Mensch als Zweck an sich). Der Mensch kommt in dieser Sichtweise deshalb zum Wissen, weil dies in seinem Wesen verankert ist – die Entwicklung der Einzelnen kann dabei zwar be- und auch verhindert, aber kaum planmäßig gesteuert werden (am wenigsten noch für eine große Gruppe an Menschen, z.B. alle Studierende eines bestimmten Studiengangs). Vielmehr bedürfen Menschen für ihre Entwicklung Ruhe und Besonnenheit, sowie “institutionellen Schutz vor reduziertem Lebenszweck und verkürzter Bildungszeit” (S. 35).

In der Entwicklung der ‘individuellen Idee’ liegt nach Ansicht des Autors auch die Bedeutung von “Berufsorientierung” im Studium – gerade hierbei sollte der “Shift from Teaching to Learning” (S. 36) geschafft werden – so dass weniger allgemeine Absolventenprofile und quasi-industrialisierte Bildungsangebote, sondern die berufsorientierte Förderung jedes Einzelnen als Ziel steht.

Der Humboldtsche Begriff der Individualität (mit der wir Wissen konstituieren) wird ergänzt durch den Begriff des Dialogs, durch den dieses Wissen erst in der Welt Objektivität gewinnen kann. Ulrich Welbers verweist in diesem Zusammenhang auf die grundlegende Partizipationsorientierung des Humboldschen Universitätsverständnisses (Lehrende und Lernende sind beide der Wissenschaft verpflichtet und befassen sich gemeinsam mit Themen, die wissenschaftlich noch nicht gelöst sind). Humboldts Beobachtung, dass Universitäten gerade dann nicht funktionieren, wenn sie funktionalisiert werden, kann auch deshalb nicht als “Ausrede” dafür gelten, sich gerade keine Gedanken über die Vermittlung von Wissenschaft zu machen, die wesentliche Aufgabe der Universität ist.

Einige “lose” Gedanken dazu:

Insgesamt sehr schlüssig finde ich die Gedanken zur individuellen Bildung, die sich einerseits in der Orientierung an den “inneren Ideen”, andererseits auch in den Aussagen zur individuellen Wissenskonstitution finden (auf einem anderen Weg kommt Holzkamp zu der Sichtweise, dass individuelles expansives Lernen zwar gefördert, aber kaum geplant werden kann). Die Schlussfolgerung, dass Menschen einen institutionellen Schutz(raum) für ihren Bildungsprozess benötigen, würde ich aber gern erweitern und ein bisschen von seiner Zentrierung auf eine ‘vorbereitende’ Bildungsphase lösen…  Vielleicht muss man wirklich unterscheiden zwischen Bildung als dem, was in Bildungsinstitutionen betrieben wird und Bildung als dem, was Individuen in allen möglichen Lebenssituationen erwerben (können). Denn dass dies nicht nur in Bildungssituationen möglich ist, ergibt sich für mich aus dem Diktum, dass der Mensch seines Wesens nach Wissen (und Bildung?) erwirbt. Sicherlich ist es einfacher in Bildungsinstitutionen den geforderten Schutzraum (und auch die hier nicht angesprochene Unterstützung) einzurichten als an anderen Orten – dies sollte uns aber vielleicht nicht davon abhalten, zu fragen, wie wir menschliches Lernen und menschliche Entwicklung  in verschiedensten Kontexten ermöglichen (bzw. zunächst: nicht verhindern) können.

Ein zweiter Gedanke drängt sich mir bei der Diskussion der “Berufsorientierung” auf: Ich habe nämlich eine Weile gebraucht um zu verstehen, in welchem Zusammenhang und in welcher Art die “Berufsorientierung” von Welbers gefordert wird. Wahrscheinlich, weil bei mir (nur mir?) allein beim Terminus “Berufsorientierung” die Assoziation der “Karriereorientierung” aufkommt, bzw. einfach die Orientierung an der Frage, womit der Student von heute “später mal” seine Brötchen verdienen wird. Diese Frage ist zwar 1. keinesfalls abwegig, verwerflich oder mir persönlich unbekannt, und wird 2. in der heutigen sozialpolitischen und gesellschaftlichen Situation Studenten auch nahegelegt – aber es ist _eine_ Frage im größeren Thema der “Tätigkeits- bzw. Weltorientierung”, das Welbers hier m.E. (Kapitelüberschrift: “Humboldts Hände”) anspricht.
Ich würde gern die Frage nach dem “was mache ich mit dem erworbenen Wissen” nicht sofort auf “wie verdiene ich mit dem erworbenen Wissen Geld” einschränken wollen. Ich denke, dass man Humboldt damit gerechter werden würde – und nebenbei müsste man die Frage danach aufwerfen, wie eine Gesellschaft gestaltet werden kann, in der Menschen eine individuelle Bildung im Sinne Humboldts erwerben, und diese dann auch tätig, nämlich in die Gestaltung von Welt und Gesellschaft, umsetzen können (ohne mit dem, was sie als Bildung im Sinne des “Menschen als Zweck in sich selbst” erworben haben, auf die Notwendigkeit zurückgeworfen zu sein diese als “Zweck für den ökonomischen Selbsterhalt” nutzen zu müssen – und sie damit perspektivisch auch bereits darauf ausgerichtet zu erwerben…). Bildung sollte also auf die Befähigung zur Bewältigung von Zukunftsaufgaben (seien es individuelle oder gesellschaftliche) zielen, von denen der ökonomische Selbsterhalt m.E. nur eine ist (siehe auch hier).

Im letzten Punkt wird weiterhin ganz stark die Einheit von Lehre und Forschung angesprochen (die ich als  Studentin auch immer besonders geschätzt habe)…
Gerade erst vor einigen Tagen wurde auf einer Fakultätsveranstaltung (mal wieder) die Forderung ausgesprochen, sich doch “in der Forschung” stärker zu engagieren. Einmal ganz abgesehen von den strukturellen Schwierigkeiten, die damit bestehen und auf die sich die Diskussion zunächst bezog, löst der zitierte Artikel bei mir die grundlegende Frage aus, worin die Einheit von Lehre und Forschung und die Partizipation von Lernenden in der Forschung in einer Fakultät bestehen kann, die vor allem in der Lehramtsausbildung tätig ist.  Diesbezüglich schwirren mir verschiedene Gedanken im Kopf herum, die ich, wenn geordnet, vielleicht in einem anderen Post veröffentliche… ebenso zu der entscheidenden Frage, wie Lernen und Lehren denn demnach (heute) gestaltet werden sollten…

Literatur: Welbers, Ulrich (2009): Humboldts Herz. Zur Anatomie eines Bildungsideals. In: Schneider, Ralf; Szczyrba, Birgit; Welbers, Ulrich; Wildt, Johannes (Hrsg.): Wandel der Lehr- und Lernkulturen. (Blickpunkt Hochschuldidaktik, Band 120). Bielefeld: Bertelsmann, S. 21-41.

from the mouth of Tyra herself (tyrashow.com)

This is kind of weird because writing about shoes will make this my second post about clothing…18.1 percent! My life is not 18.1 percent fashion, that is fo sho. Anywayz…

Today was rainy as per usual in Norcal, but it was actually even rainier than usual. If you think that kept me from donning flippy floppys, you are sorely mistaken friendos. No inclimate weather could keep me from my precious blue flips… they just match my blue fleece coat so perfectly!

I exited my building while jamming to the new Lady GaGa single Bad Romance. Wait. Can I just say Lady GaGa is my new role model? That music video is my new favorite thing ever! <– Wow off topic. My bad. I’ll italicize my off topicness. Ok back to me heading outside in flip flops. I don’t understand why everyone gets in a tizzy over rain. I was probably the only person without an umbrella in sight, but it wasn’t even raining that hard. True, it wasn’t a mere drizzle, but not enough to merit a huge umbrella.

The umbrella part doesn’t even bother me so much as the fact that all the girls were in rain boots (the tall plastic kind). Ugh I hate rain boots. Unless you’re wading in a creek, I will probably laugh at you if you are wearing rain boots, no matter how cute the print is on them. I didn’t laugh today because I was in such shock from seeing the sheer mass of them. I got along just fine in flip flops by hopping across small puddles. Hopping was surprisingly fun and I didn’t mind the looks I recieved.

no words needed

I should be the one giving them looks for being so ridiculous. Pfffft rainboots. And don’t get me started on Uggs (aptly named). By the way, what is goin on with this ensemble to my left? Granted, I am jealous of the plaid leggings.

-mmbizz

NORTH COAST RAILROAD AUTHORITY (NCRA)
REGULAR BOARD MEETING
Wednesday, November 18, 2009~ 10:30 a.m.
Eureka City Council Chambers
531 “K” Street
Eureka
Humboldt County
Amended DRAFT AGENDA
AGENDA NOTE
All items appearing on the agenda are subject to action by the Board of Directors. Staff recommendations

are subject to action by the Board of
Directors. Staff recommendations are subject to change by the Board.
A. CALL TO ORDER
B. ROLL CALL
C. AGENDA APPROVAL
D. PUBLIC COMMENT
Comments will be limited to three minutes per person and not more than ten minutes per subject, so that everyone can
be heard. “Public comment” time is limited to matters under the jurisdiction of the Authority that may not have been
considered by the Authority previously and are not on the agenda. No action will be taken. Members of the public may
also comment during specific agenda items when recognized by the Chair.
E. PRESENTATIONS
1. Tourist Train Update – Timber Heritage Association – Marcus Brown
2. Arcata Rail-With-Trail Project – City of Arcata – Karen Diemer
F. CONDUCT OF BUSINESS
1. Discussion and Possible Approval of Sutter Securities Engagement Letter –
Potential Capital Financing Programs
2. Adoption of Resolution 2009-09 of the Board of Directors of NCRA
Authorizing NCRA to Work Jointly with SMART to Obtain ISTEA Funding and
Delegate the Executive Director Authority to Take Necessary Acts
2
3. Discussion and Possible Appointment to NCRA Committees
Appointment of Director to the following NCRA Committees:
a. Property Committee
b. Finance Committee
G. CONSENT CALENDAR
1. Approval of Minutes – Regular Board Meeting – October 14, 2009
2. Approval of Minutes – Property Committee – November 6, 2009
3. Acceptance of Financial Statements – October 2009
4. Approval of Warrants Issued – Agency 787010 – October 2009
5. Approval of Warrants Issued – TCRP 787101 – October 2009
6. Approval of Cal Card Statement – October 2009
H. COMMITTEE REPORTS
1. Property Committee – Director Kelley
I. STAFF REPORTS
1. Executive Director – Mitch Stogner
a. SMART/NCRA Operating Agreement Discussions
b. Haystack Loan Forgiveness
c. DEIR Status Update
J. OPERATOR REPORT
1. NWP Co. – John Williams
K. MATTERS FROM THE BOARD

Things have been going well for us. St. Joesph delivery area looks really nice. We did the tour last night. Wifi was free and good coverage in the areas I’ve tested.

We can already tell he is going to be a handful when he is born. He refuses to cooperate in the nonstress tests. He moves around, kicks the heartrate monitor, or not moving. So testing time seems to lengthing.

We are also doing the birthing class. I’m thinking if these videos were played in jr high and high school, the birth rate would go down.

22 preguntas para Calderon hechas por Arnoldo Krauss y sin respuesta

1.¿Cuántos muertos más puede tolerar una sociedad?

 En caso de que se efectúe el paro nacional, 2.¿qué dirá?

3.¿Es verdad que para las grandes empresas México es un paraíso fiscal?

4. ¿Es correcto que la miseria que horrorizó a Humboldt en 1805 es similar a la actual?

5.¿Piensa que es adecuado, ya no digamos ético, disminuir el presupuesto otorgado a la educación y a la ciencia?

 6.¿Qué opina del documento publicado por la Comisión Episcopal de Pastoral Social y otros grupos, intitulado Los pobres no pueden esperar?

 7.¿Piensa que será “benéfica” la siembra de maíz transgénico en Sinaloa?

El Observatorio Ciudadano Nacional del Feminicidio asegura que de enero de 2008 a diciembre de 2008 se documentaron mil 221 homicidios dolosos contra mujeres y niñas, amén de la falta de acceso de las mujeres a la justicia, 8.¿qué siente?

9.¿Qué opina su alter ego acerca de lo que usted dijo: “Ha terminado la recesión que ‘vino de fuera’”?

10, ¿miente el Instituto Nacional de Estadística y Geografía cuando afirma que la actividad económica del país cayó nuevamente en agosto?

11.¿Qué reflexión le merecen los indocumentados que mueren al cruzar la frontera o en los desiertos del sur de Estados Unidos?

Las sexoservidoras aseguran que el gobierno también es lenón, 12.¿lo avala?

Quienes conforman la Asamblea Nacional de Afectados Ambientales aseguran que el país sufre “criminalización ambiental”,13. ¿será cierto?

Somos más de 100 millones de mexicanos, la mitad se encuentra sumida en la pobreza o en la miseria y nuestro país es una de las 15 mayores economías del mundo, 14.¿cómo concilia esas cifras?

El Centro Nacional para la Prevención y Control del VIH/sida informa que en “México sólo se invierte la quinta parte de lo requerido para frenar el VIH”, 15. ¿qué le parece ese dato?

El rector de la UNAM, José Narro, ha asegurado que el país vive “un momento delicado” y que corre el riesgo de dirigirse a una “crisis social”, 16¿exagera Narro?

Se ha acusado a militares ante la Comisión Interamericana de Derechos Humanos por torturar a decenas en Baja California,17. ¿qué ha oído?

Varias ONG aseguran que la designación de Raúl Plascencia como próximo ombudsman es la continuidad de una década perdida en la Comisión Nacional de Derechos Humanos,18 ¿mienten?

Se sabe que en el IMSS la atención médica es mediocre y que se mal usan los recursos, 19 ¿qué nos dice?

20.¿Es cierto que son presos políticos los atenquenses encarcelados desde 2006?

Se ha informado que en los municipios de Oaxaca los artículos de primera necesidad se han encarecido,21 ¿sí?

22¿Es cierto que operan en México más de mil 400 agentes del gobierno estadunidense?

El mapa político de hoy es peor que la geografía incendiada que dejó Fox: han transcurrido tres años y ¡nada!, todo peor. Vivimos un problema muy grave: no hay esperanza. México se ha convertido en un país sin esperanza.

http://www.jornada.unam.mx/2009/11/11/index.php?section=opinion&article=021a2pol

Toking

Frequent Photo

“Mom, will you download some photos of Grandpa Mike’s paintings so I can take them to art class.”

Such a sweet beginning–too bad it will land my son with countless hours on the psychiatrist’s couch.

Last night, in a hurry, I quickly downloaded photos of my father-in-law’s  work onto a memory stick and sent it off to with Quinn to his college art class.

Today, he handed it to his teacher who uploaded the first photo  onto the big screen in front of the entire roomful of students.

It was that photo above.

Quickly, the professor scrolled through the twenty or so marijuana images that followed. Unfortunately, somehow the correct photos hadn’t saved.  One green bud closeup after another flashed across the screen.  A couple opium poppies flashed orange and purple petals.  The professor glared at my 16 year old son who muttered, “Sorry, my mom works for Grow magazine.”

Somehow, I bet the professor classed that excuse right up there with “the dog ate my homework.”

_____________________________________________________

This photo and the others are from my latest feature piece for Grow magazine, Outdoor Growing: It’s a Game. The magazine should be out this next week.  Buy some copies, I’m going to need the money to pay for my son’s therapy.

]]> http://capdiamont.wordpress.com/2009/11/10/ncra-notice-of-availability-deir/ Tue, 10 Nov 2009 21:51:23 +0000 capdiamont http://capdiamont.wordpress.com/2009/11/10/ncra-notice-of-availability-deir/

November 10, 2009

To All Interested Parties:

The Draft Environmental Impact Report (DEIR) for the North Coast Railroad Authority Project (SCH 2007072052) has been issued for public comments. Since the March 9, 2009 DEIR was circulated, new information that is considered significant has been made available. In accordance with CEQA 15088.5, the March 9, 2009 DEIR is being revised and recirculated to provide the public with the opportunity to comment on the revisions. Because the new information affected numerous sections throughout the document, the entire DEIR is being recirculated.

Previous comments on the March 9, 2009 DEIR will still be considered part of the public record, but written responses to these comments will not be included in the final EIR. The public is therefore advised to submit new comments on the revised DEIR.

The following provides a summary of the primary areas where the March 9, 2009 DEIR was revised:
• Since the March 9, 2009 DEIR was circulated, the NCRA Board approved its final Trail Guidelines. These guidelines are significantly different than the draft Northwestern Pacific Railroad Company (NWP Co.) Trail Guidelines that were used in the March 9, 2009 Public Safety analysis. The final NCRA Trail Guidelines are available on the NCRA web page.
• The March 9, 2009 DEIR identified BMPs as mitigation measures, but did not include a copy of them in the document. It was originally felt that since the agencies would be reviewing the BMPs prior to operations, it was not critical that they be included in the DEIR. NCRA has finalized its BMPs and these are now included in Appendix A of the revised DEIR.
• NCRA’s current operator is NWP Co.; however, since it is feasible that a different operator could at some point operate on the rail line, the revised DEIR includes or references NCRA’s plans and procedures instead of NWP Co. specific plans and procedures. It is understood that any operator will be required to follow NCRA’s plans and procedures.
• Detailed discussion was included in the cumulative section regarding the operating agreement between NCRA and SMART. Many of these details are still being discussed; therefore, they have been removed from the cumulative section. The combined operations of the passenger and freight trains will be in compliance with FRA safety regulations.
• The NCRA Rehabilitation of the rail line from Lombard to Windsor was included as a cumulative project.

This document represents the revised DEIR which is currently being recirculated for public review and comment.
Publication of this DEIR marks the beginning of a 45-day public review period, during which written comments may be submitted to the NCRA at the following address:

Written comments may be submitted to the following addresses:
North Coast Railroad Authority
419 Talmage Road, Suite M
Ukiah, CA 95482
mitch.stogner@northcoastrailroad.org

To conserve resources, this DEIR is being distributed primarily on computer disk. The DEIR will be available as of November 11, 2009 at the North Coast Railroad Authority website at www.northcoastrailroad.org. The review period for this DEIR is November 10, 2009 to December 31, 2009.

Copies of the DEIR (hard copy of the Executive Summary and a CD for computer viewing of the remainder of the document) may also be reviewed at the following libraries:

Marin Civic Center Library
3501 Civic Center Drive #427
San Rafael, CA 94903

Sonoma County Library
211 E Street
Santa Rosa, CA 95404

Mendocino County Library
105 N. Main Street
Ukiah, CA 95482

Humboldt County Library
1313 Third St
Eureka CA 95501

One of my absolutely favorite road trips of the year is to the Humboldt Half in mid October.  This year we had two car fulls of Hackers rolling down to the land of the trees.  The Humboldt Half features some of the best age group runners from the Bay Area as they compete for Pacific Association USATF (PAUSATF) points.  http://www.pausatf.org/.  A relatively manageable 6+ hour drive brings the Hackers to town ready to throw down on the Avenue of the Giants.  Warming up you can expect to see some pretty serious masters specimens representing strong teams including the Aggies, Transports Adidas, Tamalpas and Excelsiors to name a few.  This year the River City Rebels were a show of force at the starting line with tons of bodies in their red singlets.

Coming into this race I was hoping I might be able to maintain about a 6 min pace over the 13.1 mile course.  I have a special love-hate relationship with this event as in 2007 while making my final preparations I came down with a stress fracture in my right foot.  However, in 2008 I showed up with my dear friend K.C. Taylor, had a fantastic time and ran a PR in the process. 

This is an absolutely surreal course that travels among 350 foot redwoods that have been in this region for hundreds of years.  http://www.pbase.com/butlers/image/105281636.  It’s an out and back course that meanders thru these ancient trees.  This year our biggest guns included Thomas “The Bavarian” Kreuzpeintner and Orin “Shoe” Schumacher. 

Bad boys warming up: http://stream.humboldt.edu/gallery/ygk1/main.php?g2_itemId=109893

These two dudes got out quick and had their game faces going early.  I trailed both thru a 5:37 first mile.  I chilled out on the 2nd 5:53 mile while Shoe and the Bavarian continued to slowly pull away.  This is about the time that my Garmin lost it’s satellite connection and as a  result my stopwatch stopped keeping track of everything (elapsed time, splits) except my heart rate.  Not knowing at first what was going on I kept hitting all the buttons on the watch to try to get the elapsed time going again.  After messing with the watch for about a half mile or so I finally came to the realization that I would have to run blind and just race. 

At about the same time that I was fussing with my Garmin a runner came alongside and asked me if I went to Cornell University.  I know random…and of course I told the truth as always and responded with a resounding “NO”.  At about mile 3 two young guys came up from behind to pass.  I sped up and jumped on their tail.  At some point we crossed a mile marker and I asked the young guys for a split.  The one with a River City Rebels singlet blurted out 5:53.  That was cool with me and I just tried to relax and stay with these dudes.  At mile 5 they had someone standing there who called out a 29:16 split.  Some quick math on the move led me to believe that I was at 5:51 pace to that point.  Not bad I thought but The Bavarian and Shoe continued to slowly extend their lead on me.  At the turnaround I was able to see both coming back towards me and it looked like I was about 25-30 seconds in arrears of Shoe and about 45 seconds back of the German.

I stayed with the plan of drafting off the two young guys and as it turns out I ran all the way past 11 miles with them.  The guy in the River City Rebels singlet preferred to be in the front of our little three person pod.  So I let him do the vast majority of the work.  A couple of times I came to the front and led the threesome but each time he would have none of it and took the lead back from me.  OK, there was no reason to fight it, I just tucked in behind and worked on keeping the pace from getting the better of me.  At the ten mile mark they again had someone calling splits and I was happy to get the news….58:55…a new 10 mile PR in route.  Sweet I thought, now I just have a 5k to bring this race home in my sub 6 min pace average goal.  I could still see Shoe and The Bavarian in the distance but it looked like my deficit was still about the same as it was at the halfway point.

Around the 11 mile mark there was an aid station and I found myself maneuvering around the youngsters to get position.  Right after this station I decided that I would need to go it alone if I had any chance of catching Shoe.  I made a little move and seemed to put a small gap on these two guys.  I tried to stay on the accelerator and was hopeful that I could catch a couple of runners that were ahead of me who looked to be running a bit low on gas.  I tried to stay smooth and controlled while partitioning out what energy I had remaining.  Right near the 12 mile mark I passed a long-haired young man who let out a loud holler as if he was enjoying the effort!!  This section coincided with a bridge crossing over the highway and made for an effortful hill that needed to be navigated carefully. 

I now had Shoe in my sights but was still trailing him by about 10 seconds.  I pushed the hill hoping to make a dent in the gap but didn’t want to overdo it and consequently put myself firmly over the edge.  I recovered a bit on the corresponding downhill and then tried to make another push.  The flat section I found myself on was about 1/2 mile in length and led to the last bridge on the course.  I knew I was running out of territory and needed to make a push here.  However, an intense fatigue brought on by running hard for approximately 70 minutes was threatening to take over.  There were a handful of other runners that I was now passing and I could tell that coming even with Shoe was now a distinct possibility.  What I didn’t know is exactly where I might come even and what response Shoe might have.  To my surprise I came even with him about 100 meters from the last bridge (about 400 meters from the finish).  I went by him with a surge and readied myself for the last incline on the course that takes you to the top of the bridge. 

Moment of truth: http://stream.humboldt.edu/gallery/ygk1/main.php?g2_itemId=110259. 

I could feel Shoe respond and he was on my shoulder at we ascended the last bridge.  I was thinking, great, after all that work he is going to come back and outsprint me to the chute.  Right after the crest of the hill is the 13 mile mark and I tried to stride out on the short downhill leading to a hard right.  Once I made the right turn the finish line was about 100 meters away so I pumped my arms furiously in a state of total FEAR.  Luckily today was my day and I held off Shoe by a mere 3 seconds down that last straightaway.  I looked up and was shocked to see 1:17:06 on the finish clock.  A new PR by almost 2-1/2 minutes, and more then a minute faster then I had hoped to run today.  As it turns out the top three Hackers went 16,17 and 18th overall with Thomas finishing first masters in 1:16:20 and Shoe holding on for a 1:17:09 PR.

 http://results.active.com/pages/searchform.jsp?rsID=86086&orgID=218713

Seriously fun times were had on the return trip and each Hacker had their own personal “tale of the tape”.  The talk since has been if we should pay for the PAUSTF membership so we can take on the Bay Area teams in the coming years.  We would have finished as the 2nd overall masters team this year and we were missing one of our main guns.  There is money awarded to the top three teams so rest assured the Hackers will be ready to roll again next year in the Land of the Trees.

Dear Eric,

I know it is not a comfortable place to be in, when you are being asked to believe that the scientific/ medical establishment could be wrong about the safety of vaccines. However, if you are still comfortable discounting the valuable perspective offered by the following doctors and parents of vaccine-injured children after perusing their sites, I would be very surprised.

http://drtenpenny.com/default.aspx

http://swineflu.mercola.com/sites/swineflu/home.aspx

http://www.thedoctorwithin.com/chapters.php

http://www.nvic.org/

As for the safety of fluoride: Fluoride and bromide are both known to interfere with thyroid function by displacing iodide (which is necessary for thyroid function) http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2009/10/20/Signs-Symptoms-and-Solutions-for-Poor-Thyroid-Function.aspx

Please remember, Big Pharma is projecting 50 BILLION dollars in profits from the swine flu vaccine alone. Why is the AMA, the AAP et al not questioning the safety of vaccines? Because they are part of the delivery system! The “Well Child” program is essentially a vaccination program.

The following facts are sourced from Dr. O’Shea’s book: The Sanctity of Human Blood: Vaccination is not Immunization.

The current pediatric vaccination schedule calls for at least 68 vaccines by the time the child is 18. But no worries, you won’t be left unprotected if you’re over 18. Now there’s an adult vaccination schedule as well, calling for annual flu shots and a host of other vaccines for a total of up to 73 additional vaccines over your lifetime. To give you an idea of the increase in standard vaccination practice, in 1975 parents spent $10 per child on vaccines. In 2004 that number had risen to $606 per child. By 2020, vaccine manufacturers predict that the cost will increase to $1225 per child. (As you can see, this is serious business. Keep that in mind.)

But all this wouldn’t matter if the vaccines were safe and effective, right? Well, let’s start with the smallpox vaccine. In 1834, Prussia passed a law mandating vaccination for smallpox as an infant, again before entering school, again upon graduation, and again (for the men) before entering the army. Anyone who refused was held down and forced to receive the shot. So here we have the population (almost 100% vaccinated) that, if we believe the public health “professionals”, we should be striving for as a society. After thirty-five years of vaccinating and re-vaccinating, there was a smallpox epidemic where one million people fell ill, and of whom 124,978 died. Maybe they just needed more vaccinations? Not so fast.

In England in 1853, a compulsory vaccination program was established for smallpox. Prior to this program, the highest number of deaths in a 2-year period was about 2000. In the 2-year period from 1857-1859, 14,244 died of the dread disease. From 1863-1865, another 20,059 died. Hmmm… Maybe more vaccinations were needed? That was what Parliament thought, so they enacted a stricter law in 1867 and achieved a 97% vaccination rate. The following year, 44,840 people died of smallpox.

I may not be a statistician, but it is hard to conceive how disasters like these have resulted in vaccination being treated as the answer to disease prevention, since in both of these cases there is clear evidence that this vaccine was neither safe nor effective, and in fact caused the very disease it was supposed to prevent.

Well, what about polio? Didn’t mass vaccination save us from the iron lung and paralysis? Well… NO. As with other infectious diseases such as pertussis, diptheria and measles, Polio was on the decline by the time a vaccine was produced. In fact, the originator of the very dangerous first Polio vaccine, Jonas Salk, testified in 1977 that the few remaining cases of polio in this country are from the vaccine itself. The Sabin polio vaccine replaced the Salk vaccine, and it has been in use ever since. But there is no light at the end of this tunnel. Thirty years after the introduction of the new polio vaccine, here’s what Sabin had to say: “Official data has shown that the large scale vaccinations undertaken in the US have failed to obtain any significant improvement of the diseases for which they were supposed to provide immunization. It was and is a failure.”

Then there was the Lyme vaccine that gave people Lyme Disease so got recalled, and the Hep B vaccine trial that may have introduced HIV onto the world stage (vaccine was grown on African Green Monkey kidney and contained SV-40; later, AIDS showed up in the cities where the Hep B vaccine was tested), and now Gardasil, which is known to cause 400% more deaths than other vaccines. http://www.naturalnews.com/026722_Gardasil_HPV_cervical_cancer.html

The list goes on and on and on…