Author Archives: kw

Cities 2.0 prep for growth through open data, tech

GreenBiz | July 19, 2012 | Original headline: How city-level innovation is creating business opportunities

If you want to visit the future, go to Philadelphia.

The city of brotherly love has published more than 100 datasets since April, when Mayor Michael Nutter issued an executive order requiring city branches to release their once-buried information through an online portal accessible to anyone. The site includes data from nonprofits, universities and businesses, as well as municipal data from maps of enterprise zones to a searchable database of childcare providers.

“Helping government become an enabler and a platform for innovation” is what his job is all about, Adel Ebeid, Philadelphia’s first Chief Innovation Officer, told attendees at the GreenBiz Cities 2.0 webcast on Wednesday.

The intersection between local governments, big data and innovation was the key theme of “Leveraging City Investments in Technologies,” part one in the three-part series of presentations.

As urbanization accelerates, cities are poised to play a crucial role in fostering innovation, even as their swelling populations and sometimes-creaky infrastructure create a massive business opportunity for the corporate sector, webcast speakers said.

The world will undergo a huge demographic shift over the next four decades, said Eric Woods, a director of Pike Research, a global market research and consulting firm focused on cleantech. Currently, a little more than half the global population lives in urban areas. By 2050, the share of the world’s population that’s urbanized will rise to 70 percent, with the fastest urban growth taking place in Asia, he said.

“We’re going to be adding around a million people a week to the urban population for the next 40 years,” he said.

As a result, new market opportunities are blooming. According to Woods, more than $100 billion will be spent on “innovative infocentric technology” worldwide over the next 10 years. By 2020, almost $16 billion will be spent annually on that core technology.

Plus, cities of the future will need to provide infrastructure and services on a larger scale than ever before, he said.

That includes working with companies and citizens to harness data, lowering operating costs and delivering needed services as efficiently as possible.

“Cities have become a learning laboratory of innovation and new kinds of capabilities,” said GreenBiz chairman and webcast moderator Joel Makower.

Makower cited a report published by GreenBiz Group and London-based SustainAbility earlier this year focusing on how cities are “vital to the future of sustainability.” Turns out, the report concluded, that sustainability needs cities just as much as cities need sustainability.

How, then, can cities leverage their investments in technologies to provide the greatest benefit possible? And what are the opportunities for business to partner with cities in pursuit of a more sustainable future?

Leveraging technology upgrades

There’s an easy answer to the question of what a city can do first for the most effect with the least cost, according to Jim Anderson, vice president of Schneider Electric and head of its U.S. Smart Cities program.

Upgrading buildings is the low hanging fruit for cities, he said: “Many are not upgraded or updated over the years, so it becomes a big energy user and can be upgraded at not really any cost to cities.”

Water use efficiency and transportation should be the next targets. “A lot of water is lost from leaks and old pipes and old systems out there that probably in many cases goes unnoticed,” he said.

Mobility from a traffic and congestion standpoint should also be attended to, Anderson said, along with improved traffic management. For example, new sensors available in the marketplace can help address traffic flows through real-time data.

“There are some new and evolving business models evolving around traffic and traffic congestion involving tolling,” he said.

“[There’s] huge cost savings about understanding the benefit you can get from improved competition, growth of innovation and the decrease of congestion,” said Helen Honisett, director of emerging solutions ecosystems at Cisco. “It costs cities to have people sitting in cars.”

Financing Cities 2.0

A key issue is “how we finance the technology innovation that we need,” said Woods of Pike Research. “There’s going to be increasing focus on looking at new business models, new ways of financing operations in cities and new types of partnerships.”

Anderson used as an example his company’s Smart Cities division, which works with cities to devise efficient strategies across six domains: energy, mobility, water, public services, buildings and homes and smart integration.

When U.S. Smart Cities does performance contracting for government buildings, it conducts an energy efficiency assessment in those buildings and installs upgrades.

Costs are paid for up front from a third-party financial institution based on the expected energy savings after the upgrades are complete. This poses virtually no risk from the city’s end, Anderson said.

“It’s a way cities can upgrade their infrastructure, upgrade their faciilties without any taxpayer issues or having to come up with any up-front money to fund that,” he said. “And those savings are guaranteed by Schneider.”

Driving the conversation

Since most cities don’t have chief innovation officers, who drives the conversation between companies and cities when it comes to these initiatives? And are cities starting to work together in their efforts as well?

It can start within city departments, such as a city’s office of sustainability, and eventually get to the mayor’s office, but it all depends on the city, said Ebeid of Philadelphia.

He participates in a working group made up of seven U.S. cities’ Chief Innovation Officers. Calling themselves the G7, the group shares experiences as a way to learn from each other.

The same dynamic is taking place in Europe, Honisett observed. One difference she’s noticed is that there’s been a shift where cities are less competitive. Now, they’re willing to share with each other and partake in discussions regarding how to move from one stage to the next, she said.

Cisco runs a Smart+Connected Communities initiative aimed at economic, social and environmental sustainability.

“One of the things that Cisco that works with cities on is to understand the benefits around technologies,” said Honisett. “We see huge amounts of cost savings that can be made within cities by using technology.”

The case of Philadelphia: Cities 2.0 on the ground

In Philadelphia, Ebeid said he wants to reenergize city residents to see themselves as innovators working not just on one project here and there, but to set up frameworks for sustainability.

In the next few weeks, Ebeid said the city will designate a chief data officer to oversee its open data effort — which, to be sure, came a couple of years after San Francisco made a similar open-data move, but which has made great strides.

Since 2010, the city’s Greenworks program has published an annual report which tracks 160 metrics across goals in energy, environment, equity, economy, and engagement. Greenworks is a project of the Mayor’s Office of Sustainability.

One data set that the city will be delving in the next year or two, Ebeid said, is residents’ requests for non-emergency services – something almost every city has.

“We’d like to mine that data and visualize the community chatter and try to put into perhaps what the next conversation is going to be about. That is what will set us apart from traditional mining of datasets,” he said.

In addition to working with the tech and startup community through hackathons and meetups, Ebeid’s office is starting to engage with the 83 higher education institutions in the area – the second-highest number of local collegiate institutions in the country.

“In many cases, that’s perhaps an underleveraged asset,” he said.

Ebeid said he’d like the partnerships to be focused on business incubation and scaling.

“Universities certainly have the wherewithal to scale it quickly so that we can respond to almost any situation,” Ebeid said.

Photo of Philadelphia night skyline by Thesab/Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

View the original story.

Milking the sun: Dairy takes on solar cogeneration

GreenBiz | July 13, 2012

Milking the Sun: Dairy Takes on Solar Cogeneration from kristine a. wong on Vimeo.

On June 20, 2012, Clover Stornetta Farms in Petaluma, Calif. became the first dairy in the U.S. to generate solar hot water and electricity using a cogeneration system. The system was manufactured by Silicon Valley startup Cogenra Solar based in Mountain View, Calif.

I produced, shot, and edited this video and wrote an accompanying story.

Additional footage and photo of cow provided by Clover Stornetta Farms.

Half Moon Bay Fish Go Hi-Tech

story and photos by Kristine A. Wong (Note: This story originally appeared on Half Moon Bay Patch on June 10, 2011).

With the debut of a new Community Supported Fishery (CSF) in Half Moon Bay, a group of Pillar Point fishermen are collaborating with local community members, businesses and Internet giant Google as a way to support sustainability of fish stocks, the ocean, and local livelihoods.

They’re also providing employees of the Silicon Valley company with access to fish much fresher than what’s in their local supermarket, according to Google chef and Half Moon Bay resident Olivia Wu. The CSF is the first of its kind in Northern California, and one of a small handful in the state.

For those who can’t drop by Pillar Point Harbor to buy fish off the boat on their way home from work, a little more than 48 hours from ocean to table doesn’t seem to be too bad—a plausible scenario for Google employees who picked up a 1-pound fillet of chinook salmon on a recent Friday caught two days before by Half Moon Bay fisherman Jim Anderson.

How did this all begin?

From her five years of writing about sustainable seafood for the San Francisco Chronicle — as well as her self-described passion for fresh seafood and support of sustainable fisheries — Wu got to know the Half Moon Bay fishing community well from regular forays down to Pillar Point Harbor.

Though her role changed a few years ago after taking a position at Google as one of six executive chefs, seafood was still on her mind.

“It was really obvious to me that there should be a partnership between local [seafood] producers and Googlers,” she said, referring to employees of the famed company which has 10,000 employees working at its Mountain View campus. “Googlers care a lot about the quality of our food and its impact on the environment,” she said.

Wu found a natural collaborator in fellow Google Executive Chef Quentin Topping, who grew up on the East Coast and had been on a personal quest to find fresh seafood at markets since his move West. Like Wu, Topping was aware of the precarious positions of the oceans with their declining fish stocks, and the tough times small fishermen had weathered in recent years.

“Seafood these days is moving in the direction of long hauls, which are destroying habitats,” he said. “When you have a great seafood resource you have to protect it and treat it in a responsible manner from the boat to the end product.”

Both Wu and Topping knew fishermen at Pillar Point Harbor who fished using sustainable methods in day boats, described by Topping as using “artisan” ways.

“We both realized that we could bring this amazing product to Googlers,” Topping said.

The idea also fit with Google’s policy of supplying their 27 workplace cafes with fish caught within 200 miles of its Mountain View campus.

So a few years ago, Wu brought Pillar Point fishermen and Half Moon Bay resident and San Mateo County Harbor District Commissioner Pietro Parravano to Google. Then, she approached Parravano with the idea of bringing freshly-caught Half Moon Bay seafood to employees.

“It was a slow process, it took two years,” Parravano said. He already had a hand in starting the Cape Ann Fresh Catch CSF in Gloucester, Mass., which is part of a larger network of CSFs on the East Coast.

The hangup? Parravano said it was “consistency”: finding a time that worked each week for all the fishermen to have their catches ready.

But at the end of March something clicked, and Jim Anderson, who fishes solo on the Allaine boat, got the call for help. He previously co-championed the first off-the-boat crab and fish sales at Pillar Point Harbor, held positions on the California Salmon Council and the state Dungeness Crab Task Force, and is involved in a salmon DNA identification project along the West Coast.

“Forty-eight hours later, we had our first meeting,” Anderson said. The exploratory gathering included a select group of peers like Duncan MacLean, head of the Half Moon Bay Fishermen’s Marketing Association, and Ben Parsons, an El Granada resident who fishes on the Mr. Morgan Boat docked at Pillar Point with Captain Steve Fitz.

The meeting indicated an interest in a Half Moon Bay CSF, so Anderson and Parsons’ wife Shannon acted quickly to form a Half Moon Bay Fishermen’s Association. The association was a necessary configuration if the fishermen were to get paid and engage in other business transactions as a CSF.

What motivated Parsons’ involvement? “I want to be able to support the fishermen and help them do what they love to do, what they’re good at, which is fishing,” she said.

Seven fishermen are currently on board to fish for the CSF. Parsons says participating boats represent those who provide quality fish using sustainable methods. The Mr. Morgan boat, for example, fishes for flatfish using Scottish seines, a type of equipment that lacks steel trawl doors or cables associated with degradation of ocean floor habitat.

The CSF was modeled after Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) programs where farmers are supported by locals who purchase shares of the farm’s production in advance of a season. The up-front investment supports small operators who might not have the capital to continue operating otherwise.

“They don’t have to worry about selling the fish when they get back,” Parsons said, adding that with the CSF, the fishermen know how much fish they have to catch before they head to sea — which not only saves time, but also gas, money, and wasted fish the boats cannot sell upon their return.

And since what’s delivered each week to members are what the fishermen are able to catch, it’s discourages overfishing and focuses on seasonal fish instead, according to Anderson.

“It also allows people to eat food that is incredibly fresh and local, not a product that’s been trucked up and down the coast just to get here,” he said.

With the basic structure in place, the group had a flurry of meetings over just eight weeks to prepare for the May 27 debut. Other key players involved CSA software specialist Farmigo and Eriko Fujino, owner of Princeton fish processor Blue Ocean Smoke House.

Fujino receives deliveries from the fishermen, cuts and package the fish for CSA shareholders (in biodegradable trays and plastic bags purchased especially for the CSF by Wu), and sends it south with fish wholesaler Monterey Fish to Google for a Friday morning delivery.

Using Farmigo’s software, which is built on a Google platform and designed for ventures like CSAs, Google employees can sign up for up to receive fish every week or every other week for three months. They can even put their account on a vacation hold. Parson and Anderson plan to open an online store in July, where subscribers can purchase additional fish or order other items such as squid or smoked salmon.

One $26 share will get an subscriber one pound of a more expensive fish (like chinook salmon), to two pounds of a less expensive one such as petrale sole. The catch being distributed today for week three is chilipepper, a type of Rockcod.

Subscribers make a short trek to a warehouse on the Google campus each Friday to pick up their weekly allotment packaged in the biodegradable materials, which they can pack home in a reusable bright green fabric container insulated by a gel pack to prevent spoilage.

And just like at the farmer’s market, when buyers can meet the people who produce the food on their table, Parsons sends each subscriber a virtual introduction to the fisherman that caught each week’s offering along with a link to an online recipe.

The CSF has been growing steadily, doubling subscribers from week one to two with more than 100 subscribers to date, Parsons said. She and Anderson have been getting requests to start additional CSFs.

“We’ll be focusing on this pilot program at Google until the first-season subscription ends in mid-August,” Parsons said. A CSF for Half Moon Bay and Coastside residents is in the works for August, and a pickup location already has been secured.

They’ll also look to expand with a CSF for Google employees working out of the company’s San Francisco office, as she said they’ve received a good amount of interest from workers there.

Half Moon Bay fishermen with the CSF don’t get paid as much as they would if they sold their catch off their boat in Pillar Point Harbor, Anderson said. But there’s still a big advantage to taking part.

“This provides a fresher product to the people, and builds a direct relationship between the fishermen and the consumer,” he said.

Half Moon Bay Surf Team Speaks

by Kristine A. Wong

I produced, shot, and edited this video of Half Moon Bay competitive youth surfers at the opening ceremonies of the 2011-2012 Mavericks Invitational big wave surf contest in Half Moon Bay, Calif., on Jan 6, 2012. I produced this video along with a photo gallery of the young surfers for Half Moon Bay Patch, including the photo below.

Half Moon Bay Surf Team Speaks from kristine a. wong on Vimeo.

A Prayer and a Paddle Out

by Kristine A. Wong

I produced, shot, and edited this video of the world’s top big wave surfers at the opening ceremonies of the 2011-2012 Mavericks Invitational big wave surf contest in Half Moon Bay, Calif., on Jan 6, 2012. In addition to the video, I shot photos (including the one below) and wrote a print article for Half Moon Bay Patch.
See the rest of the photos here and read the article below.

A Prayer and a Paddle Out: 2012 Mavericks Opening Ceremonies from kristine a. wong on Vimeo.

Surfers from as far away as South Africa, Australia, Brazil and Hawaii — and as close as Half Moon Bay and Santa Cruz — converged on Mavericks beach in Half Moon Bay, Calif., less than a mile in from the surf break known as one of the most treacherous waves in the world.

Seventeen competitors, alternates, and former Mavericks contest champions participated in the ceremony, including 3-time winner and now-retired Darryl “Flea” Virostko from Santa Cruz.

Oahu’s Kohl Christensen wore a “Live Like Sion” shirt commemorating Sion Milosky, the surfer who traveled from Hawaii and died while riding Mavericks’ last big waves of the 2010-2011 winter season.

San Mateo County Supervisor Don Horsley and State Assemblyman Jerry Hill (D-San Mateo) provided opening remarks, while Mavericks Invitational CEO Rocky Raynor presented each surfer with a ceremonial ti leaf and led the group in an opening prayer.

Afterwards, the group completed the opening ceremonies by paddling out to form a prayer circle on the water modeled after the Hawaiian tradition.

Adding to the afternoon’s excitement was the buzz of a helicopter flying over the surf break, blufftops and beach filming Of Men and Mavericks, the Hollywood film portrayal of Mavericks surfer Jay Moriarity starring Gerard Butler. The film has been shooting in the area since October. Contest director and Mavericks veteran Jeff Clark was out on the water with the film crew and other Mavericks competitors shooting scenes for the movie.

On Friday evening, surfers celebrated into the evening at a dinner and party at the Oceano Hotel in Princeton. They also drew their heat position for the day of the contest. Results are as follows:

1st Heat
Carlos Burle
*Shane Desmond
Tyler Smith
*Ben Wilkinson
*Chris Bertish
*Ken Collins

2nd Heat
Nathan Fletcher
Matt Ambrose
Grant Baker
Mark Healy
*Anthony Tashnick
*Ryan Seelbach

3rd Heat
Dave Wassel
Rusty Long
*Shawn Dollar
Ryan Augenstein
Jamie Sterling
Zach Wormhoudt

4th Heat
Shane Dorian
Grant Washburn
*Alex Martins
Kelly Slater
Greg Long
Peter Mel

*=present at opening ceremony and paddle out at Mavericks Beach

See coverage of last year’s Mavericks opening ceremonies on Half Moon Bay Patch here.

Native Americans Farm in Pescadero

by Kristine A. Wong

I produced, shot and edited this video along with a print article for Half Moon Bay Patch.

Native Americans Farm in Pescadero from kristine a. wong on Vimeo.

Last fall, a group of Native Americans from all over the country congregated in the Bay Area to participate in an annual swim from Alcatraz to San Francisco.

In the week leading up to the big event, the group headed out for practice swims at in the early morning and spent the afternoon visiting several sites in the Bay Area related to public health and wellness.

The program was sponsored by PATHSTAR, an organization focused on promoting sustainable health and wellness among Native Americans through hands-on education and experiential learning.

Founded by Nancy Iverson, a physician who worked on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota for many years, PATHSTAR encourages active lifestyle and healthy nutrition practices as strategies to prevent diabetes and other diseases in Indian country.

The group spent an October afternoon in Pescadero (south of Half Moon Bay) harvesting produce from Addwater Farm to sell at the Pescadero Farmer’s Market. The group then worked with Addwater Farms’ Brian Coltrin to prepare the produce for market sale.

Participants say they hope to pass on what they learned to community members back home, while Coltrin says he hopes to continue working with individuals at the Pine Ridge Reservation.

Coltrin was approached to participate in the program through Iverson, who is a regular customer of his at a farmer’s market in San Francisco.

Individuals who participated in the 2011 swim and PATHSTAR program are:

From Richmond, Calif.

Zolina Zizi (Cheyenne, Arkiara, Creek)

From Pine Ridge, S. Dak. (Lakota)

Terry Mills

Nakina Mills

Chrystal White Eyes

Jeffery Not Help Him

Martin White Hawk

Jolene Martin


From Ketchikan, Alaska (Ketchikan Indian Community)

Ruth E Pechay (Tlingit and Haida)

Anitamarie Pechay Seludo (Tlingit and Haida)

Bill Hardy, Ketchikan, Alaska

From Inchelium, WA (Colville Federated Tribes)

Shelli Martinez, Okanogan Band

Jerry Signor, Coville Federated Tribes

Sheriff Fails to Disclose Burglary of Major Restaurant

This story originally appeared in Half Moon Bay Patch on Dec. 2, 2011 with the headline ‘Sam’s Chowder House Hit by Burglaries.’

by Kristine A. Wong

Popular Half Moon Bay restaurant Sam’s Chowder House was burglarized in two separate incidents this fall, with at least one of the incidents showing no signs of forced entry, according to two San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office reports obtained by Half Moon Bay Patch through a public information request.

Because the case is currently under investigation, the Sheriff’s Office has not disclosed what was stolen from the restaurant nor the value of the stolen items. The agency redacted – by obscuring or removing – information from the reports released to Half Moon Bay Patch.

Sheriff’s Investigations Bureau Commander Lt. Ray Lunny said the agency redacted information that could not be released without endangering the investigation.

“There are several persons of interest in this case,” Lunny said.

Lunny said burglary in the second degree — the type of crime allegedly committed in these incidents and the classification for all commercial burglaries — could land the suspect(s) one year in county jail at the most.

Undisclosed items stolen; incidents described as being similar in nature

The incidents were discovered on the mornings of Sept. 26 and Oct. 11, and allegedly took place at some time during the previous evening, according to the reports. In one report, a Sheriff’s Office deputy described the two incidents as being similar in nature.

During the evening of Oct 10-11, five items were listed as being allegedly stolen from Sam’s Chowder House, according to a report filed by Half Moon Bay substation Sheriff’s Deputy Dennis Tealer on Oct. 11. The descriptions of the stolen items were redacted in the released report.

Tealer reported that he arrived at Sam’s Chowder House the morning of Oct. 11 and met with a staff person at the restaurant who showed him the area where the items in question were stolen.

Upon examining the scene, Tealer found evidence he categorized as “tools/equipment,” according to his report.

Tealer reported finding something (redacted information) on the perimeter of the restaurant’s northeast corner, and photographed something (redacted information) in the area. He then reported that he went inside the restaurant and photographed something else (redacted information).

No information on the suspected method of entry was included in the parts of the Oct. 11 report that had not been redacted.

“It is unclear which door the suspect exited,” Tealer wrote in the report.

Tealer took five statements from staff at Sam’s Chowder House, including one from a manager in charge of closing the restaurant the night before, one from a cook, and one from a server. The statements are included in his Oct. 11 report, and were largely redacted prior to release.

Nothing was found to be stolen in the Sept. 25-26 incident, according to a report filed by Half Moon Bay substation Deputy Dennis Loubal on Sept. 26. Loubal responded to the scene that morning after an unidentified individual associated with the restaurant noticed something (redacted information) at 7:45 a.m. and called 9-1-1.

In his report, Loubal wrote that he “did not notice any pry or force marks” at the suspected point of entry. The location of entry was redacted from the report.

Loubal reported that he dusted for fingerprints and lifted two prints at the restaurant on Sept. 26. He also took photos of the suspected point of entry that day as well.

According to his report, Loubal spoke to the staff person who called 9-1-1, but did not include a formal statement from the individual in the report provided to Half Moon Bay Patch.

Lunny said that the suspect(s) could be charged with either a felony or a misdemeanor for the incidents.

“What will matter is the dollar amount of the loss and the facts of the case,” he said.

A representative from Sam Chowder’s House could not be reached for comment on the incidents.

Second Burglary Not Reported to Press or General Public

While the Sept. 25-26 incident at Sam’s Chowder House was listed in the San Mateo County Sheriff’s Police log as “Deputy took report of commercial burglary. Report not complete” in the 4000 block of N. Cabrillo Highway, the Oct. 10-11 incident was not included in the press log released to Half Moon Bay Patch and other news organizations.

No press release was sent to Half Moon Bay Patch about the September or October incident from the Sheriff’s Office.

Anonymous Source Gives Unconfirmed Information

Half Moon Bay Patch was alerted about the incidents from a source who wishes to remain anonymous. The source provided information which the Sheriff’s Office says it cannot confirm at this time due to its ongoing investigation of the incidents.

The source reported that he or she was told that the individual(s) who allegedly entered Sam’s Chowder House on the evening of Sept. 25-26 attempted to remove the restaurant’s safe through a window, but was unsuccessful.

On the evening of Oct. 10-11, the source reported, he or she was told that the safe was chained to the restaurant, but the individual(s) was allegedly able to unchain the safe, get it out of a window and winch it down to the ground. The source said that he or she was told that the restaurant’s hard drive containing its surveillance footage had been removed from the restaurant at some point during the evening as well.

Some individuals believe that the safe was put on a cart on the Coastside Trail behind Sam’s Chowder House and transported to a nearby parking lot at the harbor, the source said.


Concern Arises Over Nondisclosure

Half Moon Bay Vice Mayor Allan Alifano expressed concern that the Sheriff’s Office did not notify the public about the incidents.

“Any time something happens on the coast — especially that involves a business or possibly a home break-in — I think it’s so important to know what occurred so we know what we need to do to prevent it,” said Alifano, who runs Main St. business Alifano Technologies with son Mike and daughter-in-law Cortney.

The elder Alifano said he was told about the incidents at Sam’s Chowder House by a Half Moon Bay community member.

“I understand where law enforcement may say ‘We have a sensitive case here, so we’re not disclosing information for good reason,’” [Allan] Alifano said. “But it just seemed a little unusual to have a fairly major break-in in our community and hear about it from someone else…I don’t think it’s a good idea to hear about it from civilians,” he said.

“We normally do tell people that a burglary happened, but don’t tell about the specifics,” Lunny said when questioned why the Oct. incident was not listed in the Half Moon Bay substation’s incident log.

“I’m not involved in putting together the crime report,” he said.

Lunny said that for cases currently under investigation, the Sheriff’s Office does not release a lot of information “because we want to separate those who have the knowledge from those who don’t.”

“If we thought the incident was of a serious nature and that there was a threat to the community and a public safety issue with whatever had occurred, it would have been released,” Lunny added. “I don’t think it’s a threat.”

“Give us the basics to say that something happened and then say we can’t reveal it,” Alifano said. “If you hear nothing from the police agency it makes you scratch your head. It makes you wonder right away ‘Is there some sort of cover-up going on here?’ It leads people to speculation.”

“Just because the item did not appear in the incident log it’s not an indication of a cover-up,” said Lt. Lisa Williams, head of the Half Moon Bay substation for the county Sheriff’s Office.

Williams said she agreed with Lunny’s comment. “If there was an issue of public safety here, the incident would have gone out,” she said.

Alifano referred to the string of burglaries that took place along Half Moon Bay’s Main St. in the first half of September as another related example. The Sheriff’s Office did not alert area merchants or the Half Moon Bay City Council about the September incidents until after eight break-ins took place in less than two weeks.

“We tell people what to do to prevent a crime,” Lunny said. “You have to lock your doors and take all the common procedures to prevent a burglary from happening,” he said. “I think the same cautions apply to all of the businesses in Half Moon Bay and all communities.”

After investigation of the Main St. burglaries, the Sheriff’s Office reported that the suspects had gained entry through unlocked doors and windows, and cautioned merchants to take security precautions to prevent additional burglaries. The agency also offered to provide walk-through security consultations and provide tips to local merchants on how to better protect their business.

“Some good can come out of these kind of cases if the Sheriff will take the time and tell the media and say ‘Let me give you some tips for business owners,’” Alifano said. “It’s a wake up call.”

Half Moon Bay Mayor Naomi Patridge could not be reached for comment on the incidents.

To view the redacted Sheriff’s Office reports filed in connection with the September 25-26 and Oct. 10-11 incidents at Sam’s Chowder House, click on the documents attached to the media box at right.

(Redacted incident reports were posted next to the story at the time of publication).

Crab Strike Broken by San Francisco Fishermen

Story and photos by Kristine A. Wong

This story was the first to break the news that the 2011 Central Coast crab strike had been broken due to an unexpected action by fishermen at San Francisco’s Fishermen’s Wharf. It was published (along with an accompanying photo gallery) as breaking news on Half Moon Bay Patch on Nov. 28, 2011 and was reprinted on Huffington Post San Francisco.

Fishermen in Pillar Point Harbor and ports along the Central Coast have been scrambling to get out to sea today to set their crab pots, despite no known confirmed price agreement with the buyers, according to Half Moon Bay fishermen.

“We don’t know how much we’re fishing for right now,” said Jim Anderson, an unofficial liaison for Half Moon Bay’s crab fishermen, as he readied his Allaine boat to head out today from Pillar Point Harbor.

According to Anderson, the strike was broken unexpectedly this morning when San Francisco boats left after some fishermen weren’t allowed to attend the price negotiations meeting this morning at Fishermen’s Wharf.

“A group of guys weren’t allowed to come to the meeting so they said they were going fishing, and when we were in the meeting people we heard the boats leaving,” Anderson said.

It is not currently known whether any of the fishermen and the seafood buyers agreed to a price per pound for the crab, Anderson said.

Large-scale seafood buyers could not be reached for more information on whether any price agreement had been met.

The San Francisco boats’ actions triggered fishermen in Half Moon Bay and Bodega Bay to head out right away — in order to get a good position for their crab pots and maximize the amount of crabs their boat has a chance of bringing in, according to Half Moon Bay fisherman Bill Webb.

Half Moon Bay fishermen have said that this year’s supply of crabs are significantly lower than last year’s record-breaking season.

“I’m pissed right now, just like a lot of other fishermen,” said Webb via phone as he drove towards Pillar Point Harbor from his home in Antioch so he could ready his boat and head out to sea.

“We voted to hold out for $2.50 the other day [Friday] and now we don’t know what we’re fishing for. Right now Pillar Point Harbor is half-emptied out and it’s derby fishing,” he said.

Crab fishermen have been holding out for $2.50 per pound since the commercial season’s official start on Nov. 15. They also sat out Thanksgiving, which they say is a big part of their busiest season of the year.

Irene Hurwitz, who fishes with her husband John on the Irene Marie boat docked out of Pillar Point Harbor, said that there were rumors of an agreement for $2.25 a pound between the buyers, but “that’s all conjecture now,” she said.

Like others, the couple was readying today to set their pots as soon as possible.

“We’re not going to really know what the price is until we start bringing the crab in,” she said, “which will be late tomorrow at the earliest.”

Webb said that he and the other fishermen were upset because the next meeting had been originally scheduled for this Wednesday afternoon, and that if they had agreed to a price then all the fishermen would have agreed to leave Thursday morning so that everyone started the season from an equal position.

Many of the men live in farther-flung areas such as Watsonville and Sacramento, he said, and today had to unexpectedly drop what they were doing and drive over to go out fishing.

“We were supposed to all hold together,” Webb said.

“The boats that went out shot our bargaining power,” Hurwitz said. “To not go out now means we don’t even have a chance to set our [crab] gear.”

“It’s majorly disappointing to lose a big part of our sales for the year and not to reach an agreement with the buyers,” she said.

“And now to be faced with not having any agreement, and yet have no other choice but to go out fishing at this point…it’s discouraging,” Hurwitz said.

Crab Fishermen Decide to Sit Out Thanksgiving

Story and photos by Kristine A. Wong

This piece was the first to break the news that Central Coast fishermen decided to give up fishing for Thanksgiving with the hope of a better price per pound for their catch. It was published (with an accompanying photo gallery) as breaking news on Half Moon Bay Patch on Nov. 21, 2011.

If you want to eat fresh crab this Thanksgiving, you’re going to have to catch it yourself.

With the window of opportunity to meet Thanksgiving market demands diminishing quickly due to time and bad weather  — and large-scale buyers still holding tight to a price 50 cents short of the fishermen’s call for $2.50 a pound — over 30 boats in Half Moon Bay’s Pillar Point Harbor decided this weekend not to head out in time to meet the holiday dinner rush.

“We’re the 99 percent waiting for the 1 percent of the fish buyers to share the wealth,” said Jim Anderson, an unofficial liaison for the crab fishermen docked out of Pillar Point Harbor.

Approximately 100 fishermen gathered at the harbor Saturday in the hopes of working out a solution that would be able to get their boats out during what is traditionally their most lucrative time of year.

Central Coast fishermen have stayed in port since the commercial season’s opening nearly a week ago on Nov. 15, saying that the large seafood buyers’ offer of $2 a pound doesn’t cover the rising costs of fuel, equipment and supplies needed to crab in 2011.

At the meeting, fishermen discussed how they could sell to smaller buyers — such as Morningstar Fisheries located at Pillar Point—  willing to pay $2.50 per pound.

Steve Melz of the Sunrise boat suggested fishing for $2.50 a pound on limits, a strategy which caps how many crabs each boat in the fleet is allowed to catch a day.

Melz said that fishing on limits would prevent the market to be flooded with crabs, a condition which could effectively lower the buying price offered by the larger buyers.

“It’s a way to slow the market down and still support the demand for a stream of crabs,” he said.

Other fishermen said some boats wouldn’t adhere to the limits, which would defeat the purpose of the gentlemen’s agreement.

“It’s not cost-effective for the larger boats to go out for a smaller amount,” said John Hurwitz, whose boat Irene Marie operates out of Pillar Point Harbor. “They would never agree to that.”

To settle the matter, Half Moon Bay fisherman Duncan MacLean asked each boat in attendance — over 30 at least — to write on a slip of paper their desired price per pound and whether they supported fishing limits.

Out of 41 votes, 34 wanted to keep their asking price at $2.50 per pound, 3 favored $2.25 and 4 were fine with the $2 offer. Two-thirds opposed fishing limits.

With the decision made, the group made plans to reconvene in another week, giving the men the opportunity to go home for Thanksgiving. MacLean and Anderson told those assembled to leave their contact information if the situation changed before then.

“Over Thanksgiving we’re going to have to do something creative,” MacLean said.

Fishermen, Buyers Locked in Crab Price Stalemate

Story and photos by Kristine A. Wong

Note: This story (with accompanying photo gallery) originally appeared on Half Moon Bay Patch as breaking news on Nov. 16, 2011 and was reprinted on Huffington Post San Francisco.

Dungeness crab for Thanksgiving is still a possibility, but the chances of being able to serve up fresh crab this weekend are diminishing quickly.

Though Tuesday was the official start of the commercial Dungeness crabbing season, Half Moon Bay fishermen and their counterparts along the Central Coast continue to stay in port, holding out for a $2.50 per pound purchase price – a cost which they say will support the rising costs of crabbing in 2011.

“We’re locked out because the buyers don’t want to pay more than $2 per pound,” said Jim Anderson, a fisherman who serves as the unofficial liaison for crab fishermen docked out of Pillar Point Harbor in Half Moon Bay.

For the second time in one day, over 100 fishermen met at the harbor on Wednesday afternoon to talk about the price negotiations — and agreed that they should hold their ground.

Fishermen in Bodega Bay, San Francisco, Santa Cruz and Moss Landing are doing the same, said Anderson.

Fuel, crab pots and rope have all increased in price, yet the cost of crab per pound has not supported that rise, said Steve Fitz, captain of the Mr. Morgan fishing boat docked out of Pillar Point Harbor.

Earlier Wednesday, fishermen were waiting to see the results of the quality testing of crabs from Bodega Bay, Half Moon Bay and San Francisco. The acceptable range for quality crabs are those with 23 to 25 percent of body weight composed of meat, according to Half Moon Bay fisherman Duncan MacLean.

By mid-afternoon, test results from Bodega Bay, Half Moon Bay and San Francisco all came in within the quality range, MacLean said. While crabs picked from Bodega Bay came in at 24.1 percent, those from Half Moon Bay and San Francisco came in at 24.9 percent.

But despite the positive test results, large-scale buyers in the Bay Area weren’t budging beyond $2 a pound as of Wednesday afternoon, MacLean and Anderson said.

“It’s a matter of price, not quality,” MacLean said.

Large-scale Bay Area seafood buyers, including Caito Fisheries, could not be reached for comment by the time of publication.

With the commercial crabbing season delayed from Mendocino County north due to early body composition reports not within acceptable standards, the Central Coast fishermen feel they’re in a good position to hold their ground.

“We have no pressure on us to go out crabbing now, since we can’t head north [to crab] once we’ve set up our gear here,” said Pillar Point fisherman Ben Platt, referring to restrictions on making a landing in more than one port within 30 days.

The delay of the northern coast season from its original date of Dec. 1 means that without crab from the Central Coast, there will not be any crab on the market at least until mid-December, said MacLean.

And with so many families relying on crab as a staple — or main dish — in their Thanksgiving dinner, the holiday market is what’s likely to put the pressure on the large buyers, Platt said.

“The smaller buyers are willing to pay us $2.50 a pound,” said MacLean, who referred to Morningstar Fisheries at Pillar Point Harbor as an example.

But until the larger buyers are willing to take on that price, the fishermen say they will continue to refrain from heading out to sea.

Penny Webb, the wife of Cricket boat fisherman Bill Webb, says the waiting is difficult — especially with a full list of customers who have already placed orders to pick up the first crabs of the season.

She spent Wednesday afternoon sitting in the Pillar Point Harbor parking lot surrounded by crab pots stacked 15 feet high, her dog Rufus sitting at her side.

“We’re losing a lot of money right now,” she said. “Almost all of our business comes out of the crab and salmon season — it’s what we live on,” she said.

Throughout these last two days, she said, her phone has been ringing repeatedly with customers anxious about when the crabs will come in.

“People are upset,” she said, “but they understand the position we’re in.”

In Wake of Gang Shooting, Sheriff Responds

This story first appeared in Half Moon Bay Patch on Aug. 31, 2011 with the headline ‘SHERIFF: ‘Multi-Pronged, Balanced’ Approach to Combating Gang Activity.’

Story and photos by Kristine A. Wong

In addition to information about the current investigation regarding the Aug. 14 gang-related shooting in Half Moon Bay, San Mateo County Sheriff Greg Munks and key members of the county’s Gang Task Force and School Resource Policing unit spoke to local residents at the town hall meeting Tuesday night about their strategy to combat gang activity and gang violence throughout the city and county.

“Law enforcement is only one aspect,” said Munks in opening remarks to a packed crowd of approximately 250 residents at the Ted Adcock Community/Senior Center in Half Moon Bay.

Several factors are at root of the problem in addition to law enforcement, he said, such as socioeconomic conditions, parenting, and education.

“Combating gangs begins in the home with education and awareness,” he said. “There’s more we can do in afterschool programs on the front end and positive social activities.”

“We’ve tried to find a balance in our approach,” he said.

Munks said that the Gang Intelligence Unit of the Sheriff’s Office has identified over 2,700 gang members in San Mateo County, which it has broken down into 50 different gangs.

The unit consists of two detectives and two city police officers per participating department throughout the county, according to Munks.

“They ID leaders of the gangs, target them and get them off the street,” he said.

In addition, said Sgt. Leo Capovilla, head of the Gang Intelligence Unit and coordinator of the Gang Task Force, the force works with every police chief in the county to deploy assistance in gang-related investigations.

That’s why residents may see police cars from other agencies in the area, he said.

A key strategy used by the Sheriff’s Office in an attempt to keep them off the street is diversion. Housed in the juvenile services section of the Probation Department, the agency’s Diversion Program focuses on providing youth on probation with rehabilitative services in place of punative measures.

“We want to get the violent ones, the leaders, the recruits, and young kids in positive activities,” Munks said.

School and education were also identified as important parts of the prevention equation.

Sheriff’s deputies Alfredo Gudino and Mike Smyser, members of the Community Resource School Policing Unit, spoke about the work they do at schools in Half Moon Bay and the unincorporated Coastside from Montara to Pescadero.

The goal, Smyser said, was to establish not just a presence at campuses in the Cabrillo Unified School District, but to provide a positive first interaction with law enforcement as a foundation for youth to build upon as they get older.

Gudino and Smyser said they keep school principals abreast of anything going on among the student population that might jeopardize safety on campus, as well as notify them if they feel a law enforcement-related problem arises among students.

Youth as young as age 13, or seventh grade, are being brought into local gangs, Gudino said.

Half Moon Bay’s main street gangs are the Norteños and the Sureños, he said, who are known respectively as the Media Luna Norteños and the Coastside Locos. According to Gudino, the Norteños have organized themselves into two subsets: the Moonridge Outlaws at the Moonridge Housing Complex and the Main Street Project at the Main Street Housing Complex.

Gudino also gave a presentation on how to read gang graffiti, and spoke about specific gang attire to watch out for.

Mary Streshly, Half Moon Bay High School principal, said that the school is increasing safety on campus. Part of that effort includes surveillance cameras, which Streshly acknowledged has been controversial among students and the Half Moon Bay community.

Smyser runs a program called C.A.R.O.N. (Community Alliance to Revitalize Our Neighborhoods), which he said had a primary goal of offering education and support programs for the immigrant community. C.A.R.O.N. offers an 8-week citizens’ academy that focuses on law enforcement and organizing neighborhood watch programs, as well as parenting classes and educational workshops about gangs.

Another program designed to provide positive interactions between children and law enforcement is the Sheriff’s Activity League (SAL). Recent activities this summer include the Play Streets program at Moonridge and Pillar Ridge, as well as a series of family movie nights.

“The main motive is to build a bond with cops and kids,” said Barbara Bonilla, SAL Director.

Munks emphasized that though funding is tight, he has a commitment to continue supporting youth programs, programs addressing gang issues and “core safety programs” throughout the county.

Still, he added that with state prisoner realignment coming down the pipeline — which will bring an influx of prisoners from state to county jails due to overcrowding — his department would have to continue to be more creative in maintaining funding for the Gang Task Force and other related programs.

Though Munks said his “number one” responsibility when it came to gangs was to protect the public, he emphasized that his department couldn’t just “arrest our way out of it,” citing lack of funding and a belief in using positive social programs to address the problem as part of his agency’s multi-pronged approach.

Reactions to the meeting were positive by residents and elected officials.

“As one step in the process, I thought the city and our law enforcement did their best to answer all questions,” said Half Moon Bay resident George Muteff.

“It was helpful to actually see all the folks the county has on this — see the faces, get the names, hear about what resources are available and what is being utilized,” he said.

Councilmember Rick Kowalczyk was also pleased. “This was an excellent turnout and great community engagement,” he said, adding that the meeting was a step forward in tampering gang activity in Half Moon Bay.

“It’s the first of many community interactions to come,” he said.

Have Printing Press, Will Travel

Have Printing Press, Will Travel from kristine a. wong on Vimeo.

From June 2011 until January 2012, Portland, Ore. artist Kyle Durrie is touring the country in her mobile printing van giving demonstrations about the craft of letterpress printing — and giving participants a chance to try their hand at creating their own creations.

On the afternoon of July 9, Durrie parked her 1982 Chevy Step Van outside the San Francisco Center for the Book in the city’s Portrero Hill neighborhood. Passersby were invited to climb inside the van for an informal lesson and an opportunity to make a small piece of printed material under Durrie’s guidance.

Durrie said she came up with the idea for the mobile letterpress printing tour when thinking about a way to combine two of her favorite things — printing and road trips.

She first solicited donations from friends and family to raise the money for the trip. Though her efforts were successful, her project (titled “Moveable Type: Cross Country Adventures in Printing“) really took off after receiving $17,010 in funds from 350 backers on Kickstarter.

Durrie used the funds in part to purchase and fix up the van. It’s a compact yet thoroughly functional vehicle which has enough room to house two printing presses, two work counters, storage space, and a bunk to sleep in at night. The van can fit about a dozen people.

Durrie is blogging about her adventures on the project’s website.

I produced this video for Half Moon Bay Patch accompanied by a print article.

Scenes from an Aquarium

Scenes from an Aquarium from kristine a. wong on Vimeo.

A delicate universe under the sea is revealed at the Monterey Bay Aquarium located along California’s Central Coast. Meet undulating jellyfish, waving kelp, rising fish schools and an elegantly unfurling squid.

I filmed this on a regular point and shoot camera during a trip to the aquarium in Fall 2010, and edited this short in August 2011.

Dusty the Klepto Cat Gives Back

Dusty the Klepto Cat Gives Back from kristine a. wong on Vimeo.

World-famous Dusty the Klepto Cat is a 5-year-old male Siamese who has stolen approximately 600 items over the last three years, according to guardian Jean Chu of San Mateo, Calif.

Among the many items the 15-pound cat has stolen from his neighbors include shoes, towels, leg warmers, a mask, gloves, a stuffed animal, bathing suits, a bra, and men’s briefs.

Dusty makes his heists in the dead of night. His unusual exploits have earned him fame with spots on “Animal Planet,” “Late Night With David Letterman,” and ABC-TV news in the Bay Area.

On June 25, 2011, Dusty, Jean Chu and Chu’s daughter Kayla met a crowd of Dusty’s fans at an animal adopt-a-thon sponsored by the Peninsula Humane Society (PHS) in San Mateo. Dusty was adopted from PHS as a kitten.

With a donation to the shelter, visitors got to take home their very own Dusty souvenir — one of the more than 100 towels he’s stolen throughout the years. Chu embroidered “DUSTY Klepto Kitty” on each, along with a pawprint.

I produced this video (camera, video editing, writing) for Half Moon Bay Patch, along with a written print story.

The video was also featured on the home page of the Huffington Post News and Opinion section (which features videos), AOL Weird News, and on the I Can Has Cheezburger network of sites.

Gray Whale Washes Ashore Pescadero State Beach

Gray Whale Washed Ashore Pescadero State Beach from kristine a. wong on Vimeo.

In the first half of June, a 25-foot female gray whale washed ashore Pescadero State Beach in Pescadero, Calif., south of Half Moon Bay.

A necropsy performed by the Marine Mammal Center revealed that the 1-2 year old animal had sustained trauma to its head and thorax, likely due to colliding with a ship, though the exact cause could not be determined.

This video was shot on June 16, 2011.

This is the second time in eight months that a whale has washed ashore the California coast at a beach in Pescadero. In October 2010, an 85-foot blue whale and her fetus washed ashore Bean Hollow State Beach. (See video video posted here).

I produced this video (camera, video editing, writing) for Half Moon Bay Patch.

Steer Show at San Mateo County Fair

Steer Show at San Mateo County Fair from kristine a. wong on Vimeo.

The showmanship competition at the San Mateo County Fair evaluates entrants not just on the way he/she presents a steer, but on his/her poise and professionalism throughout.

Half Moon Bay, Calif. Future Farmers of America member Kelly Noland wins with Duke, a 1,140-pound steer she bought at a Napa, Calif. ranch in November.

The competition took place on June 14, 2011 at the San Mateo County Fairgrounds in San Mateo, Calif.

I produced this video (camera, video editing, writing) along with an accompanying print article for Half Moon Bay Patch.

End of an Era: Half Moon Bay Dissolves Police Force

Half Moon Bay Police Sworn In As Sheriff’s Deputies from kristine a. wong on Vimeo.

Watch a video of June 14, 2011 swearing-in ceremony of Half Moon Bay, Calif. police officers as San Mateo County Sheriff’s deputies, along with the traditional badge pinning by family and friends.

Tuesday’s ceremony at the Old Redwood City Courthouse marked the final step in the transition for sergeants, officers and police department staff. The department was officially handed over to the Sheriff’s Office on June 12, 2011 as a cost-saving measure for the city.

Half Moon Bay Mayor Naomi Patridge, City Councilmember “Farmer John” Muller and 38-year Half Moon Bay Police Department veteran Guy Reimche share their reactions in the video posted at right.

According to former interim Half Moon Bay Police Chief Lee Violett, Half Moon Bay was the first city in the United States to formally put out a competitive bid for law enforcement services from an outside agency. The council voted to outsource the department and enter into negotiations with the county Sheriff’s Office on April 2.

I produced this video (camera, video editing, writing) for Half Moon Bay Patch.

Opus Organamatronic

Opus Organamatronic from kristine a. wong on Vimeo.

At the 2011 Bay Area Maker Faire (held May 21-22), Organamatronic (Half Moon Bay’s Michael La Guardia and Santa Cruz resident Delaney Parker) weaved together a dreamy, otherworldly mix of music from traditional and handmade instruments, along with found/altered objects.

While La Guardia “plays” the array of sound makers, Parker remixes the music on his Mac Book Pro, and plays synthesizer and percussion.

Sitting in a glass booth, the pair stayed intensely concentrated on their music, yet consistently engaged with their audience and invited them to suggest which object La Guardia should play next.

The music attracted a consistent set of onlookers fascinated by the group’s participatory approach to making music.

This video was shot on May 22 and produced for Half Moon Bay Patch. It’s a second (extended) video of one of the group’s performances I produced (camera, video editing, writing) from that day.

*NOTE: Video was shot from outside the booth purposely to capture the interactive nature (in the window’s reflection) of those outside the booth with the musicians.

The video is accompanied by a full-length article on the website.

Horses on Lockdown Following Virus Outbreak

This story originally appeared on Half Moon Bay Patch on May 18, 2011.

Story and photos by Kristine A. Wong

Ranch owners along the Coastside have quarantined their horses following news that 800 horses from several Western states were likely exposed to a neurological form of equine herpes virus (EHV-1) at the National Cutting Horse Association’s Western National Championships in Ogden, Utah.

The outbreak has spread to several of those states, including California, which currently has 10 infected horses in Napa (one horse), Kern (two), Placer (two), Stanislaus (four) and Amador (one) counties, according to the California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA).

All 10 horses attended the competition held in Ogden from April 29-May 8, and one horse showing signs of the virus was euthanized in Bakersfield on Friday, according to CDFA. Two horses are currently being treated at UC Davis.

“We haven’t seen any cases in San Mateo County at this time,” said Tina Mastrangelo on Wednesday afternoon. Mastrangelo works at Bayhill Equine, a veterinary practice in Redwood City.

Despite the lack of cases in the county, Robin Camozzi, who manages four horse ranches for the Half Moon Bay Feed and Fuel store, said she wasn’t taking any chances. “I’ve put all our ranches on a 14-day—no one in or out—quarantine,” she said. “We do not have any horses on any of our ranches that have been out or gone to any shows where they would have been exposed, and I want to keep it that way,” she said.

In Montara, Deborah Titone locked down Renegade Ranch on Wednesday afternoon by placing hand-painted signs reading “Due to EHV-1 – Access Closed Till 6-10” along both entrances of the Moss Beach/Montara trail that runs through her property. The trail is frequently used by horses from neighboring ranches on their way north to Montara Mountain or south to Moss Beach.

“Our horses are being quarantined for three weeks,” Titone said, who both boards and breeds horses at her ranch. “No new horses are being allowed to come in, either,” she said. Like Camozzi, Titone said she would wait and see what happens with the virus before deciding what to do at the end of the quarantine.

Though Titone first heard about the outbreak on Monday, she wasn’t concerned until she heard that a case had been confirmed in Napa on Wednesday morning. The fact that a horse in the Bay Area had been hit, she said, was what prompted her to lock down the ranch later that afternoon.

Ranch owners and managers say there is no cause for panic, but that they are concerned because the particular form of the virus is airborne and has caused Equine Herpes Myeloencephalopathy in infected horses, a neurological condition which cannot be prevented by vaccine, according to equine specialists at UC Davis.

“It’s spread by being in direct close contact with each other—horses that are nose to nose or who are within the same air space,” said Dr. Gary Magdesian, a critical care specialist at the Center for Equine Health and the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine. Magdesian also said that the virus could be spread through shared items such as water buckets, towels, tacks (which have bits that are held in horses’ mouths) and human hands that have contact with an infected horse’s nose and then make contact with the nose of another horse.

Magdesian said that he considers this outbreak to be one of the worst in the last 20 years, due to its national scope, but added that not all horses exposed to the EHV-1 virus get sick. “It’s just like humans who might be exposed to colds or flu in an airplane,” he said. “Not everyone gets really sick.”

The earliest critical sign of the virus is a significant fever, Magdesian said, which would not show up right away if an infection had occurred. The incubation period for EHV-1, he said, is between two to 10 days. “Some horses also get respiratory signs, nasal discharges, and some have neurological signs such as weakness, incoordination, a limp tail, loss of bladder function, and difficulty getting up,” he said.

“It took six men to drag one of my horses up into a trailer so it could be sent to UC Davis for treatment,” said Kathy Benjamin, a Moss Beach resident and horse boarder at Renegade Ranch. Two of her horses died in 2007 from what she suspected was a form of the virus. Another horse died at Moon Valley Ranch next door around the same time period, said Titone.

Titone said that she, Benjamin and other boarders were being especially cautious after that experience four years ago.

“We believe that the virus came from a horse that came through this trail,” Titone said, pointing out that the two horses that died were housed in an area directly adjacent to the trail running through her ranch. “Moon Valley is about 100 yards from here,” she said, pointing through a sparse set of trees where some of the ranch’s horses are housed.

Earlier that year, four horses at Moss Beach Ranch died as well, Titone said, adding the exact cause of the horses’ death is unknown.

Wednesday afternoon, instructor Renette Rambeau at the Moss Beach Ranch’s Equestrian Center said owner Rich Allen had asked to his boarders to voluntarily keep their horses on the property for a few weeks.

“I think people should be aware, know your horse and not panic,” said Pacifica resident April Faugier at Moss Beach Ranch, as she was getting ready to ride her horse Firecracker at the onsite arena Wednesday afternoon. “I’m just keeping an eye on him,” she said, adding that she comes to the ranch daily to visit.

Moss Beach Ranch owner Rich Allen could not be reached by the time of publication.

For information about EHV-1, click on the PDF document in the media box to the right. For updated information about EHV-1 in California, click here. (Information on EHV-1 was attached alongside the story at the time of publication on the website).

Preserving the Tradition of Letterpress Printing

Letterpress printing is both an art and a craft to be preserved for those who treasure the written word and favor the uniqueness of objects produced by hand.

The Stow family of Half Moon Bay, Calif. has practiced this art for more than 25 years at their local gift and card shop The Paper Crane. Doug Stow and his son, Robert, produce custom-designed posters, cards, booklets, and invitations. One of their specialties is printing poems in broadside form. (A broadside is material printed on one side of a single sheet of paper). The elder Stow has been printing broadsides of poems read at Half Moon Bay café M Coffee throughout the years.

Recent projects include a broadside of a poem by poet and singer-songwriter Leonard Cohen, as well as a booklet of baseball haikus printed midway through the San Francisco Giants’ 2010 World Series season.

I produced (camera, interview, video editing) this video — along with an accompanying print article — for Half Moon Bay Patch.

Preserving the Tradition of Letterpress Printing from kristine a. wong on Vimeo.