Every year, if we can, we visit the decorations installed by our wonderful Midtown Terrace neighbors – Santa’s Court. They’re always bright and beautiful, and nearly every house on the street participates with a brilliant display of lights.
I still have a hard time getting a good photograph. But if you haven’t been there, imagine those cutouts being larger than life, and some of them having motion, and all the light!
Wishing everyone light and peace this holiday season and for 2022!
Recently, Wildcare – a wild animal rehab organization – published a warning. It’s nesting season and they ask everyone to RESPECT the NEST. It’s republished here with permission.
Respect the Nest by Michael Schwab
With the help of nationally-acclaimed artist Michael Schwab, WildCare asks you to Respect the Nest this spring and summer! Learn more!
It’s almost springtime in the Bay Area, and even as you read this [post] email, birds, squirrels and other animals are nesting and preparing for their newborn and newly-hatched babies in your trees, shrubs and hedges.
WildCare has already admitted our first tiny, pink baby squirrels of the year!
Our Wildlife Hospital admits hundreds of injured and orphaned baby animals every spring and summer, many of them victims of tree-trimming and pruning accidents.
Michael Schwab created the Respect the Nest graphic to help us remind everyone to delay non-emergency tree-trimming and pruning until winter to avoid orphaning baby animals!
How can YOU Respect the Nest? Click to learn how to spot nesting activity and protect the wildlife in your yard.
Then join us for a free, informative Respect the Nest webinar presentation on Tuesday, March 9 [2021] at 6pm!
Attendees will learn:
– What animals may be using your trees and shrubs as a nursery… even as you read this!
– How to tell if there are active nests in your yard.
– What to do if you inadvertently cut down a nest or if you find an
injured animal.
– When it’s safe (and better for your trees) to prune and trim.
– How WildCare cares for baby animals orphaned by tree trimming.
Many people don’t know that timing our tree and shrub pruning is just one simple way we can minimize harm to wildlife.
Please Respect the Nest this spring and summer and help prevent baby animals from becoming orphaned.
It’s that time of the year again, with the orange flyers in your mailbox, telling you about the Halloween loop. The Forest Knolls Neighborhood Organization does this each year.
Here’s the flyer as a PDF (the image is below): Halloween 2018
If you’re on the loop and want to trick-or-treaters coming by, you’ll need to be home on Wednesday Oct 31 between 5.30 and 8 p.m. (with candy!). Email the organizers by Sunday Oct 21 at forestknolls@comcast.net or call them at 415-621-0500. They’ll give you a pumpkin and a sign to indicate you’re participating.
If you want to take your kids trick-or-treating, bring them to the loop between 5.30 and 8 pm. on Oct 31 – and look out for the pumpkins of participation!
Here’s an announcement from Barbara Oleksiw, who organizes great neighborhood events in the Inner Sunset. (Thanks, Barbara!):
Sunday, April 16, 2017 – 10a.m.to Noon
NW Corner of 6th & Irving, Inner Sunset,
ALL Welcome to the **FREE** Easter Egg Hunt, in the Inner Sunset.
Rain or Shine, 10 a.m. to Noon.Hundreds and hundreds of hidden eggs waiting to be found.
Bring your basket, or use one of ours!
No age too young.
Walter Caplan of the Forest Knolls Neighborhood Organization asked me to post this “save the date” for the Forest Knolls Holiday Party. It’ll be at the Armenian Church at 275 Olympia Way, on Dec 18 at 4 p.m. – with snacks, dinner, Santa, and gifts for children.
Unlike previous years, there’ll be a $10 per adult charge to cover costs. Children are free! If you wish to attend, please fill in the form below (or still better, in the linked PDF file) and mail it in with your check.
(Download the PDF here: forest-knolls-christmas-2016-save-the-date2a )
Barbara Oleksiw, our favorite organizer of fun FREE events for neighbors, writes:
FREE Inner Sunset Easter-Egg Hunt, Easter Sunday, March 27th, 10 a.m. to Noon.
We’re again expecting the Easter Bunny to hide gazillions of colorful eggs
in our backyard.
We’re at the NW corner of 6th & Irving, San Francisco 94122Gates open at 10a.m, but there’ll be plenty of supplies for those coming later.
Bring your own basket … or use one of ours. All welcome.
UCSF School of Dentistry is hosting an event called Give Kids a Smile Day where kids ages 3-17 years old can receive free dental care! The event this year:February 6, 2016, 10am to 3pm
FREE SCREENINGS – FREE FLUORIDE VARNISH – FREE SEALANTS – FREE TOOTHBRUSHESPRIZES & FUN for children ages 3-17! SUPERHEROES WILL BE THERE!!
No appointment needed! Arrive ANYTIME 10-3pm!
For questions or more info contact: CPHANatUCSF@gmail.com
Like people everywhere in the city, in fact, across the world, I went looking for the supermoon eclipse last evening. The moon was going to rise, red and already eclipsed, around 7 p.m. – a “blood moon.” Totality would be7.47 p.m.
I thought the best place to watch would be Twin Peaks, and at 6.45 pm, that’s where I headed from the Portola Avenue side. But I got there to find a line of cars jammed all the way up Twin Peaks Boulevard. I did a U-turn, carefully avoiding a skunk. (It got safely across the road. All the cars in both directions waited for it.)
Time to go to Plan B: leave my car at home, and walk up to Tank Hill.
Clearly, a lot of people had the same thought. I’d never seen it so crowded, not on the 4th of July, not during the Blue Angels performance. Many had come much better prepared than I, with telephoto lenses as long as my forearm, rugs, chairs, and reflective clothing.
We were all a little worried. The fog was prowling around the western side of the city, and knowing San Francisco, could blow in any minute.
Everyone watched the eastern sky intently. “Did we get the wrong night,” I heard someone joke. “Maybe we should have read the science pages instead of the news.”
I was unsure how much we’d actually see, whether the haze low on the horizon would turn into a vision-blocking fog.
Someone raised a shout, and everyone looked for the moon. No sign of it. “Just a bunch of people trying to get a buzz going,” commented one of the would-be spectators.
Quite suddenly at 7.47 p.m. there it was, a dull red disk visible through the trees. Just in time for the peak of the totality.
People gazed at it. Some took pictures, including me.
Next to me, a man holding a dog said, “I hope you have a telephoto on that.” I didn’t, but I would get some pictures anyway, I said. They won’t be great, not like the real photographers photos, but they’ll record the event. We chatted briefly about eclipses past.
The crowd thinned out. Parents with small children left quickly. The kids had seen the moon, understood the color was different, and they were ready to play or go. So did a lot of people who’d driven in. They wanted to leave before more traffic jams started up.
Here’s how it looked at one minute past 8 p.m. (still through the trees).
I left, too, a little later. From the foot of the Tank Hill steps, I got a clear view of the moon. This was a picture at 8.22 pm.
An hour later, I went for a walk. The fog had started blowing in, but the moon was visible. It looked like a traditional eclipse now, a crescent that could be mistaken for a waning moon.
And even later than that, the eclipse was over and the fog was crawling over Twin Peaks.
It was beginning to drift down to the Bay.
Overhead, the full supermoon was back to normal.
Cal Academy of Sciences has free admission days by zip code, and ours is coming up this weekend.
From their website:
“Free admission is available for San Francisco residents of each zip code during the designated dates listed below. Visiting adults are limited to six children for free entry. Proof of residency* is required.
Neighborhoods: Bernal Heights, Castro, Cole Valley, Glen Park, Haight, Lake Merced, Mission, Noe Valley, St. Francis Wood [Huh, they missed us. But we are in 94131, so we should be good.]
Zip codes: 94110, 94114, 94117, 94127, 94131, 94132
Fall 2015 Free Days: Sep. 25, 26, 27
Spring 2016 Free Days: Feb. 19, 20, 21″
It’s normally like $35 for adults and $25-30 for kids (unless you’re a member). So this could be a big saving.
Yesterday in West Portal I saw posters up for this year’s Arts Fair at West Portal. It’s a lovely little fair featuring artists and craftspeople. I always try to visit at least once if I can.
This year looks to be as interesting as in earlier years. If you haven’t been to this fair, you can get a sense of it from my reports:
If you were thinking of going to tomorrow’s hearing about Sutro Tower (adding 50 antennae, removing an unspecified number of trees) – the hearing has been RESCHEDULED TO MARCH 19:
“The Zoning Administrator determined that further review of the existing site is needed with respect to the applicable Conditional Use Authorization. Therefore, we are continuing the Mandatory Discretionary Review hearing to March 19, 2015.”
I just got an email from Christine Gasparac, the Community Relations officer at UCSF saying they’re offering a free dental clinic for kids on Feb 21, 2015. I’m sharing it here in case any parents among you are interested.
Dear Neighbors:
Students and faculty from the UCSF School of Dentistry will be offering free dental services – screenings, sealants, and fluoride treatments – for kids 4-17 on Saturday, February 21 from 9:00 am to 4:00 pm. The screening satisfies the K-1 school oral assessment requirement.
What: Give Kids A Smile Day (ages 4-17)
When: Saturday, February 21, 2015 (9:00 AM to 4:00 PM)
Where: UCSF School of Dentistry, 707 Parnassus Avenue @ 4th Avenue (served by MUNI lines 6, 43, 66, N-Judah)
Questions: mailto: CPHAN@UCSF@gmail.com
https://www.facebook.com/ucsfCPHANFlyer in English, Spanish, Chinese, and Vietnamese attached and at this link
http://bit.ly/smileUCSF2015.
[IT SEEMS THE HEARING IS POSTPONED TO MARCH. STAY TUNED.]
Sutro Tower has been sending out notices that it plans to add more antennae to the tower, plus a 30-foot satellite dish on the ground; and do some work around the tower.
I hope the work on the ground isn’t going to involve cutting down trees. As it is, the base of the tower is overly visible from the Twin Peaks side. It looks interesting and iconic rising above a fringe of green – it’s one of the few objects that can visually dwarf eucalyptus trees! But planted on bare ground, it would look industrial, more like a pylon.
(I wrote to Sutro Tower, and they are indeed cutting down some trees.)
This picture is from the Planning Commission website and it’s copyright so I can’t actually put it here – but it indicates what I mean:
Click to access Photo%20Simulation_1.pdf
The Planning Commission has a hearing on Feb 5th, 2015.
If this is important to you, please write to them about the importance of preserving as many trees as possible, and replacing the ones that are removed with actual trees, not native-plant shrubs or grasses.
Reminder, everyone! Golden Gate Bridge will be closed this weekend. This is taken from the GoldenGate.org website.
NOTICE OF GOLDEN GATE BRIDGE CLOSURE IN JANUARY 2015
Area Road Closures
Transit Options | Press Releases | Photos | VideosThe Golden Gate Bridge will be closed to vehicle traffic the second weekend of January 2015. The roadway will be closed starting at 12:01am on Saturday, January 10 and will reopen at 4:00 am on Monday, January 12.
The Bridge will be closed to install a moveable median barrier which will provide a safer and more efficient system of separating opposing lanes of traffic.
The Bridge District is issuing a no travel advisory that weekend but if travel between San Francisco and the North Bay Area is necessary, there are several ways to get to your destination:
- Golden Gate Transit bus service will be allowed to cross the Bridge.
- Golden Gate Ferry will be offering expanded service that weekend, including late night service.
- Use alternate routes (Richmond and Bay Bridges)
Bridge’s east sidewalk will remain open to pedestrians and bicyclists but parking lots at the Bridge will be closed.
A new driving experience after installation
With the installation of the moveable median barrier comes a new and different driving experience across the Golden Gate Bridge. Today, plastic tubular pylons are used to separate opposing lanes of traffic on the Bridge. The new barrier system will provide a safer and more efficient system of dividing opposing lanes of traffic.
The barrier will be installed on the 1.7-mile-long Bridge and on the approach portion of Highway 101, north of the Golden Gate Bridge, starting at Alexander Avenue. Using transfer machines, the barrier will be moved several times a day to create more lanes in a particular direction to accommodate variable traffic demands such as the morning and evening commutes.
A new merge will be very different for southbound vehicles. Where drivers current merge from left to right, the new merge will be from right to left. In addition, the speed limit will be dropped to 45 miles per hour from the current 55 miles per hour on the descent down the Waldo Grade. Lastly, with the installation of the barrier, the two inside lanes will lose 6-inches of width. Getting used to driving next to the barrier may take some adjustment for some drivers, and the District advises motorists to take it slow and get used to the new driving conditions.
This new moveable median barrier system will enhance safety by reducing the potential for cross-over collisions and will allow the Bridge District to more efficiently reconfigure lane changes to optimize traffic operations on the bridge.
To view an animation of the new driving experience, click here.
For more information on the Moveable Median Barrier project, click here.
Area Road Closures
North End of the Golden Gate Bridge – Friday, January 9
- At 8:00 a.m.
- Southbound Hwy 101 off-ramp at Rodeo Avenue (see map)
- At 8:00 p.m.
- At 11:30 p.m.
South End of the Golden Gate Bridge – Friday, January 9
- At 8:00 p.m.
- Parking lots at south end of the Bridge (see map)
- At 11:30 p.m.
- At 11:45 p.m.
North End of GGB
Alexander Ave at ConzelmanAlexander Ave
South End of GGB Transit Service Info
Golden Gate Transit BUS: Weekend service. Click HERE for timetables. Routes 10 and 17 & late night Route 70 trips will NOT operate in Sausalito. Use free shuttle and make all connections in Marin City.
Golden Gate FERRY: Added early-morning to late-night service on Larkspur Ferry. Late-night service added to Sausalito Ferry weekend schedules. Click HERE for timetables.
Press Releases
Press Release, November 13, 2014 – GOLDEN GATE BRIDGE & HIGHWAY 101 CLOSURE IN JANUARY 2015
Press Release, December 17, 2014 – STACKS, DOTS and TRUCKS!
At the Forest Knolls holiday party last month, Sutro Tower, Inc was one of the sponsors. They attended with some cool giveaways – including this cool red ornament with a picture of the Tower.
Someone posted a picture of it on our Forest Knolls Facebook page, and immediately people were asking where they could get one.
I wrote to Sutro Tower’s “information” email address. VP and General Manager Eric Dausman immediately responded and offered me some. I picked up a dozen, and have them available. (Two are spoken for already, ten left.)
If you live in Forest Knolls and want one, I’d be happy to drop it off at your place. If you live farther afield, we’ll need to make some arrangements. Email me at fk94131 at yahoo dot com either way.
Offer open, as they say, while stocks last.
UCSF is offering an open house at its Fitness Center – with free workouts – through January 10, 2015. They’re also offering free enrollments any time in January. Here’s their message:
Parnassus neighbors:
Happy New Year. UCSF’s Fitness Center is holding an open house event this week that is open to our neighbors. The Fitness Center is offering free workouts now through January 10. If you become a member in January, there is no enrollment fee. Learn more at http://bit.ly/transform2015.The Fitness Center is located in Millberry Union at 500 Parnassus Avenue.
If you have questions, you can call them at 476-0348.
Reminder: Please let Walter Caplan (415 621 0500) know if you plan to attend tomorrow’s party – especially if “you” includes kids! Santa needs to know.
I attended UCSF’s quarterly meeting of its Community Advisory Group on 3rd Dec 2014. (I’m not on the CAG, I went as a member of the public.)
UCSF’s Long Range Development Plan (2015-2035) has been approved. (This presumably includes removing the Aldea Student Housing from the space ceiling. You can read more about that HERE.)
Right now, there are two ongoing projects on the Parnassus campus (that’s the Inner Sunset campus, on the other side of Mount Sutro from Forest Knolls). The first is demolition and landscaping of 374 Parnassus, where a small building is being knocked down and converted to open space. The larger one is work on the old building, UC Hall which was earlier to be knocked down but is now to be converted to offices and housing.
SUTRO FOREST
UCSF staff made two presentations about Sutro Forest recently. One was to the Urban Forestry Council. The Council has a listening series in which they invited a large number of stakeholders to talk about San Francisco’s urban forests. (SaveSutro also made a presentation to them about Sutro Forest.) They expect to issue a report possibly next spring.
The other was to the Parks, Recreation and Open Space Committee (PROSAC). Christine Gasparac, who was one of the presenters, said that PROSAC was particularly interested in recreational access to Mount Sutro.
There was some discussion around Sutro Forest. CAG member Dennis Antenore spoke of the management plan written 14 years ago that embodied Best Management Practices. I pointed out that it didn’t – it was designed to cut down most of the trees. What management is implemented depends on what you’re trying to achieve. If you wish to preserve the forest – which is a unique and beautiful jewel of San Francisco – then it requires less intervention, not more. If you’re trying to turn it over to native plants, then you would want to cut down trees. Craig Dawson (also a CAG member, Executive Director of the Sutro Stewards, who favors cutting down trees and using herbicides to stop them coming back) said that the opponents of the plan were stopping UCSF from acting to save the forest and it’s dying.
They’ve been talking about the forest “dying” for years. (Here’s an article from the year 2000 – in which Craig Dawson is quoted. It’s based on the erroneous assumption that eucalyptus has a 100-year life-span, which is not true. It lives 300-500 years.) But experts in forestry, eucalyptus, and ecology have walked through and seen a healthy, thriving forest. Some trees are in poor condition, but that’s natural. If they are actually hazardous, they should of course be removed. But if they’re not, they’re valuable to the forest’s ecology. To say that the forest is dying because some trees in it are in poor condition is like saying San Francisco is dying because it has some people who are old and ailing.
DIVERSITY
Dr Renee Navarro, UCSF’s Vice Chancellor for Diversity and Outreach, made an excellent presentation about UCSF’s progress in increasing the percentage of women and minorities among its students and employees. On the whole, they’ve done well in terms of employing women; UCSF staff are about 68% women, and even in the rarefied group of the 20 or so people who are in senior management, 40% are female.
For minorities, staff numbers superficially look quite good: around 58% non-white. There are two issues, though. First, most of this diversity is concentrated among the support staff. Only 36% of managers are minorities, and among the senior management, it’s 15%. Second, when it’s broken down, it shows the percentage of African Americans has actually declined between 2006 and 2014 – meaning growth in hiring hasn’t kept pace with UCSF’s expansion from 13 thousand employees in 2006 to 16.5 thousand in 2014. There’s been a marked increase in the percentage of Asian employees (from 33% to 37%), and some increase in the percentage of Hispanic employees, from 11% to 12.%)
It’s possible this reflects the changing demographics of San Francisco and the Bay Area, but UCSF is also taking measures to make attract and retain minority employees, and to create a multicultural and diverse organization.
She also spoke about community partnerships and early outreach to students in High School or even earlier, and opportunities UCSF is trying to create for its own employees to improve their skills and move to higher levels.
EBOLA
UCSF’s Intensive Care Unit at Mount Zion is their designated Ebola Isolation Unit should it become necessary. They are also encouraging medical workers who want to go fight the epidemic in West Africa to do so, preserving their jobs and seniority. There’s a quarantine procedure in place for when they return, depending on the level of exposure they have had. UCSF focuses on professional quarantine, but will co-ordinate with Department of Health in case community quarantine is appropriate.
OTHER ISSUES DISCUSSED
UCSF sent around this message to all the Parnassus neighbors (broadly defined). The event is open to all.
Next week, the fitness center in UCSF’s Millberry Union is hosting a festival with complimentary workout classes and fitness consultations. The free activities are open to the UCSF community and to neighbors.
September 25, 2014
Millberry Fitness & Recreation Center
500 Parnassus Avenue, Level B1
Body Composition Testing
Personal Trainer Consultations
Event Specials
Mid-Day Schedule
11:00 am-2:30 pm Free body composition testing and fitness consultations
11:15 am-11:45 am GRIT™ CARDIO
11:50 am-12:35 pm ZUMBA®
12:45-1:15 pm CXWORX™
1:30-2:20 pm BODYFLOW ™
Evening Schedule
4:30-7:30 pm Free body composition testing and fitness consultations
5:00-5:45 pm ZUMBA®
5:50-6:20 pm Motown Moves
6:25-7:15 pm BODYCOMBAT ™
For more information, call 415.476.0348 or visit http://bit.ly/UCSFFitnessFestival2014
THERE’S PARKING (FOR A FEE)
Three convenient sites serve our 107-acre Parnassus campus, located south of Golden Gate Park.
Public parking rates at Parnassus garages are as follows:
0-1 Hours = $3.75
1-2 Hours = $7.50
2-3 Hours = $11.25
3-4 Hours = $15.00
4-5 Hours = $18.75 (24-hour comp sticker rate)
5-6 Hours = $22.50
6-7 Hours = $26.25
7-24 Hours = $30.00 (daily maximum)
The parking rate for motorcycles is a $5.00 daily maximum.
Disabled parking rates are as follows:
0-1 Hours = $3.75
1-2 Hours = $6.00
2-3 Hours = $6.00 (daily maximum)
Weeknight (6:00 pm-7:00 am) and weekend parking is available at the Westside/Kirkham Surface Lot and Beckman/Koret Surface Lot at a rate of $3.00.
– See more at: http://campuslifeservices.ucsf.edu/transportation/services/parking/public_parking#sthash.zZSBtQfS.dpuf
[Sorry, sent out a draft with the wrong date. Here’s the correct version.]
We’ve all been reading about the ice-bucket challenge – where you agree to have ice-water poured over you in exchange for a donation to the ALS Association. Inner Sunset neighbor Barbara Oleksiw asked me to let everyone know about the Inner Sunset one, tomorrow.
Take the Inner Sunset ALS Ice-Bucket Challenge *THIS* Sunday, 1-2:30p at the Big Lunch, 9th & Irving
If you’d like to participate but don’t have funds to contribute, please come.
If you’d like to participate and make a donation, please come.
If you’d like to simply watch these ice-crazed stalwarts, please come.
We have a sponsor who’ll donate $50 to *each* person willing to get dunked, but who can’t contribute.
Plus, we have a sponsor who’ll match the funds of *each* person who gets dunked and also contributes.
We’re planning to make this as fun, water-conserving and creative as possible. And, if you’re not interested in getting wet or donating, we invite you to simply cheer us on!
If you haven’t heard of the ice bucket challenge, here’s what Wikipedia says about it:
“The Ice Bucket Challenge, sometimes called the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge, is an activity involving dumping a bucket of ice water on someone’s head to promote awareness of the disease amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and encourage donations to research. It went viral on social media during July–August 2014. In the US, many people participate for the ALS Association, and in the UK, many people participate for the Motor Neurone Disease Association, although some individuals have opted to donate their money from the Ice Bucket Challenge to other organizations.
“The challenge dares nominated participants to be filmed having a bucket of ice water poured on their heads and then nominating others to do the same. A common stipulation is that nominated participants have 24 hours to comply or forfeit by way of a charitable financial donation.”
Alexander Ave
FOREST KNOLLS NEIGHBORHOOD 