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Here's The Poop!

Parents struggling to potty train little Jr, have probably heard this cheery sentiment somewhere- "Don't worry, he won't go to college in diapers."  And that is supposed to make you feel better???

Dumpster Diving Divas!!

Rita tells you how to recycle your way to pre-owned paradise in Dumpster Diving Divas here in MoreShelter!

College Visits On The Virtual Highway!

Any high-schoolers (and their parents!) starting to hunt for colleges, might want to read this story.  Last week, CollegeWeekLive- a virtual college fair- opened its doors to prospective students in order showcase several different colleges in one two-day online event.

Shift in Grey Whale Migration Noted

Whale spotters have noticed a shift in the migration pattern of grey whales in their yearly swim from the arctic waters down to Baja, and then back to the arctic again.   

College of Marin Accreditation Deadline Looms!

Tomorrow on April 1st, the COM faces potential loss of accreditation, and it's no April Fools Joke. On January 18th, the community college in Kentfield, was placed on probation by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges.  They gave them the deadline of April 1 to get its act together, or lose accreditation altogether.  Read this Marin IJ article for more on the story...

Migden Loses California Dems Endorsement!

No thanks Carole!   That's essentially what California State Democratic Party delegates told State Senator Carole Migden, when they overwhelmingly refused to endorse her re-election bid at the state convention this past weekend.

Dude, It's Dark In Here...

Lights will be turned out all over the world tonight during Earth Hour   On March 29, 2008 at 8:00 pm, everyone is encouraged to turn off their lights for an hour to make a statement about climate change.  Even Google has gotten into the act.  Earth Hour was created by the World Wildlife Fund in Australia, and has grown from one city to a global event.  So get out the candles, pour a glass of wine and drink a toast to Mother Earth! 

Introducing RiDesign and RiShelter!

Real Estate columnists are a dime a dozen, but we want to introduce you to someone with a lot more to offer-  Rita Richcreek!  Rita's keeping it 'green'  here in MoreShelter!

Save The Banana For Your Cereal!

You've probably heard somewhere that a mashed up banana smeared all over your face will make your skin youth-like.  Well, it won't.  This and other wrinkle-clearing myths are revealed in this Newsweek article that also gives us tips on which concoctions really do smooth the lines...

Play This Game...Feed The People!

Here's a really neat, do-good little computer game you can play at work guilt-free!  It's called FreeRice and the vocabulary-freaks among you will find it highly addictive,   Try it... we'll bet you can't stop at one game!

Other Vessels Waited...Cosco Busan Sailed

Heavy fog and poor visibility in the SF Bay, were reasons cited by those in charge, of four other large ships not to set sail the morning of November 7.  The Cosco Busan container ship, on the other hand, threw caution to the wind and sailed into the bay and straight into the Bay Bridge, causing a 53,000 gallon oil spill in the process.

The Next Credit Minefield- Equity Loans

Equity line loans funded the good times during the carefree 90s and early 2000s.  Now with the housing credit crisis in full swing, equity loan holders are not in such a generous mood.  According to this NYT article, some lenders are requiring homeowners to pay off their equity line loans before they put their house on the market. 

I'm Ok...You're Ok

The latest entrant in a long line of self-help gurus, is taking the Bay Area, and even Oprah, by storm...he's Eckhart Tolle, and he's here to 'awaken you'...

Happy Birthday... Presents Optional!

The older we get, the more often we seem to receive the invites that request 'no gifts' or 'please donate to such-and-such charity in lieu of present'... right?   Read here how this trend is extending to kids, whether they like it or not.  How do you think your kids would react?  Do you think it's fair?

GG Bridge Crash Details!

Wow, read this SF Gate article to get a blow-by-blow description of exactly what happened during the 10-car pile-up yesterday, on the GG Bridge.   

English Only Spoken Here

This item caught our eye a few days ago. Should people who live in this country be expected to speak English?  The English-only movement, is not a new one, but it seems to be gaining recent traction in the U.S., and here in California. What do you think?

Thursday Thinker Trivia Quiz!

Today's trivia quiz is for all the sports fans...how many Super Bowl games did the mighty San Francisco 49ers win during the 1980s? 

Skip Breakfast and Risk Getting Fat

Turns out the old adage about eating a good breakfast, was, well...good.  A study just out, shows that kids who skipped breakfast tended to pack on the pounds, while those who ate the morning meal, did not.  Show this article to your teenage girls, and it might convince them to sit down at the breakfast table more often.

Going Down In Smoke In Novato

Thinking about lighting up a ciggie while walking in the park?  Want to grab a smoke while taking in the soccer game?  Not if Novato has its way.  It's set to pass the toughest secondhand smoke ordinance in Marin, as detailed in this IJ article.  If passed, violators could face fines ranging into several hundred dollars and community service.  Do you think the secondhand smoking laws are too stringent?

GG Bridge Closed After Multi-Car Crash!

Ten cars were involved in a crash this afternoon, after a car traveling North-bound, crossed over into South-bound lanes striking several cars head-on.  No deaths, but several people were injured in the crash, which shut down the bridge for at least an hour around 245 pm.  The bridge re-opened around 4:20 pm.

Hello Marin!

 

Hello Marin! We’re the new Blog on the block. Actually, we’re a placeblog- a blog about a place, in this case- Marin. We invite you to explore our pages and take a look at what we have to offer.

Our homepage is where you’ll find news & scoop. When you give us the Buzz, we’ll be even timelier. We want your comments & perspective. The Buzz page has links to other Marin organizations and blogs as well. 

Everybody’s gotta eat, and so we have MoreEats! We’ll have reviews and food news and a link to our  Marin-only restaurant database. With your feedback, everyone will have better luck finding a great dining-out experience.

Real estate is a hot topic and MoreShelter will have news and features on what’s happening. And for an added bonus, we have a real estate expert with a slightly different angle- one that fits Marin’s more eco-friendly perspective.

News and weather junkies have their own pages- MoreNews and MoreWeather and when you need a break, check out MoreFun! And this is just the start- we have more features planned and we’ll be adding them soon.

So, check out the site …read …comment …Interact more with your community!

Use For Half An Hour...Waste For A Thousand Years

SF was the first city in the U.S. to ban plastic bags at grocery stores and retailers.  Several cities & municipalities made plans to follow suit, including Oakland, just across the bay.  Plastics manufacturers were not going to take that sitting down.

Wining & Dining With Nick!

Meet our new restaurant guy... he's got taste!

Rent Control Lawsuit May Affect Hundreds

Mobile home park owners in San Rafael are facing skyrocketing rents after a federal judge declared rent control in San Rafael unconstitutional.

Comedian's Divorce is No Laughing Matter...

Former Marinite, and uber-comedian Robin Williams and his wife Marsha, are calling it quits. 

I'd Tell You More, But I Forget...

The next time your teenager tells you they can't remember where they left their backpack, don't assume they are just trying to annoy you.  According to this Press Democrat article, a new study by the Buck Institute shows the younger set actually are more forgetful than even older people with Alzheimer's!

Teen Drinking Topic of Town Hall Meeting

Anyone concerned with teens & drinking should try and get to the College of Marin this Thursday for a town hall-type meeting.  Teen drinking has been a popular topic of discussion recently, and nearly all of Marin towns, except Belvedere, have enacted so-called 'social host' laws to try and help curb the problem.  The laws basically punish the parents who provide alcohol, or knowingly and unknowingly, allow teen drinking in their homes. 

Sausalito Author Hit Bottom & Then Some...

If you thought your life was a wreck, you should read this Marin IJ feature about Sausalito author, Wendy Merrill.  Merrill's life began to spiral out of control at the age of 16, when her mother committed suicide.  Bouts of bulimia, anorexia, alcohol abuse and very bad choices in male partners followed her into adulthood.  She's chronicles these tales in a just released book; "Falling Into Manholes: The Memoir of a Bad/Good Girl".  Merrill will discuss her book tomorrow night at the Mill Valley Book Depot and on Saturday at The Book Passage in Corte Madera.

Jobs, Jobs, Jobs!

California's job growth was pretty flat last year, adding just a little over 8,000 jobs.  The housing crisis has been blamed for that.  But Marin and San Mateo counties bucked the trend. 

McCain's Swing Through The Golden State

GOP hopeful John McCain is in the middle of a three-day California campaign swing to make his case for President.  But some Republicans think he'll face tough scrutiny from Blue-state voters, especially after his embrace of controversial televangelist, Rev. John Hagee. This is what Hagee had to say about Katrina-

"All hurricanes are acts of God because God controls the heavens. I believe that New Orleans had a level of sin that was offensive to God and they were recipients of the judgment of God for that."

So we guess God must also be offended by Cayman Islands, Florida, South Carolina, North Carolina, Haiti, Dominican Republic, Mississippi, Texas, Grenada, Cuba, Puerto Rico, Jamaica, Guatemala, Alabama...uh, never mind.

Free City WiFi Is In Danger of Crashing

Imagine being able to pull out your laptop and begin surfing the internet anywhere in San Francisco.  Or imagine you haven't been able to afford internet service, but now you can get it for free on your home PC.

What's In A Name?

Florence? Ruth? Ethel??   It's hard to imagine, but in 1900 those names were among the top ten most popular given to female babies.  John had a good run; it was in the top ten names for 80 years until it dropped out of favor in the 90s.  Boy names turned downright biblical in the late 2000s with Daniel, Jacob and Joshua, while girl names came full circle back to old-fashioned with Hannah, Ava and Abigail.  Guess everything old, becomes new again, although we doubt Ethel will ever make it back into the top ten.

A Little Something Extra With The Facelift

Doctors say facelift patients should undergo pre-surgery screening for MSRA, the antibiotic-resistant staph infection that is showing up much more frequently in hospital settings.  According to this article, it's the most common cause of infections at the incision, after undergoing surgery.  Here's something else about staph that will surprise you. Researchers have discovered that when efforts to get rid of MSRA infections fail, you might try checking this member of the family. 

Fishing for Answers

This year's salmon run was down ninety percent, and scientists want to know why. The disastrous numbers are leading to a complete shutdown of all commercial and sport salmon fishing along the entire U.S. west coast. 

Torch Route Through SF Still Sketchy

SF Mayor Gavin Newsom declined to shed any light on the route the Olympic torch runners will take through SF, except to say the torch will not travel into Chinatown.  The torch is due to arrive, amid protests and controversy, on April 9, and SF will be the only North America stop on the way to Beijing.  Late last week, arsonists poured flammable liquid on the security gate to the Chinese Consulate and set it afire.  There was very little damage and no one was hurt.  Seems the activists might just be getting warmed up for the torch arrival in April.

Marin Supes Spending Habits

Take a look at this Marin IJ article and see how the five Marin County supervisors spent $1.7 million of your tax dollars...

Bikers See Pink at Pro-Troops Rally in Berzerkely

Four hundred leather-wearing, motorcycle riders descended upon Berkeley on Saturday, to show support for the often vilified Marine recruiting center there. 

Oooops! Former SLA Member BACK in Prison!

Update: Looks like she and her attorney will fight her return to prison. 

Former SLA member, Sarah Jane Olson is back in prison, enjoying just one week of freedom after being released by mistake, on Monday.  Turns out a clerical error was the reason she was released one year too early.  Olson was at the LAX airport on Friday when she learned of the error.  She stayed with family that evening and was taken into custody without incident on Saturday.  Olson will be eligible for release March 17, 2009. 

Peeps Have How Many Calories?????

Ever wonder how many candy calories your Cadbury Creme egg packs?  Here's a look...

Large Chunk of Missing Sailboat Discovered

Scuba divers located several large pieces of the Daisy, the sailboat that disappeared off the Pacific Coast a week ago, with two Marin sailors onboard.  Only one body has been recovered.  The cause of the marine tragedy is a mystery, and there are still several theories as to why it capsized.  But experts now say there is nothing to indicate that it collided with a bigger boat. 

Next Quake Could Be Bay Area's Katrina

Granted, you probably did not feel the tiny temblors that rattled parts of the East Bay yesterday.  But you better take heed for the Big One. 

Former SLA Member Out of Prison!

Former Symbionese Liberation Army member, Sarah Jane Olsen, was just released from prison after serving six years for her part in the 1975 LA police car bombings.  She was also serving time for murder charges related to the fatal robbery of a Sacramento bank, also in 1975.  A 42-year old bank customer, Myrna Opsahl was shot & killed.  Olsen disappeared in 1975, and was found in 1999 living under an assumed name, as a soccer mom in the Midwest.  That almost seems like punishment enough to us.

Sneezing Into Spring!

Itchy eyes and sneezing are sure signs that Spring is here, and already allergy sufferers are wondering when it will end.  None too soon, according to allergists, who have predicted a moderate to severe allergy season this year.  And if you think there may be some new treatments available, think again say the experts-

"There is nothing radically new on the horizon.  One of the problems is that there isn't a lot of funding available for allergy research. The National Institutes of Health budget has been sort of static for the past eight years."

Anyone out there have any suggestions, or home-grown remedies they want to share with the snifflers in the crowd?

No Evian for This Mayor!

Chalk up another 'green' moment for SF Mayor Gavin Newsom.  Now he's asking city restaurants to stop serving bottled water, and offer tap to customers instead, in an effort to limit plastic containers.  This just a day after SF moved closer to becoming the city in the U.S. with the most environmentally stringent building codes.  Looks like this is one Mayor who doesn't like to rest on his laurels, not even for a day!

Ultra-Reality TV!

Looks like the pro-privacy people will like this item.  A study just out says that street-corner security cameras have little, if any, effect on violent crime. In many instances, people who commited crimes in SF where the cameras were installed, just moved down the street, out of camera range and carried on with their crimes. 

Put That In Your Coffee Cup and Drink It!

Which uber-gigantic coffee-house chain was recently slapped with a $100 mil fine????

Vampires & Heart Patients Prefer Fresh Blood

That's the word from the authors of a new study just published in the NEJM (New England Journal of Medicine) this week.  Heart surgery patients lived longer, and did better overall if they received blood that was less than two weeks old at the time of surgery.  Currently, the FDA allows blood stocks to be stored for up to six weeks. No one is quite sure why the older blood is riskier, and more tests are needed, but other similar studies have been reaching the same conclusion; the fresher the transfused blood, the better for the patient. 

Olympic Torch Visit Fires Up Controversy!

Get ready for controversy when the Olympic torch makes its only stop in Northern America next month. 

It's Spring!

Today marks the first day of Spring, according to this equinox calendar.  It usually falls on March 20th or March 21st depending on the year.  If you want more info, you can pretty much find everything you need to know about the season here.   So go outside during your lunch hour, or after work, and take some time to smell the flowers.  And just be thankful we don't live here.

Zoo Was Unprepared On Day of Fatal Tiger Attack!

A report on the SF Zoo tiger mauling incident has been released, it isn't pretty.  The report lists several deficiencies that occurred that day, including short-staffing, unprepared staff and a security guard who didn't believe initial reports that the tiger had escaped.  Today, a commission has recommended that the zoo be turned into a rescue facility that focuses on animal care.  The SF Board of Supes has agreed to take a look at that alternative.