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A Cry For Help Inc., 6216 Second NW, Albuquerque 87107, 922-8788, acryforhelpinc.org, Facebook and Twitter. Services: Provides advocacy for those experiencing any type of abuse; services the needs of all citizens suffering abuse through the domestic and judicial system. Needs: Financial contributions to help fight for the rights of victims – mail checks or money orders to 300 Homesite Lane NW, Albuquerque, NM 87114. Also needed are household goods and clothing for the opening of ACFHI Thrift Store, office supplies and equipment, volunteers and court supporters, printing company to print brochures, pro bono attorneys and paralegals for documentation review.

Albuquerque Heading Home, 215 Third SW, Albuquerque 87102. Contact Robert Nelson at 226-1700. Services: Nonprofit works to make homelessness in Albuquerque rare, short-lived and non-recurring through emergency shelter, social services and permanent housing. Needs: Gently used furniture, kitchen supplies, hygiene supplies, toiletries and blankets for homeless people moving into new homes. Also needed are volunteers to help deliver furnishings to people moving into new homes, sort donations, and help at emergency shelter.

Albuquerque Health Care for the Homeless, P.O. Box 25445, Albuquerque 87125, 766-5197. Services: Provides more than 7,000 men, women and children access to much-needed primary medical, dental and behavioral health care, in addition to social and street outreach service and supportive housing. Needs: A gift of $50 provides one half-hour of outreach to families with children to provide a child with medical screening and basic needs items. A gift of $500 covers the cost of eight hours at the drop-in center for up to 70 people where an individual can meet basic needs with coffee, a shower, telephone access, and other forms of individual and group support.

Albuquerque Rescue Mission, 525 Second SW, Albuquerque 87103, 346-4673. Services: A Christian ministry helping homeless and near homeless men, women and children with services including shelter, meals, clothing and blankets. Needs: Financial contributions; nonperishable food, warm clothing, underwear for men, women and children; blankets. Also needed are Christmas gifts for 700 homeless children aged 6 months to 12 years needed by Dec. 18.

All Faiths, 1709 Moon NE, Albuquerque 87112, 271-0329. Services: Provides positive change, healing and hope to children, families and individuals. Services include: prevention and intervention; psychological evaluation and management; providing support services for families by working in their homes to ensure their children’s needs are met; parenting skills classes; interviews and interagency coordination in cases of alleged abuse; support groups led by parents with the help of a trained facilitator. Needs: Monetary support, diapers, baby wipes, toiletries, household items, toys, books, non-perishable food items, and new or lightly used clothing for children up to 18 years of age.

Animal Welfare Department, City of Albuquerque: Pets spending the holidays at the shelters while awaiting adoption are in need of new or gently used blankets, dog sweaters, jackets, beds, toys and treats. Items will be distributed to each animal on Christmas Eve. Donations may be dropped off through Dec. 20 at the shelters, 8920 Lomas NE and 11800 Sunset Gardens SW, 9:30 a.m.-6 p.m. daily except Monday; Lucky Paws in Coronado Center, Monday through Saturday 11:30 a.m.-7:30 p.m., Sunday, noon-6 p.m.; or any Petco store in Albuquerque, during business hours and check the city’s website to find more drop off areas.

Barrett Foundation, 10300 Constitution NE, Albuquerque 87112, 246-9244, Monday-Friday, 8:30 a.m.-5 p.m. Services: In its commitment to ending homelessness, the Foundation serves single women and their children, as well as disabled, chronically homeless women through shelter, transitional and permanent housing, and the structure, support and critical skills training to help them build more secure futures. Needs: Volunteers, financial contributions, gift cards in denominations of $25 and under, cash donations for $10 monthly bus passes, unexpired food sealed in original store packaging, bottled water, women’s and children’s clothing, personal hygiene and grooming items, sheets, pillows, bath and hand towels, laundry and cleaning supplies. For information and a complete wish list, visit barrettfoundation.org, click on donate.

CLNkids/Cuidando Los Niños, 1500 Walter SE, Albuquerque 87102, 843-6899. Services: Provides 5-star rated early childhood education and therapeutic services for children experiencing homelessness, ages 6 weeks to 5 years, and support services for families to become housed and self-sustaining. Needs: Gift cards from Walmart, Target, Smith’s, or similar stores to support purchases of classroom supplies and food. Diapers, sizes 3-5, baby wipes, and disposable gloves.

Casa Angelica, 5629 Isleta SW, Albuquerque 87105, 877-5763. Services: Residential facility for children and young adults with profound developmental disabilities. Needs: Laundry detergent, fabric softener, Clorox Wipes, AAA, AA, C, D 9-volt batteries, lotion, shampoo, conditioner, body wash.

Catholic Charities, 3301 Candelaria NE, Suite B, Albuquerque 87107, 724-4670, ccasfnm.org. Services: Mission is to create hope for those in need by promoting self-sufficiency, strengthening families, fighting poverty and building community. Services include housing, adult education, early childhood education, child care, senior transportation, immigrant services and refugee resettlement to individuals regardless of race, religion, country of origin, disabilities, age or gender. Needs: Financial contributions and volunteers.

Christina Kent Early Childhood Center, 423 Third SW, Albuquerque 87102, 242-0557. Services: Operates year round to provide early education, child care and two meals a day to 65 children of economically diverse working families. Needs: Hand puppets, toy train, Duplos and Legos, dress-up clothes, two twin inflatable mattresses for toddler room, riding toys for toddler outdoor play, baskets, quality art materials, commercial stroller for three or more children, overhead projector, locking two-drawer file cabinet, stereo cassette/radio player, electric skillet.

El Ranchito de los Niños, 2 Puesta del Sol, Los Lunas 87031, 565-4470, elranchitonm.org. Contact Mary Spring. Services: Provides a safe home for children from infancy to age 18, with an emphasis on keeping brothers and sisters together. Needs: Financial donations–please call, send a check or visit the website. Basic items for children, such as toiletries, clothing, educational materials, food. Please call for a list. Volunteers for mentoring, cooking, tutoring, events and committees.

Family Promise of Albuquerque, 2801 Lomas NE, B-4, Albuquerque 87106, 268-0331, familypromiseabq.org. Services: Shelter for families experiencing homelessness; provides 24-hour support and shelter through the work of three paid staff members and over 1,000 volunteers. Families may stay in the program for up to 90 days. While in the program, parents must be employed or actively looking for work. Tutors are provided to help parents improve literacy, math and computer skills, and volunteers help with resumes and online applications. The organization has about a 70 percent success rate of families graduating from the program with employment and into stable housing. Needs: Volunteers to commit to a two-hour weekday morning shift per week to help with tutoring or job searches. Certified literacy tutor training is provided. Volunteers to “adopt” a family for Christmas. Monetary donations to help replace beds.

Feeding Pets of the Homeless, New Mexico Project of the First Unitarian Church of Albuquerque Animal Advocates. Services: Delivers donations to homeless shelters for distribution. Needs: Donations of dog and cat food, leashes, and collars for both cats and dogs. For information, email feedingpetsnewmexico@gmail.com.

Good Shepherd Center, 218 Iron SW, Albuquerque 87102, 243-2527. Services: Provides overnight accommodation and clothing for homeless men, a community meal for men, women and children daily, mail service for men and women, and an alcohol and drug addiction recovery program for men. Needs: Canned fruit, vegetables and soup, sleeping bags, blankets, winter coats, hats, gloves, men’s underwear, socks, travel-size soap, shampoo, deodorant and toothpaste.

Joy Junction, 4500 Second SW, Albuquerque 87105, 877-6967, 800-924-0569, information@joyjunction.org, joyjunction.org. Services: Shelter for women and families; meals, transportation, counseling, life-skills program, thrift store and spiritual aid. Needs: Financial contributions, food, beverages, toiletries and hygiene items, clothing, diapers, baby products and blankets.

NAMI-ABQ (National Alliance on Mental Illness Albuquerque), 2501 San Pedro NE, Suite 212, Albuquerque 87110, 256-0288, nami.org/sites/albuquerque. Services: Advocates for services, treatment, support and research to benefit people affected by mental illness. Needs: Financial contributions and corporate sponsors. Volunteers specializing in nonprofit taxes and grant writing. Also needed are volunteers to maintain website, provide administrative assistance, facilitate support groups, act as family-to-family teachers, raise funds, and provide community outreach.

New Mexico Asian Family Center, 128 Quincy NE, Albuquerque 87108, 717-2877, info@nmafc.org, nmafc.org. Services: Culturally sensitive case management, counseling, legal consultation (family law), children and family programs, and resource and referrals to Asians and their families in need. Needs: Financial contributions.

Noon Day Ministries, 101 Broadway NE, Albuquerque 87102, 246-8001, noondayministries.org, Services: Provides meals and essential services to the homeless and near homeless of Albuquerque, such as rental and utility assistance, transportation assistance, school supplies for the many children Noon Day serves; also, Christian legal aid, clothing, toiletries, showers, grocery provisions, and even bicycle repair and haircuts. While meeting the basic human needs of Albuquerque’s homeless community, Noon Day provides assistance and support to encourage movement toward self-sufficiency. Needs: Monetary support, baby diapers (all sizes), baby wipes, winter coats and clothing, men’s pants sizes 32, 34 and 36, men’s and women’s white socks (all sizes), men’s and women’s underwear (all sizes), tennis shoes in all sizes for men and women, combs, sample-size bottles of shampoo, conditioner and hand lotion, feminine hygiene items, razors.

PBJ Family Services, 1101 Lopez SW, Albuquerque 87105, 877-7060; 209 San Pablo SE, Albuquerque 87108; and 255A Camino del Pueblo, Bernalillo 87004, 867-2356; pbjfamilyservices.org. Services: Parenting education and support in the homes and at its therapeutic preschool for children (birth through 3) to attend with their parents; services for parents impacted by incarceration. Needs: Volunteers to adopt families for Christmas; donations all year to assist with utility bills and emergency needs, and volunteers.

Project PeacePal, 2340 Alamo SE, Suite 110, Albuquerque 87106, 255-2042, peacepal.org, info@peacepal.org. Services: PeacePal is a peace through education nonprofit organization with the mission of inspiring youth to become peace building leaders. Over the course of a school year, it connects middle and high school age youth in the U.S. with pen pals across the globe, providing them with essential life skills such as intercultural understanding and communication, enhanced literacy, critical thinking, confidence, and conflict management. These skills prepare youth to have a better understanding of our common humanity and become more effective and peaceful leaders. Needs: Financial contributions and volunteers.

Reading Works, 6101 Anderson SE, Albuquerque, 87108, 321-9620, reading-works.org. Services: Adult literacy program providing free one-on-one tutoring to adult residents of Bernalillo County who want to improve their reading skills, speak English as a Second Language, or prepare to take the GED exam. Needs: Gift cards from gasoline, grocery and retail stores for its clients, 90 percent of whom live below the poverty line.

Roadrunner Food Bank, 5840 Office NE, Albuquerque 87109, 247-2052, rrfb.org. Services: Distributes 90,000 pounds of food a day to hunger relief agencies and via direct service programs. Needs: Financial contributions; protein foods such as peanut butter and canned meats and other non-perishable foods, fresh produce and meats; and volunteers. Volunteers can register online at rrfb.org/volunteer.

S.A.F.E. House, P.O. Box 25363 Albuquerque, NM 87125, 247-4219, safehousenm.org. Shelter location is confidential. Services: Emergency shelter for adult survivors of domestic violence and their children provides a range of services to help survivors choose and live violence-free lives and to set up new, violence-free homes. Needs: Monetary donations. Gift cards in any amount to help provide personalized Christmas gifts and clothing for adults and children in shelter. Twin and double bed sheets, pillows, blankets towels and bath mats, high efficiency laundry soap and fabric softener, new bras and panties (any size), new children’s underwear (any size), shampoo, hair conditioner, diapers (size 4 and 5), diaper bags, umbrella strollers. Please mail monetary donations and gift cards to S.A.F.E. House. Collection of donations is being coordinated by Women Entrepreneurs. Please call Elizabeth Lucero at 342-0246 to arrange a drop off. Donations of clothing, household items and clothing may be taken to the thrift store, 1301 San Mateo NE, 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Monday through Friday year round. Volunteers are welcomed at the thrift store and shelter to help with periodic maintenance and landscaping tasks.

St. Felix Pantry, 4020 Barbara Loop SE, Rio Rancho 87124, 891-8075. Services: Provides food and clothing for families in need. Needs: Financial contributions. Tamale ingredients, turkeys, hams, instant mashed potatoes, gravy, fresh fruits and vegetables, nonperishable food; Christmas gift bags, wrapping paper and tags; new or gently used toys, all ages; clothing; small appliances. Volunteers needed 6-9 a.m. or 9 a.m.-noon Tuesdays through Saturdays. To volunteer, call for appointment to fill out application and meet with the director of operations. A background check and sexual harassment training are required for each volunteer.

St. Martin’s Hospitality Center, 1201 Third NW, Albuquerque 87102, 242-4399, ext. 238 or 254, smhc-nm.org. Services: Day shelter for men, women and children offers meals, showers, clothing, mail and telephone services, and transportation assistance. Core service agency providing comprehensive behavioral health care and housing programs. Needs: Financial donations, nonperishable food, toiletries, hygiene items, diapers, baby formula, blankets, winter jackets, hats, and gloves. Volunteers needed to work in shelter 8-11 a.m. weekdays. Computer skills preferred.

The Storehouse, 106 Broadway SE, Albuquerque 87102, 842-6491. Services: Provides food and clothing to families in need. Needs: Financial contributions, nonperishable food, gently used clothing and coats, small household items and volunteers.

Storehouse West, 1030-F Veranda Drive SE, Rio Rancho 87124, 892-2077, storehousewest.org. Hours: 9 a.m.-noon and 12:30-1:30 p.m. Mondays and Fridays; noon-4:30 p.m. Wednesdays. Services: Provides food boxes, children’s clothing, and help with utility bills for Sandoval County residents when funds are available. Needs: Financial contributions, nonperishable food items, children’s clothing, personal hygiene products and volunteers.

WIN Ministries Inc. (Women in Need), 8401 Pan American Freeway NE, Unit 69, Albuquerque 87113, 823-9887, 715-0829, pamela_jantzen@yahoo.com. Services: Helps single mothers and their children by providing furniture, household items and clothing. Also acts as a referral service. Needs: Financial contributions, grocery store gift cards, furniture, household items, clothing for women and children, and unwrapped Christmas gifts for women and children.

Watermelon Mountain Ranch, 1512 Deborah SE, No 203, Rio Rancho 87124, 771-0140, wmranch.org. Services: New Mexico’s largest no-kill animal shelter, which has rescued and found homes for thousands of animals. Needs: Dog food, cat food, cat litter, blankets (please no feather or fiber filled), and cleaning supplies, particularly bleach. Volunteers needed at the resale store, the Ranch, and for the December Adoptathon. Dates and detail are available on the website.

New beetle threatens arbors, orchards – U

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The century-old sycamore on David Fleming’s El Cajon property was the focal point of his hacienda style home, with five trunks and a lush canopy of golden leaves.

It’s now ground zero of a San Diego infestation by the polyphagous shot-hole borer beetle, a pernicious pest that has ravaged backyards, street trees and arbors in Los Angeles and Orange Counties. So far, there’s no solution.

Unlike other insects that target just a few species, the shot-hole borer beetle is an equal opportunity pest, infesting at least 286 tree species and posing the potential for widespread destruction.

Its hosts include California natives such as coast live oaks and sycamores, and key agricultural crops, including avocado.

“It’s extreme,” said Tom Launder, an Oceanside arborist who flagged the infestation at Fleming’s home. “It has the potential to be one of the worst (pests) that we’ve seen in decades.”

The shot-hole borer beetle injects trees with a fungus, which it them “farms” for food. It has successfully colonized 117 of its hosts with the fungus, said Akif Eskalen, a plant pathology researcher at UC Riverside, who has tracked the beetle and confirmed the infestation of Fleming’s tree

While most pests target distressed or dying trees, this one prefers healthy, vigorous hosts, and has spread swiftly through Southern California.

“That just shows how dangerous it is,” Eskalen said. “This beetle can show up any time, anywhere.”

Although there’s no dollar figure for its damage, hundreds of affected street trees in Los Angeles have been removed at a cost of at least $1,000 each, Eskalen said. And that figure is likely to rise, especially if it strikes orchards. In Israel, which has battled the pest since 2009, 40 percent of avocado groves are infested, he said.

Just after digging it of his sycamore tree, David Fleming holds a polyphagous shot-hole borer beetle in his palm at his Dehesa Valley home , east of El Cajon, on Saturday.

*Hayne Palmour IV*

The beetle originated in South East Asia and appeared in Los Angeles in 2011. It destroyed hundreds of trees at the Los Angeles County Arboretum and Botanic Garden Huntington Botanical Gardens, according to an alert by Los Angeles Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky, which described the new pest as “tinier than a sesame seed but devastating as poison.”

By 2013, it had spread to Orange County, and in fall, turned up in Fleming’s yard in El Cajon.

Fleming, a golf course architect and superintendent, has spent 40 years designing landscaping for beauty and resilience, selecting a diverse plant palette to hedge his bets against pests.

He planned his own home to showcase the towering, five-trunked sycamore, and carefully nurtured the 100-year-old tree.

In the spring, he added a new fertilizer to encourage its growth and to prevent a common fungus that causes sycamores to shed their leaves. The tree flourished after the treatment, sprouting dense foliage from May through July.

By September, however, it was failing.

“The main trunk of the tree, it just collapsed,” Fleming said.

Fleming contacted Oceanside arborist Tom Launder, who had recently given a presentation to golf course superintendents warning them about the new pest.

“From the photos alone, I saw the staining on the trunk and the dieback symptoms on the leaves didn’t look like anything we see from other pests,” Launder said.

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Garden Cameos: Winter is a good time to get a gardening education

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Part of that thought process is education. You can never know it all. I have been gardening for 40 years, and I still make plans to educate myself. Reading books during the cold restful winter is one way to accomplish this. Catch up on all the reading you have meant to do, and get some new ideas from other gardens you may read about.

Spartanburg Men’s Garden Club will hold its annual 13-week Community Gardener 101 course beginning Jan. 21. Classes are held every Tuesday from 6 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. and will be located at the new SCC Evans building located in downtown Spartanburg. Gardener Joe Maple says, “We are thrilled to be invited to teach our class from this new facility. It is spectacular, and we are looking forward to a filled-up class.”

Subjects that will be taught in this course are annuals and perennials, container gardening, irrigation, basic seed starting, vegetable gardening, ornamental plants, native plants, and culture of trees. Linda McHam will teach the Art of Landscaping, and Tim Hemphill will teach 3D Landscaping. There are two new teachers this year. Robert Powell, better known as “Botany Bob,” who recently retired from teaching at Converse College, will teach basic botany. In addition, plant guru and local veterinarian Ed Davidson will teach indoor plants and herbs.

Plant propagation also will be taught on the main campus of SCC in the greenhouses by SCC instructor, Kevin Parris. Ted Petoskey from Sod Fathers will teach all there is to know about soils.

“The area in which we live is very challenging weather wise,” Maple said. “Taking this course helps you brush up on your skills to keep your plants healthy and pest free.”

The cost of this course is $175, and includes the textbook and a one-year’s membership in the Spartanburg Men’s Garden Club, which is a community garden club and meets once a month at the SCC main campus. Availability is limited and are urged to sign up as soon as possible by calling 592-4900 or toll free at 877-592-4406. You can register online at www.GoneToClass.com

Figuring out whether or not you have the time to take this class is a personal decision, but rest assured, it will be the greatest use of your time to improve yourself. After all, isn’t that what January is for? The benefit of learning the information is one thing, but hanging out with other gardeners and learning great things is the real gift. This makes a great Christmas present for someone.

While you are settling in for the cold weather, I will assume that you have forced some amaryllis bulbs and some narcissus to help get you through the winter months. This is always the perfect time to pick up some of the latest gardening books and read up. In addition, the techno savvy gardener can load up some of the Apps available at the App store like Dirr’s Trees and shrub App and also Armitage’s Greatest Perennials and Annuals. Both are available for a fair priced and they are invaluable.

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Yakima’s Garden Girl shares tips to make your holiday table beautiful – Yakima Herald

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Phone: 509-577-7752

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YAKIMA, Wash. — Lenette Roehl’s shop on North Front Street is an elegant Christmas dream: The French-themed Garden Girl is full of textures, scents, white-on-white twists on classic Christmas style, and bold, colorful and myriad objects repurposed to make beautiful displays, found-object style.

Click to Watch Attached Video →

Roehl has owned the home-decor store for almost seven years, and it overflows with style.

When it comes to decorating the table for that special Christmas meal, Roehl tells people to start with what they love.

“I love glassware,” she says. “Anything you can do with glassware and crystals is elegant.”

Think a hurricane glass filled with sparkly Christmas balls. Or crystals hanging from centerpieces and candlesticks, throwing light around the holiday table.

Roehl encourages people to use height to add drama to your table setting, and keep the line-of-sight in mind.

“You want to be able to see the person across the table from you,” she says. Tall tapers and candlesticks, such as the palm wax ones she sells at Garden Girl (which don’t drip or smoke) allows guests to avoid burning themselves as they reach for a plate, but still offer the ambiance of candlelight. She also likes to use cake plates to build height around the table (which can also leave more room for dishes).

A truly elegant feel is found in the details, Roehl says: “Real cloth napkins are a must.”

She also encourages people to use what they have in their house, particularly if they really love a dish or it has special meaning for them, even if it doesn’t feel “Christmasy.”

“My plates are pink and yellow,” she says, but she uses them anyway, because they were her grandmother’s and she enjoys the memory. They also don’t all match, and that’s OK.

A touch of noble fir in a centerpiece highlights the greenery on the plates, and gold ornamental candy canes add the holiday touch.

“Bring in those traditions,” she says. “And keep it simple.”

Instead of the chaos of a lot of colors, Roehl likes to keep things monochromatic. But an unexpected pop of color or the use of nontraditional textures — like burlap — can make an otherwise simple table setting memorable.

Favors and namecards are also a place to have some fun, Roehl says. This year she was inspired by a lemon tree she has blooming in her apartment, and so she created favors by slicing the ends of a lemon, poking a white rose blossom into it and placing it in a crystal glass. The favor is fragrant and beautiful. You could also write each person’s name on a citrus or magnolia leaf and add it to the glass, or tuck in a handful of evergreen for a more holiday touch.

While the holidays are always busy at Garden Girl, Roehl says this year has been particularly hectic, but she has also seen a return of excitement about Christmas in her customers after several years of recession-driven blues.

“This year, people are really jubilant,” Roehl says. “It’s been really joyous.”

In addition to holiday decor, Garden Girl also sells plants and greenery, including nobel pine, boxwood, magnolia, and pepperberries. Roehl is also selling Christmas trees by order and decorates pots for Christmas, as well as offering design consultation.

For more information, visit Garden Girl at 25 N. Front St. in Yakima, call 509-452-2612 or email gardengirlofyakima@gmail.com.

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Marin Civic Center traffic safety studied amid pedestrian death

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County leaders are set to consider a sweeping plan for safety, pedestrian and other improvements at the northern entrance to the Civic Center campus that could help prevent collisions such as the one this week that killed a 79-year-old man crossing the street near the farmers market.

The improvement program, coincidentally up for review by the Board of Supervisors Tuesday morning, includes plans for a “roundabout” traffic circle near Civic Center, Memorial and Peter Behr drives, near the spot Jurgen Traub was killed at 10 a.m. Thursday when he was hit by a plumbing van.

“It’s unfortunate these changes were not in place before the tragedy,” Supervisor Susan Adams said. “A roundabout calms traffic and allows access for pedestrians,” she noted. “It will improve safety.”

San Rafael police spokeswoman Margo Rohrbacher said Friday there was no new information to report on Traub’s death. She said the name of the driver, a 38-year-old Napa resident, is being withheld until the investigation is complete and police determine whether the driver was at fault.

“All the analysis and measurements and all the things that go into a major accident investigation are still going on,” Rohrbacher said. “These cases are much more involved and detailed.”

Because a detailed investigation of how the accident occurred has not been completed, it would be speculative to say what would have happened if a traffic roundabout was in place in the area, said Pat Echols, county principal civil engineer. But in any case, a roundabout would be a “significant safety improvement” since the configuration by its nature requires vehicles to slow down, he added.

Ideas developed by consultants, then revised after a series of reviews by a variety of agencies, committees and commissions, call for design improvements along north Civic Center Drive near the Marin Veterans Memorial Building. The plan includes pedestrian and bicycle facilities that link a new SMART train station to a paved farmers market site on the “Christmas tree” parking lot, along with landscaping, signs and lighting.

A roundabout configuration would ease traffic flow near the entry to the county auditorium parking lot, where Civic Center, Memorial and Peter Behr drives intersect.

At Tuesday’s session, scheduled months ago by the county, officials will review the latest version of the plan following reviews by the San Rafael City Council, city Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee, Frank Lloyd Wright Civic Center Conservancy, county Cultural Services Commission, the Agricultural Institute of Marin, train and county transit districts as well as local residents.

Echols said primary goals of the program “are to integrate bicycle and pedestrian connections, improve Civic Center Drive circulation and traffic safety and create a sense of scale and welcoming to the Civic Center campus.”

The project now includes separate bicycle and pedestrian paths along the west side of Civic Center Drive. “The preferred concept plan includes provisions for new sidewalks, class 2 bike lanes, a two-way bicycle path, landscaping, a roundabout at Peter Behr Drive, enhanced pedestrian safety improvements and improved bus transit stops,” Echols said in a report to the county board.

“County and city staff have concluded that a roundabout is the preferred intersection improvement,” Echols said. “Bike lanes are also proposed in both directions along Civic Center Drive,” he added. “A new two-way bicycle path is proposed … along the west side of Civic Center Drive. Landscaping buffers will be provided.”

The county has a deal with the Agricultural Institute of Marin, operator of the Sunday and Thursday farmers markets, in which the institute pledges up to $1 million to move to the Christmas tree lot after paving it and constructing bathrooms. The county would provide $1 million as well.

All that is needed now, Echols said, is board approval of the concept so that environmental analysis can proceed along with design refinements.

The preliminary design of the ambitious makeover was developed by Harris and Associates of Concord for $451,000. Final design work, related studies and construction costs are expected to bring the total tab to roughly $2.8 million. The county board has allocated $2 million for the project and has received a $650,000 federal grant as well.

Contact Nels Johnson via email at njohnson@marinij.com. Follow him at twitter.com/nelsjohnsonnews. Staff writer Megan Hansen contributed to this report.

if you go

The Marin County Board of Supervisors will meet at 9 a.m. Tuesday to discuss traffic improvements along Civic Center Drive. The meeting is in the supervisors’ chambers at the Civic Center, 3501 Civic Center Drive in San Rafael.

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Latest Vague Plans for Kelo Ruling Area Now Barren for 8-1/2 Years: A ‘Green …

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The nation’s press has long since stopped paying any attention to what has actually happened in the wake of the outrageous Kelo vs. New London Supreme Court ruling in June 2005.

The court’s majority wrote that “The city has carefully formulated a development plan that it believes will provide appreciable benefits to the community, including, but not limited to, new jobs and increased tax revenue.” The quite newsworthy but virtually ignored fact flying in the face of the Supremes’ certitude is that nothing has happened in the affected area for 8-1/2 years. The latest idea for removing the “stain” of Kelo proposed by New London, Connecticut Mayor Daryl Justin Finizio is to place a “green” parking garage and “micro lots” (with micro homes) in the affected Fort Trumbull neighborhood where perfectly acceptable century-old housing used to stand. Excerpts from a New London Day editorial reporting on that paper’s meeting with the mayor follow the jump.

Finizio, a Democrat, while saying some of the right things about the ruling, appears to be using the opportunity to demonstrate that he’s on board with the far-left enviro wing of his party (HT Bob Unruh at WND; bolds are mine):

Take the steps to pursue Fort Trumbull dreams

A “tiny house neighborhood” and a symbolic cleansing of the Kelo ruling “stain” are among the development options discussed for Fort Trumbull by New London Mayor Daryl Justin Finizio in his recent meeting with The Day editorial board. What remains murky is the mayor’s vision for how any development takes place on the long barren peninsula and who will be in charge of guiding and promoting it.

The 2005 Supreme Court decision in New London v. Kelo, in which the court by a 5-4 majority constitutionally validated the New London Development Corp.’s use of eminent domain to purchase and raze the homes of Fort Trumbull residents who refused to sell, remains a “black stain” on the city, said its mayor.

NLDC wanted to clear the site to attract large corporate development and expand the city’s tax base. Its judicial triumpth proved a pyrrhic victory, the decision widely despised for interpreting “public use” to include the government taking the property of citizens to turn over to private developers. Count the New London mayor among the despisers. He characterized the Kelo decision as a “corruption of the constitutional interpretation of public use.”

… Mayor Finizio said he would like New London to symbolically overturn Kelo by undertaking a true “public use” of the seized private properties. He offered as an example a parking garage, under discussion recently as a means of meeting the parking demands generated by Electric Boat’s offices in the former Pfizer buildings, the one major project resulting from NLDC’s corporate development vision.

This would not be any municipal parking garage, but one with solar panels to power it, landscaping and design to fit it into the setting, and first-floor shops to generate revenues.

“What really gets us beyond the eminent domain debacle may be effectively overturning the Kelo opinion if not de jure before the Supreme Court, then de facto in the city of New London,” said Finizio. “What (New London) justified this (eminent domain seizure) on was generating private development for economic development purposes, but what we are actually going to do is create public development for economic development purposes.”

As for other parcels in Fort Trumbull, those not obtained through eminent domain, Finizio threw out an idea that he said is in keeping with his campaign vision to seek “green, integrated, mixed use” development.

“Tiny house neighborhoods,” Finizio told the editorial board.

… “Small, environmentally self-sustaining homes that are low up-keep, energy self-sufficient, etc. And a lot of cities that are trying to green themselves have looked at this kind of development,” he elaborated.

Tiny houses, you say? Sort of like, I don’t know, the little pink house Susette Kelo used to own before New London, with the Supreme Court’s blessing, took her property away?

These ideas sort of sound nice on one level (but obviously outrageous on another, given that a perfectly good neighborhood was razed for no defensible reason by a government which, despite the court’s ruling, objectively had no consitution right to do what it did). But the editorial goes on to note that “Lacking from the mayor’s vision for Fort Trumbull is any clear path to achieve it,” and that instead of dissolving the New London Development Corporation which accomplished nothing for so many years, Finizio has only renamed it.

The odds appear strong that there will be a 10-year anniversary of no concrete action in Fort Trumbull, showing that there’s a practical as well as a constitutional argument against what the Supreme Court did — namely that governments rarely know what they’re doing when they undertake what they like to call “redevelopment.”

If things drag on that long, it will be interesting to see if the nation’s establishment press bothers to note it.

Cross-posted at BizzyBlog.com.

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CHRISTMAS ON THE WAY: Need Ideas For Stocking Stuffers? Check Th …

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Mobile users can view the slideshow here: http://tinyurl.com/lavlcxl

KHQ.COM – We know that stuffing stockings for the holidays can be a challenge sometimes so we put together a slideshow to give you ideas! Are we missing something? Comment below and give us some more ideas! Happy Holidays to you from the entire KHQ family!

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Gardening everywhere is a personal pursuit but away from the city only more so. In the country garden everything is writ large: the scale, the views, even the weather. It can make for all manner of choices and for manifestly idiosyncratic spaces.

Victoria’s Western District is no exception. A recent visit to its southern parts uncovered four diverse gardens, each reflecting a very different approach. Gaye and Robert Wuchatsch have taken a historical perspective. Eight years ago they bought an 1863 bluestone farmhouse in the Stony Rises, between Colac and Camperdown. On volcanic plains strewn with basalt rocks, Robert says the garden has ”soil like chocolate”.

It also has one of the oldest walnut trees in Victoria (planted in the 1850s), a pear tree dating from the same time and dry stone walls from the 1880s. The property, known to locals as ”the rabbit factory” thanks to a rabbit-canning plant established in its woolshed in 1885, is on the Princes Highway. But a lengthy wall and a 128-year-old hawthorn hedge mean the garden is hidden from the street. Both Gaye and Robert are working to preserve the original trees and dry stone walls as well as some of the layers added since.

Gnarly: Robert and Gaye Wuchatsch beside their historic walnut tree, one of the oldest in the state.

They have planted an extensive orchard beside the walnut tree and established a vegetable garden beside the pear.

Around the house they have retained the cottage-style garden established by previous owners and – both having a German background – have added plants used by early German settlers in Victoria, including an assortment of roses.

But despite their attention to detail they have found that not everything is in their hands. When they arrived home from shopping in Colac one day a year ago their hawthorn hedge was in the process of being cut level with the dry stone wall. The local power provider deemed the trees a fire risk because of the overhead powerlines. The Wuchatsches, who insist the hedge would never reach the height of the lines, are now awaiting a heritage overlay to prevent any more such radical pruning.

Express yourself: Eunice Maskell, with one of her husband’s saucepan and frying pan sculptures.

Meanwhile, the oldest exotic in Bob and Eunice Maskell’s garden in Cobrico – a town between Cobden and Terang – is an oak tree, the seed of which they collected on their honeymoon in Daylesford in 1969. The pair say they ”couldn’t live without trees” and over the past 44 years have planted in their heavy clay soil whatever specimens catch their eye: a red maple, a golden ash, a gleditsia, two robinias, a ginkgo, an assortment of callistemons, a firewheel tree (Stenocarpus sinuatus), acacias, melaleucas, an array of fruit trees and much else besides.

Because Eunice is fond of flowers she has planted beds full of bulbs and perennials. Bob, meanwhile, has assumed responsibility for the garden’s sculptures – striking and sometimes brilliantly coloured pieces that he designs to suit the surrounding plants. He uses whatever is to hand – pieces of farm machinery, saucepans, reflector lights, polished rocks.

He grew up in another house on the property (which has been in the family for more than 140 years) and knows the landscape intimately. Eunice says it takes a long time for a garden to express its owners in this way.

Barbara Cowley’s nearby garden still expresses something of her late husband, Murray. He died 18 years ago but it was he who, in 1986, ensured their then new house was built well away from the street, that it overlooked Lake Cobrico and had a sizeable garden. He used to dig up peat from around the lake to feed the loam soil.

”This land was in his blood; he loved it out here,” Barbara says. ”He did all the hard landscaping and set the garden up for me.”

He also did a lot of the original planting but Barbara has since added several new areas including a native one with a mature Eucalyptus pulverulenta at its centre. Australian plants are also scattered throughout the rest of the garden, which has been laid out to direct views to the lake and to make the area around the house feel part of the wider landscape.

Barbara, who incorporates old farm tools and weathered timbers into her landscape and only waters when the plants are first establishing, says the garden is a ”wonderful occupation”.

”When I started it was a complete hotchpotch. But now I think about what I plant next to what, the different heights and textures.”

And finally there is Sue Pyke, who is not inclined to call her re-vegetation project in the Stony Rises a garden. But a cultivated landscape it most definitely is. About 15 years ago she set about planting indigenous manna gums along a stretch of land, bound on one side by road and on the other by open paddock. They have now formed a corridor through which Pyke strolls as if it were remnant bush.

Further along from the Pyke property are more expansive areas of indigenous trees – blackwoods and manna gums growing out of rock-scattered land that has never been flattened for farming. People have started building stone houses in clearings in the woodland.

Here you glimpse something of what Eugene Von Guerard painted in the warm glow of sunset in 1857. But now his Stony Rises, Lake Corangamite, owned by the Art Gallery of South Australia, tells only part of the story.

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WATER WISE – U

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Lillian Cox

Special to the U-T

John and Cathy love to travel to the Caribbean, so much so that they make of point of visiting every two years. In January, they set out for Belize where John found himself snapping photos of palm trees and plants, big and small, that they would use in planning their own tropical paradise when they returned home to Encinitas.

Late last year, they terminated a relationship with a landscape designer, who they thought was too expensive. Then John learned about Eric Breceda and his wife and business partner, Teran.

“There were a lot of big plants and trees in the first plan, but we couldn’t afford it,” John recalled. “But the Brecedas took a different approach that was more personal. Instead of a general plan, Teran developed a detailed cost estimate where we could go line-by-line and pick and choose.”

Eric has been in business for 30 years, the last several of which he has spent incorporating irrigation science and environmental science to create drought-tolerant environments. Teran is also president of the National Association of Women in Construction.

“The majority of the original landscaping in their yard was turf,” Eric said. “We reduced water consumption by 30 percent, and eventually it will be 40 percent. My projection is that it will be reduced to $100 to $200 a year in about three or four years when the canopy is filled in.”

Eric created a canopy in the front courtyard by capitalizing on an existing giant Japanese timber bamboo (Phyllostachys bambusoides) and rectilana palm (Phoenix reclinata) with multiple trunks that will shade kentia (Howea forsteriana) and other palms and tropical plants.

“It will expand and produce shade throughout the courtyard and grow 50 percent over the next few years which, in turn, will create a canopy for the rest of the plant materials,” he said. “Currently, all the plants are getting more sun then they should. We are creating optimum conditions with perfect soil that will evolve into a drought-tolerant environment.”

Eric’s approach also included creating infrastructure centered on a hardscape.

“I had boulders before and didn’t care for them, but Eric said, ‘Let’s keep an open mind,’ ” John explained. “He took us to KRC Rock where I saw this boulder that looked like a painting with colors that were spectacular!”

That boulder became the focal point in the front courtyard.

“On Valentine’s Day, Cathy and I gave a boulder to each other,” he said.

“Eric introduced me to places I didn’t know existed, such as Rancho Soledad Nursery in Rancho Santa Fe. He would offer us cost-saving alternatives such as buying a smaller tree. In addition to being less expensive, it’s actually healthier for a tree to grow in its place.”

John and Cathy’s 7,000-square-foot landscaping area has 10 self-contained micro zones that are for: giant Japanese timber bamboo; citrus and edible gardens; black bamboo and a koi pond in the backyard; turf; a courtyard; a side yard with a dog run; flower gardens; a front embankment; a side yard with recycled existing plants and maximum screening plants; and a total shade area next to the fountain mounted on the wall by the front door.

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