Marin County is making some much-needed changes to its pesticide management policy. A local activist earlier this year obtained county records and blew the whistle. The county had been using several pesticides not on its approved list, and in amounts that exceeded what had been reported. There were nearly 270 instances in which county crews had used pesticides on the EPA’s list of potentially cancer-causing products. The management of the program has been moved from the agriculture commissioner’s office to the Parks and Open Space Department. The move should help restore public confidence and add much needed oversight to the program.

A new Masonic lodge was chartered Wednesday in an area of San Francisco that has been without a lodge for more than fifty years. The 26 charter members of the lodge will meet once a month at the University Club on Nob Hill across from the Fairmont Hotel. The lodge is the first in the downtown area since the late fifties. The only other lodges in the city are in the Mission and Outer Sunset areas. Fifty years ago, there were 45 Masonic lodges in San Francisco, today there are only eight.

The Mill Valley City Council is changing the management structure of the local police and fire departments. For the last twenty years, both departments have been overseen by a single public safety chief. Now each department will get its own chief. The position Public Safety Chief has always been held by the police chief. This presented morale problems for the fire department because, even though their battalion chiefs were in charge of daily operations, their career ladder lacked the final rung with the chief title. The recent retirement of public safety chief Bob Ritter has given the city council an opportunity to examine the change.

Birds rescued off of the coasts of Washington and Oregon were freed today in Marin County. Thousands of birds were not able to be rescued and eventually died, however, hundreds were successfully treated.

The birds were found enveloped in a mysterious faomy slime and many were subjected to extreme hypothermia. As of now, no one knows what or where the foam came from and it has disappeared as quickly as it appeared. A lab is still researching the cause of the foam.

Hi folks.  I just wanted to let everyone know that I posted my latest Marin real estate video update on my homepage of my website.  You can find it at this location.

"Project Restore", a habitat protection program, is sponsored by the Marin Municipal Water District. They will be hosting an event offering more info on "Project Restore" on September the ninth between six to nine in the evening. The location is at Sky Oaks watershed headquarters (49 Sky Oaks Road, Fairfax - Marin).

The will be discussing ways to prevent further erosion to the watershed, caused mostly by "unofficial trails", which are known to jeopardize habitat, increase weed growth, not to mention possible land hazards.

In order to secure your seats go to volunteerprogram@marinwater.org, before September third.

A man recently died of swine flu in Marin. He was over seveny years of age and was said to already have medical conditions that made him more susceptible to the virus.

In related news, a student at Windsor High School, located in Sonoma County, has caught swine flu and is currently out of school until he fully recovers. The kid began having symptoms late last week and missed school on Friday. Parents have been phoned or emailed alerting them to the potential risk, however, classes will resume as normal.

 Three nonprofit organizations teamed up this week to launch Marinhelpers.com. The website connects household employers and temporary workers in a database by phone and email. Workers register with the website and are entered in a database, which the project manager, and sole employee, uses to find suitable workers for homeowners who call in. The homeowner and workers negotiate payment. So far, about 100 workers have registered, including some without immigrant status documentation. Legal Aid of Marin spent months researching the legalities of the website’s policies. The project has been funded largely by the San Francisco Foundation, the Marin Community Foundation, and the Zellerbach Family Fund.

More Information - www.dsama.org

The downtown area of San Anselmo in Marin County, will be graced with the 4th annual "Hot August / Cool Cars" show this Sunday from eleven to five. The show has been put together by the Downtown San Anselmo Merchants Association and will feature some wonderful vintage cars and world-class hot rods.

The food will consist of regular refreshments and delicious barbeque, plus lots of music. Later in the evening, at eight o'clock, there will be a view of the film "Duel".

All proceeds go to benefit businesses in downtown.

Well, for some rather entertaining news.......police found two California parolees hiding in a Marin vineyard. The police had been in a high-speed chase of more than 100 mph that took place from San Rafael to Sonoma.

After the parolees ditched the car they apparently ran into the vineyard to hide, but were soon spotted by a police helicopter. They are now, once again, in jail in Marin County.