The San Francisco Citizen

Only in Marin! That’s right, Marin County, the birthplace of mountain biking, and home to nuclear-tipped missiles, endangered deer, and marauding mountain lions (nee cougars), can’t abide you people building your own single-track MTB trails.

Michael Philip More is getting a ten-day jail sentence for illegally building a quarter-mile trail at the end of Robinhood Drive in San Rafael.    

Click to expand:

Possible path of the trail, the white line is a quarter-mile long

Does Michael More wish there were more singletrack MTB trails in Marin? Given that MTBers are mostly confined to fire roads in Marin County, signs point to yes.

Here’s the deal, all those same sex marriages at San Francisco’s City Hall are scheduled to get started on a Monday evening ten days from now - June 16th. Normally, the largest old-school dome in the Western Hemisphere wouldn’t be open that late, but these are extraordinary times.

So, opposite sex couples have only a limited window of opportunity to get a license and get married at City Hall before June 16. Before, couples were avoiding ceremonies on June 13th (as it’s on a Friday), but no longer. Everybody will be accomodated eventually, of course, but you need to plan ahead for best results. Things will get a little hectic starting June 16, 2008.

First, go here to get a reservation to get a wedding license. Then go here to check out what times for ceremonies they have for you. Keep checking as cancellations come up. Things are in flux, so stay informed.

When things get back to normal after the big summer rush, you’ll be offered a space for your ceremony in the small chapel downstairs or up here, at the top of the steps under the rotunda. But expect to see ceremonies all over the building very soon.

Congratulations! 

 Here’s how it went today for voters opting for the touch screen system. Bright, easy-to-read graphics on your screen - what could be nicer?

Here’s what you’re thinking - what about the paper trail, dude? Well, San Francisco’s got you covered as they print it all out - you can check for yourself. No hanging chads and no butterfly ballots in the 415 this year. Is City Attorney Dennis Herrera still working on this issue? Think so.

Welcome to the future!

Here’s the latest from the exotic deer wars up in the Pt. Reyes area of Marin County.

A little background about the “hired killers” is here. Of course, California State Senator Carole Migden has been on this issue for a while now. But the Feds have a different point of view about “exotic ungulates”.

The plan is to have all these deer gone withing a decade or two. And that rubs some people the wrong way.

Please don’t shoot me just because I don’t come from here! Some exotic deer inside of the Point Reyes National Seashore:

It seems the way the Federales have handled the culling will give animal lovers lots to argue about over the coming years and decades.

Let’s hope we can get to some kind of solution soon.