Category Archives: Martinez

Look up to the skies! Tonight, Tuesday is a chance to see the Super Rare Blue Moon – it’s also the Full Sturgeon Moon, the Full Red Moon, the Green Corn Moon and the Grain Moon. Tonight’s full moon qualifies as a Blue Moon because it’s the third full moon in a season with four (most seasons have only three).

The annual August full moon has come to be known as the Full Sturgeon Moon, because the large fish called sturgeon can most easily be caught at this time of year. Another name for this month’s full moon is the Full Red Moon, because the weather and atmospheric conditions during this season can often make the moon look reddish when it rises through a haze. The third name, the Green Corn or Grain Moon is because of the harvest that happens around this time of year.

Accord to Wikipedia, “Full moons occur every 29.5 days on average, when the moon is directly opposite the sun from the perspective of Earth. This causes its whole disk to be fully illuminated as a large, bright circle. Usually, when the moon is full, it passes either above or below Earth’s shadow, but sometimes, when it is perfectly aligned, it travels right through the shadow, causing a lunar eclipse, when its disk is dark.”

Blue Moons don’t happen too often, which is why the phrase “once in a Blue Moon,” has sprung up to mean only very rarely. After Tuesday’s event, the next Blue Moon isn’t set to occur until 2015.

For the best viewing reach higher elevation or avoid city lights and clouds. Check out the great song inspired by the incredible blue moon.

Everyone can enjoy Free Admission to National Parks in 2013. The official birthday for the National Park Service is coming up on August 25 and they are offering FREE admission to all National Parks! Check the list for other dates when admission to national parks is FREE for anyone.  If you’re active military or family, you can also get a FREE Annual Pass to the National Parks.

America’s Best Idea – the national parks – gets even better with several fee-free days at more than 100 national parks that usually charge entrance fees.*

Mark your calendar for these fee-free days in 2013: 

• August 25  (National Park Service Birthday)
• September 28  (National Public Lands Day)
• November 9-11  (Veterans Day weekend)

Making the fun even more affordable, many national park concessioners are joining the National Park Service in welcoming visitors with their own special offers.

Here’s a tip – many of your 401 national parks NEVER charge an entrance fee. So start planning your visit and share this with a friend!

*Fee waiver includes: entrance fees, commercial tour fees, and transportation entrance fees. Other fees such as reservation, camping, tours, concession and fees collected by third parties are not included unless stated otherwise.

The Pizza Planet Truck from Disney-Pixar’s Toy Story has arrived! Bring your child to Lowe’s this weekend to build the iconic truck from the Toy Story films. Lowe’s Build and Grow Clinic  is free but you do have to register. Workshop is Sunday, July 14, 2013 at 2:00pm.

Each participant also receives a free apron, goggles, a project themed patch, and a certification of merit upon completion of their project.

With the rising tuition costs, staggering decline in admissions leading to fewer graduates, millions of dollars in budget cutbacks, and teachers fighting for fair pay; our local community colleges are facing a new and even greater threat: Having their accreditation revoked.

This is precisely what happened to the City College of San Francisco.

The City College of San Francisco will have its accreditation terminated on July 31, 2014 for failing to correct a series of financial, management and governance problems. This action was taken by the Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges (ACCJC) on Wednesday July 3rd.

On July 9, 2012, long-time Diablo Valley College adjunct Mary Ann Irwin marched with students, faculty, and supporters to protest the recent decision by the ACCJC to revoke accreditation for City College of San Francisco for “mismanagement.” Irwin, who is also Vice President for California Community Colleges of the California Conference, American Association of University Professors, says “Make no mistake, todos somos CCSF.”

“Loss of accreditation is a death blow because unaccredited schools can’t get state funding, and students going to unaccredited schools can’t get student loans or transfer their units to other schools” says Irwin.

So what does this mean for Diablo Valley College? The same thing could happen to DVC, at any time. According to Irwin, “The ACCJC could decide tomorrow that DVC is being mismanaged because, for example, it wastes money on faculty benefits, or that it doesn’t have enough administrators, or that the faculty union is too powerful. If the ACCJC came after us tomorrow, we would be in the same fix as CCSF and its 85,000 students are in today.”

At the moment, ACCJC has placed about 25% of all California community colleges on some kind of sanction which is an incredible blow to an already strained educational system.

For more information or to get involved, please visit website of the American Association of University Professors. The AAUP is the most respected body of educators in the U.S. (possibly the world!). On July 8, 2013, the AAUP issued a statement in support of CCSF faculty, students, and staff. On July 9, 2013, the California Conference of the AAUP joined with other groups in calling for a federal investigation of the ACCJC.  For a very thorough explanation from Hank Reichman, the number 2 man at the AAUP, visit AcademeBlog.org.

Education is important to all of us! Let’s share this with everyone! Thank you for helping me get the word out!