For those of you wondering what all the police activity on Sir Francis Drake just before Fairfax was this morning. "The Marin County Sheriff’s Office is investigating an apparent homicide on a hiking trail just outside Fairfax. A hiker found the gunshot victim was discovered at about 6 p.m. Monday, said sheriff’s Lt. Doug Pittman. The victim was on a trail called the Gunshot Fire Road, which is on the north side of Sir Francis Drake Boulevard in the area of the Loma Alta Preserve near Baywood Canyon Road."

http://www.marinij.com/general

A cool story about West Marin native and filmmaker, Jenn Nelson, who made a documentary about corporations owning the right to 'Happy Birthday', ended up fighting for the rights, and won.

"But as Nelson began researching her documentary on the song, she came across a research paper that claimed Warner Music, which had collected millions of dollars in fees over the years, may not have ever had the right to charge for it.

On Tuesday, a federal judge in Los Angeles agreed, handing a victory to Nelson and the assorted group of filmmakers and artists who had sued Warner, claiming the song belonged in the public domain."

LA Times story:
http://www.latimes.com/local/l

Seen originally in the Point Reyes Light:
http://www.ptreyeslight.com/ar

Has anyone else started having trouble with AM radio reception in West Marin? KNBR 680 is now almost un-listenable along Sir Francis Drake. A couple of other people have reported this. Richard Dillman is looking into it, he says there is a large cloud of 'electric crud' north of Point Reyes.

"The use of life jackets prevented potential tragedies Saturday when high winds on Tomales Bay prompted the Marin County Fire Department to conduct two water rescues.

Shortly after 2 p.m., the fire department was alerted to a 32-foot sailboat in distress near Ten Mile Beach off the Point Reyes National Seashore. A man and a woman had left Bodega Bay and were headed toward Berkeley when the winds caused the mast to break. The occupants boarded a dinghy, which quickly capsized.

At about the same time, a 14-foot Hobie Cat sailboat overturned on Tomales Bay about a mile south of Nicks Cove in Marshall. Two men, also wearing life jackets, were spotted by a U.S. Coast Guard helicopter and plucked from the water by MCFD personnel using rescue watercraft. Both men were evaluated by paramedics and did not require transportation to a hospital."

Thank you MCFD!

http://www.marincounty.org/mai

"Emergency vehicles are on scene at a vehicle crash on a curve at 12250 Point Reyes-Petaluma Road. Traffic control in effect."

https://twitter.com/KWMRinfo/s

Anyone see all the lightning across the bay in Marin? Strange night, light rain in Inverness right now.

Our hearts go out to the family of Park Ranger Nate Knight who died unexpectedly last week leaving behind a wife and two children. Nate was a constant presence around the park and a friend to many here locally, he will be missed. If you'd like to support his family, you can contribute to the Nate Knight Memorial Fund here: https://life.indiegogo.com/fun

Power lines down and in road at Portola and Vallejo in Inverness Park, use caution.

The wind is crazy today, gusts up to 45mph in the park, the ocean is a frothy mess. Be safe out there, stay away from the water.

if you commute on Sir Francis Drake, you probably already know, but traffic by Woodacre is a complete mess. Stuck on the hill now, take alternate routes until later. Not sure what day they're done with this, anyone?

Ok, open thread, who took a picture of the sunset tonight? Post it in the comments. Every night has been magic.

"During the late 1950s and early 1960s, Phillip Dick lived in Point Reyes Station with his third wife, Anne. It was there that he wrote The Man in the High Castle, his Hugo Award–winning masterpiece recently adapted into a TV series by Amazon Studios. In a 2010 New York Times article on Dick's time in West Marin, the writer Jonathan Lethem said in an interview it was Dick's most productive time. Lethem included five novels from Dick's time in Point Reyes Station in the Library of America anthologies that he edited."

Bonus points, where did he live in Point Reyes?

http://www.bohemian.com/northb

Very sad, we've seen a bunch of sad looking murres at the beaches in Point Reyes recently. "San Rafael wildlife center sees surge of starving murres. The thin-billed, sea-loving birds, which bear a bit of a resemblance to penguins with their black wings and white bellies, seldom show up on the beach when healthy. But this year, WildCare took in 33 in the first two weeks of September, compared with 34 for the entire year of 2014."

http://www.marinij.com/environ

Does anyone smell a really weird chemical smell in Inverness? We're in Seahaven and can barely go outside right now.

Hopefully its clear! "This coming Sunday night (September 27), observers around the world are set to be in for a treat as two celestial events combine. In a rare occurrence, the Moon will reach its closest point to Earth (known as a supermoon) at the same time as it undergoes an eclipse, the first such alignment since 1982 – and the last until 2033.

During the event, when the Sun will be directly behind us in respect to the Moon, the lunar surface will appear a deep red color. Lunar eclipses are fairly common, with 16 occurring this century already, but only five supermoon eclipses have taken place since 1900."

Claire Ptak who owns the Violet Cakes bakery in London was featured on CBS This Morning today. ""Well, my mother's a great baker, my grandmother's a great baker. And where I grew up in Inverness, just north of San Francisco, it's rural, and we had wild blackberries and apple trees. And so there was a lot of emphasis on baking with fruit that was in season," Ptak said."

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/th

"Pt. Reyes-Petaluma Road near Shoreline Highway is back open now after earlier accident."

"Emergency units are responding to a vehicle roll over reported to be on Pt. Reyes-Petaluma Road near Shoreline Highway. One lane closed." - via KWMRinfo

https://twitter.com/KWMRinfo

A good start to Fall this morning.

"Plans to expand the county health department’s West Marin Multi-Service Center will proceed in downtown Point Reyes Station despite opposition from neighbors."

http://www.marinij.com/governm

The September 2015 equinox happens today! Which means – at each equinox – the sun rises due east and sets due west. And its also the first day of Fall! We love Fall!

http://earthsky.org/tonight/su

"Fire units are responding to a possible water rescue people in the water across Tomales Bay from the Inverness Store. People reported clinging to a raft about 200 yards off the east shore of Tomales Bay." - via KWMRinfo

https://mobile.twitter.com/KWM

Someone sent me this map from Gwyneth Paltrow's (a TWMF favorite!) Goop web site. Apparently Sir and Star has moved to Mill Valley and Stellina to San Rafael. DOH.

Apparently the Coast Guard helicopter is just in the mood to circle around Tomales Bay this evening?

A beautiful weekend says good bye with a dreamy sunset over the Pacific in Point Reyes. (Thx LNFN)

Come on people, don't steal stuff like this. What kind of fish is that anyway?

From The Tomales Bay Oyster Company: "OUR PICNIC AREA WILL CLOSE ON OCTOBER 12th! Because of Marin County restrictions on our 1987 use permit, we can no longer allow recreational activities on our property. There will be no picnics, family gatherings, or parties. Starting on October 12th we will only sell oysters to go, and starting October 16th we will be closed Monday through Thursday. We will be open Friday 12pm to 5pm, and Saturday and Sunday 9am to 5pm." More info at the link:
http://tomalesbayoysters.com/a

CHP is posted up at the store formerly known as Perry's giving friendly reminders out to people to slow down.

"Found small computer this morning on a bench at the White House Pool County Park. Has been given to the Sheriff's office 415-479-2311." via Mary Mills

Tomales Bay was absolutely stunning this morning. Blue on Blue. Throw on 'Kind of Blue' for lunch. Or maybe 'Blue Train'. Photo by Shawn Collins.

Highway 1 about a mile north of Nick's Cove is currently closed right now due to a car accident. Emergency crew on the scene.

Via KWMRinfo twitter feed:
https://twitter.com/KWMRinfo/s

And then, it rained! Drive safe everyone, it's been awhile, roads are going to be slick. (Thx dw)

Traffic control on SFD while PG&E fixes power pole from accident last night.

Wow. Missed all the action last night. Sounds like someone ran into a power pole at White House Pool around 11pm and knocked all the power out for a couple of hours. Power back on in Inverness, everyone else have power? Any more details on the accident? Everyone ok? Thanks for all the reports.

HOPEFULLY THE LAST LUCAS VALLEY UPDATE: @CHPMarin: The clean up of last weeks paint spill on Lucas Valley Rd. is complete! No further closures will be required. #MarinTraffic

TRAFFIC UPDATE: @CHPMarin: Alert- Lucas Valley Rd. will be closed between 11AM-1PM for the final cleanup of last weeks paint spill. Use alternate route to West Marin.

"Stinson Beach fire units are on scene with an overturned pickup truck on Shoreline Highway at mile marker 15.5 between Stinson and Bolinas" - KWMRinfo

https://twitter.com/KWMRinfo/s

A shark sighting at Stinson Beach yesterday (Sunday), "There were about 10 adults, myself included, who saw it! Just popped up out of nowhere. Fin came up twice then left. We had seen one seal and two porpoises about an hour earlier. It was about half a kid size soccer field from where we were standing, so very close. Only a handful of kids in shallow water and two surfers waiting for waves who scrambled to shore." (thx CP)

Vegetation fire at Seaheaven down by the bay. Under control now. Great response by fire dept.

Yikes. KWMR reporting: "Fire and park units are responding to a report of more than 30 kayakers stranded on Hog Island and Pelican Point. Some hypothermic patients are being brought to Nick's cove, water units heading to Pelican Point."

The Inverness Almanac Volume II release part is tomorrow night at 7pm at The Dance Palace. Local SF band Vetiver will be playing, and for those not familiar, these guys are really, really good. That alone is worth showing up for, a rare opportunity. Danny Vitali and The Gospel Flatters will play as well (they're good too!)

Finally! Lucas Valley Road has reopened.

Sounds like there is a small vegetation fire in the park right now, fire units responding, possibly by K Ranch.

LUCAS VALLEY TRAFFIC REMINDER: One way traffic control on Lucas Valley Rd throughout the AM. Full closure expected this afternoon for recovery of HAZMAT. Use alt routes. (via CHPMarin) (Just talked to someone who went through on Lucas Valley at 8:15am and there were no traffic)

TRAFFIC ALERT UPDATE #2: Lucas Valley Road will be back open at 10:00pm tonight. Cleanup will continue on Friday. There will be 1 way traffic from 7:30AM-1:30PM then CLOSED from 1:30PM-3:30PM. Plan your commute accordingly.

This is due to a big rig accident near Big Rock that spilled a whole bunch of paint and required Haz Mat clean up.

http://www.nbcbayarea.com/news

TRAFFIC ALERT UPDATE: Estimated time to open Lucas Valley Road is 10pm. Use alternate routes to West Marin.

A big rig collision spilled 14,000 gallons of paint requiring a massive Haz Mat clean up (see previous posts for more details).

(info and image via CHPMarin)

TRAFFIC ALERT: Lucas Valley Road is blocked east of Big Rock and both lanes are closed. There was a big rig collision and 14,000 gallons of paint spilled which is going to require extended Haz Mat clean up. No estimated time of re-open yet, plan your travel accordingly.

LUCAS VALLEY RD BLOCKED EAST OF BIG ROCK DUE TO OVERTURNED BIG RIG, UNK ETA TO REOPENING...

Some illegal "weed" being removed by Walker Creek this afternoon. (thx RJ)

URGENT UPDATE: This is an emergency message from the Inverness Water System. Stream flows and tank levels for our water system are critically low.

-Effective immediately, a Stage 2 Water Shortage Emergency is in effect for the customers of the Inverness Water System.

- Effective immediately, only hand watering is allowed for outdoor watering.

- It is prohibited to use at any time any sprinkler devices for outdoor watering.

- It is prohibited to use at any time any timer-activated automatic outdoor watering or irrigation systems.

If you have questions or need more information, please call Scott McMorrow or Jim Fox at 415-669-1414.

Anyone know what was going on tonight with the helicopters and Coast Guard? TWMF was Kehoe getting mauled by mosquitoes but heard there was a lot of activity happening over Inverness.

Long distance electric skateboarder covering some ground in the park this weekend.

According to KMWR, the vegetation fire from yesterday has rekindled and fire crews are heading back out there.

Fire plane dumps retardant on fire outside of Point Reyes this afternoon.

Here's a picture of the fire burning right now, right across from Chicken Ranch Beach by Marshall/Petaluma Road. Plane just made a huge drop on it.

BREAKING: "Units are responding to a vegetation fire near the 8000 block of the Marshall-Petaluma Road." via KWMR. Stay tuned to KWMR for more details.

Pretty much bumper to bumper traffic from Ottingers Hill in the park to Point Reyes right now. We don't advise going to town for some milk.

The pros were out early at Drakes Beach for the sand castle contest. The roads are total chaos, saw three near collisions, plan accordingly.

Not one, but two cars went off the road at this spot above North Beach today. Holiday weekend! Since everyone was ok, how about a caption contest? (Thx JW)

Some notes from tonight's reading by Summer Brennan's "The Oyster War".

"My family is in the audience tonight, so please keep that in mind." - Summer

Summer read a chapter from the book which was about the fallow deer issue and nothing about oysters which seemed to confuse people.

"How could you be so presumptuous to say this is the true story?" - Bob Stevens. No real answer to that.

Kevin Lunny is in the audience which is interesting.

So far everything is fairly mellow, I don't think anyone is interested in arguing, Kate did a good job of setting that tone early.

Sarah Rolph asked if Summer had read some reports, Gordon Bennett asked if she knew who cut the names off some of the maps. She skimmed the reports and did not know who cut off the names.