A new analysis finds there are fewer foggy days along the Northern California coast than there were  100 years ago. That’s bad news for the venerable coast redwoods.

In addition to charting a reduction in the number of foggy days over the past century, U.C. Berkeley researcher Todd E. Dawson says their study also found fewer hours of foggy conditions on the days when the mist was present.

In their analysis, Dawson and  his colleague, James Johnstone, found there was a relationship between drought years and fog conditions, but it’s not what one might expect.

Read the abstract of their published paper on this research here.

Medical marijuana has grown from an “only in California” curiosity into an expanding realm of business opportunities—which some are now calling the Cannabis Industry. Among them is an entrepreneur who sees a niche in training workers for that budding industry.

The Cannabis Training University program will be offered at the Holiday Inn Express  in Santa Rosa July 24-25 (other summer sessions are scheduled in San Jose and Santa Cruz).  Jeffery Zorn outlines the curriculum.

There are further details about the program in this promotional video.

 Zorn is himself a graduate of Oaksterdam University, the Oakland-based school that was established to address many of the same needs and concerns as the Cannabis Training University. But as the founder, owner, CEO and promoter for CTU, Zorn sees comparative benefits in his program.

Cannabis activist and advocate Ed Rosenthal   is among the instructors at the Cannabis Training University, but will not be among the faculty for the Santa Rosa workshop.

Carl Mears has been studying the weather for years. Now he’s trying to do something about it.

Carl Mears will be the featured speaker at a community gathering June 30 at 5:30 pm at the Universalist Unitarian Church in Santa Rosa.  His topic:  “What’s really going on with the Climate? A scientists’ perspective.”

For some, the phrase "climate change" has supplanted "global warming" as this issue is discussed. Mears says he understands the scientific reasoning behind that, but dislikes the political connotations.

Among the many groups at the Copenhagen climate conference last winter was Mediators Beyond Borders, who were there to lobby for including mediation in the framework for resolving disputes over resource scarcities as the world attempts to deal with climate change.

Just getting everyone to join in the process at the COP 15 conference in Copenhagen was a considerable accomplishment, observes Camelia Patino, adding that it’s an arena ripe for a larger role to be played by Mediators Beyond Borders as the dialog goes forward.

There’s a lot more to a successful invention than just a good idea.

Steve Schneider, (left) the coordinator and sole staff of the Sawyer Center in Santa Rosa has had a hand in a growing list of success stories with clients there. Currently, he's enthusiastic about an idea concieved by a pair of local nurses.

As you might expect, the Sawyer Center itself was the creation of an individual inventor. Steve Schneider recounts its history.

Just over the past 10 years, according to their website, the Sawyer Center has helped over 2,300 clients by providing in excess of 8,900 hours of individual, one-on-one, free counseling. In addition, over 2,570 business owners have attended 108 workshops for close to 13,100 hours of training. This counseling and training has resulted in:

• 114 patents received
• 151 trademarks filed
• 113 copyright applications