Largest dam in state history torn down

MONTEREY COUNTY, Calif. (KGO) -- Monterey County supervisors gave their OK for the largest dam removal project in state history. The San Clemente Dam is eighteen miles from the coast in the Carmel Valley.

The 90-year-old, 106-foot-tall dam was once a major source of water on the Monterey Peninsula. But it has reached the end of its useful life.

"The dam was deemed to be seismically unsafe in 1995," said California American Water spokesperson Catherine Bowie.

She added that, "as the water provider we had to do something to resolve that safety issue."

So the company set out on a plan to retrofit the dam.

"But then the natural resource agencies from the state and federal levels stepped in and said, we want to do more than solve the safety issue, strengthen the dam with concrete, we want to see if we can actually remove the dam," said Bowie.

Tearing down a dam isn't as simple as you think. You can't just knock it down and let the water go. That's because sediment from upstream has backed up behind the dam. It would take 250,000 dump trucks to haul away all the silt behind this dam. Just letting it flow downstream may harm endangered steelhead trout that use the river to breed. The species is already on the verge of vanishing from the Carmel River.

Joyce Ambrosius with the National Marine Fisheries Service said the steelhead numbers have been dwindling over the last couple of years. "It's been down to 91 in the last couple of years, where in the 1960's it was in the thousands of fish. So we are right on the edge of them blinking out here," she said.

Ambrosius has spent the last 15-years waiting for the dam to come down. She says the dam removal can't come soon enough, "Right now the fish have to come up a very steep fish ladder. Some of the steps are three feet tall, that only the strongest fish can make it up just to get past the dam."

Tearing the dam down may open the way to the species recovery. There is now a plan in place to do just that.

Project Manager Jeff Szytel explained, "We're going to build a diversion dike to permanently reroute the river around this existing the sediment." He added that they will "then restore the site, to return health to the river."

The cost to upgrade the dam was $49 million. Removing the dam will cost $83 million. The utility balked at the idea of picking up the whole tab, so Rep. Sam Farr, D-Salinas, stepped in to broker a compromise.

"There is no opposition to this. This is absolutely the right thing to do. You don't have those moments very often in politics," said Farr.

Under the agreement, California American rate-payers will pay $50 million towards the demolition through increases in their water bills. The state Coastal Conservancy and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration committed to raising the additional $35 million through a combination of public funding and private donations.

"It's been an amazing project to work on and it will be the biggest dam removed in California. It's very exciting," said Trish Chapman of the California Coastal Conservancy, a state agency.

When the project is done, the area will be opened to the public. The federal government will rededicate 928 acres as parkland.

Preliminary work on the dam removal will begin this summer. It will take about three years to remove the entire structure.

Written and produced by Ken Miguel

(Copyright ©2013 KGO-TV/DT.

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Are Digital Textbooks Right For the Next School Year?

One of the biggest changes in EdTech is the trend around turning printed textbooks into digital files. On the face of it, the benefits of going digital are hard to ignore. There is greater currency, a single common version for all students, and the elimination of the physical tracking, storage, and management of printed textbooks. Yet, for all the benefits, there are still issues to consider. There are still cost issues, the availability of some texts, and other things to consider.

In this blog we’ll look at some of the key issues and announcements that are going to impact your decision. Each district has their issues and demands that will impact the digital textbook decision. Making the right call is essential.

Of course, one of the most important gating factors to the success of digital textbooks is the decision by the largest suppliers of textbooks to support the initiative. According to EdWeek, the “Big 3” textbook manufacturers (Pearson, McGraw-Hill Education, and Houghton Mifflin Harcourt) are taking different approaches making things more complex. Pearson is delivering a technology platform. HMH is looking to create “bite size” content, eschewing the direct digital to printed textbook model. McGraw-Hill is treading a middle ground, believing that not all districts are ready to go digital, and that the next few years are going to stay “blended” in terms of digital and print offerings.

So at best, we’re looking at a start. It is somewhat disappointing that rather than lead the charge, book publishers are acting in more of a reactionary manner, and not setting a technology direction that would benefit students and districts.

Given a lack of solid direction by industry leaders, many districts are finding new and creative ways to build their own solution for digital “textbook” content. The reason for the quotes is that in many cases these solutions are not “books” in the normal sense, but disparate content that is brought together to provide the basis for coursework.

A good example of this is the Indiana Bartholomew Consolidated School Corporation. They reviewed many of their High School textbooks and were not impressed. Coupled with a directive from the state Social Studies specialists that said they would not be adopting any textbooks in 2011, the corporation decided to be creative. They kept the textbooks adopted in 2006, but added a subscription to NetTrekker which provides access to articles vetted by other teachers as a means of adding to the course curriculum.

The Vail District in Arizona went even further, creating their own “digital textbooks” leverage very low cost or even free content that they used to build their courses. Not only did the district save money, but they were able to bring more compelling materials to the classes.

The result of all this is that digital textbooks are a certainty, but they may not yet be at the point where simply “going digital” is an option right now for the next school year. However, now is the time to start the process of seeing what options are out there, how you can save budget dollars using digital information, and how your existing textbook suppliers are going to work with your district. Things have changed dramatically. Textbook manufacturers are no longer the only option as Vail has shown. Creativity and thinking outside the box is essential, and more importantly, appears to have many rewards.

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EdTech in Special Education

When we talk about EdTech, the focus tends to be more on the typical classroom or student. However, there is a great deal of activity around using EdTech for remedial or special education where the technology can help improve outcomes. It’s also worth noting that in many districts, special education is becoming one of the fastest growing areas of the budget, and one where the costs seem to be difficult to cap.

Using EdTech solutions for these students and classes may be able to help counter this trend and restore some balance to the budget. In this blogs I’ll look at few instances of how EdTech is making a difference in this area.

With the hope and goal of helping special needs students be able to participate more in mainstream classes and activities, EdTech offers some interesting capabilities. In this example, the teacher has found that a rather underutilized EdTech tool, the electronic whiteboard had the potential for improving the group teaching that was being done for this class. Using this larger and group oriented approach, the teacher was able to not only engage the group, but also use learning tools like the Unique Learning System (a symbol based curriculum) in this interactive group setting to improve results. The creativity of finding a non-traditional EdTech tool is worth noting.

One of the most consistent education problems around the country is a shortage of many of the highly trained professionals that specialize in unique learning needs. Speech language pathologists (SLPs) are a great example. Most are well over recommended case loads and waste what could be productive hours driving from one location to the next. Using the well understood distance learning technologies, some districts are now engaging in the use of “teletherapy” to better utilize the scarce time resource of special needs teaching professionals and extend their reach without lost travel time. This also allows districts to better utilize highly specialized professionals via teletherapy where the ability to actually get them physically on-site just didn’t exist.

There are many disabilities that limit a particular student’s ability to interact with the printed word. Dyslexia is one of the best known and most prevalent, but there are many others. And EdTech can help. Rather than relying on just printed classroom materials, handouts, or other forms of printed communication, using technology, these documents can be delivered electronically. This makes it simple to turn the printed word into speech that can be “read” to the special needs student, or can be converted to symbols if that is better understood. Simply put, once the information is in digital form, there are many options for delivering it that can help the special needs student.

Of course, there are many more specific instances or ways that can help improve the results and outcome of special needs students. The one consistent element among these three examples, and I’m sure many others is creativity. Using EdTech to improve this aspect of education is not about being an engineer; it’s about finding new ways existing technologies can better serve those who need them most.

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Major milestone reached for TNDC's after school program

SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- A program that helps children in one of San Francisco's most difficult neighborhoods is celebrating 20 years of service this year. It's a story we've been covering since the very beginning and it is still changing young lives every day.

We visited a lively after-school center in the heart of a rough neighborhood in San Francisco. Children and teens find a safe haven there, locked away from negative outside influences. The kids say the Tenderloin After School Program gives them a chance to choose a bright future.

"When I was in middle school, you get peer pressure from your friends, smoking cigarettes, going out, there's shoplifting," said Tanya Chanthavong from Swinerton Builders.

You would never guess that about Chanthavong when you see her now because she's one of the success stories from the center. She's one of the first faces you see at the prestigious Swinerton Builders company in San Francisco. But she remembers those days, when her family emigrated to the Tenderloin.

"I had a choice," said Tanya.

The young people in the after school program not only have a safe place to do their homework, and enjoy a variety of activities, they're also encouraged to go to college and get a job, and some of them get their first jobs at the center.

Sandra Ortega, 23, and her sister and brother came to the Tenderloin After School Program at a young age. Their parents worked all the time. Elvin Friaz, 26, came to the center as a child, raised by his grandmother. Now, they both work as program assistants at the center.

"It feels good to watch kids grow, to pretty much be there for them," said Friaz.

That's what makes the center so special. It's not about baby-sitting. Don Falk is executive director of the Tenderloin Neighborhood Development Corporation, or TNDC for short. TNDC offers the after school program for free to families as part of its mission. It's created safe, quality low-income housing in the Tenderloin for 30 years.

"We want people to understand the power and that meaning of what our staff offers to the young people," said Falk.

"Ultimately, it's up the kids and the families to determine what they want and how they're going to get there and we just provide them the support," said Laura Choe, a Tenderloin After School Program manager.

Choe has run the after school program for 14 years. Now, Choe's kids are passing on that gift to another generation. Ortega wants to open her own center one day.

"I just want to give back to the kids, the same thing I receive and just make a change in their lives," said Ortega.

Friaz moved out of the tenderloin and got married, but he comes back every day.

Jennings: "You had a choice to stay away, but you didn't."
Friaz: "I couldn't because the after school program is my home."

You can join me this Friday night for the TNDC's 20th anniversary gala.

(Copyright ©2013 KGO-TV/DT.

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Willits protester spends 8th day on Caltrans equipment

WILLITS, Calif. (KGO) -- A protester perched 50-feet high in a piece of Caltrans equipment is on day eight now.

He received food and water after another activist snuck past CHP officers. Will Parrish climbed up on the equipment Thursday to stop work on a controversial freeway project in Willits in Mendocino County.

A local film maker shot video of CHP officers as they blocked protesters from sending up supplies last weekend. But yesterday evening, a man managed to climb a second nearby tower and send over supplies on a rope.

Caltrans wants to build a four-lane freeway around Willits. Critics say a smaller, cheaper road would do the job without so much environmental damage. Caltrans says continued protests have cost the state more than $1 million. (Copyright ©2013 KGO-TV/DT.

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Chromebooks in K12 – An Update

With the recent launch last year of Chromebooks, and the delivery of new models designed primarily for the K12 market, there’s been a lot of attention and discussion on this topic. There is also new news about Chromebooks in K12, and as we move into another school year in August/September, it’s worth reviewing the new information that has become available.

Many districts are looking at Chromebooks as an alternative to laptops or the expensive tablets offered by some vendors. Given that the majority of work is now done via the internet, the Chromebooks are definitely exploiting a need.

Recently, IDC wrote a research paper on the economic value of Chromebooks in K-12. There are some very interesting findings in this research. One of the most intriguing facts in this study is the 82% reduction in administration time for Chromebooks as compared with traditional laptops. Some of this is undoubtedly due to the fact they don’t have the same level of functionality, but it’s intriguing nonetheless. Additionally, IDC forecasts a $590 reduced cost of ownership for Chromebooks over a three year period. This makes a strong case.

This may be one of the most frequently asked and in some cases confusing part of the Chromebook decision for many districts. Given the budget realities, the most common approach is to evaluate which of these other two devices may be replaced by Chromebooks. I’m not so sure that this is the best way to look at the issue. Traditional laptops are clearly better suited where running courseware locally is necessary, and tablets are a touch only/small screen environment. To me, the Chromebook represents a new class of device that may be better in some use cases than either of the other two such as libraries, shared informal usage scenarios, and auditoriums. In fact, Lenovo recently created an infographic that compares the ThinkPad X131e Chromebook to the Apple iPad.

A final point that has become important in the Chromebook discussion is the ease of sharing a Chromebook that basically is a “fresh” system each time a new student logs on. Without the traditional operating system approach, of either tablets or laptops, there are fewer problems with issues from prior users. This will also help you consider use cases for Chromebooks.

Like any new tool, the Chromebook brings new capabilities to EdTech. Some of these may be very useful in broadening the availability of computing to students, or providing lower cost options to existing usage scenarios. Regardless, it’s important to stay up to date on what the Chromebook can do for your district.

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Caltrans to spend $210M on Willits bypass

WILLITS, Calif. (KGO) -- If you live in the Bay Area, you know bad traffic can be. There are thousands of cars backed up in the same spots day after day. Many of those communities could make good use of $200 million of taxpayer money to improve their highways. Instead, that money is going north to a little town where traffic is actually going down.

There have been angry protests, tree sitters, and senior citizens begging to be arrested over this issue. It is happening in the normally quiet town of Willits where residents are at odds over a massive highway bypass that will cost at least $210 million.

"It's insane to put this much money into a project that isn't necessary," said one protester.

Willits is 135 miles north of San Francisco on Highway 101. It is the major route through Mendocino County and north to Eureka. Just south of Willits, Highway 101 is a four-lane freeway, but when it comes into town 101 turns into Main Street with five traffic lights. So Caltrans wants to build a freeway to bypass Willits.

"To improve inter-regional traffic along 101. 101 is a very important corridor for commerce and for just people going on vacation," said Phil Frisbie, a Caltrans spokesman.

After two decades of planning, Caltrans is starting to cut trees and put up fences around the construction area. The plan calls a four-lane freeway six-miles long. Only two lanes will be built in the first phase, but crews will clear a roadbed wide enough for four lanes. Environmentalists are suing saying a much smaller project could do the job with less damage.

"It's going to involve cutting down 100 -year-old oak trees, filling in acres and acres of wetlands, endangering threatened salmon and steelhead," said Aruna Prabhala, an environmental attorney.

The impact will be so significant Caltrans is required to do $50 million worth of environmental improvements to compensate. An online video shows their plan and Caltrans is standing by it. The case goes to trial next month.

In the meantime, critics are asking a more basic question: does Willits even need a bypass? Caltrans says yes and they've already got most of the money for the first phase.

"The actual construction costs, about $136 million, are funded by California voter approved Proposition 1-B which is designed for congestion relief," said Frisbie.

That bond money is going to Willits, but it could go to any congested traffic area around the state. It will be paid back with your tax dollars, including interest. So what will you actually be getting for your money?

The major problem area is the south end of Willits where traffic often backs up. Thirteen years ago Caltrans projected traffic would increase, but their own figures show traffic has actually gone down. Even so, Frisbie told us via Skype they still need a four lane freeway.

"To make sure we weren't building a project that was going to be basically obsolete in 20 years," said Frisbie.

We asked to see the new growth numbers that justify their findings, but Caltrans could not produce them. They do have documents that show about 70-percent of the traffic at the south end of town is local. That means most of the cars stuck in traffic there would not even use the bypass.

To get an idea of who would drive on the bypass, we took a look at photos from Caltrans' traffic cameras on 101 north of town. Caltrans data shows most of the vehicles on that part of 101 are driving through Willits, so the level of traffic there is closer to the level of traffic that might be expected on the bypass. The photos are taken once an hour. We recorded them for a week. Many showed no cars at all, or just one or two vehicles. But Caltrans says it's hard to get a true understanding of traffic with still pictures.

"Especially on a two-lane facility because traffic tends to get bunched up behind slow moving vehicles," said Frisbie.

Actually. we did see that, once. Many locals told us these photos are a good indicator of traffic most days.

"We're paving paradise and putting up an empty concrete freeway," said Willits City Councilmember Madge Strong.

Plenty of people in Willits do want the bypass, including City Councilmember Bruce Burton, owner of a local saw mill.

"It's not the perfect project, but it will be a big improvement to the safety of downtown," said Burton.

But opponents don't plan to give up.

"You have a lot of congestion in the Bay Area that you could probably use the money from this bypass to fix," said Willits resident Naomi Wagner.

Written and produced by Jennifer Olney.

(Copyright ©2013 KGO-TV/DT.

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