Category Archives: Uncategorized

Mike Schiraldi offered up a quick overview of the posted minutes, which make it easier to envision what’s being proposed, and kindly let us post them:

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These are the key points that jumped out :

At the Diamond / Bosworth intersection, they’re looking into…

…adding an extra cycle to the traffic lights, called a “pedestrian
scramble”. This means that all the traffic lights will turn red
simultaneously while all the crosswalks go to “Walk”, so that
pedestrians all move at once. That way, there’s no competition between
pedestrians using the crosswalk and cars turning left and right.

…adding “protected turn movements”, which I think is when there’s a
green arrow cycle for people turning, so they don’t have to compete
with people going straight.

…painting actual lanes, rather than leaving the lanes up to drivers’
imaginations

…declaring the left lane (from all four directions) left-turn-only

…expanding the nearby no-parking zones (possibly only during rush
hour) to make more room for people to turn

…adding some pedestrian bulbouts

They’re also looking to upgrade two other nearby intersections: the
Bosworth / Arlington intersection (near the 280 S onramp) and the
Bosworth / Lyell intersection (where you go under San Jose Ave) will
have traffic lights and crosswalks in every direction

Also, the plans for a roundabout at Bosworth / Arlington / 280 have
been scrapped for now; there apparently isn’t enough money for one.
Surprisingly, it’s more expensive than adding traffic lights.

Glen Park Association

Quarterly Meeting – Meeting Minutes

Thursday April 13, 2013

St. John’s School 925 Chenery Street

Meeting Called to Order: 7:11pm

Meeting Attendees

Introduction – Michael Rice

Michael Rice gave an update on the Open Houses at the Glen Park Library held in March 2013.  At the Open Houses, the Board asked residents what issues and concerns people had in the neighborhood and what the Glen Park Association, as an organization should pay attention to this coming year.

Based on the input gathered at the Open Houses, four or five topics were identified as priorities for the coming year:

• Potential development of the BART parking lot – initial planning supposed to get underway this year with an agreement between BART and a developer.  Developer and BART plans to come to the community. However , GPA has not heard anything specific about the project moving forward.
• Public Safety – Many see the criminal activity updates from Ingleside or the Glen Park Association website.  The Board continuously reminds people of awareness of street safety.  The GPA has other initiatives in this area., such as street lighting problems.
• Neighborhood Open Space – There is continuous interest in paying attention to Recreation and Parks Department activities.  The 2008 Parks Bond funded phase 1 work at the Rec Center and phase 2, funded by the 2012 Parks Bond, will start soon.  Recreation and Park Department will come out to the community to discuss plans relating to the recreation building.  Other open spaces of note include Dorothy Erskine Park and the green areas along Bosworth.
• Transportation/Traffic/Pedestrian Safety – Tonight’s program includes a presentation from MTA and the Planning Department about continuing plans to improve Diamond and Bosworth.
• Citywide Natural Areas Program – covers the rest of Glen Canyon and other areas around the City (e.g., Mount Davidson, Twin Peaks).  There will be community meetings about this program in the coming year.

The above topics are just a summary of the issues raised at the Open Houses.  The GPA Board is very interested in people who are willing to volunteer and work with the board on these issues.  We have committees on open space, zoning etc. and we are looking for a variety of views and want people who are interested in the topics and want to work with our city officials.  Email Michael Rice at President@glenparkassociation.org to join a committee.

Michael reminded everyone that the Glen Park Festival will be held on Sunday April 28th.  The GPA will have a booth.

Committee/Treasurer Reports

Public Safety Committee Update – Carolyn Deacy, Public Safety Chair

• Muggings have calmed down but still be careful on the street.
• GPA developed a Lighting Subcommittee of the Public Safety Committee to focus on lighting in the neighborhood.
  • We identified and reported any out or flickering lights within Glen Park to 311.  All of those lights have been replaced or fixed.
  • We identified trees that were blocking light and the trees belonging to the City have been trimmed.
  • We are identifying areas that are dark and should be better lit and we plan to take a walk with Supervisor Weiner and PG&E to see what we can do to improve lighting quality.
  • Light up Glen Park – the Lighting Subcommittee will be passing out flyers with the following information and suggestions:
    • Call 311 if your lamppost is out.
    • Turn on your porch light and encourage your neighbors to do the same.
    • Add outdoor lighting – Glen Park Hardware will give you a 20% discount.
    • If you notice any dark areas please email safety@glenparkassociation.org
    •  There was discussion regarding the process for reporting out streetlights and what information 311 and PG&E need to fix the lights.  When calling 311, it is best to report the nearest address and the pole type.

Question: What do we do about BART parking lot lights that are out?

Answer: Try asking the Station Agent for the right contact information

Comment:  There is a dark spot on Chenery where two people have mugged; is it possible to get the people who live there to put up lights?

There was a question regarding trees that the City has turned over to residents that are now hazardous.  There is a process through DPW to remove a hazardous tree.

Planning and Zoning Committee Update – Nicholas Dewar, Planning and Zoning Committee Chair

Update on Open Space on Bosworth Street Burnside to Diamond:

• When we think of open space, we think of Glen Canyon but the second largest open space is down Bosworth St from Elk St. to Diamond St.  The trees there (especially the pine trees) are dying leaving gaps in the foliage.
• DPW owns most of the property; the PUC and Archdiocese (St John’s School) are also involved.
• We have been talking with them to discuss improving the area.
• A DPW representative said that they are thinking of putting in low maintenance trees (i.e. native oaks).  We will set up a time to walk over the site.  If there is more community support the more likely it is to get done.
• If anyone is interested in participating in this process, please contact Nicholas.

Membership Report – Sally Ross, Membership secretary

• Update on membership.

Guest Speakers – David Greenaway, Planning Department and Amnon Ben-Pazi, SFMTA

Greenaway and Ben-Pazi gave updates on pending Bosworth-Diamond and Bosworth-Arlington traffic improvements.

• We are looking at 3 intersections Diamond and Bosworth, Bosworth and Arlington and Diamond and Lyell (in order of priority).  Then improvements for Arlington and Wilder would be next including restriping the crosswalks and installing bulb outs.

Diamond and Bosworth Intersection

• Working with DPW and planning department and MTA to figure out what we can do to fix this intersection works for everyone using the grant funds for pedestrian improvements.
• We plan to widen 44 bus stop sidewalk for standing room and install a pedestrian bulb out on the Southeast corner – we are still working with MTA to make sure buses can work with this.
• Other measures include sidewalk widening on Diamond, a pedestrian bulb out on the Northwest corner and new concrete and striping.
• There will be a right turn lane for eastbound onto Bosworth and Southbound onto Diamond
• Signal timing will also be a component including a potential pedestrian-only phase, although the traffic engineers are still analyzing this.
• The EIR from the Glen Park Community Plan will need an addendum to cover these plans,.
• The intent is to begin physical construction in late summer.

Questions:

• Question: What about southbound Diamond onto Bosworth?
• Answer:  The left-turn lane will be onto Bosworth and the right lane will be through traffic.  To facilitate the left-turn lane there will be a red curb on Diamond.  We are investigating peak hour no parking.
• Question:  Rather than expanding bus zone for 44, have you considered moving the 44 bus across the street across Bosworth and keeping this corner for just the 52?
• Answer: We discussed the possibility during the Community Plan process but it was determined that it would place more delay on BART commuters and this would expose them to traffic in two crosswalks.  This is a pedestrian and transit first area.
• Question: What about the bulb out by the BART station?  The commuter buses will not be able to make the turn around the corner.
• Answer: We will talk with MTA, who interfaces with the “Google buses” and use turning templates that track the turning radius to make sure they can make the turn.
• A resident expressed concerns that when the buses turn onto Diamond, the proposed bulb out needs to take into account disabled parking spots other bus turns turn on diamond, and newspaper stands.  The resident also raised the Community Plan section on San Jose Avenue becoming less like a freeway and suggested that the Arlington and San Jose Ave intersection a real intersection.
• A resident conveyed concern about the planning process and the community input process.  Ben-Pazi and Greenway said the plan here is what is in the Glen Park Community Plan EIR and they are trying to move the process forward.
• Question:  Will the turn Northbound onto Bosworth be wider for the commuter buses?
• Answer: We will make sure those buses can make that turn and stay within this lane and cut the turn
• A resident brought up the idea of widening the street into the BART Plaza.  The EIR has many variants but that idea is not part of this.  The Plaza redesign is in the future and is not funded.  The slopes there make it complicated and MTA has to move forward with the funding it has.  Greenaway and Ben-Pazi discussed the commuter buses and said there will not be a perfect solution because there is not that much space.
• Question: Is there any possibility of sending commuter bus traffic to another BART station?
• Answer: We are talking about this and it will be raised again.
• Question: Does the EIR reflect the increase in private shuttle busses?
• Answer: The data is from 2010, so we may have to collect more information.
• A resident suggested additional enforcement for traffic violations.  At the last GPA meeting, Captain Falvey suggested residents call the police and they will respond.
• A resident brought up pedestrian crossing at Kern St. in front of the Library. This is a legal intersection by definition but does not have a striped crosswalk.  MTA suggested contacting Supervisor Weiner to get

A resident asked for the MTA and Planning Department materials to be posted online and distributed.

Arlington and Bosworth & Bosworth and Lyell

• Greenway and Ben-Pazi discussed the Arlington and Bosworth intersection, which would follow the Diamond and Bosworth improvement.  The goal is to install a traffic signal however, that is a two-year process to analyze the effects.  The plan is to restripe crosswalks.
• At Bosworth and Lyell, if there is money to put a signal there, MTA and Planning will consider it.
• Ben-Pazi and Greenway discussed the EIR process and said that both proposed signals would be part of the same EIR.  The Traffic Engineer for city wants to see a signal at these intersections.  Additionally, curbs will be widened and new crosswalks would be installed although the exact crosswalk location may change.
• A resident suggested that it would be better to go on Arlington for entrance onto 280 after these changes are implemented which may change the traffic at diamond and Bosworth.
• Question:  Because these improvements will take so long, could we implement stop signs in the intersection in the interim?
• Answer:   The stop sign at Lyell already backs up and the stop sign process is lengthy.
• Question:  Would there be a left turn lane and signal travelling on Bosworth turning left onto Arlington?
• Answer:  Yes.  We just got the go ahead to consider the traffic signal so this is still in development.
• Question:  Will any of the trees on the median  be affected?  The trees are now 55 years old and nearing the end of their lifespan.
• Answer:  The median on Bosworth may be extended towards Arlington so there would be more space for the trees.
• Question: Are barriers on the median to prevent jaywalking a possibility?
• Answer:  We will take that into account.
• Question: Could we have the rationale for why the roundabout idea was scrapped and why the signals were suggested?  Are the left turn pockets on Bosworth okay?
• Answer: The roundabout is not being considered due to cost reasons.  The EIR looked at the roundabout in a 2 dimensional perspective and did not consider right of way permitting, retaining walls for the freeway and the complexity of the real estate purchase and the Bart parking lot.  There is a finite amount of resources from the federal grant.  The traffic analysis will tell us if the signal can actually mitigate the issues.  As a pedestrian, the signal  is better than the roundabout.  We will bring the analysis back to the GPA.
• Question:  What are the plans to consider the BART parking lot development and the effect on the traffic calming measures?
• Answer:  We have heard that the parking lot is under discussion but we do not know and it is probably a long way out.
• Rice said that the Community Plan EIR had considered the potential development into the analysis.
• This was a very good presentation, there is progress, and we look forward to seeing you in three months.

Guest Speaker – Penny Lane – Surrey Steps project, Adam King

Rice introduced Adam King who presented the history of the Penny Lane / Surrey Steps Project, specifically Penny Lane between Diamond St. and Surrey St.  between Surrey and Sussex.  Rice mentioned this is a project that demonstrates residents working amongst themselves and with City departments to get something done.  King discussed improvements along several lanes, Penny Lane, Poppy Lane and Ohlone Way, specifically the Surrey Steps, a project currently under construction.

• 7 years ago King and others got a parcel map and did an analysis to develop a planting plan and came up with three zones, worked with landscape designers.
• For the Surrey Steps, there were a few design criteria: Plants should hug fence, steps should follow grain of the site, and changes should keep in mind flooding.
• After design, the group reached out to neighbors, met with all the immediate neighbors and developed an email distribution list.
• King discussed the support the group got from DPW in moving materials and taking away cuttings and weeds.  The area is a DPW sewer right of way and before beginning, they required a project description, budget, a design, and funding.
• King discussed the relationship the group had with the Parks Alliance, and their help on navigating the process.
• The labor is volunteer based but the budget for materials has come from the neighbors.  Currently the project is in the building phase, next is the planting phase, which may be more accessible for additional volunteers.
• Question:  Thinking about the Bosworth corridor or other lanes – what are your best ideas?
• Answer:  1) Meet with neighbors see who’s interested and 2) You need commitment and buy in and cash

Meeting Adjourned 8:57pm

Tuesday, April 23rd, 2013
1:45pm Unit Blk Roanoke
Recovered Vehicle

Wednesday, April 24th, 2013
3:37pm 200 Blk Miguel Recovered Vehicle

Thursday, April 25th, 2013
4:19pm Unit Blk Chenery Harassing Phone Calls
9:30pm 200 Blk Bemis Vandalism to Property

Friday, April 26th, 2013
Nothing to report from Glen Park.

Saturday, April 27th, 2013
Nothing to report from Glen Park.

Sunday, April 28th, 2013
4:40pm Unit Blk Brompton Recovered Vehicle

Monday, April 29th, 2013
2:40pm Unit Blk Lippard Attempted Theft
from Vehicle
10:45am Bosworth/Lippard Traffic Collision
11:40pm San Jose/Arlington Hit and Run

Tuesday, April 30th, 2013
12:15pm Bosworth/Oshaugnessy Fraud

Wednesday, May 1st, 2013
10:45am Unit Blk Bosworth Vehicle Tampering

Thursday, May 2nd, 2013
1:00am 2800 Blk Diamond Theft from Vehicle

Friday, May 3rd, 2013
10:15am 2800 Blk Diamond Theft, Pickpocket
7:15pm Kern/Diamond Theft from Vehicle

Saturday, May 4th, 2013
Nothing to report from Glen Park.

Sunday, May 5th, 2013
12:05am 200 Blk Mangels Stolen Vehicle

Monday, May 6th, 2013
5:19pm Thor/Surrey Traffic Collision

Gloria Koch, kneeling in Glen Canyon’s Fox Meadow. Gloria is among yarrow and California poppies. Fox Meadow is above Silver Tree Camp and if hikes go there they should watch for poison oak. Photo taken May 1, 2013

By Murray Schneider

After 28 years working as a horticulturist for San Francisco’s Recreation and Park Department, Gloria Koch simply couldn’t walk away from work she loved.

So the 20-year Diamond Street resident, after retiring six months ago, began volunteering with Friends of Glen Canyon Park.

Gloria Koch ready for a day volunteering along Glen Canyon’s Willow Loop Trial.

“A gardener’s job is body joy,” she said one recent Wednesday morning while removing invasive mustard high above Glen Canyon’s floor. “They aren’t many jobs where you can earn a salary and exercise at the same time.”

Koch was born in Havana, Cuba and has lived in San Francisco since 1977. She looks like she stepped from the pages of an original Banana Republic advertisement, not the current ones that depict models who favor Don Draper and Holly Golightly but the original ads, the ones that ballyhooed gear better suited for the grasslands of the Serengeti than the sidewalks of Madison and Fifth Avenues.

For her weekly work parties, supervised by Rec and Park’s Natural Areas Program, Koch dons a broad brim sun hat, banded with a jaunty purple bandana. The neckerchief complements a vest with zippered pockets and crisp khakis, cuffed just above ancient mud-caked work boots.

The boots held her in good stead through her years working at City parks such as Crocker-Amazon, Dolores Park, Union and Portsmouth Square, Coit Tower, Upper Noe and Julius Kahn playgrounds, Civic Center and eventually as a manager in John McLaren-sculpted Golden Gate Park.

“It was always exciting to go to work each morning,” she said. “The field work was demanding but always meaningful and working with machines was industrial strength.”

All this may be true for the well-traveled Koch, who early on worked as an Amazon River tour guide in Colombia and who swam in South American waters with electric eels and even piranhas, and even now thinks it was all exciting.

But she recognizes that there are primal benefits working in the outdoors.

“Gardening is meditative and puts you in the present moment, which is particularly important in the modern world” she said, with both the touch of a philosopher and a poet. “Glen Canyon allows you to sense and gives you the gift of hearing an owl’s hoot, a coyote’s howl and a song bird’s whistle.”

After a long career in civil service Koch has even more time to hone her senses. She volunteers each Wednesday in her neighborhood’s 70-acre backyard for the Natural Areas Program, which is pledged to habitat restoration and citizen stewardship.

Gloria Koch volunteering in Glen Canyon’s seep, above the Willow Creek Trail.

“Glen Canyon is our park and it refreshes our minds,” she said. “We want to be surprised when we come here, experiencing the natural world out of the box and on uneven ground.”

She put aside the mattock she’d been using to unearth a scrum of inimical mustard.

“We’re so lucky as a community we can take a trail and experience not only woodland, but meadows, shrubs, rock formations and a creek,” she said. “I love getting around our charming urban village and also getting away to the breezes and beauty of our canyon.”

Commonly seen walking its paths, Koch enthused about the recently completed Saddle Trail Project. It was funded by a $157,000 NAP administration written grant.

“The box and stringer steps are designed gracefully,” she said about 100 plus steps that lead hikers through two chert rock outcroppings above the Willow Loop Trail. “They’re a work of art.”

“If you build it, they will come,” she said of the recently completed switchbacks that curl between the serrated rocks. The new path ensures that hikers will not stray off trail and trample the habitat-friendly vegetation.

Glen Canyon is unique, featuring greenery such as eucalyptus and redwood trees that share space with coastal oaks, columbine and monkey flower  as well as California buckeye and Arroyo willow that shade Douglas iris and coyote brush.

“There’s nothing like spotting a coyote or hearing a woodpecker,” she said. “It gives your brain a rest. You can’t learn everything from a book. Experiencing the natural world directly is so satisfying.”

“And the canyon grassland,” she continued. “It’s significant because it produces so much oxygen and is so rare in the city.”

Grassland is important habitat for raptors such as the Great-Horned Owl that recently returned to the front of the canyon. Above a Red-tailed hawk circled Koch, scouting for its mid-day meal.

Koch returned to extricating a thistle’s taproot. The noonday sun reflected off her wide-brimmed hat.

“Butterflies, like people, are more active in mid-day,” she observed. “They’re more visible over grasslands especially when the sun shines and whenever sun hits flowers the nectar flows.”

A natural area such as Glen Canyon needs management, even more so because man disturbed it in the 1930s by bulldozing a snaking swath of road called O’Shaughnessy Boulevard through it. In the 1960s mounds of excavated soil were dumped here during the development of Diamond Heights. The resulting giant earthen breastwork, now home to carpets of colonizing radish and suitably dubbed Radish Hill by the Friends of Glen Canyon, gives ample testimony to the embarrassing paucity of environmental sensitivity only a generation ago.

 “A public park needs to be managed,” said Koch, “and then plant diversity can lead to animal diversity, which provides surprises for us such as seeing a coyote when we visit.”

But what about man’s best friend, which doesn’t need to hunt and hide in the natural area habitat? A long time gardener, Koch minces few words.

“Dogs should be on a leash,” she said. “I’ve been bitten by a dog, but never by a coyote.”

“Besides,” she continued, “we wouldn’t want the pooches surprised by the coyote, would we?”

She is an unabashed booster for the Natural Areas Program. “The NAP preserves and protects the best we have,” she said. “Its work is so subtle and it leaves few fingerprints and its canyon track record speaks for itself.”

An example is found behind the eucalyptus that offers sanctuary to the nesting mother owl. There a Natural Areas Program project stands on both sides of Islais Creek. With the assistance of Glen Park volunteers and a grant from Levi Strauss, NAP reintroduced an oasis of California native plants such as coffee berry that replaced spent syringes and jagged beer bottles.

“This nature habitat enhancement is a marvelous change,” Koch said, as a house finch perched on a pink flowering currant limb. “It’s such an improvement.”

Koch is convinced native shrubby offers aesthetic benefits as well as environmentally friendly ones. “We can use California native plants ornamentally,” she said. “They are attractive, but also sustainable, low maintenance and their diversity only enhances the canyon’s ecosystem.”

Koch is just as upbeat about the environmentally friendly work now making inroads in front of the canyon, where a $5.8 million 2008 Clean and Safe Neighborhood Parks Bond is footing the bill for relocating tennis courts up the Elk Street hill and carving out a parent-friendly approach for children walking to Glenridge Co-op nursery school and Silver Tree summer camp.

“I’ve never seen a better categorization of waste materials, sorted and processed in such neat piles,” she said, referring to the construction project-in-progress. “San Francisco leads the nation in recycling and this project appears to be a shining example of government-contractor competence.”

An inveterate hiker, used to scaling mountains in Chile, Spain and our own American backcountry, Koch just returned from a six-week trek in Patagonia. “I was on a vision quest,” she said, a smile creasing her sun-tanned face.

She’ll find peaks in Glen Canyon and recreational trails that aren’t nearly as steep as the ones she challenged in South America last month.

Pop-up bag hoisted on her shoulder, Gloria Koch negotiates the Saddle Trail switchback after a day’s volunteering in Glen Canyon.

For Gloria Koch volunteering in Glen Canyon is about living a coherent life. The money-strapped Natural Areas Program’s eight gardeners need additional volunteers to push back against weeds that threaten to smother ecosystems such as the ones found atop Mt. Davidson, Bernal Hill and Corona Heights.

In the front of the canyon, the sated mother owl’s ears poked from a cluster of eucalyptus leaves high in the tree, a sight Koch would have unlikely seen in manicured Golden Gate Park.

“Owls follow diversity,” she said, looking toward the tree that has become a wild life laboratory for so many wide-eyed neighborhood children. That same natural area that sustains Koch, as well.

“I’m so grateful to this city for welcoming an immigrant such as me,” she said, “and the merit system that allowed a Hispanic and a woman to work in our parks for the common good.”

If anyone would like to volunteers with the Natural Areas Program, they can contact Joe Grey, the NAP volunteer coordinator, at joe.grey@sfgov.org or Jean Conner, Friends of Glen Canyon Park, at 415-584-8576.

Poison oak in Glen Canyon. Photo by Ashley Hathaway

A warning about poison oak in the Canyon

I was emailing with Murray Schneider, who writes about the Canyon on the Glen Park News blog, and he warned me that there’s a lot of poison oak out right now.

In fact his exact words where “Where isn’t there poison oak?”

He suggests staying on the trails to avoid it.

“Anything off trail, particularly high up amidst the California coastal scrub you’ll find it intermingled with plants and grasses. It also can appear on or around rock outcroppings. I’ve seen near the trails beyond the new Saddle Trail steps, on the way up to Turquoise Way, in Fox Meadow and near the Angelica rocks.”

He’s also been told it’s growing among the Cape ivy above Glenridge.

Poison oak “follows Himalayan and California blackberry close to trail edges, so tell people to avoid brushing against plants immediately adjacent to trail edges.”

“It looks like California blackberry, three leaves together. But it much more glossy and oily and it doesn’t have little thorns such as blackberry does. Right now it is really shiny!!”

Ashley Hathaway notes that is is very easy for dogs to get it on their coats while wandering in the canyon and then people get it from their dogs when they pet and brush them.

When it hasn’t leaved out “it huddles together in clumps of naked “sticks.” The stalks looks benign, but if one touches the “sticks,” which still contain harmful oils, one can get burned.”

Murray’s had some nasty experiences with it working in the canyon and recommends washing clothing that’s come into contact with it and to immediately bath with a product such as Tecnu, which can be purchased at REI. Ashley notes that it’s also available at Walgreen’s and many other large pharmacies in the area.

The best advice: “Stay on trail!”

Tuesday, April 16th, 2013
7:30am           Diamond/Chenery                     Threats
11:13am           Brompton/Joost                        Recovered Vehicle
12:30pm           200 Blk Randall                        Theft from Building
10:27pm           Congo/Stillings                         Traffic Collision

Wednesday, April 17th, 2013
2:58am           Unit Blk Monterey                    Burglary

Thursday, April 18th, 2013
3:06pm           Oshaughnessy/Bosworth           Traffic Collision

Friday, April 19th, 2013
9:51pm       2800 Blk Diamond                 Theft
Officers Lustenberger and Chew were patrolling the Glen Park
neighborhood when they answered a report of a group of citizens
detaining a theft suspect. When the officers arrived, they found two
citizens had detained a man and a woman suspected of stealing a bag
from a nearby business. One of the citizens told the officers that he
was sitting, with his bag on a table, when he turned away for a
moment. When he looked back, the bag, containing his passport and
other personal items, was gone. He quickly ran outside and saw a woman
holding the bag and walking down the street with an unknown man. He
approached the woman and yelled, “That’s my bag” and pulled it from
her grasp. The theft victim, along with an employee who followed the
victim from the business, then detained both suspects until officers
Chew and Lustenberger arrived. The theft victim signed a citizen’s
arrest and the woman was booked at Ingleside Station for the theft.
Her male companion, who claimed he didn’t know the suspect, was
released. Report number: 130321047

11:00am           100 Blk Moreland                    Fraud
12:10pm           Unit Blk Everson                      Harassing Phone Calls
1:00pm           5200 Blk Diamond Heights       Burglary
11:08pm           Bosworth/Cuvier                      Traffic Collision

Saturday, April 20th, 2013
Nothing to report from Glen Park.

Sunday, April 21st, 2013
5:30pm           100 Blk Bemis                         Stolen Vehicle

Monday, April 22nd, 2013
10:27pm     Bosworth/Marsily                            Robbery
Officers Carrasco and Dominguez were responding to another call when
they were flagged down by a man, who said he was robbed by two men
after exiting the Glen Park BART station. The victim told the officers
he was walking down Bosworth Street when he saw two men approaching
him on the sidewalk. The victim crossed the street to avoid the men,
but the suspects turned and followed him. When the suspects reached
the victim they grabbed his shirt and pushed him up against the wall
on a building. One of the robbers told the victim, “this will only
hurt for a minute. Give me everything”. The two robbers took the
victims red bag with clothing, books and eye glasses, and then reached
into his jacket and took more clothing, a wallet containing credit
cards, ID cards, miscellaneous business cards, and a cell phone before
running away. The officers broadcast a description of the suspects
and, a short time later, Ingleside Officers Ma and Hauscarriague
radioed they located some of the victim’s property on the 100 block of
Rousseau Street. Officer Hauscarriague also broadcast that he noticed
a tall wooden fence in the area moving back and forth and “crunching”
sound coming from the other side of the fence. Other Ingleside
officers responded to the scene and Officer Hauscarriague peered over
the fence and spotted the two suspects in the backyard of a residence.
They were immediately taken into custody and a search of the two
robbers found some of the victim’s clothing along with his wallet.
Both suspects were taken to Ingleside Station and booked on a variety
of charges. Report number: 130330355

6:00pm           200 Blk Mateo                         Theft from Vehicle

An owl nesting in Glen Canyon Park. Photo by Evelyn Rose.

Last fall the male Great Horned Owl that  lived in Glen Canyon was found dead. A necropsy revealed that he had eaten a poisoned mouse or rat.  With his demise  many all been concerned about the mating prospects this year. No nesting activity had been observed.

But today Evelyn Rose of the Tramps of San Francisco blog, wrote with excellent news. On Tuesday she and a friend looked at the owls’ tree with binoculars  and it appears the female of the pair is sitting in the nest.

She wonders if anyone has seen eggs?

This steep hillside garden, in the area of Malta Drive near O’Shaughnessy Blvd., will be a new one on the tour this year. The owner/gardener has done wonders with adaptable native plants in this challenging terrain. Photo by Margo Bors.

By Jeanne Halpern

T. S. Eliot notwithstanding, April is not the cruelest month.  In Glen Park, in fact, it may be the kindest month for the senses, when native plants in public and private gardens seem to have no goal other than to delight.  Walk the trails in Glen Canyon Park and, at the boardwalk, savor the bright yellow of seep monkey flowers beside the deep blue of Douglas iris.  Or visit any or all of more than twenty private gardens open to the public for one day only on the San Francisco Native Plant Garden Tour.

Lush hillside garden at 34 Valletta. Photo by Margo Bors.

That day is Sunday, April 28, and this year, about half of the gardens are in the Glen Park-Noe Valley-Sunnyside-Mt. Davidson area.  You’ll discover native plants in sun and shade, in front and back yards, in driveways and on small sidewalk strips, and in flower pots on decks, porches and patios.  You’ll see traditional gardens where native plants have been combined with exotics from far and wide.  You’ll find gardens with California natives only – and even gardens with only San Francisco natives.  Some gardens are easy-access and others are webbed with trails and stairways.  Fortunately, the garden lists provided on the website (see below) indicate the few gardens that some people might find challenging.  In any case, a walking stick and sturdy shoes can be helpful.

Lupine in all native garden at 34 Valletta. Photo by Margo Bors

Sponsored by the Yerba Buena chapter of the California Native Plant Society, the 2013 tour will also offer opportunities to talk with local gardeners about starting native plant gardens and which plants thrive in this area.  You’ll be able to pick up pamphlets about the advantages of natives, such as saving on water bills, attracting more birds, insects and butterflies to your garden, and keeping your garden colorful all year round.  In my garden, for instance, forty-eight species of natives were in bloom last April and sixty-two in May, but even January boasted thirteen, including manzanita (pink and white), ceanothus (many shades of blue), tree mallow (bright fuchsia) and the graceful silk tassel (luminous white).  There’s never a month without a bloom, and where there are blooms, can birds and bees be far behind?

Poppies and phacelia from above garden. Photo by Margo Bors.

The self-guided tour is free and open to the public on Sunday, April 28, from 11am—3 pm.  For information and maps for the 2013 tour, go to http://cnps-yerbabuena.org/gardentour in April.  To get a general sense of what the tour has been like in recent years, go to the same website and look at the 2012 or 2011 tour any time.  If you have specific questions, contact the tour chairperson, Susan Floore, at sfloore@att.net and be sure to write “Garden Tour” in the subject line.