Rare Black Moon to rise Tonight in night sky of Western Hemisphere

The final day of September will bring a rare lunar event that hasn’t occurred since March of 2014, a Black Moon.

The term Black Moon has several definitions, but one of the most common definitions is the second new moon in a calendar month. This is similar to the well-known Blue Moon, which is the name given to the second full moon in a calendar month.

Since it is a new moon, it will not be a visible event as the side of the moon that is illuminated will be facing away from the Earth.

The last time that two new moons fell in the same month was March of 2014.

While some areas of the world, such as the United States, experience a Black Moon in September, it will not be the case for the entire world.

“It’s the second new moon this month in all of the Americas, but not in Europe and points east from there,” said Bob Berman, an astronomer for Slooh.

This is because the new moon occurs at 8:11 p.m. EDT on Sept. 30, so for areas in the Eastern Hemisphere, the new moon will officially occur after the calendar flips to October.

However, these areas will not miss out on a Black Moon. Another new moon will occur at the end of the month, giving the Eastern Hemisphere a Black Moon right around Halloween.

While this type of Black Moon happens about once every two and a half years, there are several other lunar events that fall under the same name.

Another type of Black Moon is when there are no new moons in a month. These can only happen in February and occur once every five to 10 years, said Berman.

“The phrase could also mean the third new moon when there are four in a season, which is actually also one of the definitions of a Blue Moon when the same thing happens to a full moon,” Berman added.

The next time that two new moons will fall in the same month for the Western Hemisphere will be in July of 2019.

From the Western Hemisphere, the new moon occurring on Friday, Sept. 30, is a Black Moon. Officially, it occurs at 8:11 p.m. Eastern Time (5:11 p.m. Pacific Time).

Sources: Space.com, AccuWeather.com,

DELTA TUNNELS – Agencies Should Dump Plan or Start Over

A coalition of conservation, public interest, and fishing groups has sent a letter to the state and federal agencies overseeing the proposed Delta Tunnels proposal asking them to either drop the plan, or develop a new Draft EIR/EIS for the project that includes newly released information.

The letter, written by Robert Wright senior counsel at Friends of the River, is addressed to the California Natural Resources Agency, the U.S. Departments of the Interior & Commerce, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, and the Council on Environmental Quality at the White House.

The letter focuses on new information discovered by Restore the Delta through the California Public Records Act that revealed an unreleased economic analysis showing the Tunnels would require taxpayer subsidies and would export far more water from the San Francisco Bay-Delta than has been disclosed to the public. Without a full accounting of the projects costs, who will pay, and impacts to the environment, federal and state agencies have no legal way to move forward.

The letter concludes that approving the project as proposed, threatens to tarnish President Obama’s outstanding environmental legacy.

Main points in the letter:

1. Rather than water districts covering the entire cost of the Delta Tunnels, the proposal simply doesn’t pencil out without taxpayer subsidies.

“…in November of 2015, the economic consultant for the project, David Sunding of The Brattle Group, prepared a draft CalWater Fix Economic Analysis for the California Natural Resources Agency. That Economic Analysis, purporting to justify the economic feasibility of the project, assumed that the federal government or some other entity would need to provide a subsidy of $6.5 billion to make the Water Tunnels a breakeven proposition for agricultural users of the water.”

2. The amount of water that must be exported from the San Francisco Bay-Delta to make the Tunnels viable is far larger than proponents have claimed in the draft environmental documents.

“As explained by Dr. Jeffrey Michael, Director of the Center for Business and Policy Research at the University of the Pacific the subject Analysis “assumes water yields (the difference in export water delivery with and without the tunnels) are 4 times higher than in official Water Fix documents including its RDEIR/SDEIS and petition to the State Water Resources Control Board.”

3. Groups promoting the Delta Tunnels have not been truthful with the public or federal oversight agencies.

“This project reeks of misrepresentation by the proponent agencies. The public is told the beneficiary users will pay all costs of the project. In secret, the proponent public agencies have received information from their own economic consultant that a substantial public subsidy would be necessary for the project. The public is told one thing in public about water yields and corresponding impacts on the Delta and fisheries. In secret, the proponent public agencies base financial feasibility decision-making on assuming far higher water yields than disclosed to the public.”

4. Because of this new information the project in on shaky legal ground.

“That new Draft EIR/EIS must include disclosure of whether taxpayers as well as ratepayers will be paying for the project and disclosure of the true quantities of freshwater flows that will actually be diverted for the Water Tunnels. The truth needs to start. The lying needs to stop. If instead, you allow Reclamation and DWR to issue a Final EIR/EIS for this project, that will constitute failure to proceed in the manner required by law. We are confident that you will decide to honor President Obama’s legacy and our laws by proceeding in the manner required by law.”

5. President Obama’s environmental legacy is on the line.

“President Obama has established a legacy of honesty, scientific integrity, and commitment to conservation and protection of our precious natural resources. There is no acceptable reason for you to allow the California Water Fix Project to go forward at this time staining that legacy in the process of contributing to the destruction of the San Francisco Bay Delta estuary.”

Groups signing the letter are:
AquAlliance, California Sportfishing Protection Alliance, California Water Impact Network, Center for Biological Diversity, Environmental Justice Coalition for Water, Environmental Water Caucus, Friends of the River, Planning and Conservation League, Restore the Delta, and Sierra Club California.

Fogging for Adult Mosquitoes in Bethel Island / N. E. Oakley – Wednesday, September 28, 2016 Between 6:30 p.m. and 10:30 p.m

Due to the high numbers of mosquitoes and the presence of West Nile virus in the area, the Contra Costa Mosquito & Vector Control District will be fogging by hand-held ultra low volume sprayers and by ultra low volume truck-mounted sprayers to control adult mosquitoes.

DATE: Wednesday, September 28, 2016

TIME: Between 6:30 p.m. and 10:30 p.m., weather permitting.

LOCATION: Bethel Island / North East Oakley

Fogging area illustrated in orange

The areas to be treated include:

Stone Road, Bethel Island

Wells Lane, Oakley

Sandmound Boulevard, Oakley

MATERIALS USED: The insecticide to be used is Zenivex E4, RTU applied at a rate of 1.5 ounces per acre.

MAP: For an interactive map, please click here –

For more information, visit our website

The Contra Costa Mosquito & Vector Control District utilizes an integrated vector management program which means we use a variety of protocols for controlling mosquitoes. These protocols include public education, physical control such as managing vector habitat, biological control such as mosquitofish, and chemical control such as pesticides.

Scam Of The Week: Apple Store Phishing Attack

A new Phishing attack is using a very realistic-looking Apple App Store message to trick you into trying to prevent getting charged for something you did not buy. This attack may make it through all the spam filters into your inbox so you need to be alert for this scam.

This phishing attack tries to make you fill out a page with your full address and credit card information so that you “will not get charged”. If you or a family member would fall for this trick though, it is highly likely that your credit card would get fraudulently charged quickly.

Remember to never click on links in emails to go to a vendor’s website. Always use your browser and either type in the address of the company or use a bookmark you have set yourself earlier. And while we are at it, never just open an email attachment you did not ask for. Let’s stay safe out there and Think Before You Click!”

Oakley is Hiring

The City of Oakley is now hiring for multiple positions. For the employment application and deadlines please click here.

Administrative Assistant: Application due Oct. 6th

This person will perform a variety of generalized and specialized support, clerical, secretarial, and routine administrative and programmatic work in support of the City Manager’s Office and Human Resources Division. Duties include maintaining accurate and up to date files and records for assigned areas; making of appointments, and maintaining calendar of activities, meetings, or events for assigned staff or public; typing, word processing, and proofreading a variety of documents and forms including general correspondence, reports, and memoranda; assisting with City-wide communications; responding to complaints and requests for information relating to assigned responsibilities etc.

Public Works Inspector: Application due Oct. 14th

Under the direction of the Public Works Director/City Engineer, this individual will be responsible for performing a variety of technical field and office related engineering work associated with construction inspection activities on assigned public works projects. Duties include overseeing consultants and participating in inspecting the construction, repair, and/or alteration work on assigned projects; oversees and conducts field sampling and testing of construction materials; analyzes and interprets lab results and writes test reports; meets and confers with representatives of utility companies, contractors, engineers, and other public agencies regarding construction plans and specifications; investigates and attempts to resolve citizen complaint etc.

Accounting Assistant: Open until filled

This person would be under supervision of the Finance Director or of his/her designee, perform a variety of clerical accounting work involved in performing financial record keeping and reporting duties in support of assigned accounting system, function, or program area; prepare, process, maintain, and verify financial/accounting documents and records; provide customer service in person and by telephone; and perform general office duties in support of the Finance Department. This person will perform data entry; post receipts and other information to various City accounts and funds. As assigned, will perform a range of clerical accounting duties in support of billing, accounts payable, business licensing and payroll processes.

Recreation Leader: Application due Sept. 30th

Some of the duties will range from leading participants in arts and crafts, sports, games, homework tutorials, and recreational activities, answering questions from the public, helping to plan and coordinate events, assist with set up as well as serving as a role model. Among the primary requirements are that you be 18 years of age or older, have a driver’s license, available to work nights and evenings and can lift 50 pounds or more.

A Spare the Air Alert is in effect, Tuesday, September 27, 2016, in the San Francisco Bay Area

A Spare the Air Alert is in effect for, Monday, September 26, and Tuesday, September 27, in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Concentrations of ground-level ozone pollution are forecast to be unhealthy tomorrow. Residents are encouraged to drive less and reduce their energy use tomorrow and every day so pollution levels are lower, preventing health alerts when temperatures are high.

To help prevent smog this summer, please: – Bike to work or around town – Take public transit – Telecommute – Carpool and link your errands to reduce driving – Avoid using gas-powered lawn mowers and leaf blowers – Reduce household energy use – Don’t use lighter fluid on the barbecue – Avoid using aerosol spray cleaners, paints and hairspray High levels of ozone pollution are particularly harmful for young children, seniors and those with respiratory and heart conditions. Vigorous outdoor exercise should be undertaken only in the early morning hours when ozone concentrations are lower.

To plan your commute online, visit 511.org. To monitor current air quality conditions, visit sparetheair.org

Download the FREE Spare the Air iPhone or Android application at sparetheair.org for alert notifications, local air quality forecasts, podcasts and several tools to help reduce air pollution!

This AirAlert is provided by the Bay Area Air Quality Management District.

Thank you for doing your part to Spare the Air! Employers with 50 or more full-time employees in the Bay Area are now required to offer commuter benefits to their employees. To find out how you could save money by using commuter benefits, visit commuterbenefits.511.org<

September 28 and 29, 2016 – Vasco Road Safety Project

Contra Costa County Public Works Department will perform roadwork on Vasco Road from the Alameda County line north to Camino Diablo Road on September 28 and 29, 2016. The work will occur between the hours of 9:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. to replace roadway delineators.

The purpose of the delineators and rumble strips is to increase driver awareness and safety when travelling through this commute corridor. The work may be rescheduled based on weather conditions. Electronic message boards will alert drivers of the scheduled work. There will be traffic control through the work area and motorists can expect delays.