Bay Area theater lovers!

Come watch "The Lion in Winter" showing in scenic Sonoma at the Russian River Hall through April 29, 2012.

The New York Times described this brilliant play as "A work of intelligence, astringent wit, and much theatrical skill." Curtain Call Theatre at the Russian River has a distinguished cast performing this ambitious stage production under Artistic Director Michael Tabib.

The traditional Gala performance is on April 28. All other performances are:

• Fridays & Saturdays at 8PM
• Sunday matinees at 2PM
• Fridays are "Pay What You Can"
• All other performances are $15 General admission and $12 Seniors over 60 and Students with ID
• Still the lowest priced live theater experience in Sonoma County

Reserve your seats now for The Lion in Winter!

See James Goldman's theatrical masterpiece at:

Russian River Hall
20347 Highway 116
Monte Rio, CA

For details and Reservations call 707-849-4873 or visit www.russianriverhall.com

So you want to go green with your nonprofit or small business? And you'd like a nice award or certificate to prove to everyone that you are indeed going green?

Here in the San Francisco Bay Area the Bay Area Green Business Program is not that hard for businesses to join, since many of the requirements are multiple choice (as in "meet 3 of the following 5 requirements").

Kahl Consultants did not have to make changes at all, we managed to meet the requirements without any additional expenses or efforts (aside from filling out a questionnaire and going through an on-site audit). However we had already invested in green items such as energy efficiency, solar power, water conservation, recycling, and so on.

In Marin County, CA, there is an additional level of green certification called the Marin County Sustainable Partners Program. Kahl Consultants was one of the first companies to receive the Sustainable Partner award, and it was considerably more difficult to achieve certification than for the Bay Area Green Business Program.

Another popular green certification is GREEN AMERICA's Green Business Seal of Approval, which Kahl Consultants received in 2010.You can learn more about the green aspects of Kahl Consultants in our Green Business section.

Are you interested in going green with your company or nonprofit? The key to going green is to start right away with the "low hanging fruit" (the easy steps) and then commit to doing regular improvements - across the board - over time.

Earth Day is coming up!

Visit the new website that lists all the Marin County Earth Day volunteer events (service projects). The general public can participate in these projects on and around Earth Day.

Please visit the new Earth Day Marin website:

www.myearthdaymarin.org

This website has the latest information on environmentally focused service projects organized in honor of Earth Day throughout Marin County!

Celebrate Earth Day in April by volunteering! You'll find plenty of opportunities here to give back to mother nature.

We hope you'll gain appreciation for the incredible environmental beauty of Marin County.

 

Marin County government agencies involved are:

MCSTOPPP Marin County Stormwater Pollution Prevention Program

Marin County Parks and Open Space District

City of San Rafael Volunteer Program

San Rafael Clean

CVNL Center for Volunteer and Nonprofit Leadership of Marin

Marin County Community Development Agency

MMWD Marin Municipal Water District

 

San Rafael based web services company Kahl Consultants has volunteered company time and expertise to create this important environmental website for Marin County.

Kahl Consultants is a solar powered internet consulting firm and a certified Bay Area Green Business as well as a Marin County Sustainable Partner.

 

Please share this Marin County Earth Day website with others in Marin. We hope you'll check out the list of service projects and volunteer.

And please make every day Earth Day... Reduce, Reuse, Recycle!

Tomorrow Saturday March 18 the Moon will be closer to Earth than that it has been since 1993!

The "supermoon" appears 14 percent larger and 30 percent brighter than lesser full Moons (as always this is with weather permitting). A casual observer probably won't tell the difference.

This full Moon almost coincides with perigee (which is when the Moon is closest to Earth). That means a very large range of high and low ocean tides. The highest tides lag by a few days depending on your location. For example, here in San Francisco, CA the highest tide (6.5 feet) will be attained on March 22. Any storms at sea now can aggravate coastal flooding. Such an extreme tide is known as a perigean spring tide (spring from the German word springen – to "spring up," and not the spring season).

Try to catch the Moon near the horizon, and it can appear enormous. This is due to the famous “Moon illusion” where a Moon looks incredibly large when it is seen near trees, buildings or other foreground objects. You can check the times for Moonrise and Moonset for your area by going to these websites:

Sun or Moon Rise/Set Table for One Year: U.S. Cities and Towns

Sun or Moon Rise/Set Table for One Year: Locations Worldwide

For extra credit brownie points visit this site:

10 Things You Didn't Know About the Moon

For example, did you know we can see more than half the Moon from Earth? Yes we can actually see 59 percent (almost three-fifths)!

Why? The Moon's rotation is uniform but its rate of revolution is not. So sometimes we see just around the edge of each limb!

The images you see in this article is a small version of a half-gigabyte gigantic image of the Moon. This image was stitched together from images taken by a Moon-orbiting satellite called the Lunar Reconnaisance Orbiter.

P.S. Happy Mooning!

Henry Young of our client DXI Productions created this beautiful video called "Bali Body & Spirit" for the San Francisco Asian Art Museum exhibit Bali: Art, Ritual, Performance:

This article was published in the SVNA newsletter:

Kahl Consultants Small Business Web Services has been awarded the Green America Business Seal of Approval. The seal is presented to businesses that go beyond product and service quality to set the highest standards in environmental sustainability and social justice.

"We are thrilled to earn this coveted Seal of Approval," said Kahl. "It's one of the most respected and recognized symbols in the green marketplace." Kahl Consultants' Founder and President Alex Kahl is an environmental and energy consultant. Kahl Consultants' mission is to help small business and nonprofits with online technology in an environmentally and socially conscious manner.

A related article about our Green Seal was published by the San Rafael Chamber of Commerce:

Kahl Consultants Small Business Web Services has been awarded the Green America Business Seal of Approval. The seal is presented to businesses that go beyond product and service quality to set the highest standards in environmental sustainability and social justice, and work to solve, rather than create, environmental and social problems.

To be considered for the Seal of Approval and earn a listing in the annual National Green Pages^TM, businesses complete a rigorous screening process to ensure they meet Green America's standards for the environment, community and labor.

Kahl Consultants' Founder and President Alex Kahl is an environmental and energy consultant whose knowledge of environmental business practices ensures that Kahl Consultants is constantly reducing its environmental impact and actively promoting green practices with its clients and partners.

"We are thrilled to earn this coveted Seal of Approval," said Kahl. "It's one of the most respected and recognized symbols in the green marketplace and a powerful way to set Kahl Consultants apart as a leader in its field."

With the award of the Seal of Approval, Kahl Consultants is now an Approved member of the Green Business Network, a distinguished and celebrated group of companies that use their products and services as a vehicle for social and environmental change.

Another short article about our Green Seal was published as Business News by the North Bay Business Journal in February 2011.

 

Kahl Consultants Small Business Web Services has been awarded the Green America Business Seal of Approval. The seal is presented to businesses that go beyond product and service quality to set the highest standards in environmental sustainability and social justice, and work to solve, rather than create, environmental and social problems.

To be considered for the Seal of Approval and earn a listing in the annual National Green Pages^TM, businesses complete a rigorous screening process to ensure they meet Green America's standards for the environment, community and labor.

Kahl Consultants' Founder and President Alex Kahl is an environmental and energy consultant whose knowledge of environmental business practices ensures that Kahl Consultants is constantly reducing its environmental impact and actively promoting green practices with its clients and partners.

"We are thrilled to earn this coveted Seal of Approval," said Kahl. "It's one of the most respected and recognized symbols in the green marketplace and a powerful way to set Kahl Consultants apart as a leader in its field."

Kahl Consultants is solar powered as well as energy efficient. Its water conservation measures include using water-saving fixtures, graywater (recycled water), and collected rainwater. Its landscaping features drought-tolerant native plants. The company educates visitors on how to reduce junk mail, junk faxes, and spam. It avoids working with socially and environmentally destructive corporations.

Kahl Consultants is certified as a Bay Area Green Business. The Green Business Program recognizes businesses that demonstrate compliance with environmental regulations, conserve energy, water, and other materials, implement environmental practices that prevent pollution, and share environmentally responsible practices with other businesses.

With the award of the Seal of Approval, Kahl Consultants is now an Approved member of the Green Business Network, a distinguished and celebrated group of companies that use their products and services as a vehicle for social and environmental change.

More on Green America and the Green Business Network
The Green Business Network (GBN) offers a vibrant community of over 4,000 environmentally and socially responsible businesses, the oldest and largest of its kind in the US. GBN is powered by Green America, a non-profit whose mission is to harness the economic power of consumers and businesses to create a more just and sustainable economy. More information on GBN can be found at www.greenbusinessnetwork.org.

More on Kahl Consultants
Kahl Consultants is a certified green, solar powered business serving small business and nonprofit clients worldwide since 1996. Based in San Rafael, CA, it services hundreds of satisfied customers in the San Francisco Bay Area, Marin County and Sonoma County, as well as national and international clients. Its mission is to help small business and nonprofits with online technology in an environmentally and socially conscious manner.

Get ready for WINTER SOLSTICE coming on December 20 this year. That's the shortest day and longers night in the Northern Hemisphere.

If you live in North America you'll get a chance to see a TOTAL LUNAR ECLIPSE on the very same day! Well, that is assuming the skies are clear, of course!

Here on the West Coast the lunar eclipse begins around 9:30 p.m. PST Monday. The entire eclipse will be observable and it lasts just a few hours.

Learn more:

http://www.skyandtelescope.com/observing/home/111597159.html

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/40688030/ns/technology_and_science-space/

 

 

Every year I help in cleanup activities and I see how many plastic bags are littering our community. Plastic bags and plastic bottles are a primary source of trash in our environment.

Nothing we use once and then toss should be littering our sidewalks or swirling around in the ocean for hundreds of years. Plastic litter harms wildlife, hurts tourism, and with all the alternatives available it is absolutely unnecessary.

 

 

So I am very happy to announce I just added my business, Kahl Consultants, to a petition urging CA state senators to support AB 1998, a statewide ban on plastic grocery bags.

I recommend that you add your own business to the petition too!

Do it at the Environment California Web site.

Telephone Emergency Notification System (TENS) is a high speed communications system that delivers emergency information or warnings to designated geographic areas.

TENS is a combination of telephone, computer, and Geographic Information System (GIS) technologies.

TENS is a very important communications note to put out there and we need it to be presented in the most complete manner possible.

TENS is used to communicate such information as:

• imminent flooding
• sheltering instructions
• evacuation routes
• missing person alerts
• and more

By simply selecting an area that needs to receive emergency information, the message is prerecorded and then automatically calls the homes in the selected area - up to 22,000 per hour. It's another great way to communicate important information during an event.

TENS is managed by the Marin County Office of Emergency Services and as long as you have a landline you are able to receive these important calls during the time of an emergency. If you have a cordless phone or your service provider is also your cable provider you should double check that they have registered you with the emergency notification database.

TENS Question & Answer

1. QUESTION: What information do you have on the citizens who are being called and where does the information come from. How is this information accessed or collected?
   ANSWER: Â We collect all phone numbers from Verizon and AT&T and upload them to our servers quarterly. The only people that can access these numbers and activate our TENS system is our County OES staff. These numbers are not given out to anyone else for any reason.
2. QUESTION: If I am called, what information appears on my caller ID?
   ANSWER: The numbers that will show up on your caller ID varies depending on the method we use. They could be any of the following numbers: 415-507-1513, 480-629-0003, or 615-514-0815. If you have a standard voicemail/answering machine, the system will leave a message. If you have a voicemail/answering machine that says press 1 for Joe, 2 for Mary, etc., the system will not leave a message.
3. QUESTION: Does TENS work with the relatively new internet/broadband/VoIP phones, e.g. Vonage or Comcast digital or AT&T U-verse digital?
   ANSWER: AT&T and Verizon cover the VOIP numbers for AT&T U-verse and Comcast, so those numbers are uploaded into the TENS database. As for Vonage, they do not have this option. Vonage subscribers must call Vonage to ask them to provide their numbers to AT&T & Verizon so those numbers will be covered when a call out is made. It's up to the subscribers to get Vonage to do this.
4. QUESTION: What is the Emergency Notification Database and can any number be listed?
   ANSWER: It is up to the subscriber to contact their phone carrier and make sure that their number is added to the list of phone numbers provided to Marin County OES for emergency call outs. AT&T & Verizon do this automatically.
   

911 / e911

There are some differences with the 911/e911 service for these online phones.

e911 service is the number that is provided to Communication Dispatch Center. If you call 911 from your home phone, your address shows up on the Dispatch screen for a faster way to get help dispatch first responders to your home.

See also FCC website

Marin Emergency Automated Notification System (MEANS)

A system called Marin Emergency Automated Notification System (MEANS) gives each city/town the ability to enter resident information (home phone, cell phone, work phone, pager, and email) and upon activation of the system, messages can be sent to these devices.

Some but not all cities and town in Marin are currently using the MEANS systems.

Further Information

San Rafael Disaster Communications & Warning Systems

Marin County Telephone Emergency Notification System (TENS)

 

Contacts

City of San Rafael Office of Emergency Services
1039 C Street
San Rafael CA 94901
Tel: 415-458-5002

Working collaboratively with partner agencies and organizations, OES coordinates the mitigation, preparedness, response, and recovery from the effects of emergencies and disasters that threaten the lives, property, and the environment of San Rafael. Organizes the Marin Get Ready program for San Rafael.

Marin County Office of Emergency Services
3501 Civic Center Drive #266
San Rafael, CA. 94903
Tel: 415-499-6584

Marin County OES provides emergency management services for the County/Operational Area including its eleven cities/towns and 300+ special districts.