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Program for Friday May 2, 2003

Don Gosney
The chair of the Reuse authority, will give us an overview of the situation at Point Molate today.

Door Duty: Ralph Hill and Charles Ramsey

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Program for Friday May 9, 2003

Peres School, Spirit of Excellence Kids

Door Duty: Joanie Hiramoto and Markku Pelanne

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Program of April 25, 2003

Honorable Laurel Brady, Presiding Judge, CC County Superior Court.

Prez Dave introduced our speaker, the Hon. Laurel J. Brady.   Judge Brady is an alumni of Richmond Rotary and is now Presiding Judge for the CCC Superior Court in Martinez. She has served as a District Attorney in Contra Costa County and Solano County and was appointed to Bay Municipal Court in 1996. In 1998 Judge Brady was elevated to the Superior Court, to Assistant Presiding Judge in 2001-2002, and Presiding Judge 2003-2004.

Laurel provided a status report on the state of the courts in CCC. Due to State budget cutbacks, funding is tight. She used adjectives such as "severe, unprecedented and drastic" to describe the budget impact. As a result, providing court services during the next two years will be a major challenge. A hiring freeze is in effect, there is no temporary help and simply not enough hands to do the work. Public counter hours have been reduced. There is a possibility that the State will require the Court to reduce employees.

The good news is that the new Martinez Court was funded well before budget problems and will be dedicated next week.

Recognitions
Joey "Bags" Bagley acknowledged the anniversary of our favorite banker Barry Gordon. In honor of 15 years of marital bliss (out of how many?) Barry only had $5 in his pocket but promised a lot more to follow.

Happy/Sad $$
Dan Ercolini was ecstatic about a recent softball game and was also glad the 4 Way Test is practiced at the Rotary Bar - he left behind enough on the counter to buy a round. Jim Young had a semantic question on local place names, but has now accepted the colloquial pronunciations. Joe Bagley was pleased with the Market Watch coverage that gave a boost to NIAD. Isn't Judy Kafka one great Sargent-at-Arms? Jon Lawlis found $20 in his pocket left over from his trip to Maui and is looking forward to his fishing trip with Dr Herb and David K.

Check out the hard working Richmond Rotarians at this
year's Xmas in April Slideshow. If you have a slow internet connection, please allow several minutes for show to load.

Links to Dr. Sheckman's Stem Cell Research references:
http://www.nih.gov/news/stemcell/index.htm
This is is the one that has the article and pictures that Sheckman passed out.

http://www.news.wisc.edu/packages/stemscells/
This is a general information site operaterated by the University of Wisconsin about stem cells and stem cell research.

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Last Week
Despite the recent vernal equinox, it was a rainy day at the Mira Vista Country Club. But nobody seemed to care - it is good to get back to home turf. Prez Dave asked the Club's favorite photographer, Charlie Wong, to lead the pledge. The Thought for the Day was: Am I not destroying my enemies when I make friends of them? Abraham Lincoln (who was the tender age of 56 years old when assassinated).

Guests
Herb Cole brought three guests: Noe' and Kristine Barrios with their sparkling daughter Audra. Richard Alexander had two guests: Judge Peter Burger and I apologize for missing the name of the second one(I believe another judge). Prez Dave was so happy to see John Medlock that he threatened to count him as a visitor.

Visiting Rotarians

Announcements
The District Conference is this weekend - 24-27 April in Fairfield.

Christmas in April is also here. Saturday 26 April at 8AM. The address is 760 39th Street in Richmond. Prez Dave invited all participants to accompany him to the Boat Show after the event. (Looking for a little more hull speed Dave?)

Volunteer Needed. "Rotary Day at the A's for Polio Eradication" will be held on 21 May. We need a volunteer to organize Club participation in this event.

Rotarians are needed for Camp Royal. Rotarians are invited to stay the week and participate in the entire program. That means sleep on platforms with the campers, listen to the powerful speakers and be available to discuss the impact of the messages delivered. See if you can carve some time out on your calendars and help out this summer June 15-21. A rewarding experience. Contact Elisabeth Andreason - Direct 925-288-3741. Elisabeth.Andreason@morganstanley.com.

Dr. Herb introduced our Youth Fellowship Exchange student Audra Barrios. Audra is a sophomore at El Cerrito High, 16 years old, and will be going to Belgium. She is a poised young lady and gave a nice talk about her background and enthusiasm for the program. She is a neighbor of Herb's and her Dad works the railroad at Jim Cannon's Levin-Richmond Terminal.

David K's Sunshine Report confirmed that everything is rosy. Does that include the sturgeon fishing as well?

Coming Speakers
May 16th - Sunne Wright McPeak on the BCDC
June 13th - The Greatest and Most Deserved Demotion Ever
June 20th - Steve Seskin, Award Winning Songwriter

Raffle
Once again the Aloha Spirit was in the room and Don Lau won the ticket drawing. But trade winds carried the Spirit out of the room and Don pulled a chicken egg out of the bag. And cellular call of the week goes to Dr. Herb.

A backward poet writes inverse.

Semper Paratus