California could avoid shutting down 220 state parks, including Chino Hills in north O.C., by charging a $15 vehicle license fee to all the state’s drivers.

The proposal, adopted by Democratic lawmakers in a joint budget committee struggling to close California’s $24.3 billion budget gap, was one of several offered as alternatives to sharp cuts proposed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Democratic legislators hope to make up the shortfall by increasing revenue and adding some new taxes and fees, and rescinding some corporate tax breaks; Republicans oppose the plan, saying the state’s economy could not support more tax increases.

read more at greenoc.com

In a marriage of opposites, nimble designer-surfer Thomas Meyerhoffer of Montara has joined forces with distribution and manufacturing powerhouse Global Surf Industries (GSI) to unleash his latest design breakthrough on the surfing world:

Meyerhoffer has reinvented the wheel multiple times over during his storied career, but his latest project is one close to his own heart—reinventing the longboard. Developed and tested over the past few years, this new equipment represents a radical departure from the incremental design evolution of the past and potential quantum leap forward in form and function.

The “Modern Meyerhoffer” was sculpted around the principle that longboarders turn off the tail and noseride up front, with the middle of the board an excessive transition zone in between that could be reduced. Accordingly, the board has a relatively traditional nose up front, leading to a tapered waist in the middle, a dynamic, wider rear end and elongated tail for stability and drive. This gives the Meyerhoffer its distinctive organic “parabolic” shape. Meyerhoffer is quick to point out that “the negative curve is only there so that I could shape a more positive curve … as on a surfboard you turn around the positive curve.”

check out the full story by surfpulse