Gloucestercast 188 With @KimSmithDesigns, Jon von Tetzchner, Deb and Frank Sacco, Catherine Ryan, Karen Pischke and @Joey_C

Gloucestercast 188 With @KimSmithDesigns, Jon von Tetxchner, Deb and Frank Sacco,Catherine Ryan, Karen Pischke and @Joey_C

Topics Include:

Cat Ryan talks about Smart Growth Conference In Worcester

Jon von Tetxchner Vivaldi New Internet Browser being developed in the Innovation House- Magnolia MA- www.vivaldi.com

Reids Ride July 17th third sunday in July with us are Deb Sacco Frank Sacco www.reidsride.org

International Dory Races www.internationaldories.com

Beauport Hotel 1606 Restaurant For Dinner Incredible.

Tonno- Pork Chop.  Incredible how relaxed and on point the staff at Tonno were right off the bat.  Get the Pork Chop.   https://www.facebook.com/Tonno-120701028065170/

Cigar and Rum Cruise July 14th on The Thomas E Lannon.  2 Ninety Plus cigars, Rum Drinks from Ryan and Wood and a Sail On The Lannon

Mayor has new executive assistant Christopher Sicuranza- kudos Christine Pantano

New LED Lights On Plum St

Trash on Good Harbor

Piping Plover update and Kim Is Taking On The Law Breaking Dog Owners

Mike Hale Is The Best Head Of Gloucester DPW Ever and His Team Is Incredibly Hard Working

Paolo Laboa from Pinoli who left Beverly MA to open Pinoli at Former Alchemy and then Left Pinoli To Open a joint in San Fran  has left San Fran to Open a Joint in Portland – Sol Italiano

Gloucester boxing club new location, 18 Sargent  st, next to capeann crossfit… find them at gloucesterboxingclub.com or facebookWomens classes  Thursdays at 6 and Saturday  at 9

LIVE BLOGGING FROM NEW LED STREET LIGHTS

I am not exactly sure what we are comparing as light number one is one large bulb, light number two is three bulbs, and light numbers three and four each have four bulbs.

New LED Light above

Existing Light

I would describe the color of the LED lights not as blueish as I have heard described, but greenish. They appear extremely harsh, with an eerie and unwelcoming quality.

URGENT IMPORTANT CITIZEN INPUT NEEDED REGARDING NEW STREETLIGHTS

I LOVE CHANGE, CHANGE FOR THE BETTER THAT IS. IS THIS A CHANGE FOR THE BETTER? ARE WE COMMITTED TO THE NEW STREET LIGHTS? HOW DO YOU FEEL LED LIGHTS WILL AFFECT THE QUALITY OF YOUR LIFE IN OUR COMMUNITY, WHETHER 4000K OR 3000K OR NO CHANGE?
Two variations on LED streetlights being considered by the city have been set up for evaluation. The test installations are the first four lights on the west side of Washington Street just south of Gee Avenue.There are two types, rated at 3,000 degrees Kelvin and 4,000 degrees Kelvin. The “color” of the light is slightly different between the two types.

People concerned about light pollution and the effect of the lights on wildlife have been advocating for the 3,000K lights. Send your comments to Matt Coogan in the City’s Planning Department. His email address is:

MCoogan@gloucester-ma.gov

Above image courtesy google image search.

Map courtesy Paul Morrison via FB

PLEASE READ THIS OPINION PERTAINING TO THE EXPERIENCE OF OTHER COMMUNITIES WITH THE LED LIGHTS

Ruining That Moody Urban Glow

NEW YORK TIMES SUNDAY REVIEW

By LIONEL SHRIVER OCT. 17, 2015

…In interviews with the media, my fellow experimental subjects have compared the nighttime environment under the new streetlights to a film set, a prison yard, “a strip mall in outer space” and “the mother ship coming in for a landing” in “Close Encounters of the Third Kind.” Although going half-blind at 58, I can read by the beam that the new lamp blasts into our front room without tapping our own Con Ed service. Once the LEDs went in, our next-door neighbor began walking her dog at night in sunglasses.

Medical research has firmly established that blue-spectrum LED light can disrupt sleep patterns. This is the same illumination that radiates in far smaller doses from smartphone and computer screens, to which we’re advised to avoid exposure for at least an hour before bed, because it can suppress the production of melatonin. The tribute to “the city that never sleeps” was meant to celebrate a vibrant cultural night life — not a town of hollow-eyed “Walking Dead” insomniacs.

While the same light has also been associated with increased risk of breast cancer and mood disorders, in all honesty my biggest beef with LEDs has nothing to do with health issues. These lights are ugly. They’re invasive. They’re depressing. New York deserves better.

CONTINUE READING HERE

Beautiful Dark Skies Over Gloucester

Halibut Point State Park Observation Tower, photo by Roger Porter of GAAC with the Milky Way on a typical summer night.

 The Boston Globe reported on July 26 that Gloucester has been awarded $240,000.00 to convert streetlights to LEDs; the move is reportedly expected to save the city $130,000.00 annually on its electric bill. This is great news, but only if we’re careful with the type of LEDs that we wind up with.LEDs are by nature rich in blue light. And shining blue light around at night is a terrible idea.The sky is blue in the daytime because blue light from the sun is scattered in the atmosphere most easily. This is, unfortunately, also true at night — the blue light component of streetlights is scattered in the atmosphere and produces sky glow, which blocks out the stars and causes glare. Glare is bad for drivers, and for birds and other living things that need the dark, and for other natural resources, including the night-time sky.

The more blue light, the fewer stars we can see. We could easily lose one of Cape Ann’s great tourist attractions, our rich night skies, in the transition to the wrong LEDs. Most folks never get to see the Milky Way, but we see it all the time; tourists are often quite surprised at the beauty of our night skies. But once the stars are gone, they’re gone. Go to Boston, for example, and look up.

The good news is that in addition to saving money, we can have more environmentally-friendly lighting by being smart about our choice of LEDs. Here’s how: the amount of blue light produced by streetlights is measured by color temperature. 4000k lighting has a lot of blue light mixed in; this is obvious to the eye. 3000k lighting or lower produces a warmer color and is not just more pleasing to the eye, but better for you, for nocturnal wildlife, and much better for our night time skies.

We encourage readers of GMG to write or call the folks who will be involved in choosing our new LED streetlights, and to ask them to choose lower glare, healthier, and more night-sky friendly 3000k lights over blue-light rich 4000k lighting. 

LINK TO GLOUCESTER CITY COUNCIL and mail a comment to Mayor Sefatia Romeo Theken

Northern Lights over Lanes Cove by Roger Porter of GAAC

The undersigned GAAC members, active astronomers in the area, sprinkled all over the North Shore and beyond, consider Cape Ann as the best viewing in New England.  At least once a month we drag our telescopes, large and small, to the north east corner of Cape Ann for the incredible dark sky that we have here. GAAC shows the night sky to hundreds and hundreds of folks from here and away every year, and we’ve seen the night sky disappear in too many other locations. Let’s not let this happen to Cape Ann.

Gloucester Area Astronomy Club

Michael Deneen, Boxford

Patrick Amoroso, Boston

Nanette Benoit, Gloucester

Brendan Desmond, Gloucester

Gage Desmond, Gloucester

Rick Eliot, Rockport

Lisa Hahn, Rockport

Kathleen Henneberry, Peabody

Edward Henneberry, Peabody

Andrea Johnston, Salem

Jim Koerth, Rockport

Karen Koerth, Rockport

Stephen Kolaczkowski, Beverly

Elaine Kolaczkowski, Beverly

Michael Kulick, Manchester

Michele Kulick, Manchester

Greg Lipshutz, Newton

Gregory Lippolis, Newton

Francesco Lucente Stabile, Boston

Dick Luecke, Gloucester

Gary Meehan, Danvers

Paul Morrison & RD, Rockport

Mario Motta, Gloucester

Roger Porter, Gloucester

Virginia Renehan, Gloucester

Christie Wight, Manchester

Allen Winter, Salem

Susannah Wolfe.  Gloucester

Made In Gloucester! NightSUPs Gonna Be Huge!!!!!!

Cape Ann SUP is manufacturing Stand Up Paddle Boards With LED Lights Built Into Them!!

This is home grown genius and is going to BLOW UP!

They get a manufacturing facility going  and it’s gonna blow up mark my words!

From the website-

Check Out Cape Ann SUP Website Here For More Info

"THE NIGHTSUP" 

THE FIRST STAND UP PADDLEBOARD WITH INTEGRATED RUNNING LIGHTS
OBSERVE FISH AND WILDLIFE LIKE NEVER BEFORE
IN AVERAGE WATER CONDITIONS THIS BOARD CREATES A 30’  BUBBLE OF ILLUMINATION AROUND THE BOARD
11’6" AND 12′ MODELS AVAILABLE
1, 3 OR 6 HOUR BATTERY
COLOR CHANGING LIGHTS, CONTROLLERS, REMOTE CONTROLS,..ETC…
MADE TO LAST WITH QUALITY COMPONENTS
180 DAY LIMITED WARRANTY
CALL IF YOU NEED EVEN MORE OPTIONS     978-233-1787

Stand Up Paddling at night?  Seriously???  Tyler tells me you would not believe how the fish are attracted to the lights under the board.  It is absolutely wild. 

Like you are walking on top of an aquarium like Jesus!