Focus! The Six Fifty’s Peninsula Photo Contest is back.

Show off your imagery in our annual local competition and compete to win cash prizes! 2020 Honorable Mention: “Tiger Leg Monkey Frog Climbing Heliconia” by Geoffrey Brooks Focus! The Six Fifty’s Peninsula Photo Contest is back. THE SIX FIFTY StaffFollowFeb 19 · 4 min read Show off your imagery in our annual local competition and compete to win cash prizes! SF Peninsula photographers of all ages and skill levels who live, work or attend school within the 650 area ...

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Remembering Black pioneers of the Peninsula and Santa Clara County with historian Jan Batiste Adkins

“The most important thing we can do is to document our history.” A Stanford staff photo of Sam McDonald on campus (date unknown). McDonald worked a variety of jobs on the Stanford campus, eventually becoming the superintendent of the school’s athletic grounds, effectively making him the first African-American administrator at an American university. McDonald would later be known for his preservation of the land in La Honda that is now Sam ...

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NASA’s on a mission to Mars. This Peninsula expert wants you to come along for the ride

Hiller Aviation Museum’s Jon Welte talks space travel, Martian life and Silicon Valley in space. This illustration depicts NASA’s Perseverance rover operating on the surface of Mars. Perseverance will land at the Red Planet’s Jezero Crater a little after 3:40 p.m. EST (12:40 p.m. PST) on Feb. 18, 2021. (Image via NASA) This time next week, Perseverance could be sitting peacefully upon Martian ground. If its landing proves a successful one, NASA’s Perseverance ...

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What we’re eating now: Wood-fired pizza and Singaporean satay in Pacifica

All Coastside roads lead to beach picnics. Pepperoni and margherita pizzas with housemade chili oil and ranch from the Pacifica Pizza Project. (Photo by Elena Kadvany) Pacifica is well known for its surf breaks and, food-wise, for that Taco Bell (you know the one), but the coastal city is full of delightful food made by passionate people. There’s Rosalind Bakery, whose sourdough loaves can hold their own among the Bay Area’s artisan ranks; ...

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Biggest waves in 10 years: Photos & vids of surf icons riding the 50-foot monsters at Mavericks

Get an up-close look at the epic action happening out on the coast. Peter Mel navigates a monster wave during the epic session at Mavericks on December 8, 2020. (Photo by Euan Rannachan/Euanart) As you’ve probably already heard, it’s been a big season at Mavericks this year. And by “big,” we mean epic, monstrous and kinda scary. Kai Lenny goes under the rainbow at Mavericks, on December 8, 2020. (Photo by Euan Rannachan/Euanart) Yes, ...

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Hope for Big Basin: Santa Cruz scientist documents the rebirth of our fire-ravaged forests

Professor Dustin Mulvaney explored the damage within the CZU Complex’s burn scars and found just what he’d expected: regrowth. “Coast redwoods sprout back above Gold Gulch, Empire Grade, three months after #CZULightningComplex” (Photos via Dustin Mulvaney on Twitter) It’s 2021—the world can’t help but be on the lookout for good news. For many Californians, Dustin Mulvaney’s photographs were just that. In late November, the professor of Environmental Studies at San Jose State went ...

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Up close and six feet away: It’s the 650’s socially-distanced Year in Photos

From Covid to comets, see what our photogs captured through the lens. Oak Knoll Elementary School first-graders snack (socially-distanced) at the start of recess at the Menlo Park school on Sept. 29, 2020. All students must sit six feet apart and face the same direction. After eating, they sanitize their hands and play in a predetermined area on campus: the field, the blacktop or the playground. (Photo by Magali Gauthier) 2020. It’s a ...

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