Governor Brown Appoints Chabot Space & Science Center CEO Zwissler to Bay Conservation and Development Commission

OAKLAND, Calif., May 9, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- On May 7, the Office of Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. announced the appointment of Chabot Space & Science Center CEO and Executive Director, Alexander Zwissler, 56, to the San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission (BCDC). The appointment requires Senate confirmation and there is no compensation.

BCDC is a state agency dedicated to the protection and development of the San Francisco Bay and the encouragement of its responsible use. BCDC's 27-member Commission works with regional partners and other municipalities to ensure healthy, sustainable use of open water, marshes, salt ponds, mudflats and other wetlands. The Commission oversees permitting development near the Bay and addresses regulatory and adaptation strategies regarding rising sea levels. When BCDC was established, only four miles of the Bay shoreline were open to public access. By drawing attention to the Bay, the Commission has played a major role in making the Bay and its shoreline a national recreational treasure.

Chabot Space & Science Center is a major regional center for STEM education and public programming. In addition to astronomy and space sciences, Chabot in recent years has been an educational resource for K-12 Earth and climate science education, including originating the national award winning Bill Nye's Climate Lab and a regional leader in teacher professional development with the Energy & Climate Science Teacher Institute. 

Zwissler, a graduate of U.C. Berkeley, has held his position at Chabot since 2007, leading expansion and development of new programs and initiatives. Previously he was executive director of the Fort Mason Foundation in San Francisco, and prior to working in nonprofit organizations, spent over 15 years in in the cable television and telecommunications industry in both the US and the UK.

Zwissler currently serves as the co-Chair of the Gateways East Bay STEM Network, and on the board of directors of the Association of Science and Technology Centers, Techbridge, and the San Francisco Market Street Railway. In 2012, he was appointed to the statewide Education and Technology Task Force by California Superintendent of Education, Tom Torlakson.

Chabot Space & Science Center, a Smithsonian affiliate, and Bay Area Certified Green Business, is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit interactive science center whose mission is to inspire and educate students of all ages about Planet Earth and the Universe. Founded in 1883, the Center is located at 10000 Skyline Blvd. just off Highway 13 in the Oakland hills. For more information, visit www.chabotspace.org.

SOURCE Chabot Space & Science Center

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Scott Brown Won't Rule Out New Hampshire Senate Bid

ABC News' Arlette Saenz, Michael Falcone and Elizabeth Hartfield report:

Former Massachusetts Sen. Scott Brown told reporters Thursday night that he is not ruling out a run for Senate in the neighboring state of New Hampshire in 2014.

Asked whether he is considering a challenge to Democratic Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, Brown said he is still "recharging the batteries" but noted, "I'm not going to rule out anything right now," according to an audio recording of the former senator's remarks to reporters obtained by ABC News.

The Associated Press was the first to report Brown's comments.

Brown was speaking at a dinner commemorating the death of Martin Luther King Jr. in Nashua, N.H. Thursday evening. Afterward, he described the Granite State as "a second home" to him, a notion he's been pushing more often recently.

And it just so happens to be true.

In a 2011 interview with the Portsmouth, N.H. Herald, Brown described his background in the state.

"I was born at the Navy base in Kittery, my grandparents lived in Newington and they're buried in Portsmouth," Brown said in the interview. "I was going to Hoyt's Cabins in Rye with my grandmother from when I was 6 years old."

He and his wife still own a summer home in Rye, New Hampshire where he once said he planned to retire.

"I have a house here," Brown said on Thursday. "I've been a taxpayer for 20 years."

Brown's sister also lives in the Seacoast area of the Granite State - a place where Brown returned earlier this month, according to a March 2 tweet:

@ScottBrownMA: At Newick's Seafood Rest. in Dover NH. Great food. Have been coming here since my grandparents used to bring me. Looks the same.

Brown noted Thursday night that he planned to return to New Hampshire several more times in the next few weeks, including to be the keynote speaker at the Grafton County Republican Committee's Lincoln-Reagan Luncheon on April 20.

A New Hampshire run would be feasible for him. The state's eligibility requirements to run for Senate are loose, and the Granite State tends to be a friendlier territory for Republicans than Massachusetts, offering greater political appeal for the former senator.

The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee was evidently nonplussed by Brown's comments on Thursday.

"Is it possible to quote someone laughing?" asked the committee's national spokesman Justin Barasky.

In February, Brown ruled out a run in the special election to fill John Kerry's vacant Senate seat in Massachusetts. Brown lost his Senate seat to Elizabeth Warren in November, and he now serves as a contributor to FOX News.

ABC's Jonathan Karl adds this historical note:

While it is highly unusual for somebody to represent two different states in Congress, it is not without precedent. In fact one of the most celebrated members of Congress ever - Daniel Webster - was elected from both Massachusetts and New Hampshire.

Several senators have represented two states and one - the legendary James Shields - holds a record that will stand forever: Representing three different states in the Senate (Illinois, Minnesota and Missouri).

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