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Novato picks its SMART stops Novato councilmembers voted earlier this week to recommend the two sites for the Sonoma Marin Area Rail Transit (SMART). The two station stops approved for the Sonoma-to-Marin commuter rail service, set to begin in 2014, are Hamilton and Atherton Avenue. There was some dissension over whether a stop should be at Atherton Avenue or further downtown on Grant Avenue, but ultimately the decision came down to which stop would be a bigger employment area and offer the most parking space for commuters. The SMART board of directors only authorized two stops for Novato, but the council plans to ask for an additional downtown station.

Museum awarded federal grant for historic painting The Marin History Museum was recently awarded a $3,000 federal grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services for restoration of a circa-1880 painting titled "Saucelito." Rendered by artists James and John Bard, the oil painting depicts the first of two ferries named after the town of Sausalito, as it crosses the San Francisco Bay. "This painting illustrates a unique time in Marin's maritime history, long before the Golden Gate Bridge was built, when passengers and cargo crossed the bay in ferries and the Sausalito harbor was full of ferries, schooners and clipper ships," said museum curator Dawn Laurant in a press release. The award comes from American Heritage Preservation Grants, as part of the Conservation Project Support Program in a partnership between the institute and Bank of America. For more information, visit online at www.marinhistory.org .

Salmon season halted For the second year in a row, the Pacific Fishery Management Council recommended a ban on the commercial fishing of salmon off California and part of Oregon this season, as a result of record-low counts for chinook salmon. The ban could be made official by May 1, according to the National Marine Fisheries Service. However, some commercial and sportfishing of hatchery-raised coho salmon will be allowed in Oregon in late summer.

Shorts... Tomales Bay Oyster Co., in business since 1909, has been sold to fellow oyster grower Tod Friend, owner of the Marshall Store. Oysters, mussels and clams are part of a $2.6 million aquaculture business in Marin County, and one that continues to grow despite the recession...Ron Stallings, tenor saxophonist and 15-year member of Marin-based Huey Lewis and the News, died early this week at the age of 62, after a long battle with cancer. Stallings was a highly revered studio musician, playing with the likes of Elvin Bishop, Jerry Garcia, Gladys Knight and others; he collaborated with the Brazilian jazz group Tanaora and was a member of the Machete Ensemble and the Latin jazz band Que Calor.—Samantha Campos