Food Bank Busier than Ever

San Leandro Times 04-16-20

Some businesses are slow, some have shut down, but the Alameda County Food Bank is busier than ever.

The food bank is getting 10 times the number of calls for food – from around 25 per day to around 250, said Michael Altfest, the food bank’s marketing director.

People who call are referred to one of a network of local distribution spots throughout Alameda County. Altfest said there are nearly 300 locations in the county. Some are social service agencies with paid staff, and some are staffed by volunteers.

The California Conservation Corps is one group that is currently volunteering at the food bank. The facility is not taking community volunteers during the pandemic emergency.

Distribution was up by 20 percent in March over March of last year, Altfest said. And the increase just happened in the second half of March after Governor Newsom declared the stay-at-home order.

“So you could estimate if the emergency was declared on March 1, it would be up 40 percent,” Altfest added.

The food bank isn’t taking donations from small food drives right now, but is looking for larger bulk deliveries. The most needed items are peanut butter, beans, canned meat and canned tuna, Altfest said.

“We’re also seeking food manufacturing and retail partners who have inventory of high-quality, nutritious food to donate,” Altfest said.

To donate bulk food or monetary donations, see the Alameda County Food Bank’s website at www.accfb.org.

Newsom Presents Plan for Re-Opening

By Fred Zehnder

San Leandro Times 04-16-20

Governor Gavin Newsom offered some optimism yesterday as he revealed a six-point program aimed at eventually opening the state’s schools and businesses, but saying that it was conditioned on “staying the course” of current safeguards.

During his daily noontime press briefing on Tuesday, Newsom said that fewer people had died over the previous 24-hour period and that the number of patients in intensive care units had decreased in the state for the first time.

While he would not offer any timeline, the governor said that by the first of May he would be able to be more definitive about the future, depending on the state’s hospitalization trends.

The six points included monitoring and testing more people, increased measures to protect the most vulnerable, adequate staffing and supplies at hospitals to meet any future patient surges, development of therapeutic medicines, continued physical distancing and wearing facial coverings, and re-instituting shelter-in-place if it became necessary.

Options for schools would include deep cleaning of facilities and such options as staggering times of classes and instituting new rules for PE, recess and assemblies, Newsom said.

California’s future might mean fewer tables in restaurants where menus would be disposable and servers wear masks.

Newsom said mass gatherings of hundreds or thousands in the state’s foreseeable future were “not in the cards.”

The governor declined to answer a question at his news conference regarding President Trump’s statement on Monday that he — not the governors — had the exclusive authority to reopen society.

Governor Waits To See Decline In Coronavirus

San Leandro Times 04-16-20

California may be preparing to lift its “shelter-in-place” orders but county health data suggests today may be a milestone in the fight against COVID-19.

Governor Gavin Newsom said he continues to closely monitor computer simulations that predict when the number of newly reported infections will either plateau or taper off.

Current data models predict the state could see 66 deaths reported today alone from virus-related complications.

“We need to see a decline in the rate of spread of the virus before large-scale reopening and we will be working in coordination to identify the best metrics to guide this,” Newsom said in his briefing this week, adding that the decision would be based on science and not on political pressure.

Newsom announced he is working with the governors of Washington and Oregon on a so-called shared vision of reopening the states and allow businesses to resume functions.

“COVID-19 has preyed upon our interconnectedness,” the three governors said in a statement. “In the coming weeks, the West Coast will flip the script on COVID-19 – with our states acting in close coordination and collaboration to ensure the virus can never spread wildly in our communities.”

The Alameda County Health Department released city-specific data of coronavirus infections and related deaths, with some communities seeing spikes in the last week.

County health department officials reported 886 cases total as of Tuesday, which is a 26 percent increase from the 654 cases reported last week. Twenty-three people have died from COVID-19 in Alameda County.

The county reports Hayward with 172 cases, and San Leandro with 48 cases of coronavirus, which includes unincorporated San Leandro (Ashland).

The county health department’s statistics can be found at: acphd.org/2019-ncov.aspx

The data shows nearly 60 percent of the reported cases are from people aged 20 to 44, with the next largest age range between 45 to 54. Slightly more men than women are reported with the coronavirus.

Of the newer cases of COVID-19 infections are 16 residents and 21 staff members of the East Bay Post-Acute Center on Lake Chabot Road. A spokesperson for the senior-care facility says there are no related deaths from this outbreak and that those infected have been quarantined from the rest of the facility.

“People living and working in congregated living settings, like skilled nursing and residential care facilities, are at increased risk of infection because COVID-19 spreads between people who are in close contact with one another,” said Alameda County Health Officer Dr. Erica Pan. “Due to underlying health conditions and age, the residents face higher risk of serious health consequences including hospitalization and life-threatening illness.”

Easter, Passover Traditions

At Home

Religious celebrations involving face-to-face interaction over the past week were disrupted or canceled altogether. Churches and synagogues requested their congregations remain safe at home. Some provided pre-recorded messages or live streaming of services as an alternative.

For those on the front line of fighting the virus, community organizers with Castro Valley Matters delivered some 200 chocolate Easter Eggs to Eden Medical Center. The donation  from Knudsen’s Ice Creamery showed appreciation for medical workers on the front lines.

Alameda County firefighters surprised some families dealing with COVID-19 that needed some Easter cheer in Castro Valley. Hayward Area Recreation and Park District staff packed eggs for the firefighters to hide at the homes of some residents with children who were quarantined with the virus.

COVID-19 Scams Prey On Seniors

San Leandro Times 04-16-20

Did you recently receive an unsolicited robocall, text message, or other offer for free home testing kits to test for COVID-19?

Chances are it’s a scam, one of several identified by the Alameda County District Attorney’s Office.

The DA’s office is warning against any schemes that prey on people’s fears related to the pandemic. These offers are eager to gather your vital information such as credit card numbers, social security numbers, or private medical information.

The latest scam involves individuals going door-to-door claiming to be an Alameda County employee to conduct COVID-19 tests. The district attorney’s office says county employees are not visiting homes and anyone who claims so is a fraudster.

In addition, the DA says to stay away from fake “Senior Care Packages” that are sent to seniors with sanitizers, tests and even perhaps a suggestion of a vaccine, some claiming Trump has ordered the test.

There are also fake offers for air duct cleaning and sanitation that enable consumers to breathe free of bacteria to protect their families. Both are scams.

And while donating to charities to help is admirable, the DA’s office says scammers create fake charities or pose as officials from entities such as the World Health Organization and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Don’t fall for them.

Price Gouging

The DA’s office is also warning about price gouging by businesses throughout the county. Price gouging refers to sellers trying to take unfair advantage of consumers during an emergency or disaster by increasing prices for essential consumer goods and services by more than 10 percent. DA Inspectors report there has been a steady stream of complaints since the shelter-in-place order was announced in March.

“It is illegal for any business to profiteer while we are in a state of emergency. All residents of Alameda County must continue to have access to necessary supplies, especially when the community’s health is at stake,” said District Attorney Nancy O’Malley.

Things to look for are handwritten changes to barcodes or drastic markups on the advertised price. If you think you are a victim of price gouging, you can report it on the DA’s website (alcoda.org/cewpd/) or by calling 510-383-8600.

Use Your Skills to Make Masks

San Leandro Times 04-16-20

Eden Area Interfaith Council (EAIC) has taken on the task of sewing face masks for our area’s hospitals.

Currently, Eden Medical Center, Saint Rose Hospital, South Hayward Parish and First Presbyterian’s Homeless Shelter are accepting all that we can offer.

By Friday, more than 560 masks had been made.

The project was started by Diana Ryan, Council Representative from Holy Cross Church in Castro Valley.  

After hearing about the need at an Eric Swalwell meeting, Diana called upon other representatives in our council to send out the word that we would be making masks for healthcare workers in our area.

Diana and I start with the materials we hand on hand and now are relying on donations of fabric, notions, money and funds from the EAIC. Some donors go to our website (edeninterface.weebly.com), see the patterns we are using, and deliver cut-to-size pieces to our doorsteps. 

Right now I believe we have about 18 volunteers, but at the pace we’re all working, fatigue will set in. So we definitely need more volunteers. I’m worried about the surge that is suppose to happen soon.

If someone wants to volunteer, they need just some basic sewing skills. All the step-by-step directions are posted online. We even have  a link to a YouTube video.  

Because of safety concerns, all delivered fabric is put into a drier at the hottest setting for at least 40 minutes. We’ve heard that the virus dies at 133°F. Then with disinfected hands, the fabric is put into a ziplock bag.  We deliver the bag to a seamster’s doorstep so we are socially distanced.

The fabric masks, while not as good as a N95, are better than nothing and can be reused.  

We know that some nurses are wearing fabric masks over their N95 ones to try to keep them sterile and lasting longer. We also know that some of the facilities using them are also giving them to patients to prevent infecting staff members.  

We don’t care who uses them, so long as they help anyone in need. I like to think that every stitch we sew will soothe an anxious heart.  That’s enough to keep me going.

Most amazing to me is the mix of people we’re working with; all economic levels, a mix of nationalities and accents, and of course religions. One of our volunteers, Miranda, doesn’t sew for us. She translates the directions for her two friends, Zhen and Mei. There’s a brother and sister, who created over 80 masks and won’t share their names. They are that modest.

To volunteer, you can go to edeninterfaith.weebly.com or call 510-206-6035. Monetary donation can be made on Eden Area Interfaith Council’s Facebook page.

I’ll tell you this has made the quarantine time fly by. So much more satisfying than doing Facebook or watching TV all day.

Debra Collins is a local artist and Vice President of Communications for the Eden Area Interfaith Council. 

Eden Health to Supply Face Masks, Test 10,000 People

San Leandro Times 04-09-20

The Eden Health District will spend $500,000 on fighting the coronavirus pandemic, buying face masks and in testing for the virus. 

The Eden board of directors voted unanimously last week to authorize the spending, which is roughly equal to the amount it distributes annually. 

Half the money would pay for masks. The other half will go toward testing for COVID-19 which Eden plans to coordinate with other agencies such as the Alameda County Health Department, and the Hayward Fire Department which has already set up a testing facility. 

“We’re hoping to test 10,000 people,” said Eden Health District CEO Mark Friedman. 

The testing will begin as soon as possible, though it’s complicated to coordinate, said Friedman.

“The COVID-19 pandemic is the most significant public health crisis of our time,” Friedman said. “The countries and areas that have made the most progress in flattening the curve have all done widespread testing.”

The initial order will be for 200,000 masks, with some of the money coming from Eden’s partner agencies, Friedman said. The district is looking at buying KN-95 masks from China, and perhaps later N-95 masks made by 3M in the United States, Friedman said. 

Eden is working with other public agencies for the health of Eden area residents, Friedman said. Eden hopes to build on the already successful effort of the Hayward Fire Department and identify other testing sites in the district and Alameda County. 

“The community is really pulling together to take on tasks that are overwhelming for any one entity, it’s larger than anyone anticipated,” Friedman said. 

The Eden Health District also declared a local emergency due to the COVID-19 epidemic. Friedman said that declaration can help the district possibly get reimbursed on the expenditure with funds from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). 

Hospitals are reporting shortages at the moment of masks and other Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), but Friedman said he believes that manufacturers are ramping up production, both in China and the United States. 

The 3M company has announced an increase in the manufacture of respirator masks, and the president invoked the Defense Production Act which orders 3M to significantly ramp up production. 

The Eden Health District was founded in 1948 to operate Eden Hospital which it no longer owns. But the district owns two medical buildings, in Castro Valley and Dublin, from which it collects rent which is the district’s source of funding. 

The district serves the residents of Hayward and San Leandro and the unincorporated communities of San Lorenzo, Castro Valley, Ashland, Cherryland and Fairview.

Gordon Galvan, chair of the Eden Health District board of directors, said that while the district’s funds are limited in that it doesn’t collect tax money, it will draw on its cash reserves to serve as a catalyst for a broader community effort to fight COVID-19. 

BART, It's an Adventure

By Jim Knowles

San Leandro Times 04-09-20

Lessons of Spanish Flu Helping Today

San Leandro Times 04-09-20

The flu of 1918 to 1920 killed 670,000 Americans and an estimated 20 to 50 million people worldwide. 

An estimated 500 million people got the Spanish Flu, a quarter of the world’s population at the time. 

But what we’ve learned from the Spanish Flu is helping during the coronavirus pandemic today. Studies have shown that cities that took social containment measures in 1918 considerably reduced the spread of the virus.

Censors kept down the reporting of the virus in Germany, France, England and the United States in order to keep morale up for World War I. But no censorship was put on neutral Spain, so it gave the false impression that Spain was the hardest hit and led to the name Spanish Flu. 

Unlike the current epidemic, the Spanish Flu hit young adults the hardest with over half the deaths in the 20 to 40 age group. The primary cause of death was pneumonia caused by the flu. Only 1 percent of the deaths were those age 65 and older, quite different from the current coronavirus. 

It’s speculated that older people fared better against the Spanish Flu because they developed an immunity during the flu of 1889, known as the Russian Flu. Also different was that its outbreak happened in the summer when flu is normally associated with the winter. 

But one thing we know today is that some cities battled the epidemic better than others, such as Philadelphia. 

The difference was in the way cities responded to the epidemic, according to a study by the National Institutes of Health (NIH). 

Cities cut death rates in half when public health officials imposed social containment measures within a few days after the first cases were recorded compared to the cities that took just a few weeks to respond, the NIH study found. 

“A primary lesson of the 1918 pandemic is that it is critical to intervene early,” said Anthony S. Fauci, M.D., director of the NIH’s National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID).

In 1918, schools, theaters, churches and dance halls were closed. New York mandated factories stagger shifts to reduce commuter traffic. Seattle mandated facemarks. 

An NIAID study found that the restrictions mitigated the transmission of the influence virus in 1918. The death rates were reduced by how soon the measures were put in place. 

Ultimately, the NIAID study found all the cities experienced significant epidemics because there was no vaccine, and the virus continued or recurred as the cities relaxed their restrictions. 

The Parade Went On

A big parade was set to raise money for war bonds to help pay for World War I as the Spanish Flu was spreading as the troops came back from Europe with a virulent strain of the flu. But the public health director for the City of Philadelphia downplayed it, declaring that it was just the seasonal flu. 

Even though the virus began to spread among the civilian population, and disease experts warned against having a parade where hundreds of thousands of people would converge, the parade went on.

Marching soldiers, Boy Scouts, dignitaries and bands paraded as people jammed the sidewalks to watch. By the end of the week, all of Philadelphia’s hospitals were full. 

But the virus was handled differently in St. Louis. The flu spread from a nearby military base to the civilian population, but St. Louis health commissioner Dr. Max Starkloff had local doctors on standby and wrote an editorial about avoiding crowds in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. 

When the virus started to spread, Starkloff closed public events, schools and movie theaters. An army of nurses was in place to treat people in their homes.

St. Louis was still hit by the epidemic but it suffered only one-eighth of the mortality of Philadelphia, according to the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The preventive measures kept the virus from exploding and overwhelming the hospitals. 

The NIH found that cities that relaxed their restrictions right after the epidemic peaked often saw a re-emergence of the infection and had to bring back the restrictions. 

Dr. Neil Ferguson of Imperial College, London authored a study that used mathematical models to reproduce the pattern of the 1918 pandemic in different cities. They found that San Francisco had effective measures that lowered deaths by 25 percent. But had San Francisco left the measures in place from September 1918 to May 1919 the city might have reduced deaths by 90 percent. 

The best way to contain a potential flu pandemic would be to vaccinate large numbers of people before they’re exposed to the virus, according to the NIH. But developing a vaccine is tough because influenza mutates as it replicates, so that over time an older vaccine is no longer effective. 

It would take months to develop a new vaccine after the first cases of a pandemic influenza appear, according to the NIH. 

Warmer weather usually slows down a virus but this one is new and we’re not sure what it will do, and it might come back next season, Dr. Fauci said. 

A potential vaccine against the coronavirus has been developed at the University of Pittsburgh and testing could come in the coming months, giving a ray of hope.

The ultimate solution to a virus that keeps coming back is a vaccine, Fauci said. 

Incidently, it was at the same University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine that Jonas Salk developed a polio vaccine in the 1950s. 

Over 2,000 Tested in Hayward

San Leandro Times 04-09-20

The City of Hayward has tested more than 2,000 people for coronavirus infection at its COVID-19 Testing Center in the first two weeks of operation.

Of the first 2,089 people whose test samples have been analyzed, 226 have been found to be positive for infection with the coronavirus that causes COVID-19 disease.

The Testing Center, at 28270 Huntwood Ave. in Hayward., was established to take pressure off hospital emergency rooms. It provides quicker answers for first responders and health care workers with COVID-19 symptoms and better informs individuals so they know to isolate and help slow the spread of the virus.

The Center is open Tuesday through Sunday from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. or until the number of tests available for the day has been exhausted. Testing is free and available to anyone with COVID-19 symptoms and a fever over 100 degrees. COVID-19 symptoms include cough and shortness of breath.

People who present themselves at the testing center by car or on foot will go through a two-step screening process before being administered a test, which involves swabbing of the nasal cavities and back of the throat.

At curbside check-in points, people are screened for COVID-19 symptoms and suitability for testing. Lines to curb-side check-in and screening will be regulated to maintain safe distancing, traffic control and to not exceed the maximum of tests that can be performed per day.

People initially approved for testing will be directed to an intake tent for verification of symptoms and suitability. People deemed not in need of testing will be directed away from the testing center location down Lustig Court.

Once verified, people to be tested will move to a testing tent for COVID-19 testing and afterward receive discharge instructions.

Most test results will be available within 24 hours, depending on volume.

To get to the Center, members of the general public should enter Huntwood Ave. at Industrial Blvd., then proceed north to curbside screening locations or backs of lines that lead to them.

While testing is a vital tool in controlling coronavirus spread, broad-scale testing is not yet available. Not everyone infected becomes sick and testing is being prioritized for individuals who are experiencing symptoms.

But there is increasing evidence that individuals are infectious 48 hours before they begin experiencing symptoms. To combat the risk posed by asymptomatic individuals, the Alameda County Public Health Department on April 2 issued a new recommendation that everyone wear a cloth covering of the nose and mouth when leaving home for essential activities.

The department recommends cloth coverings to help prevent people who may have the virus, and do not know it, from transmitting it to others. Medical masks, which are in short supply, should be preserved first for health-care workers.

The recommendation followed a decision announced three days earlier by the health officers of the counties of Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, Santa Clara, San Francisco and San Mateo to broaden and extend shelter-in-place in the Bay Area to May 3.

County Expands Health Mandates To Fight Virus

By Michael Singer

San Leandro Times 04-09-20

Governor warns of  "a surge" of coronavirus cases coming

As the world continues to fight against the coronavirus, Alameda County officials have expanded their list of health precautions and community support, while businesses and neighbors reach out to help each other.

As of Monday there were 661 reported cases of COVID-19 in Alameda County with 13 related deaths from complications. 

Alameda County joined six other Bay Area public health jurisdictions to extend its current shelter-in-place order to May 3 in attempts to slow the spread of infections.

While a surge in new infections are anticipated, the City of Fremont opened a COVID-19 testing center at its Fire Tactical Training Center on Stevenson Boulevard. The center is equipped to handle about 100 tests per day. 

No doctor’s referrals are required, but priority is given to healthcare professionals and first responders. This is the second major testing center in the county after Hayward Fire Department opened a site in March.

Doctor’s Orders: Infected Homes Under Quarantine, Masks in Public

If you tested positive for COVID-19 or are awaiting test results, the other people in your home are asked to isolate and quarantine themselves as well. This includes people visiting you in person without protective gear. 

Previously, health officials required only the individual to isolate. The County says its new “Blanket Order” was initiated because individuals are infectious 48 hours before their symptoms began.

“These orders are a necessary next step and work hand-in-hand with the shelter-in-place order to help slow COVID-19’s spread, protect vulnerable individuals, and prevent the healthcare system in Alameda County from being overwhelmed,” Alameda County Health Officer Dr. Erica Pan said in a statement.

In anticipation of a spike in the number of infections, Governor Gavin Newsom announced that California may require up to 50,000 additional hospital beds to ensure there is enough capacity for the medical system to handle the surge of COVID-19 cases. 

The state is working with public health officials, including in Alameda County, to evaluate appropriate sites.

Bay Area health officials are also recommending residents cover their nose and mouth with cloth when leaving home for essential travel such as to doctor appointments, grocery shopping or pharmacy visits. Homemade versions that block the nose and mouth are acceptable under the recommendations. 

Officials ask that medical-grade respirators such as the N95 masks be reserved for hospital workers.

Support for Healthcare Workers

The tireless work of healthcare professionals is not going unnoticed. Many area restaurants are asking patrons to help efforts with donations of food and beverages. Zocalo Coffeehouse has initiated a “Pay It Forward” category on its website that allows you to purchase a cup or carafe of coffee that will get delivered to front-line medical workers in San Leandro.

“We are also collecting masks and face shields for nurses at Summit Hospital in Oakland. Stop in the cafe and drop off supplies if you have them to share,” the company said in an email.

Business Support Available

While businesses are finding ways to pitch in against the COVID-19 pandemic, economic help is on its way, say county officials. Congress passed three relief packages in response to the crisis, amounting to trillions of dollars which will go to businesses and workers. County Supervisor Nate Miley says he is, “acutely aware of the economic stress put on the Eden Area community during this emergency.

“My office is working diligently to connect constituents with available resources,” Miley said. “If you need support, please reach out to my office.” 

For example, the Alameda County Community Development Agency’s Economic and Civic Development Department (ECD) is working with small businesses in the county’s unincorporated areas to connect them with available programs. They are also working with the Chamber of Commerce to post and share information.

Hundreds Tested for Virus in Hayward

By Jim Knowles

San Leandro Times 04-02-20

Testing limited to just those with a fever and other symptoms

Testing at the City of Hayward COVID-19 Test Center is now limited to people with fever over 100 degrees and other symptoms of COVID-19 infection such as cough or shortness of breath, the City of Hayward announced.

The Testing Center at Fire Station No. 7, 28270 Huntwood Ave. in South Hayward is free and open to the public regardless of where they live or immigration status. Hours are from 9 a.m. and 6 p.m. Tuesdays through Sundays or until the number of tests available for the day have been exhausted.  The Center will be closed on Mondays.

Of 1,254 people who were among the first to be tested at the City of Hayward’s COVID-19 Testing Center, 130 were positive for the new coronavirus infection, laboratory results show.

In all, a total of 1,324 people were tested during the first seven days of operation of the testing center, which is a partnership of the Hayward Fire Department and Avellino Lab of Menlo Park.

To get to the center, the public should enter Huntwood Avenue at Industrial Boulevard, then proceed north to curbside screening locations or backs of lines that lead to them. Access to screening lines may be limited at times to provide for safe social distancing and to manage traffic flow.

First responders and health-care workers can schedule a test in advance by calling 510-583-4949 but also must be symptomatic for COVID19 infection and have a temperature over 100 degrees.

The COVID-19 test entails deep swabbing of the nasal cavities and back of the throat, and then transportation of the samples to Avellino Labs in Menlo Park for sample testing.  Individual results are available within six days or by the next day in most cases.

The Center is staffed by Hayward firefighter-paramedics who also are continuing to provide fire protection and 911 medical response services in the City.

 

The Center was established to enhance the region’s capacity to suppress new transmission of the coronavirus, take pressure off hospital emergency rooms and provide quicker answers for first responders and health care workers.  Generally, it can provide up to 370 tests per day.

 

For more information on the Test Center, COVID-19 and other ways the City of Hayward is responding to the health emergency, go online to the City of Hayward’s website, www.hayward-ca.gov.

 

For the latest information on operational changes at the Test Center and daily test and results totals, go the Center’s webpage here.

CAPTION: A long line of cars wait in the rain to enter Hayward's curbside testing station on Saturday morning. The center, at Hayward Fire Station No. 7, opens at 9 a.m. Tuesday through Sunday, but is available only to those with symptoms of COVID-19.

PHOTO BY  Fred Zehnder

Coronavirus Worse Under Capitalism, say Socialists

Socialist Workers candidates speak at the Senior Center

San Leandro Times 04-02-20

The Socialist Workers Party candidates for president and vice president came to San Leandro on March 14, saying that the response to coronavirus is one of many things that show society needs to be organized better to meet people’s needs.

The party’s presidential candidate Alyson Kennedy, and vice presidential candidate Malcolm Jarrett, spoke to about two dozen people gathered at the Senior Community Center. 

Signs at the entrance to the senior center announced the canceling of many of the events normally held there due to the coronavirus emergency. 

“Natural disasters happen, but they become social disasters because of capitalism,” said Jarret. 

He pointed to the Daly City hospital (Seton Medical Center) being closed just as an epidemic hits, and to the San Leandro duplexes where rents are being doubled as people are scrambling to deal with school closures and other aspects of the health crisis.

The system is working the way it’s supposed to work, Jarrett said. What capitalists know is how to do is things that hurt the working class, he added.

Alyson Kennedy noted that stock market observers are comparing the current stock downturns to the big drop in 1987.

“The things that led up to the 1987 stock market crash haven’t changed,” Kennedy said.

“U.S. companies depend on cheap parts from low-wage workers in China. When something happens in China, they’re stuck,” Kennedy said.

Electoral politics can’t take the place of struggles to protect and extend people’s rights at workplaces and in communities, she said.

At the Asarco copper mine in Arizona, the owner, a multinational corporation based in Mexico, has asked to extend a wage freeze that has already lasted 10 years, Kennedy said.

The Asarco workers began their strike last Oct. 13.

Kennedy didn’t see the major parties offering much hope to solve the country’s problems. She said that while Bernie Sanders describes himself as a socialist, and conservatives here are happy to accept that term, he isn’t running a working-class campaign nor is he actually a socialist. 

“He doesn’t explain a crisis of the capitalist system, a worldwide crisis,” she said.

Sanders thinks you can reform capitalism, and that he’ll do it for us, Kennedy said.

In the debate, Democratic candidates argued over how many homes they owned, Kennedy said. She doesn’t see that as an issue for most Americans.

“We need to fight to get a different class in power,” she said. 

Kennedy is a cashier at a Walmart in Dallas, having worked in coal mines for 14 years previously. Jarrett works as a cook in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.  

While Democratic candidates have centered their campaigns on criticizing President Donald Trump, the SWP candidates avoided criticizing people who voted for him and might do so again.

Trump won partly because he wasn’t seen as a professional politician. People are trying to deal with the crises in their lives, said Kennedy.

“Working people have to be independent of both big parties. Both of them have led attacks on working people for four or five decades now,” Kennedy said.

Many things have been won by mass struggles over the years, she continued. She named the Civil Rights Movement, as well as popular struggles in the 1930’s that led to the New Deal, in particular.

“But FDR didn’t just give us Social Security and unemployment assistance. People had to fight for them. And LBJ wasn’t going to sign the Voting Rights Act until massive struggles forced him to do so,” she said.

Jarrett noted different reactions to the coronavirus outbreak depending on social class. Working-class people he’s encountered at dollar stores are buying what they need and not panicking, unlike some shoppers in more upscale stores. People riding the bus still shake hands with each other, he said.

“The rich, on the other hand, are writing articles about remote places to travel to where there’s no virus outbreak yet. Now that’s social distancing!” Jarrett said.

Joel Britton, the SWP’s candidate for Congress in the 13th District, is running against Democratic incumbent Barbara Lee. Britton, who works at a local Walmart, appealed for both votes and campaign volunteers. 

Event moderator Carole Lesnick said the party is struggling to get on the ballot in “six or seven” additional states. While the SWP is unlikely to win elections currently, Lesnick said that it helps keep their legal status clear. 

“It’s not an issue right now, but it could be in the future,” she said.

Area Hospitals Setting Up Tents

By Michael Singer

San Leandro Times 04-02-20

Local hospitals and healthcare facilities continue to prepare for a massive influx of patients needing to treat the COVID-19 disease, including setting up tents and accepting donations such as homemade masks for healthcare workers.

Alameda County Health officials confirmed 339 people are infected with coronavirus as of Wednesday with eight deaths related to the disease.

On Tuesday, California reported more than 5,800 cases of coronavirus, and 135 deaths.  

County officials have not made predictions about how many new cases they expect.

On Monday, Governor Gavin Newsom signed an executive order to add 50,000 temporary hospital beds throughout the state through the month of June and is asking licensed health care workers to lend a hand including those fresh out of nursing school or medical school.

Local hospitals such as Eden Medical Center in Castro Valley and Kaiser Permanente in San Leandro report they are ahead of the curve.

“Preparedness efforts are an integral part of our response,” said Sutter Health Communications Manager Monique Binkley Smith. “Most recently, that has included the addition of tents located outside of Eden Medical Center, to help limit the general population’s interactions with patients who may have potential respiratory illnesses.

“Using tents is part of our hospital’s plan to deal with a surge of patients, and their use is approved by the state. They help prevent the spread of illness to patients and visiting family members during influenza season,” Smith said.

Like all hospitals and health systems during this unprecedented crisis, those in Alameda County say they anticipate a shortage of medical supplies, including personal protective equipment (PPE).

Eden and Kaiser say they are primarily looking for businesses and community members to donate things like unopened N95 respirators and surgical masks, disposable gloves, hand sanitizer, disinfecting wipes, and face shields if they are new and in their original packaging.

“Kaiser Permanente is grateful for the many individuals, community groups, and local businesses that have inquired about donating supplies, such as gloves, masks, and other items,” Kaiser Permanente spokesperson Kerri Leedy said. “We have protocols in place to address situations when employees and physicians are exposed to the virus to ensure that we can protect them and others from additional risk.

“Staff at all our medical centers regularly drill using various emergency scenarios, including detection and treatment of infectious diseases, and have been advised of and are following CDC protocols for the coronavirus,” said Leedy

For those interested in making masks to wear in nonclinical settings or for personal use, Kaiser has published step-by-step instructions, although to be accepted, the masks need to meet certain specifications in order to be effective.

You can get the instructions at: lookinside.kaiserpermanente.org/donate-ppe/

CAPTION: Wilson Elementary School Principal Virginia Quock carries lunches to an awaiting car as Joanne Clark assists at one of the school lunch distribution centers at John Muir Middle School.

PHOTO BY JIM KNOWLES

Some Areas of East Bay Parks Closed

But most trails are open; just maintain a social distance

San Leandro Times 04-02-20

The East Bay Regional Park District has closed some of its areas to address overcrowding and public safety during the coronavirus emergency.

Park picnic areas are also closed, and all group gatherings are prohibited. At Lake Chabot Park, the boat ramp is closed.

The Park District hopes to keep parks and trails open, but some closures are necessary to limit overcrowding and maintain social distancing through at least Thursday, April 30.

Trails will remain accessible on a walk-in, bike-in basis.

It’s unfortunate but necessary: in an effort to prevent overcrowding and assure the safety of both visitors and staff during the coronavirus pandemic, said the park district.

“We are all in this together,” said Park District General Manager Robert Doyle. “We want to help everyone during this crisis by keeping parks open, but safety of the public and our employees is our top priority.

“If parks are too crowded, please help us keep people safe by going home,” added Doyle.

Ways the public can help keep parks open include:

• Maintain a 6-foot distance from other people

• No picnicking, groups, gatherings, or meetups (only immediate households should be together)

• Pack-in, pack-out trash, including dog poop (there is no trash collection during COVID-19)

Park visitation and park use will continue to be monitored closely, with additional closures possible. Currently, state and county health departments have said they want East Bay Regional Parks to remain open and accessible for outdoor activity if possible. But it may also be necessary to close more park areas based on overcrowding or additional orders from state or local health agencies.

The Park District said it is doing its best to balance the requirements of state and local health agencies’ “Shelter in Place” orders, and the community’s need for exercise and stress relief.

The public is encouraged to check ebparks.org for up-to-date information on closures.

In addition: The Park District is requesting all dogs be leashed everywhere in the regional parks and on trails to avoid interaction with other park users.

CAPTION: The boat ramp is now closed at Lake Chabot, as well as other park areas where people congregate.

Families Snapping Up School Lunches

By Jim Knowles

San Leandro Times 03-26-20

School’s out but lunch is still on.

San Leandro school employees handed out bag lunches as fast as the cars pull up at three sites around town – San Leandro High, John Muir Middle School, and Monroe Elementary.

The lunch program started last week with the beginning of the school shutdown to assure that kids who rely on their school lunch get their meals.

At John Muir, they’re passing out around 400 meals per day, said Muir cafeteria manager Theresa Pond.

Pond was fast at work on Monday, along with other school district employees, trying to keep up with the flow of cars driving into the Muir parking lot to pick up lunches.

Wilson Elementary School Principal Virginia Quock handed the lunches through the window of each car driving up, along with Joanne Clark who works at the school district office.

Others kept the the pace going, sorting out the items on lunch tables set up on the sidewalk by the parking lot. Milk cartons, fruit, chips, and a hot barbecued chicken sandwich in each lunch.

Most of the food is packaged by the companies that supply the district to minimize handling, and the hot entrees are heated at the kitchen at San Leandro High, said Asst. Superintendent Kevin Collins.  

A total of 8,000 meals were distributed last week, about 1,200 per day, Collins said.

“And it ramped up during the week, so we’re expecting even more this week,” Collins said.

CAPTION: Wilson Elementary School Principal Virginia Quock carries lunches to an awaiting car as Joanne Clark assists at one of the school lunch distribution centers at John Muir Middle School.

PHOTO BY JIM KNOWLES

No Fare on AC Transit Buses

Bus fares are free until further notice, due to the shelter-in-place order over the coronavirus outbreak. 

The Alameda-Contra Costa Transit District (AC Transit) is not charging fares. Riders should board the bus by the rear door, leaving the front of the bus clear for just the driver and people in wheelchairs. 

Passengers should try to keep a 6-feet distance from other passengers to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. 

Passengers in wheelchairs, or who need priority seating, can still board through the front door. 

With most people staying home except for necessary workers, the buses are running with just a few passengers, enabling people to maintain social distancing.

City Council Halts Evictions During State of Emergency

The San Leandro City Council unanimously passed an urgency ordinance to temporarily halt evictions for non-payment of rent due to a substantial loss of income because of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

The new rules are effective immediately and remain in place through May 31 or the expiration of the emergency. 

The ordinance provides all commercial and residential tenants, including mobile home tenants and recreational vehicle owners, a defense in an eviction proceeding for failure to pay rent.

Many tenants have lost their income as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and the statewide shelter-in-place order. 

The ordinance would protect tenants for a number of reasons, including missing work due to COVID-19 illness, self-quarantine because of exposure, a reduction in work hours, job loss due to closure of the business, the need to care for a child or children whose school is closed, inability to operate a non-essential business because of the shelter-in-place order, lack of business due to no customers. 

The new ordinance is consistent with Governor Newsom’s March 16th Executive Order that allows cities to stop landlords of residential and commercial property from evictions due to non-payment of rent. The ordinance does not relieve tenants from paying any unpaid rent within 120 to 180 days after the ordinance expires.

For more information on the ordinance, contact Community Development Director Tom Liao at tliao@sanleandro.org or 510-577-6003.

Shutdown Makes for Slow Times For DJ Streak of San Leandro

San Leandro Times 03-26-20

The shutdown is the pits for show business.

One San Leandro DJ has been completely shut down.

Manual Llanes of San Leandro, who goes by DJ Streak on stage, has lost all of his bookings for the foreseeable future.

“It’s terrible,” Llanes said. “I make a living as a DJ. It pays my bills.”

All of the shows Llanes had lined up for the next couple of months were nixed.

“All the way through April and Cinco de Mayo, everything’s canceled,” he said.

Llanes works half the time on land, and half at sea on cruise ships, alternating a month at a time.

And you know how it’s going for the cruise ship industry these days. Business is deader than the Titanic.

Llanes said he would work on cruise ships out of Miami through the Caribbean, but it’s all shut down now.

As a DJ, Llanes is self employed, so he can’t get unemployment.

“I’m just living on a little savings for now,” Llanes said.

Llanes’ website (www.djstreak.com) has some samples of him in action.

The site proclaims, “DJ Streak brings pure excitement behind the DJ Console along with the contagious energy and a microphone as his magic wand.”

County Sees Its First Death from Coronavirus

By Michael Singer

San Leandro Times 03-26-20

One person has died, and 112 people are confirmed infected with the coronavirus in Alameda County, health officials reported Monday as more efforts are being taken to screen those at risk.

The Alameda County Public Health Department’s website (http://www.acphd.org/) notes the person, who had been hospitalized, was elderly and had underlying conditions that placed them at greater risk of serious illness. The person likely contracted the virus through community-acquired transmission, a health official said.

The number of reported cases does not include Berkeley, which currently stands at 10 people infected. Last week, Alameda County reported 45 confirmed positive cases.

Health officials continue to urge the public to follow the everyday preventive actions to help curtail the spread of virus by staying home, not touching your face, practicing social distancing, cleaning and disinfecting frequently touched surfaces and objects, and covering a cough or sneeze with a tissue which should then be thrown in the trash.

This week, the Hayward Fire Department opened a screening station at the city’s fire station at 28270 Huntwood Avenue. The free testing can handle up to 370 tests a day.

People were lined up in their cars and on foot in a nearby park as early as 6 a.m. Monday. The tests are set up for those displaying symptoms, first-responders, and health care workers with recent suspected exposures to the coronavirus.

Results are expected anywhere between 6 to 24 hours. Hayward officials said they purchased the tests from Avelino Labs in Menlo Park.

The Alameda County Public Health Department says it supports Hayward’s screening site and will work with them to expand access to testing in other parts of the county.

Rep. Eric Swalwell said his office will be collecting N-95 masks from those in his district who have them in bulk – building contractors, etc. – for redistribution to local health care facilities. The congressman made the statement during a virtual town hall where he also underscored the importance of making coronavirus tests available to all Americans as soon as possible.

Swalwell announced he will hold a Facebook Live town hall for 15th Congressional District residents on Thursday, March 26 with special guest Dr. Stephen Lockhart, Chief Medical Officer of Sutter Health, to discuss the next steps for combatting the COVID-19 outbreak.

The Facebook Live town hall will take place at 1:30 p.m. Pacific Time. The town hall is free and will be archived on the Congressman’s official Facebook page.

Meals on Wheels Keeps Rolling

San Leandro Times 03-26-20

Many local seniors rely on the daily knock on the door and the friendly smile of a Meals on Wheels volunteer, as a reason to get up in the morning. 

Meals on Wheels programs, like many essential services, are still operating under Alameda County’s shelter-in-place orders due to the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. 

These programs provide critically needed nutritious meal deliveries to 2,400 homebound seniors who cannot shop or prepare food because of a variety of reasons including poor health, immobility and poverty. 

More often than not, the volunteers are the only people who are going to drop by to check in on their wellbeing at the same time every day. ecause these seniors respond well to continuity, they feel safe when their environment and schedule are the same every day.

With the onset of the pandemic, three local Meals on Wheels programs have experienced a mass of urgent calls from vulnerable at-risk seniors who fear hunger from not being able to shop for food because of a combination of their living situations, lack of a support system and inability to compete with panic buying at stores.

This means local programs are working harder than ever to limit service interruptions.

Due to this increase in demand for Meals on Wheels, Alameda County’s programs need the community’s financial support. Gifts can be made online at ​www.feedingseniors.org​ or mailed to Meals on Wheels of Alameda County, 1721 Broadway, No. 201, Oakland, CA 94612.

CAPTION: With the onset of the Coronavirus, Meals on Wheels workers are working harder than ever to meet the increasing needs of homebound seniors in Alameda County.

Farmer's Market To Enact Precautions

San Leandro Times 03-26-20

The seasonal opening of the Downtown San Leandro Farmers’ Market has been delayed for two weeks due to the shelter-in-place order. 

The market will open on Wednesday, April 8, its usual hours of 4 p.m. to 8 p.m., at Parrott St. and East 14th Street. 

The Pacific Coast Farmers’ Market Association (PCFMA) will be practicing health safety precautions during this time to create a safer environment. So there will be no food sampling, no musical entertainment, no public seating.

As many items as possible will be pre-bagged for grab-n-go. Farmers and producers are encouraged to bring hand-washing stations and wear gloves.

There will also be increased space between vendors’ stalls for additional safety.

Customers are encouraged to thoroughly wash all fresh fruits and vegetables and practice social distancing. 

Wash your hands thoroughly and often for at least 20 seconds. If you are sick, stay home and ask a friend or family member to pick things up for you instead. Wash your reusable produce bags between visits. 

Only touch fruit and vegetables that you intend to buy or have the farmer pick out your produce.

CAPTION: The downtown San Leandro Farmer's Market on Parrott Street will open on Wednesday, April 8.

 

Sutter Health Accepting Donations of Personal Protective Equipment 

CASTRO VALLEY FORUM  03-26-20

BART Cuts Back Hours: Closing 9 p.m.

San Leandro Times 03-25-20

BART took swift action this week to reduce operating costs as ridership levels have declined by 90 percent as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and shelter-in-place orders. 

After an exhaustive review of ridership and train car loads, the transit agency is making the following changes in hours of operation until further notice:

• Beginning this past Monday, BART began providing weekday  service from 5 a.m. to 9 p.m., instead of ending service at midnight, but the frequency of trains will remain the same. 

• Starting this Saturday, March 28, weekend service will be from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m.  

All riders must be in the system by 8:45 p.m. to have a guaranteed ride to their destination.

BART will monitor ridership data each day to determine how long these service hours will be in effect.

Data-Based Decision

Ridership after 9 p.m. has dropped substantially and now represents only 3 percent of total daily ridership. 

BART officials say closing early is a better option than running less frequently or running shorter trains after 9 p.m. because the system will be able to save money by reassigning some of its staff to other projects.

“We are taking a data-driven approach to these decisions to ensure as few people as possible are impacted,” BART General Manager Bob Powers stated. “Our system operates using public dollars and we have an obligation to make financially sound decisions about service levels.”

BART has initiated a hiring freeze except for its police department and has canceled all overtime except for critical functions. It is also seeking emergency funds from all levels of government during this crisis.

CAPTION: BART is operating during the emergency with a drastic reduction in fares since the shelter-in-place order went into effect. 

Skywest Golf Course to Close

By Jim Knowles

San Leandro Times 03-12-20

The Skywest Golf Course in Hayward will be closing in September, leaving the San Lorenzo neighborhood adjoining the course to wonder what will become of the land.

Houses on streets like Via Sereta back up right against the golf course. The view looks out over the trees and fairways, home to geese and other wildlife.

But some wonder if the scenery will stay that way once the golf course closes.

“We would miss it,” said Ron Brewer of San Lorenzo who lives near the golf course. “People walk and bike on the path around the golf course. I’m sure people would miss it just because of the greenbelt effect.”

Brewer’s first reaction when he heard the golf course is closing was: “Condos, right?”

But that’s still up in the air.

No decision has been made as to the future of the golf course land, according to Chuck Finnie, spokesman for the City of Hayward, adding that the land will be the subject of future discussion.

The public golf course is on Hayward Executive Airport property, which is owned by the City of Hayward.

The Hayward Area Recreation District (HARD) had been operating the Skywest Golf Course since 1975. But the golf course has been losing money – $800,000 to $1.2 million per year – in the past three years, so it’s not feasible to keep it open, said HARD spokeswoman Jackie Diaz.

The 126-acre site of the golf course is on the north side of the Hayward Executive Airport. According to airport design practices, golf courses are compatible land uses around an airport, having few buildings and residents.

The grounds and trees of the golf course provide a noise buffer between the airport and the homeowners of San Lorenzo, said a study conducted by HARD.

The study also noted that there had been an industry-wide decline in rounds of golf played at both public and private golf courses that began with the recession in 2008. An oversupply of golf courses and an aging population of golfers is a factor, too, as younger people are doing other sports and activities.

Also, golf is a leisurely and time-consuming game and the Bay Area’s long commutes reduce time to play a round, said the HARD report.

The amount Skywest is losing each year amounts to about a $20 per golfer subsidy by HARD, the study found.

The San Lorenzo Village Homes Association was notified about the golf course closing a few months ago, said SLZHA board president Emanuel Robinson.

The homes association is now waiting to hear what the plans will be for the property, Robinson said.

“The biggest thing for us is the landscaping, the beautiful vistas from the backyards,” Robinson said.

Whatever is built on the property, Robinson said San Lorenzo wants to keep some of that open space as a buffer between any development and the neighborhood.

Robinson grew up in San Lorenzo and said he’s always appreciated the golf course.

“It’s such an institution, part of the natural fabric of the area,” Robinson said. “To lose that open space, that would be detrimental the the overall quality of life. That would be a loss.”

CAPTION: Backyards of houses in San Lorenzo look out at the beautiful green fairways of the Skywest Golf Course, so residents wonder what will happen in the future.

PHOTO BY JIM KNOWLES

Dry Winter Could Bring Summer Wildfires

By Michael Singer

San Leandro Times 03-12-20

Despite the sprinkling of rain San Leandro received last week, a drier than expected January and February means we could be bracing for water and fire alerts this summer and early fall.

U.S. Drought Monitor data released last Thursday reveals that moderate drought conditions are now expected in Alameda County. That’s an increased severity condition from just a week ago when forecasters reported lighter drought conditions for several cities in the East Bay.

February was such a dry month—third driest on record—that San Leandro received less than 3 inches this year. Compare that to 2017 when the Bay Area recorded 45 inches in two months.

California’s current index for precipitation is 49 percent of the average for this time of year and its snowpack level is 44 percent of average, according to the California Department of Water Resources.

“People are wondering if we are ever going to see rain again and I want to point out every winter California experiences a three-to-six-week dry spell,” said Michelle Mead, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Sacramento.

East Bay Municipal Utility District (EBMUD) reports its reservoirs are at 77 percent of capacity but won’t consider any changes to its 2020 water plan until it looks at precipitation levels in April.

“We always ask our customers to use water wisely,” says EBMUD Senior Public Information Representative, Andrea Pook. “If precipitation levels fall below a certain threshold, we may ask for voluntary conservation but it’s still too early.”

In the meantime, EBMUD is asking customers to turn their irrigation systems off and check them for leaks. If plants look dry, the preferred method is to spot water them in the morning or after dusk.

Even if March does produce a good amount of rainfall, experts are already coming to grips that the 2020 wildfire season may arrive sooner than expected.

California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (Cal Fire) management is watching precipitation levels and monitoring specific zones in the state and preparing in advance.

“We are using this time to make sure our aircraft are maintained and ready to go in case we’re needed,” Scott McLean, Cal Fire’s deputy chief of communications told the San Leandro Times. “In addition to calling on our 2,000 seasonal firefighters, we are able to call for mutual aid from other states and areas to fight fires.”

Cal Fire has already responded to 467 calls in its jurisdiction this year compared to 118 responses during the same period last year, McLean says. While some are false alarms, at least 95% of the fires Cal Fire responds to are less than 10 acres in size.

PG&E is also sending postcards to more than 200,000 customers encouraging them to update their cell phone number, email addresses, and other key information so the company can contact them in advance should it become necessary to temporarily turn off power for safety this fire season.

“We are asking our customers to be sure we have their latest contact information so we can do our best to reach them in advance of a potential Public Safety Power Shutoff event.” says PG&E’s Chief Customer Officer Laurie Giammona.

D.A. to Fight Price Gouging

San Leandro Times 03-12-20

District Attorney Nancy O’Malley has warned all Alameda County merchants that her office will be vigilant in investigating and prosecuting cases of price gouging while Alameda County is under a State of Emergency due to coronavirus. She also encouraged Alameda County residents to report any price gouging when shopping for consumer goods or medical supplies. 

State law prohibits raising the price of many goods and services by more than 10 percent after an emergency has been declared. Both Governor Gavin Newsom and the Alameda County Public Health Department have done so.

 Violators are subject to criminal prosecution that can result in one-year imprisonment in county jail and/or a fine of up to $10,000. 

They are also subject to injunctive relief and mandatory restitution. 

The Alameda County District Attorney’s Office will investigate and can prosecute individuals or businesses who have engaged in illegal price gouging. Anyone who has been the victim of price gouging, or who has information regarding potential price gouging, is encouraged to immediately file a complaint with the District Attorney’s Office by going to their website at www.alcoda.org/cewpd/ or by calling 510- 383-8600. More information on price gouging is on the attorney general’s website at https://oag.ca.gov/consumers/pricegougingduringdisasters.

Eden Hospital Prepares for Coronavirus

By Linda Sandsmark

San Leandro Times 03-12-20

This cold and flu season the Eden Medical Center staff is also preparing for COVID-19, known as the novel coronavirus. 

Preparations include close coordination with state and local health departments, as well as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).  

As of Tuesday, there were 93 confirmed cases of the coronavirus in the Bay Area, 153 cases in California, and 2 confirmed deaths in the state.

“As always, the health and safety of our patients, care providers and the communities we serve remains our top priority,” Dr. William Isenberg, Sutter Health’s chief safety officer, said in a statement. 

“Another important component of our preparedness measures is helping ensure the careful and appropriate use of personal protective equipment (PPE), especially given national concerns about PPE shortages. Our facilities are making N95 masks and other required protective equipment available to clinical staff as appropriate, and will continue to do so.  

“We are also communicating with staff about when and how to use personal protective equipment for those patients that require that level of protection,” Dr. Isenberg’s statement continued.

Coronavirus alert notices are posted in several languages at entrances to Eden Hospital and adjoining Sutter Health clinics instructing those with a cough, fever, chills or body aches not to enter, but to return to their vehicle and call 510-247-6395 for further information. 

Anyone entering the hospital who, in the last 14 days, has traveled from affected areas (China, South Korea, Japan, Iran, and Italy) or has been in contact with someone who has, should ask for a mask. 

There is no vaccine for Coronavirus, so preventing the spread of it and other respiratory illnesses is important. The following measures are recommended for everyone:

• Wash hands frequently with soap and water, including between fingers. If soap and water aren’t available, use hand sanitizer. 

• void touching your face with your hands, especially eyes and nose.  

• tay home if you feel sick, to prevent exposing others.  

• neeze into tissues or your elbow, and wash hands after sneezing. 

• void contact with ill persons if possible.

• ontact a medical provider before coming to a hospital or doctor’s office.

The coronavirus has symptoms similar to the flu, including possible shortness of breath. Getting a flu shot can help rule out the flu if similar symptoms occur. 

coronaviruses are in the same virus family as the common cold, typically causing mild symptoms. A lab test can be done to determine if the illness is coronavirus.

The CDC recently listed cleaning products that can help combat the coronavirus. These include Clorox, Lysol, Sani-Prime and Purell disinfectant wipes and cleaners.  More specific information is available at cdc.gov

Police Want Surveillance Cameras

San Leandro Times 03-12-20

Cars entering and leaving San Leandro, as well as visiting Marina Park, would be recorded by police surveillance cameras under a proposal made to a City Council committee on March 4. 

The Police Department wants to install 10 new “public safety cameras” at key intersections and upgrade another 12 existing traffic cameras for the same use.

The cost of the new cameras and upgrades would be about $124,000 initially and about $10,000 in added maintenance costs annually in the future.

Only 20 percent of suspects arrested for robberies and/or burglaries in San Leandro in the last five years live in the city, police told the City Council’s Facilities and Transportation Committee. 

The report noted that it is harder to find and apprehend a suspect once they have left city limits, and that at least some people arrested admitted to relying on this in planning their activities. 

The new cameras would be placed along major roads leading into and out of San Leandro, as well as near Marina Park, all areas where a high number of crimes are reported.

“Law enforcement faces challenges, nobody’s likely to give me any more officers very soon, and the cameras are a force multiplier,” police chief Jeff Tudor said later.

The Facilities and Transportation Committee sent the proposal on to the full City Council for their consideration, on a 2-0 vote by members Deborah Cox and Corina Lopez, with Mayor Cutter absent on short-term medical leave. The date for the full Council’s consideration has not yet been set.

The Council had earlier considered a camera proposal in March 2018 that was criticized for locating cameras mostly along the Oakland city line. Councilwoman Corina Lopez was among those asking the police to come back with a proposal that was driven by data linking specific locations to higher rates of crime.

Lopez supported the new proposal, which she felt was data-driven and which paid attention to privacy concerns.

Some privacy advocates question the new proposal.

“Why now?” asked San Leandro privacy advocate Mike Katz-Lacabe, who works with the group Oakland Privacy. “We’re at a 30-year low in crime, and we got there without this kind of surveillance. Why is the surveillance suddenly needed?”

Those areas correspond to crime “hot spots” over the past several years, said police Crime Analyst Denise Joseph, meaning areas with a high incidence of crime. 

There are also 12 traffic management cameras around the city that would be upgraded under the proposal so they would be more useful at identifying individual vehicles.

These existing cameras are along San Leandro’s major roads such as Davis Street, Hesperian Boulevard and East 14th Street.

Katz-Lacabe questioned what sort of data was used to justify the cameras, what data would let citizens judge the effectiveness of the cameras if they were installed, and what happens to the data once it’s collected.

“Police believe that the more surveillance there is, the lower crime is,” he said. “I’m not sure that’s true. For starters, 99 percent of what’s gathered is useless to law enforcement.”

“We do have a Fourth Amendment in this country, and we have that despite the police perhaps being able to solve more crimes if they could freely search anybody’s house or vehicle at any time,” Katz-Lacabe said. 

“But would that be worth the cost society would pay?” he asked.

Both Jeff Tudor and Denise Joseph said the police were sensitive to privacy concerns. 

“We don’t want people to fee like they’re always being monitored,” Joseph said.

Tudor said that the footage would be kept in a secure facility, accessed by only a few department employees who needed to work with it, and would be looked at only if a crime happened nearby. 

The police would also look only at segments close in time to the crime, cutting down on data overload and saving staff time. They would delete footage after 15 days if it is not relevant to a crime being investigated, Tudor said.

The 15-day limit would put the police data retention practices in line with City Policy 2019-01 regarding camera use, though it specifically exempts the police department.

Other cities use public safety cameras and have found them useful in solving crimes, though not at stopping them in progress, Tudor said. 

“We’re not able to monitor them in real time,” he added.

Tudor said that the police have been using footage gathered by home and business security cameras, with owners’ permission, for years, and it has bene useful in solving crimes.

He pointed to a recent downtown bank robbery, where one private camera caught the suspect getting into a car and let the police get a license plate number. They were then able to track the car using other cameras downtown to get a direction of flight. 

Given that information, he said, San Leandro detectives were able to arrest the suspect in another city within hours of the robbery.

Tudor called on citizens and businesses who have home security systems to register them with the police so the police can request footage to help solve a crime nearby.

The new cameras are proposed for the intersections of Durant  and Bancroft avenues (alternatively, the nearby corner of Bancroft and Dutton avenues; Superior Avenue and MacArthur Boulevard; East 14th Street and Sybil Avenue; Monarch Bay and Mulford Point drives; Fargo and Washington avenues; Estudillo Avenue and MacArthur Boulevard; Washington Avenue and Lewelling Boulevard; Fairway Drive and Merced Street; and Davis Street and Timothy Drive, by the Westgate parking lot.

 

The Voters Decide

San Leandro Times 03-05-20

Victor Adlawan drops his ballot in the box at the polling place at the San Leandro Main Library on Tuesday as polling place worker Madeline Street gives assistance.

County, Schools Prepare for Coronavirus

San Leandro Times 03-05-20

City, county and school officials are taking precautions against an increase in coronavirus cases, as Alameda County got its very first case this past weekend.

The Alameda County Public Health Department is coordinating local responses to the virus. Doctors are being told to call the department if they have any patient who might require testing for the virus. The department will then advise them on what next steps need to be taken, including testing and even isolation of the patient if needed. 

Patients can be tested, if needed, locally or by a state lab, and treated or cleared according to the results. Those samples are flown to the federal Centers for Disease Control (CDC) for re-testing and confirmation, however, according to health department Public Information Manager Neetu Balram.

She said that fortunately, there has been only one “presumptively positive” case in the county so far, and that was a health care worker exposed in Solano County, not here. 

The health department is following up on people have have flown back from affected areas to see if any of them show any symptoms, said Balram. 

The CDC has given county health departments guidelines on how to handle possible coronavirus cases, and the county sends them out to health care providers as well.

People showing symptoms such as a high fever and shortness of breath should contact a health care provider to be checked, especially if they have recently traveled to an area where coronavirus has spread, Balram said. 

The severity of symptom ranges from mild, like a cold, to severe, like a bad case of pneumonia, she said. People with more severe symptoms should be at a hospital.

“More mild symptoms might be treatable in self-isolation at home, if proper disinfection is possible and if the person had their own bathroom, for instance,” Balram said. This leave space in hospitals for people with more severe cases.

Balram said the county had conducted a survey of what facilities were available in the county to deal with coronavirus or other disease outbreak. 

What is unusual about Alameda County is that it does not directly run a county hospital. The Alameda Health System, a county “health partner” but not part of the county government, operates what used to be hospitals run directly by the county.

City of San Leandro Emergency Services Manager Catrina Christian said the city is in close touch with the county on what precautions and actions to take.

Schools Taking Precautions

The San Leandro public schools starting taking precautions by mid-January, and are coordinating with the county health department, according to school spokeswoman Keziah Moss. 

“Chinese culture is very important to us and to many of our families,” Moss said. “So we started reaching out to any families that had traveled to China, making sure they knew what to do if any family members showed any symptoms.” 

Moss noted that so far no children in the United States have been diagnosed with the disease, a trend she hopes continues.

Custodians have increased their cleaning efforts of school surfaces, and made sure all sinks are working for increased hand washing, and facial tissues and hand sanitizers are plentiful. More hand sanitizers are being installed in school cafeterias.

Teachers are instructing students to wash their hands often and well.

If a child in class showed symptoms of any illness parents would be called to pick them up and get them whatever medical help they needed, Moss said. If a child in class showed symptoms of coronavirus specifically, the district would immediately consult with the county health department for steps to take next. 

Closing a classroom or a school would be an extreme step, but would be done if the health department required it. 

“The effects of closing a school go well beyond the child, to the family that might have to stay home from work if childcare weren’t immediately available, or might not have an easy way to replace the meals many children get at school,” Moss said. “So we wouldn’t do that lightly.”

The county health department is coordinating with the state, with the county Office of Education, city managers and the CDC. 

The county health department updates its website, www.acphd.org, with new information regularly. 

School Bond Measure Ahead in Vote Count

Ballots still to be counted as Measure N holds slim margin

San Leandro Times 03-05-20

San Leandro’s school bond, Measure N, appears to have passed Tuesday with 59 precent of the vote, with some ballots still needing to be counted. 

Measure N needed 55 percent of the votes to pass. As of Wednesday, the vote total was 3,602 yes votes on Measure N, and 2,474 no votes. 

An Alameda County sales tax increase to expand childcare, Measure C, also appears to have passed, but county unincorporated area voters seem to have turned down Measure D to replace aging firehouses.

Former mayor Stephen Cassidy, who was once a school board member, said he was grateful the school bond measure appears to have passed. Cassidy is the chair of the Yes on N campaign.

“While thousands of ballots remain to be counted, it looks promising that Measure N has passed. On behalf of the Yes on Measure N campaign, we are extremely grateful to the voters for continuing to support our schools and the children of San Leandro,” Cassidy said via email.

“I’m very excited,” said Evelyn Gonzales, school board vice president. “We had a lot of people working hard hard to get the word out on this. It follows the pattern of people supporting education in San Leandro.”

“I’m just thrilled that we’re all on the same page with our schools,” said district spokeswoman Keziah Moss.

Measure N will sell $198 million in bonds to modernize older classrooms, build new classrooms and labs, replace San Leandro High School’s gymnasium, upgrade instructional technology and computers, and improve campus security with emergency communication systems.

Alameda County 

Measure C Passes

Alameda County Measure C also appears to have passed. Measure C required 55 percent of the votes to pass, and received 61 percent. 

Measure C will raise the sales tax a half percent for 20 years to raise $150 million a year to fund more child-care openings for children of low-income families. 

Even when all Election-Day regular ballots have been counted, it can take several days to count mail-in ballots, drop-off ballots and provisional ballots. This can delay final results but only occasionally changes the result of a close election.

Measure D Just Short 

Of Two-Thirds

Measure D, to replace aging firehouses in Alameda County’s unincorporated area, won 64 percent of the vote but needed 2/3, or 66.7%, to pass. Supporters are hoping absentee and drop-off ballots break their way, said Alameda County Fire spokesman Brian Centoni. 

Centoni said the firehouses that would have been replaced are old and often cramped. Room simply to store gear has become even more of a problem now that local fire companies are often called on to help put out distant wildfires on short notice, he said.

“We’re looking into other sources of funding to replace our oldest firehouses,” Centoni said.

Council Okay's New Plan for Marina

San Leandro Times 03-05-20

San Leandro’s City Council approved a new development plan for the Marina at its Feb. 24 meeting. This comes four years after an earlier proposal to revive the Marina began.
The vote was 6-0, with Mayor Cutter absent. Cutter is on short-term medical leave and is expected to be back soon.
The plan, which the Planning Commission had approved on a 5-1 vote earlier this month, calls for a hotel, housing and a new park at the Marina. 
Don’t book your stay in the proposed new hotel just yet. Everything in the plan is a year or more away from beginning construction.
Over a dozen members of the public spoke on the proposal, some largely in support, others with reservations and several who thought it was a terrible idea. Two speakers lamented a gradual paving over at the marina over the years. 
In public comments, Virginia Madsen criticized the seismic safety of the project, saying that the ground is subject to liquefaction in an earthquake.
She also said the project would build a “wall” of buildings between the Bay and the residential neighborhood, which includes a monarch butterfly sanctuary.
“The people who set up the park in the ’50s and ’60s didn’t do it to build a wall today,” she said. “We’re talking about a complete change. You’re not only changing the Marina, you’re changing the neighborhood behind it. The monarchs (butterflies) will not survive.”
John Chamberlain said the plan might shut down the Kaimanu Outrigger Canoe Club, in operation since 1977.
“There’s no space in the plan for either the two yacht clubs or for the canoe club,” Chamberlain said. “They want the space we’re currently in, but they haven’t told us anyplace else we can go.”
The City Council acted quickly on one issue brought up by several speakers, the lack of an agreement between the developer and relevant unions for “labor peace” (no work stoppages) while the project is being built. The council amended the original plan to let it only go forward if a “labor project agreement,” a standard part of most big construction projects, was signed soon.
City Councilman Pete Ballew thanked members of a previous City Council for having set the current proposal in motion in 2009 when they picked Los Angeles-based Cal-Coast as the master developer. Ballew said they picked Cal-Coast because of their experience in building solid projects on California’s coast, where technical and regulatory issues can be tricky.
Cal-Coast’s president Ed Miller said the Feb. 24 meeting marked the 100th meeting he had attended on the project. At one point in the meeting, Miller followed a mention of the project’s completion by joking “if I live that long.” 
The plan includes a 285-unit apartment building, a 220-room hotel, a 5,700-square-foot conference center, 147 single-family residences, 53 town home residences, a new restaurant (existing restaurants would remain), a new Mulford-Marina branch library, and new public parks at Pescador and Mulford Points. 
There would also be 2 miles of public promenade along the bay, as well as a bike path.
Council members said the project helps address San Leandro’s housing shortage. However, 90 percent of the project’s housing is “market rate.” This effectively puts its sale prices and rents above what the average San Leandran could afford if they sought new housing. 
According to real estate websites, the median house price (half above, half below) in the San Leandro market is $669,000, while the median two-bedroom apartment rent is $2,309 a month. An annual income of about $155,00 would be needed to qualify for a mortgage on the house, and an income of about $92,000 would be needed to qualify to rent the apartment in the current market. 
Some 4 percent of the project’s housing will be for “moderate” income, and 6 percent will be “workforce” housing. 
Most recent housing developments in San Leandro have been required to set aside 15 percent of units as affordable. But a loophole lets developers replace some of those units with a payment into the city’s Affordable Housing Trust Fund. This is supposed to fund building affordable housing someplace else in the city.
“The impact of the Marina project on affordable housing would be primarily through the money the developer is paying us to let us build affordable housing elsewhere in the city,” Liao said.
City Economic Development Manager Katie Bowman said that the city is actually ahead of its state-mandated goals for building affordable housing, but is behind its goals for building market-rate and above-moderate-income housing.

Since 2007, Community Development Director Tom Liao said after the meeting, much of the city’s approved new housing has been affordable, but relatively little market-rate housing has been built here since 2007. 

George Mark Children’s House Breaks Ground on New Garden

Groundbreaking features local politicians and civic leaders

San Leandro Times 02-27-20

George Mark Children’s House (GMCH), the first freestanding pediatric palliative care center in the United States, hosted a groundbreaking ceremony with generous contractors, local politicians and civic leaders to commemorate a new restorative garden on Thursday, Feb. 20. 

The garden was designed pro bono by award-winning Arterra Landscape Architects. It will transform the last undeveloped outdoor area at George Mark Children’s House into an eco-friendly space and it fits into the bucolic esthetic of the house and landscaping.  The garden is also usable for GMCH’s fragile patient population, their families, and the staff and volunteers. 

The Garden is scheduled for completion by the summer.  It will include wheelchair accessibility, shaded seating, accessible raised planting beds, a sensory garden, outdoor kitchen, hilltop overlook, interactive sculpture, and art and water features. 

Construction will involve over 40 contractors and suppliers who have also donated their expertise, labor, and materials. The value of services donated will exceed half a million dollars. GMCH is seeking the community’s support to complete the restorative garden to better enhance service for its patients, families, staff and volunteers. 

“We are thrilled to extend our therapeutic space into more of the great outdoors,” said George Mark Children’s House Founder Dr. Kathy Hull. “Our patients and their families can look forward to warm days in the sunshine, the soothing sound of water, and shady nooks for contemplation. We are profoundly grateful for the generosity and the expert, thoughtful design provided by Arterra Landscape Architects and our contractors.”  

In attendance at the ceremonial groundbreaking were Alameda County Supervisor Wilma Chan and representatives of Senator Bob Wieckowski and Assemblyman Rob Bonta along with San Leandro Chief of Police Jeff Tudor.  The civic leaders and generous contractors were thrilled to break ground on the worthy project. 

About George Mark 

Children’s House

George Mark Children’s House (GMCH) is the first pediatric palliative care center in the United States. The 15,000 square foot medical facility in San Leandro provides life affirming care for children with illnesses that modern health care cannot yet cure, or for those who have complex medical conditions. 

GMCH bridges the gap between hospital and home, offering safe, excellent medical care in the comfort and warmth of a home-like setting for patients who do not need the resources of a full children’s hospital. The facility sits on an impeccably landscaped five-acre lot.

Goolsby Challenges  Miley for Supervisor

By Mike McGuire

San Leandro Times 02-27-20

 One in five Alameda County residents is hungry or in danger of going hungry, Alameda County Food Bank Program Director Artrese Morrison said at the Feb. 13 kickoff of the Food For San Leandro Families program, held at the Senior Community Center.

The program, a joint operation of the Food Bank and the City of San Leandro, aims at getting food from the food bank distributed to community organizations serving low-income individuals and families, or having those groups pick it up at the Senior Community Center, 13909 East 14th Street.

Last year, a pilot program got 10-and-a-half tons of fresh and healthy food to children, seniors and low-income families in the city, according to Jeannette Dong, city recreation and human services director.

The City of San Leandro and the Alameda County Food Bank plan to reach twice as many people next year.

Last year, the program gave shopping bags full of fresh food to those served by the Center for Elders’ Independence (CEI), Building Futures For Women and Children, children at library storytelling programs, students at the city’s Kiddie Kollege pre-school at Halcyon Park, the CALICO abused-child nonprofit, and La Clinica at the REACH Ashland Youth Center, according to Dong. The latter is just outside the city limits, but serves many city residents, she said.

Those who attended the kickoff got to help bag some food and load it into vans waiting to take it to some of those local nonprofits.

“Given how expensive it is to live here, it’s a big help that you can get a healthy meal someplace,” said Kiddie College teacher Linda Garcia.

Artrese Morrison gave some details on that. It costs a family of four some $90,000 a year just to meet basic needs in Alameda County, and many residents earn far less than that.

‘I thought people might be too proud to take anything, but people saw that their dignity was respected, and were quite thankful,” Linda Garcia said.

City Manager Jeff Kay, who emceed the event, asked CEI client Edward Barnett to say a few words, and Barnett did.

“Thank you. This is a big help,” Barnett said.

Andrew Hays, activity and volunteer programs manager with CEI, said that elders had been delighted with the fresh food help last year and have kept asking for more of it this year.

“We found how important it was for seniors to be able to make a contribution to their families,” Hays said.

“Seniors often worry about being a burden, after a lifetime of contributing, and with this program they’re able to contribute fresh, healthy food to their families and to their grandchildren. It’s great to give them these moments of joy,” Hays said.

Mayor Pauline Cutter said the city was proud to partner with the food bank to get more food to those who need it.

According to Jeannette Dong, the only expense to the city for the program is use of city vans for some food deliveries to nonprofits.

Both community members and city staff on their own time pitch in as volunteers to do much of the work involved.

CEI’s Hay lauded the program for being aware of the practical side of fresh food for older people.

“Raw vegetables require a lot of preparation,” he said. “But healthy eating is part of their health.”

“Food insecurity was something we’re aware of and have tried to combat with our own nutrition program, but there’s only so much we can do about such a big problem.” Hays said.

When the city contacted them last August about the pilot program, Hays said, they joined it right away.

“This program is addressing the health needs of the most underserved people in society. We want to be part of that,” Hays added.

People Express Ideas on Climate Action Plan

By Mike McGuire

San Leandro Times 02-27-20

San Leandrans got their chance to help the city fight climate change at a public meeting last Thursday night at the Senior Community Center, attended by some 100 people.

Considerable progress has been made since the city first adopted a Climate Action Plan (CAP) in 2009, said city Sustainability Manger Dr. Hoi-Fei Mok. More remains to be done on the local level even as it is also dealt with at the state, national and international levels, she said.

The meeting was part of an update that the City Council hopes to adopt by the end of this year on greenhouse gas reductions and reducing San Leandro’s vulnerability to climate change.

People divided into small groups to suggest how to address climate problems at the local level.

A big set of suggestions from the public centered around reducing the role of the automobile in getting around the city. One group suggested bringing back school buses rather than individually driving each child to and from school. They said this would reduce traffic congestion as well as air pollution.

Others focused on difficulties in getting around town by any means other than the automobile. It is physically difficult to walk to any destination, said one group, because many sidewalks are in poor repair. They also suggested better lighting at night, so one can see those uneven sidewalks better as well as feel safe.

“Roads are terrible for bikes and electric scooters,” said another person who suggested greatly improving bike lanes.

Electric shuttles throughout the community were suggested by one group, and another suggested expanding the Link Shuttle in frequency and in the areas it serves.

Bus transit can be hostile to seniors, another group said, in that not all buses “kneel” to let on less-mobile passengers, and some drivers don’t operate the mechanism even when it is available and clearly needed.

Driving can be cheaper than using BART, another group said, making cost a barrier to greater use of BART.

Shutting some streets to traffic some days or all of the time was suggested. Those streets would then become permanent or temporary pedestrian malls.

One group pointed out that higher housing density would enable more use of mass transit. Housing stability would help, too, another group said.

Other suggestions involved greener living in one’s house or apartment. There should be tax credits for more recycling, while another suggested bulk purchase of solar panels and storage batteries so that homeowners would break even on the purchase within five years rather than the current 10 to 15 years.

To encourage thriftier use of household resources, participants suggested tool-sharing programs and fix-it days to promote do-it-yourself repair of still-usable appliances and other items.

One group suggested more community exchange sites where one can safely buy and sell goods often first found on the internet.

Dr. Mok and other city officials reported on climate change progress and challenges so far.

The city is on track to meet a state mandate of reducing greenhouse gas emissions 25 percent below 2005 levels by 2020, officials said. That target rises to a 40 percent reduction by 2030, and to 80 percent by 2050.

San Leandro’s biggest emissions source in San Leandro is cars and trucks. While these have gotten cleaner, people are driving more than in the past, limiting gains, according to Mok.

An average house used less natural gas in 2017 (the latest year for which figures were available) than in 2005, but used more electricity. However, the city’s electricity was cleaner, with 33 percent coming from renewable sources in 2017 compared to 12 percent in 2015, officials said.

The average San Leandran threw away 39 percent less garbage in 2017, compared to 2005, according to the city.

BART ridership in San Leandro was up 39 percent in 2017 from 2005 levels, officials said.

Besides greenhouse gases, the plan also assesses in what areas and in what ways San Leandro is especially vulnerable to climate change, and how to reduce that vulnerability.

According to the city’s Vulnerability Assessment, posted at the meeting, we can expect to see more extreme heat days (of 90-degree temperatures or above) in coming years, along with a 34 percent increase in areas burned by wildfires in the Bay Area each year, and temporary or permanent flooding of parts of San Leandro from sea level rise in decades to come.

Flooding risk is greatest nearer the Bay, in neighborhoods such as Mulford Gardens, Marina Faire, Mission Bay and Heron Bay, according to the assessment. 

The wastewater treatment plant is at risk from bay shore flooding and sea level rise, as are San Leandro’s industrial areas, said the assessment.

Extreme heat days, along with smoke from wildfires, poses the most risk to seniors, poor people and homeless people, the assessment said.

CAPTION: A good crowd attended last Thursday's meeting on San Leandro's Climate Action Plan. 

PHOTO BY MIKE MCGUIRE

AIDS Quilt Makes a Stop in San Leandro

By Mike McGuire

San Leandro Times 02-27-20

The AIDS Memorial Quilt, described as the world’s greatest social justice teaching tool and once nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize, is living in San Leandro temporarily on its way to a new permanent home in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park.

Trucks bearing the nearly 50,000 panels of the quilt arrived at a San Leandro warehouse near Oakland Airport last week, and were greeted with speakers and a display of the quilt’s history.

Quilt panels will go on display in the Robin Williams Meadows in Golden Gate Park from April 3 to 5, as part of the park’s 150th anniversary celebrations.

The quilt was the 1985 brainchild of San Francisco community activist Cleve Jones, a political associate and friend of assassinated San Francisco Supervisor and gay activist Harvey Milk. Jones said last week in San Leandro that the anniversary of Milk’s death had coincided with the 1,000th death due to AIDS, and he sought a way to remember the people who were sometimes even being denied funerals at the time.

Sewing of the quilt began in San Francisco in 1987, according to a statement by the National AIDS Memorial. In its first major display, it filled the National Mall in Washington, D.C. later that year. The quilt had grown to 1,920 panels, each eight feet by eight feet,

The Golden Gate Park display will feature the 1,920 most recently sewn panels.

“By highlighting the most recent panels, we hope to show the current state of HIV deaths and remind the nation of the ongoing and immediate toll that AIDS is taking today, nearly 40 years after this scourge began,” said Jones.

The April showing will be the largest ever in San Francisco, where the quilt began, according to the National AIDS Memorial group. Outdoor displays of the quilt are rare, as it takes some 400 volunteers to lay it out and weather conditions can change rapidly endangering the quilt. Volunteers are trained in emergency rain fold procedures that can protect the entire quilt in under 45 seconds if the weather changes.

Two of the quilt’s co-founders, Mike Smith and Gert McMullin, also spoke at the event. They were joined by San Francisco Recreation and Parks Director Phil Ginzberg, who urged people to come see the quilt and reminded them that there were also 149 other events celebrating Golden Gate Park’s 150 years.

“The face of HIV and AIDS has changed drastically since the pandemic devastated communities across the United States and San Francisco nearly 40 years ago,” said John Cuningham, executive director of the National AIDS Memorial.

HIV, human immunodeficiency viruses (there are two varieties), is the underlying cause of AIDS, acquired immune deficiency syndrome.

The epidemic persists despite advances in treatment, according to the group. Some 1.1 million Americans are living with the disease, and more than 15,000 people died of AIDS-related complications in 2017 alone. While San Francisco recorded less than 200 new infections last year, a huge drop from the height of the epidemic, across the country some 38,000 received an HIV diagnosis in 2016, with half of those in the south and African-American gay and bisexual men being the largest group among those with new diagnoses.

The quilt had originally been kept in San Francisco, but was the victim of rapidly escalating rents that caused it to move in 2001 to quarters in Atlanta that were both less expensive and closer to the shifting epicenter of the disease, according to media accounts at the time.

In November 2019, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of San Francisco, along with Representative John Lewis of Atlanta and Barbara Lee of Oakland, announced that the quilt would move from the NAMES Project Foundation in Atlanta to the Bay Area under the stewardship of the National AIDS Memorial.

The National AIDS Memorial Grove, in Golden Gate Park, became the nation’s only federally-designated National AIDS Memorial in 1996.

CAPTION: Longtime community activist Cleve Jones speaks in front of stored panels at the AIDS Quilt event, with (at left) San Francisco Supervisor Rafael Mandelman and San Francisco recreation and parks chief Phil Ginzberg.

PHOTO BY MIKE MCGUIRE

Students Call for Lead-Free Water

By Jim Knowles

San Leandro Times 02-27-20

Three fifth graders stepped up to the microphone at the San Lorenzo school board meeting earlier this month to talk about lead.

The school district has fixed and replaced drinking fountains and water dispensers at the schools, they acknowledged. But more should be done.

Tests released last summer showed that two of the district’s schools, Arroyo High and Corvallis School, had lead in the water that exceeded the 15 parts per billion (ppb) limit that’s deemed unhealthy by federal law. Those fixtures were shut down for repairs and now all the water fixtures in the school district are under 5 ppb.

But the fifth graders, and public interest groups, say it should be not over 1 ppb.

“It’s down to 5 parts per billion, but you can do more,” said fifth grader Santiago Garcia Mora, who spoke along with students Yesenia Delgado and Matilda Chanhung.

“One part per billion would be great. That would make students’ I.Q.s rise. Thank you for your time,” the fifth-graders said to the school board.

Lead has been linked to damage to the central nervous system, learning disabilities, lower I.Q’s, and other health problems. Lead can get in the water from buildings with lead pipes or lead in solder joints.

Lead contamination tends to be worse when water sits in the pipes, less when the water has been running.

California schools were required to test their drinking water for lead by the summer of 2019. Lead was found in communities throughout the state, from cities to affluent suburbs. An elementary school in San Mateo had a drinking fountain with over 1,900 ppb of lead, and a school in San Francisco had a water fountain with 900 ppb, according to the California Public Interest Research Group (CALPIRG).

The fifth graders who spoke at the school board meeting go to Colonial Acres where all of the water fixtures are not over 1 ppb, but the students said they want that level for all of the schools in the district.

The district replaced any fixtures that had lead levels not just above 15 ppb, but corrected anything above 5 ppb, said Doug Marr, the district’s director of maintenance and operations.

“We went a step further and did repairs on anything above 5 ppb, to bring it as close to 1 ppb as we can,” Marr said.

A state bond helps pay to remediate anything with a level above 15 ppb, but getting it below the 5 ppb is a cost to the school district which is trying to do as much as it can with the money available, Marr said.

“I think we’re ahead of the curve with the goal of getting it down to non-detected or 1 ppb as we can,” Marr said. “My kids go to district schools, so I want the water as safe as everyone else.”

Marr said the school district has been working with Stanford and CALPIRG and has been installing new water bottle fillers at the schools.

The California Public Interest Research Group has been following the lead levels in water.

The state follows the 15 ppb level, but doctors have said even that level is unacceptable,” said CALPIRG spokeswoman Claudia Deeg. She pointed out that the American Academy of Pediactrics said there should be no more that 1 ppb in drinking water.

California state plumbing code stopped allowing lead in water fixtures since 2010, Deeg said.

CALPIRG is a citizen-funded organization that advocates for public safety for the common good, pointing out things like contaminates in food, overuse of drugs for people and animals, or unsanitary conditions in factory farms. It also works for fair voter registration, reducing waste and single-use plastics, building better and less wasteful transportation systems, and improving health care.

CAPTION: Dr. Kimberly Noble (right), director of elementary education at the San Lorenzo school district, compliments the fifth graders on the talk they gave to the school board about keeping lead out of the water.

PHOTO BY JIM KNOWLES

 

City Joins Grocery Distribution Program

By Mike McGuire

San Leandro Times 02-20-20

 One in five Alameda County residents is hungry or in danger of going hungry, Alameda County Food Bank Program Director Artrese Morrison said at the Feb. 13 kickoff of the Food For San Leandro Families program, held at the Senior Community Center. 

The program, a joint operation of the Food Bank and the City of San Leandro, aims at getting food from the food bank distributed to community organizations serving low-income individuals and families, or having those groups pick it up at the Senior Community Center, 13909 East 14th Street.

Last year, a pilot program got 10-and-a-half tons of fresh and healthy food to children, seniors and low-income families in the city, according to Jeannette Dong, city recreation and human services director. 

The City of San Leandro and the Alameda County Food Bank plan to reach twice as many people next year. 

Last year, the program gave shopping bags full of fresh food to those served by the Center for Elders’ Independence (CEI), Building Futures For Women and Children, children at library storytelling programs, students at the city’s Kiddie Kollege pre-school at Halcyon Park, the CALICO abused-child nonprofit, and La Clinica at the REACH Ashland Youth Center, according to Dong. The latter is just outside the city limits, but serves many city residents, she said.

Those who attended the kickoff got to help bag some food and load it into vans waiting to take it to some of those local nonprofits.

“Given how expensive it is to live here, it’s a big help that you can get a healthy meal someplace,” said Kiddie College teacher Linda Garcia.

Artrese Morrison gave some details on that. It costs a family of four some $90,000 a year just to meet basic needs in Alameda County, and many residents earn far less than that.

‘I thought people might be too proud to take anything, but people saw that their dignity was respected, and were quite thankful,” Linda Garcia said.

City Manager Jeff Kay, who emceed the event, asked CEI client Edward Barnett to say a few words, and Barnett did.

“Thank you. This is a big help,” Barnett said.

Andrew Hays, activity and volunteer programs manager with CEI, said that elders had been delighted with the fresh food help last year and have kept asking for more of it this year.

“We found how important it was for seniors to be able to make a contribution to their families,” Hays said.

“Seniors often worry about being a burden, after a lifetime of contributing, and with this program they’re able to contribute fresh, healthy food to their families and to their grandchildren. It’s great to give them these moments of joy,” Hays said.

Mayor Pauline Cutter said the city was proud to partner with the food bank to get more food to those who need it. 

According to Jeannette Dong, the only expense to the city for the program is use of city vans for some food deliveries to nonprofits. 

Both community members and city staff on their own time pitch in as volunteers to do much of the work involved.

CEI’s Hay lauded the program for being aware of the practical side of fresh food for older people.

“Raw vegetables require a lot of preparation,” he said. “But healthy eating is part of their health.”

“Food insecurity was something we’re aware of and have tried to combat with our own nutrition program, but there’s only so much we can do about such a big problem.” Hays said.

When the city contacted them last August about the pilot program, Hays said, they joined it right away.

“This program is addressing the health needs of the most underserved people in society. We want to be part of that,” Hays added.

CAPTION: Mayor Pauline Cutter, Artrese Morrison of the Alameda County Food Bank, and City Manager Jeff Kay announce the kickoff of Food For San Leandro Families.

PHOTO BY MIKE MCGUIRE

 

Englander to Close Next Week

By Jim Knowles

San Leandro Times 02-20-20

The Englander Pub in downtown San Leandro will be closing next week.

The pub has been the go-to place downtown since it opened 25 years ago. It’s the meeting place for the Kiwanis Club, the Rotary Club and about every other civic club in town.

The current owners bought the pub from the original owner Jot Mangat in 2014. Mangat opened the pub in the 1990s with assistance in financing from the City of San Leandro, which wanted a sports pub as a downtown attraction.

The pub’s owners confirmed this week that the popular spot will have to close. They had tried to sell the business, but the building’s owner didn’t agree. Their lease was up and the landlord didn’t want to renew it.

Property owner Rob Scribner has yet to be reached for comment. His law office said he would be back later this week.

“We had a meeting with our staff on Saturday,” said Cheryl Thies, who owns the pub with her husband Rod Thies and her brother Roy Childress.

Childress has been working at The Englander and tending bar for the 25 years of its existence.

“I’ve been here since day one,” he said.

Thies said they plan to close next Friday, Feb. 28, and have a going-away party on Saturday, Feb. 29, from noon to whenever. The comedy show is still on for that night at 8 p.m.

Thies said their lease was up on Dec. 31 and they went to court to try to get another 90 days before they had to be out.

“But we lost, we don’t get the 90 days,” Thies said.

Thies said there are about 25 local clubs that meet regularly at The Englander, which has a separate dining hall for private meetings. A painting party is every Monday night, and comedian Michael Booker has his monthly comedy nights at the pub.

“I want to thank everybody in the community who has supported The Englander, all our customers and friends,” Thies said.

At the party on the 29th all the memorabilia and TV screens will be on sale. The pub will probably be operating on limited hours through the remaining week, she said.

CAPTION: The Englander Pub on Parrott Street in downtown San Leandro will close at the end of the month with a going away party on Saturday, Feb. 29.

PHOTO BY JIM KNOWLES

Measure D to Renovate Fire Houses in Unincorporated Area

By Mike McGuire

San Leandro Times 02-20-20

 Measure D on the March 3 ballot aims to replace or renovate aging firehouses in unincorporated areas of Alameda County by issuing $90 million in bonds.

To repay the bond, the average homeowner’s property taxes in the unincorporated communities would rise by an estimated $63 per year for the next 31 years.

According to county Fire Chief David Rocha, all of the stations being replaced or renovated are at least 30 years old, and two are over 70 years old.

Voters in such unincorporated communities as San Lorenzo, Ashland, Cherryland and Castro Valley will vote on the measure and pay the additional tax if passed.

Rocha said in a statement on the department’s website that 80 percent of fire department 911 calls are now for medical emergencies, not structure fires. He said that upgraded fire stations would help reduce 911 emergency medical response times.

Rocha said that the department would also use the funds from the measure to address priorities identified by the public, such as enhanced wildfire protection and disaster response.

The estimated total cost to repay the bonds over their estimated 31-year life would be about $160 million, according to Alameda County Counsel Donna R. Ziegler in the official county voter guide.

There was no argument against Measure D submitted for the voter guide. Those signing the argument in favor of the  measure in the voting guide included firefighters, homeowners and businesspeople from the unincorporated areas.

More information on the measure is available at www.acgov.org/fire.

Alameda County Sales Tax  Measure Would Fund Child Care

By Mike McGuire

San Leandro Times 02-20-20

 Alameda County sales tax issue, Measure C, would levy a half-cent sales tax for 20 years – to raise $150 million a year – to fund more child-care openings for children of low-income families.

The measure designates 20 percent of the money raised to pediatric health care and the other 80 percent to child care, preschool and early education programs.

Backers of the measure, whose website is www.care4ourkids.org, include health care professionals, parents, early childhood educators and senior citizen advocates. In their ballot argument, they say that over half of Alameda County children do not get the high-quality care they need to arrive at kindergarten ready to learn.

Proponents say that Measure C will expand access to high-quality early education and child care; attract and retain excellent early childhood educators; increase access to pediatric health care; and ensure that Children’s Hospital’s Level 1 Pediatric Trauma Center stays open and fully staffed.

Measure C would also provide money for higher pay for early childhood educators.

“Low compensation of early educators drives turnover and hampers the ability to attract and retain skilled educators, which in turn undermines stable, continuous relationships essential to children,” states one passage in the measure’s text.

“Early educators’ pay has not kept up with the rising cost of living in the Bay Area,” another section reads. Some one-third of full-time early childhood education teachers use some form of public assistance to get by, the measure’s text says.

No argument against the measure was submitted for the voter guide.

A “detailed investment plan” is on the proponents’ website, www.care4ourkids.org.

State Bond  Measure Would Fund Construction

Bond to modernize state schools, kindergarten through universities; opponents say cost too high

By Mike McGuire

San Leandro Times 02-20-20

This year’s Proposition 13 on the statewide ballot would sell $15 billion worth of bonds to fund construction, repair and modernization at California schools from pre-kindergarten through universities.

The total cost including interest to repay the measure would be $26 billion.

The new Proposition 13, which sends money to the schools, has no connection to the famous 1978 Proposition 13, which limited property taxes and thus limited local school spending. In fact, the chief opposition to the new Proposition 13 is the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association, whose founder led the effort to pass the old Prop 13.

This year’s Prop 13 would give $9 billion to K-12 schools and $6 billion to college and universities, but the new Proposition 13 would be repaid out of the state’s general fund.

Prop 13 proponents say in the official voter guide that the money would fix school buildings throughout the state that are dilapidated, unsafe and unhealthy.

Some 10 percent of the state’s schools and classrooms are at least 70 years old, and and some 75 percent are more than 25 years old, Prop 13 proponents say.

Local school districts would get to pick which projects to pursue, but would then have to pay a share of the costs. According to the legislative analyst, some districts would meet this cost by seeking to pass local bond issues. While state-issued bonds are repaid out of the state’s general fund, local bond issues are usually repaid by raising property taxes.

According to the legislative analyst, the measure also allows school districts to issue more debt in the form of bonds than is currently allowed. New rules would also be set by the measure for which university projects could be funded by state bonds. In particular, they would have to prioritize “life-safety and certain other deficiencies with existing facilities.”

The argument in favor of the proposition in the voters’ guide was signed by the presidents of the California Professional Firefighters, the California Teachers Association and the California School Nurses Association.

Opponents of the proposition question why schools are still dilapidated, unsafe and unhealthy after several statewide bond measures were passed to fix those problems. They also question why one would need to borrow $15 billion to fix school problems, with added interest costs, when the state currently has a $21 billion surplus that could be spent directly to solve those problems.

The voter guide’s argument against passage of the proposition was signed by retired teacher Larry Sand, State Senator Brian Jones from El Cajon and Jon Coupal, president of the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association.

Wind Brings Down Oak on House

By Jim Knowles

San Leandro Times 02-20-20

A lot of people heard the wind rattling the windows and trees on Feb. 8, but one couple heard a little more.

Teresa and Tony DeCoteau heard a crack and then a loud crunching sound.

That crack was a big, 100-year-old oak right on the side of their house on Russell Way in Hayward as the tree came toppling over.

The trunk crushed the roof on the side of the house they’re renting, a house that was built in 1918. The branches of the oak fell against a redwood at the back of the house, which may have slowed the falling tree.

“I heard it falling, crunching,” said Tony DeCoteau. “Luckily, it fell against that redwood or it would have been much worse.”

Fortunately, nobody was injured, though the house sustained major injuries. The roof was caved in above the kitchen and a back bedroom that was vacant at the time.

Last week, a tree crew made way for a big crane that was coming to remove the tree. The tree trimmers had to cut down another tree in the front yard in order to make room for the crane.

This week, the crane lifted the tree off the house. The back bedroom sustained even more damage when the tree was removed because the branches were supporting the ceiling, said Teresa’s father, John Quintell of San Leandro.

Teresa DeCoteau said it’s been a tough year.

“We lost our mom last March and then Tony had a heart attack the day before her funeral,” she said.

They have renters insurance that will help cover hotel expenses until the house is rebuilt, which might take a while. It’s possible that the house is so badly damaged that it can’t be saved.

The house on Russell Street is in a woodsy area next to a creek, just across from the Japanese Tea Garden.

“We liked it here, it’s just like living in the country,” Teresa said.

CAPTION: A 100-year-old oak fell on the house in Hayward where Teresa and Tony DeCoteau live during the wind storm.

PHOTO BY JIM KNOWLES

Tiki Dollars Donated to Building Futures

San Leandro Times 02-20-20

 Building Futures received a check for $2,600 from Forbidden Island owner Michael Thanos last week. 

Since 2006, tiki enthusiasts at the Alameda bar have taken to pinning dollar bills to the ceiling, a tradition that originated during World War II, when sailors would leave a dollar at their local bar before shipping out to the Pacific – a promise that they would be back to buy a drink. 

Having run out of space on the ceiling, patrons even started pinning money to the walls and furniture.

When Forbidden Island owner Michael Thanos decided it was time to take down all the loot, he and his staff found themselves with over $10,000 in cash. They decided to donate almost $9,000 of it to local nonprofit organizations and return the remaining $1,400 to the ceiling, encouraging guests to keep the tradition going.

So while some folks might be disappointed not to find the multiple layers of dollar bills that had become Forbidden Island’s signature, Building Futures staff and board members raised their rum cocktails to celebrate the recent sweep.

“We are very grateful that the Alameda community keeps coming out to support us – and we receive a lot of community support from individuals, businesses, and faith communities, this is definitely a first," says Executive Director Liz Varela. 

Building Futures was founded in 1986 with the belief that homeless women and children deserve safe overnight refuge. Formerly known as Building Futures with Women and Children, the organization now also serves individuals of all genders though its homeless outreach program, five emergency shelters including Alameda’s Midway Shelter for homeless women and children, Alameda Warming Shelter, Bessie Coleman Court, domestic violence education and advocacy work, and housing services, in in the city of Alameda.

CAPTION: Ana Mahiri, Rob Rich, Jean Hom, Gayle Thomas, Liz Varela, Michael Thanos, Deni Adaniya, Miriam Delagrange,  and Autumn Baeza celebrate the gift to Building Futures at Forbidden Island tiki lounge.  

PHOTO BY ALAIN McLAUGHLIN

Chamber Honors Local Businesses and People

San Leandro Times 02-13-20

 ACCO Engineered Systems and Barberian’s Barbershop won as businesses of the year at the San Leandro Chamber of Commerce’s annual Business Awards gala held Jan. 30 at the Senior Community Center.

Top awards also went to Alameda County Industries (ACI), Geltor, Station SL owner Shannon Hockley, community volunteer and business leader Arlene Lum, and Chabot College dean Kristin Lima.

ACCO Engineered Systems, at 1133 Aladdin Ave., was named Business of the Year. They manufacture mechanical systems such as HVAC for buildings.

Barberian’s Barbershop, at 379 Bancroft Ave., opened only last year but prevailed in a tight race for the People’s Choice Small Business award.

The Businessperson of the Year award went to Shannon Hockley. She owns Shannon Leigh Associates, an environmental graphic design firm, and Station SL, a business meeting space, both at 1455 Hays St.

Arlene Lum received the Community Service award, honoring her decades of community board positions, committee seats, and volunteer activity. These included serving as the chair of the Asian Business Council and Vice President of the Asian Community Cultural Association.

ACI was awarded the legacy Leader in Business award for its decades of cleaning up San Leandro.

Kristin Lima was recognized for her work in promoting business partnerships through such events as East Bay Manufacturing Day. She serves as Chabot College’s dean of Applied Technology & Business Innovation.

Geltor won the Innovation & Technology Leader award. Located at the Gate 510 center on Davis Street, they make animal-free collagen for cosmetics products.

CAPTION: Nate Offenberg gets his beard trimmed by barber Kevin Mercado at award-winning Barberian's Barbershop on Bancroft Avenue.

PHOTO BY MIKE MCGUIRE

Quarantines Slow Spread of Coronavirus

San Leandro Times • 02-13-20

Coronavirus was the topic of a doctor-led discussion at Castro Valley Library on Monday night. 

The overall message was that there’s no need to panic at this time, despite rapidly changing information about the contagion’s spread.

Longtime Castro Valley physician Dr. Mark Finch, Sr., an infectious disease specialist, said that while the disease is “big news,” quarantines in place around the U.S. have done much to arrest its spread.

orona viruses are so-named for their crown (corona)-shaped spikes when viewed under a microscope. They are common in many animals.

The respiratory virus, whose scientific designation is 2019-nCo, is thought to have originated in Wuhan, China, where meat from wild and domesticated animals is sold. The first recorded human cases were detected last December.

The possibility of the virus spreading from person-to-person led U.S. officials to establish quarantine areas for people arriving from China, where much of the population is under quarantine. Dr. Finch said a quarantine that extensive has not happened before in his lifetime. 

“There are efforts going on now to prevent it from getting a foothold outside China,” Finch said.

With an incubation period of up to 14 days, travelers from China may be isolated for up to two weeks so as not to inadvertently spread the virus. Anyone who has been in contact with these travelers and who shows symptoms (cough, fever, upper airway congestion, diarrhea, and later shortness of breath) may be isolated as well.

“I know it sounds scary, but I think we here are pretty well protected,” Finch said. “You shouldn’t be avoiding people because of their ethnicity.”

If by some stroke of bad luck you get exposed to someone who slipped past the quarantine and you become ill, Finch said you should call your primary physician, contact an Emergency Room and explain your symptoms, and — only when the ER is warned and prepared — should you don a mask and go in.

At present there is no vaccine for the virus. People should take the same common-sense precautions as they they do in general: avoid contact with sick persons, disinfect surfaces that may be contaminated with germs, wash hands thoroughly, and avoid touching nose, eyes and mouth with unwashed hands.   

Dr. Finch reminded the audience that influenza causes thousands of deaths each year, which should be cause for concern.  He recommended everyone get a flu shot.

“I get the flu shot every year,” he said. “It’s a safe vaccine, and prevents severe infection, and death.”

MedShare Sends Face Masks to China

San Leandro Times • 02-13-20

A San Leandro firm just shipped 1.5 million face masks to China to help stop the spread of the coronavirus.

Medshare’s West Coast center on Alvarado Street held a press conference on Monday on the company’s effort to stop the spread of the virus in China. MedShare, headquartered in Atlanta, sends out-of-date or surplus medical equipment from the United States to parts of the world where it’s needed – everything from hospital beds to stethoscopes to medical machines.

During a crisis, as there was with the hurricane in Haiti, MedShare responds where medical supplies are needed.

A reported 40,000 people have come down with the virus in China, and over a thousand have died, according to China’s health ministry.

In the China effort, MedShare is assisted by $500,000 from the Coca-Cola Foundation, and UPS is providing the shipping.

“I live in Shanghai. It’s my home,” said Curt Ferguson, president of Coca-Cola of Greater China and Korea. “Imagine if this happened here at Christmastime when everybody was at home.”

China is fighting an all-out war against the virus, said Ambassador Wang Donghua, Chinese Consul General of San Francisco.

“I’m deeply impressed by what America has done,” Donghua said. “What MedShare has done is improving the quality of life. We are grateful to you for providing these generous donations.”

Donghua said the China is optimistic but he also warned against over-reacting.

“China is cooperating with the international community in an open, transparent and responsible manner,” Donghua said. “But in the U.S. there has been some irresponsible remarks and finger pointing. The number of cases in China is relatively small. Without the steps taken by China I think the number of cases outside China would be higher.”

Donghua then expressed gratitude for the assistance to China. He then took part in a brief ceremony as MedShare Regional Director Eric Talbert called the speakers back up to mark the occasion with a ceremonial gong.

Donghua, Ferguson, MedShare President Charles Redding, Kevin O’Brien of UPS, and David Kochman of Henry Schein Inc. all got up for the ceremony as photographers took pictures.

“I lived for 4 years in China, so this is personal to me,” said MedShare President Redding.

CAPTIONS: Ambassador Wang Donghua, Chinese Consul General of San Francisco, talked to reporters at the MedShare warehouse on Alvarado Street on Monday.

PHOTOS BY JIM KNOWLES

Duplex Tenants Offered Money To Move Out 

By Mike McGuire

San Leandro Times • 02-13-20

Tenants at an 80-unit apartment complex along Thornally Drive, just off Hesperian Boulevard, are being offered money to move out by the new owner, but City Hall has offered to help them stay if that is what they want.

The new owners offered $4,000 to tenants who move out by April 13, and $5,000 to tenants who move out by March 13. There was no suggestion where they should move to.

Tenants who called the information number on the landlord’s letter say they were told that the apartments would be renovated and re-rented at almost double the current rents.

Some 75 residents of the Hesperian Apartments came to a Friday night outdoor meeting organized by tenants to hear City Councilman Ed Hernandez tell them of their rights and what the city could do to help.

“Don’t sign anything,” Hernandez advised, pending the city’s investigation of the situation.

“We’re going to work with the new owners to make sure you can stay here if that’s what you want,” Hernandez said.

Hernandez added that rent increases were limited by state law, even if the property was sold, and that tenants forced to move out of units through no fault of their own were entitled to relocation assistance from the landlord. That assistance is more than the landlord offered, he said.

The residents gathered in a side yard, where lights had been strung up, seats put out, a sound system set up and a table with coffee and desserts placed off to the side. They braved a slightly chilly night to hear what Hernandez had to say and to ask questions.

The buildings, which date back to World War II, had been owned by years by Groyer Homes, who charged rents below what other area apartments have come to demand. Groyer sold in the fall, just after a small rent increase, to new owners Hesperian Apartments LLC, located on Fletcher Lane in Hayward.

Documents from the California Secretary of State’s office show, however, that “Hesperian Apartments LLC” is registered to Shannon Abbott, with addresses in San Diego and La Jolla. Ms. Abbot’s LinkedIn page identifies her as a regional portfolio manager for MC Investment Partners LC/Acadian Property Group.

While none of original 1940s tenants still live there, a few do go back to the late 1950s. Senior citizens share the complex with middle-aged people and young families with children. Groyer Homes bought the complex in 1959, several tenants said.

There was no mention of later rent increases in the Jan. 29 letter. But several tenants at the meeting said when they called the information number in the letter, they were told that rents would rise to $2,500 a month after the renovations. 

Current rents in the complex are around $1,300 a month for a two-bedroom duplex, according to tenants.

A few were told that if they didn’t take the offer now, they would have to move out later with no compensation.

Phone calls to the new owners for comment were not returned.

Hernandez told the tenants that even if they had signed an agreement to move out, they might be able to rescind that if they had signed it “under duress.” If they have not yet signed anything, they are not committed to moving out, even if they had agreed verbally.

Being told to move out now with some compensation versus being forced to move out later without compensation sounded like duress, Hernandez said. 

Hernandez stressed that he is not an attorney, though he is a licensed real estate agent and thus knows something about housing transactions.

One couple at the meeting, upon hearing the new information, said they had initially agreed to the owners’ offer, but had changed their minds. They had been planning to live temporarily with an adult son in Concord, then look for a house out of state had they taken the offer. 

Based on their income, they wouldn’t even qualify for renting elsewhere in San Leandro or nearby cities, they said.

Before the meeting had been announced, some tenants were unsure how to respond to the offer.

“We’re having a hard time figuring out what to do,” Adalberto Villalobos said. “We have kids, and they’d need to find a new school.”

His brother Luis Villalobos, whose apartment is near Adalberto’s, worried he wouldn’t be able to find a new apartment at anywhere near the rent he’d been paying.

The average two-bedroom apartment in San Leandro currently rents for $2,311 a month, according to apartment-search websites.

A letter sent to tenants by San Leandro Housing Specialist Kimberly Anderson said the landlords told her department that the letters sent to tenants were not termination notices. But the owners did not reveal to her if termination notices were being planned for later.

California’s new law limiting rent increases and no-fault evictions prevents a landlord from telling tenants to move out so they can charge new tenants a higher rent. 

But the law allows asking or telling tenants to move out so the landlord can safely do a major renovation of the units, with a rent increase likely to follow its completion.

No city law blocks tenants being forced out by a renovation, either. What the city does have, said Community Development Director Tom Liao, is a process that has to be followed, and the city is investigating whether it has been.

“People have to have due process,” he said. “And there’s a limit to how much rents can go up in a year, whether or not there’s a new owner.”

“We’re trying to avoid people being displaced when we’re short of housing anyway,” Liao said.

The residents of the approximately 80 duplexes on Thornally Drive, Corbett Court and Central Avenue got a notice Jan. 17 from their longtime landlord, Groyer Homes, telling them the building had been sold, tenants said. This came just after a small rent increase. 

Groyer told the tenants to pay rent to the new owners, and told them that their security deposits had been transferred over as well.

CAPTIONS: The apartment complex as seen from Thornally Street. Is the landlord's offer one that the tenants can refuse? 

PHOTOS BY MIKE MCGUIRE

 

Councilman's Fence Now Okay

By Jim Knowles

San Leandro Times • 02-06-20

City Councilman Victor Aguilar has moved his fence back from the sidewalk.

Everything’s kosher now. Nobody can complain. Not even his opponent in the last election, Lee Thomas, who alerted City Hall that Aguilar's fence was out of compliance.

“Well, somebody can still complain, but the fence now complies with the city ordinance,” Aguilar said.

Aguilar said he got the permission of all his neighbors before building the fence on the side of his corner lot on Monterey Boulevard. But the fence was 3 feet from the sidewalk and that’s against the rules for the height of the fence.

The 6-foot fence with a 1-foot lattice on top, is now moved back 10 feet from the sidewalk. So it complies with the rules, and no variance is required.

The whole thing – building the fence, moving it back, plus the landscaping and paving work – has cost Aguilar close to $15,000, he said.

Last August, the Board of Zoning Adjustments denied Aguilar’s application for a modification to allow the fence to stay the way it was.

Aguilar said it took a few months to get a contractor to come out to move the fence back. But once it was done, he said they did a good job. Some landscaping work is still to be done.

Aguilar said the fence was up for a couple of years before it was brought to the city’s attention. Aguilar’s opponent in the City Council election, Lee Thomas, said he asked City Hall about Aguilar’s fence after several neighbors mentioned it to him.

Thomas himself had a fence dispute with his next-door neighbor when he was on the City Council. Thomas also planned to build a 6- or 7-foot high fence on the side of his corner property, and the couple next door said it would block their view, among other objections.

When the matter went to the Board of Zoning Adjustments, Thomas eventually withdrew his request. It was seen as bad publicity for a City Councilman to build a fence over the objection of his neighbors. He initially got approval for the fence, though it didn’t comply with the law, and this was seen by some observers as favoritism due to Thomas being on the City Council.

Since then, the City Council passed an ordinance that a third party make the decision when it’s a council member requesting a modification of the zoning laws. And that’s what was done in Aguilar’s case.

The staff report on Aguilar’s fence was done by Alan Calder, a senior planner at Rincon Consultants of San Francisco, who does work for the city.

Calder told the Board of Zoning Adjustments last summer that he recommended the fence be approved. He said the fence met all the requirements – it didn’t pose a hazard to safety, nor was it aesthetically lacking, and it fit in with the neighborhood.

But the zoning board voted to deny Aguilar’s request, so he had to either move the fence back or shorten it.

“We play by the rules,” Aguilar said. “It took a long time to get the contractors to come out but once they started it took two days. Now we’re just waiting on the landscaping.”

CAPTIONS: City Councilman Victor Aguilar had a contractor move his fence back away from the sidewalk since the Board of Zoning Adjustments denied his request to allow it.

PHOTOS BY JIM KNOWLES

Recycling Program Says Bye-Bye to 5 Million Mattresses

San Leandro Times • 02-06-20

Five million mattresses have been recycled by the Bye Bye Mattress program in the state of California since the program began in 2016.

If these mattresses were laid end-to-end they would span nearly 6,000 miles – enough to build a bridge from California to Hawaii and back.  

Recycling these mattresses saved more than 6 million cubic yards of landfill space, according to the Mattress Recycling Council (MRC).

“California is a global leader in mattress recycling, as evidenced by this significant milestone achievement,” said Mike O’Donnell, managing director of MRC, which operates the Bye Bye Mattress program. “We continue to build on this leadership by growing no-cost mattress recycling options statewide and helping ensure a greener California.”

More than 80 percent of the material in a mattress can be recycled and turned into new consumer and industrial products. The five million mattresses recycled to date in California through MRC’s Bye Bye Mattress program equate to more than 168 million pounds of material kept out of state landfills and recycled into new products or diverted for other uses including:

• 84,318,480 pounds of steel

• 26,344,803 pounds of foam

• 26,853,401 pounds of cotton, quilt and other fibers

• 21,978,631 pounds of wood

• 8,883,028 pounds of other materials (cardboard, plastics, etc.)

When a mattress is recycled, it is cut open, the layers separated and interior materials organized by type for reuse. The foam is recycled into carpet padding, the springs are used to make new appliances or other steel products, the fabric can be made into industrial filters and the wood from box springs is chipped for use as mulch or biomass fuel.

Bye Bye Mattress operates through a statewide network of permanent collection sites, public collection events and collaborations with solid waste providers, nonprofit organizations and small and minority-owned businesses. Collected mattresses are then transported from these sites to regional recyclers that dismantle and recycle mattress components.

Mattresses are also delivered to recyclers through retailer take-back and commercial volume pickup programs. Mattress recycling through Bye Bye Mattress is offered in all 58 California counties and 93 percent of residents have access to the program within 15 miles or less, according to MRC.

Bye Bye Mattress is funded through a recycling fee collected when a mattress or box spring is sold. MRC uses the fee to establish free drop-off locations and collection events throughout the state, combat illegal dumping and to further research that improves mattress recycling and develops new uses for the materials.

To find a collection location or event near you or to learn more about mattress recycling, visit www.ByeByeMattress.com.

The Mattress Recycling Council was formed in 2016 by the mattress industry to operate recycling programs (known as Bye Bye Mattress) in states that have enacted mattress recycling laws – California, Connecticut and Rhode Island.

CAPTION: All of the steel, cotton, wood and foam in the used mattresses is recycled by the Bye Bye Mattress program.

Security Lights Kept Neighbors Awake

By Mike McGuire

San Leandro Times • 02-06-20

David Ford wanted bright, sunny relations with his neighbors on Doolittle Drive, but not at night.

After a year of complaints to managers of the apartments next door, and then to City Hall, Ford and his wife finally got burglar lights pointed away from their upstairs bedroom, which had been brightly illuminated at night.

“The lights were horrendous, absolutely horrendous,” Ford said.

He got that problem solved, but now his downstairs living room and patio are lit up.

Ford lives with his wife in a single-family house across a parking lot from the Doolittle Apartments at 2011 Doolittle Drive. Apartment residents’ cars were getting broken into, and the apartment building’s owners installed the burglar lights about a year ago.

The lights originally sat on top of the two-story apartments, and brightly lit up Ford’s bedroom along with the parking lot.

Ford said he had asked the property managers to turn down the lights shortly after they were installed, and they told him they had. His bedroom remained brightly lit, and even with heavy curtains the light still came in, he said. So Ford called City Hall.

For almost a year, two city departments tried to resolve his complaint without result, Ford said. And he said he couldn’t get a building inspector to come at night to see the problem.

There are some city ordinances on external lighting, but officials were not sure they applied to this case. Several city officials said that many disputes between neighbors had no specific law that applied, and were “civil matters” that the property owners had to work out themselves.

The apartment building property managers, R.S. Properties in Fremont, did not return calls for comment.

A supervising building inspector visited the night of Jan. 14 and was dazzled by the brilliance, and told the apartment building’s owners to turn down one light, re-aim a second one and move a third.

The lights were moved or re-aimed. Ford had offered to let the apartment house owners put lights on his fence, facing away from his house toward the lot. The property owners took him up on it.

Now stray light coming from the side of the new fixtures is brightening Ford’s patio and living room downstairs.

He’s resumed his complaints to the property owner and the city.

Ford said, though, that a good night’s sleep upstairs is definitely easier.

CAPTION: David Ford in front of his house on Doolittle Drive, with the Doolittle Apartments in the background.

PHOTOS BY MIKE MCGUIRE

Voters to Decide on Measure N School Bond

By Mike McGuire

San Leandro Times • 01-23-20

Unity In the Community and the City of San Leandro honored Martin Luther King Jr.’s legacy Monday with a student oratory contest, music, dancing and a panel discussion at the San Leandro Senior Community Center.

“We can change this world,” said Jocelyn Juarez, San Leandro high school student and panelist in the afternoon program.

Student panelist Deanna Gaines said that Dr. King had inspired almost all of today’s activists.

“Get into some good trouble in the year ahead,” Assemblyman Rob Bonta urged the panelists and everyone at the event.

“We’re all in this together. There’s not us or them. There’s only us,” was the lesson Bonta said he learned from Dr. King.

Bonta said that audiotapes of King addressing meetings during the Civl Rights movement inspired his father, then a student, so much that he traveled to Alabama to get involved.

“He taught us to speak your voice and stand your ground,” panelist Josiah Harris said.

“He stood his ground despite people bombing his home, the FBI watching him, police harassing him and sometimes beating him,” Harris added.

The panel was moderated by Alameda County schools superintendent L. Karen Monroe. She remembered working as a student intern for America’s first black Congresswomen, Rep. Shirley Chisholm of New York.

Chisholm was elected just after King’s assassination in 1968.

Several panelists said we should expect great things from their generation, which panelist Bitaniya Sileshi said was “unusually aware of and well educated in social justice.”

Gaines said that it was her generation’s turn to fight for what was right, just as their elders had when they were young,

“If the next generation doesn’t see us step up, they won’t do it,” she said.

Panelist Jonathan Martin said King showed one person can move millions.

“He never gave up, he kept on pushing no matter what,” said panelist Anthony Murillo.

Sileshi said that the current generation is surrounded by technology, which makes it easier to create movements from the ground up.

“There are lots of vocal youth and we plan to raise an even more vocal next generation,” she said.

Monroe noted both the students’ optimism and their courage when they spoke of the contributions they thought their generation would make to society.

City Councilman Benny Lee told panelists and the audience that Dr. King’s legacy in some ways resembles that of Guan Gong, who lived in China 2,000 years ago. His fight for people’s rights was long ago, and he was ultimately executed for it, yet he is still remembered by name at every Chinese banquet.

Students in three grade groups competed in the morning oratory contest, hosted by former Oakland A’s Vida Blue and David Anderson. Anderson now serves on San Leandro’s senior commission.

Some students read poems they composed themselves, others gave dramatic readings of poems or essays written by others, and one pair of students imagined a 7-year-old African American girl from King’s time talking to him, using his quotations.

That pair, Kayla Lam and Robyn Henson, 7th graders from Muir Middle School, won in their group, with Alvin Wong, also of Muir, getting second place.

Nyla Parker, a 4th grader at Madison School took first place in the third through fifth-grade competition, with second place going to Juliana Grace Tesoro, a fifth grader at McKinley.

In the high school competition, first place went to Deanna Gaines, while second place went to Naya Chadwick.

The event had opened with a welcome by Vice Mayor Pete Ballew, filling in for Mayor Cutter, followed by the drumming group Sistahs of the Drum. They invited people to get up and dance, and some did.

The different grade competitions were separated by dance performances by the African Queens Dance Company, which includes child, youth and adult dancers. They performed dances that historically came from Africa, and some of which are still performed there.

CAPTIONS: All the schools in the district, including Washington, will be upgraded if the measure passes.

Cutter to Chair County Transit Commission

San Leandro Times • 02-06-20

The Alameda County Transportation Commission (Alameda CTC) unanimously elected City of San Leandro Mayor Pauline Cutter as its January meeting.

The Alameda CTC manages the county’s 1 percent transportation sales tax, $200 million per year, that funds transportation projects in Alameda County.  

Cutter has been a member of the commission since 2012, and its vice chair since 2018.

The 22-member commission is made up of representatives from the 13 cities in Alameda County, the county board of supervisors, and representatives from BART and AC Transit.

The chair and vice chair are elected to serve a one-year term.

The commission elected Emeryville Councilman John Bauters as its new Vice Chair.

“I am so pleased to be elected to serve as chair of the Alameda County Transportation Commission,” said Cutter. “It is an honor to lead Alameda CTC in partnership with my colleagues, as we continue to drive forward transportation excellence with acclaimed projects and programs throughout Alameda County.”

Cutter’s priorities for 2020 and beyond include:

• Advancement of high profile multi-jurisdictional, multimodal corridor improvements

• Improving transit options throughout the county to provide a reliable and connected system

• Ensuring safe mobility options for bicyclists and pedestrians

• Pushing forward rail strategy in partnership with other agencies, importantly the Countywide Rail Safety Enhancement Program

• Expansion of model educational and supportive programs like Safe Routes to Schools and the Affordable Student Transit Pass program

• Closing gaps in the trails network

• Expansion of express lanes

Cutter talked about the many projects going into construction this year, including:

• 7th Street Grade Separation East project, which is part of the Global Opportunities for the Port of Oakland (GoPort) program, that will realign and replace the existing railroad underpass and multi-use path along 7th Street between Interstate 880 (I-880) and Maritime Street.

• State Route 84 (SR-84) Widening and SR-84/I-680 Interchange Improvements project that will widen and conform SR-84 to expressway standards between south of Ruby Hill Drive and the I-680 interchange in southern Alameda County.

• I-80/Gilman Street Interchange Improvement project, which will reconfigure the interchange, located in northwest Berkeley near its boundary with the City of Albany to improve navigation and traffic operations on Gilman Street to reduce congestion, shorten queues and improve safety, while also closing the gap in local and regional bicycle facilities between the Bay Trail and North Berkeley.

Alameda CTC implements the voter-approved Measures B and BB, as well as the Measure F vehicle registration fee, to improve transportation throughout Alameda County.

“Thanks to the voter-approved Measure BB, we are able to leverage those local dollars to support multi-modal transportation infrastructure in Alameda County, including to improve mobility and safety for bicyclists and pedestrians, and enhance and support transit service, while also providing programs to our youth and seniors to make the county more livable and affordable,” says Vice Chair John Bauters, a City of Emeryville Councilmember.

Alameda CTC plans, funds and delivers transportation programs and projects that expand access and improve mobility to foster a vibrant and livable Alameda County. Alameda CTC coordinates countywide transportation planning and delivers the expenditure plan for the Measure B sales tax approved by 81.5 percent of county voters in 2000 and the expenditure plan for Measure BB, approved by more than 70 percent of voters in November 2014. For the 17th year in a row, Alameda CTC received a clean, unmodified opinion from independent auditors. Visit www.AlamedaCTC.org to learn more, and follow Alameda CTC on Facebook and Twitter.

CAPTIONS: The Alameda CTC funds transportation projects throughout Alameda County.

 

Speakers, Dancers Celebrate MLK Day

By Mike McGuire

San Leandro Times • 01-23-20

Unity In the Community and the City of San Leandro honored Martin Luther King Jr.’s legacy Monday with a student oratory contest, music, dancing and a panel discussion at the San Leandro Senior Community Center.

“We can change this world,” said Jocelyn Juarez, San Leandro high school student and panelist in the afternoon program.

Student panelist Deanna Gaines said that Dr. King had inspired almost all of today’s activists.

“Get into some good trouble in the year ahead,” Assemblyman Rob Bonta urged the panelists and everyone at the event.

“We’re all in this together. There’s not us or them. There’s only us,” was the lesson Bonta said he learned from Dr. King.

Bonta said that audiotapes of King addressing meetings during the Civl Rights movement inspired his father, then a student, so much that he traveled to Alabama to get involved.

“He taught us to speak your voice and stand your ground,” panelist Josiah Harris said.

“He stood his ground despite people bombing his home, the FBI watching him, police harassing him and sometimes beating him,” Harris added.

The panel was moderated by Alameda County schools superintendent L. Karen Monroe. She remembered working as a student intern for America’s first black Congresswomen, Rep. Shirley Chisholm of New York.

Chisholm was elected just after King’s assassination in 1968.

Several panelists said we should expect great things from their generation, which panelist Bitaniya Sileshi said was “unusually aware of and well educated in social justice.”

Gaines said that it was her generation’s turn to fight for what was right, just as their elders had when they were young,

“If the next generation doesn’t see us step up, they won’t do it,” she said.

Panelist Jonathan Martin said King showed one person can move millions.

“He never gave up, he kept on pushing no matter what,” said panelist Anthony Murillo.

Sileshi said that the current generation is surrounded by technology, which makes it easier to create movements from the ground up.

“There are lots of vocal youth and we plan to raise an even more vocal next generation,” she said.

Monroe noted both the students’ optimism and their courage when they spoke of the contributions they thought their generation would make to society.

City Councilman Benny Lee told panelists and the audience that Dr. King’s legacy in some ways resembles that of Guan Gong, who lived in China 2,000 years ago. His fight for people’s rights was long ago, and he was ultimately executed for it, yet he is still remembered by name at every Chinese banquet.

Students in three grade groups competed in the morning oratory contest, hosted by former Oakland A’s Vida Blue and David Anderson. Anderson now serves on San Leandro’s senior commission.

Some students read poems they composed themselves, others gave dramatic readings of poems or essays written by others, and one pair of students imagined a 7-year-old African American girl from King’s time talking to him, using his quotations.

That pair, Kayla Lam and Robyn Henson, 7th graders from Muir Middle School, won in their group, with Alvin Wong, also of Muir, getting second place.

Nyla Parker, a 4th grader at Madison School took first place in the third through fifth-grade competition, with second place going to Juliana Grace Tesoro, a fifth grader at McKinley.

In the high school competition, first place went to Deanna Gaines, while second place went to Naya Chadwick.

The event had opened with a welcome by Vice Mayor Pete Ballew, filling in for Mayor Cutter, followed by the drumming group Sistahs of the Drum. They invited people to get up and dance, and some did.

The different grade competitions were separated by dance performances by the African Queens Dance Company, which includes child, youth and adult dancers. They performed dances that historically came from Africa, and some of which are still performed there.

CAPTIONS: (LEFT) Sistahs of the Drum perform at Martin Luther King Day celebration in San Leandro on Monday.

(RIGHT) City Councilman Benny Lee (at left) talks with L. Karen Monroe, Alameda County schools superintendent (2nd from left), and student panelists, from left, Deanna Gaines, Bitaniya Sileshi, Jonathan Martin, Anthony Murillo, Josiah Harris and Jocelyn Juarez at panel discussion of Rev. Martin Luther King’s legacy.

PHOTOS BY MIKE MCGUIRE

Local Farm to Build Better Community

By Mike McGuire

San Leandro Times • 01-23-20

Better food for a better society is the goal of a new food preparation and distribution center that opened Jan. 17 on Fairmont Avenue in San Leandro, where Alameda County’s animal shelter once was housed.

Dig Deep Farms Food Hub will take in food left over from school lunch programs as well as from food the farm grows itself. They will repackage and sometimes recombine it, and then distribute it to potentially hungry people at places such as low-income housing sites.

“I’ve been waiting for this day for a long time,” said Alameda County Supervisor Wilma Chan to the 200 people who gathered for the opening.

The hub is part of the county’s ALL IN anti-poverty program, which Chan has championed. Supervisor Nate Miley, along with other supervisors, also have supported its efforts.

“Public safety means more than a lack of crime,” said Capt. Marty Neideffer of the Alameda County Sheriff’s Department.

You have to also fix the conditions that lead to crime, he added.

“This is an example of great 21st century police work,” said Neideffer.

ALL IN Director Dr. Larissa Estes said that recovering and providing nutritious food goes along with distributing food grown at several Dig Deep Farm sites, as well as giving food-based small businesses access to equipment they need to feed people.

“Food is medicine” as much as pharmaceutical products are, said Dr. Steven Chen, chief medical officer of ALL IN. The Food Hub calls itself a “farmacy” in a mural along one side of its building.

Chen said that someone being treated for a chronic condition at a county medical clinic might very well get a “food prescription” in addition to any medications they might need.

That would consist of healthy foods that help one heal or manage that condition, and you would fill the prescription at a “farmacy” located in that clinic, he said.

Such farmacies have already been set up at two of the county community medical clinics and will soon be coming to others, according to Dr. Estes.

Estes said that Dig Deep has two sites along East 14th Street where food is grown, and is planning to expand those efforts. Food also comes from school lunch programs currently, and will come from supermarkets in the near future.

A new state law, SB 1383, requires that a certain percentage of unsold food be recovered and not go to waste.

The Food Hub will help address economic aspects of poverty as well, Estes said. People need decent food to eat, and decent jobs to support themselves and their families.

Formerly incarcerated people, who often find it hard to get decent jobs, will be hired to drive Food Hub’s food recovery vans, she said.

“We need to begin to break down the walls that separate some individuals from society,” said county probation chief Wendy Still.

The Food Hub will also provide commercial kitchen facilities to small food businesses and to startups. Meanwhile, refrigerators and food storage facilities are being provided to low-income housing sites so they are able to utilize food coming from the Food Hub, said Estes.

Capt. Neideffer said his department follows the principles of “community capitals policing.” Just as business needs financial capital to flourish, communities need several different kinds of social capital to flourish, and this prevents crime in the process.

Cherryland and Ashland in particular have more than their share of social problems, and less than their share of such things as music and arts venues, parks, theaters, and cinemas, according to a pamphlet on community capital policing that the Sheriff’s Department distributes.

But issues of food insecurity and poverty are hardly limited to those communities, according to several speakers.

Supervisor Chan said that one in five Alameda County residents relies on a food bank as their primary source of food.

“We know that that this program will reduce poverty,” she said.

CAPTION: The "Farmacy" mural at the Dig Deep Farms Food Hub off of Fairmont Drive in San Leandro.

PHOTO BY MIKE MCGUIRE

 

Shoreline Meeting Set for Tuesday

The community is invited to an informational community meeting on the status of the Monarch Bay Shoreline Development Project on Tuesday, Jan. 28, from 7 to 8:30 p.m. at the Marina Community Center,15301 Wicks Blvd.

City staff and developer Cal-Coast Companies will provide an update on the Shoreline Project, including information on project history, current proposal, and next steps.

The Monarch Bay Shoreline Development Project is a proposed development along the northern portion of the San Leandro shoreline, around the San Leandro Marina. The plan is to create a regional destination that connects the community with the bay and provides recreation and amenities.  

The current project proposal includes:

•  220-room hotel

•  5,000 square foot hotel restaurant

•  7,500 square foot restaurant / banquet facility

•  152 single family residences

•  48 town home residences

•  285 multi-family apartment residences

•  New, 2,500 square foot Mulford-Marina Branch Library

•  Reconfiguration of Marina 9-hole executive Golf Course

•  Enhanced recreational amenities to include:

• Extensive park and plaza areas, including a new park at Mulford Point

• Pedestrian promenade and Bay Trail connections along shoreline and throughout development

• Bike lanes

• Boat launch area

Cal-Coast was selected as the master developer for the shoreline in 2008 and has been working with staff and the community for more than a decade.

The project has evolved over time, including relocation of proposed buildings from the outer shoreline area, elimination of an office component, and enhancement of the planned community park space.

The current concept for the Shoreline was developed in 2017, following feedback from regional agencies and further project and market analysis. Since then, the City has been working with the developer to finalize terms and agreements for the project. 

The upcoming review focuses on the arrangement between the developer and City, including defining the project scope, delineating the developer and City’s responsibilities, and drafting leases and other documents outlining the way in which the property may be developed and utilized over time.

Input from the community has been highly valuable in getting the project to this point.

Following these foundational steps, there will be another round of public meetings and project review, focusing on the design details for the project, including site plan reviews, architectural design review, and park programming and design.

Despite numerous hurdles along the way, the project is now closer to a shovel in the ground than ever before.

No Direct Bus Service through

Downtown SL

Transfer at SL BART means paying two fares through town

By Mike McGuire

San Leandro Times • 01-23-20

Sometime in the months ahead, San Leandro will see the Bus Rapid Transit project completed to move people a bit more quickly between the San Leandro BART station and downtown Oakland.

But something was lost in that deal for bus riders in San Leandro. One can no longer take a single bus, and pay one fare, to get down East 14th Street from the north side of downtown to the south side.

For example, you can’t take a direct trip down East 14th Street from City Hall to San Leandro Hospital. You have to transfer to another bus at the San Leandro BART and pay a second fare.

AC Transit discontinued free transfers several years ago, even for trips down the same street.

AC Transit suggests on its website that people use the Clipper card or pay cash to buy a day pass for a little more than the cost of two one-way fares. A person planning a one-way trip, perhaps because someone is dropping them off or picking them up, would still end up paying two fares, though.

For decades, one could ride the #1 bus from Oakland down East 14th Street all the way to the Bayfair Mall. For a few years, a quicker version of the same trip could be done on the 1R, with the R standing for Rapid. That route had fewer stops to speed up the journey.

The 1R was discontinued when construction got underway on the BRT, and the #1’s route shortened so that it began at the San Leandro downtown BART station.

According to AC Transit Director Elsa Ortiz, who represents San Leandro, the #1 will be discontinued along its remaining route once the BRT is complete, later this year. She said that there is not room for both local bus stops and the BRT along its route.

The portion of the #1 route between San Leandro BART and Bay Fair BART was replaced by the #10 bus route, a different bus route and a separate fare is required.

Fares are $2.50 per bus if paid in cash when boarding the bus. Fares are 25 cents cheaper when using a Clipper Card, which frequent riders tend to have.

AC Transit’s route map shows that bus routes in most East Bay communities generally continue through downtown areas along main streets without needing to transfer.

The other exception to this is in Hayward along Mission Boulevard, where one also has to transfer to a different bus route at a BART station.

AC Transit uses BART stations as hubs, where bus routes begin and end.

The City of San Leandro told AC Transit during the planning for the BRT that it was important to keep bus service on a single line along East 14th Street through downtown San Leandro, according to Mayor Pauline Cutter.

AC Transit’s reply, she said, was that there wasn’t enough ridership to justify it.

But AC Transit spokesman Robert Lyles said that the issue of downtown San Leandro becoming a two-fare zone had not been brought up by the city in their discussions with the agency.

AC Transit did, however, see the possibility of discontent back in 2016, when it introduced its “AC Go” project.

“Not everything that happens in June will be seen as an improvement,” noted a staff report to the agency’s board of directors on May 25 of that year.

The single example they cited was splitting Line 1 into two lines, “requiring a transfer where there wasn’t one before.” That transfer would be at the San Leandro BART station.

CAPTION: The AC Transit No. 10 bus runs southbound on East 14th Street, starting at the San Leandro BART Station. The 10 bus picks up the route on East 14th from the 1 bus that runs from San Leandro BART to downtown Oakland.

PHOTO BY MIKE  MCGUIRE

Eden Area Holds First Advisory Meeting

By Mike McGuire

San Leandro Times • 01-16-20

The Eden Area Municipal Advisory Council (MAC) held its first meeting Tuesday night at the San Lorenzo Library, bringing more direct representation at the county level to the unincorporated areas.

The seven-member body is appointed by Alameda County supervisors Wilma Chan and Nate Miley, and represents residents of unincorporated San Lorenzo, Ashland, Cherryland, and Hayward Acres. The council joins MACs in Castro Valley, Sunol and Fairview, other unincorporated areas in the county.

A municipal advisory council has no authority to make laws or policy but it makes recommendations to the county board of supervisors.

“The first meeting of the Eden Area MAC represents a historic day for Alameda County by providing our unincorporated communities the localized representation they have long deserved,” said Supervisor Chan.

The Eden Area MAC was created by the Alameda County Board of Supervisors on Oct. 1, 2019. Appointees are either residents or business owners in the area.

Supervisor Chan’s four appointees are Donald Clowser of San Lorenzo, Jennifer Ong of unincorporated Hayward, Eva Poon of Ashland and Diane Wydler of San Lorenzo. Supervisor Miley’s three appointees are Tyler Dragoni of Ashland, Jennifer Esteen of Ashland and Michael Freed of Cherryland.

“Today, the residents of Ashland, Cherryland, San Lorenzo, and Hayward Acres will be able to work together to advocate for services, opportunities, and a better quality of life through the formation of the Eden Area MAC,” said Supervisor Miley.

Miley told the group that MACs often clarify issues and resolve problems before matters go to the board of supervisors.

“And about 90 percent of the time, the supervisors go along with what the MAC recommends,” he added.

The new board elected Jennifer Ong as its chair and Michael Freed as its vice chair, and heard presentations on public art projects planned for the area as well as economic development projects.

One speaker from the public got right to the point, welcoming the new body and saying that the Eden area needed to get a greater share of county attention and services. He called for more sidewalks and more parks, and said Eden’s communities needed to unify and speak with one voice politically in county matters.

He said that the Eden communities had been gerrymandered in the past, split up between two supervisors’ districts with the effect of diluting their political power. He noted that communities like Castro Valley or Pleasanton are within a single district, making it more likely their needs will be heard and addressed.

Another public speaker, Peter Barrows, noted that some Cherryland residents have been leading a move to have Hayward annex the community.

“Why now, just as we’re getting a MAC,” he asked, adding that he personally preferred county law enforcement and firefighting to getting the same services from Hayward.

Among the economic development projects planned for the Eden area are Ashland Commons, a park area on East 14th St.; Cherryland Place, retail and housing on Mission Blvd.; the Cherryland Community Center at Hampton and Boston, scheduled to open in December 2020; a revitalized Lorenzo Theater complex on Hesperian Boulevard; and the Village Green housing development facing it across Hesperian near Paseo Grande.

Development at Marina Still a Year Away

Public meeting on shoreline development set for Jan. 28

By Mike McGuire

San Leandro Times • 01-16-20

Plans for rebuilding the San Leandro Marina, moving slowly for several years, may be about to speed up.  The developer hopes to have it completed by 2023.

Developer Cal-Coast’s proposal for the marina includes a 280-unit apartment building, a 220-room hotel with a restaurant and banquet facilities, 147 single-family residences, 53 town home residences, a new restaurant, a new Mulford-Marina branch library, and a new public park.

Construction itself can take roughly two years, said Cal-Coast General partner Ed Miller, who heads up the project.

The Community Development Department will give a report on the project to the City Council at its next meeting, Tuesday, Jan. 21, at 7 p.m. at City Hall.

Also, an informational public meeting on the project will be held on Tuesday, Jan. 28 at 7 p.m. at the Marina Community Center, 15301 Wicks Blvd. The project developer will be present to answer questions, along with city staff members.

City Economic Development Manager Katie Bowman estimates that demolition of the boat docks and some existing buildings is about a year away. Construction would follow.

The eventual closing of the Marina was underscored when the city closed the Marina Office on Mulford Point Drive on Nov. 1, 2019.

The City Council decided several years ago to transform the harbor itself to different uses, such as kayaking and a nature area.

Dredging was ended in 2009.  As the marina fills in with silt, fewer and fewer boats have been able to use the berths there since, and then only when the tide is high enough.

The occupancy of the Marina’s berths is down to 58 boats and 5 live-aboards, for 63 total out of 462 slips, Public Works Director Debbie Pollart said. That is an occupancy rate of less than 14 percent

No new rentals have been been accepted since 2012.

Boat owners confirm that it has been getting harder to get in and out of the harbor, and seem resigned to eventually move their boats elsewhere.

Colin Scott was one of the last boat owners to move into the Marina, and he has to be careful getting his 25-foot boat with a 4-foot draft in and out of its berth.

At some low tides you can see mud around half the berths, he said.

Scott sees losing the harbor as a loss for the public, if a gain for some large private businesses. 

There are still two yacht clubs operating at the Marina. San Leandro Yacht Club Port Captain Dwight Pitcaithley said people still gather socially there. They continue to teach safe boating classes through the Power Squadron organization. Socializing also continues at the Spinnaker Yacht Club across the harbor.

“We’ve become more of a social club than a yacht club, though,” said past Spinnaker Yacht Club Commodore Sunny Elliott. 

She said the area between the public boat launch and the channel is often just mud, and they’ve seen plenty of groundings of boats, sometimes even jet skis. Sailboats need more of a draft than power boats, she said, and the former have largely disappeared from the Marina.

Spinnaker’s Port Fleet Captain Mike Perkins said that some boaters are trying to hang on at the Marina. But he increasingly sees boaters who berth their boats elsewhere, then come to Spinnaker to socialize.

Public Works Director Pollart said that her department hopes to give boat owners six months or more notice before they have to vacate. She does not know just when that might be, but it is not imminent.

Katie Bowman said that the city’s approval process includes preliminary agreements with the developer, then a vote on plan details by the Board of Zoning Adjustments and for some items the City Council, and finally necessary permits have to be obtained.

Those permits come from regional, state and federal agencies, as well as city departments.

Bowman invited members of the public to bring their comments, suggestions, or complaints, to the Jan. 28 public meeting. Representatives of the developer will be there to answer questions along with city staff members.

CAPTION: Most of the slips are now empty at the San Leandro Marina and the Harbor Master's office is closed, and in a year the docks will be dismantled. 

PHOTO BY MIKE MCGUIRE

 

 

Alameda County Seeks Comments on Art Proposals for Ashland Street Project

San Leandro Times • 01-16-20

Alameda County is working on two street projects that include artwork, and everyone is invited to give their comments.

The projects on East 14th Street in Ashland and Hesperian Boulevard in San Lorenzo are intended to make the streets safer and better looking. The county Public Works Agency is working with the Alameda County Arts Commission to include public art as part of the project.

A small group of artists have been chosen by the Artist Selection Committee as semi-finalists. The public is invited to comment on whether each artist’s proposal may or may not be a good match for the projects.

The comments will be considered by the committee when it meets in February and picks one artist for each project. The committees are comprised of local residents and artists.

To view the art submissions and send comments to the art selection committee, go to www.acgov.org/arts and click on “What’s New.”

The East 14th Street corridor improvement project extends from 162nd Avenue in Ashland to the I-238 overpass.

The artists took ideas from community meetings last fall where people from Ashland and San Lorenzo shared their thoughts about the special characteristics of their community and how that could be reflected in the artwork. Ideas also came through an online survey.

Artist Louis Chinn titled his project “Thrive,” alluding to Ashland’s agricultural past and his desire for Ashland to grow and flourish as people are given opportunities.

“My hope is that when people see my artwork, they see an Ashland that thrives because of its richness in diversity, a nurturing community, connection to each other and the beauty of the surrounding natural environment,” Chinn said.

Artist Sheila Ghidini’s project for Hesperian Boulevard has seven different aspects of natural gardens that once existed in San Lorenzo – the shore, trees, creeks, flowers, fruit, vegetables, and the returning Monarch butterflies.

“Most of these were gleaned from community meetings in which memories of these places were shared,” Ghidini said in her artist’s statement for the project.

Examples of the designs by Chinn and Ghidini and the other finalists are on the county website listed above. People are encouraged to submit comments on the artists’ proposals. The comment period closes on Jan. 26.

First Baby of Year Born at 12:05

San Leandro Times • 01-09-20

The East Bay’s first baby of the new year – and new decade – was born at San Leandro Kaiser Hospital at 12:05 a.m. on New Year’s Day.

Christopher Santiago Tercero, third child of Robert and Ursula Tercero of Castro Valley, weighed in at 8 pounds, 5 ounces and was 21 inches long, according to Kaiser spokesman Jonathan Bair.

Christopher might have been the first baby born in 2020 in the entire Bay Area, but Valley Medical Center in San Jose claims a baby girl arrived there at 12:04 a.m.

Christopher joins his sisters Bianca and Aliana to make a sibling trio. Fittingly, the family name Tercero means “third” in Spanish.

Roberto and Ursula are both originally from Nicaragua but met in the United States.

CAPTION: The East Bay's first baby of 2020, Christopher Santiago Tercero, with mom Ursula and dad Roberto at San Leandro Kaiser Hospital on New Year's Day.

PHOTO COURTESY KAISER PERMANENTE 

 

Former Councilman Kerr Dies

San Leandro Times • 01-09-20

Former City Councilman Howard Kerr passed away on Jan. 2 at the age of 96.

Kerr was born and raised in Northern California, near Chico, where he worked on dairy farms, raised hogs and chickens, and worked plow horses. He later went to UC Davis and UCLA. 

Kerr met Eleanor Grace Gilboy, an attractive young nurse, at a dance and they were married in 1950. The same year, the couple bought their first house in the Washington Manor neighborhood of San Leandro where they lived the rest of their lives. Eleanor passed away in 2008.

Howard and Eleanor raised three children, sons Jay and Rich, and daughter Mary. 

“He was a wonderful father,” said Mary. “He was always involved, coaching numerous teams, attending sporting events and encouraging educational endeavors. And he was always honest, and he taught us that.”

Kerr worked for the City of Oakland for 34 years as an urban renewal representative. After retiring, he was elected to the board of directors of the Oro Loma Sanitary District. He went on to win eight consecutive elections, serving on the board for 29 years, retiring in 2015 at the age of 92.

In 1992, Kerr was elected to the San Leandro City Council. He served on many boards and committees and was Vice Mayor for a term. 

Kerr once told the newspaper that he first got involved in local politics in 1952 when Washington Manor flooded during a heavy rainy season. The water was mostly limited to people’s garages, but it’s an issue that’s still going on today in areas that are built on or near former marshland. 

Altogether, Kerr worked for the betterment of the city for seven decades, leading a productive life that touched many people. 

Services include a visitation at Grissom’s Mortuary in San Lorenzo today (Thursday, Jan. 9) from 4 to 8 p.m. The funeral will be on Friday, Jan. 10, at 11 a.m. at Heritage Baptist Church, 2960 Merced St. in San Leandro.

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to Shriners Hospitals for Children or St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. 

CAPTION: The East Bay's first baby of 2020, Christopher Santiago Tercero, with mom Ursula and dad Roberto at San Leandro Kaiser Hospital on New Year's Day.

PHOTO COURTESY KAISER PERMANENTE

City Council Approves New Police Contract

By  Mike McGuire

San Leandro Times • 01-09-20

The San Leandro Council approved a new labor agreement with the San Leandro Police Officers Association (SLPOA) at its Jan. 6 meeting that would raise pay for officers and sergeants about 9 percent over 3 years.

The vote was 7-0 on the agreement, which was considered along with several other items in the “consent calendar” part of the meeting devoted to routine actions. The contract runs from Jan. 1 of this year until Dec. 31, 2022.

One of the Council members approving the agreement was Pete Ballew, who is a retired San Leandro police officer. 

After the initial 1 percent rise in the new contract, a police officer would start out at $96,924 a year, while a new officer hired after Oct. 1, 2022 would start at $104,916 annually. Police officers’ pay goes up with experience, so that an officer at the top of the scale would make $123,708 after the initial rise this month, and $133,896 by 2022.

A sergeant new in the position would make $116,316 after the initial raise this month, and a sergeant who began the position after Oct. 1, 2022 would start at $125,892. After the initial pay raise this month, a sergeant who has served long enough to be at the top of the pay scale would make $148,440 a year, rising to $166,668 by Oct. 1, 2022.

The city’s pension contributions for police officers through the Public Employee Retirement System (CalPERS) did not change in the new agreement. Police officers are generally able to retire at 90 percent of their base pay after 30 years of service if they are at least 50 years of age.

Human Resources Manager Emily Hung, in a written report to the Council, said that before the contract was negotiated, San Leandro police were paid slightly less than officers in nearby Bay Area communities. 

A study of police compensation had shown our police earning about 3 percent less than the median (half above, half below) of those communities. 

“As more SLPOA employees become eligible for retirement, it is critical to provide a compensation package that maintains the City’s market position to support recruitment efforts to attract qualified candidates,” Hung told the Council.

Hung had added that police departments here and elsewhere are also competing for smaller candidate pools than in the past.

The City also agreed to contribute more to health benefits for the police, matching Kaiser’s 2020 premium for each level of coverage. However, police officers and sergeants would cover 30 percent of annual premium increases in future years.

San Leandro will also contribute the same amount to police long-term disability insurance as it currently contributes to other city employees’ disability coverage. 

Police officers and sergeants who contribute to a 457 deferred compensation plan (similar to a 401-K, but for public employees) will have their contributions matched up to 1 percent of their base salary in 2020 and 1.75 percent in 2021. The City hadn’t matched those contributions previously, Hung said.

Pay for some special police duties and trainings were increased as well. 

Small pay increases are given to officers completing advanced training beyond what they learned in the academy through the California POST (Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training) program, Hung said. 

Those pay bumps were increased slightly in the new agreement, up to a total of an 8 percent increase in base pay for those completing most advanced level of POST training, she said.

Officers assigned to added duties as field technicians at crime scenes will now get $50 per day extra, compared with $40 previously. Bilingual pay will increase slightly, from $185 to $200 a month, Hung told the council.

Specialized police duties such as Investigation, Traffic or Administration have qualified officers for extra pay in the past, Hung said. The Assignment Differential will rise from 3 percent to 5 percent in the new labor agreement, up from a 3 percent differential in the previous agreement.

Police continue to receive other employee benefits that are generally similar to other city employees. 

For instance, they get medical and dental insurance with a substantial city contribution, 12 days a year in sick leave, an initial 12 days of vacation rising to 25 days a year after 18 years of service, 3 days funeral leave for immediate family members (5 if travel is needed outside the 9 Bay Area counties), an Employee Assistance Plan that provides help after traumatic incidents, and a $50,000 insurance policy for life, accidental death and dismemberment.

Benefits more specific to police work include a 5 percent overnight shift differential, 5 percent added to base pay for canine officers and a maintenance allowance for the dog, and hourly pay at overtime rates for court appearances, which are carried out on days when the officer is not scheduled for regular duty. 

Police do not get holidays off, but they receive 7 percent more in their salaries in lieu of holiday pay. They get 1 floating holiday per year. While they are covered by CalPERS retirement, they are not also covered by Social Security, as most other city employees are.

The city contributes to health and dental insurance coverage for retired officers until they qualify for Medicare, usually at age 65. The city contributes to a Medi-Gap plan and dental plan up to age 70. 

In Other Council Business

The City presented a check for $23,000 to the Alta Mira Club for emergency repairs at the historic building on Lafayette Street. The club had earlier told the Council that deteriorating window frames were endangering the building’s historic stained glass windows.

Councilman Pete Ballew was chosen over Benny Lee as Vice Mayor for the upcoming year. 

Lee was nominated first, but failed to get a majority vote in his favor when the council voted 3-3 with 1 abstention. Voting “yes” (for Lee) were Council members Benny Lee, Corina Lopez and Victor Aguilar, while voting “no” were Ed Hernandez, Deborah Cox and Mayor Pauline Cutter. Councilman Ballew abstained.

Ballew was nominated, and was elected on a vote of 4-1 with 2 abstentions. Voting “yes” (for Ballew) were Councilmembers Cox, Hernandez, Lopez and Mayor Cutter. Councilman Lee voted “no,” while Councilmen Ballew and Aguilar abstained.

The Council also voted to end its efforts to set a lower campaign contribution limit for city elective offices than are contained in a new state law that sets statewide limits for municipal elections. AB 571 sets a limit of $4,700 per contributor, taking effect in 2021. 

The council’s rules committee had previously discussed the lower limits, but had struggled to agree on a workable system that could be enforced without undue use of city staff time.

 

88 Year Old Lucy Tarin Not Ready to Retire

By  Jim Knowles

San Leandro Times • 01-09-20

Kasper’s at the Greenhouse Marketplace will close on Jan. 19 and that means something to the regular customers who go for the great steamed hot dogs.

But Lucy Tarin isn’t ready to retire. She’s only 88.

“Most likely I’ll fill in at the other stores when somebody’s sick, or if nothing else I’ll donate my time to St. Felicitas,” Tarin said.

Tarin has lived in Washington Manor since she and her late husband Joseph moved there in 1950. They raised four kids who all went to school at Dayton, Washington Manor and Marina High.

Tarin has always been in the food business. She worked at the Del Monte cannery in Oakland from 1955 to 1970, and then went to work at Regal Packing Company on Davis Street.

After she retired in 1996, she started working with her daughter who was manager of the Kasper’s in Castro Valley. When a job opened up at the Greenhouse Marketplace store, she took it.

“I love it,” Tarin said. “My bosses are like family to me. They’re good people to work for.”

A few of the Kasper’s are closing, due to higher costs such as wages and utilities. The costs were just getting so high that the store wasn’t making money, the owners say.

You can only charge so much for a hot dog. San Leandro now has a $15 minimum wage and utilities are outlandishly high, say the owners.

Kasper’s still has another store nearby on Hesperian Boulevard, which will stay open.  

But a few of the chain’s stores have closed. Kasper’s and Casper’s are easily confused but the two chains are related, literally. They’re owned by relatives of the same family.

About noon last Friday, two firemen stopped in for lunch, Captain Steve O’Neal and Firefighter Michael Houghtelling. Tarin fixed them up with a couple of hot dogs. They mentioned that Houghtelling has been coming to this same Kasper’s since he was a student at Arroyo High.

Another customer came in for the first time.

“I just googled it. It’s the first time I’ve been in this Kasper’s,” said Jamie Miller-Pearson.

Miller-Pearson said she was in town to get a part for her car. She usually goes to the Kasper’s in North Oakland.

Tarin is friendly with everybody and that’s what she’s known for, said her son Eddie.

“My mom gives everybody hugs,” Eddie said. “I don’t care who you are, bikers, everybody.”

 People always say, ‘Your mom’s the best.’”

BART Fares Rise: SL to SF Now $4.90

By  Jim Knowles

San Leandro Times • 01-02-20

It now costs a little more to take BART, as fares rose by 5 percent this week.

BART raised its fares by 5.4 percent, effective on Jan. 1. The fare from San Leandro Station to downtown San Francisco went up from $4.65 to $4.90.

The fare on an AC Transit bus to San Francisco rose by 50 cents to $6. But there is no increase in AC Transit’s local fares, which has been incorrectly reported by some Bay Area news publications.

AC Transit’s local fare of $2.50 stays the same. The last local bus fare increase in 2018 was the first fare hike in 6 years, according to AC Transit spokesman Robert Lyles.

BART raises fares every two years with the amount based on inflation. BART says the fare hike helps fund its capital projects.

AC Transit says its transbay fare increase is needed to improve its transbay service and to meet its capital obligations for the new Salesforce Transit Center in the city.

Transit riders had mixed reactions to the fare hike. Some passengers think that public transit should be cheaper.

“People take BART because it’s supposed to be cheaper but if round-trip to San Francisco is $10, then you could have bought $10 worth of gas for that,” said Isiah Al, a passenger at the San Leandro BART Station.

BART says it needs to keep up with inflation because it’s not heavily subsidized by the government and relies on fares for two-thirds of its operating budget, according to BART spokesman Jim Allison.  

BART is working hard to improve the rider experience with stepped up cleaning efforts, and additional police presence, Allison said. He added that BART is working on new solutions to address the Bay Area’s homeless crisis that affects BART.

The inflation-based fare increase is part of a program first approved by the BART Board in 2003 and renewed for a second series in 2013, according to BART.

One BART rider thought the fare is reasonable.

“It’s worth it,” said Mark Four of Oakland as he entered the San Leandro BART Station. “You’re paying for their wages, you know.”

BART recommends using the Clipper card, which is good for all Bay Area transit. Paper tickets add 50 cents on every trip, so a Clipper card saves money.

The adult fare with a Clipper card from San Leandro to 12th Street/Civic Center in Oakland increased on Jan. 1 from $2.55 to $2.70., and to Powell Street in San Francisco from $4.65 to $4.90.

AC Transit transbay fares are $6 for adults, $3 for youths, seniors and the disabled. AC Transit local cash fares are $2.50 adults, $1.25 youths, seniors and disabled. Clipper card fares are less at $2.25 and $1.12.

CAPTION: BART fares rose again on January 1 as the transit agency's board of directors has set automatic increases for every two years.

PHOTO BY JIM KNOWLES

 

Student Scores Show Improvement

By  Mike McGuire

San Leandro Times • 01-02-20

San Leandro students did better than last year on the state’s California School Dashboard website in both English and math, but have not caught up with average statewide student performance.

But the district’s students are nearly at the statewide average for career and college readiness after substantial gains in that area this past year.

Some 43.6 percent of San Leandro Unified students met the state readiness standards, compared with 44.1 percent of students statewide.

The Dashboard pulls together multiple tests and assessment results to arrive at single numbers in each category for parents and others to easily judge local school performance and progress.

The rise in English and math scores for San Leandro students enabled the district to move from orange to yellow in both subjects in the state education department’s color-coded scale. San Leandro students still fell short of the statewide averages, though.

On most measures, however, groups of San Leandro students that were furthest from the state standards made the most progress toward meeting them. San Leandro’s socioeconomically disadvantaged students, for example, closed much of the gap with similar students statewide in English last year.

School districts with groups of students falling well below the standards are eligible for special aid from the state to help them catch up. Ironically, San Leandro’s improvements among disabled students and homeless students disqualifies the district from aid to help both groups. But the district will get special aid to deal with high rates of suspension and chronic absenteeism among foster youths.

Schools Superintendent Dr. Mike McLaughlin hailed students’ improved performance in a number of areas, and predicted further progress in upcoming years.

The California Department of Education (CDE) 2019 performance reports for California districts and schools are accessible at the California Accountability Model & School Dashboard web page at https://www.caschooldashboard.org/.

 

 

 

 

Beware of Toxic Mushrooms in East Bay Parks

San Leandro Times • 01-02-20

Each year, mushrooms come out after the first rains of the season.

Mushrooms are ecologically important and can look beautiful – but some of them contain dangerous toxins.

The death cap (Amanita phalloides) and Western destroying angel (Amanita ocreata) are two of the world’s most toxic mushrooms, and both can be found in East Bay Regional Parks during the rainy season.

The death cap and Western destroying angel mushrooms contain amatoxins, a group of molecules that inhibit cellular metabolism in many animals. In mammals, the liver and kidneys are typically the first organs affected after ingestion. Symptoms don’t usually appear until up to 12 hours after consumption, beginning as severe gastrointestinal distress and progressing to the liver and renal failure if treatment is not sought immediately.

“Both of these toxic mushrooms can be lethal to humans and pets if consumed,” said East Bay Regional Park District Naturalist Trent Pearce, who is based in Tilden Regional Park and documents the fungi in East Bay Regional Parks. “They are mostly associated with oak trees and can be found growing anywhere oak roots are present.”

The death cap is a medium-to-large mushroom that typically has a greenish-gray cap, white gills, a white ring around the stem, and a large white sac at the base of the stem. Though the death cap is mainly associated with oak trees, it has been found growing with other hardwoods. It was accidentally introduced to North America on the roots of European cork oaks and is now slowly colonizing the West Coast. The death cap is not native to California.

The Western destroying angel is a medium-to-large mushroom that usually has a creamy white cap, white gills, a white ring around the stem that disappears with age, and a thin white sac at the base. It fruits from late winter into spring. It is associated exclusively with oaks. Unlike the death cap, it is a native California mushroom.

“The Park District urges the public to be safe and knowledgeable about toxic mushrooms when encountering them in the parks,” said East Bay Regional Park District Public Information Supervisor Dave Mason. “Collecting mushrooms in East Bay Regional Parks is not allowed.”

The death cap and Western destroying angel can also be dangerous for pets.

“Dog owners should keep a close watch on their dogs during the winter months,” said Mason. “Pet owners should contact a veterinarian immediately if they suspect their pet may have eaten a toxic mushroom.”

While the death cap and western destroying angel mushrooms are responsible for most cases of mushroom poisonings in California, deadly toxins can also be found in Galerina and Lepiota mushroom species, both of which are found in the Bay Area.

The public can learn more about the fungi of the East Bay Regional Parks at the annual Tilden Fungus Fair, Saturday and Sunday, January 25-26, 2020 at Tilden Nature Area’s Environmental Education Center.

CAPTION: While the death cap and western destroying angel mushrooms are responsible for most cases of mushroom poisonings in California, deadly toxins can also be found in Galerina and Lepiota mushroom species, both of which are found in the Bay Area.

PHOTO BY EBRPD

 

Elders Can Get Help From CEI In Controlling Diabetes

San Leandro Times • 01-02-20

The Center for Elders’ Independence (CEI) reminds Bay Area elders that they can live well into old age despite having diabetes if they manage it successfully with diet, medications, and exercise.

They offer their help in helping people get what the American Diabetes Association terms “personal care that meets you where you are.”

CEI client Victoria Gamez experienced that when she first came in to the group 6 years ago. She was in pain, depressed and suffered such high blood sugar her doctors would not give her the knee replacement surgery she badly needed.

She got her blood sugar under control with CEI’s help, and they helped her manage her medications and nutrition. She was finally able to get her knee surgery, and she regained the mobility she needed to function on her own at home.

She also appreciated the overall support she got from CEI, whose San Leandro facility is across the street from San Leandro Kaiser Hospital on Fairway Drive.

CEI prides itself on caring for the whole person. Each participant has a personalized care plan supporting their medical, social, emotional and nutritional needs.

Seniors with diabetes and their families get support from a team of physicians, nurses, dietitians, physical therapists and home care workers who help them manage their progress.

Diabetes is a serious disease at any age, said Dr. Lincoln Sison, a geriatric medicine physician at CEI.

“But some of the greatest challenges seniors have with diabetes can be forgetfulness and confusion. It takes a lot to constantly track blood sugar levels and take medications correctly. It can be difficult to manage diabetes on your own as you age,” he said.

For elderly patients, said Dr. Sison, it is especially important to have personalized care goals. CEI tries to be sensitive to patient’s wishes while helping them manage their blood sugar levels.

“If a patient wants aggressive treatment, we will provide tighter control. But if they just want to be comfortable, we won’t control so aggressively,” he said.

Registered Dietician Jing Liu said that making dietary changes is particularly challenging for seniors because of lifelong habits. Taste buds also often change with age, and seniors may want to add sugar and salt to bring the taste of food back to what they are used to.

Liu and other CEI dietitians work with each person’s dietary preferences, boundaries and cultures to help them reduce sugar intake and eat balanced meals.

She recommends maintaining a consistent meal schedule of eating every four hours during the day to keep blood sugar levels stable.

She said going no longer than 12 hours between meals at night is also important.

Meals at the centers are tasty as well as healthy, Liu said, carefully using spices to reduce the need for added sugar or salt.

According to the Centers for Disease Control, diabetes is a major contributing factor in strokes and heart attacks and can lead to complications such as nerve damage, kidney disease and vision loss.

It is now the seventh leading cause of death in the country.

Experts estimate that more than a third of U.S. adults have prediabetes, which often leads to the disease, and the majority don’t know it.

Ann Albright, director of CDC’s Division of Diabetes Translation, stressed that in order to address the dramatic increase in diabetes prevalence in America we must develop “successful programs to improve lifestyle choices… because the stakes are too high and the personal toll too devastating to fail.”

For more information on diabetes care at CEI, or for any information, one can visit elders.org or call 510-433-1150.

CAPTION: Carol Habercoss, MA, Nutrition Services Manager at CEI, shows participants how to prepare and enjoy healthy snacks, a key component of managing diabetes.

PHOTO  COURTESY OF  CEI

Foundation Contributes to Boys & Girls Club Construction

San Leandro Times • 01-02-20

The San Leandro Boys & Girls Club Foundation presented The Boys & Girls Clubs of San Leandro a check for $500,000 last month in support of the club’s project to completely renovate its facility on Marina Blvd.

The foundation is a separate organization and was established decades ago in order to support the needs of the Boys & Girls Clubs of San Leandro.

The presentation of the half million dollar check and the promise of more to come is a critical last piece of the Boys & Girls Club’s Capital Campaign to renovate the facility that has been operating since 1966.

The planning for the renovation project began in April 2016, the Wayne and Gladys Valley Foundation committed a lead gift of $4,000,000 with the caveat that the Club must raise the remaining $6 million needed for the project by April 30, 2019.

Over the next three years, the Braddock Family Foundation, The City of San Leandro, The Fremont Bank Foundation, Irwin Charity Foundation, Ghirardelli Chocolate Company and a lengthy list of generous businesses and individuals, all stepped up to support the club’s capital campaign. On April 1, 2019, the Club had a little over 80 percent committed to reaching the goal before the April 30 deadline but, time was running out.

“To get us this close, it was gut wrenching to think that it could all vaporize if something extraordinary didn’t happen quickly,” said Bob Glotch, Boys & Girls Club Executive Director.

That “something extraordinary” came on April 12 in the form of a letter from San Leandro Boys & Girls Club Foundation President Mike Miraglia, saying the Foundation would “Guarantee the club’s full funding of the campaign to renovate the Marina Boulevard facility.” That commitment is valued at 1.8 million dollars.

The presentation of the $500,000 was the first installment of the Foundation’s commitment to the project.

The Club renovation has started and is expected to take about 10 months. A Grand Re-Opening Celebration will be planned and will be open to the entire community.

CAPTION: The Boys & Girls Club Foundation members brought the check to the club where construction is now in progress. In the photo are Pat Marino, Bob Glotch, Dave Davini, Phil Williams, Mike Miraglia, Shelia Young, and Leon Natsues.

PHOTO BY JIM KNOWLES

Crowd Braves Rain, Chill For Menorah Lighting 

By  Mike McGuire

San Leandro Times • 01-02-20

Mayor Pauline Russo Cutter lit the first candle on the Chanukah menorah in front of police headquarters on Dec. 29, saying she hoped this was the beginning of a new inclusive tradition in the city.

The Jewish holiday commemorates the rededication of the Jewish Temple in 165 B.C.E. following defeat of a foreign invader who had banned Jewish worship. A one-day supply of specially prepared holy oil, all that was left unspoiled by the enemy, lasted eight days instead of one, allowing time to prepare a new supply.

Rabbi Shusterman noted that as important as that military victory was, it is not as well-remembered or celebrated as the miracle that followed.

What is celebrated most of all at Chanukah, he said, was the bringing of light to the darkness, especially in dark times. That gives hope to all people, not just one particular faith, he said.

A crowd of about 50, including several uniformed firefighters and police officers, braved a chilly night with occasional rain to enjoy the rock band the Ferris Wheels, from Berkeley and doing Jewish-themed rock ’n’ roll.

A particular hit was “Oh, Chanukah,” sung in English, Hebrew and Yiddish.

They also ate traditional fried or oily foods like latkes (potato pancakes) and jelly donuts to mark the miracle of the oil.

Some took the chance to dance with Mr. Dreidel, a human-size version of the spinning top children use to play games at Chanukah.

CAPTION: Rabbi Shmaya Shusterman of Chabad House San Leandro lights a candle on the Chanukah menorah in front of Police Headquarters on East 14th Street on Dec. 29.

PHOTO BY MIKE MCGUIRE

Arroyo Wrestler Wins State Title

San Leandro Times • 03-05-20

Arroyo High senior Alia Abushi won the state wrestling championship in the 189-pound division held in Bakersfield over the weekend.

Abushi pinned all of her opponents except one at the state championship, and the one exception she won by a majority decision. Not one of her opponents in the state meet scored any points against her.

In the finals, Abushi’s opponent – Adelina Parra of San Fernando – was ranked No. 3 in the nation and the Arroyo senior pinned her in the second round.

Abushi came into the meet as the defending state champ, making her the state title holder two years in a row. She was 37-0 for the season, and her high school career record is 155-3.

Abushi comes from a wrestling family. Her father was a wrestler at San Leandro High, class of 1996. Her brother is currently at SLHS, her sister is at Bancroft, and she has an older brother at Chabot College.

– By Jim Knowles

CAPTION: Alia Abushi of Arroyo High won the state wrestling championship in the 189-pound division held in Bakersfield.

St. Leander Teams Take Home Championships

San Leandro Times • 02-27-20

Two St. Leander School CYO teams had a successful weekend. The fifth-grade boysÅf basketball team won the Southern Alameda County (SAC) League championship game. The win continues their undefeated streak in the SAC for two years. And another St. Leander team became champions as well. The sixth-grade girlsÅf volleyball team won the Metro League Championship.

 

COMMUNITY CALENDAR • 03-12-20

•  Unity in the Community San Leandro

Unity in the Community San Leandro is having monthly meetings every second Saturday of the month from 9 to 11 a.m. at the San Leandro Main Library, 300 Estudillo Ave., on the second floor. The next meeting is March 14. The group works for whole and equitable communities, and an environment of inclusion to bridge divides and create a safer San Leandro for all. Share your perspective, vision and ideas.

• Socialist Workers Party Candidates

Meet the Socialist Workers Party candidates for president and vice president of the United States – Alyson Kennedy and Malcolm Jarrett – on Saturday, March 14, at the San Leandro Senior Community Center, 13909 East 14th St. Dinner is at 6 p.m., and the program starts at 7 p.m. Donation: $10. For more information, call 510-686-1351 or email swpoak@sbcglobal.net.

• Hearing Loss Association Meeting

The Hearing Loss Association Meeting will be on Saturday, March 14, at the Oakland Kaiser Hospital, Fabiola Bldg., 3801 Howe St., lower level, room G26. Refreshments are at 9:30 a.m with the program beginning at 10 a.m. Topic for discussion “When the police officer asks you to pull over.”  David Reimers, retired police officer and a member, is the speaker who will welcome questions dealing with hearing loss and law enforcement. Parking is free on Saturdays at the garage on Howe St. The meeting is free to all. For more information, call 510-221-6080 or email info@hearinglosseb.org.

• Easter Pageant Child Performers Needed

Elementary-school age kids are needed for an Easter pageant at San Leandro Church of Christ, 601 MacArthur Blvd. in San Leandro. Practices are each Sunday starting March 15. Kids will practice a skit of the original Easter Sunday upstairs during the sermon time at 11 a.m., followed by all ages practicing a musical number on stage after worship service. To sign up, email Woody and Judy at: woodysquare@sbcglobal.net. 

• San Leandro Garden Club

The San Leandro Garden Club will meet on Tuesday, March 17, at the Alta Mira Club, 561 Lafayette Ave. in San Leandro. The business meeting starts at 10 a.m., followed at 11 a.m. with a talk by John Nackley from the Bonsai Garden at Lake Merritt. The San Leandro Garden Club, meets montly, and is in its 55th year of promoting gardening and providing community support. All are welcome. For more information, call Carla Francis 510-582-5288.

• St. Felicitas Young at Heart Luncheon

St. Felicitas Church’s Young at Heart Senior Luncheon is Wednesday, March 18, at noon at Monsignor McGinty Hall located behind the church at 1662 Manor Blvd., in San Leandro.  The luncheon will feature crispy chicken tenders and  macaroni and cheese lunch with dessert, beverage and door prizes. Doors open at 11:15 a.m. Tickets can be purchased at the church office, by calling 510-351-5244, located to the right of the church. Last day to buy tickets is Friday, March 13, at noon. No ticket sales at the door. The cost is $6. All seniors our welcomed.

• Castro Valley Women’s Club Meeting

“Nevertheless, She Presisted” will be the topic at the next meeting of the Castro Valley Women’s Club on Wednesday, March 18, from 1 to 3 pm. at 18330 Redwood Road in Castro Valley. The public is invited. The club will be honoring the 100th Anniversary of Women gaining the vote in 1920. There will be a slide presentation, a Book Review of Hidden Figures and a panel discussion by members who will share their personal struggles from the ’60s onward, accessing equal pay and treatment. For more information, visit www.castrovalleywomensclub.weebly.com.

v SACYSL Soccer Signups

The Southern Alameda County Youth Soccer League (SACYSL) is having signups in the near future. To sign up or for more information, visit the SACYSL website at www.sacysl.com.

v I.D.E.S. St. John Pancake Breakfast

I.D.E.S. St. John, 1670 Orchard Ave. in San Leandro, will have a pancake breakfast to help support the 2020 queens on Saturday, March 21, at 9 a.m. Cost is $10 and includes pancakes and 4 bingo cards. Extra bingo cards may be purchased for $.25 each. For more information or tickets, call Darlene Cornell at 510-589-6536, Willie Calvo at 510-635-6326 or Frances Leite at 510-886-1568.

v Documentary on Paid Leave

Join the United Methodist Women of First United Methodist Church, 1600 Bancroft Ave. in San Leandro, for a screening and discussion of “Zero Weeks: Putting Families First” on Sunday March 22 at 2 p.m. The 55-minute documentary tells the stories of families who lack paid leave and are struggling to take care of their loved ones while meeting financial obligations. A discussion about paid leave in the U.S. and what can be about it will follow the documentary. 

• Concert at Bancroft Middle School

The community is welcome to a concert benefiting the music programs at Bancroft Middle School and San Leandro High School on Sunday, March 22, from 2 to 5 p.m. at Bancroft Middle School, 1150 Bancroft Ave. Bring a blanket or lawn chairs and listen to performances by several school bands, as well as surprise performances. Bring a meal or purchase food onsite. Tickets available in advance; $5 per person or $20 per family. For tickets, email chaves.jenn@gmail.com.

• Alta Mira Club Luncheon

A fundraiser luncheon for the Alta Mira Club will be held at Carlton Senior Living, 1000 East 14th St. in San Leandro, on Thursday, March 26, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Tickets are $10 per person. The menu includes spaghetti (with either vegetarian or meat tomato sauce), salad, bread, coffee, tea, wine and dessert. To reserve your seat, call Susan Patrick at 510-931-8111. 

• San Leandro Toastmasters

The San Leandro Toastmasters meet on Thursday nights from 6:45 to 7:45 p.m. at the San Leandro Main Library, 300 Estudillo Ave. The group fosters improved communication and public speaking. All levels of speakers from novice to seasoned are welcome.

• Emergency Preparedness Training

The office of Congressman Eric Swalwell will host an emergency preparedness training on Saturday, March 28, from 1 to 3 p.m. at the San Lorenzo Library, 395 Paseo Grande in San Lorenzo. The trainings will feature presentations from experts on how to prepare for emergencies or disasters. Swalwell’s office is hosting, but Swalwell will not be present. The training is free and open to all residents of California’s 15th Congressional District.

COMMUNITY CALENDAR • 03-05-20

• Personal Computer Users Group

The next monthly meeting of the Personal Computer Users Group will be Friday, March 6, at 7:30 pm at Calvary Baptist Church, 28924 Ruus Road in Hayward. A presentation about Rasberry Pi (RPi) will be made by Jan Fagerholm, followed by questions and answers. For more information, visit http://www.pcc.org or call 510-278-5192.

• Kiwanis Club St. Patrick’s Dinner

The Kiwanis Club of San Leandro presents its 31st Annual St. Patrick’s Day Dinner on Saturday, March 7, at the San Leandro Senior Community Center, 13909 East 14th St. The social hour and silent auction begins at 5:30 p.m. and dinner starts at 7 p.m. with corned beef and cabbage, a traditional Irish band and a live auction. Tickets are $30 per person. All proceeds benefit the club’s charitable projects. For more information or to reserve tickets, call Peggy Walters at 510-579-2755. 

• H.A.R.D. Spring Flea Market

The Hayward Area Recreation and Park District will host the annual big spring flea market on Saturday, March 7, from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Kenneth C. Aitken Senior and Community Center, 17800 Redwood Road in Castro Valley, free and open to the public. The flea market will have over 55 vendors selling one-of-a-kind items and unique treasures. For more information, call 510-881-6778 or visit www.HaywardRec.org. 

• Meeting of the SL Readers Roundtable 

The San Leandro Readers Roundtable will meet on Saturday, March 7, at 2 p.m. at the San Leandro Main Library, 300 Estudillo Ave., to discuss The Line Becomes a River: Dispatches from the Border, Francisco Cantu’s memoir of his time as an immigration agent along the United States-Mexico border. All are welcome, and all books discussed are available for purchase in the Library’s Booktique bookstore. 

• Marine Corps League

The Marines of the 1st Lt. Frank Reasoner Detachment #919 are looking for a few good men. This Detachment meets the second Saturday of each month at 9 a.m. at the San Leandro Veterans Memorial Building, 1105 Bancroft Ave. in San Leandro. The Detachment supports all Marines and FMF Corpsman, active, retired and former. For more information, call Bill Smith at 925-997-8041.

• “Open Cockpit Day” at Aviation Museum 

Hop into the cockpit of a famous fighter plane at the Oakland Aviation Museum’s “Open Cockpit Day” on Sunday, March 8, from noon to 4 p.m. at Oakland Airport’s North Field, 8252 Earhart Road in Oakland, just off Doolittle Drive. Visitors can view famous aircraft, including the A-3 Skywarrior, A-7 Corsair, and sit in a Harrier jump jet, or a MiG-15. The huge flying boat, the Short Solent Mk 111 that was used in the movie Raiders of the Lost Ark, will be open for tours for an additional fee. Activities include a ham radio exhibit, oldies Bay Area car exhibit, live music by the Friends of Ken Band, and a roller derby demonstration. 

• Workshop on Finding Community

Adults 18 years old and over are invited to a free workshop, “Finding and Belonging to a New Community,” on Tuesday, March 10, from 6 to 8 p.m. at the San Leandro Main Library, 300 Estudillo Ave. The workshop is for anyone new to San Leandro or who has been living here a while and have had feelings of disconnection. The discussion will be led by Phoebe Jue, the CEO and chairman of Celebrate You Coaching and speaker with a passion for empowering individuals finding and living out purpose in meaningful work. She will share practical tools and resources to help you to find and thrive in a community holistically. Light refreshments will be served. For more information, call the Main Library Information Desk at 510-577-3971.

• Veterans Town Hall at SL Library 

The Veterans Resource Center will host the VA Palo Alto Health Care Systems FY 2020 2nd quarter veterans town hall on Tuesday, March 10, from 6 to 7p.m. at the San Leandro Main Library, 300 Estudillo Ave. Get great information related to VA Healthcare’s new component, community care, and learn about VA updates that bring you greater veter­an’s entitlements.

• SL Art Association Meeting

The San Leandro Art Association’s monthly meeting will be held on Tuesday, March 10, at the San Leandro Main Library, 300 Estudillo Ave. Check the electronic calendar in the lobby for the room location. Socializing starts at 5:45 p.m., followed by a short meeting at 6:15 p.m., and a free art demonstration begins at 6:35 p.m. Kavita Parekh will demonstrate the Young Rembrandts’ step-by-step drawing method for children developed by a team of artists and educators. Members will also display artwork for the Artist of the Month contest. All ages are welcome to this free event.

• Sons in Retirement Meeting

Sons in Retirement (SIR) Branch #26, an organization of retired men, meets on the second Wednesday of each month. Social Hour starts at 11 a.m., followed by lunch at noon at the Fairview Event Center at Metropolitan Golf Course, 10051 Doolittle Dr. in Oakland. Dick Fisher will be the speaker at the luncheon on March 11 and his topic will be Patriotic Songs from long ago. Sponsored guests are welcome to come to this luncheon by calling Ken at 510-537-4804, as soon as possible. Cost is $26, payable in advance.  Checks should be made payable to: SIR Branch #26.  To receive a refund, the last day to cancel is by noon on Sunday, March 8.  For more information, call Ken at 510-537-4804.

• St. Felicitas Young at Heart Luncheon

St. Felicitas Church’s Young at Heart Senior Luncheon is Wednesday, March 18, at Monsignor McGinty Hall located behind the church at 1662 Manor Blvd.,in San Leandro.  March’s luncheon will feature crispy chicken tenders and  macaroni and cheese lunch with dessert, beverage and door prizes. Doors open at 11:15 a.m. Lunch is served at noon. Tickets can be purchased at the church office, by calling 510-351-5244, located to the right of the church. Last day to buy tickets is Friday, March 13, at noon. No ticket sales at the door. The cost is $6. All seniors our welcomed.

v Castro Valley Women’s Club Meeting

“Nevertheless, She Presisted” will be the topic at the next meeting of the Castro Valley Women’s Club on Wednesday, March 18, from 1 to 3 pm. at 18330 Redwood Road in Castro Valley. The public is invited. The club will be honoring the 100th Anniversary of Women gaining the vote in 1920. There will be a slide presentation, a Book Review of Hidden Figures and a panel discussion by members who will share their personal struggles from the ’60s onward, accessing equal pay and treatment. For more information, visit www.castrovalleywomensclub.weebly.com.

• SACYSL Soccer Signups

The Southern Alameda County Youth Soccer League (SACYSL) is having signups in the near future. To sign up or for more information, visit the SACYSL website at www.sacysl.com.

COMMUNITY CALENDAR • 02-27-20

• Library to Screen Last Black Man in SF

The San Leandro Main Library, 300 Estudillo Ave., invites the community to enjoy some soul food from local restaurant Southern Café and a free screening of the film, The Last Black Man in San Francisco, on Saturday, Feb. 29, from 5:30 to 8 p.m. Adults 18 years old and over may attend this after-hours event in celebration of Black History Month. Refreshments will be provided from 5:30 to 6 p.m., and the film runs from 6 to 8 p.m. The film won the 2019 Sundance Film Festival Best Directing award.

• San Leandro Schools Planning Meeting

The San Leandro Unified School District is planning for the future. Attend the district’s upcoming Local Control Accountability Plan (LCAP) community forum. This meeting will also include details about the facilities improvement bond, Measure N, which is on the ballot for March 3.  The meeting will be on on Saturday, Feb. 29, from 9 to 10:30 a.m., at the Barbara Lee Health Center (2251 Bancroft Ave.), presented in English.

• Celebrate African American History Month 

The Manor Branch Library, 1241 Manor Blvd. in San Leandro celebrates African American History Month with a fun family event, Samba Samba Kids with music with James Henry on Saturday, Feb. 29, at 2:30 p.m. For more information, call 510-577-7971.

• I.D.E.S. St. John Crab Feed

I.D.E.S. St. John, 1670 Orchard Ave. in San Leandro, will have its annual Crab Feed on Saturday, Feb. 29, from 6 to 10 p.m. The dinner comes with salad, pasta, garlic bread, and dessert. Tickets are $55 per person, and $25 for children 6 to 12 years old. For more information or tickets, call Darlene at 510-589-6536, Willie at 510-207-6326 or Frances 510-886-1568.

• Buon Tempo Club Dinner

The Buon Tempo Club is having a family dinner on Tuesday, March 3, at 7 p.m. at Mt. Tabor Hall, Transfiguration Church, 4000 E. Castro Valley Blvd. in Castro Valley.  Everyone is welcome. Chef Joseph Sotello and crew will serve a 5-course, family-style dinner of corned beef and cabbage, along with red and white wine.  Happy hour is 6 p.m.  The dinner is $15 for members, $20 for non-members. Make reservations by Friday, Feb. 28, by calling the Buon Tempo dinner line at 510-483-6929.

• Parkinson Support Group Meeting

The Parkinson Support Group will hold its monthly meeting on Thursday, March 5, at 10:30 a.m. at the San Lorenzo Community Church, 945 Paseo Grande in San Lorenzo.  Aaron Wong from Spectrum in Alameda County will speak on fall prevention. For more information, call Loma White 510-276-3119.

• Personal Computer Users Group

The next monthly meeting of the Personal Computer Users Group will be Friday, March 6, at 7:30 pm at Calvary Baptist Church, 28924 Ruus Road in Hayward. A presentation about Rasberry Pi (RPi) will be made by Jan Fagerholm, followed by questions and answers. For more information, visit http://www.pcc.org or call 510-278-5192.

• Meeting of the SL Readers Roundtable 

The San Leandro Readers Roundtable will meet on Saturday, March 7, at 2 p.m. at the San Leandro Main Library, 300 Estudillo Ave., to discuss The Line Becomes a River: Dispatches from the Border, Francisco Cantu’s memoir of his time as an immigration agent along the United States-Mexico border. All are welcome, and all books discussed are available for purchase in the Library’s Booktique bookstore.

• Marine Corps League

The Marines of the 1st Lt. Frank Reasoner Detachment #919 are looking for a few good men. This Detachment meets the second Saturday of each month at 9 a.m. at the San Leandro Veterans Memorial Building, 1105 Bancroft Ave. in San Leandro. The Detachment supports all Marines and FMF Corpsman, active, retired and former. For more information, call Bill Smith at 925-997-8041.

• “Open Cockpit Day” at Aviation Museum 

Hop into the cockpit of a famous fighter plane at the Oakland Aviation Museum’s “Open Cockpit Day” on Sunday, March 8, from noon to 4 p.m. at Oakland Airport’s North Field, 8252 Earhart Road in Oakland, just off Doolittle Drive. Visitors can view famous aircraft, including the A-3 Skywarrior, A-7 Corsair, and sit in a Harrier jump jet, or a MiG-15. The huge flying boat, the Short Solent Mk 111 that was used in the movie Raiders of the Lost Ark, will be open for tours for an additional fee. Activities include a ham radio exhibit, oldies Bay Area car exhibit, live music by the Friends of Ken Band, and a roller derby demonstration.

• Volunteers Needed for Family Support

Eden is looking for volunteers to build its Family Support Services group to serve as a liaison between family, physicians and other medical staff and concentrate on providing comfort and emotional support to family members at the hospital. Volunteers will be based in the emergency room. Candidates who qualify will display friendly, positive, helpful and professional attitude; work well with patients, family members and staff; ability to display compassion and have a caring nature; and ability to make a one-year commitment. To apply, contact: Meri Johnson-Wicks at johnswm@sutterhealth.org or 510-727-3124.

• Umpires Needed

The Hayward Softball Umpires Association is recruiting year-round to work paid Hayward Area Recreation and Park Distrcit (HARD) softball games – men’s, women’s and co-ed slow pitch. The umpires association trains all age groups. It’s a great way to earn some extra money. For more information, call the association’s educational director at 510-586-8592 between 9 a.m. and 9 p.m.

• St. Felicitas Young at Heart Luncheon

St. Felicitas Church’s Young at Heart Senior Luncheon is Wednesday, March 18, at Monsignor McGinty Hall located behind the church at 1662 Manor Blvd.,in San Leandro.  March’s luncheon will feature crispy chicken tenders and  macaroni and cheese lunch with dessert, beverage and door prizes. Doors open at 11:15 a.m. Lunch is served at noon. Tickets can be purchased at the church office, by calling 1-510-351-5244, located to the right of the church. Last day to buy tickets is Friday, March 13, at noon. No ticket sales at the door. The cost is $6. All seniors our welcomed.

• Veterans Town Hall at SL Library 

The Veterans Resource Center will host the VA Palo Alto Health Care Systems FY 2020 2nd quarter veterans town hall on Tuesday, March 10, from 6 to 7p.m. at the San Leandro Main Library, 300 Estudillo Ave. Get great information related to VA Healthcare’s new component, community care, and learn about VA updates that bring you greater veter­an’s entitlements.

COMMUNITY CALENDAR • 02-13-20

• Meeting of the Libertarian Party 

The Libertarian Party of Alameda County will meet tonight, Feb 13, at 7:15 p.m. at the Sons of Liberty Alehouse, in the Downtown Plaza, 150 W. Juana Ave. in San Leandro. Meet Libertarian candidate Jamie Dluzak, who is seeking to be a write-in candidate for California State Senate District 9.  No membership required, free to attend, all political affiliations welcomed.  For more information, visit lpac.us.

• Perry Yan Magic Show 

The Manor Branch Library, 1241 Manor Blvd. in San Leandro, will present the Perry Yan Magic Show tonight, Feb. 13, at 6:30 p.m. The family magic show is best for ages 3 and up.  For more information, call 510-577-7971. 

• Un-Valentine’s Day Mini-Golf 

The San Leandro Main Library, 300 Estudillo Ave., invites everyone 18 and over to an Un-Valentine’s Day Mini-Golf after-hours event on Friday, Feb. 14, from 6:30 to 8 p.m. Bring your friends or come alone. Mini Golf will be from 6:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. Admission is free. Pizza will be served while supplies last. Board games and video games will also be available. For more information, call the Library Information Desk at 510-577-3971.

• Our Lady of Grace Polenta Dinner

Our Lady of Grace Church Hall, 3433 Somerset Ave. Castro Valley, will host the Italian Catholic Federation Polenta Dinner on Saturday, Feb. 15. Doors open at 6 p.m. Salad, polenta, sausage, bread, dessert, wine, soda and coffee. Entertainment and raffles. Price $35 per person or $250 for a table of eight. Reservations and payment required in advance. Deadline is Feb. 10. Send one check with the names of those at your table for 8 to; Lisa Crudo, 3718 September Court, Castro Valley, CA 94546, the same for individual reservations. For more information, call Lisa at 510-861-9835.

• Mystery Tea at the Alta Mira Club

The Alta Mira Club, 561 Lafayette Ave. in San Leandro, will host a Mystery Tea with prominent mystery writers Janet Finsilver, Cindy Sample and Simon Wood on Monday, Feb. 17, at 11:30 a.m. Tickets to the tea luncheon, followed by the speakers, are $20. Limited seating. For reservations, call 510-483-1018 or email Nancyfong@aol.com. 

• Paws to Read 

The Manor Branch Library, 1241 Manor Blvd. in San Leandro, will present Paws to Read on Feb. 18 from 3:30 to 5 p.m. for children in grades 1 to 5. Friendly therapy dogs look forward to hearing children read all kinds of books. Call the Manor Branch Library at 510-577-7971 or come in person to the library to sign up in advance for 20 minute reading sessions.

• Panel on Caring for Older Adults

Join Center for Elders’ Independence (CEI) on Tuesday, Feb. 18, from 4 to 6 p.m. at 1850 Fairway Drive in San Leandro. Bring your questions about caring for an older adult to an informative panel discussion with CEI doctors, psychologists, social workers and family caregivers that begins at 4:30. CEI supports East Bay seniors 55+ with multiple health challenges to live safely at home, not in nursing homes. The staff specializes in caring for older adults. This event is free and open to the public. Refreshments, free parking and eldercare resources provided. For more information, contact Dafina Dailey at ddailey@cei.org or 510-318-7136. To register visit: http://bit.ly/Feb18experts.

• Meeting of the San Leandro Garden Club

The San Leandro Garden Club will meet on Tuesday, Feb. 18, at the Alta Mira House, 561 Lafayette Ave. in San Leandro. The business meeting begins at 10 a.m., followed by a speaker at 11 a.m. Jolene Adams, past president of the American Rose Society, will talk about roses and answer questions. All are welcome. The San Leandro Garden Club is in its 55th year of promoting gardening and providing community support, and meets every third Thursday of the month from September to June. For more information, call Carla Francis at 510-582-5288.

• Meeting of the East Bay Rose Society

The East Bay Rose Society will hold its monthly meeting on Wednesday, Feb. 19, at 7:30 p.m. at the Lakeside Garden Center, 666 Bellevue Ave. in Oakland. Joe Truskot, a Master Rosarian and President of the Monterey Rose Society, will speak on Rose Rosette Disease. This disease is transmitted by microscopic mites and can devastate a rose garden. Truskot will show how to identify Rose Rosette and discuss ongoing research and potential remedies. Enjoy snacks and people who talk roses. For more information, visit www.eastbayroses.org.

• Hill and Valley Club Flea Market

The Hill and Valley Club, 1808 B St. in Hayward will hold its annual Flea Market on Saturday, Feb. 22, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., featuring household goods, clothing and accessories, jewelry, linens, appliances and electronics, books, toys, sewing and craft materials, and miscellaneous items. Lunch will be served in the café. Funds raised benefit several local charities. This is an indoor sale with plenty of parking available.

• Eden Cancer Support Groups

Eden Medical Center, 20101 Lake Chabot Road in Castro Valley, continues a partnership with Cancer Support Community in 2020 by offering free cancer support groups and quarterly cancer workshops. The Gentle Restorative Yoga workshop will be held on Thursday, Feb. 27, from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Learn how breathing and gentle movements promote healing and restores the body. It is also one of the best ways to fight fatigue and restore strength and balance. If you are going through cancer treatments, are on the road to recovery, or are a caregiver, this class is for you. Madelyn Kimball is a certified yoga trainer and will share her knowledge in this free workshop. Registration is encouraged by calling 925-933-0107. All Cancer Support Groups are held on the first and third Wednesday of each month from 6 to 8 p.m, also held at the address above, but no registration is needed for these drop-in groups.

• I.D.E.S. St. John Crab Feed

I.D.E.S. St. John, 1670 Orchard Ave. in San Leandro, will have its annual Crab Feed on Saturday, Feb. 29, from 6 to 10 p.m. The dinner comes with salad, pasta, garlic bread, and dessert. Tickets are $55 per person, and $25 for children 6 to 12 years old. For more information or tickets, call Darlene at 510-589-6536, Willie at 510-207-6326 or Frances 510-886-1568.

• Bayfair Toastmasters

Bayfair Toastmasters is a small, growing club seeking new members who want to learn the art of public speaking. All are welcome to the club’s weekly meetings every Wednesday from noon to 1 a.m. in the Bayfair Mall 2nd floor meeting room above the food court. For more information, call Noreen at 510-538-6025 or Wayne at 407-0048.

COMMUNITY CALENDAR • 02-06-20

•  Personal Computer Users Group

Personal Computer Community users group (www.pcc.org) will hold its monthly meeting Friday, Feb. 7, at 7:30 p.m. at Calvary Baptist Church, 28924 Ruus Road in Hayward. Judy Taylour of the Association of Personal Computers Users Group (APUCG) will be presenting.  For more information, visit www.pcc.org or call 510-278-5192.

• Tai Chi Class at Manor Library

Celebrate the Lunar New Year with a Tai Chi class on Saturday, Feb. 8, from 2:30 to 4 p.m. at the Manor Library, 1241 Manor Blvd. in San Leandro. Learn Chen Style Tai Chi Quan taught by Jerry Ren. Beginners are welcome. No registration required, open to the first 30 students. For more information, call 510-577-7971.

• Crab Feed at Hayward Veterans Hall 

Silver Oak High School Public Montessori Charter of Hayward is having a crab feed on Saturday, Feb. 8, from 5:30 to 9 p.m. at the Hayward Veterans Hall, 227373 Main St. in Hayward. All-you-can-eat crab, salad, spaghetti, garlic bread and dessert, and two drink tickets for beer, wine soft drinks or water. Silent auction and raffle. Tickets are $50. Early-bird special until Jan. 25 is $45. For tickets, go to Eventbrite and enter Silver Oak High School.

• All Saints Episcopal Church Crab Feed 

All Saints Episcopal Church, 911 Dowling Blvd, San Leandro, will hold its 47th Annual Crab Feed on Saturday, Feb. 8. The social hour starts at 5 p.m. and dinner is at 6 p.m. Come for the crab along with a raffle, silent auction and entertainment. Tickets are $50 for adults, $35 for youths age 9 to 14, and $10 for a pasta dinner for children 8 and under. Call Joy Korst for tickets at 510-407-4859. Limited number of tickets at the door, so call first.

• Watercolor Class & Reception 

The San Lorenzo Adult School Watercolor Class, Studio 820, will exhibit students’ watercolor paintings at the San Leandro Main Library through March 27. There will be a reception on Saturday, Feb. 8, from 1 to 3 p.m. Many of the artists are longtime residents of San Leandro, San Lorenzo, Castro Valley, Hayward and Fremont, and many of their original watercolor paintings will be for sale. 

• Meeting of the Art Association 

The San Leandro Art Association’s monthly meeting will be held on Tuesday, Feb. 11, at the San Leandro Main Library, 300 Estudillo Ave. Snacks and beverages will be served at 5:45 p.m., short meeting will start at 6:15 p.m., and a free art demonstration begins at 6:35 p.m. The demonstrator for February, Sandra Jones, an award-winning figurative artist, will demonstrate some of her fine art techniques. She works in pastel, charcoal, oil and acrylic. Members will also display artwork for the Artist of the Month Contest. The public is welcome to come to this free event.

• League of Women Voters Open House 

The League of Women Voters Eden Area will have an open house, on Tuesday, Feb. 11, from
6 to 7:30 p.m., at the Castro Valley Public Library, 3600 Norbridge Ave. Everyone is welcome. This event will be part of the year-long celebration of the National League of Women Voters 100th anniversary. The open house will feature speakers on league history, voting history, a celebration of members, information for those thinking of becoming members, entertainment, food, games, and prizes. For more information, contact the Castro Valley Library, the cosponsor for this event.

• SLZ School Meeting 

San Lorenzo Unified School District will host a town hall meeting on Wednesday, Feb. 12, at 6 p.m. in the cafeteria of San Lorenzo High School, 50 E. Lewelling Blvd., to provide information and gather questions and feedback regarding the state of the school district. All are invited and encouraged to participate.

• Un-Valentine’s Day Mini-Golf 

The San Leandro Main Library, 300 Estudillo Ave., invites everyone 18 and over to an Un-Valentine’s Day Mini-Golf after-hours event on Friday, Feb. 14, from 6:30 to 8 p.m. Bring your friends or come alone. Mini Golf will be from 6:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. Admission is free. Pizza will be served while supplies last. Board games and video games will also be available. For more information, call the Library Information Desk at 510-577-3971.

• Our Lady of Grace Polenta Dinner

Our Lady of Grace Church Hall, 3433 Somerset Ave. Castro Valley, will host the Italian Catholic Federation Polenta Dinner on Saturday, Feb. 15. Doors open at 6 p.m. Salad, polenta, sausage, bread, dessert, wine, soda and coffee. Entertainment and raffles. Price $35 per person or $250 for a table of eight. Reservations and payment required in advance. Deadline is Feb. 10. Send one check with the names of those at your table for 8 to; Lisa Crudo, 3718 September Court, Castro Valley, CA 94546, the same for individual reservations. For more information, call Lisa at 510-861-9835.

• Mystery Tea at the Alta Mira Club

The Alta Mira Club, 561 Lafayette Ave. in San Leandro, will host a Mystery Tea with prominent mystery writers Janet Finsilver, Cindy Sample and Simon Wood on Monday, Feb. 17, at 11:30 a.m. Tickets to the tea luncheon, followed by the speakers, are $20. Limited seating. For reservations, call 510-483-1018 or email Nancyfong@aol.com. 

v Income Tax Preparation 

Trained AARP volunteers will be on hand to prepare income tax returns for low and moderate income individuals and families, with emphasis on serving those over 55 years of age. There will be two locations, the San, Leandro Senior Community Center, 13909 East 14th St., Tuesdays until April 14, from 9:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. and the Marina Community Center, 15301 Wicks Blvd., Thursdays until April 9, from
9:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Membership in AARP in not a requirement. To schedule your appointment, call 510-577-3462 or visit us in person at any of our community centers.

• Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 9601

Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 9601 invites veterans and active military to meetings on the second Tuesday of each month at 6:30 p.m. at the Veterans Memorial Building, 22737 Main St. in Hayward. For more information, visit www.vfw9601.org.

• San Leandro Toastmasters

The San Leandro Toastmasters meet on Thursday nights from 6:45 to 7:45 p.m. at the San Leandro Main Library, 300 Estudillo Ave. The group fosters improved communication and public speaking. All levels of speakers from novice to seasoned are welcome.

COMMUNITY CALENDAR • 01-30-20

•  The League of Women Voters 

The League of Women Voters of Eden Area will hold a candidates’ forum for those running for the seat of the California 20th Assembly District tonight (Thursday, Jan. 30) from 6:30 to 8 p.m. at Hayward City Hall, 777 B St. in Hayward. The forum is free and open to the public. Campaign signs, fliers, etc. are not allowed in the auditorium during the forum. Come and get to know the candidates. For more information, visit https://my.lwv.org/california/eden-area. 

• Financial Aid for High School Seniors

San Lorenzo High School, 50 East Lewelling Blvd., is hosting a Cash for College Night
tonight, Jan. 30, from 6 to 8 p.m. in the D-Hall Computer Labs. This is free for all high school seniors and their families who would like assistance in completing their financial aid applications (FAFSA and CA Dream Act for undocumented students). Financial aid is available for community colleges, four year universities, and some trade schools. Come with a parent or guardian and bring 2018 federal tax forms and other financial documents, though students can still work on the application without the forms. Financial aid experts and translators will be available. For more information, call Katricia Manalo at 510-317-3129.

• Alta Mira Club Shrimp Fest 

The Alta Mira Club, 561 Lafayette Ave. in San Leandro, will host a shrimp fest on Saturday, Feb. 1. The social hour begins at 5 p.m. and dinner starts at 6 p.m. with shrimp, pasta, salad, bread and ice cream. Tickets are $45. For tickets or more information, call Carol at 510-305-5393. 

• Soroptomist Crab Feed

The Soroptomist International of the East Bay’s annual crab feed will be on Saturday, Feb. 1, at 6 p.m. at the Hayward-Castro Valley Moose Lodge, 20835 Rutledge Road in Castro Valley. All-you-can-eat crab, pasta, bread, salad, dessert, coffee and tea. No-host bar. For tickets, call Bonnie Mertz by Jan. 24 at 510-886-7010 or email bonniemertz5844@gmail.com.   

• Kiwanis Club of San Leandro

The San Leandro Kiwanis Club will hold its annual crab feed on Saturday, Feb. 1, at the Marina Community Center, 15301 Wicks Blvd. in San Leandro. Social hour begins at 5:30 p.m. with dinner being served at 6:30 p.m. Tickets are $50 per person, which includes all-you-can-eat crab, pasta, salad and hot garlic bread. Local band, The Kopi Katz, will provide classic rock ’n’ roll oldies for post-dinner dancing. The event is assigned seating only. To purchase tickets or for more information, call Terri Neumann at 510-895-4425. Proceeds support the San Leandro Kiwanis Club.

• Shoreline Interpretive Center

Come for the opening of the Hayward Shoreline Interpretive Center’s Spring 2020 Exhibit by artist Becky Jaffe, a photographer, naturalist, and educator on Saturday, Feb. 1, from 2 to 4 p.m. at the Interpretive Center, 4901 Breakwater Ave. in Hayward. Using in-camera techniques that stretch the photographic medium to create painterly effects, she fuses an artist’s sensibility with a biologist’s curiosity in order to communicate reverence for the natural world. Free and open to the public. Light refreshments available. For more information, call 510-670-7270. 

• Science Movie Night

Racing Extinction, a docu-movie about a species mass extinction caused by human activity, will be shown on Tuesday, Feb. 4, at 7 p.m. at the Castro Valley Library, 3600 Norbridge Ave., in Castro Valley. After the movie, hear commentary and Q&A with conservationist and tropical ecologist Dr. Rodolfo Dirzo. Register at: http://bit.ly/extinct3.

• Buon Tempo Club Dinner

The Buon Tempo Club is having a family dinner on Tuesday, Feb. 4, at 7 p.m. at Mt. Tabor Hall, Transfiguration Church, 4000 E. Castro Valley Blvd in Castro Valley.  Everyone is welcome. Chef Jessica Gorham Pacheco and crew will be serving a five-course, family-style dinner of chicken pasta with sun-dried tomatoes. Red and white wine and soda are also included. Happy hour is 6 p.m.  The dinner is $15 for members, $20 for non-members.  Make reservations by Friday, Jan. 31, by calling the Buon Tempo dinner line at 510-483-6929 (option 1). For more information, see the club’s website at www.buontempoclub.org.

• San Leandro Swim Team Tryouts

The San Leandro Swim Team will hold an information night for the upcoming summer season on Wednesday, Feb. 5, from 6 to 8 p.m. at Porky’s Pizza, 1221 Manor Blvd. in San Leandro. The team is for swimmers 4 to 18 years old and competes in the East Bay Swim League during the summer. Tryouts will be held on April 1 and April 2 at 6 p.m. at the San Leandro High pool. For more information, go to the team’s website – San Leandro Drowning Darryls Team Unify – or call Darryl at 510-913-0850.

• Parkinson Support Group Meeting

The Parkinson Support Group will hold its monthly meeting on Thursday, Feb. 6, at 10:30 a.m. at the San Lorenzo Community Church, 945 Paseo Grande in San Lorenzo. Diane Cosio-Sandino senior health educator from Kaiser, will talk on general nutrition. For more information, call Lorna White 510-276-3119.

• Age Well, Drive Smart

Older drivers are invited to hear about driving tips from a California Highway Patrol officer on Thursday, Feb. 6, from 1 to 3 p.m. at the Eden Medical Center Conference Center (2nd Floor), 20101 Lake Chabot Road in Castro Valley. RSVP: 510-727-8485. You may be a good driver, but as you age you may begin to experience changes in function or medical conditions that can affect your ability to drive safely and react to hazards. The good news is that there are steps you can take to help stay safe on the road. 

• Tai Chi Class at Manor Library

Celebrate the Lunar New Year with a Tai Chi class on Saturday, Feb. 8, from 2:30 to 4 p.m. at the Manor Library, 1241 Manor Blvd. in San Leandro. Learn Chen Style Tai Chi Quan taught by Jerry Ren. Beginners are welcome. No registration required, open to the first 30 students. For more information, call 510-577-7971.

• Crab Feed at Hayward Veterans Hall 

Silver Oak High School Public Montessori Charter of Hayward is having a crab feed on Saturday, Feb. 8, from 5:30 to 9 p.m. at the Hayward Veterans Hall, 227373 Main St. in Hayward. All-you-can-eat crab, salad, spaghetti, garlic bread and dessert, and two drink tickets for beer, wine soft drinks or water. Silent auction and raffle. Tickets are $50. Early-bird special until Jan. 25 is $45. For tickets, go to Eventbrite and enter Silver Oak High School.