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Congratulations, Volunteers; Celebrating 40 Years by Carol Kasparek

By Carol Kasparek

by Carol Kasparek and Gary Fine When Alexis Madrigal says, “I’m an Oakland maximalist,” he’s not just expressing hometown pride — he’s laying the foundation for something bigger. For Madrigal and his partner Sarah Rich, Oakland isn’t just where they live; i...

By Carol Kasparek

Miles of Memories: A Bittersweet Farewell to a Rockridge Favorite by Carol Kasparek Tenvisioned — a welcoming, homey, old-school sit-and-fit retail experience. She and her staff wanted people to feel as though they were walking into their own home and leave grateful for the many miles of comfort under their feet. Along wi...

By Carol Kasparek

by Carol Kasparek Cout Rockridge has a lot of San Fran- cisco expats.” He warmly described a great sense of partnership from every- one who helped launch the new store. Although Cole is separately owned and incorporated, it benefits from being a member of A...

By Carol Kasparek

Cole Coffee Has Brewed Community And Connection for The Past 20 Years by Carol Kasparek The Rockridge Community Plan- ning Council embarked upon the Community Vision planning pro- cess to engage and activate residents to collaboratively develop a plan for our neighborhood’s future. A similar plan in 1990 initiated the develop...

By Carol Kasparek

Fresh Finds on Rockridge’s College Avenue by Carol Kasparek

By Carol Kasparek

Fermenting A Passion for Cheese by Carol Kasparek earn an Interior Architecture degree from the San Francisco Academy of Arts, and used those skills to design and manage a specialty food shop in Jack London Square. When housing development in the area stalled and the shop closed, Uruburu ...

By Carol Kasparek

on sites with higher TOD potential. Both documents are available, and can be found at https://www.bart.gov/ about/business/tod. n Maison d’Etre Re-Opens by Carol Kasparek Fmix for which the store is known. When the store first opened on College Avenue in January 2002, Fred Womack (Patty’s husband and father of Daisy and Lily) was the face of the family on the sales floor. With Fred onto a new venture, his w...

By Carol Kasparek

Changes Coming to Market Hall by Carol Kasparek Oakland Tech Student Named Youth Poet Laureate R Aockridge resident Ella Gordon, 17 years old, has been named 2024 Oakland Youth Poet Laureate after competing with eight other Finalists, win- ning a $5,000 college scholarship generously fu...

By Carol Kasparek

Bringing the Joy of Music to Rockridge, and Beyond by Carol Kasparek I One of the earlier members, Mad- ison Tyler, recalls a series of casual yet focused auditions. His extensive singing background helped him work through the varied repertoire of classical, jazz, and Broadway musicals. “Devi treats everybo...

By Carol Kasparek

Know Justice, Know Peace by Carol Kasparek “W e need to do something,” said engineer, artist, and Rockridge resident Mauricio Bustos in reaction to the tide of national events surrounding the death of George Floyd in the summer of 2020. He realized then that he had to “channel his ...

By Carol Kasparek

Claremont Middle School Gets Creative With New Space by Carol Kasparek sures were passed to provide funds for the cafeteria's transformation. They raised $21 million for the project, money separate from the Oakland Unified School District Budget. Along with the cafeteria, the scope of work includes a kitchen,...

By Carol Kasparek

place to gather or take breaks during inclement weather. Photo by Carol Kasparek The community recognized the need to provide students with a revi- talized facility. “We want everyone to feel welcome in our space, feel wel- come at school” declared Community Schools Manager Edana Anderson. Beginning in 2016, three bond...

By Carol Kasparek

A Moment of Art, in a Trash Can by Carol Kasparek Last summer, the Rockridge Com- munity Planning Council (RCPC) considered how best to advance their goal to enhance the neighborhood. Noticing that Temescal and other adjacent areas had begun encasing trash cans with mosaics, they chose to...

By Carol Kasparek

Sommelier Pairs Italian Wine Producers with the Local Community by Carol Kasparek “wine citizen”) brings people, wine, and food together in true Italian style. The wines are made from organi- cally grown grapes, highlighting the characteristics of small vineyards and the many supporting community development projects in...

By Carol Kasparek

NCPC Holds Meeting on Crime with District Attorney Pamela Price by Carol Kasparek Dthe lack of consequences for those who do get arrested. Price countered that the arrests themselves have been shown to be good deterrents. She explained that probation is favored by the department for a number of rea- sons, including the ...

By Carol Kasparek

...ther Lemus and Austin Bruckner; both can be reached at acgov.org. With a great new team of Assistant District Attorneys, Price said, “We are working overtime for citizens of the county. We cannot go back, we have to go forward.” n Photo by Carol Kasparek istrict Attorney Pamela Price attended the general meeting of the Greater Rockridge Crime Preven- tion Council, held at the Rockridge Library on December 14, 2023. She was joined by Captain Lisa Ausmus, the new Oakland Police Department (O...

By Carol Kasparek

Somm Demand: A Fast-Track to Wine Appreciation by Carol Kasparek a supermarket, Somm Demand is there for you. “We want to make sure you’re covered,” says James, even if this means simply answering what might taste best with pork chops. Recently, Somm Demand held a tasting at Planterday (a plant nursery ...

By Carol Kasparek

Photo by Carol Kasparek rant in San Francisco) joined the group, allowing them to more fully develop the concept of a deep and broad service provided by friendly experts. James, a data engineer, used his coding skills to build a platform to make their services ea...

By Carol Kasparek

Maison d’Etre Closing? Not Yet. Next Generation Steps Up by Carol Kasparek on January 1, 2024. Strong reactions to the announcement reverberated not just throughout the neighborhood, but also within the family. Daisy had been working full-time in the shop while pursuing her artistic career with ceramics and graph...

By Carol Kasparek

Find That Perfect Gift Along College Avenue By Carol Kasparek and Gary Fine

By Carol Kasparek

Climatescape Takes Shape at Frog Park by Carol Kasparek and Theresa Nelson

By Carol Kasparek

Envisioning & Creating A “Climate Scape” by Carol Kasparek Frog Park has been evolving since neighbors designed and built the greenspace in 2001. This fall will launch another phase in that evolu- tion. The corner of the park adjacent to the basketball courts along Hudson will soon become a spot w...

By Carol Kasparek

Greater Rockridge Neighborhood Crime Prevention Council (NCPC) Hosts Meeting with District 1 Representative Dan Kalb by Carol Kasparek The Rockridge News was founded in March 1986 by Don Kinkead and is published monthly (except August). It is sponsored by the Rockridge Community Planning Council (RCPC), a nonprofit public benefit organization founded to: preserve and enha...

By Carol Kasparek

Miniature Landscape Art Offers Another Point of View by Carol Kasparek California — all on two-inch square canvasses. When asked to create pieces for Franklin’s gallery, Bonomi refined his approach to a more diminutive scale than he had done previously. “A small format forces you to look for little windows in...

By Carol Kasparek

and his current home in Northern Photo: Carol Kasparek About ten years ago, he began using his skills in seemingly unrelated ways and has recently designed snow globes with facial images for a PBS series. He has also created a char- acter named Hilbur, an early digital animation for children t...

By Carol Kasparek

OUSD Ends Teacher Strike and Walkout by Carol Kasparek O Now the Work Begins by Robert Firehock Tn Monday, May 15, at 1:20pm, a bank of television cameras lined up at the podium in the McClymond’s High School Library for the formal announcement of the end of the eight- day Oakland Unified Scho...

By Carol Kasparek

April Meeting of the NCPC Reveals Need for More Accountability by Carol Kasparek Rbetween the OIG and the Community Police Review Agency (CPRA) as a focus on policies and procedures for the OIG while the CPRA investigates specific incidents. With the goal of establishing “constitutional policing,” Morris said they hope...

By Carol Kasparek

Gardens in the Pocket by Carol Kasparek Fhave the natural display be “curb- friendly” so it looks intentional, flexible, and wild. Agave, Euphorbia, and Clarkia were some of the plants they selected. Local gardeners should note that plants often fail due to either under-watering...

By Carol Kasparek

by Carol Kasparek T Three Ways Citizens Can Aid Law Enforcement: he NCPC meeting held on Febru- ary 9 came to order in a hybrid format. Attendance at this meeting was evenly split between those on site at the Rockridge Library and those online. Chair Michae...

By Carol Kasparek

Rockridge Library Needs Teens, Now Red Cross Blood Donation Center Now Open by Carol Kasparek T Lhe Red Cross Blood and Platelet Donation Center opened on Tuesday, January 10, at 5450 College Avenue in Oakland. The existing Oakland Red Cross Blood, Platelet, and Plasma Donation Center located at 6230 Claremont Avenue will remain op...

By Carol Kasparek

Rockridge Authors Abound by Carol Kasparek and Gary Fine Her daily routine found her reflecting over a mocha at Hudson Bay Café, the Rockridge Café, or the Edible Complex. “I love going deep …staying in that mode and realm to write.” Jacobson knew she had found her happy ending whe...

By Carol Kasparek

Emerging Artist, Satya by Carol Kasparek “W of notes on her phone. Satya will often compose on the guitar or piano, and then find poems or free-writing in her journals to integrate into the music. That music weaves her deeply per- sonal lyrics with a fusion of folk, soul, and R&B...

By Carol Kasparek

“Tat the Street” — Shafter Avenue Artists Use Paint to Encourage Dialogue and Collaboration by Carol Kasparek

By Carol Kasparek

An Activist Among Us by Carol Kasparek at UCLA. “They were awful … are there copies existing? I hope not.” Cinematic quality aside, Ewing did learn to collaborate with few resources. Sorority mem- bership at UCLA involved a bit of political opening. “We were against the war, sm...

By Carol Kasparek

Dream, Play, Build Your Way to A Better Community by Carol Kasparek and Gary Fine Picture a gathering where people use blocks, beads, and buttons to construct a landscape while sharing stories of their childhood. Participants welcome each other and create changes that make everyone feel better, encouraging...

By Carol Kasparek

Achieving True Strength, Forever Photo: Anna L. Marks by Carol Kasparek You can continue to build strength forever. Got your attention? Liam Bauer and Jesse Schmidt want this message to be heard. They opened TNT Strength on the Avenue to help people “maximize their strength as safely and efficiently as possibl...

By Carol Kasparek

Flavors From Home by Carol Kasparek and Gary Fine Rockridge residents took in a sur- prising sight last spring. In the middle of the pandemic, a new restaurant opened at the corner of College and Lawton. While other businesses were limiting their offer- ings and hours, even ...

By Carol Kasparek

Skate Sessions are Back at Frog Park by Carol Kasparek and Gary Fine

By Carol Kasparek

Oliveto on Our Minds by Carol Kasparek December 31, 2021, was to be the end of a Bay Area food destina- tion. After 36 years, Maggie and Bob Klein decided the time had come to step back from the rigors of running a restaurant. Oliveto welcomed the surge of reservations from cus...

photos by Carol Kasparek | Layout by Stephen Coles

Christine Garofoli Som Konar Judith Doner Berne Valerie Johnson Robbie Tasker Zoe Siegel Carol Kasparek

...with prop- erty owners to place and remove the billboards. Both Link (nlink@becker- boards.com) and Unger indicated that the City Council will be monitoring the project and evaluating concerns throughout the process. n by Anna L. Marks and Carol Kasparek Olocations throughout Oakland from a list of 25. The one planned for 5638 College Avenue, facing Highway 24 at College and Keith, has been moved to the “alternate location list” for now. The displays feature 24/7 paid advertising for busin...

Photo: Anna L Marks Who Moved the Cheese? — by Carol Kasparek After months in development, the May unveiling was “Everything we wanted,” says co-owner Sara Wilson. The customers now have more room to examine the multitude of varieties, and there are additional checkout stations to help reduce lines. ...

By Casey Farmer

...sidents James Rojas and John Kamp. They produced a map of Rockridge and provided participants with tactile materials to envision what they wanted to see in the neighborhood — using their hands and imaginations. These well-attended R Photo: Carol Kasparek Photo: Casey Farmer RCPC Board Members engaged the community at the March 20 meeting. events were hosted in multiple loca- tions where residents regularly gather — the Rockridge Library, Safeway Plaza, and the Farmers Market. On March 20, ...

...friends to join the docent crew, described the kitchens and ushered tour-goers smoothly and graciously through the homes. Thank You, Volunteers: Susie Wyshak and Stephanie Lee: Sponsorship and Advertising Elliott Swigert: Art/Poster Design Carol Kasparek and Judy Weiss: Kitchen Description Writers Benedicte Rodet: Photography Maryann Amado and Ben Riddell: Publicity Eileen Ward: Docent Coordinator Robin McDonnell: Docent Assistant Emily Hou: Website Design and Management Kim Suczynski-Smit...

...relations further screened by a perennial sun- will-come-out-tomorrow façade put forth by OPD brass at public meetings. I wonder how many other policies OPD has that differ from standard policing, and in such need- lessly blunt fashion. by Carol Kasparek The February Greater Rockridge NCPC at the Rockridge Library focused on crime reports from beat officers and included a presentation by a private security service, 1st Defense. About a dozen people attended in person, and eight people part...

By Ben Friedman

...ntends to A Double-Shot of Attention Makes for a Proper Cuppa’ Coffee March Town Hall (Date TBD) Learn from experts how we can make sure that new housing built in Rockridge includes units affordable to a wide range of Oakland residents. by Carol Kasparek Upon entering Ain’t Normal Cafe, customers find a space filled

By Annette Floystrup

...er” since 2011. During his 15 years Ken Rich on the LUC, he has guided Rockridge to several notably successful results on major land use issues affecting the Hwy 24 corridor. Land Use Chair, see page 10 Home Providers: Meet Home Seekers by Carol Kasparek and Gary Fine Our Bay Area has many distinc- tions. Unfortunately, exorbitantly high rents are included among them. This reality has wide ramifications that did not go unnoticed by local resident Jill Lindenbaum. She became aware of one bi...

The Scenic Streets gang, from left: Lee Patterson, ff Robert Firehock, Carol Kasparek, Judy Weiss, & Patrick Cullinane. (Photographer unnamed.)