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By Chris Ayan

by Chris Ayan On a quiet Rockridge block, in a garage that can be converted back into a parking space in under ten minutes, 64-year-old luthier (a skilled craftsperson who builds, repairs, and restores stringed instruments) Paul Morgan builds guitars th...

By Chris Ayan

by Chris Ayan A handmade sign sits outside a house on Chabot Road offering free trees. Behind the sign are rows of young redwoods, oaks, buckeyes, and milk- weed in various stages of growth. Some of the trees will end up in schoolyards. Others along the...

By Chris Ayan

...ng in the wrong spot on the property, and I knew even- tually I would have to remove it. I felt bad about it.” That small act of guilt gradually Hervé Bruckert has replanted thousands of native trees through a self-run backyard operation.| Chris Ayan with almost no chance of surviving. Left alone, many would eventually be cut down, mowed over, or pulled out before they had a chance to mature. So Bruckert started collecting them. At first, he moved seedlings into pots outside his house ...

By Chris Ayan

Lawton Avenue Cabin from 1904 Says Goodbye by Chris Ayan

By Chris Ayan

From Curbside Junk to Global Reuse Revolution by Chris Ayan W F

By Chris Ayan

Cult Favorites Come to Rockridge by Chris Ayan Butter, and Reese’s Pieces — flavors your parents would have denied you growing up. But now that you’re an adult, they can’t say no, and neither can you. While keeping the freezers stocked has been a challenge, Sydney and her team are work...

THE GUERILLA FORESTER: A Rockridge resident turned his backyard into an informal native tree nursery, rescuing thousands of saplings from weed-whackers and concrete, and giving them away for free./ Chris Ayan Read our story on Page 8.

...y. New saplings appear beneath handwrit- ten signs offering them away for free. Along stretches of Highway 24, small na- tive trees continue taking root in places most drivers never notice. ● Hervé Bruckert and his tree categorizing sign.| Chris Ayan The network around the project has expanded mostly through word of mouth. Neighbors with mature “mother trees” allow Bruckert to collect seeds from their yards. Volunteers build sec- ondary incubators. One former volun- teer moved to the C...

Paul Morgan at work in his garage studio. | Chris Ayan door stays open. Inside, another guitar is taking shape. No clear plan. No guaranteed outcome. Just wood, time, and attention. The process, as it turns out, is enough. ●

...d to one oversized box for one wealthy buyer. And to make it worse, it’s not even well built. The workmanship is cheap, corners were COLLEGE PREPARATORY SCHOOL Scan the QR code for upcoming informational events or visit orindaacademy.org — Chris Ayan Miles Avenue EMERGENCY NUMBERS Medical or Fire Emergency Only: 510-444-1616 Police Emergency: 510-777-3211 Police Non-Emergency: 510-777-3333 (Press “0”) BART Police: 877-679-7000 (or text: 510-200-0990) Waste Management: 510-613-8710 EBMU...

They gave me six months,” says Ayana Kelly, a 25-year-old, lifelong Rockridge resident, when she created her own company, The Granola Guru, in April 2018. “My parents are not entrepreneurs, so they didn’t entirely understand it.” She made her first test batch and gave it to her fa...