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VOL. XXII, NUMBER 46 • DECEMBER 10, 2021                            WWW.PLEASANTONWEEKLY.COM

                                           5 NEWS   Ban on smoking in multifamily buildings

                                           5 NEWS   PDA executive director resigns

                                           18 SPORTS   No more NCS events at Foothill, for now
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Page 2 • December 10, 2021 • Pleasanton Weekly
VALLEY VIEWS                                   BY DOLORES FOX CIARDELLI

     This artist has heart
A        s Pleasanton residents pull
         out their holiday decora-
         tions, many have an orna-
ment that is a little replica of the
Pleasanton Arch, created by local
                                          where I’ve lived all my life,” Gary
                                          said the other day by phone. “I’ve
                                          lived amongst golden rolling hills
                                          and oak groves. Down here in the
                                          desert, I look out and it’s nothing
artist Gary Winter. He also makes         but red rock, massive ridges and
them as magnets.                          mountains.”
   “I’ve sold thousands of them,” he         “I’m about 20 miles from Las
said.                                     Vegas, right at Hoover Dam. Boul-
   All his life, Gary’s invented dif-     der City is the city built for the
ferent art forms, including a spi-        people that built Hoover Dam,” he
ral football, tubular furniture and       added.
jewelry. His nail art led him to             He lives downtown and just a
meet President Reagan at his ranch        mile from his daughter’s family. The
in Southern California after he           living room is his studio where he
pounded out a Presidential Seal           and Elle while away many hours
with more than 6,000 nails.               creatively as only an artist and a
                                          toddler can do.
                                             “It’s not your typical living room,”
                                          Gary said with a laugh. “It’s my gal-
                                          lery, filled with 50 years of things
                                          grandpa has made, all the way up
                                          to his motorcycle, full-sized.”
                                             He created the wooden motorcy-
                                          cle as well as life-sized stick figures
                                          using two-by-fours when he had
                      WEEKLY FILE PHOTO   a workshop in the back of Richert
Artist Gary Winter created a miniature    Lumber on Sunol Boulevard.
Pleasanton Weekly van as a gift.             Now while he sits at his drawing
                                          table, Elle works at a nearby little
   In 1995, Gary had the idea to          wooden table and will proudly
create little versions of Pleasanton’s    hold up a creation and say, “Look,
charming old buildings and started        Grandpa.” When he responds,
on Main Street with Kolln Hard-           “Wow, that’s cool,” her face lights
ware and its distinctive cupola.          up even more, he said.
He soon added other downtown                 When he first learned his daugh-
landmarks including Dean’s Cafe,          ter was pregnant he rejected the
Pleasanton Hotel, the old church          term “grandpa,” he recalled, but
on Neal Street, the gas station,          has since changed his tune.
Meadowlark Dairy and Museum                  “My granddaughter can call me
on Main. Now he’s replicated more         anything she wants,” he said.
than 120 structures.                         Gary is currently working on
   Gary also does people’s homes.         two miniature houses that people
Clients send him a photo and he           commissioned for Christmas gifts.
makes a detailed 16- by 20-inch           He also creates miniatures for those
rendering using shadowing for a           who receive Pleasanton’s Historic
three-dimensional look. This he           Preservation Awards each year. And
reduces and laminates onto wood.          he is working with Museum on
   I wrote a cover story about his        Main board president Linda Gar-
endeavors called “The Man Behind          barino for the museum gift shop
the Miniatures” for the Pleasan-          to carry his miniatures. For now,
ton Weekly issue of Dec. 1, 2000.         Gourmet Works sells the Arch
Pleased with the story, he came into      magnets and ornaments, which are
the office one day with two min-          also available at garyawinter.com.
iature newspaper vans, 1-1/2 by              In 2016-17 Gary began adding a
3-1/2 inches, and I still have mine       heart to each Arch to remind peo-
on a bookshelf.                           ple to think and act from the heart
   Gary, who will turn 75 on Dec.         and to be positive. He created little
27, was raised on his family’s Sky        gold heart pins and never leaves
Ranch in Castro Valley, then made         home without one.
Pleasanton his home. A few years             Gary will be in town at Christ-
ago, he relocated to Boulder City,        mastime and is looking forward to
Nevada, to live near his daugh-           hanging out on Main Street. If you
ter Caterina, son-in-law Marc and         don’t know him, keep an eye out
granddaughter Elle, now 3-1/2             for a guy with a gray ponytail and
years old.                                wearing a tiny heart pin. Be sure to
   “This is the complete opposite of      say hello. Q

About the Cover
Even the Grinch got into the spirit during the 2021 Pleasanton Hometown
Holiday Parade and Tree Lighting, held last Saturday night on Main Street.
Photo by Chuck Deckert. Cover design by Doug Young.
                                                           Vol. XXII, Number 46

                                                                                    Pleasanton Weekly • December 10, 2021 • Page 3
Streetwise                                                                                                                                                                            ASKED AROUND TOWN

                  Do you have a weekly ritual that you really look forward to?
                         Dean Haworth                                                                                            Tim Musgraves
                         Theoretical computational physicist                                                                     Banker
                         I really enjoy meeting my work colleagues and their                                                     I look forward to Saturday morning golf at Castlewood.
                         spouses every Thursday evening for drinks and dinner,                                                   The shotgun start is a great way for members to meet new
                         and sometimes pool and karaoke. They are all pretty                                                     people and enjoy a beautiful day outdoors.
                         good singers for a bunch of nuclear physicists.

                         Lori Dillon                                                                                             Linda Hammervold and Timothy Augustine
                         Ultrasound technologist                                                                                 Teacher; IT
                         I love and look forward to my Fridays because it is                                                     We really look forward to Thursday mornings when Linda
                         my day off from work, when I’m home alone all day,                                                      doesn’t have to be at school as early as usual. It gives us
                         doing and taking care of whatever I want. And I don’t                                                   a chance to prepare and sit down to a leisurely breakfast
                         cook dinner.                                                                                            together, and on top of that, we get to spend extra time
                                                                                                                                 with our dog Mei, a rescue from Taiwan.

                         Sydney Dillon                                                                                                                                           —Compiled by Nancy and Jeff Lewis
                         High school student
                         I always look forward to Friday nights, when I drive                    Have a Streetwise question? Email editor@PleasantonWeekly.com
                         around town with my friends and attend whatever
                         sporting events are going on. My absolute favorite                        The Pleasanton Weekly is published every Friday by Embarcadero Media, 5506 Sunol Blvd., Suite 203, Pleasanton,
                         Friday night ritual is catching a sporting event where                    CA 94566; (925) 600-0840. Mailed at Periodicals Postage Rate, USPS 020407. The Weekly is mailed upon request to
                                                                                                   homes and apartments in Pleasanton. Print subscriptions for businesses or residents of other communities are $60 per
                         Foothill plays and beats Amador.                                          year or $100 for two years. Go to PleasantonWeekly.com to sign up and for more information.
                                                                                                   POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Pleasanton Weekly,
                                                                                                   5506 Sunol Blvd., Suite 203, Pleasanton, CA 94566. ©2021 by Embarcadero Media.
                                                                                                   All rights reserved. Reproduction without permission is strictly prohibited.

           Congratulations
           Pleasanton!
           Together with the cities of Albany, Dublin, and
           Hayward, you’re making the exciting transition to
           100% solar and wind energy in January 2022

           R E A D A B O U T T H E T R A N S I T I O N AT E B C E .O R G / P L E A S A N T O N

Page 4 • December 10, 2021 • Pleasanton Weekly
Newsfront
DIGEST                                           Council unanimously passes ban
Pleasanton split?
   The Alameda County Board of
Supervisors is closing in on ap-
proving its final redistricting map,
                                                on smoking in multifamily housing
setting the supervisorial boundar-                                     First-time violators will receive a warning instead of being fined
ies for the next 10 years.                           BY JULIA BAUM                restrictions where they do not exist    community rooms, playgrounds,            while Dublin and Livermore have

                                           A
   The recommended map in-                         n ordinance heavily re-        right now,” Brown said. “That’s the     and parking lots,” along with pri-       unrestricted smoking for owner-
cludes splitting Pleasanton among                  stricting smoking in Pleas-    reason why I supported bringing         vate outdoor areas including balco-      ship units. Smoking in multifamily
two districts instead of keeping
                                                   anton multifamily residen-     this ordinance forward.”                nies, decks or patios, but will not      rental apartments as well as cer-
the city all in the same boundary.
The south side of the city would           tial buildings passed with unani-         Aiming “to address health im-        apply inside individual units unless     tain public places, including parks
move from Supervisor Nate                  mous approval by the Pleasanton        pacts of secondhand smoke,”             stated in a rental lease agreement.      and recreational facilities, is already
Miley’s District 4 to Supervisor           City Council on Tuesday, albeit        the ordinance applies to multi-            Similar ordinances already            prohibited in Pleasanton.
David Haubert’s District 1 (which          with some modifications.               family residences with three or         exist in Danville, which bans               While the council agreed about
includes Livermore, Dublin, and               Mayor Karla Brown called the        more connected units, including         smoking in ownership units and           the health effects of secondhand
parts of Sunol and Fremont). The           ordinance “a major step forward”       townhomes, condominiums and             common areas, and San Ramon,             smoke, the issue of enforcing the
rest of Pleasanton would remain            before voting during the Dec. 7        triplexes. Smoking will be banned       where smoking is prohibited “in          ordinance generated a good deal of
in District 4.                             council meeting.                       “at indoor or outdoor common            private outdoor areas and com-
   Other key changes in the rec-              “We’re proposing smoking            areas such as hallways, lobbies,        mon areas of ownership projects,”              See SMOKING on Page 8
ommended map, compared to
now, include Oakland being di-
vided among three districts and
Fremont split among two.
   The board held a meeting on
                                                                                                                                                                   PDA leader
its redistricting ordinance and the
recommended map this week,
and final approval is set for next
                                                                                                                                                                     resigns
Tuesday. Visit redistricting2021.                                                                                                                                             BY JULIA BAUM
acgov.org to see the proposed                                                                                                                                         After seven months leading the
final map.                                                                                                                                                         Pleasanton Downtown Association,
   Look for coverage this week-
                                                                                                                                                                   Zac Grant stepped down last week
end on PleasantonWeekly.com.
   Editor’s note: Information from the                                                                                                                             from his role as executive direc-
    Bay City News Service was used in                                                                                                                              tor “to pursue another opportunity,”
                            this report.                                                                                                                           Grant confirmed to the Weekly on
                                                                                                                                                                   Tuesday.
Dublin annual awards                                                                                                                                                  “Although my tenure in Pleas-
                                                                                                                                                                   anton was brief, it has been both
   The city of Dublin is accepting
nominations through Jan. 21 for                                                                                                                                    pleasant and productive during a
its annual community awards, in-                                                                                                                                   very challenging time,” Grant said in
cluding Citizen of the Year, Young                                                                                                                                 an email.
Citizen of the Year and Organiza-                                                                                                                                     “Because resources are still scarce
tion of the Year.                                                                                                                                                  at PDA, it was the right time to de-
   Nominees will be selected                                                                                                                                       part both for the organization and
based on five established criteria:                                                                                                                                for me,” Grant said. “I look forward
the Dublin Integrity in Action’s                                                                                                                                   to continuing my support for PDA
10 characteristics, originality and                                                                                                                                through friendly advice, volunteer
uniqueness of the activity/project,
                                                                                                                                                                   support and good wishes always.”
overall relevance and importance
to the Dublin community, time                                                                                                                                         During his time as executive di-
                                                                                                                                                         DUSD
and effort spent and challenges in                                                                                                                                 rector, Grant said the association
                                             More than 1,000 people attended Dublin High School’s inaugural holiday tree lighting ceremony on Dec. 1.
accomplishing the activity/proj-                                                                                                                                   “began a process of navigating the
ect, according to city officials.                                                                                                                                  COVID era toward a new normal,
   Submit by going to www.
dublin.ca.gov/vre or calling                       Dublin High celebrates holiday                                                                                  including foundations for longer
                                                                                                                                                                   term programs such as Weekends
the City Manager’s Office at                                                                                                                                       On Main and table service in out-
925-833-6650.                                               tree lighting                                                                                          door parklets on Main Street,” and
                                                                                                                                                                   that he is “grateful to the board, the
Monroe on task force                                        1,000+ community members attend inaugural event                                                        membership, and our partners at the
   Alameda County Superinten-                                                                                                                                      city of Pleasanton.”
dent of Schools L.K. Monroe was                        BY JULIA BAUM              experience,” Dehnert said.             died that month, spoke as well.              While the search for Grant’s re-
recently appointed to the state’s               Over 1,000 people celebrated         Commemorating the holiday              Trustee William Kuo also               placement is underway, the PDA’s
new Task Force on Improving                  the first holiday tree lighting at   season with a 70-foot redwood          spoke to the crowd about his late         former longtime executive director
Black Student Achievement; she               Dublin High School last week,        tree adorned with more than 3,000      wife and former trustee Cath-             Laura Olson — who changed her
is the only K-12 educator among
                                             where several members from the       red and blue lights, the event also    erine Kuo, who died after being           last name to Brooks after getting
the seven co-chairs leading the
effort.                                      Dublin school community who          featured performances by Dublin        struck by a car while volunteer-          married — is returning to her old
   The task force is focused on              lost their lives in recent years     High’s concert choir, jazz combo,      ing at Fallon Middle School nine          position on a temporary basis.
five key issue areas: the school-            were also honored.                   and musical theater group.             months ago.                                  Brooks told the Weekly that she’s
to-prison pipeline (including                   Dublin Unified School District       Friends of twin brothers Mark          The holidays of Diwali, Ha-            been involved with the PDA for the
suspension, chronic absenteeism              spokesman Chip Dehnert told          and Michael Urista (class of           nukkah, Christmas and Kwanzaa             past six months, and said Grant
and graduation), teacher diversity,          the Weekly that the Dec. 1 event     2022), and Javier Ramirez (class       were highlighted in speeches by           specifically asked if Brooks would
academic achievement (including              — the first of its kind in Dublin    of ‘22), who died in a car crash       students, followed by a count-            take over for now. “I’ll be available
reading and math assessments);               High’s 53-year history — was         on Christmas night in 2019,            down to the tree lighting led by          to train whomever they hire, but I’m
mental health; and housing in-               attended by “a mix of students,      remembered the trio that eve-          the Best Buddies Students.                definitely not coming back (perma-
security (including homelessness
                                             staff, and community members,”       ning, while assistant principal           Dehnert said, “To top things           nently),” Brooks said.
and foster youth).
   The organization will meet                and called it “a great success.”     Paul Faris shared thoughts about       off, strategically placed snow-              That’s not only because Brooks
monthly and form working                        “It was nice to see a lot of      longtime DUSD employee Derek           making machines started blow-             started her own consulting business
groups to make recommenda-                   families with children and           Rosas, who died in February. The       ing snow into the air soon after
tions to be incorporated into the            dogs in tow; a real community        father of Anik Suneja, who also        the tree was lit.” Q                                See PDA on Page 9
upcoming state legislative cycle. Q
                                                                                                                                                        Pleasanton Weekly • December 10, 2021 • Page 5
NEWSFRONT

   Second child dies from injuries in Labor Day crash in Sunol
                                             Family seeks answers as investigation continues into Highway 84 wreck
         BY JEREMY WALSH                  family,” the siblings’ grandmother,      All five people among the two       said. The middle child, who is 8       officers did not suspect alcohol or
   A second child has died as a           Valerie Perkins, told the Weekly.     vehicles sustained serious injuries    years old, was also injured but “is    drugs were factors in the crash.
result of a collision that had al-           “We just miss her so much,”        in the violent head-on collision.      recovering really well” physically        A lack of updates from law
ready claimed the life of her older       Perkins said about Honesty.              Damarion Jenkins was pro-           after time in the hospital, accord-    enforcement and insurance in-
brother on Highway 84 in Sunol               The three young siblings and       nounced dead later that morning.       ing to his grandmother. The driver     vestigators has been a source of
on Labor Day weekend, succumb-            their mother were on their way           Honesty Jenkins suffered a bro-     of the Tahoe — who has not been        frustration for the family, who are
ing to her serious injuries after         from Fremont to Perkins’ home in      ken neck and other major physi-        identified publicly to date — also     searching for answers about why
more than two months in an area           San Joaquin County on the morn-       cal and neurological injuries. She     sustained major injuries in the        the other driver crossed into their
hospital, the Weekly has learned.         ing of Sept. 5 to attend church as    remained in the hospital the entire    Sept. 5 crash. He has been in the      lane at highway speed that morn-
   Honesty Jenkins, 6, of Fremont         a family and then the kids were to    time after the crash, and though       grief-stricken family’s thoughts       ing, according to Perkins. She said
was pronounced dead at Chil-              spend time with grandma while         she did regain consciousness, the      too, according to Perkins.             they were told the CHP investiga-
dren’s Hospital in Oakland on             mom had an outing, according to       injuries proved too critical, ac-         “We’re praying for the guy who      tion could take six months.
Nov. 14, according to her family          Perkins.                              cording to Perkins. “She broke her     hit them. We pray for his family          “We don’t know what’s going
and local authorities.                       But they would not make it.        neck and things just started failing   because for everybody involved,        on with where they are with their
   Her older brother Damarion             At about 6:05 a.m. on Highway         from that point,” the grandmother      it was horrible,” Perkins said.        investigation. It’s kind of frustrat-
Jenkins, 11, died on the morning          84 just east of the Interstate 680    recalled.                                 Officer Tyler Hahn of the CHP-      ing,” Perkins said.
of the crash that caused major            interchange, the family’s Dodge          The 6-year-old died in the hos-     Dublin office said he had no new          Anyone who may have informa-
injuries to all parties in the two        Charger was struck by an oncom-       pital on Nov. 14 — 10 weeks to         information on the status of the       tion about the Sept. 5 crash can
vehicles involved, including the          ing Chevrolet Tahoe, which for        the day after the collision.           other driver. The officer said the     contact the CHP-Dublin at 925-
siblings’ mother and 8-year-old           unknown reasons turned left from         The Jenkinses’ mother sus-          collision remains under investiga-     828-0466. That violent collision
brother who both ultimately               the westbound lane into their         tained multiple broken bones and       tion, but there were no new de-        on Highway 84 represented the
survived.                                 eastbound lane, according to Per-     underwent surgeries as a result        tails to share publicly on Tuesday     final in a string of five fatal car
   “This is a loss. ... All of us, it’s   kins and the California Highway       of the crash but is now recover-       with the case still pending.           crashes in a 10-day stretch in the
just a lot. We’re such a tight-knit       Patrol.                               ing out of the hospital, Perkins          The CHP initially reported that     greater Tri-Valley. Q

                Tri-Valley ranks high among Bay Area communities
                                for pavement quality
         BY JEANITA LYMAN                 of Dublin, Pleasanton, Livermore      parts of the region, with Dublin       from its 2020 Bay Area pavement           Livermore narrowly edged out
  In a recently released survey of        and San Ramon and the town of         earning the highest score locally.     condition index (PCI) last month,      the remaining incorporated Tri-
pavement conditions throughout            Danville collectively earned high        The Metropolitan Transporta-        which ranks the pavement quality       Valley communities with a score
the Bay Area, the Tri-Valley cities       marks compared to some other          tion Commission released results       of communities in the region on        of 79 — the same as the city’s
                                                                                                                       a scale of 1 to 100, highlighting      2019 score, which saw it gain a
                                                                                                                       improvements or declines in the        point from 78 in 2018.
                                                                                                                       conditions of paved streets, roads        Pleasanton and San Ramon both
                                                                                                                       and sidewalks across the Bay Ar-       ranked at 78, with Pleasanton los-
                                                                                                                       ea’s wide range of communities.        ing a point from its 2019 score
                                                                                                                          PCI scores of 90 or above are       of 79, and San Ramon holding
                                                                                                                       considered “excellent”, according      steady from the previous year.
                                                                                                                       to the survey, with scores of 80 to       Unincorporated communities
                                                                                                                       89 being “very good”; scores of 70     in Contra Costa County collec-
                                                                                                                       to 79 being “good”; scores of 60 to    tively ranked at 71 in 2020, down
                                                                                                                       69 being “fair;” scores of 50 to 59    a point from 72 in 2018 and
                                                                                                                       being “at risk;” and scores of 25 to   2019. In Alameda County, unin-
                                                                                                                       49 being “poor.”                       corporated areas saw the reverse,
                                                                                                                          All incorporated Tri-Valley         gaining a point in 2020 for a score
                                                                                                                       communities received PCI scores        of 72, up from 71 in the previous
                                                                                                                       in the range of “good” or “very        two years.
                                                                                                                       good” last year — and more than           At the county level, Contra
                                                                                                                       10 points ahead of the average         Costa County collectively ranked
                                                                                                                       score of 67 and rank of “fair”         high in the Bay Area, coming in
                                                                                                                       across all Bay Area communities.       third behind San Francisco and
                                                                                                                          In the 2020 rankings, Dublin        San Mateo counties in last year’s
                                                                                                                       came in second for pavement con-       data, with a score of 70, which

                             See your pediatrician,                                                                    dition among Bay Area cities, with
                                                                                                                       a PCI score of 84 out of a possible
                                                                                                                       100 points in the survey, narrowly
                                                                                                                                                              was steady across the three years
                                                                                                                                                              of data.
                                                                                                                                                                 Although outranked by San

                             right in your kitchen.                                                                    edged out of first place by Cuper-
                                                                                                                       tino, which had a score of 85.
                                                                                                                          Dublin’s score had decreased
                                                                                                                                                              Mateo County, which had a score
                                                                                                                                                              of 71, Contra Costa County had
                                                                                                                                                              the additional distinction of no

                     Virtual visits or in-person visits at                                                             by one point each year in 2019
                                                                                                                       and 2020, while Cupertino’s rose
                                                                                                                                                              jurisdictions included in the low-
                                                                                                                                                              est rankings, while Pacifica, in San
                                                                                                                       by one point from 2019 in order        Mateo County, was at the bottom
                          Bayside Medical Group                                                                        to overcome Dublin’s previous
                                                                                                                       first-place score among Bay Area
                                                                                                                                                              of the list, with the lowest score of
                                                                                                                                                              all Bay Area jurisdictions, at 42.
                                                                                                                       communities.                              Alameda County collectively
                                                                                                                          Danville joined Dublin among        ranked further down in the list,
                                                                                                                       jurisdictions ranked as “very          below Santa Clara County, and
                                                                                                                       good,” despite being further down      tied with Solano County at an
                                                                                                                       the list, with a score of 80. The      average score of 68.
                                                                                                                       town had the same score in 2019,          More information, including
                                                                                                                       which had been boosted by a            full results of the most recent Bay
                                  genpeds.stanfordchildrens.org                                                        point that year compared to its        Area PCI survey, is available at
                                                                                                                       2018 score of 79.                      mtc.ca.gov. Q

Page 6 • December 10, 2021 • Pleasanton Weekly
Pleasanton Weekly • December 10, 2021 • Page 7
NEWSFRONT

 Livermore High engineering students design low-cost air purifiers
                          Students presented their results to a panel of engineers, scientists and other industry professionals
         BY CIERRA BAILEY                               systems with such accessible ma-
   In collaboration with Quest Sci-                     terials. If done correctly, these de-
ence Center, the engineering de-                        vices could make a lot of public
sign and development class of the                       indoor spaces much safer, while
Green Engineering Academy (GEA)                         being relatively inexpensive,” said
at Livermore High School partic-                        senior Avery Loll in a statement.
ipated in an air purifier design                           Retired scientists and Quest
challenge.                                              members Rick Stulen, Vaughn
   The students were tasked with                        Draggoo and Joel Bowers served as
building, evaluating, testing, docu-                    advisors and mentors to students
menting and presenting results for                      throughout the design process with
a low-cost air purifier that address-                   oversight from Quest’s chief learn-
es requirements for healthy indoor                      ing officer, Caleb Cheung.
air filtration.                                            “My hopes with this project are
   Nine teams of three students                         that some effective designs will be-
each were given a baseline design                       come viable options in the com-
and building materials for a DIY                        munity, especially with the winter
air purifier known as the Corsi-                        months coming up,” Loll said. “It
Rosenthal Air Purifier.                                 has been great getting guidance from
   The materials included a 20-inch                     people that work or have worked in
box fan, furnace air filters and test-                  this field before. It’s a great opportu-
ing equipment. The resources were                       nity to do a project that has real-life
provided to students through do-                        positive impacts,” he added.
nations made to the Quest Science                          Students assembled and tested
Center by the Livermore Valley                          the performance of their unique
Education Foundation and Sandia                         purifier design over a three-week                                                                                                              CONTRIBUTED PHOTO
National Laboratories.                                  period, and presented their results        Livermore High GEA students receiving mentorship and guidance from Rick Stulen from Quest Science Center.
   Student teams were assigned to                       to a panel of engineers, scientists
different areas of the campus and                       and other industry professionals for
were challenged to find vulnerable                      feedback on Nov. 19.                       Kotovsky, Micro and Nano Tech-          bring the community and youth           Quest CEO Monya Lane.
spaces that could benefit from the                         The panel included Walter               nology Section leader at LLNL and       together.                               Superintendent Kelly Bowers
addition of an air purifier. They                       Blevins, director of maintenance           Phoebe Shamp, an environmental             “This was a wonderful opportu-       shared similar sentiments.
were asked to create a box fan filter                   and operations for Las Positas Col-        safety and health professional at       nity to build our partnership with        “Collaborations like this remind
design that best fit the identified lo-                 lege; Beth Dzenitis, a senior project      Sandia National Laboratories.           LVJUSD and consider exciting fu-        us of how fortunate we are to edu-
cation and the population it serves.                    engineer at Lawrence Livermore                Officials from Quest and Liver-      ture collaborations as well. This is    cate students in a thriving scientific
   “This project has been super eye-                    National Laboratory (LLNL); Bud-           more Valley Joint Unified School        a great example of Quest’s mission      community. Our students will be
opening, since I never really knew                      dhinie Jayathelake, electrochem-           District (LVJUSD) said in a state-      to provide experiences that nurture     able to apply these experiences to
that there was such an approach-                        ist and postdoctoral researcher on         ment that they plan to team up for      skills for our students to thrive in    their post-secondary education and
able way to create air filtration                       energy and climate at LLNL; Jack           future learning opportunities that      today’s technological world,” said      future careers,” she said. Q

        SMOKING                                          deputy city attorney Larissa Seto.        lot of people that understand this is   serve as a barrier to tenants remain-   important issue and there are stake-
        Continued from Page 5                               Seto explained the on-site prop-       the rule and that they start to find    ing in affordable housing,” Bassey      holders beyond the HOAs who
                                                         erty manager is first contacted and       different ways to use tobacco,” in-     said. The council ultimately agreed     need to be part of the conversation.
discussion that evening. Council-                        notified about receiving complaints       cluding walking around their com-       to issue a warning for first-time       This just doesn’t feel like the Pleas-
member Valerie Arkin asked about                         about smoking, and follow-up in-          plex rather than staying inside their   violators, then monetary fines for      anton way of developing important
the success of enforcing similar                         formation is then requested.              unit to smoke.                          subsequent violations.                  public policy.”
ordinances already in place.                                “Those are the kinds of things,           During the public hearing,              Councilmember Jack Balch said           Vice Mayor Julie Testa said she
   “We don’t actually see what’s                         and we’ll bring it up with the man-       tenants rights attorney Henrissa        he “could not imagine encouraging       was “so unbelievably disappointed
going on but, for good or for bad,                       agement company also,” Seto said.         Bassey for Oakland-based nonprof-       people to video their neighbor on       that we’re putting property and
with everyone having a video cam-                           When asked if that method has          it Centro Legal de la Raza said the     their balcony violating this ordi-      minutia over the health and safety
era, sometimes staff has a situa-                        been successful, Seto said, “I would      ordinance could have unintended         nance as a basis for a private party    of our residents.”
tion where a neighbor comes and                          say we have a few that are repeat         consequences for low-income and         suit,” as was originally proposed in       “We as a council took a strong
shows us film where they say, ‘this                      offenders, and maybe that’s just the      minority residents.                     the ordinance.                          position on vaping,” Testa said.
is obviously my neighbor smoking,                        nature of addiction to tobacco.”             According to Bassey, “Black             “Thinking of what we’ve done         “We took businesses, we took their
and they’re not supposed to,’” said                         Seto added, “We also do have a         and brown tenants face a higher         as a council with mental health,        products off the shelf because we
                                                                                                   amount of behavioral complaints         smoking is an addiction and if we       understood the serious health
                                                                                                   than their counterparts, even in        treated it like a health issue versus   impacts.”
                                                                                                   units in which the other tenants        an inconvenience to the nonsmok-           Testa added, “This is as real a
                                                                                                   are behaving similarly. We are con-     ers in the room, we might have a        health and safety issue as any-
                                                                                                   cerned that if the other tenants        different opinion on it,” Balch said.   thing we’ve confronted, and to
                                                                                                   know they can bring their own              Bay East Association of Realtors     give the rights to the smoker as
                                                                                                   suit against others, we will see an     spokesman David Stark said, “The        opposed to give the rights to the
                                                                    Italian Style                  uptick in complaints against Black      ordinance as proposed raises some       nonsmoker, the vulnerable, the
                                                                 Spaghetti & Ravioli               and brown community members.”           very practical questions about          seniors, the children, the people
                                                 HALL OF FAME
                                                  PLEASANTON
                                                    W E E K LY
                                                                                                      Instead of a $100 administra-        the mechanics of how it will be         with health issues, it’s not consis-
                                     2018
                                  PLEASANTON
                                    W E E K LY
                                                                 2015   2014      2013      2012   tive fine that “is steep for many       implemented.”                           tent with what we’ve done in the
                                                                                                   low-income community members               “If you’re expecting property        past with vaping and other issues
              2 02 1
           PLEASANTON
             W E E K LY
                                                      2011       2010   2009      2008      2007   and will actually work to reduce        owners to enforce this ordinance,       that we recognized as a serious
                                                                               O p en              their income for purposes of pay-       why was there no outreach to            public health issue.”
                            Early Bird Special                                           7 Da
                                                                                             ys    ing rent,” Bassey suggested that        them?” Stark said. “I’m not refer-         Because city staff including code
                              (Served from 4-6 daily)                                              “people could be given the option       ring to HOAs but actual condo or        enforcement and PPD will handle
    Any Large Two-Topping Pizza and a Pitcher of Soda for only $30.00 (plus Tax)                   to attend a smoking cessation pro-      townhome owners. No town halls,         enforcement, along with landlords
                Additional Toppings Available • Dine-In Only                                       gram or a hotline.”                     no workshops; were any of the           and homeowners associations, no
                                                                                                      “In that instance, nonpayment        4,000 rental property owners on         financial impact from the ordi-
        Lunches • Dinners • Beers on Tap • Orders to Go                                            of rent would then be the basis for     your mailing list notified?”            nance is expected. The ordinance
   288 Main Street • 846-2520 • www.gayninetiespizza.com                                           an eviction suit, and could actually       Stark added, “This is really an      will go into effect on July 1. Q

Page 8 • December 10, 2021 • Pleasanton Weekly
NEWSFRONT

      Annual Minicon primes Foothill DECA team for regionals
                                            Students prepare with workshops, practice sessions at mock conference
           BY JULIA BAUM                 “because it showed that many of our           hosted by the NorCal District Action
   In preparation for a major regional   Foothill DECA members were en-                Team on presentation skills, partici-
conference next month, more than         gaged and willing to put in the work          pants marked the event’s conclusion
70 members and alumni recently           to be successful during competition.”         by presenting top competitors with
took part in Foothill High School’s         Arushi Arora, Foothill DECA’s vice         glass trophies and medals during an
annual DECA Minicon.                     president of chapter management               award ceremony.
   The yearly mini-conference gives      and event organizer, said that “put-             Patrick Gannon, spokesman for
Foothill’s DECA members an op-           ting together and watching Minicon            Pleasanton Unified School District,
portunity to prepare for competitions    unfold was an incredibly rewarding            told the Weekly, “We’d like to con-
by responding to real-world busi-        experience.”                                  gratulate and thank our Foothill
ness scenarios by acting out timed          “Seeing the growth of competitors          DECA students for hosting a suc-
role-play sessions with experienced      through their experiences with the            cessful opportunity for their peers
judges, completing a 50-question         roleplays, the test, and the work-            to learn and grow as professionals
business exam, and acquiring real-       shop was an honor, and could not              and leaders. We look forward to
life skills such as problem solving      have been accomplished without the            celebrating these students’ continued                                                                CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

and critical thinking.                   help of our alumni and advisor,”              success.”                                 Foothill DECA students prepare for regional conference competitions by
                                                                                                                                 responding to real-world business scenarios during role-plays.
   Director of training Anvi Vasa or-    Arora said. “Minicon was beneficial              Prior to Minicon, Foothill DECA’s
ganized practice sessions “to help       towards building competitive skills           Lunchtime program gave members            and career development.                Conference from Jan. 14-16, where
competitors practice skills that were    and leadership, and I am so glad I            an opportunity to learn about the           The Foothill DECA chapter is         representatives said members “are
essential to do well in Minicon,” and    was able to be a part of it.”                 various aspects of DECA competi-          currently preparing for the North-     sure to use the competition experi-
said the turnout was appreciated            Along with attending a workshop            tions, which focus on business skills     ern California Career Development      ence gained from Minicon.” Q

              PDA                        decade of experience should also              wherever pretty successfully. Being       business inside and out. We are        looking at somebody who has an
        Continued from Page 5            help while the PDA searches for a             able to work on certain projects —        very fortunate that she has time to    executive director with nonprofit
                                         new permanent leader.                         the parklets, Weekends on Main            take this project on.”                 experience, and somebody that has
after leaving the PDA in 2019, fol-         “I’ve been a part of it for the last six   — doing that is not difficult for me.        According to Terry, the executive   a track record.”
lowing a 10-year run overseeing          months, so I’m not coming in cold,            I was the executive director for 10       director position will open up next       Though an ideal candidate would
the association, but also because        which is what I think has made this           years, so those relationships still       month, with interviews expected to     be “somebody local, that already
she now lives in Alabama. Despite        doable,” Brooks said. “We’re making           stand. And again it’s just for the in-    start in February and someone hired    knows our city and how our city
not being able to handle business in     sure businesses know the PDA is               terim; this would not be feasible for     by March.                              operates, it’s not mandatory that they
person, Brooks said there’s currently    fully operational and behind them.”           the long term, of course.”                   The PDA is looking for a very       be from Pleasanton,” Terry said. “We
two staff members on site acting as         Brooks added, “Obviously COVID                PDA Board Director Terri Terry         seasoned leader, Terry said, and       just really want somebody that is
“boots on the ground,” and that her      showed us that we can work from               said that Brooks “knows the               “we are definitely going to be         qualified to do the job.” Q

                   The Tri-Valley area
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                                                                                                                                                            Pleasanton Weekly • December 10, 2021 • Page 9
Each year, the Pleasanton Weekly Holiday Fund raises money to support programs and services that care for local families
                 and children in our community. The Holiday Fund partners with the Three Valleys Community Foundation, which handles all
                 finances, so every dollar of your tax-deductible donation goes directly to local nonprofits with no administrative expenses.

                       This year’s Holiday Fund recipients that will                                                 As of Dec. 5, 2021 172 donors have contributed $44,465
                             share in fund contributions are:                                                               to the Pleasanton Weekly Holiday Fund.

                 • Axis Community Health                      • REACH                                        23 Anonymous ..................... $3,930           Joyce & Robert Shapiro ............... 100
                 • CityServe of the Tri-Valley                • Sunflower Hill                               Robert & Janice Hermann............ 200             Ronny & Lonny Shaw .................... **
                 • Hope Hospice                               • Valley Humane Society                        Chuck & Debby Uhler ................. 125           Peter & Kathleen MacDonald ...... 100
                 • Pleasanton Partnerships in                 • Open Heart Kitchen                           Pete & Julie Mason........................ **       A&A Lipski .................................... **
                   Education (PPIE)                                                                          Herbert Chang .............................. **     Ken & Barbara McDonald.............. **
                                                                                                             Steve & Gina (Channell) Wilcox 5,000                The Markel Ohana ..................... 500
                                                                                                             The Cohen Family ....................... 500        Sue & Greg Evans ...................... 100
                                                                                                             Alice Desrosiers ........................... 100    Rod & Val Smith ......................... 200
                                                                                                             Donna Johnson ........................... 100       Jack Balch .................................... **

                    Please consider donating online, which enables your gift to be                           Carmen Merritt ............................. **     Barry & Carole Jolette ................ 200
                                                                                                             Frank & Muriel Capilla................... **        Jan & Jeb Bing ........................... 100
                            processed immediately. The secure website is:
                                                                                                             Tim & Teri Bush ............................. **    The Morgenstern Family ............ 250
                                      3VCF.org/HolidayFund
                                                                                                             Cindy & Bob Gee ........................ 300        Curt & Dana Hansen .................... **

         Enclosed is a check for $___________                                                                Kathy & Jeff Narum..................... 100         The Murtagh Team .................. 1,000
                                                                                                             Ann & Don Rathjen ....................... **        Steve & Kay King ....................... 200
         Name: ____________________________________________________                                          Sean Chase ................................... **   Sharon Piekarski.......................... 250
                                                                                                             Charles R. & Mary E. Shoemaker ... **               Art & Joan Tenbrink ...................... 50
         Business Name: ______________________________________________
         (Only required if business name is to be listed as donor in the paper)                              Donna & Jim Zarrillo...................... **       Mary Claire Sites ......................... 100
                                                                                                             Norm & Joyce Pacheco .................. **          Richard & Gloria Fredette .............. **
         Address: ___________________________________________________                                        Sue Compton ............................... **      Tim & Sharyn Henshaw ................. **
         City/State/Zip: _________________ / __________ / _____________                                      Kathy & Bob Russman ................... **          Don & Noel Anger ........................ **
                                                                                                             Susan & Tom Fox........................... **       Judith Del Tredici ........................... **
         Email: _____________________________________________________
                                                                                                             Julia & Alan Casamajor ............... 100          Steve & Ellen Shirmizu................... **
         Phone: _______________________________                                                              Jim & Elaine Keysor ..................... 300       Helmuth Meissner ......................... **

         T Employer match (mark if yes). Employer: ___________________________                               Bruce & Cindy Yamamoto ........... 150              Joe & Sue Silva .............................. **
                                                                                                             Robert & Marianne Eisberg ........... **            Ajay & Sonal Shah......................... **
         I wish to designate my contribution as follows (select one):                                        John & Barbara Severini .............. 250          David Clausen ............................. 250
         T In my name as shown above           T In the name of business above                               Barbara W. Daniels........................ **       Linda Todd ............................... 1,000
                                                                                                             The Banahan Family ...................... **        Eric Kreiger ................................. 500
                                              – OR –
                           T In honor of: T In memory of: T As a gift for:                                   Susan Houghton ......................... 100        Marjorie York .............................. 100
                                                                                                             Christina Nystrom ......................... 30      Diane Davidson ........................... 100
         ___________________________________________________________                                         Jason Stinebaugh ........................ 100       Kelly Montes ............................... 200
                                                  (Name of Person)                                           Marilyn Duman ........................... 300       John Celeste ............................... 500
         The Pleasanton Weekly Holiday Fund is a field of interest fund of Three Valleys Community           Margaret Mahon .......................... 50        Michael Martin ........................... 250
         Foundation, a 501(c)(3) charitable organization. A contribution to this fund allows your donation   Victor S Wheatman ..................... 100         D+D+D+D Bodemann ................. 100
         to be tax-deductible to the fullest extent of the law.
                                                                                                             Shake Sulikyan & James Curtis ...... **             Lori James Rice.............................. **
         All donors and their gift amounts will be published in the Pleasanton Weekly unless                 Todd & Mindy Miller.................... 500         Janie Dobbs .................................. 50
         the boxes below are checked.                                                                        John & Noel Wilson .................... 100         Kevin & Cindy Powers ................... **
         T I wish to contribute anonymously.                                                            Eleanor Tandowsky ....................... **        Alan & Jean Purves...................... 250
              T Please withhold the amount of my contribution.                                               Pat & Randy Davis ....................... 100       Don & Judy Person ........................ **
                                                                                                             James Brice & Carole Peterson ...... **             Bill & Pat Ruvalcaba................... 1000
             Make checks payable to Three Valleys Community Foundation and send to:
                                                                                                             Csencsits-Kundmann Family ........ 200              Margie & Randy Schmidt............. 200
                                Pleasanton Weekly Holiday Fund
                                                                                                             Nancy & Marvin Rensink ............... **           Rick & Dawn Marie Barraza ......... 250
                            c/o Three Valleys Community Foundation
                                                                                                             Gary & Mary Lazarotti ................... **        Greg Landrum ............................ 500
                                 5960 Inglewood Dr., Suite 201
                                     Pleasanton, CA 94588                                                    Tim & Val McGuire ................... 1,000         The VerKuilen Family ................... 100
                                                                                                             Carol Guarnaccia ........................ 100       Rita CPA ..................................... 251
                                                                                                             Harold & Rozann Densmore ........ 100               Steven Ethier................................. **

                                      In partnership with:

Page 10 • December 10, 2021 • Pleasanton Weekly
NEWSFRONT

                                                                                                                Public comment sought on lifting of
                                                                                                                        I-580 large truck ban
                                                                                                                Regional agencies plan to hold a        a community town hall hosted by          oxide compared to neighborhoods
                                                                                                                virtual public meeting later this       Alameda County Supervisor Nate           near I-580.
                                                                                                                month to hear public comments           Miley, with presentations by Cal-           “It’s time to evaluate if and
                                                                                                                on lifting the Interstate 580 large     trans and the Bay Area Air Quality       how the truck ban should remain
                                                                                                                truck ban.                              Management District.                     in place. Both Caltrans and the
                                                                                                                   The long-standing ban of ve-            Miley said the diversion of truck     BAAQMD analysis over the next
The Berry Boys ............................ 100         Bill & Alice Marsh, from Bill                           hicles weighing more than 9,000         traffic to I-880, which dates back to    year or so will help determine what
Kerton Family.............................. 250         & Audrey Sears ............................. **         pounds, aside from passenger buses      the 1960s, has “created a legacy of      best serves the public interest,”
Deborah Grossman ....................... **             Lynne & Liane Pruiksma,                                 and paratransit vehicles, covers 8.7    air pollution, asthma and other im-      Miley said in a statement.
                                                        from Colleen Heller ....................... **          miles through unincorporated Al-        pacts” in Oakland neighborhoods.            According to Caltrans, efforts to
The Fugate Family ....................... 100
                                                                                                                ameda County, San Leandro and              According to a study by the           reverse the ban have been met
Xiaopei and Andrew Gelb ............. **                Our parents Chris & Glenda Beratlis,
                                                        from Chris & Erika Beratlis............. **
                                                                                                                parts of Oakland. Most trucks that      Environmental Defense Fund,              with strong opposition. In 2000 the
Sarah Ciccarello ....................... 4,410                                                                  can’t use the banned route travel       neighborhoods along I-880 had            state Legislature made it part of the
                                                        William C. “Bud” Lunde,                                 via Interstate 880 through Oak-         80% higher concentrations of black       California Vehicle Code.
Vineetha Kuchibhatla .................... 24
                                                        from Louise Lunde ...................... 100            land’s flatlands.                       carbon, 60% higher nitrogen diox-           More information is available at
Ruth Van Art ............................... 100
                                                        Ernie Shanks, from Margaret                                At 6:30 p.m. Dec. 16 the public      ide concentrations and more than         District4.acgov.org. Q
Stacey Ristow........................... 1,000          Shanks .......................................... **    can weigh in on the issue during        double the concentrations of nitric      —Olivia Wynkoop / BCN Foundation
               IN MEMORY OF                             Rick Aguiar & George Fargis, Jr.,
Xiaofan Han, from Xiaojun
Mo’s Family ..................................... **
                                                        from Nancy Aguiar Fargis .............. **
                                                        Richard Brierly, from Stephanie
                                                                                                                   Tolls going up, fines for violations
Charles Sebahar Sr. &
Charles Sebahar Jr., from Karen L.
Sebahar ...................................... 100
                                                        & Haley England ......................... 100
                                                        James Kohnen & Cleve Beck,
                                                                                                                    going down on Bay Area bridges
                                                        from Patricia Kohnen .................. 300
My husband, Billy L. Haraughty,                                                                                  Cost to cross rising to $7, while penalty for absconding drops retroactively
from Anita Haraughty ................... 30             Frank & Mabel Rich and Joe
                                                        & Audrey Kramm .......................... **               The cost to travel over seven of     Senate Bill 595 and Regional Mea-        link their account to a credit card
Betty Patrick, from Charles
& Joan Brown ............................. 100
                                                                                                                the Bay Area’s bridges will increase    sure 3 pending before the Cali-          from $20 to $5 and reducing the
                                                        Steve DeCoite, from Jane DeCoite ....100
                                                                                                                by $1 on Jan. 1, 2022, while the        fornia Supreme Court, so the toll        minimum opening balance for a
Gam & Papa Abbott, from the                             Dr. Richard Roman, from
Casey Family ................................. **
                                                                                                                fine for people who violate bridge      increase collected will be placed        FasTrak account for customers who
                                                        Jane DeCoite .............................. 100         tolls is being reduced retroactively    into an escrow account managed           pay with cash or check from $50 to
Terry Scavone, from Judity                                                                                      to the beginning of the year, re-       by an independent trustee until the      $25.
Scavone ........................................ 50     Jim Mahern & Bob Lemos, from
                                                        Dr. & Mrs. Pennisi ......................... **         gional officials announced.             litigation is resolved.                     The BATA encourages anyone
Bill & Emily Hirst, from Bill Hirst ... 100                                                                        Regular tolls for two-axle cars          Revenue from the previous toll       using the bridges to open FasTrak
Carl W. Pretzel, from Marilyn                           Hank Gomez, Bob & Donna
                                                                                                                and trucks and for motorcycles          increase in 2019 is also being held      accounts that automatically deduct
Pretzel .......................................... **   Williams, from Frank Gomez &
                                                        Maureen Nokes .......................... 200
                                                                                                                at the San Francisco-Oakland Bay,       in escrow, according to BATA.            toll amounts from their account
Jerry Lemm, from Marilyn                                                                                        Antioch, Benicia-Martinez, Carqui-          Meanwhile, the agency an-            and allow them to avoid violation
Lemm, Mark & Michele ................. **               Margaret Lewis Stevens, from                            nez, Dumbarton, Richmond-San            nounced Wednesday that fines for         notices and penalties. People can
James & Frederika Traini, from                          Mark & MaryAnne Lewis ............... **                Rafael and San Mateo-Hayward            toll violation notices will be re-       sign up by visiting www.bayarea-
Matt Traini & Wendy Wong........... **                                                                          bridges will rise to $7 from $6,        duced for anyone who received            fastrak.org or calling (877) 229-
                                                        Robert C. Bush, from Arlene
Edythe L. Shewfelt, from                                Bush ............................................. **   according to the Bay Area Toll Au-      them on the region’s seven state-        8655, or by buying the FasTrak
Frank & Muriel Capilla................... **                                                                    thority.                                owned toll bridges dating back to        tags at certain Costco and Wal-
                                                        David DeBernardi & Amber
Karl K. Witze .............................. 500        Harris, from Mom & Dad............. 200                    Tolls for vehicles with three or     the start of 2021.                       greens stores.
Bob Griffitts, from Sharon                                                                                       more axles will also rise by $1.            BATA said that the penalty for          People can also open a License
Morrison ....................................... 50     Jose & Venus................................. **           The tolls will increase to $17 for   first violation notices is dropping      Plate Account that links a license
Joe & Doris Antonini, from                              Our parents, from Harold                                three-axle vehicles, $22 for four-      effective immediately from $25 to        plate to an account and allows
John & Carolyn Cardinalli ............ 100              & Gena Gatlin ............................... **        axle vehicles, $27 for five-axle ve-    $5, and the penalty for second vio-      people to pay a toll online up to 30
Elizabeth Dawson, from Daniel                                                                                   hicles, $32 for six-axle vehicles and   lation notices will drop from $70 to     days ahead of a bridge crossing or
Dawson ........................................ **                      IN HONOR OF                             $37 for vehicles with combinations      $15.                                     within 48 hours after it.
Doris R. Sanchez, from Virginia                         SMMCB, you bring us such joy, pride                     of seven or more axles.                     People who paid the penalties           People who do not have either
Snodgrass ..................................... **      & laughter, GMA & GPA Spicka ...... **                      The toll increase at the region’s   dating back to Jan. 1 will receive a     option are required to return in-
Erik Lemoine, from the                                                                                          state-owned toll bridges is the         refund starting in February 2022,        voices with payment within 21
                                                        Hongkongers, from A & K Wong ... 100
Lemoine Family ............................. **                                                                 second of three toll increases ap-      according to the toll authority.         days or will receive the now-re-
                                                        Roland von Metzsch...................... **             proved by the Legislature in 2017           The changes, approved by the         duced penalties on new invoices.
Michael Corbett & Ed Clements,
from Dave Cryer ......................... 100           Our 6 Grandchildren ..................... **            via state Senate Bill 595 and by        BATA in October, are part of its toll-      Those who do not return pay-
Lee B. Young, from Marsha                                                                                       voters through Regional Measure 3       ing equity action plan announced         ment after the second notice may
                                                        My granddaughter Rylan &
Young ......................................... 200                                                             in 2018.                                earlier this year.                       have the DMV put a hold on their
                                                        grandsons Drew, Kyle, Brett, Brennan,
Frank Thompson, from Steve
                                                                                                                    The first increase went into ef-        Other changes set for imple-         vehicle registration or have the
                                                        Jack, Cole, Noah & Tripp, from
McCoy-Thompson ........................ 30              Jane DeCoite .............................. 100
                                                                                                                fect in 2019, and the third will go     mentation later in 2022 include          amount owed referred to a collec-
Curtis Lum .................................. 100
                                                                                                                into effect in 2025.                    dropping the cost of a FasTrak toll      tion agency, according to BATA.
                                                                        AS A GIFT FOR                                There is a legal challenge to      tag deposit for those who do not                              —Bay City News
Tracy, from Vern Cink .................... **
George Dunphy, from                                     Ken & Carole Moy’s 70th
                                                        Wedding Anniversary .................... **
Barbara Jackson ............................ **
Bert Brook, from Dee Brook ........ 200
                                                           BUSINESSES & ORGANIZATIONS
                                                                                                                  SRPD headquarters evacuated for
Coach Tony Costello, from
Michael Costello ........................... **
Richard L. Parr, from Denise Parr ... 100
                                                        DeBernardi Development
                                                        Construction & Remodeling .......... **
                                                                                                                  ultimately discredited bomb threat
Cecelia Anderson, from Art S.                           Time 4 Order Professional                                  The San Ramon Police Depart-         a.m., the department said a bomb         to any interruptions in emergency
Tenbrink, MFT ............................... 25        Organizing .................................... **      ment reported receiving a non-spe-      threat came in via a phone call at       services to the city.
Jerry Severin, from Charlotte
                                                                                                                cific bomb threat for department        approximately 9 a.m. Wednesday,             San Ramon police were back to
                                                        Charles Huff Architect, A.I.A. ........ **
Severin........................................ 100                                                             headquarters on Wednesday morn-         prompting the evacuation of police       “business as usual” after the all-clear
                                                        J.E. Moore Air Conditioning Inc. ... 500                ing, leading to officers evacuating     headquarters and a thorough search       was given, officials said. Detectives
Loved ones who have passed,
from Sue (King) & Hank Irwin...... 100                  Pleasanton Newcombers Club....... 500                   the building for a search that ul-      “out of an abundance of caution.”        continue to investigate the circum-
                                                                                                                timately determined there was no           No suspicious devices were found      stances surrounding the call, and
                          ** Donor did not want to publish the amount of the gift.                              immediate threat inside.                during the search, according to po-      seek to identify the caller. Q
                                                                                                                   In an announcement at 10:30          lice, and the evacuation did not lead                          —Jeanita Lyman

                                                                                                                                                                                   Pleasanton Weekly • December 10, 2021 • Page 11
Community rejoices in downtown tradition
             for first time since 2018
                              PHOTOS BY CHUCK DECKERT

     T        housands of residents filled Main Street — taking
              part in the procession itself or lining the sidewalks
              to watch — on Saturday night for the Pleasanton
     Hometown Holiday Parade and Tree Lighting Ceremony,
     back for the first time since 2018 following cancellations
     in 2019 (weather) and 2020 (COVID-19 pandemic). The
     cool but mostly clear evening brought many familiar
     faces, plus some new ones, to the parade and ensuing
     entertainment around the central stage, including music,
     a visit from Santa and Mrs. Claus, and the illumination of
     the holiday tree outside the Museum on Main.

                                                                      Left page: Smiles were aplenty as Pleasanton’s holiday parade
                                                                      returned to downtown last Saturday night with a wide-ranging
                                                                      procession including the beloved Balloon Platoon (top), the
                                                                      Pleasanton City Council (middle) and community entrants
                                                                      (bottom). The holiday tree outside the Museum on Main (left)
                                                                      was illuminated that night after the parade.

Page 12 • December 10, 2021 • Pleasanton Weekly
Right page: The 2021 Pleasanton Hometown Holiday Celebration featured the familiar parade with dozens of floats and groups on foot moving down Main Street, along with entertainment from
musical quintet Business Casual (middle right), a reading from Pleasanton teen poet laureate Nikita Jayaprakash (bottom center) and a visit from Santa and Mrs. Claus (bottom left).

                                                                                                                                              Pleasanton Weekly • December 10, 2021 • Page 13
Deck the halls with elegant ornaments
                                                                                             Shapiro home is a wonderland of holiday loveliness
                                                                            BY DOLORES FOX CIARDELLI             said, explaining some are Swarovski       entertaining. Many times they’ve of-
                                                                         For Joyce and Bob Shapiro, the hol-     crystal.                                  fered a dinner at their festive holiday
                                                                      iday season begins in October when            “I started collecting Patricia Breen   home for eight to 10 people at fund-
                                                                      they gingerly unwrap the exquisite         ornaments in New England where            raising auctions for nonprofit groups
                                                                      decorations they’ve been collecting        we lived for a year,” she recalled.       including Las Positas College, the
                                                                      for decades to deck out their home         “When we flew back to San Fran-           YMCA and Sandra J. Wing Healing
                                                                      across from Kottinger Community            cisco, Gump’s used to have this huge      Therapies Foundation.
                                                                      Park.                                      event and Patricia Breen was there.”         Last year when everyone was quar-
                                                                         “We have two 9-foot trees in our           On the mantel is a numbered pic-       antining no one came to see the
                                                                      living room,” Bob said. “Each tree         ture, “Woodland Santa,” done by           ornaments, although the Shapiros en-
                                                                      takes about a week to decorate so we       Radko, and surrounded by poin-            tertained on the front lawn Christmas
                                                                      want time to enjoy it.”                    settias. They also have old Cartier       Day and left the front doors open so
                                                                         Each of the sturdy trees has a          Christmas cards, set in glass frames so   the holiday vision was on display.
                                                                      theme, Joyce explained. One features       both sides can be viewed.                    They also enjoy evenings at home
                                                                      the elegant keepsake blown-glass cre-         The Shapiros have been married for     with just each other, a glass of wine
                                                                      ations of Christopher Radko while the      27 years; they each collected orna-       and their glowing works of seasonal
                                                                      other shines with the graceful designs     ments for years before that and have      art.
                                                                      of Patricia Breen.                         continued together. They celebrated          “Every night we marvel at the
                                                                         The Radko tree has the theme of         their 25th anniversary on a river         trees,” Bob said. “We look at the or-
                                                                      Saks Fifth Avenue, Bloomingdales,          cruise along the Rhine that stopped at    naments, and remember where they
                                                                      FAO Schwarz and Gump’s, where              German Christmas markets, another         came from.”
                                                                      they purchased the ornaments, the          great source for decorations.                At the end of the season, their son
                                                                      Shapiros said. The other tree has             “Whenever we travel, we try to buy     helps pack away the decorations in
                                                                      themes in different sections, includ-      ornaments from whatever country we        the big storage room upstairs. Joyce
                                                                      ing travel, Napa Valley, animals, nut-     are in,” Bob said.                        expressed relief that they aren’t on
                                                      CIERRA BAILEY   crackers and arboretums by Breen.             Friends vie to visit the Shapiro       display long enough to collect dust.
 Bob and Joyce Shapiro meticulously decorate two trees each              “Her ornaments have a lot of hand       home when the decorations are                “But,” Bob said, “it’s sad when the
 year with ornaments by designers (front tree) Patricia Breen and
                                                                      painting and they sparkle,” Joyce          in place, and Joyce and Bob enjoy         trees come down. We miss them.” Q
 (rear) Christopher Radko.

                                                     CIERRA BAILEY                                                     CIERRA BAILEY                                                   CIERRA BAILEY
   Christopher Radko ornaments, which are highly cherished            Joyce and Bob Shapiro strategically arrange their                Joyce Shapiro holds an ornament of the New York City
   collectibles, capture the magic of the season at the               ornaments onthe trees in themes, including this travel           skyline that features the Twin Towers, which they bought
   Shapiro home.                                                      section.                                                         before 9/11.

          Old favorites on stage at Bankhead
          A few tickets are left for Al Franken, author, actor, comedian, politician and media
          personality, who will make his only Bay Area appearance at Livermore’s Bankhead Theater
          on his first tour since
          semi-retiring from comedy
          to serve in the U.S.
          Senate. His shows will be
          at 2 p.m. and 8 p.m. Jan.
          8; tickets are $20-$128.
          Call 925-373-6800 or visit
          livermorearts.org. Then
          the Smothers Brothers
          will present a special
          evening — at a sold-out
          performance on Jan.
          14 — of laughter, music
          and memories with live
          routines, vintage video
          clips and a personal Q&A
          that may finally determine
          whom mom likes best.
                                                                                            CONTRIBUTED PHOTOS

                                                                                                                                                                         CONTRIBUTED PHOTOS

Page 14 • December 10, 2021 • Pleasanton Weekly
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