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Find Yourself By: Robert A. Wilkins, CEO and President, YMCA of the East Bay “The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others,” said Mohandas K. Gandhi.   As he was with so many things, Mahatma Gandhi was right.   Volunteering makes a difference, not only in someone else’s life, but also in your own. I should know.   My organization – The YMCA of the East Bay – has helped a lot of people find themselves over the years.   Without volunteers, we could not exist.   Nor could countless other nonprofits.   Last year, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, about 64.5 million people volunteered through, or for, an organization at least once.   If you are one of those 64.5 million, you can, if you wish, stop reading now.   You already made a difference. But if you are one of the 73 percent of the population who didn’t volunteer to help a community group, a church, a nonprofit, a school or other organization at leas...

The San Francisco Waterfront’s very history is said to hang in the balance with Proposition B and Proposition C, but the reality is anything but that. The truth is that only one proposed development is impacted by the vote this Tuesday, and that is 8 Washington. 8 Washington will add 134 luxury condominiums on a 3.2-acre lot which currently contains a tennis club I’ve played at many times and is roughly the same land size of our home grounds in Georgia. 8 Washington sits near to the Grand Hyatt Hotel and Justin Herman Plaza, and several condo developments just roughly 80 feet behind it. All 8 Washington does is fill in a kind of weird donut hole of airspace and land. That’s it. Look, a yes vote on B or C has zero to do with any growth agenda for San Francisco – nothing. It will not solve the affordable housing problem overnight, either (Sorry, it won’t and it’s time to be honest about that, too.) It’s just one development – and in point of fact, there’s room along the San Franc...

Jen Biesty and Tim Nugent According to Zennie62.com, Shakewell, when it opens at the current Mezze space at 3407 Lakeshore Ave, will be the second “Top Chef” restaurant in Oakland, and a sign that our city’s presence as a foodie capital is only growing. “Top Chef” restaurants are those owned and founded by alumns of the “Top Chef” television show. Foodies around the World make special stops at these eateries when they visit major cities, and one friend of mine has a co-worker she travels with and who keeps a personal list of their locations. So when she’s in Atlanta, she’s already made reservations at a “Top Chef” place. In Oakland, of course, the first Top Chef restaurant is owned by Preeti Mistry and is the Juhu Beach Club at 5179 Telegraph Ave in the Temescal District. Shakewell is the name of what will replace Mezze and is owned by chef Jen Biesty and pastry chef Tim Nugent. Shakewell raised much of its funding via a Kickstarter initiative that combined 443 donors and took...

Local children and their families are invited to a Halloween “Spook”tacular event at Hillsdale Shopping Center! Hillsdale is at 60 31st Avenue, San Mateo, California. To kick-off the festivities, participating stores will hand out treats to costumed children ages 12 and under from 5-6 p.m. Kids will also enjoy Halloween themed special events including a “Frankenswine” performance by Puppet Arts, Comedy Magic show by Count Dracula, balloon twisting, crafts and spooky science projects hosted by Mad Science of the Bay Area. For more information: 650-345-8222.

The Oakland City Council is to take up the annually thorny issue of city council district boundary changes, or what’s called “redistricting.” Tonight, as I sit here at Oakland City Council, there nine different scenarios the City Council has been asked to consider: Maps 18 and 21 through 28. What follows is a summary, based on what was written at the website at the City of Oakland’s webpage by the planning and zoning department. Map 18: “At the October 3, 2013 Rules and Legislation Committee of the City Council, the consultant produced a map, based on Map #17, which proposes the Maxwell Park neighborhood be combined into District 4; Map #18 proposes changes to Districts 5 and 6 which balance the population changes resulting from Maxwell Park being combined into District 4. Also, Map #18 shows Broadway Terrace as the boundary between Districts 1 and 4, which it was in 1993; and the map leaves the current border between Districts 1 & 3 the same as it is today: the Mosswood neighbo...

Oakland, CA – October 28, 2013 – Recently, Paul Tutwiler & Mabel Hom of the  Downtown Oakland  and  Lake Merritt/Uptown  community benefit districts’ Senior Citizen Task Force, recently renamed R.O.A.R, Resources for Oakland’s Active Retirees, were awarded the YMCA of the East Bay’s “You are the Difference” award at the Y’s 134 th  annual meeting and volunteer recognition ceremony. Last June, Tutwiler, among others, contacted the Downtown Oakland & Lake Merritt/Uptown CBDs to suggest a collaboration between the districts and local seniors.  Their goal was to get local seniors involved in the community by organizing weekly walks, beautification projects, recreational activities and more.  Since then, the program has proved to be a great success. “It’s nice to see Paul, Mabel and the senior citizen task force getting the recognition they deserve.  Together, we are happy to have been able to organize a great program f...

Artesa Winery Artesa Winery, which has perhaps the most breath-taking winery in California, has come out fighting in a Sonoma Coast California property battle against Friends of the Gualala River. Artesa Winery is fighting to improve and protect a neglected Sonoma, California property in the face of strident opposition from a controversial local group, Friends of the Gualala River. Sonoma County is a place known both for its excellent wine and its natural beauty. But, the conversation has turned ugly over the effort by one well-regarded winery to renovate part of an abandoned Sonoma property into a vineyard and preserve and protect remainder of it. Artesa Vineyard and Winery has owned the 324 acre property since 1999 when it purchased the lot with the intention to use it to grow Pinot Noir. The property has fallen into disrepair since it was used as an apple orchard in the early 1960’s. In 2009 Artesa submitted a proposal to convert 173 acres of this former orchard into v...