High Street Neighborhood Newsby Adelle Foley |
Welcome Back, Sandra |
School is visibly back in session at the Melrose Branch Library. Youngsters are raising the noise level working on school assignments, looking for books, or getting help on their homework from the PASS program. Teachers from nearby schools are visiting the branch with their classes. Children can welcome the Halloween season at 3:30 p.m. on Monday, October 23, at Batopia, a program featuring live bats. Drop by early in October to welcome Branch Manager Sandra Toscano back from maternity leave. And if you're clueless about what to buy a ten-year-old for an upcoming holiday or birthday, try your local Children's Librarian. Sharon Senser told me that she's delighted to help, since she's always reading children's books. How Can the Community Help?
This year's tragic toll of homicides in our city came closer to home with the fatal shooting of a 20-year-old at Fairfax and High. That intersection is a "hot spot" of loitering, drug activity, and dangerous traffic. A problem liquor outlet was evicted earlier this year, but the activity moved across the street. Neighbors have called for increased police presence, and resources have been devoted to that intersection, but the danger remains. The evening after the shooting, a discussion with Lt. Sharon Williams at the Maxwell Park Neighborhood Council opened out from "What happened?" to "What can we do?" Community members talked about investing in youth providing good options. One woman told of losing her fear of walking through groups of young men after she began to talk to them. Others talked of buying bats and balls while banning disrespectful language, or of asking kids to do odd jobs for a small fee or even a slice of pie. Someone pointed out that kids react very differently one-on-one than in a group and recommended getting to know the young people. The discussion ended with ideas: put together a softball team; volunteer at the Boys and Girls Club; make this question a priority for the Neighborhood Action Team. It was good beginning. Electronic Fall Cleaning
A line of cars wound slowly from 66th Ave. into Coliseum Parking Lot D, but there was no sporting event, and tailgaters were replaced with a landscape of electronic waste. Electronic Waste Management had come to Oakland, and thousands of Alameda County residents responded by cleaning out their garages and basements. I wandered around the parking lot astonished by shrink-wrapped towers of CPUs next to boxes of monitors, keyboards, scanners, printers, cell phones, and remotes of all kinds. There were stereo speakers, toner cartridges, and copy machines. Nathan Johnstone, sporting a bright green "recycle e-waste" T-shirt, told me that the most unusual item was an Atari arcade game. I wondered what these discards said about our society. But I admired the family-owned San Leandro business that developed a solution for of disposing of electronic waste. E-waste can be dropped off in San Leandro, and free pickups are available to businesses.
The urge to upgrade
Replace something that's just fine
With the newest one
Adelle Foley can be reached at jandafoley\@sbcglobal.net.
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