Still think San Leandro is virtually unknown to the outside world? Well, think again.

The city's unconventional marketing campaign to attract folks to downtown, aptly called "I Am San Leandro," apparently is attracting some unconventional interest.

A LiveJournal blogger recently wrote an entry about his fascination with one of the marketing campaign's tools. In the entry, he stated that he had been at a restaurant in Berkeley and noticed a small cut-out of a man used for the "I Am San Leandro" campaign (pictured above). Then he went on to say that he was so fascinated by the cut-out, he decided to name it "San Leandro" because, on the back, it read "I Am San Leandro." The next part is too hilarious to summarize. He went on to say:

I have been carrying him around in my backpack ever since, trying to decide what to do with him, and my current trip to Palm Desert has finally given me the answer. So, much like the Travelling Gnome and other such efforts, I have taken on the wholly unoriginal task of carrying San Leandro with me, taking photos whenever I can be bothered to remember it and hopefully not destroying his fragile paper body in the process. Wish him luck.

Unbeknownst to the blogger, the cut-out is not just some random piece of paper. It is actually a photo of a real person. In fact, it is San Leandro planner Elmer Penaranda. That was supposed to be the whole point of the marketing campaign: to show folks not familiar with San Leandro what the city is all about and that all kinds of people live and work there.

But I guess the blogger didn't quite get that point. Instead, he wrote that he will be taking his "little San Leandro" along with him on various trips for a few "traveling gnome"-type photo ops.

At least San Leandro is getting some props. But it makes one wonder: Are the people this marketing campaign was hoping to target — retailers — getting it?

I was driving down Sybil Avenue in San Leandro this morning and saw the weirdest thing. Actually, it's the newest addition to East 14th Street — the ZAP electric car dealership.

I saw the itsy bitsy three-wheeled sedans and trucks in the showroom as I was making a turn, and I couldn't help but pull over and check them out.

Turns out ZAP (it stands for Zero Air Pollution), which is based in Santa Rosa, has been open in San Leandro for only a few months now. Right now, the dealership is featuring its XEBRA sedan (pictured above) and truck, as well as its Zapino electric scooter and Zappy — which only can be described as a motorized tricycle-thingy for adults.

A salesman told me to call the general manager for a test drive. But being a reporter, I'll probably decline for the time being so as not to cause a conflict of interest. And just peeking at the little sedan, it looked like my tall frame probably wouldn't even fit in the front seat anyway. But if one of you pays ZAP a visit, make sure to let me know how your experience was.

I haven't been ignoring this on purpose, but a story that ran last week about Pierre, a 25-year-old African penguin at the California Academy of Sciences who recently got a special wetsuit made for him and a new lease on life, has apparently now turned into the story heard 'round the world.

By now, people all the way from the Bay Area to Iran have heard about this penguin's plight to rejoin his peers at the academy's penguin tank.

What's most interesting about this story, though, is the company that created the penguin wetsuit is Oceanic Worldwide, a dive gear supplier based in none other than San Leandro.

Dean Karnazes is at it again. The ultramarathon runner from San Francisco, who last year teamed up with San Leandro-based The North Face to run 50 marathons in 50 states in 50 days, is now leading another endurance race. And this time, he's going global.

Karnazes will now attempt to complete the world's five major desert foot races as part of The North Face Desert Grand Slam, the company announced today.

He has already started, as he is currently running the Atacama Desert in Chile. Throughout the rest of the year, he will run the Gobi Desert in China, Death Valley here in California, the Sahara Desert in Africa, and the desolate, arid plateaus of Antarctica.

I remember when I interviewed him over the telephone last year after he finished running the Endurance 50, he didn't even pause when he told me he had just run more than 3,000 miles — in 50 days. And he couldn't wait to get off the phone — not because he wanted the interview to be over, but because he had his running shoes on and couldn't wait to start running again.

If you want to follow Karnazes as he attempts to set another record, go here. Just be prepared to have your running shoes handy, because his endurance is contagious.

As many of you know by now, Valle Vista Skating Center burned down yesterday.

The Mission Boulevard establishment has sat vacant for as long as I can remember, but when some of us from Hayward were growing up here, that used to be the spot.

The memories weren't that great, but it was one of the last places in town where young people could hang out on a Friday or Saturday night.

For instance, remember the wooden boards on the skating rink floor that were so uneven that if you were skating a little too fast around the place, you might have tripped going over one?

Those are the kind of memories that will be missed at that old place.

So, if you're driving down Mission and you see what's left of Valle Vista, give it a little salute. Because it's one of those things that sticks in your childhood memories.

And if you're reading this post, share with us your memories. Because, in a small way, we know you will miss it too.

It seems as though more and more megachurches — those churches, usually Protestant, with congregations of 1,500 or more — are becoming business-minded these days.

This is according to a recent New York Times article that reported how an increasing number of large churches across America have become catalysts for economic development in their local cities, defying the age-old notion that churches don't contribute financially to cities because they don't pay taxes.

This got me thinking about Faith Fellowship Church, a megachurch here in San Leandro that has been locked in a battle with the city to move into an industrial-zoned building. The city blocked the church from moving into the building for several reasons — the main reason being that city officials want to preserve San Leandro's future tax base.

The church contends that it fully Read the rest of this entry »

If you haven't heard by now, the union that represents heavy-duty repair workers at Valley Power Systems North in San Leandro has been on strike since — get this — July 10.

The workers have been out in front of the company's Adams Avenue plant every day now, picketing what they call Valley Power's unfair labor practices.

Nothing has been resolved yet.

But check out this YouTube video the union put together. Pretty snazzy. It even has a little scratching in it (for all you hip hop-challenged folks, that means some parts of the video are repeated in a rhythmic fashion).

It's official. One of San Leandro's oldest businesses and major employers, Betts Spring Co., is closing its doors and moving out of the city.

A recent Fresno Bee article reported that the company will be moving its headquarters, which has been in San Leandro for nearly five decades, to Fresno to expand its manufacturing operations. Betts Spring Co., a sixth-generation family-owned business founded in 1868, makes springs and vehicle parts.

As one of San Leandro's major employers, it makes one wonder why it has all of sudden chosen to leave and what impact its departure could have on the city's economy.

On the other hand, several new businesses are slated to make the Cherry City home, including Preferred Freezer Services (being built on the former Hudson Lumber Company site and expected to attract a variety of food-processing businesses to the area) and Main Street Properties, which is in the process of developing a downtown improvement plan (think Cinema Place in Hayward).

So, I guess all is not lost. Right?

Shopping-starved residents of south Hayward might find a familiar refrain in the recent promotional material distributed by Standard Pacific for its new Hayward housing developments. Take the Web site for Bridgeport at Eden Shores, which has this choice quote:

Appropriately called the Heart of the Bay™, Hayward offers everything you need to live, work, and play. Need a night out? Enjoy a movie at Union Landing.

Well, Union Landing isn't in Hayward, of course. It might be close enough for Read the rest of this entry »

Business reporter George Avalos did a round-up today on Cinema Place. A continued unknown is who will occupy the facility's biggest store space – some are hoping for a restaurant-club there.

In the meantime, a debate this week about downtown's free food programs (and other stuff) has already caused some changes. See the city's full report in PDF form here.

Volunteers at a Castro Valley church announced in a Wednesday letter to city officials that they are suspending their Saturday morning breakfasts outside the main library. The letter:

The CrossStreets Homeless Ministry of Neighborhood Church in Castro Valley has been discussing plans for the past month on how to change the Saturday morning breakfast at the Hayward Library that we have been serving for the past several years. Our concern has been how to better serve the needs of the poor and homeless in our community while reducing the impact and associated problems that sometimes occur.

In the past, we have attempted to schedule the breakfast such that we can clean up and be out of the area before the Library opens. In addition, we have tried to work with the Library staff to address any other concerns.

After listening to the concerns of the community and the City Council we have decided to suspend our Saturday Read the rest of this entry »