UPDATE 2/25: Survey has been updated so that it’s no longer confusing.

The Hayward Unified School District set up a special Web page that has a load of information regarding upcoming budget cuts. It has feedback from the community meetings held in recent months, and links to information about budget timeline, who is on the Budget Advisory Committee, statements from top HUSD officials and a feedback form, where you can rank priorities for cuts.

In addition for a chance to weigh in, it gives a good idea about how much can be saved by doing what. The format is a little confusing, however. From the survey:

Respond to the following questions by ranking each one on a scale of 1 to 5, with 1 being most important and 5 being least important.

Q4: Reduce or eliminate staff development for teachers (currently 3 days). Saves $400,000.

So what this means is, you’d rank it 1 if you consider it “most important.” That doesn’t mean you think staff development for teachers is a most important priority, but rather that you think it’s most important for the district to cut said development.

To see other savings, read on: Read the rest of this entry »

Capt. Thor Poulsen, the Public Education Officer for the Hayward Fire Department, checks in with some advice on inclement weather:

Severe Winter Weather

The Hayward area is being pounded by a series of powerful storms driven from the Pacific this week. The most severe is scheduled to hit on Wednesday. The intense winds and rain have already caused power outages and flooding across low-lying areas. Please take the time now to prepare in advance and assure your family a safe winter as the storm passes through.

During Severe Winter Weather, if it has been raining hard for several hours, or steadily raining for several days, be alert to the possibility of a flood. Listen to local radio or TV stations for flood information and know what the terminology means: Read the rest of this entry »

Rajendra Ratnesar, chairman of the Eden Township Hospital District board, released “An Open Letter to the Community” to local media Tuesday, stating that efforts to save San Leandro Hospital are threatening all hospitals in the district.

State Sen. Ellen Corbett and board member Carole Rogers responded with sharply worded letters of there own.  Click below to read the letters…

Read the rest of this entry »

Caltrans just faxed the following info re: northbound I-238, which will be closed between I-880 and I-580 beginning midnight and until 4 a.m. Tuesday.

Detours for motorists traveling westbound on I-580 will exit at Strobridge Avenue; turn left onto Castro Valley Boulevard, heading west, make a right onto Mission Boulevard and heading north, turn left onto Lewelling to access I-880. Signs will also be in place to guide motorists to the detours.

Caltrans: The closure is necessary so contractors can install bridge joint seals on the several bridges along I-238. Motorists should expect minor delays and proceed with caution through construction work zones.

The National Weather Service issued an urban and small stream flood advisory for the Hayward area, meaning that nuisance flooding could occur. Not nearly as extreme as a flash flood watch. Regardless, we went down to take a look at San Lorenzo Creek in a number of spots and found it flowing rather rapidly.

Here it is near Foothill Boulevard and City Center Drive.

Here it is at the Grove Street Bridge.

Here it is behind the Meek Mansion.

Want to know how your surrounding area would fare in a 100-year-flood? Here’s a FEMA site where you can punch in your address and get an overview.

And here’s a Daily Review from the mid-1950s, before the San Lorenzo Creek was calmed by dams and culverts.

Let us know if you are aware of any particularly flood prone areas in the greater Hayward area that we should be keeping an eye on.

Speaking of Phil Long, the Castro Valley artist who made the Oakland police tribute in this year’s Day of the Dead exhibit, here’s a really neat video of him making his first such work out of leather. It honors his father, who was murdered off the coast of Mexico while trying to sail to Ireland. Long said it took more than 500 hours of cutting, gluing and stitching to make the piece.

There’s a baby two-headed snake down at the Reptile Room, 1223 A St. It’s on display for the curious public at least until this Saturday, when the owner expects a potential buyer from SoCal to come and take a gander. He says more than a hundred people have come by to check it out, and it’s worth it — there hasn’t been such a thing around these parts since a double-headed specimen at the California Academy of Sciences died some years back after a long run of freaking out field-trip kids.

THURSDAY MORNING UPDATE: Motion failed 2-to-3 in an overflow meeting that involved a lot of heat, not just from audience members but between board members as well. Here’s our early version of the story, we will have a longer piece in tomorrow’s paper. A motion to approve a modified six-period schedule passed, although the HEA is challenging the validity of that schedule because it wasn’t bargained.

The Hayward Unified School District meeting on Wednesday is sure to produce some feelings of deja vu, as the board is slated to again address the high school block schedule. While the board voted in February to nix the schedule to save money, board member Luis Reynoso changed his mind and is bringing it back.

What do you think about Reynoso’s decision to revisit the issue? Is it a chance for a needed reprieve for a well-liked system, or is it time to accept the change as a budget-cutting casualty and move on?

Margarita Lacabe, whose husband is San Leandro school board President Mike Katz-Lacabe, wants sacred music to be removed from elementary school music studies or school programs. We’ve been getting lots of letters and calls. Sound off here.

The future of San Leandro Hospital is under consideration, and drop-in, urgent care centers are proposed as alternatives to full-service hospitals. What’s your opinion?