Boo the Review! Rejoice the Voice!

Councilman Bill Quirk had some strong words about the Daily Review at last week’s City Council meeting, starting exactly at the one hour, three minute mark. Piggybacking on comments made by a public speaker who said she hadn’t seen much information in the paper about the gang injunction ordinance that was on the agenda, Quirk advised the room and television audience to seek information elsewhere:

“First of all, anyone who’s waiting for the Daily Review to tell you what’s happening, that was 10 years ago. Do ask the City Clerk to send you our agendas regularly. They just come and you dont have to look if you don’t want to but she sends them out by email regularly.

“Second, start reading the Tri-City Voice. Simon Wong is back there, he’s there at all our meetings and he does a good job. So please start reading the Tri City Voice. Simon, put up your hand, there. Just to let us know. Ok. He’s here at every meeting. The Daily Review is not here.”

At this point, Mayor Mike Sweeney interrupted Quirk: “Actually, they are here.”

“Oh they are here. Oh good!” Quirk said. ”Eric, good to see you. Good to see you.”

Sweeney: “And Eric, that was Bill Quirk. By the way.”

Quirk: “Well, it’s not Eric’s fault, the problem is they won’t give him the column inches to ah, to ah, report that he would like to have and he has to cover the whole city which used to be covered by like four reporters. So it’s not his fault but it’s just — we don’t have the coverage we used to have.” Read the rest of this entry »

Yikes, once again I find myself a day behind on the calendar post. Here’s what we have/had on tap for the  week. Of note: There’s going to be a Hayward Cesar Chavez event and teach-in at at City Hall starting 5 p.m. Thursday, a new Hayward Arts Council exhibit opens Friday, also at City Hall, featuring the artists at right and for the next four Saturdays, Big Read events, again at City Hall. Read the rest of this entry »

We had a story on Hayward’s diversity and how it compares with other places in the Bay Area. Turns out that according to one way of measuring things, a tract off Tennyson Road is the most diverse in the state. It’s an imperfect measurement, and doesn’t take into account subdivisions within the race categories that by all means would add to an area’s diversity. Read the story for an explanation of what is meant by “most diverse.” Here’s the breakdown of Tract 4377.01:

POPULATION IN 2000: 4227
POPULATION IN 2010: 3649 (-578)

HOUSING UNITS: 1107

PERCENT VACANT: 9%

LAND SQUARE MILES: .1869 Read the rest of this entry »

Here’s that report from the city manager that was requested by Mayor Mike Sweeney following some incidents at Hayward nightclubs the last weekend in February. And to kill more topics in one post (been busy this week and haven’t had much of a chance to blog), we had a story on the noise ordinance moving forward and another on Caltrans’ preliminary finding regarding the Bunker Hill property it owns. Going back further, had some stuff on HUSD moving toward a qualified status, and here’s a related Katy Murphy overview of what schools are facing.

Back on the topic of nightclubs and downtown, I was talking to Councilman Mark Salinas the other day on unrelated matters, and he mentioned that restaurants down there have been booming on weekends. Said he tried to go to the Kokyo Sushi Buffet, found it packed, went to Buon Appetito, same story, and ended up waiting in a sizable line over at Chef’s Experience. Anyone else been out to eat on a prime night lately and seen an uptick?

Oh, and a final bite on the topic of Hayward eats, the Merc had a nice piece recently on the glorious milkshakes served by Val’s Burgers.

Without further adieu, find the nightclub info after the jump… The Discussion section cuts to the chase about what’s going on. Read the rest of this entry »

There was a “Most Fabulous Event” contest from the party company that rents the big white tent that goes up for a week every year at St. Rose Hospital. The winner of the $10,000 prize  was determined by a tally of Facebook votes.

If you’re on Facebook and follow Hayward folks, you’d know all about this — it was hard to avoid being hit up to vote for St. Rose’s “The Spectacular” event, pictured at right. Competition was tough, and included some heavy hitters, but late last week St. Rose was informed that they prevailed. Here’s their press release. Read the rest of this entry »

There’s a meeting tonight that I just found out about, regarding the disposal of Bunker Hill properties currently owned by Caltrans. A Bunker Hill resident faxed me a city document that she’d gotten hold of through a public records request. It outlines potential troubles, such as “limited ingress and egress” and “unsafe nature of the existing roadway,” and the need for road and infrastructure improvements. It also points out that Caltrans wants to get a fair deal for the land, money which will then be used to fund transportation projects in Alameda County.

Bottom line: “Caltrans has made a preliminary finding that it would be preferable to market the property as one large piece, which would maximize return on the entire parcel and allow flexibility in ultimately configuring development so as to make development more economically feasible, while meeting the zoning and health and safety requirements of the city. It is this preliminary finding that we will be discussing with attendees at the upcoming meeting at Hayward City Hall Council Chambers on Monday, March 7, 2011 at 7:00 p.m.” Read the rest of this entry »

Stopped by the site this morning, and this is what I saw. Somewhere under that heap, I believe close to the spot where the rubble peaks, my wife and I cut up the dance floor to a Shane MacGowan/Sinead O’Conner duet and cut the cake to Def Leppard. The Irish whiskey at the open bar was the first to go, and my wife’s father and her uncle (Carl Nolte of the S.F. Chronicle) both complained that my rube friends drained it without the appreciation it deserves. We didn’t have the main hall — that was being used for the wedding reception of a preacher’s daughter, and it was a dry event. We ran into some of the wedding party in the parking lot outside, mixing drinks at an impromptu bar set up in someone’s trunk. Good times, sort of a bummer to see the place torn down, but I still got the memories and photographs.

It’s oral and written history time over at the Hayward Area Historical Society, where they want to hear your fondest memories of Hayward, Cherryland, Castro Valley, San Lorenzo, Mt. Eden, Ashland, Fairview or old Russell City. They’re putting together an exhibit for the new museum space, which is under construction in the former Kumbala building at Foothill and Russell in downtown Hayward. The exhibit, scheduled to open in the fall, will feature memories of residents tied to the Hayward area, both of the recorded and written variety.

We were just talking about good ideas for the Hayward mural, here’s another chance to share some of your treasured or poignant moments. Deadline is April 30.

Read some examples, find out how to submit after the jump. Bonus: Historical photos, courtesy HAHS! Read the rest of this entry »

We had a story in today’s paper that went into more detail on Jean Bidwell’s epic mural that’s going up on the BART soundwall near Jackson Street in Hayward. It was mentioned at the end of the story, but bears repeating: Something really cool about this particular mural project is that it’s evolving as Bidwell moves along, and she’s invited the public to weigh in with ideas of things about Hayward that could be put into paint for all to see.

Oso Santistevan told Bidwell he’d like to see Chabot College represented, and there it is. Wouldn’t it be neat to be able to drive (or BART) by the mural, look at it and see your idea is part of the picture?

Bidwell can be contacted through her website, www.jeanbidwell.com or by email at dauber1@sbcglobal.net, but I thought it might be fun to bounce some ideas around here on the blog. I’ll let her know if it goes somewhere. Read the rest of this entry »

We had a blast at the Lighthouse Community Center Casino Night fundraiser Saturday, held in the Hayward City Hall rotunda. Delicious food, well-poured drinks, flashy entertainment and boisterous gaming while it lasted — I blew my fistfull of chips in rapid fashion at the Texas Hold ‘Em table, but my more skilled or luckier wife shared her winnings to keep me in the game a little longer.

Took this pic of the Golden Follies Dancers, a revue featuring performers ages 60 to 85.

“It’s a Las Vegas kind of singing revue,” director Susan Bostwick told the Contra Costa Times last year. “Our costumes are very elaborate, a lot of feathers.”

The Follies were one of many acts that would start at the top of the rotunda stairs and then descend into the crowd to raise the roof. There are a bunch more pics on this site – wife and I can be found in No. 66. Organizer Kari McAllister posted the following shout-outs on her Facebook site: Read the rest of this entry »