The Day of the Teacher is approaching and educators from Castro Valley, Hayward, San Lorenzo, New Haven and Newark Unified School Districts will meet from 3 to 6 p.m. that Wednesday, May 14, at the Five Flags area in Hayward (corner of Jackson, Mission and Foothill) to protest possible cuts imposed by the state.

Teachers are asking you to join the rally to help air your concerns about the state budget and how it relates to public education.

I spent much of today at a Cherryland "charette" attended by a couple hundred residents of the unincorporated communities most conveniently known as the Eden Area, which in this case (but not all cases) includes Castro Valley.

The unincorporated areas are confusing enough already, as people who live there will tell you. But no sooner did I file my story when a copy editor called me up and said, "Hey, what is a charette? It's not in the dictionary."

And no, it is not in our dictionary. But it is in some others. The exercise had some of the atmosphere of the town meetings I've witnessed in New England. The big difference is that while a true town meeting turns the local citizenry into lawmakers, Cherryland's charette electorate made symbolic votes and now will have to hope the real lawmakers listen to their non-binding suggestions.

But anyway, there was a charette and lots of people voted for lots of different things and here, in a HayWord exclusive, is the Read the rest of this entry »

San Leandro educators began informational picketing this week to raise awareness of failed contract negotiations. San Lorenzo teachers are also working on a new working agreement, while Hayward Unified's contract with its teachers expire this summer.

With the governor proposing across-the-board cuts, including in education, school districts are preparing for big losses in revenue.

So how can financially strapped districts fairly compensate arguably its most important employees? Remember, California already ranks among the bottom in per-pupil spending when compared with the rest of the nation.

School officials may look to you for the answer. Districts are warming to the idea of placing a parcel tax before voters to help compensate teachers.

Are you willing to support such a cause by paying higher taxes? Why or why not?

Alameda County Supervisor Nate Miley raised $71,000 in campaign contributions last year, according to his most recent financial statement, and it's not all going to this year's re-election campaign.

The Alameda County Labor Council's Hardship Fund, and the Black Adoption Placement and Research Center are only the few of the charities to which Miley donated, using campaign funds.

However, working outside of office hours, Miley's county staffers also earned salaries from these funds as campaign workers or consultants. Bob Swanson, an aide in Miley's Castro Valley district office, was paid $980. Anna Gee, who works in both the Oakland main office and Castro Valley office, received $1,800. Robyn Hodges, who formerly worked in Castro Valley and now is in Oakland, made $1,200, as did Oakland aide Darryl Stewart.

Miley previously has said he has no problem hiring his county assistants to work on campaigns, since they separate the government duties from political work.

Miley's son, Chris, who works for United Seniors of Oakland and Alameda County, an Oakland-based senior citizen organization, netted $2,500. Nate Miley also donated more than $1,300 in cash or advertising revenue to United Seniors, and forgave thousands of dollars in loans from other campaign funds.

Miley, in addition to his job as a county supervisor, is United Seniors' executive director. Chris Miley is the agency's project coordinator.

Hi ho, bloggers! Got a cool holiday light display, or know someone else who does? Post the location on our new interactive holiday lights map. You can put anything on there, from local houses to big commercial or public displays.

The site also contains listings of holiday events around the Bay Area, and other fun holiday-related things. Have I used the word holiday enough yet?

Holiday. Holiday. There, that should do it.

Do you use a park to walk, run, bike or play? Have any good stories about parkland or jogging/biking experiences in Hayward, Castro Valley, San Lorenzo or San Leandro?

Let us know. And if you've got a particularly good story, e-mail it to one of us and maybe we can start a blog post of your own.

FYI: Tomorrow, at 8 p.m., the Hayward City Council is voting to update its decade-old Bicycle Master Plan and also voting to appropriate about $95,000 to create some new bike lanes, including one connecting downtown BART to the Amtrak station.

(Photo by Mike Lucia of Fernando Delgado, 14, at the Eden Greenway in Hayward)

It only mentions Hayward twice, and once incorrectly (no, the Coyote Hills are not here), but a 69-page report released today by the Golden Gate School of Law raises intriguing questions about flatlander access to parks in the East Bay.

Anyone ever try to take a bus to Garin Park?

In a press release and our story today, the report authors say one solution to the alleged inequity is making parks easier to get to via public transit.

From Castro Valleyan Mary Hayashi, member of the State Assembly:

PLEASANTON, CA – In conjunction with the CEOs of the Pleasanton and San Leandro Chambers of Commerce, Assemblymember Mary Hayashi (D-Hayward) today launched a first of its kind business contest entitled, "Assemblymember -– Give this Regulation an Extreme Makeover!" Assemblymember Hayashi is calling on business leaders and owners to participate in the contest by identifying specific state regulations that are either useless both in form and/or function or creates an excessive undue burden on the Read the rest of this entry »

Readers and public relations specialists sometimes blame journalists for dwelling on the negative. Journalists, in turn, sometimes blame the readers who comment on their Web sites for being even more negative than they could imagine.

So here begins the first ever HayWord Positivity Forum.

Tell us what you love about Hayward, San Leandro, Castro Valley and the unincorporated areas sometimes known (for good reason!) as the Eden Area. We know there's lots to love and we don't have a monopoly on telling you about it.

For starters, there's an open studios arts festival coming up next week, not to mention an electric car Ride-a-long Rally and a downtown street party on Thursday evening. And that's just the organized cheer.

Last Friday, with much fanfare, the Alameda County Public Health Department declared war _ at least for the summer _ on carbonated, sugary drinks. Otherwise known as the S word: soda.

The campaign, funded by a Kaiser Permanente grant, will educate people about weight gain and other health issues brought about by soda consumption. Soda-free is the way to be, county officials say.

There are exceptions, however. Like the county public health department itself. Department leaders are going to communities for suggestions to make the 14 cities and a dozen unincorporated communities healthier places to live and work.

Heading the list of dietary no-nos is soda, Dr. Anthony Iton, the county's health director, is saying at the six forums that wrap up today in Alameda.

The department also is hosting a dinner for people who attend the forums. Last week in Castro Valley, the meal consisted of lasagna, bread, cookies and....soda.

Bottled water and salad also were on the menu.