The David Brower Center, a green building named in honor of Brower, the first president of the Sierra Club, has been awarded a $1 million challenge grant from The Kresge Foundation.

The grant will be given to the Brower Center when it raises its final $2.4 million to support its $30 million capital campaign, center officials said.

The center is slated to open in May 2009.

This grant is among the largest gifts center has received to build its four-story, 50,000 square foot building, which will be used for environmental education and social change organizations and programs.

“The awarding of this grant salutes your efforts to improve conditions and advance opportunities in your community,” said Rip Rapson, president of The Kresge Foundation in a statement. Kresge is a private, $3.9 billion foundation. “We must partner with nonprofit organizations such as yours if we are to pursue our grant-making vision. You enable our work as much as we try to enable yours.”

In addition to housing offices of environmental and progressive organizations, the center will have a 180-seat theatre, an art gallery, meeting rooms and an organic restaurant. The public will be able to utilize many of the spaces and attend exhibitions, events and programs year-round, said executive director Amy Tobin.

To date, more than 80 donors have pledged gifts to center. Major contributors include Peter K. Buckley, the Richard and Rhoda Goldman Fund, and the Lewis Foundation, which all donated $1 million or more to the project.

Using recycled building materials and energy-saving technologies, the center will be a model of sustainability with a photovoltaic roof, green architecture, earth-friendly retailers and organizations.

Berkeley Police and the Berkeley Chamber of Commerce are reminding merchants to beware of Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) impersonators.

Last month, there was a group of three people who posed as OSHA inspectors and went into five businesses on San Pablo Ave, demanding to see and inspect labor posters to verify that they were up to date.  These impersonators did not have any paperwork or identification that affiliated them with OSHA.

Once they examined the posters, they told the employees that they were out of date and between $50 and $125 in cash as a fine, which they claimed was considerable less than the usual OSHA penalty.

None of the businesses cooperated with the impostors and when they demanded to see ID, the suspects said they had just given all their cards away, and then, walked out of the businesses.

Please remind merchants that any OSHA inspector coming into their business will have OSHA Identification, and paperwork that the inspector has prepared prior to the inspection. 

What’s more, OSHA inspectors will not ask for payment; they will issue citations. 

A business can refuse an initial inspection and the OSHA inspector would have to return with a warrant.

If a merchant comes across someone who they believe is impersonating an inspector, they should call Berkeley Police at 981-5900 right away.

The U.S. Paralympic women’s goalball team, made up of six women from around the country, including Jessica “Jessie” Lorenz from Kensington, has taken the gold medal in Beijing. The team beat Denmark last week in sudden overtime to play China for the gold.  Then on Satruday they beat China, 6-5, in a
sold-out Beijing Institute of Technology Gymnasium to win the gold medal.

 The USA led most of the first half but went into halftime tied at 3. The second half saw China put constant pressure on the USA and the relentless attacks created Chinese leads of 4-3 and 5-4. The USA kept answering and Asya Miller, who scored all 6 of the USA goal found the net for the final time with 40 seconds left. 

Lorenz, who I profiled in the Oakland Tribune and the Contra Costa Times last month, (http://www.contracostatimes.com/alamedacounty/ci_10240424 is still in Beijing, but she posted a note on Facebook to her suppoerts.

“Nothing is like standing on that medal podium and hearing our national anthem play,” she wrote. ”One oddity with having all visually impaired people on the podium was our challenge in finding the appropriate direction to gaze in to show the flag our respect. One of our players spotted it though- so there we were, left hands on heart, singing along, most  of us with tears in our eyes- for all the world to see that the USA has the best woman’s goalball team in the world.”

“I believe that athletes with visual impairments challenge society because we become what many people feel is impossible. To be the best in the world at my sport was what drove me to continue to play- and now here we are- at the top of that podium.” She said she remains in a Golden Haze.

While 4,000 disabled athletes from 145 countries have been competing in 20 sports during the games this month, the games are not broadcast on TV so you may not have been following them. They were broadcast on http://beijing.sports.pressakey.net/schedulePST.php. In addition to goalball, the games, which end with closing ceremonies on Wednesday, have included swimming, rowing, wheelchair basketball, powerlifting and wheelchair tennis.

First introduced as a demonstration event at the 1972 Paralympic Games during in Toronto, goalball’s first championship was held in 1978. Goalball became a permanent sport in the Paralympics at the 1980 games in Anaheim. But goalball’s roots go back much further.

Goalball was invented in 1946 by Austrian Hanz Lorenzen and German Sepp Reindle as a way to rehabilitate blind post-World War II veterans, according to Internet information on the sport. It is now played in 112 countries.

Players attempt to throw the ball over the goal line at the opposite end of the court, thus scoring a goal. Defenders try to gain possession of the ball by putting themselves between the thrower and the goal. When a defender gains possession, it is then his or her team’s turn to throw at the opposing team’s goal. The only time play stops is after a goal has been scored, or if the ball crosses a sideline.

The women’s team (above) is made up  of Lorenz:  Jen Armbruster, who splits her time between Colorado Springs, Colo., and Birmingham, Ala.; Lisa Banta of Boonton, N.J., and Tucson, Ariz.; Jaclyn Barnes of Wadsworth, Ill.; Asya Miller of Lapeer, Mich., and Colorado Springs; and Robyn Theryoung of Clarkston, Mich., and Colorado Springs. Except for one woman, it is the same team that competed in Athens and brought home the silver medal. What’s next for the team?  We’ll check in with Lorenz again.

The disabled community in Berkeley is giant, supportive of each other, active and… creative.

In case you missed it: last week, after 13 years of work, construction on the Ed Roberts Campus _ a one-stop service and transportation center for disabled people _ started. It should be open in 18 months. Jessie Lorenz, who plays goalball in Berkeley, and lives close by in Kensington, is currently competing in the Paralympic Games in Beijing. The team has already two games and hopes to bring home the gold medal.

This Saturday, Sept. 13, the Adult Day Services Network of Alameda County is hosting its third annual benefit to support frail elderly people and adults with disabilities. The benefit, which is called Positively Ageless _ A Celerbation of Art & Aging, will be held from  5:30 to 9:00 p.m., at 1717 Fourth Street in Berkeley. The benefit will raise funds to help elderly adults and those with disabilities. Wine and cheese tasting starts at 5:30 p.m.

The event will feature a juried art show, art created by participants in adult day programs across Alameda County, and hand-crafted quilts.  There will be a silent auction, a raffle, appetizers, wine and desserts. 

The cost for the wine tasting and event is $60. The cost for the event only is $40. Proceeds will go directly to the nonprofit organization which provides health services, social interaction and creative activities for older and disabled adults.

The daytime programs stimulate minds and bodies while giving caregivers a much needed break, agency officials said. Founded in 1993, Adult Day Services Network of Alameda County is an association of 12 agencies that collectively serve more than 1,700 people, a majority low-income, yearly. The idea is to give people programs that help them remain living at home and not in a nursing facility.

For more information on the Positively Ageless event and an art preview visit www.adult-day-services.org or contact us at (510) 883-0874.

East Bay Outtakes is back from a short break and since I  last wrote about two brothers biking 200 miles to raise money for Doctor’s Without Borders before heading out on a 300-mile bike ride of my own across New Mexico, I thought it fitting to return with an item about… biking.

On Wednesday, 18 current and retired members of the Berkeley Police Department and UC Berkeley Police and a few guests will ride 216 miles from the Berkeley police station to Lake Tahoe for the sake of charity.  The riders are off duty and they use their own vacation time to participate.

The Turkey Ride was hatched 25 years ago when three Berkeley officers rode their bikes from Berkeley to South Lake Tahoe. During the venture _ and with lots of time on their hands _ they talked about developing a community service  project that could involve other officers.

They ultimately decided that they would raise money to buy food and give it to needy Berkeley families during the November and December holiday season.

In 1985, the inaugural Turkey Ride took place with seven officers riding more than 200 miles in two and a half days. The group raised enough money to buy 250 turkeys and other food items for needy families. 

Since then, support for the Turkey Ride has grown with riders raising enough money to buy more than 500 turkeys and food baskets each year. Officers submit names of families in need and then assemble the baskets on the lawn outside the police station. Police deliver them to families throughout the city _ in the patrol cars, not on their bikes. Outtakes wishes them luck on the road.