Like the Tribune’s “Night Owl” column on Oakland’s burgeoning nightlife, we have started a similar feature for the Tri-City and Hayward areas. It’s called Out & About and the second feature — which profiled a Fremont microbrewery called Das Brew — ran in Sunday’s paper. The first one ran last month and profiled Mission Coffee Roasting Company. Here’s the one on Das Brew:

FREMONT — I was running late and feeling stressed one muggy evening as I stepped inside a new brewery in south Fremont. Despite its unlikely location — a modest office park in the most industrial part of town — the owners’ hospitality put me at ease, and I hadn’t even tried the beer yet.

The charms of Das Brew, a cozy microbrewery and tasting room that specializes in German beers, have that calming effect on visitors.

Its flavorful microbrews are made with loving care by Jan Schutze (pronounced “Yon Shootz-a”). His wife, Priscilla LaRocca, serves customers with a witty, welcoming manner. The couple has used that simple combination to transform the modest 240-square-foot room into a watering hole with a fast-growing, loyal following. The tasting room opened in late March, next to their environmental consulting business, in a warehouse in the city’s East Industrial neighborhood.

Schutze, who grew up in Hamburg, Germany, said he likes the unusual location. “I look at a brewery like it’s a laboratory. I need it to be clean and sanitized.” He added with a shrug and a smile: “It might be the German in me.”

For more of the story, click here.

In a newsroom, some quickly roll their eyes when a missing persons report comes in. Usually, the missing is a teen or an elderly person with a form of dementia and, usually, he or she often is found within a day, maybe two days. But every once in a while, there is a Sierra LaMar case or a Michaela Garecht, where the person is not found quickly, and may never be. It’s a living nightmare for the family. I can only speculate what Margarita Chavez’s family is going through today.

Story by colleague Natalie Alund

FREMONT — Police on Sunday continued to search for a missing 15-year-old girl who disappeared from her uncle’s home in the city one week ago.

Margarita Nunez Chavez was discovered missing from her uncle’s home in the Irvington area of Fremont on May 5. She was last seen at 10 p.m. May 4,¿ said police spokeswoman Geneva Bosques.

Police do not believe she was abducted, but said she may be with 30-year-old Ryan Griggs, who is possibly driving a stolen white Ford F150 pickup with a white camper shell and raised suspension. The truck’s license plate is 6E82209.

Police described Chavez as Hispanic, 4 feet 11 inches tall, 90 pounds with long brown hair and brown eyes.

Griggs is described as a white man, 6 feet 2 inches tall, 200 pounds with blond hair and blue eyes.

Anyone with information on their whereabouts is asked to call police at 510-790-6880, ext. 3.

The Newark City Council has voted to hold elections in even-number years, which will save Newark about $115,000 per election.

Newark has held elections in odd-number years since 1981. Council members voted Thursday to make the change after Livermore and Emeryville recently switched to even-number years, leaving Newark as the last city in the county to cast a ballot in odd years.

Next, the city will submit the change to Alameda County supervisors, who are expected to approve it.

If approved, each council member’s term will get an extra year. Terms for Mayor Alan Nagy, Vice Mayor Ana Apodaca and Councilman Bob Marshall will expire in late 2014, instead of 2013. Likewise, the terms for council members Sucy Collazo and Luis Freitas will expire in 2016, rather than 2015.

The biggest reason for the switch was the cost savings, Nagy said.

“It’s hard to justify spending that kind of money given the financial condition we’re in,” he said. “It’s important we save where we can.”

When Viola Blythe founded her small charity in 1950, she had no idea that its successful run would aid countless East Bay residents and be celebrated for decades to come.

Blythe, who lived and worked in Newark, just wanted to help those in need, and she did exactly that until her death in 2002.

Her spirit of giving lives on in the Viola Blythe Awards, held each year to reward Newark’s most dedicated volunteers. The 28th annual ceremony is scheduled Wednesday evening at the Hilton Newark-Fremont, where the winners from each category will be announced.

“The city is very thankful to all its volunteers, and we have so many pitching in,” said Laurie Gebhard, a Newark city official. “We’ve had a lot of budget cuts in the past six or seven years, so they’ve provided services that, otherwise, we might not be able to provide.”

AC Transit will hold two public meetings this month to discuss a proposal for changing bus service on 20 routes in Fremont, Newark and Union City.

Service would be increased on some routes, and reduced or eliminated on some lightly used routes.

For more, click here.

Story by colleague Angela Woodall:

The former chief of staff to Alameda County Supervisor Scott Haggerty is suing his former boss, claiming he was pushed out of his job illegally.

The aide, Chris Gray, accused Haggerty in a lawsuit filed Friday of misusing his office to line his pockets with public money and firing him when he got in the way.

Gray worked in the District 1 office for 27 years, including 15 years under Haggerty, who was elected to represent Livermore, Dublin and Fremont in 1997. The supervisor fired him in June for unspecified reasons related to his work performance.

Gray, 56, said Haggerty had been looking for a way to get rid of him because of his age, poor health and because he had been complaining for years that Haggerty was flouting the law.

The supervisor misused and misappropriated public money, according to Gray’s lawsuit, which accuses the supervisor of violating the Whistleblower Act, the Fair Employment and Housing Act and the California labor code.

This is nothing more than a disgruntled employee trying to get a payoff,” said Shawn Wilson, Haggerty’s current chief of staff. “It is sad that it has come to this.”

Haggerty also dismissed the claims but said he could not comment because it is a personnel matter being litigated.

For more, click here.

Counselors are being made available this week for Mission San Jose High students and employees who are grieving the apparent suicide of a 17-year-old pupil, school district officials said.

“We provided five additional counselors, in addition to the school’s three regular counselors, to give support to any kids, teachers and staff who were distraught,” James Morris, Fremont’s superintendent of schools, said on Wednesday.

The Fremont girl, an 11th-grade student, died Monday afternoon in an apparent suicide that occurred off campus, authorities said. Further details about the girl’s death were not disclosed.

Sandra Prairie, Mission San Jose High’s principal, informed school parents of the student’s death by sending an email Tuesday, district officials said.

Anyone in the school community seeking additional help or advice about the matter can call Fremont’s Youth and Family Services at 510-574-2100, according to the email.

The counselors will remain on campus “as long as students and staff need them,” Morris said. “It’s very tough for students at any age to lose a friend.”

This technically isn’t from the Tri-City area, but it’s just up the freeway and for a worthy cause. I’ve had several conversations with the victim’s mother, and it’s almost impossible to convey the level of pain she and her family are going through.

The family of a 29-year-old Hayward man slain a year ago in Castro Valley has scheduled a fundraiser to pay for his tombstone and to create a reward fund to help find his killer.

The event — a carwash featuring hot food and baked goods — will be held May 18 for the family of Jordan Vigil, the father of two children.

The fundraiser is scheduled from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., in the parking lot of the Kmart at 26231 Mission Blvd. in Hayward. A food stand will sell hot dogs, sausages and hot links, said Marilyn Vigil, the victim’s mother. Each carwash will cost $5, but donations of greater amounts will be accepted, she said.

All proceeds will go toward a fund paying to engrave Jordan Vigil’s headstone at Holy Sepulchre Cemetery, which is across the street from the store. The event will conclude with a ceremonial balloon release.

Family members said they will continue to hold events, with the goal of raising at least $10,000 for a reward fund. Authorities have been looking for Vigil’s killer since May 14, 2012, when his body was found in a home in the 4300 block of Omega Avenue.

For more of the story, click here.

Getting some time today to focus on the blog. Here’s the first of a few ‘in-case-you-missed-it’ blogs from earlier this week:

A newly installed 85-foot-high sign on the Newark side of Interstate 880 has raised the ire of Fremont officials, as well as residents living on the east side of the freeway.

But it appears that there is little they can do about it, because the towering sign, which promotes several car lots at the nearby Newark Auto Mall, complies with city and state regulations.

Bob Reading is a longtime resident of Fremont’s 28 Palms neighborhood, which sits directly across the freeway, in the shadow of the sign.

Reading said the sign, which was installed last month next to NewPark Mall and I-880, near the intersection of Mowry School Road and John Muir Drive, is an “eyesore” that looms high above dozens of homes and backyards, damaging the area’s quality of life.

“People who are visiting see the sign and say, ‘Oh, God, what’s that?’” said Reading, 73. “I believe our property values are diminished because of this.”

Barbara Keenan, a neighborhood resident since 1967, said the “upscale look” that she and her close-knit neighbors spent decades maintaining in their cul-de-sac off Farwell Drive was immediately downgraded after the sign was installed. The Fremont residents are especially angry that Newark officials did not contact them before it was installed.

Keenan, 72, said she now refuses to shop at NewPark Mall or other Newark stores because she believes the city’s officials have shown residents a lack of respect. “Why should I give them my tax money when they’re going to treat us like this?” she said. “They’re acting like, ‘You’re not our taxpayers, so we’re going to do whatever we want.’ I think that’s very wrong.”

For more, click here.

Supervisor Richard Valle will host a town hall meeting at Union City’s City Hall from 6 to 8 p.m. Thursday.

The session, titled “Let’s Talk About How the Alameda County Budget Affects You,” will feature a Q&A with Valle and Tri-City area residents.

“Collaboration between the city, county and our community are important in developing solutions,” Valle said Tuesday in a written statement. “I invite you to attend … to get an update on federal, state and county budgets and their human impact.”

The event is free and open to the public. For more information, contact Valle’s office at 510-272-6692 or district2@acgov.org.

Valle represents District 2, which includes Hayward, Union City, Newark and parts of Fremont and Sunol.