San Pablo and its music promoter, Kentara Padron, have staged some nice events in the past few years, including the summer series on 23rd Street this year and the annual Fourth of July celebration at the El Portal soccer field.
Here is video of two numbers by Sapo, featuring Richard Bean, composer of the radio classic “Suavecito,” originally recorded by Malo. The video here has an early number, followed by an elongated and much more rocking version of the the original hit.

Richmond Councilman Tom Butt introduces former Rosie and retired teacher Marian Sauer, a 91-year-old Richmond native, chosen to play the wife of the mayor of Red Oak, Iowa in the reenactment Friday of the launch of the Red Oak Victory in 1944. Nov. 11, 2011.
Marian Sauer is a 1937 Richmond Union High School graduate who worked during the war at the Standard Oil of California refinery in Richmond.
A former music teacher, she is still active playing the weekly tea dance at the senior center in San Pablo with the Huey White Show Band.
The Regional Oral History Office at UC Berkeley conducted a 2002 interview with Sauer (scroll down) on her experiences before and after the war and her experiences playing in an all-woman swing band.

Here is a roundup of Halloween events in West County:

East Bay Waldorf School presents Wanderers’ Way, a seasonal event on Friday that will take children 10 and under and their families on a journey through the decorated grounds of the school at 3800 Clark Road in El Sobrante.

A guide will take visitors (no scary costumes, please) on the pumpkin-lit paths to see storytellers, fanciful creatures, and ethereal music, with small treasures offered along the way to children and refreshments available at the end.

The tour is $5 per person over age 2. Guided groups leave every 10 minutes from 5:30 to 8 p.m. and reservations are required. To reserve a time slot, call 510-223-3570, ext. 2101.

* Children age 4 to 7 can come in costume to the Hercules Halloween Fest from 2 to 4 p.m. Friday at the Teen Center, for a non-scary tour of the haunted house, followed by arts and crafts, activities, games, and more. Admission is $7 (residents) or $21 for a family of four. Proceeds benefit the Hercules Teen Youth Council.

* Weigh of Life is hosting Spooky Fun Raiser at 6 p.m. Friday at the Veterans Hall, 968 23rd St. in Richmond. The evening includes food, a DJ, performance and dancing. Proceeds from the $45 admission benefit Weigh of Life, a program promoting fitness and healthy eating in underserved communities. Details: 510-323-3052.

* San Pablo Recreation will hold its free Haunted House and Pumpkin Patch from 6:30 to
8:30 p.m. Friday at Davis Park, 1665 Folsom Ave. Brave visitors can walk through the Chamber of Doom, and all ages are welcome at the Pumpkin Patch for storytelling, crafts, face painting, and more. Details: 510-215-3204

* The Pinole Youth Foundation presents its Halloween Carnival and Haunted House from 1 to 5 p.m. Saturday at Fernandez Park, 595 Tennent Ave. Along with the free costume parade and crafts there will be jumpers, face painting, balloons and carnival games for a fee, with proceeds benefiting youth programs. A mega pass is available for $5.

* Richmond presents its Hauntatorium from 6 to 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday at the Memorial Auditorium, 403 Civic Center. Admission for those who dare to step inside to find Pumpkin Face is $5. A less-scary matinee version for children 10 and under is 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sunday.

* An Adult Costume Ball will be held by Richmond PAL at its Hal Holt Gymnasium, 2200 Macdonald Ave., from 7 to 11 p.m. Saturday. The gala evening will feature dancing, appetizers, drinks, games and prizes for best costumes. For tickets call 510-621-1221.

* El Cerrito’s Halloween Carnival and Haunted House is 2:30 to 7 p.m. Oct. 31 at the Community Center, 7007 Moeser Lane. The carnival will have games and prizes for all ages, with ticket sales ending at 6:30 p.m.
The Haunted House (admission $4) has a preschool, lights-on version from 3 to 5 p.m. and the scary, lights-off version from 5:15 to 7 p.m. Affordable food and beverages will be sold.

Canines can get in on the fun at the third annual Dog Parade and Costume Contest at 5 p.m. at Cerrito Vista Park at Moeser Lane and Pomona Avenue. Admission is $5 and there will prizes for entrants and winners.

* Downtown Rhythm and DVC Rock Rhythm and Review headline the Halloween Dance Fundraiser at 7:30 p.m. Saturday at the Pinole Senior Center, 2500 Charles Ave. Come in costumes or casual/night club attire for an evening includes a cash bar. For tickets send an email to mickeyconnors@sbcglobal.net.

* Come in costume to a Halloween Bike About Town starting at 6:30 p.m. Friday at Solano Avenue Cyclery, 1554 Solano Ave. in Albany. The Recreation Department and Albany Strollers & Rollers will lead an eerie ride around town in the dark and a limited number of front bike lights will be available for free, first come first served. At ride’s end a vote will be held for best bike-theme costume and best costumed family.

* County Supervisor John Gioia invites families to trick or treat at his office, 11780 San Pablo Ave., Suite D in El Cerrito, this week for alternatives to candy and other sugary sweets.
During open hours of 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. (closed noon to 1 p.m.) this week, A sample bag will be distributed, one per household, while supplies last. For details contact Luz Gomez at 510-374-3231 or Luz.Gomez@bos.cccounty.us.

* The dental office of Dr. Linh Cao-Chan will hold a Halloween Candy Buy Back from 3:30 to 6 p.m. Nov. 2 at 10110 San Pablo Ave. in El Cerrito. The office will pay $1 per pound of unopened candy “and throw in a goody bag with good stuff for teeth.”

Collected candy will be donated to Operation Gratitude (www.operationgratitude.com) to send to troops overseas, and donations of other care package items are welcome. Details: 510-526-4747.

My plan on Thursday was to attend the reopening ceremony of the historic Maritime Center in Richmond, then rush back to the office to file a story on the event and write the community column for Sunday’s edition.
That plan came crashing down, when I came crashing down myself, tripping on the sidewalk and injuring a finger pretty badly. Instead of hurrying back to the office, I was hurrying to the emergency clinic at Kaiser Richmond, which, thankfully, was nearby.
This note is just to explain why there won’t be a column on Sunday as I recuperate and to offer my apology to all the readers and contributors who depend on it for their community news. I plan to be back at work next week, typing laboriously with the fingers I can still use.

We had the privilege of seeing Andre Thierry and Zydeco Magic last year at the Spirit and Soul gala for Richmond Main Street Initiative and they had everyone up and dancing.
If you haven’t experienced their show, keep in mind you can see them for free Thursday at the next Summer Series concert and stroll event at 6 p.m. on 23rd Street in San Pablo, which will be closed to traffic between Market and Dover streets.
Expect some classic cars, too.
Details: www.sanpabloca.gov/SPOT or 510-215-3030.

Passing along a video shared today by the City of San Pablo page on Facebook.

El Cerrito lags behind Orinda in home prices, per capita income and local schools (all related, as any real estate agent will tell you).
But when it comes to the condition of local streets, Orinda has to take a back seat to its counterpart in West County.
That news comes from the Metropolitan Transportation Commission, which ranked El Cerrito second in the Bay Area in its latest pothole report, released this week.
El Cerrito earned a total of 85 (or “very good”), just behind Brentwood, which tallied 86 on MTC’s pavement condition index, or PCI score.
The ranking is a major turnaround for El Cerrito, which lagged near the bottom just three years ago (a 53 score in 2006), before the city successfully pushed through a half-cent sales tax measure in 2008 dedicated to road repair.
The change prompted the MTC to single out El Cerrito in its report, which cites the city as “A Pavement Success Story.”
San Pablo also fared well for 2010, pulling in a “very good” ranking of 80 in the survey, a nice climb from a 67 score in 2006.
Hercules (73) and Pinole (70) were both ranked “good” for 2010, Richmond was in the “at-risk” ranking with a 2010 score of 55, while Albany was in the “fair” category with a 66.
So what about Orinda? It climbed three points from to 2006 to a score of 49 (still categorized as “poor”), which kept it ranked in the bottom five of the survey, keeping company with St. Helena, Larkspur, Sonoma County and Rio Vista.
Besides, Orinda has half as many BART stations as El Cerrito and none of the views of the Bay.

The Koshland Committee of the San Francisco Foundation has selected 15 community leaders in San Pablo for its 2011 Daniel E. Koshland Civic Unity Awards, which will be presented at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday at Maple Hall, 13831 San Pablo Ave.
The ceremony kicks off a five-year, $300,000 civic unity and involvement initiative.
The Koshland Award winners:
Sgt. Humberto Alvarez, San Pablo Police DepartmentJoseph Camacho, ASU president, Contra Costa College
Gladys Garza, patient advocate, Brookside Community Health Center
LaZena Jones, community school director, Walter T. Helms Middle School
Khammany Mathavongsy, nonprofit consultant
Mayra Padilla, director of the Metas program at Contra Costa College
Lisa Raffel, immigration integration division officer, Catholic Charities of the East Bay Maria Resendiz, healthy start coordinator, Ford Elementary School
Alexina Rojas, director, First 5 Family Center West Contra Costa
Gonzalo Rucobo, executive director, Bay Area Peacekeepers Inc.
James Solis, program coordinator, Project FOCUS
Nancy Thome, youth services program manager, City of San Pablo
Robert Turner, executive director, 21st Century Mentors Foundation
Norma Valdez-Jimenez, Puente Project counselor, Contra Costa College
Meuy Yong Saephan, Hand to Hand Program coordinator, Lao Family Community Development Inc.

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Starting Wednesday, going north on Rumrill Boulevard past Brookside Drive won’t be an option for motorists/bicyclists/pedestrians in San Pablo until December.
San Pablo is removing and reconstructing the bridge over San Pablo Creek and reconstructing the Rumrill Boulevard/Brookside Drive signalized intersection, with demolition of the current bridge set to start on June 1.
As of 9 a.m. on Wednesday, through vehicle traffic northbound on Rumrill will be detoured south of the intersection onto Market Street.
Rumrill/Brookside will remain open only as a T intersection. Northbound Rumrill traffic must turn left or right onto Brookside, while Brookside traffic can go straight on Brookside or south on Rumrill.
The closure is needed to replace the Rumrill bridge over the creek with a new crossing that meets seismic and width standards.
Apparently this hasn’t been a simple project to plan.
“The city has been planning and engineering this project over the past several years, and there have been several significant challenges in the design, including environmental permit requirements, historical and cultural resource investigations, utility coordination/relocations and right of way acquisitions,” the city stated in an announcement. “In order to meet environmental permit requirements to minimize impacts to the creek, the construction period is limited to one season.”
That means doing the project all at once, rather than in stages, thus the closure of the Rumrill intersection.
Most of the project is funded by the federal Highway Bridge Replacement and Rehabilitation Program.
For details contact Scott Christie at 510-215-3057.

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