Earlier this year, in response to severe budget concerns, Oakland Unified School District (OUSD) approved the closure of seven public school sites, displacing more than 1,500 students, or the equivalent of nearly 19 school buses worth of kids.

Have you heard of Senate Bill (SB) 1383? Otherwise known as California’s Short-Lived Climate Pollutant Reduction Act, SB 1383 became effective January 2022 statewide and in the City of Alameda. ALL residents and businesses in the City of Alameda must have organic waste collection services.

The City of Alameda is planning for more housing because we are facing a crisis. There are Alamedans sleeping outside, in parks, and in tents. There are Alameda Unified School District students who live with their family in cars. There are older adults living on Alameda’s streets.

Editor’s Note: Rabbi Steven Chester of Temple Israel of Alameda traveled to Poland with 24 other Reform Rabbis and Cantors recently to offer aid to Ukrainian refugees (“Alameda Rabbi Offers Much Needed Aid to Ukrainians,” April 12). Here is a summary of day 2 and 3 of his trip.

Most of us have seen small brown birds that flit from the ground to a bush or tree just as you start to look at them; they are common in parks and at bird feeders throughout Alameda — but the description fits more than one species of birds.

If you ask most Californians to name the state’s biggest problems, climate change and homelessness are bound to make the list. Food insecurity probably wouldn’t, but while addressing this issue, the state’s food banks are helping solve higher profile problems in our state.

On March 13, 1973, Alameda residents voted for an initiative titled, “Measure A” to amend the City Charter to add Article 26 which simply states, “there shall be no multiple dwelling units built in the City of Alameda.” Shortly afterwards City Council amended the Alameda Municipal Code to define

Currently, I am battling noises. About five or six students came into my first-grade class this year that like to make noises — just sudden noises like a bird calling out in the wild or a laughing dolphin. The noises work everyone up. Others mimic and then it turns into chattering.

In our October e-newsletter, I wrote about ‘What is Equity?’ and how Alameda Education Foundation (AEF) is focusing on making equity central to our work. Now that it has been a few months, I wanted to share some reflections on this journey and invite you to reflect as well.

Dangerous and confusing driving, biking, and walking conditions, traffic gridlock, and the uglification of Alameda are here and thriving — and with help from Planning, Building, and Transportation Director Andrew Thomas, Mayor Marilyn Ezzy Ashcraft, and Councilmembers John Knox White and Malia Ve