Sunday, February 19, 2012
Our Comment of the Week comes from Clare McCormick, who reports why a Harding Elementary School third-grader refused her friends' pleas not to cut her hair.
When Saint Mary's High School held its "Locks of Love" event Wednesday, in which donors give their hair for cancer patients who've lost their own, the youngest contributor was a third-grader from Harding Elementary School, 8-year-old Evelin Aguirre. The Feb. 17 article about the event, "Gift for Those in Need: 'Locks of Love' from Saint Mary's," singled out the "little miss" from Harding and drew our Comment of the Week from Clare McCormick, who reported why Evelin did not heed the urging of her friends not to cut her hair: Little Miss Evelin Cruz Aguirre told me "I have to do the right thing. And, my girlfriends told me 'don't cut your hair.' And I said, It's my hair and it will grow back but there are kids who need it." How about that …
37.903138
-122.294376
Harding Elementary School
7230 Fairmount Ave, El Cerrito, CA
/articles/comment-i-have-to-do-the-right-thing
1296918
/locations/6407843
Friday, February 17, 2012
A gift of one's own hair for young cancer patients is becoming a tradition at St. Mary's High School. The youngest donor this year was a third grader from El Cerrito.
Saint Mary's High held its fifth annual Locks of Love hair-gifting event on Wednesday on the school campus in Berkeley. Five ladies – including a young miss from Harding Elementary School in El Cerrito – gave nearly five feet of hair for hairpieces for young cancer patients. The event was coordinated by Ms. Clare McCormick, Saint Mary's Religious Studies faculty member, and stylists Kayla Headley and Rebecca Kalinin of "Innovations" in Napa drove to Berkeley to donate their time and talent. Kayla is the daughter of the school's Buildings and Grounds Director, Mark Headley, and sister of freshman Max. Donors included Saint Mary's students sophomore Kate Tealdi and freshman Rachel Gee, Buildings & Grounds staff member Fabiola Aguirre, her…
Tuesday, February 14, 2012
Studies show that teens – who have a later sleep cycle than children or adults – fare better on many measures when high school starts later in the morning, says social worker Susanna Marshland of Kensington.
In the current environment which focuses on improving measurable outcomes for all our schools, there is one simple, cost-effective change that could make a big difference. The change? Shift the morning start time for our high schools to 8:30 or later. There is very clear research indicating that delaying the morning start time for high schools has a major impact not just on improving grades and test scores, but also on improving physical and mental health students and decreasing teen driving accidents. Medical research is clear that teens experience a "sleep phase shift" during adolescence that means they are alert later into the night than children and adults. The average teen needs 9.25 hours of sleep a night. When they don't even get …
Saturday, February 11, 2012
After our article on European fans of Creedence Clearwater Revival touring local sites connected with the band, readers raised the issue of whether El Cerrito should commemorate its famous hometown rockers. Yes? No? Please take our poll.
A dozen European fans of El Cerrito's internationally renowned hometown band, Creedence Clearwater Revival, ended a week-long pilgrimage here Thursday. They came to see houses, studios and other sites associated with the group. It wasn't easy. There are no "John Fogerty slept here" signs. In fact there's hardly any public sign of the group's presence here, including its 1959 origin when they were students at Portola Middle School and later at El Cerrito High before they caught the world's attention in 1968-72 and ascended into the pantheon of rock legends. Our article on the European fans' visit prompted reader comments that raised the issue of whether El Cerrito should do something to commemorate its Creedence connection. What do you …
Monday, February 6, 2012
Given the potential life or death stakes, it's not surprising that our reader poll on whether police should enforce the helmet law drew numerous heartfelt responses, including our Comment of the Week.
The tragic death this past week of former El Cerrito High School student Tyler De Martini, who was hit by a car while riding a skateboard down Marin Avenue, raised a number of questions. One was whether the helmet requirement for minors should be enforcned. De Martini, who was not wearing a helmet, suffered a severe head injury and was removed from life support following a report that tests showed no brain activity. Even though he was 18 and therefore exempt from the state law requiring helmets for minors, his death heightened fears about skateboarders of all ages. Our poll on whether police should enforce the seldom-enforced helmet requirement for minors drew a number of reader comments, including our Comment of the Week from "Kathy A.": …
Saturday, February 4, 2012
Much, much cheaper.
Do you ever get the blues? I do. Sometimes it’s because I feel undereducated. Sometimes it’s because I feel old or frumpy. Sometimes I think I should have done more with my life — taken more chances. Zigged when I chose to zag. Whenever I start to feel sorry for myself, I only have to do one thing to make those gray skies blue again. I watch TV. When I have my grumpy shorts on, nothing slaps me out of 'em like a healthy dose of TV. After only a few minutes of almost any show, I'm thinking, "Well, at least I'm not THAT guy!" For example, my standby pick-me-up is Jerry Springer. There's, “Have You Slept With Your Mom’s Boyfriend?” Or, “Has Your Mom Slept With Your Boyfriend?" Or, "My Sister Stole My Gay Boyfriend." I'm a "no" to all of those…
Sunday, January 29, 2012
A peppery and thought-provoking range of perspectives, including our Comment of the Week, was sparked by a guest column from a resident unhappy with being a neighbor of the El Cerrito Recycling Center.
El Cerrito seems to have few, if any, sacred cows, though the city's successful Recycling Center seems to enjoy an unusually high degree of civic pride. So it's not surprising that a guest column by an upset neighbor of the facility, "View: Nuisance – El Cerrito Recycling Center," generated a reader debate and a wide variety of viewpoints, several of which struck us as candidates for our "Comment of the Week." We chose one by Kari Jones, not because we necessarily agree or regard it as the "best," but because we think it reflects several of the issues that arose in what appears to be a clash between two things we all place a high value on: a successful municipal recycling center and a tranquil home free from noxious fumes and rude …
37.918768
-122.299925
City of El Cerrito Recycling Center
7501 Schmidt Ln, El Cerrito, CA
/articles/comment-upset-neighbor-of-el-cerrito-recycling-center-draws-debate
516844
/locations/6270280
Saturday, January 28, 2012
We'd like to know what you think about the new smart-phone app – highlighted at Macworld in San Francisco this week – that tells parents when their teen drivers speed, text or go beyond a certain boundary.
Among the new apps showcased at Macworld in San Francisco this week was "TeenAgree," which permits parents to receive alerts when their teen driver goes too fast, texts while driving or ventures beyond a certain boundary. Please tell us what you think about it in our reader poll below. The app – which costs $4.99 to download and costs $4.99 per month – is offered as a "safe driving contract" which teens and parents each install on their smart phones. Asked if teens hate it, TeenAgree co-founder Nathan Ooley answered, "Yes they do," according to the San Francisco Chronicle. "You don't want it when you're young. But when we're parents, it's a different story." After you mark your vote in the poll, please feel welcome to add your thoughts in …
The journey by one Contra Costa County parent into the minefield of membership in the minivan clan.
We parents like to argue about a lot of stuff. Perhaps you’ve noticed? From the moment of conception, there are any number of parenting debates you can unsuspectingly find yourself in the middle of —drugs versus no drugs in labor, breastfeeding versus formula, crib versus co-sleeping. The list is long, and can be as difficult to navigate as a minefield. Many people I know try to steer clear of the contentious issues that a lot of parents seem to have strong opinions about, and are all too willing to share. But, there is one critical parenting debate that I’ve found that seems to draw out even the controversy-adverse parents—minivans. Last week I saw a photo posted on Facebook by George Takei (of Star Trek fame) that read, “Condoms Prevent …
Tuesday, January 24, 2012
In this guest column, El Cerrito resident Jay Cully says living near the city's Recycling Center makes him want to move because of near constant noise, inconsiderate scroungers and nauseating, toxic truck exhaust.
I have lived very close to the recycle center here in El Cerrito for over 15 years. City resident over 30 years. My home and tranquility are very much affected by the constant activity of trucks, cars, loud and inconsiderate scroungers snouting through the donations that people drop off after dark, and the garbage and debris left behind by these freeloaders. My wonderful little Hillside Wildlife Park area has turned into a zoo. Starting at 3:30 in the a.m., the diesel trucks start belching out smoke and very loud noise. The constant high beeping of the back-up safety lights/alarms makes certain that my family gets woken up. The smell of the diesel exhaust is constant and nauseating. The soot from the diesels makes my vegetable garden toxic…
37.918768
-122.299925
7501 Schmidt Ln, El Cerrito, CA
/articles/view-el-cerrito-recycling-center-neighborhood-nuisance
/locations/6238274
Clare McCormick
8:55 am on Friday, February 17, 2012
Little Miss Evelin Cruz Aguirre told me "I have to do the right thing. And, my girlfriends told me 'don't cut your hair.' And I said, It's my hair and it will grow back but there are kids who need it." How about that for a third grader? We are proud of you, Evelin. *Ms. McCormick from SMCHS more ›