Supervisors Consider Widening Outdoor Smoking Restrictions A proposal to expand smoking distances from 15 to 20 feet outside industrial, manufacturing and commercial buildings is gaining local support, ...

Notes of a Reporter at Large: In the Shadows of Jefferson’s words President Kennedy once addressed a gathering of Nobel laureates by saying that theirs was the most illustrious company ...

SPIGOT TO BE TURNED OFF AT CV WATER PARK ON MONDAY Just weeks into the summer season, the ever-popular water park where many of Castro Valley’s young find solace from the heat will be dry.

Fire Chief: Zero Tolerance For Fireworks on the Fourth Alameda County Fire Chief Sheldon Gilbert issued a stern warning on the use of fireworks by residents in CV and other unincorporated areas this week.

Police, Family Still Looking for Answers to Gas Station Killing The senseless murder of Gary Wayne Jones one year ago came as a shock to his family, police and the community. The 38-year old San Leandro man who worked as cabinet maker had just pulled into the ABE gas station on Mission Blvd. when he was shot at point blank range just minutes after purchasing medicinal marijuana with a valid medical card from the Compassionate Patient Cannabis Club nearby.

New MAC Member Appointed John Ryzanich, a Castro Valley home-based business owner, has accepted an offer from Supervisor Nate Miley to become the newest member of the Castro Valley Municipal Advisory Council, effective at its first meeting in August. “I’ve been participating in the community for years and originally started by getting involved in a land-use issue in my neighborhood some time ago,” Ryzanich said. “I’m really hoping to help build a better community and to work with people to find out what they really want.”

Castro Valley Pot Farm Raid; Hundreds of Plants Seized Police swept down a rugged Castro Valley hillside near Palomares Creek Thursday morning, seizing more than 400 marijuana plants worth hundreds of thousands of dollars. “Today we’re returning to an area where we discovered four marijuana gardens last month,” Sheriff’s Sgt. Shawn Peterson tells officers from the California Department of Fish and Game and the East Bay Regional Parks.

Summer Camp for the High-Tech Kid Hello Muddah. Hello Fadduh. Here I am at Camp Robot-a. Camp is very entertaining. Building things like PCs and cool Web sites is our training.

Ken Carbone Elected to Chair County Planning Commission Castro Valley business-owner Ken Carbone was unanimously elected to chair the Alameda Planning Commission during last week’s regular meeting.

Notes of a Reporter at Large: Tim Russert Without Tears Tim Russert, the respected moderator of NBC’s “Meet the Press” for nearly 17 years was dead of a heart attack at 58.