Alameda residents Scott and Lisa Amstutz were married Sept. 7 in Tilden Park, Berkeley. The ceremony and reception were held at the Brazil Room. Lisa is a public relations manager with staffing firm Robert Half and a two-time Ironman triathlon finisher. Scott is an aviation maintenance supervisor and works at the Oakland International Airport. The groom grew up in Alameda, and the bride is from Danville. They live on Bay Farm with their dog, Marlowe. The couple spent their honeymoon in Cambria, Calif.
Halloween is the ideal time to honor the strange, inexplicable and bizarre occurrences of life. A jack-o-lantern, with its leering, mocking grin, is the perfect symbol for those surreal situations that may have you grimacing like a jack-o-lantern, and shaking your head in wonderment and disbelief.
Here’s my short list of "jack-o-lantern-isms":
1. Folks at the Laundromat who stand for 30 minutes, mesmerized, watching their clothes dry.
Mastick Senior Center Bingo starts at 11:30 a.m. every Saturday. Doors open at 9:30 a.m. The games are open for anyone 18 or older.
For those who have never played at Mastick, randomly drawn numbers are illuminated on electric boxes on the center’s dining room walls so that each player can see as well as hear his or her numbers called. Several different versions of the game are played each Saturday.
Players have a chance to win cash and prizes for individuals 18 and older. A snack bar is open during the games.
Mayor Trish Spencer recently joined the Kiwanis Club of Alameda to recognize the Alameda Police Department for serving the community with excellence and to protect and serve the city of Alameda. Spencer presented a proclamation in honor of the APD to Police Chief Paul Rolleri.
Representatives from APD and the Alameda Fire Department joined Spencer at the luncheon. Rolleri gave the keynote address. He discussed upcoming retirements, hiring, the recent purchase and use of body cameras and other topics.
When the Alameda Free Library was built in 2006, one of the city’s top goals was to make it as "green," or environmentally friendly as possible. Shredded denim jeans were used as insulation in walls, natural light was used throughout the library, and infrastructure was installed for solar panels that could not be afforded at the time. Those solar panels eventually arrived in 2011, thanks to a grant from Alameda Municipal Power (AMP) — and other green innovations have been added over the years.
