The black phoebe is an active and energetic bird in the tyrant flycatcher family. They are found in many Alameda locales. Although often described as being found near water, the water may not be obvious or even considered by the casual passerby as a significant part of the landscape. The presence of water is necessary for their nest building that consists of mud and plant fibers. A friend of mine calls this small, distinct, black-and-white bird “the Tuxedo Bird.” It can be found in residential neighborhoods, parks, fields, schools, riparian habitats and near the ocean.
In this 1918 photo courtesy of the San Francisco Public Library, a San Francisco police officer confronts a man in public for not wearing a facemask. The Spanish flu pandemic 102 years ago, was an unusually deadly influenza pandemic believed to be caused by the H1N1 influenza A virus. In a little more than a year, it infected 500 million people — about a third of the world’s population at the time.
The City of Alameda has begun to rehabilitate existing sanitary-sewer mains on Park Street from Santa Clara Avenue to San Jose Avenue. The Park Street sewer rehabilitation work had been scheduled to begin next year, however due to the shelter-in-place order and lower traffic volume, the project has been accelerated.
Construction activity began earlier this month and is estimated to be completed by July. Construction work hours are restricted from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday. The work will consist of rehabilitating aging sewer mains, laterals and access covers.
In a time of food insecurity, what could be more inviting than a tree covered in fruit? Then again, sometimes the gods can be too kind. Overly generous fruit loads have a way of breaking branches and yielding small, poor-quality fruit if not managed in a timely manner.
When most families depended on their own gardens to supply the kitchen season-by-season, everybody understood the paradoxical nature of ridding the tree of a sizable amount of its developing fruit in order to get a decent harvest. This might seem an absurdity to today’s hands-off consumer!
The City of Alameda has been working for several years to redesign Clement Avenue and the Cross Alameda Trail from Alameda Point to the Fruitvale Bridge. Parts of the trail are complete, parts are under construction and parts are still in the planning phase.
City staff will present the final design concept for the redesign of Clement Avenue between Grand Street and Broadway to the Transportation Commission (TC) on Wednesday, May 27, and to the City Council for final approval in late June or July.
