On May 19, the City Council approved a multi-pronged Commercial Streets Program to streamline the permit approval process for expanding dining and retail to parklets and sidewalks. Last Friday many Alameda businesses and restaurants began reopening.
Last Monday, the Planning Board held a public hearing to consider the revised plans for the construction of a four-story, 96-room Holiday Inn Express at 1825 Park St., on the southwest corner of Park Street and Clement Avenue. The site once housed the Ron Goode Toyota dealership, which changed hands and moved to Oakland in 2008. Scooter Importer currently occupies the site.
New at the Art & Wine Faire for this year, the Salsa Stage at Park Street and Webb Avenue presented a third line up of performers over two days this past weekend including Mio Flores, above. Habanas Cuban Cuisine sponsored the stage located adjacent to the restaurant, and then donated a portion of its drink sales to Bay Area Community Resources. The street fair, held for the 33rd year, brought many thousands of visitors to the Island City to enjoy fun, food, drink and shopping along Park Street.
Alameda’s 4th of July Parade is the longest in the nation with a route that spans 3.3 miles. This year, more than 170 entries, 2,500 participants will march across town and more than 60,000 spectator will watch along the route. The hometown celebration includes floats, marching bands, 150 equestrians (and one bull), dance troops, bands and classic cars driving dignitaries. The Coast Guard’s color guard leads the parade (above).
Briana Ortega and Simon Sotelo’s families and friends held a candlelight vigil on Wednesday, May 31, at the scene of the accident that took Ortega and Sotolo’s lives (“Rollover Accident Mars Memorial Day,” June 1).
Ortega was 17 years old and a senior at Decoto School for Independent Study in Union City.
Sotelo, was a passenger in the truck with Ortega. He was also 17; he attended James Logan High School, also in Union City.
Two teens lose their lives; speeding likely played a role
A motor-vehicle accident on Park Street at Lincoln Avenue has taken the lives two teenagers. A truck with seven people aboard collided with a minivan just after 8 a.m. on Memorial Day. According to witnesses, the truck was speeding southbound on Park Street when it clipped the front of the minivan at Lincoln Avenue. One witness recalled the truck going so fast the it went airborne as it crossed the Park Street Bridge.
Alameda’s most prominent street fair that brings original art, rides, live music and creative foods to Park Street, the Art & Wine Faire, took place last weekend. Thousands attended the two-day festival. Locals and visitors to Alameda alike could enjoy fried rutabaga, cauliflower- and potato-based fair foods (above left) that had a distinct vegetarian flair. Eleven local bands performed on two stages over both days. Event organizers with the Downtown Alameda Business Assocation said Saturday afternoon’s crowd was among the largest ever seen at the fair.
Weather permitting, the city will begin work on the next phase of its street repair and resurfacing projects soon. This involves asphalt concrete overlay on Park Street, from the Park Street Bridge to Eagle Avenue from 7 p.m., Sunday, Nov. 4, to 5 a.m., Monday, Nov. 5.
Residents who attended the Park Street Art & Wine Faire and used the ATM at Comerica Bank at 2416 Central Ave. may have had their cards skimmed and PIN numbers recorded. In order to accomplish this, the alleged thieves placed a fake faceplate onto the ATM. The faceplate fit snugly into the ATM’s card slot. When unwitting customers slid their cards into the ATM, the faceplate with the counterfeit reader scanned and stored the information on the cards’ magnetic strips.
