Email: (See my email address at the bottom of the Albany Patch or Berkeley Patch homepage.)
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Now in my fourth year with Patch.com, I'm the editor of and Albany Patch and Berkeley Patch.
I worked many years as a staff writer and editor at the San Francisco Chronicle until April of 2009, when I switched to freelancing. I then wrote for the Los Angeles Times and other publications, and I also took on editing assignments for UC Berkeley and the United Nations.
Being an East Bay reporter for Patch brings my career full circle in the East Bay. My first bylines appeared in the East Bay Review of the Performing Arts. I next worked as a reporter and editor at the Daily Californian while studying at UC Berkeley, where I obtained a master's in journalism. I was a reporter at the Contra Costa Independent, Berkeley Gazette and San Francisco Examiner before moving to the Chronicle, where I worked several years in the Berkeley bureau and in the main East Bay bureau in Oakland.
The discount grocery chain, Grocery Outlet, has signed a lease for the shuttered former Albertsons/Lucky store at San Pablo and MacDonald avenues on the El Cerrito/Richmond border. Building permits and a wine/beer license are still needed.
The pending sale of the former Windrush School in El Cerrito to Educational Ventures, LLC is now set to close early next month, a representative for the buyer said. Still no word on the buyer's intentions for the 4-acre property.
Harold "Hal" Johnston, a retired UC Berkeley professor of chemistry whose ground-breaking research linked jet aircraft to destruction of the Earth's ozone layer, died Oct. 20 of natural causes at age 92 at his Kensington home.
Harold "Hal" Johnston, a retired UC Berkeley professor of chemistry whose ground-breaking research linked jet aircraft to destruction of the Earth's ozone layer, died Oct. 20 of natural causes at age 92 at his Kensington home.
The division champion El Cerrito High football team will play its "home" playoff opener Saturday at DeAnza High in Richmond. Team coaches believe DeAnza's turf field is better for the team's fast runners, the ECHS principal said.
In a "State of the City" presentation at the Rotary Club Thursday, El Cerrito Mayor Bill Jones gave updates on city issues and initiatives, reported an award for the Recycling Center and said a rumored cutback in police is unfounded.
The Measure G parcel tax for West Contra Costa County schools, unlike most of the past parcel taxes on the ballot in the school district, passed easily on Tuesday, winning support in all seven of the main West County communities.
The 23-campus California State University system announced Wednesday it will cancel planned tuition hikes following passage of state Proposition 30, which boosts taxes. Some UC Berkeley students also are asking for a fee rollback.
The landslide victory in the race for Kensington's governing board – with incumbent Chuck Toombs and running mate Patricia Gillespie defeating incumbent Cathie Kosel and ally Jim Hausken – differed greatly from the previous two elections.
The Measure G parcel tax for West Contra Costa County schools, unlike most of the past parcel taxes on the ballot in the school district, passed easily on Tuesday, winning support in all seven of the main West County communities.
Two East Palo Alto women have been arrested in connection with a string of at least 15 burglaries in Kensington and other localities in three counties, Los Altos police said.
We're getting mixed reports about the turn-out at the polls for today's voting in El Cerrito and Kensington. Some voters report lines, while others saw sparse attendance. What did you see?
A water main burst just before noon today, Tuesday, on Eureka Avenue at Clayton Avenue, sending a torrent of water down Clayton into at least one garage and possibly an in-law unit. If you have photos or video, please add them to the article.
Don't know where to vote today? We've got the official answer if you live in El Cerrito, Kensington or anywhere else in Contra Costa County. (Warning: some election mailers contain wrong polling place locations.)
In this guest column, Kensington resident Jan Behrsin says the community has changed under a climate of fear and autocratic leadership by Chuck Toombs, president of Kensington's governing board, who is seeking re-election on Nov. 6.
PG&E and Contra Costa County public works officials offered public apologies for replacing Kensington's lantern-style streetlights with bright steel "cobra head" lights without consulting residents, but the audience wasn't molli
A "Democratic" mailer appears to be from the Democratic Party, but it was produced by a group not affiliated with the party and contains paid endorsements that differ in several cases from the party's endorsements.
Kensington resident Vida Dorroh says Cathie Kosel, who's running for re-election to Kensington's governing board, has not been truthful and creates turmoil with "one baseless, sensational accusation after another."
El Cerrito Patch offers this election guide for important decisions faced by El Cerrito and Kensington voters on the Nov. 6 ballot, including the school board race, measures for school funding, Kensington's governing board and state propositions.
One hotly disputed issue in the election for Kensington's governing board is the assertion by incumbent candidate Cathy Kosel that no crimes were solved in 2011. Police Chief Greg Harman called it a "malicious lie." Patch investigated.
