Email: (See my email address at the bottom of the Albany Patch or Berkeley Patch homepage.)
Phone: 510-435-4127
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.
Facing reduced tax revenues from the local medical marijuana dispensaries caused by federal crackdowns, the Berkeley City Council agenda Tuesday includes a look at increasing the number of allowed dispensaries to six from four.
Berkeley High School juniors feel considerably less threat to their safety than do their peers on average in Alameda County and California as a whole, according to recently released results of state surveys.
Albany High School juniors feel considerably less threat to their safety than do their peers on average in Alameda County and California as a whole, according to recently released results of state surveys.
The issue of mercury in dental fillings has apparently touched a nerve on the Berkeley City Council, which faces five competing items about the issue on its Tuesday night agenda.
The Albany police logs for Sept. 7-8 include a stolen vehicle, four non-injury accidents in one afternoon, two boys shooting BB guns at Albany Middle School, four youths seen with a gun and a youth stealing alcohol from Safeway.
Robberies of pedestrians in Berkeley – led by nighttime cell phone robberies of people walking alone – increased 35 percent for the first half of this year over the same period last year, police said in a crime report to the City Council.
Somewhere there may be a child who's missing a stuffed toy calf found recently on Evelyn Avenue in Albany. The family that's keeping the toy posted flyers on telephone poles with a photo and a title saying, "Everybody, is this yours?"
The Albany police log for Sept. 6 includes a battery at Albany High, a man with a bleeding head at Happy Donut, a bonfire on the Albany Bulb, an arrest for pot possession, vehicles ignoring a crossing guard and dogs at the dog park after hours.
Following the enthusiastic response to last year's inaugural "Berkeley Sunday Streets," the city is staging the event again this year on Oct. 13. Shattuck Avenue be closed to traffic for a giant, 17-block-long street party and festival.
Cal football fans had little to cheer about tonight, Saturday, after the Bears' decisive 52-34 loss to the No. 4-ranked Ohio State Buckeyes. The game was played in Memorial Stadium at UC Berkeley.
Police released a drawing of a man they are seeking for an assault on the BART path in El Cerrito where a woman was assaulted this past week while walking and texting on her cell phone near the del Norte BART station.
Urban farming is hardly new in Berkeley. Historic photos and documents on display at the Berkeley History Century dial back time to reveal a community that grew up with chickens, cows, gardens and – until the temperance movement won out – saloons.
Want to see a beehive up close and learn more about Apis mellifera, also known as honeybees? The Botanical Garden at the University of California at Berkeley will host a "Bee Explainer" at its observation hive on Sunday, Sept. 15.
Two cars collided early this evening, Friday, at Washington and Ramona avenues in Albany. Two women were taken to a local hospital, one with apparently minor injuries and one with unknown injuries, according to the Albany Fire Department.
BART says train delays have ended this afternoon, Friday, following a shooting in Oakland near the 12th Street Oakland City Center station and a strong-arm robbery at the West Oakland station.
A public celebration of the life of former Albany Mayor and lifelong Albany resident Jewel Okawachi will be held at 2 p.m., Saturday, Sept. 14, at the Albany Community Center.
A campaign has begun to reopen the 88-year-old Oaks Theater on Solano Avenue in Berkeley. The campaign's booth at the Solano Stroll received an "enthusiastic" response, said Berkeley City Councilman Laurie Capitelli, co-organizer of the effort.
A campaign has begun to reopen the 88-year-old Oaks Theater on upper Solano Avenue in Berkeley, near the Albany border. The plan is to turn it into multi-use venue for live performances, lectures and films, according to the organizers.
A new troll has been placed on the new eastern span of the Bay Bridge, continuing a lucky-troll tradition started by iron workers when they made bridge repairs and engaged a colleague to add a troll after the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake.
A new troll has been placed on the new eastern span of the Bay Bridge, continuing a lucky-troll tradition started by iron workers when they made bridge repairs and engaged a colleague to add a troll after the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake.
