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.
A 17-year-old girl from Richmond was hit by a car driven by an El Cerrito woman on Stockton Avenue in El Cerrito about 5:34 p.m. today, Wednesday, police said. She was taken by medical helicopter from Cerrito Vista Park to John Muir Medical Center.
A little-known but profoundly influential woman from a thousand years ago is about to become better known, thanks to Rockridge author Patricia Bracewell, whose extensively researched first published novel will debut next month.
Berkeley environmental attorney Andy Katz was unanimously elected Tuesday as board president of the East Bay Municipal Utility District. Katz, who had been vice president, was first elected to the board in 2006.
The Arlington Pharmacy in Kensington ceased being a pharmacy Tuesday, ending more than 80 years of filling prescriptions. It will remain open but can no longer afford the rising cost of prescription medication, the owner said.
A David-vs.-Goliath lawsuit over El Cerrito's refusal to make a state-mandated payment of $1.76 million linked to the former Redevelopment Agency has been settled with the city allowed to keep the money and not face threatened penalties.
Effective tomorrow, Monday, El Cerrito Patch Editor Charles Burress becomes a reporter for several East Bay Patch sites, including El Cerrito, while two additional Patch editors will join the team managing El Cerrito Patch.
El Cerrito CPA Charlie Weaver, who served as Secretary-Treasurer of the El Chamber of Commerce for many years and on the board of the Rotary Club of El Cerrito, died Dec. 12 at age 72. Services and a reception will be held Jan. 12.
A third grade teacher in the West Contra Costa Unified School District urges that the revenue from Measure G, the parcel tax for school academics, help restore cuts in healthcare benefits and improve salaries for teachers.
As they do every year on Dec. 27, volunteers gathered to remove and load up the handmade Bethlehem-type village created by the late Sundar Shadi that appears yearly on an El Cerrito hillside along Moeser Lane.
The campaign for a new El Cerrito library hopes to secure a suitable alternative site to the small lot occupied by the current, cramped library next to the BART tracks, campaign fundraising chair Gary Pokorny told the Rotary Club Thursday.
An article in the Albany High School newspaper, the Cougar, by student Samantha Chiang, looks at the roles of social media and the news media in responding to the arrest and death of well-known Albany Middle School teacher James Izumizaki.
Kensington's Sugar Cone Café is closing on Dec. 24, according to owners Andrea Tung and Ken Brunetti. The business takes too much time away from family, they said. They're hoping to find someone else to take over the business.
The El Cerrito Rotary Club Thursday presented a large check – about 4 feet long and worth $5,000 – to Foster A Dream, a group that helps foster youth. The donation came from the Rotary's Oct. 21 wine-tasting fundraiser.
El Cerrito Patch editor Charles Burress is off-duty from Dec. 21 to Jan. 2. He wishes all our readers enjoyable and safe holidays and a Happy New Year!
Kensington on Thursday issued a notice inviting applications from those interested in filling the vacant seat on the township's five-member governing board. The vacancy was created by the Dec. 13 resignation of Mari Metcalf.
Roger Anderson, retired English and theater director at El Cerrito High, died Dec. 8 at age 69. He was beloved by many students whose lives he helped shape. Two gatherings to remember him are planned in Albany this weekend.
An employee in the food stamps section (MediCal/CalFRESH) of the Contra Costa County Employment and Human Services Department was arrested Thursday and charged with embezzling $5,394, the District Attorney announced.
To encourage safe driving for the upcoming holiday weekend, El Cerrito police will conduct a "saturation patrol" for driving under the influence or without a license in the northern part of the city from 8:30 p.m. Friday to 3 a.m. Saturday.
El Cerrito Police Chief Sylvia Moir has been appointed by Gov. Jerry Brown to the state Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST), a 16-member body that establishes standards and regulations for California police.
A member of Kensington's five-member governing board, Mari Metcalf, has resigned with a blast of criticism against other board members. A special board meeting will be held tonight, Thursday, to discuss the process for filling the vacancy.
