October 6: News & Notes

Welcome to the 20th edition of Rockridge Voice. For nearly seven months, we’ve brought you neighborhood news too often overlooked elsewhere. We’re thrilled that more than 800 of you feel the same way, and have welcomed us into your inboxes every other week.

Today’s dozen-plus articles feature active, involved neighbors; walkathons for schools and public health; an opportunity to learn about our Hispanic immigrant neighbors; and a look at ongoing local events. We also examine and explore the years of thoughtful planning that helped make Rockridge the desirable neighborhood it is today… and much more.

As our community of readers and supporters continues to grow, so does your role in shaping our coverage. Many of you have sent in tips, flagged stories we might have missed, and helped us keep an ear to the ground. To our neighborhood gumshoes and roving reporters, and our ongoing contributing writers—you know who you are—thank you!

We’re also encouraged by how many of you read our stories in each edition—according to chatgpt, our Open Rate and Click Through Rate are exceptional, stating that our rates are “extremely rare” and “almost unheard of at scale” respectively. This level of interest tells us that this work matters.

Our content is free, and will always remain so. If you believe in the value of our work, please consider signing up at the FRIEND level for only $10/month… with your help we can keep this resource going strong.

Whether you’ve lived here for decades or are just getting to know the neighborhood, your voice belongs in these pages. Thank you for helping us tell Rockridge’s story, and archiving it for future generations.

Anna L. Marks, publisher/editor
editor@rockridgevoice.com

Here are today’s top stories:

A Love of the Game: Meet Rockridge’s Barbara Dunne and Joan Martin

Longtime Rockridge residents Barbara Dunne and Joan Martin have their own version of “the marriage of land and sea”—or surf and turf. READ MORE

Tooligans: Turning Tool Sales into Community Good

Thanks to a $3,500 gift from the Friends of the Oakland Tool Lending Library, aka the Tooligans, the Oakland Tool Lending Library at 5205 Telegraph Avenue (behind the Temescal Library) now boasts two large shade canopies. READ MORE

Beloved Crucolo Parade Returns to Rockridge Market Hall

When you combine a ginormous wheel of Italian cheese, live accordion music, and a neighborhood ready to celebrate, you get The Great Crucolo Parade—and it’s returning to Rockridge Market Hall on Saturday, October 17, from noon to 3pm. READ MORE

Before the Labels: The Historical Context of Neighborhood Zoning

For the past five years, whenever high-density housing has been proposed in Rockridge and neighbors have pushed back with proposed neighborhood modifications and concerns… READ MORE

Putting Housing’s Racial Legacy in Context

Who gets to call a neighborhood home has never been simply a matter of personal choice. Across the United States, racial covenants, discriminatory lending, and public policy have often been the determining factor deciding where people could live. READ MORE

Millions of Steps for Peralta’s Annual Walkathon

On Sunday, October 18th, students at Peralta Elementary will take millions of steps around the block our school calls home. They do it for the fun, for the challenge, and for the support we need from our community to maintain the culture of learning that our little school is known

Rockridge VoiceAnonymous

A New Chapter for Rockridge’s Jewish Community Campus

In December 2019, founders Moses Libitzky and Nathan Petrowsky bought the Dreyer’s property at 5957 Chabot Road at College Avenue and later gifted it to the JCC East Bay. To steward the gift on behalf of the community, the founders and the JCC East Bay established East Bay Jewish

Rockridge VoiceAnna L. Marks

From Chimes to Rockridge: How the Neighborhood Got Its Name

How did Rockridge get its name? History tells us that many of us who lived here in the 1960s remember being surprised when BART authorities decided to name the newly built station on College Avenue “Rockridge” because the area was then known as the Chimes district. Why Chimes? Perhaps the

Rockridge VoiceAnnette Rahbek Floystrup

Five Years of Reducing Waste, One Refill at a Time

When Matt Zimbalist and Peter Lollo were growing up together in San Diego, they became environmentalists at an early age—aware of the threat of global warming and determined to do what they could to stop it. When they enrolled at UC Berkeley, they both majored in Conservation and Resource

Rockridge VoiceMolly Porter

What’s Bloomin’ in Rockridge? Eriogonum fasciculatum

(aka California Buckwheat) By this time in the mediterranean garden, things are getting dry. As a result, most plants are well into their late-summer dormancy, waiting for the first rains of the fall. Although we have had one fairly decent rain in the Bay Area in early September, we

Rockridge VoiceJohn Kamp

Letters to the Editor:

• Opposition to Proposed Senior Housing Development
• Democrats Face Off for Pelosi’s Seat this December

Opinion:

• Thoughts On Hispanic Heritage Month

And, be sure to visit Our Sponsors, Calendar, and Bulletin Board to stay up to date with all the goings at Rockridge Voice… and to shop local!