Last Week in Albany: New Safeway Plans, Albany Pool Moves Forward, Fire Alarm Ordinance Passes, Public Arts Master Plan Ready for Council

Last week's big news involved development plans at Safeway and the Albany Pool, a brand new smoke alarm ordinance designed to keep citizens safer, and the near-completion of the Public Arts Master Plan.

The plan was supposed to go before council Monday, but was pushed forward due to a packed agenda.

We're filling out our "Who's Who" gallery and column to feature your neighbors and local business people. That's been a lot of fun to put together, and new Albany Patch writer Mary Rees is doing a fantastic job collecting these stories. If you have suggestions for "Who's Who" subjects or questions, please send them to me at emilier@patch.com.

Photo features included a surprise interaction between kids and a gopher snake on Solano; a dispatch from the recent clothing swap at the community center; and a new edition of Old Parked Cars. 

We started a new weekly video feature, produced by Mustafa Shaikh, where we hope to take Albany's temperature about a range of subjects. Last week, however, we took a closer look at the cool history of the Albany Twin.

We updated Albany elections info; so far a handful of people have taken out papers, but no one has filed. The nomination period for candidates hoping to run this fall ends Aug. 6.

We did a round-up of crime stats through April. Motor vehicle thefts climbed for most of the first quarter, as did burglaries and larcenies, according to statistics released by the Police Department.

This week's column by Miriam Walden focused on education disparities in California. Our nightlife columnist, Rena Ragimova, dove into the Pub for a look at why this Albany institution has flourished for so long.

A slew of small crime and safety stories popped up Friday, from a cyclist hit by a car to a small fire on Albany Hill to a local teen arrested on suspicion of auto theft early this morning.

Our announcements section has stayed active too. Tonight, police will seek out drunk drivers via saturation patrols. SchoolCARE and Friends of Five Creeks asked for help and interested volunteers to accomplish their work. Golden Gate Fields announced its opening day on Aug. 25, and the school district publicized a special meeting Monday July 26 to talk about rising child care fees. We also posted the new open container ordinance, which limits public drinking, and will plan to post all ordinances from here on out.

On the events calendar, a bike race in Albany raised money for city schools. Camp events continued at full speed with swimming, soccer, bowling and more. Kids got to learn about "pre-engineering" and "mad robots" -- I don't know about you but I'm definitely having some summer camp nostalgia seeing all the neat activities out there for local kids! Urban forester Tony Wolcott attended last week's garden swap, and he'll speak at Rotary this coming week. 

We continued to connect with readers on Twitter and Facebook. We also got some good comments this week about a range of stories. Honestly, my favorite part of this job (other than getting out into the community and meeting all the passionate people in town), is hearing your thoughts about either the stories themselves or the way Patch is covering them. Keep the feedback coming! 

I encourage you to make use of our events and announcements sections, add photos to stories, and write me anytime with your thoughts and ideas. Hope to see you this week in Albany!