Inside Albany High

Cougars Run Hard at BSAL Track Meet

This story originally appeared on the Albany High School Cougar Online. Read more from The Cougar at http://www.albanyhighcougar.com.

The Albany Cougars competed at the Bay Shore Athletic League Track and Field Championships this past Thursday and Saturday, with a total of 21 athletes qualifying for the North Coast Section Championships this Saturday at James Logan High School.  The Albany Varsity Girls team finished in second place, with the Varsity Boys coming in third place. The Junior Varsity Boys fell three points short of winning the championship. Among the standout performers were senior Siobhan Bauer and junior Conrad Federspiel, both of whom won their respective discus events with personal bests. Bauer won with a heave of 97’ 8” and Federspiel took the BSAL title with a personal best of 138’ 1”. Senior Jeffrey Wu, who dug himself a deep hole in the early rounds …

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Albany Pool Updates

Column: Albany Pool Needs More Hours for Young Kids of AUSD

Albany Patch welcomes guest columns and letters to the editor via albany@patch.com. Click the "Keep me posted" button below for updates about the Albany Aquatic Center.

I was thrilled when the Albany Pool opened this spring until I saw the paltry number of hours for family recreation swim during week. During Albany Unified School District’s (AUSD) spring break, I planned to take my kids several times. But there were only two hours all week when we could go.  I contacted Pool Director Amanda Garcia who told me there would be more weekday hours this spring. However, the spring schedule has only 5.5 hours. And furthermore, because we are Late-Birds (about half of AUSD kids in grades 1-3 are released at 3:05 p.m.), we are unable to take advantage of the 3.5 hours that take place in the afternoon when my kids are still in school. So that means there are still only 2 hours during the week when we can swim. The …

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Catherine (Kate) Rauch

9:00 am on Monday, May 21, 2012

Margaret - Jeeze, there is no need for you to fear the new pool! My disabled daughter and entire classes of AUSD disabled kids have been having a blast there this spring. Take comments here with a grain of salt; people have various chips on their shoulders, for who knows what reasons, complex or simple. Sure, there have been new pool growing pains, perfectly normal, and I myself, a lap swimmer, …   more ›

Sustainable Albany

"Bike to Work Day" Brings Out Hundreds of Bicycling Commuters in Albany, East Bay

Organizers counted a good turnout of bikers on the 19th annual "Bike to Work Day" Thursday.

Biking to work and to school has become a civic act in this era of climate change, and so it was that Albany Mayor Farid Javandel and the mayors of eight other East Bay cities bicycled to work Thursday morning for "Bike to Work Day." Javandel actually bikes to his job in Berkeley everyday. But to honor "Bike to Work Day" as mayor, he led a posse of Albany city commissioners on an early morning tour of Albany bike trails. “We had a good ride to the waterfront and back, checking on bike projects along the way—as well as on gaps in bike paths,” Javandel said as his group rolled up to the energizer station along the Ohlone Greenway at Solano Avenue hosted by the Albany Strollers & Rollers. About 445 cyclists rode through Albany on the 19th …

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University Village Development

Gill Tract: What Do You Want?

Take the poll about little league fields here. Albany Patch accepts guest columns and letters to the editor. Click the "Keep me posted" button for updates on this topic.

[Editor's Note: Albany Patch welcomes guest columns and letters to the editor. Email albany@patch.com for details.] As part of the proposed 2004 Master Plan for University Village, the University of California couples all areas in the current discussion (about the Gill Tract and a commercial and mixed-use project) into "Step 3" of its development plan. UC would like to reach an agreement with Albany on the commercial use without a legally binding agreement on the rest of the area. Why is that? It is only because Step 3 involves converting public land into private commercial use that UC must come to Albany to ask for approval.  UC does not require any approval from Albany to develop the remaining area of Gill Tract (ball fields, former …

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Tim L

1:43 pm on Tuesday, May 15, 2012

What's your deal, Dover? "Ulan" appears in almost 100 of your posts here. Your obsession with him clearly precedes the Gill Tract occupation -- there are comments from 2011 where you go after his family for leaving toys on the sidewalk. While he and I may view OTF in profoundly different ways, he has always made himself available for dialogue. If you are indeed an Albany resident, and Ulan is …   more ›

University Village Development

You Said It: New Soccer Collective for the Gill Tract? (Parody)

We'll do our best to highlight thoughtful, passionate and provocative comments from Albany Patch readers.

Said John Nemeth on Tuesday in response to an op-ed by Miguel Altieri about the importance of the Gill Tract, and the reasons behind its occupation: There is a real dearth of recreational open space in Albany. The connection between recreational open space, exercise and health is well documented. People who share the dream of establishing these types of uses in Albany are going to have to get more radical out of sheer frustration. As such, I am today forming the "Soccer Collective." Our first direct action will be to go to the Gill Tract and play a pick-up game of soccer. I understand that there are some other folks at the tract right now who are trying to impose their own vision on the place. No matter. We have just as much right to be …

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paul1

8:33 pm on Friday, May 4, 2012

Yeah, but the thing B suggests is not going to happen, the occupiers know it, you know it and so does everyone else. There is no danger whatsoever of an anarchist breakdown here. Law and order always prevails in the end in this country; whether the protests are peaceful or not they're always quelled in the end. Sure, we all have different ideas about land use. But there is only one group who is …   more ›

Letter to the Editor

Letter: Sign the Parcourse Petition

One local resident would like to see the city's parcourse replaced, following its removal during BART seismic retrofitting activities.

[Editor's Note: Albany Patch would love your 300-word letters to the editor. Learn more here.] Did you know the Albany parcourse is world famous? Anywhere in the world you can read about our parcourse on Wikipedia. But our fame may be short lived. The parcourse is set to be demolished as part of the BART retrofit and currently there are no plans to replace it. Albany Parks & Rec wants to see community support for replacing it.  You can show your support for our famous parcourse by signing the petition. Read more on Albany Patch about the BART retrofit project here. Click the "Keep me posted" button below for an email alert when we write about the BART project.

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On San Pablo

Favorite Sporting Goods: And the Winner Is...

Here's our latest contest in our Readers' Choice series. Poll votes, reviews and comments below this piece will all factor into our selection, to be announced Friday. Click "Keep me posted" for an email update.

Albany institution Mary & Joe's Sporting Goods won this week's Readers' Choice poll, followed by Solano Avenue Cyclery.  Both businesses are well-loved in town for their great selection, knowledgeable staff and commitment to community.  We'll be dropping off a special window decal for Mary & Joe's -- keep an eye out for it in their storefront. As we continue to run our polls, you'll see more and more favorites around town. See past winners here.  Next week we're talking local bartenders... any suggestions? Please tell us in the comments below.  ** Here's our latest contest in our new Readers' Choice series. Poll votes, stars and reviews, and comments below this piece all will factor in to our selection, to be announced Friday. Click "Keep …

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Emilie Raguso

1:00 am on Wednesday, April 11, 2012

Great suggestion, Judy! But we're sticking to Albany businesses for our contests. Maybe Berkeley Patch has that one on their list...   more ›

On San Pablo

Table Tennis Club Plans Approved for San Pablo Avenue

The Planning & Zoning Commission approved the plans for Albany's former Masonic lodge Tuesday night. Click the "Keep me posted" button below this story for alerts when we write about this project.

A former Albany High School dance rehearsal space on San Pablo Avenue could eventually host a kids' table tennis club, if the business owner's plans move forward. The city's Planning & Zoning Commission approved a parking exception Tuesday night, after city staff found sufficient parking nearby to justify the exception. Based on the size of the building, municipal code would have required 11 parking spaces.  But the applicant explained to the city that he wanted the site to be accessible to students walking from Albany Middle and High schools. He said he also expects parents will drop off their children, rather than park and stay for the duration of lessons. The city conducted a parking study in March between 4 and 5 p.m., and found a 53-…

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Jim Lindsay

10:40 pm on Monday, April 30, 2012

There are two other local clubs that serve both adults and youth, the Berkeley Table Tennis Club and Alameda Table Tennis Center. That said, I imagine Benny won't turn away adults who want to come and improve their game, I am guessing he is just planning on marketing it mainly to youth and their parents.   more ›

Albany Pool Updates

Photo Gallery: Albany Aquatic Center

Do the new pools inspire you to make photographs? Share your images here.

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Inside Albany High

Varsity Boys Win, in First Home Splashes of Season

This story appeared first on the Albany High School Cougar Online, and has been reprinted here with permission. Click the "Keep me posted" button below for more stories about the Albany pool.

[This story appeared first on the Albany High School Cougar Online, and has been reprinted here with permission. Read more here from the The Cougar.] On Thursday, March 22, the Albany High School Swim Team hosted its first regulation home meet in its history at AHS. In the last three years, while the Albany Aquatic Center was under construction, the team held practices and hosted meets at the El Cerrito Swim Center. Before 2008, the team swam in the old Albany Pool, and while it was fine for practices, the pool was 33.3 yards long, rather than 25 yards, and did not meet competition standards. However, the team did host unofficial meets at this time. For its first regulation meet, the AHS swim team hosted Piedmont. Spectators including …

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