The Voice of East Bay Living

  What's going on in the East Bay market – what do you get for $1 million--- The typical Albany home (a two bedroom one bath bungalow with a small yard) is worth almost $1 million. The highest sales price in Albany this year which broke records was for over $2.4 million dollars with the average median sales price in 2017 being $983,000. The median sales price in Berkeley is $1,160,000- for a typical 3 bedroom, one bath bungalow near Sacramento Street. The flatlands of  Berkeley are becoming more popular than the homes in the Hills. Proximity to amenities is a significant price driver. People want to be  close to transportation,  coffee shops, biking and walking.  The median sales price in Piedmont is just under $2 million. The highest sale in Piedmont was in 2004 for $8.8 million. Many people are not moving because they cannot find a place to go and or they do not want to pay capital gains when they sell  because their homes...

Every year Berkeley Rotary dedicates a redwood tree in the International Peace Grove at Inspiration Point to a person or organization for their efforts to achieve world peace. The  grove was established on the site of the former Nike missile location for the defense of the Bay Area. In 1955, the Grove was given to Berkeley Rotary and 100 redwood trees were planted. This year the award was given to George Mitchell who worked tirelessly to establish peace in Northern Ireland and the Middle East.  The celebration was an Irish theme complete with Irish stew and fiddlers. Be sure and take a hike to the grove.  Want to learn more about the Berkeley Rotary and how you can be involved? Email Sheila at ssabine@grubbco.com

Today at Berkeley Rotary, we had a speaker from the Alliance for Climate Education (ACE) who shared information about climate change and why it's important for individuals to be aware of our changing environment. ACE is a national organization that was founded in Oakland and dedicated to educating people about climate change. Statistics show that 90% of scientists believe that climate change is caused by people while 46% of the general public disagree. In fact, polls reveal that climate change is very low on the list of the general public's priorities. People are mostly worried about terrorism, the economy, and jobs. Climate change is at the bottom of the list. The urgency of climate change is very apparent with the drought in California. Climate change impacts all of us living on this planet. Young people have the most to lose when it comes to climate change and the most to gain by taking action. This is where ACE has found an opportunity to make a difference by connect...

Berkeley Chief of Police, Michael Meehan, was the guest speaker at this week's Berkeley Rotary meeting. He presented some very interesting facts about the Berkeley Police Department: Berkeley police dept. was founded in 1909 All police policies are online Police officers can type & email reports from their cars. They are the pioneers for Social media for police activates-go NIXLE.com to view Crime in Berkeley is at a  50 year low Over 20% of force are female officers (this is twice the national average!) 100% of officers have a college degree Their motto is to be  compassionate, fair & reasonable the Police department hosts periodic public open houses where one can view artifacts and also see how the things are run. Chief Meehan ended is talk by saying,  “I come to work each day with a passion for what I do.”

Each year the Berkeley Rotary club donates dictionaries to every third grade greater in the entire public school system of Berkeley. Members of the club volunteer time to organize the dictionaries and hand-deliver them to each school with a special ceremony. Contact Glass Sabine ssabine@grubbco.com

High atop the hills of Tilden Park sits a serene sanctuary known as the Rotary Peace Grove. This section of the park was donated to Berkeley Rotary in 1955 when they began planting redwood trees. Each year, a different tree is dedicated to a leader in world peace and bronze plaques are displayed with the honorees' names at the base of each tree. The members of the Rotary club prune and  clean up regularly to help preserve the magic and the beauty. The hike to the grove makes a wonderful outing for the entire family. Contact Glass Sabine at ssabine@grubbco.com

The guest speaker at our Berkeley Rotary meeting was Nancy Skinner, a member of the California State Assembly. Here are a few tidbits from her talk: -California is the 8th largest economy in the world. -California voters in 2012 passed a temporary tax which paid down the state debt by $12 billion.  -There has been increased funding to elementary schools and all public schools will receive a 10% increase in funds this year.  -More money is currently being spent for improvement of local streets ,roads, and the park systems.  -California has made the largest investment in a decade for pre-school care.  Two areas that desperately need help in the state: -The state has an incredibly high incarceration rate-state is spending a lot of money and this is not serving us.New funds are being used to assist low level offenders to find productive work and lives.  -A shocking 25% of California residents live on or below poverty level-the poverty is a toxic i...

Berkeley Rotary Club is involved in many community activities.  A year ago, several of the club's members started Brighter Beginnings, a Richmond Healthcare Clinic, located at 2727 Macdonald Blvd. in Richmond. The clinic is staffed by over 25 volunteers, who have a variety of medical skills ranging from doctors, nurses, translators, and offers free medical care for adults and children who do not have health insurance.  In one year they have treated 967 patients, 66% live below the poverty line.   

At Berkeley Rotary today, the guest speaker was from The Greater Good Science Center located at the University of California. The topic was Gratitude and the important role it plays in all of our lives. People crave positive emotions. Gratitude in the workplace makes people feel that their work is valuable. When was the last time you expressed gratitude to your friends, family or co-workers? Try it.. it just might improve the quality of your life and those around you as well.

You have galloped by this place a million times. This old-fashioned race horse track - 140 acres of land dedicated to horses - is located just off the Gilman Street exit and nestled along the shoreline of the San Francisco Bay. Amidst the ro aring crowds and pounding of hooves, the Berkeley Rotary Club has established a TEFl program (teaching English as a second language) to the many employees and their families who come from mostly Spanish speaking countries to help with the important job of grooming and caring for the horses.

I am a proud member of Berkeley Rotary. Following our international motto of "Service Above Self", we are committed to providing humanitarian services. We have recently established a free medical clinic in Richmond called Brighter Beginnings. Its purpose is to provide  health care to uninsured children and adults with acute or chronic conditions. Brighter Beginnings is staffed mostly by volunteer Rotarians, among them both doctors and nurses. The clinic is also connected to a network of other medical groups offering both free care and medical office equipment. If you are interested in getting involved, follow this link to the Brighter Beginnings website: www.brighter-beginnings.org/get-involved