2006

December 30 - Once again, we have discovered that Comcast is blocking e-mail sent to OpenForum. This affects those people who receive their mail with a Comcast e-mail account.

December 29 - A series of earthquakes with the epicenter in our neighborhood rolled through our area. The largest one was a 3.7. Curtis Doty made a map of them that can viewed with GoogleEarth. (Updated)

December 10 - On November 28, residents voted to form a NCPC under the umbrella of the North Hills Phoenix Association. NCPC is an acronym for Neighborhood Crime Prevention Council. To contact the leaders of the North Hills NCPC, you can send a to them.

October 21 - The North Hills press conference has been covered by both the San Francisco Chronicle and the Oakland Tribune. We have a slide show of this event.

October 14 - A committee of the North Hills Phoenix Association, led by Anne Seasons, has just issued a report on how well the cities of Oakland and Berkeley have responded to problems which led to 1991 Oakland Hills Fire and loss of life. There will be a press conference on Tuesday, October 17 at 1 PM at the Gateway Garden at the intersection of Hiller Drive and Tunnel Road (the intersection nearest the Caldecott Tunnel).

October 14 - A large parcel of land near Skyline Boulevard is for sale. NHPA has been negotiating with the owner to build a trail from North Oakland Sports Complex to Skyline on that property.

October 4 - The North Hills Phoenix Association will celebrate its birthday on Saturday, October 21. At 4 PM we will gather at 5999 Grizzly Peak and walk to the home of Russ and Annette Aubry. A pot luck dinner will start around 5 PM. All neighbors are invited. This event first began a year after the Oakland Hills Fire and has been held regularly.

October 4 - Last night the Oakland City Council voted unanimously to release emergency funds up to $300K to winterize the landslide above Alvarado Road.

September 27 - Andrew Brandt has made a presentation to local residents on using video cameras as a crime deterrent or for monitoring suspicious activity near their homes.

September 22 - If slide repairs are not done soon, Alvarado might be closed for the winter. Emergency funds will be requested at the City Council meeting on Tuesday, October 3 at 7 PM. Residents are requested to support the allocation of funds and/or attend this meeting. Contact Tim Henry for more information.

September 12 - Oakland is holding its annual creek cleanup on Saturday, September 16 from 9 AM to noon. Our local activity will be at the North Oakland Sports Field near the Caldecott Tunnel.

July 29 - Several neighborhood groups have arranged gatherings for National Night Out on Tuesday, August 1 in the North Hills.

July 29 - Our August newsletter is now online with pictures in color.

July 2 – The City of Oakland is sponsoring a National Night Out on Tuesday, August 1. Groups are encouraged to have a neighborhood block party. If you register by July 21, then your will be on officially registered and a team of city officials will visit your party.

June 30 - A follow up (to our meeting in March) is being held on Thursday, July 6 at Kaiser Elementary School, Hiller Drive, at 7 PM. At the meeting Councilwoman Jane Brunner and City Planning Director, Claudia Cappio, agreed to address development issues in the North Hills that were discussed at the March meeting.

June 16 - Early last Sunday, a local family was held at gunpoint by several robbers. Fortunately, no one was hurt. Details of this scary incident on Gravatt can be found in the Oakland Tribune. Scott, one of the people held hostage, has detailed a very moving and personal eye witness account.

June 8 - Ray Davis, Officer in Charge of the Berkeley Post Office, has written our President David Kessler that we now have a full time mail carrier and the mail will be delivered at a reasonable time.

June 8 - Bob Sieben reports "FEMA has granted $3,000,000 to a joint project in vegetation management for the prevention of fire in an environmentally sensitive way in the North Hills of Oakland involving UC Berkeley, East Bay Regional Park District and the City of Oakland! The Oakland Wild Fire District is providing $200,000 as its required matching contribution. This will mitigate the risk of fire in the North Hills Phoenix Association's area of interest, including primarily broom and eucalyptus and including the area near the North Oakland Athletic Field. Kristin Sharf, Leroy Griffin and Chief Williams along with Tom Klatt and EBRPD are to be congratulated on winning this grant against very stiff competition. The fact that Oakland voters voted to tax themselves for the sake of mitigating the risk of wildfire in the urban/wildlands interface was not lost on the grantors."

June 4 - Our April newsletter is now online.

May 29 - Next month, Caltrans is holding two meetings to present their Draft Environmental Assessment/ Environmental Impact Report for the Caldecott Improvement Project. The closest meeting to us will be held on Thursday, June 15, starting at 6 PM at Claremont Middle School.

May 29 - There will be a presentation on the Minerva House Academic Retreat at Minor Hall on the University of California campus at 7 PM on Wednesday May 31.

May 21 - There is a proposal to build an 8,000 square foot academic retreat center at 4849 Grizzly Peak Blvd. (near Grizzly and Marlborough). This proposal will be discussed at the Wednesday, June 7 (note, the new date) meeting of the Oakland Planning Commission. Glenn Hammonds has prepared a map using Google Earth for this facility.

April 19 - All three major candidates for Mayor of Oakland, Ron Dellums, Ignacio De La Fuente, and Nancy Nadel have submitted detailed answers to several questions submitted by the North Hills Phoenix Association. Each of them sent a personal message to members of our community.

March 21 - Please attend the North Oakland Hills Community meeting sponsored by our Councilmember Jane Brunner at Kaiser School. Be there on Monday, March 27 from 7 PM to 8:30 PM. The topic is The Future Development in the Oakland Hills.

March 18 - Our Winter newsletter is now posted.

February 26 - We have just posted pictures taken at the annual meeting which were taken by NHPA members – John Eastman and Jan Young. Our secretary, Aileen Frankel has sent in the minutes.

February 9 - We have just obtained the plans for the proposed development by Mayer-Luce called Bay View Estates. This project is a 38-lot subdivision at the end of Broadway by the eastbound exit of Highway 24 at the Caldecott Tunnel. Mayer-Luce proposes to provide a trail between Skyline Boulevard and the city property near the North Oakland Sports Field. The project, City Case # ZP05-0204, is being reviewed under the supervision of Major Project Manager Gary Patton, with the project contracted to Rod Barger. Mayer-Luce has submitted to the City a "zoning pre-application" submittal. There are 6 documents labeled #1, #2, #3, #4, #5, #6.

February 3 - The Oakland Tribune has written a newspaper article about North Hills' award to Raoul Godinez for his work on road safety in this area. NHPA officers Judy Proller and Anne Seasons praised him in the paper for the construction of guardrails and other recent safety items that have been installed here.

January 6 - Our annual meeting will be held on Thursday, January 19 at 7 PM in Kaiser Elementary School. Speaker topics include land slides - over development - insurance coverage. All are invited to attend. Coffee, tea and refreshments will be provided.