HAPPENING THIS WEEK:
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SATURDAY
SAT. & SUN.
HELP IMPROVE TRANSPORTATION
CVHS TROJAN FLEA MARKET
VIRTUAL TOURS OF NATIVE GARDENS
CASTRO VALLEY FORUM A COMMUNITY NEWSPAPER SERVING CASTRO VALLEY SINCE 1989
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 12, 2023
YEAR 35
INSIDE YOUR
FORUM
NO. 15
Illegal Dumping: What Can be Done? By Michael Singer
CASTRO VALLEY FORUM
Input Sought
CVEA Chamber seeks public input to revise the CV Specific Plan
Page 3
New Study
Parents feel schools should teach things outside academics
Page 5
New Supervisor
Elisa Marquez chosen to represent Board of Supervisors District 2
Page 10
INDEX Calendar ................ 4 Classified Ads ....... 8 Crosswords ........... 9 Health & Fitness ..... 5 Homes ...................... 6 Obituaries ............ 11 Our Town ................. 3 Seniors .................. 10 Sports .................. 12 Weather ................ 2 WWW.MYCVFORUM.COM
Bags of trash accumulate next to an abandoned building. A mattress sits near the railroad tracks. Piles of wood and concrete are left behind on quiet roads. Illegal dumping has gotten out of hand in Alameda County, residents, businesses, and officials agree. An upcoming conference aims to use partnerships to come up with solutions. The 3rd Annual Statewide Conference on Illegal Dumping is scheduled in Oakland from April 19 through 21. Alameda County Supervisor Nate Miley and the Illegal Dumping Task Force organized the event. This year, the goal is to encourage public sector and non-profit collaboration to educate, eradicate, and enforce anti-dumping laws in urban, suburban, and rural communities. “The scale of the problem is so vast, and we have been able to make headway, but it is like trying to stop the tide,” Erin Armstrong, senior policy advisor for Supervisor Miley’s office, told the Forum. For example, last Friday, Armstrong, Miley, and a team of volunteers removed more than 30 tons of illegal dumping, including 34 couches and
ONLINE TOUR
Native Garden Events By Mike McGuire
CASTRO VALLEY FORUM
The 19th annual Bringing Back the Natives Garden Tour and Green Home Features Showcase returns to the East Bay online this weekend, April 15 to 16, and in person, May 6 to 7. The online tour features Susan and Bill Teefy’s Castro Valley garden, according to tour coordinator Kathy Kramer. The in-person tour visits eight homes and gardens, More than 30 tons of garbage, including 34 couches and chairs, 20 mattresses, including one in San Leandro, five in Castro Valley, includand over a dozen appliances, were removed from an illegal dump site in Alameda County last Friday. Officials will meet next week to discuss solutions. ing the Teefy’s, and two more locations in Hayward. leave behind concrete, dirt, or sofa chairs, 20 mattresses, over “Some people pay $150 The April 15 online event construction materials.” a dozen appliances, and a large for someone to haul away begins with a keynote presentasafe at a notorious dump site on their trash,” Armstrong said. It’s important to separate tion by best-selling author Dr. Miramonte Avenue. The Task “These haulers pocket the cash homelessness from illegal Doug Tallamy, a native plant Force has identified hundreds and dump the load near sites dumping, she adds, because advocate who teaches and of similar areas where garbage like the one on Miramonte. encampments do not have carries out ecological research has been dumped, cleaned up, Benevolent dumpers will often ways to dispose of garbage. at the University of Delaware. and then dumped again. leave behind something like a And sometimes, the dumping Both tours encourage Armstrong says those who couch or food near a homeless takes place on the border bepeople to help local ecosystems tween county, state, and federal by planting plants already dump fall into three categories: encampment, thinking that they are doing something properties, making it harder to well-adapted to local condilook-the-other-way dumping, good. Industrial dumpers enforce. benevolent dumping, and tions and using fewer introlook for remote locations to see DUMPING on page 10 industrial dumping. see GARDEN on page 10
Autism Awareness Month: Steps Toward Belonging have significantly benefited that in 2020, the autism community, and the prevaperceptions of ASD have come lence of ASD a long way in the last 50 years, increased to 1 Autism Awareness Month there is still so much more to in 36 among has been celebrated in April since the 1970s and continues be mindful of moving forward. children aged to be recognized by national Autism awareness is becom- 8 years old. As and global groups that strive ing more important than ever we consider to increase understanding of as we gain increasing knowl- the significance of this uptick Autism Spectrum Disorders in diagnoses, it’s useful to keep edge of the condition. The (ASD). These groups have in mind how we can use what Centers for Disease Control worked hard to advance chang- and Prevention (CDC)’s Auwe’ve learned to promote a es in the way the conditions are tism and Developmental Dis- better sense of belonging in the understood and addressed by abilities Monitoring (ADDM) wider community for neurodithe world. While their efforts Network recently announced verse individuals. By Jagmeet Kaur Sangha SPECIAL TO THE FORUM
Early detection of ASD still remains vital as it allows diagnosticians to fully determine potential cognitive delays and creates access to treatment that can build learning environments to best support the individual needs of the autistic person. Evidence-based therapies and learning accommodations in early education can greatly benefit the development of a young neurodivergent mind. On the other hand, undetected autism can lead to various
mental health challenges in both children and adults, which only further reinforces the importance of accurately identifying ASD (see my March 8 article discussing this issue). [mycvforum.com] It is natural for our human brains to have cognitive variations in the way that we think and experience the world. Autism, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), dyslexia, Tourette Syndrome see AUTISM on page 11