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CASTRO VALLEY FORUM A COMMUNITY NEWSPAPER SERVING CASTRO VALLEY SINCE 1989
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 4, 2024
YEAR 36
NO. 46 MAC MEETING
INSIDE YOUR
Cold Water is Thrown on CV Car Wash Plan
FORUM
New Restaurant Local chef bringing Puerto Rican cuisine to Castro Valley
Page 2
PHOTOS BY MIKE McGUIRE
A PEEK AT THE CREEK: Some of the items dumped into Crow Creek near where it meets San Lorenzo Creek, near Grove Way in Castro Valley.
Memorial Game Celebrating legacies of Peter Branson and ‘Coach’ Joe Hendren
Page 5
Groups Restore Creek, Return to Local Tribe By Mike McGuire CASTRO VALLEY FORUM
Senior Q&A Tax and cost-of-living increases that you will be seeing in 2025
Page 10
INDEX Classified Ads ........ 8 Events .................... 5 Homes ..................... 6 Obituaries ............. 11 Opinions ............. 11 Our Town ................. 3 Seniors .................. 10 Sheriff’s Report ..... 3 Sports .................. 12 Weather ................ 2 WWW.MYCVFORUM.COM
and directed them to come back with a proposal that was more suitable for a “gateway” The Castro Valley Munici- location in Castro Valley. pal Advisory Council (MAC) Splash Brothers operates a MAC pumped the brakes on car wash on Hesperian Boulea proposed car wash that was vard in San Leandro, and they planned to be developed on the also have another location in former lumberyard site at the Colorado. The owners wanted western end of the Boulevard. to open the Castro Valley site as self-service only and offer a The owners of Splash monthly rate for unlimited car Brothers car wash sought to demolish the existing lumber- washes. yard buildings on the 1.35-acre The MAC suggested that site at 2495 Castro Valley a full-service car wash and Boulevard. But the MAC nar- camouflaging any buildings rowly shot down the proposal see MAC on page 11 By Amy Sylvestri
CASTRO VALLEY FORUM
Rights to a section of San Lorenzo Creek near Grove Way in Castro Valley were returned to a local indigenous tribe, while dozens of volunteers cleaned up a separate section of the waterway this past week. Volunteers from the nonprofit groups Forestr.org and RISE (Rising Into Self Empowerment) came on Saturday, November 30 to the confluence of San Lorenzo Creek, Crow Creek, and the creek running from Don Castro Park to haul out trash. Dozens of shopping carts were pulled out, along with some home appliances and many tires. A little more than a mile downstream, the ancestral caretakers of what is now called San Lorenzo Creek got three acres of it back, it was announced on Monday, November 25. Eden Housing, which is building apartments nearby, returned the portion of the stream between Crescent Avenue and A Street to the Lisjan Nation. see CREEK on page 11
CAROL BIGELOW
Giving Back to CV Community By Volunteering By Michael Singer CASTRO VALLEY FORUM
Creek cleanup volunteers, from left, Christina Barry and Avvy Espinosa, head out armed and ready to clean up San Lorenzo Creek near Grove Way in Castro Valley Saturday, November 30.
Carol Bigelow refuses to slow down when it comes to giving back to the Castro Valley community. “My mantra is ‘get the job done and just do it,’” Bigelow says. “I want to make sure it gets done and the money goes to the right place and the right people handle it and get the problem taken care of.” The longtime Castro Valley resident is not often in the spotlight but is known as a force behind more than a dozen projects and service see BIGELOW on page 10
Carol Bigelow