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CASTRO VALLEY FORUM A COMMUNITY NEWSPAPER SERVING CASTRO VALLEY SINCE 1989
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 18, 2023
YEAR 35 INSIDE YOUR
FORUM
NO. 3
Storm Repair Price Tag: $52 Million Eye on Forced Labor DA CAMPAIGN
By Michael Singer
CASTRO VALLEY FORUM
Don’t Miss It The soulful sounds of Nicolas Bearde coming to CV Arts Center
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The Sweet Spot What you need to know if you are planning on planting a berry vine
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Estate Planning Make sure your estate planning documents are HIPPA compliant
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The cost to repair storm-damaged roads and other critical infrastructure in Alameda County is expected to exceed $52 million, which includes $6 million to repair a section of A Street that washed out into San Lorenzo Creek, officials said last Thursday. But expect A Street between 4th Street and Charlene Way to be closed for quite a while as rainy conditions sweep through the East Bay, potentially adding to the storm damage. More than 20 different sites in the county were damaged or destroyed due to heavy rains in the past month, including sections of Redwood Road past the golf course, Crow Canyon Road near the county line, Eden Canyon Road, and Lake Chabot Road along the west side of the lake. Castro Valley was pelted with more than 7 inches of rain at the end of December and nearly 5 inches since the beginning of 2023.
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Human trafficking is an estimated $150 billion-a-year global industry, with as many as 17,500 victims trafficked into the United States annually. Yet, Alameda County is the third highest “hot spot” for this crime in the U.S. In response, Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price and billboard advertising firm Clear Channel have PHOTO BY MICHAEL SINGER teamed up to raise awareness Rep. Eric Swalwell visited the A Street site last week with emergency officials to and offer hope to victims during January’s National survey the damage. The cost to repair storm-damaged roads and other critical infrastructure in Alameda County is expected to exceed $52 million. Human Trafficking Awareness Month. It’s the 10th year the U.S. Congressman Eric This allows Alameda County two organizations have collabmany of us have relied on Swalwell visited the A Street orated to bring local awareness the local infrastructure here,” to get federal resources such site last week with emergency Swalwell said. as people and equipment to fix to this crime. officials to survey the damage. roads and infrastructure. The “Human trafficking is a Governor Gavin Newsom “Eye-popping to just see declared a state of emergency county is paying for the repairs serious crime that affects teens, it in that standing because so see STORM on page 2 children, and residents of in California on January 8. Alameda County every single day,” said District Attorney Price. “When you think of human trafficking, you may think of crimes that occur in far-off places. But that is not the reality. These crimes are wants EBMUD to put the dirt happening right here in our somewhere else. They say own backyard. My office truck volume, project duration, hopes that public awareness and concerns about hillside staon these crimes will increase bility are more than what the the likelihood that they will be two-lane road can handle. reported and perpetrators will “The road can’t possibly be brought to justice.” sustain that sort of truck The campaign features Clear traffic,” said Kat Wellman of Channel billboards and bus the Save Lake Chabot Road shelters throughout Alameda group. “It would make the road County, bringing awareness to totally unsafe, especially for the insidious crimes of human bicyclists.” trafficking. The campaign Wellman added that there’s focuses on crimes of sex and barely enough room for a car labor trafficking. These types to safely pass a bicycle, given of crimes are a serious threat to PHOTO CREDIT: ANNE CAWOOD public safety. how many curves there are. It’s even tighter when there is Lake Chabot Road, which would be used by many By educating the commualso an oncoming car, she said, dump trucks if the quarry project goes through, is nity on the various forms of currently closed for rain damage which has also never mind a truck. human trafficking in our neighsee EBMUD on back page destabilized hillsides. see LABOR on back page
A Quarrel Over EBMUD Quarry By Mike McGuire CASTRO VALLEY FORUM
INDEX
By Michael Singer CASTRO VALLEY FORUM
The East Bay Municipal Utility District (EBMUD) is replacing many older sewage pipes throughout Alameda and Contra Costa County. Reaching that goal involves the utility company sending 60 to 100 full dump trucks a day for 40 years down narrow and curvy Lake Chabot Road between Castro Valley and San Leandro near the Bay-O-Vista neighborhood, according to EBMUD. That’s got some people riled up enough to launch an online petition called “Save Lake Chabot Road.” The group