COMING EVENTS
TONIGHT
TWO CV ARTISTS TO HOST OPEN HOUSE
SATURDAY
16TH ANNUAL CV CAR SHOW
SUNDAY
CELEBRATING FATHER’S DAY
CASTRO VALLEY FORUM A COMMUNITY NEWSPAPER SERVING CASTRO VALLEY SINCE 1989
WEDNESDAY, JUNE 12, 2024
YEAR 36
NO. 22
MAC MEETING
INSIDE YOUR
FORUM
Are There Ordinances For Trees?
Town Hall
‘Conversation About Homelessness’ puts faces to the numbers
By Amy Sylvestri
CASTRO VALLEY FORUM
Page 3
New Book
CV teacher James Raggio has released a new book, ‘Plukt’
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ALL PHOTOS COURTESY OF CASTRO VALLEY UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT
Redwood High School graduate Hailey Newman smiles after receiving her diploma.
All Smiles at Redwood High School, CVACE Graduations By Josie de la Torre
SPECIAL TO THE FORUM
A Father’s Story
Children of the late Leo W. Schmidt share the story of a loving father
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INDEX Calendar ................ 4 Classified Ads ........ 8 Crosswords ............ 9 Homes ..................... 6 Obituaries ............. 11 Opinions ............... 10 Our Town ................. 3 Sheriff’s Report ...... 3 Sports .................. 12 Weather ................ 2 WWW.MYCVFORUM.COM
After years of hard work, students at Castro Valley’s alternative high school and adult school celebrated and planned for the future with their parents, guardians, friends, and teachers last month. On May 29, Redwood High School held its graduation ceremony for students at the Center of the Performing Arts.
Some 62 students walked across the stage to receive their diplomas and celebrate their accomplishments. Redwood High School is an alternative education plan to the large traditional high schools like Castro Valley High. It provides smaller class sizes, individual help for students, and options for earning a high school diploma. “We are extremely proud of our students at Redwood.
Graduation is clearly the high point of our academic year, and we are thrilled to see our students be successful,” said Principal Kenneth Kahn. Castro Valley Adult and Career Education students walked the stage on May 30. The ceremony was touching, as students were invited to take a rose and give it to someone who had helped them in their educational career. see SMILES on page 10
Does the county have a right to tell landowners what they can do with trees located on their private property? The Alameda County Development Agency shared possible plans for managing trees on private property in the unincorporated area at Monday night’s Castro Valley Municipal Advisory Council (MAC) meeting. Currently, there is no countywide ordinance regarding trees in the unincorporated area. In Fairview only, some rules protect homeowners’ rights to protect their views or access to sunlight. Rules also apply to any tree in the county’s right-of-way, which requires property owners to maintain/ prune trees adjacent to the rightof-way. The county is considering a more extensive ordinance and has looked at ordinances already established in Contra Costa and Santa Clara counties, among other municipalities, for guidelines. Other cities protect trees above a certain height or circumference, certain species, or “heritage” trees in specific locations. Some trees would require replacement if a property owner sought to remove one, and others would not be able to be removed as a condition of project approval. Others could be removed on a conditional basis for public safety. Other cities also have language that requires a certain number of new trees to be planted as part of new developments and to preserve views for neighboring properties. see MAC on page 11
Devastated by Fire, Public Market to Rebuild though it’s only been a week, there is a plan to rebuild, according to Hans Cho, owner of On May 30, 2024, a devas- Mama Cho’s BBQ and whose tating three-alarm fire engulfed family owns the public market. the Lake Chabot Public “We’re literally taking it day Market, collapsing the roof and by day,” Cho told the Forum. destroying six businesses. Even “Without understanding the By Michael Singer
CASTRO VALLEY FORUM
full picture, it’s hard to make any informed decisions. We already know the market will take a few years to rebuild, but in terms of Mama Cho’s BBQ, we’d love to reopen at a limited capacity in the upcoming months with options such as
home delivery, pop-ups, and catering.” He added that many people have asked to start a GoFundMe to support the market, its vendors, and its employees. In the meantime, employees like Castro Valley resident
Nathaniel de la Torre are still shocked by the loss of the entire Public Market. “It’s so sad for all the business owners and vendors I knew,” de la Torre told the Forum. “I used to work at see MARKET on page 11