Inside
Animal ambassadors Get ready for wildlife rehabilitation open house. 14
TRICITYVOICE.COM
VOL 24 NO 40
Those exiting the Fremont BART station on Thursday, Sept. 25, during rush hour may have noticed poster boards and a table full of stickers and Postits. BART officials were out collecting feedback from residents for a potential Transit-Oriented Development (TOD): housing near and around BART. The Open House event lasted from 4:30pm to 6:30pm inside the station next to the buses. Officials walked up to BART riders and asked for their thoughts on the possibility of housing next to BART. Riders and residents were asked about sustainable communities, ridership, financial stability for both BART and the City of Fremont, preferred method of transportation to the station, neighborhood vitality and of course, housing affordability. — More on page 10
Alex Knowbody / Geoffrey Coombes / Durban Media, (inside photo bottom) Mikayla Swiper Delson
By Roelle Balan
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OBITUARIES
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CLASSIFIED ADS
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LEGAL LISTINGS
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SEPTEMBER 30-OCTOBER 6, 2025
BART officials request feedback on housing ● Transit-oriented development could contribute to housing affordability and neighborhood vitality in Fremont
OPINION
Earlier this year Ruby Ibarra was announced as NPR Music’s 2025 Tiny Desk Contest winner after submitting her single, ‘Bakunawa.’
Baby day Washington Health holds Special Care Nursery Reunion. 8
Brick by brick Lego store and Chabot College hold family event. 12
Prop 50 Be informed for the special election. 18
NO PLACE LIKE HOME East Bay rapper Ruby Ibarra performed at Music in the Park in San Jose after returning from her nationwide tour.
Local Authors Festival
East Bay native wins NPR contest
Explore new voices and support local creativity. 19
● Filipina rapper Ruby Ibarra reflects on her NPR music win and tour By April Ramos
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mong over 7,000 entries to NPR Music’s Tiny Desk Contest earlier this year, one East Bay Area native captivated the judges with her “beautifully arranged music, passion and, above all, authenticity.” Rapper Ruby Ibarra was declared the winner of the Tiny Desk Contest in May, after submitting a trilingual, intergenerational performance of her single, “Bakunawa.” Ibarra was born in the Phil-
ippines and immigrated to the East Bay with her family at a young age. Much of Ibarra’s music tackles topics of identity, immigration and the “American Dream.” All of which are a reflection of her personal experiences. The Filipino community she found in the Bay Area is what drives her to tell the stories in her music. “I look at the people in my Filipino-American community and how a lot of them often still don’t have the opportunity to share their stories and high-
light who they are and where they came from,” said Ibarra. “Who is going to tell their story if not me?” A distinct element Ibarra uses to showcase her culture in her music is her multilingual flow through English, Tagalog and Bisaya. “It only becomes natural that I do a lot of those language switch ups in my lyrics to help illustrate those stories even more,” said Ibarra. “It’s a conscious decision of wanting to highlight these languages on a visible level in hip-hop.” The Bay Area not only played a part in her finding a Filipino community, but also contrib— More on page 11
Skeletons and marigolds Local artists exhibit at Day of the Dead show. 24