Columnists

Green Neighbors: Welcome the Flowers That Bloom in the Spring

By Ron Sullivan
Tuesday April 24, 2007

Having ranted about the allergenic pollen from certain flowering trees—the sorts one might not even think of as “flowering” except in the taxonomic sense—allow me to spend a few inches on thanks and praise for their more conspicuous brethren. -more-


Column: Undercurrents: Dellums Administration Gets Oakland Moving Again

By J. Douglas Allen-Taylor
Friday April 20, 2007

Some years ago, in a more energetic time in my life, I used to pick up day work unloading banana boats for Chiquita Brands on the docks at Charleston, South Carolina. By that time they had stopped shipping bananas by the stalk, but instead, they were coming up from Central America in 40 pound boxes. These boxes were stacked up to the roof of each deck of the banana boats, and when you first got on the floor in the morning, there was barely enough room for the 10 man crews to stand in the bare space around the hold, much less start working sending the boxes up the single conveyor belt that took them up the hold to the top deck. -more-


First Person: Compassion and Outrage at the Coffee Bar

By E. S. Hammer
Friday April 20, 2007

As a 50-ish fan of Susan Parker’s column, I am following with keen interest her colorful descriptions of loss and renewal at age 55. I wish her great good fortune in finding or creating the “next right career” for herself. However, I just had to share an anecdote of my own, in case Ms. Parker meant seriously that perhaps she’d apply at Peet’s. -more-


East Bay Then and Now: Daniels Excelled in Developing and Marketing Scenic Beauty

By Daniella Thompson
Friday April 20, 2007

Nobody recognized the commercial value of natural scenery better than Mark Daniels. -more-


About the House: Strapping Young Water Heater Turns 10 Years Old

By Matt Cantor
Friday April 20, 2007

I am a total crank. I admit it. I can’t help myself. I think this just the way Lord Shiva made me and there ain’t too darned much I can do about it. Some things just rile me, chafe and get under my pink semi-translucent skin and one of those things is the utter and thorough inability of just about everyone in the building trades to properly strap a water heater. -more-