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Your Local News Source Since 1963 SERVING DUBLIN • LIVERMORE • PLEASANTON • SUNOL THURSDAY, AUGUST 9, 2012VOLUME XLIX, NUMBER 32

PET OF THE WEEKHello everybody! My name is Saucy. I am a young male kitten who loves people and playing with toy mice. I was surrendered with my siblings Sissy and Sassy in early May and I'm still waiting for my forever home. I've made some new friends here at VHS, but I'm looking for a permanent friend, if you know what I mean. For more information, call us at 925-426-8656 or go online to www.valleyhumane.org or www.facebook.com/ValleyHumaneSociety to see other adoptable dogs and cats. Valley Humane Society is located at 3670 Nevada Street in Pleasanton.

RABBIT ADOPTION My name is Brian. I’ll work for treats. I’m a mischievous, intelligent boy who would be perfect for someone who would like to try clicker training. If Bunny Agility Races are part of the next Olympics, we could be ready. To meet Brian and other rescues, stop by this Saturday from 12-3 pm at the Adoption Event at the Dublin Petco, 11976 Dublin Blvd. For more info, call 519-1723, or email ebrabbit@comcast.net. Visit www.eastbayrabbit.pet finder.com to see more pet profiles.

Tri-Valley Haven will giving away backpacks and school supplies to local students in need on Tuesday, August 14 from 1-5PM at the Food Pantry located at 418 Junction Avenue in Livermore and is asking the community for help in meeting the growing need for supplies.

The impact of the re-cession is still evident in the numbers served at the Haven’s food pantry. Last year the Pantry served over 7,000 individuals from Livermore, Dublin, Pleas-anton and Sunol. “With so many families still strug-gling to keep food on their table, it is no surprise that many parents don’t have the money to purchase school supplies for their children,” says Samantha Burrows, Director of Homeless and Family Support Programs who oversees the Haven’s Pantry as well as the Back to School Drive.

Last year over 440 Tri-Valley children were outfit-ted with backpacks, school supplies and even new shoes. This year, the Haven anticipates the number of those in need to climb even higher.

Backpacks and supplies are given out on a first come, first serve basis until they are gone and although the distribution itself does not start until the afternoon, families begin lining up in the early morning hours. “Last year we were lucky, we did not have to turn anyone away, this year the donations are sparse and we are worried we will not be able to meet the need within the community.”

The Haven is requesting the community’s help in making this year’s drive a success. Donations are be-ing accepted until Thursday, August 9 at the Tri-Valley Haven Community Build-ing located at 3663 Pacific Avenue in Livermore.

Families needing assis-tance are invited to come

By Carol GrahamCheering, jubilant crowds

witnessed her "kiss," but Sarah Williams says that she didn’t blush at all.

The 19-year-old Pleasan-ton resident was one of only 22 Americans selected to carry the Olympic torch as it traveled throughout Great Britain on a journey that concluded with the lighting of the cauldron at the 2012 games opening ceremony.

“They taught us how to ‘kiss’ the other torch so the flame can be passed along,” said Williams of the moment the Olympic flame is trans-ferred from one torchbearer to another. “They also told us to have fun and to be in the moment. The crowds were incredible, especially the children. Some made their own torches out of foil and were waving them in the air as I ran by. That was

really special for me to see the excitement and pride in their eyes as they saw the Olympic flame.”

Williams is a person who clearly appreciates the lights in children’s eyes. Her Olympic adventure was sponsored by Coca-Cola’s Future Flames campaign as a way to honor those who use their passions to inspire others.

During her freshman year

in high school, Williams had read the book “Hope’s Boy,” a memoir of author Andrew Bridge’s decade spent in the foster care system.

“Bridge describes a scene where a boy is huddled in the corner of a small cell in a detention center,” said Wil-liams. “He asks the warden for a blanket for the shiver-ing child. The warden slams the door in Bridge’s face as

Pleasanton Teen Carries Olympic TorchSarah Williams is greeted by well-wishers during her turn carrying the torch.

(See OLYMPICS, page 2)

School Supplies, Backpack Give-away Set

(See HAVEN, page 5)

Photo - Doug Jorgensen

The annual Pooch Parade in downtown Pleasanton drew a dog and his owner dressed as centipedes. For more photos, see page 5.

By Janet ArmantroutConcerns over the ability

to speak out on issues, par-ticularly health care, has led the Lab Retirees Association to separate from Livermore Laboratory Employees Ser-vice Association (LLESA).

L i v e r m o r e L a b o r a -tory Retirees Association (LLRA) declared its inde-pendence on July 24.

In a letter sent to the Lab Director Parney Albright, LLESA manager Steve Goodman, and UC Vice President for Laboratory Management Glenn Mara, the new association wrote that they believe the Lab had redefined the group’s role.

A letter from Goodman sent last October stated that the primary purpose of the retirees association as “so-cial in nature.” He con-tinued, “Members of the Retiree Group should not give advice on health benefit coverage or any other ben-efits to other retirees.”

Carole Hilton, chairman of LLRA, pointed out that the by-laws ratified in 2001 have been on file with LLESA. She said that the purpose of the retirees association, as stated in the by-laws, “. . . . is to keep members fully

LabRetirees Form New Group

(See RETIREES, page 5)

A firm that produces power using wind turbines in the Altamont is looking into the possibility of also adding some Solar Energy Facilities (SEF) installations there.

Jesse Sirotkin, an attor-ney for Altamont Winds, told a meeting of interested public and stakeholders about the idea July 26 at a meeting in Dublin. The session was sponsored by Alameda County, which is

Altamont Wind Power Firm Looks Into Solar Possibility

in the process of preparing a policy for siting solar facili-ties in rural areas.

The idea to add solar in the Altamont is strictly ex-ploratory now. However, the firm wanted to make com-ments on the draft policy, said Sirotkin.

Sirotkin said that in exploring locations in the wind resources area, the firm found that many landowners had a problem with the Wil-liamson Act provisions that

might hamper conversion to SEFs.

The Williamson Act keeps property assessments relatively low, because land-owners guarantee they will not develop the property for the next 10 years. The com-mitment for 10 years can be retained upon renewal each year.

Many landowners, who might be interested in solar arrays on their land, don’t want to take their land out

of the Williamson Act. They might be required to do so, because of the way current county policy is written, said Sirotkin.

The policy says that ag-ricultural lands that are not designated “important farm-lands” can be kept in the Williamson Act and devel-oped, if the developed use is found to be compatible with the underlying agricul-tural use.

However, the county has

a policy that says develop-ments larger than 10 acres are not compatible with agricultural use.

The proposed SEF policy draft would modify that to allow the county to find compatibility for an SEF on more than 10 acres, provided that consistency with the principles of compatibility in a certain section of county rules can be found. “How-ever, such a finding of com-

(See SOLAR, page 4)

By Ron McNicollZone 7 Water Agency em-

ployees gave strong backing to the independence drive that the board of directors has been undertaking.

Currently Alameda Coun-ty oversees Zone 7.

More than 50 employees were in the room Aug. 2 for the administrative commit-tee’s special meeting. The agency employees approxi-mately 110 people.

A show of hands revealed most employees in the room favored separation, but oth-ers either were opposed or had questions about the pro-posal.

Employees who favored separation cited cost savings that serve water customers better. A study showed that the agency could save an estimated $750,000 annu-ally by ending duplication of administrative services with Alameda County.

Water customers would benefit, too, because it would be much easier to

Zone 7 Employees Look At Independence Question

order and stockpile neces-sary parts. Now Zone 7 has to go through a requisition process, and “make do” with work-around to solve a prob-lem while awaiting authori-zation from the county, said one Zone 7 employee.

On the other side of the question, one employee said that she is “on the fence.” She said that she hears state-ments from management that there are positive impacts on speeding up processes in agency hiring and pur-chasing. However, she has heard some concerns about whether or not it would work as planned. Some are concerned about losing em-ployee rights, she said.

Committee Chair John Greci said that the biggest fear around change is not the fear of having to adapt to something new, but the fear of losing something.

Greci repeated statements he made at meetings over the

((See ZONE 7, page 9)

Comments from the U.S. Air Force regarding Recolo-gy’s plans to transport waste to a landfill in Yuba County may derail the proposal.

The Air Force provided input to an environmental impact report under prepara-tion by Yuba County.

The county sent out a Notice of Preparation (NOP) of an integrated Draft En-vironmental Impact Report and Environmental Assess-ment (Draft EIRIEA) for the project referred to as Recol-ogy Green Rail Project and Amendments to Recology’s Conditional Use Permit and Solid Waste Facility Per-mit for the Ostrom Road Landfill.

In July 2011, the City of San Francisco’s Board of Supervisors approved the contract with Recology, Inc. to ship as much as 5 million tons, or 400,000 tons per year, of the city’s waste over a 10 year pe-

Use of Rail Spur to Haul Trash Rejected

(See RAIL, page 4)

PAGE 2 - The Independent, AUGUST 9, 2012

a ‘No.’ I was so upset after reading that, that I put the book down.

“I was reading the book in my own bed, underneath blankets of my own. My mind drifted to the blankets my volleyball team had made for ourselves that year. I had so much fun making those simple fleece blan-kets that I thought maybe I could make enough so that every child could have a blanket.”

Creative Kindness was born.

S ince then , 20 ,000 youngsters have received the plush blankets that are often the only thing they can call their own. Williams initiated a self-sustaining, pay-it-forward system by providing Legacy Kits that contain everything needed to make the no-sew blankets. Volunteers restock the kit with new materials before passing it along.

Carrying the Olympic torch through the town of Buckingham in central Eng-land rewarded Williams hard work with the opportunity of a lifetime.

“Most of the torchbearers

came from England so they all had family and friends there to support them,” said

Williams of the 8,000 torch-bearers who carried the flame on its 70-day, 8,000-

mile journey. “I was afraid that for my leg of the relay it was just going to be me and my dad! I was very pleasantly surprised by my British welcome.”

Months before making its way to London’s Olym-pic Stadium on July 27, the torch was ignited in Olympia, Greece during a traditional ceremony com-memorating the theft of fire from the Greek God Zeus, the father of Gods and men, by Prometheus, a Titan hero and trickster whose philan-thropic thievery was known to benefit mankind. Eleven women, representing the Vestal Virgins, performed a celebration in which the torch was kindled from the sun’s rays using a para-bolic mirror, after which it traveled briefly around Greece before commencing its extensive British route at Land’s End in Cornwall.

Torchbearers typically carry the flame about 300 yards, although Williams was assigned twice that. “Because I ran two legs of the race, they encouraged me just to keep running so my flame wouldn’t go out,”

OLYMPICS(continued from page one)

Sarah Williams uses a "kiss" to light a torch.

she recalled.The fuel inside each torch

lasts around 15 minutes as it feeds the two main flames: a highly-visible, cooler-burn-ing yellow flame, which is likely to extinguish in wind and rain; and a se-creted, hotter-burning blue flame (akin to a pilot light) that is capable of relighting and sustaining the brilliant golden flame.

For each Olympics, the design of the torch changes to reflect a classical theme or local aspect of the games. This year, the aluminum al-loy torches were perforated with 8,000 circles repre-senting each torchbearer who carried the flame while ensuring that the heat was quickly dissipated before being conducted down the handle.

The torch’s triangular shape represented a theme in which the number three plays an important part: the three Olympic values of re-spect, excellence and friend-ship; the three words of the Olympic motto - faster, higher, stronger; the three

bodies of work combined in the games - sport, education and culture; and the three times London hosted the Olympics - 1908, 1948 and 2012.

The golden color of the torch highlights the valued qualities of the Olympic flame, the brightness and warmth of the shining light. Perhaps, the color also casts a soft radiance on the hon-ored torchbearers who strive unheralded every day to make the world a better place for others.

“Although I was incred-ibly honored to represent the United States and Coca-Cola by carrying the Olympic torch,” said Williams, “I was most excited about the opportunity to spread aware-ness about the needs of fos-ter children. A blanket can provide a sense of security at a time when children will be missing their own families. A blanket represents com-fort and warmth; something these kids are forced to live without.”

For more information, visit the website www.cre-ativekindness.org.

Las Positas College to host District-wide Convo-cation for the start of the 2012-13 Academic Year

Las Positas College an-nounced that it will host the annual Convocation of the two-college Chabot-Las Positas Community Col-lege District. On Thursday, August 16, 2012, the faculty and staff of Las Positas Col-lege and its sister college, Chabot College in Hayward, will celebrate the beginning of a new academic year. The annual Convocation formally underscores the commitment of the two col-

leges to academic excellence and focuses staff and faculty on developing distinction in their students and gradu-ates.

The day begins with a program for all members of the District organization pre-sented by Interim Chancellor Susan Cota, Ph.D. The day is rounded out by separate meeting for the members of the communities of the two colleges and the District Office staff. An especially significant part of the two-college program will be the presentation of awards by the Chancellor to members

of the college and District constituencies who were nominated by their peers for outstanding service.

On a yearly basis, the two colleges rotate serving as Convocation hosts. Kevin G. Walthers, Ph.D., Presi-dent of Las Positas College the host of this year’s event, noted that focusing on the values underpinning Con-vocation is especially impor-tant this year. Walthers said, “State funding for all sectors of higher education is a critical challenge that will impact all of the members of our colleges and District

communities. From the very onset of the academic year, all of our faculty and staff members will celebrate their commitment to our students. Whatever the challenges, we are all devoted to assisting the graduates of the two colleges to become better, more productive, citizens in a world of increasing intel-lectual demands.”

For more information about the 2012-13 Convoca-tion at Las Positas College, visit the website at http://www.clpccd.cc.ca.us.

Las Positas College Hosting District Convocation

The Independent, AUGUST 9, 2012 - PAGE 3

Photo- Doug Jorgensen

Georgia Angelos of Livermore sampled goodies at Shakabuku Design during last weekend's Taste of Downtown. Livermore merchants hosted the event that included by food and wine tasting. The 2012 Taste of Downtown event is presented by Livermore Downtown, Inc. Chris Telkamp was the grand prize winner. Winners in various categories have been announced. They are Best Restaurant Taste - Simply Fondue; Best Dessert Taste - Nestle Toll House Cafe; Best Restaurant Presentation - Simply Fondue; Best Sjopping - Artistic Edge; Best Livermore Valley Wine - Little Valley Winery; Best Global Wine Taste (From the Cellar of First Street Wine Company - 2211 First Street) - Guardian Peak South Africa.

Hopyard Road WorkThe City of Pleasanton engineering

division reports that construction is underway and continues through Au-gust along Hopyard Road, one of the city’s major thoroughfares. This month, workers will perform pavement repair in preparation for the City’s upcoming slurry seal project, which is scheduled to commence in September.

During the week of August 13, con-struction along Hopyard Avenue will take place from 9:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. between West Las Positas Avenue and Black Avenue.

Because traffic volumes are typically reduced on busy Hopyard Road dur-ing August, this schedule is expected to minimize delays for local residents. For more information, please call (925) 931-5661.

Paragon Hiring FairsHiring fairs for the new Paragon

Outlets Livermore Valley will be held on Tuesday, September 11 and Tuesday, October 23, 2012 from 10 am – 2 pm at the Robert Livermore Community Cen-ter, 4444 East Avenue in Livermore. No registration required.

Fifty employers out of the 120 are expected to participate in the job fairs, a collaboration between the City of Livermore, the Alameda County Work-force Investment Board (ACWIB), the Livermore Chamber of Commerce, the Livermore Area Recreation and Park District, and Paragon Outlets Livermore Valley LLC.

Before the job fairs, workshops on resume critiquing, interview techniques, customer service, and employment ap-plications are scheduled on Tuesday, August 28, 2012, from 10 am – 3 pm at the Robert Livermore Community Cen-ter. The workshops, offered at no cost to participants, are sponsored by the City of Livermore and the ACWIB. Workshops start at 10:15 am. To register for specific workshops, please send an email with your choices to Marybeth.McCarthy@acgov.org.

For more information about the up-coming job fairs and the job seeker work-shops, please visit www.cityoflivermore.net or call (925) 960-4143.

FastForward FundsUnder an initiative called FastForward,

the Department of Energy (DOE), Of-fice of Science and the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) have awarded $62 million in research and development (R&D) contracts to five companies in high performance com-puting to accelerate the development of next-generation supercomputers vital to national defense, scientific research, en-ergy security, and the nation’s economic competitiveness.

The FastForward program, funded by DOE’s Office of Science and NNSA, is managed by LLNL on behalf of seven national laboratories including: Lawrence Berkeley, Los Alamos, Sandia, Oak Ridge, Argonne and Pacific Northwest. Technical experts from the participating national laboratories evaluated and helped select the proposals and will work with se-lected vendors on co-design. The initiative is intended to speed up and influence the development of technologies companies are pursuing for commercialization. The aim would be to ensure that these products include features DOE Science and NNSA laboratories undertake as research.

AMD, IBM, Intel, Nvidia, and Wham-cloud received awards to advance “ex-treme scale” computing technology with the goal of funding innovative R&D of critical technologies needed to deliver next generation capabilities within a rea-sonable energy footprint. DOE missions require exascale systems that operate at quintillions of floating point operations per second. Such systems would be 1,000 times faster than a 1-petaflop (quadrillion floating point operations per second) su-percomputer. Currently, the world’s fast-est supercomputer – the IBM BlueGene/Q Sequoia system at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) – clocks in at 16.3 petaflops.

“Exascale computing will be required to fully assess the performance of our nation’s nuclear stockpile in all fore-seeable situations without returning to nuclear testing,” said Bob Meisner, head of NNSA’s Advanced Simulation and Computing (ASC) program. “The insight that comes from simulations is also vital to addressing nonproliferation and coun-terterrorism issues, as well as informing other national security decisions.”

The Livermore-Pleasan-ton Fire Department (LPFD) has moved its emergency communications and dis-patch services from the Livermore Police Depart-ment to the Alameda County Regional Communications Center ACRECC) located at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.

The move took place July 31. When the cities of Liver-more and Pleasanton com-bined their fire services in 1996, the Livermore Police Department became the dis-patch center for the LPFD. Since then, the LPFD has enjoyed excellent service levels from that dispatch center.

Increasing call volume, build out of the cities to-wards their borders, and an increased use of interagency resources to provide the most effective response pos-sible has caused the LPFD and Alameda County Fire Departments to frequently operate across jurisdictional boundaries.

At the same time, the Alameda County ambu-lance provider to the Liver-more-Pleasanton region, Paramedics Plus, is now dispatched by ACRECC. Between the inter-agency re-sponses, and the ambulance dispatches, over 75% of the LPFD’s calls are already passing through ACRECC dispatch, though the LPFD and ACRECC agencies are often left on different radio channels interacting with separate communications centers to maintain contact with the centers that moni-tor their status and provide information to them.

Moving the LPFD to a common dispatch center with Alameda County Fire, Paramedics Plus and other partner agencies will allow first responders to be on the same radio channel with a common dispatch center throughout an emergency response.

Monitoring the status and location of the regional fire resources in one dispatch

center will allow agencies the ability to send the closest, most appropriate resource to emergency calls.

ACRECC is a multi-agency fire and EMS spe-cific communications center located in Livermore, at the Lawrence Livermore Na-tional Laboratory. ACRECC dispatches, and thus has common communications and direct resource status knowledge of the follow-ing agencies: Alameda City Fire Department, Alameda County Fire Department (covering Berkeley National Laboratory, Castro Valley, Dublin, Lawrence Liver-more National Laboratory, Newark, San Leandro, San Lorenzo, Union City, and unincorporated Alameda County), Camp Parks Fire Department, Fremont Fire Department, and Paramedics Plus. ACRECC is an Accred-ited Center of Excellence by the National Academies of Emergency Dispatch and is National Fire Protection Agency 1221 compliant.

In case of an emergency, dialing 911 will continue to work as it always has. 911 should continue to be used as it has in the past. The call will ring first at the ap-propriate law enforcement dispatch center to determine the call type, then will be transferred to ACRECC for fire department and/or

ambulance services. Members of the public

wishing to reach the LPFD Dispatch Center for non-emergency calls should dial (925) 447-4257.

On Monday, June 11, 2012, the Livermore City Council voted to autho-rize the City Manager to enter into a contract with ACRECC to provide dis-patch services for the LPFD by a 5-0 vote.

On Tuesday, June 19, a similar resolution was passed by the Pleasanton City Council. With that di-rection from the City Coun-cils, the LPFD and ACRECC made this move at 8:30 a.m. on July 31, 2012.

Fire Department Has Moved Its Communications and Dispatch Services

The Livermore-Pleasan-ton Elks Lodge #2117 will host its first annual “Back to School Extravaganza.”

Free school supplies will be given out on Wed., Aug. 15 from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.

The event will be held at the Elks Lodge, 940 Lark-spur Dr., Livermore.

No one will leave empty handed.

The event is sponsored by ENF.

Elks Plan Back to School Extravaganza

The California Public Employees' Retirement Sys-tem (CalPERS) will host a retirement planning fair in Santa Clara on August 30.

The Santa Clara fair of-fers numerous information booths and regularly sched-uled workshops on various retirement topics. The work-shops do not require reserva-tions. Whether retirement is close at hand or decades in the future, members will find a wealth of information on supplemental saving plans, Social Security and health

benefits after retirement. The California State Teach-ers' Retirement System will also have a booth for their members in the region.

More detailed informa-tion about the final 2012 CalPERS Retirement Plan-ning Fair, including pre-registration, maps, driving

directions, parking, exhibi-tors and workshop schedules is available on the

CalPERS website at www.calpers.ca.gov/retirement-planningfairs. Members are encouraged to pre-register to aid CalPERS in planning for staffing and materials, but it is not required.

CalPERS to Host Retirement Fair

PAGE 4 - The Independent, AUGUST 9, 2012

EDITORIAL

Publisher: Joan Kinney Seppala Associate Publisher: David T. Lowell

Editor: Janet Armantrout

ThE InDEPEnDEnT (USPS 300) is published every Thursday by Inland Valley Publishing Company, 2250 First St., Livermore, CA 94550; (925) 447-8700. Mailed at Periodical Postage Prices at the Livermore Post Office and additional entry office: Pleasanton, CA 94566-9998. ThE InDEPEnDEnT is mailed upon request. Go to www.independentnews.com to sign up and for more information. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to The Independent, 2250 First St., Livermore, CA 94550.

Advertising rates and subscription rates may be obtained by calling (925) 447-8700 during regular business hours or by fax: (925) 447-0212.

Editorial information may be submitted by editmail@compuserve.com.

(InLAnD VALLEY PUBLIShInG CO.)

The Livermore school district will have a race this November, now that former trustee Tom McLaughlin has filed for the office.

Incumbents Chuck Rog-ge and Belia Martinez also have filed papers. Arthur Hansen picked up papers, but withdrew from the con-test, according to the county registrar of voters office.

The nomination period for the November 6, 2012 General Election will close at 5:00 p.m. on Friday, Au-gust 10, 2012. In the event that an incumbent fails to file, the nomination period for that office is extended until Wednesday, August 15, 2012 for any eligible candidate except for the incumbent.

Nomination documents are available at the Alam-eda County Registrar of Voters Office, 1225 Fallon St., Room G-1, in Oakland. Candidates for municipal offices should contact the respective City Clerk for information on obtaining nomination documents.

For more information, contact the Registrar of Voters office at (510) 272-6933.

In Pleasanton, coun-cilmembers Jerry Thorne and Cheryl Cook-Kallio have filed to run for mayor. The current mayor, Jennifer Hosterman, is termed out of office as are councilmembers Matt Sullivan and Cindy McGovern. There are four

Safe and Scenic Niles Canyon Road can be made safer without

causing major damage to the environment.That was the conclusion reached by con-

sultants brought in by CalTrans to study the issue.

A year ago, CalTrans cut down 99 trees and proposed removing 600 more trees to widen the road and add shoulders. CalTrans shut down the work on Niles Canyon Road more than a year ago after public on-site protests. Follow-ing a series of community meetings in which residents sounded off in angry opposition to the CalTrans plan, the agency started over.

The consultants suggested adding such things as radar signboards to slow motorists, and re-flective signing on a bridge abutment. At the same time, hotspots were identified on the road, which will need more elaborate solutions. One is the traffic back-up on Highway 84 at the stop sign near the Sunol Water Temple. It’s the site of rear-end crashes, and leads to heavy traffic cutting through on Main Street in Sunol, said the consultants. One possible remedy might be a traffic roundabout at that location.

We agree with one of the critics of CalTrans’ original plan, that the consultant’s comments are encouraging. It is important to remain informed as the planning progresses to ensure that safety, along with preservation of a scenic and environmentally sensitive area, are part of the future of Niles Canyon Road.

The abrupt departure of a deputy director last week seemed to lend indirect sub-stance to some of the rumors that have been circulating at Lawrence Livermore Na-tional Laboratory and in the community over the past two weeks about senior manage-ment behavior and ethics.

The deputy director was Tomas de la Rubia, a physi-cist and materials scientist whose charter was to “stew-ard . . . the long-term health of science, technology and engineering at the Labora-tory,” according to a 2010 news release announcing his appointment.

De la Rubia joined the Laboratory in 1989 as a post doctoral fellow. While his 2010 appointment was a major managerial event, his departure last week prompted only a terse, in-

Former Trustee McLaughlin Files for Livermore School Board

candidates for the two city council seats, Karla Brown, Erlene DeMarcus, Michael Harris, and Jerry Pentin. Thorne and Cook-Kallio are running from safe seats. If no other candidate files for mayor and wins, the one not elected mayor would remain on the council. Someone would be appointed to the council. If another candidate were to win the mayor’s seat, both Thorne and Cook-Kal-lio remain on the council.

In the LARPD election, incumbents Beth Wilson and Steve Goodman have filed papers. Incumbent Bob Coomber has taken out pa-pers for the two year seat. Mark Thrailkill has filed papers for the short term.

A newcomer has picked up papers for the Pleasanton school board. He is Sean Kullman. Chris Grant is the only incumbent who has filed. The other two incumbents, Valerie Arkin and Jamie Hintzke, have announced their candida-cies, but had not filed by mid-afternoon Aug. 7.

In other elections, BART District 5 challenger John Maher has filed his papers, and incumbent John McPart-land had not returned them yet.

In the two Valley seats for the Chabot-Las Positas Community College District board, incumbent Carlo Vec-chiarelli in Area 5 has his papers out, and incumbent Barbara Mertes in Area 7 completed her filing.

Management Changes At LabGenerate Rumors, Uncertainty

ternal announcement that, “after 23 years, he stepped down to pursue other op-portunities.”

During the past sev-eral weeks, the Laboratory has consistently declined to comment on allegations that de la Rubia was being inves-tigated for wrongdoing. The Lab is not allowed to com-ment on personnel matters. The Lab’s federal sponsor, the National Nuclear Secu-rity Administration, has also declined comment.

A Lab spokesperson did say that the “rumors are unfounded.”

In his internal memo an-nouncing de la Rubia’s de-parture, Lab director Parney Albright said only, “We wish to thank him for his years of dedicated service in the national interest.”

patibly is uncertain at best,” says Sirotkin’s letter.

What is certain is that a landowner can be allowed to cancel the Williamson Act contract, but it is not an automatic process.

To enable cancellation, the county must find there are grounds to do so. Other-wise, the land has to stay in the Williamson Act for 10 years, which might be too long for anything but a large, phased-in development.

Sirotkin proposed that the East County Board of Zoning Adjustment (BZA) be “encouraged” in language that would be spelled out in the SEF policy to consider the public good contributed by SEF’s through their clean power.

Each application would be considered on its own merits, Sirotkin said at the policy meeting July 26.

Sirotkin’s letter also asks for a policy point in the SEF policy stating that the “environmental benefits of solar energy should be rec-ognized by decision makers

in Alameda County when considering questions of solar development.”

POLICY SHOULDDEFINE LIMITS

Environmentalist Dick Schneider raised questions about including more spe-cifics in the policy draft, especially about defining the limits of rural installations.

Schneider said it would be good to declare whether the policy would put all rural SEFs in one area, or allow them to be spread through-out the Valley.

Cumulative effects of the SEF areas should be consid-ered, too, said Schneider. That can be accomplished with a program EIR, since project EIRs deal only with one project.

Schneider noted that the 140-acre development by Cool Earth in the Altamont issued a negative declara-tion, which was specific to that site and did not delve into impacts as much as a full EIR would have done.

Schneider also talked

about mitigation of lost agricultural land. The solar policy requires a 1 to 1 re-placement ratio. Use of up to 50 acres of land for solar in-stallations would require the landowner to buy perpetual easement conservation on 50 acres of comparable land, either as a donation from the landowner’s same parcel, or elsewhere.

Schneider said that ranch-er Darrel Sweet pointed out at a previous meeting that the mitigation language does not create any new agricul-tural land. The first 50 acres would be lost to SEF’s, defeating many residents’ goal of preserving Valley agricultural land.

A suggestion about creat-ing a 2-to-1 mitigation ratio to replace the 1-to-1 in the draft drew a comment from assistant planning director Liz McElligott. She said that she called around the state and found that only Davis required a 2 to 1 ratio.

Rich Cimino, conserva-tion director of the Ohlone

SOLAR(continued from page one)

chapter of the Audubon Society, repeated a previous call for the policy to include buffer areas around the Al-tamont wind turbines.

Cimino also has asked for a moratorium on solar appli-cations. He said the county should wait until turbine repowering is finished in the Altamont in another one and a half years, followed by the two years of scientific evalu-ation of the impacts.

Then the county would have fact-based science on which it can base its solar policy, said Cimino.

Cimino said that the with-drawal of Pegasus Energy Partners application for SEF on 2700 acres of irrigated farmland in the east Al-tamont eases the pressure on the county to move rapidly on a solar policy.

The planning department expects to present a progress report on the draft to super-visors in September. More meetings to obtain public feedback will be scheduled following the presentation.

riod to Yuba County. Cur-rently, the waste is taken to the Altamont Landfill near Livermore. Recology plans to ship the waste by rail through Alameda, Con-tra Costa, Solano, Yolo, and Sacramento counties to its 236-acre Ostrom Road Landfill in Wheatland, CA, 130 miles away. The move would impact Livermore, which receives mitigation fees used to purchase open space, provide education with regard to recycling, and a host fee that goes towards the Bankhead Theater.

The Ostrom Landfill is located hear Beale Air Force Base, headquarters of the 9th Reconnaissance Wing. The project involves use of a railroad spur owned by the United States Air Force and lying within the boundaries of Beale Air Force Base.

In a letter sent to the Yuba County Board of Su-pervisors, Colonel Phillip Stewart writes, “Beale Air Force Base is not, in prin-ciple, either for or against

allowing commercial rail use of the spur in question, which is currently being used exclusively for aircraft fuel deliveries. However, after internal review of ini-tial proposals by Recology, Inc., we have concluded that providing the easement requested is not beneficial to the Air Force. Therefore, alternatives to use of the Beale Air Force Base rail spur should be included in any environmental study and decision-making process of the County.

“Beale Air Force Base remains open to considering all proposals for commer-cial use on the installation that will produce value for Beale Air Force Base and the United States Air Force,” Stewart concluded.

The Alameda County Planning Department also submitted comments on what they believe should be studied in the EIR.

If the spur cannot be used, it may complicate or

take rail option off the table, commented Steve Stewart, Livermore city senior plan-ner.

Alameda County plan-ning staff noted that the proposed project may have negative impacts on Alam-eda County.

Major components of the proposed project would be located in Alameda County, specifically a new collec-tion center facility in Oak-land and train and truck routes that would be used to transport waste through the county. County staff wrote, “We question whether the interests of Alameda County residents will be adequately reflected in the EIR pro-cess. For example, there is no information on how county communities would be engaged in the CEQA process. We also question the appropriateness of the timing of this analysis since San Francisco has already approved the contract with Recology prior to any en-

vironmental review by any agency.”

Alameda County asked whether potential impacts such as increased air pollu-tion and noise, which may result form the increase in truck and traffic haul would be studied. “The EIR should analyze all reason-able alternatives that could potentially result in reduced environmental impacts; for example, transporting the waste using alternative modes of transportation, such as clean-fuel trucks, to existing landfills that are closer to San Francisco.”

The county letter adds that the project description indicates that several com-ponents of the project, such as the Ostrom Road Rail Spur and Unloading Facility and some other segments of rail line, are new construc-tion. Since much of this project does not yet exist, the EIR should clarify that the project constitutes a new project rather than one that uses only existing facilities.

RAIL(continued from page one)

Lawrence Livermore Na-tional Laboratory research-ers have developed a new capacitive desalination tech-nique that could ultimately lower the cost and time of desalinating seawater.

Removing salt from sea-water and saline aquifers is considered a key process to ensure a safe and adequate freshwater supply. The ma-jority of worldwide desalina-tion is performed by reverse osmosis plants. Reverse osmosis is typically quite expensive because pressures of more than 1,000 pounds per square inch must be generated to push the salty water through the filters. In addition, after treatment by reverse osmosis, a much more concentrated salty brine remains and must be disposed of.

In capacitive desalination (CD), a voltage is applied between two porous elec-trodes to adsorb ions onto the electrode surface and thus remove them from the feed stream. Traditionally, due to the small pore sizes of the electrodes, the feed

(Opinions voiced in let-ters published in Mailbox are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of The Inde-pendent. Letter Policy: The Independent will not publish anonymous letters, nor will it publish letters without names. Abusive letters may be rejected or edited. Fre-quent letter writers may have publication of their letters delayed. Letters should be submitted by e-mail to edit-mail@compuserve.com.)

RomneyAlbert RothmanLivermore

Mitt Romney looks presi-dential, i.e., like the statue of a president. But better not dig deeper or reality will appear.

State BudgetDavid PastorPleasanton

The people of California voted to eliminate the 2/3 majority vote for the bud-get. An on time budget was more important to the people of California than a good budget! The provision that a late or unbalanced budget would result in the loss of legislative paychecks can only be determined by the legislature. This assures the people of California that this provision will never be enforced! The result of this vote is that California is now a one party state. The majority party chairs the legislative committees and determines what bills are brought to the legislature for vote.

This year, the majority party assembled the bud-get in secret, presented the budget without the budget language available for re-view, and no questions were allowed before the party line vote! Remember this, as your benevolent elected leader and his minions eat up your money and provide worsening services state-wide, except for the public sector unions, ask for more money in the form of new taxes, and continue to pour your money into the “Jerry Brown High Speed Train to Nowhere” and the “Jerry Brown Water Tunnel for LA aka Peripheral Canal” or cancelled the State support of the Brown (open meet-ing) act.

Thank YouJennifer Ambrosino

On behalf of my family and the employees at Ken’s Tire Service, we would like to extend our sincerest ap-preciation for your sympathy during our time of loss. We are deeply touched by your kind words and are thankful you are here for us during this difficult time.

We would like to thank our faithful customers. We value your patronage and appreciate your confidence in us. We will continue busi-ness in Ken’s honor provid-ing service with his same integrity and fairness.

Next time your vehicle is in need of service, please don’t hesitate to “bring it in” - Thank you!

stream flows between the electrodes and through a di-electric porous separator.

The new technique, called flow-through elec-trode capacitive desalination (FTE CD), uses new porous carbon materials with a hierarchical pore structure, which allows the saltwater to easily flow through the elec-trodes themselves. Flowing through the electrode al-lows for several significant advantages relative to tradi-tional flow between systems, including faster desalination, more salt removed for each charge of the capacitor, and more energy efficient desali-nation. Finally, flow-through can be used with a thinner separator as the separator is no longer a flow channel, therefore reducing the over-all and electrical resistance of the device, which further decreases costs.

“By leveraging innova-tive porous carbon materials recently developed at LLNL, our new method removes the diffusion limitations afflict-ing traditional CD cells. The desalination process now

only takes as long as it takes to charge the electrodes, on the order of minutes or less,” said Matthew Suss, a Lawrence scholar and first author of a recent paper in Energy & Environmental Science. “The new method currently removes salt five to 10 times faster than previous CD systems, and can be fur-ther optimized for increased speed. It also reduces the concentration of the feed up to three times as much per charge.”

Capacitive desalination (CD) has advantages over reverse osmosis (RO), the most common way to re-move salt from water. With CD, no membrane compo-nents are required; it can operate at low pressures and temperatures; and energy recovery is performed with a solid state circuit, which is more scalable and cheaper than the turbines used for en-ergy recovery in RO. How-ever, previous flow between CD methods was unable to easily (in a single-charging step) desalinate moderate brackish water and take a

longer time to desalinate.“FTE CD is capable

of desalinating almost all brackish water concentra-tions in a single step,” said Michael Stadermann, the Laboratory principal inves-tigator.

“In some regions around the world, including North America, brackish water is projected to be the main source of water for desalina-tion processes that provide drinking water. Brackish water also is the concentra-tion range of effluent from some industrial processes, such as coal bed methane production — treating this water is essential for proper practical waste reduction. Further, FTE CD performs much better with high sa-linity streams than regular CD, and lends itself better to energy efficient multi-stage desalination, which allows us to tackle seawater with this method.”

Other Livermore re-searchers include Theodore Baumann, William Bourcier, Christopher Spadaccini and former Lab researcher Klint Rose.

Faster, Cheaper Desalination Technology Developed

The Independent, AUGUST 9, 2012 - PAGE 5

to the Pantry on Aug 14. All children must be accompa-nied by a parent or guardian. In fairness to families show up early and wait in line, holding spaces or picking up items for other families will not be allowed. Iden-tification and evidence of being Tri-Valley resident are required.

For information on do-nating to the program or on how to participate please call Samantha at (925) 449-2510.

HAVEN(continued from page one)

aware of their retirement benefits; to provide a means for bettering the lot of mem-bers by working with other retiree organization; and to offer LLNL management the accumulated knowledge, experience, and judgement of the members.”

Hilton stated, “Good-man’s letter effectively neu-tered the by-laws. Separat-ing from the Lab was not our first choice.”

She added, “We believe that separating from LLESA and reorganizing as an in-dependent non-profit group will allow us to more effec-tively serve our membership by sharing information and advocating for improved benefits while maintaining strong social, cultural and intellectual relationships among our members.”

The decision to separate was made after polling the membership. According to Hilton, more than half of the members responded to an on-line survey. Over 82% of those responding thought the organization should con-sider leaving LLESA if nec-essary to advocate for retiree benefits and rights. Almost 93% said they would still want to belong to the Retiree Association if the group left LLESA.

She used as an example of restrictions on advocacy the recent lawsuit filed by Joe Requa aimed at restoring UC coverage for medical benefits. Association mem-bers were prohibited from commenting on the lawsuit.

Goodman’s letter stated that LLESA recognized that there may be a need for a separate advocacy group made up of retirees for retir-ees. . . . the current retirees group is not that group.

Linda Seaver, a spokes-person for the Lab, stated, “It is my understanding that the retirees are separating because they wanted a more active role in advocacy. We

are sorry to see them go. However, we understand why they want to leave.”

The decision was delayed until the group could obtain insurance. Recently, the UC Regents extended insurance coverage to all retiree groups within the system. Hilton explained that since retirees were UC employees while at the Lab, the new group qualifies for coverage.

The new retiree group will continue as active mem-bers of the Council of Uni-versity of California Retiree Associations (CUCRA). Jeff Garberson is the Infor-mation Officer for CUCRA, a consortium of the Retiree Associations of nine Univer-sity of California campuses: Berkeley, Davis, Irvine, Los Angeles, Riverside, San Diego, San Francisco, Santa Barbara, and Santa Cruz; the three UC-man-aged National Laborato-ries: Lawrence Berkeley, Lawrence Livermore, and Los Alamos; and the Office of the President/Regents. Garberson is also vice-chair of LLRA. Hilton stated, “LLNL’s attempt to squelch our freedom of speech is inconsistent with the poli-cies of the UC campuses, where the various campus retiree associations take an active part in advocating for their membership with both campus and University management.”

Seaver said she isn’t aware of the rules regard-ing UC retiree groups. She pointed out that the Lab is no longer a member of the UC system.

Hilton said that the letter from Goodman indicated that all property, including monies would be returned to LLESA.

Seaver explained that LLESA is a not for profit group. Any money received by a group from LLESA must be returned. “LLESA

cannot give money and equipment away.” She said that according to Good-man, the situation regarding equipment purchased by re-tirees will be rectified. Cur-rently, the Lab is awaiting a final financial reckoning from the group.

Hilton said the bank ac-count is empty. The deci-sion was made in January not to collect dues until a determination was made on whether or not to separate from the Lab.

Hilton raised another issue, which she says is troubling to retirees. That is lack of access to the Lab. She explained that many employees believe that they have expertise that would be valuable to the Lab.

Seaver said that the Lab and its program managers determined that there were a number of retirees who had no need to be on site. Many retiree badges have been phased out. However, there are still retirees with badges who consult for or work with a program. “The decision as to which former employees would be issued badges is between the program and the retiree,” said Seaver.

The final statement in the letter of separation sent by LLRA urges the Department of Energy to encourage the Lab to communicate ef-fectively with retirees about health care and other issues. “We urge DOE to bring treatment of retirees into the picture when management fee is being discussed and when future extensions of the current contract are be-ing considered. Treatment of retirees is a significant factor in the Lab’s ability to recruit and retain staff. “We remain loyal to the Laboratory and wish it well in its continuing service to the nation. After all, our members devoted their careers to furthering its goals.”

RETIREES(continued from page one)

The City of Livermore is launching “Livermore Recycles,” a program de-signed to make recycling and composting convenient for residents and businesses. The program was developed through a partnership be-tween the City of Livermore and Livermore Sanitation. The goal is to reduce the amount of waste sent to the landfill by 75 percent by 2015.

With the introduction of “Livermore Recycles,” near-ly all items used by residents are now recyclable.

“This is the launch of a wonderful program to pro-mote our efforts in reducing

waste. We are excited to bring forward this initia-tive,” said Judy Erlandson, Public Works Manager for the City of Livermore. “Our new website, LivermoreRe-cycles.org, is a user friendly resource for residents and businesses to learn more about city-wide recycling and composting opportuni-ties.”

Beginning immediately, members of the community can visit LivermoreRecy-cles.org to learn what goes where. For example:

• Green Organics Cart: Organics consist of items such as yard trimmings, pizza boxes, paper cups and

eggshells; these items are then turned into a rich soil for agriculture.

• Blue Recyclables Cart: Recyclables are items such as empty aerosol cans, juice and soup boxes, and even computer keyboards; these recyclables are then made into new products.

• Gray Garbage Cart: Garbage items include ce-ramics and plastic utensils not numbered 1-7. These items will be placed in the landfill and cannot be reused or recycled.

The program accepts bagged household batteries (not car batteries) if they are placed on top of the

recyclables cart. However, toxic cleaners are considered hazardous waste and are not accepted in collection

carts. They should be taken to Alameda County’s local household hazardous waste free drop-off facility.

Livermore to Push for More Recycling

Photos - Doug Jorgensen

A cool dude dressed as an Olympic athlete, complete with medal (above) and a pirate, were among the dogs who took part in the annual Pooch Parade.

PAGE 6 - The Independent, AUGUST 9, 2012

The Pleasanton Piranhas 12U baseball team is traveling to Cooperstown, NY, near the Baseball Hall of Fame, to compete with teams from across the nation in a week long tournament August 11-17. Follow them at www.cooperstownallstarvillage.com. To prepare for New York, the Piranhas played in the Last Chance Showdown tournament July 28-29 at Twin Creeks. They went 4-0 before falling in the championship game, snapping a 9 game winning streak. The team maintained its #1 power ranking in No. Cal. Pictured are (back row) Mitch Benson, Max Heverly, Anthony Steller Harter, Carson Quintana, Jeremy Lea, Joseph Murphy; (front row) Jimmy Kaufman, Justin Lavell, AJ Warford, Justin Clark, and Nick Orecchia; not pictured Mitch Lawrence.

Tri-Valley Babe Ruth 13-year-old All-Star team members pictured are (front row, left to right) Coach Rick Fryer, Nate White, Nate Neswick, Jared Dawson, Nic Venezia, Ryan Bowman and Dante Albanese; (back row) Coach Mike Maloon, Joshua Ott, Jack Morgan, James Cowick, Jack Maloon, Saiki Roy, Max Moore, Darrock Koel, Clark Eder, Jack Fryer and Manager Sean Venezia. Not in the photo – Coach Todd Moore

Jackson Butler of Pleasanton competed in the JR Olympic Judo Championships in Dallas, Texas July 20-22. Jackson, age 11, competes for Tri-Valley Judo. He earned gold medals in the National and International divisions. By placing 1st, Jackson has secured the #1 ranking in the United States for his age and weight. Jackson will have the opportunity to represent the United States in the Pan American Championships in Queretaro, Mexico and has been invited to participate in a training camp in Cuba. Jackson will then represent USA in a dual-meet, USA vs Cuba.

Babe Ruth All-StarsHead to World Series

The Tri-Valley Babe Ruth 13 Year Old All-Star team won the Pacific Southwest Region Babe Ruth All Star Tournament in Surprise, Arizona last week.

Tri-Valley went 6 – 1 in the tourna-ment and outscored their opponents 107 to 53. In the opening game Tri-Valley defeated Northern Utah 13 – 3. In the second round Tri-Valley lost to Central California 22 – 15, but with their backs to the wall in the double elimination tournament defeated Ne-vada 15 – 0 in the second game of the night. In the third round Tri-Valley defeated Hawaii 12 – 11 in the first game of the night, and then faced Central California again in the second game and this time won 16 – 3. That set up the tournament finals with Tri-Valley needing to defeat the previously undefeated El Segundo team from Southern California two times.

On Saturday, August 4 in 108 de-gree temperature Tri-Valley defeated El Segundo 18 – 1 in the first game. In the second game, El Segundo took a 9 – 4 lead entering the top of the 5th inning, but Tri-Valley scored 8 runs in the 5th and 3 more runs in each of the 6th and 7th for the 18 – 13 victory and the tournament championship.

Tri-Valley’s Jack Morgan was the tournament MVP. James Cowick and Jack Maloon were named to the All Tournament team from Tri-Valley. James Cowick, Joshua Ott, Ryan Bowman and Darroch Koel provided the excellent pitching for Tri-Valley throughout the tournament. Jack Morgan, Jack Maloon, Jack Fryer, Saiki Roy and James Cowick provided the offensive power and Nic Venezia, Saiki Roy, Nate White and James Cowick turned in several defensive gems for Tri-Valley.

The Tri-Valley Babe Ruth 13 Year Old All-Star Team will now travel to Kitsap, Washington on August 13 to participate in the Babe Ruth World Series tournament.

Pleasanton BallisticPleasanton’s Ballistic United Boys

Premier U17 soccer team, coached by Andy Cumbo and Assistant Coach Pablo Espinosa, traveled to San Diego to participate in the San Diego United Summer Challenge Tournament. The team swept its bracket, winning each game and then recorded a resounding victory winning the Championship game against the Chula Vista Rang-ers 6-1.

The team dedicated its victory to one of the teams players, Michael Paiva, who is recovering from a compound fracture and surgery he sustained in a game back in June.

Nick Goldstein put together a fantastic offensive weekend with eight goals and two assists. Top defensive player of the final game was goalkeeper Steven Morgan, who assisted an already strong defense with key saves.

Ballistic United U17 Premier will participate in their own hometown Ballistic Summer Classic on August 17-19.

DBAC Captures TitleDBAC Swim Team Pirahnas (DBAC) 2,440.50Pleasanton Meadows Sharks (PMST) 2,211Club Sport Pleasanton Tidal Waves (CSP) 2,078Del Prado Stingrays (DP) 923Dublin Green Gators (DUB) 608Briarhill Barracudas (BH) 438.50Ruby Hill Killer Whales (RH) 217.50Fast Dolphins (FAST) 065.50

On Saturday, August 4th, the Tri-Valley Swim League held the championship meet at the Dolores Bengston Aquatic Center (DBAC) in Pleasanton. At the end of the day, the DBAC swim team Pirahnas emerged as this year’s winner. Six new league records were set.

Leading the record breakers, was Justin Lee, from the Pleasanton Mead-ows Swim Team. Justin set individual records for the Boys 13-14 50 Breast, 29.88, Boys 13-14 100 IM, 58.73, Boys 13-14 50 Back, 28.09. He also led the Boys 13-14 200 Medley Relay, 1:56.0 along with Jack Geasa, Nicholas Tucker, Michael Azuma. Also setting new records were Isabella Santos, from the Dublin Green Gators, for the Girls 11-12 50 Back, 31.1 and Antonio Fer-nandez, Jordan Lee, Tristan LaLonde, and Blake Hawthorne, for the Boys 13-14 200 Medley Relay, 1:56.0 from the Club Sport Tidal Waves. There were also many other top performances from among the participants.

The top twenty swimmers for the girls were, Arin Miller, 17 (CSP), Lillian Cano, 8 (DUB), Olivia Cano, 12 (DUB), Brooke Promes, 10 (DUB), Megan Doi, 14 (DP), Lauren DuBos, 6 (PMST), Iris Chang, 18 (DBAC), Claire Ku, 6 (CSP), Rebecca Pollitz, 14 (DBAC), Callan Jackman, 12 (BH), Meghan Hogue, 12 (DP), Taylor Ro-hovit, 9 (DBAC), Samantha Bianco, 5 (BH), Allyson Isaacs, 14 (PMST), Amy Heath, 8 (DP), Jennifer Lee, 12 (DBAC), Kristin Horrillo, 16 (BH), Isabella Santos, 12 (DUB), Hannah Loeffler, 8 (DP), and Sydney Simmons, 8 (PMST).

The top twenty swimmers for the boys were, Justin Lee, 14 (PMST), Nick Tucker, 14 (PMST), Ryan Hair, 12 (BH), Cole Hernandez, 6 (CSP), An-

drew Voit, 12 (BH), Tristan LaLonde, 8 (CSP), Frankie Fitzpatrick, 10 (DUB), Jeffrey Liebman, 16 (DBAC), Jack Geasa, 14 (PMST), Brett Melloch, 17 (BH), Steve Ku, 9 (CSP), Jason Van Dorn, 18 (DUB), Cameron Kurotori, 16 (DP), Joseph Louderback, 11 (CSP), Sam Jorgenson, 8 (DP), Stefen Dillon, 14 (DUB), Jack Kost, 10 (DBAC), Zachary Corbishley, 13 (DBAC), Chris Mowry, 18 (PMST), and David Azuma, 11 (PMST).

First place finishers are as fol-lows:

Girls ResultsMedley Relay: 6-under 100 yd.

Pleasanton Meadows-CC ‘A’ (Coyne, Madeline 5, McElroy, Julia 6, Du-Bos, Lauren 6, Montague, Isabella 5), 1:58.10. 7-8 100 yd. Del Prado Stingrays-CC ‘A’ (Heath, Amy R 8, Vahey, Kaylyn 8, Loeffler, Hannah 8, Ways, Kiersten 8), 1:26.09. 9-10 100 yd. DBAC Swim Team ‘A’ (Earle, Elizabeth 10, Dillon, Kaylee 10, Lee, Kaela 10, Reilly, Megan 10), 1:10.51. 11-12 200 yd. Dublin Green Gators-CC ‘A’ (Santos, Isabella 12, Gluck, Sofia 1 Cano, Olivia 12, Chiu, Sabrina 11), 2:14.69. 13-14 200 yd. Del Prado Stingrays-CC ‘A’ (Huber, Cameron 13, Suto, Healey 14, Doi, Megan 14, Bell, Lucy 14), 2:08.69. 15-18 200 yd. Briarhill Swim Team-TV ‘A’ (Horrillo, Kristin 16, Carino, Alexis 16, Achziger, Brittney 15, Wieser, Savannah 15), 2:01.38.

Freestyle: 6-under 25 yd. Bianco, Samantha, BH-TV, 22.39. 7-8 25 yd. Heath, Amy R, DP Stingrays-CC, 16.77. 9-10 25 yd. Promes, Brooke, Dub Green Gators-CC, 30.94. Lee, Mackenzie, CSP-TV, 30.94. 11-12 50 yd. Cano, Olivia, Dub Green Gators-CC, 28.18. 13-14 50 yd. Doi, Megan, DP Stingrays-CC, 27.20. 15-18 50 yd. Miller, Arin, CSP-TV, 25.87. Butterfly: 6-under 25 yd. DuBos, Lauren, PMST-CC, 24.97. 7-8 25 yd. Cano, Lillian, Dub Green Gators-CC, 18.68. 9-10 25 yd. Promes, Brooke, Dub Green Gators-CC, 16.09. 11-12 50 yd. Jack-man, Callan, BH-TV, 30.52. 13-14 50 yd. Doi, Megan, DP Stingrays-CC, 29.96. 15-18 50 yd. Miller, Arin, CSP-TV, 27.97.

Breaststroke: 6-under 25 yd. Ku, Claire, CSP-TV, 26.12. 7-8 25 yd. Cano, Lillian, Dub Green Gators-CC, 21.49. 9-10 25 yd. Haly, Katelyn, Dub Green Gators-CC, 18.73. 11-12 50 yd. Cano, Olivia, Dub Green Gators-CC, 35.82. 13-14 50 yd. Pollitz, Rebecca, DBAC, 35.35. 15-18 50 yd. Carino, Alexis, BH-TV, 33.76. 100 IM: 9-10 Promes, Brooke, Dub Green Gators-CC, 1:20.32. 11-12 Cano, Olivia, Dub Green Gators-CC, 1:10.04. 13-14 Larsen, Olivia, FAST-PC, 1:09.43. 15-18 Miller, Arin, CSP-TV, 1:05.06. Backstroke: 6-under 25 yd. DuBos, Lauren, PMST-CC, 24.79. 7-8 25 yd. Cano, Lillian, Dub Green Gators-CC, 20.67. 9-10 25 yd. Lee, Mackenzie,

DBAC, 30.16.Freestyle Relay: 6-under 100

yd. Ruby Hill Killer Whales-TV ‘A’ (Limkakeng, Saylor I 6, Jeon, Ella Y 5, Deplitch, Sarah 5, O’Rourke, Lau-ren 6), 1:59.24. 7-8 100 yd. DBAC Swim Team ‘A’ (Chau, Lilli 7, Kang, Sophia 7, Domenichini, Jessica 8, Lee, Aven 7), 1:14.01. 9-10 200 yd. DBAC Swim Team ‘A’ (Lee, Kaela 10, Lurie, Hanna 10, Reilly, Megan 10, Rohovit, Taylor 9), 2:10.92. 11-12 200 yd. DBAC Swim Team ‘A’ (Lindell, Nicola 1 Goodman, Audrey 12, Dillon, Lindsay 12, Lee, Jennifer 12), 1:59.27. 13-14 200 yd. Ruby Hill Killer Whales-TV ‘A’ (Ewanich, Lexi 14, Yar, Nawa 13, Schmidt, Alena 14, Hewitt, Kirsten 13), 2:03.44. 15-18 200 yd. DBAC Swim Team ‘A’ (Pollitz, Amy-Lynn 17, Goodman, Alanna 15, Goodman, Megan 17, Chang, Iris 18), 1:48.76.

Boys ResultsMedley Relay: 6-under 100

yd. ClubSport Tidalwaves-TV ‘A’ (Duchscherer, Drew M6, Knight, Corbin M6, Hernandez, Cole M6, Hawthorne, Thomas M6), 1:51.77. 7-8 100 yd. ClubSport Tidalwaves-TV ‘A’ (Hawthorne, Blake M8, Westcott, Colin M7, Fernandez, Antonio M8, Lee, Jordan M7), 1:21.05. 9-10 100 yd. Dublin Green Gators-CC ‘A’ (Tor-rez, Nicholas M10, Cruz, Isaiah M10, Warren, Brenden M10, Fitzpatrick, Frankie M10), 1:13.35. 11-12 200 yd. Briarhill Swim Team-TV ‘A’ (Voit, Andrew M12, Melloch, Derek M12, Grywczynski, Joey M1 Hair, Ryan M12), 2:18.54. 13-14 200 yd. Pleas-anton Meadows-CC ‘A’ (Lee, Justin M14, Geasa, Jack M14, Tucker, Nick M14, Azuma, Michael M14), 1:56.01. 15-18 200 yd. DBAC Swim Team ‘A’ (Pasquale, Michael M17, Pasquale, Justin M17, Yan, Kevin M16, Kagele, Jerald M15), 1:49.21.

Freestyle: 6-under 25 yd. Rohovit, Hunter, DBAC, 19.34. 7-8 25 yd. Fernandez, Antonio, CSP-TV, 15.38. 9-10 50 yd. Fitzpatrick, Frankie, Dub Green Gators-CC, 30.44. 11-12 50 yd. Hair, Ryan, BH-TV, 28.48. 13-14 50 yd. Tucker, Nick, PMST-CC, 24.56. 15-18 50 yd. Jackman, Clark, BH-TV, 22.51. Butterfly: 6-under 15 yd. Rohovit, Hunter, DBAC, 23.34. 7-8 25 yd. Fernandez, Antonio, CSP-TV, 17.27. 9-10 25 yd. Drummond,

Scott, FAST-PC, 16.67. 11-12 50 yd. Grywczynski, Joey, BH-TV, 31.88. 13-14 50 yd. Tucker, Nick, PMST-CC, 27.61. 15-18 50 yd.

Breaststroke: 6-under 25 yd. Hernandez, Cole, CSP-TV, 30.46. 7-8 25 yd. Labat, Thomas, BH-TV, 21.94. 9-10 25 yd. Pozzi, Trent, PMST-CC, 19.86. 11-12 50 yd. Tucker, Blake, PMST-CC, 38.73. 13-14 50 yd. Lee, Justin, PMST-CC, 29.88. 15-18 50 yd. Mowry, Chris, PMST-CC, 29.30. 100 IM: 9-10 Scanlon, Luke, PMST-CC, 1:27.12. 11-12 Hair, Ryan, BH-TV, 1:15.35. 13-14 Lee, Justin, PMST-CC, 58.73. 15-18 Liebman, Jeffrey, DBAC, 58.97. Backstroke: 6-under 25 yd. Fitzpatrick, Owen, Dub Green Ga-tors-CC, 26.06. 7-8 25 yd. LaLonde, Tristan, CSP-TV, 19.12. 9-10 25 yd. Witt, Connor, FAST-PC, 18.53. 11-12 50 yd. Voit, Andrew, BH-TV, 33.68. 13-14 50 yd. Lee, Justin, PMST-CC, 28.09. 15-18 50 yd. Van Dorn, Jason, Dub Green Gators-CC, 27.54.

Freestyle Relay: 6-under 100 yd. ClubSport Tidalwaves-TV ‘A’ (Knight, Corbin M6, Duchscherer, Kyle M6, Burlingame, Dylan M6, Hawthorne, Thomas M6), 1:38.38. 7-8 100 yd. ClubSport Tidalwaves-TV ‘A’ (Fernandez, Antonio M8, Lee, Jordan M7, LaLonde, Tristan M8, Hawthorne, Blake M8), 1:04.64. 9-10 200 yd. Pleasanton Meadows-CC ‘A’ (Scanlon, Luke M9, Walder, Johnny M10, Vaeth, Cody M10, Pozzi, Trent M10), 2:20.04. 11-12 200 yd. Pleasanton Meadows-CC ‘A’ (Azuma, David M1 Geasa, Joseph M12, Tucker, Blake M12, Lem, Jared M12), 2:01.82. 13-14 200 yd. DBAC Swim Team ‘A’ (Gu, Raymond M13, Kye, Geunho M14, Kim, Minsu M14, Li, Eric M14), 1:46.33. 15-18 200 yd. Briarhill Swim Team-TV ‘A’ (Vuong, Sherman M16, Melloch, Cole M15, Melloch, Brett M17, Jackman, Clark M16), 1:34.51.

Pleasanton MeadowsJustin Lee set four Tri-Valley

Swim League records to lead the most surprising team of the year to a second place finish at the league championship meet. The Pleasanton Meadows Sharks gave the DBAC Piranhas a run for their money before falling short by 229.5 points. Pleasanton Meadows who had

finished seventh as recently as 2009 jumped up from fourth last year.

Lee started his day swimming backstroke on the medley relay which broke the league record. Joining Lee were Jack Geasa (breaststroke), Nick Tucker (fly), and Michael Azuma (free). Lee followed that up by going 1-2 with Geasa in the breaststroke; both swimmers breaking the league record. The next record to fall was the IM in which the Sharks went 1-2-3 with Tucker finishing second and David Azuma third. Lee capped off his day by breaking the record in the backstroke that had stood since 2003.

Four other Shark individuals and two relay teams set team records. The individual records were set by Chris Mowry in the 15-18 breaststroke, Kaala Cheney in the 15-18 IM, Sidney Vaeth, breaking a team record in the 11-12 fly that was set in 1998, and Lauren DuBos who broke the team record in the 6U backstroke by 1.29 seconds. Both DuBos and Mowry also finished first overall. DuBos picked up another first in the butterfly and a fourth in the free. Another long held record fell in the relays when the 15-18 medley relay team of Chris Iniguez, Chris Mowry, Parker Brown, and Perry Cheney broke a record that was set in 2000 while finishing second. The other relay record was set by the 11-12 free relay team of Meredith Kelly, Allison Miller, Audrey Simmons, and Sidney Vaeth.

Besides for Lee, DuBos, and Mowry, the Sharks had six other individual first place finishes. Nick Tucker got a pair of those by winning the fly and free, and his brother Blake took the 11-12 breaststroke. Proving that the 13-14 girls could also get to the wall first was Alyson Isaacs in the backstroke. The 9-10 boys got a pair of blue ribbons with Trent Pozzi winning the breaststroke and Luke Scanlon the IM. The pair also swam on the free relay team that finished first. Joining them were Cody Vaeth and Johnny Walder. Two other Shark relays were first: The 6U girls medley of DuBos, Madeline Coyne, Julia McElroy, and Isabella Montague and the 11-12 free team of Blake Tucker, David Azuma, Jared Lem and Joey Geasa.

Some of the Meadows champs also had second place finishes. In addition

CSP-TV, 17.53. 11-12 50 yd. Santos, Isabella, Dub Green Gators-CC, 31.11. 13-14 50 yd. Isaacs, Alyson, PMST-CC, 32.60. 15-18 50 yd. Chang, Iris,

The Independent, AUGUST 9, 2012 - PAGE 7

The local Junior Olympic track team, Oak Hill Racing, was dominant at the US Junior Olympic National Track Championships held recently in Baltimore, Maryland. Annaka Green of Pleasanton finished 2nd in the 1500m with a time of 4:41.10. Julia Bounds won the 3000, followed closely by Lauren Jacobs in 3rd, Megan McCandless in 5th and Cat Kiser in 6th. Julia's time of 10:10.45 was the fastest time run in the United States this year. "To have four runners finish in the top 6 was way beyond our expectations" said Coach Kevin McCarthy. "Their hard work all season really paid off" he added. Bounds, Kiser, and McCandless teamed up with Chase Worthen to win the 4 x 800m relay. Their time of 9:46.17 was 18 seconds ahead of 2nd place. The boys were paced by Matt Salazar who finished 6th in the 1500m with 4:19.39 and 8th in the 3000m with 9:24.31. Pictured are Annaka Green, Megan McCandless, and Cat Kiser.

The Livermore Aquacowboys swam at the 2012 Long Course Far Western Zone Championship on August 1-5, 2012. The meet was held at the Frank Fiscalini International Swim Center at Independence High School in San Jose. Representing the Livermore Aquacowboys were Christopher Gonzalez, Alex Gonzalez, Caroline Eckel, Tori Carroll and Brandon Siu. The Championship hosted 1275 swimmers representing 136 swim teams from the Western Zone. Team LAC achieved several new best times.

Pleasanton U9 Rage White Team came in first place in their division in action at the Pleasanton Rage Showcase 2012 Youngers presented by Adidas July 28 and 29 in Pleasanton. Pictured are (top, from left) Sierra O'Donnell, Evette Allari, Kenna Asmussen, Coach David Shaw (who was filling in for Coach Nick Mangiardi ) Kaylai, Shimanuki, Sadie Brown, Leaha Allari; (bottom) Paige Morgan, Kianna Tahmassebi, Ashley Heck, and Kayla Robertson.

to his second in the breaststroke, Jack Geasa was second in the free to Nick Tucker, and Mowry took a second in the IM. Mowry capped off his fine day with an eighth in the fly. The final second place finish for Pleasanton Meadows came from Sydney Simmons who went second in the 7-8 breastroke, fourth in the free, and fifth in the back as well as swimming on the medley relay team with Samantha Herlich, Courtney Olivier, and Hannah Walder that finished third. DuBos added a third place finish to her two firsts.

Laura Whiteland (9-10), Julia McElroy (6U), and David Azuma (13-14) also had three top five finishes.

Whiteland had a third in the back and a fifth in both the fly and the free while Azuma added a third in the back and a fifth in the free to go along with his IM third. McElroy took a pair of fifths in the breaststroke and the fly and placed third in the back.

The DuBos family had another top five finisher as Jack took a pair of fifths in the 7-8 back and fly. Also with a pair of top five finishes was Joey Geasa with a fourth in the 11-12 free and a fifth in the IM and brother Jack added a third in the 13-14 IM to the Geasa family ribbon collection.

Other third place finishes for the

Sharks were Trent Pozzi 9-10 back, Haley Isaacs 13-14 Breaststroke, and Alyson Isaacs 13-14 free. Finishing fourth was Talia Florio in the 13-14 fly and rounding out the top five finishers

were Blake Tucker 11-12 back, Isaac Hilton 6U fly, Harry Herlik 6U back andPerry Cheney 15-18 free.

Pleasanton Meadows third place relay teams were:

13-14 Medley Relay: 1) Isaacs, Alyson 2) Isaacs, Haley 3) Florio, Talia 4) Bronstein, Harlow; 15-18 Free: 1) Bush, Madeline 2) Carino, Cassie 3) Craig, Shelby 4) Geasa, Annie; 13-14 Free: 1) Azuma, Michael 2) Herz, Tommy 3) Miller, Jack 4) Rhoads, Tyler; 6U Free: 1) Herlich, Harry 2) Hilton, Isaac 3) Lammle, Elijah 4) Lin, Marvin

Martial ArtsTaylor’s Martial Arts of Livermore

sent 11 competitors to the California Black Belt League’s The Valley vs. The Bay Karate Tournament held on August 4. The following students com-peted and placed in the tournament:

Forms/Kata: 8-10 Yr Old Begin-ners Forms: 2nd Place – Kristin Ford; 3rd Place – Paul Curbelo; 4th Place – Vita Nocilla; 11-13 Yr Old Beginner Forms: 1st Place – Jaden Husser; 2nd Place – Katrina Curbelo; 3rd Place – Ariyana Walling; 14-17 Yr Old Intermediate/Advanced Forms: 1st Place – Joseph Ventura

Sparring: 6-7 Yr Old Girls Be-ginners Sparring: 2nd Place – Alexis Aying; 8-9 Yr Old Girls Beginners Sparring: 2nd Place – Kristin Ford; 10-11 Yr Old Girls Beginners Sparring: 1st Place – Ariyana Walling; 4th Place – Vita Nocilla; 10-11 Yr Old Boys Beginners Sparring: 2nd Place – Paul Curbelo; 12-13 Yr Old Girls Beginners Sparring: 1st Place – Katrina Curbelo; 2nd Place Jaden Husser;

12-13 Yr Old Boys Beginners Sparring: 2nd Place – Kyle Ford; 14-15 Yr Old Girls Intermediate/Advanced Sparring: 1st Place – Tanya Sharets-kaya; 16-17 Yr Old Boys Intermedi-ate/Advanced Sparring: 1st Place – Joseph Ventura; 16-17 Yr Old Boys Sparring Grand Champion: Joseph Ventura; Men’s Black Belt Sparring: 1st Place – Wade Taylor

Tumbling & TrampolineFifteen athletes from Livermore’s

Springtime Tumbling and Trampoline traveled to Long Beach, California to compete in the 2012 Junior Olympics Tumbling and Trampoline National Championships held July 4-11.

Athletes qualified for Nationals by achieving a qualifying score at the State or Regional Championships meet, held earlier in the season. Over 2,000 competitors from all over the United States competed at Nationals.

Ruben Padilla is the 11-12 year old National Champion in Trampo-line, Double-Mini Trampoline, and Synchronized Trampoline and got 3rd in Tumbling. Top 10 finishes were also achieved by Kendall Aasen (Double-Mini), David Davisson (Trampoline), Josh Erickson (Trampoline, Double-Mini, Tumbling, Synchronized), Del-aney Foote (Trampoline, Tumbling), Miranda Harries (Trampoline, Double-Mini), Rob Harries (Trampoline, Double-Mini, Synchronized), Emma Petersen (Double-Mini), and Nicolai Petersen (Trampoline, Tumbling).

Springtime Results:Trampoline: Level 5 Age 10:

Megan Wong 22.2 (35th); Level 5 Age 13-14: Miranda Harries 22.5 (9th); Level 6, Age 7-8: Emma Petersen 22.6 (13th); Level 6 Age 9: Sabra Wilson 23.4 (14th); Level 6 Age 11-12: Nicholas Chan 22.4 (16th); Level 7 Age 11-12: David Davisson 23.3 (6th); Level 7 Age 13: Megan Contarciego 21.4 (28th); Level 8 Age 11: Kaitlyn Clevenger 49.9 (14th); Level 8 Age 11-12: Nicolai Petersen 48.3 (9th); Level 8 Age 13-14: Jeremy Pigford 28.0 (17th); Level 9 Age 11-12: Ruben Padilla 89.3 (1st), Josh Erickson 82.4 (6th); Level 9 Age 14: Delaney Foote 84.6 (5th); Level 9 Age 13-14: Rob Harries 80.4 (7th)

Double-Mini Trampoline: Level

5 Age 13-14: Miranda Harries 55.6 (10th); Level 6 Age 7-8: Emma Pe-tersen 58.1 (7th); Level 6 Age 9: Sabra Wilson 57.5 (14th); Level 6 Age 10: Megan Wong 55.6 (55th); Level 7 Age 11-12: Nicolai Petersen 57.3 (17th); Level 7 Age 13: Megan Contarciego 57.6 (21st); Level 8 Age 11: Kaitlyn Clevenger 57.5 (27th); Level 8 Age 11-12: Josh Erickson 59.0 (6th); Level 8 Age 13-14: Jeremy Pigford 29.7 (21st); Level 8 Age 17&Over: Kendall Aasen 58.9 (8th); Level 9 Age 14: Delaney Foote 59.2 (21st); Level 9 Age 13-14: Rob Harries 91.10 (6th); Level 10 Age 11-12: Ruben Padilla 125.3 (1st)

Tumbling: Level 5 Age 9: Sabra Wilson 50.8 (37th); Level 6 Age 11-12: Nicolai Petersen 51.1 (10th); Level 6 Age 13: Megan Contarciego 51.5 (25th); Level 8 Age 11-12: Josh Erickson 55.3 (4th); Level 8 Age 14: Delaney Foote 56.4 (7th); Level 8 Age 17&Over: Kendall Aasen 50.5 (14th); Level 9 Age 11-12: Ruben Padilla 53.5 (3rd)

Synchronized Trampoline: Level 9 Age 11-12: Ruben Padilla 26.1 (1st), Josh Erickson 23.0 (2nd); Level 9 Age 13-14: Rob Harries 34.7 (3rd)

CYO BasketballSt. Michael/St. Charles CYO

Basketball is now accepting regis-tration for the 2012/2013 season. Register on-line at www.smsccyo.org for players 1st-8th grade, coaches, and referees. We are only accepting online registration. All registration must be completed prior to tryouts. Visit the website for more information or email smscbasketball@yahoo.com. Open to Livermore residents.

Bocce Kits for RentThe Livermore Area Recreation

and Park District is making bocce ball kits available for rent to the public.

Bocce ball kits can be checked out for a week at a time from the Robert Livermore Community Center. The kits are available at the front counter from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday.

Rental for one week is $20, plus a $40 refundable deposit by credit card or cash – a total of $60. The $40 deposit is refundable if equipment is returned in good condition. Kits are rented on a first-come, first-served basis; reservations are not available in advance. Rental of a bocce ball kit does not guarantee a bocce ball court will be available.

The Robert Livermore Commu-nity Center is located at 4444 East Ave., Livermore. Bothwell Park is located at 2466 Eighth St., Livermore. For more information, call 925-373-5700.

Alumni Football GameThe Livermore Granada Boosters

are sponsoring the first ever Liver-more High vs Granada High Alumni Football Game.

The game will be held at 7 p.m. at Granada High School on September 14, 2012.

Organizers are still looking for in-terested players. For more information go to www.livermoregranadaboost-ers.org or contact Brad Morisoli at (925) 766-0673 or email t brad@morisoli.net

Proceeds from the event will go to the boosters scholarship program.

Summer ClassicJDRF (Juvenile Diabetes Research

Foundation) Bay Area will hold its

annual Summer Classic on Friday, August 17 at Wente Vineyards in Livermore. Created by Active Charity, the JDRF Summer Classic features 18 holes of golf on the premier course at Wente Vineyards in Livermore, followed by an evening under the stars with cocktails, a gourmet dinner, award-winning wines, live and silent auctions and dancing to live music.

This year the event will feature live music by Evolution, a Journey cover-band. Since 2005, Summer Classic has raised nearly $2 million.

Active Charity was founded in 2005 by four Chico State graduates - Dan Michie, Jason Skeoch, Ryan Ashburn and Rob Nowacek. Together with two other members, Pace Link and John Kay, they focus on local issues and charitable organizations benefiting children. When the son of a good friend was diagnosed with T1D, the group quickly sought out ways to help, and soon after were planning the first Summer Classic. Since its founding, Active Charity has been improving communities by supporting charitable organizations. Their primary role is to act as “feet on the street” in finding donors and participants for their fundraising events. Their largest annual event is the JDRF Summer Classic.

JDRF is the leading global orga-nization focused on type 1 diabetes (T1D) research.

For more information on the Sum-mer Classic and how to participate, go to www.jdrfbayarea.org.

Walk/Run for WomenFleet Feet Sports of Pleasanton is

presenting its Inaugural Women’s 5K Run/Walk & Fitness Festival, August 11 (Health & Fitness Festival at Fleet Feet Sports on Main Street) and August 12 (5K Run/Walk at Shadow Cliffs Regional Park).

Saturday August 11, 10a.m.-4:00 p.m., at Fleet Feet Sports, 234 Main Street, Pleasanton: Health & Fitness Festival, presented by Health Unlim-ited. The exciting and educational festival is open to everyone and will feature organic foods and beverages, running shoe and clothing companies, running gear, vitamin and supplement samples and information, cookies, cupcakes, lemonade, and on-going raffles. Pick up race packet or register for the 5k race.

Sunday, August 12, 8:00 a.m. start, (race day registration/check-in begins at 6:30a.m.) Shadow Cliffs Regional Park, 2500 Stanley Blvd, Pleasanton: The Women’s 5K run/walk provides an ideal opportunity for women. A portion of the proceeds of this special event will benefit the Sandra J. Wing Healing Therapies Foundation and Girls on the

Photos - Doug Jorgensen

Hundreds of cycl ists took part ina variety of events during the Fast & Furious Festival in downtown Pleasanton on Sunday. The day included a criterium, 5k race, and stunt bike competition. The 5k race benefitted research to find a cure for Lou Gehrig's disease

PAGE 8 - The Independent, AUGUST 9, 2012

Run of the Bay Area. The Run/Walk course is entirely

inside Shadow Cliffs Regional Park with packed Jeep trail and a few gradual hills. Well-behaved dogs on leashes are allowed in the race. Baby joggers/strollers are not recommended due to the gravel course.

Entrants will receive a woman specific event tee, delicious post-race refreshments, chocolate from OCHO Chocolates, free massage from Massage Envy, raffle drawing and awards.

Pre-registration fee is $35.00, and Fitness Festival and race-day registration is $40.00. Shadow Cliffs Regional Park charges $6.00 parking fee, carpooling is encouraged.

To pre-register, run/walk partici-pants can download this application and mail in to On Your Mark Events, or drop off at Fleet Feet Sports Pleasanton with entry fee, or online at active.com. For more information about the Women’s 5K Run/Walk & Fitness Festival, contact Fleet Feet at 925-426-5576.

Fall Ball RegistrationFall Ball registration for Liver-

more residents will be August 15. It will take place at Mountain Mike’s First Street Livermore from 6:30 to 8:00. Fee is $125.00; open to ages 6 to 13. Please bring a copy of a birth certificate.

Fusion Frenzy GolfThe Livermore Fusion Soccer

Club is a non-profit organization serv-ing the Livermore Community since 1976. The inaugural Fusion Frenzy Golf Tournament will help to raise funds for the program.

The shotgun start scramble tour-nament will be held at the newly renovated Las Positas Golf course in Livermore on Friday, August 17 starting at 12:30. Following golf, there will be a dinner and awards ceremony starting at 6 pm. All proceeds will ben-efit Livermore Fusion SC Programs, Equipment and Robertson Park Turf Project.

The tournament will include many raffles and prizes, including a new Chevy Camaro for a Hole in One. Other prizes include travel/golf packages and an Exotics Trilogy Fairway Wood.

For more information on how to participate and/or sponsor this excit-ing event go to http://www.fusionsc.org/Livermore Fusion Frenzy Golf Tournament.

Golf Benefits FootballThe first-ever 2012 Pleasanton

Junior Football League (PJFL) Clas-sic Golf Tournament will be held on Friday, August 24 at Sunol Valley Golf Course. All registered participants will receive 18 holes of golf on the Cypress Course at Sunol Valley Golf Course, lunch and dinner. Golfers can purchase a single spot, a foursome, or even become a sponsor of the tournament.

Every year, league insurance, field use fees and equipment purchases & maintenance costs continue to rise. In an effort to keep player registration costs down, all of the (net) proceeds of the tournament will go to the PJFL general fund to help offset these ris-ing expenses.

For more details and to register your foursome, please visit PJFL.com.

Ride for VeteransSerious cyclists and recreational

riders are invited to help severely wounded veterans by joining V3, the first Veterans Victory Velo set for Sat-urday, Sept. 22, in San Ramon.

Riders can choose routes from 15 to 100 miles to raise funds for the Sentinels of Freedom Scholarship Foundation which helps wounded veterans regain their self-sufficiency and independence.

Registration begins at 6 a.m. on ride day in the parking lot of the Foundation, 2678 Bishop Drive in San Ramon. Riders can choose from four routes, from the novice to the experienced: 100-mile Century Ride begins at 7 a.m.; 60-mile ride begins at 9 a.m.; 30-mile ride begins at 10 a.m.; and a 15-mile Family Fun Ride begins at 11 a.m.

The Family Ride will take cyclists up and down San Ramon Valley Boule-vard, while the 100-mile Century Ride takes riders to the ranger station on Mt. Diablo, around Morgan Territory, into Livermore and back to the Foundation headquarters.

There will also be live music, a barbecue and other fun events sched-uled between 1 and 3 p.m. on the day of the ride.

In addition, a custom bike jersey is available to commemorate this ride. The Club Cut bike jersey, $65, is a little longer and looser than a Race Cut jersey.

For information on the race, to order a jersey, or to register, go to the race website at www.veteransvicto-ryvelo.com.

Water Polo Registration is underway for water

polo for ages 10 to 14.. LARPD spon-sors a United States Water Polo team, governed by USWP, which encour-ages high standards of play and good sportsmanship.

The LAZERS 14 & under team will practice this fall on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays from 4-5:30pm at the Robert Livermore Com-munity Center pool from September 5 through November 16 and costs $275. All experience levels are welcome. Athletes must be able to swim two laps (50 yards) without stopping.

To register, call 925-373-5751, or visit www.larpd.dst.ca.us. For more information about the LAZERS, visit lazerswp.clubspaces.com.

SPORTS NOTES(continued from page 7)

Photos - Doug Jorgensen

Pictured are (above left) instructor John Mader; )above right) Melissa Harris of Pleasanton; (lower right) Michael Pallara, Pleasanton; Alex Jones, Livermore; and Drew Common, Dublin.

By Carol GrahamThe scene is familiar: a

music student pokes me-chanically at a piano while looking longingly out the window where the real fun is happening.

That was yesterday’s ste-reotype.

Today, the excitement is inside as Music Camp Rocks reinvents the musical learn-ing experience with eight energetic, real-life sessions culminating in a live rock-show performance at Dublin Sports Pub and Grill.

“Our approach resonates with students, parents and coaches. You see students grow because they have a gig,” says John Mader, who cofounded Music Camp Rocks last year with Dustin Smurthwaite. “Everybody, including us, feels we have a pretty special recipe.”

In bands called Whiplash, Blackout and Quiet Des-peration, the current group of students will present a two-hour concert at the grill on Sunday, August 19th at 6 p.m.

“Everyone is welcome to come. It’s a family-friendly environment,” says Mader. “What we consistently hear from parents, teachers and relatives following a show is, ‘When I was invited, I thought I’d go, it would be cute, and I’d obligatorily clap. But I had no idea it was going to be this good!’”

Building up to the con-cert, students participate in weekly three-hour sessions in which they form bands (including choosing names, creating logos and design-ing fliers). Each member selects a favorite song for the band to polish for the show. The group also collectively composes an original song to perform.

Along with teaching mu-sic theory and application, Music Camp Rocks amps up the experience by focusing on aspects of a live perfor-mance necessary to take it to a professional level: how to emotionally connect with a song, how to speak to an audience and introduce band members, and how to lead the band through shifts in chords and harmonies.

“This is an authentic learning environment,” says Smurthwaite. “There is a goal. We have one student who is a phenomenal guitar player, way beyond his years

in his ability. However, he doesn’t know how to cue a band through the chord changes in a song. We’re teaching him those leader-ship skills.”

Both Mader and Smurth-waite have the professional chops to lead the way. Al-though Mader has worked with Steve Miller, Pat Benatar, and Joe Satriani, opened for The Who, and toured with such musicals as “Wicked,” “The Lion King,” and “Mama Mia,” many younger students seem most impressed by his drumming on The Sims video games.

With a teaching creden-tial in linguistics, multi-in-strumentalist Smurthwaite has played for Steve Taylor (Rogue Wave) and the In-die band Audrye Sessions (featured on VH1), taught countless music workshops in Pleasanton schools, and ensures that the camp’s goals align with the district’s rig-orous teaching standards.

Both instructors care deeply about a musician’s development on a variety of levels. When a student rolled his eyes recently while a young drummer struggled to learn a piece, Mader asked him to go for a little walk. “I told him, ‘I appreciate that you’re a really fine player, far above average. A lot of people have mentored you and given you support to get to that level. Now it’s your turn to be nurturing to this person and help him develop his skills.’ It was a good moment.

“These are rock and roll kids. They’re all alphas, and think it’s their time to shine. It’s amazing how we can take them to that level of realizing what they’re say-ing, how it’s going to impact somebody’s feelings, and how to phrase it better.”

Such life lessons go hand in hand with top-notch per-formances. “The students are forming bonds,” adds Mader. “I see the same thing in the Broadway shows I am part of. The cast gets really close and has to support each other. Your band mate has your back. There’s nothing quite like that.”

Is there a place in the program for beginning mu-sicians? “Absolutely,” says Mader. “Music Camp Rocks includes all ages and all lev-els of musicians. We have a program within the pro-gram called ‘Rock Star-ter.’ Dustin is able to pull guitar, bass or piano players and work with them individually to raise their skill level so they can hold their own in the band. We also arrange individual parts so if we need to simplify something we can do so without losing the essence of a song.”

Livermore resident Lou-ise Jones’s sons are enthu-siastic participants. “Chan-dler, 14, is learning how to cue a band, to come out of his shell onstage and to engage the audience,” says Jones. “Alex, 9, is having a great time. Getting him to step away from video games and practice piano and guitar can be difficult. I wanted him to see how much fun it can be to make music with kids his own age. It takes hard work and yes, practice, but the payoff is amazing!”

S m u r t h w a i t e s a y s , “There’s a serious project management aspect to what we’re doing. We use dry erase boards to diagram what needs to be accomplished in each session. This shows a

This August, spend An Evening with Sourdough Steve. The Museum on Main’s annual Ed Kinney Lecture Series programs “An Evening With…” will be traveling through the world of the 49er on Tues-day, August 14 at 7pm. Sour-dough Steve, portrayed by Steve Johnson, will share new and rarely heard stories of the mining life in the mid 1800s. The event is spon-sored by Charles Huff.

“An Evening With…” is a speakers series where audiences come face to face with people making history today as well as actors who look and sound as if they have stepped out from the pages of history books.

The series takes place

Music Camp Rocks Reinvents

Learning about Music

pentagram sound-shape you can create, but if the drums, guitar, bass and vocals aren’t working together you’ll get a different shape - more like a blob.”

Mader, adds with a smile, “There has to be some order in the music universe.”

Jones declares, “Pro-grams such as this one are so important since music is being eliminated from the public school systems. The camp is wonderful because it’s able to offer something to musicians of all levels.

“The bands perform at the end of the session on a stage with lights, loud rock-ing music, and adoring fans cheering for them. What better way than to train with seasoned professionals who have shared the stage with world renowned musicians and entertainers?”

The program’s next ses-sion begins on Sunday, September 9th. For more information, visit www.musiccamprocks.com or Ingram and Braun’s Musik Shoppe on Santa Rita Road in Pleasanton.

monthly January through October at the Firehouse Arts Center, 4444 Railroad Avenue, Pleasanton. Tickets may be purchased at the door or reserved in advance by calling the Museum on Main at (925) 462-2766. Ticket prices: $10 General Admis-sion, $5 Members & Se-niors, $3 Students/Teachers with ID. All tickets are paid at the door. Cash, check, Visa and MasterCard ac-cepted. All tickets are open seating and after 6:45pm any unclaimed reserved tickets will be released for sale.

For more information on the Ed Kinney Lecture Se-ries visit www.museumon-main.org or call Museum on Main at (925) 462-2766.

Spend An Evening With Sourdough Steve

The Independent, AUGUST 9, 2012 - PAGE 9

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PoliciesObituaries are published in

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The Independent when families want to honor the memories of their loved ones. There is a charge for

memoriam ads, based on the size of the ad.

Please send an email to editmail@compuserve.com

to receive additional information.

Ronald Dale TimmResident of Livermore

Ron was born on Feb. 4, 1958 in Japan and passed away on Wed., Aug. 1, 2012 in Livermore at the age of 54. He graduated from Granada High in 1976 and played on the varsity Golf Team for all four years.

Ron worked as a sheet metal estimator for over 35 years. He enjoyed fish-ing, playing darts with his friends and spending time with his family. He is pre-ceded in death by his father, John in 2008.

Ron is survived by his

loving mother, Patricia Timm of Livermore, brother Mark Timm and sister-in-law, Michele and his nephews; Kyle and Tyler Timm all of Bethel Island, Ca. Ron will be dearly missed by all who knew him.

In honoring his wishes, a private service will be held at Memory Gardens Cem-etery, Livermore, CA.

Arrangements are by Cal-laghan Mortuary.

Elizabeth Lorraine JohnsenFormer Resident of Livermore

Elizabeth was born on

Aug. 16, 1918 in Montana and passed away on Satur-day, Aug. 4, 2012 at the age of 93.

She was preceded in death by her husband, Rob-ert, son-in-law, Tony Hem-enway, grandson Mitchell Hemenway and great grand-son Simon Hemenway. She is survived by her daughter Sharon Hemenway and son;

Lance Johnsen and daughter in law; Donna Johnsen, five sisters; Allie, Mary, Patricia, Grace and Rhoda, plus nu-merous grandchildren, great grandchildren and great, great grandchildren.

A Visitation will be held on Thursday, Aug. 9 at 5 p.m., Rosary at 5:30 p.m. at Callaghan’s Chapel. Mass

will be held on Friday, Aug. 10 at 1 p.m. at St. Michael Catholic Church, burial to follow at St. Michael Cem-etery. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations can be made to Birthright of Livermore or George Marks Children’s House.

Arrangements are by Cal-laghan Mortuary.

Military BannersDue to the harsh weather this

past year, the yellow military banners on 1st, 2nd and 3rd Streets from “L” to “P” Street have taken quite a beating. Many of the banners are also several years old. All the banners from that designated area will be taken down and evaluated regarding condition to prepare them to be relocated. Each family will be contacted and will have the option to have damaged banners replaced and relocated at the cost of $12.00 each or the option not to replace the banner. Those who wish to save a damaged banner, please contact Kristin at kekvall@gmail.com or 925 443 7841 by September 15, 2012.

If a banner is currently within the above specified area and is in good condition, it will be relocated to the area between “L” Street and Livermore Av-enue. Banners currently located between “L” and Livermore Avenue will also be evaluated for their condition and only dam-aged banners will have the above option to replace or retain.

Those who do not hear from Kristin by Sept. 15, 2012, please call or email with instructions. All banners not relocated or replaced will be retained until January 1, 2013 and then honor-ably retired.

Ponding and MeteorsPonding USA is the topic of

a nature program presented Sun., Aug. 12 by the Livermore Area Recreation and Park District ranger staff. Meet Ranger Dar-ren Segur at 2 p.m. at Sycamore Grove Park, 5049 Arroyo Rd.

Forget surfing – all the cool kids are “ponding.” Come on down to Sycamore Grove for a ponding adventure. Following an introduction, everyone will

be armed with a net and go into the pond for the great critter capture. After, hang out on the beach and check out the neat critters that were found. Bring water and a towel if you like. All ponders must wear closed-toed shoes.

The evening of Aug. 12, there will be a Perseid Meteor Hike. Meet Ranger Glen Florey at 9 p.m. at Sycamore Grove Park, 1051 Wetmore Rd.

The Perseid Meteors are peaking on the night of Sunday, Aug. 12, and this should be a good year to get a look. After a moderate walk to the darkest part of the park, participants will sit down to enjoy the night sky in comfort. Please bring something comfortable to sit on. The walk will be about two miles total.

There is a $5 per vehicle parking fee at either entrance to Sycamore Grove Park. A $2 donation is requested to help support the programs unless other fees are specified. Partici-pants may call 925-960-2400 for more information.

Dublin Cooks

August 9 will be “Dublin Cooks Night” at the Dublin Farmers’ Market.

The market is held at Emer-ald Glen Park from 4 to 8 p.m. The “Cookin’ at the Market” folks will also be on hand with cooking demonstrations, using ingredients found right at the market.

Pleasanton Cash MobThe Pleasanton Downtown

Association (PDA) will host downtown’s very first Cash Mob this Saturday, August 11 at 6 p.m. Cash Mobs are a new movement aimed at supporting local businesses and strengthen-ing communities. A Cash Mob

is like a Flash Mob. Instead of singing, dancing or rioting, Cash Mobbers join together and each spend $20 (or more) at a local business. Cash Mobs are taking place in communities throughout the country.

“Our Cash Mob aims to engage participants with the ‘buy local’ message and ensure they have a great time doing it. We’re informing people about how their $20 purchase goes a long way to improve the quality of life in downtown,” said Laura Olson, Executive Director of the PDA. “The Cash Mob will give us all an opportunity to have a measurable impact on a business in our downtown.”

Anyone interested in partici-pating in the Cash Mob should meet PDA staff members in front of the Museum on Main (603 Main Street) at 6 p.m. on Saturday. The PDA will then announce the business selected by random draw for the Cash Mob. All participants will walk to the business together and have fun shopping.

Cash Mob will be taking place during the PDA’s Sizzling Saturday. Many downtown businesses will be open until 9 p.m. and numerous businesses and restaurants will be offering specials or discounts during 6 p.m. – 9 p.m. on Saturday. There will also be live music in mul-tiple locations on Main Street. Cash Mobbers are encouraged to stay downtown and continue shopping or have a bite to eat after the Mob.

For more information please visit the PDA’s Facebook page or call the PDA at (925) 484-2199.

Fun on the Farm

Forest Home Farms Historic Park and the Glass House Mu-seum offer Fun on the Farm

from 10am to 2pm the 2nd Sat-urday of each month. On these days you can step back in time to explore the site, enjoy tours, and participate in a free activity from days gone by.

On August 11, 2012 the theme for the day will be “Ice Cream Social.” Help turn the crank to make and sample some homemade ice cream. The San Ramon Historic Foundation will also have ice cream treats and hot dogs for sale too. Take a tractor ride, make a craft, try your hand at old-fashioned games, and compete with your family and friends by entering a hula hoop, watermelon-seed-spitting, or egg toss contest.

Tours of the restored Victo-rian Glass House Museum will be held at 10am, 11am, 12pm and 1pm and tours of Forest Home Farms Historic Park, including the tractor museum, at 11am and 1pm. Each tour lasts approximately 45 minutes and the fee is $5 per person or $8 for both tours taken on the same day. Tour tickets can be purchased in the Gift Shoppe. Children ages 2 and under are free.

For more information about Forest Home Farms Historic Park call (925) 973-3284 or visit www.SanRamon.ca.gov. Forest Home Farms Historic Park is located at 19953 San Ramon Valley Blvd., just south of Pine Valley Road in San Ramon.

Wine and EquineSonRise Equestrian Foun-

dation will partner with KGO Channel 7 and Wente Vineyards on Saturday, October 20 at Round Hill Country Club in Alamo for its 6th Annual Wine and Equine fundraiser.

Mike Nicco of Channel 7 will emcee the event. The festivities will include estate grown wines, dinner, dancing and entertain-

ment. SonRise will also be offering a wine cellar raffle of premium wines and live and silent auctions with packages including a weekend getaway at the Ritz Carlton, Lake Tahoe and Disneyland vacation for four.

SonRise continues to seek donors and sponsors for this event. All proceeds will provide support to children who are facing social, emotional and physical challenges as well as help rehabilitate horses in need. Tickets cost $125.

For more information or to purchase tickets call 925-838-RIDE (7433) or visit www.sonriseequestrianfoundation.org.

Best FriendsThe Best Friends Campus,

with 6.5 years of an excellent track record, has a new 5-acre location in Livermore.

The new space in Livermore allows for more space to learn and explore. The new campus can be found at 2828 Marina Avenue in Livermore.

The Best Friends Campus uses an emergent curriculum by crafting activities around your child’s interest to give your child some control over their direction of learning.

An introductory rate offer expires by August 20. The of-fer code is mai899, and has a maximum of 4 children per code. School starts in September, but warm-up classes plan to begin in late August.

Celebrate OlivesCelebrate the Olive Day will

be held Sun., Aug. 26, at Black-smith Square in Livermore

The schedule is as follows:• Olive Curing Seminar by

Don Landis from 11- 1: Com-plete instruction on how to cure your own olives. He’ll cover the

many varieties of olives, when to pick and how to de-bitter them using the non-lye methods of brine curing, Greek style, water and salt cure. Followed by olive tasting with cheese. Class fee: $10.

• Cooking demo by Victorine Valley Farms owner Susan Her-manson from 3 – 4. Late summer cooking with Victorine’s olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Class fee: $20

• Olive dinner on the Square 5:30: early evening olive in-spired al fresco dinner. Full menu on Facebook page, Vic-torine Olive Oil. With wine pairing $40

Throughout the day sample specialty foods including, olive oil gelato, pastries, fudge, arti-san cheese.

Pre – registration for classes and dinner required at 925/ 454- 8777 or info @victorinevalley.com

Blacksmith Square is located at 21 So. Livermore Avenue in downtown Livermore.

past year or more, namely, that if virtually all employ-ees were not satisfied with a change-over, it would not happen.

“We all feel the same on the board. It’s important that morale is good. That’s what generates top-notch performance. It has to be pretty much unanimous,” said Greci.

Interviewed earlier this week, Greci told The In-dependent that as far as he personally is concerned, there was not overwhelming support at the committee meeting that he was looking for to make the separation.

If Zone 7 could negotiate with the county about things that will create more cost-saving efficiencies for the agency, and better recruit-ment and retention, Greci would favor negotiating with the county.

Greci said that Haggerty has said that he wants to work through the issues with Zone 7. “We should give him a chance to do it. That makes good sense,” said Greci.

Holding a dialogue with Haggerty and county staff doesn’t mean that Zone 7 would have to stop looking into various ways of en-abling more independence, said Greci.

“We can continue to re-search the process more. But in the interim, why waste time? If Scott can do some-thing, it might make the pur-

chasing people happy, and the employees themselves might feel more comfort-able,” said Greci.SWITCH MIGHT HELPRETAIN EMPLOYEES

Employees have a big stake in the future structure of Zone 7. They would be leaving the county civil ser-vice system, and going into a different mediation system when it comes to contracts.

It’s a change that the four employee unions at Zone 7 favor, because a meditator would be chosen by both sides, said general manager Jill Duerig. Under the cur-rent rules, the Board of Su-pervisors makes the decision concerning the arbitrator.

Fringe benefits are also watched carefully by em-ployees. One argument by the Zone 7 board and ad-ministration has been that a fully independent Zone 7 could align its salaries and fringe benefits more with the water industry than with county government. That can help retain newly trained employees.

Greci said that Zone 7 has to go to the Valley and the Foothills to find water plant operators. “We hire young guys, we train them, and they leave. Why? Our benefits are not as good as other water districts. We are beholden to the county when it comes to what has been negotiated for employee benefits,” said Greci.

Turnover of personnel has cost us hundreds of thousands of dollars, to my mind. “We are a water in-dustry, not a county,” said Greci, who has been on the board for 20 years.

COUNTY WANTS TO KEEP FLOOD CON-

TROLZone 7 was on the path

to complete independence from the county water con-servation and flood control district via a bill, SB 1337, sponsored by Sen. Mark DeSaulnier.

However, DeSaulnier withdrew his bill after ob-jections from Alameda County.

Supervisors Scott Hag-gerty and Nate Miley sent Zone 7 a letter on June 22 explaining why they support independence for the Zone 7 water functions, but not for flood control.

They said that for admin-istrative, planning and main-tenance reasons, it’s better for the county to run flood control in the Valley in sync with all the other county flood control districts. (None of the county’s other flood control zones is governed by a separate board.)

As an example of county government’s role, Haggerty and Miley cite the fact that the Alameda Creek water-shed is entirely in the county, while Zone 7 comprises only part of it. The supervisors say it makes sense to keep

it under county jurisdiction, and not split it up creat-ing another flood control district.

Also, most of the Zone 7 budget is for water, not flood control. The county flood district’s mission is flood control only.

When it comes to tax revenue, the whole county flood control district re-ceives a share of the tax revenue, which is carried in the county budget. It is used among all the county flood control districts for such expenditures as rain gauging and stream gauging.

If Zone 7 were a separate flood control district, the county would lose that por-tion of its revenue. Over the past five years, the county-wide district has spent $1 million on work in Zone 7, says the letter.

SUPERVISORS:USE LAFCO PROCESS

Haggerty and Miley serve on the county LAFCO board. Their letter to Zone 7 cited the supervisors’ belief that the agency should not seek special legislation for independence, but should go to LAFCO, where a public hearing would include citi-zen input.

Two Zone 7 employee committees addressed that point in a pros and cons sheet they provided to the administrative committee.

They said that using LAFCO could result in an unintended merger with the county, and/or loss of flood

control.Further, in 1957, voters

authorized combining flood control with water. Chang-ing the status would go against voters’ wishes.

FLOOD CONTROL,WATER GO TOGETH-

ERAt the committee meet-

ing, staff emphasized the importance of bringing flood control along. Employee Jarnail Chahal said, “Zone 7 can’t manage water without managing the arroyos. We need flood control and water together.”

Greci agreed, noting that the future chain of lakes, which will be a connected string of the current gravel quarries, will be used for flood control. It also will en-able water to percolate into the underground basin.

Director Sarah Palmer sounded a similar note when she stated, “The Valley is its own water basin. That’s important to independence.” Zone 7 has been designated by the retail water sellers as the Valley underground basin guardian.

Employee Jeff Tang said that if the district were inde-pendent, flood control has to come along. “It’s part of the morale in Zone 7.”

Greci praised Zone 7 flood control employees, although there are only five of them among the 110 or so full-time equivalent jobs at the agency. Zone 7 contracts out arroyo maintenance.

“You’ve accomplished

your job wonderfully. I’d butt heads with anyone who would diminish the perfor-mance of our flood control or water agency. There is no one at the county level with the similar competence,” said Greci.DOUGHERTY VALLEY

COULD HAVE VOTEOne benefit of DeSaul-

nier’s bill cited by Zone 7 has been its inclusion of Dougherty Valley in Zone 7 territory, even though the agency would be crossing the county line into Contra Costa.

Although Zone 7 in 1998 first resisted, then reluctantly acquiesced to wheeling de-veloper-acquired Central Valley water to Dougherty Valley, it’s a reality now. Current directors have said that it’s only fair that resi-dents there should be able to vote and run for the board.

Roz Rogoff, a San Ra-mon blogger who ran twice for the DSRSD board, told the committee that “Dough-erty Valley people say, ‘We hate the water. Can we do anything about it?’ They just complain.”

Inclusion in Zone 7 would provide them with some power when it comes to their water quality complaints. Much of Dougherty Valley is developed, and has been an-nexed to San Ramon. Zone 7 will serve an eventual total of 9800 homes in Dougherty Valley. East Bay Municipal Utilities District serves the remaining 1200 homes.

ZONE 7(continued from page one)

PAGE 10 - The Independent, AUGUST 9, 2012

by Laura NessJuly always brings the

Petite Sirah Symposium to Concannon Vineyard. Once again, this annual pilgrim-age lured wineries from far and wide to participate in a morning of presentations and discussion, followed by a lovely lunch under the glo-rious arbor at Concannon. The Martinelli Center was the site for the presentations, as what used to be the con-ference room at Concannon has become offices for the ever-expanding Wine Group staff. Martinelli makes a great venue, though, with its Spanish style architecture and very comfortable ac-commodations.

Highlights of the 10th an-nual PS I Love You Sympo-sium (which began in 2002 at Foppiano) were Evan Goldstein talking about op-portunities for Petite Sirah from a sommelier’s perspec-tive, noting that Petite Sirah is now where Zinfandel was 15 years ago from a popularity standpoint; John Concannon’s presentation, which included Ag reports from the late 19th century showing that by 1881, there were already 590 acres of grapes planted in Alameda and Santa Cruz counties. Clearly, this little growing paradise was already well established. John also shared a copy of the original land purchase agreement for the Concannon property from 1883: John’s great grandfa-ther snagged 49 acres for the whopping sum of $2100. Re-ceipts for “choice cuttings” shows a purchase by Con-nanon of “Petite Syrah” in 1885 as a Claret variety, and an 1888 report by the State Viticultural Commission, of which Charles Wetmore was a VP, listed Petite Syrah as a “promising varietal.”

The Concannons shipped a million vine cuttings to Mexico in 1890, guaranteed free of phyloxerra, stating “Great care has been taken that the vines are true to their name and fresh and full of vigor.” By 1899, rumblings of the Prohibition movement were already well under way, and Berkeley was at-tempting to prevent the sale of “intoxicating liquors” within the city limits. John shared a letter from France dated 1904 that showed a purchase of Durif root-stocks, as part of the second wave of cuttings imported by Concannon. Other historical highlights included a copy of a 1976 Wine Spectator, then a 4-page newspaper, that regaled the 15th anniversary of Petite Sirah being bottled as a varietal in 1961 by Jim Concannon (at a whopping 12% alcohol), at a whopping $3.54 per bottle! In 1983, the Reagan white House called Concannon looking for a 9-Liter bottle of Petite Sirah as an official gift to Ireland as part of an official state visit. That must have been some party!!

Livermore made a very good showing this year at the Symposium, with Mer-edith Miles, Lanny Repogle and Brent Amos represent-ing Fenestra, pouring their 2012 Orange County Fair Best Red award-winning 2008 Ghielmetti Vineyard Petite Sirah, which always impresses with its awesome

pepper, sage, and raspberry-blueberry fruits: at $27, a true steal. They were joined by Concannon, Nottingham, Occasio, Ruby Hill and Thomas Coyne, all of whose wines showed very well, with elegance and finesse.

Some of the highlights of the PS tasting included the 2008 Polo Field Vineyard Petite from Concannon, crafted to honor the 50th an-niversary of PS, and exhib-iting classic blackberry and black currant notes nicely wrapped in fine leather. Particularly appealing is the newly released 2007 Thomas Coyne Pet from Livermore (loved the clas-sic blueberry buckle flavor and texture) and the surpris-ingly lithe 2009 Cantara Cel-lars (from Lodi fruit), with good black pepper, heaps of blackberry pie and loads of licorice on the finish. From Paso Robles, we had the bright, inviting and dynamic 2009 Aaron bottling, as well as the 2009 Clayhouse Old Vine beauty from Red Cedar Vineyard, showcas-ing fabulous white pepper, ripe plum and a smack of toast. Also from Paso was the truly impressive 2008 Old Vine Petite Sirah from Ranchita Canyon, which was stunning in its abundant blackberry jam, gingerbread and spice flavors that melded wonderfully with savory notes of sundried tomato and caraway. A fascinating wine at $32 (14.6%). From Lake County came the 2008 and 2010 Diamond Ridge Vineyards Pets made by Clark Smith, and they both showcased their vintages with a common thread of lavender and rosemary, with the former leaning more towards black pepper, while the beautiful 2010 veered towards bright blueberries,

crowned by white pepper and chiles on the silky, vi-brant finish.

For sheer classic Petite, I think the 2009 Pedroncelli oozed that nice stout combo of coffee and white pep-per with Bing cherry, red plum and tannins a-mundo. At $14, it’s built to last. Another bold and gorgeous selection of classic Pets could be had at the Barra of Mendocino table, where winemaker Jason Welch was pouring a 2007, with a deep heart of dark earth, as-phalt and splendid fruit and chocolate, a gorgeous 2009 that was amazingly plum-laden and an exciting 2011 barrel sample that rocked with bright-spunky blue-berries and grilled peppers. A big WOW worth wait-ing for. Amazingly 14.9% alcohol for a cool vintage that wasn’t quite so cool in Redwood Valley. To think, many Livermore winemak-ers weren’t even able to make a PS in 2011.

Among the other wine highlights were the 2011 Concannon Assemblage Blanc, a beautifully craft-ed Sauv Blanc/Semillon blend that winemaker Julian Halasz dialed in perfectly, plus a juicy, delicious Con-cannon Grenache, so sum-mer-perfect.

ECKERT RELOCATESEckert Estate Winery just

released two new wines, the 2011 Viognier and the 2010 Petite Sirah, and winemaker Mike Eckert is pleased to pour you both at his new tasting room located at 5963 Graham Court, Suite D in Livermore. It is just off South Vasco Road and around the corner from the Longevity, Nottingham, and Occasio wineries. It’s also convenient to Cuda Ridge

Winery in the other direc-tion, off East Ave. Most of you have never seen the winery before, so they are anxious to show it off. The tasting room is located right in the winery area, so you’ll always be able to see what Mike is working on. In addition to a larger area to serve you, they’ll also have a Reserve Room that can be used to host private tastings or small winemaker dinners. Beginning August 10, they’ll be open on Fridays as well as Saturdays and Sundays, from noon to 5 p.m. each day. They’ll also be charging a $5 fee for tasting, (except to Wine Club members, aka, the Insiders). It can be ap-plied toward the purchase of wine.

BIG HOUSE BEAUTIESYou have to love the bra-

zen, fun twist-off wines from Big House Wines (a Wine Group brand acquired from Randal Grahm of Bonny Doon fame). All made by winemaker Georgetta Dane, aka “The Warden,” who makes these wines at the Soledad facility near the “big house,” i.e., prison.

Two I recently tried were easily liberated from their rather striking vessels with a simple twist of the wrist. Probably my favorite is the “Unchained” Chardonnay, which is unoaked Chard that delivers a purity of flavor that makes you wonder why more people don’t do this. We have to thank Collin Cranor of Nottingham for pursuing the oakless path to Chardonnay enlightenment. The Big House 2011 “Bird-man” Pinot Grigio is packed with more great flavors than ever before. This is full-on California Pinot Grigio with round, fruity, richness in the mouth, despite the

cool, challenging weather climate, and totally unlike the watery and thin stuff that generally hails from Italy. This example is re-plete with honeydew melon, guava, grapefruit, lime zest and yellow nectarines. A totally delicious wine, with good acidity, perfect to pair with Thai chicken and ba-sil, or arugula pesto pizza topped with goat cheese and a drizzle of Meyer lemon olive oil.

Speaking of olive oil, Susan Hermanson of Vic-torine Valley Farms is hon-oring international olive month with “Celebrate The Olive Day” at Blacksmith Square on Sunday, August 26. There will be olive oil tasting throughout the day, along with gelato, pastries, fudge and artisan cheeses. Highlights include an Olive Curing Seminar by Don Landis from 11- 1pm, with complete instruction on how to cure your own olives. Learn when to pick and how to de-bitter olives using the non-lye methods of brine curing, Greek style, water and salt cure. Followed by olive tasting with cheese. Class fee: $10. This is fol-lowed by a Cooking demo from 3 – 4 by Victorine Valley Farms owner Susan Hermanson, with a focus on late summer cooking with Victorine’s olive oil and balsamic. Class fee: $20 Then, Swirl chimes in to cook an Olive dinner on the Square, beginning at 5:30pm. Enjoy an early eve-ning olive inspired al fresco dinner. Full menu on Vic-torine Olive Oil Facebook page. Dinner (food only) is $40; with Wine pairing, $60. Pre – registration for classes and dinner is required: 925/ 454- 8777 or info @victori-nevalley.com

Annual Petite Sirah Symposium Celebrates A Livermore Favorite

The Independent, AUGUST 9, 2012 - PAGE 11

LEGAL NOTICESFOR INFORMATION

PLACING LEGAL NOTICES

Call 925-243-8000

FICTITIOUS BUSINESSNAME STATEMENT

FILE NO. 467346The following person(s) do-ing business as: Top Tier Communication, 3737 First St, Livermore, CA 94551, is hereby registered by the following owner(s):Jerry Mark Kozak, 3737 First St, Livermore, CA 94551This business is conducted by an IndividualThe registrant began to transact business under the fictitious business name(s) listed above on N/A.Signature of Registrants:s/: Jerry Kozak, PresidentThis statement was filed with the County Clerk of Alameda on July 13, 2012. Expires July 13, 2017.The Independent Legal No. 3279. Published July 19, 26, August 2, 9, 2012.

FICTITIOUS BUSINESSNAME STATEMENT

FILE NO. 467286The following person(s) doing business as: Monk Metal, 2127 Research Dr, Suite 11, Livermore, CA 94550, ishereby registered by the fol-lowing owner(s):Jorge Monge, 677 Adelle St, Livermore, CA 94551This business is conducted by an IndividualThe registrant began to transact business under the fictitious business name(s) listed above on N/A.Signature of Registrants:s/: J. A. MongeThis statement was filed with the County Clerk of Alameda on July 12, 2012. Expires July 12, 2017.The Independent Legal No. 3281. Published July 19, 26, August 2, 9, 2012.

FICTITIOUS BUSINESSNAME STATEMENT

FILE NO. 467366 The following person(s) doing business as: Cristo Delivery, 2127 Research Dr #11, Liver-more, CA 94550, ishereby registered by the fol-lowing owner(s):Enr ique Romero, 2352 Chestnut St., Livermore, CA 94550This business is conducted by an IndividualThe registrant began to transact business under the fictitious business name(s) listed above on N/A.Signature of Registrants:s/: Enrique RomeroThis statement was filed with the County Clerk of Alameda on July 16, 2012. Expires July 16, 2017.The Independent Legal No. 3282. Published July 19, 26, August 2, 9, 2012.

FICTITIOUS BUSINESSNAME STATEMENT

FILE NO. 467544The following person(s) doing business as: Diablo Valley Property Management, 1860 Meadow Glen Drive, Liver-more, CA 94551, ishereby registered by the fol-lowing owner(s):Judith D. Pipkin, 1860 Mead-ow Glen Drive, Livermore, CA 94551This business is conducted by an IndividualThe registrant began to transact business under the fictitious business name(s) listed above on N/A.Signature of Registrants:s/: Judy PipkinThis statement was filed with the County Clerk of Alameda on July 18, 2012. Expires July 18, 2017.The Independent Legal No. 3283. Published July 26, August 2, 9, 16, 2012.

FICTITIOUS BUSINESSNAME STATEMENTFILE NO. 467066-69

The following person(s) doing business as: (1) T J Dillon (2) T J Dillon & Co (3) Cloud-9byaimee.com (4) Cloud 9 By Aimee, 2767 Huff Dr. , Pleasanton, CA 94588, ishereby registered by the fol-lowing owner(s):Amy Holland, 2767 Huff Dr., Pleasanton, CA 94588This business is conducted by an IndividualThe registrant began to transact business under the fictitious business name(s) listed above on N/A.Signature of Registrants:s/: Amy HollandThis statement was filed with the County Clerk of Alameda on July 6, 2012. Expires July 6, 2017.

The Independent Legal No. 3285. Published July 26, August 2, 9, 16, 2012.

FICTITIOUS BUSINESSNAME STATEMENT

FILE NO. 467335The following person(s) do-ing business as: APPONYX, 1169 Farmington Way, Liver-more, CA 94550, ishereby registered by the fol-lowing owner(s):Suzanne Eddleman, 1169 Farmington Way, Livermore, CA 94550This business is conducted by an IndividualThe registrant began to transact business under the fictitious business name(s) listed above on N/A.Signature of Registrants:s/: Suzanne EddlemanThis statement was filed with the County Clerk of Alameda on July 12, 2012. Expires July 12, 2017.The Independent Legal No. 3286. Published July 26, August 2, 9, 16, 2012.

FICTITIOUS BUSINESSNAME STATEMENT

FILE NO. 467311The following person(s) doing business as: Novaregis, 183 Albatross Avenue, Livermore, CA 94551, ishereby registered by the fol-lowing owner(s):(1)Philipp Novales-Li (2)Ingrid Plooy, 183 Albatross Avenue, Livermore, CA 94551This business is conducted by Husband and wifeThe registrant began to transact business under the fictitious business name(s) listed above on N/A.Signature of Registrants:s/: Philipp Novales-Li (Partner), Ingrid Plooy (Partner)This statement was filed with the County Clerk of Alameda on July 12, 2012. Expires July 12, 2017.The Independent Legal No. 3288. Published July 26, August 2, 9, 16, 2012.

FICTITIOUS BUSINESSNAME STATEMENT

FILE NO. 467593The following person(s) do-ing business as: Las Positas Vineyards, 1828 Wetmore Rd., Livermore, CA 94550, ishereby registered by the fol-lowing owner(s):Maier Winery LLC, 682 Pin-nacle Place, Livermore, CA 94550This business is conducted by a Limited liability com-panyThe registrant began to trans-act business under the ficti-tious business name(s) listed above on 7/13/2007.Signature of Registrants:s/: Lisa L. Maier, Managing MemberThis statement was filed with the County Clerk of Alameda on July 18, 2012. Expires July 18, 2017.The Independent Legal No. 3289. Published August 2, 9, 16, 23, 2012.

FICTITIOUS BUSINESSNAME STATEMENT

FILE NO. 467884The following person(s) doing business as: Capt’n Cooke Products, Inc., 11501 Dublin Blvd, Suite 200, Dublin, CA 94568, ishereby registered by the fol-lowing owner(s):Tdale Manufacturing & Dis-tributing, Inc., 1910 Wall St, Suite 200, Garland, TX 75041This business is conducted by a CorporationThe registrant began to trans-act business under the ficti-tious business name(s) listed above on 07/06/2012.Signature of Registrants:s/: Bradley A. Hertz - Presi-dent/COOThis statement was filed with the County Clerk of Alameda

on July 26, 2012. Expires July 26, 2017.The Independent Legal No. 3291. Published August 9, 16, 23, 30, 2012.

FICTITIOUS BUSINESSNAME STATEMENT

FILE NO. 467250The fol lowing person(s) doing business as: The Property Detailers, 1483 Rebecca Drive, Livermore, CA 94550, ishereby registered by the fol-lowing owner(s):Dayna Marie Ochse, 1483 Rebecca Drive, Livermore, CA 94550This business is conducted by an IndividualThe registrant began to transact business under the fictitious business name(s) listed above on N/A.Signature of Registrants:s/: Dayna OchseThis statement was filed with the County Clerk of Alameda on July 11, 2012. Expires July 11, 2017.The Independent Legal No. 3292. Published August 9, 16, 23, 30, 2012.ANIMALS2) CATS/ DOGS

TO PLACE A CLASSIFIED AD

Call (925)243-8000

ADOPT A DOG OR CAT, for adoption information contact Valley Humane Society at (925)426-8656.

Adopt a new best friend: TVAR, the Tri-Valley Animal Rescue, offers animals for adoption every Saturday and Sunday, excluding most holidays. On Saturdays from 9:30 am to 1:00 pm, dogs are available at the Pleasanton Farmers Market at W. An-gela and First Streets. Two locations will showcase cats only: Petsmart in Dublin from 12:00 to 4:00 and the Pet Extreme in Livermore from 12:00 to 4:00. On Sundays, cats are available at Petsmart in Dublin from 1:00 to 4:00, and Pet Extreme in Livermore from 12:00 to 4:00. For more information, call Terry at (925) 487-7279 or visit our website at www.tvar.org.

FERAL CAT FOUNDATION Cat & kitten adoptions now at the new Livermore Petco on Saturdays from 10:00AM to 2:30PM. We have many adorable, tame kittens that have been tested for FIV & FELV, altered & vaccinated. We also have adult cats & ranch cats for adoption.

EMPLOYMENT65) HELP WANTED

PART-TIME LISTERSWestat, a national research

firm, seeks individuals to work as listers for an energy

consumption study. Listers will use maps and

follow a specific set of instructions to locate and record the addresses and other information for all of

the commercial buildings in a specified area.

Part-time, 20-25 hours/week, mostly during the

day; car required. Must be able to attend

out-of-town training in early September.

Pay rate based on experi-ence; mileage reimbursed. Assignment runs from Sep-tember through November

2012. EOE

www.westat.com/fieldjobsEnter Job ID: 5019BR

JANITORSFLOOR TECHS

Swing Shift Must have own

transportation and clean driving record. (925)245-0595

56) ADULT CARE

Independent Contractors Wanted. Senior Home Health Care. Must have ex-perience. Senior Solutions, Inc (925)443-3101.

BE WARY of out of area companies. Check with the local Better Business Bureau before you send money or fees. Read and understand any contracts before you sign. Shop around for rates.

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Call (925)243-8000

MERCHANDISE115) ESTATE/ GARAGE/ YARD SALES

MULTI-FAMILY GARAGE SALE

Saturday, August 11 8:00AM-2:00PM

5332 Northway Road Pleasanton

Household goods Clothing Furniture

Children’s Furniture

ALL CHURCH YARD SALE!

Saturday, August 11 8:00AM - 2:00PM

United Christian Church 1886 College Ave (at M

Street) Books

Clothing Kid stuff

HousewaresFurniture & More!

127) LOST/ FOUND

LOST BOXER DOGREWARD

(925)872-8689or

ANIMAL CONTROL

Red Poinsettia Clip Earring

Lost downtown Livermore, Friday 12/16. If found,

please call (925)447-1762

NOTICES/ANNOUNCEMENTS155) NOTICES

“NOTICE TO READERS: California law requires that contractors taking jobs that total $500 or more (labor and/or materials) be licensed by the Contractors State License Board. State law also requires that contractors include their license numbers on all advertising. Check your contractor’s status at www.cslb.ca.gov or (800)321-CSLB (2752). Unlicensed persons taking jobs less than $500 must state in their

advertisements that they are not licensed by the Contrac-tors State License Board.”

REAL ESTATE160) BOAT/RV RENTAL SPACE

R. V. - BOAT STORAGE $75 - $85

(925)447-8151

Inland Valley Publishing Co.

Client Code:04126-00001Re: Legal Notice for

Classified AdsThe Federal Fair Housing Act, Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and state law prohibit advertisements for housing and employment that contain any preference,

limitation or discrimination based on protected classes, including race, color, religion, sex, handicap, familial status or national origin. IVPC does not knowingly accept any advertisements that are in violation of the law.

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Deadline to submit news to The Independent for

publication in Bulletin Board or

Arts & Entertainment calendar is

5 p.m. on Friday. Send information to

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PAGE 12 - The Independent, AUGUST 9, 2012

This summer at the Law-rence Livermore National Laboratory, visiting high school teachers are work-ing side by side with their students on an authentic research project that could assist scientists studying biofuels and bioremedia-tion.

The research will gener-ate and publish novel DNA sequence data on a species of duckweed. The two-week session at the Edward Teller Education Center (ETEC) is part of a new Teacher Research Academy (TRA) in collaboration with the Waksman Student Scholars Program (WSSP), sponsored by the Waksman Institute at Rutgers University.

Last year, to usher in the program at Livermore, Farnsworth called upon four teachers to attend the 2011 summer institute at Rutgers University in New Jersey and prepare for their roles as master teachers. The teachers are: Jeff Austin of Modesto High School, Erin McKay of Tracy High School, Kath-erine Huang of Dougherty Valley High School in San Ramon, and Michael Sana of Waipahu High School in Hawaii. All teach biology and have previously par-ticipated in one of LLNL’s teacher academies.

In July, the teachers, along with two students each, reunited at ETEC for two weeks for the transi-tion or bridge portion of the program where they will implement the teaching model in the classroom. An additional four teachers and eight students from local high schools also are par-ticipating in the two-week Institute. The teachers are: Elizabeth Lopez of Granada High School; Cora Da Costa Pereira and Heather Pereira, both of Amador Valley High School; and Jennifer Hunau

of Dougherty Valley High School. Joining the group is Andrew Vershon, a Rut-gers professor and WSSP director, and John Brick, laboratory leader, who will provide instruction, lectures and laboratory sessions.

The session uses the WSSP mode l , funded through the National Sci-ence Foundation, which helps high schools con-nect with the local research community and engage in a genuine research project in molecular biology and bioinformatics.

Hands-on experience in-troduces students and teach-ers to the content, back-ground information and laboratory procedures, as well as computational skills that are needed to carry out a research project in molecu-lar biology and bioinformat-ics that they can conduct at their schools during the academic year.

All students that partici-

pate in the project can have the results of their DNA sequence analyses submit-ted for publication with their names as contributing authors on GeneBank, a DNA sequence database used by scientists through-out the world. Last year, 26 students participating in the initial collaboration published their sequences, with an additional 10 pend-ing publication.

How did the LLNL-Rut-gers University partnership come to be? Richard Farn-sworth, manager of the Lab’s Science Education Program, explains that he was looking to expand the Lab’s Teacher Academies — a continuum program where teachers progress through five levels of instruction, each level building on the knowledge and experience of the pre-ceding level and progressing the teacher from novice to mastery.

Hoping to develop a sixth level with a concentration in biology and bioinformatics, Farnsworth was searching the Internet for information. He hit the jackpot when he learned about the Rutgers program. And, this summer,

The Livermore Police Department will be stag-ing its annual “Stuff the Cruiser” event on Satur-day, August 18 and Sunday, August 19, 2012 between the hours of 10:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m.

LPD personnel and vol-unteers will be placing a marked police cruiser in front of various stores. Com-munity members will be able to stuff the patrol car full of school supplies. The goal is to collect school supplies such as backpacks, paper, binders, pens, pencils, eras-ers, folders, protractors, compasses, glue, calculators, and scissors. All of the col-lected school supplies will be sorted and the backpacks filled. The filled backpacks will then be provided to stu-dents in need, ranging from kindergarten through high school, who have been iden-tified through the Horizons

Student So Yun Park prepares a DNA sample for analysis while Andrew Vershon, director of the Waksman Student Scholars Program looks on. Photo - Jacqueline McBride

the bicoastal collaboration came to fruition.

“The program brings sci-ence into the classroom in the form of real research.” Vershon said. “Students and teachers are learning how to carry out the project together. Having their stu-dents present is valuable to the teachers. “

Since its inception in 1993, more than 250 high school science teachers and approximately 3,500 high school students have worked on scientific research inves-tigations with instruction from Waksman faculty and staff.

Vershon added that com-ing to LLNL benefits the program. It is a way to reach out to more school districts. “I am grateful for the part-nership. It is a wonder-ful interaction,” he said. Augustine Chemparathy, a 10th grade student at San Ramon’s Dougherty Valley High School, doesn’t mind taking some time from his summer vacation to par-ticipate. “I am interested in a career in biology,” he said, while working in ETEC’s computer lab.

Jennica Ramones and Ka-

healani Uehara of Waipahu High School in Hawaii, trav-eled to Livermore with Sana, their teacher and school’s science department chair.

Uehara has a special in-terest in the program. She won at her district’s science fair with her project, which

Counseling program and the Livermore Valley Joint Uni-fied School District.

On August 18 patrol cars will be parked at the Liver-more locations of Wal-Mart and Office Max. On August 19 patrol cars will be parked again at Wal-Mart, as well as the CVS store located at 1500 First Street.

In years past, LPD has been able to provide be-tween 275 and 300 students with necessary school sup-plies. If unable to attend an event, to make a donation, drop off school supplies in the front lobby of the police department. The drop box will be in the lobby of the Livermore Police Depart-ment starting August 8 and will remain until August 19.

The department is located next to the library on So. Livermore Ave.

featured sequencing the DNA of duckweed.

“Not everyone gets to do this,” Ramones added. “It is really useful in preparing those interested in the sci-ence fields. This is a great opportunity.”

LPD's Annual Stuff the Cruiser Scheduled

High School Teacher Learn Through Hands-On Research

THURSDAY, AUGUST 9, 2012

THE INDEPENDENT • SECTION A

By Patricia KoningOn Saturday, August

11, the Livermore-Amador Symphony Youth Orchestra (LASYO) will perform its third annual concert featur-ing works by Beethoven, Gershwin, Stravinsky, and Brahms. The Youth Orches-tra is comprised of 70 young musicians ages 12 and older from the Tri-Valley and East Bay and six mentors from the Livermore-Amador Symphony.

“I say this every year, but this may be our best youth orchestra ever,” says Göran Berg, the co-music director of LASYO with Kathy Boster. “There is a se-riousness and commitment among these musicians.”

The Livermore-Amador Symphony established LA-SYO in 2009 to provide an opportunity for young musicians in the Tri-Valley to develop their skills, learn from experienced musi-cians, and participate in a unique performance. Audi-tions are held in late spring. The group practices weekly throughout the summer to prepare for the concert in August.

Free Concert by the

Livermore-Amador Symphony

Youth Orchestra this Saturday

Of the 70 musicians, about half are returning from the previous year. The older, more experienced musicians serve as mentors and role models for the new orchestra members. Most are from the Tri-Valley, although there

(continued on page 7)

Göran Berg directs m e m b e r s o f t h e Livermore-Amador Youth Orchestra in preparation for this Saturday's concert.

Photo - Doug Jorgensen

Photo - Doug Jorgensen

Photo - Doug Jorgensen

2 THE INDEPENDENT • THURSDAY, AUGUST 9, 2012

Singer/songwriter Jerry Jeff Walker brings his trade-mark “outlaw” country mu-sic to the Bankhead Theater on Friday night August 17th.

Best known for his popu-lar hit “Mr. Bojangles,” which has been covered by nearly four dozen artists from all musical genres, Walker forged his own brand of folk rock shot through with a touch of the “outlaw,” earning him a long-lasting fan base and influencing a generation of musicians. A powerful songwriter who covers all of life’s ups and downs, from rowdy odes to drinking to mournful ballads for a misspent life, Walker’s concerts have been described as “like hanging out at your favorite Irish pub.”

Tickets to hear Jerry Jeff Walker on August 17, 2012 at 8:00 pm range from $27 to $47 for adults with $14 tickets for students.

Jerry Jeff Walker has lived the life of a troubadour, leaving an indelible mark on the world of country music along the way. He left his hometown in upstate New York heading straight south to Key West where he and another young musician named Jimmy Buffett dis-covered a lifelong love for the tropical atmosphere. Walker sang on street cor-ners in New Orleans, filled small cafes in Greenwich Village and crossed Canada on a motorcycle with his guitar on his back, before settling in Texas where he reinvented himself as a Lone Star country rocker.

Walker happened onto the country music scene just as audiences were expand-ing beyond the traditional sound and style of the Grand Ole Opry. With a little less bluegrass and a lot more rock, Walker fit in with other country singer/song-writers of the 1970s such as Johnny Cash, Waylon

The Lamplighters Music Theatre opens its 60th Anniver-sary season with Gilbert and Sullivan’s tale of star-crossed lovers, The Mikado. Performances in Livermore will be August 25 and 26 at the Bankhead Theater.

Very possibly the most popular musical comedy in the English language, The Mikado is a playful satire set in a fanciful (and wholly imaginary) Japan.

In a time when flirting is a capital offense, wandering minstrel Nanki-Poo has fallen in love with the beautiful Yum-Yum, fiancée to the recently appointed Lord High Executioner Ko-Ko. When the honored Mikado, emperor of Japan, demands the execution of Ko-Ko, and Nanki-Poo volunteers to take Ko-Ko’s place under the condition that he first be allowed to marry Yum-Yum, chaos, desperation, and comical mayhem ensue in classic Gilbert and Sullivan style, with impromptu marriages, forged death certificates, and the revelation of a prince in disguise.

Director Jane Hammett helms this production with Mon-roe Kanouse at the baton.

The Bankhead Theater is located at 2400 First Street in downtown Livermore. Tickets are available at www.bankheadtheater.org at the theater box office or call (925) 373-6800

Jennings, Merle Haggard and Hank Williams. Along with a brand new sense of country, they brought their larger than life, rough and ready “outlaw” personalities to their music. Walker was a quintessential part of the “outlaw” country movement and was absorbed into Aus-tin’s internationally famous music community, where he continues to perform regularly to a large and loyal group of friends and fans.

Walker was nominated for a GrammyAward in 1978 for Best Country & Western Vocal Performance on “Mr. Bojangles.”

The LVPAC Presents se-ries at the Bankhead Theater showcases a broad range of artists in music, dance, comedy and other perform-ing arts. On Sept. 14, LVPAC Presents will launch its 2012-2013 season with the dazzling “Cirque Chinois” by the National Circus of the

People’s Republic of China. September also brings the fourth annual Guitar Fest LIVE! a weekend filled with live guitar performances, free clinics, and an acoustic guitar competition.

Tickets for all perfor-mances are available now at the Bankhead Theater box office or online at www.bankheadtheater.org.

The Bankhead Theater is located at 2400 First Street in Downtown Livermore.

One of the Original Outlaws of Country Music Performs at the Bankhead Theater

F. Lawrence Ewing portrays Ko-Ko and Robby Stafford Pooh-Bah.

Lamplighters Bring 'The Mikado' to

the Bankhead Theater

Jerry Jeff Walker

THE INDEPENDENT • THURSDAY, AUGUST 9, 2012 3

FFridaridayyNigNighhttssFridayNights

2012FREE OUTDOOR CONCERT SERIES

IN DOWNTOWN LIVERMORE

FFFFF6:30

to8pm

FREE!

OUTSIDE THE BANKHEAD THEATER

BUY TICKETS 925.373.6800www.bankheadtheater.org

2400 FIRST STREET | Downtown Livermore

Aug 10 • FRANKIE BONES and the Truck Stop Daddios

Acoustic folk rock with a splash of ukulele

endless variety,exciting entertainment

Jerry Je� WalkerAug 17 at 8pm

Singer, Songwriter, Troubadour of Cowboy Rock ‘n Roll

The Mikadoby Gilbert & Sullivan

Aug 25 at 8pm, 26 at 2pmLamplighters Music Theatre

National Circus of China Sep 14 at 7:30pm

Dazzling Cirque Chinois

Larry Carlton Trio Guitar Fest LIVE!

Sep 15 at 8pmDon’t Miss This Electrifying Event!

Two Livermore authors have debut mystery novels out this summer. "Twisted Vines" by Carole Price is set in Livermore, while "Going Organic Can Kill You" by Staci McLaughlin takes place in the fictional Northern California town of Blossom Valley.

"Twisted Vines" is the first in Carole’s Shakespeare in the Vineyard mystery series. It will be released by Five Star Publishing on August 15, 2012. The book focuses on Cait Pepper, an Ohio crime analyst who inherits a Livermore vineyard and Shakespeare theaters from an aunt she knew nothing about. She soon finds that her sud-den good fortune may not be the blessing it first appeared to be.

Carole didn’t plan on an-other career after retiring from Sandia National Labs, especially not one that in-volved murder. When Car-ole’s daughter Carla moved to Ashland, Oregon, home of the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Carole and her hus-band, Cliff, attended many performances. She fell in love with the Bard and the theater. After a behind-the-scenes tour, she was hooked. Why not write a mystery about a Shakespeare festi-val set in Livermore wine country?

Carole graduated from Livermore’s Citizens’ Po-lice Academy and became a volunteer—after a daunting clearance process of finger-printing, drug testing, and even a polygraph test. Carole says, “I’ve worked at many events, such as the wine festival and the Livermore rodeo, and role-played with the SWAT team. I’ve been shot at with rubber bullets and paint guns, handcuffed, and tossed to the ground. Who said research isn’t fun?” Volunteering for the LPD has provided Carole with a bet-ter understanding of police procedures and the passion the men and women have for their job, and the pride they

have for their city. Carole is currently working on "Sour Grapes," her second book in the series.

Staci McLaughlin, a Livermore resident for the past thirteen years, was a technical writer for various computer software compa-nies before becoming a stay-at-home mom of two young boys. Although she’d tin-kered with writing a book for many years, she decided her time at home was the perfect opportunity to become more serious about the craft. When she needed to pick a setting for the book, she opted for a fictional town to provide more flexibility with the story so she could give all the businesses fun names. Just to keep things straight in her mind, Staci loosely based Blossom Valley on Ukiah, the town where she spent her childhood. Her parents’ home there is the model for the main character’s house.

"Going Organic Can Kill You," her first book in the Blossom Valley Mysteries series, has already been released. It tells the story of 28-year-old Dana Lewis, who moves back in with her mom and sister after being laid off from her marketing job at a San Jose software company. She’s hired at the new O’Connell Organic Farm and Spa for what is supposed to be a market-ing position. However, her job soon transforms into a hodgepodge of chores that include collecting chicken eggs, mucking out the pig-sty, and taste testing the healthy yet often unappetiz-ing dishes created by the spa’s cook. When a guest is murdered at the farm, the po-lice move in, reporters from the entertainment industry start hanging around, and the spa’s reputation is in tatters. Dana decides she’d better solve the murder before the spa shuts down for good and she’s out of a job, again. Her second book in the series, "All Natural Murder," is scheduled for release in

February, 2013.Carole and Staci will join

fellow mystery authors Pen-ny Warner, author of "How to Dine on Killer Wine," and Ann Parker, author of "Mercury's Rise," for the

Murder in the Valley book tour starting this September. For more information about the authors and a schedule of the tour, see www.carolepri-cemysteries.com and www.stacimclaughlin.com.

Murder on Their Minds

Carole Price

Staci McLaughlin

4 THE INDEPENDENT • THURSDAY, AUGUST 9, 2012

Pleasanton Poet Laure-ate, Cynthia Bryant, and Towne Center Books, invite poetry lovers of all ages to a poetry reading from members of “Tuesday Trope Poetry Group.”

It will be held Sun., Aug. 19 from 2 to 4 p.m. Poets participating are Abbey Ray-mond, Alice Kight, Jim Cur-

Livermore Poets Laureate to Be Featured

Connie Post and Charan Sue Wollard will be featured at the Second Sunday Poetry Reading in Crockett on Aug. 12, 4-6 p.m. Poet, essayist and publisher David Alpaugh will host.

Post served as the first poet laureate for the City of Livermore, 2005-2009; Wollard is currently serving her second term in that position.

Post’s poetry has appeared in Calyx, Crab Creek Review, Slipstream, and many other literary journals and antholo-gies, both in print and on line. Her poetry has been honored with numerous awards, including the Caesura poetry prize in 2009.

Her most recent book, “And When the Sun Drops” (Finishing Line Press, 2012) is comprised of poems about her adult son with autism.

Wollard’s first book, “In My Other Life (Richer Resourc-es Publications, 2010) includes both poems and paintings.

Wollard’s poems and short stories have appeared in The Carquinez Review, A Bird Black as the Sun: California Poets on Crows and Ravens, The Gathering and A Taste of the Valley, as well as other publications.

She won the Grand Prize at the 2004 Bay Area Poet’s Dinner.

The Second Sunday readings, held at Valona Deli, 1323 Pomona St., Crockett, are free and open to the public. An open mic follows the featured readings.

More information is available at www.livermorelit.com, or contacting Post at connie@poetrypost.com or Wollard at cherw@cherw.com.

curo, Marilyn Slade, Martha Dewitt, and Kay Speak.

The event will be held at Towne Center Books, 555 Main, Pleasanton.

Refreshments will be served.

For information contact Cynthia Bryant at pleasan-tonpoetry@ci.pleasanton.ca.us

Fred Setterberg, author of Lunch Bucket Paradise will be at the Livermore Library on Sunday, August 19, 2012 at 2 p.m.

The library is located 1188 S. Livermore Avenue. There is no charge for this event. Books will be avail-able for sale and signing.

It’s 1950, and the great suburban experiment has be-gun. A new house with three small bedrooms, a garage where you can spend all Sat-urday tuning up the Chevy or Ford, the promise of a syca-more blooming someday out front by the edge of the postage-stamp, golf-course green lawn. Fast forward twenty years and life changes for the narrator’s blue-collar family, as tract homes pro-liferate, wages soar and then collapse, the inner cities

burn, and another war begins in a faraway place called Viet Nam. Join author Fred Setterberg as he revisits the American Dream and discusses his book Lunch Bucket Paradise.

Fred Setterberg is the author of Lunch Bucket

Paradise and The Roads Taken, the coauthor with Lonny Shavelson of Un-der the Dragon and Toxic Nation, and the editor of Travelers’ Tales America. His essays, stories, and jour-nalism have appeared in The Southern Review, The Iowa Review, The New York Times, The Nation, The Utne Reader, The Chi-cago Reader, The Boston Phoenix, and scores of other national and regional maga-zines. Fred earned his B.A. in English at the University of California at Berkeley and his M.A. in Creative Writing at San Francisco State University. He is a former staff writer for the East Bay Express and has been a visiting writer with the Chautauqua Writers Center. Fred’s writing has

won an NEA fellowship; the Faulkner-Wisdom Essay Prize; fiction awards from Solstice Literary Maga-zine, The Florida Review, and Literal Latte; the na-tional arts writing prize from the Association of Alternative Newsweeklies; feature-writing awards from the California Newspaper Publishers Association; and a citation from Project Cen-sor for one of the year’s best “under-reported” stories for his coverage of U.S. military policy in Central America in Mother Jones. He lives in Oakland, California.

The Friends of the Liver-more Library have under-written this program as part of the Friends Authors and Arts Series. For additional events, check the website at www.livermorelibrary.net.

Lunch Bucket Paradise Author at the LibraryPoetry Group to Read

Cher Wollard Connie Post

THE INDEPENDENT • THURSDAY, AUGUST 9, 2012 5

The Cantabella Chil-dren’s Chorus, conducted by its Honors Choir di-rector Eileen Chang, was awarded two silver medals at the seventh World Choir Games, an international event, held July 4 – 14, 2012, in Cincinnati, Ohio. The singers received med-als for their performance in the categories of Children’s Choir and Contemporary Music in the Champion’s Competition, where they challenged other choirs who had won competitions previ-ously. Cantabella’s Honors Choir was one of the few children’s choirs to compete in the Contemporary Music category.

As part of their reper-toire, Cantabella’s Honors Choir performed two world premier pieces written espe-cially for Cantabella by Paul Shin: Bluesy, in the Chil-dren’s Choir category and Hope in the Contemporary Music category. Cantabella also performed their spe-cially commissioned 20th Anniversary piece, These Things Can Never Die, by Frank La Rocca in the Chil-dren’s Choir category. All three works were success-fully premiered at the event. Composer Paul shin joined the Choir as a special guest.

The 2012 World Choir

weeks of competitions, the choirs from various coun-tries had the opportunity to perform together in Celebra-tion and Friendship Concerts held throughout the Cincin-nati area, attend workshops and mingle with other choirs in the Global village on Fountain Square. Cantabella choristers also attended the Champions Concert giving them an opportunity to learn from the best of the best. This global event closed out with a performance by the Cincinnati Pops Or-chestra conducted by John Morris Russel and songs performed by Idina Menzel, Tony Award-winning Broad-way, film and television star, and, Grammy Award winner Marvin Winans.

Next summer, Canta-bella’s Honors Choir has been invited to participate in the prestigious World Vision Korea Children’s Choir Fes-tival to be held in Seoul and Sun Cheon, South Korea.

Cantabella Children’s Chorus is accepting new singers in grades K – 10 through the month of Au-gust. Classes begin the week of August 28th in Dublin, Livermore and Pleasanton. Please check the website at Cantabella.org/register for information and registra-tion forms and call (925) 292-2663 to schedule an audition.

Games, brought hundreds of thousands of visitors and choirs from around the

world to Cincinnati, the first U.S city to host the games, to join their voices and share

their heritage. Choirs com-peted in 23 musical catego-ries from Barbershop and

Scenic Folklore, to Musica Sacra, Chamber Choir, Jazz and Gospel. During the two

Aladdin Junior will be performed August 11 and 12 in Livermore.

Tickets for children are $5.00. Buy one child's ticket and get the second one free. Any child wearing a cos-tume with a paid ticket will receive a free ice cream cone at Loard’s, on Second St. in Livermore.

The show is produced

in a Bollywood theme and includes authentic Indian costumes, and dance move-ments. The performers are local children from East Bay schools.

The Director Mike Kasin chose the Bollywood theme after attending an Indian wedding recently. He was impressed with the variety of color in the wedding

that he chose to incorporate that vibrancy into the show. The sets are designed by Jean-Francoise Revon, who utilizes multi-media images, and two projector units in the designs to simulate the flying scenes, and create a more expansive and exotic landscape.

Aladdin Junior is pro-duced by SmARTSunlimit-

ed, a performing arts school for children located at 53 Wright Brothers Avenue in Livermore. Some of their prior productions include Beauty and the Beast, Alice in Wonderland, Pirates of Penzance, and Willy Wonka. Aladdin Junior is SmARTS 10th annual main stage pro-duction in Livermore. Tick-ets for the show are $5.00

for children, and $15.00 for adults.

The show runs August 11 and 12 at 2 and 6 p.m. at Livermore High School Performing Arts Theater at 600 Maple St.

The school offers pro-grams in voice, piano, guitar, percussion, Early Childhood Music Education Classes, Acting, Film, and

Multi-Media for students ages 2-17. The school is also sponsoring a music contest October 30th with cash and-in-kind prizes of up to 400.00.

To learn more about the school and to purchase tick-ets go to www.SmARTSun-limited.com or call 925-245-0283.

Aladdin Junior Musical to Be Performed This Weekend

Chorus Brings Home Medals from World Choir Games

Chorus performs at World Choir Games.

6 THE INDEPENDENT • THURSDAY, AUGUST 9, 2012

Elissa Beth Stebbins appears as Mistress Ford and Jennifer Le Blanc as Mistress Page in Merry Wives of Windsor. Photo - Kenneth Alexander

by Susan SteinbergBouquets to the gifted

cast of Shakespeare’s “Mer-ry Wives of Windsor," and to brilliant director Virginia Reed. They bring the Bard’s warmest, most satisfying comedy to the peak of per-fection, a fitting finale to this 10th anniversary season of the Livermore Shakespeare Festival.

A beloved tale of good-natured hoodwinking, this play involves multiple plots and counterplots: two inept suitors seek a pretty young girl in marriage; a fat old windbag pays court to sev-eral clever married women; larcenous servants set out to thwart their ungrateful mas-ter; a ludicrously jealous husband tries to entrap his wife; a lusty serving-maid plays everyone for her own profit; and a witty young lady determines to wed the man of her choice, despite parental disapproval.

Unbelievably, all these plots are so cleverly inter-woven that no audience brain-strain is required to follow the story line. Each character is clearly delin-eated, and each is indeed a character.

As usual, veteran actor/director William Wollak makes the most of his juicy role as Dr. Hugh Evans, a Welsh parson, whose man-gled English is hysterically funny, especially his mis-pronunciation of “K-night” and “K-nave." Even when silent, he is always “on”, a fascinating performer to watch.

Equally ridiculous is Raymind Castellon as Dr. Caius, the mincing French doctor, with his heavy ac-cent and similarly mutilated English. When he and Hugh Evans come together for a duel, the result is pure vaudeville comedy, and the

“Merry Wives” Offers Madcap Mirthaudience loves it. As the Garter Inn’s Host (a hearty Lucas Hatton) observes, “Disarm them... Let them keep their limbs whole, and hack our English.”

The Host himself is the source of many delicious malapropisms, such as, “I will be thy adversary [ad-vocate] toward Anne Page.” Mistress Quickly, played by the delightfully saucy and suggestive Siobhan Marie Doherty, vamps, mocks, and meddles outrageously, while doing equal violence to the language with, “Her men mistook their erection [di-rection]”, a line that always brings down the house.

Making his LSF debut, wonderfully talented Jack-son Davis boasts, blusters, storms, equivocates, and schemes as the famous rogue John Falstaff. It is as fine a portrayal as this reviewer has seen. His body language and facial expressions com-bine to lend real stature to a character too often played as a mere buffoon, but also to elicit hearty audience laughter. Larger than life, he is impossible to dislike, though his repeated humili-ations are highly enjoyable.

Cunning companions in planning Falstaff’s comeup-pance are Jennifer Le Blanc as Mistress Margaret Page and Elissa Beth Stebbins as Mistress Alice Ford. Wooed with identical passionate let-ters, they scheme to lead him on, and then discomfit him completely, first by having him crammed in a basket of filthy smelly laundry and dumped into the muddy River Thames, and then by disguising him as a fat old lady, badly beaten for being thought a witch.

Both women are a joy to watch as they merrily lay their snares, egg each other on to new deviltry, and enjoy

the great mutual fun females have always found in a man’s world. Ladies in the audience obviously could relate to their high-spirited friendship, and their relish in turning the tables on the males who deserved a pain-ful curative lesson.

Not only do they teach the preening Falstaff to re-spect their intelligence and virtue, but they also con-found the jealous Master Ford, a suspicious husband, into admitting his folly and accepting the jolly mockery of his friends. Matt Ballin,

(Fight Director for Hamlet), here shows his talent as the blustering spouse, sly plotter of wife-traps, and crest-fall-en village laughing-stock.

His opposite number, Master Page, the popular Michael Wayne Rice, is as affable and trusting as Ford is choleric and jealous, and serves to restore balance to uncomfortable situations with his hearty good humor and common sense.

Many eccentric char-acters populate the plot, including the zanies who act as pages, servants, and

ribald followers of Falstaff, and Maryssa Wanlass as a perfect commedia dell’arte Justice Robert Shallow, Esquire. His cousin, the weal thy ninny Master Abraham Slender (Ryan Zerwonko) is a pleasantly blank-faced and empty-headed suitor for the Pages’ daughter Anne. That young lady describes him succinct-ly and wittily: “Oh, what a world of vile, ill-favored faults looks handsome in 300 pounds a year.”

Brinda Dixit makes a charming and spirited Anne,

Review

determined to wed the man of her choice despite her parents’ plans, a difficult decision in those times. Her suitor Fenton (Daniel Petzold) is a gentleman, de-voted and courteous, and his gentle demeanor as well as Anne’s obvious joy softens her parents’ anger at their elopement, giving a happy-ending version of “Romeo and Juliet."

In fact, the ending knits up friends and rivals into a goodnatured company ready to drink together and celebrate the whole adven-ture. It is a performance that leaves the audience feeling the same camaraderie and good will - a rare gift from Shakespeare’s pen and the company’s superb perfor-mance.

Only one more evening of “Merry Wives” remains, and few tickets are available, so theater-lovers should try for reservations as soon as possible at 1-800-838-3006 or www.livermoreshakes.org. Some seats may also be available on-site before curtain time, 7 PM Sun-day, August 12, at Concan-non Vineyard, 4590 Tesla Road in Livermore. Picnic grounds open at 5:30 PM, with food and wine available for purchase. Bring jackets against a chilly night, or rent blankets at the ticket booth.

“Wives” is a play for all ages and degrees of Shake-speare literacy. Mother-daughter teams from the National Charity League of Pleasanton, volunteering as ushers, enjoyed their first Shakespeare show just as much as long-time fans, another illustration of the Bard’s lasting appeal down through the centuries.

Here’s to many more suc-cessful years and milestone anniversaries for the Liver-more Shakespeare Festival, truly a cultural treasure.

THE INDEPENDENT • THURSDAY, AUGUST 9, 2012 7

Every Saturday night in August and September from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m., visitors will find offers available at some of their favorite downtown Pleasanton shops and eateries.

They include the following: Clover Creek, El Jarrito Mexican Restaurant, Grape Times Wine Bar and Bistro, Handles Gastropub, Lanvie Apparel, Main St. Spirits and Deli, Murphy’s Paw, Redcoats, Rick’s Picks, Savvy Sec-onds, Sincerely Yours Cards and Gift, Studio Seven Arts, Therapy, and Towne Center Books. There will be live music and a children’s entertainer on Main Street.

The series of nine Saturday night events was organized

This August, Valley Hu-mane Society (VHS) invites the community to name a price on all cat and dog adoptions, all month long. It’s the ultimate “re-tail” event, to encourage adopt-ers and find new homes for dozens of loveable pets.

Simply pick out a fa-vorite, determine that furry face’s value, and make an offer. For those uncertain where to start, a tiered guide

are a few musicians from Fremont and Antioch.

This year’s program fea-tures three original composi-tions, meaning the music is being performed as origi-nally composed not as an arrangement. Compositions are often arranged to sim-plify or shorten a piece of music, or to feature specific instruments. The Stravinsky piece that LASYO will be performing is 30 minutes long as originally written; they will be performing a 7-minute arrangement.

“For our concert, each piece can’t be any longer than 10 minutes. The music must be something the group can master in 10 rehears-als,” explains Berg. “At the same time, we choose music that will teach something to these young performers. This program features sev-eral pieces of highly valued classical music that both the audience and the musicians will appreciate.”

The three original com-positions are “Coriolan” Overture, Opus 62 by Lud-wig van Beethoven; Fantasia on “Greensleeves” by Ralph Vaughan Williams; and Romance—from Pastoral Suite, Opus 19 by Lars-Erik Larsson.

The program begins with the “Coriolan” Overture then moves to the 1920’s An American in Paris Suite by George Gersh-win. “Greensleeves” will be performed by a harp, two flutes, and strings. “It’s a very small orchestra and a very unusual combination,” says Berg.

The fourth number is Jupiter, the Bringer of Jol-lity—from The Planets by Gustav Holst. After inter-mission the Youth Orchestra will perform Bacchanale—from Samson and Delilah by Camille Saint-Saëns. “Percussion plays an im-

portant role in this piece,” says Berg. “The kids love this one.”

Next is the Pastoral Suite by Swedish composer Lars-son. “In Sweden, he’s as well known as the Beatles, so it’s fun for me to intro-duce this to the Youth Or-chestra,” says Berg. “This is a difficult piece of music performed only by strings.”

This is followed by Hun-garian Dances, No. 5 and 6 by Johannes Brahms, which was originally written for the piano and arranged by William Ryden for an or-chestra. The concert ends with Berceuse and Finale—from The Firebird Suite by Igor Stravinsky.

This free concert will begin at 8 pm on Satur-day, August 11 at the First Presbyterian Church (at the southeast corner of L Street and Fourth Street). A reception will follow the performance.

LASYO is open to all brass, percussion, string, and woodwind players ages 13 to 21 (exceptions are made for younger musicians with outstanding talent). The auditions, held in May, are for placement purposes and to ensure that the musicians have the necessary skills.

LASYO also holds a Competition for Young Mu-sicians each fall, open to in-strumentalists and vocalists who reside or attend school in Livermore, Pleasanton, Sunol, Dublin, or San Ra-mon. Students are eligible through grade 12 or age 17.

The winners perform as soloists with the Liver-more-Amador Symphony at its February concert and receive a monetary award. Recordings are due on Oct. 7 and the competition will take place on Oct. 28.

For more information visit www.livamsymph.org/competition.html or contact

detailing the average cost of animal care and treat-ment at varying levels will be available for review. In addition to food and a basic health exam, animals taken in by VHS commonly receive vaccinations, flea treatments, deworming, and microchipping. More than half require spay/neuter sur-gery. Regular adoption fees are $200 for dogs or puppies and $150 for cats or kittens.

VHS is located at 3670 Nevada Street, off Valley Avenue and Stanley Boule-vard in Pleasanton. Adop-tion hours are Tuesdays and Wednesdays, 9 am – 2 pm; Thursdays and Fridays, 12 noon – 7 pm; Saturdays 10 am – 4 pm; and Sundays 12 noon – 4 pm. Standard adoption criteria apply. Visit www.valleyhumane.org for details and to see adoptable animals online.

As advocates for re-sponsible pet ownership, VHS provides educational outreach and collabora-tive programs that enrich the bond between people and companion animals and eliminate unnecessary euthanasia. VHS offers dog and cat adoption, humane education presentations, Canine Comfort visits, and resources to help pet guard-ians.

by the Pleasanton Downtown Association (PDA) and is free of charge.

PDA Executive Director Laura Olson said, “We want residents and visitors to come to downtown and really savor all we have to offer here. The PDA is excited to pro-vide outdoor entertainment to further enhance the charm and ambiance of our downtown. We encourage everyone to shop, dine, stroll and enjoy all there is to do and see in downtown Pleasanton!”

Visit www.PleasantonDowntown.net for more informa-tion.

Studio Seven Arts has an-nounced its final exhibition of the summer. It features a collection of abstract art from a collection of the most accomplished and creative Bay Area artists, ones both internationally recognized and wholly original.

Six featured artists, work-ing in oil, acrylic and water colors, include:

• Bernard Weston masters the subtle use of monochro-

matic colors with visual intensity

• James Leonard is in-trepid with his vision for contrasts, dark to bright, white to gray.

• Corey West brings ec-centric shapes, bold colors and infinite outcomes

• Courtney Jacobs brings motion to the canvass, heavy colors, thick brush strokes

• Julia Brucker offers a soft dance with elegant lines,

pleasing and natural colors • The Artist Hines is

know for original combina-tions of color, technique coming from a fiery and openly inspired style

An open house will be held Sat., Aug. 11 from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. with a special afternoon artists reception from 12:00pm-3:00pm, with where all visitors are wel-come to meet the artists.

“Visually inviting ab-

stract art featured at the exhibition stems from the various styles of the di-verse group of artists, whose works range from bright col-orful expressions to subtle monochromes,” said Dirk Christiansen, owner of Stu-dio Seven Arts. “Imagina-tion and painting without rules converges in these spectacular pieces.”

The studio is located at 400 Main Stree, Pleasanton.

JoAnn Cox at (925) 447-1947.

For more information on

LASYO, visit www.livam-symph.org/lasyo.html or contact Betsy Hausburg at

vdt.director@sbcglobal.net or (925) 443-6953. Applica-tions for LASYO’s fourth

season in the summer of 2013 will be available early next year.

YOUTH ORCHESTRA(continued from front page)

Abstract Art Featured in Exhibition at Studio Seven

Downtown Pleasanton Offers Special Activites on Saturdays

Valley Humane Society Offers Special 'Name a Price' Program for Adoptions

8 THE INDEPENDENT • THURSDAY, AUGUST 9, 2012

ART/PHOTO EXHIBITSLivermore Art Association Gallery,

located in the Carnegie Building, offers art classes, unusual gifts, painting rentals, art exhibits and information pertaining to the art field, 2155 Third St., Livermore. The gallery has been open since 1974 and is run as a co-op by local artists. Hours are Wed.-Sun. 11:30-4 p.m. For information call 449-9927.

Humanimals and Such Exhibit, July 19 - August 25, 2012, Featured artists include Julie Alvarado, William Charu-has, Michael Cutlip, Rebecca Haines and Stan Peterson. Exhibit with whim-sical, playful paintings and sculpture that depict humans, animals, or an incongruous combination of both. Har-rington Gallery, Firehouse Arts Center, 4444 Railroad Ave., Pleasanton. www.firehousearts.org.

Absolutely Abstract, August art exhibit at the Livermore Library. About 30 works of art will be displayed featuring all local abstract artists. Livermore Main Library Artist’s Gallery at 1188 S. Livermore Ave. It is open during normal library hours.

Bankhead Theater exhibit, 2012 “Tri-Valley Treasures” Plein Air competition and top 25 Freeze Frame photographs from Tri-Valley Conservancy 2011 competition. The exhibit will rull through September 10. Reception August 15 from 6 to 8pm in conjunction with the Founder’s Room Exhibition Reception for realist artist Maryann Kot, also at the Bankhead Theater. For more information about Tri-Valley Conservancy, the art exhibit at the Bankhead Theater, 2400 First St., Livermore, or the upcoming 2012 Freeze Frame competition beginning August 27, please visit our website at www.trivalleyconservancy.org.

Wente Vineyards Estate Winery, 5565 Tesla Road, Livermore will be hosting the art exhibit, Color Matters, by Linda Jeffery Sailors during the month of August. Sailors' paintings will be on view in the tasting room during regular business hours.

Artwork of Alan Ryall, a Livermore artist who specializes in marine paintings, is on display at Prudential California Realty, 1780 First Street, Livermore, through Sept. 30. A free reception with wine and hors d’oeuvres will be held Saturday, Aug. 11, from 5 to 7 p.m. The public is invited to attend. The Prudential show is open for viewing during business hours, Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., or by appointment. For information, contact Cher Wollard at 925 824-4824 or cherw@cherw.com

Art in the Plaza, Sept. 8, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. in front of the Bankhead Theater, 2400 First St., Livermore. No admis-sion charge.

Arts Encounter at the Farmer's Market, Delucchi Park, next to the Farmer's Market in downtown Pleasanton, 9

a.m. to 1 p.m. Sept. 8. Hosted by the City of Pleasanton and the Pleasanton Cultural Arts Council. Pleasanton Cultural Arts Council and the Livermore Art Association - stop by to make your own 3D "upcycled" art.

Pleasanton Art League, fall members exhibit at the Harrington Gallery in the Firehouse Arts Center, 4444 Railroad Ave., Pleasanton. Sept. 15-Oct. 20. Reception and awards, Sat., Sept. 15, 1 to 3 p.m. www.firehousearts.org.

MEETINGS/CLASSESEverything Poetry (in two parts),

Second Saturday Soup-workshops 2nd Saturday of every month, 10 a.m.-12 noon Firehouse Arts Center, 4444 Railroad Avenue, Pleasanton; Third Tuesday Trope- poetry critiques 3rd Tuesday of every month, 7 p.m.-9 p.m. Towne Center Books, 555 Main Street, Pleasanton. Contact Cynthia Bryant at PleasantonPoetry@ci.pleasanton.ca.us.

Poet Laureate, Cynthia Bryant, will host a poetry critique group called "Tuesday Trope" from 7-9 p.m., on the first Tuesday of every month, beginning in June at Towne Center Books, 555 Main St. This is an open group, need not be a resident of Pleasanton, free to all. Please bring 10 copies of one or two of your original poems to workshop. E-mail Cynthia at pleasantonpoetry@ci.pleasanton.ca.us

Figure Drawing Workshop, every Friday 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Artists bring their own materials and easels. Open to all artists. Professional artist models (nude). No instructor. Students under 18 need written parental permission to attend. Cost $20 per session. Bothwell Arts Center, 2466 8th St., Livermore. Coffee, tea and refreshments are avail-able. Call or email Barbara Stanton for more info about the workshop, 925-373-9638 - microangelo@earthlink.net.

Art Critique & Coffee Hangs at Coffee Ali, Friday at 10 a.m. sharing latest work and a gentle critique to fine tune work. Original paintings from a group of Local Professional and Emerging artists, with a New Theme, create New Works each month. Grab a cup of cof-fee and pull up a chair to hear what we have to say and enjoy Original Fine Art. For more information Google: Poetry on Canvas Pleasanton or call Claudette 510 543-4776.

Preschool Art classes: Thursday morn-ings 9:45 – 10:45. Children aged 3-5 are welcome to join this class. Classes cover drawing, painting, print-making, sculpture and ceramics. For further information please contact Thomasin Dewhurst at (925) 216-7231 or thomasin_d@hotmail.com or visit http://childrensartclassesprojects.blogspot.com/

Livermore Art Classes, Artist and art instructor, Thomasin Dewhurst offers art instruction to children and adults. Classes cover painting, drawing,

sculpture, ceramics, collage, animation and construction. For further informa-tion please call (925) 216-7231 email thomasin_d@hotmail.com or visit http://childrensartclassesprojects.blogspot.com

Piano lessons, Private and small group piano lessons available for beginning students. Lessons include playing practice, theory, expression and an introduction to various types of music and composers. Private classes are $15 per half hour and group lessons are $12 per student per half hour (up to 4 students). For more information please call (925) 216-7231 email thomasin_d@hotmail.com or visit http://childrensartclassesprojects.blogspot.com/.

WINERY EVENTSThe Winemaker's Pour House, Be Happy

At "Happy Hour" with Livermore Valley Wine. Mon., Wed., Thurs., Fri. 4 to 6 p.m. Buy a glass of Livermore Valley Wine or Flight and order a Flatbread for half price. Take the wine puzzle challenge. Ask the wait staff for the wine puzzle. Information call (925) 215-2656 or visit www.winemaker-spourhouse.com.

La Luna Fridays, evening of tapas, live music and wines on the terrace of Murrieta's Well on Sept. 28, Oct. 5, 6 to 9 p.m. 3005 Mines Road, Livermore. $50 per person, $40 Silver Spur Club members plus tax; ticket includes live music, tapas and wine. Reservations are required. Call 925.456.2395. www.murrietaswell.com

Tamas Estate Winery, Cafe Tuesdays, August 14, California Classics. $25 per person advance purchase / $30 per person the week of the event $20 for Salute! Club members. Price includes live music, buffet-style dinner, and one glass of wine. Purchase tickets for all events for $75/per person & $60/per person Salute! Club members. www.tamasestates.com. 5565 Tesla Road Livermore, (925) 456-2380.

Charles R Vineyards Barbera Release & Club Pick-Up Party –August 11, Saturday, noon to 4:30 p.m. Rock out with live music by the Hurricane Band and join us to celebrate a new addition to the Charles R flight of wines--a Bar-bera that's loaded with personality and sure to please in our club wine release party with a food and wine pairing. Tasting is $5 per guest and tasting complementary for club-members. Wine for purchase available by the glass and bottle. 8195 Crane Ridge Road Livermore, (925) 337-3315

Wood Family Vineyards, 9th annual release party, Saturday, August 11 and Sunday, August 12, noon to 4:30 p.m. 2011 Chardonnay “Para Mas Amigas”, 2010 Cabernet Sauvignon, Clone 30, 2010 Zinfandel “Big Wood Zin”, 2010 50/50 Red Wine, 2010 Late Harvest Zinfandel, (2010 Grenache futures pick up only). Paired with gourmet cheeses. Live music by “Patty and Abigail”

on Saturday and “The Mundaze” on Sunday. $10 per person and keep the Wood Family Wine Glass. No charge for “Extended Family “ Club Members. 7702 Cedar Mountain Rd.. Livermore, www.woodfamilyvineyards.com

Thomas Coyne Winery Summer Open House, Aug. 18 and 19, noon to 5 p.m. at 51 E. Vallecitos Rd., Livermore. Four new wines to be released: 2011 La Petite Quest Rose, California; 2005 Syrah, Livermore Valley; 2007 Grenache, Livermore Valley; and 2010 Secrete wine from grapes that have never been bottled before. Served with a selection of fruits and cheeses. For more info call (925) 373-6541 or visit http://thomascoynewinery.com

Sunset Wine Concerts, McGrail Vineyards, John Wayne Zink Band, Sat., Aug. 18, 5 to 8 p.m. $10/entry fee Acoustic Evening with Ryan Sims and Ethan from Easton Ashe Friday, August 31, 5 to 9 p.m. - tapas, wine, and live music by Arizona musicians Ryan Sims and Ethan from Easton Ashe. Ryan Sims was recently featured on The Voice. Food will be available for purchase from Posada Catering, so please no outside food or beverages. $10/entry fee. www.mcgrailvineyards.com, 5600 Greenville Road Livermore, (925) 215-0717

Bring Your Dog Wine Tasting Day hosted by Garré Vineyard & Winery. The winery has partnered with Big Dawgs Rescue Foundation to host an adoption event with food, wine tasting and a variety of pet professionals and prod-ucts for sale. The event is from 12pm to 4pm on Sunday, August 19th. Price for food and wine tasting is $25 adults $10 children. 10% of all proceeds are donated to Big Dawgs Rescue. 7986 Tesla Road Livermore; (925) 371-8200.

Charles R Vineyards Friday Night Uncorked –August 24, Friday Evening, 5:30-8:30 p.m. summer evening on the patio at Charles R. This month's theme of Chuck Wagon, features appetizers paired with our award winning wine and music by Robyne and Nick Teslick. Board games available, or bring your

own. Meet some new friends or invite those you know. $10 per guest and $5 for club-members. Cost includes appetizers and a glass of wine. Wine for purchase available by the glass and bottle. 8195 Crane Ridge Road Livermore, (925) 337-3315.

Sunset at the Ridge, Friday Aug. 31, 6pm - 9pm. at Eagle Ridge Vineyard. This fund-raising event is presented with the Livermore High School Alumni Association (LHSAA). The profits from this event will be donated to the LHSAA to provide league approved uniforms for the LHS Boys Varsity & JV Soccer Teams. Without league uniforms, LHS must forfeit all the league soccer games. Evening of live music with TankhalfFull with food & wine available for purchase. There will be plenty of opportunities to contribute to the LH-SAA & the Boys Soccer Teams. 10017 Tesla Rd., Livermore. eagleridgevine-yard.com/

Charles R Vineyards Mardi Gras Friday Night Uncorked – Friday, September 28 from 5:30-8:30 p.m. evening with wine, fun, food and music on the patio at Charles R. This Mardi Gras Friday features specialty appetizers paired to our award-wining wines. Featuring the sounds of James Nagel, one of Liver-more’s most popular artists. $10 ($5 for members). Cost includes appetizers and a glass of wine. Wine for purchase available by the glass and bottle. 8195 Crane Ridge Road Livermore, (925) 337-3315.

Murrieta's Well, vineyard tour and tasting with co-founder Sergio Traverso. Sept. 22, 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. Space is limited. Reservations at www.murrietaswell.com, 3005 Mines Road Livermore, (925) 456-2390

MUSIC/CONCERTSMusic every Saturday in the tasting

room from 12 to 4; open every day if the gate is open and for sure on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays 11 to 5. Red Feather Winery, 5700 Greenville Rd., Livermore. Information at 449-1871 or www.redfeatherwinery.com

Blacksmith Square, music every Sat-urday 3 to 6 p.m. in the courtyard, 21 South Livermore Ave., Livermore.

Tri-Valley Medieval and Renaissance Collegium playing session for amateur musicians, Peter Maund, director. Mondays 7:30–9:30 p.m. 7600 Dublin Blvd., suite 370, Dublin. $25. Informa-tion collegium2011@gmail.com or 925-424-1209 or 925-984-4395

Authentic New Orleans Style/Dance-able Dixieland Traditional Jazz now at Sunol Jazz Cafe`. Comfort food served up with Smokin' Hot Jazz every 1st and 3rd Wednesday Mission Gold Jazz Band. Dinner orders begin at 6 pm; music from 7:30.

Chris Bradley's Jazz Band, plays at the Sunol Jazz Cafe (In the Center of Sunol) the 2nd and 4th Tuesday of each month 7:30-9:30 p.m. The band features real Jazz from the 1920's,

Ottmar Liebert and Luna Negra, August 9, 7:30 p.m. Bankhead Theater, 2400 First St., Livermore. www.bankhead-theater.org or 373-6800.

The Concerts at Wente Vineyards, Aug. 15, Diana Krall Summer Nights US Tour, Wente Vineyards, 5050 Arroyo Rd., Livermore. www.wentevineyards.com

Carl Tilchen, International Singer/Songwriter, concert Aug. 16, 6 to 9 p.m. Nonni's Bistron, 425 Main St., Pleasan-ton. For information 510-371-9688, e mail carltilchenmusic391@gmail.com. Carl Tilchen's Concert will include: Jazz, Popular Songs by Stevie Wonder, Folksongs by Pete Seeger, Blues by Ray Charles, and Original Comedy Songs The Guerilla Gardener, You Feel Romantic,& Google’s Car No Driver.

Jerry Jeff Walker, August 17, 8 p.m. singer, songwriter, troubadour of cowboy rock 'n roll. Bankhead Theater, 2400 First St., Livermore. www.bank-headtheater.org or 373-6800.

The Concerts at Wente Vineyards, Aug. 29, Steve Martin and the Steep Canyon Rangers. Wente Vineyards, 5050 Arroyo Rd., Livermore. www.wentevineyards.com

Ruckatan Latin-Reggae-World-Rock Group, Sept. 1, 8 p.m. Firehouse Arts Center, 4444 Railroad Avenue, Pleas-anton. www.firehousearts.org

The Tubes, Sept. 7 and 8, 8 p.m. Fire-house Arts Center, 4444 Railroad Ave., Pleasanton. www.firehousearts.org

Guitar Fest Live!, Sept. 15, 8 p.m. Bankhead Theater, 2400 First St., Livermore. www.bankheadtheater.org or 373-6800.

Lee Oskar Harmonicas Presents Mark Hummel's Blues Harp Blowout with Lee Oskar, Kenny Neal, Sept. 16, 7:30 p.m. Firehouse Arts Center, 4444 Railroad Ave., Pleasanton. www.firehousearts.org.

Dave Mason Duo, Sept. 22, 8 p.m. Bankhead Theater, 2400 First St., Livermore. www.bankheadtheater.org or 373-6800.

Harmony Fusion Chorus of Sweet Ade-lines, Return to Vaudeville, Sat., Sept.

Ruckatan on the Firehouse Arts Center stage September 1.

THE INDEPENDENT • THURSDAY, AUGUST 9, 2012 9

29, 2 p.m. matinee, 7:30 p.m. show. Danville Village Theater, 233 Front St., Danville. Information harmonyfusion.org. Tickets www.villagetheatreshows.com, 314-3400.

Jasper Wood, violin, David Riley, piano, Del Valle Fine Arts concert, Sept. 29, 8 p.m. Bankhead Theater, 2400 First St., Livermore. www.bankheadtheater.org or 373-6800.

ON THE STAGELivermore Shakespeare Festival pres-

ents Shakespeare’s Hamlet outdoors at Concannon Vineyard July 12 through August 12, in partial repertory with The Merry Wives of Windsor. For a calendar and information, visit Livermore-Shakes.org. Tickets range from $25 to $39, day-dependent, with discounts for seniors, students and educators. For tickets call 1-800-838-3006, or visit LivermoreShakes.org.

Sally Struthers Live!, Aug. 18, 8 p.m. Firehouse Arts Center, 4444 Railroad Ave., Pleasanton. www.firehousearts.org.

Lamplighters open its 60th Season with Gilbert & Sullivan’s The Mikado. The Mikado is a playful tale set in a make-believe Japanese town where flirting is a capital offense, The Mikado is actually a satire on Victorian British society. Nanki-Poo has fallen in love with the beautiful Yum-Yum, fiancée to the Lord High Executioner Ko-Ko. When the Mikado, emperor of Japan, demands the execution of Ko-Ko, and Nanki-Poo volunteers to take Ko-Ko’s place under the condition that he first be allowed to marry Yum-Yum, chaos, desperation, and comical mayhem ensue. Bankhead Theater, Livermore. Sat., Aug. 25, 2 p.m. and 8 p.m. and Sun., Aug. 26, 2 p.m. 925-373-6800 or bankheadtheater.org

Role Players Ensemble, Eugene O'Neill's

"Ah, Wilderness," weekends Sept. 7 to 22 at the Village Theatre, 233 Front Street, Danville. 8 p.m. on Friday and Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday. Tickets: $20-$28: www.villagetheatreshows.com, or 925-314-3400; or the Com-munity Center, 420 Front St. More information: www.danvilletheatre.com.

National Circus of the People's Republic of China, Sept. 14, 7:30 p.m. Bankhead Theater, 2400 First St., Livermore. www.bankheadtheater.org or 373-6800.

COMEDY Comedy Uncorked, Retzlaff Vineyards in

Livermore. Aug. 24 at 7:30 p.m. Doors open at 6 p.m. Faith Alpher, Carla Clayy and Kurt Weitzmann. Funds raised benefit Open Heart Kitchen. Advance tickets are $30, tickets are $35 at the door. For tickets and information, go to www.comedyuncorked.com. Retzlaff is located at 1356 So. Livermore Ave., Livermore.

Comedy @ Firehouse Arts with Mark Pitta and Liz Grant, Sept. 12, 7:30 p.m. 4444 Railroad Avenue, Pleasanton. www.firehousearts.org

Comedy Uncorked, Retzlaff Vineyards in Livermore. Sept. 15 at 7:30 p.m. Doors open at 6 p.m. Johnny Steele, Larry Bubbles Brown, and Lynn Ruth Miller. Funds raised benefit Open Heart Kitchen. Advance tickets are $30, tickets are $35 at the door. For tickets and information, go to www.comedyun-corked.com. Retzlaff is located at 1356 So. Livermore Ave., Livermore.

DANCE Friday Evening Group Dance! Learn

how to dance with great instructors from It's All About Dancing, new dance every week from Salsa, Tango, Swing and more. Group lesson starts at 7:30, followed by open dance until 9:45 in

our new location at the Bothwell Arts Center, 2466 8th St., Livermore; 925-449-9292. $15.

AUDITIONS/COMPETITIONS Valley Concert Chorale will hold audi-

tions by appointment for its upcoming 2012-2013 concert season on the following dates: Monday, August 27; Monday, September 10. Auditions and rehearsals will be held at the First Presbyterian Church of Livermore, cor-ner of 4th and L Streets. The Chorale’s 49th season will include the music of Gilbert and Sullivan, its December holiday program including the Cho-rale’s annual Sing-it-Yourself Messiah, Durufle’s Requiem, Lauridsen’s Lux Aeterna, and finally Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony with the Livermore Amador Symphony at the Bankhead Theater in downtown Livermore. The Chorale is seeking experienced singers with sight-reading skills who enjoy singing exciting and challenging music. The Chorale performs a wide variety of music ranging from classical to con-temporary, and folk to jazz. To schedule an appointment, call (925) 462-4205.

Livermore-Amador Symphony Association applications for the 40th annual Competition for Young Musicians deadline is Sun., Oct. 7, 2012. Open to instrumentalists and vocalists who reside or attend school in Livermore, Sunol, Pleasanton, Dublin, or San Ramon. Students are eligible through grade 12. If not enrolled in high school, the maximum age is 17. All instruments will be considered. Two winners will perform as soloists with the symphony on Feb. 23, 2013. Each winner/soloist will be awarded $300. Completed applications must be accompanied by an $8 applica-tion fee and a CD or cassette tape for preliminary screening. Additional in-formation may be obtained from www.livamsymph.org or by contacting the competition chairperson at 447-1947.

Cantabella registration and auditions, Cantabella Children’s Chorus is preparing for its 20th year of providing quality music education for children ages 5-18. There are three training choirs and three performing choirs. Registration is now open to new stu-dents for classes beginning the week of August 27th in Dublin, Livermore, and Pleasanton. To register for the training choirs and to schedule an audition for the performing choirs, or for more information, visit Cantabella.org/register or call 925-292-2663.

MOVIESFamily Movies, outdoors in Dublin,

arrival time, 7 p.m., showtime, ap-proximately 8 p.m. No pets please. Refreshments available. Fri., Aug. 10, Moneyball, Emerald Glen Park. Information, 556-4500.

Movies shown at dusk at Amador Valley Community Park, located at 4301 Black Avenue. Seating cordoned off in

sections with blanket seating in the front, low-back beach chairs in the center, and camp chairs and other higher positioned seating in the rear. Thursday, Aug. 9, Hugo (PG). Thursday, Aug. 16, The Adventures of Tintin (PG). Free admission. For more information about the film series, please call the Community Services Department at (925) 931-5340.

CHORALBroadway Chorus special benefit concert

on August 25 and 26 at the Firehouse Arts Center in Pleasanton. Tri-Valley Repertory Theatre presents "A Cabaret Gone Choral!" an evening of song, star-ring Broadway Chorus Directors Jenny Matteucci and Daniel Lockert, a/k/a the Mattlock Duo, and featuring the many friends and voices of Broadway Chorus. The program will include the music os of Broadway with songs from Berlin to Bernstein and beyond. Tickets www.firehousearts.org.

MISCELLANEOUSPolitical Issues Book Club meets the

4th Tuesday of each month, and reads books about issues and trends that are driving current affairs in both the national and international arenas. Topics that have been covered include politics, governance, economics, mili-tary affairs, history, sociology, science, the climate, and religion. Contact Rich at 872-7923, for further questions

We’re Talkin’ Books! Club is a member-centered book group led by a small group of book club veterans, with reading selections based on member recommendations and consensus. No homework required– share your insights or just listen in! Contact Susan at 337-1282 regarding the We’re Talkin’ Books! Club.

Museum on Main, preschool pre-literacy program, M.o.M.’s Reading Time. For ages 2 to 5 and families, free reading program, 10 a.m. to 11 a.m. Reading at 10 a.m. with theme crafts following. Donations appreciated. No reservations required. Large groups or playgroups please phone in advance: 925.462.2766 or email: education@museumonmain.org. 2012 M.o.M.’s Reading Time Dates and Themes: September 12, Fiesta; October 10, Creepy Critters; November 14, Thank You, Veterans; and, December 12, Light Up the Seasons. The Museum on Main, 603 Main Street, Pleasanton.

Old Fashioned Ice Cream Social at Ravenswood Historic Site, 2647 Arroyo Rd., Livermore, August 12, 2012, Noon – 4:00 p.m No admission charge. Pleasanton Community Concert Band. Classic Car show. Petting zoo. History mobile. Ice Cream and lunch available. Victorian historic estate. Ravenswood Progress League event. Sandy Silva, president 925-462-7324.

Ed Kinney Lecture Series, 7 p.m. An Evening with Sourdough Steve, Tues., August 14. Firehouse Arts Center,

4444 Railroad Avenue, Pleasanton. $10 general admission, $5 members & seniors, $3 students/teachers with ID. All tickets are paid at the door. All tickets are open seating. Information www.museumonmain.org or (925) 462-2766.

Pleasanton Bird Mart, Aug. 19, 9:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. Alameda County Fair-grounds, Pleasanton. Birds, products, supplies, manzanita, cages, seed, and much, much more. Adults $10, shild $6 (1 - 12), VIP Admission $15. www.PleasantonBirdMart.com

Adventure Ride for the Arts, an annual fund-raiser and art awareness event to benefit the San Ramon Arts Founda-tion, will beheld Aug. 25. President Mark Ballock and treasurer Terry Cunningham will join their friends for a 455 mile bicycle ride as they explore the West Coast. The ride will begin in Truckee and finish in Crater Lake, Oregon. The ride is self-funded by the riders. Go to www.sanramonarts.org/contributions and click on the donate budget. 100% of donations go to the arts in San Ramon.

Sunset at the Ridge, Friday Aug. 31, 6pm - 9pm. at Eagle Ridge Vineyard. This fund-raising event is presented with the Livermore High School Alumni Association (LHSAA). The profits from this event will be donated to the LHSAA to provide league approved uniforms for the LHS Boys Varsity & JV Soccer Teams. Without league uniforms, LHS must forfeit all the league soccer games. Evening of live music with TankhalfFull with food & wine available for purchase. There will be plenty of opportunities to contribute to the LH-SAA & the Boys Soccer Teams. 10017 Tesla Rd., Livermore. eagleridgevine-yard.com/

147th Scottish Highland Games, Sept. 1 and 2, Alameda County Fairgrounds, Pleasanton. Presented by the Cale-donian Club of San Francisco. www.caledonian.org

30th Annual Harvest Wine Celebra-tion - Labor Day Weekend, Sept. 2 and 3, noon to 5 p.m. at Livermore Valley wineries hosted by the Livermore Valley Winegrowers Association. Tickets and information at www.lvwine.org.

1st Wednesday Street Party in down-town Pleasanton, 6 to 9 p.m., Sept. 5,

Celebrate Pleasanton. Hosted by the Pleasanton Downtown Association, www.pleasantondowntown.net.

Grandparent’s Day, Museum on Main, Sunday, September 9 from 1pm - 3pm - bring grandparents. Create a family tree with the help of a Grandpar-ent. Learn about what life was like when they were children and make a special gift to present to your Grand-parent. Museum on Main family day. 603 Main St., Pleasanton. Free. For more information about current exhibits and programs, visit the Museum’s web site at www.museumonmain.org or phone (925) 462-2766.

Ed Kinney Lecture Series, 7 p.m. An Evening with author John Boess-enecker, Tues., Sept. 11. Firehouse Arts Center, 4444 Railroad Avenue, Pleasanton. $10 General Admission, $5 Members & Seniors, $3 Students/Teachers with ID. All tickets are paid at the door. All tickets are open seating. Information www.museumonmain.org or (925) 462-2766.

Livermore Valley Coin Club will cel-ebrate its 50th anniversary during its 2nd annual fall coin show. The event will be held on Sun., Sept. 16 at the Livermore-Pleasanton Elks Lodge, 940 Larkspur Dr., Livermore. A commemo-rative medal has been struck. It will be available for purchase at the show. This year's show will feature about 25 coin dealers who will provide free appraisals and purchase coins. There will be a youth collectors table and an information booth. Admission is free. Show hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Quilting in the Garden, Sept. 22 and 23, Alden Lane Nursery. Hosted by Alden Lane and In Between Stitches. Guests artists, quilt display, garden tour fea-turing the quilts, workshops, etc. 981 Alden Lane, Livermore. www.aldenlane.com or www.inbetweenstitches.com.

Livermore Valley Wine Country Wed-ding Faire, September 23, at the Bankhead Theater, 2400 First St., Livermore. See the trendsetters of the season, taste the local wines and wedding cakes, be pampered with a facial, take a horse and carriage ride, compare prices and quality and start to create you own wedding memories. More information at www.livermore-downtown.com or 373-1795.

Livermore Valley Coin Club will celebrate its 50th anniversary with a show on Sept. 16. See listing.

"Ah, Wilderness," will be performed by the Role Players Ensemble. The play opens Sept. 7.

10 THE INDEPENDENT • THURSDAY, AUGUST 9, 2012

Moritz Hupers, a native of Oldenburg, Germany, came to Livermore and built the Farmers’ Exchange Hotel in 1873 on the east side of L Street; the KFC that recently went out of business was built on part of the same site. The Farmers’ Exchange was a two-story wooden building in the Italianate style. An advertisement in the Livermore Enterprise newspaper boasted in May 1874 that the hotel was “furnished through-out in first class style. The beds are especially comfortable, and the restaurant and culinary department well supplied with everything the taste or wish of the traveler could desire.” Attached to the hotel saloon was a bowling alley, “where the boarders and those who are lovers of good quality amusement can

The Lutz Hotel

wile away a leisure hour.” Hupers sold the hotel to Max Berlin in 1899, a few months before his death in December.

Berlin soon sold it, and the building had many different owners and managers. By the time Mrs. Catherine McCreary took over the operation from Paul Opperman in June 1929, it included not only the hotel, but also the Greyhound Bus Depot and was called the Travel-ers’ Hotel. Opperman retained ownership of the property at this time, and perhaps it was Opperman who covered the entire building with stucco and changed its name. The bus depot office was at the north of the hotel, with a separate outer door.

On 18 March 1938, a special event was held at the flagpole at noon. The Livermore High School band played, and local

students had been given a half-day holiday to attend. According to the Herald, a large crowd gathered. Lois Mulqueeney, queen of the 1937 rodeo, chris-tened a new 37-passenger Greyhound “cruiser” with Concannon wine. Named “City of Livermore,” it had the familiar Grey-hound colors of blue and white, with chrome trim. Designers had created a streamlined look by put-ting the engine at the rear of the bus and eliminating the familiar hood. Mayor George F. Tubbs offici-ated and Councilman Sam Bothwell was there along with members of the Chamber of Commerce and Greyhound repre-sentatives. At the time Mrs. McCreary was still manager of the hotel and bus depot.

She sold the business to A.W. Schmitt in Octo-ber 1938. Schmitt opened

a restaurant in the old ho-tel dining area and called it the Traveler’s Café. He hired someone to run the café, but Schmitt himself ran the hotel and the depot with the help of his wife. The Schmitts sold out in 1945, and then followed more years of new owners and manag-ers until the Lutz family came to Livermore from South Dakota and took over the management of the bus depot in 1956 and then the hotel in July 1957. They renamed the building the Lutz Hotel.

Mike Lutz remembers that the upper floor held a hall with the rooms for boarders on either side. Rooms 4, 5, and 8 were rented by permanent boarders. Rooms 14 and 15 were at the north end and had their own show-ers; these boarders paid more rent. Room 11 was incredibly narrow, and it rented in 1958 for only 75¢ a night. There was no room 13. There were separate shower rooms and toilets. The front door opened into the café and onto the steps to the second floor. To the right as you came in was the door to the Lutz fam-

ily living quarters, which included three bedrooms, a great room, and a dining room. Also downstairs was the café kitchen, and a men’s and ladies’ restroom. In these days before air conditioning, the upstairs was extremely hot in the Livermore summers. Mike’s father, Arnold Lutz, put a swamp cooler in the café. The front door, the three windows at the front of the café, the door to the bus depot and the bus de-pot windows all had striped cloth awnings.

Arnold Lutz was about 5’8” and “a little chunky,” according to his son. Sometimes, his parents would have “little discus-sions” in German so that Mike and his siblings could not understand. In April 1959 the city condemned the hotel and ordered its evacuation. Lutz and the owner, Adele Kreuger, appealed the order. Lutz said, “The courts will have to determine whether or not the city can just arbitrarily step in and close up my business and force me to lose approximately $20,000.”

The city relented and said the lower floor could remain open, but the upper

The Traveler's Hotel in the 1940s

floor was closed. Soon after this, Arnold Lutz had a heart attack but soon recovered. The city and the landlord agreed that if cer-tain repairs were made, the upper floor could reopen. The repairs were done, and the hotel opened again for business. Arnold Lutz died on 1 June 1960. Mike was surprised at the large num-ber of people at his father’s funeral—they had not lived in Livermore very long, but he knew how his father had gone out of his way to help people in need. Once he had driven an amputee vet who had been staying at the hotel all the way to Southern California.

Mike’s mother was unable to keep up the business very long, and the family had to move out of the hotel. Mike remem-bers that the building was quickly condemned and torn down shortly after-ward, probably in 1962. “I couldn’t go down there to watch the demolition. It had been my home, and as cold as it was in winter and stifling hot in August, it was still my home.”

(Readers can reach me at am50homan@yahoo.com.)

Livermore Heri tage Guild will host guest speak-er Alan Frank for the August history lecture on Wed., Aug. 15.

He will tell the story of "The Curse of Dead Cow Curve."

Old-timers tell the story that deep in Niles Canyon there is a place where cows regularly fall off the cliff to their death onto the railroad tracks. Railroad workers

call it "The Curse of Dead Cow Curve." Uncovering the history reveals some-thing sinister may be going on. The events tied to this area have shaped much local history.

Frank retired as a project leader and senior physicist from Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. He is currently an engineer and curator for the Pacific Lo-comotive Association, op-

erators of the Niles Canyon Railway. He is also president of the Livermore-Amador Symphony.

The lecture will be held at the Civic Center Library, 1188 So. Livermore Ave. Doors open at 7 p.m. The lecture begins at 7:30 p.m. Come early for conversation and refreshments. The talk is open to all. A $2 dona-tion is suggested. For more information, call 443-9740.

History Lecture to Focus on 'The Curse of Dead Cow Curve'

THE INDEPENDENT • THURSDAY, AUGUST 9, 2012 11

(Organizations wishing to run notices in Bulletin Board, send information to PO Box 1198, Livermore, CA 94551, in care of Bulletin Board or email information to edit-mail@compuserve.com. Include name of organization, meeting date, time, place and theme or subject. Phone number and contact person should also be included. Deadline is 5 p.m. Friday.)

Fall Restaurant and Shop Walk, 6 to 9 p.m. Tues., Sept. 18 in downtown Pleasanton. Fundraiser for the Pleasanton Lions Club. Passports are $25.00 each Tickets must be purchased prior to the event as there is a limit of only 400 passports. A passport entitles the guest to sample foods and beverages from 19 participating restaurants and businesses located in down-town Pleasanton.For more information or to purchase passports: contact: Pam Grimes 925-484-3524 / Donna DeVincenzi 925-462-6525 or e-mail pleasantonlionsclub@comcast.net Proceeds from the event will be donated to a fund for two children from a local family who recently suffered the loss of their father, Mothers With a Purpose, as well as other local organizations supported by the Lions.

NAMI Tri-Valley Parent Resource and Support Group is a twice-a-month parent support group for parents with children to age 17 diagnosed with or suspected of having bipolar or other mood disorders. It meets first and third Tuesdays of each month from 7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m at Pathways To Wellness, 5674 Stoneridge Dr., Suite #114, Pleasanton. The group is drop-in, no registration required and is free. Contact: Suzi Glorioso by phone: (925) 443-1797 or by e-mail: glorios4@comcast.net

Granada High School, class of 1972, 40th reunion Sat., Aug. 18 at the Livermore Doubletree Hotel, 720 Flores Rd., Livermore. For more information go to www.granada72reunion-com.webs.com.

Livermore Peripheral Neuropathy Support Group meets every fourth Tuesday of the month at 10 a.m. in the second floor conference room at Heritage Estates Retirement Community. The address is 900 E. Stanley Blvd., Livermore All are welcome. Contacts are: Sandra Grafrath 443-6655 or Lee Parlett 292-9280.

Valley Spokesmen Bicycle Touring Club, Sat., Aug. 11, 30 miles from Shannon Park south on Foothill through Niles Canyon, meet 8:30 a.m. Alaine Nadeau, 216-0801. Sun., Aug. 12, 60 miles from San Ramon over Dublin grade into Oakland hills, meet 8:30 a.m. at Park and Ride, I-680/Bol-linger Canyon Rd., Wes Eacret, 846-3268. Wed., Aug. 15, 29 miles Martinez Marina to Benicia, meet 9:30 a.m., Dick Ward, 389-6738. Anyone planning to on a ride is asked to contact the leader for details on where to meet and what to bring.

Tri-Valley Communities Against a Radioactive Environment (Tri-Valley CAREs) was founded in 1983 in Livermore, California by concerned neighbors living around the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory Tri-Valley CAREs' overarching mission is to promote peace, justice and a healthy environment. All are welcome at monthly meeting at the Livermore Civic Center Library Thursday, August 16 from 7:30pm to 9pm. For more information call Tri-Valley CAREs at (925) 443-7148 or visit our website at http://trivalleycares.org

Pleasanton/Tulancingo Sister City As-sociation annual BBQ, Sat, August 11, 5:30 p.m. at the Ivy Glen BBQ Area, Alameda County Fairgrounds in Pleasanton. There will be the Famous "Tony Macchiano's" Lickety Split BBQ Dinner, live and silent suctions, great DJ, and dancing under the stars, no-host bar, and lots of fun. $30.00 per person. Send check for reservations to PTSCA, PO Box 5283, Pleasanton 94566, or credit cards

accepted - call Mike Terkelsen, 846-6463. All are invited to attend.

Care Planning, long-term care and in-home options, presentation Aug. 28 for seniors and their families, 5 p.m. Livermore Library, 1188 So, Livermore Ave. Visiting Angels, 443-1000.

Car Seat Safety Check, Axis Com-munity Health and the California Highway Patrol invite you to join us for a free car seat safety event where you can get your car seat checked or replaced at no cost to you. Saturday, August 11 from 9am-12pm at Axis’s Livermore Clinic, 3311 Pacific Ave., Livermore. Call (925) 201-6082 or email ecordova@axishalth.org by August 3 to schedule an appointment or drop by anytime between 9am-12pm on the day of the event.

Widowed Men and Women of Northern CA., Brunch in Livermore, Aug. 12, 11 a.m., RSVP by Aug. 9 to Hilda, 398-8808. Happy hour in Pleasanton, Aug. 16, 5 p.m. RSVP by Aug. 14 to Kathy, 398-8005. Friendly bridge in Pleasanton, Aug. 18, 1 p.m. RSVP by Aug. 11 to Athene, 847-0111. Mexican lunch in Dublin, Aug. 19, noon, RSVP by Aug. 16 to Marge, 828-1524. Lunch in Pleasanton, Aug. 23, noon, RSVP by Aug. 20 to David, 833-7647. Dinner in San Ramon, Aug. 25, 6:30 p.m. RSVP by Aug. 20 to Barbara, 426-8876. Theater musical in Pleasanton, Aug. 26, 2 p.m. RSVP by Aug. 8 to Ruby, 462-9636.

Annual Seniors' Day, Sat., Aug. 18, 10:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. followed by lunch. Free. Shiva-Vishnu Temple Assembly Hall, 1232 Arrowhead Ave, Livermore. Seniors are invited to take part in a day full of activities including a talent show, games and lunch. Register by August 15 to par-ticipate. To register, contact Suman Jain at suman1218@yahoo.com, Dharini Baskaran at dhbaskaran@yahoo.com, Anand Gundu at anand_gundu@yahoo.com, or call the temple 925-449-6255.

Pleasantonians 4 Peace, Peaceful War Protest on the fourth Wednesday of the month, August 22, between 5 - 6 at the corners of First and Neal Streets. Questions?? Call Cathe Norman at (925) 462-7495; Matt Sullivan at mjs7882@gmail.com; or kdowding@pacbell.net. www.Pleasantonians4Peace.org

Tri-Valley Democratic Club annual picnic potluck. Sun., Aug. 26, 11:20 a.m. to 3 p.m. Family, friends & neighbors are all invited to the white elephant sale & silent auction - bring your stuff or services. RSVP required (so we know how much food to order) Sharon SHGOLD237@aol.com 925 831 8355.

Dress a Girl Around the World Sew Fest: Saturday, Aug. 25, 2012, 9am – 3pm, St. Michael Hall, 300 block of Maple Street, Livermore. Please bring sewing machine and creative imagination to help sew over 200 dresses in a single day for girls in developing countries. Also people needed to setup, clean up, iron, snip, sort, fetch and carry. Donations of colorful pillowcases and cotton fabrics appreciated. For more informa-tion, please contact Suzanne Slupesky: suzbeck@yahoo.com, 925-352-8447.

Diabetes Self-Management Classes, free. This 6 to 7 week series will teach how to manage diabetes with exercise, healthy eating and medications, and answer ques-tions about living with diabetes. Thursdays August 16 through Sept 27, 5 - 7 pm, Dublin Senior Center. Class is open to adults of all ages (not just Seniors) with pre diabetes or type 2 diabetes. Please call the Alameda County Diabetes Program at 510-383-5185 to register. Space is limited.

Hawaiian Luau, Sat., Aug. 25, 4 p.m. Livermore-Pleasanton Elks #2117 Lodge, Livermore. Tickets $25, call for reservations, 455-8829.

Grief workshop, bimonthly meetings,

St. Elizabeth Seton Church, 4001 Stoneridge Dr. Pleasanton. Second and fourth Thursdays at 7:30 PM. through August 23, 2012. No preregistration is necessary. These sessions are open to all, regardless of religious affiliation. Please call Mary Hagerty at 925-846-5377 for more information.

WOW (Women of Wellness) Confer-ence, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sept. 8 at the California Center Pleasanton, formerly Carr America Center, 4400 Rosewood Dr, Pleasanton. Twenty-four panelists will offer presentations varying from learning the instinctive ability to healing the body mentally and spiritually to maintaining a healthier lifestyle without the feeling of fatigue and stress. Admission is $99/per person. Learn more about the event, the speakers and ticket purchase information at www.thewowfactor.co or visit www.anatomypower.com.

Holiday Craft Boutique, Livermore Eagles Auxiliary is looking for vendors for a Sat., Nov. 10, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Eagles Hall, 527 N. Livermore Ave., Livermore. Sought are handmade, quality items from local vendors. $30 for a 6 ft. x 6 ft. space that includes one 6 ft. table. Larger spaces available at additional cost. To sign up or information, contact Linda at 371-5380 or ylorse@comcast.net. Leave contact information (name, address, phone or email). Detailed flyer and application form will be sent.

Birthright of Livermore Support Services, looking for office volunteers to assist clients weekly on Tuesdays 10-2 (or Mondays), and substitutes for all days. Also looking for a publicity chairman, volunteer secretary, and new Board Members from the business or clergy community. To discuss a variety of volunteer opportunities, please call John M. Kupski evenings or weekends at 606-8230 (or Thursday evenings 6-9 pm at 449-5887). Birthright offers free pregnancy tests, guidance, adoption and medical referrals, baby and maternity clothing, and more. Those in need of services, please visit the Livermore office at 1520 Catalina Ct., or call us at 449-5887. Open M-Tu-W-F, 10 am-2 pm and Thurs. 6-9 pm. 1-800-550-4900 Hotline is staffed 24 hours a day. All Birthright services are free and confidential. www.birthright.org

Alameda County Master Gardeners are on hand from 9:30 am to 11:30 am on the 2nd Saturday of every month to give advice and guided tours of the Earth-Friendly Demonstration Garden. Talks start at 10:00. "Bouquets of Summer" on August 11. The Demonstration Garden is located at the Martinelli Event Center, 3575 Greenville Road in Livermore.

Tri-Valley Haven is offering a sexual assault support group for survivors of sexual assault on Fridays at 1 pm at their Livermore community building. The group will help survivors gain further knowledge and understanding of the effects of sexual assault and help them find support in a safe and confidential environment. This group aims to support each participant by creating an empowering atmosphere where participants can learn new coping skills. To sign up for the SA Group or for additional in-formation, please call Christine at Tri-Valley Haven: 925-667-2707.

Food Addicts in Recovery Anonymous (FA) is a free Twelve Step recovery program for anyone suffering from food obsession, overeating, under-eating or bulimia. For more information or a list of additional meetings throughout the U.S. and the world, call 781-932-6300 or visit: www.foodad-dicts.org.

Internet use classes, Pleasanton Library, four-class series to learn to surf the Internet and send emails. Absolute begin-ners are welcome. Classes are held at 9:00

am on Tuesday and Thursday mornings. Registration is required. Reserve a spot at the Reference Desk, or call 925/931-3400, extension 7. Call Merry Luskin at 925/931-3400 x 25 for information. 400 Old Bernal Ave., Pleasanton. Library programs are free and open to all.

Vendors sought, Livermore Lions Clubs Christmas Boutique is November 3, 2012 and vendors are needed. Quality handmade (or hand embellished) items are accepted. The boutique is a major fund-raiser for the Lions Club. Rental fees are used to support eye and hearing programs here in our community. For applications please call Joan at 925-980-2628. Single or double tables are available ($55 &$80). Price reduced for non-profit organizations.

Operation: S.A.M. "Supporting All Military" is a 501(c)3 non profit military support organization based in Livermore. S.A.M. has been in operation since January 2004. It is dedicated to the continued support of deployed troops. Preparation of comfort packages takes place every other week - all year long. Providing morale support for those deployed. All information provided is confidential and is not shared for security purposes. To submit a name and address, inquire about donations or helping, please visit www.operationsam.org, email operationsam@comcast.net or call 925 443-7620 for more information and the calendar of events.

Community Resources for Indepen-dent Living (CRIL) offers services to help people with disabilities and supports them to live independently and participate in their community for as long as they are willing and able to do so. CRIL maintains offices in Hayward, Fremont and Livermore to provide information and referrals and provide community education at senior centers and affordable housing complexes to residents of Southern Alameda County. The Tri-Valley office is located at 3311 Pacific Avenue, Livermore 94550 and can be reached by phone at (925) 371-1531, by FAX at (925) 373-5034 or by e-mail at abril.tamayo@cril-online.org. All services are free.

The Bingo Ranch, 3070 Pacific Ave. in Livermore and is open Mondays, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturdays. Buenas Vidas Youth Ranch has been running Bingo for 16 years and is now working with Livermore Charter, Christensen, Arroyo Seco, East Avenue, Livermore High and Granada High schools, Pleasanton Seahawks and All American Sports Academy Teams. Come play Bingo and support the kids in the Valley. Call 925-606-7777 for more information.

RELIGIONFirst Presbyterian Church, 2020 Fifth

Street, Livermore. 9:00 a.m. Contemplative Service in the Chapel, 10:30 Traditional Service in the Sanctuary and children’s program. For more information www.fpcl.us or 925-447-2078.

Tri-Valley Bible Church, 2346 Walnut St., Livermore, holds Sunday worship at 10 a.m. with Sunday school for all ages at 9 a.m. Children's classes during adult worship service. AWANA children's program Wednesdays at 6 p.m. 449-4403 or www.Tri-ValleyBibleChurch.com.

Unitarian Universalist, 1893 N. Vasco Rd., Livermore. 10:30 a.m. Sunday service. Information 447-8747.

Congregation Beth Emek, 3400 Nevada Court, Pleasanton. Information 931-1055.

Tri-Valley Cultural Jews, affiliated with the Congress of Secular Jewish Organiza-tions (csjo.org). Information, Rabbi Judith Seid, Tri-Valley Cultural Jews, 485-1049 or EastBaySecularJews.org.

First Church of Christ, Scientist, Livermore, has services at 10 a.m. every

Sunday. Sunday School for students (ages 3-20) is held at 10 a.m. every Sunday. The church and reading room are located at Third and N Streets. The Reading Room, which is open to the public, features books, CDs and magazines for sale. For informa-tion, call (925) 447-2946.

Holy Cross Lutheran Church Sunday Service 9:30 a.m. 1020 Mocho St., Liver-more. Information, 447-8840.

Our Savior Lutheran Ministries, 1385 S. Livermore Avenue, Livermore. 8:30 a.m. worship (semiformal); 9:45 a.m. adult Bible study/Sunday school; 11 a.m. worship (informal). For information, call 925-447-1246.

Asbury United Methodist Church, 4743 East Avenue, Livermore. 9 a.m. Sunday worship. Information 447-1950.

Calvary Chapel Livermore, Sunday Services 10:30 a.m. 545 N. L Street Livermore. (925) 447-4357 - www.calva-rylivermore.org.

St. Matthew's Baptist Church, 1239 North Livermore Ave., Livermore. Services on Sunday at 8 a.m. and 11 a.m. Adult Sunday school 9:30 a.m., Children's Sunday school at 9:30 a.m. Prayer each Wednesday at 7 p.m. followed by Bible study at 7:30 p.m. 449-3824.

United Christian Church, celebrating 50 years in the Tri-Valley. 1886 College Ave. at M St., Livermore; worships on Sunday morning at 10:30 a.m. Children’s program on Sunday morning and first Fridays. The community is welcome. United CC is an Open and Affirming ministry. Call 449-6820 for more information.

Granada Baptist Church, 945 Concan-non Boulevard, Livermore. Services: Sunday school – 9:45 a.m.; worship service – 11 a.m. All are welcome. 1-888-805-7151.

Seventh-day Adventist Church, 243 Scott Street, Livermore. 925-447-5462, services on Saturday: Sabbath school 9:30 a.m., worship 11 a.m. www.livermoresda.org/ All are welcome.

Faith Chapel Assembly of God, 6656 Alisal St., Pleasanton, Sunday School for all ages 9:15 a.m., Worship 10:30 a.m., Children’s Church 11:15 a.m. Women's Bible study Wednesdays at 10 a.m. Intercessory prayer 1st and 3rd Wednesdays. Please call office at 846-8650 for weekly programs.

Trinity, 557 Olivina Ave., Livermore. Sunday worship at 8:30 and 11 a.m. and 6 p.m. Sunday school or Bible study for all ages at 9:45 a.m. Awana is Sunday at 3:30 p.m. Wednesday nights there is adult Bible study at 6:45 and NRG and Re.Gen for youth, and children's choir for kids. Child care during all events. 447-1848, www.trinitylivermore.org.

St. Charles Borromeo, 1315 Lomitas Ave., Livermore. Meditation groups following the John Main tradition, every Monday 5:30 p.m. and 7 p.m. For details, contact Claire La Scola at 447-9800.

Centerpointe Church, 3410 Cornerstone Court, Pleasanton. Services: 9 a.m. blended-style with choir and band, family worship. 10:30 a.m. contemporary led by band, Sunday School for children and

middle-schoolers. www.centerpointechurch.org; 925-846-4436.

St. Innocent Orthodox Church, 1040 Florence Rd., Livermore. Sunday service at 10 a.m. For details please see our website at www.stinnocent.net or call Fr. Leo Ar-rowsmith at 456-0845.

St. Clare’s Episcopal Church, 3350 Hopyard Road, Pleasanton, Services on Sunday, 8:00 a.m. and 10:15 a.m. Chil-dren’s Sunday School & Chapel at 10:15 a.m. All are most welcome to come and worship with us and to enjoy our hospitality. For more information call the church office 925-462-4802.

St. Bartholomew's Episcopal Church, 678 Enos Way, Livermore. Services on Sunday at 9:30 a.m. For more information call the church office at (925) 447-3289 or SaintBartsLivermore.com.

St. Francis of Assisi Anglican Church follows the traditional 1928 Book of Com-mon Prayer. 193 Contractors Avenue, Liver-more. Sunday service at 10 a.m. Sunday school provided. For information, contact Fr. Ben Brown at 925/906-9561.

Tri-Valley Church of Christ at 4481 East Avenue, Livermore, worship service 10:30 to 11:45 a.m. Sundays, all are wel-come. 925-447-4333 ( a.m. to 12:00 p.m.)

Unity of Tri-Valley Church, 9875 Dublin Canyon Rd., Castro Valley. More room for all the new classes, small groups, new children's and teen programs, and Sunday services (at 10 a.m.). All are welcome. Rev. Harriet Hawkins, minister. (925) 829-2733. www.trivalleyunity.com

Little Brown Church, United Church of Christ 141 Kilkare Road, Sunol. 10:30 a.m. worship. All are welcome here. www.littlebrownchurchofsunol.org 925-862-2580

Pathway Community Church, 6533 Sierra Lane, Dublin. Contemporary Worship Service, Sunday 10:30 am. Children, youth, adult programs. Biblically based practical messages, nondenominational. All are welcomed. www.pathwaycommuntiychurch.org (925) 829-4793.

Global Leadership Summit, August 9-10, a faith based conference is a gather-ing of church and business leaders. It will be broadcast live via satellite to 200+ loca-tions in North America, Thursday and Friday, Aug. 9-10. For a complete list of speakers and for information about local satellite sites and registration for The Global Leadership Summit 2012, visit www.willowcreek.com/summit or call (800) 570-9812. Local host site is Valley Community Church, 4455 Del Valle Parkway, Pleasanton. Information, Kevin Sousa, sousaphone@earthlink.net

Grief Workshops, there are stepping stones that are part of each grief journey. They will be explored in an eight-week series of workshops. St. Elizabeth Seton Church, 4001 Stoneridge Dr., Pleasanton. Eight Thursday evenings at 7:30 PM. Sept 6th Through Oct 25th. Pre-registration is requested. Space is limited. A one-time $15 donation is requested. These sessions are open to all, regardless of religious affiliation. Please call Mary Hagerty at 925-846-5377 for more information.

12 THE INDEPENDENT • THURSDAY, AUGUST 9, 2012

Two young Lawrence Livermore National Labo-ratory researchers have re-ceived Presidential Early Career Awards for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE) for work in computational science and physics.

The recipients are Heath-er Whitley, a design physi-cist, and Jeffrey Banks, a computational scientist. PECASE winners receive $50,000 a year over five years to pursue research in their field.

The award is the highest honor bestowed by the U.S. government on outstanding scientists and engineers,

the NIF, and for service to the Laboratory Postdoctoral Association.

A native of New Mexico, Whitley graduated from New Mexico State Univer-sity in Las Cruces in 2002 with a BS in Chemistry, and a BA in French, along with a minor in Physics.

She received her PhD from UC Berkeley in Theo-retical Chemistry in 2007, after being awarded a Na-tional Defense Science and Engineering Graduate fel-lowship.

Her work as a postdoc at LLNL began just 11 days after she filed her doctoral

In addition to his LLNL research, Banks tutors high school students with the goal of making math more acces-sible and less intimidating. Banks, a pole vaulter in high school and college, also coaches track and field at a local high school. He met his wife, now a high school math teacher, on the pole vault runway at RPI.

Banks received his PhD in applied mathematics from Rensselaer Polytechnic In-stitute (RPI) in May of 2006 and has been an employee of LLNL since February 2008, first as a post-doctoral fel-low and then as a member of the technical staff. He also completed his undergradu-ate and master’s degrees in mathematics at RPI.

The PECASE awards ceremony was held July 31 in the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History in Washington D.C.

who are early in their inde-pendent research careers.

Whitley is working on research related to the trans-port processes in dense plas-mas, such as those found in the National Ignition Facility (NIF) where fu-sion energy experiments are conducted.

Whitley was chosen for her work using path-integral Monte Carlo techniques to produce accurate quantum statistical potentials for use in molecular dynamic codes, for applying these methods to first-principles under-standing of thermal conduc-tivity in ignition capsules for

thesis. She was hired into the Quantum Simulations Group in the Physics and Life Sciences directorate, studying semiconductor nanomaterials that could be used in solar cells.

She has now joined the Weapons and Complex In-tegration directorate, work-ing on burn physics and molecular dynamics. In her spare time, she dances with Livermore’s Valley Dance Theatre, and is engaged to be married next summer.

Jeffrey Banks, a com-putational scientist, was selected for work in com-putational physics, scientific computation, and numerical analysis, especially pioneer-ing contributions in numeri-cal approximations to hy-perbolic partial differential equations focusing on the development and analysis of nonlinear and high-resolu-tion finite-volume and finite-difference methods, and for service in high schools and the scientific community.

In lay terms, Banks says, “My research is about us-

ing computers to simulate problems from the physical sciences; and I work on the basic mathematics needed to continue expanding our simulation capabilities.”

While Banks was aware he had been nominated for the prestigious award, “I was surprised and honored to be selected for a PECASE award.” Banks’ work to improve computer simula-tions is important to national security research, notably fusion experiments at NIF vital to the National Nuclear Security Administration’s program to ensure the safety, security and reliability of the nation’s nuclear deter-rent without underground testing. NIF also serves as a fusion energy test bed.

Banks is particularly in-terested in wave problems such as those often found in fluid dynamics or electro-magnetics.

Young Researchers Receive Presidential Early Career Honors

Army Pvt. Kena M. Roberts has graduated from basic combat training at Fort

Jackson, Columbia, S.C. During the nine weeks of training, the soldier studied the Army mission, history, tradition and core values, physical fitness, and received instruction and practice in basic combat skills, military weapons, chemical warfare and bayo-net training, drill and ceremony, marching, rifle marksmanship, armed and unarmed combat, map reading, field tactics, military courtesy, military justice system, basic first aid, foot marches, and field training exercises.

Roberts is the daughter of Barbara Roberts of Mesa, Ariz., and Craig Roberts of Livermore. She is a 2011 graduate of Sun Valley High School, Mesa, Ariz.