Latest News Articles From The San Ramon Tribune

Thursday, September 27, 2007

San Ramon Community Theater Announcement

Announcing The Holiday Production

TWAS THE NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS

Open Auditions at Front Row theater

October 1 - 7:30 - 10 pm.

Callbacks the evening of Wednesday, October 3.

PERFORMANCES ARE: December 14, 15, 16, 21, 22, and 23.

Be prepared to sing a Christmas song and to read from script

(see auditions for list of characters needed)

San Ramon Community Theater

San Ramon Community Theater

Auditions and Performances will be at:

San Ramon's "Front Row Theater" at Dougherty Station Community Center

Contact the San Ramon Community Theater. For more information go to www.sanramoncommunitytheater.org


View Larger Map


Read more about the San Ramon Tribune online newspaper. Feel free to submit your news articles and public announcements for consideration for publishing. Feel free to also submit letters to the editor for consideration for publication.

Friday, September 14, 2007

5 New Parks Opening in San Ramon

September 22, 2007 Official Opening Day

The City of San Ramon, Windemere BLC and Shapell invite you to celebrate the opening of five new parks San Ramon Sports Park, Arlington Park, Sherwood Park, Creekside Park and Monarch Park. This historic occasion will begin with an official ribbon cutting ceremony followed by activities, food and entertainment at each of the park sites throughout the day.

Schedule of Activities

10am Ribbon Cutting at the San Ramon Sports Park

10:30am – 1pm Community Sports Festival at the San Ramon Sports Park

11am – 2pm Dougherty Valley High School Tennis Grand Opening

11am - 12:30pm Punt, Pass and Kick at San Ramon Sports Park

12pm – 5pm Free Recreation Swim at Dougherty Valley Aquatic Center

11am – 3pm Cricket Demonstration at Monarch Park

1 & 2pm Dana Smith and his performing dog Lacy at Arlington Park

2:30pm Popular Children’s Entertainer Daffy Dave at Creekside Park

Details Below

The San Ramon Sports Park along with four other neighborhood parks including Arlington and Sherwood Parks also in the Windemere BLC neighborhoods and Creekside and Monarch Park in the Shapell built Gale Ranch neighborhoods will be dedicated on September 22, 2007 at a Park Grand Opening Day. This event will include a full day of festivities to celebrate this monumental occasion.

The Park Opening Day will begin with a ribbon cutting ceremony at the Sports Park at 10am, followed by a Community Sports Festival and Punt, Pass and Kick competition at that location. The Community Sports Festival will celebrate all sports with opportunities to play soccer, football, and badminton to name a few. Test your skills at a speed pitch machine, hoops contests and an obstacle course. Visitors will also have the opportunity to meet and get information about all of the local youth sports organizations.

Other activities that day include a Tennis Grand Opening at the Dougherty Valley High School Tennis Courts, and the first free recreation swimming opportunity at the new Dougherty Valley Aquatic Center. At Arlington Park, Dana Smith and his amazing dog, Lacey, will perform at 1pm & 2pm www.danasmith.com. Monarch Park, with the first San Ramon cricket pitch, will be the site of cricket demonstrations throughout the day. To complete the day-long celebration, popular children entertainer Daffy Dave will perform at Creekside Park at 2:30pm www.daffydave.com.

"The City of San Ramon is very excited to be opening six new parks for the residents of this great City," commented Jeff Eorio, Parks and Community Services Director. "This is a historic occasion and one that the community should be very proud of, as we continue to improve the quality of life for everyone in San Ramon. The range of opportunities in these parks is amazing, from fire truck playgrounds to world class sports fields and a soccer field named after our own hometown hero, Tiffany Roberts; not to mention a cricket field and beautiful playgrounds for all ages of children, this is fantastic!"

For More information email nblazin@sanramon.ca.gov or call 925-973-3370.

Send in your announcements to the San Ramon Tribune.

Monday, September 10, 2007

Windmill Farms Needs Your Help

San Ramon Windmill Farms
Letter from Windmill Farms

Dear Friends, Family, and Valued Customers,

We here at Windmill Farms have been faced with a devastating problem. After almost 34 years servicing the San Ramon Valley, The Contra Costa Environmental Health Services, will financially force us to go out of business if something is not done. Contra Costa Health Services wants us to remove products that have been sold here since Windmill Farms first opened its doors in 1974. These products include all bulk food items (grains, nuts, dried fruits, etc.) and the cut produce (i.e. watermelons, pineapples, etc.). On top of these demands, we have been told to build a fully enclosed structure by August 2008 or be forced with legal actions.

Windmill Farms has never had any health related issues that would be a cause for any concern. We have always put the safety of our customers and employees first.

Windmill Farms has tried numerous times to solve this matter quietly through meetings with both the City of San Ramon and Contra Costa Environmental Health Services. All our attempts have failed. Now it is time for us to speak up and defend our way of life. An administrative hearing conducted by Contra Costa Health Services on July 17, 2007 lead to a ruling to discontinue the sale of our various products and fully enclose our business. We question their logic or fairness for our business to bide by there ruling when farmers markets are permitted to operate throughout the area, selling cut produce and other prepared foods in an open-air environment. It is our belief, that the Contra Costa Health Services has made it their mission since 1997 to shut us down. Now they are in the position to do just that. We believe that the time has come for everyone to be made aware of this situation we are in, which threatens to force us out of business after almost 34 years.

We have also tried to get the City of San Ramon to help us out in this matter but we feel they have turned their backs on us now that there are plans to redevelop this entire area north of Crow Canyon Rd. with a specific plan that is limited to a mixed-use only environment (housing, retail mix). It is our belief that by Windmill Farms being gone it will be a starting point for implementation of their specific plan.

For those of you that are new to the Windmill Farms family, we are one of the last open air markets in the area. We have been in this community since long before there was even a City of San Ramon. We are family owned and operated and have been since 1974. We have always tried our best to bring the freshest, tastiest, and local products around. We have employed hundreds of employees over our almost 34 years in business as well as supported numerous local farmers.

Now we are forced to ask for the help of our customers, friends, and community. We are asking for you to send letters, make phone calls, and voice your opinions to everyone. Get everyone involved, including News Media, local and state Government. Please help us preserve our small business that has been a part of the community for decades. If we are to go who will be next?

Thank you for all of your support,

The Smith Family
Windmill Farms
www.windmillfarmsproduce.com


Granny Smith Apples

Read more about the San Ramon Tribune online newspaper. Feel free to submit your news articles for consideration for publishing.

San Ramon Valley High School 25 Year Reunion

Saturday, October 13, 2007 – 6:00 p.m.
The reunion dinner will take place at Piatti Ristorante & Bar in Danville. We will dine under the stars on the outdoor garden patio.

The price is $90.00 including deposit. (This price is per person and is non-refundable. If you previously sent me a deposit, please subtract that amount).
The evening will include passed appetizer platters, your choice of soup or salad, a delicious entrée (4 choices will be available), dessert and coffee. The price also includes wine, beer and non-alcoholic beverages.
If you have paid your deposit and pay the remainder of the amount due by September 28, your spot is guaranteed. After that, reservations will be filled on a first-come, first-served basis.

Please mail your check ASAP to:
SRVHS Reunion
c/o Sari Zimmerman
sariannd@yahoo.com
637 Wright Street
Santa Rosa, Ca 95404

The deadline is Friday, September 28



Read more about the San Ramon Tribune online newspaper. Feel free to submit your announcements and news articles for consideration for publishing.

Wednesday, September 5, 2007

Passion at Planning Commission Public Hearings

The people of San Ramon spoke their minds at last night’s Planning Commission public hearings for both the Draft Subsequent Environmental Impact Report, (DSEIR) and the actual City Center Downtown Plan. There was a full room of people present at the Community Center for the Planning Commission meeting, with over 30 speakers who wished to speak on either, or both, the DSEIR and the Downtown City Center Plan.

The public hearing portion for the DSEIR was spoken on by numerous San Ramon Citizens, who brought to light, the many inadequacies in the document, and expanded on the numerous unavoidable impacts for San Ramon.

The DSEIR, is a draft document put together by the consulting firm, Michael Brandman Associates, under contract to the City. It is over 700 pages in size and scope, can be downloaded from the San Ramon City website, and is quite difficult to digest in only a 45 day period. Most speakers requested an extension of 90 or 120 days for public input.

Some of the inadequacies brought to light include traffic impacts during periods of school, mid-day, and midweek studies were missing in the DSEIR. Information was given to the fact that the DSEIR does not conform to the General Plan 2020 in describing what a Civic Center is supposed to be and not what the citizens voted for when they passed the 2020 General Plan. Safety of children crossing from the Civic Center South West portion library area, to the North East section Central Park area was not addressed. Extended crosswalk timing requirements for the Iron Horse Trail and how this will impact the traffic on Bollinger was not addressed in the report. The shadow evaluations were strictly limited to mid-day instead of complete (all day) evaluations based on 100 ft tall buildings, and the impact on the Iron Horse Trail, which is a Park, was not addressed in the report. The aspect of the noise impacts in other surrounding neighborhoods (given the fact that wind will likely take the noise further distances) was not addressed in the DSEIR. Late night usage impacts from full service bars serving alcohol and what will likely result in noise increases, and more police having to patrol this area, and the impact on our youth in San Ramon along with the other various societal impacts on the San Ramon community as a whole was not addressed. In light of the fact that 680 will be, and is currently at times a parking lot for commuter traffic, and according to reports is at a grade "F" (and can not be mitigated) and will likely result in traffic jams and backups onto Bollinger Canyon Road and other surface streets, this was not addressed by the DSEIR.

Other items not addressed in the Draft Subsequent Environmental Impact Report and brought forth by the San Ramon Citizens included the annual events that have been a part of the heart and soul of San Ramon for years and have drawn the community together. These events have used the lots that would be turned into retail, residential, and office space with this downtown center. How will those events be impacted in the future from a parking and logistics standpoint? Items such as would parking be allowed in the parking structures for these events and would there even be any events in the future or would they be lost forever, were some of the questions that need to be addressed by the DSEIR?

The Draft Subsequent Environmental Impact Report was shown to be deficient in other areas also and spoken on by the public at the meeting. Information was brought forth, in light of the fact that small theaters all over the country are having great difficultly in drawing patrons, with Blackhawk Theaters given as an example, with most people instead going to larger theaters; is how realistic is an additional, small sized 6 screen theater, with foreign films going to be able to sustain itself in San Ramon. What will be the impact on the Crow Canyon Theater?

After the public hearing portion of the DSEIR, the planning commissioners, Chairperson Dennis Viers, Vice Chairperson Bob Patrino, and Commissioners Donna Kerger, Phil O’Loane, and Harry Sachs added their own thoughts and comments about the DSEIR and the proposed extension. According to City Attorney, Byron Athan, the period for public input can be extended out to 60 days instead of the 45 days currently set. The Planning Commissioners passed the extension unanimously. The extension goes through October 11, 2007. People are encouraged to study the DSEIR, and to write in with details and their thoughts about the various environmental impact deficiencies, what should be included, what needs to be studied or evaluated more thoroughly, and then submit it to the city for these comments to be added to the final environmental impact report. According to the process, these submitted comments, questions, and concerns will become part of the record and will be addressed, in writing, in the final EIR.

When it came time for the public hearing for the Downtown City Center plan portion, there were both the full supporters and many that opposed the plan as is currently laid out. Many of the former mayors, former council members, and members of the economic development committee were quite outspoken in pushing the project forward, though some had concerns about the issues brought forth, (like 100 feet tall buildings and traffic). Those opposed to the project as is presently laid out were quite concerned with the 100 feet tall office buildings, the tall parking structures, the high densities, traffic, safety, the small size of the civic center and distance the civic center portion of the buildings are located from Central Park, society issues, the huge project size, and the impact on the community at large.

The meeting ended a few minutes after midnight with everyone being given a chance to speak with passion, reason, and constructive input. Now both sides have much to think about for the future of San Ramon.

Next Downtown City Center Public Hearing:
October 2, 2007
Time: 7:00 PM
San Ramon Community Center
12501 Alcosta Blvd, San Ramon, CA


Read about the San Ramon Tribune newspaper. Submit your news articles for consideration for publishing.

San Ramon Google News

 

Comics Online