WHEN I WAS in high school, I tried to break up a dog fight. The result was a bite on my index finger that still gives me trouble today. Well — here I am, all these years later, in yet another dog fight. This one pits park police against pet owners who violate the law by letting their dogs run off-leash on the Shepherd Canyon-to-Montclair trail. Park police Sgt. Ron Yelder says his officers are patrolling the trail because they’ve had ongoing complaints about potentially vicious dogs.
“It’s a quality-of-life issue,” he says, “when parents feel they can’t walk their kids on the trails.”
And contrary to what one reader suggested, these officers handle park matters only. The streets of Oakland are not their jurisdiction, so they’re not “wasting their time when they could be fighting crime.”

Instead of blasting me, as one reader did, folks should be thanking me for the warning. I know for a fact that I’ve saved at least one dog owner the cost of a stiff fine that she would have received, had she not read my column. The law is the law. I didn’t make it — but as the “Town Crier,” I’m compelled to report it.

VILLAGE UPDATE: The dust is flying at Rite Aid, where store manager Damion Wright says the place is getting a $700,000 remodeling job. The plan calls for a bigger pharmacy and more shelf space for things such as housewares and pet supplies — not to mention a whole new check stand layout.

Meanwhile, the old Montclair United Methodist Church at the corner of Shepherd Canyon Road and Mountain has finally been sold. Realtor Steve Moyer says the new buyer won’t be knocking down the building, as some neighbors had feared, but will make the space into offices, keeping the sanctuary intact for church and school groups who may want to lease that space.
Moyer’s other high profile building, the Montclair Women’s Club, is still on the market — for $2.975 million.

MIND GAMES: Tired of those embarrassing “senior moments”? You may want to start stimulating your mind at www.happyneuron.com. The Web site is the brain child of hills entrepreneur Sheryle Bolton and has been featured on “The Today Show” and in several national publications. You just log on and for $9.95 a month you can play dozens of games that have been specially designed by scientists to help “beef up” the brain to develop new pathways.
“It’s good to get your abs in shape, or your arms,” Bolton says. “The same thing is true for your brain. It needs exercise.”

KEY RING BLING: An unlikely new fashion accessory is popping up on the necks of some well-heeled women in Piedmont and Montclair. It’s the Bad Boys Bail Bonds key chain, a nylon necklace that comes in a palate of pleasing colors and sports the company’s toll-free number: 800-BAILOUT (224-5688). One gal told me her key chain compliments the colors of her alma mater, USC. Another woman got a key ring to match her Mercedes. Is it the image of being “just a little naughty” that makes these key rings appealing? Apparently so. At least in this case, it’s good to be bad.