ALL IS QUIET on the home front. The rash of crime that we saw in Montclair and the hills, this summer, has subsided. It’s no accident. Oakland police have been working overtime shifts in the village since a mid summer crisis meeting by Montclair merchants and the MSIC (Montclair Safety and Improvement Council).And it’s working.

Sgt. Joe Seale is the guy who puts together the schedule, and he says he’s got coverage in the village several nights a week. Apparently, it’s not hard to find guys to take the shifts, although Seale admits most of the officers would rather work the Raiders or A’s games, given the chance. Still, it’s great to have the officers watching Montclair and there’s no doubt that crime is down — way down.

“It’s a shame it has to be done this way on an overtime basis,” Seale said, “but as long as the city has the funds available, we can do it.”

Good job, everybody. Let’s keep the pressure up on our city officials to get our share of police protection in the hills. The squeaky wheel gets the grease and the noise we’ve been making is finally being heard.

BOARD DUDES: Now that school is back in session, hopefully the skateboards will go back in the garage. There were a rash of complaints, this summer, about skater dudes riding illegally on Montclair sidewalks. But nothing compares to the insane act I saw, recently, in the hills. Two boarders shot out from a side street onto Shepherd Canyon Road, and one actually wiped out in front of a mini-van. The driver narrowly missed the young man and do you know what he did as he got up and ran? He flipped her off! The unmitigated gall leaves me speechless.SEX ED: They’re getting down to the birds and bees in Piedmont Pines. Reader Elaine Hoffman says the lack of fruit on neighborhood trees has forced her to pollinate her own kiwi. The details might make you blush, so I won’t get into them — but needless to say, it worked. Her next step comes this spring when she sets up her own bee hive. The queen comes “special delivery” to her door, and gets right to work recruiting a hive full of “honeys”. Talk about “sexing up the neighborhood.” By fall, every fruit tree on Ascot should be in good shape.

GREAT DAY: Congratulations to Lloyd and Nancy Coyne — who just celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary at the place where they first met — Berkeley’s Newman Center. It was reportedly quite a bash, with a 3 o’clock mass followed by a party (coordinated by hills event planner Rebecca Faiola) for 100 of their closest friends and relatives. Here’s the really interesting part. Not only did Lloyd and Nancy meet there, but their daughter, Joanne, found her husband Dan there too, in a singles grou