MONTCLARION: April 5, 2012

Crimes of opportunity are nothing new in Oakland. We hear about them all the time, but what happened to a hills couple recently is one for the books. They discovered a woman was living on their boat down at Jack London Marina.

Reader Laura Thomas says it started when a neighboring boat owner spotted something amiss. “Amy had seen this stranger going onto our boat, so she went over to our boat and asked the woman what she was doing. The woman said, ‘I’m friends with the owners.’ So Amy asked what their names were, and she said ‘Mark.’ So Amy said, ‘Wrong answer. Get outta here now.’ ” Continue reading →

MONTCLARION: March 29, 2012

The doctor is in.

The Town Crier is feeling a little like Lucy Van Pelt, these days, fielding phone calls and emails that are better handled in a complaint department. Yes, crime is up in the hills and yes, $2 is too much to pay for parking. And yes, the Town Crier knows she is referring to herself in the third person right now.

It’s time for an attitude adjustment.

Breathe. Continue reading →

MONTCLARION: March 23, 2012

No one likes being a victim. Yet, collectively, we’re being bullied. Thieves are working the hills like contestants on a timed shopping spree. What they see is what they get.

Consider the latest reports — criminals casing the street outside Montclair Elementary School — watching for moms who leave purses in their vehicles. In broad daylight, with parents all around, they smash car windows and grab anything of value, then drive off. Continue reading →

MONTCLARION: March 16, 2012

It was the biggest memorial I’ve ever seen for an average guy. A thousand people turned out last week to remember Brad Shaw, a hills scout leader and dad who died doing what he loved — fishing.

Corpus Christi Church was packed, and so was the gym, where the Mass was telecast to an overflow crowd. When it was finished, an army of loved ones served sandwiches and drinks and kept the food coming for another three hours. Nobody wanted to leave. Continue reading →

MONTCLARION: March 8, 2012

It was 1988 when my husband and I moved to Montclair. We were so smitten with the Village — with it’s little storybook library and fire station, western-themed park and baseball field.

We came here for the same reasons you did — the shopping, the nature, the small-town feel just minutes from the city. A lot has changed in 24 years, not the least of which is the shopping district. We’re seeing more banks and realtors and fewer Mom-and-Pop shops. Reader David Cloutier says it’s been a concern in his circle of friends for some time. Continue reading →

MONTCLARION: March 2, 2012

Sadness has settled over the Catholic community in the Oakland hills. Two Corpus Christi church parishioners died last week — one in a tragic shore-fishing accident and one at the hands of an intruder.

Joe Robertson was our darkroom manager at the Hills Newspapers for more than 40 years. He was a quiet older man who dutifully did his job up until his retirement in the late 1990s. His family and neighbors on Thackeray Drive are stunned that someone would have taken his life. It leaves us unsettled and wondering what kind of monsters live in our midst. Continue reading →

MONTCLARION: February 23, 2012

Who puts in three decades at one job anymore? Most folks are lucky to eke out five years before their position is outsourced or downsized. But Katie Murphy has been the principal at Piedmont’s Corpus Christi School for 31 years. Continue reading →

MONTCLARION: February 17, 2012

Recently, I reported that Red Oak Realty was making a bid to move into the long-vacant Wachovia Bank building at 6450 Moraga Ave. in Montclair. It turns out not everyone is onboard with the plan.

Longtime merchant David Sarber sees it as going down the wrong path for the Montclair Village Association.

“I know of three real estate entities that will spread ground floor if the eventual OK is given to Red Oak,” he says. “Rents will skyrocket, and if you think that there is not enough retail now, just wait and see what will happen.” Continue reading →

MONTCLARION: Feb 3, 2012

Wildflowers peeking through the forest floor, birds happily building their nests — you’d think spring had already sprung in the Oakland hills.

That’s why I had to get away.

As you read this column, I’m in Minnesota waiting for snowflakes to fall from the steel gray sky. It’s supposed to be 28 today with flurries. I couldn’t be more excited. Continue reading →