WELCOME to “President’s Weekend;” the mother of all ski holidays. And while everyone loves a parade, the steady march of traffic to Tahoe this Friday is a spectacle to avoid. Better to cozy up with a hot cup of tea and the Town Crier.

STREET CRIME: The latest “quality of life” crime involves the theft of catalytic converters. Cars parked on dark hills streets are easy pickings for thieves who slip under the vehicles and make two clean cuts through the tailpipe. The bounty they’re after is the platinum, which runs as high as $1,000 an ounce. Sounds like a lot of cash until you realize it takes between 50 and 100 converters to get an ounce of the precious metal. But to car owners, the cost is even higher, since the price tag for a converter is up to $1,500.

E-MAIL BAG: Speaking of crimes, thanks to reader Pat Schwinn for alerting me to a phone scam that’s been catching folks unawares. If you ever get a call from someone claiming to be a jury coordinator following up on a summons, don’t buy it. They are bullying people into giving personal information that can later be used for identity theft. Learn more about the scam and how to protect yourself by going on the fbi.gov web-site and typing in “jury scams”.

AUTHOR, AUTHOR: Hills resident Laura McAmis has just published a tribute book to her late father, Jack Newcombe. Reader Yvonne Byron says Newcombe was a well-known writer, and his daughter included hundreds of letters he wrote to his wife (Laura’s mother) during World War II as a basis for Foxhole Dreams. “Although only in his early twenties,” says Byron, “he tried to humanize the horror of war by befriending German children and writing about the foibles of his fellow soldiers.” Byron says McAmis and her husband did extensive research for the book, which they published themselves with an easy on-line software program.

FOND FAREWELL: Readers have mentioned the passing of longtime hills resident Bea Isbell. At 86, she died leaving her mark on Montclair , as a seamstress, artist, master gardener and more. Isbell was a mentor to young people, who wanted to learn the craft of sewing. She made everything from ball gowns to Halloween costumes and her talent and generosity will be missed.

ANIMAL INSTINCTS: Call yourself an animal lover? Then consider the warm, fuzzy feeling you’ll get at tonight’s valentine’s fundraiser for Friends of the Oakland Animal Shelter. With drinks, desserts, dancing and animal games – it should be a wild evening at the First Unitarian Church in Oakland . See the Web site http://www.oaklandsanimals.wordpress.com for more information

TRAGEDY SPAWNS HOPE. I’ve always believed this, and looked for examples to reinforce this philosophy. The aftermath of last month’s shooting of 10-year-old Christopher Rodriguez shows that goodness trumps evil and that we have a community with tremendous heart.

In one of dozens of fund-raisers, the kids and parents at Oakland’s St. Theresa School have raised almost $10,000 with a bake sale. Reader Joanne Gayton says the ingredients were donated by Trader Joe’s on College Avenue, Lucky’s in Montclair, Village Market, the Safeway stores in Rockridge and Montclair, and Colonial Donuts. Piedmont Copy kicked in for the advertising flyers.

What happened to Christopher — who was struck by random gunfire during his piano lesson and left paralyzed — could have happened to any one of our children. It is a community’s worst nightmare. But tragedy spawns hope, and reminds us of how much we need each other.

If you would like to help the Rodriguez family or get an update on Christopher, see their Web site at http://www.christopherrodriguez.blogspot.com.

OAKLAND GEM: Speaking of the goodness of Oakland, I’ve become a huge fan of Aroma Café and Bakery at 19th and Franklin. Next to my office downtown, I start to salivate the minute the scent of their fresh-baked bread wafts from the kitchen and into the street. The owners, Emil and Abe Wahbeh, know hundreds of customers by name after 17 years at this popular eatery and their prices for specialty coffees and pastry are refreshingly low. But the real draw for me is Sammi’s sandwiches. Sammi Semaan washes his hands like a surgeon before he carefully crafts each masterpiece. “Hello, baby!” he smiles, greeting a steady line of customers as they place their order. Sammi knows just how I like my tuna on rye – a succulent sandwich so full of fresh pickles and peppers that I’m tempted to weigh it – just to see if qualifies as one of my favorite “deadly sins”. A gluttonous feast and a “hello baby.” It just doesn’t get any better than that!

E-MAIL BAG: The constant din of airplane noise over the Oakland hills has reader Susan Wilder lamenting the days when Oakland International Airport was such a sweet little airport.

“Now it might as well be San Francisco,” she writes, adding she’s going to call the airport complaint line. “The airport needs to know they are affecting our quality of life when they run loud planes over our homes late at night and early in the morning.”

AIR WAVES: I’ve heard of surprise showers, but reader Joanne Sandstrom had a surprise in the shower the other day. In the middle of her scrub down (and listening with half an ear to an old portable radio on the window ledge) she heard KGO announce her name as the winner of a trip to Cabo San Lucas. She had just minutes to claim her prize.

“Trouble is, the water was too loud and I wasn’t paying attention soon enough to hear the phone number,” she says. Soaking wet with suds sliding down her body, she ran to the computer and then to the phone book to look up the number. The clock was ticking and each call seemed to produce a dead end. Finally she got a hold of someone in the radio news bureau who tracked down the contest line number just in time.

“What a way to end January,” she laughs, wondering what the tax will be on her surprise vacation.

Got news? You can reach Ginny Prior by phone at 510-273-9418, by e-mail at ginnyprior@yahoo.com or on the web at http://www.ginnyprior.com.

I’M WRITING this column with a cat on my lap. It’s not easy — as her paws keep pushing the key pad, but I sense she needs comfort. In fact, I’ve noticed a number of needy felines on my street lately.

There’s the dusty black cat with the red collar who must have missed his mother’s lesson on self-cleaning. He’s always around and he makes me sneeze, but I feed him anyway. I suspect he’s working the neighborhood buffet because of his girth.

Further down the block is a calico kitty who is obviously distressed. She’s found temporary shelter in the driveway of a neighbor with big-time cat allergies. Folks have posted her picture (the cat’s, not the woman’s) on Craigslist, but no one has called and her pitiful meow can be heard back at my house. Or is that the black cat I hear crying — or the woeful wail of my own Puss ‘n Boots, who has issues with sharing her food?

Something is going on. These animals are anxious for a reason. I’m not one to overreact, but I’m checking my earthquake kit – just in case.

ROAD RAGE: Driving is stressful enough these days without some manic motorist following you. A hills reader says she was taking her kids home from school recently, when a man started tail-gating her car on Shepherd Canyon Road. Driving erratically and hugging her bumper, he followed her onto her street, where she wisely pulled up to the curb, not into her driveway. The stranger parked behind her and sat, in his car, with the music blaring.

What did this mother of two do next? She sounded the alarm on her car keys and flagged down a neighbor who called police. The man took off and hasn’t been spotted again.

E-MAIL CAR: Speaking of driving, reader Bill Murphy says he witnessed a frightening scene, the other day, when a teenage driver lost control of her car on a rain-slick on-ramp to Highway 13, where crews were clearing debris from the right lane.

“(The car) skidded off the on-ramp, careened through the bushes, flipped over and landed upside down in the right lane of Highway 13 northbound,” he writes, adding that he and another motorist pulled the shaken but unhurt 17-year-old out of the car. “I mention this tale of caution,” he says, “to remind anyone taking that tight turn on the Highway 13 northbound on-ramp at Park Boulevard to be careful, particularly in the rain!”

LUSCIOUS LOCKS: And lastly, I’m not one to brag, but people have been talking about my healthy, shiny head of hair. Sun-kissed and sassy, I treated my locks to a “facial” the other day at the new Touch Salon on Antioch Court in Montclair. Teresa and Kostas Bozikis have turned the old Hair Tailor into a sensual spa, with powder blue chairs and pleasing paintings from local artists. In the tradition of Europe — they have a second home in Greece — the couple lives in an apartment above the salon with their 4-year-old daughter.

“It’s a very European lifestyle,” says Teresa. “Very green.” And the lack of commute must be calming, because Teresa treats your hair like an artist’s palate, which is why L’Oreal chose her salon to represent its Kerastase line of French products. They add moisture and shine to your hair – not to mention the soothing scalp massage that you get with the treatment. Add a masseuse and an esthetician and you’ve got Montclair’s newest spa and salon. Now ask yourself; don’t you deserve it?

“Christmas Time is here” … and the Peanuts song is playing on a continuous loop through my head. Every deer I see is a reindeer. Every bearded man is Santa.

My kids got a postcard the other day, from the real S. Claus. He lives in Lapland, and I saw him just a year ago on a magical trip to the Arctic Circle.

He was sitting on a red and silver throne in the snowy village of Rovaniemi in Northern Finland. I watched as he spoke to children from around the world — fluent in many languages. Elves were at work in the smattering of buildings that dotted the landscape, each hut with a crackling fire that sent curls of smoke into the super-chilled air.

I often think back to my time spent in Lapland. Cold starry evenings in the Oakland hills remind me of my nightly search for the Northern Lights in the small Finnish village of Sirkka. Virtually alone as I walked on the softly lit streets, I pondered my place in this complex world. A blanket of stars seemed to comfort me. Christmas lights twinkled on glistening pines. And, I realized that what a person needs most during this time of year is a child-like sense of wonder. Whether we’re bathed in the light of an Arctic moon or gazing at the Bay Bridge off in the distance — we all have a lot for which to be awestruck and thankful.

P.S. My guide for last winter’s trip to Lapland was my friend, Kirsti Maki. If you’d like information on her Jan. 11-16 tour of the region, you can contact her by e-mail at kirstmaki@yahoo.com.

E-MAIL BAG: My item last week on the Oakland cop who lives part-time in Sweden prompted this letter from reader Bengt Anderson: “We do have arctic winters in the northernmost parts of Sweden,” Bengt writes, “But in most of the country, the climate is similar to Connecticut, where I lived and worked for 12 years.”

KID CARE: Two local realtors have come up with a clever concept for child care in Montclair. The Home Company Child Nursery on Thornhill Drive is a licensed daycare center in a real estate office. Started by two moms who needed to balance work and family, Jennifer Montague Clark and Suzanne Arballo Budowski opened an on-site center for their employees, clients and the local community. It’s working. Friends tell me the 3-1 care-giver-to-child ratio is exceptional, and it compliments the goals of the real estate agency, which are to serve local families in the best way possible.

THE TREE IS up, and there’s a snap in the air that says the holidays are here. It goes without saying that this should be a time of great cheer, when we go out of our way to be joyful and kind. Why, then, do I read about holiday stress seminars and angry altercations in shopping mall parking lots? Let’s all get a grip — and slow down for a few days this holiday season. Take time for toasting and carols and a concert or two. Put a wreath in the grill of your car — just to make people smile. Christmas comes but once a year. Grab the spirit.

FIREFIGHTER FRENZY: Just days after a near riot broke out at a hiring event for Oakland firefighters, the city is trying to make amends by taking the remaining applications on Jan. 12.

“I felt like I was at an ‘N Sync concert or something,” says reader Greg Saucedo, who says people were screaming and climbing on top of one another to get their papers in the hands of the one petite woman who was randomly selecting applicants. The whole thing was so unorganized; some candidates camped out for two days and still didn’t get picked.

BRRRRRR HUMBUG: Oakland’s time-honored production of “A Christmas Carol” has moved outdoors, for the first time in its 20-year history. Actually, it will be “toasty warm,” says producer Rebecca Faiola, who says the play will be inside a tent at the Oakland School of the Arts on San Pablo Avenue.

“We couldn’t return to Mills College (where the show originated),” she says, “because their theatre is full of pianos.”

But she guarantees the “big top” tent theatre will be awesome and quite romantic. Almost as if you were on the streets of London.

POLICEMAN’S BALL: Retired hills cop Taylor Miller says he’s looking forward to the big Oakland PD reunion in April. It’s being held at a casino in Sparks, and as many as 500 “uniforms” are expected.

“We’re scattered all over” says Miller. One former cop is even living on an island in Sweden. My guess is it’s just a summer home, since even the toughest Oakland cop wouldn’t opt for an arctic winter.

FREEBIE ALERT: A plethora of Prius’s is expected outside Oakland’s Parkway Theatre on Jan. 13 for the venue’s free movie “Who Killed the Electric Car.” The 1:45 p.m. showing is part of the Parkway’s Sunday Salon Series, designed to bring artists and activists (and just regular folks) together for thoughtful theatre followed by lively discussion. Beer and wine will be served.

ANIMAL TALES: When the air is filled with cackling, I know the Steller’s Jays are teasing my cat, Tonka. But reader Howard Smith has decided to tame the tormenting birds with a tasty treat of peanuts.

“I work with them and have finally gotten to the point where the blue jays eat off my lap,” he says. Smith has the time to train. At 94, he’s enjoying retirement at his Rockridge home, in the garden with his new feathered friends.