The urban phenomenon yarn bombing hit downtown Walnut Creek recently with trees and parking meters wrapped in colorful yarn designs by the community from the knitting store Fashion Knit in Ygnacio Plaza. Although the sign notes that it’s called knitfitti, I think yarn bombing sounds better.
I was walking by the Lesher Center in downtown Walnut Creek the other day when I happened upon a ceremony for the Walnut Creek Free Ride buses going electric. They used to be diesel. Can anyone tell me why are they called “trolleys”? They look like buses to me. Is that a gimmick?
From the County Connection electric bus page:
The electric trolley’s were built locally by Gillig and are the first electric buses to come off their line. These trolley’s also represent another first – a partnership between Gillig, BAE(manufacturer of the electric power system) and WAVE (the manufacturer of the inductive charging station).
The new electric trolleys will replace the existing diesel trolleys that are used on the popular Route 4 Free Downtown Trolley in Walnut Creek. The City of Walnut Creek provides operating assistance for the service, allowing passengers to ride for free. The buses run between the Walnut Creek BART station, downtown Walnut Creek, and the Broadway Plaza seven days a week.
As I write this I don’t know the results of the election, but there were a couple of surprising situations I found out voting at an election poll. One is that, years ago without paying much attention, I previously registered to vote by mail which means I could not vote at the poll without filling out more paperwork to be used for a provisional ballot. (While I was filling out the paperwork numerous voters made the same mistake so I didn’t feel too bad). According to the election official I will have to register to vote again and select NOT to vote by mail if want to vote at the poll. If you check your eligibility to vote here, take note of the Permanent Vote by Mail Voter line.
Another awkward point is that there was little privacy when voting. I had expected a curtain or at least for my back to be facing a wall. But the way the table was set up, my back was facing towards the public area where people walking by could easily see my votes.
I was driving through Orinda on Moraga Way the other day when I spotted an election sign for Hillary Weiner, and thought maybe it was put up by Trump supporters to connect the Clinton campaign with Anthony Weiner. Then I drove by several more signs and realized there is actually someone named Hillary Weiner running for the Orinda School Board. 😯
When I was growing up kids could dress up and accessorize for Halloween pretty much as they pleased. Times have changed and not allowing toy weapons has become commonplace. This Halloween, all schools in Moraga have decided to take the next step and ban clown costumes for Halloween. Although it’s not an official district decision, I wonder how the schools, independently, came to the decision to ban clown costumes. Has Moraga previously encountered clown scares that necessitated this?
What’ll it be next year, banning monster costumes? Plenty of kids are afraid of spiders. Is Spider-Man next? Will there be a list of acceptable Halloween costumes kids can choose from? Have any other local schools banned clown costumes?
Broadway Plaza, Walnut Creek
It came as a surprise to me when I parked my car at Broadway Plaza a couple of weeks ago that they still hadn’t started charging for parking at their garages. They were supposed to begin charging September 12th but it’s still free to park. According to a text message from Broadway Plaza, they, “do not have a set date for when [they] will be adding the parking charge”.
Anyone else notice this?
From a reader:
While riding my bike back from Safeway in downtown WC, I noticed a number of large “living areas” that had been cut out and blocked off by homeless residents on the side of the trail opposite the canal between Safeway and Trinity Center. I don’t know how much patrolling that trail gets but my assumption is that if it doesn’t get any attention, it’ll only get worse.
