By Casey Miner –
The Berkeley police call them “recycling bandits” – the people who dig through curbside bins and pile shopping carts high with bottles, cans, cardboard and metal.
The managers of local recycling centers call them “recycling professionals.” And the worse the economy gets, they say, the more professionals, and amateurs, they see.

By Casey Miner –
Less than thirty seconds after the red phone starts ringing, the paramedics from Berkeley’s Fire Station One are on the road. A man has called 911 to say he cannot walk. He wants to go to the hospital.

Story by Linsay Rousseau Burnett
In a unanimous vote, the Fremont City Council voted to support Senate Bill 791 during its September 16 meeting — a bill that, if passed by the Legislature, would allow the city, and surrounding areas to sell land currently owned by the California Department of Transportation and use the revenue for approved local transportation projects.

By: Linsay Rousseau Burnett
According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Economic Research Service website, “Organic faming has become one of the fastest growing segments of U.S. agriculture.”
As California continues to dominate the organic industry, its third largest agricultural crop, grapes, struggles to keep up. Some grape growers and scientists in Sonoma County feel there needs to be a nationwide dialogue about the use of genetic engineering to produce disease resistant plants and eliminate the need for pesticides.

Story by Linsay Rousseau Burnett
Shahin Saki, owner of the Z & S Beauty Studio in Berkeley’s Shattuck Square, is feeling the economic crunch on her business. But her customers are not leaving because of problems on Wall Street; they’re leaving because of problems on Saki’s street.

By Casey Miner –
The number of people using the Alameda Food Bank jumped more than 25% over the past year, even as donations dropped from large supermarkets dropped. As the holiday season approaches, food bank staff are trying to figure out how to make sure they can feed everyone in Alameda who needs it.