Radio and print stories by Linsay Rousseau Burnett
Listen to the radio story

In the heart of Fremont’s historic Niles District, the Essanay Café is a go-to place for fine dining and good wine. But on the first Tuesday of each month, the café swaps out its china with paper plates, for what owner Bruce Cates has themed, the “Recession Dinner.”

By Will Jason
More than a year after announcing plans for redevelopment, the owner of a long-vacant lot in Berkeley’s Southside neighborhood has still not filed official plans with the city. And with the city officials and the owner’s partners growing impatient, the chance to revive what many see as a neglected corner – Telegraph Ave. and Haste St. – could soon fade away.
“A new building would be good for the neighborhood,” said Mario Tejada, 78, who said he has owned
Mario’s La Fiesta restaurant, across the street from the site, since …

Photos, Video and Story by Linsay Rousseau Burnett
Fremont’s Niles community — a historic, quaint and close-knit neighborhood — proved once again that it is not afraid to show some flare, after residents held the 10th annual Pink Flamingo Pee-Wee Golf Classic. The “wacky and tacky” event raised over $2,000 for the Niles Main Street non-profit association.

By Mateen Kaul
On the roof of the blue-domed mosque at the Islamic Society of the East Bay, a group of men peered toward the horizon out west, searching for a glimmer of the new moon in the fading daylight of Tuesday, September 30.