PAGE 5
CASTRO VALLEY FORUM A COMMUNITY NEWSPAPER SERVING CASTRO VALLEY SINCE 1989
YEAR 33
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 15, 2021 TOWN HALL TOMORROW
INSIDE YOUR
Ban on Big Rig Trucks on I-580 To Be Revisited
FORUM NEWS
Gift of Giving Rotary and Eden Medical partner to provide gifts to Ruby’s Place and FESCO
SENIORS
PHOTOS BY RAY WILL
A Marker for all the 4,000 Native people buried at the Ohlone Cemetery in Fremont. There are no individual headstones. Legal steps to take after a loved one is diagnosed with Alzheimer’s Disease
Page 4 HOLIDAYS
equity between neighborhoods along Interstates 580 and 880, environmental protection, and chronic health issues. After 70 years of banning heavy trucks on a part of Those in favor of lifting the Interstate 580, state and local ban include a sixth-grade class officials are holding a town at Life Academy of Health and hall meeting this Thursday Bioscience in East Oakland. (December 16) to find out Students wanted to know why where the public stands on the all of the big rigs were driving issue before recommending in their neighborhoods along any changes. I-880 and not in the hills along I-580. The students researched The meeting, sponsored by Alameda County Supervi- the connection between the air pollution put out by heavy sor Nate Miley, will include vehicles and health problems presentations by Caltrans common in their households (California Department of like asthma, heart attacks, lung Transportation) and the Bay Area Air Quality Management cancer, and heart disease. They sent a letter with their findings District (BAAQMD). More than 370 people have already to Supervisor Miley, which signed up for the event. Opin- initiated this week’s meeting. see BAN on page 4 ions are expected to focus on By Michael Singer
CASTRO VALLEY FORUM
Page 3
Step by Step
NO. 50
Protecting Indigenous Bedrock Mortar Sites By Mike McGuire
MAC MEETING
CASTRO VALLEY FORUM
Miracle of Light CV Jewish community gathers for an outdoor Chanukah celebration
Page 5
INDEX Classified Ads ............ 8 Crosswords .............. 9 Holidays ..................... 5 Homes ....................... 6 Horoscope ................. 6 Legal Notices ........... 10 Obituaries ................ 11 Opinions .................. 11 Seniors ....................... 4 Weather ....................... 2 PHONE: (510) 614-1560
(REVISED) P01 FRONT 12-15.indd 1
There are thousands of bedrock sites with ground-out holes the size of your fist scattered across the hills of Castro Valley and the East Bay. Some of these are even located on Castro Valley School District land, but they are not currently marked or used educationally. Now, a group of informal friends as well a group representing six nations of indigenous people are hoping to bring awareness to these sacred sites and help protect them for generations to come. These holes are called bedrock mortars— sometimes called BRM—and were used to ground grains and acorns for foods and medicine for thousands of years before the Spanish, Mexicans, and Americans arrived. Castro Valley is built on an entire half-hidden landscape that came from its original Native American inhabitants, says resident Ray Will, and he believes this landscape needs to be revealed and preserved. “Wherever there is a year-round water supply, people lived,” Will said. One group of Native people lived in Crow Creek Canyon, he added.
Bedrock mortar Natives once used for grinding foods and medicines hiding in plain sight in Castro Valley.
Will and an informal group of friends have located some of these bedrock mortars as part of their project, East Bay Hill people, which aims to catalog these sites. There are also remnants of native villages and many artifacts of tribal people’s lives, often in plain sight. Will says. “Once you’ve sent these for what they are, you can’t unsee them,” he said. “It’s important we protect these original artifacts and as much as possible the places they were found.” see SITES on page 10
Five Proposals To Continue Cell Tower Contracts By Amy Sylvestri CASTRO VALLEY FORUM
Cell phone towers are always a perennial favorite topic at meetings of the Castro Valley Municipal Advisory Council (CVMAC) and at their last meeting of 2021, the MAC considered five separate proposals for continuing contracts for existing cell towers around town. T-Mobile wanted an extension to continue operating a
tower from a faux cross at the Church of the Nazarene at 2301 Miramar Avenue, a telecommunications facility of a PG&E tower at 5314 Crown Court, one at 5241 Jensen Road, one at 20980 Redwood Road, and one at 6108 Greenridge Road. The MAC also approved a request from the San Lorenzo School District to sell a surplus piece of property at 2275 Arlington Drive. The Seneca Center– a school that provides see MAC on page 10
12/14/21 5:10 PM