THE KEY TO BUYING OR SELLING A HOME
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CASTRO VALLEY FORUM A COMMUNITY NEWSPAPER SERVING CASTRO VALLEY SINCE 1989
WEDNESDAY, JULY 6, 2022
YEAR 34
Experts: Wildfires Could Hit Close to Home This Year
INSIDE YOUR
FORUM
NEWS
By Mike McGuire
CV Arts Foundation to present a night of stand-up comedy
Page 2 NEWS
Castro Valley Rotary installs new president Lytrel Carter
Page 4 SENIORS
Julie Sumiki, President of the Castro Valley Chamber of Commerce is joined by Ed Holmes (center) and Marc Ribaud (right) to unveil “Cameraman” at the Castro Valley Marketplace. The 7-foot sculpture is constructed of hundreds of cameras dating from the 1920s to current camera models. The art piece is a gift from Rhythmix Cultural Works out of Alameda.
Picture Perfect
Cameraman Sculpture Captures Artists’ Vision By Michael Singer
CASTRO VALLEY FORUM
Senior Q&A
Do changes in tax law mean you should make changes to your trust?
Page 10
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P01 FRONT 07-06.indd 1
might not be all that unsafe in better conditions. He warns, echoed by the department’s website, that the As peak wildfire season starts unusually early this year, biggest threat to most homes isn’t a wall of flame coming Castro Valley residents may not want to get too comfortable down a hillside, but an airborne thinking the worst fires always attack by embers often a mile or more away from the nearest seem to break out in areas flames. (Do flee actual flames some distance away. immediately, experts advise.) Late last month, two fires forced evacuations in suburban areas similar in landscape to the hills in our own backyard. The Canyon Fire burned 71 acres of the ridge between Fremont and Pleasanton, north of Niles Canyon. The Edgewood Fire in San Mateo County charred at least 25 acres near Interstate 280. Both of those wildfires forced evacuations and put communities on edge. Fire prevention officials warn that these are the dangers –Robert Foxworthy we now face in the Bay Area, CALFIRE SPOKESMAN no matter where you live. “There’s the chance for “Where can embers land wildfire anywhere in Caliand smolder for a while fornia,” says Robert Foxworunnoticed until they burst into thy, spokesman for the state flames?” is the question you Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, better known should be asking about your residence, Foxworthy and other as CalFire. experts say. State officials warned Embers certainly like to against non-professional fireworks this year, even where land on roofs, and people should be gradually shifting to they are legal, because of the severe fire danger. In Alameda ignition-resistant roofs made of materials like composition, County, fireworks are only metal, clay, or tile. The same legal in the cities of Dublin, Union City, and Newark, and goes for patios and decks, and while a patio or deck cover is a then only if they’re the “safe and sane” variety. It’s the fire good idea, make sure it won’t danger that’s currently insane, itself burn or melt, Foxworthy said. the authorities say. People sometimes store “It doesn’t take much to flammable items under the start a wildfire this year,” Foxworthy warns, “given how deck or under the house, he said. Embers can blow in from bad the drought is and how the side, so those need to be plentiful fuel is for fires.” He wasn’t just talking about covered. Better still, find somefireworks, though. The CalFire place else to keep combustible spokesman was talking about items. Combustible items see WILDFIRES on page 4 all the things people do that CASTRO VALLEY FORUM
Lighten Up!
New President
NO. 27
A nearly 7-foot sculpture built out of camera and film-related equipment was unveiled this past Saturday and will now greet people as they enter the Castro Valley Marketplace thanks to a partnership between an Alameda-based artist collective and the Natural Grocery Store. “Cameraman” is a sculptural collaboration between artists Ed Holmes and Marc Ribaud with sound design by Joe Paulino. A smaller sculpture, Cameradog, was designed by Maria Chenut. The idea for the show began when Holmes and Ribaud decided to create a larger-than-life-size “Cameraman” using Ed’s 45-year-old camera collection and Marc’s engineering genius. The see PERFECT on page 3
PHOTOS COURTESY OF DONNA LAYBURN
Meet “Cameraman” a 7-foot sculpture created by Ed Holms and Marc Ribaud. Constructed out of metal and old cameras, the structure lights up and makes sounds to greet shoppers coming into the Natural Grocery Store.
“It doesn’t take much to start a wildfire this year.”
7/5/22 4:39 PM