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CASTRO VALLEY FORUM A COMMUNITY NEWSPAPER SERVING CASTRO VALLEY SINCE 1989
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 23, 2022
YEAR 34 INSIDE YOUR
FORUM NEWS
NO. 12
Castro Valley Miracle Baby Prominent CV Artist Turns 100 By Mike McGuire
CASTRO VALLEY FORUM
They’re Back! Chili Cook-off and Rowell Ranch Rodeo Parade both returning for 2022
Page 3 HEALTH
Take it Easy Local fitness expert shares his advice on getting and staying fit
Page 4 NEWS
Congratulations Castro Valley High School senior achieves Eagle Scout rank
Page 5
Valentina Alvarado of Castro Valley turned six months old recently, and in most families, that would have been a celebration but not a surprise. To Valentina and her parents Gaby and Jesus, however, it was a little short of a miracle. Valentina was born at Kaiser Permanente’s San Leandro Medical Center on September 4, 2021, after 23 weeks of pregnancy and weighing only 580 grams, or about one pound, four ounces. In a photo of her just after birth, it’s hard to spot the baby among all the tubes and medical devices. Babies born before 28 weeks are considered “extremely premature” and the world’s earliest premature baby to survive birth was born at 21 weeks. Only a handful have survived entering the world as soon as Valentina did. The most pressing medical problem among the many they face, according to doctors, is badly undeveloped lungs. Even after they go home from the see BABY on page 5 Jesus (left) Gaby and baby Valentina Alvarado of Castro Valley.
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Prominent Castro Valley artist Betty Loeffler turns 100 this week, celebrating this milestone on March 26. She has lived in Castro Valley for Betty Loeffler 60 years. “She’s shown her art all over California and Hawaii,” says her daughter Pamela Loeffler Holloway. Born Betty Louise Glaves in Douglass, Kansas on March 26, 1922, she was one of three girls and two boys born to Virgil and Icle Glaves. Her father was a soldier in WW I and worked in the oil fields afterwards. By the time Betty was 12, the family moved to Ontario, Oregon. She graduated from high school there and attended Oregon State University in Portland. While in college she met her future husband, Robert Allan Loeffler, who was in medical school at the time. They married and he became a Navy doctor after med school. He retired from the Navy after 20 years. see 100 on page 4
Student Journalists Report on Ukraine War By Michael Singer
INDEX
By Linda Sandsmark CASTRO VALLEY FORUM
CASTRO VALLEY FORUM
The war in Ukraine is entering its second month with more than 3 million refugees fleeing for safety to nearby countries. And alongside the daily news feeds of the horrific events a group of students writing for The Olympian, Castro Valley High School’s award-winning student newspaper, have fanned out and reported on multiple facets of the war and its aftermath. Staff reporters, Leah Janaway, Zoe Dorado, and Ali Nosseir are among a group of
Leah Janaway
writers who typically provide news coverage of the Castro Valley High School (CVHS) community. Students in the school’s journalism class produce the print and online
say,” Johanson told the Forum. With permission from Johanson, we are able to share snippets of their reporting and encourage you to visit The Olympian newspaper online to read the full story. (vist http:// www.cvhsolympian.com) Leah Janaway shares the experiences of her Ukrainian friend Nastya, 18, who lives in Odessa as the war closes in Zoe Dorado Ali Nosseir around her family. The story, Olympian advisor. newspaper. But each of these “Nastya’s Tale, Part 1: ‘At any “Our newspaper’s motto is, second a war may happen’” students has found a unique ‘We are born to seek the truth!’ has already generated dozens approach to chronicling the I’m proud that our students are of comments with concerns for human side of the overseas doing that, which is more than Nastya’s well-being. conflict, says Matt Johanson, CVHS journalism teacher and the Russian government can see UKRAINE on page 5
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