Back on the Farm

I didn’t think it was going to be so easy, but it was. I finally extracted myself from South Carolina, and I made it back to the San Francisco Bay Area.

Yes folks, I’m back in the East Bay, Hayward to be exact. I’m staying with my 2nd cousin, Alisha and her family, which live off of B street, in the heart of Downtown Hayward.

It’s nice to be back in my hometown. I know this city like the back of my hand. It’s so familiar. It’s very comforting.

Bay Area Rapid Transit

It’s a great location because we are right up the street from the Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART), and you can take it anywhere in the surrounding Bay Area.

Bay Area Transit Map

BART has served as a highly successful rapid transit and commuter rail system, and it has provided a valuable alternative transportation route to highway transportation. BART has been undergoing a vast modernization to improve the quality of the system and its ability to serve the public's transportation needs.

The BART story began in 1946. It began not by governmental fiat, but as a concept gradually evolving at informal gatherings of business and civic leaders on both sides of the San Francisco Bay.

Facing a heavy post-war migration to the area and its consequent automobile boom, these people discussed ways of easing the mounting congestion that was clogging the bridges spanning the Bay. In 1947, a joint Army-Navy review Board concluded that another connecting link between San Francisco and Oakland would be needed in the years ahead to prevent intolerable congestion on the Bay Bridge.

Therefore the concept of an underwater tube devoted exclusively to high-speed trains. 

The American Public Transit Association is studying the potential benefits of what is known as "wayside storage," storing such energy somewhere other than the rails or the car itself, both of which have limited capacity.

For years, subway cars have been able to recycle some of the energy created when they brake, turning it into electricity to help power the train or others running on the rails at the same time. Now, BART is hoping to harness that lost energy by storing it and then putting it back in the system, something that could save millions of dollars in energy costs.

BART Police Kill Again

Oscar Grant

A BART police officer struggling to handcuff a 22-year-old man stood up over the facedown Hayward resident and fired a single shot into his back while a handful of officers watched, a video taken by a train passenger apparently shows.

The shooting occurred shortly before 2 a.m. Thursday after five officers responded to the Fruitvale station to reports of a fight on a train, officials said, though they have not confirmed whether Grant was involved in the fight.

The video, obtained by television station KTVU, shows two officers restraining a struggling suspect. While the man is lying face down on the ground, one officer appears to be seen pulling out a gun and firing a single shot into his back.

"First, an officer grabbed Oscar by the neck and pushed him against the wall," "Oscar didn't fight him, but he didn't go down either. He was like, 'What did I do?' Then another officer came up with his Taser and held it right in his face. Oscar said, 'Please don't shoot me, please don't Taser me, I have a daughter,' over and over again, real fast, and he sat down."

Oscar Grant was the only man in a small group sitting against the wall who was not handcuffed, Burris said, so officers grabbed him away from the wall and pressed him belly-down onto the ground.

"One officer was kneeling over his neck and head, and another standing over him," Burris said. "He was not kicking, and one officer was pulling on his arm. The standing officer pulled out his weapon and, within moments, fired the gun into Mr. Grant's back."

Burris said the bullet went through Grant's lower back and ricocheted off the ground up into his lungs, killing him.

"It's an outrageous set of facts. My sense is clear that this was an unjustifiable shooting," Burris said based on witness statements, but prior to the videotape being made public. "There were no movements and he was not trying to overrun the police officer. A gun cannot discharge accidentally, you have to have your finger on the trigger." "When conduct like this occurs, there is a price to pay," he added. "Police have to be held accountable when they engage in this kind of unlawful conduct."

The BART officer who shot Oscar Grant is Johannes Mehserle.  Mehserle has worked for BART for nearly two years and was placed on administrative leave following the shooting. When the case went to trial, officer Johannes Mehserle was hit with Involuntary Manslaughter. When the sentencing for Mehserle took place in a California court, many thought the sentencing judge would do more than the minimum when it came to jail time.

But once again, the system let us down as Mehserle was handed a sentence of two years jail time with credit for 146 days served and 146 days good behavior. Which, in essence, means the man responsible for shooting another man in the back while he lay face down will get away with murder. A conviction for involuntary manslaughter normally carries a four-year sentence, but the judge had the option of adding an “enhancement” that could have made the sentence 14 years because a firearm was used in commission of a crime. Mehserle, who was on duty as a Bay Area Rapid Transit police officer when the shooting occurred, said at the trial that he intended to draw and fire his Taser rather than his gun.

The jury acquitted him of the more serious charges of second-degree murder and voluntary manslaughter. To put this in perspective, Johannes Mehserle will do about as much time as T.I., who had guns but never shot a single person.

Where exactly is the justice in that? Let’s just say T.I. shot someone in self defense. I’m quite sure he would do more time than Mehserle. It’s a sad day for minorities everywhere to know their lives are only worth a year in prison just as long as the man killing them in a police officer. And now the law has the nerve to tell the people to remain calm?

 Do they realize the damage that’s been done? The relationship between people of color and the police will forever be fractured. The people of Oakland (and everywhere else) have every right to protest. If a window gets broken, trust me, it’s a whole lot better than shooting an unarmed man in the back.

The Heart of the Bay

In the early decades of the 20th Century, the Hayward Area became known as the “Heart of the Garden of Eden” because of its temperate climate and fertile soil. Everything – produce, chickens, cattle, flowers – grew in abundance.

By 1950, Hayward, grown to a population of 14,000, had become the “Apricot City” and home to The Hunts-Wesson Plant, which opened in Hayward in 1895 by the brothers William and Joseph Hunt.

Building the plant was controversial at the time. The cannery was originally built around 1963 and employed many immigrants, students and residents in its tomato processing operation, but has been shut down since October 1999.

The economy of early Hayward was based largely on the Hunt Brothers Cannery.  The Hunts originally packed local fruit, including cherries, peaches, and apricots, then added tomatoes, which became the mainstay of their business. At its height in the 1960s and 1970s, Hunt's operated three canneries in Hayward (A Street, B Street, and C Street at the Southern Pacific railroad tracks), an adjacent can-making company, a pickle factory, and a glass manufacturing plant.

Anyone who was raised in the area could smell the tomato catsup for three months of each year.

After World War II, more and more newcomers flocked to Hayward as they searched for and found affordable housing, quick access to job markets and a lifestyle conductive to raising young families.

By 1960, the population had swelled to 72,700. By the mid-1960’s, Hayward’s landscape changed from apricot trees and canneries to subdivisions and shopping centers. Hayward’s growth continued through the 1970’s and 1980’s.

By 1990, with a population of 121,000, Hayward became one of the top 15 most ethnically-diverse communities in the nation. Here, people from many cultures live and work together to build a community reflective of its residents.

Before the appearance of the Spanish padres and the founding of Mission San Jose, the Hayward area was occupied by the Costanoan Indians for some 3,000 years.

They lived in cone-shaped straw and mud huts, coming down from the hills to the bay to gather shellfish and hunt sea lions for their diet. In 1843, Mexican Governor Michaeltoreño rewarded Guillermo Castro for his past military and civil service by granting him “El Rancho San Lorenzo” – 27,000 acres of flatlands, hills and canyons now known as Hayward and Castro Valley.

Castro erected an adobe house where the historic Hayward City Hall is located.

Castro’s corrals were in the area now occupied by the current Library and Post Office, and not far from the location of the Hayward Area Historical Society Museum. By 1852, Don Castro had laid out the town of San Lorenzo, four blocks square, on the area surrounding his rancho adobe and rodeo plaza.

Russell City

Russell City (Hayward) was this little town of African-American's who migrated here from the deep south and was one of the proving grounds for many blues musicians.

Russell City, which was an unincorporated area of modest houses and small farms along the bay. During its heyday, Russell City was a down home community, known for it's clubs with dirt floors, bootleg electricity and a steady stream of musicians playing a style of Delta Blues.

Russell City is a landmark on the map of American's contributions to world culture giving Hayward a unique musical leg reflecting the African-American experience. The Hayward-Russell City Blues Festival celebrates the rich history, musical and cultural art form found in the city of Hayward during the post war years from the 1940's thru the 1960's.

Today, Hayward is located in Alameda County, California and is the sixth largest city in the San Francisco Bay Area and is located on the Bay's eastern shore, sandwiched between San Lorenzo and Union City, California, at the eastern terminus of the San Mateo Bridge.

The estimated population in 2010 was 151,300. The former suburbs of Mount Eden, Schafer Park have been incorporated into Hayward.

The most recent pre-European inhabitants of the Hayward area were the Ohlone tribe of American Indians.   The tribe claims 500 members today.

In the 19th century, the land that is now Hayward became part of Rancho San Lorenzo, a Mexican land grant to Guillermo Castro (1810 - c. 1870) in 1840.

The site of his home was on Castro Street (now Mission Boulevard) between C and D Streets, but the structure was severely damaged in the 1868 earthquake on the Hayward Fault that runs directly under that location. In 1930 that site was chosen for the construction of the City Hall which served the City until 1969.

The surrounding area is still the center of town.

Hayward was originally known as "Hayward's," then as "Haywood," later as "Haywards," and eventually as "Hayward." There is some disagreement as to how it was named. Some say it was named for Alvinza Hayward, a millionaire from the California Gold Rush. Others believe it was named for William Dutton Hayward, who opened a hotel there in 1852.

Most historians attribute the name to William Hayward.

Hayward Post Office

Regardless of which Hayward the area was named for, it is believed that, because a post office cannot be named after a living person, the name was changed to "Haywood" when the post office was first established.

The first post office opened in 1860 and was located in the valley next to Hayward which Castro used to pasture his cattle. The ranch was split up and sold to various locals, William Hayward among them. William Hayward's fortunes took a turn for the grander when he constructed a resort hotel, which eventually grew to a hundred rooms. The surrounding area came to be called "Hayward's" after the hotel.

Alameda County Courthouse

William Hayward eventually became the road commissioner for Alameda County.

He used his authority to influence the construction of roads in his own favor. He was also an Alameda County Supervisor. In 1876, a town was chartered by the State of California under the name of  'Haywards'. The name of the post office was then able to change because of the loss of the apostrophe before the "s." This change occurred in 1880. It remained "Haywards" until 1910 when the "s" was officially dropped.

William Hayward died in 1891.

Hayward grew steadily throughout the late 19th century, with an economy based on agriculture and tourism. Important crops were tomatoes, peaches, cherries, and apricots. Chicken and pigeon raising also played an important part. A rail line between Oakland and San Jose, the South Pacific Coast Railroad was established, but destroyed in an earthquake in 1868.

It was rebuilt, and provided a vital commercial link to the markets. The Southern Pacific and Western Pacific railroads, two trans-continental railroads, also provided service to the Hayward area.

Slim Pickens

During the 1930s, the Harry Rowell Rodeo Ranch at Hayward drew rodeo cowboys from across the continent, and western movie actors such as Slim Pickens and others from Hollywood.

The 1940s and the Second World War brought an economic and population boom to the area, as factories opened to manufacture war material. Many of the workers stayed after the end of the war. Two suburban tract housing pioneers, Oliver Rousseau and David Bohannon built most of the postwar housing in the Hayward area.

Today the community of San Lorenzo, built by David Bohannon, is considered a model of a successful postwar tract housing community. Five years after Bohannon perfected the tract housing concept it was copied by the more famous Levittown.

In the late 1950s, Asian Americans began moving to a new housing development in south Hayward off Ruus Road. The developer was willing to sell new homes to Asian Americans, despite housing discrimination against minorities in California at that time. The term Asian American was used informally by activists in the 1960s who sought an alternative to the term Oriental, arguing that the latter was derogatory and colonialist.

Formal usage was introduced by academics in the early 1970s, notably by historian Yuji Ichioka, who is credited with popularizing the term. Today, Asian American is the accepted term for most formal purposes, such as government and academic research, although it is often shortened to Asian in common usage.

Hayward Union High School 1892

Hayward High School

Hayward High School is one of the oldest high schools in Northern California. The official mascot for HHS is the "Farmer" which dates back to Hayward's agricultural roots. Its emblem is the plow which symbolizes hard work, as well as will and potential for growth.
 

Founded in 1892, Hayward High is the one of the oldest high schools in California's San Francisco Bay Area.

The first true high school that opened in 1893 was called Union High School #3. It served students from Hayward, Castro Valley, San Lorenzo, Redwood, Palomores, and Stonybrook. Initially, it was a one story building (two, if you consider the basement).
 

Hayward High Today



As late as the 1960s, students still rode their horses to school and tied them to hitching posts. Soon, however, the amount of students exceeded the limit and the school site was gradually increased from 10 to 30 acres. The architecture for the new buildings included ionic columns, low-pitched roofs, and friezes of goods.

HHS moved to its current campus in 1962 to make way for the Plaza Center Office Tower. The gym is still standing and is now the Centennial Convention Center.

Downtown Rally

My Cousin Bubba

A couple of weeks ago, I had the pleasure of attending the Hayward High Downtown Rally, where my cousin was performing for his high school band where he plays Trombone.

It was pretty cool, having all those memories of my High School days flood my memory. It was a refreshing appreciation of the past.

Hayward's own version of [Homecoming], Downtown Rally, has been a school, as well as a city wide staple, for more than 50 years. An annual event which takes place in mid-October, it is the highlight of the school year as well as the most highly anticipated event.

Each year each class participates by creating a float, dance, and cheer, as well as decorating a section of stands in the gym, typically with balloon arches, signs, streamers, etc. with an emphasis on each class's respective color:

Seniors are purple, Juniors are orange, Sophomores are yellow, and freshmen are green. 

Each class is judged by a panel of judges which include local celebrities, local politicians, and past alumni on things such as dance, decoration, sign, cheer, parade, float, and spirit.

Students parade down East Ave. down towards 2nd street, into Downtown Hayward, led by the marching band, cheerleaders, football team, and then each class from seniors to freshmen. After the parade, students file into the gym to begin the competition. Concluding with the evening's football game, usually held at Sunset field, the winner of the Rally is announced at halftime, and the floats are paraded around the track.

Hayward High School is the oldest high school in Southern Alameda County, and began serving the community in 1892. Today, you can read and hear about it in the news, where six students were arrested for taking down a police officer on campus.

Smoking Banned in Hayward

It was a pleasant surprise to find out that Hayward is the only city in the east bay that has an ordinance against smoking in public.  Actually, the ordinance reads that you could actually get fined if you are caught smoking in your own backyard. 

The message couldn't been any clearer — Smoking is banned in the City of Hayward. 

The law, passed by the City Council last May, mandates a $50 fine for smoking on sidewalks, streets and other public places, including a 20-foot no smoking zone around outdoor patio areas of restaurants and bars, as well as parks, sports fields, playgrounds and municipal parking lots. Hayward began ticketing smokers on public streets and sidewalks to clean up it's image from the "unattractive" appearance of smokers.

"Smoking is unattractive,"  'Groups of people smoking can be intimidating to some people, and it may be preventing folks from shopping in Hayward.' — Fran David, City Manager 

You know a movement is going too far when its justification for outlawing smoking in certain public places is that it is "unattractive."

The goal was, in part, to protect the health of nonsmokers by preventing them from substantial, unavoidable exposure to secondhand smoke. I guess I missed the part about the movement's goal being to rid our cities of unattractive images, like smokers.

I can think of a lot of things that are actually unattractive that we could ban if we wanted to clean up our cities.

For example, pick up all the trash around downtown. It's one thing to argue that smoking needs to be banned on all streets and sidewalks in order to protect the public's health. That's obviously an outrageous and unsupported argument, but at least it is based on some semblance (no matter how ridiculous and extreme) of a health concern.

But to argue that smoking needs to be banned on all city streets and sidewalks because individuals smoking in public are unattractive seems to me to show the complete obliteration of what was once a science-based movement within the field of public health. If the city wants to ban unattractive images from its streets, then why not do it directly?

Just pass a law stating that unattractive people are not allowed on the public streets and sidewalks of Hayward. Or that they have to walk around with bags over their heads. Restrict the downtown streets to attractive models and I guarantee that the city will see an increase in retail store customers. It appears that the city's new slogan should be:

"Unattractive people stay home. You're not wanted in Hayward. You drive our business away."

Hayward is a Hot Spot

The City has implemented a free Wireless Fidelity (Wi-Fi) network or "Hot Spot" for the Downtown area. The area of coverage is approximate and may vary in strength and availability.

This type of wireless data network service is available to computer users with a standard IEEE 802.11b Wi-Fi setup.

You can find hot spots throughout downtown:

Peets Coffee does not offer free Wi-Fi service.  This coffee shop requires that you purchase a product each hour to maintain service.

Starbucks offers free Wi-Fi service to all it's customers, regardless if you purchase something or not.  There are two Starbucks located in downtown Hayward.  One is located on the corner of A Street and Mission Boulevard, and is the ideal choice for me.  The other is located on Foothill Boulevard, in the Centennial Mall Shopping Center. 

The latter is very small, and is kept quite cold, which makes it very difficult to use the internet for an extended period of time.  Plus, they play this annoying music so loud that it becomes quite annoying, and makes it very difficult to concentrate. 

For those of us who prefer a quite cozy place, you may prefer Snappy's Cafe, which is located on the corner of A Street and Main Street.  They have bright red walls, which is a perfect canvas for displaying various artwork.  This small independently owned cafe does not offer free Wi-Fi, but you can connect to the City's Wi-Fi service with good strength.  This cafe does not offer outlet's to plug your laptop into, and the sun blares through the windows making it very uncomfortable, and makes it very difficult to see your computer screen.

My favorite reception for Wi-Fi can be found at the Main Hayward Public Library.

It's Good to be Home

Today, the City of Hayward is known as the “Heart of the Bay”, not only for its central location but also for its accepting and caring environment.

Hayward continues to plan for the future, maintaining a balance between the needs of our diverse residents and a growing business community. Hayward’s Growth Management Strategy, designed with input from citizens, balances the needs of our growing population with the preservation of open space, and the need for economic development.

The city is attempting to create a pedestrian-friendly downtown with a balanced mix of housing, retail shops, offices and restaurants.

Medical Marijuana

There are a few medical cannabis clubs in Hayward.  They offer choices ranging from cannabis strains named Jupiter, Trainwreck and Afghani, Super Grand Daddy, Purple Kush and Cat Piss to baked goods such as lime cheesecake, brownies, cookies and pecan pie. It is a similar story at such facilities up and down the state.

 There has been an enormous growth in medical cannabis use.  The industry itself is seing a huge growth all the time, with folks looking for alternatives to prescription drugs like Vicodin for pain or Prozac for depression. Indeed, the industry has come a long way since the passage of Proposition 215 in 1996, which legalized medical marijuana in California. For that reason, many involved in collectives or growing have mixed feelings about Proposition 19.

The proposition, on the Nov. 2 ballot, legalizes marijuana under California law but not federal law and permits local governments to regulate and tax commercial production, distribution and sales. It is trailing badly, according to a Los Angeles Times/USC poll released Friday, which found likely voters opposing the measure 51% to 39%.

"If the law passes it would create rules and regulations on who would grow and distribute, and in all likelihood that would be big corporations that would put the collective operators out of business"

 "It's really a giant step backwards for patient rights because it takes out of the equation facilities like ourselves."  

I think that allowing hundreds of cities to come up with their own ordinances to regulate marijuana will result in chaos. Johnny Donna, chief executive officer of Og Genetics, a Hemet-based seed and clone company that supplies other growers with cannabis, believes medical marijuana has come into its own, eliminating a need for the passage of Proposition 19.

"Back when I got my medical card in 2005, there were 13 dispensaries in Southern California and now there are close to 1,000 because it has been proven to help people in pain, and for that reason it shouldn't be in the hands of just anybody. I certainly don't want corporate America coming in and taking over the marijuana industry."

One thing for sure, if marijuana becomes readily available, alcohol consumption will go down, as will the price of cannabis. That's got to be something to look forward to.  I enjoyed the solitude of the country, but I'm a city boy — and it's good to be back.

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