From the Editor's Desk...

Support Your Local Cyber Sheriff...

...or he'll stick his finger in your USB port.

  Came across this trailer featuring one of my favorite movie sheriff's ever and it seemed appropriate to our area -- right down to Madame Orr's House and the Walter Brennan-types cocking their hoglegs at the drop of a hat. Your sheriff, me, just wanted to let y'all know we've reached a tipping point of sorts in this here tumbleweed town of ours. Early on I could set and jaw with y'all for awhile about the issues of the day: exposed laundry, barking dogs, failing to check your gun at the city limit. But now there are too many of you and too few of me. Our comment stream remains one of the most active and thought provoking in cyberspace, and that has been noticed. Your comments are always welcome -- as long as you abide by the rules -- and …

• Videos (1)

High School Reporter - The Mirador

Senioritis Outbreak In Lamorinda -- Do You Have It?

Mirador writer Kelsi Lerner writes about the spread of a disease that has been striking high school students across Lamorinda for generations -- and always at about the same time each year.

  Kelsi Lerner, Mirador Staff Writer Instead of running with my monthly theme of “why ___ is addicting,” I thought I’d mix it up a bit for something that’s on everyone’s minds. At this point, all of us have a feeling of longing to be out of school, and why shouldn’t we? There’s only a month left! But unless you’re actually a senior in high school, what you’re feeling isn’t Senioritis. What you’re feeling depends on your situation: For freshmen and sophomores, this feeling is really more of a longing for summer. The sun is shining, the temperature is getting warmer, and we all want to be outside having fun. This is totally normal, since pretty much nobody ever wants to be inside doing work. Senioritis will hit you, and when it does, you’ll …

•  3 Comments
• Videos (1)

Robert Strauss

10:19 am on Wednesday, May 9, 2012

Cute story. I remember senioritis well. Unfortunately I suffer from true senioritis now.... where I want to go outside and play but just can't remember why! Have fun kids and stay safe   more ›

Letters to the Editor

Letters: Cooped Up In Suburbia

A Lafayette resident and apartment manager asks why the city has a problem with the complex's chicken coop.

  Editor: The City of Lafayette recently gave us notice to get rid of our chickens due to improper zoning. Needless to say, this is very disappointing for many reasons. But with your help, I think we can change their mind. I'm sure you'll agree the chickens have truly enhanced our apartment community. The chickens, in their professionally built coop, exemplify sustainability and aptly demonstrate our drive to become a "green" community. If (your readers) would like to help save the chickens, please (have them) sign (their) name and provide (their) address below. Include your own thoughts in the comments section. The City of Lafayette said our chances of success are better with more signatures. So please fill this out and return it to me …

•  10 Comments
• Photos (1)

Patch Poll

Patch Poll: How Important Are Professional Sports To You?

Paint your face in your favorite team colors and doff your shirt at games? Or are professional sports nothing more than televised gladiatorial combat?

  ADVISORY: The accompanying video contains an expletive-laden speech by former Oakland Raider player John Matuszak. Aside from being an acutely powerful soliloquy on the role of the player in sport, it is widely considered to be one of the finest bits of acting in a sports-related movie ever. It may not be suitable for young eyes and ears, however.   This is dangerous territory. Frank examination of professional sports can be a minefield, particulary with fans so rabid they've spent considerable time and money building Transformer-like "Raider Nation" outfits so extravagant they put Kiss fans to shame. Recent post-career suicides, debilitating head and spinal traumas, dubious post-game behavior and a bounty system used in targeting …

•  8 Comments
• Videos (1)

Dr, Undertaker

11:07 pm on Tuesday, May 15, 2012

It used to be that professional sports and good roll models went together. I am waiting for Vegas to make odds on who is going to jail next.   more ›

More Letters to the Editor: On the Matter of Measure A

A Moragan and president of the Diablo Chapter of the League of Women Voters writes with her thoughts on the town's latest parcel tax.

  Dear Editor, The League of Women Voters of Diablo Valley endorses Measure A, a ballot measure from the Moraga School District asking for a parcel tax of $225 in Moraga, in support of small class sizes, offsetting state budget cuts, attracting and retaining highly qualified teachers, and financing up-to-date technology, text books, and support services for Moraga’s K-8 schools. Measure A includes a Citizens’ Oversight Committee and an exemption for low income seniors. All funds must be spent locally, and a 2/3rd majority is required. Moraga schools face increasing teacher salary increases and utility costs, in addition to severe cut backs in state funding. The League has a 92 year history of strong support for public education and …

•  44 Comments
• Photos (1)

Bikers Down! Has This Happened To You?

Two Berkeley cyclists were starting their ride near the Claremont Hotel Thursday when a small, black car came out of nowhere.

  It's every cyclists nightmare: your back to traffic and someone, for any number of reasons, straying into your space and taking you out. These two cyclists were lucky in a lot of ways. They were uninjured, thankfully, but they also had a camera strapped to the forks of the trailing bike. It captured the "quick as a flash" moment when a car, which has been located by police, took them out. Bikers, has this ever happened to you? Any other close calls?

•  52 Comments
• Videos (1)

Fritz 'Congodog' Stoop

8:47 am on Wednesday, May 2, 2012

Bans are a bit harsh, but if bicycle riders insist on riding side by side where no 'bike lane' in present, then they are creating a dangerous public hazard and should be ticketed and heavily fined. Jail for multiple offenses. I'm not sure where this entitlement comes from, but some of these folks are as arrogant as they are ignorant. How about we start with no lawyers on bicycles!   more ›

More On the Great California Exodus

As demographer Joel Kotkin observes, Californians are increasingly pursuing their "golden dream" elsewhere.

Opinion

Build Your Dream House - Does It Have To Be Massive?

Remember, when we were kids, and we all sketched our version of the perfect dream home we'd have when we were gabillionaires? Has your concept changed much since you were 12?

  When I was a kid all those many eras ago my version of the perfect "dream home" included some pretty amazing architectural flights of fancy. There were whimsical plans for a living room garage to house my race car, an indoor archery range, and underground stables for the horses. Like most kids I'd also planned on being a billionaire by the time I was 20 -- a necessary achievement if I were to build that mega manse and keep the horses fed. Maturity and reality have dimmed my expectations over the years and I've scaled back my needs a bit, my current spatial requirements conforming more to my years aboard ships and brief stays in lighthouses and fire towers. Breaking it down I guess you could say I don't need much to make me happy any more…

•  6 Comments
• Photos (2)
• Videos (1)

Neighborhood Tales

Ma Nature's Mood Swings; Pink Rocks and Radio; Scorpion Burritos

Life in La-La Land.

  How 'bout this weather we're having, eh? Granted, we're not getting creamed by tornadoes or foot-deep snow dumps but, wow, it's hard to play in the garden when the weather keeps shifting from perfect to blowy to monsoon -- every hour. All things considered, Lamorinda Patch continues to get up every morning and -- when we're not busy pounding out the day's events -- kiss our beloved California soil and the occasional stray Western Fence Lizard but, dang, it's muggy and unsettled out there. We battled the mobs at the local nurseries over the weekend, everyone looking for deals on veggies and making the nursery operators happy (good for you guys!). Our hybrid tomatoes and mainstay peppers are all in and rarin' to grow, deer outside our …

•  1 Comment
• Videos (1)

Rosemary

4:15 pm on Tuesday, April 24, 2012

The most important news...the Krispy Kreme reopened today. Finally, some sanity in this area.   more ›

Mirador Investigators Plumb the Depths of Miramonte's "Swampy Restrooms"

Mirador writer Tamar McCollom attempts to get to the bottom of the perennial high school question: "why are the bathrooms so darn... wet?"