Community

Hope is homegrown

I walk by a row of sweetgum trees on my way to work. This time of year, the sidewalk is still scattered with their spiky seed pods—small, medieval-looking hazards that drop in late fall but stubbornly linger well into spring. Sometimes, when I’m in a mood, I try to kick...
Building financial resilience through local banking

Building financial resilience through local banking

There are banks that make profit, and there are banks that work for the community. Fremont Bank and Public Bank East Bay share a common goal of improving the lives of communities in the Bay Area.  Fremont Bank...
Knowledge is power

Knowledge is power

I've always disliked the proverb, “Ignorance is bliss.” If only I had the choice, I sometimes grumble to myself. I tend to believe the opposite—that paying attention matters—even if our information-saturated world has lately challenged this notion,...
Live and learn, a local guide

Live and learn, a local guide

In the Bay Area, learning opportunities aren’t just confined to a college or high school classroom. Several East Bay organizations offer hands-on classes on niche topics: from stained glass making to urban farming and cooking. The activities...
Trump vs. Higher Ed

Trump vs. Higher Ed

After waging war on public broadcasting and the arts, the Trump administration threatened last fall to cut federal funding to nine prominent colleges unless they restricted campus speech that opposed conservatives. “Academic freedom is not absolute,” read part of a Compact for...
Fueling AI: The high cost of clean energy

Fueling AI: The high cost of clean energy

Surging electricity demand from data centers across the U.S. is outpacing the supply of new clean energy sources, helping to sustain the fossil fuel industry. It’s a dynamic at play in California, where renewable energy is limited...
Hometown treasures abound in the East Bay

Hometown treasures abound in the East Bay

They arrive in my mailbox every few days—little seasonal dispatches from the wider consumer world. A department store’s curated wish list for the holidays. A home-furnishing guide urging a spring refresh. Retro patio furniture promising the arrival...
Robert Reich's enduring lessons shape minds and movements

Robert Reich’s enduring lessons shape minds and movements

Most people at age 79 do not become film stars or cause the words “vigor” and “buoyant” to spring to mind. Robert Reich is not most people. Throughout his almost eight decades of life, the former U.S....
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