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Winchester Bloke ponders eccentricity

The other day as I scurried away through the door of my bank, I collided with the grim reaper passing me on his way into the building.




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A City greater than its parts

There were five of us queuing in the rain - two druggies, one old Brigadier, an HCC worker and Winchester Bloke - What did we all want - apart from an umbrella?




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Winchester Bloke Seeks Lost Dog

Winchester Bloke asks...Have you seen this dog?




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Winchester Bloke runs from the buses...

The old saying; ‘You might get run over by a bus tomorrow’ took on a sinister edge recently...













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Downloadable Poster: Put On Your Mask


Click the following text to download a letter-sized version of our poster.…







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Thursday's Briefing: BART anticipates huge budget deficit next year; San Leandro Police release body-camera video of fatal shooting at Walmart



News you don't want to miss for April 23:

1. BART learned on Thursday that $250 million in recent federal relief funds will allow it to balance its budget for this fiscal year, with $78 million remaining, BART Board Director Rebecca Saltzman said.…







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Letters

Trump's Drug Tout Threatens Patients, News, Apr. 8 Sjogren's is a real disease, with real consequences for its sufferers…



  • News & Opinion/Letters

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Parachute Journalism

The LA Times drops into Richmond and gets it all wrong. Richmond, the second largest city in Contra Costa County, has had remarkable success fighting the coronavirus — so much so that it and the county are national models. Officials acted quickly and decisively to mobilize resources, info, and healthcare services while providing economic protections for renters and homeowners.…



  • News & Opinion/News

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Bracing for the Budget

Coronavirus Journal: Virus hitting unincorporated areas in Alameda County hard. The forecast for Alameda County's short-term fiscal health will come into focus this week and it could be sobering news for those who depend greatly on the county's safety net services. County supervisors will learn at a budget workshop session on Thursday the extent of the damage caused by COVID-19 on the local economy.…



  • News & Opinion/News

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SL Cops Release Shooting Video

Plus, the Alameda County Sheriff's Department updates it budget request. Body-camera video of the fatal shooting of Steven Taylor by San Leandro Police last Saturday shows the officer and the victim were face-to-face just moments before he was shot in the chest. The San Leandro Police Department released what they called a "critical incident video" last week.…



  • News & Opinion/Seven Days

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Wednesday's Briefing: Alameda County to allow some outdoor activities to resume; Layoffs hit Bay Area tech companies



News you don't want to miss for April 29:

1. Alameda County and five other Bay Area counties issued a revised shelter in place order on Wednesday that will allow for some outdoor activities to resume, such as, construction work, landscaping, gardening, golf and tennis, SFGate reports.…




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Thursday's Briefing: Fired Oakland officers reinstated after Police Commission violated Brown Act; Covid-19 ICU cases down in the Bay Area



News you don't want to miss for April 30:

1. The five fired Oakland police officers involved in the shooting of Joshua Pawlik in 2018 were reinstated after it was found the Oakland Police Commission violated the Brown Act, the state law for transparency in public meetings, KPIX reports.…





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REBBL Wins NEXTY Award


REBBL's Gold Label Mayan Cocoa Elixir has just won the 2020 NEXTY Award for "Best New Ready-to-Drink Beverage."

Its ingredients include maca, reishi, maitake, turkey tail mushrooms, lion's mane mushrooms, cayenne, and ashwagandha, among others.…



  • Blogs/Food & Drink


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Ike's Love & Sandwiches Feeds Entire Hospital, Nursing Home Staffs for Free


To celebrate National Nurses' Week, Ike's Love & Sandwiches is offering all healthcare workers with ID 50 percent off the price of their in-store takeout orders tomorrow, May 6.

Boasting over seventy locations in five states — including locations in Berkeley and Oakland — the cult-favorite San Francisco-based sandwich outfit is also donating hundreds of sandwiches throughout the next seven days to healthcare facilities throughout California and Arizona.…



  • Blogs/Food & Drink


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Don't Waste a Good Crisis

Covid-19 propels push for federal cannabis relief; advocates see parallel with Prohibition Major political and social changes often seem impossible until they happen. The Supreme Court's 2015 ruling recognizing gay marriage surprised most observers, including those who had been working toward the goal for decades.…



  • News & Opinion/Chronic Town

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It's Already Hard Enough

Having a baby was complicated even before the coronavirus pandemic added a new set of issues to the equation By Amani Hamed Every morning, Shanell Qualls, 26, leaves her two toddlers with her husband and travels to the hospital where she gave birth to their third child on March 9.…



  • News & Opinion/Feature

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Bay Area Eases Shelter-in-Place Restrictions

Coronavirus Journal: restrictions are easing across the region and state Bay Area health officials have eased some restrictions in the latest shelter-in-place order that's at curbing the coronavirus outbreak.…



  • News & Opinion/News

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Bracing for the Worst

East Bay governments plan for revenue declines and budget cuts while bemoaning lack of federal assistance The massive $2.2 trillion Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act set aside $339.8 billion in federal aid for state and local governments affected by the novel coronavirus pandemic.…



  • News & Opinion/Seven Days

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Don't Impede the Future of Care

There is no good reason to create unnecessary barriers for dental telehealth services As many Californians know from getting braces or filling cavities, dental care can be a huge investment. Cost concerns are at top of mind when considering visiting the dentist; one study found that it was the main barrier to dental care even for adults with private insurance.…



  • News & Opinion/Guest Editorials

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Letters

Face Covering Is Now the Law, Feature, Apr. 22 No Mask For Me Until They Force me…



  • News & Opinion/Letters

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Impossible Burger Hugely Expands Its Retail Presence

Impossible Foods, whose huge production facility is ion 85th Street in Oakland, has just announced a huge retail expansion, with its mega-popular plant-based Impossible Burger being rolled out this week at over 1,700 grocery stores nationwide.

All of those stores are owned by The Kroger Co., which operates in 28 states under many different brands including Pay Less, Ralphs, Albertsons, Vons, Fred Meyer, and many more.…



  • Blogs/Food & Drink

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Wednesday's Briefing: Fired Oakland police chief files whistleblower lawsuit; Alameda's Fourth of July parade is canceled



News you don't want to miss for May 6:

1. Former Oakland Chief of Police Anne Kirkpatrick filed a lawsuit alleging the Oakland Police Commission, which fired her earlier this year, did so as retaliation for Kirkpatrick blowing the whistle on their own wrongdoing, including seeking personal favors, the San Francisco Chronicle reports.…




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REBBL Wins NEXTY For Cocoa Elixir

Gold Label Mayan Cocoa Elixir, made by Emeryville-based REBBL, has just won the 2020 NEXTY Award for "Best New Ready-to-Drink Beverage."

Its ingredients include maca, reishi, maitake, turkey tail mushrooms, lion's mane mushrooms, cayenne, and ashwagandha, among others.…



  • Blogs/Food & Drink


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Concord Dunkin' Worker Inspires Nationwide DIY Donut Kits


An employee at a Dunkin' (formerly Dunkin' Donuts) restaurant in Concord has inspired the company's brand-new DIY Dunkin' Donut Kits.

Norma Valkenaar asked the restaurant's franchisee, Matt Cobo, whether she could bring home some donuts, frosting, and sprinkles so that her young nephews could experiment with customizing their own treats.…



  • Blogs/Food & Drink


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Travel Pillow and Travel Cape

A travel accessory designed to provide comfort to the user during a trip contains a neck-rest, a travel cape, and an attachment mechanism. The neck-rest is removably attached to the travel cape so that the user can utilize the neck-rest and the travel cape independently. The neck-rest has a stuffing which is concealed within a hollow body of the neck-rest. The stuffing is secured in position with a fastening mechanism such as a zipper. Additionally, the neck-rest also contains a first pocket and a second pocket which are used for storing items used during travelling. For user convenience, the travel cape is designed with a first-arm receiving hole and a second-arm receiving hole. In order to transport the neck-rest and the travel cape a carrying bag is also provided. A plurality of storage pockets on the carrying bag allow the user to store items that are essential when travelling.




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ACTIVELY CONTROLLED PERFORMANCE CLOTHING

A method includes embedding clothing with at least one sensor and at least one control unit; a power unit powering on the at least one sensor and the at least one control unit; the at least one sensor monitoring a sensed condition; the at least one control unit conducting a heat prediction based on the sensed condition; and the at least one control unit controlling threads within the clothing based on the heat prediction to actively adjust properties of the clothing.




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Garment With Front and Back Zipper

This disclosure relates to a garment having zippers for separating the garment into two halves. The garment has a zipper on the front and a zipper on the back. The halves can be mixed and matched according to preference for color, surface ornamentation, or material. Each half has an inside pocket that can be used for storing an additional garment half. The garment may optionally include a hood. In embodiments where the garment has a hood, the back zipper may unzip as the slider is moved in the downward direction, thereby allowing the user to separate the hood and fold the hood into a collar.




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NURSING COVER AND INFINITY SCARF

A nursing cover for a user, the nursing cover including a closed loop band having a front portion and a top opening through which the user is allowed to penetrate and a plurality of flexible boning supports disposed on the front portion. The plurality of flexible boning supports provides structural integrity while the user nurses an infant underneath the front portion to prevent the nursing cover from interfering with the infant being nursed by the user, to allow better circulation of airflow for the infant underneath the nursing cover and to provide a better line of sight for the nursing mother to view her infant underneath the nursing cover.




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CONVERTIBLE SWIMSUIT TOP

A convertible swimsuit top may include a top portion, a mid-portion, and a slider. The top portion may include a lower edge and a row of protruding teeth along the lower edge of the top portion. The mid-portion may include an upper edge and a row of protruding teeth along the lower edge of the top portion. The row of protruding teeth along the lower edge of the top portion and the row of protruding teeth along the upper edge of the mid-portion may be configured to engage and disengage one another via the slider. The row of protruding teeth along the lower edge of the top portion and the row of teeth along the upper edge of the mid portion may extend for less than the entire length of the lower edge of the top portion.




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METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR TRACKING GLOVE FAILURE

A system and method for identifying areas of a processing plant in which a glove is damaged. The system includes utilizing color-coded sets of gloves in different areas or processing steps within the plant. All the gloves used in a particular plant are provided with a unique identifier. If a piece of a glove is located in the product within the plant, the color of that piece indicates the area or process of the plant in which the glove was used. If a piece of a damaged glove is located in the product at a remote destination, the unique identifier in that piece is matched with a registry to determine the plant in which the glove was used. The color of the piece then helps the plant to identify where the damaged glove was used. The system and method are particularly helpful in the food processing industry, especially meat processing.