About The Alamedan

The Alamedan’s mission is to promote civic engagement and transparency by providing high quality, nonpartisan news coverage, and to create a local institution that supports and is accountable to our Island community. Our goal is to provide a comprehensive and reliable record of Alameda's civic life, serving as your watchdog over Alameda's major civic institutions and your voice in local affairs. The Alamedan is a publication of the Alameda Community News Project, a fiscally sponsored project of Community Initiatives.

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Editor: Michele Ellson

Over her two decades as a journalist, Michele Ellson’s work has appeared in more newspapers than she can count. In 2004 she won the Society of Professional Journalists’ Sigma Delta Chi award for investigative reporting for her work on a series that exposed questionable homeland security grant spending practices, and in 2007, an Associated Press News Executives Council award for a four-part expose on substandard care in homes for developmentally disabled people that led the state to resume annual inspections of the homes. In 2008 she started a pioneering local news website, The Island, which reached a peak monthly audience of 16,000 and, through a partnership with The Bay Citizen, earned her a byline in The New York Times. Her work has also appeared in the Sacramento Bee, the San Jose Mercury News, the Oakland Tribune and the Contra Costa Times. You can reach Michele at michele@thealamedan.org.

Blogger Karen Bey is a long time resident who moved to Alameda after hearing a resident describe Alameda Victorians as “antiques.” Intrigued by what she heard, she drove to Alameda and began an exploration of what she described as a “small beach town with resplendent Victorian homes, tree-lined streets, and manicured parks.” Thirty-five years later, she is still captivated by Alameda’s small town ambiance, and continues to explore Alameda’s charming neighborhoods and historic business districts.

Karen has worked for real estate developers for the last 13 years, and is currently working for Lennar Urban – a mixed use housing developer who specializes in developing military bases. She is currently living in an 1891 Queen Ann Cottage on Alameda’s West End. She enjoys history, art, gardening, genealogy, and spending time with her two grandchildren. She will continue her exploration of Alameda and share her discoveries with you on this blog. Look for her articles under Alameda Backroads.

Blogger Dave Bloch lives with his wife Speranza Avram on their 41-foot sailboat "Buoyant" at Alameda's Marina Village. They moved to the Island in 2008 from Grass Valley where he was the webmaster for the County of Nevada. Dave became an officer of the Island Yacht Club almost immediately after arriving and has since held several titles, including Commmodore. Now semi-retired, you'll often find Dave hanging with sailors in the virtual world Second Life, plus exploring serious uses of virtual worlds in education and healthcare. In previous lives (real, not virtual), Dave was an instructional media specialist in Ohio, a cable television mobile production manager (which brought him to Alameda in 1982; he never forgot the place), a radio/TV production teacher in Sacramento and a long-time independent Internet consultant and webmaster. Dave and Speranza are here until 2014, when Buoyant will take them away to Yucatan, Mexico, and other places known and unknown.

Dave Boitano

Laura Casey

Blogger Pat Colburn has been a REALTOR since 1999 and since 2008 has concentrated her studies on energy efficiency, sustainability and health issues which all homeowners face. Her certifications include: EcoBroker, HERS Rater, Green Point Rater (Advisor), Certified Green Building Professional, Certified Green Real Estate Professional and Certified Alameda County Green Business. Consequently, her blog will include not only timely real estate news, but will also offer tips that will benefit anyone interested in saving money, the planet and the health and comfort of their family.

Donna Eyestone, videographer

Blogger Natalie Gelman's first career was as a high school teacher. She enjoyed working with adolescents. She made the decision to become a psychologist so that she could work with all age groups. She has a master's degree in Clinical Psychology from Merrill-Palmer Institute and pursued her doctorate at Center for Humanistic Studies and Union Institute. She had a full-time private practice in Michigan for 26 years and a part-time practice in Maine for 11 years. She moved to California in 2011 and began a practice in Alameda. Gelman works in a relationship with her clients to contribute to growth and change. She believes everyone is able to set a goal and achieve it.

Kristen Hanlon, a Bay Area native, has lived in Alameda for eight years. For several years she edited an annual literary journal, Xantippe. Her poetry and book reviews have been published in many journals; a chapbook of poems, Proximity Talks, was published by Noemi Press in 2005. She is currently working on a novel for young adults. When not working, she likes to hang out with her kids in Alameda’s wonderful parks and libraries.

Blogger Awesta Khalid Kohgadai grew up in Alameda and lived here until the age of 11 when he moved to Fremont. Two decades later his love for our Island community drew him back and he's been here ever since. He has worked as a personal trainer for the last seven years and has made a lifelong commitment to spreading the word of healthy living to his fellow humans. His philosophy on fitness is that every human's end goal should be to not just live long but pain-free and with minimal complications. As such his approach towards fitness is that it has many facets and it's best to be pretty good at all of them instead of very good at one and bad at the rest. These facets include, strength, cardiovascular conditioning, flexibility, balance, coordination and a few other things. He answers to both his first name, Awesta and his middle name, Khalid. For more information please visit his blog at http://www.PrimalHealthSF.com.

Art writer Michael Singman-Aste is an award-winning photographer, curator, and blogging junkie. He started writing as a freelance reporter for the Daily Californian newspaper in the ’80s, while a Women’s Studies major at UC Berkeley. Originally from LA, he has been a proud Alamedan for two decades. Michael enjoys gallery hopping, reading big important books, and second-guessing “The Bachelor.” In 2012 Michael was named best local blogger by ABC 7 in their Bay Area A-List. Twitter: @Postdiluvian

Heather Wood was born and raised in the Bay Area and freelances for The Alamedan and the Alameda Journal. She also works part-time as an attorney and doula (professional childbirth support person). She spends most of her time chasing her 1-year-old and fantasizing about all the books she will get to read (or write) when he's old enough to go to summer camp.

Advisory Committee

Blogger and committee member Jack Boeger is the owner of Superclean Web Services, a web design and optimization firm since 1995. Jack's community projects include building the AlamedaPointInfo.com website and Alameda's America's Cup website, AlamedaWaterfront.com. He currently serves on Alameda's America's Cup commission, and has been a strong advocate for the local swimming community. Jack will blog about the America’s Cup and the maritime community.

Blogger and committee member Morton Chalfy is a retired entrepreneur with experience in department store and specialty store retailing and manufacturing, natural foods and arts and crafts. He lives with his recently-reconnected-with college sweetheart Isadora Alman, a noted columnist and psychotherapist, and blogs regularly about being human. Chalfy brings his column, Amblin’ Alameda, to the site.

George Phillips, committee member

Lorrie Murray is a former Alameda business owner who has turned her attention toward improving schools. During her three years in an executive leadership role at Washington Elementary School PTA, she was part of the design team that helped transform Washington into Maya Lin, Alameda’s new arts integrated and inquiry-based magnet school; the school’s name was drawn from her suggestion. She currently sits on the Measure A Oversight Committee. As a business owner, she actively helped promote the West End; her business Astropitch, located on Webster Street for nearly six years, produced all the music and marketing materials for Concerts at the Cove and the Webster Street Jam from 2008-2011.

Terry Winckler is editor at the nonprofit environmental law firm Earthjustice. Previously, he worked for nearly three decades in print journalism, including stints with the Alameda Times-Star and Oakland Tribune, and as editor of both The Hayward Daily Review and San Mateo County Times. He and spouse Laura Oda (chief photographer of the Tribune) are 10-year residents of Alameda, have two sons in school, and are active in Little League and Boy Scouts.

Partnerships