Berkeley|News|
'Spare the Air' Alert for Saturday – No Fires Allowed
The fire ban by the Bay Area Air Quality Management District came just hours after Gov. Brown declared a drought emergency in California.

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Now in my fourth year with Patch.com, I'm the editor of and Albany Patch and Berkeley Patch.
I worked many years as a staff writer and editor at the San Francisco Chronicle until April of 2009, when I switched to freelancing. I then wrote for the Los Angeles Times and other publications, and I also took on editing assignments for UC Berkeley and the United Nations.
Being an East Bay reporter for Patch brings my career full circle in the East Bay. My first bylines appeared in the East Bay Review of the Performing Arts. I next worked as a reporter and editor at the Daily Californian while studying at UC Berkeley, where I obtained a master's in journalism. I was a reporter at the Contra Costa Independent, Berkeley Gazette and San Francisco Examiner before moving to the Chronicle, where I worked several years in the Berkeley bureau and in the main East Bay bureau in Oakland.
The fire ban by the Bay Area Air Quality Management District came just hours after Gov. Brown declared a drought emergency in California.

The fire ban by the Bay Area Air Quality Management District came just hours after Gov. Brown declared a drought emergency in California.
A photo from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration shows how bad the drought is in California.
A photo from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration shows how bad the drought is in California.
Albany police logs for Jan. 6-7 include a neighbor arrested in a backyard, a hit-and-run in the staff parking lot at Albany Middle School, a home burglary attempt, cell phone theft at Albany High and men spitting inside Jay-Vee Liquors.
A judge today refused a request to be tried as a juvenile by a 16-year-old youth charged with setting fire to Luke "Sasha" Fleischman, a student at Maybeck High in Berkeley, on an AC Transit bus. The suspect has been charged as an adult.
Plus, an effort to keep the Angel Island-Tiburuon ferry afloat was among the top Patch stories around the greater Bay Area on Thursday.
Plus, an effort to keep the Angel Island-Tiburuon ferry afloat was among the top Patch stories around the greater Bay Area on Thursday.
Amid controversy over a proposed Walgreens on Solano Avenue, the Berkeley Planning Commission on Wednesday asked city staff to bring back more information, including an assessment of an alternative approach defining drugstores as department stores.
Amid controversy over a proposed Walgreens on Solano Avenue, the Berkeley Planning Commission on Wednesday asked city staff to bring back more information, including an assessment of an alternative approach defining drugstores as department stores.
Jill Reese, a member of several civic organizations, was reported missing on Tuesday after she failed to keep an appointment. Her body was found the next day at a San Francisco hotel, apparently the luxury Four Seasons.
Jill Reese, a member of several civic organizations, was reported missing on Tuesday after she failed to keep an appointment. Her body was found the next day at a San Francisco hotel, apparently the luxury Four Seasons.
Bay Area home prices saw their biggest jump in Alameda County last year, according to real estate tracking firm DataQuick. Prices rose in all nine counties, and sales volume fell in eight.
Bay Area home prices saw their biggest jump in Alameda County last year, according to real estate tracking firm DataQuick. Prices rose in all nine counties, and sales volume fell in eight.
High temperature records were broken across the Bay Area Wednesday, with 10 new records set, and with two locations, including San Francisco airport, seeing their hottest day ever recorded for all of January.
The U.S. Postal Service unveiled its 2014 Lunar New Year stamp Wednesday in San Francisco at a ceremony with Mayor Ed Lee.
The U.S. Postal Service unveiled its 2014 Lunar New Year stamp today in San Francisco at a ceremony with Mayor Ed Lee.
The U.S. Postal Service unveiled its 2014 Lunar New Year stamp today in San Francisco at a ceremony with Mayor Ed Lee.
High temperature records were broken across the Bay Area Wednesday, with 10 new records set, and with two locations, including San Francisco airport, seeing their hottest day ever recorded for all of January.
High temperature records were broken across the Bay Area Wednesday, with 10 new records set, and with two locations, including San Francisco airport, seeing their hottest day ever recorded for all of January.