OAKLAND
The remains of U.S. Army Air Forces Tech. Sgt. Robert Allen, a soldier killed during World War II, will be interred July 12 at Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery in San Deigo. Allen Brothers Mortuary of San Marcos will perform graveside services preceding the interment.
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A native of Oakland, Allen, 20, was a crew member assigned to the 860th Bombardment Squadron, 493rd Bombardment Group, in the war’s European theater, when he was killed in action Aug. 18, 1944, after the B-24H “Liberator,” on which he was serving was struck by anti-aircraft fire following a bombing raid on a German position near Roye, France.
Allen was accounted for Sept. 19, 2023, by the U.S. Defense Department’s POW/MIA Accounting Agency after soldiers’ remains had been excavated in 2018 from a site near Boussicourt, France, for laboratory analysis. For more details about Allen, visit bit.ly/3VPJsg5 online.
The Past Conflict Repatriations Branch, under the Army Casualty and Mortuary Affairs Operations Division at the U.S. Army Human Resources Command in Fort Knox, Kentucky, plays a key role in the process of locating family members of missing soldiers from World War II, the Korean War and the Vietnam War.
The process begins with locating the family member most closely related to the missing soldier, known as the primary next of kin, followed by a request for family reference samples or DNA that are used as a main source in identifying remains.
Once a soldier has been identified by the armed forces medical examiner, the Past Conflict Repatriations Branch notifies and briefs the family about the results of historical, forensic and DNA reports, benefits and the mortuary process including burial with full military honors.
— U.S. Army Human Resources Command
PIEDMONT
Homeowners reminded to prepare yards for fire season
As grazing goats arrive in Moraga Canyon to clear dead grasses on the hillside, it’s time for area residents to start preparing their own yards for fire season by trimming trees and shrubs, clearing flammable materials and removing dead vegetation around properties.
The East Bay hills have seen significant wildfires multiple times in the last 150 years. Those events and recent wildfires across California have taught us that our communities are best protected when everyone takes steps to manage vegetation around their homes, which helps reduce the spread and severity of fires when they start.
The gold standard for wildfire protection is to remove all vegetation within 5 feet of a home. However, even if this is not feasible on your property in the short term, you can do your part and increase your home’s chance of surviving a wildfire by making time over the few weeks to take a few simple protective measures listed below in your yard.
• Create space between plants and your home: Remove branches that hang over your roof or are within 10 feet of your chimney. Prune plants away from buildings. This buffer area will help protect your house and give firefighters an area to work in to defend your home during a fire. Separate tree canopies by at least 10 feet.
• Create space between plants: Trim trees so the lowest branches are at least 6 feet from the ground or three times the height of any shrubs beneath the tree. This helps prevent fire from moving from the ground to the treetops, where it can spread more quickly.
• Clear debris and flammable materials: Remove all dead plants, grass and weeds around your yard. Clear leaves and pine needles from roofs, gutters and the ground. Remove flammable materials such as paint or propane containers from under decks and away from buildings.
• Trim plants of any dead or dying material: Keeping all plants in your yard watered and well-maintained is important. Remove any dead or dying vegetation. If you have eucalyptus trees in your yard, remove any shedding bark or leaves.
Download a checklist for preparing your yard at piedmont.ca.gov/yardchecklist. If you need help identifying what needs to be done on your property, call the Fire Department at 510-420-3030 to request an inspection. Our personnel are trained in best practices around vegetation management and will happily come help you make informed decisions about fire safe landscaping.
City staff will soon begin the process of updating our local hazard mitigation plan, which identifies long-term strategies to reduce the damage to our community from natural disasters such as wildfires, earthquakes and floods. Find more information and links to additional resources on preparing your property for fire season at piedmont.ca.gov/vegetation. For other related questions, contact the Piedmont Fire Department at 510-420-3030.
City seeks input on businesses wanted in commercial areas
Help inform future standards for what types of businesses are allowed in Piedmont’s commercial districts by completing a brief online survey.
The Planning & Building Department is working to streamline permitting processes for new business in Piedmont’s commercial areas along Grand and Highland avenues. Citizens’ input will help staff understand what types of businesses residents want to see. For each of 16 possible business types, from dance studios to cafés to liquor stores, the survey asks:
• Do you think it should be permitted without a public hearing process, permitted with limitations, or not permitted?
• What should we consider when creating standards for that business type?
Currently, any new businesses wanting to open in Piedmont’s commercial areas must go through a lengthy permitting process that involves public hearings before the Planning Commission and City Council. The time and uncertainty involved in this process creates a barrier to bringing new businesses to Piedmont.
Your responses will help staff develop proposed updates to Piedmont’s Zoning Code that identify business types that would be allowed “by right” (without a public hearing), as well as standards to which each business type would have to conform.
For example, the code may define a café as a permitted use, but also set standards for by-right permitted cafés, such as: they can’t serve alcohol, operate after 8pm, or offer drive-through service.
Preliminary survey results will be shared with the Planning Commission at a study session on Zoning Code updates at their next meeting on July 8, but no action will be taken at the meeting. The Planning Commission and City Council willdiscuss and consider proposed revisions over the next several months.
The survey is available online at piedmont.ca.gov/commercialusessurvey and just takes a few minutes to complete. After completing the survey, participants can enter to win a $50 gift card to Mulberry’s Market in Piedmont. The survey will remain open through July 19.
This effort is part of Piedmont’s work to implement its state-mandated sixth cycle housing element. For more information on the housing element, visit piedmontishome.org. For questions about permitted commercial uses, contact Associate Planner Gopika Nair at gnair@piedmont.ca.gov.
— city of Piedmont
OAKLAND
Lee praises U.S. surgeon general’s stand on gun violence
U.S. Rep. Barbara Lee, D-Oakland, on June 25 applauded U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy for releasing a landmark advisory Tuesday on gun violence in America, declaring it a public health crisis.
In 2024, Lee led dozens of her colleagues in writing a bicameral letter to the U.S. Health & Human Services (HHS) Department urging Murthy to publish such a report to help fill gaps in gun violence research and identify areas where data remains limited.
This comes as the Bay area has dealt with several recent occurrences of tragic gun violence. Lee continues to use every federal tool at her disposal to address the gun violence epidemic in her 12th Congressional district of California and across the country.
“In the year since my Democratic colleagues and I called on HHS to publish a surgeon general report, hundreds of mass shootings have occurred that have caused irreparable harm and trauma to communities across the nation,” said Lee.
“I am grateful to Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy and HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra for granting our request and issuing this advisory to help demonstrate that gun violence is a public health crisis — one that requires a whole-of-government response. Together, we must find a renewed sense of urgency on the issue and mobilize elected officials to action and comprehensive reform before more innocent lives are lost.”
Firearm violence is pervasive, with more than half (54%) of U.S. adults or their family members having experienced a firearm-related incident in their lives. Over the last decade, the number of people who have died from firearm-related injuries, including suicides, homicides and accidental deaths, has been rising, and firearm violence is now the leading cause of death among children and adolescents. For more information online, visit bit.ly/3VGHhvd.
— U.S. Rep. Barbara Lee’s office
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