Aug. 6 is National Night Out. It takes place the first Tuesday in August to provide opportunities for community building and creating safer neighborhoods. And neighborhoods are safer, more enjoyable places to live when neighbors know each other, look out for each other and lend a helping hand.
Marilyn Ezzy Ashcraft is the mayor of Alameda. (photo courtesy of Maurice Ramirez — BANG archives)
National Night Out events provide an opportunity for you and your neighbors to meet each other and engage with local law enforcement and emergency personnel in a fun, informal setting, including block parties and cookouts. In addition to Alameda Police and Fire department personnel, the mayor (me) and City Council members may also stop by.
To help you and your neighbors plan a National Night Out event the Alameda Police Department has created a helpful resource guide online at bit.ly/45SBgAf.
Speaking of being a good neighbor, when temperatures rise, please call or visit elderly residents or those with chronic health conditions nearby because hot weather can present challenges for them.
Check on the temperatures of their homes. Are shades or curtains closed to block the sun? Remind them to stay hydrated. Perhaps offer a ride to an air-conditioned location like the library.
Don’t ride on sidewalks: At a recent visit to Mastick Senior Center many members voiced concerns that bicyclists riding on Park and Webster Street sidewalks present hazards for seniors, some of whom use walkers, canes or wheelchairs. As a reminder to bicyclists, myself included, here’s what the Alameda municipal code says about riding bikes on local sidewalks:
“Bicycles may be ridden on the sidewalk, except such sidewalks that pass directly in front of or adjacent to any stores, schools or other buildings used for business purposes during the hours that such establishment is open for business.
“Whenever any person is riding a bicycle upon a sidewalk, such person shall yield the right-of-way to any pedestrian and shall give audible signal before overtaking and passing such pedestrian” (in other words, ring your bell and/or call out, “passing on your left,” etc.).
“It shall be unlawful for any person to ride a bicycle in any pedestrian crosswalk at a signal-controlled intersection, adjacent to any school or one which is under the control of the school crossing guard. At all other intersections the bicyclist shall exercise due caution before entering onto the roadway.”
I want to encourage everyone to ride bikes in Alameda as much as possible. Please just remember to watch out for others as you do.
Get your vaccines: Late last month, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommended that all Americans ages 6 months and older receive one of the new COVID-19 vaccines when they become available this fall.
Alameda pulmonologist Dr. Bobby Deutsch supports the CDC recommendation and anticipates that the new COVID vaccines from Moderna, Novavax and Pfizer will become available in mid-September. Deutsch says these new vaccines are intended to protect against the potentially serious outcomes of COVID-19 this fall and winter.
He also reminds Alameda residents to get their flu shot in the fall and says receiving COVID-19 and flu vaccines in the same visit is safe. Deutsch reminds that getting vaccinated is especially important for adults older than 65 and those with significant chronic medical conditions because these groups are most at risk for severe COVID-19 infection, including respiratory failure and death.
Related Articles
Alameda mayor: Locally, lots of good news is happening out there too
Alameda mayor: Greetings from the Island’s sister city of Varazze, Italy
Alameda mayor: Island experts tell how to reduce carbon footprints
COVID-19 doesn’t take a summer vacation — new cases are diagnosed every day — but we spend more time outside during summer months when school’s out and the weather’s warm. When kids return to school and we spend more time indoors COVID-19 spreads more easily.
Dr. Matthew Daley, a member of the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, reminds parents that children also need a COVID-19 vaccine because if they’re exposed at school, they can transmit the virus to parents and grandparents even if the children don’t become ill themselves. To book a vaccination appointment visit myturn.ca.gov or contact local Safeway, Walgreens and CVS pharmacies.
Host a National Night Out event! Be a courteous cyclist! Get vaccinated! Be Alameda Strong!
Marilyn Ezzy Ashcraft is the mayor of Alameda.