EL CERRITO
Celebrate Earth Day on April 20! Each year in April, the city of El Cerrito celebrates Earth Day with a morning of volunteerism and work parties. This year will be no different, as El Cerrito on April 20 will feature citywide work parties from 9 a.m. to noon.
Related Articles
In brief: El Cerrito names acclaimed writer Taylor its 2024 poet laureate
City of Hercules OKs parks, recreation facilities master plan
Berkeley sets special election date for second council vacancy
Also featured will be a complimentary seedling giveaway by the El Cerrito Community Garden Network with the El Cerrito Garden Club at the City Corporation Yard (across from the El Cerrito Recycling + Environmental Resource Center). The city of El Cerrito also welcomes volunteers to help tidy parks; pick up litter to reduce the amount of trash that ends up in the city’s creeks, waterways and the bay; and participate in activities that beautify the community’s natural areas.
Anyone interested in volunteering or hosting a work party can contact city staff at earthday@ci.el-cerrito.ca.us or 510-215-4350. The city encourages individuals, families and groups to register in advance by emailing the address above by April 14.
Interested parties can also pick an April 20 work activity from a list of work parties that will be on the city’s webpage below. Check back after April 14 for that. The city provides volunteers with gloves, bags and tools to borrow for work party activities. For details online, visit el-cerrito.org/645/Earth-Day-Celebration.
— city of El Cerrito
BERKELEY
Meeting to focus on Tilden Environmental Education Center
The East Bay Regional Park District (EBRPD) has begun the process of designing a replacement building for the Environmental Education Center at Tilden Nature Area near Berkeley. The third community meeting is scheduled for 6:30 to 8 p.m. April 10 on Zoom and will focus on preferred design options.
Built in the early 1970s, Tilden’s Environmental Education Center has served several generations and many thousands of visitors and parkgoers but is in need of major structural and functional changes. After careful assessment, the EBRPD has determined that it needs to replace the building instead of rehabilitating it.
The existing facility consists of two structures: the education center and a security residence. Park district planners intend to replace these existing structures with a new facility of a similar size. The Tilden Little Farm is outside the scope of this project and will remain unchanged.
Visit ebparks.org/tilden-eec-project online for more information or to register for the Zoom meeting.
— EBRPD
City sets special election date for second council vacancy
Eligible voters in Berkeley’s District 4, which covers downtown and central Berkeley, have a quick registration timeline to vote in a May 28 special election for Councilmember Kate Harrison’s replacement. Harrison announced in late January that she would resign her position while continuing her bid to be the city’s next mayor.
U.S. citizens in this district who are at least 18 years old should register to vote by May 13. Residents in District 7, which stretches from inside the UC Berkeley campus to five blocks south, will vote on April 16 in a separate special election to replace Councilmember Rigel Robinson, who also announced his resignation in January.
For more details online about voter registration, visit bit.ly/3VdvdTx.
— city of Berkeley
EL CERRITO
City names writer, educator Taylor its 2024 poet laureate
The city of El Cerrito has announced its selection for the city’s 2024 poet laureate as Tess Taylor, an acclaimed poet who is passionate about championing the city’s young student writers, particularly at El Cerrito High School.
As El Cerrito’s poet laureate this year, Taylor says she intends to use her position to enhance opportunities for El Cerrito students and the wider community by fostering creativity, building skills and establishing valuable connections.
“I’d like to connect local writers and editors of regional literary magazines like ‘Alta,’ ‘Zyzzyva’ and ’14 Hills’ with local high school students,” Taylor said. “I plan to pair student writers and editors with professional counterparts in the Bay Area community so that they can build connections and we can cultivate the next generation of writers.”
Born and raised in El Cerrito, Taylor has published five books of poetry, including “Work and Days,” which the New York Times named one of its 10 best 2016 poetry books. Also, the Boston Globe named her work “Rift Zone” one of the 50 best books of 2020. Finally, “Last West: Roadsongs for Dorothea Lange” was a part of the “Dorothea Lange: Words and Pictures exhibit in the Museum of Modern Art.”
Taylor received her master of fine arts degree in creative writing from Boston University and holds a master of arts degree in journalism from New York University and a bachelor of arts in English and urban studies from Amherst College.
Taylor has a long history in education and has taught at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, UC Berkeley, UC Davis, St. Mary’s College, Whittier College and more. She serves as part of the creative writing faculty in Ashland (Ohio) University’s master of fine arts program.
As poet laureate, Taylor says she hopes to lead workshops for all levels of writers and help El Cerrito’s student body connect with the wider Bay Area literary community.
“Not only do I live in El Cerrito, but much of my work is about the landscape and stories of El Cerrito,” she said. “It is my mission as an artist to build the arts ecosystem, support emerging writers and encourage creativity.”
Taylor’s term as the city’s poet laureate will start April 1 and last through March 31, 2025.
— city of El Cerrito
To submit an item for our “In brief” section, please email it, at least three days before print publication, to njackson@bayareanewsgroup.com. Each item should be 90 to 180 words and include a short headline along with the name of the group or individual to credit for it.