PIEDMONT
Piedmont Center for the Arts, 801 Magnolia Ave., continues with a musical March. The George Cole Trio will perform numbers to celebrate Nat King Cole’s 100th birthday at 7:30 p.m. March 22. Featured with Cole also will be Greg Sankovich on piano with Carla Kaufman on bass. Tickets are $20 in advance or $30 at the door, $15 for students and seniors. Visit nat100brownpapertickets.com.
Italian pianist and composer Cristiana Pegoraro will appear in concert at 7:30 p.m. March 23. She has just returned from an appearance at Carnegie Hall and will perform works by Bizet, Rossini and Argentine composer Astor Piazzolla. Tickets are $25 or $10 for students and seniors.
Housing design awards event March 14 at community hall
The city will hold its design awards event at 6:30 March 14 at Piedmont Community Hall, 711 Highland Ave. All are welcome to attend to recognize the winners who were chosen from review of 2018 projects by the planning commission.
The winners are: for excellent garage and outdoor living space, 38 Monte Ave.; for best outdoor living space, 1080 Harvard Road; for best multiunit development, townhomes on Linda Avenue; for best window design, 104 Latham St.; for excellent upper level addition, 110 Fairview Ave.
Light refreshments will be served. For questions, call Steven Lizzarago at 510-420-3094.
Apply by March 20 to fill seats on various city panels
Residents can apply for several vacancies on city committees and commissions. Visit ci.piedmont.ca.us to download an application, or obtain one from Piedmont’s city clerk at 120 Vista Ave. in Piedmont. Applications must be received by March 20 at City Hall.
The budget advisory and financial planning committee has vacancies for three members and one alternate. The two incumbents are eligible for reappointment. The Capital Improvement Projects review committee has two vacancies, and the civil service commission has two vacancies. The park commission has three vacancies; its three incumbents are eligible for reappointment.
The planning commission has vacancies for two regular members and one alternate. One regular and one alternate on that commission are eligible for reappointment. The public safety committee has three vacancies. The recreation commission has three vacancies; the three incumbents are eligible for reappointment.
— Linda Davis, correspondent
James receives Scout Council’s highest service award
Rob James will be honored at the Piedmont Council, Boy Scouts of America’s (BSA) 98th Annual Recognition Dinner as the recipient of the prestigious Silver Beaver Award, the highest award a Scout Council can bestow on a volunteer.
James, an Eagle Scout from Salinas, re-entered Scouting with his son as an adult and has served in almost every volunteer role available from den leader to board member and council president. In 2017 he served as an assistant Scoutmaster to the National Jamboree in West Virginia.
On March 28, James and many other Piedmont Council award winners’ will be celebrated for their significant contributions to the community. The dinner will take place that evening in the Guild Hall of the Piedmont Community Church at 6 p.m. and is open to anyone in the community who would like to attend. For more information or to make dinner reservations, call the Piedmont Council Scout office at 510-547-4493 or reserve online at piedmontbsa.org.
— Piedmont BSA
Big Art Show fundraiser for schools set to start March 16
The third annual Big Art Show, hosted by the Piedmont Arts Fund as a fundraiser, will kick off at 6 p.m. March 16 in the Piedmont Center for the Arts, 801 Magnolia Ave. The opening will include a wine-and-cheese reception from 6 to 8 p.m.; no ticket is required. The opening is also a reception for the Piedmont’s Got Talent show that begins at 4:30 p.m. at Veterans Hall, 401 Highland Ave. in Piedmont.
The Big Art Show will be open during gallery hours until March 30. Ceramic garden flowers will be available for purchase at the opening and during gallery hours. Art in its myriad forms may be purchased on-site or online.
Several demonstrations are planned — silk screening from noon to 3 p.m. March 17; quilting from 3 to 5 p.m. March 22; Marvel comics illustrator Yancey Labat from noon to 3 p.m. March 23; watercolors from noon to 3 p.m. March 24; kid’s art from 3 to 5 p.m. March 28; drawing from noon to 3 p.m. March 30. The Piedmont Arts Fund contributed $65,000 this past year to the Piedmont schools to fund art supplies, music instruction, band, a capella singing, theater, film and more.
Capital improvement projects’ public input encouraged
Piedmont is in the process of developing a list of proposed capital improvement projects. Public input is encouraged through an online survey, writing or in-person suggestions. The CIP committee will collect suggestions through April. The prioritized list will be presented to the City Council at their May budget hearing. Present ideas in person at the 7 p.m. council meeting April 9.
— Linda Davis, correspondent
OAKLAND
Association fundraising for Montclair security cameras
The Montclair Village Association (MVA) is raising money to help increase security for visitors, patrons and merchants in Montclair Village by installing security cameras in public areas. Their goal is to install cameras at intersections and along the streets and pedestrian ways of the Village, where images from the cameras will be used to combat and deter crime and help ensure the safety of all who live, work or shop in Montclair.
Lucky California has kicked off the program with a $10,000 donation. This will pay for two or three high-quality installations capturing images that have already led to arrests. MVA officials want to install cameras in another two or three locations and request contributions to achieve a comprehensive coverage plan.
Reaching a $5,000 goal will let a significant amount of the streets and sidewalks be covered, according to the MVA, which reports that they are committed to protecting personal privacy and that their security campaign will follow industry-best privacy practices concerning the collection, use and storage of surveillance footage. MVA officials request contributions of $50 or $100 to quickly reach their funding goal but say any donation is appreciated.
— Montclair Village Association
Mayor Schaaf kicks off season of free tax preparation
For the 17th year, low- to moderate-income Oakland residents can have their taxes prepared for free through the United Way’s Earn It! Keep It! Save It! (EKS) program. More than 200 EKS centers in eight counties help families access the California Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC), which leverages the federal EITC in the communities that need it the most.
Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf, in partnership with United Way Bay Area and the Alameda County EITC Coalition, have kicked off the 2019 free tax preparation season. With the support of trained, IRS-certified volunteer tax preparers, EKS centers provide free tax preparation to individuals and families earning less than $55,000 per year at more than 200 locations throughout Alameda County as well as Contra Costa, Marin, Napa, San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Clara and Solano counties.
EKS is again offering a convenient “drop-off” tax preparation service launched last year with 17 intake locations across the Bay Area. Volunteer preparers working at central preparation sites then interview the taxpayers by phone and prepare their returns. The taxpayers go back to the intake location to sign and pick up their completed returns a week later. Visit earnitkeepitsaveit.org for intake locations.
— United Way Bay Area
