Walnut Creek Alcohol Ordinance Unanimously Approved

May 2, 2012 10:30 am

The Walnut Creek City Council has unanimously approved a city ordinance, “to regulate the establishment and operation of new alcoholic beverage establishments and to protect the public health, safety, and general welfare of the community by requiring that all alcoholic beverage establishments in the City comply with nuisance-based performance standards.”

You can read the agenda report here and the ordinance here. Considering the alcohol induced fights that broke out downtown over the past year, this seems like a reasonable plan to me. Is anyone unhappy about this being approved?

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Walnut Creek Garden Tour Fundraiser May 5th

May 1, 2012 4:30 pm

A garden tour fundraiser, “Life in the Walnut Creek Garden”, will take place this Saturday May 5th, 11am – 4pm to support various local charities. From their website:

What:
A Garden Tour Fundraiser benefitting various local charities. Tickets purchased on our website benefit Hospice of the East Bay (click here). To purchase tickets benefitting the Quincy Lee Foundation go to www.quincylee.org. To purchase tickets benefitting Contra Costa County Guide Dog Raisers call Elaine Whiteley at (925) 698-2460. To purchase tickets benefitting The Urban Farmers, call Siamack Sioshansi at (415) 806-7005.

When:
Saturday, May 5th – 11:00 AM to 4:00 PM

Where:
Five Private Residential Gardens in Walnut Creek

Theme:
• Fundraiser – Donating to Hospice of the East Bay, the Quincy Lee Foundation and various local charities
(minimum donation of $25 per person)
• Exclusive Tour – Each project is designed by Landscape Architect John Montgomery

Highlights:
• Chat with John Montgomery about his designs
• Nibble tasty goodies from professional chefs
• Live Music
• Self guided garden tour of several Walnut Creek gardens

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Sign of the Day

May 1, 2012 8:30 am

Spotted in front of the Zebra Tattoo Parlor.

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Star Wars Party at Lafayette Library on May 1st

April 30, 2012 4:30 pm

Photo by Flickr user starwarsblog

The Lafayette Library and Learning Center is hosting a Star Wars party for elementary and middle school kids tomorrow, May 1st from 3pm – 4:30pm. From their website:

Hang out with Star Wars reenactors, eat Cheetos (don’t be a Hog!), dance the Twist, and have fun like it’s the PTA Fun Night at McQuarrie Middle School. Celebrate finishing “The Strange Case of Origami Yoda”! For 4th-6th graders.

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Walnut Creek Model Railroad Society Public Showing Tonight 8 – 10pm

April 27, 2012 4:45 pm

The Walnut Creek Model Railroad Society is holding a public viewing session tonight from 8pm – 10pm. They are located at 2751 Buena Vista Avenue and you can check out their schedule here. Tickets are $3 per adult, children under 6 free. From their website:

The Walnut Creek Model Railroad Society (WCMRS) operates the Diablo Valley Lines (DVL) model railroad, one of the most mountainous and one of the largest exclusively HO scale model railroads in the United States. This model railroad features standard gauge, narrow gauge, and interurban (overhead electric) freight and trolley lines.

At our public shows we invite you to view our permanent 34’x56′ [1,904² ft] layout. The DVL is comprised of approximately 4,300 feet of hand laid track on more than 175,000 individual ties with over 240 turnouts. The model railroad is contained in a purpose-built building designed and constructed by the club members. Diablo Valley Lines is viewable from the 160′ perimeter that includes multiple elevated viewing platforms.

The photo above doesn’t do justice to how large the mountain actually is. It’s HUGE. This is one of the coolest things to check out in Walnut Creek and East Bay. Outside of Christmas showings they only have public showings once per month so now is your chance to check this out this treasure for yourself.

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The Case of the Reappearing Police Parking Spot – Walnut Creek Target

April 27, 2012 8:30 am

A couple of weeks ago I noted that one of the police parking spots at the Walnut Creek Target had been removed. Looks like that was just a temporary anomaly as the other one is back now. I wonder what the back story to these parking spots are? They are almost never used yet they take up the closest spots to Target which could be used by customers. Why not put them a couple of rows back? It would still be very close to the entrance. Why have them at all? If there’s an emergency can’t police cars just park directly in front of Target anyway? Can anyone shed some light on this?

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The 5pm Post – Moraga Triathlon on April 28th

April 26, 2012 5:00 pm

photo by Flickr user mkamp

The Moraga Triathlon starts this Saturday, April 28th at 6am and although pre-registration has closed, there will be a limited number of same-day registrations available according to their website. This triathlon will have a 400 meter swim, followed by a 14 mile bike ride, finishing up with a 3.1 mile run. More information is available here. There are also easier 5-7 and 8-11 youth divisions.

A map of the race is available here. For those concerned about the traffic, the Moraga Polic Departement issued this statement:

Next Saturday morning hundreds of bicyclists and runners will be impacting traffic in Moraga. The area around Campolindo High School will be congested with parking and Moraga and Canyon Roads will be used as the bicycle route out to the Canyon Post Office. Camino Pablo will also be impacted as part of the race route. The residential area streets in the Campolindo area will be impacted with runners.

Please mark your calendars and try to adjust your schedules to avoid these areas. Roads will be impacted so please drive slow, heed traffic control monitors, and be safe.

Is anyone planning on doing this triathlon? If so, good luck!

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Walnut Creek Target Store – Police Parking Spots Dwindle to One

April 11, 2012 8:30 am

In the beginning, there was nothing. No police parking spots that is, at the Walnut Creek Target. Years later two police parking signs appeared in the Target parking lot, closest to the store. And now, as you can see in the above photo, there is only one. According to a Walnut Creek employee I spoke to, the additional spot was no longer needed.

If I remember correctly a few years ago there were some Craigslist exchanges happening in the parking lot here and some people got robbed as they handed over goods they planned on selling. That’s probably why those spots were added. Personally I don’t see why they need to reserve the best parking space for this; a couple of rows back in the corner is right near by and would serve the same purpose I imagine.

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House of the Day

April 2, 2012 4:30 pm

Spotted in downtown Walnut Creek on Bonanza St. note the huge office buildings in the background. I love the styling of this house, the details are amazing.

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Mt. Diablo Blvd. Sidewalk Construction in Lafayette Almost Completed

April 2, 2012 11:30 am

The sign notes that, “Mt. Diablo Blvd Business Open during Construction”, but as you can see from the photo it looks almost finished to me. I like the cobblestone look, it makes downtown Lafayette seem more quaint.

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