Community Corner

🌱 Patch AM: How a South Berkeley church is turning its land into 50 homes

Also check out Five Little Monkeys Toys August Warehouse Sale on the Berkeley Patch calendar

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Hey there, Berkeley! Let's get started with what's happening in and around town. Read on and stay in the loop. ☕️️

In today's newsletter:

  • How a South Berkeley church is turning its land into 50 homes
  • How a stolen USPS master key fueled Berkeley mail thefts
  • Why Berkeley's tallest planned tower just hit a major snag

Also on today's calendar: Five Little Monkeys Toys August Warehouse Sale and 10 more events.

Today's riddle: What is full of holes but still holds water? 🤔 (Answer below!)

Weather forecast:

  • Friday: Breezy in the afternoon, with a high of 70 and low of 58 degrees.
  • Saturday: Partly sunny and nice, temps: high: 74, low: 58.
  • Sunday: Areas of low clouds, then sun, with a high of 71 and low of 58 degrees.

📰 News we're reading

1. St. Paul's AME Church starts construction on 50 affordable housing units (dailycal.org) — Fifty new affordable apartments are now under construction at St. Paul Terrace on Ashby Avenue, bringing Measure O bond dollars and deeply subsidized homes to South Berkeley. Backed by a $69 million budget, the church‑led project will reserve units for low‑income families and unhoused seniors, advance the Adeline Corridor plan, and add to three Measure O developments totaling 214 homes citywide.
   

2. Berkeley mail theft suspect had USPS key, police say (berkeleyside.org) — Berkeley residents are being warned after police linked a San Jose man to multiple 2025 mail and package thefts at apartment buildings across the city, allegedly using a USPS master key. The suspect, previously convicted in a 2021 Berkeley mail case, now faces new misdemeanor burglary charges, while another recent Berkeley mail-theft arrest underscores broader Bay Area concerns about mail and identity theft.
   

3. The Wire: Developer who wants to build Berkeley's tallest building defaults on loan (berkeleyside.org) — A proposed 28‑story tower at Shattuck and University—set to be Berkeley's tallest building—faces new uncertainty after the developer defaulted on a site loan. Also in Berkeley news: a decade‑old homicide case gets a renewed reward offer, UC Berkeley's Student Parent Center operates without professional staff, and a prominent recovery nonprofit names a new executive director.
   

4. Patrick O'Connor, EWMBA 28, an AWS prototyping engineer, is building what's next (berkeley.edu) — An AWS AI prototyping engineer in the part‑time MBA program at UC Berkeley's Haas School explains how Berkeley's tech ecosystem and proximity to San Francisco's AI scene drew him here. He describes hands‑on classes, connections to Berkeley's Institute of Transportation Studies, and visits to the Richmond Field Station that are reshaping his approach to innovation and long‑term leadership.
   

📸 Around Berkeley

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💬 Chatter

What your neighbors are talking about on social media

  • Why Read Alina Chan's, "How to Stop a Lab Leak from Starting the Next Pandemic"? —Biolab Watch Read on Patch
  • University of California Berkeley posted a job opening for Academic Advisor (4545U), Athletic Study Center - #70525 - 70525 in Berkeley. Apply here.
  • Copy Central posted a job opening for Print Production / Light-Graphic Design & (Berkeley & El Cerrito) in Berkeley. Apply here. You can search for other jobs near Berkeley here.

Ok Berkeley! So now you're in the loop about what's happening today. Thanks for reading, and see you in your inbox next time! Oh -- and if you like what you're reading, invite a friend to Patch AM!

-- The Patch AM Team

P.S. The answer to today's riddle: A sponge (Thank you Netty W. for sending it in!)
Got a good riddle for PatchAM? Submit it here!

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