Letters: A letter to my sons | Clean Air Day is coming | Narum for City Council | In support of Larry Bird | Nick Shirley: one-man journalism

Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

A letter to my sons

As your mom, one of the greatest gifts of my life has been watching you grow into the people you are becoming. I know that as you get older, you’ll form your own beliefs, make your own choices, and decide what matters most to you. I will always respect that. I never want you to feel that you have to vote the way I do. I simply want you to understand why I choose to vote Democratic.

My choices come from the values I hope I’ve taught you — freedom, fairness, compassion, and standing up for what you believe is right.

I believe you should have the freedom to make important decisions about your own life, your body, your family, and your future. I want you to live in a country where those freedoms are respected.

I want you to inherit a beautiful, healthy planet, and I believe we have a responsibility to protect it for your children someday.

I believe everyone deserves dignity, equality, opportunity, and to be treated with kindness and respect — regardless of who they are or where they come from.

When it comes to immigration, I believe we can have secure borders while still remembering the humanity behind every person and family.

Most importantly, my hope is that you grow into men who think for yourselves, stand up for others, and lead with both courage and compassion.

These are the values behind my vote. Not simply a political label, but the kind of world I hope you will help create.

– Becky Conners

Clean Air Day is coming

We often take the air we breathe for granted — especially here in the Tri-Valley, where air quality is generally better than it was 20 years ago. But air pollution remains an important public-health concern.

In fact, a 2025 Time magazine article reports that air pollution is linked to 91,000 premature deaths in the U.S. each year. That’s a sobering reminder that air quality is a concern for all of us.

California Clean Air Day, officially on Oct. 7, is an opportunity to take a simple step toward cleaner air: take public transit or ride a bike, change your home’s air filters, consider electric alternatives to gasoline-powered garden equipment, or simply learn more about the air we share.

The Tri-Valley Air Quality Climate Alliance, together with the City of Livermore, will promote Clean Air Day at the Livermore Farmers Market from 4 to 8 p.m. next Thursday (Oct. 1). Stop by our table to see demonstrations of technologies that can help keep our air clean, including electric leaf blowers and induction cooktops — and enter our free raffle for prizes.

You can also make a Clean Air Day pledge at cleanairday.org.

Cleaner air is something we can all contribute to — one choice at a time.

The Tri-Valley Air Quality Climate Alliance (tvaqca.org) is a local nonprofit helping improve air quality and address climate change issues in the Tri-Valley.

– Phil Bowman

‘Hayward PD: On the Record’

My name is Akshara Krishnan, and I’m a high school junior in Dublin. This past summer, I completed a full in person internship with the Hayward Police Department’s Records and Property Bureau.

During my internship, I had the opportunity to work alongside staff and interview people across Records, Youth & Family Services, youth diversion, counseling, and mental health response programs. I entered the summer expecting to learn mostly about traditional policing, but I discovered a side of public safety that receives much less attention.

That experience became my report, “Hayward PD: On the Record”. It looks at the people working behind the scenes at HPD, from records staff processing tens of thousands of reports to youth coordinators, counselors, and clinicians helping residents before problems become enforcement issues.

What stayed with me was how much meaningful service happens quietly. Public conversations about police departments tend to focus on officers in uniform, while many of these civilian staff members and services are far less visible. After spending the summer learning from them, I felt their work deserved to be better understood.

– Akshara Krishnan

Kathy Narum for City Council

I have had the opportunity to work with Kathy Narum through her service on the Board of Pleasanton Partnerships in Education (PPIE), where I serve as executive director.

One thing I have especially appreciated about working with Kathy is her ability to build relationships and encourage open communication across different parts of our community. I have seen firsthand how she helps create connections among our schools, local government, businesses, and community organizations — relationships that ultimately make all of us stronger.

Pleasanton benefits when our leaders understand the importance of collaboration and are willing to bring people together rather than work in silos. Through my experience with Kathy, I have seen her do just that.

Kathy has a long history of serving Pleasanton and remains genuinely committed to our community. I value the way she listens, stays engaged, and works to keep communication open among the many organizations and people who care about our city.

For these reasons, I am pleased to support Kathy Narum for Pleasanton City Council and encourage Pleasanton voters to support her as well.

– Andrea Wilson

Igniting Dreams

Igniting Dreams began with a simple idea: every student should have the opportunity to explore science, technology, engineering, arts, and math, regardless of the resources available at their school.

I became involved with Igniting Dreams at an early stage and now serve as co-founder and president. Over the past few years, I have worked with a team of about 20 student volunteers from schools across the Tri-Valley to expand hands-on STEAM opportunities for younger students.

Together, we have designed and distributed more than 200 interactive STEAM kits, with projects ranging from building model cells to engineering popsicle-stick bridges. We also create activity guides and work directly with schools and after-school programs to provide hands-on enrichment opportunities. So far, our programs have reached hundreds of students.

What has stayed with me most is seeing how different educational opportunities can be between communities that are geographically very close to one another. Some students grow up surrounded by robotics teams, coding programs and engineering camps, while others may have very limited opportunities to explore these subjects.

Our goal is not to convince every student to become an engineer or scientist. We simply want to give them the chance to build something, solve a problem and discover what they are capable of.

We are continuing to expand our school partnerships and welcome local teachers, businesses, students and community members who would like to support or participate in our programs.

– Akshaj Seetharaman

In support of Larry Bird

I am writing to express my strong support for Larry Bird as he runs for a position on the Livermore Area Recreation and Park District Board of Directors.

I have had the privilege of knowing Larry closely, and I can say with confidence that he is someone who leads with honesty, kindness, and genuine care for the people and community around him.

Larry cares deeply about our community and understands that public service is about putting people first. He would bring integrity, common sense, compassion, and a strong work ethic to the Board. Most importantly, he is someone who can be trusted to follow through on his commitments and to treat people with respect.

LARPD is an important part of what makes our community a great place to live. I believe Larry would be a thoughtful and dedicated voice for residents to help ensure that our parks and recreation programs continue to serve the community well.

I hope you will join me in supporting Larry Bird for the LARPD Board. I truly believe he would be an excellent representative for our community. You can find more information about Larry on his website at Bird4LARPD.com.

– Bonnie Pastrnak

‘A Musical Journey’ inspires young musicians

On Sunday afternoon, Aug. 30, a group of talented Dougherty Valley High School student musicians came together to share their passion for music with the local community through a special concert, “A Musical Journey”.

The event, which was hosted at the Peace Lutheran Church, featured approximately 90 minutes of live performances with jazz, classical, and contemporary string and piano duets. It was also followed by a 30-minute Q&A session, where the musicians could share their personal musical progress, challenges and experiences.

The concert was created by these high school musicians with a goal to use their talents to give back, inspiring younger students to discover the joy of music and pursue their own musical interests while strengthening music education in their community.

The event raised funds to support local school music programs, which helps create further opportunities for future young musicians.

The organizers represented students from different grades and diverse musical backgrounds. They included me (lead alto saxophonist for the SFJAZZ High School All-Stars) as well as Brandon Gao, violinist, and Donghu Kim, cellist, both of which play with the San Francisco Symphony Youth Orchestra.

They were also joined by Opus 5, a newly formed string quintet of freshmen Victoria Lin, Isabella Feng, Alton Zhao, Aaron Feng, and Leo Li-Leyva.

– Adam Lin

One-man journalism

Nick Shirley’s one-man journalism reminds me of Don Bolles.

Bolles was an investigative reporter for The Arizona Republic who exposed organized crime, political corruption and fraud.

Bolles represents the classic era of investigative reporting.

Nick Shirley’s investigative method is fundamentally different from the professional standards used by 1970s investigative reporters like Don Bolles. Shirley relies on real-time video, confrontation, social-media virality and minimal editorial oversight, while 1970s investigative journalism depended on document-heavy verification, institutional editing, legal review, and slow, methodical reporting.

The contrast is stark — and revealing how journalism has changed.

Don Bolles was a veteran investigative reporter for The Arizona Republic, known for exposing corruption, land fraud and mafia infiltration in Arizona. On June 13, 1976, he was lured to a fake meeting at the Clarendon Hotel in Phoenix. When he returned to his car, a dynamite bomb exploded beneath the driver’s seat. He survived the blast but died 11 days later. His last words identified the people he believed responsible.

His assassination triggered the unprecedented Arizona Project, where dozens of investigative reporters from across the U.S. descended on Arizona to continue his work and prove that killing a journalist would only multiply scrutiny.

Nick Shirley one-man journalism is multiplying scrutiny.

– Michael Austin

Brass Wrists Arm Wrestling

I’m 19 and recently graduated from high school. When I started Brass Wrists Arm Wrestling, I simply wanted people to practice with. I didn’t expect finding a place for us to gather would become such a big part of the story.

We began with a few people arm wrestling at a mall. We were asked to leave places, and someone called the police on us once. We kept searching and eventually found places to gather at local breweries on the Peninsula.

What started with a handful of people now usually brings together around 20-30 participants, with larger gatherings drawing roughly 40-55 or more. In February, our public event in downtown San Mateo brought the sport onto the street, with around 100 people participating and hundreds watching.

We’ve also had to rebuild our social media presence after losing our accounts. Finding venues, reaching people, and keeping things going has taken more work than I imagined.

But I want beginners to have the opportunity I was looking for: people to practice with and a place to start. We teach rules and technique, supervise newcomers, and emphasize control and respect. People of different ages, sizes, and experience levels can learn together.

I started this club because I loved arm wrestling. What keeps me organizing is the chance to build a community around it, even when getting everyone to the table isn’t easy.

– Tianyi “Jack” Sun, founder