TBS Today, July 23
The Berkeley Sephora store has been targeted by thieves and burglars in July, resulting in nearly $50,000 in losses over about two weeks.
![](https://www.berkeleyscanner.com/content/images/2024/07/IMG_3728-NAVA.jpg)
Apologies for the quiet start to the week. A flu hit just after we covered a serious crash Saturday — but we're nearly back up to full speed.
On Monday, we had some inquiries about what turned out to be a spurious Citizen app report about a shooting downtown.
We quickly debunked the report on X and urged Citizen to do better.
We've made similar posts before, asking Citizen to make it clear that many of its posts are simply unverified dispatches regurgitated.
But, so far, we haven't moved that needle.
Folks: There was NO shooting on Berkeley Way this afternoon. @CitizenApp reported a shooting and notified 9,000 people about it. This kind of irresponsible, unvetted info is what makes Citizen so problematic. Readers contacted me, worried about loved ones in the area. Not good. pic.twitter.com/LGpFbJFv4B
— The Berkeley Scanner (@BerkeleyScanner) July 22, 2024
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Finally: If you're curious about what it takes to be a BPD dispatcher, don't miss a chance Wednesday to ask dispatchers your burning questions over free doughnuts.
BPD's "Donuts with Dispatch" event runs from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. July 24 on the Fourth Street Plaza across from Peet's Coffee.
We'll be in court so we can't make it. But otherwise we'd love to attend.
"Come enjoy free donuts, learn about our hiring process and get to know our amazing dispatchers," BPD said. "It's a great opportunity to learn more about the vital role they play in our community."
If you want to know more about the job, we did a dispatch "sit along" nearly 10 years ago at Berkeleyside (!!) and wrote an in-depth report on it.
![](https://i0.wp.com/newspack-berkeleyside-cityside.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/IMG_7055.jpg?fit=720%2C480&ssl=1)
In case you missed it
![](https://www.berkeleyscanner.com/content/images/2024/07/IMG_1827.jpg)
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Some TBS trivia for you: Our first scoop, before we even began publishing articles, was about the death of Deward Hastings, otherwise known as the "hot tub guy" on Essex Street.
We happened to hear an errant dispatch transmission about a man who was found deceased in his hot tub on Essex Street (where we knew there was a famous "secret" hot tub) and put the pieces together.
The Scanner broke the news of Hastings' death with a thread on Twitter, getting more than 600,000 views and sparking stories throughout the region (and beyond).
For most people, it was probably the first time they heard of The Berkeley Scanner.
The resulting publicity got us onto the radar of many Bay Area editors and reporters, and definitely helped us grow.
BREAKING NEWS: Berkeley's own Hot Tub Guy, who ran a free, community hot tub from his Essex Street home for nearly 50 years, was found dead in the hot tub by a community member Saturday shortly before 4:30 p.m. Deward Hastings was 78 years old.
— The Berkeley Scanner (@BerkeleyScanner) September 19, 2022
Even though it was a big scoop, we were focused on launch and left coverage to other media outlets, which handled it well.
Now, nearly two years later, Berkeley author Bethany Kaylor has done her own "deep dive" into the "steamy backstory of Berkeley's secret hot tub."
Alta Journal, where the story was published, does have a paywall. But you should be able to access the story if you haven't read other articles on the site recently. It's definitely a good read.
![](https://hips.hearstapps.com/hmg-prod/images/ata070124hottub-img001-66633a4e3f607.jpg?crop=1xw:0.38675xh;center,top&resize=1200:*)
In other news, the Chronicle had an interesting story last week about Bay Area businesses struggling to find insurance due to high crime. (It may also be behind a paywall.)
Many thanks to readers for sharing stories of interest that appear elsewhere on the web. We appreciate the tips and will try to share them with you more often.
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