TBS Today, Sept. 30

First: A HUGE thank you to all the members who responded to our 2nd birthday announcements in recent days.

Many of you sent gifts of support as well as encouraging notes.

TBS is incredibly lucky to have such a devoted member base and we are so grateful.

We're looking forward to putting your birthday gifts toward smart growth and more robust reporting — stay tuned!

If you'd like to write a public birthday note about what our coverage means to you, it's not too late! Comments (for paying members) are wide open on the story below.

Help us celebrate: The Berkeley Scanner is 2 years old

Our members make this critical work possible. Chip in now if you value our coverage.

The Berkeley ScannerEditor’s desk

We also had a short story this morning about a Tesla that caught fire in Tilden over the weekend. Details are slim but a community member did share a dramatic video.

Flames engulf Tesla in Tilden park in Berkeley: video

Firefighters from the Moraga-Orinda Fire District and the Berkeley Fire Department put out the blaze.

The Berkeley ScannerEmilie Raguso

We started out this morning in court at a bail hearing in the Tyler Livingston case, the swim coach accused of molesting six boys over several years.

Livingston was originally held without bail by Judge Elena Condes, who had reviewed the CALICO interviews with children who described being abused.

Since then, his attorney asked a different judge to consider releasing him on an ankle monitor so he could live out of state with his parents while he awaits trial.

On Monday morning, Judge Scott Patton denied that motion — largely because he said it was outside of his purview to overturn Condes' ruling.

We'll continue to follow the case and hope to have an update in the coming weeks.

After that hearing, we headed down to Santa Cruz for continuing testimony in the Alyx Herrmann murder case.

We'll have an update on that case in the coming days.

In case you missed it

Alyx Herrmann recorded her own murder, prosecution says

Authorities found the recording on Herrmann’s cellphone Sunday — a month after her murder trial began.

The Berkeley ScannerEmilie Raguso

Fall 2024 election guide for Berkeley and Alameda County

Here are many of the key races you’ll find on the ballot in Berkeley on Nov. 5, 2024. We’ll keep this voter guide updated as it gets closer.

The Berkeley ScannerEditor’s desk

From our election guide above, make sure to mark your calendar for the upcoming candidate forums, if you enjoy that kind of thing.

We'll be sure to link to past forum recordings in the voter guide, and we have more election coverage coming ASAP to help you make informed decisions when you get your ballots.

• Monday, Sept. 30: California Senate District 7 (LWVBAE)
• Tuesday, Oct. 1: Berkeley School Board (LWVBAE)
• Wednesday, Oct. 2: Berkeley City Council District 6 (LWVBAE)
• Wednesday, Oct. 2: Berkeley City Council District 5 (LWVBAE)
• Thursday, Oct. 3: Berkeley City Council District 2 (LWVBAE)
• Thursday, Oct. 3: Berkeley City Council District 3 (LWVBAE)
• Thursday, Oct. 3: Berkeley City Council Districts 5 and 6 (BNC)
• Thursday, Oct. 24: School Board & City Council Forum (TONA — in-person)

See all our recent stories. Learn more about our work.

In other news

BPD told us that the pedestrian who was hit by a bus driver last week was "alert and stable" as of the last update they received. For now, that's all we know.

Elderly pedestrian taken to hospital after bus crash

It’s the same intersection where 5-year-old Zachary Cruz was killed when a driver struck him in 2009.

The Berkeley ScannerEmilie Raguso

Coming up: BPD is having a "coffee with the cops" event Wednesday at Peet's on Fourth Street.

We can't be there this time but it's always a great way to get your public safety questions answered right from the source.

The Berkeley Fire Department also just posted a heartwarming video of firefighters rescuing a bird (!!) at the marina over the weekend. Check it out on Instagram.

Finally, one of the stories that stood out most to me from my early days at Berkeleyside was a deep dive on the hostage crisis at Henry's Pub in 1990.

The anniversary came Saturday.

Many thanks to BPD Sgt. Michael Holland for helping me research that article back in 2015, as well as the hostages who shared their stories with me when I was learning about this shocking chapter in Berkeley history.

Photographs by David Yee.

25 years later: Henry’s hostage crisis remembered

Shots rang out just after midnight, leaving seven injured and dozens held hostage in Henry’s Publick House at the Hotel Durant in Berkeley.

BerkeleysideEmilie Raguso

Speaking of David Yee, a veteran news photographer who contributed to Bside for many years (and is also a Scanner contributor!), he shared photos over the weekend of a man who caused a bit of a disturbance at a Berkeley fire station and was arrested.

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