Community Corner

Week in Review: Local Woman Murdered in Oregon; Martial Arts Instructor Dies

Top stories on San Leandro and Castro Valley Patch

SAN LEANDRO

Sending Son To MIT Only Latest Coup For San Leandro Public School Family

When 17-year-old Martin Martinez delivers the valedictory address to San Leandro High School and heads to MIT on a full scholarship, his parents will be cheering him on -- as they did for his older sister and brother, and as they are doing for their youngest, Celia, in the robotics club at Bancoft Middle School. "I believe if you want a human being to eat an apple you have to show them an apple, so they'll know that they want it," said Juan Martinez. He dropped out of medical school in Mexico and came to the United States at age 27 to support a family as a garbage truck driver. His wife, Martina Martinez, came to the United States at age 10. The daughter of a bracero, Martina left school after the eighth grade to go to work, but she later took courses in psychology to discover ways to make learning fun. Together, Juan and Martina have imbued their children with a love of learning and a reservoir of self-confidence. Their eldest, Patricia, 26, also attended MIT. Juan Jr., 19, is studying mechanical engineering at UC Davis. Learn more about the family in this article and video interview here.

A San Leandro police officer on bicycle patrol on Washington Avenue collared two alleged thieves as they were leaving a store, and confiscated the loaded firearm that a female suspect had tucked into her waistband. The incident occurred about 4 pm Tuesday on the 1400 block of Washington Avenue, north of Juana Avenue. According to a police statement a store employee told the officer about a theft in progress inside the store. The officer collared the suspects as they left the store. They were detained for theft. Store merchandise recovered during the arrest was returned. During the apprehension, a loaded firearm was recovered from the female's waistband where it had been concealed.

Find out what's happening in San Leandrowith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Union Pacific and the City of San Leandro seem to be on different tracks when it comes to who should pay for cleaning the lead out of the Stege Pistol Range in Richmond, which closed in 1997. As previously reported the railroad wants the city to pay $80,000 toward what it estimates to be the $3 million cost of environmental remediation for the site, once supposedly used as a target range by police officers from San Leandro and other communities. But San Leandro City Attorney Richard Pio Roda said the city can find no record of ever having used the pistol range. Pio Roda said UP has a letter of agreement, signed by a railroad official, that would have authorized city use of the site and would presumably have some bearing on the city's liability to help with clean up costs. But Pio Roda said no one from the city signed the contract.

Find out what's happening in San Leandrowith free, real-time updates from Patch.

CASTRO VALLEY

Planner Frowns On Hot Dog Stand For Castro Valley Blvd

Since last fall Marc Michieli has been trying to open a hot dog stand called Muzo's Grill in the Castro Valley Boulevard shack once occupied by Carry Outee. This week a county planner recommended disapproval of the project on several grounds, including: that its walk-up window is disallowed by special rules for the downtown; that the business is too small for such a valuable location; and that bringing the parking lot and structure up to code would be too costly. That negative recommendation is currently scheduled to come before the Municipal Advisory Council on May 13 -- along with a contrasting show of support from county economic development official Bill Lambert. Michieli says he has sunk about $10,000 into site improvements and $7,000 into paperwork since last fall. 

Officials Confirm Oregon Murder Victim is Castro Valley Woman

Oregon authorities said Thursday that an East Bay woman was the victim of a homicide believed to have been committed by a North Bay carjacking suspect. The Oregon State Medical Examiner's Office identified the victim as 57-year-old Kirsten Elaine Englund of Castro Valley. The cause and manner of her death were not released. Englund's body was found Sunday morning near Winchester Bay Wayfinding Point on U.S. Highway 101 three miles south of Reedsport, Ore. Oregon State Police identified 30-year-old Jeffrey Griffin Boyce of North Bend, Ore. as the murder suspect.

In a statement released through the Douglas County, Ore. major crimes team, the Englund family said they are "devastated by the heinous, cowardly and senseless crime that took her life. "We cannot begin to describe the deep void that we will have without her," the family said.

Grandmaster Max Pallen Jr., member of a family that operated martial arts studios in Castro Valley and San Leandro and taught classes in Union City, passed away Tuesday morning according to a note posted on Facebook by his brother, Jordan Pallen. "On behalf of the Pallen Family, I would like to thank you all for your thoughts and prayers," Jordan Pallen wrote. "Please add extra prayer for my mom and dad, who is taking it really hard."

 


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