Safety protocols have lengthened appointment times, stay-at-home workers are more attentive to pets’ minor ailments, and vet staff — increasingly abused by their clients — are burning out.
John Metcalfe
John Metcalfe is an Oakland-based freelance reporter who's written for Berkeleyside, The Washington Post, The New York Times and The Atlantic. He enjoys covering science, climate and weather, and urban mysteries like what makes the perfect public toilet or where pigeons go to die.
Posted inNature
Hungry deer, shrinking ponds, speeding golf balls: the drought’s toll around Berkeley
Strawberry Creek and the city’s trees are doing OK, but Lake Anza is unswimmable, turtles are getting run over by cars and wild pigs may be moving in.
Posted inNosh
Local food pantries start to worry as support dips
Berkeley and Alameda County food providers are worried about donations and volunteering shriveling as more people view the pandemic as having ended.
Posted inCity
16-story Residence Inn to open this October in downtown Berkeley
The Marriott-branded hotel will become the third-tallest building in Berkeley and include 331 extended-stay suites, 15,000 square feet of meeting space and a rooftop bar and restaurant.
Posted inBusiness
Lizards and lounge chairs: How Fourth Street survived the pandemic
West Berkeley’s commercial vacancy rate was actually lower in 2020 than it was pre-pandemic. A reptile shop is thriving, a plant store has opened and Fourth is turning into a furniture shopping mecca.
Posted inCrime & Safety
Cyclists worry about being jacked on Grizzly Peak
A series of armed robberies has unnerved bike riders along popular scenic East Bay roads.
Posted inCity
‘Next-generation’ Kaiser medical center to open in West Berkeley in May
Berkeley has about 58,000 Kaiser members but, until now, has never had a medical center in the city. Ahead of its opening, we look at what it will offer.
Posted inCity
New map shows which neighborhoods have the most, and the fewest, trees
Wealthier neighborhoods are leafier and hence healthier, but a new tree-planting program is on the way.
Posted inCity
Berkeley may get rid of single-family zoning as a way to correct the arc of its ugly housing history
Berkeley in 1916 was the first city to enact single-family zoning, which had the effect of pushing nonwhite people to more impoverished neighborhoods in the south and west.
Posted inCity
UC Berkeley removes hundreds of trees to ensure fire evacuation route
After years of opposition and lawsuits, Cal has succeeded in cutting down eucalyptus trees near campus.
Posted inBusiness
The vaccine ‘will not mean back to normal.’ How 3 businesses rose to the challenge of COVID-19
These business owners switched from building phone booths to sneeze guards, designed a user-friendly testing kiosk and created a “cleanroom” for customers.
Posted inCity
Want to see who pays less property tax than you? New neighborhood map has the details
Because of Proposition 13, one house on a block might pay $28,000 in property taxes while a similar home only pays $6,000.