Sirens that speak are coming to your Berkeley neighborhood
A dozen or more sirens are expected to be installed. They’ll be capable of broadcasting spoken evacuation messages targeted at individual neighborhoods.
Kate Darby Rauch
Freelancer Catherine "Kate" Rauch has been contributing to Berkeleyside for several years, and also happens to live in Berkeley, near downtown. Her work as a journalist has encompassed everything from 10 years as a daily news reporter for the East Bay Times, based in Richmond, to freelancing for a range of news sources including the Washington Post, Newsday, the Seattle Times, SF Chronicle and Oakland Magazine. Kate likes general assignment work and jumping into a variety of topics and stories, but has a background as a health writer, which includes writing for WebMD, Babycenter.com, Caring.com, UC San Francisco Medical Center, Kaiser and Sutter Health. Her awards include a first place in health and science writing from the Washington State Press Association, a first place in spot news from the Peninsula Press Club, and a second place in feature writing from the California Association of Newspaper Publishers. She's also worked as an anthropologist in rural Alaska. She has an MS degree from the Columbia School of Journalism and a BS from UC Berkeley in cultural geography.
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Articles by Kate
Know your zone: A new system for wildfire evacuation is coming to Berkeley
A new evacuation software system called Zonehaven is scheduled to go live on June 15.
Teens built secret mountain bike course. Now they’re rallying to save ‘The Jumps.’
The city said the unauthorized course would be removed, but demolition has been postponed at Councilmember Susan Wengraf’s request.
Families can hug again at Berkeley care facilities
As California virus rates improve, lockdown restrictions are easing in group living settings.
Should there be bike lanes on Hopkins Street? What will that do to parking?
The city of Berkeley is soliciting ideas on how to make Hopkins Street available to all, but the process has not been smooth.
Volunteers no longer welcome at Berkeley’s main COVID-19 vaccination site
Curative, the private company running the site, is concerned about the liability of using volunteers at the Golden Gate Fields site.
Succulents — yes, the plants — are dividing a Berkeley senior home
Charles Herring has raised hundreds of succulents over the years, but some residents believe they are attracting mice and want them gone.
City Council won’t preserve 132-year-old North Berkeley house, paving the way for townhouses
The developer will build 10 townhouses at 1915 Berryman St. after it was determined it didn’t warrant landmark status.
Berkeley residents are a generous bunch: The city ranked 7th in GoFundMe’s list of most-giving cities
Three campaigns raised the most money in 2020: for Moe’s Books, Rialto Theaters and a West Berkeley metal shop making plastic face shields for health workers.
Third death by train in two years on tracks near Berkeley’s Amtrak Station
An Amtrak train hit and killed a 30-year-old man in Berkeley on Nov. 22.
Crowds are scarier than creepy costumes: Halloween and Dia de Los Muertos adapt in a pandemic
Masks may be the only constant from past years for fall celebrations upended by COVID-19.
Construction of new 5G cell sites blocked by Berkeley protesters — for now
A group of activists believes that the proliferation of 4G and 5G sites will increase radiation output and increase cancer cases. Widely accepted science does not back them up.
Berkeley city workers become sleuths to track down COVID-19 cases
The public health division uses contact tracers to figure out who has become exposed to the novel coronavirus. Then those people are asked to self-isolate to stop further spread.
As building rules tighten in Berkeley, construction pushes back
Unions want to be able to continue building and argue their workers can follow social distancing rules.
COVID-19 pandemic prompts Berkeley neighbors to help one another
Individuals and groups have set up systems to connect volunteers with people who need help. So far there are more volunteers than people seeking assistance.
Berkeley businesses hit hard by the economics of social distancing
Theaters are selling fewer tickets, museums are seeing fewer visitors, and restaurants are seeing a significant drop in business.
