Berkeley has begun to use automated single-operator garbage trucks that have a side-arm to pick up waste bins. Photo: City of Berkeley A recent city announcement about a new approach to waste pick-up in Berkeley has left some readers perplexed and concerned. The city has begun using automated one-person trucks to collect waste bins using […]
Ask Berkeleyside
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What’s the rationale behind Berkeley walk signal sounds?
Audible walk signal sounds can help orient disabled pedestrians in a variety of ways. Photo: morethanreal In response to an earlier Ask Berkeleyside post about walk signals in Berkeley aimed to help the disabled, one reader asked a follow-up question about signal sounds, or the lack thereof: “I’m curious about the sound supplements to the buttons. Most […]
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Election email overload: What gives?
One California voter takes a look at a day of campaign mailers, noting, “They’re not going to influence my vote, but they will help heat my house this winter.” Photo: Robert Couse-Baker By November in a big election year, many residents are familiar with the daily handful of campaign literature that bursts forth from the […]
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Why do some absentee voters get free postage?
Some Alameda County residents received mail-in ballots with the postage already paid. Photo: Peter Sussman Last week, after reading Berkeleyside’s round-up on postage costs for mail-in ballots, we heard from one reader who described himself as “truly baffled.” Officials had said voters in Berkeley had absentee ballots requiring postage up to $1.50 due to multiple […]
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Do police enforce parking rules on skinny hill streets?
Berkeley hills: a reader wonders whether ‘no parking’ signs are enforced in the area’s narrow streets. Photo: Google Maps Berkeley hills: a reader wonders whether ‘no parking’ signs are enforced in the area’s narrow streets. Photo: Google Maps In response to our first installation of Ask Berkeleyside, in which we requested your questions about mysteries […]
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On walk signal, are two buttons better than one?
Two walk signal buttons on Solano Avenue. Photo: Justin Huang Last week, a local resident asked Berkeleyside about this signal pole on Solano Avenue. He wondered what the purpose of the street-level “walk signal” button was. We posed the question to readers on the Berkeleyside Facebook page, and their answers ran the gamut from the […]