Holy Names High School -- the first high school in Oakland -- began educating girls in the 1860s at the school's first location, the marshy shores of Lake Merritt.  

Passersby may not know it, but that low-lying set of buildings known as Veterans Memorial Senior Center in Red Morton Community Park in Redwood City has been named one of the top senior centers in the nation.  

My heart started thumping when my parents told us we were going to Lebanon. They were beaming with excitement — my dad hasn't gone back to his homeland in nearly 20 years and it has been 14 years since my mom and I went there.  

Indeed, the Party at Pat's, the annual summer fundraiser for the Blackhawk Museum's children's education and transportation fund, was very East Egg. It could have come straight from the pages of F. Scott Fitzgerald's romanticized epic, and it was wildly successful.  

The truth is, we're losing the battle with AIDS.  

Dry Bean Festival this weekend kicks off a busy month  

Solicitors will always be with us. And by solicitors, I don't mean British lawyers or ladies of the evening. I mean other people who ask strangers for money, sometimes in exchange for goods, and sometimes in exchange for tax write-offs.  

AS much of the rest of the country stews about the available presidential choices in November, the people over at the Half Moon Bay Brewing Co. have taken a rather light-hearted approach to the whole thing.  

There's no question that Stoneridge Drive needs to be connected, as does Dublin Boulevard and North Canyons Parkway on the north side of Interstate 580.  

As part of The Shops at Tanforan's back-to-school promotion, shoppers may "dump" a pair of gently worn jeans in exchange for a $10 mall retailer gift card from Aug.  

The Pacific Coast League, which long ago had baseball franchises in Oakland and San Francisco, has its own hall of fame, with the usual list of inductees: shortstops, center fielders, first basemen, pitchers, catchers and the like.  

I'VE NEVER KNOWN a student who actually became a veterinarian. But that may change in the very near future.Alison Stambaugh, Mission San Jose High School, Class of 2004, is on her way to the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine.  

Beyond routine vaccinations and preventive medicines, many pets are seen by veterinarians for a variety of ailments and conditions.Recently, the Veterinary Pet Insurance company reported its top 10 conditions for which policyholders issued claims for dogs and cats in 2007.  

Giving Thong Girl a run for her money  

AUG. 18, 1908, was the day Lloyd Hagan was born. On Aug. 18, 2008, Lloyd celebrated his 100th birthday with his daughter, Terri Harris, and his friends at the San Leandro Carlton Plaza.  

THERE IS NO doubt that Americans want change. Pretty much any poll that simply asks if the country is headed in the right direction will consistently find less than 20 percent feeling good about it.  

WHERE ONCE IT was a claim bulging with arrogance, stomping out any and all dissent, the title "World's Fastest Human" ain't what it used to be. Can't be, when it's written in sand.  

SOUTHPORT, England _ He held the lead for so long on this memorable day. Then it was snatched from Greg Norman in the early evening, taken from him by K.J. Choi on a birdie putt the last hole, a hard bit of reality after hours of fanciful possibility.

 

Bowing to the inevitable, historic San Mateo County track will close after Sunday's races following 74 years of horse racing.

• Bay Meadows closes forever

 

WITH the stock market plunging this year, it has been hard to unearth stock mutual funds with good performance records over one, three, five and 10 years, the requirement for the annual No-Load Stock Mutual Fund Honor Roll, that my wife, Fran, and I carry in our quarterly newsletter, Investment  

In the 401(k) industry, we encounter employee participants who refuse to invest in anything other than a money market fund, because the prospect of losing even a dollar of their retirement savings is more than they can tolerate.  

A Red Cross worker at a Hurricane Gustav evacuation center in Tennessee wants to help a lady who lost her dog. Gary tries to help.  

I am a wee, delicate and cranky flower who never seems to be comfortable on a mattress, and readers have been writing to suggest solutions.  

For Alice Waters, food is never merely fuel. It's a reflection of culture, a barometer of health, and a measure of commitment to saving the planet.  

But will viewers have a craving for 'True Blood'?  

kevinberne.com

Powerful performances lift drama that needs trimming.  

No matter how much "Trouble in Paradise" improves, the element that holds it back is the controls.  

It was one for the history books. Yet, Friday night's concert at the Paramount Theatre in Oakland may well be one that Brian Wilson will want to forget.