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‘Cash for Trash’ wins own award in state contest 

The city’s “Cash for Trash” contests, which gave money to Berkeley residents for routing recyclables out of their trash bins, took third place in the state's Keep California Beautiful contest. 

The state’s first lady, Sharon Davis, was to present the award to Berkeley representatives from the Public Works Department during a ceremony to take place Thursday in Sacramento.  

The contest began on Feb. 14, and five days later, Susan and Roy Bogas were declared the contest's first winners of the year, and were made $500 richer.  

The contest ended in July 12.  

By the time it was over, 18 Berkeley households had received cash prizes ranging from $40 to $2,700.  

The environment, too, was richer for the effort, because city officials say that the overall tonnage of recycled materials in the city rose almost 10 percent over the same period last year. 

Leadership training  

program open to residents  

Alameda County is sponsoring a leadership academy this fall that will give county residents the opportunity to learn first hand about local politics while developing leadership and communication skills, a spokeswoman has announced. 

Alameda County Administrator spokeswoman Patricia Swanson says the Alameda County Leadership Academy is a free, interactive forum entailing meetings with elected officials, panel presentations, small group discussions, building tours and mock public policy exercises focused on the county, its budget, programs and the challenges as it enters its 149th year. 

The program will consist of six nightly sessions, the first on Oct. 11 and the last on Jan. 16.  

It is free and open to anyone who works, lives or owns a business in Alameda County, however, space is limited so only 45 people will be allowed to participate, Swanson says.  

For more information about the Alameda County Leadership Academy, or to obtain an application, visit the Alameda County Web site at www.co.alameda.ca.us or call the county administrator's office at 272-6984. The application deadline is Sept. 18.  

County recognized  

for child support efforts 

The National Child Support Enforcement Association awarded its Outstanding Child Support Program Award to the Family Support Division of the Alameda County District Attorney’s Office at the NCSEA annual conference in New York City last week. 

According to NCSEA, the award is given each year to the child support program that best exemplifies child support enforcement through an outstanding performance record.  

Other finalists for the award were mostly state agencies. Maureen Lenahan, Program Administrator of the Family Support Division, said that it is rare for a local child support program to receive the award. 

The Alameda County child support program achieved high performance ratings in five federal performance areas: paternity establishment, establishment of orders, collections on current support due, collection on child support cases due and cost-to-collection ration. 

The county uses a child support computer program that targets delinquent cases for immediate action whenever positive information is received from state and federal sources. 

Police reported they had a suspect in custody in an armed robbery case Thursday evening. The suspect, who had allegedly tried to rob the Walgreen’s Drug Store at San Pablo and Ashby avenues at about 5:30 p.m., fled police who chased him into the surrounding neighborhood, before he was caught. Few details were available Thursday evening.