On Thursday morning, I watched as ~600 costumed elementary-school students paraded through Krusi Park. My daughter was one of the ~200 KPop Demon Hunters. My son was a scientist dressed in a lab coat covered in hand-crafted carnivorous plants.

🚗

The scariest thing of all at the parade: three Teslas parked in a row — illegally — jamming up the bike entrance to Krusi Park. It's a blind corner, and small kids on bikes are already challenged to navigate it against oncoming auto traffic. Otis Elementary's principal has tried repeatedly over the years to email parents and to stand out there, his straw hat on, to direct driving parents away from that spot. But it doesn't work. The lure is too strong to parents who are late to drop off their kids — or late to a Halloween parade.

When City of Alameda eventually designs the overdue Safe Routes to School improvements for Otis, it's time to deploy concrete.

On Friday evening, we probably gave out upwards of 300 candies like last year, although this year did feel slower overall and we may not have hit our previous max.

🙏

In a welcome contrast with Trump's apparently Gatsby-themed party in Florida as SNAP benefits disappeared last night, three different nearby neighbors around us set up large tables with groceries for anyone in need to help themselves.

I signed into my well-used account to make a cash donation to the Alameda Food Bank.

So we beat on, boats against the current...

With many trick-or-treaters filling many of Alameda's sidewalks, it would be ideal if we could close a few of our streets to drivers, and temporarily make more space for Huntrix and Saja Boys and Derpy-the-tigers and three-eyed birds. (Does the three-eyed bird have a name?) However, some Alamedans really don't like being told they can't drive right up to their house, even temporarily. Earlier this year, a single resident appears to have gone on a campaign against a road-closure and event permit for just the street abutting Franklin Park on just the day of Halloween. She apparently then filed a PRA request so she could watch the action of 74 pages of email as city staff reacted to her own emails that she had BCC'ed across multiple departments. The organizers of the proposed street event had worked so diligently to prepare materials, including arranging a contractor to control auto traffic to avoid the temporary street closure (not cheap!). When SF Standard sent reporters and a photographer last night, they reported back under a headline of "On Halloween, Alameda’s Gold Coast is a living nightmare." A living nightmare, indeed — for residents and city staff who just want to organize fun and safe events for everyone.

Fortunately with Halloween on a Friday evening, we all now have a weekend to recover. Wouldn't it be nice if Halloween were rescheduled to always be observed on the last Friday of October?