Jeff Gould walks and talks with 2024 city council candidate Thushan Amarasiriwardena on the streets of Alameda about his affection for our city and where his career in AI, other tech is taking him. We touch on Thushan's ideas around the potential abundance thinking holds, his run for council, housing development at the former Svendsons Marine site on Clement street and related transportation issues.

Alameda's Climate Action and Resilience Plan (CARP) and the proposed construction of the Pacific Fusion nuclear research reactor project at Alameda Point also prompts an interesting exchange of views on energy issues.

In January Julia Owens took over as head of the 40-year-old organization that has stepped in where school funding for many activities has been cut. She comes from a background in non-profits focused on children's needs, and is excited about continuing AEF's vital work in Alameda.

She describes its many roles from providing the school district's middle school sports program to offering enrichment classes to grants for teachers' special projects to support for the mental health needs of students.

It's been six-plus years since Alameda approved the transformation of aging federal buildings on McKay Avenue into a facility to care for and house homeless seniors discharged from hospital stays. Spearheaded by the Alameda Point Collaborative, this humanitarian project was delayed by a stubborn clutch of naysayers, the Covid pandemic and federal intransigence.

Now, it's set to open next March and former APC director Doug Biggs reflects on the entire drama and how compassionate Alamedans and our regional officials have prevailed.