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METRO

THELONGWAIT:

orvetswhothink they deserved thePurpleHeartbutdidn’tgetitbecauseof lostrecords or discrepancies,the quest forthemedalcanhaunt theirlateryears.

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SUNDAY,FEBRUARY14,2010 PAGE

510

ByLisa Vorderbrueggen

lvorderbrueggen@bayareanewsgroup.com

Ifyouhaveever eyed a run forpublicoffice,thewindowisopen.Thecandidatenomination pe-riodfortheJune8primaryelectioninCaliforniabeginsTuesday andcontinuesthroughMarch 12.Thefiling deadline will be ex-tendedtoMarch17in seats whereincumbentswhoarenot termed-outdonotfileforre-election.Upforgrabsaredozens of offices,includinggovernor,seats inthe U.S.Senate,Congress,and other consti-tutionaloffices, state Legislatureandcounty-basedseats.Forthepartisanseats, voters willselecttheirparties’ nomineesfortheNov.2general election.Inthecountyraces such as dis-trictattorney orboard of supervi-sors, any candidate on the June 8 ballot who receives 50 percent plusonevote will win the seat outright.Ifnoonereceives a majority, thetoptwovoter-getters will advancetoarunoffinthegeneralelection.Mostofthehighprofileracesalready have declared candidates with campaigns under way such asRepublican gubernatorial primary candidatesMeg Whitman and StevePoizner or the GOP battlegroundfor U.S. Senate involving ChuckDevore, Tom Campbell and Carly Fiorina.Butdepartures and rareretirements in East Bay county of-fices, which have no term limits, areattracting attention, too.InContraCostaCounty, thesheriff and the district attorney areretiring, and county Supervisor Su-sanBonilla is vacating her seat torunfortheAssembly.Several well-known candidates—includingNadiaLockyer, wifeofstate Treasurer Bill Lockyer,and former state Sen. Liz Figueroa—arerunningforanopensuper- visor seat in Alameda County. Su-pervisorGail Steele is not seekingre-election.Thevast majority of city coun-cils, school boards and other re-gionalagencies, such as BART, willholdtheir elections in November.Individuals interested in filingforpublicoffice should contact theircounty election offices to obtain thenecessary paperwork and pay thefiling fees.

Contact Lisa Vorderbrueggen at 925-945-4773 or www.ibabuzz.com/politics.

Candidates, startyour filing

State, localnominationperiodbegins Tuesday,runs throughMarch12for primaryelectionhopefuls

INFORMATION

Obtain information about running for elected officesinthe June 8 stateprimary election at the following locations:

Contra Costa County RegistrarofVoters:555 Escobar St.inMartinez.Contact the office at 925-335-7800 orwww.cocovote.us.

Alameda County RegistrarofVoters: 1225 Fallon St.G-1 in Oakland.Contact the office at 510-267-8683 or www.acgov.org/rov.

Solano County Registrar of Voters:675Texas St.inFairfield.Contact theofficeat707-784-6675orwww.solanocounty.com/depts/rov.

ByChrisMetinko

cmetinko@bayareanewsgroup.com

OAKLAND—Whileit’snosurprisedisparitiesaboundbe-tweenvarious neighborhoods of Oakland,nonemaybemorepro-nounced—andmore overlooked—thanthehealthdisparityexist-inginsomeofthecity’spoorestareas.Theincreasedratesofhy-pertension,asthmaandseverechronicdiseasesincertainneighborhoodscertainly havenotescapedeveryone’spurview,however,assomearelaying thefoundationforanonproﬁttostudy andtakeheedofsomeofthemostpressinghealthconcernsinWestOakland.“Thehealthdisparityisamaz-ing,”saidMahedereSolomon,afamilynursepractitioner who, whennotworkingatHighlandHospitaloratherotherjobattheHarrietTubmanMedical Ofﬁce,isbusytryingtocreatetheOneLoveCenterforHealth,whichshehopeswillbring health caretosomeofthecity’sneediest.OneLoveisthebrainchildofSolomon,fellowfamilynursepractitionerMicheleBunker-Al- bertsandJumokeHinton-Hodge, whoservesontheOaklandschool board.

Healthy hope for west side

ANLEVIenjoys BrownSugarKitchen somuchthathedrives250 milesfromSanLuisObispotoWestOaklandtohave breakfast there every otherweekend.Well,hedoesn’tdrivestraightthrough.Hestopsfirstin San Josetopickuphisladyfriend,AmberThames,sotheycandinetogetheratBrownSugarKitchen.It’salwaysbreakfast,andDanandAmbershowupat 2534MandelaParkwayby10a.m.onSundaystobeatthecrowd. But oneday,theymusttrylunch, becausethereisnofinerbreakfast-lunchdinerinOaklandortheEast Bay. AmberdiscoveredBrown SugarKitchenlastMayafterseeing thedinerprofiledontelevision.ShecheckedoutTanyaHolland’s cre-ativecuisineimmediately.“It’sextremely good food, andI’mapickyeater,”Amber saidWednesday.“Ilovesoulfood, butshedoesitinahealthy way. I lovetheveggieeggscramble, with the bestpotatoes in the Bay Area — arealpotato that’s not full of grease.“Thebiscuits are also amazing,andshe has homemade jam, whichistodiefor.”West Oaklandbecame a diningdestination two years ago whenHolland opened Brown SugarKitchen. Like Dan Levi, folks whoappreciatequality food come fromallover,andLosAngeles is fartherawaythan San Luis Obispo.“Aprestigious food writer from

Gourmet

magazine wrote that it wasworthcoming400milesfromLosAngeles for our waffles,” saidPhilSurkis,Holland’s husband.I’vebeensampling Holland’s breakfasts and lunches for months.Thecornmeal waffle with brownsugarbutter and apple cider syrupis,indeed,amazing. My wife lovesthe poached eggs, and I preferthe eggand bacon sandwich onawheatroll.Thepulled porksandwichand the smoked chicken&shrimpgumbo are lunchtime winners.Holland, 44, is receiving ravereviews for a onetime engineer-ingstudent at the University of Virginia. That’s where the foodlightclicked on after she cookedforschoolmateswhowere exist-ingonmacaroni and cheese. Herparentshad taught her as a childinRochester, N.Y., how to cook indiversified ways.“Ialways wanted to do some-thing creative,” she saidTuesday.Sosheswitched fromengineering toadvertising, andafter graduation wenttoNew Yorkbut contin-uedlooking for afuture sign. After becomingofficemanager for a catering company,sherealized her life’s path.Eventually, she ended up inFrance at a cooking school in Bur-gundy. She stayed 15months, livingoffherVisa card and becoming versed on the “mother sauces,” asevidenced by the thickener in hergumbo.Back in the U.S., she trainedatvarious restaurants, includingBobby Flay’s Mesa Grill in New YorkCity. And she landed one of theearlycookingshows on theFoodNetwork, which lasted 2

years. Then, needing a new direc-

AnOaklanddinerlike no other

PRESIDENTSDAYCLOSURES

SCHOOLS:

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CITYOFFICES:

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LIBRARIES:

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BART:

Weekend schedule

ACTRANSIT:

Weekendschedule

Nurses hopeto bringclinic, researchcentertotroubledneighborhood

JANE TYSKA/STAFF

OneLoveCenterforHealthco-founder Mahedere Solomonlistens during her group’smeetingTuesdayat the WestOakland Library.Solomon,afamily nurse practitioner, won aPfizerCommunityInnovationsawardforherresearchandstudyonepidemichypertensionin West Oakland.

LAURA A. ODA/STAFF