Week in Review: Sister City Festival, Earthquakes, House Fire

Here's a list of top stories from our coverage in the past week:

Sunday, Aug. 21

Dozens came out for the opening reception of House Blend, the newest exhibit at Paddy's Coffee House. Throughout the day, children dropped in to color with artists and make shapes with rubber bands on artist Bryant Sina's geoboards. Checkout some of the highlights from the day in our . A special thanks to the artists themselves, who contributed their photos to the site.

We also sent contributor AJ Flores to the Hayward Zucchini Festival as hundreds came out to celebrate the savory squash. Check out his photos .

Monday, Aug. 22

A house Monday morning after the blaze caused significant damage to the second floor of a Riviera Drive home. The family, three adults and three children, evacuated the home safely and no injuries were reported, officials said.

Union City celebrated its cultural diversity with the Seventh Annual Sister City Festival. The event recognized our five sister cities — Pasay City, Philippines; Santa Rosalia, Mexico; Jalandhar, India; Chiang Rai, Thailand, and Liyang, China — with dance and food representing each country. See contributor Paciano Triunfo's photos of the event .

After receiving requests from readers asking for more information, we reported on the , which repaved Dyer Street from Alvarado Boulevard to Whipple Road, installed upgraded wheelchair ramps, and will make way for bike lanes. The bulk of the construction was completed last week prior to the start of the school year. Additional work, which will not cause any delays or lane closures, will continue through early September, officials said.

Blogger Rick Arrellano hit the 15th annual Hot August Niles Car Show in Niles over the weekend. The event featured more than 400 cars, both old and new. Check out his video blog .

Tuesday, Aug. 23

We asked readers to share their stories of 9/11 and how they were affected by it. We've gotten some interesting responses from readers. Some have emailed us, others have posted directly in our comments. Read some of their stories and share your own .  

Columnist Neena Barreto ponders the "," where children forget what they learned in the school year because of summer break. Popular belief is that summer break divides well-off children, who are able to afford summer programs and pursue hobbies, from disadvantaged children. Do you agree? Read the story and add your two cents.

The New Haven Unified School District who were previously laid off. Due to attrition, the district was able to offer jobs to everyone who was previously on their layoff list. The move comes after the district rehired 24 teachers last month, and 29 before them.

Wednesday, Aug. 24

A series of beginning late Tuesday and very early Wednesday. The first struck at about 11:35 p.m. Tuesday at a 3.6 magnitude, followed by a 2.3 magnitude quake. On Wednesday morning at about 10 a.m., the East Bay was stirred by yet another 3.6 magnitude earthquake. All three had the same epicenter, located approximately 3.11 miles northeast of San Leandro.    

as part of a follow-up investigation to a July 28 shooting that left one man with a gunshot wound to the leg. On Thursday, police announced that two people, a 19-year-old and a minor, were arrested. The minor was not identified, but the adult, Edgar Ramon Godinez, was arrested on suspicion of possessing an altered weapon — a short-barrel shotgun — and committing a felony while on bail. Police believe he was a significant participant in the July shooting. Read the full story .

A 17-year-old was hospitalized after being while riding his bike through Decoto at about 3:20 a.m. Police responded to the scene but did not find any suspects or victims. While investigating, they learned a victim checked in to a local hospital.

Thursday, Aug. 25

James Logan High School's new girls' basketball coach is former Logan star . Craddock, who led the Lady Colts to back-to-back league titles and was team captain for two years before graduating in 2003, is hopeful she'll continue the team's successful legacy. "We plan on playing hard, having fun, winning and having a great experience," she said.

More than 600 former NUMMI employees were invited to a job fair hosted by Kaiser Permanente. The job fair was the latest effort made by the NUMMI Reemployment Center after almost 5,000 employees were laid off from the Fremont plant last April. Hear from former plant employees and the efforts to find them work in our story .

Friday, Aug. 26

The latest police log includes an armed robbery at Petco and more than 500 plants found inside a home, along with the previously mentioned SWAT arrests and shooting. Read the full log .

We previewed the weekend's event, a 24-hour cancer awareness walk/run with more than 300 registered between 43 teams. By the time our story was published, about $35,000 had already been raised.

For interested home buyers, we also posted our .

Saturday, Aug. 27

Meet Patch (no relation!), a two-month old kitten at the Tri-City Animal Shelter featured as our Pet of the Week. Watch our video to get up close and personal with Patch.

In his latest blog post, local historian Timothy Swenson shares an excerpt from old articles he dug up. This week, he shares .