Thursday, January 7, 2016 VOLUME LIII, NUMBER 1 Your Local News Source Since 1963 SERVING DUBLIN, LIVERMORE, PLEASANTON, SUNOL Lab Researchers Credited with Discovering New Elements The International Union of Pure with the Joint Institute for Nuclear 115, 116, 117, and 118, the heavi- Laboratory of Nuclear Reactions at and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) Research in Dubna, Russia (JINR) est element to date). The IUPAC JINR, participated in the work car- See Inside Section A has confi rmed that Lawrence Liver- in 2004 to discover elements 113 announced that a Japanese collabo- ried out in Dubna on the synthesis Section A is fi lled with more National Laboratory scien- and 115. LLNL worked again with ration offi cially discovered element of superheavy elements, including information about arts, tists and international collaborators JINR in 2006 to discover element 113. The LLNL/JINR team had element 116. Lawrencium -- Ele- 118. The LLNL/JINR team then ment 103 -- was already named for people, entertainment and have offi cially discovered elements submitted a paper on the discovery jointly worked with researchers LLNL's founder E.O. Lawrence. special events. There 115, 117 and 118. of elements 113 and 115 about the The announcement means those from the Research Institute for Ad- same time as the Japanese group. Dawn Shaughnessy, Lawrence are education stories, a three elements are one step closer to vanced Reactors (Dimitrovgrad), In 2011, the IUPAC confi rmed Livermore’s principle investiga- variety of features, being named. No names have been Oak Ridge National Laboratory, the name Livermorium for element tor for the Heavy Element Group, and the arts and submitted. The naming is quite a Vanderbilt University and the 116. Livermorium (atomic symbol commented, “This is a very excit- entertainment calendar, lengthy process and usually takes University of Nevada, Las Vegas, Lv) was chosen to honor Lawrence ing time for our collaboration and and bulletin board. up to 2 years before a name is ac- to discover element 117 in 2010. Livermore National Laboratory shows that all of the hard work has cepted by the IUPAC. This discovery brings the total and the City of Livermore. A group paid off. It is especially gratifying Lawrence Livermore teamed to six new elements reported by the of researchers from the Laboratory, to receive this news right as we Dubna-Livermore team (113, 114, along with scientists at the Flerov (See ELEMENTS, page 4) New Funding Lund Round Gives Boost to Ranch Open Space Faces By Ron McNicoll Funding approved by the Met- Referendum ropolitan Transportation Com- mission (MTC) will give new life to efforts to preserve more open The Pleasanton City Council space throughout the Bay Area, gave final approval to the Lund including the Tri-Valley. Ranch II development. The council The commission voted to in- has now addressed a bid by Green- crease signifi cantly its investment briar Homes Community to build in conservation by expanding its homes in Pleasanton's southeast fi rst-in-the-nation Priority Conser- hills six times. vation Area (PCA) grant program The vote was 3 to 1 with Karla by over 60%. Brown dissenting. Jerry Pentin was PCAs consists of natural areas, absent, because he has een recus- recreation lands, farms, ranches, ing himself because of perserved and urban open spaces that should confl ict of interest. be protected. The city now faces a potential MTC previously approved $10 referendum. A speaker represent- million for open space grants for ing Save Pleasanton Hills told the designated priority conservation council that within 30 days of the areas (PCA) 2012. In December, fi nal approval, plans are to start the board decided to add $16.4 collecting signatures. "We are well million to what are called One Bay funded and believe we will easily Area Grants (OBAG). collect the necessary signatures to Half of the second round of qualify a referendum for the ballot." funding will go to the four North Bay counties (Marin, Solano, (See LUND RANCH, page 12) Sonoma and Napa), which have more open space to protect than Articles Praises the other fi ve counties. However, Alameda and Santa Clara lead the Livermore's remaining counties, since they have larger open space areas than Planning Vision other counties. The fi rst round of funding was split between North Livermore was the topic of a and East/South/West Bay at $5 Forbes Leadership story published million for each of those two geo- Dec. 15. graphical categories. Headlined, "A Community And In the Livermore area, some Its Businesses Thrive Under A 28,000 acres have been desig- Shared Vision," the article says of nated since 2008 as eligible lands, Livermore, "One city’s main street virtually all in south and north in particular also tells the story of how a compelling vision can unify Livermore. In 2015, Livermore Photo - Doug Jorgensen had 16,000 acres added to the a business community, allowing it It was a cold landing for those who braved the slippery spin down a 22-foot waterslide into an unheated to survive the worst of times and list. There is no map showing the pool at the Robert Livermore Community Center during the annual polar bear slide. The event, hosted areas listed as PCAs. However, thrive in the best of times." they will be available in the future. by the Livermore Area Recreation and Park District, includeded complimentary hot chocolate to warm The blog points out that over The Zone 7 Water Agency plan everyone up who took part in the event. The water was reportedly a chilly 40 degrees. the past ten years, downtown Livermore has gone from a four- (See OPEN SPACE, page 4) (See VISION, page 4) The Last Four Months of 2015 The last four months of 2015 start to run out of reserve money concurrently with the study will continued to be about water and and into a slight shortfall in fi scal be the development of strategies land use. Lund Ranch II was the year 2017-18. Later in the month, to pass a local bond in June 2016. focus in Pleasanton. In Livermore, it was revealed that the new Zone 7 The City of Pleasanton agreed the Springtown Golf Course and water rates could mean a potential to act as the lead agency in de- potential uses on vacant land in the water rate increase of 33 percent termining the public's acceptance downtown drew attention. Dublin for calendar year 2016 . However, of the use of recycled water for residents continued to ask the city the fi gures were not fi nal. Directors indirect potable water reuse. The council to slow growth. had many questions about just how process would use reverse osmosis the complicated components that to treat the water to a high stan- SEPTEMBER 2015 go into the fi nal rate would work. dard. Water Policy Roundtable Zone 7 Water Agency began Michael Rodrigues of Liver- members reached consensus to looking at changing how it bills more was one of nine world-class use recycled water as a part of the the four Valley water retailers. athletes inducted into the USA future local water supply portfo- A consultant recommended a 5 Gymnastics Hall of Fame. lios. It was recommended that all percent increase above a projected The Dublin Unifi ed School Dis- the local water agencies initiate a 3 percent increase annually to trict launched a comprehensive Fa- polling and education process us- cover operations and maintenance. cilities Master Plan (FMP) study to ing the Intergovernmental Services Water conservation efforts far look at school construction needs, Agreement that was approved by above state-required percentages costs and demographic projections all agencies during the Utility resulted in a decrease in Zone of future student population. Rapid Integration Study. In addition to 7 revenues. In the consultant's growth in Dublin, as well as the Pleasanton, participants included report, even if the drought were lack of state funding, triggered the the City of Livermore, Dublin San Dan Morris (left) and David Liebenberg tain to qualify for the to end soon, the agency would need to produce the FMP. Running Olympics in Rio de Janeiro this summer. For the story, go to page 7. (continued on page 2) PET OF THE WEEK Gertie’s a good-time gal with a heart of gold. At one year old, INSIDE Gertie gets around on three legs just as well as four, and she’s looking for an indoor-only home where she can exercise MAIN SECTION Sports .................................... 7 her considerable powers of affection. Greet Gertie at Valley Classifieds........................... 10 Obituaries .............................. 9 Humane Society, 3670 Nevada Street in Pleasanton, Tuesday through Saturday from 10am – 4pm. For more information, visit Editorial ................................. 4 SECTION A valleyhumane.org or call (925) 426-8656, and be sure to get your Mailbox .................................. 4 Art & Entertainment .............. 8 tickets early for our March 4 Tails at Twilight gala. Roundup ................................ 3 Bulletin Board ..................... 10 Photo - Valley Humane Society/K. Jacoby Short Notes ........................... 8 Milestones ........................... 12 2 The Independent • January 7, 2016 2015 (continued from front page) for pedestrians, bicyclists and possibly equestrians through the Canyon between Fremont and Sunol. Request for proposals (RFP) were issued seeking plans on how to develop city- owned or controlled parcels in downtown Livermore. The city owns the old Lucky site, across from the Bankhead Theater on the other side of South Livermore Avenue, as well as the parking lot and Speedy Oil Change sites adjacent to the theater. The City sought to identify one (continued on page 3) Photo - Doug Jorgensen Community Health The annual Soccer Parade kicked off the season, as well as the Play Bernal fundraising in Pleasanton.