By Saskia Hatvany When California Governor Gavin Newsom issued the state’s first stay-at-home order in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, local bicycle shop owner David Way thought that his business could be in trouble. Little did he know that 2020 would mark his busiest year yet. In the month of April, 2020 alone, global bike sales reached a record $1 billion, according to a study by The NPD Group, and by the end of May, bicycle manufacturers were all but sold out.

Sources: NPD Group (https://www.npd.com/wps/portal/npd/us/news/press-releases/2020/cycling-industry-sales-growth-accelerates-in-april/) Taylor Francis Online (https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/01441647.2021.1914900)

Review of an audio story by Katrina Schwartz and Rob Speight for Bay Curious, KQED https://www.kqed.org/news/11837051/the-story-behind-the-golden-gate-bridges-new-howl This Bay Curious episode investigates the mysterious sound that could be heard from San Francisco’s Golden Gate Bridge in early 2020. The episode features mostly the voices of Katrina Schwartz, the Bay Curious host…

By Saskia Hatvany Captured in February and March 2020, this series documents the routines of one daily life almost exactly one year after the COVID-19 pandemic caused the world to enter a collective quarantine. During the simultaneously long and short days of lockdown, the monotone palette of home life is briefly shattered by a colorful day out or a joyful porch drink with a friend. Meanwhile, some things remain constant: a beloved pet, a cherished partner, a setting sun.

A picture of me at 20 years old standing in a rice field in the mountains near SaPa, Vietnam. Situated on the edge of a cliff, these fields belong to a family of the Hmong Tribe, an indigenous group that resides throughout South East Asia. Many still live a very…

Peralta leaders cite sharp enrollment decline, low productivity — By Saskia Hatvany, Contributor The Peralta community has expressed concern over the district administration’s announcement that it has cut 6% of classes district-wide for the spring semester and will make additional class cuts in fall 2020 following recommendations from the Fiscal Crisis Management Analysis Team (FCMAT) report released in June…

Climate strikers of all ages rallied on the Laney College quad before they boarded BART to join marchers in San Francisco. Students from nearby Montclair Elementary and St. Paul’s Episcopal School in Oakland sat front and center as speakers sang songs and called for direct action under the threat of Climate Change. Photos by Saskia Hatvany