These guys are awesome, they printed up 3 sets of prints for me in about 30 minutes, prices were…read morevery reasonable, I highly recommend Central Blueprint.

Super quick, great service. Emailed my plans and picked them up the next day. Always responsive and…read moreefficient!

I hate these bastards. I had to publish my fictitious business name (which is a pain in the ass…read moreenough as it is) and these schmucks wanted to charge me sixty bucks to do it. Furthermore, their process for submitting your information is complicated, involving snail mail and fax machines. Plus I had to navigate their phone tree multiple times AND they were rude when I finally got to talk to a human. They also tried to convince me that there was no way to pay LESS than sixty bucks for this service, as they have a monopoly on the newspapers in the bay area and therefore charge sixty bucks for every newspaper you might attempt to call. They said that their newspapers are the ONLY newspapers acceptable to the government for these kinds of legal notices. They're liars and they suck. If you need to publish a fictitious business name, go to the Inter-City Express instead. Not only is it "acceptable" to the government, it was actually RECOMMENDED to me by a government agent. STICK IT TO THE MAN, I SAY.

To ring in the new year, this review is for the Trib's bells…read more Today, while walking through the crisp air in downtown Oakland around 5:30 pm, I stopped to listen to the bells of the Oakland Tribune Tower. I have a thing for bells. I love living in a neighborhood, visiting small towns, and being in places where bells (probably recorded but still cool nonetheless) ring gloriously. For a few seconds, you are reminded of where you are and what you were doing when the bells rang. I'd probably fell differently if if I lived *next* to one though. According to Wikipedia, bell towers (or belfries) rang bells to signify the hour, for special occasions or hearken the old days to sound a civil defense or fire alarm. History comes alive. The Trib's bells ring daily around 12 noon. Other famous local belfries include the Ferry Building's clock tower and the Campanile Bell Tower at UC Berkeley and the many church bell towers including one in my beloved 'hood-St. Peter & Paul's. So next time if you are in the vicinity of a bell tower/belfry on or near the hour, stop, listen and remember.

I love the Castro Valley Forum. The CV Forum informs me of important occurrences in my…read moreneighborhood of over 20 years. Hats off to the THE CVV Forum team that brings a great newspaper to Castro Valley each week.

I cancelled the SF Chronicle end East Bay Times as they have virtually no Castro Valley news. The…read moreCV Forum is it. I appreciate that it's free, and has a variety of local events and local advertising. I pick my copy up at the Aitken Senior Community Center on Wednesdays. That they print your articles occasionally is great for our community. Also, local organization announcements are accepted. Thank you so much, CV Forum!

The Alameda Journal (AJ) is not a hometown newspaper…read more The AJ is actually part of the East bay Times Community newspapers group, which covers Alameda and Contra Costa Counties. I don't subscribe to it, but I do occasionally get a free paper on my driveway. It contains local, county and State news. But half the paper is all about ads and real estate. But that's ok, someone has to pay the bills right? I just look at what interests me. I've lived in Alameda for decades, and we no longer have a true home town paper, like we did with the Alameda Times-Star. The closest thing now is the Alameda Sun, and it's website is a wealth of info. There's also lots of Alameda facebook groups where residents chat and post about what's happening right now. Some people use Nextdoor for neighborhood news. So it appears the hometown newspaper has been replaced by social media.

If you are considering purchasing or renting property in this town, make sure that you do not use…read moreany real estate company or person from Alameda. I have lived in Alameda for more than 40 years on and off. My mother died here after being a resident for 45 years. I always read the journal just to see how much money the local real estate thief's are putting into the journals advertisement pockets. Anyone who has been here long enough to be able track the real estate prices for the last 40 years is probably shaking his or her head right now. I remember when a home on central ave. was selling for $ 38,000 just 25 years ago, that is listed right now for $ 660,000. This property is stucco over dry rotted redwood, sheet rocked interior with old tube and knob wiring, a foundation that is brick encased in concrete with minor anchoring and plumbing that is a combination of galvanized supply line, black pipe here and there, or PVC wherever the previous owners could get away with it. It's also listed with that much sought phrase "bonus room " and states that the garage has been converted into a storage area with a separate entrance, plumbing, finished walls , electrical and finished ceilings. This town has 80 + year old wood and stucco homes that are literally held together with either paint, stucco ,an incredible amount of sealant , siding or other creative aesthetic coverings designed to disguise the fact that most of the older wooden structures are dry rotted, insect & mold , mildew troubled structures. Any news about this towns renters , be it complaints about the way the owners treat their tenants, the conditions of some rental complexes on shoreline drive, especially the 40 or more unit complexes that fall into a special city controlled category, the violations being dealt with by our building dept. or important information or news that may help renters is purposely and quickly buried and not reported. I have personally contacted the journals reporter with information regarding massive city code violations, living condition abuse at a complex on shoreline Dr. and was told that the journals revenues are not drawn from complaints but instead from real estate based contributions, and that the complaint path is nonexistent as far as news in the journal.

The worse service that I ever have at Chevy's in Union Landing! We waited for somebody to help us -…read moreit took about 1.45 minutes to have someone to attend us.

My high school teacher referred to this paper as the "daily manure." I always thought he was a bit…read moreharsh with words but I can't recommend this paper either. I like newspapers - at this point with the internet they are almost a novelty item... plus when your finished reading them you can stuff them at the bottom of your bird or bunny cage. If you are going to subscribe to a paper I believe that the Wall Street Journal has better authors who know how to write in a more proper English.

Ashley came through once again!…read more In such short time, Ashley provided great customer service and met every expectation when it came to my cousin's obituaries. We loved the obituaries and how they turned out. With this being such a hard time for our family, Ashley was very understand and patient with us still insuring that we got the obituaries on time for the service. We've worked with Ashley before and in spite of the situation we're glad she was able to work with us again! Thank you for X's obituaries Ashley!

I was in need of major help in getting my sister's obituary designed, formatted and printed. Three…read morepeople fell through. I had to make it happen so I went to work doing what I could. But thank God, my sister reached out to Ashley with #CD4Print. We connected Sunday. By Monday I had the info to her. By Tuesday I reviewed 2 drafts with only minor typing/grammar errors (in which were mine). Final draft was approved Weds. at 2:20 AM. That's right. She was up and busy in the wee hours. Can we say COME THRU #CD4PRINT! I'd definitely refer them to anyone in need of graphic design. Visit her on FB or IG to see her work. You won't be disappointed! FB: https://www.facebook.com/cd4print/ IG: CD4Print