About John M. Zukoski
Background
John is the publisher of the Around Dublin Blog. He works at Robert Half International and lives in Dublin. As president of Dublin Rotary Club, John dedicates his free time to community service and helping others help themselves. John is also one of the founders of Tassajara Prep and a board member of Shakespeare's Associates.
Contact
Email: John M. Zukoski
Website: http://www.arounddublinblog.com
January 20, 2011 | 
1 Comment | Topics: Opinions
The United States and San Francisco Bay Area job markets are showing signs of strength as the country embarks on its second year of economic recovery. ADP, the nation’s largest outsourcing solutions provider, recently reported that the United States added 297,000 jobs to private company payrolls during December 2010. Over 260,000 jobs were created by small to medium sized businesses. The December monthly increases were the largest in ADP’s history of reporting the figures.
Unemployment seems to be dipping, as well. The Department of Labor has reported a continued downward trend in seasonally-adjusted weekly initial unemployment claims over the past two years with some of the largest improvements coming the past few months. As reported by the major news outlets, unemployment rate in the United States has, in fact, dropped to 9.4%, which is the lowest level in 19 months. Some have pointed out that this recently announced dip is due to a decrease in the number of job seekers. Still, even the most pessimistic critics concede that the United States economy has been adding jobs.
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January 19, 2011 | No Comments | Topics: Announcements · Things To Do
Chris Barnes of Double Oak, TX, the winner of last Sunday’s Professional Bowlers Association (PBA) World Championship in Las Vegas will be among bowling’s top stars who will compete in the PBA One A Day Earl Anthony Memorial at Earl Anthony’s Dublin Bowl January 26th through January 30th. Barnes exorcised his television demons by defeating top qualifier Bill O’Neill of Southampton, PA, 267-237, to win the PBA World Championship at South Point Bowling Center to become the sixth player in PBA history to complete the sport’s Triple Crown.
The Earl Anthony Memorial is the third tournament of PBA’s “live-telecast” Lumber Liquidators PBA Tour schedule. The first six Tour events were broadcast on a tape-delayed basis on ESPN. The Earl Anthony Memorial Open will culminate with the live ESPN2 stepladder finals, which will take place at 11AM Pacific Time on January 30th. In addition to Barnes, Kulick, and O’Neill, many other stars are scheduled to compete including:
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January 18, 2011 | 3 Comments | Topics: Local Issues · Public Works
Residents who travel the stretch of eastbound I-580 through the Dublin/Pleasanton corridor in the evenings may have noticed that traffic has improved significantly since Caltrans made a series of changes to relieve commute-hour congestion. In past years, traffic would gridlock just after the Hopyard Road exit. Traffic now usually flows freely to at least the Fallon/El Charro Road exits during the evening commute.
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January 17, 2011 | 1 Comment | Topics: Opinions · Retail
Incorporating from the lessons of the infamous Webvan implosion in 2001, Safeway offers a terrific online grocery ordering and delivery service through its Safeway.com website. The Around Dublin Team tried out its service using the special “QUICK” promotional code, which included free delivery and took $15 off an order of $50 or more. Although the “QUICK” promotional code expired at the end of 2010, Safeway.com still offers scores of online-only discounts and freebies in addition to the standard Safeway club card deals.
The Safeway.com delivery service provides the ultimate in convenience with features such as “Shop by History,” so customers may easily review their recent orders. Customers also have the option to edit their shopping history. This feature could come in handy, if you made a purchase that you want to hide from your significant other or your other significant other. The “Express List” feature provides a deceptively simple notepad that can easily turn a list of household staples such as milk, butter, and eggs online into a personal shopper with the click of a button, as pages and pages of options are served up for the customers to their shopping carts.
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January 13, 2011 | 9 Comments | Topics: Development · Opinions
The City of Dublin is conducting a study to annex the 1,450 acres of land in between Dublin and Livermore commonly referred to as Doolan Canyon. Pacific Union, the developer for the Doolan Canyon project, is currently proposing to build a Rossmoor-like 1,990 home active lifestyle community for seniors. If built, the Doolan Canyon project will compete with 45-acre Stoneridge Creek senior community at Staples Ranch near El Charro Road just across I-580 in Pleasanton. One of the major obstacles to the project is that the Cities of Dublin and Livermore had previously agreed not to develop the Doolan Canyon area. The City of Dublin and Pacific Union are in a position to make an offer the City of Livermore cannot refuse.
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January 12, 2011 | No Comments | Topics: Opinions · Restaurants
Pamir Restaurant in Dublin, CA’s Ulferts Plaza has had a meteoric rise to Tri-Valley culinary stardom over the past year. In addition to winning a TriValley Views 2010 Readers Choice Award, Pamir’s owners Farid and Sherry have enjoyed a full house of customers during most lunches and dinners. Pamir’s banquet hosting and catering business have also continued to thrive. Customers have awarded Pamir with a 4.5 star rating on Yelp.
Always the innovator, co-owner Sherry has created another Pamir masterpiece with the unassumingly-named Chicken Bake dish. Sherry spends over five hours every Thursday morning to prepare a limited quantity of Chicken Bake, and this amazing dish usually sells out by lunch, unless customers call ahead to reserve a dish or two for dinner.
What makes this dish so special? For starters, Pamir’s Chicken Bake features a thick, creamy sauce made from scratch with Sherry’s mix of secret herbs and spices. The tender and juicy meat from the chicken wings and legs simply falls off the bone with the gentlest of prodding. The chicken and Sherry’s secret sauce is accompanied by Pamir’s signature salad and rice combination.
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January 10, 2011 | 14 Comments | Topics: Development · Opinions
The City of Dublin is expanding eastward towards Livermore, CA. The building out of Fallon Village, which includes the Positano community, and Dublin’s well publicized intention to develop Doolan Canyon are all part of this expansion. Some have speculated that Dublin Boulevard will be extended to Livermore within the next five to six years.
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January 4, 2011 | No Comments | Topics: City Hall · Parks
As reported last year, the City of Dublin experienced issues that led to delays in the completion of Dublin Historic Park Phase I. Originally scheduled to open in 2010, the City of Dublin now hopes to finish Phase I of the Dublin Historic Park in the spring of 2011. The issues that precipitated the delay of the Historic Park’s opening are only now coming to light. The City of Dublin terminated the contract with the original contractor Elite Landscaping in June 2010 “for cause” due to deficiencies during a City Council meeting, but the City did not provide full details of those deficiencies.
Feeling that it is still owed the remainder of the contracted fees because the contract was terminated “for convenience,” Elite Landscaping plans to sue the City of Dublin for over $1M. This hot mess is similar to the one the San Francisco 49ers now face for firing Coach Mike Singletary this season, because the San Francisco 49ers have to pay Singletary the remaining $5M on his four-year contract.
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January 2, 2011 | No Comments | Topics: Announcements · Profiles
Just in time for Super Bowl XLV in early February, Alameda sports legend A.J. Lil’ Arnerich will be sharing his thoughts about the Super Bowl from the referee’s perspective at the Dublin Rotary Club’s January 4, 2011 meeting. Lil’ was a multi-sport official for 35 years. Dublin Rotary Club meetings are held every Tuesday 12:00PM-1:30PM at the Dublin Ranch Golf Course Clubhouse. Members of the public are welcome to attend. The cost of lunch is $18. Please check the Dublin Rotary Club’s website for more information.
Born into a well-known and highly-regarded baseball family of six brothers, Lil’ was a three-time All-City shortstop at McClymonds High School in Oakland, CA. In 1946 Lil’ was selected to the United States All-Star baseball team. Lil’ attended St. Mary’s College and signed with Casey Stengel and the Oakland Oaks in 1948. Lil’ worked for the City of Alameda’s Parks and Recreation department for 35 years and served on Alameda’s City Council for 10 years.
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