Welcome to The E’ville Eye News, a citizen-journalist powered news platform covering Emeryville and its surrounding neighborhoods. The E’ville Eye was founded in 2011 after Editor Rob Arias was robbed at gunpoint and was frustrated by his inability to alert neighbors to be more vigilant. There simply was no vehicle to communicate with an entire city. Technology finally caught up with our vision through the WordPress platform.
While the initial focus of the platform was public safety, we’ve branched out to include food & drink, development, business, history and more.
Founder/Editor:
Rob is a third generation Californian and East Bay native who lived in Emeryville from 2003 to 2021. Rob founded The E’ville Eye in 2011 after being robbed at gunpoint and lamenting the lack of local news coverage. Rob’s “day job” is as a creative professional.
Rob also manages The E’ville Eye’s social media accounts and is an officer with The Emeryville Historical Society.
Current Contributors:
Bobby Lee (Transit)
A Bay Area native who’s lived in the Christie Core Neighborhood since 2010, Bobby enjoys exploring the far corners of our region, trying the newest restaurants in the area, or relaxing to ’80s era television sitcoms and game shows. For the past six years, he’s hosted a web video series called 2 Minute Finance teaching basic money management and consumer education.
Vivian Wolf
Dr. Vivian Wolf is a professor of English, writing, and disability studies at Dominican University of California. Her scholarly research focuses on U.S. women’s disability literature from the mid to late 19th century. She is also a ballroom dancer, cat lover, and board game enthusiast. Vivian moved to Emeryville in 2022.
Matthew Rodriguez
Matt is a California native who has lived in the East Bay since 2020. In addition to writing grant proposals in a professional capacity, he also dabbles in a variety of personal writing projects. As a Cal graduate with eclectic interests ranging from art and literature, to food, music, politics and philosophy, he finds Emeryville and the East Bay to be an apropos and vibrant center of life, labor, and leisure.
Jordan Potier (Freelance Photojournalist)
Jordan is a 21-year-old Oakland Native and current Bay Street resident.
Jordan enjoys music, playing video games and of course photography. Jordan is on the autism spectrum and considers himself an ally of the LGBTQ+ community.
Freelance Contributor Donna Arkee is a Bay Area based artist, comedian, vintage sourcer and pigeon enthusiast. Iranian against their will and good judgement, they truly enjoy a cup of hot chai with a side of hot gossip. Despite having a Master’s in Women and Gender Studies from San Francisco State University, and two bachelor’s degrees in Anthropology and Ethnic Studies from UC Riverside, they perpetually work retail and service jobs and can personally assure you that baristas do not care about what you order.
Past Contributors:
Joey Enos
Joey is an artist and historian who is a 5th generation East Bay Resident and resided in Emeryville for many years. His family has a long history in Emeryville and operated the Michel & Pelton Company off of Horton from 1929-1982. His great-grandmother was Earl Warren’s secretary when Emeryville was coined “The Rotten City.” Joey works as a Collections Manager for The National Pastime Museum. Follow Joey’s curated collection of Mudflat Art pics on Instagram @emeryville_mudflats.
Sarah Belle Lin
Sarah has been writing for the better part of her life. Now she is finishing her journalism minor at Cal, reporting for a community newspaper, and freelancing for local media outlets. Sarah has written stories on local government, education, transportation, homelessness, and climate change. Sarah aims to highlight POC narratives and is excited to contribute a fresh perspective to The E’ville Eye.
Nicole Gruen
Nicole Gruen is a top real estate agent at Coldwell Banker who specializes in the East Bay—especially in Emeryville where she lives. After working for 15+ years in Silicon Valley for companies like IBM, NVDIA, and Nestle, she transitioned to pursue real estate, which was a true passion for her. With her extensive knowledge of the East Bay markets, Nicole is a unique agent who combines her data-driven approach and people-first philosophy to help you buy, sell, and market homes with ease. For more information, visit her website: www.eastbayreal.com
Cindy Warner
Cindy lives in Emeryville after finding a 38 foot sailboat at Emery Cove two years ago. She learned to sail at Cal Sailing and covered the America’s Cup in SF. She grew up in the East Bay and finds the shoreline home. She has written on San Francisco Arts & Culture since January 2009, using her bicycle and public transportation to cover stories all over the SF Bay Area.
Christine Mason
Christine has been a Bay Street resident of Emeryville since 2011 where she lives with her husband and son. She’s a Real Estate Agent at Coldwell Banker. She is a board member at California Explorer Search & Rescue and a CERT instructor. She has a passion for the outdoors, rock climbing, hiking and camping.
Christopher Bennett
Christopher was born and raised in the north bay and now lives on the Emeryville/Oakland border in the Longfellow neighborhood with his wife and two cats (Sherlock and Watson). When he’s not writing, Chris works as an attorney who assist engineers and professional consultants navigate their contracts and related business issues.
Kerry Gluchowski
Kerry grew up in the East Bay, leaving only for college in Santa Barbara. She and her husband moved to Emeryville in 2013, eventually into her Great Grandmother’s condo in Pacific Park Plaza. Kerry is a trail runner, road cyclist, open water swimmer, and avid reader. She has a healthy obsession with her Chiweenie, Pickle McParty. (Instagram: @yellowfordays).
Leslie Kurland
Leslie grew up in a small town and loves the sense of community she has found in the East Bay. A resident of the Golden Gate neighborhood since 2013, Leslie can be found taking her French Bulldog on walks, finding new places to eat and drink or playing soccer. A marketer by trade, Leslie also enjoys traveling, reading and conducting home improvement projects.
Brenda Ton
A loyal East Bay native who’s lived in Emeryville since 2012. Brenda is a food writer with a passion for exploring the local food scene and learning about the culture of food. When her mind isn’t fixated on food, she’s enjoying a bike ride along the marina. She has a weakness for salty pig parts and ice cream. Check out her food blog Bites & Bourbon
Jaime graduated from UC Berkeley in 2010 and has been living in Oakland for five years. Jaime will be focusing on covering developments in the dynamic West Oakland area.
Calvin Rouse
Originally hailing from Sacramento, Calvin is a nine-year chef who’s worked at Whole Foods, A Legendary Event, The Fifth Group and as a chef for Food Network’s “Good Eats”. Calvin has catered at four Superbowls for Taste of the NFL, Atlanta Food and Wine Festival, personal caterer for Coca Cola’s SVP of North American Sales and even appeared on an episode of “Good Eats” alongside of Alton Brown.
Jacqueline J.R. Hampton
Fiction writer and cat aficionado discovered Emeryville in the ’90s, loved it and stayed. Her most recent thriller, “Eidolon” (working title) is out to agents and she’s begun work on the second book in the series. Follow Jacqueline on Twitter.
William He
William is an aspiring urban planner with a Master’s Degree from San Jose State University. He wrote his thesis on the impact of redevelopment projects in Emeryville from the 1990’s to the present. His interests involve community planning, land uses, and urban design. William moved to Emeryville in 2011 and grew up in Oakland. On his spare time he enjoys traveling and photography.
Erin Lopez (Mommy Blogger)
Erin Lopez grew up in the Bay Area but has spent the last seven years in Emeryville. All of her major milestones have happened in our city, including getting engaged, married and becoming a parent to three babies (one furry mutt, Mox, and two kids, Izzi and Vinny). Her entire gang can often be found at her favorite local spot, Doyle-Hollis Park.
Disclaimer
All data and information provided on this site is for informational purposes only. EvilleEye.com makes no representations as to accuracy, completeness, currentness, suitability, or validity of any information on this site and will not be liable for any errors, omissions, or delays in this information or any losses, injuries, or damages arising from its display or use. All information is provided on an as-is basis.
Corrections
There are times when we get things wrong and we’re not afraid to admit it. If you catch a mistake, please let us know and we’ll document it on our dedicated Corrections page.