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The Alameda Pulse
Sean
October 15, 2026
Happy Thursday, everyone!
Two very different Saturdays are happening at once: the Donut Fun Run's 5K at Seaplane Lagoon and She Shreds' free festival at Webster Park, then Sunday is the last day ever at The Rake.
In the news, Main Street's weekday ferries end Nov 2 for good, the Planning Board sent the Gibbons tree plan back, and a self-flying cargo plane company wants Google's old hangar. Monday is the deadline to register to vote, and our Restaurant of the Week serves its Spam fries standing up in the can.
Let's dive in!
In this week's email:
Featured Events: Donut 5K, She Shreds, The Rake's last call
Alameda News: Main St ferries end, Gibbons trees, Poseidon's hangar
Restaurant of the Week: 1400 Bar & Grill's Spam fries
Community Spotlight: FAAS's biggest party of the year
This Week's Events: Haunted Hornet, Zane Lamprey, pumpkin patch
Houses on the Market: New Alameda listings
Read time: 8 mins
FEATURED EVENTS
Saturday, Oct 17 | 9 AM | $60 adults, $25 kids under 12 and seniors 65+ | 📍 Seaplane Lagoon Promenade.
The 4th Annual Donut A 5K is back this Saturday!
It's the Donut Fun Run, and this year's proceeds go to Girls Inc. of the Island City.
Every registration comes with:
A race shirt, a finisher's medal and a Donut Petit donut
A finish-line festival with a donut-eating contest, live music and vendor booths
Beer and wine for the 21+ crowd
New this year: a costume contest with prizes. Registration stays open until the 9 AM start.
Discount code: PULSE for $10 off registration.
Saturday, Oct 17 | 2 to 8 PM | Free, all ages | 📍 Webster Park.
Eight women-led Bay Area bands on one outdoor stage on the West End, and it costs nothing.
She Shreds is a local community of women and gender-expansive musicians. This is their second Webster Park festival this year.
Eight bands from 2:15 to close, StarStrut and Girls Like Knives among them.
Bring a chair. Local makers and women-owned vendors set up around the park.
Sunday, Oct 18 is the last day | Sat 11:30 AM to 9 PM, Sun 11:30 AM to 7 PM | 📍 The Rake at Admiral Maltings.
The Rake pours its last pint on Sunday, Oct 18, after nine years at Alameda Point.
Admiral Maltings opened in 2017 as California's first floor malthouse since Prohibition. The malting side shut down Oct 2, and as of Oct 10 the pub still had a full tap list, 22 beers made with their own malt, plus the house-smoked BBQ.
The owners asked for one last round and a toast to the California farmers who grew the barley.
Photos: Pi.1415926535 / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0), City of Alameda, Poseidon Aero
Starting Monday, Nov 2, no weekday ferry runs between Main Street Alameda and downtown San Francisco. SF Bay Ferry adopted the change it floated in September. Weekday Oakland boats skip Main Street both ways, and the 5:55 AM boat out of Oakland is gone. Weekends don't change.
Seaplane Lagoon and Harbor Bay pick up the slack. Seaplane adds 6 AM, 5:25 PM and 7:50 PM trips to the city and 5 PM and 7:15 PM trips back. Harbor Bay adds a 1:05 PM to SF plus 12:30 PM and 8:10 PM returns. One more wrinkle: the South San Francisco route and the weekday Short Hop to Oakland both pause Nov 1 to 30 for dredging, so Main Street has no weekday boats at all in November. See the new schedules →
Source: SF Bay Ferry
The Planning Board would not recommend the city's Gibbons Drive Sidewalks and Trees Plan Monday night. It voted 4 to 0 to send it back to staff and asked to see it again with changes. The plan caps removals at 20% of the remaining 112 sweetgums per five years. Most of the board called that too high and floated 10%, with dead trees and emergencies handled separately. Staff said the plan still goes to City Council in December, and the public comment survey is open through Oct 23. Comment on the draft →
Separately, Councilmember Tony Daysog wants the whole canopy declared a Protected Tree Corridor and Historic Cultural Landscape. His referral goes to Council on Tuesday, Oct 20. If it moves forward, any sidewalk or utility work that touches a Gibbons tree would need a Certificate of Approval from the Historical Advisory Board first. Read the referral →
Poseidon, a San Francisco startup building autonomous cargo aircraft, wants to lease Building 11 at Alameda Point, the 110,000-square-foot hangar Google and Makani left at the end of 2020. The deal is seven years with two five-year options. Council takes it up Tuesday, Oct 20, and it needs four votes to pass.
The city expects about $12.6 million over the first seven years, and Poseidon says it will grow from 30 employees to 100 next year, most of them here. Rent starts at $1.50 a square foot and rises 3.5% a year. The company just raised $60 million and is already in the building on a short-term license. Read the staff report →
Source: City of Alameda
Monday, Oct 19 at 5 PM is the deadline to register to vote in the Nov 3 election. Vote centers open Oct 24. Alameda County Registrar
Clement Avenue has been ready to open for 11 months. On Oct 6, Council unanimously asked staff for other truck-route options before trucks go on it, and for a way to open the street meanwhile. City of Alameda
The Alameda Museum is returning its Ohlone cultural collection to the Confederated Villages of Lisjan. The formal repatriation is set for 2026-27, with an Ohlone-led exhibit to follow. Alameda Museum
Photos: 1400 Bar & Grill via Google, The Alameda Pulse
1400 Bar & Grill has held down the corner of Webster and Central for 15 years, in a building that goes back to 1879. Co-owner Yanni Placourakis took it over with a kindergarten buddy, and he says the goal is that you feel like you're walking into a friend's house. He spent 30 years in fine dining before this, so every sauce and dressing is made in-house.
I stopped in, and the Spam fries are the order. They come standing up in a Spam can with white rice at the bottom and two dips, sriracha mayo and wasabi mayo. My favorites:
Spam fries (great crunch, get both sauces)
Corned beef hash (brisket inside, and it's huge)
Greek wings (lemon, garlic, oregano and olive oil)
The Mai Tai (poke it, don't stir it, so every sip tastes the same)
Open daily from 11 AM, and from 10 AM on weekends. 1400 Webster St, with a patio out back.
Photo: Friends of the Alameda Animal Shelter
FAAS runs Alameda's animal shelter, and Friday night is its biggest fundraiser of the year. The 15th After the Ball is Friday, Oct 16, 6 to 9 PM at Gold Bar Whiskey at Alameda Point: open bar, a three-course dinner from Pacific Fine Foods, and KRON4's John Shrable as emcee.
The paddle raise funds the Starfish Fund, FAAS's emergency medical fund, named for a 10-week-old German shepherd puppy found on Crown Beach unable to stand. The fund paid for her surgeries, she learned to run, and a family adopted her.
Tickets are $200. The silent auction is open to everyone, no ticket needed, and it closes Friday night. Trips, wine tastings and a ride-along with the animal control officer.
Friends of the Library Used Book Sale, final days | Thursday, Oct 15 to Saturday, Oct 17 | 10 AM to 4 PM | Free entry | 📍 Main Library. 10,000-plus books in the Stafford Room, last chance this fall. Details
Whimsy Willow Pumpkin Play Patch | Friday, Oct 16 | 5:30 to 7:30 PM | 📍 Whimsy Willow. Pumpkins, crafts, vendors and photo ops in a garden. Details
Free Craft Night: Halloween trinket tins | Thursday, Oct 15 | 6 to 9 PM | Free | 📍 Faction Brewing. All ages, no RSVP. Details
Rhythmix20 Community Paint Day | Saturday, Oct 17 | 10 AM to 2 PM | Free, lunch at noon | 📍 Rhythmix Cultural Works. Paint the Rhythmix20 sidewalk mural. Sign up
Live music at Cinema Grill | Thursday, Oct 15 to Saturday, Oct 17 | 7:30 PM | 1-drink minimum or $5 cover | 📍 Cinema Grill. Mio Flores SalSazz Trio Thursday, Phree Thinkers Friday and Saturday. Lineup
Alameda Community Band Fall Concert | Friday, Oct 16 | 7:30 PM | Free | 📍 Mastick Senior Center. Grundman, Anderson and Schubert from the town's volunteer band. Details
USS Haunted Hornet: The Devil's Sea | Thursday, Oct 15 to Sunday, Oct 18 | Entry from 6:30 PM | From $30 plus fees; ages 13+ | 📍 USS Hornet. A haunted house on the lower decks, timed entry. Tickets
Zane Lamprey: Half Full Comedy Tour | Saturday, Oct 17 | Doors 7:30 PM; show 8 PM | $27.28 to $42.71; 21+ | 📍 Alameda Brewing. The Amazon Prime comic, all-new material. Tickets
Trivia Tuesday | Tuesday, Oct 20 | 7 to 9 PM | 📍 Alameda Brewing. Weekly taproom trivia. Details
Fireside Trivia | Tuesday, Oct 20 | 8 PM | Free to play | 📍 The Fireside Lounge. Prizes every round. Details
McGee's Trivia | Wednesday, Oct 21 | 6:30 PM | 📍 McGee's. Sunset Trivia's weekly Wednesday game. Details
Alameda High football vs. Tennyson | Friday, Oct 16 | 7 PM | 📍 Alameda High. The Hornets' first home game since Oct 2. Schedule
Filipino American History Month: Music, Stories and Halo Halo | Sunday, Oct 18 | 1 to 4:30 PM | Free | 📍 Main Library. An author reading, a bilingual music set and free halo halo from The Sarap Shop. Details
Alameda Point Pumpkin Patch | Daily | Mon to Thu 2 to 9 PM; Fri noon to 9 PM; Sat and Sun 9 AM to 9 PM | Admission online; under 2 free | 📍 Speer Family Farms, 2171 Monarch St. Giant slides, a train, a petting zoo, a corn maze. Details
LuxFit grand opening | Sunday, Oct 18 | 10 AM to 2 PM | Free, RSVP | 📍 LuxFit at Star Harbor. Ribbon cutting, tours and free classes at 10:30, 11:45 and 1. RSVP
Crown Beach dune restoration | Saturday, Oct 17 | 9 AM to noon | Free; register | 📍 Crown Beach, Otis Drive lot. Plant native dune grasses before the storms. Details
Alameda Walks: Bayport to Estuary Park | Saturday, Oct 17 | 9 to 10 AM | Free | 📍 Bayport Park. A history walk through the first post-Navy neighborhood. Details
Paddles & Tiles | Saturday, Oct 17 | 4 to 8 PM | $20 | 📍 The HUB. Pickleball and mahjong social; beginner mahjong is full. Tickets
Autumn Job Fair | Thursday, Oct 15 | 2 to 4 PM | Free | 📍 South Shore Center. 20-plus employers hiring; first 50 get a free headshot. Details
HOUSES ON THE MARKET
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