Lafayette Advances BART Bike Station as Wrubel Leads Berkeley Race

Commuter bicycle connectivity at the Lafayette BART station, a razor-thin ranked-choice City Council count in neighboring Berkeley, and a regional public radio digital listening study headlined civic developments across the Highway 24 corridor this week.

Lafayette BART Bike Station and Pathway Project Enters Structural Steel Phase Week of Nov. 9

The City of Lafayette issued a construction progress update detailing work completed on the Lafayette BART Bike Station and Pathway Project and scheduling upcoming milestones for the week of November 9, 2026. Over the past week, contractors completed grading and forming for the new pathway and curb along the east side of the project site and poured the underlying slurry cement base.

During the week of November 9, crews will place reinforcing steel (rebar) and pour the concrete base for pathway pavers and adjacent curbing, while ironworkers begin erecting the structural steel frame for the enclosed Lafayette BART bike station. Construction hours are scheduled from 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday. While the BART pedestrian bridge and station entrance remain open, the city advised commuters to follow posted detours around fenced work zones, yield to construction vehicles, and expect intermittent construction noise. Residents with project inquiries can contact Lafayette Engineering Services Manager Matt Luttropp.

Daria Wrubel Leads Laura Babitt by 55 Votes in Berkeley District 1 Ranked-Choice Count

West of the East Bay hills, updated ballot returns released Friday afternoon by the Alameda County Registrar of Voters tightened the seven-candidate race for Berkeley City Council District 1 (covering Northwest Berkeley, Westbrae, Poet's Corner, and the Marina). As reported by Berkeleyside, Marina Commissioner Daria Wrubel holds a 55-vote lead over Planning Commissioner Laura Babitt in the final round of ranked-choice voting, with 2,847 votes (50.49%) for Wrubel to 2,792 votes (49.51%) for Babitt.

With 5,950 total ballots tallied in District 1 so far, the initial first-choice vote distribution remained extraordinarily close: Wrubel led with 1,523 first-choice votes (26.25%), followed by Babitt with 1,508 votes (25.99%) and Zoning Adjustments Board member Ross Bernet with 1,471 votes (25.35%)—leaving just 52 votes separating the top 3 contenders before ranked-choice eliminations transferred Bernet's second-choice preferences to Wrubel and Babitt.

KPFA 94.1 FM Launches Public Radio TechSurvey 2026 With NFCB and PMCC

Also in Berkeley, listener-sponsored community station KPFA 94.1 FM invited East Bay and Northern California audiences to participate in Public Radio TechSurvey 2026, a national study conducted in partnership with Jacobs Media, the National Federation of Community Broadcasters (NFCB), and the Public Media Content Collective (PMCC). KPFA Interim General Manager Antonio Ortiz said the confidential 15-to-20-minute online questionnaire examines how listeners use FM broadcast radio, mobile apps, smart speakers, podcasts, and newsletters so the station can plan its upcoming digital and broadcast services.