text:
Auld Lang Syne

"Auld Lang Syne" is a popular Scottish song, particularly in the English-speaking world. Traditionally, it is sung to bid farewell to the old year at the stroke of midnight on New Year's Eve/Hogmanay. By extension, it is also often heard at funerals, graduations, and as a farewell or ending to other occasions; for instance, many branches of the Scouting movement use it to close jamborees and other functions.

The text is a Scots-language poem written by Robert Burns in 1788 but based on an older Scottish folk song. In 1799, it was set to a traditional tune, which has since become standard. "Auld Lang Syne" is listed as numbers 6294 and 13892 in the Roud Folk Song Index.

The poem's Scots title may be translated into standard English as "old long since" or, less literally, "long long ago", "days gone by", "times long past" or "old times". Consequently, "For auld lang syne", as it appears in the first line of the chorus, might be loosely translated as "for the sake of old times".

The phrase "Auld Lang Syne" is also used in similar poems by Robert Ayton (1570–1638), Allan Ramsay (1686–1757), and James Watson (1711), as well as older folk songs predating Burns.

In modern times, Matthew Fitt uses the phrase "in the days of auld lang syne" as the equivalent of "once upon a time" in his retelling of fairy tales in the Scots language.

History
Robert Burns sent a copy of the original song to the Scots Musical Museum in 1788 with the remark, "The following song, an old song, of the olden times, and which has never been in print, nor even in manuscript until I took it down from an old man."

Some of the lyrics were indeed "collected" rather than composed by the poet; the ballad "Old Long Syne" printed in 1711 by James Watson shows considerable similarity in the first verse and the chorus to Burns's later poem, and is almost certainly derived from the same "old song". To quote from the first stanza of the James Watson ballad:

"Should Old Acquaintance be forgot, and never thought upon; The flames of Love extinguished, and fully past and gone: Is thy sweet Heart now grown so cold, that loving Breast of thine; That thou canst never once reflect On old long syne.

Chorus:
 * On old long syne my Jo,
 * On old long syne,
 * That thou canst never once reflect,
 * On old long syne."

It is a fair supposition to attribute the rest of the poem to Burns himself.

The song originally had another melody, which can be traced to around 1700 and was deemed "mediocre" by Robert Burns. The first documented use of the melody commonly used today was in 1799, in the second volume of George Thomson's Select Songs of Scotland. The tune is a pentatonic Scots folk melody, which was probably originally a sprightly dance with a much quicker tempo. There is some doubt as to whether this melody is the one Burns originally intended his version of the song to be sung to.

Singing the song on Hogmanay or New Year's Eve very quickly became a Scots custom that soon spread to other parts of the British Isles. As Scots (as well as English, Welsh and Irish people) emigrated around the world, they took the song with them.

Versions of "Auld Lang Syne" which use other lyrics and melodies have survived as folk songs in isolated Scottish communities. The American folk song collector James Madison Carpenter collected a version of the song from a man named William Still of Cuminestown, Aberdeenshire in the early 1930s, who can be heard singing the song on the Vaughan Williams Memorial Library website.

Lyrics
The song begins by posing a rhetorical question: Is it right that old times be forgotten? The answer is generally interpreted as a call to remember long-standing friendships. Alternatively, "Should" may be understood to mean "if" (expressing the conditional mood) referring to a possible event or situation.

George Thomson's Select Songs of Scotland was published in 1799 in which the second verse about greeting and toasting was moved to its present position at the end.

Most common usage of the song involves only the first verse and the chorus. The last lines of both of these are often sung with the extra words "For the sake of" or "And days of", rather than Burns's simpler lines. This makes these lines strictly syllabic, with just one note per syllable.

Settings and quotations of the melody
English composer William Shield seems to quote the "Auld Lang Syne" melody briefly at the end of the overture to his opera Rosina (1782), which may be its first recorded use. The contention that Burns borrowed the melody from Shield is for various reasons highly unlikely, although they may very well both have taken it from a common source, possibly a strathspey called "The Miller's Wedding" or "The Miller's Daughter". The problem is that tunes based on the same set of dance steps necessarily have a similar rhythm, and even a superficial resemblance in melodic shape may cause a very strong apparent similarity in the tune as a whole. For instance, Burns' poem "Comin' Thro' the Rye" is sung to a tune that might also be based on the "Miller's Wedding". The origin of the tune of "God Save the King" presents a very similar problem and for just the same reason, as it is also based on a dance measure. (See the note in the William Shield article on this subject.)

In 1792, the Austrian composer Joseph Haydn arranged Auld Lang Syne as one of over 400 Scottish folk song arrangements commissioned by George Thomson and the publishers William Napier and William Whyte; his arrangement may have helped popularise the song. Ludwig van Beethoven also wrote an arrangement of Auld Lang Syne (WoO 156/11) published as part of his 12 Scottish Folksongs (1814). Both of these classical versions use the original brisk strathspey rhythm.

In 1855, different words were written for the Auld Lang Syne tune by Albert Laighton and titled, "Song of the Old Folks". This song was included in the tunebook, Father Kemp's Old Folks Concert Tunes published in Boston, Massachusetts, in 1860. For many years it was the tradition of the Stoughton Musical Society to sing this version in memory of those who had died that year.

Songwriter George M. Cohan quotes the first line of the "Auld Lang Syne" melody in the second to last line of the chorus of “You're a Grand Old Flag”. It is plain from the lyrics that this is deliberate; the melody is identical except the first syllable of the word "forgot".

John Philip Sousa quotes the melody in the Trio section of his 1924 march "Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company".

English composer of light music Ernest Tomlinson wrote a Fantasia on Auld Lang Syne (1976), which in its 20 minutes weaves in 152 quotations from pieces by other popular and classical composers.

In the Sacred Harp choral tradition, an arrangement of it exists under the name "Plenary". The lyrics are a memento mori and begin with the words "Hark! from the tomb a doleful sound". Another Christian setting, using the name "Fair Haven" for the same tune, uses the text "Hail! Sweetest, Dearest Tie That Binds" by Amos Sutton. In a similar vein, in 1999 Cliff Richard released a setting of the Lord's Prayer (as "The Millennium Prayer") to the melody.

British soldiers in World War I trenches sang "We're Here Because We're Here" to the tune of "Auld Lang Syne".

At New Year
"Auld Lang Syne" is traditionally sung at the conclusion of New Year gatherings in Scotland and around the world, especially in English-speaking countries.

At Hogmanay in Scotland, it is common practice that everyone joins hands with the person next to them to form a great circle around the dance floor. At the beginning of the last verse (And there's a hand, my trusty fiere!/and gie's a hand o' thine!), everyone crosses their arms across their breast, so that the right hand reaches out to the neighbour on the left and vice versa. When the tune ends, everyone rushes to the middle, while still holding hands. When the circle is re-established, everyone turns under the arms to end up facing outwards with hands still joined. The tradition of singing the song when parting, with crossed hands linked, arose in the mid-19th century among Freemasons and other fraternal organisations.

Outside Scotland the hands are often crossed from the beginning of the song, at variance with Scottish custom. The Scottish practice was demonstrated by Queen Elizabeth II at the Millennium Dome celebrations for the year 2000. Some press outlets berated her for not "properly" crossing her arms, unaware that she was correctly following the Scottish tradition.

At other times
As well as celebrating the New Year, "Auld Lang Syne" is very widely used to symbolise other "endings/new beginnings" – including farewells, funerals (and other memorials of the dead), graduations, the end of a (non-New Year) party, jamborees of the Scout Movement, the election of a new government, the last lowering of the Union Jack as a British colony achieves independence and even as a signal that a retail store is about to close for the day. The melody is also widely used for other words, especially hymns, the songs of sporting and other clubs, and even national anthems (South Korea in the 1940s, and the Maldives until 1972). In Scotland and other parts of Britain, in particular, it is associated with celebrations and memorials of Robert Burns. The following list of specific uses is far from comprehensive.

In the English-speaking world

 * In Scotland, it is often sung at the end of a cèilidh, a dance, and at weddings. At weddings, it is performed in the same way as at New Year, but the bride and groom are often lifted up in the centre of the circle.
 * The tune is played, and sung by the crowd, in the final stages of the annual Edinburgh Military Tattoo.
 * In many Burns Clubs, it is sung at the end of the Burns supper.
 * In Great Britain, it is played at the close of the annual Congress (conference) of the Trades Union Congress. It is also usually the final song of the Liberal Democrat Glee Club.
 * The song is sung at the end of the Last Night of the Proms. Depending on whether an "official" performance is planned it may not be listed on the programme but in this case the audience will maintain the tradition and sing it themselves, with or without backup from the performers.
 * The song is played at the Passing Out Parade of Young Officers in the Royal Navy as they march up the steps of the Britannia Royal Naval College; for Royal Air Force officers at Royal Air Force College Cranwell, and at the Sovereign's Parade at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst for young officers joining the British Army, as the cadets march up the steps of their famous Old College building – to the beat of the slow march, after the tune "Will ye no come back?". This custom (or something very like it) is also followed in Naval and Military colleges in many other countries, especially members and former members of the Commonwealth of Nations. Examples include the Royal Military College of Canada, the Royal Military College (Malaysia), the National Defence Academy (India), the Pakistan Military Academy, Bangladesh Military Academy, Sri Lanka Military Academy, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel National Police Academy (SVPNPA-India) and at the equivalent colleges in Singapore, Burma and Nigeria.
 * The song is very widely used by the international Scout Movement, where it is a popular closing song for jamborees and other occasions.

In non-English-speaking countries
"Auld Lang Syne" has been translated into many languages, and the song is widely sung all over the world. The song's pentatonic scale matches scales used in Korea, Japan, India, China and other Asian countries, which has facilitated the popularity of the melody in the East. The following list of particular examples details things that are special or unusual about the use of the song in a particular country, and is (necessarily) not comprehensive.

 * In France, Jesuit priest and scouting pioneer Jacques Sevin translated the song in 1920. It has become a standard farewell song under the title "Ce n'est qu'un au revoir" (just saying goodbye). A catholic hymn entitled "Restons toujours unis" was also written on the same tune. The general public is mostly unaware of the the origin of the song and assumes it is French. Masonic lodges use it widely too, remembering the fact that Robbie Burns was a mason himself.
 * In Denmark, the song was translated in 1927 by the Danish poet Jeppe Aakjær. Much like Robert Burns' use of dialect, Aakjær translated the song into Sallingbomål, a form of the Jutlandic dialect. The song "Skuld gammel venskab rejn forgo" is an integral part of the Danish Højskole tradition, and often associated with more rural areas and old traditions.
 * In the Netherlands, the melody is used as the Dutch football song "Wij houden van Oranje" ("We Love Orange"), performed by André Hazes.
 * In West Bengal and Bangladesh, the melody was the direct inspiration for the Bengali folk song "Purano shei diner kotha" ("Memories of the Good Old Days"), composed by Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore, and forms one of the more recognisable tunes in Rabindra Sangeet ("Rabindra's Songs"), a body of work of 2,230 songs and lyrical poems that form the backbone of Bengali music.
 * In Thailand, the song "Samakkhi Chumnum" (สามัคคีชุมนุม, 'together in unity') is set to the same melody. It is mainly sung after sporting fixtures and at the end of Boy Scout jamborees. The Thai lyrics are a patriotic song about the King and national unity, and many Thais are not aware of the song's Western origin.
 * In Japan, the melody is used for the song "Hotaru no Hikari" (The Light of the Fireflies), which has different lyrics. "Hotaru no Hikari" is played at many school graduation ceremonies, and at the end of the New Year's Eve show NHK Kōhaku Uta Gassen. It is played in various establishments such as bars, restaurants, or department stores in Japan to let the customers know that the establishment is closing soon.
 * In Korea, the song is known as "Jakbyeol" (작별, Farewell) or (less commonly) as "Seokbyeol-ui Jeong" (석별의 정, The Feeling of Farewell). From 1919 to 1945 it served as the national anthem of the Korean exile government and from 1945 to 1948, it was the melody of Korea's national anthem. The lyrics used then were the same as the current South Korean national anthem.
 * Before 1972, it was the tune for the anthem of the Maldives (with the current words).
 * In Sweden the artist Thomas Stenström made an interpretation of the song for the swedish cancer association. The Swedish name is "Ser du månen där du är ikväll? (Tillsammans igen)"

Use in films
The strong and obvious associations of the song and its melody have made it a common staple for film soundtracks from the very early days of "talking" pictures to the present—a large number of films and television series' episodes having used it for background, generally but by no means exclusively to evoke the New Year.

Recordings
The first recording of the song was made on wax cylinder in 1898 by the Englishmen Charles Samuel Myers and Alfred Cort Hadden, who sang it in a demonstration of the new technology whilst on an expedition to record Aboriginal Australian music with figures including Charles Seligman, W. H. R Rivers and Sidney Herbert Ray. The original 1898 recording can be heard online via the British Library Sound Archive website.

As a standard in music, "Auld Lang Syne" has since been recorded many times, in every conceivable style, by many artists, both well-known and obscure. The first commercial recording was probably that of Frank C Stanley, who recorded the song in 1910 (which can be heard above). In late 1999, an instrumental rendition by American saxophonist Kenny G reached No. 7 on the Billboard Hot 100 upon release as a single. At the time of charting it was the oldest-written song to make the Hot 100 charts. Kenny G's recording incorporates a audio collage of sound bites taken from throughout 20th century history.

Live and broadcast

 * 1929: Guy Lombardo and His Royal Canadians performed it on New Year's Eve for decades until at least 1977. The intro to Lombardo's 1947 Decca Records version is played in Times Square every New Year's immediately following the dropping of the ball.
 * 1997: On 30 June, the day before Hong Kong was handed over from the United Kingdom to the People's Republic of China, the tune was played by the silver and pipe bands from the Royal Hong Kong Police Force, at the departure of Hong Kong's 28th and last British Governor, Chris Patten, from his official residence, Government House, Hong Kong. It was also later played in the British Farewell Ceremony later that night when the last British troops of the Black Watch marched away from the Tamar, Hong Kong site.
 * 2009: On 30 November – St. Andrew's Day – students and staff at the University of Glasgow sang the song in 41 languages simultaneously.
 * 2015: On 25 March, the song was performed by a bagpiper from the Singapore Police Force's Gurkha Contingent Pipes and Drums Platoon at The Istana as a form of respect to the late prime minister of Singapore Lee Kuan Yew during his state funeral.
 * 2020: On 29 January, the song was sung by members of the European Parliament when the Brexit withdrawal agreement was passed, ending the UK's membership in the European Union, finalised two days later on 31 January.
 * 2022: On 20 February, at 21:40 CST, the song was sung in Mandarin Chinese to mark the end of the 2022 Winter Olympics closing ceremony.

title: Auld Lang Syne


text:
William Habington

William Habington (4 November 1605 – 30 November 1654) was an English poet.

Life
Habington was born at Hindlip Hall, Worcestershire, and belonged to a well-known Catholic family. His father, Thomas Habington, an antiquary and historical scholar, had been implicated in the plots on behalf of Mary, Queen of Scots; his uncle, Sir Edward Habington, was beheaded in 1586 on the charge of conspiring against Elizabeth I in connection with Sir Anthony Babington; while to his mother, Mary Habington, was attributed the revelation of the Gunpowder Plot.

The poet received his education in Paris and Saint-Omer. The information given by Anthony à Wood in his Athenae that Habington returned to England "to escape the importunity of the Jesuits to join their order" rests only on a vague statement made by the ex-Catholic James Wadsworth in his English Spanish Pilgrim. He married about 1632 Lucy, second daughter of Sir William Herbert, 1st Baron Powis, the dedicatee of his first book of poems.

Writings
His volume of lyrical poems arranged in two parts and entitled Castara was published anonymously in 1634, and celebrated his marriage to Lucy. In 1635 appeared a second edition enlarged by three prose characters, fourteen new lyrics and eight touching elegies on his friend and kinsman, George Talbot, 9th Earl of Shrewsbury. The third edition (1640), issued for the first time in his name, contains a third part consisting of a prose character of A Holy Man and twenty-two devotional poems.

He also wrote a tragi-comedy, The Queen of Arragon (1640), published without his consent by his kinsman, Philip Herbert, Earl of Pembroke, and revived at the Restoration; six essays on events in modern history, Observations upon History (1641); and, along with his father, ‘’The History of Edward IV’’ (1640).

Thoreau in the introspective conclusion to Walden quotes from Habington’s poem ‘To My Honoured Friend, Sir Ed. P. Knight’:

“Direct your eye right inward, and you’ll find

A thousand regions in your mind

Yet undiscovered. Travel them, and be

Expert in home-cosmography”.

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: William Habington


text:
Interstate 580 (California)

Interstate 580 (I-580) is an approximately 76 mi east–west auxiliary Interstate Highway in Northern California. The heavily traveled spur route of I-80 runs from US Route 101 (US 101) in San Rafael in the San Francisco Bay Area to I-5 at a point outside the southern city limits of Tracy in the Central Valley. I-580 forms a concurrency with I-80 between Albany and Oakland, the latter of which is the location of the MacArthur Maze interchange immediately east of the San Francisco–Oakland Bay Bridge. I-580 provides a connection from the Bay Area to the southern San Joaquin Valley and Southern California via I-5, as I-5 bypasses the Bay Area to the east.

A portion of I-580 is called the MacArthur Freeway, after General Douglas MacArthur. Other portions are named the John T. Knox Freeway (after a former speaker pro tempore of the California State Assembly), the Eastshore Freeway (after its location on San Francisco Bay), the Arthur H. Breed Jr. Freeway (after a former California State assemblyperson and senator—the stretch itself lying between the cities of Castro Valley and Dublin), the William Elton "Brownie" Brown Freeway (after a Tracy resident instrumental in determining the route of I-5 through the San Joaquin Valley), the Sgt. Daniel Sakai Memorial Highway (after the Castro Valley resident and Oakland SWAT officer killed in the 2009 shootings of Oakland police officers), and the John P. Miller Memorial Highway (after the Lodi resident and California Highway Patrol officer killed while chasing down a DUI driver).

Route description

The western terminus of I-580 is roughly 10 mi north of San Francisco in the city of San Rafael (Marin County), at the junction with US 101. The interchange with US 101 is incomplete, only allowing continuous travel from southbound US 101 to eastbound I-580 (via exit 451B) and from westbound I-580 to northbound US 101. Heading eastward through the light industrial portion of eastern San Rafael, I-580 provides access to San Quentin State Prison at the eastern tip of land before joining the Richmond–San Rafael Bridge to cross San Francisco Bay. I-580 enters the city of Richmond in Contra Costa County midspan, then continues through Richmond to join I-80 in Albany at the "Hoffman Split".

After joining I-80, I-580 runs directly south for several miles along the eastern shore of San Francisco Bay in the segment known as the Eastshore Freeway, then enters the MacArthur Maze. The segment between the Hoffman Split and the MacArthur Maze is a wrong-way concurrency, meaning I-580 east is signed as I-80 west, and vice versa. From the MacArthur Maze, I-580 is known as the MacArthur Freeway, which runs through Oakland and San Leandro to Castro Valley. About halfway to Castro Valley from the Maze, is an interchange with the Warren Freeway (State Route 13 [SR 13]). Between this interchange and Castro Valley, I-580 runs near or along the trace of the Hayward Fault, a major branch of the San Andreas Fault.

In Castro Valley, I-580 turns eastward toward Dublin Canyon before descending into Dublin and Pleasanton. After passing through Livermore, the freeway enters the Altamont Pass. The road emerges in the Central Valley west of Tracy, where, after I-205 splits near Altamont Raceway Park, it turns southeastward and terminates by merging with I-5 south of Tracy just shy of the Stanislaus County line.

I-580 through Altamont Pass is a major crossing of the Diablo Range, linking the Central Valley to the Bay Area, and also a major route to Southern California. I-580 is the only freeway that crosses the Diablo Range, making it the safest route through the mountains. Prior to the construction of this route, traffic was detoured to Pacheco (SR 152) and Polonio (SR 46) passes.

I-580 provides Interstate Highway access between San Francisco and Los Angeles since I-5 runs east of the Bay Area. However, the primary control city listed on freeway signs along eastbound I-580 between I-80 and I-205 is instead Stockton, a vestige of when this segment used to be part of US 50.

I-580 is part of the California Freeway and Expressway System and is part of the National Highway System, a network of highways that are considered essential to the country's economy, defense, and mobility by the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA). The route is eligible for the State Scenic Highway System and is officially designated as a scenic highway by the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) from the San Leandro city limits to SR 24 and from I-5 to I-205, meaning that these are substantial sections of highway passing through a "memorable landscape" with no "visual intrusions", where the potential designation has gained popular favor with the community.

Truck ban through Oakland
Trucks over 4.5 ST are prohibited through Oakland between Grand Avenue and the San Leandro border. Specifically, eastbound trucks cannot travel beyond Grand Avenue/Lakeshore Avenue (exit 21B), and those going westbound must get off at MacArthur Boulevard/Foothill Boulevard (exit 30). They are instead instructed to take I-238 in Castro Valley and then I-880 through Oakland as an alternative route. The California Highway Patrol may however temporarily lift the ban for short periods to reduce traffic congestion when major accidents occur on I-880 or I-238.

The truck prohibition has been in effect before the freeway was since the freeway was built in 1963 as part of US 50. Both the FHWA and Caltrans imposed the restriction, partly because the city of Oakland already had a truck ban through the area prior to the freeway's construction. Since then, the restriction was grandfathered in when the freeway was both renumbered and added to the Interstate Highway System.

As a result, it is the only segment of Interstate Highway in California that is not part of the National Truck Network (several other California state highways have similar truck bans such as SR 2 and SR 85, but not any other Interstates). With trucks normally rerouted onto I-880 instead of I-580 through Oakland, the former generally gets more traffic than the latter. For decades, the trucking industry lobbied to have the ban removed but was unsuccessful due to local opposition. In 2000, the California State Legislature passed Assembly Bill 500, adding the I-580 truck restriction into the California Vehicle Code.

A collaborative study by the Environmental Defense Fund, Google, and the University of Texas at Austin used Google Street View cars equipped with air quality monitors to measure pollution data through Oakland. It found that along I-880, concentrations of black carbon were 80 percent higher, concentrations of nitrogen dioxide were 60 percent higher, and concentrations of nitric oxide were at least double than those along I-580. This has led community leaders to revisit the truck ban, particularly because I-880 runs along minority communities while I-580 runs through middle and upper middle class neighborhoods. Once a proponent of the ban when he served on the Oakland City Council in the 1990s, Alameda County Supervisor Nate Miley held a December 2021 virtual town hall on the issue, and asked both Caltrans and the Bay Area Air Quality Management District to conduct studies on the ban. He did however concede that the California State Legislature would have to eventually repeal the aforementioned rule in the California Vehicle Code for any change to occur.

Richmond–San Rafael Bridge
Tolls are collected only for westbound traffic on the Richmond–San Rafael Bridge. An open road tolling system is used on the bridge, and they can be paid by either a FasTrak transponder or license plate tolling. The high-occupancy vehicle (HOV) lane leading to the bridge requires a car with three or more people.

Express lanes
High-occupancy toll (HOT) lanes along I-580 between Pleasanton and Livermore opened in February 2016. The eastbound express lanes stretch 12 mi between Hacienda Drive and North Greenville Road. The westbound express lanes extend an additional 2 mi west to San Ramon Road/Foothill Road.

, the HOT lanes' hours of operation is weekdays between 5:00 am and 8:00 pm. Solo drivers are tolled using a congestion pricing system based on the real-time levels of traffic. Carpools, motorcycles, and clean air vehicles are not charged. All tolls are collected using an open road tolling system, and therefore there are no toll booths to receive cash. Each vehicle using the HOT lanes is required to carry either a FasTrak Flex or CAV (Clean Air Vehicle) transponder, with its switch set to indicate the number of the vehicle's occupants (1, 2, or 3 or more). Solo drivers may also use the FasTrak standard tag without the switch. Drivers without any FasTrak tag will be assessed a toll violation regardless of whether they qualified for free.

I-5W and the San Francisco Bay Area
Interstate 5W (I-5W) was originally conceived as part of a loop Interstate with a directional suffix and was what is now I-580 from I-5 to Oakland. However, I-5W and most of the other Interstates around the country with directional suffixes were eventually renumbered or eliminated, except for I-35E and I-35W in Texas and Minnesota, and more recently in Texas, the designations of I-69W, I-69C, and I-69E, along with proposed suffixed segments for future extensions of I-14 and I-27. The former route of I-5W now corresponds to I-580 from I-5 to Oakland, I-80 from Oakland to Vacaville, and I-505 from Vacaville to I-5 near Dunnigan.

I-5 to Castro Valley
For the most part, the I-580 freeway in this segment was constructed over or alongside the right-of-way of US 50, previously part of the old Lincoln Highway, during the course of the late 1960s and early 1970s. The segment which begins at the split with I-205 was constructed during the same period of time over a new right-of-way to a junction with I-5, running through some low hills on the west side of the San Joaquin Valley near the city of Patterson.

In the 1990s, the freeway segment from Castro Valley through Pleasanton was enlarged and otherwise reengineered in conjunction with the construction of the Dublin/Pleasanton–Daly City line of the Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART). The BART tracks were placed in a new median between the westbound and eastbound lanes of I-580 as was the new Dublin/Pleasantion station. The interchange with I-238 and the Hayward exit ramps was also reengineered at this time.

Significant expansion to the segment between I-680 and I-205 began in 2006. Among the projects along this segment were the high-occupancy vehicle lanes in each direction, a westbound auxiliary lane between Fallon and Tassajara roads, a new interchange at Isabel Avenue in Livermore, the reconstruction of several interchanges, the construction of additional truck climbing lanes for the eastward ascent to the Altamont Pass, and plans to preserve the right-of-way to accommodate a future BART extension in the median of the freeway. In 2017, citing lack of interest from the Bay Area Rapid Transit District in bringing BART service west to Livermore, the Livermore City Council proposed a newly established local entity to undertake planning and construction of the extension, which was also recommended by the California State Assembly Transportation Committee. Assembly Bill 758 was signed by then-Governor of California Jerry Brown on October 13, 2017, formally establishing the Tri-Valley–San Joaquin Valley Regional Rail Authority to construct and maintain the alternative Valley Link commuter rail.

MacArthur Freeway: Castro Valley to Oakland
The I-580 freeway in this segment was constructed starting in February 1960, adjacent to the city streets which were part of US 50 between Castro Valley and the large interchange along the eastern approach to the San Francisco–Oakland Bay Bridge in Oakland now called the MacArthur Maze. The freeway was named in honor of World War II General Douglas MacArthur. Prior to the construction of this freeway, the various city streets of Oakland that were designated for US 50 (principally 38th Street, Hopkins Street, Moss Avenue, Excelsior Avenue, and part of Foothill Boulevard) had been renamed for the General as "MacArthur Boulevard" which, for the most part, still parallels the MacArthur Freeway. The renaming occurred on March 26, 1942, by a resolution of the Oakland City Council.

The freeway was opened to traffic in eight segments until its completion in May 1966 (last segment, connecting with SR 238 (now I-238), in Castro Valley, opened May 20, 1966).

Oakland to San Rafael
The segment of I-580 running from the MacArthur Maze to San Rafael is the most recent to be signed as I-580, beginning in 1984. Before 1984, this segment was part of SR 17.

From the Maze to the interchange locally known as the "Hoffman Split" in Albany, just north of the Gilman Street interchange (Hoffman Boulevard was the predecessor of I-580 in this section), I-580 follows the Eastshore Freeway, a wrong-way concurrency with I-80 for its entirety: northward on the Eastshore is signed I-80 east and I-580 west; headed southward, one finds signs indicating I-80 west and I-580 east.

At the Hoffman Split, I-580 leaves the Eastshore Freeway in a northwesterly direction through the cities of Albany and Richmond. It then crosses San Francisco Bay over the Richmond–San Rafael Bridge. The freeway in this section, officially named the John T. Knox Freeway, was constructed from 1987 to 1991. It replaced a number of city streets which comprised the earlier highway leading to the San Rafael Bridge, principally, Hoffman and Cutting boulevards.

After crossing the bridge, I-580 runs west to San Rafael, ending at an interchange with US 101. This freeway segment supplanted an earlier boulevard constructed as part of SR 17.

Interstate 180
Interstate 180 (I-180) was a temporary designation used in 1978 for the Richmond–San Rafael Bridge, now part of I-580. At the time, the bridge had been identified as part of SR 17 but was marked for inclusion in the Interstate Highway System.

Briefly the bridge used the number 180, despite the Fresno-area SR 180's use of the number. The California Streets and Highways Code has a policy against using one route number for multiple noncontiguous highways. Unless the existing SR 180 is renumbered, which is unlikely due to its familiarity as the road to Kings Canyon National Park, there will not be an I-180 in California.

In popular culture

 * I-580 features prominently throughout the Sons of Anarchy series. The backstory of the series establishes that "First 9" (SAMCRO cofounder) John Teller died in a collision on November 13, 1993, 15 years before the pilot episode takes place, and SAMCRO establishes a roadside memorial to Teller near the crash site. In the final scenes of the series finale, Jax rides his father's restored classic motorcycle to visit that memorial, before taking a last ride on I-580.
 * I-580 through the Altamont Pass is a stage in the 2011 racing video game Need for Speed: The Run.

title: Interstate 580 (California)


text:
District councils of Hong Kong

The district councils, formerly district boards until 1999, are the local councils for the 18 districts of Hong Kong.

Before establishment
An early basis for the delivery of local services were the Kaifong associations, set up in 1949. However, by the 1960s, these had ceased to represent local interests, and so, in 1968, the government established the first local administrative structure with the city district offices, which were intended to enable it to mobilise support for its policies and programmes, such as in health and crime-reduction campaigns. An aim was also to monitor the grass roots, following the 1967 riots.

Under the Community Involvement Plan, launched in the early 1970s, Hong Kong and Kowloon were divided into 74 areas, each of around 45,000 people. For each, an 'area committee' of twenty members was then appointed by the city district officers, and was comprised, for the first time, of members from all sectors of the local community, led by an unofficial member of the Legislative Council (Legco). The initial purpose was to help implement the 'Clean Hong Kong' campaign, by distributing publicity material to local people. This was held to be a success.

A next stage in the government's effort to increase local engagement and influence was the setting up, in June 1973, of mutual aid committees (MACs) in high-rise residential buildings. These were described in Legco as "a group of responsible citizens, resident in the same multi-storey building who work together to solve common problems of cleanliness and security." In fact, they were tightly controlled by the government. With government encouragement, the number of such committees increased rapidly in these private buildings, from 1,214 in 1973 to 3,463 in 1980. The scheme was extended to public housing estates, of which 800 had MACs in 1980, as well as factories and in the New Territories.

The next development was the establishment of eight district advisory boards in the districts of the New Territories, starting with Tsuen Wan in 1977. The boards, whose members were appointed, were more formally constituted than the city district boards, charged with advising on local matters, recommending minor district works, and conducting cultural and recreational activities.

Establishment to present
Then in 1982, under the governorship of Sir Murray MacLehose, the district boards were established under the District Administration Scheme. The aim was to improve co-ordination of government activities in the provision of services and facilities at the district level and the boards initially took over the roles of the district advisory boards.

At first, the boards comprised only appointed members and government officials, but from 1982, a proportion of each was elected. In an attempt to inject a democratic element into the Legislative Council, the government introduced a model where some legislators were elected indirectly by members of the district councils. Twelve legislators were returned by an 'electoral college' of district councillors in 1985. The practice was repeated in 1988 and 1995.

After the HKSAR was established in 1997, as part of the "through train", the district boards became provisional district boards, composed of all the original members of the boards supplemented by others appointed by the chief executive. (Under the British administration, the Governor had refrained from appointing any member.)

Later in early 1999 a bill was passed in the Legislative Council providing mainly for the establishment, composition and functions of the District Councils, which would replace the Provisional District Boards. The 27 ex officio seats of Rural Committees, abolished by the colonial authorities, were reinstated. The government rejected any public survey or referendum on the issue, saying that it had been studying the issue since 1997, and had received 98 favourable submissions. The self-proclaimed pro-democracy camp dubbed the move "a setback to the pace of democracy" because it was a throwback to the colonial era.

In 2010, the government proposed that five legislators be added to district council functional constituencies, and be elected by proportional representation of elected DC members. In a politically controversial deal between the Democratic Party and the Beijing government, this was changed to allow the five seats to be elected by those members of the general electorate who did not otherwise have a functional constituency vote.

Under the district councillor appointment system, 102 district councillors out of 534 were picked by the Chief Executive, while the remainder were democratically elected by voters in each district. The system was abolished in 2013, and the new District Councils after the 2015 election no longer have appointed members.

In 2023, the government proposed to cut the direct elect seats of district councilors from 452 to 88 seats while the total seats cut from 479 to 470 seats. Besides, all district councilors candidate who opt for election must be vetted and passed by the new District Council Eligibility Review Committee. The proposal has been approved by Legislative Council in July 2023.

Functions
The councils are mandated to advise the Government on the following:

 * matters affecting the well-being of people in the District;
 * the provision and use of public facilities and services within the District;
 * the adequacy and priorities of Government programmes for the District;
 * the use of public funds allocated to the District for local public works and community activities; and

District councils also undertake the following within the respective districts with its available funds allocated by the government:

 * environmental improvements;
 * the promotion of recreational and cultural activities; and
 * community activities

Councils
There is a district council for each of the following eighteen districts. The number in parentheses corresponds to the number shown on the map at the right.

Composition
[[File:Changes to the composition of the District Councils of Hong Kong.svg|thumb|Changes to the composition of the District Councils:
 * 350x350px]]

Following revamp of District Councils announced by the Government in 2023, the number of the elected seats is significantly reduced to around 20%, while each of the 40 per cent of the seats will be returned by indirect elections and by revived government's appointment. Single non-transferable vote replaced "first past the post" system, as previously implemented in the 2021 reform.

Before the drastic change, there were a total of 479 district council members in the sixth District Councils. Except 27 ex-officio seats occupied by Chairmen of Rural Committees in the New Territories, all were returned by direct election.

District Councils are chaired by District Officers starting from 2024, and had been the case in the first three years of District Boards (name of District Councils before handover), i.e. between 1982 and 1985. Since 1985 and until 2023 chairmen of District Boards are elected from amongst the members. Source: Review of the Roles, Functions and Composition

Independence
The party affiliations and politics in the Legislative Council can be echoed in the district councils, who have sometimes been accused of slavishly supporting the government. Professor Li Pang-kwong, of Lingnan University, says that the problematic framework of the councils, being under the Home Affairs Bureau, has led them to work too closely with the government. He cites the example of the "copy and paste" Queen's Pier motions passed by thirteen councils to support government decisions as a rubber-stamp, and a clear sign that councils lacked independence. Li recalled a similar government "consultation" on universal suffrage in 2007, in which two-thirds of the councils passed a vote in support of its position. After it was revealed that the government was behind the concerted district councils' motions in 2008 supporting the relocation of Queen's Pier, Albert Ho condemned the government for tampering with district councils to "create public opinion", and for turning district officers into propagandists.

1999 District council elections
In 1999, Tung Chee Hwa appointed 100 members to the district councils. These included 41 from various political parties, namely the Liberal Party, the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong (DAB), and the Hong Kong Progressive Alliance. No democrats were appointed.

2003 District council elections
In 2003, Tung appointed 21 political party appointees to the district councils to dilute the influence of the pan-democrats as follows:
 * eight members of the Liberal Party
 * six members of the DAB
 * six members from the Progressive Alliance
 * one from the New Century Forum

Professor of politics and sociology at Lingnan University, Dr. Li Pang-kwong said "As in the past, most of the appointees were pro-government or persons without a clear political stance... ensur[ing] that no district council is in the hands of the democrats." A spokesman for the democrats said the appointees "will have an unfair advantage in that they are getting financial support from the government which will help them run for office in future elections." After this election, this election would abolish the appointed members of the Hong Kong district councils.

2007 District council elections
In December 2007, Donald Tsang named 27 government-appointed council members.
 * 13 members of the Liberal Party
 * 11 members of the DAB
 * three members from the Federation of Trade Unions

Tsang was criticised for not appointing a single member of the pan-democrats in either 2003 or 2007.

2011 District council elections
After the election, Donald Tsang appointed 68 members, none of them from the pan-democrat camp.

title: District councils of Hong Kong