An East Bay community is rallying together behind a well-known couple who was hit by a car and critically injured over the weekend.
Berkeley Unified School District school board President Judy Appel, 53, and her wife Alison Bernstein, 54, an attorney, were walking near their home in South Berkeley when a driver crashed into them.
"Both of these women are fierce warriors they are going to fight this and work hard to heal," said Acting Board President Beatriz Leyva-Cutler at Wednesday’s school board meeting where people came together to support the couple.
Appel is in the middle of her second term on the School Board and her second time as president. She is known as being courageous and a leader, and the community made it sure she knew she was missed.
"She really went beyond community service went beyond her own family to help our district do a better job," Cathy Campbell from the Berkeley Federation of Teachers.
Appel’s wife is an attorney with the State Public Defender’s Officer.
As both Appel and Bernstein continue healing, police said the accident is still under investigation and that the driver is cooperating with police.
