When patrons of the Claremont Branch Library walk through the doors of the reopened facility Monday morning, they’ll find wider aisles, more accessible restrooms and improved wheelchair ramps and railings. -more-

By allowing the construction with virtually no public process of an immense industrial-style tower on McKinley Street, our highly competent City staff has created a huge, needless problem for itself. The thing is a desecration of the Civic Center in general, of Old City Hall in particular, which it looms over like a giant oil derrick, and an almost inconceivable affront to the residential neighborhood in which it stands. Because I have the highest respect for our staff, I am dumbfounded that they would commit such a foolish blunder. But there it is. They’ve done it. Their job now is to remove it with as little further disruption as possible for the rest of us. Neither Council nor residents should have to waste another minute assisting them out of their blunder. -more-

Just one day after Kevin Brown and Randy Johnson pitched a near-perfect eight innings apiece in the much-anticipated National League baseball showdown, Berkeley High’s Lilli Bermeo and Granada’s Sylvia Moses set out to make Thursday’s East Bay Athletic League softball matchup just as classic. -more-

THEATER -more-

OAKLAND – The trial of middle-school teacher Kahlil Jacobs-Fantauzzi, charged with obstructing a police officer in the course of duty, opened in superior court Thursday morning. -more-

Friday, May 12 -more-

With Thursday’s three-game sweep over East Bay Athletic League rival California High in the bag, the Berkeley High boys volleyball team can only sit back and play a different game until Sunday’s playoff seeding meeting: namely, the waiting game. -more-

Officially, no one from the Berkeley Unified School District or the Berkeley Federation of Teachers cannot discuss “all matters” surrounding the current state of mediation between the two sides. -more-

A proposal to raise fees for some planning and development permits will be the topic of a public hearing during next week’s City Council meeting. -more-

The Berkeley Civic Arts Commission will present a public forum Saturday to review new guidelines and grant applications for the Arts Grants Program. -more-

The legacy of musician, professor and minister W. Hazaiah Williams will be honored during a memorial concert Saturday night at the Scottish Rite Auditorium in Oakland. -more-