When Harvey Smith went away on vacation, he had no idea that when he came back to his quiet north Berkeley neighborhood, he would find that a modest cottage a half block from his house had disappeared. 

“I thought it was going to be remodeled,” said Smith, who had understood that the tiny house was getting an addition. “I was gone for three days and when I came back the house was gone. I was shocked.” 

Residents of the quiet tree-lined street said they are outraged a miniature 1,020 square foot cottage at 1728 Delaware St. could be razed when the owner Patrick Mebine led them to believe it was only going to be remodeled. They said the cottage was consistent with the neighborhood and the new home, three times the size of the original, is not. 

“He was slick,” said Richard Robyn who lives across the street from the site. “Initially he said he was going to remodel and even showed us plans and then the next thing we know he tore down the entire home.” 

Patrick Mebine did not return calls from the Daily Planet. 

The residents are echoing complaints of other Berkeley neighborhoods as small homes are being torn down and replaced with larger ones. Anthony Bruce, president of the Berkeley Architectural Heritage Association, said his organization has heard of at least five homes in the last six months that have either been demolished or have a pending demolition application. 

Bruce said the situation is new to Berkeley, but has been a problem in other cities. The problem became so bad in San Jose in recent years the city enacted a Monster Home Ordinance last year, which limits the size of new homes and expansive remodels.  

“I’m surprised this sort of thing has taken so long to reach Berkeley,” Bruce said.  

Mark Rhodes of Berkeley’s Planning and Development Department said the process is a very public one and that the neighbors of the project attended a public hearing on the project. The Berkeley Building Code requires developers to post notices of public hearings as well as mailing notices to all residents within 300 feet of building sites. 

Rhodes said even though developers go through legal channels and neighbors are offered the chance to participate they can still be shocked once a home is demolished or remodel doesn’t meet their expectations. 

“This is happening all over the city,” Rhodes said. “There’s a lot of money and people want to remodel and build homes and others feel like the city is changing around them.” 

Carrie Olson, a Landmarks Preservation commissioner, said that even though the process is public, it is very complicated and unless concerned neighbors are familiar with building code terminology project plans can be confusing. 

In the case of 1728 Delaware St., the Zoning Adjustments Board was apparently confused by the presentation of the project at their Aug. 8 meeting. “This is a very, very strange decision,” said Gene Poschman, a ZAB commissioner. “We thought we were talking about an addition. At no time during the review did we discuss a complete demolition.” 

Rhodes said the Planning Department determined the demolition of the more-than 80-year-old home on Delaware Street and the construction of the larger home would not be detrimental to adjacent properties. He said the term “detrimenta” is interpreted in the code as blocking sunlight and views. 

“Just because people are upset about it doesn’t mean it’s going to be detrimental to the neighborhood,” he said. 

Olson said the demolition trend is a serious one and that Berkeley should institute a design review process for residential structures. Currently Berkeley only reviews the design of commercial buildings. 

Friday, Oct. 27

“Transportation: What’s in Store?” 

11:45 a.m. 

Berkeley City Club  

2315 Durant Ave.  

Larry Dahms, Executive Director of the Metropolitan Transportation Council speaks at 12:30 p.m. Luncheon is served at 11:45 a.m. and 12:15 p.m. Luncheon: $11 

More info and reservations:  

848-3533 

“Right Ways to Get Out of a Lease” 

2000 Tenants’ rights week 

hourly 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. 

ASUC/Rent Board booth at Sather Gate on the Berkeley campus. 

644-7714 

Haunted House 

6:30 to 9:30 p.m. 

1818 5th St. 

Free 

Donations benefiting youth activities in Berkeley appreciated. 

644-3305  

Conversational Yiddish 

1 p.m. 

Berkeley Senior Center 

1901 Hearst 

644-6107  

Halloween Haunt at  

the Downtown YMCA 

7 - 9 p.m.  

Downtown Berkeley YMCA 

2001 Allston Way 

A haunted house, ghosts, Halloween crafts, a family swim in the “bat cave,” and face painting among other happenings. Free and open to the public. The Y is asking for a $1 donation to benefit the YMCA’s Youth and Government Program. 

Call 665-3238 

Women in Black 

Noon - 1 p.m. 

Bancroft at Telegraph 

Women for peace in  

the Middle East 

Saturday, Oct. 28

Shakespeare Festival’s annual costume and garage sale  

9 a.m. to 3 p.m. 

Featuring one-of-a-kind costumes, props, and set pieces from previous productions. Free. 701 Heinz Ave., Berkeley. (510) 548-3422 ext. 120. 

Buddhist Peace Fellowship 

A Day of Mindfulness with Claude Anshin Thomas 

A day of meditation, dialogue, teachings and reflection on transforming violence in ourselves an in the world. 

9 a.m. – 5 p.m. 

We the People Auditorium, 200 Harrison St. 

Donations excepted 

496-6072 

Community Workshop to discuss the strengths and weaknesses of Berkeley High School  

9 a.m. – noon 

Florence Schwimley Little Theater at Berkeley High School 

Students, parents, teachers, business owners, neighbors, and others are invited to a discussion on that will help set the course for future school improvements and provide the basis for accreditation review. 

Iris Starr, AICP, 540-1252 

tinstarr@earthlink.net 

“Grassroots Globalization  

vs. Elite Globalization” 

2 p.m. 

Niebyl-Proctor Marxist Library 

6501 Telegraph Ave. 

595-7417 

“Halloween Mask Making” 

Tilden Regional Park 

2 p.m. 

Come learn the origins of Halloween and make a plaster-gauze mask. Registration required. $4. Take Canon Drive off Grizzly Peak Boulevard, Berkeley. (510) 525-2233. 

Pedaling the Green City 

11 a.m. -3:30 p.m.  

Take a leisurely bike ride along the future San Francisco Bay Trail. One in a series of free outings organized by Greenbelt Alliance.  

Call: 415-255-3233 for reservations  

Wild About Books? 

10:30 a.m. 

Berkeley Central Library 

2121 Allston Way 

Halloween for the little guys with (not so) scary stories, music, and more.  

Call 649-3943  

Haunted House 

6:30 to 9:30 p.m. 

1818 5th St. 

Free 

Donations benefiting youth activities in Berkeley appreciated. 

644-3305 

St. John’s Church and Camp Elmwood Haunted House  

6:30 to 8:30 p.m.  

Party for teens from 8:45 to 10 p.m.  

Free. Wear a costume and bring a canned good, book or toy donation.  

845-2656 

“The 3rd annual Habitot  

Halloween” 

Habitot Children’s Museum  

10 a.m. to 5 p.m.  

A not-too-spooky Halloween event for young children with entertainment, parades, games, magic and songs. Come in  

costume. Registration strongly suggested. $4 general; $6 for the first child age 7 and under; $3 for each additional child age 7 and under. Kittredge Street and Shattuck Avenue 

647-1111 

“Not Very Scary Halloween  

Celebration” 

10:30 a.m. at La Pena  

Betsy Rose performs songs and activities to celebrate the harvest season and the ancestral spirits. Children are invited to come in costume. $4 general; $3 children. 3105 Shattuck Ave. 849-2572. 

New School’s Halloween Bazaar 

10 a.m. - 4 p.m.  

1606 Bonita St. (at Cedar) 

Free to the public, this annual event features face painting, mask-making, children’s games, apple bobbing, pumpkins, live entertainment, and a vast array of other delights. Proceeds benefit the New School’s scholarship fund and the playground project. Free.  

Call 548-9165 

Run Your Own Landscape  

Business: Part 3 

11 a.m. to 1 p.m. 

Ecology Center 

2530 San Pablo Ave. (at Blake) 

Local horticultural consultant and UC Master Gardener Jessie West will teach you how to plant, prune, control weeds, and more. This is the final class in the series. 

$15 general; $10 for members; $5 materials fee 

Call 548-2220 x223 

West Coast Live Comes  

to Berkeley 

10 a.m. - Noon 

Freight & Salvage 

1111 Addison (at San Pablo) 

Broadcast around the world this live, on-stage radio show will feature The Austin Lounge Lizards, author Anne Lamott, and others. The show can be heard on KALW at 91.7 FM.  

Reservations: 415-664-9500 or www.TicketWeb.com 

Battle of the Drills 

2 p.m. 

Veterans Hall  

1931 Center St. 

Presented by the Flaming Five this fifth annual battle will feature drums squads, fancy trick, precision, and dance. 

$5 

Denice Cox, 841-1126 

Sunday, Oct. 29

“Almost Halloween Hike”  

Tilden Regional Park 

10 a.m.  

Explore the nature of Halloween folklore on the trails.  

“Wake the Dead: A Music Concert”  

Celebrate the Celtic “Day of the Dead” (Halloween) with folksong artists Paul Kotapish and Danny Carnahan.  

2 to 4 p.m.  

(510) 525-2233 

“Gateway to Knowledge” 

6 p.m. 

Tibetan Nyingma Institute 

1815 Highland Pl. 

Barr Rosenberg describes how to master new knowledge and take the power to shape our lives in wise and compassionate ways.  

843-6812 

An Evening with The Professor 

5 - 9:30 p.m. 

Mambo Mambo 

1803 Webster St.  

Oakland 

Berkeley resident Geoffrey A. Hirsch, better known as the Tie Guy from the “How Berkeley Can You Be” parade got his start in comedy in 1996. A professor in real life, Hirsch tell the story of how he became a funny guy.  

$5 for show only, $10 for show and dinner 

Call Geoffrey Hirsch at 845-5631 to reserve tickets 

“Liberty Heights” 

2 - 4:30 p.m.  

Berkeley Richmond Jewish Community Center 

1414 Walnut St.  

Directed by Barry Levinson, this film introduces the Kurtzmans, middle class Jews living in Baltimore in the 50s’. A discussion of the film will follow.  

$2 suggested donation 

Call 848-0237 

“The Key of Happiness” 

3 p.m. 

St. John’s Church  

2727 College Ave.  

Carlos Lozano, former Columbian Ambassador to India and Egypt, will speak on meditation. Free. 

Call 707-529-9584 

“Lezziepalooza!” 

8 p.m. 

La Pena Cultural Center 

3105 Shattuck Ave. 

A night of music, presented by Orchestra D’Soul, and comedy, featuring the members of the “I Love Lezzie” troupe. Part of the La Lesbian performance and film series. $12 advance, $14 door 

Call 654-6346 

Rhyme & Reason Open Mike  

2:00 p.m.  

UC Berkeley Art Museum 

2621 Durant 

Featured poets Fernando Brito and Lara Dale followed by open mic. Each open mic. performer is limited to five minutes. 

Call Joan Gatten, 642-5168  

Monday, Oct. 30

“BYOP: Pumpkin Carving By Porch and Hearth,” 

Tilden Regional Park 

4 to 7 p.m. “Bring your own pepo” 

Take Canon Drive off Grizzly Peak Boulevard,  

Berkeley. (510) 525-2233 

— compiled by  

Chason Wainwright 

Tuesday, Oct. 31

Sing-A-Long 

11 a.m. 

Berkeley Senior Center 

1901 Hearst St. 

644-6107 

Haunted House 

6:30 to 9:30 p.m. 

1818 5th St. 

Free 

Donations benefiting youth activities in Berkeley appreciated. 

644-3305 

Wednesday, Nov. 1

Kathak Dancing with Pandit Chitresh Das 

7:30 p.m. 

Julia Morgan Center for the Arts 

2640 College Ave.  

The Graduate Theological Union presents a free lecture-demonstration with Pandit Chitresh Das, a master of India’s Kathak dance form. This event is free. 

Call 649-2440 for additional info 

Mountain Adventure Seminar 

In-store, registration required 

6 p.m.-9 p.m. 

Learn about equip,emt. fundamental climbing techiques and safety procedures. 

$100 REI members, $110 for non members 

To register (209) 753-6556 

Task Force on Telecommunications 

7 p.m. 

North Berkely Senior Center 

1901 Hearst Ave. 

Fire Safety Commission 

7:30 p.m.  

Fire Training Division 

997 Cedar St.  

Discussion will include undergrounding of utilities in Berkeley and a proposal to the City Council for additional support for the Fire Department.  

Citizen’s Budget Review Commission 

7 p.m. 

North Berkeley Senior Center 

1901 Hearst Ave. 

Board of Education 

7:30 p.m. 

Old City Hall 

Council Chambers, 2nd Floor 

2134 MLK Jr. Way 

Thursday, Nov. 2

PASTForward Panel Discussion 

2 p.m. 

UC Berkeley Art Museum 

Bancroft Way (below College) 

In conjunction with the White Oak Dance Project’s performances, a panel discussion with Judson era dance choreographers Yvonne Rainer and Deborah Hay. Free. 

From Morgan to Modern 

“Saddling the Site: The Environmental Designs of Wurster, Church and Others” 

7:30 p.m. 

The Hillside Club 

2286 Cedar St. 

$10. 841-2242 

Berkeley Metaphysic Toastmasters Club 

6:15 p.m. - 7:30 p.m. 

2515 Hillegass Ave.  

Public speaking skills and metaphysic come together at Avatar Metaphysical Toastmasters. Meets first and third Thursdays each month. 

Call 869-2547 or 643-7645 

Spirit of the Road 

7:30 p.m. 

Easy Going Travel Shop & Bookstore 

1385 Shattuck Ave. (at Rose) 

Don Patton, general editor and Vice President of Publishing for the California State Automobile Association presents a slide show celebrating the first one hundred years of the automobile and the CSA. Free. 

Call 843-3533 for more info.  

BOSS Graduation 

6 - 8 p.m. 

First Congregational Church of Oakland 

27th & Harrison 

Oakland 

Building Opportunities for Self-Sufficiency’s graduation gala for poor, disabled, and homeless folks who have worked hard to achieve jobs, housing, education, training, and other milestones. There will be special guests, music, and a buffet. The community are invited. 

Call 649-1930 

Friday, Nov. 3

Taize Worship Service 

7:30-8:30 p.m. 

An hour of quiet reflection and song. First Friday of the month. 

Loper Chapel on Dana Street between Durant and Channing Way. 

848-3696 

“Want to Transform your Dreams Into Reality?” 

Lecture by Leonard Orr, world known for creating the Rebirthing and Conscious Breathwork Movement. 

7:30 p.m., 

The Berkeley Friends Church, 1600 Sacramento St. 

$25, 843-6514 

Circle Dancing 

7:45 - 10 p.m. 

Finnish Brotherhoos Hall 

1970 Chestnut St. 

Simple folkdancing in a circle. Beginners welcome and no partners are required.  

Call John Bear, 528-4253 

Marga Gomez 

8 p.m. 

La Pena Cultural Center 

3105 Shattuck Ave. 

Comedian Marga Gomez was one of the founding members of Culture Clash and the Latino comedy ensemble. Part of the La Lesbian performance and film series. 

Call 654-6346 

Women in Black 

Noon - 1 p.m. 

Bancroft at Telegraph 

Women for peace in the Middle East  

Saturday, Nov. 4

Breathtaking Barnabe Peak 

10 a.m. - 4 p.m. 

Hike through Samuel P. Taylor State Park’s lush forests and climb to the heights of Barnabe Peak, overlooking Point Reyes. One in a series of free fall outings organized by Greenbelt Alliance.  

Call: 415-255-3233 for reservations 

Wild About Books? 

10:30 a.m. 

Berkeley Central Library 

2121 Allston Way 

Dublin Library’s resident storyteller and featured teller at the 1998 National Storytelling Festival tell kids aged 3 to 7 her favorite tales.  

Call 649-3943  

New Science & Ancient Wisdom Conference 

9 a.m. - 5 p.m.  

International Center 

2222 Harold Way 

Featured speakers include Father Charlie Moore speaking on “The Cosmic Origins of Man,” Dolores Cannon speaking on “Visions of Nostradamus,” and David Hatcher Childress speaking on “Technology of the Gods.” Event runs through Sunday.  

Pre-registration admission, $65; after Oct. 27, $85 

Call Charles Gotsky, 650-343-5202 

The Next Ivory Trade? The Intellectual Property Rights of University Faculty 

A conference sponsored by the Berkeley Faculty Association/American Association of University Professors Coalition 

9 a.m. tp 3:30 p.m. 

UC Berkeley International House 

841-1997 

Collecting Chinese Decorative Art 

10 a.m. - Noon 

Oakland Museum  

1000 Oak St.  

Dessa Goddard, director of the Asian Department at Butterfields, and a panel discuss. Followed by a collectors’ tea. Included in admission price to museum.  

Call for reservations, 238-2022 

“Broadway to La Scala” 

7 p.m. 

First Congregational Church of Oakland 

2501 Harrison St. (at 27th St.) 

A benefit concert for the Oakland Lyric Opera featuring a selection of Broadway musicals and arias from operas, including “Madame Butterfly.”  

$25 

Call 836-6772 

Sunday, Nov. 5

Buddhist Psychology 

6 p.m.  

Tibetan Nyingma Institute 

1815 Highland Pl.  

Buddhist teacher Sylvia Gretchen on “Beyond Therapy and Into the Heart of Buddhist Psychology.” Free. 

Call 843-6812  

Berkeley Historical Society Walking Tour 

Downtown Berkeley  

Tour new construction, new uses, historic rehabilitation and public improvments that are completed or still in the works.  

Noon 

RSVP required 841-0181 space is limited. 

Tickets: $5 for members, $10 for nonmembers. 

A Dispirited Rebellion 

10 a.m.  

Berkeley Richmond Jewish Community Center 

1414 Walnut St.  

Author, television personality and columnist Gadi Taub will explore the literary and cinematic changes in Israeli society since the assassination of Prime Minister Rabin. A brunch will be served at 10 a.m.  

Admission: $7 non-JCC members; $5 members 

Call 848-9237 

Soprano Stephanie Pan Sings 

7:30 p.m. 

Berkeley Art Center 

1275 Walnut St. 

Soprano Stephanie Pan is joined by Meg Cotner on harpsichord, Salley Blaker on cello, and Alex Jenne on lute. They will perform the music of Barbra Strozzi, Jacopo Peri, Giovanni Felice Sances and others.  

$10 general; $9 students and seniors; under 12 Free 

Call 644-6893 

“Bigger Things” 

7 p.m.  

La Pena Cultural Center  

3105 Shattuck Ave.  

Judith-Kate Friedman celebrates the release of her new CD.  

$12 general; $20 reserved seating 

Info and tickets: 654-7464 or 849-2568 

Monday, Nov. 6

Airports vs. the Bay 

7 p.m. 

Albany Community Center 

1249 Marin St.  

Albany 

David Lewis, Executive Director of “Save the Bay” will speak on the airports’ plans to expand into the SF Bay and other challenges to Bay restoration.  

Contact: Friends of Five Creeks, 848-9358 

Tuesday, Nov. 7

Zonta Club dinner 

5:30 p.m. 

Berkeley City Club 

$20 per person 

Dr. Sylvia Earle, a marine bioligist, author and Explorer-in-Residence at the National Geographic Society, will be the featured speaker. 

For more information call 845-6221 

Thursday, Nov. 9

The Life and Art of Chiura Obata 

7:30 p.m.  

North Berkeley Public Library 

1170 Alameda (at Hopkins) 

A slide show and lecture presented by Obata’s granddaughter, Kimi Kodani Hill, celebrating Obata’s book, “Topaz Moon: Chiura Obata’s Art of the Internment,” and the retrospective exhibit of Obata’s work to appear this Fall at SFs De Young Museum. 

For details call 644-6850  

From Morgan to Modern 

“Bay Area Modern” 

7:30 p.m. 

The Hillside Club 

2286 Cedar St. 

$10. 841-2242 

ESL Teacher Job Fair 

7 - 8:30 p.m. 

Berkeley Adult School 

1222 University Ave., Room 7  

ESL program representatives from adult schools in Alameda and Contra Costa counties will provide information about desired qualifications, current job openings, credentialing requirements, and more.  

Call Kay Wade, 644-6130 

“Feeding the Moon: A Nutritive Approach to Feminine Fertility” 

Lern how fertility is affected by the environment and how it can be enhanced by healthy lifestyle choices 

7:30 to 9 p.m. 

The Ecology Center 

2530 San Pable Ave.  

558-1324, free 

“Diabetes: What to Know Head-to-Toe” 

Health Education Center, 400 Hawthorne Ave. 

12:30 to 4:30 p.m. Free 

869-6737 

Love and Betrayal: A Musical Journey 

7:30 - 9 p.m.  

Berkeley Richmond Jewish Community Center 

1414 Walnut St. 

Mezzo Soprano Sylvia Braitman discusses the role Gustav Mahler, Kurt Weill, Arnold Schoenberg, and Hanns Eisler played in the development of modernity in German, Austrian and Western music.  

Tuition: $8 for general; $5 JJC members (class code A101-BJ) 

Call 848-0237 for more info.  

Friday, Nov. 10 

Dragon and Phoenix Banquet Cooking Contest 

7 p.m. 

Oakland Museum  

1000 Oak St.  

Students from Bay Area cooking academies present original dishes based on the “Dragon and Phoenix” theme to a panel of celebrity judges. Fee and price of admission to museum. 

Reservations: 238-2022  

Women in Black 

Noon - 1 p.m. 

Bancroft at Telegraph 

Women for peace in the Middle East  

Saturday, Nov. 11

Moonlight on Mt. Diablo 

1 - 10:30 p.m.  

Hike up the Devil’s Mountain by daylight, catch a glorious sunset and hike back by the light of the moon. One in a series of free outing organized by Greenbelt Alliance.  

Call: 415-255-3233 for reservations 

Sunday, Nov. 12

Views, Vines and Veggies 

9:15 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.  

Climb Bald Mountain in Sugarloaf State Park and peer down upon the Napa and Sonoma Valleys. Then please your palate at the Landmark Winery and visit Oak Hill organic vegetable and flower farm. One in a series of free fall outings organized by Greenbelt Alliance.  

Call: 415-255-3233 for reservations 

“Time Across Cultures” 

2 - 4 p.m. 

St. Clements Church 

2837 Claremont Ave.  

The annual Roselyn Yellin Memorial lecture with a slide-illustrated panel discussion. Also a tour of the “Telling Time” exhibit at the Judah L. Magnes Museum followed by a reception at the museum, 4 - 5 p.m.  

More info: 549-6950 

Buddhism & Compassion 

6 p.m. 

Tibetan Nyingma Institute 

1815 Highland Place 

Psychiatrist and teacher Bobby Jones on “Healing through Compassion.” Free.  

843-6812 

“Road To Mecca” Auditions 

2 p.m.  

Live Oak Theatre 

1301 Shattuck (at Berryman) 

The Actors Ensemble of Berkeley is auditioning roles for two females, 60-70 and 25-35, and one male, 60-70. Auditioners should prepare a monologue no longer than two minutes. No appointments. 

Call Debra Blondheim, 667-9827 

Monday, Nov. 13

An Evening with Barbara Kingsolver 

7:30 p.m. 

King Middle School 

1781 Rose St. 

Barbara Kingsolver’s works include “Animal Dreams,” “High Tide in Tucson,” “The Poisonwood Bible” and “Prodigal Summer” 

free parking $10 in advance, $13 at the door 

Benefits KPFA and Urban Ecology. 

848-6767 

From Rossi to Bernstein 

7:30 - 9 p.m.  

Berkeley Richmond Jewish Community Center 

1414 Walnut St.  

Bay Area musician Mark Levy discusses the works of Jewish classical composers beginning with the sixteenth century. The first in a series of three Monday evening classes on music.  

Tuition for all three classes: $30 general public; $20 JJC members, seniors and students  

Individual classes: $10 general; $8 JJC members, seniors and students 

Call 848-0237 

Berkeley Preschool Fair 

7 - 9 p.m.  

Epworth United Methodist Church 

1953 Hopkins St.  

Sponsored by the Neighborhood Parents Network, this fair features representatives from local preschools. The topic will be how to evaluate preschool education philosophies and make the most of the admissions process. A fair featuring many local preschools will follow panel discussion. 

$5 non-members; Free to NPN members 

Call 527-6667 or visit www.parentsnet.org 

Tuesday, Nov. 14

Take a Trip to the Steinbeck Museum and 

Mission San Juan Bautista 

North Berkeley Senior Center 

1901 Hearst Ave. (at MLK Jr. Way) 

This is an outing organzied by the Senior Center.  

$40 with lunch, $25 without  

Call Maggie or Suzanne, 644-6107 

“The Hand of Buddha” 

7:30 p.m.  

Easy Going Travel Shop & Bookstore 

1385 Shattuck (at Rose) 

In her new book poet, columnist and travel writer Linda Watanabe McFerrin explores the lives of women from different ethnic backgrounds and in moments of crisis. Free 

Call 843-3533 

Thursday, Nov. 16

Reminiscing in Swingtime 

7:30 p.m.  

North Berkeley Library  

1170 Alameda (at Hopkins) 

George Yoshida, author and jazz drummer, presents a multi-media program recounting the big band experience in the Japanese American internment camps. The presentation will be capped with a set of live jazz by the George Yoshida Quartet. 

Call for more info: 644-6850 

Berkeley Metaphysic Toastmasters Club 

6:15 p.m. - 7:30 p.m. 

2515 Hillegass Ave.  

Public speaking skills and metaphysic come together at Avatar Metaphysical Toastmasters. Meets first and third Thursdays each month. 

Call 869-2547 or 643-7645 

Free blood pressure screenings 

Health Education Center, 400 Hawthorne Ave. 

free 

869-6737 

Friday, Nov. 17

Community Dance Party 

7:45 - 9:45 p.m. 

Live Oak Park 

1301 Shattuck (at Berryman) 

Come learn to dance with easy instructions presented by the Berkeley Folk Dancers.  

Teens $2; Adult Non-members $4 

Information: 525-3030  

Women in Black 

Noon - 1 p.m. 

Bancroft at Telegraph 

Women for peace in the Middle East  

Saturday, Nov. 18

S.F. Stairs and Peaks 

10 a.m. - 3 p.m.  

Begin the day with a visit to the farmer’s market, then meander up the stairways and streets of Telegraph Hill to Coit Tower. Then up Russian Hill, descending to Fisherman’s Wharf for a ride back on the new historic streetcar line. One in a series of free fall outings organized by Greenbelt Alliance.  

Call: 415-255-3233 

Berkeley Free Folk Festival 

11 a.m. - 1 a.m.  

Ashkenaz  

1317 San Pablo Ave. 

Fourteen hours of free concerts, workshops, jam sessions and to top it off a Saturday night dance. The fifth annual Folk Festival will feature Shay & Michael Black, Spectre Double Negative & the Equal Positive, Larry Hanks, Wake the Dead and many others. Sponsored by Charles Schwab and the City of Berkeley.  

More info or to volunteer: 525-5099 

Berkeley Video & Film Festival 

2 - 11 p.m. 

2451 Shattuck Ave. 

Screenings of 35 documentaries, features, short features, animation, comedy, commercials, educaitonal and art video and film works. Featuring a number of local filmakers.  

$8  

Call 843-3699 

ONGOING EVENTS

Sundays 

Green Party Consensus Building Meeting 

6 p.m. 

2022 Blake St. 

This is part of an ongoing series of discussions for the Green Party of Alameda County, leading up to endorsements on measures and candidates on the November ballot. This week’s focus will be the countywide new Measure B transportation sales tax. The meeting is open to all, regardless of party affiliation. 

415-789-8418 

Mondays 

Baby Bounce and Toddler Time 

10:30 a.m. 

Oct. 16 - Dec. 11 

Berkeley Central Library 

2121 Allston Way 

For children ages 6 to 36 months. Get those babies off to a good start with songs, rhymes, lap bounces, and very simple books. 

649-3943  

Tuesdays 

Easy Tilden Trails 

9:30 a.m. 

Tilden Regional Park, in the parking lot that dead ends at the Little Farm 

Join a few seniors, the Tuesday Tilden Walkers, for a stroll around Jewel Lake and the Little Farm Area. Enjoy the beauty of the wildflowers, turtles, and warblers, and waterfowl. 

215-7672; members.home.com/teachme99/tilden/index.html 

Berkeley Farmers’ Market 

2-7 p.m. 

Derby Street between Martin Luther King Jr. Way and Milvia Street 

548-3333 

Berkeley Camera Club 

7:30 p.m. 

Northbrae Community Church, 941 The Alameda 

Share your slides and prints with other photographers. Critiques by qualified judges. Monthly field trips. 

531-8664 

Computer literacy course 

6-8 p.m. 

James Kenney Recreation Center, 1720 Eighth St. 

This free course will cover topics such as running Windows, File Management, connecting to and surfing the web, using Email, creating Web pages, JavaScript and a simple overview of programming. The course is oriented for adults. 

644-8511 

Wednesdays  

10:30 a.m. 

Preschool Song and Story Time 

Berkeley Central Library 

2121 Allston Way 

Music and stories for ages 3-5.  

649-3943 

Thursdays 

The Disability Mural 

4-7 p.m. through September 

Integrated Arts 

933 Parker 

Drop-in Mural Studios will be held for community gatherings and tile-making sessions. This mural will be installed at Ed Roberts campus. 

841-1466 

Fridays 

Ralph Nader for President 

7 p.m.  

Video showings to continue until November. Campaign donations are requested. Admission is free.  

Contact Jack for directions at 524-1784. 

Saturdays 

Berkeley Farmers’ Market 

10 a.m.-3 p.m. 

Center Street between Martin Luther King Jr. Way and Milvia Street 

548-3333 

Poets Juan Sequeira and Wanna Thibideux Wright 

2nd and 4th Sunday 

Rhyme and Reason Open Mike Series 

2:30 p.m. 

UC Berkeley Art Museum, 2621 Durant Ave. 

The public and students are invited. Sign-ups for the open mike begin at 2 p.m. 

234-0727;642-5168 

Tuesday and Thursday 

Free computer class for seniors 

9:30-11:30 a.m. 

South Berkeley Senior Center, 2939 Ellis St. 

This free course offers basic instruction in keyboarding, Microsoft Word, Windows 95, Excel and Internet access. Space is limited; the class is offered Tuesday and Thursday afternoons. Call ahead for a reservation. 

644-6109 

Compiled by Chason Wainwright 

The Berkeley High girls’ volleyball team gave up just four points in three games against the Pinole Valley Spartans. They haven’t lost a match in league play. So they must be playing very well, right? Wrong, according to their coach. 

“We’ve pretty much underachieved this season,” Justin Caraway said after the dominating victory by his Yellowjackets team. 

Considering a season in which the ’Jackets are undefeated in ACCAL league play would be considered harsh for most teams. But Caraway has come to expect easy victories in the new league, and he isn’t happy with just winning the league. He scheduled four tournaments for this year, and with three gone, Berkeley has yet to win one. 

Caraway’s team spent last weekend at the Moreau Tournament, where they lost two matches and finished tied for seventh. They will travel to the Acalanes Tournament this weekend, and the coach expects better results. 

“We haven’t come prepared to play in the tournaments,” he said. “I don’t know if it’s because we haven’t had tough games in league play, but we need to get better.” 

One problem has been the absence of star player Desiree Young, who has been unavailable for several weeks due to injury. Caraway said he expects Young to return this weekend. 

“It takes a huge part of our game away,” Caraway said of missing his 6-5 hitter. “She’s about one-third of our offense, and she blocks five or six balls every game. Her presence on the court alone gets us two or three points a game.” 

In addition to the upcoming tournament, Caraway pointed to upcoming ACCAL matches against Encinal and Alameda as good tests for his team. 

“Alameda took a game from us earlier this year, so those matches should be a bit tougher,” he said. 

Thursday’s match against Pinole Valley was never really competitive. The Spartans managed just two side-outs as the Yellowjackets jumped out to a 14-0 lead before giving up their first point. The game ended 15-1 on the strength of four kills by outside hitter Lizzi Akana and two by middle hitter/setter Caitlin Everett, and it was evident the visiting Spartans, who haven’t won a match all year, were in for a long afternoon. 

“We bring three solid hitters into every match, and most teams aren’t ready for that,” Caraway said. 

Akana showed her versatility in the second game, as she tallied two kills, one block and six service points. The Yellowjackets made several errors in the match, seeming to lose intensity. But despite going into a 2-0 hole to begin the game, Berkeley wouldn’t give up another point before scoring 24 straight, spanning the rest of the second game and giving them a 9-0 lead in the third. The final game of the match was highlighted by nine service aces by the Yellowjackets, including four by freshman Nadia Qabazard and two each by Ilana Barr and Akana. 

“We knew we would win the match, but we didn’t think it would be that easy,” Caraway said. 

Akana finished the match with seven kills and one block, while Everett chipped in with three kills and nine assists in her hybrid role. With Young out, Everett has been playing as a hitter, away from her natural position of setter. Caraway praised Everett for her versatility. 

“She gives us a good match from two different positions, which is always useful,” he said. 

Still, with Northern California Sectional playoffs looming on the horizon, Caraway knows his team will have to bring its best game every time. 

“The playoffs are going to be really tough,” he said. “You can’t win in NCS without playing your best.”

Elect knowledgeable bus rider to AC board 

Editor: 

As the outgoing representative on the AC Transit Board for Berkeley, Albany, and West Contra Costa County, I have carefully examined the qualifications and records of the candidates running for my seat on the Board. The choice is clear. I urge you to vote for Joe Wallace. 

Joe has a long record as a champion of the best interests of the public and of AC Transit.  

• Joe rides the bus every day. He knows the special needs of women, families, commuters, seniors, kids, and disabled persons for safe, reliable public transit.  

• He has been a strong voice at regional agencies for adequate funding for bus services.  

• Joe played a leading role in bringing the No. 376 bus to North Richmond to serve the needs of people in that impoverished community for night service to employment sites and medical facilities. 

• He is an effective leader. He is a member of the steering committee for Urban Habitat programs, chair of the AC Transit Riders’ Advisory Committee, a member of the board of the North Richmond Neighborhood House, and chair of the North Richmond Municipal Advisory Committee.  

Joe’s endorsers include a member of Congress, State legislators, local elected officials, community leaders, and many ordinary citizens, as well as the Sierra Club, the Berkeley Democratic Club, and Berkeley Citizens’ Action. 

Joe’s skills, experience, and integrity will make him an outstanding AC Transit Director. He will be a strong, responsive and effective representative for all of us. Please vote for him on November 7th. 

Mim Hawley 

AC Transit Board Member, Ward I  

AC should trade in polluting monsters 

Editor: 

“Bus” -- a huge, noisy, polluting vehicle that runs in a static state with disregard to neighborhoods, traffic lights, environment, bicycles, pedestrians and passengers. After commute hours, buses can be see on Telegraph, Shattuck and College Ave., at times, two and three bumper to bumper with the front bus transporting all the passengers and the other two empty. In the late evening hours on College Ave., it is not uncommon to see these monstrosities running pass midnight with one or two passengers. Not only does this produce unnecessary traffic, noise, pollution and consumption of petroleum products, but it serves as a stage for the ineffective and uncreative AC Transit management. It is disturbing that AC Transit does not employ an analyst to research and report recommendations. Can it be so difficult to replace these inefficient monstrosities with small economical vans to serve the one or two passengers after commute hours? This would provide more street for bicycles to pass, less pollution, less noise, conservation of petroleum products and it will cut costs for AC Transit not only for bus purchases, but for fuel and maintenance.  

Robert Radford 

Berkeley 

Police behavior was inappropriate 

Editor,  

I feel it is necessary for me to respond to the incident reported on the front page of last Thursday’s Daily Planet, in which my wife, Carrie Sprague, was publicly singled out at the Berkeley City Council meeting by the President of the Berkeley Police Association. 

Later, in the hallway outside the Council Chambers, Carrie was surrounded by 20-30 hostile and shouting police officers. Towering one and a half feet above her, Randy Files, President of the Police Association, threatened her with arrest and shouted that all the members of the Police Association personally hate her to the cheers of his cronies. 

It is ironic that some police officers blame Carrie and other neighbors for their difficulties in finding parking for their personal vehicles. During many, many planning meetings for the new Public Safety Building, Carrie repeatedly addressed the need for adequate Police Department employee parking.  

Unfortunately, neither the Police Department nor the Police Association ever sent representatives to these meetings to discuss employee parking. In addition, Carrie sent a letter to the Berkeley Police Association more than a year ago requesting that they meet with neighborhood representatives to discuss mutually beneficial solutions to parking problems. No response was ever received.  

I believe that the personal hostility toward Carrie has come about because she has worked for effective enforcement of the Residential Permit Parking ordinance. She continues to insist that police officers may not disrespect our law or our neighborhood. 

As for the effort by some Police Association members to bully Carrie, I can assure all those who are concerned for her safety that she was not in the least intimidated. Having lived with me for 20 years Carrie readily recognizes bluster without substance when it occurs.  

Stan Sprague 

Berkeley 

Police inappropriate 2 

Editor:  

The debate over controlled neighborhood parking took an abrupt turn last week when police officers affiliated with the Berkeley Police Association appeared at the City Council to lobby for parking access at the Civic Center (Daily Planet, Oct. 19) 

The action marks one of those rare moments when the BPA rank-and-file having publicly demonstrated. As city employees, police officers have every right to demonstrate. And there was nothing wrong with them chanting, “What do we want? Parking! When do we want it? Now!”  

However, when shouting officers, and in particular the president of the BPA, Officer Files, targeted local neighborhood activists at council, it raises questions about proper police conduct. To publicly single out particular residents as the source of their parking woes, was not only shortsighted, but unprofessional. 

Berkeley officers should realize that their parking ticket woes are to be blamed on their employer, the City of Berkeley, and not local residents. Further, most residents are in support of city employees having off-street parking at their work places. Certainly adequate parking is demanded of other large businesses in Berkeley.  

A decade ago, the city committed itself to reducing both its fleet size and the number of employee commuter cars when it signed onto the Clean Air Act. Throughout the nineties, Berkeley government unfortunately did nothing to address these two issues, preferring to exempt itself from any changes in this area of transportation.  

The concerns of Civic Center residents parallels the experience of the neighbors living around the Public Works Corporation Yard in District 2. These neighbors have fought a futile battle to reduce city employee on-street parking for over twenty years.  

In 1992, the city’s traffic engineer performed an employee parking study at the corporation year. The parking study, set against current numbers, shows a significant increase in employee on-street parking. Frustrated residents have even resorted to identifying and counting city employee cars, the very activity which so enraged the police officers in question. 

Perhaps the greatest deterrent to open dialogue in a neighborhood dispute is the phrase, “I can arrest you.” This statement was repeatedly shouted by Officer Files as he and other BPA members took their demonstration outside council chambers and directed their ire at a single citizen. He only stopped when their conduct was challenged by some of the public who had joined in the yelling match. It is doubtful that any of those young officers stopped to consider the chilling effect such threats and actions have on public discourse and participation. 

The officers in question would be quick to state that they were off duty. Yet, when the would-be arresting officer asserted, “I can arrest you,” is this officer then still off duty? Even if officers are technically off the clock, they should never display the kind of conduct witnessed both inside and outside council. 

Moreover, this is an inappropriate use of one’s position and should be subject to review. Two years ago, the noted criminal lawyer John Burris spoke in Berkeley about police conduct and civilian review. He stated that the greatest asset to any officer is not the gun, baton, or pepper spray, but the officer’s ability to listen as well as to communicate respectfully.  

L.A. Wood 

Berkeley 

City keep out  

Editor: 

I find it a little disheartening that the Berkeley City Council has once again stuck its nose where it does not belong and making things just a little bit harder for business owners to run their own businesses as they see fit. Their consideration of an ordinance to ban certain types of cigarette displays is just another sign of the utter insignificance this City Council has to real life problems.  

I understand the need for people to want their children not to smoke, and if the city is serious about wanting to stop children from acquiring cigarettes, it would be simpler to send undercover teens into these stores and see if cigarettes are available for sale to them. If it is, fine the business. Why create another silly ordinance to take away the rights of business owners? The argument that certain types of display makes it easier to steal cigarettes is even sillier. Most of the displays I see at convenience stores around Berkeley are located behind the cash register (including the one at the Fast Mart which is discussed in the article). It would take an effort to steal anything from it and if the teens are stealing it, who is the victim, the store or the teen? 

Leave the business owners to do what is right. If stealing becomes a problem, they will do something about it. 

The only thing more disappointing about this subject was the article itself. The article contains at least 4 intelligent arguments for the ordinance. The only counterpoint available was a “no comment” from convenience store manager located not more than 200 feet from your office. I know of at least 5 stores within that range and not one of them was quoted. Couldn’t you have found at least one owner to quote? I don’t think asking for a semblance of unbiased coverage is too much to ask of a quality newspaper such as yours. 

Jim Tamietti 

Berkeley 

(Editors note: our reporter John Guluardi called a number of business owners in an effort to find an opposing view, but found none. Thanks for stepping forward.) 

lion. A full analysis of the services the city provides the university’s extensive, expansive, dense land uses needs to be renewed and include new UC developments. A look at one city project, sewer rehabilitation, may serve to put the issue in perspective. 

According to an Aug. 14 Public Works Commission communication to the Planning Commission, deferred sewer maintenance is currently nearly $500 million, double the city’s total annual budget. As the largest single user of the city’s sewer system, UC is contributing $250,000 annually toward repairs as noted in Hegarty’s letter. At that rate, it will take 500 years for UC contributions to fund even twenty-five percent of current sewer repair needs.  

If the repairs were done today, as some argue is prudent, what would be the cost per person? If the city paid all the cost, each resident of Berkeley would pay $5,000. On the other hand, if the state were to pay the total bill, the cost for each resident of California would be about $20. 

This is only one example of the burdens which seem unreasonably heavy for one small city’s taxpayers. The city and UC both have an interest in good maintenance of the city’s basic services. The city cannot fund these services alone with its severely reduced tax base.  

It seems reasonable and fair to request that the state consider taking more responsibility for state institutions, particularly when these are located in dense urban areas where the state institution has displaced many revenue generating land uses and constitutes a comparatively large proportion of the land uses, and thus the demand for services. This does seem fair! 

Nancy Holland 

Berkeley 

841-0214 

Editor: 

I am writing in response to a recent later to the Editor and a news article, concerning proposed university development in the Southside neighborhood. 

The letter from John English, titled “UC must respect the historic district” states that the proposed Centralized Dining and Student Services Building should conform to its historic neighbors and that the university has ignored the concerns of the city committees and commissions and concerned citizens. From my own close involvement with the project I can say this is not true. 

Conformity and contextuality in architecture are highly subjective - and controversial matters. One building’s attempt to “blend in” with its neighbors may be seen by some as mimicry or a cartoon of older features and styles. Another building may express an individuality some may feel is intrusive to the surrounding character. 

In most cases where a new building is inserted in the midst of older, well-designed neighbors a very careful design process is necessitated. In a neighborhood as rich and varied as the Southside, this process is mandated. This careful process took place in planning the Centralized Dining and Student Services Building, proposed at the center of Bowditch and Channing.  

As part of the Underhill Area Master Plan, of which the dining facility is a component, the campus prepared detailed design guidelines for the properties involved, guidelines that called for inclusive designs sensitive to the scale and character of the neighborhood. While the campus does not prescribe a design style when planning a new building, a palette of materials and colors was recommended. Further, the guidelines prescribes a strong relationship of new buildings to the street, building massing broken down to a neighborhood scale, and creating pedestrian-active sidewalks.  

The guidelines intent was realized in the new Centralized Dining and Student Services Building. This design was not easy to achieve, as any new building on this site would have its challenges. But the neighborhood building style is quite eclectic. The site’s neighbors include the brown-shingled Anna Head School across the street, the stuccoed Casa Bonita adjacent, a modern apartment building faced with plywood to the north, and the shingled Shorb House diagonally across Channing. No style predominates, and how each “fit in” to each other is a highly relative notion.  

The campus Design Review Committee, chaired by Harrison Fraker, Dean of the College of Environmental Design, held numerous meetings to resolve the building’s design and to refine its elements to be a good, albeit modern, neighbor. The massing, fenestration, orientation, and materials (still being developed) have been carefully debated and eventually received a recommendation for approval.  

At each meeting I transmitted the comments of the City Design Review Committee and Landmarks Preservation Commission, and the concerns of local citizens; these comments played a constructive role in the buildings evolution.  

I have two comments on the Friday, Sept. 29 article “Campus pavilions may be leveled.” In the article, Landmarks Preservation Commission member and BAHA staff Leslie Emmington Jones asks the question, “...Does the southside of campus become a neighborhood community based on the needs of the community or an institutional expansion zone...?”  

My first comment is that the Southside is and has been a campus-oriented neighborhood since its initial development in the 19th century. Indeed, the land was once owned by the campus and was sold to finance the nascent College of California, UC’s predecessor. In this neighborhood the university is also “the community.” the notion that the university is not an integral part of this neighborhood belies the fact that 8,000 of the 10,000 residents are students, that the churches, businesses and apartment buildings are here due to the university’s presence, and that the ongoing and celebrated vitality of the neighborhood is due in major part to the university’s presence, reputation, and stature. 

My second comment is that we need to transform the seemingly endless debate over the future of the Southside into a true dialogue between campus, city and community. The Southside Plan had true promise when it started out almost three years ago. Campus and city worked effectively as a team gathering information and holding many meetings with community and campus members. The opinions on the direction of future plans were as diverse as Berkeley is today. This process resulted in the Draft Southside plan published last January.  

Since then, contrary to the initial agreement between the city and the University, the City Planning Commission has decided to develop its own Southside Plan without the active partnership of the University. The University awaits the results of this effort.  

I am hopeful we can find common ground between town and gown, and not create barriers to dialogue or dig into opposing positions. The Southside has traditionally been a place of creativity and toleration. Only if the campus, city and community approach this effort in a spirit of cooperation, rather than confrontation, will it be possible working to create a common vision for the Southside. 

David Duncan 

Community Planning & Urban Design Manager 

Capital Projects 

UC Berkeley 

Subject:  

John Geluardi’s Article for 10/24/00 

Date:  

Thu, 26 Oct 2000 17:27:05 -0700 

From:  

Jim Tamietti  

Organization:  

Environmental News Network 

To:  

Dear Editor, 

I find it a little disheartening that the Berkeley City Council has once again stuck it’s nose where it does not belong and making things just a little bit harder for business owners to run their own businesses as they see fit. Their consideration of an ordinance to ban certain types of cigarette displays is just another sign of the utter insignificance this city council is to real life problems.  

I understand the need for people to want their children not to smoke, and if the city is serious about wanting to stop children from acquiring cigarettes, it would be simpler to send undercover teens into these stores and see if cigarettes are available for sale to them. If it is, fine the business. Why create another silly ordinance to take away the rights of business owners? The argument that certain types of display makes it easier to steal cigarettes is even sillier. Most of the displays I see at convenience stores around Berkeley are located behind the cash register (including the one at the Fast Mart which is discussed in the article). It would take an effort to steal anything from it and if the teens are stealing it, who is the victim, the store or the teen? 

Leave the business owners to do what is right. If stealing becomes a problem, they will do something about it. 

The only thing more disappointing about this subject was the article itself. The article contains at least 4 intelligent argument for the ordinance. The only counterpoint available was a "no comment" from convenience store manager located not more than 200 feet from your office. I know of at least 5 stores within that range and not one of them was quoted. Couldn’t you have found at least one owner to quote? I don’t think asking for a semblance of unbiased coverage is too much to ask of a quality newspaper such as yours. 

Jim Tamietti 

Berkeley, CA 

510-644-3661 ext 20 daytime 

510-644-3005 fax 

jtamietti@enn.com 

Ebony Museum of Arts 

The museum specializes in the art and history of Africa.  

Tuesday through Saturday, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.; Sunday, noon to 6 p.m.  

30 Jack London Village, Suite 209. (510) 763-0745. 

Habitot Children’s Museum 

Kittredge Street and Shattuck Avenue 

“Back to the Farm.”  

Ongoing 

An interactive exhibit gives children the chance to wiggle through tunnels like an earthworm, look into a mirrored fish pond, don farm animal costumes, ride on a John Deere tractor and more.  

Cost: $4 adults; $6 children age 7 and under; $3 for each additional child age 7 and under.  

Monday and Wednesday, 9:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.; Tuesday and Friday, 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Thursday, 9:30 a.m. to 7 p.m.; Saturday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Sunday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.  

647-1111 or www.habitot.org 

Judah L. Magnes Museum 

2911 Russell St.  

549-6950 

Free 

Sunday through Thursday, 10 a.m.-4 p.m. 

“Telling Time: To Everything There Is A Season” 

Through May 2002.  

An exhibit structured around the seasons of the year and the seasons of life with objects ranging from the sacred and the secular, to the provocative and the whimsical. Highlights include treasures from Jewish ceremonial and folk art, rare books and manuscripts, contemporary and traditional fine art, video, photography and cultural kitsch. The exhibition will expand Nov 5, 2000, to encompass all four seasons and a collection of rare treasures from Jewish, Tibetan, Mexican-American, and other cultures. 

“Second Annual Richard Nagler Competition for Excellence i Jewish Photography” 

Nov. 5 - Feb. 2001. 

Featuring the work of Claudia Nierman, Jason Francisco, Fleming Lunsford, and others.  

UC Berkeley Art Museum 

2626 Bancroft Way, Berkeley 

Wednesday – Sunday, 11 a.m. - 5 p.m., Open Thursdays til 9 p.m.  

Through Jan. 16, 2001: “Amazons in the Drawing Room”: The Art of Romaine Brooks  

Predominantly a portrait artist, Brooks paintings were influenced by elements of her life and are a visual record of the changing status of women in society and her own refusal to conform to the social order of early twentieth-century Europe.  

Pacific Film Archive  

Theater Gallery 

2625 Durant Ave. 

Through Jan. 8, 2001: “Continuous Replay: The Photographs of Arnie Zane” 

Best known as the cofounder of the Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company, Zane began his exploration of the human form through photography. 

Through Dec. 17: Wolfgang Laib/Martrix: “188 Pollen from Pine” 

The Asian Galleries  

“Art of the Sung: Court and Monastery,” open-ended.  

A display of early Chinese works from the permanent collection.  

“Chinese Ceramics and Bronzes: The First 3,000 Years,” open-ended. 

“Works on Extended Loan from Warren King,” open-ended. 

“Three Towers of Han,” open-ended. 

$6 general; $4 seniors and students age 12 to 18; free children age 12 and under; free Thursday, 11 a.m. to noon and 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. Wednesday, Friday through Sunday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Thursday, 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. 

642-0808. 

UC Berkeley Museum of  

Paleontology 

Lobby, Valley Life Sciences Building, UC Berkeley 

“Tyrannosaurus Rex,” ongoing.  

A 20-foot tall, 40-foot long replica of the fearsome dinosaur. The replica is made from casts of bones of the most complete T. Rex skeleton yet excavated. When unearthed in Montana, the bones were all lying in place with only a small piece of the tailbone missing. 

“Pteranodon”  

A suspended skeleton of a flying reptile with a wingspan of 22 to 23 feet. The Pteranodon lived at the same time as the dinosaurs. 

California Fossils Exhibit, ongoing. An exhibit of some of the fossils which have been excavated in California. 

Free. Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Saturday and Sunday, 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. 

642-1821. 

UC Berkeley Phoebe Hearst  

Museum of Anthropology 

Kroeber Hall, Bancroft Way and College  

Avenue, Berkeley 

“Modern Treasures from Ancient Iran,” through Oct. 29.  

This exhibit explores nomadic and town life in ancient and modern Iran as illustrated in bronze and pottery vessels, and textiles.  

“Approaching a Century of Anthropology: The Phoebe Hearst Museum,” open-ended.  

This new permanent installation will introduce visitors to major topics in the museum’s history, including the role of Phoebe Apperson Hearst as the museum’s patron, as well as the relationship of anthropologists Alfred Kroeber and Robert Lowie to the museum. 

“Ishi and the Invention of Yahi Culture,” ongoing. 

$2 general; $1 seniors; $.50 children age 17 and under; free on Thursdays. Wednesday, Friday through Sunday, 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.; Thursday, 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. 

643-7648 

Mills College Art Museum 

5000 MacArthur Blvd., Oakland 

“The 100 Languages of Children,” through October.  

An exhibit of art by children from Reggio Emilia, Italy. At Carnegie Building Bender Room. 

Free. Tuesday through Saturday, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.; Sunday, noon to 4 p.m. 

430-2164 

Lawrence Hall of Science 

“Math Rules!” Ongoing. A math exhibit of hands-on problem-solving stations, each with a different mathematical challenge. 

“Within the Human Brain” Ongoing. Visitors test their cranial nerves, play skeeball, master mazes, match musical tones and construct stories inside a simulated “rat cage” of learning  

experiments. 

“In the Dark,”through Jan. 15, 2001. Plunge into darkness and see amazing creatures that inhabit worlds without light.  

“Saturday Night Stargazing” First and third Saturdays each month. 8 - 10 p.m., LHS plaza.  

“ChemMystery,” through January 1, 2001. The LHS becomes a crime scene and a science lab to help visiting detectives to solve two different crime scenarios.  

“Grossology,” LHS Family Halloween Party, Oct. 28, 6:30 - 9 p.m. Featuring the creation of “gross” stuff with household products and ChemMystery, a hands-on crime lab for kids.  

$12 for adults; $10 for kids 12 and under.  

Call 643-5134 for tickets  

Open daily, 10 a.m. - 5 p.m. 

$7 for adults; $5 for children 5-18; $3 for children 3-4 

642-5132 

Holt Planetarium  

Programs are recommended for age 8 and up; children under age 6 will not be admitted. $2 in addition to regular museum admission. 

“Moons of the Solar System,” through Dec. 10. 

Take a tour of the fascinating worlds that orbit Earth and other planets out to the edge of the Solar System.  

“Constellations Tonight” Ongoing. Using a simple star map, learn to identify the most prominent constellations for the season in the planetarium sky. Daily, 3:30 p.m. $7 general; $5 seniors, students, disabled, and youths age 7 to 18;  

$3 children age 3 to 5 ; free children age 2 and younger. Daily 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Centennial Drive, University of California,  

Berkeley. (510) 642-5132 or www.lhs.berkeley.edu 

The Oakland Museum of  

California 

1000 Oak St., Oakland 

“Secret World of the Forbidden City” Through Jan. 24, 2001. A rare glimpse of over 350 objects which illustrate the opulence and heritage of the Chinese Imperial Court Under the Qing Dynasty, which ruled China from 1644 - 1911. For this exhibit: $13 general, $10 seniors and $5 for students with ID.  

For museum: $6 general; $4 seniors and students; free children age 5 and under; second Sundays are free to all. Wednesday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Sunday, noon to 5 p.m.; first Friday of the month, 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Many special events scheduled for November and December related to “Secret World of the Forbidden City.” Call the museum or check the Out & About calendar listings for upcoming events. 

(888) OAK-MUSE or www.museumca.org. 

Music 

Bruce Hornsby 

Nov. 4, 8 p.m. $29.50.  

Berkeley Community Theatre, 1900 Allston Way, Berkeley.  

(510) 444-TIXS 

Ashkenaz 

1317 San Pablo 

Oct. 27, 9 p.m., Sam Mangwana (Congolese rumba, world) 

Call TicketWeb, 594-1400 or Ashkenaz, Tuesday through Sunday during showtimes, 525-5054 

Oct. 31, 9 p.m. A Reggae Halloween Party with Ras Kidus and guests, An evening of soca, calypso and reggae music featuring Haf Breed, Jah Flyy, Pode Vill Crew and DJ Jah Bonz. $9 

924 Gilman St. 

All shows begin at 8 p.m. unless noted 

$5; $2 for a year membership 

525-9926 

Oct. 27: Elliot, The Jazz June, Lovelight Shine, Killing Independent 

Oct. 28: Haloween show includes From Ashes Arise, Born Dead Icons, Time in Malta, Le Shok, Lesser of Two  

Nov. 3: Slow Gherkin, Tsunami Bomb, Loose Change, Flatus, Homeless Wonders 

Freight & Salvage Coffee House 

1111 Addison St. 

All music begins at 8 p.m. (doors open at 7:30 p.m.) 

Oct 28: Solas (Irish traditional band) 

Oct. 29: Austin Lounge Lizards (Texas lunacy) 

Oct. 30: Bill Miller (singer/harpist from Wales) 

Nov. 1: Wake the Dead (Celtic Grateful Dead) 

Nov. 2: Gerry O’Beirne (Irish guitarist & singer) 

Nov. 3: Darryl Henriques (humorist) 

Call 762-BASS or 601-TWEB for advance tickets 

For additional info call Ashkenaz showline, 548-1761 

Cal Performances 

Oct. 29, 3 p.m.: Ian Bostridge, Tenor, performs music of Schubert and Hugo Wolf, $28 - $48.  

Nov. 5, 3 p.m.: Julia Fischer, Violinist, performs music of Tartini, Beethoven and Cesar Franck, $28 - $48.  

Hertz Hall, UC Berkeley (Bancroft at College) 

Nov. 19, 3 p.m.: Deborah Voigt, Soprano, performing music of Strauss, Schoenberg, Wagner, and others, $28 - $48 

Zellerbach Hall, UC Berkeley 

For tickets and info for these events call 642-9988 

Yoshi’s 

Oct. 30, The big fUn philharmonic featuring Aaron Bennett, Kimara, John Finkbeiner, and others. Presented by Jazz In Flight. $8 general; $6 for JIF members and students 

Oct. 31, 8 p.m. Halloween Salsa Dance Party, With Jesus Diaz y su QBA. The dance floor will be open. $14 

Unless otherwise noted, music at 8 p.m. and 10 p.m.; Sunday 2 p.m. and 8 p.m. 510 Embarcadero West, Oakland. (510) 238-9200 or (510) 762-BASS. 

The Jazzschool/La Note 

2377 Shattuck Ave. 

All music begins at 4:30 p.m. 

Oct. 29, Mimi Fox Trio 

Nov. 5, Victor Lewis Quintet  

Nov. 12, Ledisi with special guests, The Braxton Brothers 

$12; $10 students/seniors; $6 for Jazzschool students and children under 13 

Reservations: (510) 845-5373 

Live Oak Concert Series 

Berkeley Art Center 

1275 Walnut St. 

Oct. 29, 7:30 p.m., The Horizon Wind Quintet 

$10; $8 for members; $9 for students and seniors; Children under 12 admitted free 

Julia Morgan Center for the Arts Presents: 

The Empyrean Ensemble: “Trading Places: Trios Old and New” 

2640 College Ave.  

Nov. 11, 8 p.m. with pre-concert audience interactive discussion with pianist Gwendlyn Mok at 7 p.m.  

Tickets: $18 and $14 for seniors and students; groups of 10 or more, $14 each 

For tickets: 925-798-1300 

Eli’s Mile High Club 

3629 Martin Luther King Jr. Way, Oakland 

(510) 655-6661 

Doors open at 8 p.m. 

Beginning Oct. 26, Funk & Soul with DJs Styles, Kendread and special guests. Ongoing Thursdays.  

Oct. 28. Halloween party featuring Takezo. Doors at 8 p.m.  

Albatross Pub 

1822 San Pablo Ave. 

All bands play at 9 p.m. 

Nov. 1: Whisky Brothers (old time & bluegrass) 

Nov. 2: Keni “El Legrijano” (flamenco guitar) 

Nov. 4: Larry Steel Jazz Quartet 

Films 

Berkeley Video & Film Festival 

Fine Arts Cinema 

2451 Shattuck 

Nov. 18 & 19, 2 - 11 p.m.  

Screenings of 35 documentaries, features, short features, animation, comedy, commercials, educational and art video and film works. Sundays program will feature work of Berkeley residents: Shola Ogunlana’s “Indigenous Woman: Passing,” Even La Magna’s “People + Their Power,” and Aidan Fraser’s “Unbroken Glass.” The final feature of the festival will be Albany resident Chris Hokuala Uchiyama’s film “Bliss,” which is loosely based on the shootings at Columbine high school.  

$8 per day. Call for tickets and schedule, 843-3699 

Pacific Film Archive 

2575 Bancroft (at Bowditch) 

Nov. 1, 7:30 p.m. “Political Advertisement 2000” 

Nov. 3, 7 p.m.: “The Elders,” 8:50 p.m.: “On & Off the Res with Charlie Hill and The Laughing Club of India” 

Nov. 4, 7 p.m.: Ottawa Animation Festival 2000 - Program 1 

Nov. 5, 3:30 p.m.: “Liebe Perla,” 5:05 p.m.: “Teatro Amazonas,” 6:30 p.m.: “Angelos’ Film” 

Nov. 6, 7:30 p.m.: “The Land of the Wandering Souls” 

Nov. 7, 7:30 p.m.: Field Studies: Films by Gunvor Nelson 

Fine Arts Cinema  

2451 Shattuck (at Haste) 

Nov. 11 & 12  

La Lesbian Film Festival 

Festival begins both days at 2 p.m. 

Individual screenings, $7; Festival pass, $35; disabled discounts 

Call 654-6346 or visit www.lapena.org 

Theater 

“The Green Bird”  

by Carlo Gozzi 

Berkeley Repertory Theatre 

2025 Addison St. 

Adapted by Theatre de la Jeune Lune and directed by Dominique Serrand.  

“The Green Bird” runs through Oct. 27. For tickets contact the box office at 845-4700 

Impact Theatre Presents: 

“Impact Briefs 4: Impact Smackdown!” 

Oct. 20 - Nov. 18 

Fridays and Saturdays, 8 p.m.  

$10, Students $5 

Call 464-4468 for tickets & reservations 

La Val’s Subterraniean  

1834 Euclid 

“Fanny at Chez Panisse” 

Julie Morgan Theatre 

2640 College Ave., Berkeley 

Musical based on the book with opening proceeds going to the Verde Partnership Garden in Richmond. 

Through Oct. 29 

Runs Wednesday - Sunday, 7 p.m.  

$26 - 34  

1-888-FANNY06 

“Moonlight”  

by Harold Pinter 

A Last Planet Theatre production 

Potrero Hill Playhouse 

953 De Haro 

San Francisco 

Pinter’s most recent play features a man named Andy who is dying and his wife, Bel, who can’t get their two sons to pay them a visit. A story of infidelity, sibling rivalry, marital combat and moonlight and memory.  

Runs Thursday - Saturday, through Oct. 28. All shows at 8:30 p.m. No show Oct. 26.  

$20 opening night, $10-15 regular run, $5 preview 

More info and tickets: 845-2687 

“A Midsummer Nights Dream” 

Saint Mary’s High School 

1291 Albina St. 

Oct. 27-28, 7:30 p.m.; Oct. 29, 2:30 p.m. 

$6 general  

Actors Ensemble of Berkeley Presents: 

“Inherit The Wind” by Lawrence & Lee 

Live Oak Theatre 

1301 Shattuck (at Berryman) 

Friday and Saturday through Nov. 18. All shows at 8 p.m. One Thursday performance on Nov. 16.  

$10; discounts for groups of 15 or more 

Reservations: 528-5620  

Berkeley Rep School of Theatre 

“Sundiata” 

Martin Luther King, Jr. High School 

1781 Rost St.  

The world of premiere of Edward Mast’s tale of Djata, a handicapped boy who discovers he is the lost son of the murdered king of the Mali Empire. As the empire’s last hope, he is called upon to reclaim his heritage as the Lion King.  

Nov, 4, Noon 

Free to the public, but reservations are encouraged. 

Call 647-2972  

“Dinner With Friends” 

by Donald Margulies 

Nov. 10 through Jan 5, 2001 

Berkeley Repertory Theatre 

2025 Addison St.  

845-4700, www.berkeleyrep.org 

Barestage Productions Presents 

“Avengeline” by Adia Shy 

Nov. 2 - 11, Thursday - Saturday, 8 p.m. and Saturday, 10 p.m.  

Choral Rehearsal Hall 

UC Berkeley 

$5 

Call for info and directions, 642-3880 

Dance 

Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company  

“You Walk?” 

Oct. 27-28, 8 p.m. 

$20 - $42 

“Past Forward”  

White Oak Dance Project Present:  

Nov. 1 - 4, 8 p.m.  

Mikhail Baryshnikov and company celebrating the influence of post-modern choreographers.  

$36 - $60  

Zellerbach Hall 

UC Berkeley 

Call for tickets, 642-9988 or try TicketWeb.com 

Exhibits 

Berkeley Art Center 

“Ethnic Notions: Black Images in the White Mind,''  

Through Nov. 12. An exhibit by Janette Faulkner exploring racial stereotypes in commercial imagery. Free. Wednesday through Sunday, noon to 5 p.m. Live Oak Park, 1275 Walnut St., Berkeley. (510) 644-6893 

California College of Arts and Crafts  

Free. Monday, Tuesday and Thursday through Saturday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Wednesday, 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Oliver Art Center, 5212 Broadway, Oakland. 594-3712 

Starbuck’s Coffee presents Mark Harper: “MMII”  

Acrylic paintings 

3839 Emery St., Emeryville 

Every day, 6 a.m. - 8 p.m.  

Call 893-2891 

Traywick Gallery 

Photographs of Marco Breuer, through Nov. 26. Tuesday - Saturday, 11 a.m. - 6 p.m. and Sunday, Noon - 5 p.m.  

1316 Tenth St., Berkeley 

Kala Gallery 

Kala Art Institute 1999 Fellowship Awards Exhibition Part II through Oct. 31. Features work by Margaret Kessler, Barbara Milman, Michele Muennig, and David Politzer.  

Tuesday through Friday, Noon - 5 p.m. or by appointment. 1060 Heinz Ave. Call 549-2977. 

Berkeley Historical Society  

“Berkeley’s Ethnic Heritage.” An overview of the rich cultural diversity of the city and the contribution of individuals and minority groups to it’s history and development.  

Thursday through Saturday, 1 – 4 p.m. Admission free.  

1931 Center St.  

Call 848-0181 

Lizabeth Oliveria Gallery 

Paintings by Timothy Buckwalter, Hilary Harkness, and Jerry W. King, Through Oct. 28. 

Gallery hours: Tuesday - Saturday, 11 a.m. - 6 p.m.  

942 Clay St., Oakland. Call 625-1830 for more info. 

Pro Arts Gallery 

Early Bird Holiday Art Fest. Oct. 25 - Nov. 11. Shop early for unique gifts made by local artists. Free opening reception, Oct. 28, 1 - 4 p.m. featuring live music and artist demonstrations.  

Gallery hours: Wednesday - Saturday, 11 a.m. - 5 p.m.  

461 Ninth St., Oakland. Call 763-9425  

Bucci’s 

Photographs by Jan Wison Kaufman, “Through the Crystal Ball” 

Through Nov. 17, Monday - Friday, 7 a.m. - 9:30 p.m.; Saturday, 5:30 p.m. - 9:30 p.m.  

6121 Hollis St., Emeryville. Call 547-4725  

Ames Gallery 

“Left Coast Legends: California Masters of Visionary, Self-taught, and Outsider Art,” featuring the work of Dwight Mackintosh, Alex Maldonado, A.G. Rizzoli, Jon Serl, and Barry Simons, Through Dec. 2.  

2661 Cedar St., Call for more info: 845-4949 

Women’s Cancer Resource Center Gallery 

Alan Leon: Hebrew Calligraphy and Illuminations, Nov. 1 - Dec. 15. Opening reception, Nov. 4, 1 - 3 p.m.  

Gallery hours: Tuesday - Thursday, 1 - 7 p.m.; Saturday, Noon - 4 p.m. and by appointment.  

3023 Shattuck Ave., Call 548-9286 x307 for more info 

!hey! Gallery 

Paintings by Atiba Azikiwe Andrews, through Nov. 11. 

4920-b Telegraph (at 51st), Oakland 

Call 428-2349 

The Oakland Museum of California 

“La Flor y la Calavera: Altars and Offerings for the Days of the  

Dead,” through Nov. 26.  

The 7th annual exhibit in observance of Dias de los Muertos featuring ofrendas, altars and artworks created by artists, community groups and students in observance of Mexico’ s Day of the Dead. $6 general; $4 seniors and students; free children age 5 and under; second Sundays are free to all. Tuesday through Thursday and Saturday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Friday, 10 a.m. to 9 p.m.; Sunday, noon to 5 p.m.; first Friday of the month, 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. 1000 Oak St., Oakland.  

(888) OAK-MUSE or www.museumca.org 

Readings 

Rhyme and Reason Poetry Series 

Berkeley Art Museum/Pacific Film Archive 

2621 Durant Ave. 

2nd and 4th Sundays of each month. 

Includes featured readers and open mike poetry. Free 

2 p.m. sign-up. Program runs from 2:30 - 4 p.m. 

Oct. 29: Fernando Brito, Lara Dale 

234-0727 

Holloway Poetry Reading Series 

8p.m., Maude Fife Room, 315 Wheeler Hall 

For more information call 653-2439 

Nov. 1: John Yau and Garrett Caples, books include “Forbidden Entries” and “My Symptoms” 

Nov. 7: Marie Howe and Brian Glaser, “The Good Thief” and “What the Living Do” 

Cody’s Books 

2454 Telegraph Ave., 845-7852  

& 1730 Fourth St., 559-9500 

Telegraph events (all begin at 7:30 p.m, unless noted): 

Oct. 28, 11 a.m. - Noon, American Folk Songs for Young People 

Oct. 29, The poetry of Kim Addonizio & Jim Natal 

Oct. 30, Martin Davis, “The Universal Computer: the Road from Leibniz to Turing” 

Forth St. events: 

Oct. 29, 2:30 p.m., Robert San Souci, children’s writer, to chat and sign “Cinderella Skeleton” 

Lunch Poems: A Noontime Poetry Reading Series 

Morrison Room, Doe Library 

UC Berkeley 

12:10 - 12:50 p.m.  

Call 642-0137 

Under the direction of Professor Robert Hass, this is a series of events on the first Thursday of each month. Free.  

Nov. 2: Goh Poh Seng 

Dec. 7: Fanny Howe, Mark Levin, and Carol Snow  

Easy Going Travel Shop & Bookstore 

1385 Shattuck Ave. (at Rose) 

843-3533 

All events begin at 7:30 p.m. 

Nov. 2: Don Patton discusses “The Spirit of the Road: One Hundred Years of the California Automobile Association” 

Nov. 14: Linda Watanabe McFerrin discusses “Stories: The Hand of Buddha,” a book that explores the lives of women. 

Nov. 29: Travel writer Jeff Greenwald and others discuss and read from “Salon.com’s Wanderlust: Read Life Tales of Adventure and Romance”  

Tours 

Lawrence Berkeley National  

Laboratory 

Scientists and engineers guide visitors through the research areas of the laboratory, demonstrating emerging technology and discussing the research’s current and potential applications. A Berkeley lab tour usually lasts two hours and includes visits to several research areas. Popular tour sites include the Advanced Light Source, The National Center for Electron Microscopy, the 88-Inch Cyclotron, The Advanced Lighting Laboratory, and The Human Genome Laboratory. Reservations required at least two weeks in advance of tour. 

Free. University of California, Berkeley. 

486-4387 

Berkeley City Club Tours 

Guided tours through Berkeley’s City Club, a landmark building designed by architect Julia Morgan, designer of Hearst Castle. 

$2. The fourth Sunday of every month except December, between noon to 4 p.m.  

2315 Durant Ave., Berkeley. 

848-7800 

Golden Gate Live Steamers 

Small locomotives, meticulously scaled to size, run along a half mile of track in Tilden Regional Park. The small trains are owned and maintained by a non-profit group of railroad buffs who offer rides.  

Free. Trains run Sunday, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Rides: Sunday, noon to 3 p.m., weather permitting. Grizzly Peak Boulevard and Lomas Cantadas Drive at the south end of Tilden Regional Park, Berkeley.  

486-0623  

Oakland Historic walking tours 

Runs through October.  

The tours cover downtown Oakland and its historic waterfront. All tours begin promptly at 10 a.m. and last between an hour and an hour and a half.  

Free. Call for reservations. Oakland. (510) 238-3234. 

University of California at Berkeley Botanical Garden 

The gardens have displays of exotic and native plants. 

Botanical Garden Tours, Saturday and Sunday, 1:30 p.m. Meet at the Tour Orientation Center for a free docent tour. $3 general; $2 seniors; $1 children; free on Thursday. Daily, 9 a.m. to 4:45 p.m. Botanical Garden, Centennial Drive, behind Memorial Stadium, a mile below the Lawrence Hall of Science, Berkeley. (510) 643-2755 or www.mip.berkeley.edu/garden/ 

Berkeley Historical Society Walking Tours 

Nov. 5 - What’s Happening Downtown? led by Debbie Badhia 

More info call 848-0181 

Attorneys for Skates by the Bay have sued the city, saying the amended Living Wage Ordinance that covers Marina properties unfairly discriminates against them and will cause them and their employees irreparable harm. 

In June, the city passed a Living Wage Ordinance that requires employers doing business with the city or leasing property from the city to pay their employees a “living wage,” determined to be $9.75 per hour plus $1.62 if benefits are not paid. 

Advocates for workers at the Marina lobbied for an amendment to the ordinance to cover low-paid hotel and restaurant workers at the Marina. All Marina property is owned by the city and leased by various corporations, the largest of which are restaurants and a hotel-restaurant. 

Without the amended ordinance, Marina businesses which have more than six employees and generate more than $350,000 annually, would be covered by the ordinance only after their leases are renegotiated with the city. In some cases, that would be in 20 years. 

The City Council amended the ordinance in September, stating that the use of the Marina by a private enterprise is a privilege and should not “exacerbate the problems associated with inadequate compensation of workers.” 

The Marina lands, as Public Trust tidelands, “are for the use and benefit of the public,” according to the ordinance. “The public interest is best served by ensuring that the public is not deterred from visiting the Public Trust tidelands because they do not wish to patronize businesses (that) do not pay their employees a living wage or provide them with health care benefits.” 

Zachary Wasserman, attorney with Wendel Rosen, Black & Dean of Oakland, filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court earlier this month. Wasserman said by enacting the amendment, the city “unilaterally” altered the leases of the four affected businesses at the Marina. 

The lawsuit explains that Skates employs about 170 people. “The estimated cost of implementing the provisions of the amendment, not including administrative fees, is a minimum of $175,000 per year,” the lawsuit states, noting that the administrative fees would be considerable, given the various ways different employees’ health benefits are calculated. 

The consequences of paying out that sum of money could include “increased prices, consolidation of jobs, elimination or reduction of part-time employment, elimination of non-mandated benefits, reduced hours of operation or potentially closing the restaurant depending on the total impact,” according to the suit. 

If prices were raised at the Marina restaurants to compensate for increased costs, other restaurants in the city which do not suffer the same requirement to pay a living wage, would have an unfair advantage, Wasserman said. 

He further points out that “the city puts more money into downtown than it does at the Marina,” yet the downtown businesses, which benefit from that support, are not subject to the provisions of the Living Wage Ordinance. 

The new ordinance would not affect many of Skates’ workers, Wasserman said. “Many waiters, many employees at Skates earn more than the Living Wage,” he said. Others are students who opt to work part time, and there are others for whom the Skates’ job is a second part-time job.  

One of the problems is the mandated 12 paid days off per year, which includes paid holidays. “The restaurant industry typically does not give paid vacations until the employees have been there a significant amount of time,” Wasserman said. 

Amaha Kassa of the East Bay Alliance for a Sustainable Economy, one of the organizations which has supported the unionization of workers at the Berkeley Marina Radisson Hotel, argued that the RUI Corp. would have no problem paying its workers more money. He points to the June, 1998 Puget Sound Business Journal which says that each of RUI Corp’s restaurants were expected, after some time, to bring in about $5 million. A June 23, 2000 article said the corporation had taken in $105 million in 1998 and $117 million in 1999. 

In a written statement, City Attorney Manuela Albuquerque said her office had looked closely at the ordinance and its amendment and believes it is defensible.  

“Because the city has severely restricted development in this special zone, businesses such as Skates located there enjoy a monopoly position and hefty profits,” she wrote. “By applying the Living Wage to businesses in this zone, the Berkeley City Council has said that a tiny amount of those profits need to be shared with those invisible hard-working men and women in these businesses who do not get a living wage, yet who make it possible for the rest of us to dine, cruise and vacation in stunning surrounding, financed by public funds.”

The Pac-10 title is on the line this week when No. 5 Cal travels to Los Angeles to face No. 12 USC Friday at 3 p.m., and No. 3 UCLA Sunday at 1 p.m. The Bears are 14-1-1 and in second place in the Pac-10 with a 4-1 record. Washington leads the league with a 6-0 mark.  

A strong finish could help the Bears attain a bye in the first round of NCAAs and possibly one of eight seeds in the 48-team field, which will be announced Nov. 5 at 7 p.m. 

USC is ranked No. 12 this week by Soccer America with an 11-3-2 record and is tied for third in the league with UCLA with a 3-1-1 mark. The Trojans are led by freshman forward Jessica Edwards, who has 20 points, and Canadian World Cup midfielder Isabelle Harvey, who has 15 points.  

“USC plays a very direct style, so it’s hard to keep your composure,” said Cal head coach Kevin Boyd. “We’ll have to work hard and play our game.” 

UCLA is 12-2-1 and ranked No. 8 by Soccer America. Forward Tracey Milburn leads the team with 27 points (12G, 3A). UCLA and Cal will likely have a defensive battle, as the teams have combined to allow only 12 goals all year. Cal trails USC, 2-3, in the all-time series, and is even with UCLA at 3-3.  

“UCLA’s defense is good because their offense is so good,” Boyd said. “It’s hard to keep the ball in their end.”

RICHMOND — An explosion and fire rocked a plastics recycling center Thursday morning, killing one worker, injuring several others and forcing 12 nearby schools to cancel classes. 

The two-alarm fire began about 2 a.m. at MBA Polymers, Inc., a research and commercial recycling operation. Witnesses say they heard two loud explosions at the scene. 

Jeremiah Spritz, 26, of Richmond was killed, Jim Fajardo of the Richmond Fire Department said. Four other workers  

were treated for smoke inhalation  

and were reported in stable  

condition. Spritz, whose relatives say he had only been working at the company for five months, was found about 60 feet inside the warehouse where the explosions occurred. 

The cause of the explosions has not been determined. The fire was contained at about 8 a.m., but destroyed the company’s entire center warehouse. 

Firefighters said they had a difficult time fighting the blaze because of the toxic fumes emitted and the tangle of pipes and uneven flooring in the warehouse. The structure is one of three located behind an office area in the 500 block of West Ohio Avenue. 

One firefighter reportedly described it as “trying to climb through  

a jungle gym.” 

A fire engine from Chevron was called to assist, bringing with it thousands of gallons of foam to suffocate the fire. Water only cools it down, while foam can actually extinguish the flames. Regular fire trucks normally carry about 10 to 20 gallons of foam. 

People living near the plant were told to stay indoors and keep windows closed until 1 p.m. Smoke from the fire contained the chemical polystyrene, which can cause respiratory problems, Fajardo said. 

Richmond Fire Chief Jim Fajardo said the Ford plant at 700 National Court was evacuated and employees at other nearby offices and residences were advised to shelter in place to avoid the toxic fumes. Tollboth operators were told to go inside where there was air conditioning and people crossed the Richmond Bridge without paying the toll. 

Students were sheltered in schools and their parents were notified. 

Some 4,800 students were affected at schools in Richmond, San Pablo, North Richmond and Point Richmond. The schools were Peres Elementary, Chavez Elementary, Coronado Elementary, Dover Elementary, Lincoln Elementary, Washington Elementary, Nystrom Elementary, Verde Elementary, Harbour Way Academy and Gompers Continuation High, North Campus Continuation High, and the Transition Learning Center. 

All schools will reopen Friday, a West Contra Costa Unified School District spokesman said. 

Kaiser Permanente’s Richmond hospital reported it had treated dozens of people for respiratory complications related to the plant fire. “We’ve treated about 50 people here today,” said Cynthia Gregory, spokesperson for the Richmond Kaiser. 

Patients generally complained of chest pains or shortness of breath, she said. All were treated and released. Three employees from the plastics plant also were treated at the hospital and released. 

Doctors Medical Center in San Pablo reported it had treated 30 people for ailments as well. Spokesman Andy Williams said none of the injuries was serious, and all patients were treated and released. 

SAN JOSE— Bill Peacock, the leading opponent of Democrat Mike Honda in the March primary, is crossing party lines to endorse Republican Jim Cunneen in the hotly contested 15th Congressional District race. 

The endorsement coup for Cunneen, announced Wednesday, is another sign of the blurred lines that have marked the tossup Silicon Valley race. 

The Democratic Party has targeted the seat as one of six it needs to regain control of the House of Representatives. 

But in a move against his party, Peacock, a high-tech investor and Portola Valley businessman, said he will endorse Cunneen. 

It’s not a case of sour grapes, said Peacock, a lifelong Democrat and former Carter administration assistant secretary of the Army. Peacock said he spent six months researching the records of the two candidates – both are state assemblymen – before making the decision. 

“In a heartbeat, if (Honda) were to move up to the state Senate, I’d write him a check,” Peacock said. “But I think Jim Cunneen, with his education and high-tech background, is a far better bet to represent the needs of all the people in the 15th Congressional District.” 

Peacock also said he agrees on issues more often with Cunneen than Honda. 

During the March primary, Honda was the front-runner in a Democratic field of five. He faced tough competition from Peacock, who spent nearly $1 million of his own money on the race. Honda raised $139,000. 

Honda won the party nomination with 40 percent of the votes, nearly triple Peacock’s total. 

“It’s obviously a disappointment when a Democrat abandons his party,” said Honda’s campaign spokesman Vince Duffy. “But he’s entitled to his opinion and we wish him well in his further endeavors.” 

Democrats boast a 45-36 percent voter registration advantage in the upscale district. But voters elected Tom Campbell, a moderate Republican, for the past four terms. Now, Campbell is running for the Senate against Democrat Dianne Feinstein.

SAN FRANCISCO — Volunteers spread out across the city Thursday night to tally how many homeless people call San Francisco home. 

The effort will be the second homeless count by Mayor Willie Brown’s Office of Homelessness. The first, conducted in April with about 100 volunteers, concluded that 3,610 people live on city streets. 

But city officials believe they undercounted by at least 15 to 20 percent, and want to get a more accurate number. 

After Brown and Supervisor Gavin Newsom kick off the event, teams of volunteers will begin canvassing the city. They are scheduled to return by midnight. 

This time, unlike the April count, the geographic boundaries of the city’s new supervisory districts will be used to count the homeless, Brown spokesman P.J. Johnston said. 

The purpose of the count is to assist in short-term and long-term planning for the city’s homeless services, said George Smith, director of the city’s office of homelessness. He said it will become a semiannual event that will yield accurate numbers within two years. 

A homeless advocacy group, the Coalition on Homelessness, puts the number as high as 14,000 people – more than four times the mayor’s last count.

SAN FRANCISCO — The San Francisco Board of Education has voted to drop tough graduation requirements for the high school class of 2001 after learning that 30 percent of the city’s seniors failed to meet the requirements. 

The board voted unanimously Tuesday to rescind the tougher requirements and deflected blame from the students to themselves. 

“We didn’t provide the resources,” said board member Jill Wynns. “We had trouble providing the classes needed.” 

The board acknowledged there were not enough tutors or extra-period classes to support the students. 

In 1997, the board nixed electives such as wood shop and journalism, electing to raise academic standards by requiring more math, English, science, arts and foreign language courses. The board also raised graduation requirements from 220 to 240 credits. 

At the time, the board anticipated the state would pay for programs to support programs such as a longer school day for extra courses and tutoring, but such reimbursement never was approved. 

The class of 2001, the first to matriculate under the tough standards, was left scrambling for credits and nearly a third of the 1,120 high school seniors were not on track to graduate with their class. 

A new, long-term plan for graduation requirements is to be presented to the school board by February.

Legally troubled Napster, Inc. set its sites on Apple computer users, making its popular music swapping software available for Macintosh operating systems. 

The company announced Napster for the Mac on Wednesday and the program was available for download from Napster’s Web site. 

Despite making inroads to new users, Napster is still embroiled in a copyright infringement lawsuit brought against it by members of the Recording Industry Association of America. 

In July, a federal judge granted an injunction against that portion of Napster’s service that makes possible the unauthorized trade of copyrighted music. A federal appeals court stayed the injunction, heard testimony from both sides on Oct. 2 and a trial is pending. 

Napster claims 32 million users of its software and the music-sharing phenomenon shows no signs of slowing, despite the legal battles. The Internet tracking company Media Metrix found that the number of Napster users per month increased from 1.1 million in February to 6.7 million users in August. 

On the Net: 

http://www.napster.com 

http://www.riaa.com

SAN FRANCISCO — A poisonous puffer fish, considered a dining delicacy in Japan, may hold the key to sequencing the human genome. 

An international consortium of scientists will attempt to sequence the genome of the Fugu in less than six months, and hope that information speeds similar work on human genetic makeup. 

Researchers at the U.S. Energy Department’s Joint Genome Institute, who announced the plan Thursday, said the Fugu genome contains less “junk” DNA to sort through, making the process of finding and controlling the genes an easier task. 

“This genetic information from a distantly related vertebrate will help us read the book of human life with new understanding and knowledge,” Energy Secretary Bill Richardson said in a statement. 

The research involves scientists in the United States, Britain and Singapore. 

The compactness of the Fugu genome makes it a cost-efficient model to study, researchers said. Fugu lack certain sequences of mammalian genes. 

Virus-like invaders into the human genome bypassed or apparently were warded away from the Fugu’s evolution.

The Associated Press 

SACRAMENTO — A member of the California Earthquake Authority’s ruling board demanded Thursday that the agency be overhauled, contending the complex financial structure that sustains the CEA could fail in the event of a catastrophe. 

State Treasurer Philip Angelides, one of three state officials who decide broad policy for the CEA, urged the Legislature to scrutinize the nation’s first state-run, privately financed earthquake insurer and come up with changes in the multibillion-dollar system. 

Angelides, who has been critical of the CEA’s operations in the past, told key lawmakers that “the Legislature, when it returns in January, should make review and reform of the CEA a key priority.” 

A fundamental problem, Angelides said, is the CEA’s “layer-cake” financing, which is composed of a mix of funds from reserves, insurers’ assessments, Wall Street investors and reinsurance. 

But Angelides said the $7.5 billion pool – particularly the critical reinsurance piece – could unravel in the event of a catastrophe, such as a major quake and multiple aftershocks, that exhaust the pool and leave policyholders unprotected. 

Angelides also said the CEA needs to be more competitive in attracting policyholders, particularly low-risk customers. The fear of Angelides – and some executives in the insurance industry – is that private companies will siphon off the best customers, while the CEA will be left with the high-risk policyholders. 

The CEA, which covers about 850,000 policyholders, should “be financially sound and capable of carrying out its responsibilities over the long term,” the treasurer added in a detailed letter to the heads of the Senate and Assembly insurance committee, the top executive at the CEA and to Insurance Commissioner Harry Low. 

But the CEA said the agency is well-financed, pointing a recent independent audit sought by the board. 

“We would conclude that the CEA’s current capacity to pay claims is as good as or better than that of private catastrophe insurers,” said CEA spokesman Mark Leonard, citing the auditors’ conclusion. 

Leonard also said the CEA policies, called “mini-policies,” would be able to protect policyholders in the event of a devastating quake like the 1994 Northridge earthquake. 

“The mini-policy was to designed to provide catastrophic coverage, to rebuild people’s homes, and it was designed to reduce the exposure to the industry,” he said. 

“It was a choice between the mini-policy and no coverage for the earthquake, and it never would have passed (the Legislature) without the sponsorship and support of responsible consumer groups,” Leonard said. 

But one major consumer group, the Santa Monica-based Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights, says the 15 percent deductibles in the CEA policies – $30,000 in the case of a $200,000 home – means people often must foot the bill for the damages, because the average home damage is less than the deductible. 

“Unless you have extraordinary, catastrophic damage, the policy is worthless. That has to be the long-term concern here,” said Foundation spokesman Doug Heller. 

The CEA, the first agency of its kind in the nation, was created in 1996 in response to the turmoil in California’s homeowners’ insurance market following the devastating 1994 Northridge earthquake. 

The Authority is a pool of funds provided by insurers and investors to cover quake losses. 

The idea of the CEA was prompted mainly by large insurers, who under California law are required to offer quake insurance to people who buy their homeowners’ coverage. 

That law crippled many carriers, who faced huge losses because of their Northridge earthquake claims. 

The CEA was set up to market quake policies and cover the claims. Companies representing about two-thirds of California’s quake insurance market participate in the CEA. 

The mini-policies average about $2.79 per $1,000 of insured value statewide, or roughly $560 annually for a $200,000 home. The policies can cost as little as 80 cents per $1,000 in low-risk areas, and up to $8.70 per $1,000 in the most quake-prone zones for unreinforced masonry homes. 

More than nine out of every 10 homes insured by the CEA are wood-frame houses, costing up to $5.70 per $1,000 — or $1,140 for a $200,000 home. 

The CEA’s mini-policy covers the dwelling, but not related structures, such as fences, garages, landscaping, sheds, pools and walkways, among other items. 

——— 

On the Net: 

www.insurance.ca.gov/docs/FS-CEA.htm 

SACRAMENTO — School districts that have been complaining for 20 years that the state has shortchanged them for special education will get $520 million for past costs and $100 million more a year, Gov. Gray Davis announced Thursday. 

“All sides agree that this settlement puts the problem behind us once and for all and adequately funds our important special education programs,” Davis said in a statement. 

The California School Board Association, which has led the legal and negotiating battle, applauded the settlement. 

CSBA executive director Davis Campbell said the governor and his team “negotiated in good faith and their support for the settlement is a huge contribution to special education programs.” 

The governor said the $520 million in retroactive payments will be doled out over 11 years. The state will give school districts $270 million for the current year and $25 million in each of the following 10 years. 

He also agreed to increase special education funding by $100 million a year, a 3.5 percent increase that begins July 1, 2001. 

The Legislature, which returns in December, will have to approve the funding. 

The lawsuit was first filed by Riverside County in 1981. Other school districts joined the lawsuit as it made its way through the courts. 

The districts claimed the state did not give them sufficient money to pay for services the state required districts to provide for special education students.  

The state had always maintained that the general funding provided districts was sufficient. 

The constitution requires the state to reimburse local governments, including school districts, for things it requires them to do. 

An appellate court judge ruled that the state had to pay for specific programs that were required by state law but exceeded federal mandates.

By James and Morris Carey 

The Associated Press 

In this age of high-priced construction, countertops are getting as hard to choose as plumbing fixtures or light fixtures. There are the solid-surface materials such as Corian, Gibralter, and Avonite. There are plastic laminates from Formica to Wilsonart. And don’t forget ceramic tile, porcelain tile, slab and tile granite, concrete, slab and tile marble. And what about stone? How easy it is to become confused by all that’s available. 

In a kitchen, the countertop has as much to do with the overall appearance as the cabinets do. 

In order of cost, we will class countertops into six basic categories, with the three in most common use listed first (laminates, tile and synthetic solid-surface products):  

Plastic Laminate Countertops 

Plastic laminate has been around since the beginning of modern kitchens. We actually saw it made once. Several layers of resin-coated paper are sandwiched together (and held under heat and pressure) to form what we think of as Formica. Plastic laminate tops come in many colors and textures. The latest rage is having your plastic laminate custom-designed to your own color, texture and style, but be prepared to spend a few bucks here. With standard plastic laminate tops, the color is in the final layer. When it is applied at corners, you see the resin coated layers of paper as a black line. With higher quality plastic laminate all layers of the material are colored — not just the final one. When this material is applied to a corner there is no black line. An entire laminate counter can be installed for somewhere between $600 and $1,800 for most kitchens.  

Ceramic & Porcelain Tile 

There is no limit to what you can do with ceramic tile. Inlaid with real gold, burnished for texture and hand-painted finishes are just a few of the choices. The problem here is grout lines. No one seems to want to deal with grout cleaning any more. Tile grout does require regular maintenance. Sealing the grout only means that cleaning will be easier to do. So far we haven’t heard any complaints about tile except that the surface begins to dull after about 40 years if abrasive cleaners are constantly used. Porcelain is harder than a rock and far more durable than conventional ceramic tile. It also is more expensive. Fewer color choices are available in porcelain. Ceramic tile and porcelain are more than twice the price of plastic laminates.  

Solid-Surface Countertops 

New synthetic solid surface countertops are growing in popularity. The grout cleaning and maintenance problem disappears with solid-surface materials. We consider all of these products a good bet. Each manufacturer has its own series of colors. Although Dupont’s entry, Corian, can be sanded if burned or gouged, it remains a surface somewhat susceptible to scratching and similar damage. Other brands are harder, but cannot be repaired on the spot by a novice. Bottom line — if you decide on any of the solid-surface products, be sure to take it easy. You will be trading off grout cleaning for a surface that is less durable than tile. Solid-surface countertop prices begin where tile prices leave off. Here the sky is the limit.  

Marble, Granite and Stone Tile 

Marble, granite and stone tiles are for those who would prefer them in slab form. The neat thing about these tiles is that the grout line can be extremely thin. This reduces the need for extensive grout cleaning, but does not completely eliminate the chore. Most marble is susceptible to damage from citric acid and alcohol. Vinegar is another mild acid that will quickly remove the shine from most polished marble surfaces. In a few seconds the surface can be devastated. The same is true for many polished stone surfaces. Marble and granite tiles are about the same price as the solid-surface products. 

Tip: If you want to test stone to ensure that it won’t fail as a countertop, lay a sample in the kitchen sink and pour vinegar onto the polished surface. If the shiny surface dulls, you know what will happen when it becomes a countertop. 

Granite is the best of the stone tiles. It is the hardest and is impervious to just about anything. Unfortunately, because all of these products are natural, you are limited to what Mother Nature has to offer. We think that granite tiles give ceramic tile a real run for the money when it comes to elegance.  

Concrete Slab (poured in place) 

We don’t see a lot of concrete being poured on kitchen counters (inside the home at least), but they are gaining in popularity. Concrete countertops are expensive, require a sealant and must be treated with care. Prices for concrete tops are all over the board. Expect to pay through the nose.  

Slab Marble or Granite 

Slab marble has the same problems as marble tiles. Alcohol and mild acids are bad medicine. Tile or slab must be handled with kid gloves. Many types of hair spray contain alcohol. Granite, on the other hand, is extremely hard, incredibly durable and absolutely maintenance-free. Our experience is that slab granite is the single most maintenance-free surface. You can expect to pay as much as $200 per square foot for certain colors of slab granite. 

The good news is, that with its sudden popularity, granite is getting cheaper and easier to buy. Today the big box stores are offering granite installed for $70 per square foot. Expensive yes, but better than the $100-plus weve been seeing. We recently spoke with a fellow named Steve Neal, owner of Straight Line Importers in Martinez, California, who is part of a small new group of stone contractors selling pre-fabbed 8-foot long counters — ready to install — for $30 to $50 per square foot (depending upon the color). That’s less than the cost of most popular synthetic solid-surface materials. Steve says that colors are limited to five now, but 12 will be available soon.

Stairs leading directly from a living room or central hallway look more attractive and inviting when carpeted. And, a carpeted stairway will quiet your home by softening footsteps and absorbing sound waves. Carpeted stairs are safer, too, lessening your chances of slipping. 

Avoid utility-grade carpeting. Stairways get heavy wear, especially along the tread nosing. Choose an easy-to-clean variety with a dense pile. Carpet with attached cushion backing is cheaper and easier to put down, but isn’t recommended for stairways. Since you want a long, narrow runner, you may be able to buy remnants of high-quality carpeting at much less than the going rate for a room-size piece. The runner need not be one length. Two or more sections can hide the seam under the tread nosing where it will be unnoticeable. 

Remember, the pile on each piece should always lie facing toward the bottom of the stairs. Both ascending and descending, the pressure of your foot is mostly toward the tread nosing, so unless the pile faces the same way, wear will be excessive -- perhaps doubled. Feel pile direction by running your hand lightly across the carpet. 

The most common method for carpeting a stairway with a closed wall on one side and open balusters at the other is to roll both edges under. Allow about 1 inch from the wall with 1-and-1-quarter-inch roll-under at the edges. If your carpeting won’t unravel at a cut edge, you can butt it against the sidewall without roll-under. 

Determine the total length of the runner by measuring one tread and one riser, wrapping the tape measure around the nosing and holding it against the riser below the tread with your thumb. Add 1 inch to allow for the thickness of the padding under the carpet. Multiply this figure by the number of steps. Remember to allow extra carpeting if your runner is in two or more sections, since each section must join under a tread nosing. 

To get width, measure from the wall to the base of the balusters, or whatever portion of the step you will be covering. Add 2-and-1-half inches for rolling the edges under – 1-and-1-quarter inches for each side. Since you will probably need to trim at least one edge along the runner’s length, allow an additional inch for this. If your carpeting has irregular edges, be sure you have enough material to trim the full length of both sides straight. 

Measure a stairway with a landing as if the landing were one deep step. Ideally, cover the landing and the first riser above it with one piece. If you can’t, include the riser with the steps above it. Winder steps – wedge-shaped steps that turn a corner – require carpeting about 50 percent wider than a straight runner, and waste considerable material. You need a separate piece for each step and the riser above it. The pile on each tread must be at right angles to the nosing and facing downstairs. 

If your stairs have been carpeted, remove old nails or tacks and any quarter-round trim or molding, check treads and risers for looseness and secure any that need it using glue and 8d finishing nails. Refinish the parts of the treads and risers that will show before putting down carpeting. 

SACRAMENTO — A Web site offering to sell 21,000 votes for president to the highest bidder has changed its domain name and switched its registrar to a company based in Germany. 

Federal and state laws prohibit the sale of votes, but the Austrian owners of www.vote-auction.com denied they had moved operations overseas to avoid legal challenges. 

Instead, investor Hans Bernhard wrote in an e-mail to The Associated Press, research showed that users frequently tried to type the new name of the site instead of the old name, which lacked the hyphen. 

The site asks voters to fill out personal details and then offers to sell the votes – in blocks broken down by state – to the highest bidder. The technique, the Web site says, brings the “big money of campaigns directly to the voting public.” 

The site offers to deliver the votes to any corporation or individual, but it hasn’t identified voters, bidders or said when the sale will end. 

The owners say the U.S. vote auction is a test to determine how they can make money. They still need to work out how voters would be paid and how to verify that they cast the right ballot. 

Election officials in Michigan and New York have criticized the scheme and a court challenge in Illinois led to the closing of the old site. California Secretary of State Bill Jones warned any vote sellers they could face felony charges and a minimum of three years in prison. 

The site was reopened this week with the help of CSL Computer Service of Germany. By Thursday, more than 2,500 California voters had offered their votes and the leading bid was $48,000 or $19.61 per vote. 

“Truthfully, this could probably go on forever, so long as it is known by those who wish to use the service, for lack of a better term,” said Steve Jones, a professor at the University of Illinois, Chicago, who follows the Internet. 

Shad Balch, a spokesman for California’s secretary of state, said the domain name change would not affect California’s investigation into the site and its employees. 

Industry experts say it would be almost impossible to identify voters by using technology. 

“There is virtually no legal way to check who is using the site without a subpoena or warrant, which is unlikely when the operations are international,” said Stewart Farley of Internet Products Inc., a San Diego company that makes Web-filtering products.

LOS ANGELES — It’s a dirty-air puzzle that befuddles scientists: When other pollutants punch out for the week, smog-causing ozone starts working overtime in some parts of the state. 

In the Los Angeles area, ozone levels typically are 32 percent higher on Saturdays and Sundays than they are Monday through Friday when freeways are clogged with commuters. The difference is 25 percent in San Francisco. 

Other pollutants – even those that help form smog – drop on weekends. The so-called ozone weekend effect doesn’t happen everywhere, however. A draft report released this week by the California Air Resources Board found no statistically significant differences between weekend and weekday ozone levels in Sacramento and the San Joaquin Valley. 

The phenomenon in Los Angeles and San Francisco, first noticed in the 1980s, has four possible explanations, according to the report. Among the theories: 

l Weekends produce a different kind of traffic volume that could encourage smog production. Morning traffic is much higher on weekdays, but weekend traffic catches up later in the day, when nitrogen oxides can produce ozone more efficiently. 

l Ozone produced on weekdays could drift over the ocean, then return to shore over the weekend. 

l The atmosphere could contain more soot on weekdays than on weekends. That could help absorb some of the ultraviolet radiation that otherwise would help form ozone. 

Automakers support another possible reason that suggests government regulators could reduce weekend smog by allowing an increase in one smog-causing pollutant: nitrogen oxides. 

Experiments show the ratio between hydrocarbons and nitrogen oxides plays an important role in the formation of smog. Decreasing nitrogen oxides when levels of that pollutant are low compared to hydrocarbons actually increases smog, the experiments indicate. 

Researchers found that nitrogen oxide levels decrease at a greater rate than hydrocarbon levels on weekends. 

Even if further studies support the automakers’ theory, that would be a poor reason to turn back the clock on decades of regulation and technological improvements aimed at reducing nitrogen oxides in the air, Air Resources Board spokesman Richard Varenchik said. 

“The big picture overall is that ozone has been cut by two-thirds in the last 30 years,” Varenchik said. “The strategy we’ve been using is certainly the correct strategy.” 

The South Coast Air Basin, which includes Los Angeles, saw ozone levels of 200 parts per billion or higher about every other day 35 years ago. 

Cleaner air has prevailed in recent years.The basin hasn’t seen such a “Stage I episode” for two years. 

Nitrogen oxides need to be kept out of the air not just because of their role in forming smog but because they also contribute to pollution from particulate matter and toxic air contaminants, said Bart Croes, chief of the air board’s research division. 

“There’s only one component of air pollution that’s worse on the weekends,” he said. “We shouldn’t devise a control strategy based on one pollutant.” 

SACRAMENTO — With California up for grabs, George W. Bush doubled his advertising effort and announced a campaign swing with one-time rival John McCain, while Gov. Gray Davis packed his bags for a week of barnstorming for Al Gore and other Democrats. 

Heartened by California polls showing Gore’s lead narrowing to 5 to 7 percentage points, the GOP presidential nominee is making an aggressive final push on the airwaves, and returning for a campaign visit Monday and Tuesday. 

Bush will air two ads, one in Spanish and English targeting Hispanics and the other in English saying he trusts individuals more than Gore. They will total about $2 million through Election Day. 

On top of that, Republicans will spend about $6 million in California between now and Nov. 7 on a series of Bush ads, including one in Spanish. 

“We are committed to winning California, and he is willing to put his time and the money on the line to win,” said Bush California campaign chairman Gerry Parsky. 

Gore has spent nothing on TV ads, and he has not visited the state since Sept. 20, though he also faces a challenge from Green Party candidate Ralph Nader. Gore has no plans to return before Election Day. 

But Gore is getting help on two fronts in the homestretch. President Clinton will campaign here late next week, and Davis plans to hopscotch the state for at least seven days beginning Sunday. 

Some Democrats have grumbled privately that Davis has done too little for Gore. The governor is California chairman of Gore’s campaign, and Garry South, an adviser to both, said electing Gore would be Davis’ “number one political priority in 2000.” 

Since the Democratic National Convention in Los Angeles, Davis has done little publicly to promote Gore. He swung into action this week, touting Gore in TV interviews, but only when three Republican governors campaigned in Sacramento for Bush. 

Told of the criticism, Davis said in an interview: “I beg to differ.” 

“I’ve been working for Al Gore for a year and a half,” Davis said. 

He waited until the week before the election to actively stump for Gore because “turnout is everything,” he said. 

Both Clinton and Davis enjoy high approval ratings in California, and they are likely to appear together.

LOS ANGELES — The Internet has revolutionized the way Americans talk, study, work, play and spend money. 

But could the first casualty in this revolution be our humanity? 

Not according to those responding to “Surveying the Digital Future,” a study released Wednesday by the University of California, Los Angeles. 

Nearly two-thirds of all Americans have ventured online, and most users surveyed deny the Internet creates social isolation, said Professor Jeffrey Cole, the study’s lead researcher and director of the UCLA Center for Communication Policy. 

Internet technology has been a popular communication tool for only the past five years, however, and Cole speculates the Web will have profound long-term effects that most users can’t yet detect. 

“The Internet changes everything from our values to communication patterns and consumer behavior,” Cole said. 

Spending long hours surfing the Web “can even change how many neighbors we recognize by their faces,” he added. 

The study tracked the online habits of 2,096 respondents – both Internet users and nonusers – who mirror the nation’s ethnic, economic and geographic makeup. Researchers said it had a margin of error of 2 percentage points. 

The researchers hope to use its figures to begin investigating the specific effects of Internet innovation on human behavior. 

Do the benefits of online research in schools outweigh the risk that children may happen upon risque material? (About 70 percent of adults believe children’s grades stay the same despite Internet activity.) 

Can Internet commerce cripple traditional retail stores or create healthy competition? (About 65 percent of Internet purchasers say they buy less from traditional shops.) 

Will people ignore relatives and friends in favor of chat-room acquaintances? (Three-quarters of respondents say they are not ignored.) 

Ironically, lack of privacy is the greatest concern of those surveyed. 

About two-thirds of Internet users agree that people who go online put their privacy at risk, the study showed. 

“What we’ve found is that almost no one is afraid of the government monitoring us,” Cole said. “They’re afraid corporations are watching what they do.” 

The most consistent source of profit on the Internet, Cole said, is pornography. But he acknowledged it was too difficult to get survey participants to answer truthfully to draw any conclusions on its impact. 

The survey also leaves other questions unanswered. 

Does Internet access make workers more productive or does it tempt them to slack off? What do people sacrifice to spend time online: hobbies, television, exercise, sleep? 

Cole said he hopes to continue the study over the next 10 to 20 years in an effort to address more issues relating to the technology. 

Right now, Internet users say that e-mail, Web sites and chat rooms have a “modestly positive impact” on their abilities to make new friends and communicate more with family, according to the survey. 

Lee Rainie, director of the Pew Internet and American Life Project, said the report supports his own findings that the Internet is a tool that unites more people than it isolates. 

“There is some evidence that people make and sustain long distance friendships online,” Rainie said. “They get health care information that they couldn’t get before. A goodly number say it helps them manage finances better.”

AUBURN — It’s no coincidence that Court Commissioner Colleen Nichols holds her weekly drug court inside the Placer County Jail.  

Bailiffs pounce on offenders who test dirty for drugs, skip treatment or otherwise break her strict rules.  

They are handcuffed and sit shamefaced next to the judge’s bench. Soon, they are whisked away to serve short jail sentences _ punishment meant as the adult equivalent of being sent to sit in the corner. 

Those who stay clean, on the other hand, are rewarded with Nichols’ praise and applause from the dozens of other drug offenders waiting their turn. 

They emerge from her jammed courtroom beaming, often to hugs from their spouses or children. Most will have their records wiped clean once they complete the program.  

Drug courts stem from a realization by judges and prosecutors a decade ago that they needed a new tool to battle the crush of crack-cocaine users clogging courts and prisons, said Jeff Tauber, who presided over California's first drug court. They adopted a carrot-and-stick approach that rewards users who stay clean and punishes those who backslide, said Tauber, president of the National Association of Drug Court Professionals.  

There are nearly 700 drug courts nationwide and at least 300 more are planned. They are in 48 of California's 58 counties, and the rest will have them by year’s end, said Santa Clara County Superior Court Judge Stephen Manley, president of the California Association of Drug Court Professionals. 

The drug courts reflect a recognition by politicians, judges and prosecutors that simply jailing addicts doesn't work without treatment, Attorney General Bill Lockyer said.  

Lockyer, along with several judges and other law enforcement officials, said that effort would be harmed rather than helped by a drug treatment measure on California’s Nov. 7 ballot.  

Proposition 36 would ban incarceration for those convicted for the first or second time of being under the influence of drugs or possessing drugs for their personal use, instead sending them to treatment programs. 

The initiative, sponsored by the California Campaign for New Drug Policies, would end the short jail sentences at the heart of the drug courts’ strategy. 

Effective as they are for offenders who end up in them, drug courts by their own estimates reach just 5 percent of users, while thousands more go untreated in prisons or jails, replied Dave Fratello, campaign manager for the California Campaign for New Drug Policies. 

Proposition 36 would help drug courts by pouring $120 million a year into treatment, Fratello said.  

“We feel this will complement drug courts,” Fratello said. “There's simply more options for judges if there are more programs out there.”  

Judges can use community service or residential treatment programs instead of jail to punish offenders who test positive for drugs or skip treatment sessions, Fratello said.  

But without the threat of jail, users can walk away from community service or treatment programs, Nichols said in an interview after she finished with her 83rd and final drug offender for the day. Proposition 36 would impose one- to three-year prison sentences on those who repeatedly fail treatment by using drugs or refusing to show up for sessions, but it entails a long process so complex the initiative’s proponents use a flow chart to explain it. 

The intensity of Nichols’ supervision varies based on offenders’ drug history or the severity of their drug crime, and diminishes as offenders work through the 12- to 18-month program. 

Each undergoes periodic drug tests, regular court appearances, counseling or drug classes and self-help meetings such as Alcoholics Anonymous. It’s a busy schedule, and those who mess up know Nichols will immediatel order them led away in handcuffs.  

``One of the cornerstones is accountability and consequences,'' said Nichols, 

who has been running the drug court for 2 1/2 years. ``Without that, you have a 

whole group of people who have no reason to be clean and sober.''  

Participants said it is the frequent testing and threat of jail that forced them to 

stay clean.  

``It keeps you honest,'' said xxx, 22, of Roseville, who went to jail twice 

after testing positive for heroin. ``They're doing it to help you, not to punish 

you.''  

xxx, 30, and xxx, 19, both of Roseville, met in a residential 

treatment program last year: ``It's a love match made in rehab,'' joked xx.  

They entered Placer County's drug court program a year ago, and are among 40 

participants scheduled to graduate next month.  

There will be more hugs and cheers, congratulations from Nichols and other 

law enforcement officials, and each graduate will get a T-shirt proclaiming: ``I 

did it and I'm proud.''  

xx and xx have both spent time in jail, and neither thinks it helped 

them with their drug problem _ except as a deterrent.  

``If people don't have sanctions, if they don't have consequences, then they 

don't have reasons not to use,'' xx said.  

Steven Belenko of the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at 

New York's Columbia University, found that drug courts were more effective 

than other community treatment programs, and had lower re-arrest rates for 

graduates.  

He worries that Proposition 36 doesn't require any minimum length of 

treatment, unlike drug court programs that run at least a year.  

``I just don't think this kind of short-term, sporadic treatment is appropriate for 

that kind of (addicted) population,'' Belenko said.  

SAN DIEGO — Border Patrol agents reported hearing shots fired when 10 uniformed men bearing rifles came onto U.S. soil in a canyon east of San Diego. 

Border Patrol officials said the incident occurred Tuesday about four miles east of the Otay Mesa border crossing. 

Agents said the uniform wearing intruders came within 20 yards of the U.S. officers before turning and walking back to Mexico, said Merv Mason, a Border Patrol spokesman in San Diego. 

They did not identify themselves nor could agents recognize any distinguishing markings on their uniforms. 

Although Border Patrol agents said they took cover and radioed for help when they heard shots, a spokesman for the Mexican Consulate in San Diego said there were no shots fired. 

“There has been confusion,” said Roberto Gonzalez. “There were no shots.” 

Nevertheless a Border Patrol helicopter was sent to retrieve the U.S. agents. No one was injured. 

Mason said U.S. officials were consulting with Mexican authorities to determine who the men were and why they crossed.  

They reportedly entered near Otay Mountain in a rural zone where the border is marked by a knee-high fence to bar vehicles from entering the United States illegally. 

Gonzalez was still unsure if any group had entered the U.S territory, saying rugged terrain in that area makes it hard to determine where the border lies. 

U.S. officials say the incident is one of several in which Mexican soldiers and agents have strayed into the United States, mainly along sections where official border markers are sparse. 

Mexican authorities have also accused U.S. border agents of chasing suspected illegal immigrants onto Mexican soil. 

The countries are working to identify “critical” border sections and improve marking by installing poles with flashing lights and coated in reflective paint.

LOS ANGELES — The number of bars complying with California’s smoke-free workplace law has risen dramatically and, rather than losing business as some feared, revenue has increased since the 1998 cigarette ban. 

“I think we’ve seen a cultural change,” Jonathan E. Fielding, county director of public health, said Thursday in announcing results of a survey showing a 46 percent rise in bars complying with the smoke-free law. 

“People now expect a smoke-free environment. While the level of support continues to increase, the bottom line is the bottom line – and that is that business has increased,” Fielding said. 

Most importantly, Fielding said, there’s been an increased number of bar employees who are protected from the dangers of secondhand smoke. 

“We are making great progress in educating the public, including smokers, about the dangers of secondhand smoke. More and more smokers are choosing to step outside instead of risking the health of those around them,” Fielding said. 

A county survey of 600 to 700 establishments with liquor licenses, picked at random, found a 46 percent increase in compliance by stand-alone bars. Overall, including restaurants with bars, compliance was up 15 percent. 

Strong public support and stepped up law enforcement has also helped with the compliance effort. 

Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky joined in the compliance announcement. 

“Despite the tobacco industry’s false predictions of doom and gloom when the smoke-free bar law was enacted in January 1998, support for the law continues to increase and business among California restaurants and bars continues to grow,” Yaroslavsky said. 

Mark Lifland, owner of the Philly West bar in West Los Angeles, said he’s benefited from the smoke-free workplace law. 

“Our employees and customers appreciate a smoke-free environment,” Lifland said.

The City Council soundly rejected the mayor’s civic center parking plan at Tuesday’s meeting in favor of a more comprehensive plan that includes education, housing and a strong emphasis on alternative modes of transportation. 

The comprehensive plan passed by a 7-1 vote with only the mayor voting no and Councilmember Diane Woolley absent. 

Councilmember Kriss Worthington, who co-wrote the plan with Councilmembers Linda Maio and Dona Spring, said he was delighted the plan passed and was surprised it won by such a large margin. He said the difference shows the city is ready to try new solutions to the parking problem. “The mayor’s plan screamed parking, parking, parking. Our plan considers education, housing, commuter checks and cost to the city,” he said. 

Mayor Shirley Dean said the approved recommendation is little more than a motion to sit and wait. Dean was especially critical of the plan’s component that directs the city to wait for completion of the Transportation Demand Management Study. The study, which cost more than $50,000, will present an analysis of traffic trends and available parking and suggest possible solutions. It is due within seven weeks.  

“That’s such a smokescreen I can’t believe it,” Dean said. “The study won’t tell you how much parking you need or where to put it.” 

Dean said her recommendation called for a two-pronged approach that would encourage transit and develop a plan for providing parking. She said that something needs to be done quickly. “This situation is a house of cards and parking is getting tighter and tighter and tighter.” 

It is undisputed that there is a shortage of parking for city employees around the civic center and it will get much worse when City Hall is re-occupied in late January. The question before the city is what direction it will take to solve the problem. The mayor, while giving a nod to a Transit First Policy, said a 100 percent transit workforce is impossible to achieve and there will always be a need for some parking and the city should determine the need and provide for it. 

But the other council faction said it’s time for the city to take a more progressive approach. They want to increase incentive for alternate forms of transportation, launch an education program that stresses the importance of using public transit and look into the creation of more affordable housing, so hard-pressed city employees and teachers, can afford to live closer to work.  

Worthington said the proposed parking lot on Oxford Street is an example. “If we build a parking lot at the Oxford Street location we lose the opportunity to create housing on the site,” he said. 

Councilmember Polly Armstrong voted for the comprehensive plan although she took a cautious approach to it. She said people’s lives are complex and the city can’t eliminate parking without having systems in place that will provide for emergencies and other necessities. She suggested the city make cabs available in case a city employee has a home emergency and has to leave work. 

“It’s easy for transit supporters to say leave the car at home and take public transportation but life is more complicated than that,” she said. “We need to humanize whatever parking or transit plan goes into place.” 

Maio, a co-author of the plan, also voiced caution based on a recent report by the city manager. The report, which painted a bleak picture of available parking, analyzed current parking conditions while various construction projects are ongoing and looked at future parking availability once construction is complete.  

“According to the city manager’s report there will be a permanent shortfall of 142 spaces in the civic center area after all construction is done,” she said, “That’s a lot of spaces and something we’ll have to be very aware of.” 

The Berkeley Police Association left no doubt it wants more parking around the new Public Safety Building. At last week’s meeting 20 off-duty officers made their views clear during the public comment portion of the meeting, as well as participating in some Berkeley-style protest chanting in the hallway outside the Council Chamber.  

During the public comment portion of Tuesday’s meeting, a succession of speakers got frequent applause from the 30 supporters in the audience, when they spoke against the creation of more parking. 

Carrie Sprague was singled out the previous week by police officers as contributing to the parking problem. Sprague is known to walk the neighborhood near the Public Safety Building with a clipboard recording the license numbers of people who are parked in excess of the two-hour limit. She was heralded by speakers at Tuesday’s meeting. One suggested a huge statue of a woman holding a clipboard should be erected in front of City Hall. 

Robert Wrenn, chair of the Berkeley Planning Commission, said it was time Berkeley stop talking about transit programs and actually put one in place. There’s language in the 1997 Civic Center Urban Design Plan that calls for the city to encourage Civic Center employees to take public transit. But it was never aggressively pursued. 

“Every time I turn around someone is suggesting another parking garage. It’s time we put the same energy into transit.” 

Worthington added that according to financial reports from the two city-owned garages in the area there is only a parking shortage around lunch time.  

“This is not about parking, it’s about free parking,” he said. “If anyone who works for the police department can’t find a parking space they bring me their car and I’ll find a space for it. They’ll have to pay, though.” 

Thursday, Oct. 26

“A Contemporary Food Fight: GM Foods in the market place” 

7:30 - 9 p.m.  

International House, Homeroom 

UC Berkeley 

2299 Piedmont Ave.  

A discussion with Dr. Peggy Lemaux, professor of Plant and Microbiology at UC Berkeley, and Dr. Petra Frey from Switzerland, of the scientific basis for biotechnology, it’s risks and benefits. 

Contact Maribel Guillermo, 642-9460 

“What Does Rent Control Do For You” 

2000 Tenants’ rights week 

hourly 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. 

ASUC/Rent Board booth at Sather Gate on the Berkeley campus. 

644-7714 

New Science & Ancient Wisdom Conference 

9 a.m. - 5 p.m.  

International Center 

2222 Harold Way 

Featured speakers include Father Charlie Moore speaking on “The Cosmic Origins of Man,” Dolores Cannon speaking on “Visions of Nostradamus,” and David Hatcher Childress speaking on “Technology of the Gods.” Event runs through Sunday.  

Pre-registration admission, $65; after Oct. 27, $85 

Call Charles Gotsky, 650-343-5202  

From Morgan to Modern 

Julia Morgan and Hearst Castle:Designing and American Country House 

7:30 p.m. 

The Hillside Club 

2286 Cedar St. 

$10 or $35 for series that continues through November. 

841-2242 

Adult Aerobic Class 

9:30 - 11 a.m.  

Berkeley Adult School 

1414 Walnut St.  

Get fit doing simple routines to upbeat music. Adaptable to those with physical limitations. Free. Every Thursday.  

Call Dolores, 540-0771 

East Bay Science  

& Arts Middle School 

Noon  

BART Plaza, Downtown 

Middle school students perform dances of folk, swing, and Cuban rueda styles. Free.  

Contact Carrie Ridgeway, 549-2230 

Proposition Brown Bag 

Noon - 1:30 p.m.  

Institute of Governmental Studies 

109 Moses Hall 

UC Berkeley 

Hear presentations about and discuss the eight propositions on the California ballot. 642-4608 

Tai Chi 

2 p.m. 

Berkeley Senior Center 

1901 Hearst 

644-6107 

Homeless Action Center’s 10th anniversary Benefit 

Club Muse 

The Vagabond Lovers, comedian Doug Ferrai 

856 San Pablo Ave. Albany 

For ticket information call 540-0878 

Christmas in April  

This volunteer based service renovates homes and community centers for low-income, elderly and disabled persons. They are seeking applications for free home repairs to be completed in 2001. Applicants should be low-income seniors, 55 or older, or disabled residents who own their homes. Applications are due November 1.  

Call 644-8979 

Zoning Adjustments Board Meeting 

7 p.m.  

Old City Hall 

Council Chambers, 2nd Floor 

2134 MLK Jr. Way 

West Berkeley Project Area Meeting 

7 p.m.  

West Berkeley Senior Center 

1900 Sixth Ave. 

Friday, Oct. 27

“Transportation: What’s in Store?” 

11:45 a.m. 

Berkeley City Club  

2315 Durant Ave.  

Larry Dahms, Executive Director of the Metropolitan Transportation Council speaks at 12:30 p.m. Luncheon is served at 11:45 a.m. and 12:15 p.m. 

Luncheon: $11 

More info and reservations: 848-3533 

“Right Ways to Get  

Out of a Lease” 

2000 Tenants’ rights week 

hourly 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. 

ASUC/Rent Board booth at Sather Gate on the Berkeley campus. 

644-7714 

Haunted House 

6:30 to 9:30 p.m. 

1818 5th St. 

Free 

Donations benefiting youth activities in Berkeley appreciated. 

644-3305  

Conversational Yiddish 

1 p.m. 

Berkeley Senior Center 

1901 Hearst, 644-6107  

Haunted House 

6:30 to 9:30 p.m. 

1818 5th St. 

Free. Donations benefiting youth activities in Berkeley appreciated. 

644-3305 

Halloween Haunt  

at the Downtown YMCA 

7 - 9 p.m.  

Downtown Berkeley YMCA 

2001 Allston Way 

Free and open to the public. The Y is asking for a $1 donation to benefit the YMCA’s Youth and Government Program. Call 665-3238 

Saturday, Oct. 28

Shakespeare Festival’s annual costume and garage sale  

9 a.m. to 3 p.m. 

Featuring one-of-a-kind costumes, props, and set pieces from previous productions. Free. 701 Heinz Ave., Berkeley. (510) 548-3422 ext. 120. 

Buddhist Peace Fellowship 

“A Day of Mindfulness with Claude Anshin Thomas” 

A day of meditation, dialogue, teachings and reflection on transforming violence in ourselves an in the world. 9 a.m. – 5 p.m. 

We the People Auditorium, 200 Harrison St.Donations excepted 

496-6072 

Community Workshop to discuss the strengths and weaknesses of Berkeley High School  

9 a.m. – noon 

Florence Schwimley Little Theater at Berkeley High School 

Students, parents, teachers, business owners, neighbors, and others are invited to a discussion on that will help set the course for future school improvements and provide the basis for accreditation review. 

540-1252, tinstarr@earthlink.net 

“Grassroots Globalization  

vs. Elite Globalization” 

2 p.m. 

Niebyl-Proctor Marxist Library 

6501 Telegraph Ave. 

595-7417 

“Halloween Mask Making” 

Tilden Regional Park 

2 p.m. 

Come learn the origins of Halloween and make a plaster-gauze mask. Registration required. $4. Take Canon Drive off Grizzly Peak Boulevard, Berkeley. (510) 525-2233. 

Pedaling the Green City 

11 a.m. -3:30 p.m.  

Take a leisurely bike ride along the future San Francisco Bay Trail. One in a series of free outings organized by Greenbelt Alliance.  

Call: 415-255-3233 for reservations  

Wild About Books? 

10:30 a.m. 

Berkeley Central Library 

2121 Allston Way 

Halloween for the little guys with (not so) scary stories, music, and more.  

Call 649-3943  

Haunted House 

6:30 to 9:30 p.m. 

1818 5th St. 

Free. Donations benefiting youth activities in Berkeley appreciated. 

644-3305 

St. John’s Church and Camp Elmwood Haunted House  

6:30 to 8:30 p.m.  

Party for teens from 8:45 to 10 p.m. Free. Wear a costume and bring a canned good, book or toy donation. 845-2656 

“The 3rd annual Habitot Halloween” 

Habitot Children’s Museum  

10 a.m. to 5 p.m.  

A not-too-spooky Halloween event for young children with entertainment, parades, games, magic and songs. Come in costume. Registration strongly suggested. $4 general; $6 for the first child age 7 and under; $3 for each additional child age 7 and under. Kittredge Street and Shattuck Avenue 647-1111 

“Not Very Scary  

Halloween Celebration” 

10:30 a.m. at La Pena  

Betsy Rose performs songs and activities to celebrate the harvest season and the ancestral spirits. Children are invited to come in costume. $4 general; $3 children. 3105 Shattuck Ave. 849-2572. 

New School’s  

Halloween Bazaar 

10 a.m. - 4 p.m.  

1606 Bonita St. (at Cedar) 

Free to the public, this annual event features face painting, mask-making, children’s games, apple bobbing, pumpkins, live entertainment, and a vast array of other delights. Proceeds benefit the New School’s scholarship fund and the playground project. Free.  

Call 548-9165 

— compiled by  

Chason Wainwright 

Run Your Own Landscape Business: Part 3 

11 a.m. to 1 p.m. 

Ecology Center 

2530 San Pablo Ave. (at Blake) 

Local horticultural consultant and UC Master Gardener Jessie West will teach you how to plant, prune, control weeds, and more. This is the final class in the series. 

$15 general; $10 for members; $5 materials fee 

Call 548-2220 x223 

Sunday, Oct. 29

“Almost Halloween Hike,”  

Tilden Regional Park 

10 a.m.  

Explore the nature of Halloween folklore on the trails.  

“Wake the Dead: A Music Concert”  

Celebrate the Celtic “Day of the Dead” (Halloween) with folksong artists Paul Kotapish and Danny Carnahan.  

2 to 4 p.m.  

(510) 525-2233. 

“Gateway to Knowledge” 

6 p.m. 

Tibetan Nyingma Institute 

1815 Highland Pl. 

Barr Rosenberg describes how to master new knowledge and take the power to shape our lives in wise and compassionate ways.  

843-6812 

An Evening with The Professor 

5 - 9:30 p.m. 

Mambo Mambo 

1803 Webster St.  

Oakland 

Berkeley resident Geoffrey A. Hirsch, better known as the Tie Guy from the “How Berkeley Can You Be” parade got his start in comedy in 1996. A professor in real life, Hirsch tell the story of how he became a funny guy.  

$5 for show only, $10 for show and dinner 

Call Geoffrey Hirsch at 845-5631 to reserve tickets 

“Liberty Heights” 

2 - 4:30 p.m.  

Berkeley Richmond Jewish Community Center 

1414 Walnut St.  

Directed by Barry Levinson, this film introduces the Kurtzmans, middle class Jews living in Baltimore in the 50s’. A discussion of the film will follow.  

$2 suggested donation 

Call 848-0237 

“The Key of Happiness” 

3 p.m. 

St. John’s Church  

2727 College Ave.  

Carlos Lozano, former Columbian Ambassador to India and Egypt, will speak on meditation. Free. 

Call 707-529-9584 

Monday, Oct. 30

Fun with Oragami 

10 a.m. 

Berkeley Senior Center 

1901 Hearst St. 

644-6107 

“BYOP: Pumpkin Carving By Porch and Hearth,” 

Tilden Regional Park 

4 to 7 p.m. “Bring your own pepo” 

Take Canon Drive off Grizzly Peak  

Boulevard, Berkeley. (510) 525-2233. 

Tuesday, Oct. 31

Sing-A-Long 

11 a.m. 

Berkeley Senior Center 

1901 Hearst St. 

644-6107 

Haunted House 

6:30 to 9:30 p.m. 

1818 5th St. 

Free 

Donations benefiting youth activities in Berkeley appreciated. 

644-3305 

Wednesday, Nov. 1

Kathak Dancing with Pandit Chitresh Das 

7:30 p.m. 

Julia Morgan Center for the Arts 

2640 College Ave.  

The Graduate Theological Union presents a free lecture-demonstration with Pandit Chitresh Das, a master of India’s Kathak dance form. This event is free. 

Call 649-2440 for additional info 

Mountain Adventure Seminar 

In-store, registration required 

6 p.m.-9 p.m. 

Learn about equip,emt. fundamental climbing techiques and safety procedures. 

$100 REI members, $110 for non members 

To register (209) 753-6556 

Task Force on Telecommunications 

7 p.m. 

North Berkely Senior Center 

1901 Hearst Ave. 

Fire Safety Commission 

7:30 p.m.  

Fire Training Division 

997 Cedar St.  

Discussion will include undergrounding of utilities in Berkeley and a proposal to the City Council for additional support for the Fire Department.  

Citizen’s Budget Review Commission 

7 p.m. 

North Berkeley Senior Center 

1901 Hearst Ave. 

Board of Education 

7:30 p.m. 

Old City Hall 

Council Chambers, 2nd Floor 

2134 MLK Jr. Way 

Thursday, Nov. 2

PASTForward Panel Discussion 

2 p.m. 

UC Berkeley Art Museum 

Bancroft Way (below College) 

In conjunction with the White Oak Dance Project’s performances, a panel discussion with Judson era dance choreographers Yvonne Rainer and Deborah Hay. Free. 

From Morgan to Modern 

“Saddling the Site: The Environmental Designs of Wurster, Church and Others” 

7:30 p.m. 

The Hillside Club 

2286 Cedar St. 

$10. 841-2242 

Berkeley Metaphysic Toastmasters Club 

6:15 p.m. - 7:30 p.m. 

2515 Hillegass Ave.  

Public speaking skills and metaphysic come together at Avatar Metaphysical Toastmasters. Meets first and third Thursdays each month. 

Call 869-2547 or 643-7645 

Spirit of the Road 

7:30 p.m. 

Easy Going Travel Shop & Bookstore 

1385 Shattuck Ave. (at Rose) 

Don Patton, general editor and Vice President of Publishing for the California State Automobile Association presents a slide show celebrating the first one hundred years of the automobile and the CSA. Free. 

Call 843-3533 for more info.  

Friday, Nov. 3

Taize Worship Service 

7:30-8:30 p.m. 

An hour of quiet reflection and song. First Friday of the month. 

Loper Chapel on Dana Street between Durant and Channing Way. 

848-3696 

“Want to Transform your Dreams Into Reality?” 

Lecture by Leonard Orr, world known for creating the Rebirthing and Conscious Breathwork Movement. 

7:30 p.m., 

The Berkeley Friends Church, 1600 Sacramento St. 

$25, 843-6514 

Saturday, Nov. 4

Breathtaking Barnabe Peak 

10 a.m. - 4 p.m. 

Hike through Samuel P. Taylor State Park’s lush forests and climb to the heights of Barnabe Peak, overlooking Point Reyes. One in a series of free fall outings organized by Greenbelt Alliance.  

Call: 415-255-3233 for reservations 

Wild About Books? 

10:30 a.m. 

Berkeley Central Library 

2121 Allston Way 

Dublin Library’s resident storyteller and featured teller at the 1998 National Storytelling Festival tell kids aged 3 to 7 her favorite tales.  

Call 649-3943  

New Science & Ancient Wisdom Conference 

9 a.m. - 5 p.m.  

International Center 

2222 Harold Way 

Featured speakers include Father Charlie Moore speaking on “The Cosmic Origins of Man,” Dolores Cannon speaking on “Visions of Nostradamus,” and David Hatcher Childress speaking on “Technology of the Gods.” Event runs through Sunday.  

Pre-registration admission, $65; after Oct. 27, $85 

Call Charles Gotsky, 650-343-5202 

The Next Ivory Trade? The Intellectual Property Rights of University Faculty 

A conference sponsored by the Berkeley Faculty Association/American Association of University Professors Coalition 

9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. 

UC Berkeley International House 

841-1997 

Sunday, Nov. 5

Buddhist Psychology 

6 p.m.  

Tibetan Nyingma Institute 

1815 Highland Pl.  

Buddhist teacher Sylvia Gretchen on “Beyond Therapy and Into the Heart of Buddhist Psychology.” Free. 

Call 843-6812  

Berkeley Historical Society Walking Tour 

Downtown Berkeley  

Tour new construction, new uses, historic rehabilitation and public improvments that are completed or still in the works.  

Noon 

RSVP required 841-0181 space is limited. 

Tickets: $5 for members, $10 for nonmembers. 

A Dispirited Rebellion 

10 a.m.  

Berkeley Richmond Jewish Community Center 

1414 Walnut St.  

Author, television personality and columnist Gadi Taub will explore the literary and cinematic changes in Israeli society since the assassination of Prime Minister Rabin. A brunch will be served at 10 a.m.  

Admission: $7 non-JCC members; $5 members 

Call 848-9237 

Monday, Nov. 6

Airports vs. the Bay 

7 p.m. 

Albany Community Center 

1249 Marin St.  

Albany 

David Lewis, Executive Director of “Save the Bay” will speak on the airports’ plans to expand into the SF Bay and other challenges to Bay restoration.  

Contact: Friends of Five Creeks, 848-9358 

Tuesday, Nov. 7

Zonta Club dinner 

5:30 p.m. 

Berkeley City Club 

$20 per person 

Dr. Sylvia Earle, a marine bioligist, author and Explorer-in-Residence at the National Geographic Society, will be the featured speaker. 

For more information call 845-6221 

Thursday, Nov. 9

The Life and Art of Chiura Obata 

7:30 p.m.  

North Berkeley Public Library 

1170 Alameda (at Hopkins) 

A slide show and lecture presented by Obata’s granddaughter, Kimi Kodani Hill, celebrating Obata’s book, “Topaz Moon: Chiura Obata’s Art of the Internment,” and the retrospective exhibit of Obata’s work to appear this Fall at SFs De Young Museum. 

For details call 644-6850  

From Morgan to Modern 

“Bay Area Modern” 

7:30 p.m. 

The Hillside Club 

2286 Cedar St. 

$10. 841-2242 

ESL Teacher Job Fair 

7 - 8:30 p.m. 

Berkeley Adult School 

1222 University Ave., Room 7  

ESL program representatives from adult schools in Alameda and Contra Costa counties will provide information about desired qualifications, current job openings, credentialing requirements, and more.  

Call Kay Wade, 644-6130 

“Feeding the Moon: A Nutritive Approach to Feminine Fertility” 

Lern how fertility is affected by the environment and how it can be enhanced by healthy lifestyle choices 

7:30 to 9 p.m. 

The Ecology Center 

2530 San Pable Ave.  

558-1324, free 

“Diabetes: What to Know Head-to-Toe” 

Health Education Center, 400 Hawthorne Ave. 

12:30 to 4:30 p.m. Free 

869-6737 

Love and Betrayal: A Musical Journey 

7:30 - 9 p.m.  

Berkeley Richmond Jewish Community Center 

1414 Walnut St. 

Mezzo Soprano Sylvia Braitman discusses the role Gustav Mahler, Kurt Weill, Arnold Schoenberg, and Hanns Eisler played in the development of modernity in German, Austrian and Western music.  

Tuition: $8 for general; $5 JJC members (class code A101-BJ) 

Call 848-0237 for more info.  

Saturday, Nov. 11

Moonlight on Mt. Diablo 

1 - 10:30 p.m.  

Hike up the Devil’s Mountain by daylight, catch a glorious sunset and hike back by the light of the moon. One in a series of free outing organized by Greenbelt Alliance.  

Call: 415-255-3233 for reservations 

Sunday, Nov. 12

Views, Vines and Veggies 

9:15 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.  

Climb Bald Mountain in Sugarloaf State Park and peer down upon the Napa and Sonoma Valleys. Then please your palate at the Landmark Winery and visit Oak Hill organic vegetable and flower farm. One in a series of free fall outings organized by Greenbelt Alliance.  

Call: 415-255-3233 for reservations 

“Time Across Cultures” 

2 - 4 p.m. 

St. Clements Church 

2837 Claremont Ave.  

The annual Roselyn Yellin Memorial lecture with a slide-illustrated panel discussion. Also a tour of the “Telling Time” exhibit at the Judah L. Magnes Museum followed by a reception at the museum, 4 - 5 p.m.  

More info: 549-6950 

Buddhism & Compassion 

6 p.m. 

Tibetan Nyingma Institute 

1815 Highland Place 

Psychiatrist and teacher Bobby Jones on “Healing through Compassion.” Free.  

843-6812 

Monday, Nov. 13

An Evening with Barbara Kingsolver 

7:30 p.m. 

King Middle School 

1781 Rose St. 

Barbara Kingsolver’s works include “Animal Dreams,” “High Tide in Tucson,” “The Poisonwood Bible” and “Prodigal Summer” 

free parking $10 in advance, $13 at the door 

Benefits KPFA and Urban Ecology. 

848-6767 

From Rossi to Bernstein 

7:30 - 9 p.m.  

Berkeley Richmond Jewish Community Center 

1414 Walnut St.  

Bay Area musician Mark Levy discusses the works of Jewish classical composers beginning with the sixteenth century. The first in a series of three Monday evening classes on music.  

Tuition for all three classes: $30 general public; $20 JJC members, seniors and students  

Individual classes: $10 general; $8 JJC members, seniors and students 

Call 848-0237 

Berkeley Preschool Fair 

7 - 9 p.m.  

Epworth United Methodist Church 

1953 Hopkins St.  

Sponsored by the Neighborhood Parents Network, this fair features representatives from local preschools. The topic will be how to evaluate preschool education philosophies and make the most of the admissions process. A fair featuring many local preschools will follow panel discussion. 

$5 non-members; Free to NPN members 

Call 527-6667 or visit www.parentsnet.org 

Tuesday, Nov. 14

Take a Trip to the Steinbeck Museum and 

Mission San Juan Bautista 

North Berkeley Senior Center 

1901 Hearst Ave. (at MLK Jr. Way) 

This is an outing organzied by the Senior Center.  

$40 with lunch, $25 without  

Call Maggie or Suzanne, 644-6107 

“The Hand of Buddha” 

7:30 p.m.  

Easy Going Travel Shop & Bookstore 

1385 Shattuck (at Rose) 

In her new book poet, columnist and travel writer Linda Watanabe McFerrin explores the lives of women from different ethnic backgrounds and in moments of crisis. Free 

Call 843-3533 

Compiled by Chason Wainwright 

Measure R is  

a life saver 

Editor: 

As a senior citizen and one of many to whom the passage of measure R will be a life saver, I am writing you concerning the warm-water pool run by the City of Berkeley as part of the Berkeley Unified School District. 

This pool has served the community for over 20 years and is now badly in need of renovation. Due to a spinal condition I swim there several times a week. I find it the one most effective pain reliever I have experienced so far, and it is the only place where I can get the weightless exercise essential to my general health.  

Of the people who I see there and who share my experience there are many who have serious disabilities, many who are in wheel chairs, some who are elderly, some who are quite young, and some obviously in pain. All of them find relief and healing in the warm water of this pool. 

Measure R, if passed, will provide the needed money to save this pool, as neither the City nor the School District reportedly have the funds available to do this.  

I can only have implicit trust in the compassion and humanity of my fellow voters in their support of Measure R. We will be infinitely grateful.  

Augusta Lucas-Andreae 

Berkeley 

Measure R: warm water pool, a partnership 

Editor: 

I was so pleased when I learned that the Berkeley City Council has placed Measure R on the ballot for the November election. This is a wonderful opportunity to rescue and renovate an important community resource—the warm water swimming pool located at Berkeley High School. 

The warm water pool, a cooperative effort between the City of Berkeley and the Berkeley Unified School District, has offered programs to the public for more than twenty years. The pool is located on the Berkeley High School campus and maintained by the city. 

The pool is heated to 93 degrees, ideal for people who need warmth and a low-impact environment to be able to exercise. The pool is regularly used by senior citizens, and people of all ages who are physically disabled because of stroke, injury, cerebral palsy, other neurological conditions, or arthritis. For some, it has been an integral part of their lives for many years. For others, it is a means of recovery from shorter-term injuries or surgery. 

During my years on the Berkeley School Board, the Board received many letters and phone calls from community pool users and medical professionals urging us to preserve the warm water pool, rather than use the space for other purposes, as well as advising us of the need for renovations. I found their descriptions of the physical and emotional benefits of the warm water pool very compelling. One woman explained that the pool was the only place she could exist in the world without pain. Others told how the pool improved the quality of their lives and uplifted their spirits. I had never realized what a broad segment of the community benefited from the warm waters of the pool. 

A few years ago the School Board and Superintendent made a commitment, as part of the new Master Plan for Berkeley High School, to preserve the warm water pool’s place on the high school campus. However, neither the school district nor the city has the funds to pay for the substantial renovations the aged pool requires. Measure R would provide the approximately $3 million needed to save the pool, and cost the average taxpayer only $4 per year. 

I am sure most of us could think of relatives, friends or neighbors whose lives would be helped by swimming in the warm water pool. And those of us who do not need it now might need it someday! Please vote November 7th for Measure R. 

Miriam Topel 

Former Member, Berkeley School Board 1990-98 

Measure Y could cost you $4,500 

Editor: 

Homeowners beware! Measure “Y” applies to you - just as does Section 13 (Good Cause Required for Eviction) of Berkeley’s rent law, which it modifies (= tightens). 

Say you’re renting a room or an in-law suite to a student or other low-to-moderate income person. Under “Y” you would have to pay that person $4,500 “relocation expenses” if you wanted to reclaim the accommodations after a year for your own or your family’s use. Worse yet, if your tenant, regardless of age or disability status, had been there for at least five years, he/she would have gained a lifetime estate, and you’d have to pay even more to dislodge him/her or hire a lawyer and go to court -whichever cost less - in order to regain full possession of your home. Not to speak of the nightmarish scenario which could arise, were you to leave for a year (Sabbatical?) and rent out your home while you’re away. 

Read the proposed measure in all its details (2 and 1/4 full pages in your voter information pamphlet!). It applies to you! Vote NO on “Y”. 

Peggy Schioler 

Candidate for the Rent Stabilization Board 

Measure Y opens the door to discrimination 

Editor: 

How refreshing to see such honesty come from Berkeley Property Owner Association President Robert Cabrera when he states that Measure Y will “grease the skids for discrimination.” 

Is Mr. Cabrera actually saying that by passing legislation protecting certain vulnerable classes of our population (elderly and the disabled) from certain types of evictions that his landlord constituency will then discriminate by not renting to these people? 

And that, in essence, Measure Y should thus be defeated? Following this rationale all Civil Rights legislation passed since the Civil War and all legislation which protects any vulnerable group from discrimination should thus be repealed since the argument is the same. Why hire a woman, a senior, an ethnic minority or a disabled person, since they have legal protection from discrimination? I simply won’t hire them.  

How refreshing indeed to see the President of the Property Owner’s Association reveal true colors when it comes to their sincerity and compassion towards Berkeley renters.  

Matthew Siegel 

candidate for Rent Board 

Olson takes campaign to cyberspace 

The Daily Planet received this press release from Carrie Olson’s District 5 City Council campaign: 

Berkeley City Council candidate Carrie Olson is taking her campaign to the Internet, by launching an online discussion forum to address the issue of growth in California’s 3rd densest city. Landmark Commissioner Olson, who operates MoveOn.org, a national citizens action website, has created a unique on-line venue she calls an ActionForum. This award winning venue is effectively an electronic town hall, using a reader rating system to give every citizen’s comment a chance to rise to the top. ActionForum.com was also used by the Berkeley for citizen discussion of the city’s controversial General Plan draft and by MoveOn.org for their National Goals forum. 

“By engaging citizens in online discussion,” said candidate Carrie Olson, “I’m working to focus the election on important issues facing the city, like the stunning growth anticipated for this already dense town, and away from political-machine partisanship.” 

Citizens using ActionForum are able to join in a dialogue over the Internet with their fellow citizens, where all participants in the forum have the opportunity to be heard and where the highest rated comments rise to the top. ActionForum participants not only rank comments, they also indicate if they agree with the comment. A tally is automatically kept. Citizens can easily change their mind and the tallies are automatically updated. 

Go to: http://www.actionforum.org/national/carrie.html 

Rodefer touts  

health reform 

The Daily Planet received this press release from Benjamin Rodefer’s Distric 5 council campaign.  

Benjamin Rodefer announced today the details of his “Berkeley Care” program, a plan that would offer health insurance to every resident of Berkeley.  

“The goal of Berkeley Care” Rodefer says, “is to address the great disparity in health care coverage among our diverse resident population. The long term hope is that we will be able to divert existing health care funding earmarked for city health services, as well as other County, State, Federal and private funds to augment Berkeley Care and thereby lower enrollee costs. Eventually we hope to be providing universal health care to every resident of Berkeley, and in the process providing National leadership on this crucial issue.” 

How “Berkeley Care” works: 

• The City of Berkeley creates a citywide pool, consisting of both uninsured residents and currently insured residents wishing alternative coverage. 

• The City seeks bids from HMO’s to cover the pool. The higher the city’s enrollment percentage, the lower the insurer’s risk, and hence the lower the corresponding rates. The contract would have a tiered rate structure. 

•. There would be two premium rates: standard and low income. City residents would work directly with the HMO to establish their residency and income status.  

4. The HMO contract would stipulate that a small monthly fee, based on total enrollment for that period, be returned to the city as contribution towards City’s costs. 

5. The City of Berkeley would actively pursue further funding options for Berkeley Care. 

For more information contact Benjamin Rodefer at 510-525-9263 

Or CityCouncil@HipNow.com 

Editor: 

How refreshing to see such honesty come from Berkeley Property Owner Association President Robert Cabrera when he states that Measure Y will “grease the skids for discrimination.” 

Is Mr. Cabrera actually saying that by passing legislation protecting certain vulnerable classes of our population (elderly and the disabled) from certain types of evictions that his landlord constituency will then discriminate by not renting to these people? 

And that, in essence, Measure Y should thus be defeated? Following this rationale all Civil Rights legislation passed since the Civil War and all legislation which protects any vulnerable group from discrimination should thus be repealed since the argument is the same. Why hire a woman, a senior, an ethnic minority or a disabled person, since they have legal protection from discrimination? I simply won’t hire them.  

How refreshing indeed to see the President of the Property Owner’s Association reveal true colors when it comes to their sincerity and compassion towards Berkeley renters.  

Matthew Siegel 

candidate for Rent Board 

Subject:  

AC Transit Needs Transition 

Date:  

Wed, 25 Oct 2000 20:33:16 EDT 

From:  

Robehelen@aol.com 

To:  

opinion@berkeleydailyplanet.com 

“Bus” -- a huge, noisy, polluting vehicle that runs in a static state with  

disregard to neighborhoods, traffic lights, environment, bicycles,  

pedestrians and passengers. After commute hours, buses can be see on  

Telegraph, Shattuck and College Ave., at times, two and three bumper to  

bumper with the front bus transporting all the passengers and the other two  

empty. In the late evening hours on College Ave., it is not uncommon to see  

these monstrosities running pass midnight with one or two passengers. Not  

only does this produce unnecessary traffic, noise, pollution and consumption  

of petroleum products, but it serves as a stage for the ineffective and  

uncreative AC Transit management. It is disturbing that AC Transit does not  

employ an Analyst to research and report recommendations. Can it be so  

difficult to replace these inefficient monstrosities with small economical  

vans to serve the one or two passengers after commute hours? This would  

provide more street for bicycles to pass, less pollution, less noise,  

conservation of petroleum products and it will cut costs for AC Transit not  

only for bus purchases, but for fuel and maintenance.  

Robert Radford 

Berkeley  

Editor: 

To often, Berkeley “Activist” groups work separately or take different approaches to solve the same problem. Your article about the southwest Berkeley neighborhoods opposition to a new fast food complex at 1200 Ashby Ave. appeared above an article stating that southwest Berkeley residents have a life expectancy of 20 years less than those residents in the Berkeley hills. 

There is a major connection here between these two groups of activists and they should be working to help each other. Those residents in southwest Berkeley ( read African American) die at a younger age not only because of a lack of healthcare but because of poor eating habits. A recent study on health showed that black youth get 40 percent of their daily vegetable intake from french fries. An article about the free lunch program in Oakland High schools revealed that very few of those elegible took part but instead bought fast food.  

Obesity among all Americans has increased more than 60 percent since 1990. There is more of a health crisis than a health care crisis.Those who want healthcare for everyone should think in terms of wanting a healthy life for everyone. Help people to enjoy their lives by improving their quality of life not just prolonging it. Berkeley is proud of the fact that it promotes the use of bycyles and not the automobile. It is time for Berkeley to promote healthy lifestyles and ban fast food.  

Caring about health is as important as caring about healthcare. 

Michael Larrick  

(510) 849-4572 

Editor: 

Hello, my name is Kinchasa Taylor and I am and have been a resident of Carrison Street for the past 23 years. I am upset by the article written about the block and how the people who live on the block are represented. 

I believe that the opinions in opposition to the plans to build a fast-food restaurant and mini mart are valid and I would agree with them. 

What I do not agree with is the way my new neighbors portrayed Carrison Street as a “street overrun with drug dealers and prostitutes.” I’d like to point out that Vicki and Mike Larrick have not lived on Carrison Street for eight year as stated. Drug dealers and prostitution has never been a problem on Carrison Street. 

Until they moved in, this street was filled by senior citizens. 

Actually the house in which they live was owned by a senior citizen until her death. They moved in her house maybe 4-5 years after she died. 

I know this because up until they moved in I watered the grass. I believe that my anger is mostly directed at this couple because of their portrayal of themselves as saviors to the community. 

The community expects people who move into the neighborhood to show respect for those that have lived here before and have raised successful families. It saddens me that we have lost our predominantly African American neighbors. 

But as people move in to clean up the neighborhood they must keep in mind that are new that they are joining the group that was already established and attempting to make a change themselves. 

It is really sad to see that my neighborhood is being represented as a bad black neighborhood until it was saved by it’s new white residents. Some of the arrivals of the migration to South Berkeley, do not respect the people, the community, or the residents they have joined with. 

Our land, our efforts, our homes are being taken over by people that have only one thing on there mind: how can I live here and make it the way I want it to be, not how can I become a part of this community and help with the efforts being made.  

If you want to write something about the community, write about the gentrification, genocide, and mentacide occurring in south Berkeley. It’s real and it’s occurring. 

If you don’t believe me ask my old neighbors, senior citizens with historically fixed rents, uniformed of there rights and Measure Y, why they had to move out there homes, and move after over 25 years of occupation.  

Kinchasa Taylor, 

Berkeley 

Berkeley passes last major test in league play; Encinal up next 

In a battle of the ACCAL’s only remaining undefeated boys’ water polo teams, Berkeley High came out on top of Alameda, 12-9, Tuesday afternoon. 

Playing in the smallest pool in the conference, the action was fast and furious as counterattacks came one after another. The visiting Yellowjackets (12-6, 4-0 ACCAL) never trailed in the match and never lost their lead after the first quarter, but the outcome was in doubt until the final two minutes of the final period. 

“We’ve played these guys three times this year, and we’ve won every time,” said Yellowjacket Carl Nasman. “But it’s always close, and they really know how to play in their own pool.” 

Berkeley couldn’t maintain more than a one-goal lead for most of the match, but they didn’t let the Hornets establish their offense enough to tie the match either. Up 9-8 with less than four minutes remaining in the match, the ’Jackets pounded the ball in side to Joe Ravera and David Schooley, who each scored a goal to put the visitors up 11-8 with just two minutes left and remove any doubt about which team was going to win. 

The Yellowjackets main concern on defense was keeping the ball out of the hands of Alameda hole setter Artie Cortez, the Hornets’ best player and the hub of the team’s offense.  

“Our coach told us to double-team him if he got the ball in the hole, and we stopped his pretty well,” Nasman said. 

With Ravera and Schooley playing tough defense on Cortez, the Hornets were reduced to taking shots from the perimeter for much of the match, which played right into the hands of the Berkeley defense. 

“We were terrible shooting and passing today,” said Alameda coach Robert Rodd. “We made their goalie look like and all-star.” 

That goalie, Chris May, made 12 saves in the game and also watched numerous Alameda shots go wide and high of his net. 

“I thought they were actually pretty good shooting out of their set offense,” May said. “But once I got used to the small pool and shots coming from anywhere, it was easier to stop them.” 

May also praised his team’s play against Cortez. 

“We had really good hole-set defense today, and he didn’t get many shots close in,” he said. 

Berkeley jumped out to a quick two-goal lead on goals from Ravera and Schooley, but the Hornets came rushing back to tie the score with two goals of their own in less than a minute of action. Nasman scored a goal before the first intermission to give the ’Jackets a 3-2 lead. 

The second period was more of the same, as both teams scored three goals for a 6-5 halftime score. Cortez got his first goal during the quarter, but it was a shot from the outside as he looked to escape the ’Jackets’ tough interior defense. 

The third quarter was highlighted by spectacular saves from each goalie, as Alameda’s James Britton knocked down inside shots from Ravera and Schooley. But Schooley went to his backhand in the final period, scoring three straight goals for Berkeley to finish with five scores. 

“He beat the same guy with the same moves three times in a row,” Rodd said. “It’s hard to win a game like that.” 

When Ravera found himself three yards out from the Alameda goal with the ball in his hand and no defender in sight, he put the game away with his third goal to put Berkeley up 11-8. Cortez finally got his second goal with a minute left, but Alameda’s frustrations boiled over as Steve Lodigiani was ejected from the action following his third intentional foul, and Berkeley’s Dominic Cathey scored with 37 seconds left on the clock to set the final score and deal the Hornets their first ACCAL loss. 

The girls’ game was considerably less competitive, as the ’Jackets (7-8, 2-3) scored four goals in less than two minutes during the first quarter. From there the rest of the game was just a formality, as Berkeley’s Cody Keffer racked up a second-half hat trick to match the three goals from teammate Carrie Guilfoyle as the Yellowjackets rolled to a 9-3 win. Berkeley goalie Amy Degenkolb made 10 saves in the winning effort.

More than 200 people turned out in the Wednesday morning downpour in front of the Martin Luther King Jr. Way studios of KPFA chanting, as they did during the summer of 1999, “Who’s station? Our station!”  

As during that summer, the protesters were demonstrating over claims that Pacifica Foundation, which governs the five Pacifica stations and holds their licenses, “gags” programmers, dictating what they can and cannot say. 

This time, the protesters were not focused on local programming but on national radio news-magazine co-host Amy Goodman who co-anchors Democracy Now!, a hard-hitting unabashedly left leaning show that has won awards for reporting on police brutality, Chevron’s role in Nigeria, East Timor and more.  

Speakers claimed Goodman is being micro-managed by her Pacifica bosses and saddled with new work rules, which Goodman describes in an e-mail as a “desire of management to reign in and exert political control over Democracy Now!” 

Demonstrations were held Wednesday at each of the five Pacifica stations. 

“This is about a political housekeeping purge,” noted author and media critic Norman Solomon told the morning rally, which spilled off the sidewalk and onto the street.  

“They’re trying to implement an ideological litmus test. If you’re more progressive than Al Gore, get off our air waves,” he said. 

Goodman describes the situation in an e-mail distributed by Northern California Pacifica board member Tomas Moran. 

She talks about going into a meeting in mid October with the Pacifica program director and executive director which she said she believed was to “resolve a series of escalating conflicts which have erupted in recent months between (program director Stephen) Yasko, Executive Director Bessie Wash, myself and the Democracy Now! staff....Instead we were suddenly faced with this list of ‘ground rules’ and the threat to fire me.” 

Among the rules is a demand to present a list of topics for shows for the next week and to accept only speaking engagements that have been preapproved by the program director.  

Goodman further claims that two new producers are being imposed on her and co-host Juan Gonzales without their approval. “The two producers – our only producers – are the heart of this show,” Goodman writes. “It is clear from all of management’s actions, they are using this opportunity to change the political direction of the program.” 

Pacifica’s public relations department’s voice mailbox in Washington, D.C., was full Wednesday and Executive Director Bessie Wash was traveling and unavailable for comment.  

Pacifica did issue a statement on the matter on Monday, noting that Democracy Now! “has become one of our most valued programs.” 

The Pacifica memo further asserted: 

• It has not dictated Democracy Now! programming, nor has it censored the programming. “Comments were not presented to Ms. Goodman as directives. Such input is part of the collaborative radio production process.” 

• Goodman’s bringing Ralph Nader onto the floor of the Republican Convention in order to get his live commentary from there and using a borrowed press pass, “put all of Pacifica in danger of not receiving credentials for the Democratic Convention,” the memo said, explaining that is why management did not allow Democracy Now! hosts to get Democratic Convention press passes. 

• Contrary to claims, Goodman has been part of conversations in the process of choosing new producers. It is intended for both Goodman and Yasko to interview candidates together. 

• Pacifica has not tried to limit Goodman’s free speech, but asked her to inform the Foundation of Pacifica-related speaking activities and to get approval. “National radio hosts are Pacifica ambassadors and intrinsically represent the organization at an function where they make public remarks.” 

For more information, see www.mediademocracyow.org or www.pacifica.org. 

Alameda deals Berkeley second loss of season 

It was a battle of the stinging insects on Tuesday when the Berkeley High Yellowjackets’ women’s tennis team fell to Alameda High’s Hornets by a score of six matches to one. 

With the loss, their second of the season to Alameda, the ‘Jackets fell to 4-2 in league play. Alameda are now 5-0 and are clear favorites to claim the ACCAL title. 

Alameda swept six of seven matches from the Yellowjackets in decisive fashion and looked like a force to be reckoned with in the upcoming NCS playoffs. 

Berkeley’s top singles player, the nationally-ranked Megan Sweeney, fell to Alameda’s Megan Falcon in a tough match in which the scoreline wasn’t reflective of the run of play. It was a battle of baseliners, and while Sweeney seemed to overpower her opponent at times, Falcon was steadier throughout the contest. Falcon’s victory was an excellant example of the technique known as pushing, in which a player seeks to outlast her opponent through keeping her shots soft and deep. 

At No. 1 doubles, Talia Gracer and Carly Kleiman were defeated by an Alameda pair, Valerie Surh and Liz Lam, who were simply more aggressive. While Berkeley’s tandem often let balls bounce near the net, Surh and Lam pounced on short balls, creating easy volleys and putting them away nicely. The Alameda couple played fundamental doubles, taking big swings from the baseline and attacking the net. 

Joanna Letz was the lone standout in an otherwise dissapointing day for the ‘Jackets, as she cruised to an easy victory in 45 minutes. Her individual triumph combined with her support from the sideline were not enough to power her teammates to victory, and Alameda had clinched the four matches necessary for the win well before the 90-minute mark. 

Berkeley loses only two seniors after this season, Talia Gracer and Sarah Lesser, and have two freshman in their top four spots. “Our freshman have been a big part of the team,” Letz said.  

The team also has five juniors and is likely to improve next season. The strength of Berkeley and Alameda’s programs, combined with the schools’ similar mascots and colors (Berkeley’s Yellowjackets wear red and gold; Alameda’s Hornets wear black and gold) could produce quite a tennis rivalry in the future of the ACCAL. 

“Berkeley’s an up and coming team,” said Alameda coach Glen Oetman. “Those freshman will be a force to be reckoned with. Next year this will be a real challenging match.” 

“The score may look one-sided, but the play hasn’t shown that,” Oetman added.  

“I’m happy with everyone’s performance,” Berkeley coach Dan Seguin said of his players. “Everyone did better than last time when we played (Alameda). Alameda was just a better team.” 

Berkeley finished dead last in the competitive EBAL last season, and will most likely improve to a second place finish this year. 

“It’s good to be winning,” said Letz. 

Still, Seguin is already looking forward to next season, when he hopes Berkeley can challenge for the ACCAL title.  

“We’re going to look better. We have a good shot at winning league.”

The U.S. Attorney released new specific charges Wednesday against Berkeley’s largest landlord and four members of his family charged with fraudulently bringing foreign workers to the country for cheap labor and sex.  

In a letter dated Oct. 19, the attorney states that Lakireddy Bali Reddy, his sons Vijay Kumar Lakireddy and Prasad Lakireddy, his brother Jayprakash Lakireddy and his wife, Annapurna Lakireddy will enter guilty pleas next week. 

The “superseding information” filed Wednesday is far more detailed than the charges filed early last year. It names the persons whom the Reddy family allegedly brought to the United States fraudulently, includes charges against the three other members of the family and adds filing a fraudulent tax statement to the charges Reddy faces. 

Each of the family members is alleged to have helped numerous persons enter the country fraudulently. Reddy is charged with bringing in some two dozen people and is also charged with making false statements on his Income Tax Return. While he claimed he had no interest or authority over financial accounts in another country, in 1998, he had a financial account in India, according to the U.S. Attorney’s documents. 

Reddy’s wife, who will be assisted by a translator when she enters a guilty plea Tuesday, is alleged to have helped 10 persons enter the country fraudulently; his brother, Jayprakash is charged with aiding the entry of three persons; his older son is alleged to have aided nine. The younger son, Vijay is alleged to have aided six persons, most having come in on high-tech visas to work for his Berkeley-based Active Tech solutions and be paid about $43,000 annually. He is accused of bringing a woman to “work without pay as a nanny.”  

New charges mean that persons already arraigned must be newly arraigned, according to the U.S. Attorney’s office. Vijay Lakireddy was arraigned Wednesday, Reddy will be arraigned today and the three others will be arraigned on subsequent dates. 

The specific charges explain that Reddy, hist two sons and wife would submit fraudulent visa petitions to the Immigration and Naturalization Service, then the four, plus Prasad Lakireddy would arrange for Indian nationals to come into the United States on the basis of the fraudulent petitions. Four among those charged (Prasad Lakireddy is not so charged) would arrange for the Indian nationals to be picked up at the airport and taken to businesses or apartments owned by the defendants. 

Four of the defendants ( Reddy’s wife is not so charged) would employ the illegal immigrants in their businesses – Jay Construction, Reddy Realty and Pasand Restaurants, all in Berkeley – “and would employ these aliens at various times without paying them the minimum wage or overtime premium as required by law.” 

Reddy and Lakireddy are further charged with bringing minor female Indian nationals “for purposes of engaging in illegal sexual activity for defendant Lakireddy Bali Reddy.” 

A hearing on these charges is scheduled in U.S. District Judge Saundra Brown Armstrong’s Oakland courtroom Monday. 

Despite much protest among its members late Tuesday night, the City Council narrowly passed a design concept for the Aquatic Park Sound Barrier, which was described by one Councilmember as a “rusty steel wall with flowers on it.” 

Councilmember Polly Armstrong said the council did not have a chance to review the new $3.5 million design and was pressured to make a late-night decision. “It’s 11:30 p.m. and we’re talking about a multimillion dollar project that will either be a work of art or a very expensive disaster,” she said. 

The concept was approved by a vote of 5-3, with Mayor Shirley Dean and Councilmembers Betty Olds and Polly Armstrong voting against the motion. Councilmember Diane Woolley was absent. 

The 3,100-foot sound barrier will consist of a sheet-pile metal wall punctuated approximately every 200 feet by clusters of thick concrete pipes standing on end, filled with compacted dirt and topped with plants and flowers. The wall will run between the east side of Interstate 880 and the 32-acre Aquatic Park, which is part of the Pacific Flyway for migratory birds. 

The City Council wanted something else than the generic California Department of Transportation wall and hired a group of engineers and architects to design a sound barrier that was unique. After going through a difficult approval process with Caltrans, the engineering and architecture firm, The Crosby Group, was able to put together an initial design concept and presented in to the Council late Tuesday night.  

There was pressure on the Council to decide Tuesday because it won’t meet again until Nov. 15 and the design concept had to be approved by Nov. 13 or the city would risk losing state funding.  

Mayor Shirley Dean said she was furious with the last-minute review and vote. She said it was amazing that the project was not presented to the Council sooner. “This is a project that I’ve fought for and been very involved with and to be out of the loop and then have it plucked down on me at 11:30 p.m. at night is outrageous.” 

Dean said that this is an example of a frequent problem of city decision-makers not having enough time to review projects and then having to quickly make a decision. “This has got to stop,” she said. 

Councilmember Kriss Worthington complimented Parks and Waterfront Director Lisa Caronna for putting the creative project together. He added Caltrans is not known for being very open to creative new ideas when it comes to sound barriers. “It’s a miracle that we made it this far.” 

Thousands of hospital workers are striking today, affecting services at eight hospitals in Alameda, San Francisco, San Mateo, Solano and Lake counties. 

The walkout of some 3,500 doctors, registered nurses, emergency employees, technicians and other members of the Health Care Workers Union SEIU Local 250 was prompted by the hospitals' alleged unlawful practices during negotiations and their refusal to bargain in good faith, said union spokesman Allen White. 

The strike is at three Catholic Healthcare West hospitals, including Seton Medical Center, Saint Francis Memorial Hospital and St. Mary's Medical Center, and five Sutter Health Hospitals, including Alta Bates Medical Center, Eden Medical Center, Summit Medical Center, Sutter Solano Medical Center and Sutter Lakeside Hospital. 

White says the union has filed more than 20 charges against CHW and Sutter for actions taken against employees, including threatening employees and conducting illegal surveillance

SAN FRANCISCO — Of the 337 car and pedestrian collisions this year where the driver was likely at fault, only one in 10 drivers received a citation, the San Francisco Examiner reported Monday. 

The paper’s review of police records of accidents and citations from January to June found that drivers who hit and killed 28 pedestrians this year did not receive tickets, though a few are being prosecuted for vehicular manslaughter.  

Fifty-four of the accidents were hit and run. 

Police issued just 39 citations at the same time that Mayor Willie Brown, Police Chief Fred Lau and Supervisor Mabel Tend pledged to toughen enforcement and make streets safer with new ads, longer green lights and talking pedestrian signals.

Three Berkeley residents and two Berkeley organizations will be honored tonight at the Berkeley Community Fund’s Seventh annual Awards Dinner. 

The event will be hosted by Board President Narsai David and will continue the 71-year tradition of bestowing the Benjamin Ide Wheeler Medal for long-time service to Berkeley.  

This year, Chief Justice of the United States District Court for Northern California Thelton E. Henderson, will receive the prestigious award.  

Judge Henderson is honored for his lifetime of work in the areas of civil rights, constitutional principles and mentoring of young minority lawyers.  

Berkeley Community Awards will be awarded to individuals who have served the community well. 

This year’s recipients are Carolyn North, founder and mainstay of the Daily Bread program; and Harry Weininger, civic and cultural leader and consensus builder.  

North took a simple and courageous step when she decided to connect excess food from restaurants and bakeries with hungry people. 

Weininger has shown Berkeley the importance of “seeing the commonalties” in people and the danger of political polarization within a community.  

Bay Area Outdoor Recreation Program and the New Bridge Foundation will receive the Berkeley Community Award for nonprofit groups that comes with a grant of $5,000. 

In addition to these grants, the fund has awarded 18 grants to community organizations in Berkeley, as well as three $2,000 college scholarships to deserving Class of 2000 Berkeley High School graduates Jabris Patterson, Jimmy Tran and Dana Troy. Grants and scholarships come from community contributions and foundation grants. 

Because the board of directors covers all administrative costs, all contributions go directly into grantmaking and scholarships.  

The Berkeley Community Fund was founded in 1992 by civic, business and community leaders committed to improving life in Berkeley by philanthropy focused on solutions to social and economic problems at the local level.  

The Dinner will be at H’s Lordships in the Berkeley Marina. A reception will begin at 6 p.m., dinner at 7 p.m. 

Ticket prices for this event, with dinner and entertainment, are being kept to $35 to make the event affordable to a larger number of people. The costs for the dinner and awards are being underwritten by local businesses and individuals. For more information, call 843-5202

SACRAMENTO — The nation’s drug czar has weighed in against a proposal on California’s Nov. 7 ballot that would require treatment instead of incarceration for nonviolent drug users. 

Proposition 36 threatens California’s existing drug treatment programs, White House Drug Policy Director Barry R. McCaffrey said Wednesday in an open letter to actor Martin Sheen. Sheen is honorary chairman of California United Against Drug Abuse, the proposition’s primary opponent. 

McCaffrey’s opposition four years ago wound up energizing supporters of a successful 1996 California proposition that permitted the use of marijuana for medical purposes, said Dave Fratello, campaign manager for the pro-36 California Campaign for New Drug Policies. 

“People really just reject the notion that the top cop for the drug war would tell them how to vote,” Fratello said. “By always picking losers, I think he’s shown he’s out of step.” 

McCaffrey said Proposition 36’s lack of funding for drug tests, coupled with a ban on short jail sentences, would mean less effective treatment for addicts, and would undermine judges’ discretion.  

The proposition requires treatment instead of jail or prison for those convicted for the first or second time of possessing drugs or being under their influence. 

Opponents had asked McCaffrey to consider holding a news conference outlining his objections. No such news event is scheduled with less than two weeks before the election, said Jean Munoz, a spokeswoman for opponents. 

Meanwhile, supporters of the proposal are launching a new 30-second television ad that dramatizes a California drug user going to jail while an Arizona user gets treatment. Arizona voters approved a drug treatment initiative in 1996. 

SAN FRANCISCO — A state court upheld assault and alcohol convictions against a former Pelican Bay State Prison guard on Wednesday. 

The 1st District Court of Appeal said there was no evidence to reverse Jose Garcia’s conviction last year for assaulting a sex-offender convict. Garcia was sentenced to nearly five years imprisonment for charges that included possessing alcohol in prison. 

He was accused of soliciting or directing inmates to assault sex offenders in 1994 and 1995. He rewarded the assaulting inmates with deodorant, booze and silk underwear 

The state appeals court was not swayed by Garcia’s contentions that he was framed, that there was a lack of evidence to uphold the conviction and that possessing alcohol was not forbidden. 

Garcia faces a federal trial on similar charges alleging that, from 1992 to 1995, he conspired to deprive five inmates of their civil rights. 

Garcia and another guard, Mike Powers, are accused of causing inmates to stab and punch five other prisoners, some of whom were convicted sex offenders or child molesters. 

That federal trial is pending. 

SANTA CRUZ — The city council of this fervently-liberal seaside city voted unanimously Tuesday to pass the nation’s highest living wage – $11 dollars an hour, or $12 without benefits. 

Like most of the roughly 50 other living wage ordinances nationwide, Santa Cruz’s would at first only cover full-time workers for the city or for-profit companies with city contracts. Most city workers already make more than $11 an hour. 

City officials want to extend the minimum wage to temporary workers employed by the city and to workers for social service agencies funded by the city. 

The ordinance had no formal opposition as it was being developed over the last few months. But the Santa Cruz Chamber Area Chamber of Commerce said Tuesday it did not support the measure because of key questions about its impact. 

Chamber President Ken Whiting said the City Council had not addressed whether the ordinance would price unskilled workers out of some jobs or whether it would reduce the amount of public services that can be provided in the city. 

While some economists contend “living wage” laws are symbolic and have little effect, supporters of the Santa Cruz ordinance believe it will give hundreds of people a boost, even in communities elsewhere in the county. 

The National Association of Home Builders recently ranked Santa Cruz the second-least affordable area in the nation – behind only San Francisco. 

On the Net: 

Santa Cruz County Coalition for a Living Wage: http://members.cruzers.com/cab/livingwage/livingwage.html

SANTA MONICA — The celebrity-filled Malibu shore is known for more than swaying palms, sun-roasted sands and bronzed surfers: The lapping waves also contain some of Southern California’s filthiest ocean water. 

The environmental watchdog group Heal the Bay released its annual Beach Report Card for Summer 2000 and Malibu’s Surfrider Beach led the list of Los Angeles County spots getting a failing grade for high bacteria levels. 

Surfrider is adjacent to the exclusive Malibu Colony gated outpost. 

Will Rogers, Big Rock, Santa Monica Pier, Herondo Street, Redondo, Cabrillo, Long Beach, Alamitos Bay and Avalon beaches also got “F” marks. 

Heal the Bay took weekly ocean samples at 373 beaches from Santa Barbara to San Diego counties between May and September and gave “A” grades to 257 beaches. There were 38 “B” marks, 34 “C’s” and 17 “D’s”. 

Beaches were graded on a 28-day rolling average based on the risk of ocean users becoming ill. 

“F” grades went to 27 beaches, including Santa Barbara County’s Gaviota and Arroyo Quemado beaches as well as Ventura County’s Peninsula and Channel Islands harbor beaches and Sycamore Cove beach. 

Orange County’s “F” beaches included Seal Beach, Huntington Harbour, Huntington State, Santa Ana River Mouth and Newport. San Diego County’s Oceanside, Encinitas, Mission Bay, Ocean Beach and San Diego Bay. 

On The Net: http://www.healthebay.org

SACRAMENTO — Booming state budget reserves will force a $1.1 billion, quarter-cent cut in California’s sales tax next year, saving the typical family of four $120, Gov. Gray Davis said Wednesday. 

The cut will be the fourth and largest reduction in sales taxes in California history. 

“I believe this is an appropriate way to share with the taxpayers of this state some of the bounty they have bestowed on us,” the Democratic governor said at a Capitol news conference. 

The cut is required by a 1991 law that says sales taxes must be slashed a quarter percent when budget reserves exceed 4 percent of the state general fund for two straight fiscal years. 

California ended the last fiscal year with a reserve that ballooned to about 10 percent, and Davis said his Finance Department was projecting the reserve at the end of this fiscal year would also top 4 percent. 

The cut means the sales tax will vary from 7 percent to 8.25 percent next year depending on the county. Many counties have approved sales tax increases for projects such as transportation. 

The state Finance Department will have to make another reserve assessment next fall to determine if the cut continues beyond 2001. 

Davis credited the state’s booming economy and his veto of $5.1 billion in appropriations over the last two years for the cuts. 

The Legislature’s Republican leaders contended that former GOP Gov. Pete Wilson, who signed the 1991 law, should get credit for the cut. 

Republicans also claimed that the timing of Davis’ announcement was political because of the upcoming election. They said the cut should be made permanent. 

Davis said he was required to announce the cut by Nov. 1 and would have faced more criticism if he waited until then. He also said the state’s long-term economic picture was too uncertain to make the cut permanent. 

“I’m trying to chart a prudent course and keep us somewhere in the middle,” he said at a news conference. “I don’t want to jump the gun on spending; I don’t want to jump the gun on tax relief.” 

He said the sales tax cut would come on top of $3.5 billion in other tax cuts enacted as part of the current state budget. 

The quarter-cent cut will cost the state $1.099 billion next year, a savings for taxpayers of about $31 per person. 

Someone buying a $25,000 car would save $62.50 because of the cut, said Davis spokesman Steve Maviglio. 

Republicans noted that Davis threatened to veto a budget-related bill in June because it could have triggered the sales tax cut. 

Davis said that at that point it was not clear what the state’s budget picture would be. 

Asked if he should have supported more aid for local governments instead of allowing spending to build up, Davis said he had been generous in supporting cities and counties, mentioning his $5.7 billion transportation plan. 

“This is a balancing act,” he said. “Different people might arrive at different conclusions.” 

State Controller Kathleen Connell, a Democrat who is running for mayor of Los Angeles next year, said the sales tax reduction was “an automatic and symbolic tax cut..., nothing more.” 

“With California’s economy continuing to grow, we are in a position to make even deeper and more meaningful tax cuts,” she said. 

SAN DIEGO — A growing number of people diagnosed with AIDS in San Diego have used intravenous drugs or had sex with people who injected drugs, according to the county’s health department. 

The report was released Tuesday, a week after the City Council moved a step closer toward authorizing a clean needle exchange program. 

“Cases attributable to directly injecting drugs and secondary spread to sexual partners and offspring account for a larger proportion of AIDS cases each year,” the report said. 

Since the first case of AIDS was reported in San Diego County in 1981, 10,244 people have been diagnosed with the disease, the third highest number of AIDS cases among California counties.  

An additional 4,700 to 9,000 are estimated to be HIV positive. 

In 1984, 2 percent of people with AIDS reported using intravenous drugs. By 1999, it was 13 percent. 

As of Sept. 30, nearly 7 percent of the 10,553 people with AIDS in the county were women, but among drug users with AIDS, females comprised nearly 33 percent.  

Additionally, a third of all people with AIDS were ethnic minorities but more than half of the people with AIDS who were also intravenous drug users were ethnic minorities. 

Sixty percent of women and 20 percent of men attributed their HIV infection directly to injection drug use or being a sexual partner of an injection drug user, the report said. 

While the county Board of Supervisors has refused to approve a clean needle exchange program, the City Council last week declared a health state of emergency, one of the first steps needed to implement a needle exchange. 

At least four California cities – Berkeley, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Santa Cruz – and Marin County have adopted emergency ordinances allowing such needle exchanges. 

The number of new HIV and AIDS cases in the county is similar to trends nationwide showing that the disease is spreading fastest among women and ethnic minorities. 

The number of AIDS cases among young men is also on the rise. Of the men testing positive for HIV and AIDS at the county’s clinics, more than a third are between the ages of 19 and 30, said Terry Cunningham, director of the county Office of AIDS Coordination, which compiled the report. 

New drug therapies have helped people with AIDS live longer, the report said. In 1996, 400 county residents died of AIDS compared with 151 deaths in 1998. 

CBS Inc. agreed to settle a class-action sex discrimination lawsuit involving some 200 women technicians for $8 million, attorneys said Wednesday. 

The agreement, which must be approved by a federal judge, also includes changes in how CBS handles job training and overtime opportunities, said Susan Stokes, one of the attorneys representing the women. 

The lawsuit, filed in 1996, accused CBS of discriminating against its female technical employees at television stations in Minneapolis, New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Detroit and Green Bay, Wis. Earlier this year, U.S. District Judge Donavan Frank approved the case as a class action. 

The women claimed they were denied assignments, promotions, overtime and training and were forced to work in a sexually hostile work environment. 

CBS admitted no liability or wrongdoing in the settlement, Stokes said. 

A CBS spokesman did not immediately return a phone call. 

“We’re very pleased with it,” Stokes said of the agreement, which will go before a federal judge for preliminary approval Nov. 17. Final approval isn’t expected until January. “It provides a lot of important changes that will help make the playing fields level for everyone.” 

As part of the agreement, CBS must post open positions and training opportunities and set up a mechanism for technicians to express interest in working overtime or on certain assignments, Stokes said.  

The women in the class will get additional training “to make up for what’s been denied them in the past,” she said, and CBS will change its equal employment opportunity policy and complaint procedures. 

CBS’ compliance will be monitored for four years. 

The amount of money each woman will receive will be based on length of service and the type of claim, Stokes said. An average figure wasn’t available. 

In November 1999, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission determined that CBS had discriminated against female technicians at its stations. CBS has denied allegations about condoning a hostile and discriminatory workplace.

LOS ANGELES — A panel of scientists urged state officials to toughen standards for chromium 6 in water, stating there is compelling evidence that it causes cancer. 

In testimony Tuesday during a joint hearing of state regulatory agencies, toxicology professor John Froines of the UCLA School of Public Health said studies have shown chromium 6 to be a carcinogen when inhaled through air, which makes it a likely carcinogen when ingested through water. 

The state should quickly take action to purge water supplies of the chemical, even though scientists and regulators are still debating its risk, said Froines, chairman of the advisory board for the state Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment. 

“You can take the political, legal and economic argument (against the tougher standard), and it will go on for 10 years,” Froines said. “We should assume the correctness of the state’s public health goal for chromium 6 and begin from there.” 

Froines was among nearly two dozen experts, regulators and citizens who testified before the joint hearing of the Senate Health and Human Services Committee, the Senate Natural Resources and Wildlife Committee and the Assembly Committee on Environmental Safe and Toxic Materials. 

The hearing, which was attended by about 200 people, was called by state Senators Adam Schiff, D-Burbank, and Tom Hayden, D-Los Angeles. 

Schiff called on the state Department of Health Services to issue an “action level” directive, which would not have the force of law, but would urge local water agencies to meet a chromium standard as quickly as possible. 

Officials with the state Department of Health Services say it could take five more years to implement a new standard, which prompted Tuesday’s hearing. The agency has urged public water systems to test for chromium 6 and was drafting emergency regulations to require testing by the end of the year, said David Spath, the department’s drinking water chief. 

It was unlikely that the department would issue an emergency regulation, because chromium 6 is not an immediate public health threat, Spath said. 

“This is not a case of acute toxicity,” he told the joint committee. 

Chromium 6 has been suspected of causing cancer in several high-profile lawsuits. In a 1996 case made famous by the Julia Roberts film “Erin Brockovich,” residents of the San Bernardino town of Hinkley won a $333 million settlement from Pacific Gas & Electric because the company’s underground tanks leaked chromium 6 into ground water.

LOS ANGELES — Voters in California favor Vice President Al Gore over Texas Gov. George Bush by 7 percentage points in the race for president, according to a statewide poll published Wednesday by the Los Angeles Times. 

Gore once held a double-digit lead in California, which is a crucial state politically because it controls 54 of the 270 electoral votes needed for the presidency. A poll released Monday by the nonpartisan Public Policy Institute of California also showed Gore’s lead over Bush shrinking from 9 to 5 points since last month. 

The Times poll found that Gore held a broad edge over Bush among women in the state and is only narrowly behind among men, which contradicts the national trends that have made the overall race a dead heat. 

The 48 percent to 41 percent lead for Gore comes despite a $6 million ad campaign waged by the Republican Party on Bush’s behalf. 

The poll found that Gore maintains strong connections in California, with 62 percent of the voters registering a positive impression of him, while only 37 percent have a negative view. Voters’ impressions of Bush are negative, with 51 percent expressing an unfavorable impression and only 46 percent a positive one. 

“California voters firmly believe that the nation and the state are going in the right direction, and these voters say they will back Gore,” said Susan Pinkus, director of the Times Poll. “It all hinges on turnout.” 

Four of five California voters believe Gore has the intellect and experience to be president, a majority so large that it includes many Bush voters.  

In Bush’s case, voters are ambivalent, with 47 percent saying he has enough experience and intellect, but 42 percents believe he does not. 

The Times poll interviewed 1,304 Californians, including 852 likely voters, from Thursday through Monday and has a margin of sampling error for likely voters of plus or minus 4 percentage points. 

What does a renter do when the toilet doesn’t work, the roof leaks and the landlord refuses to return the security deposit?  

It’s Tenants’ Rights Week on the UC Berkeley campus and answers were dispensed Tuesday at a booth in Sproul Plaza, where five volunteer students talked to a steady stream of renters who are having landlord trouble and are uncertain about their rights. 

The students are volunteers with UC Berkeley’s Renters’ Legal Assistance, an organization formed in 1998 to help tenants – especially students who make up about 30 percent of Berkeley residents – understand their options.  

“Student tenants come from other states, they’re often renting for the first time and they can be naive,” said Carlos Rios, a housing counselor with the Berkeley Rent Stabilization Board the cosponsor of Tenants’ Rights Week. “Our effort is to make sure they are an informed body so they can conduct their business properly.” 

Two members of the Berkeley Property Owners Association heard about the event and set up a booth right next to Tenants’ Rights Tuesday morning. Claude Zamanian and Robert Englund handed out leaflets and cookies. However, since they are not students and did not have a permit, campus police asked them to fold up the table and chairs. Police allowed them to continue displaying a placard and handing out literature and cookies, however. 

“We are just here to present the landlords’ point of view,” Zamanian said.  

According to one of their fliers, property owners claim strict rent control creates a housing shortage and fewer controls means more rental space for students. Property owners argue that low rent created under rent control makes tenants unlikely to move. In one flier a landlord was quoted as saying: “I’d love to house the class of 2000, but I’m still housing the class of ’79.”  

The students are holding counseling sessions all week in Sproul Plaza from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Tuesday’s theme was “All About Security Deposits.” Tenants are often unsure of their rights when it comes to retrieving security deposits and landlords sometimes take advantage, organizers said. 

For example many tenants don’t know landlords are required to pay interest on security deposits in either rent rebates or cash payments, they said. Upon request they are also required to provide bank statements detailing the time during which the interest was earned and the amount of interest paid. 

“The other problem is landlords withholding a large percentage of deposits for repairs that were existing when the tenant moved in,” said Kim Encianas, a student volunteer with Renters’ Legal Assistance. 

Tenants are advised to take pictures of as much of dwelling as possible both when they move in and when they move out. 

Today’s theme is “How to Get Repairs Done.” The counselors will offer information about what steps to take when the landlord refuses to fix common problems such as heating problems, roof leaks and broken faucets. 

Eileen Lau, a UC student who pays $700 a month for a small room in a rooming house, was glad to get some definitive answers to her landlord problems. “The upstairs bathroom hasn’t worked in months and he refuses to fix it although it doesn’t stop him from charging exorbitant rent,” she said.  

Zamanian said landlords who aren’t getting what they deem to be a fair rent for apartments are sometimes not motivated to fix problems. “Landlords often feel like they’re not getting a fair return on their investment and are not so motivated to fix problems.” he said.  

He pointed out that last year the city allowed landlords to raise rents only $6 per month per unit and this year they could raise rents by $10. 

On Monday the counselors held a workshop called “How to Handle Problems With Your Roommate.” There is little legal recourse with these issues, but counselors offered advice on how to avoid common problems like paying utilities, loud music and dirty dishes.  

Thursday’s topic is “What is Rent Control and Friday’s is “How to Break Your Lease.” Though the various days have specific themes, counselors said they are happy to answer any housing questions the public might have. 

Encianas said that often tenants know their rights are being violated but have to get verification and also advice about how to proceed. “A lot of times they know the answers they just have to hear it from somebody.” 

There will be a public hearing on rent issues tomorrow on campus at the Associated Students’ Senate Chambers at 5:30 p.m.  

For more information about housing issues you can contact the Rent Stabilization Board at (510) 644-6128 or visit their web site at www.ci.berkeley.ca.us./rent/ or contact the Berkeley Property Owners Association at 525-3666. 

Wednesday, Oct. 25

International Jewish Video Competition Winners 

7:30 p.m.  

Pacific Film Archive 

2575 Bancroft Way 

Screening of the four winners in the Museum’s seventh annual competition.  

Call 549-6950 

“How to Get Needed Repairs” 

2000 Tenants’ rights week 

hourly 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. 

ASUC/Rent Board booth at Sather Gate on the Berkeley campus. 

644-7714 

Hearing with City Council/Rent Board Housing Committee  

5:30 p.m. 

Eshleman Hall Chambers 

644-7714 

Low vision support group 

1:15 p.m. 

Berkeley Senior Center 

1901 Hearst 

644-6107 

Civic Arts Commission 

6:30 p.m. 

North Berkeley Senior Center 

1901 Hearst St.  

Halloween Puppet Show with Hazel Jazel 

3:30 p.m.  

San Pablo Library, 1555 International Marketplace, San Pablo. (510) 374-3998. 

Free. 

Disaster Council 

7 p.m. 

Emergency Operations Center 

997 Cedar 

Discussion on a City Council item about earthquake preparedness.  

Energy Commission 

5:30 p.m. 

North Berkeley Senior Center 

1901 Hearst St. 

Discussion of a report on renewable energy and a report on residential energy consumption. 

Mental Health Commission 

6:30 p.m. 

Mental Health Clinic 

2640 MLK Jr. Way 

Planning Commission 

7 p.m.  

North Berkeley Senior Center 

1901 Hearst St.  

Public hearing and comment on the planning commission draft general plan.  

Police Review Commission 

7:30 p.m. 

North Berkeley Senior Center 

1901 Hearst St.  

Discussion of the relocation of the Police Review Commission’s offices.  

“Beyond Organic: The Vision of Fairview Gardens” 

7 p.m.  

Martin Luther King Middle School Auditorium  

1871 Rose Street  

Call 845-4595 

Thursday, Oct. 26

“A Contemporary Food Fight: GM Foods in the market place” 

7:30 - 9 p.m.  

International House, Homeroom 

UC Berkeley 

2299 Piedmont Ave.  

A discussion with Dr. Peggy Lemaux, professor of Plant and Microbiology at UC Berkeley, and Dr. Petra Frey from Switzerland, of the scientific basis for biotechnology, it’s risks and benefits. 

Contact Maribel Guillermo,  

642-9460 

“What Does Rent Control Do For You” 

2000 Tenants’ rights week 

hourly 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. 

ASUC/Rent Board booth at Sather Gate on the Berkeley campus. 

644-7714 

New Science & Ancient Wisdom Conference 

9 a.m. - 5 p.m.  

International Center 

2222 Harold Way 

Featured speakers include Father Charlie Moore speaking on “The Cosmic Origins of Man,” Dolores Cannon speaking on “Visions of Nostradamus,” and David Hatcher Childress speaking on “Technology of the Gods.” Event runs through Sunday.  

Pre-registration admission, $65; after Oct. 27, $85 

Call Charles Gotsky, 650-343-5202  

From Morgan to Modern 

Julia Morgan and Hearst Castle:Designing and American Country House 

7:30 p.m. 

The Hillside Club 

2286 Cedar St. 

$10 or $35 for series that continues through November. 

841-2242 

Adult Aerobic Class 

9:30 - 11 a.m.  

Berkeley Adult School 

1414 Walnut St.  

Get fit doing simple routines to upbeat music. Adaptable to those with physical limitations. Free.  

Call Dolores, 540-0771 

East Bay Science  

& Arts Middle School 

Noon  

BART Plaza, Downtown 

Middle school students perform dances of folk, swing, and Cuban rueda styles. Free.  

Contact Carrie Ridgeway, 549-2230 

Proposition Brown Bag 

Noon - 1:30 p.m.  

Institute of Governmental Studies 

109 Moses Hall 

UC Berkeley 

Hear presentations about and discuss the eight propositions on the California ballot.  

Call 642-4608 

Tai Chi 

2 p.m. 

Berkeley Senior Center 

1901 Hearst, 644-6107 

Homeless Action Center’s 10th anniversary Benefit 

Club Muse 

The Vagabond Lovers, comedian Doug Ferrai 

856 San Pablo Ave. Albany 

For ticket information call 540-0878 

Christmas in April  

This volunteer service renovates homes and community centers for low-income, elderly and disabled persons.  

They are seeking applications for free home repairs to be completed in 2001. Applicants should be low-income seniors, 55 or older, or disabled residents who own their homes. Applications are due November 1.  

Call 644-8979 

Zoning Adjustments Board Meeting 

7 p.m.  

Old City Hall 

Council Chambers, 2nd Floor 

2134 MLK Jr. Way 

West Berkeley Project Area Meeting 

7 p.m.  

West Berkeley Senior Center 

1900 Sixth Ave. 

Friday, Oct. 27

“Transportation: What’s in Store?” 

11:45 a.m. 

Berkeley City Club  

2315 Durant Ave.  

Larry Dahms, Executive Director of the Metropolitan Transportation Council speaks at 12:30 p.m. Luncheon is served at 11:45 a.m. and 12:15 p.m. 

Luncheon: $11 

More info and reservations: 848-3533 

“Right Ways to Get  

Out of a Lease” 

2000 Tenants’ rights week 

hourly 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. 

ASUC/Rent Board booth at Sather Gate on the Berkeley campus. 

644-7714 

Haunted House 

6:30 to 9:30 p.m. 

1818 5th St. 

Free Donations benefiting youth activities in Berkeley appreciated. 

644-3305  

Conversational Yiddish 

1 p.m. 

Berkeley Senior Center 

1901 Hearst 

644-6107  

Haunted House 

6:30 to 9:30 p.m. 

1818 5th St. 

Free 

Donations benefiting youth activities in Berkeley appreciated. 

644-3305 

Halloween Haunt at the Downtown YMCA 

7 - 9 p.m.  

Downtown Berkeley YMCA 

2001 Allston Way 

A haunted house, ghosts, Halloween crafts, a family swim in the “bat cave,” and face painting among other happenings. Free and open to the public. The Y is asking for a $1 donation to benefit the YMCA’s Youth and Government Program.Call 665-3238 

Saturday, Oct. 28

Shakespeare Festival’s annual costume and garage sale  

9 a.m. to 3 p.m. 

Featuring one-of-a-kind costumes, props, and set pieces from previous productions. Free. 701 Heinz Ave., Berkeley.  

(510) 548-3422 ext. 120. 

A Day of Mindfulness with Claude Anshin Thomas 

Buddhist Peace Fellowship 

A day of meditation, dialogue, teachings and reflection on transforming violence in ourselves an in the world. 

9 a.m. – 5 p.m. 

We the People Auditorium, 200 Harrison St. Donations excepted 

496-6072 

Community Workshop to discuss the strengths and weaknesses of Berkeley High School  

9 a.m. – noon 

Florence Schwimley Little Theater at Berkeley High School 

Students, parents, teachers, business owners, neighbors, and others are invited to a discussion on that will help set the course for future school improvements and provide the basis for accreditation review. 

Iris Starr, AICP, 540-1252 

tinstarr@earthlink.net 

“Grassroots Globalization vs. Elite Globalization” 

2 p.m. 

Niebyl-Proctor Marxist Library 

6501 Telegraph Ave. 

595-7417 

“Halloween Mask Making” 

Tilden Regional Park 2 p.m. 

Come learn the origins of Halloween and make a plaster-gauze mask. Registration required. $4. Take Canon Drive off Grizzly Peak Boulevard, Berkeley. (510) 525-2233. 

— compiled by  

Chason Wainwright 

Pedaling the Green City 

11 a.m. -3:30 p.m.  

Take a leisurely bike ride along the future San Francisco Bay Trail. One in a series of free outings organized by Greenbelt Alliance.  

Call: 415-255-3233 for reservations  

Wild About Books? 

10:30 a.m. 

Berkeley Central Library 

2121 Allston Way 

Halloween for the little guys with (not so) scary stories, music, and more.  

Call 649-3943  

Haunted House 

6:30 to 9:30 p.m. 

1818 5th St. 

Free 

Donations benefiting youth activities in Berkeley appreciated. 

644-3305 

St. John’s Church and Camp Elmwood Haunted House  

6:30 to 8:30 p.m.  

Party for teens from 8:45 tp 10 p.m.  

Free. Wear a costume and bring a canned good, book or toy donation.  

845-2656 

“The 3rd annual Habitot Halloween” 

Habitot Children’s Museum  

10 a.m. to 5 p.m.  

A not-too-spooky Halloween event for young children with entertainment, parades, games, magic and songs. Come in  

costume. Registration strongly suggested. $4 general; $6 for the first child age 7 and under; $3 for each additional child age 7 and under. Kittredge Street and Shattuck Avenue 

647-1111 

“Not Very Scary Halloween Celebration” 

10:30 a.m. at La Pena  

Betsy Rose performs songs and activities to celebrate the harvest season and the ancestral spirits. Children are invited to come in costume. $4 general; $3 children. 3105 Shattuck Ave. 849-2572. 

New School’s Halloween Bazaar 

10 a.m. - 4 p.m.  

1606 Bonita St. (at Cedar) 

Free to the public, this annual event features face painting, mask-making, children’s games, apple bobbing, pumpkins, live entertainment, and a vast array of other delights. Proceeds benefit the New School’s scholarship fund and the playground project. Free.  

Call 548-9165 

Run Your Own Landscape Business: Part 3 

11 a.m. to 1 p.m. 

Ecology Center 

2530 San Pablo Ave. (at Blake) 

Local horticultural consultant and UC Master Gardener Jessie West will teach you how to plant, prune, control weeds, and more. This is the final class in the series. 

$15 general; $10 for members; $5 materials fee 

Call 548-2220 x223 

Sunday, Oct. 29

“Almost Halloween Hike,”  

Tilden Regional Park 

10 a.m.  

Explore the nature of Halloween folklore on the trails.  

“Wake the Dead: A Music Concert”  

Celebrate the Celtic “Day of the Dead” (Halloween) with folksong artists Paul Kotapish and Danny Carnahan.  

2 to 4 p.m.  

(510) 525-2233. 

“Gateway to Knowledge” 

6 p.m. 

Tibetan Nyingma Institute 

1815 Highland Pl. 

Barr Rosenberg describes how to master new knowledge and take the power to shape our lives in wise and compassionate ways.  

843-6812 

An Evening with The Professor 

5 - 9:30 p.m. 

Mambo Mambo 

1803 Webster St.  

Oakland 

Berkeley resident Geoffrey A. Hirsch, better known as the Tie Guy from the “How Berkeley Can You Be” parade got his start in comedy in 1996. A professor in real life, Hirsch tell the story of how he became a funny guy.  

$5 for show only, $10 for show and dinner 

Call Geoffrey Hirsch at 845-5631 to reserve tickets 

“Liberty Heights” 

2 - 4:30 p.m.  

Berkeley Richmond Jewish Community Center 

1414 Walnut St.  

Directed by Barry Levinson, this film introduces the Kurtzmans, middle class Jews living in Baltimore in the 50s’. A discussion of the film will follow.  

$2 suggested donation 

Call 848-0237 

“The Key of Happiness” 

3 p.m. 

St. John’s Church  

2727 College Ave.  

Carlos Lozano, former Columbian Ambassador to India and Egypt, will speak on meditation. Free. 

Call 707-529-9584 

Monday, Oct. 30

Fun with Oragami 

10 a.m. 

Berkeley Senior Center 

1901 Hearst St. 

644-6107 

“BYOP: Pumpkin Carving By Porch and Hearth,” 

Tilden Regional Park 

4 to 7 p.m. “Bring your own pepo” 

Take Canon Drive off Grizzly Peak  

Boulevard, Berkeley. (510) 525-2233. 

Tuesday, Oct. 31

Sing-A-Long 

11 a.m. 

Berkeley Senior Center 

1901 Hearst St. 

644-6107 

Haunted House 

6:30 to 9:30 p.m. 

1818 5th St. 

Free 

Donations benefiting youth activities in Berkeley appreciated. 

644-3305 

Wednesday, Nov. 1

Kathak Dancing with Pandit Chitresh Das 

7:30 p.m. 

Julia Morgan Center for the Arts 

2640 College Ave.  

The Graduate Theological Union presents a free lecture-demonstration with Pandit Chitresh Das, a master of India’s Kathak dance form. This event is free. 

Call 649-2440 for additional info 

Mountain Adventure Seminar 

In-store, registration required 

6 p.m.-9 p.m. 

Learn about equip,emt. fundamental climbing techiques and safety procedures. 

$100 REI members, $110 for non members 

To register (209) 753-6556 

Task Force on Telecommunications 

7 p.m. 

North Berkely Senior Center 

1901 Hearst Ave. 

Fire Safety Commission 

7:30 p.m.  

Fire Training Division 

997 Cedar St.  

Discussion will include undergrounding of utilities in Berkeley and a proposal to the City Council for additional support for the Fire Department.  

Citizen’s Budget Review Commission 

7 p.m. 

North Berkeley Senior Center 

1901 Hearst Ave. 

Board of Education 

7:30 p.m. 

Old City Hall 

Council Chambers, 2nd Floor 

2134 MLK Jr. Way 

Thursday, Nov. 2

PASTForward Panel Discussion 

2 p.m. 

UC Berkeley Art Museum 

Bancroft Way (below College) 

In conjunction with the White Oak Dance Project’s performances, a panel discussion with Judson era dance choreographers Yvonne Rainer and Deborah Hay. Free. 

From Morgan to Modern 

“Saddling the Site: The Environmental Designs of Wurster, Church and Others” 

7:30 p.m. 

The Hillside Club 

2286 Cedar St. 

$10. 841-2242 

Berkeley Metaphysic Toastmasters Club 

6:15 p.m. - 7:30 p.m. 

2515 Hillegass Ave.  

Public speaking skills and metaphysic come together at Avatar Metaphysical Toastmasters. Meets first and third Thursdays each month. 

Call 869-2547 or 643-7645 

Spirit of the Road 

7:30 p.m. 

Easy Going Travel Shop & Bookstore 

1385 Shattuck Ave. (at Rose) 

Don Patton, general editor and Vice President of Publishing for the California State Automobile Association presents a slide show celebrating the first one hundred years of the automobile and the CSA. Free. 

Call 843-3533 for more info.  

Friday, Nov. 3

Taize Worship Service 

7:30-8:30 p.m. 

An hour of quiet reflection and song. First Friday of the month. 

Loper Chapel on Dana Street between Durant and Channing Way. 

848-3696 

“Want to Transform your Dreams Into Reality?” 

Lecture by Leonard Orr, world known for creating the Rebirthing and Conscious Breathwork Movement. 

7:30 p.m., 

The Berkeley Friends Church, 1600 Sacramento St. 

$25, 843-6514 

Saturday, Nov. 4

Breathtaking Barnabe Peak 

10 a.m. - 4 p.m. 

Hike through Samuel P. Taylor State Park’s lush forests and climb to the heights of Barnabe Peak, overlooking Point Reyes. One in a series of free fall outings organized by Greenbelt Alliance.  

Call: 415-255-3233 for reservations 

Wild About Books? 

10:30 a.m. 

Berkeley Central Library 

2121 Allston Way 

Dublin Library’s resident storyteller and featured teller at the 1998 National Storytelling Festival tell kids aged 3 to 7 her favorite tales.  

Call 649-3943  

New Science & Ancient Wisdom Conference 

9 a.m. - 5 p.m.  

International Center 

2222 Harold Way 

Featured speakers include Father Charlie Moore speaking on “The Cosmic Origins of Man,” Dolores Cannon speaking on “Visions of Nostradamus,” and David Hatcher Childress speaking on “Technology of the Gods.” Event runs through Sunday.  

Pre-registration admission, $65; after Oct. 27, $85 

Call Charles Gotsky, 650-343-5202 

The Next Ivory Trade? The Intellectual Property Rights of University Faculty 

A conference sponsored by the Berkeley Faculty Association/American Association of University Professors Coalition 

9 a.m. tp 3:30 p.m. 

UC Berkeley International House 

841-1997 

Sunday, Nov. 5

Buddhist Psychology 

6 p.m.  

Tibetan Nyingma Institute 

1815 Highland Pl.  

Buddhist teacher Sylvia Gretchen on “Beyond Therapy and Into the Heart of Buddhist Psychology.” Free. 

Call 843-6812  

Berkeley Historical Society Walking Tour 

Downtown Berkeley  

Tour new construction, new uses, historic rehabilitation and public improvments that are completed or still in the works.  

Noon 

RSVP required 841-0181 space is limited. 

Tickets: $5 for members, $10 for nonmembers. 

A Dispirited Rebellion 

10 a.m.  

Berkeley Richmond Jewish Community Center 

1414 Walnut St.  

Author, television personality and columnist Gadi Taub will explore the literary and cinematic changes in Israeli society since the assassination of Prime Minister Rabin. A brunch will be served at 10 a.m.  

Admission: $7 non-JCC members; $5 members 

Call 848-9237 

Monday, Nov. 6

Airports vs. the Bay 

7 p.m. 

Albany Community Center 

1249 Marin St.  

Albany 

David Lewis, Executive Director of “Save the Bay” will speak on the airports’ plans to expand into the SF Bay and other challenges to Bay restoration.  

Contact: Friends of Five Creeks, 848-9358 

Tuesday, Nov. 7

Zonta Club dinner 

5:30 p.m. 

Berkeley City Club 

$20 per person 

Dr. Sylvia Earle, a marine bioligist, author and Explorer-in-Residence at the National Geographic Society, will be the featured speaker. 

For more information call 845-6221 

Thursday, Nov. 9

The Life and Art of Chiura Obata 

7:30 p.m.  

North Berkeley Public Library 

1170 Alameda (at Hopkins) 

A slide show and lecture presented by Obata’s granddaughter, Kimi Kodani Hill, celebrating Obata’s book, “Topaz Moon: Chiura Obata’s Art of the Internment,” and the retrospective exhibit of Obata’s work to appear this Fall at SFs De Young Museum. 

For details call 644-6850  

From Morgan to Modern 

“Bay Area Modern” 

7:30 p.m. 

The Hillside Club 

2286 Cedar St. 

$10. 841-2242 

ESL Teacher Job Fair 

7 - 8:30 p.m. 

Berkeley Adult School 

1222 University Ave., Room 7  

ESL program representatives from adult schools in Alameda and Contra Costa counties will provide information about desired qualifications, current job openings, credentialing requirements, and more.  

Call Kay Wade, 644-6130 

“Feeding the Moon: A Nutritive Approach to Feminine Fertility” 

Lern how fertility is affected by the environment and how it can be enhanced by healthy lifestyle choices 

7:30 to 9 p.m. 

The Ecology Center 

2530 San Pable Ave.  

558-1324, free 

“Diabetes: What to Know Head-to-Toe” 

Health Education Center, 400 Hawthorne Ave. 

12:30 to 4:30 p.m. Free 

869-6737 

Love and Betrayal: A Musical Journey 

7:30 - 9 p.m.  

Berkeley Richmond Jewish Community Center 

1414 Walnut St. 

Mezzo Soprano Sylvia Braitman discusses the role Gustav Mahler, Kurt Weill, Arnold Schoenberg, and Hanns Eisler played in the development of modernity in German, Austrian and Western music.  

Tuition: $8 for general; $5 JJC members (class code A101-BJ) 

Call 848-0237 for more info.  

Saturday, Nov. 11

Moonlight on Mt. Diablo 

1 - 10:30 p.m.  

Hike up the Devil’s Mountain by daylight, catch a glorious sunset and hike back by the light of the moon. One in a series of free outing organized by Greenbelt Alliance.  

Call: 415-255-3233 for reservations 

Sunday, Nov. 12

Views, Vines and Veggies 

9:15 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.  

Climb Bald Mountain in Sugarloaf State Park and peer down upon the Napa and Sonoma Valleys. Then please your palate at the Landmark Winery and visit Oak Hill organic vegetable and flower farm. One in a series of free fall outings organized by Greenbelt Alliance.  

Call: 415-255-3233 for reservations 

“Time Across Cultures” 

2 - 4 p.m. 

St. Clements Church 

2837 Claremont Ave.  

The annual Roselyn Yellin Memorial lecture with a slide-illustrated panel discussion. Also a tour of the “Telling Time” exhibit at the Judah L. Magnes Museum followed by a reception at the museum, 4 - 5 p.m.  

More info: 549-6950 

Buddhism & Compassion 

6 p.m. 

Tibetan Nyingma Institute 

1815 Highland Place 

Psychiatrist and teacher Bobby Jones on “Healing through Compassion.” Free.  

843-6812 

Monday, Nov. 13

An Evening with Barbara Kingsolver 

7:30 p.m. 

King Middle School 

1781 Rose St. 

Barbara Kingsolver’s works include “Animal Dreams,” “High Tide in Tucson,” “The Poisonwood Bible” and “Prodigal Summer” 

free parking $10 in advance, $13 at the door 

Benefits KPFA and Urban Ecology. 

848-6767 

From Rossi to Bernstein 

7:30 - 9 p.m.  

Berkeley Richmond Jewish Community Center 

1414 Walnut St.  

Bay Area musician Mark Levy discusses the works of Jewish classical composers beginning with the sixteenth century. The first in a series of three Monday evening classes on music.  

Tuition for all three classes: $30 general public; $20 JJC members, seniors and students  

Individual classes: $10 general; $8 JJC members, seniors and students 

Call 848-0237 

Berkeley Preschool Fair 

7 - 9 p.m.  

Epworth United Methodist Church 

1953 Hopkins St.  

Sponsored by the Neighborhood Parents Network, this fair features representatives from local preschools. The topic will be how to evaluate preschool education philosophies and make the most of the admissions process. A fair featuring many local preschools will follow panel discussion. 

$5 non-members; Free to NPN members 

Call 527-6667 or visit www.parentsnet.org 

Tuesday, Nov. 14

Take a Trip to the Steinbeck Museum and 

Mission San Juan Bautista 

North Berkeley Senior Center 

1901 Hearst Ave. (at MLK Jr. Way) 

This is an outing organzied by the Senior Center.  

$40 with lunch, $25 without  

Call Maggie or Suzanne, 644-6107 

“The Hand of Buddha” 

7:30 p.m.  

Easy Going Travel Shop & Bookstore 

1385 Shattuck (at Rose) 

In her new book poet, columnist and travel writer Linda Watanabe McFerrin explores the lives of women from different ethnic backgrounds and in moments of crisis. Free 

Call 843-3533 

Thursday, Nov. 16

Reminiscing in Swingtime 

7:30 p.m.  

North Berkeley Library  

1170 Alameda (at Hopkins) 

George Yoshida, author and jazz drummer, presents a multi-media program recounting the big band experience in the Japanese American internment camps. The presentation will be capped with a set of live jazz by the George Yoshida Quartet. 

Call for more info: 644-6850 

Berkeley Metaphysic Toastmasters Club 

6:15 p.m. - 7:30 p.m. 

2515 Hillegass Ave.  

Public speaking skills and metaphysic come together at Avatar Metaphysical Toastmasters. Meets first and third Thursdays each month. 

Call 869-2547 or 643-7645 

Free blood pressure screenings 

Health Education Center, 400 Hawthorne Ave. 

free 

869-6737 

Saturday, Nov. 18

S.F. Stairs and Peaks 

10 a.m. - 3 p.m.  

Begin the day with a visit to the farmer’s market, then meander up the stairways and streets of Telegraph Hill to Coit Tower. Then up Russian Hill, descending to Fisherman’s Wharf for a ride back on the new historic streetcar line. One in a series of free fall outings organized by Greenbelt Alliance.  

Call: 415-255-3233 

Berkeley Free Folk Festival 

11 a.m. - 1 a.m.  

Ashkenaz  

1317 San Pablo Ave. 

Fourteen hours of free concerts, workshops, jam sessions and to top it off a Saturday night dance. The fifth annual Folk Festival will feature Shay & Michael Black, Spectre Double Negative & the Equal Positive, Larry Hanks, Wake the Dead and many others. Sponsored by Charles Schwab and the City of Berkeley.  

More info or to volunteer: 525-5099 

Sunday, Nov. 19

Soprano Deborah Voigt 

Cal Performances  

3 p.m.  

Voigt’s performance is a postponment from her original Oct. 15 date. The program will remain unchanged. 

$28-$48 For tickets call 642-9988 or e-mail tickets@calperfs.berkeley.edu 

Mt. Madonna & Wine  

10 a.m. - 2 p.m. 

Hike through evergreen forests and visit the remains of a 19th century estate, then finish the day with a visit to Kruse Winery. One of many free fall outings organized by Greenbelt Alliance.  

Call: (415) 255-3233 for reservations 

“Drawing Marathon”  

Merritt College’s Art Building 

Live models, group poses.  

$12 for half a day, $20 for a full day, senior and student discounts available. No cameras or turpentine. 

523-9763 

Monday, Nov. 20

The Music of Israel 

7:30 - 9 p.m.  

Berkeley Richmond Jewish Community Center 

1414 Walnut St.  

Bay Area musician Mark Levy discusses the music of Israel, from the early pioneers of Palestine to the latest rock.  

Tuition for all three classes: $30 general public; $20 JJC members, seniors and students 

Individual classes: $10 general; $8 JJC members, seniors and students  

Call 848-0237 

Compiled by Chason Wainwright 

Good food is better than supplements 

Editor: 

Your article on the dangers of so-called “natural” supplements never addressed why people turn to supplements in the first place: the failure of western medicine to successfully treat a wide variety of illnesses and ailments including, but not limited to, cancer, aids, heart-disease and diabetes (Daily Planet, Oct. 23). Unfortunately, the alternative health industries look very similar to western medicine, not only in terms of corporate profits, but more importantly, in their narrow-visioned attempts to treat symptoms, not causes, with pills and potions. While traditional peoples may have sometimes resorted to medicinal herbs and plants to treat disease, they always looked at food first. They understood the vital relationship between human health and natural foods. 

While we would all like to believe that their is a “magic pill,” yet to be discovered, that will “cure” not only minor ailments, but life-threatening ones as well. We have put all of our money and focus on finding a “cure;” a quick fix that will allow us to continue living our lives chaotically with absolutely no acceptance of any personal responsibility whatsoever. We have placed all of our faith in science, as if we are merely machines; as if modern science can explain life and health beyond cells and molecules; it obviously cannot as evidenced by the alarming lack of health today, by the failure of the “War on Cancer,” etc...etc... As human beings, we are much more than just a collection of genes and cells; we have emotions, imaginations and spiritual conditions that have an immense effect on our health. We have all freely chosen the physical, mental and spiritual conditions in which we now find ourselves (if not in this life, in past lives). Disease takes many years to manifest, so let’s stop investing our money and our lives in symptomatic, corporate solutions to disease...whether they be “natural” supplements or toxic drug therapy. There are no “magic pills,” no quick fixes. In these terms, disease can now be seen as a wake-up call; a teacher...and a friend. Make sure to listen carefully. 

Michael Bauce 

Berkeley 

Breland should speak out about 2700 San Pablo 

Editor: 

Regarding the front page story of the Oct. 21 Daily Planet, I for one am glad Councilmember Margaret Breland has proposed that there be no fast food service in that part of Berkeley and applaud Ms. Breland’s efforts on behalf of her constituents on this. However, I am puzzled about why she has remained silent on behalf of other members of her constituency, namely the families in the area surrounding 2700 San Pablo Ave. We too have “quality of life issues” in regards to the size and scope of the Kennedy/Choyce project planned there.  

Under their current proposal this massive building of 48 apartments takes up nearly an entire block, at 4-5 stories, towers over the surrounding 1 and 2 story homes and businesses and is built to the very edge of the property in all directions. In addition, there will be parking for 61 cars adding to the air pollution and traffic in this area. The Kennedy/Choyce plan also currently includes a permit for a fast food service. Why aren’t our “health ramifications” important to Ms. Breland? Like this other group, we also have a petition signed by 400 plus people living in the area, but we had to do it ourselves. Margaret Breland did not offer her services to us and was extremely difficult to reach when we did ask for her assistance. I have personally spoken with many members of this community – particularly elderly African-American homeowners who are very upset about this project but who are either too ill or too busy to do anything. Where is Ms. Breland in all this?  

Why has she chosen to represent the developers not her community? Not surprisingly, her list of campaign contributors include Patrick Kennedy and his wife as well as the Rev. Choyce. 

Our neighborhood would welcome this building if Kennedy/Choyce would simply modify their design to be a 3 story building. This could be economically feasible for them, still provide a great deal of necessary housing, create a sustainable precedent for future building and help San Pablo develop into a great avenue. Between Dwight and Ashby, there are 11 large lots that developers like Patrick Kennedy will want to develop into massive projects and companies like Shell Oil and Carl’s Jr. will want to stake their claim to with mini-marts that sell fast food and liquor. We need to tell developers and corporations that we want more desirable development that benefits our community! 

Phyllis Kamrin 

Berkeley 

Want to cross the street? try Fort Bragg 

Editor: 

While passing through Fort Bragg, there it was, in unmistakable glory, an outstanding piece of pedestrian crosswalk engineering. By pushing a button, a pedestrian activated not only flashing yellow lights on the crosswalk signs for approaching traffic, but flashing yellow strip-lights imbedded in the road surface along the crosswalk lines.  

Unmissable.  

Visible even in broad daylight. Such a feature not only provides pedestrians with an assurance that automobile drivers are made aware that someone is about to cross the road, but the driver receives an unmistakable and clearly visible signal about the location and imminent use of the crosswalk. Perhaps Berkeley could learn something useful from its cousin up north in its quest to improve pedestrian safety? 

Howie Muir Berkeley 

Editor,  

On United Nations Day I found myself wondering how my brother and sister Berkeleyans are observing this special day. Perhaps some of them could drop me a short note to tell me. (Contact me c/o the UN Information Center, whose address is below.)  

Perhaps some of them took time to notice the UN flag flying in its regular spot in Martin Luther King, Jr. Civic Center. Perhaps some of them noticed the plaque on the wall of the UC Printing Services building at Center and Oxford memorializing the Printing Services important role in preparing signatory copies of the UN Charter for the signing ceremonies in San Francisco in 1945. 

Perhaps some of them found their way to the United Nations Depository Library, part of the UC Library, or to the United Nations books in the Berkeley Public Library or to the small, but rich, collection of books and other materials at the East Bay United Nations Association Information Center at 1403B Addison, adjacent to the Adronico’s Market parking lot at University and Acton.  

My wife and I witnessed Oakland’s annual presentation of UN member nation flags and the raising of a new UN flag for daily flying at Jack London Square Saturday morning. We then heard Fred A. Lawson, professor of government at Mills College, speak eloquently and informatively on the United Nations and the Middle East.  

The next day we joined some 80 runners and walkers (plus supporters of various sorts) at the Berkeley Marina for the 2nd annual Run for Peace with flags flying. Pray for peace and the United Nations. It can’t hurt! 

Bill Trampleasure 

Berkeley 

Food for thought 

Editor, 

As a resident of Berkeley for over 70 years I cannot resist writing, re: “Sharing our heritage.”  

Last Saturday evening, at a traditional clubhouse on Cedar Street, a one-man show was presented. It was a fundraiser for Berkeley’s Adult Education Program by a highly skilled and gifted author, actor, and dramatist who hails from three continents. He was erudite, gentle, fiery, and had a message of kindness above all kindness. The champagne reception was charming and the message was revealing, nay life sustaining.  

The rent for the few hours was around $100 per hour, I’d guess. After years and years of living for and by and with human rights, there was no monetary profit whatsoever. To this Berkeleyan this isn’t a business as usual laissez-faire event. Nay, it was food for mental well being, emotional enjoyment; inspiration if you will.  

Is this our culture of poverty and/or the poverty of culture? Let’s re-think our values and act accordingly, i.e.: Let’s revive the golden rule in this “Athens of the West!” Artists need to eat. We all need food for thought. 

Lucretia Prentiss de Herget 

Berkeley 

It’s no park; let them build 

Editor, 

We live near the site where Congregation Beth El is planning to build its new synagogue, and we fully support the plan. 

We moved to this neighborhood because we wanted to be in an area that offered all the advantages of city living. We could have gone to the suburbs, but we deliberately chose to be near shops, offices and houses of worship. 

Though we are not members of any church or synagogue, we appreciate the contribution these religious institutions make to our community. We are particularly impressed with Congregation Beth El’s many social outreach programs, including its meals for the homeless. 

We are aware that the site Beth El has selected is zoned for the use it intends. It is not and never has been a public park. In fact, the city explicitly rejected the opportunity to acquire the property years ago. Much of the lot has remained open space until now only because the previous owners decided not to build the expanded church and school that was approved by the city. 

We think it is unfair and unwise for people who bought homes in this mixed use neighborhood to oppose the synagogue’s plan to move two blocks from its present home to a more appropriate location, and we urge you to support Beth El’s plan.  

Melvin & Dorothy Lemberger 

Berkeley 

Editor,  

As a senior citizen and one of many to whom the passage of measure R will be a life saver, I am writing you concerning the warm-water pool run by the City of Berkeley as part of the Berkeley Unified School District. 

This pool has served the community for over 20 years and is now badly in need of renovation. Due to a spinal condition I swim there several times a week. I find it the one most effective pain reliever I have experienced so far, and it is the only place where I can get the weightless exercise essential to my general health.  

Of the people who I see there and who share my experience there are many who have serious disabilities, many who are in wheel chairs, some who are elderly, some who are quite young, and some obviously in pain. All of them find relief and healing in the warm water of this pool. 

Measure R, if passed, will provide the needed money to save this pool, as neither the City nor the School District reportedly have the funds available to do this.  

I can only have implicit trust in the compassion and humanity of my fellow voters in their support of measure R. We will be infinitely grateful.  

Augusta Lucas-Andreae 

Berkeley 

525-5145 

Editor,  

I feel it is necessary for me to respond to the incident reported on the front page of Thursday’s Daily Planet, in which my wife, Carrie Sprague, was publicly singled out at the Berkeley City Council meeting by the President of the Berkeley Police Association. 

Later, in the hallway outside the Council Chambers, Carrie was surrounded by 20-30 hostile and shouting police officers. Towering one and a half feet above her, Randy Files, President of the Police Association, threatened her with arrest and shouted that all the members of the Police Association personally hate her to the cheers of his cronies. 

It is ironic that some police officers blame Carrie and other neighbors for their difficulties in finding parking for their personal vehicles. During many, many planning meetings for the new Public Safety Building, Carrie repeatedly addressed the need for adequate Police Department employee parking.  

Unfortunately, neither the Police Department nor the Police Association ever sent representatives to these meetings to discuss employee parking. In addition, Carrie sent a letter to the Berkeley Police Association more than a year ago requesting that they meet with neighborhood representatives to discuss mutually beneficial solutions to parking problems. No response was ever received.  

I believe that the personal hostility toward Carrie has come about because she has worked for effective enforcement of the Residential Permit Parking ordinance. She continues to insist that police officers may not disrespect our law or our neighborhood. 

As for the effort by some Police Association members to bully Carrie, I can assure all those who are concerned for her safety that she was not in the least intimidated. Having lived with me for 20 years Carrie readily recognizes bluster without substance when it occurs.  

Stan Sprague 

Berkeley 

Dear Judy! 

Homeowners beware! Measure "Y" applies to you - just as does Section 13 

(Good Cause Required for Eviction) of Berkeley's rent law, which it 

modifies (= tightens). 

Say you're renting a room or an in-law suite to a student or other 

low-to-maderate income person. Under "Y" you would have to pay that person 

$4,500 "relocation expenses" if you wanted to reclaim the accommodations 

after a year for your own or your family's use. Worse yet, if your tenant, 

regardless of age or disability status, had been there for at least five 

years, he/she would have gained a lifetime estate, and you'd have to pay 

even more to dislodge him/her or hire a lawyer and go to court -whichever 

cost less - in order to regain full possession of your home. Not to speak 

of the nightmarish scenario which could arise, were you to leave for a year 

(Sabbatical?) and rent out your home while you're away. 

Read the proposed measure in all its details (2 and 1/4 full pages in your 

voter information pamphlet!). It applies to you! Vote NO on "Y". 

Peggy Schioler, 1530 Henry Street, Berkeley 94709. 848-1828 or 848-1131 

(msg) 

Editor: 

To often, Berkeley “Activist” groups work separately or take different approaches to solve the same problem. Your article about the southwest Berkeley neighborhoods opposition to a new fast food complex at 1200 Ashby Ave. appeared above an article stating that southwest Berkeley residents have a life expectancy of 20 years less than those residents in the Berkeley hills. 

There is a major connection here between these two groups of activists and they should be working to help each other. Those residents in southwest Berkeley ( read African American) die at a younger age not only because of a lack of healthcare but because of poor eating habits. A recent study on health showed that black youth get 40 percent of their daily vegetable intake from french fries. An article about the free lunch program in Oakland High schools revealed that very few of those eligible took part but instead bought fast food.  

Obesity among all Americans has increased more than 60 percent since 1990. There is more of a health crisis than a health care crisis.Those who want healthcare for everyone should think in terms of wanting a healthy life for everyone. Help people to enjoy their lives by improving their quality of life not just prolonging it. Berkeley is proud of the fact that it promotes the use of bicyles and not the automobile. It is time for Berkeley to promote healthy lifestyles and ban fast food.  

Caring about health is as important as caring about healthcare. 

Michael Larrick  

(510) 849-4572 

Editor: 

Hello, my name is Kinchasa Taylor and I am and have been a resident of Carrison Street for the past 23 years. I am upset by the article written about the block and how the people who live on the block are represented. 

I believe that the opinions in opposition to the plans to build a fast-food restaurant and mini mart are valid and I would agree with them. 

What I do not agree with is the way my new neighbors portrayed Carrison Street as a “street overrun with drug dealers and prostitutes.” I’d like to point out that Vicki and Mike Larrick have not lived on Carrison Street for eight year as stated. Drug dealers and prostitution has never been a problem on Carrison Street. 

Until they moved in, this street was filled by senior citizens. 

Actually the house in which they live was owned by a senior citizen until her death. They moved in her house maybe 4-5 years after she died. 

I know this because up until they moved in I watered the grass. I believe that my anger is mostly directed at this couple because of their portrayal of themselves as saviors to the community. 

The community expects people who move into the neighborhood to show respect for those that have lived here before and have raised successful families. It saddens me that we have lost our predominantly African American neighbors. 

But as people move in to clean up the neighborhood they must keep in mind that are new that they are joining the group that was already established and attempting to make a change themselves. 

It is really sad to see that my neighborhood is being represented as a bad black neighborhood until it was saved by it’s new white residents. Some of the arrivals of the migration to South Berkeley, do not respect the people, the community, or the residents they have joined with. 

Our land, our efforts, our homes are being taken over by people that have only one thing on there mind: how can I live here and make it the way I want it to be, not how can I become a part of this community and help with the efforts being made.  

If you want to write something about the community, write about the gentrification, genocide, and mentacide occurring in south Berkeley. It’s real and it’s occurring. 

If you don’t believe me ask my old neighbors, senior citizens with historically fixed rents, uniformed of there rights and Measure Y, why they had to move out there homes, and move after over 25 years of occupation.  

Kinchasa Taylor, 

Berkeley 

In an unexpected development in a criminal investigation that began last fall with the death of an Indian immigrant, prosecutors say Berkeley’s wealthiest landlord and four family members will plead guilty next week to federal charges arising from their alleged importation of teenage girls from India for sex and cheap labor.  

The move comes as the result of an apparent plea agreement with the government discussed in court documents filed Thursday. 

Lakireddy Bali Reddy, 63, an Indian immigrant who is Berkeley’s largest residential landlord, will enter a guilty plea Oct. 30, as will his younger son, Vijay Lakireddy, 31, according to documents filed by the United States Attorney’s office.  

Three new defendants are also expected to enter guilty pleas to at least some of nine federal criminal counts handed down to Reddy earlier this year: Reddy’s wife, Annapurna Reddy, his 47-year-old brother, Jayprakash Lakireddy and Reddy’s older son, 42-year-old son Prasad Lakireddy.  

It was not known Tuesday what specific charges Reddy or the other defendants would plead guilty to, or what sentence they might receive.  

A spokesperson for the U.S. Attorney’s Office declined to comment Tuesday. None of the five defense lawyers involved in the case returned calls yesterday seeking comment.  

In a typical plea bargain, government and defense lawyers will agree on reduced charges and jointly recommend a sentence. Under federal rules, however, federal district court judge Saundra Brown Armstrong is not obligated to accept the joint recommendation and may impose a harsher sentence if she chooses.  

Reddy and Lakireddy Bali Reddy have been charged, with importing aliens for immoral purposes and other immigration offenses. The father-son pair was arrested in January for allegedly bringing two teenage girls into the United States from their village in Southern India so the girls could engage in sexual relations with Reddy and perform manual labor on his rental properties and in his downtown Berkeley restaurant. 

Reddy faces a maximum sentence of 70 years in jail and $2 million in fines if found guilty on all nine counts. 

Vijay Lakireddy faces charges on three of the nine counts and faces a maximum of 20 years in prison plus $750,000 in fines. 

But with a plea agreement apparently having been reached, prosecutors will likely ask the judge to impose far lighter sentences in exchange for guilty pleas from the father-son pair.  

The minor girls, one of whom died accidentally from carbon monoxide poisoning in a Reddy-owned apartment on Bancroft Way in November 1999, were allegedly admitted to the country on fraudulent visa applications stating they were children of a man employed by Reddy. 

Several hearings in the case were put off in recent months after prosecutors asked the judge for more time to investigate and name additional defendants. It may be that government and defense lawyers were negotiating a plea deal during this time to avoid a trial. 

One of the defendants named Thursday, Jayprakash Lakireddy, owns an East Bay construction company, Jay Construction. The company was fined $6,000 last year by Cal OSHA, the state’s Occupational Safety and Health Agency last year for safety violations related to unsafe scaffolding during a painting job at Reddy’s Pasand Restaurant on Shattuck Avenue. The scaffolding lacked railings, was too narrow and did not have proper fall protection, according to OSHA spokesperson Dean Fryer. 

Reddy’s wife, Annapurna Lakireddy, is the only defendant who will need a language interpreter at the hearing on Oct. 30, according to court documents. 

SAN FRANCISCO — An Internet startup backed by six major airlines launched a cheap-seat service Tuesday that promises to undercut the prices of other online discounters who helped put the concept on the map. 

San Francisco-based Hotwire.com believes it will be able to beat the airline ticket prices of other popular online services such as Priceline.com and Expedia.com by tapping into a vast reservoir of unsold seats. An estimated 3.5 million airline seats are unoccupied each week. 

With Hotwire, the airlines hope to generate some revenue from those previously empty seats without diminishing the sales of their full-fare tickets. 

Six airlines that contributed part of Hotwire’s venture capital of $75 million are also supplying the service with an unspecified number of hard-to-sell seats on hundreds of domestic flights. The airline industry’s two biggest carriers, American Airlines and United Air Lines, are backing Hotwire in addition to Northwest Airlines, Continental Airlines, US Airways and America West Airlines. Hotwire said it expects to persuade other airlines to offer their unsold seats on the service in the months ahead. 

By launching its site Tuesday, Hotwire beat another online ticketing service called Orbitz that also has been backed by a group of 25 airlines. That site, which includes some of the same investors, also is promising to deliver low fares. 

After studying the market, Consumers Union recently asked federal regulators to investigate whether some online airline ticketing services favor certain carriers based on their financial relationships with the Web sites. Consumers Union hasn’t studied Hotwire nor Priceline yet. 

Hotwire CEO Karl Peterson said the company’s airline investors have no say in the company’s day-to-day operations. He said the service also has adopted a firewall to prevent the airlines from seeing how many seats each carrier is contributing to Hotwire’s inventory. 

Thomas Fogarty, an industry analyst with Thom Weisel Partners in San Francisco, doubts Hotwire will produce the same kind of consumer buzz that Priceline.com and other online travel services did when they hit the scene a few years ago. 

“This has become a bit of old hat for consumers,” he said. “People are much more used to the Internet now. They’re a bit more jaded.” 

Unlike Priceline.com, Hotwire will sell its seats at a fixed price and prospective travelers will be under no obligation to purchase the seats offered to them. 

To use the service, Hotwire visitors list their travel destinations and then receive a discount price quote. The customers can’t pick a specific airline or flight. 

“We are going to have the best prices anywhere, day in and day out,” Peterson said. 

The size of Hotwire’s discounts is expected to vary widely, depending on the destination. The more popular the flight, the smaller the discount is likely to be. Peterson said in some cases travelers who wait until the day before a flight to buy a ticket might save up to 90 percent on the ticket if seats are available. 

A request for a flight leaving San Francisco on Oct. 26 for New York’s JFK Airport and returning on Oct. 30 obtained a price of $381 on Hotwire, though flying times were unknown. The best price available on Expedia for the same dates at any time during the day was $1,084. 

Hotwire is entering the crowded field of online airline ticket discounters during a turbulent time for the best known of the lot, Priceline.com. The name-your-price service popularized by the off-kilter commercials of actor William Shatner recently closed an affiliated discount gas and grocery operation, and has been battered in the stock market because the business remains unprofitable. 

Priceline.com’s stock dipped 22 cents to close at $5.41 Tuesday. Priceline’s stock has plunged nearly 90 percent so far this year. 

Despite the downturn in its stock, Priceline remains popular among travelers. The company sold about 1.3 million tickets during the its most recent quarter, Fogarty estimated. 

——— 

ON THE NET: 

http://www.hotwire.com 

http://www.priceline.com 

http://www.expedia.com 

http://www.cheaptickets.com 

http://www.lowestfare.com 

CHP officials reported today that a Berkeley woman was killed Monday afternoon when her car collided head-on with another vehicle on U.S. Highway 101 in southern Mendocino County. 

The California Highway Patrol said the 3:48 p.m. accident claimed the life of Leisa Jean Rossman, 53, when her southbound 1983 Toyota Corolla crossed the double yellow line and collided head-on with a northbound vehicle about  

six miles from the Sonoma County line. 

Saranya Thianngern, 49, of San Francisco, a passenger in the northbound 2000 Honda CRV, is in critical condition at Stanford University Medical Center.  

She was transported there from Ukiah Valley Medical Center with several broken bones in her ribs, left wrist and left ankle, a lacerated liver and back injuries, the CHP said. 

Two other passengers in the Honda were treated for minor injuries at Santa Rosa’s Memorial Hospital.

PETALUMA — Trey Atkin was an active, gregarious 11-year-old, just the kind of boy you’d expect to spend a buddy’s birthday party leading the charge through the nearby bushes. 

Saturday was one such sparkling day, with a strong wind raking clouds from the fall sky and Atkin romping about a field just off Haverfield Lane west of Petaluma. 

It was there – perhaps because of the afternoon gusts, perhaps for no reason at all – that a 20-foot redwood branch broke off and struck Atkin, crushing his skull. 

People who saw the accident said he was running with a big smile on his face when the limb hit, said the boy’s father, Chip Atkin. 

Walter W. Atkin III, as Trey was born, died of severe brain damage Sunday morning at Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital. 

“The fact that he would be on that spot when he could be anywhere on six acres...” said Barbara Caswell, whose daughter had been friends with Atkin since they were toddlers. Caswell’s daughter had insisted that Atkin come to her party, like all years past, even though their families no longer shared a neighborhood. 

“He was an irresistible person to keep in her life. He was so kind to her,” Caswell said. “Trey was the kind of person with the socially conscious parents where we all thought he would grow up to make some kind of contribution to the world. As it turned out, he is making a contribution.” 

Atkins’ parents have decided to donate his organs to help others live. 

On Monday, students returned to Wilson School, where Atkin was a popular fifth grader and combined a gifted-and-talented intellect with skill on the basketball court. 

“He had many, many friends. Unlike a big-man-on-campus popularity, he was the kind of child other students sought out for help,” said principal Bob Raines. “He was an incredible little boy. We’re all really reeling with his loss.” 

Mondays at Wilson always begin with an assembly to discuss the upcoming week. For the second straight time, Raines has comforted his students – over the prior weekend, fourth grader Yobani Pulido died from an acute asthma attack. 

“Unfortunately, I’ve learned a lot more about grief among kids than I ever wanted to know,” Raines lamented. “And one of the things’ I’ve learned is that their emotions change all the time.” 

Many kids are angry, blaming the wind for their friend’s loss, wondering why life isn’t fair to everyone. 

That was the kind of question that Atkin had already started to ask in his own short life, friends and neighbors said. 

One neighbor remembered how Atkin organized a neighborhood watch after a home across the street was burglarized. 

Another neighbor, Pat Katen, watched Atkin grow up next door, shooting hoops in the driveway. She would kid around with him, but knew he was responsible enough to take care of her house when she left town. 

“He was just a good kid,” Katen said. “You could tell he was going to be a good man as well.” 

SAN FRANCISCO — A 20-year former FBI agent settled her sex discrimination claims against the government Tuesday in a case setting new precedent. 

Agent Kathleen Anderson claimed she was subjected to sexual taunts and ridicule by co-workers and supervisors over many years, denied equal job treatment and was punished when she complained. 

She settled for $150,000 plus undetermined costs and legal fees. The most Anderson could have reaped was $300,000 under federal anti-discrimination laws. The government admitted no wrongdoing. U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker had ruled that he could not consider most of her claims of abuse dating back to 1986 because she failed to complain to a government equal-employment counselor within 45 days. 

According to her suit, between 1986 and 1990 her supervisor called her “gorgeous,” “the good little girl” and “the office sex goddess” and whistled at her. When she entered a room in 1987 to conduct a briefing, she saw an easel with a drawing of a pair of breasts and the words “Operation Cupcake.” 

Anderson also said she was passed over for promotions, excluded from critical meetings and denied backup agents who were provided to men. She said she was assigned to a dead-end job after filing her first complaint, and was transferred from a desirable case in retaliation for filing her suit in 1997. 

SACRAMENTO — Richard and Millie Hoagland had a “very sick truck,” a smoke-belching big rig they knew would not pass a smog inspection. 

They faced some unpleasant options: Come up with $27,000 to replace the engine or go out of business. 

Then the government came to the rescue. 

The Hoaglands, who run a one-truck hauling company in the Sacramento suburb of Elk Grove, were able to get $20,500 from a state program to put a rebuilt, cleaner-running 1989 engine in their rig. 

“Twenty-seven thousand would have been completely out of our range,” Millie Hoagland said. 

The Hoaglands and their truck were on hand Tuesday for a ceremony to kick off an expanded version of the program that helped them — a $95 million effort to reduce diesel pollution in the San Joaquin Valley and the Sacramento metropolitan area. 

Both regions are facing federal sanctions in the form of lost highway construction money if they don’t meet clean air requirements. 

The expanded program stems from a bill by Assemblyman Darrell Steinberg, D-Sacramento, that allocated $50 million for the Sacramento region program and $25 million for the San Joaquin Valley. 

Sacramento officials are chipping in another $20 million for their effort. 

The programs will offer grants to owners of trucks and buses to help replace older engines, install pollution-reducing catalysts, make mechanical changes needed to use cleaner-burning fuel or buy a new vehicle with engines that are cleaner than currently required. 

The San Joaquin Valley program will also offer grants to clean up off-road diesel-powered vehicles, such as farm equipment, said Josette Merced Bello, a spokeswoman for the San Joaquin Valley Pollution Control District. 

Tom Swenson, a program coordinator for the Sacramento Metropolitan Air Quality Management District, says the program is targeting trucks and buses because of the relatively high amounts of pollution they emit. 

The Sacramento program hopes to eliminate three tons of oxides of nitrogen, a key ingredient in smog, by 2005 by reducing emissions from up to 6,000 vehicles, he said. 

Alan Lloyd, chairman of the state Air Resources Board, said the Sacramento-San Joaquin program would complement a new ARB program requiring soot-catching filters on diesel engines. 

“We need both the carrot and the stick approach,” Lloyd said. “This is a wonderful example of the carrot.” 

Martin Tuttle, executive director of the Sacramento Area Council of Governments, said the Sacramento-San Joaquin program could become a national or international model. 

——— 

On the Net: Read the bill, AB2511, at http://www.sen.ca.gov 

Read about the Sacramento program at http://www.sacog.org/secat 

LOS ANGELES — These are real Star-bucks. 

All 13 employees at a mid-city Starbucks, one of six boasting Earvin “Magic” Johnson as an investor, are winners of last weekend’s $87 million Super Lotto Plus jackpot. 

Despite their riches, manager Mary Champaine and other workers showed up before dawn to open the coffee house at La Brea Avenue and San Vicente Boulevard and serve lattes and frothy cappuccinos. 

“I’m a multimillionaire but I don’t have the money yet. I had to open the store. Starbucks has been good to me,” said Champaine, a 53-year-old widow whose husband died of cancer a year ago. 

The 13 workers will each get $6.7 million, before taxes, over 26 years, California Lottery spokeswoman Norma Minas said. 

They will each get a first check for $167,307 in three to six weeks, with annual payments increasing each year to a final $341,307 payment in the 26th year, she said. 

The retailer who sold the winning ticket, Thomas Lewis of L&E Liquor, gets $435,000. 

It was Champaine who collected $1 from each of her employees on Saturday after learning the jackpot had swelled. 

“Who wasn’t here I just went down in my purse and I found enough change, got enough to include everybody. I would hate for us to win and not everybody. We are a team here. I wanted all my team to be sharing in the winnings,” she said. 

What’s she going to do with the money? 

“Paint the house and get a new fence,” Champaine said. 

Employee Moisha Oliver, who rides a city bus to work, said she got a call Monday night from Champaine to let her they had won. She didn’t believe it. 

“I said, ’I’ll see you in the morning. If there’s cameras and lights, I’ll know we won,”’ she told reporters Tuesday staking out the Starbucks before dawn. 

Oliver said she was going to buy a house, stash college money for her kids and get a car. 

Asked how she could be so calm, she said: “I am doing toe touches and cartwheels inside. I’m trying to keep it calm, not get too crazy. I can’t do cartwheels because I have a skirt on. If I had pants on I think I’d be out there giving you a cheerleading show, jumping up and down on the tables. But I’ve got to be ladylike,” she said. 

Employee Keith Matthews was also on the job. There was no way to wipe the grin off his face. 

“I don’t know what to say. It’s the kind of news that makes you want to jump up and say hi to the guys in the shuttle,” Matthews said. 

It’s been a rough couple of years for Champaine. Besides the death of her husband, she had lost her job when a department store shut down. 

“I don’t drink coffee and I don’t know much about the culture, but Starbucks hired me and made me manager. I came to work today with only $7 in my pocket. God is wonderful,” Champaine said, adding she had no immediate plans to quit her job. 

A 440-square-mile sweep of jagged mountains and desert in Southern California became the country’s latest national monument under a law President Clinton signed Tuesday to protect the land from encroaching development. 

The Senate and House each passed the bill without opposition to create the Santa Rosa and San Jacinto Mountains National Monument. The area forms the postcard backdrop for Palm Springs, rising from the desert floor to the 10,804-foot peak of Mount San Jacinto. 

The primary advantage to monument status – one step shy of recognition as a national park – will be a higher priority for federal funding and a coordinated management plan among various federal agencies that own the land. 

“The better able we are to acquire lands, the better all the agencies working together will be able to manage the resources and ensure that they stay pristine,” said Bill Havert, executive director of the Coachella Valley Mountains Conservancy, which pushed for the legislation. 

The bill’s sponsor, GOP Rep. Mary Bono, whose 39th birthday coincidentally was Tuesday, said she was thrilled with added protection for the rugged mountains that are walking distance from her home. 

The mountains are home to endangered peninsular bighorn sheep and the threatened desert slender salamander. Because the mountain range features drastic changes in elevation, the proposed monument has five distinct climate zones, from desert to pine forest and arctic pine at the summit.  

Hiking and horseback trails cross the hills, offering spectacular views. 

“It’s important that those lands be recognized as special,” said Jay Watson, California director of the Wilderness Society. “The protection is as permanent as the Santa Rosa Mountains are themselves.” 

Bono negotiated for more than a year with a local officials, the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians and Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt to protect the land as a monument.  

The legislative, bipartisan compromise defused the hard feelings that monument designations provoked in recent years. 

Clinton has used his authority under the 1906 Antiquities Act to designate 10 monuments spanning 3.7 million acres since he took office in 1993 – the most by any president except Jimmy Carter. Western Republicans often complain about the designations as federal “land grabs” that prevent access to public lands. 

Palm Springs developers had voiced concern about Bono’s proposal, fearing it would unfairly curb development.  

But she negotiated explicitly to prevent any impact to development outside the monument boundary and to allow planes approaching the Palm Springs airport to fly over the mountains. 

She said Clinton could ignore such rules if he declared the land a monument himself, a threat she said helped propel the bill to passage. 

Much of the Santa Rosa land already is protected by federal or state government, but declaring it a monument offers permanent protection rather than protection under current administrative management, which is subject to change. 

The monument includes the Santa Rosa Mountains National Scenic Area, part of the San Bernardino National Forest, the state’s San Jacinto Wilderness Area and part of the Indian reservation. 

For the first time, the Bureau of Land Management and the Forest Service, along with the tribe and a local advisory board, will create a joint management plan for the area. Advocates say the monument designation will make it easier to win federal funding for the plan, which is to be developed within three years. 

“It needs this approach with lots of grassroots involvement,” Bono said. 

Besides general protections for land and wildlife, the bill aims to preserve Indian ceremonial lands and archaeological sites. It would prohibit off-road vehicle use. Mining is banned, but grazing could continue under the bill. 

The bill is H.R. 3676. 

——— 

On the Net: 

The bill is at http://thomas.loc.gov. Rep. Bono’s site is at http://www.house.gov/bono 

SACRAMENTO — A Sacramento man charged with a 1994 rape might be the first person in the nation arrested using a DNA warrant, prosecutors say. 

Paul Eugene Robinson, 31, was arrested last month after state computers matched his genetic code to a warrant issued in the rape of a woman in August 1994, police said. 

The suspect listed on the warrant was only identified by a DNA sample. 

Other law enforcement agencies have filed such DNA warrants but Robinson is believed to be the first suspect arrested through one, said Norman Gahn, an assistant district attorney in Milwaukee, Wis. His office pioneered the concept of filing charges using only DNA identities. 

“This is all new territory, but hopefully in 10 years, it will be an everyday thing,” said Sacramento Police Detective Peter Willover. The rape was one in a series of attacks that police believed were related. The attacker was named the “Second Floor Rapist” for his penchant of assaulting women living on the second floors of apartment buildings. 

If investigators had not issued a DNA warrant in the case, they would have been unable to arrest Robinson because the statute of limitations is six years. 

A $50 million grant from the state Office of Criminal Justice Planning has been distributed to police departments around the state to do DNA testing done on old rape cases. 

Beginning in January, a new law will nearly eliminate the six-year limit on rapes in cases where DNA evidence is available. 

Some civil rights groups and defense attorneys say limiting the time to file charges ensures fair trials. Over several years memories fade and evidence gets lost or contaminated, said Johnny Griffin, Robinson’s attorney.

SACRAMENTO — A California ballot measure that would put thousands of drug offenders into treatment rather than behind bars wouldn’t solve the state’s prison crowding problem, Corrections Director Cal Terhune said Tuesday. 

Crowding is worst among the most violent inmates and those who face life terms under California’s three-strikes law, said Terhune, who is retiring Nov. 4. 

Nonviolent drug users, by contrast, are generally housed in 16 dormitory-style minimum-security community correctional facilities, most of which are run by public or private agencies under contract with the Department of Corrections. 

“That isn’t where our pinch is,” Terhune said in an interview. “I wouldn’t suggest anybody do too much experimenting with putting high-level security cases in those lower-security beds.” 

Regardless of whether Proposition 36 passes Nov. 7, the department must still  

reduce the number of violent inmates housed two-to-a-cell, Terhune said. 

All told, the system is housing nearly double the inmates envisioned in its design capacity. 

Terhune took no position on the merits of Proposition 36 itself during an extended interview.  

However, he said he favors drug treatment for those who need it.  

And he noted that the number of treatment beds in prisons have increased from 400 to 8,000 during his three-year tenure as director. 

The proposition would require treatment rather than incarceration for those convicted for the first or second time of being under the influence of drugs or possessing drugs for their personal use. 

That would divert as many as 24,000 nonviolent drug offenders a year who currently go to prison or are sent back to prison for violating their parole, the nonpartisan Legislative Analyst’s Office estimates. 

Many serve just a few months in prison, however, so the analyst projects the state would need 9,000 to 11,000 fewer prison beds if Proposition 36 is approved. 

“That’s a huge dent in the prison population,” said Dave Fratello, campaign manager of the California for New Drug Policies, Proposition 36’s prime supporter. 

A typical year of treatment costs about $4,000, compared to an average $23,000 to house an inmate in prison.  

However, a dormitory-style prison costs $15,000 to $17,000, the department said. 

The proposition would also cut parole caseloads by about 9,500 per year, the analysis estimates, because drug users wouldn’t be sent to prison in the first place. 

“It’s a solution to a crisis that’s been building for 10 years or more,” Fratello said. 

He doesn’t dispute that the state may still need more high-security beds.  

But Fratello argued there would be an incalculable long-term savings and social benefit from those whose early treatment deters them from other crimes that would eventually send them to prison. 

Lance Corcoran, vice president of the California Correctional Peace Officers Association, questions the analysis because he thinks most first-time drug offenders already are sidetracked into treatment programs. 

He also questions the social benefit of repeatedly sending drug users to treatment rather than prison. 

“We’re not talking here about ’Joe One-time-casual-user’ here who gets popped,” Corcoran said. 

On the Net: 

Read Proposition 36 and arguments pro and con at http://www.ss.ca.gov

FRESNO — To the golden trout of the Sierra Nevada: This Bud’s for you. 

Facing pressure from environmentalists, Anheuser-Busch suspended grazing on fragile Sierra Nevada meadows that threatened the habitat of the state fish. 

The controversy with the world’s largest beermaker has been brewing for years in the Golden Trout Wilderness of Inyo National Forest, about 200 miles north of Los Angeles. 

More than a century of grazing sheep and cattle high in the rugged mountains has trampled meadows, killed vegetation and muddied waters where the fish – prized for its brilliant colors and said to sparkle like a $20 gold piece – once thrived. 

“The fish are rare in one extreme, they spawn in degraded habitats,” said Brett Matzke, public lands director for California Trout in Fresno.  

“Now almost the entire river is spawning habitat so they’re starving to death.” 

Two weeks ago Trout Unlimited, a conservation organization, filed a federal petition to list the troubled trout as an endangered species, citing grazing as one of the hazards to its health. 

Earlier this summer, a number of environmental groups, including California Trout and the Sierra Club, threatened to boycott Anheuser-Busch products unless it removed its herd from the last natural habitat of the golden trout. 

The company, which makes Budweiser beer, said it was not those threats that drove its herd from the hills. 

“We’ve had people threaten to boycott us because we support the Humane Society because the Humane Society opposes cockfighting,” said Anheuser-Busch spokesman Charles Poole. “We thought it was the right thing to do for us at this time.” 

St. Louis-based Anheuser-Busch has been in the cattle business in the Owens Valley since 1986. It bought the Cabin Bar Ranch in Olancha to lock up valuable groundwater rights in case it needs water for its Van Nuys brewery. 

The company also benefitted from the century-old ranching operation, cashing in on valuable permits to graze cattle on U.S. Forest Service land. 

In the summer, the ranch drives 900 cows and their calves onto 100,000 acres in the mountains between 8,000 and 11,000 feet. The cost is about $4,700 a year for the permits and the government picks up the tab of mending fences and other upkeep. A study by Inyo National Forest — home of Mount Whitney — found it spent about $80,000 a year to restore resources, manage permits and monitor the area. 

“It’s nothing more than a welfare system for cowboys,” Matzke said. “It’s unfair for people who graze private land and it’s unfair on the American taxpayer. We’re subsidizing these folks.” 

During the time Anheuser-Busch cows have grazed in the Golden Trout Wilderness, a forest service study found the meadows have continued to recover from degradation caused through the 1930s when grazing was poorly regulated. Improvements have occurred slowly and now the question is how fast recovery should take. 

The future of cattle in the area could forever be altered when the forest service presents a grazing plan next month. 

Eliminating grazing would be the quickest route to restoration, but the area can also recover amid grazing, said Del Hubbs, a range conservationist at Inyo National Forest. 

“It’s kind of like saying if you want your car to last you don’t drive it. But in the real world we do drive,” Hubbs said. “In the real world we have to manage a balance between all users.” 

The beermaker’s future in farming in the Sierra could be decided by the government’s plan. Anheuser-Busch will only say it won’t be grazing cattle in the wilderness next year. 

——— 

On the Net: 

Inyo National Forest Web site on the Kern Plateau: 

http://www.r5.fs.fed.us/inyo/kern 

California Trout: 

http://www.caltrout.org/ 

Anheuser-Busch: 

http://www.anheuser-busch.com/ 

Trout Unlimited: 

http://www.tu.org/ 

The City Council tonight will again broach the touchy topic of city employee parking near Civic Center.  

At last week’s council meeting about 20 off-duty Berkeley police officers got into a loud verbal exchange with a police station neighbor who records their parking violations and chanted “What do we want? Parking!” outside council chambers in protest over what they described as a parking nightmare.  

The mayor agrees with the officers as well as fire department employees and public school teachers who said they will be competing for sparse parking spaces when City Hall is re-occupied in January. She wants the city manager to make parking a top priority and to explore possible solutions including shuttles and the commandeering of existing spaces in city-owned garages near the Civic Center. 

The council faction that often opposes the mayor is presenting an opposing recommendation tonight. Councilmembers Kriss Worthington, Dona Spring and Linda Maio said in their recommendation that it’s too early to put such a high priority on parking. They ask that the council wait until the Southside-Downtown Transportation Demand Study is completed. The study will include analysis of existing parking conditions and make recommendations about possible solutions. The study is due in three to seven weeks. 

According to the councilmembers’ recommendation, some of the other options the council might consider include  

• Offering “Commuter Checks,” which would allow employees to use pretax dollars to purchase transit passes.  

• Creating programs to reduce automobile use by city employees. 

• Educating employees about the importance of using public transportation. 

On another parking topic, the council will consider the adoption of extended residential parking on Emerson Street between Tremont Street and Shattuck Avenue and all of Keoncrest and Catherine drives. The permit parking program allows Berkeley residents to decide for themselves whether or not they want permit enforcement on their blocks. The process requires signatures from at least 51 percent of residents on any given block.  

The Council will consider repealing private indoor entertainment ordinances, which focused on regulating participant behavior, and replacing them with new ordinances designed to enhance safety. The new ordinances would apply to indoor music events, live or recorded, that are open to the public and are expected to draw over 150 people. Sponsors would have to ensure that the building in which the event is to take place is up to code. This would include emergency access, the presence of fire extinguishers, functional sprinkler systems and fire alarms. 

Under the old system the sponsor would apply for a permit from the chief of police which regulated the nature of the event – whether alcohol was going to be served, whether there was lighting in dance areas and whether a prohibition on obscene dancing would be enforced. 

A sign that Berkeley is growing in popularity is the increased use of portable toilets. The city currently maintains a total of 14 portables in seven parks as well as supplying additional units for 13 special events each year such as Earth Day, How Berkeley Can You Be? and the Bay to Barkers. The increased popularity of the city’s parks and events has meant increased use of the units which has also caused maintenance cost to rise. Lisa Caronna, the director of Parks and Waterfront has recommended the City Council contract with the Portosan Company of Benicia, which submitted the lowest bid at $72,000 for 12 months, to maintain the portable toilets. Redwood Sanitary Service had the maintenance contract, which will expire at the end of the month. 

The session starts tonight at 6:30 p.m., with a Housing Authority meeting, followed by a Redevelopment Agency meeting scheduled for 7:20 p.m. and the regular meeting which is slated for 7:30 p.m. The meeting is at the Council Chambers at Old City Hall at 2134 Martin Luther King Jr. Way and is broadcast on KPFB 89.3 and televised on Ch-25, then rebroadcast at 8 a.m. on Wednesday and 9 a.m. on Sunday. 

Tuesday, Oct. 24

“Security Deposits” 

2000 Tenants’ rights week 

hourly 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. 

ASUC/Rent Board booth at Sather Gate on the Berkeley campus. 

644-7714 

Berkeley Farmers’ Market Fall Fruit Tastings 

2 p.m. - 7 p.m.  

Derby St. at MLK Jr. Way 

Come taste a bounty of fall fruit varieties for free. 

Info: 548-3333 

Blood Pressure 

Alice Meyers 

9:30- 11 :30 a.m. 

Berkeley Senior Center 

1901 Hearst 

644-6107 

Wednesday, Oct. 25 

International Jewish Video Competition Winners 

7:30 p.m.  

Pacific Film Archive 

2575 Bancroft Way 

Screening of the four winners in the Museum’s seventh annual competition.  

Call 549-6950 

 

“How to Get Needed Repairs” 

2000 Tenants’ rights week 

hourly 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. 

ASUC/Rent Board booth at Sather Gate on the Berkeley campus. 

644-7714 

 

Hearing with City Council/Rent Board Housing Committee  

5:30 p.m. 

Eshleman Hall Chambers 

644-7714 

 

Low vision support group 

1:15 p.m. 

Berkeley Senior Center 

1901 Hearst 

644-6107 

 

Civic Arts Commission 

6:30 p.m. 

North Berkeley Senior Center 

1901 Hearst St.  

 

Halloween Puppet Show  

with Hazel Jazel 

3:30 p.m.  

San Pablo Library, 1555 International Marketplace, San Pablo. (510) 374-3998. 

Free. 

 

Disaster Council 

7 p.m. 

Emergency Operations Center 

997 Cedar 

 

Energy Commission 

5:30 p.m. 

North Berkeley Senior Center 

1901 Hearst St. 

 

Mental Health Commission 

6:30 p.m. 

Mental Health Clinic 

2640 MLK Jr. Way 

 

Planning Commission 

7 p.m.  

North Berkeley Senior Center 

1901 Hearst St.  

 

Police Review Commission 

7:30 p.m. 

North Berkeley Senior Center 

1901 Hearst St.  

 

Bay Area premier of Beyond Organic: The Vision of Fairview 

Gardens 

Reception begins at 7 p.m.; Program begins at 7:30 p.m. 

Martin Luther King Middle School auditorium, 1871 Rose Street, Berkeley, California. For more information call 845-4595 or e-mail info@ecoliteracy.org. 

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Thursday, Oct. 26

 

“A Contemporary Food Fight: GM Foods in the market place” 

7:30 - 9 p.m.  

International House, Homeroom 

UC Berkeley 

2299 Piedmont Ave.  

A discussion with Dr. Peggy Lemaux, professor of Plant and Microbiology at UC Berkeley, and Dr. Petra Frey from Switzerland, of the scientific basis for biotechnology, it’s risks and benefits. 

Contact Maribel Guillermo,  

642-9460 

 

“What Does Rent Control  

Do For You” 

2000 Tenants’ rights week 

hourly 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. 

ASUC/Rent Board booth at Sather Gate on the Berkeley campus. 

644-7714 

 

From Morgan to Modern 

Julia Morgan and Hearst Castle:Designing and American Country House 

7:30 p.m. 

The Hillside Club 

2286 Cedar St. 

$10 or $35 for series that continues through November. 

841-2242 

 

East Bay Science  

& Arts Middle School 

Noon  

BART Plaza, Downtown 

Middle school students perform dances of folk, swing, and Cuban rueda styles. Free.  

Contact Carrie Ridgeway,  

549-2230 

 

Proposition Brown Bag 

Noon - 1:30 p.m.  

Institute of Governmental Studies 

109 Moses Hall 

UC Berkeley 

Hear presentations about and discuss the eight propositions on the California ballot.  

Call 642-4608 

 

Tai Chi 

2 p.m. 

Berkeley Senior Center 

1901 Hearst 

644-6107 

 

Homeless Action Center’s 10th anniversary Benefit 

Club Muse 

The Vagabond Lovers, comedian Doug Ferrai 

856 San Pablo Ave. Albany 

For ticket information call 540-0878 

 

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Friday, Oct. 27

 

“Transporation: What’s in Store?” 

11:45 a.m. 

Berkeley City Club  

2315 Durant Ave.  

Larry Dahms, Executive Director of the Metropolitan Transportation Council speaks at 12:30 p.m. Luncheon is served at 11:45 a.m. and 12:15 p.m. 

Luncheon: $11 

More info and reservations: 848-3533 

“Right Ways to Get Out  

of a Lease” 

2000 Tenants’ rights week 

hourly 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. 

ASUC/Rent Board booth at Sather Gate on the Berkeley campus. 

644-7714 

 

Conversational Yiddish 

1 p.m. 

Berkeley Senior Center 

1901 Hearst 

644-6107  

Haunted House 

6:30 to 9:30 p.m. 

1818 5th St. 

Free 

Donations benefiting youth activities in Berkeley appreciated. 

644-3305 

— compiled by  

Chason Wainwright 

 

 

 

 

 

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Saturday, Oct. 28

 

 

Shakespeare Festival’s annual costume and garage sale  

9 a.m. to 3 p.m. 

Featuring one-of-a-kind costumes, props, and set pieces from previous productions. Free. 701 Heinz Ave., Berkeley. (510) 548-3422 ext. 120. 

 

Buddhist Peace Fellowship 

A Day of Mindfulness with Claude Anshin Thomas 

A day of meditation, dialogue, teachings and reflection on transforming violence in ourselves an in the world. 

9 a.m. – 5 p.m. 

We the People Auditorium, 200 Harrison St. 

Donations excepted 

496-6072 

 

Community Workshop to discuss the strengths and weaknesses of Berkeley High School  

9 a.m. – noon 

Florence Schwimley Little Theater at Berkeley High School 

Students, parents, teachers, business owners, neighbors, and others are invited to a discussion on that will help set the course for future school improvements and provide the basis for accreditation review. 

Iris Starr, AICP, 540-1252 

tinstarr@earthlink.net 

 

“Grassroots Globalization vs. Elite Globalization” 

2 p.m. 

Niebyl-Proctor Marxist Library 

6501 Telegraph Ave. 

595-7417 

 

“Halloween Mask Making” 

Tilden Regional Park 

2 p.m. 

Come learn the origins of Halloween and make a plaster-gauze mask. Registration required. $4. Take Canon Drive off Grizzly Peak Boulevard, Berkeley. (510) 525-2233. 

 

Pedaling the Green City 

11 a.m. -3:30 p.m.  

Take a leisurely bike ride along the future San Francisco Bay Trail. One in a series of free outings organized by Greenbelt Alliance.  

Call: 415-255-3233 for reservations  

 

Wild About Books? 

10:30 a.m. 

Berkeley Central Library 

2121 Allston Way 

Halloween for the little guys with (not so) scary stories, music, and more.  

Call 649-3943  

 

Haunted House 

6:30 to 9:30 p.m. 

1818 5th St. 

Free 

Donations benefiting youth activities in Berkeley appreciated. 

644-3305 

 

St. John’s Church and Camp Elmwood haunted house  

6:30 to 8:30 p.m.  

Party for teens from 8:45 tp 10 p.m.  

Free. Wear a costume and bring a canned good, book or toy donation.  

845-2656 

 

“The 3rd annual Habitot Halloween” 

Habitot Children’s Museum  

10 a.m. to 5 p.m.  

A not-too-spooky Halloween event for young children with entertainment, parades, games, magic and songs. Come in  

costume. Registration strongly suggested. $4 general; $6 for the first child age 7 and under; $3 for each additional child age 7 and under. Kittredge Street and Shattuck Avenue 

647-1111 

 

“Not Very Scary Halloween Celebration” 

10:30 a.m. at La Pena  

Betsy Rose performs songs and activities to celebrate the harvest season and the ancestral spirits. Children are invited to come in costume. $4 general; $3 children. 3105 Shattuck Ave. 849-2572. 

 

Run Your Own Landscape Business: Part 3 

11 a.m. to 1 p.m. 

Ecology Center 

2530 San Pablo Ave. (at Blake) 

Local horticultural consultant and UC Master Gardener Jessie West will teach you how to plant, prune, control weeds, and more. This is the final class in the series. 

$15 general; $10 for members; $5 materials fee 

Call 548-2220 x223 

 

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Sunday, Oct. 29

 

 

“Almost Halloween Hike,”  

Tilden Regional Park 

10 a.m.  

Explore the nature of Halloween folklore on the trails.  

“Wake the Dead: A Music Concert”  

Celebrate the Celtic “Day of the Dead” (Halloween) with folksong artists Paul Kotapish and Danny Carnahan.  

2 to 4 p.m.  

(510) 525-2233. 

 

 

“Gateway to Knowledge” 

6 p.m. 

Tibetan Nyingma Institute 

1815 Highland Pl. 

Barr Rosenberg describes how to master new knowledge and take the power to shape our lives in wise and compassionate ways.  

843-6812 

 

An Evening with The Professor 

5 - 9:30 p.m. 

Mambo Mambo 

1803 Webster St.  

Oakland 

Berkeley resident Geoffrey A. Hirsch, better known as the Tie Guy from the “How Berkeley Can You Be” parade got his start in comedy in 1996. A professor in real life, Hirsch tell the story of how he became a funny guy.  

$5 for show only, $10 for show and dinner 

Call Geoffrey Hirsch at 845-5631 to reserve tickets 

 

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Monday, Oct. 30

 

 

Fun with Oragami 

10 a.m. 

Berkeley Senior Center 

1901 Hearst St. 

644-6107 

 

“BYOP: Pumpkin Carving By Porch and Hearth,” 

Tilden Regional Park 

4 to 7 p.m. “Bring your own pepo” 

Take Canon Drive off Grizzly Peak  

Boulevard, Berkeley. (510) 525-2233. 

 

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Tuesday, Oct. 31

 

 

Sing-A-Long 

11 a.m. 

Berkeley Senior Center 

1901 Hearst St. 

644-6107 

 

Haunted House 

6:30 to 9:30 p.m. 

1818 5th St. 

Free 

Donations benefiting youth activities in Berkeley appreciated. 

644-3305 

 

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Wednesday, Nov. 1

 

Kathak Dancing with Pandit Chitresh Das 

7:30 p.m. 

Julia Morgan Center for the Arts 

2640 College Ave.  

The Graduate Theological Union presents a free lecture-demonstration with Pandit Chitresh Das, a master of India’s Kathak dance form. This event is free. 

Call 649-2440 for additional info 

 

Mountain Adventure Seminar 

In-store, registration required 

6 p.m.-9 p.m. 

Learn about equip,emt. fundamental climbing techiques and safety procedures. 

$100 REI members, $110 for non members 

To register (209) 753-6556 

 

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Thursday, Nov. 2

 

PASTForward Panel Discussion 

2 p.m. 

UC Berkeley Art Museum 

Bancroft Way (below College) 

In conjunction with the White Oak Dance Project’s performances, a panel discussion with Judson era dance choreographers Yvonne Rainer and Deborah Hay. Free. 

 

From Morgan to Modern 

“Saddling the Site: The Environmental Designs of Wurster, Church and Others” 

7:30 p.m. 

The Hillside Club 

2286 Cedar St. 

$10. 841-2242 

 

Berkeley Metaphysic Toastmasters Club 

6:15 p.m. - 7:30 p.m. 

2515 Hillegass Ave.  

Public speaking skills and metaphysic come together at Avatar Metaphysical Toastmasters. Meets first and third Thursdays each month. 

Call 869-2547 or 643-7645 

 

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Friday, Nov. 3

 

 

Taize Worship Service 

7:30-8:30 p.m. 

An hour of quiet reflection and song. First Friday of the month. 

Loper Chapel on Dana Street between Durant and Channing Way. 

848-3696 

 

“Want to Transform your Dreams Into Reality?” 

Lecture by Leonard Orr, world known for creating the Rebirthing and Conscious Breathwork Movement. 

7:30 p.m., 

The Berkeley Friends Church, 1600 Sacramento St. 

$25, 843-6514 

 

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Saturday, Nov. 4

 

 

Breathtaking Barnabe Peak 

10 a.m. - 4 p.m. 

Hike through Samuel P. Taylor State Park’s lush forests and climb to the heights of Barnabe Peak, overlooking Point Reyes. One in a series of free fall outings organized by Greenbelt Alliance.  

Call: 415-255-3233 for reservations 

 

Wild About Books? 

10:30 a.m. 

Berkeley Central Library 

2121 Allston Way 

Dublin Library’s resident storyteller and featured teller at the 1998 National Storytelling Festival tell kids aged 3 to 7 her favorite tales.  

Call 649-3943  

 

The Next Ivory Trade? The Intellectual Property Rights of University Faculty 

A conference sponsored by the Berkeley Faculty Association/American Association of University Professors Coalition 

9 a.m. tp 3:30 p.m. 

UC Berkeley International House 

841-1997 

 

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Sunday, Nov. 5

 

Buddhist Psychology 

6 p.m.  

Tibetan Nyingma Institute 

1815 Highland Pl.  

Buddhist teacher Sylvia Gretchen on “Beyond Therapy and Into the Heart of Buddhist Psychology.” Free. 

Call 843-6812  

 

Berkeley Historical Society walking tour 

Downtown Berkeley  

Tour new construction, new uses, historic rehabilitation and public improvments that are completed or still in the works.  

noon 

RSVP required 841-0181 space is limited. 

Tickets: $5 for members, $10 for nonmembers. 

 

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Monday, Nov. 6

 

Airports vs. the Bay 

7 p.m. 

Albany Community Center 

1249 Marin St.  

Albany 

David Lewis, Executive Director of “Save the Bay” will speak on the airports’ plans to expand into the SF Bay and other challenges to Bay restoration.  

Contact: Friends of Five Creeks, 848-9358 

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Tuesday, Nov. 7

 

Zonta Club dinner 

5:30 p.m. 

Berkeley City Club 

$20 per person 

Dr. Sylvia Earle, a marine bioligist, author and Explorer-in-Residence at the National Geographic Society, will be the featured speaker. 

For more information call 845-6221 

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Thursday, Nov. 9

 

The Life and Art of Chiura Obata 

7:30 p.m.  

North Berkeley Public Library 

1170 Alameda (at Hopkins) 

A slide show and lecture presented by Obata’s granddaughter, Kimi Kodani Hill, celebrating Obata’s book, “Topaz Moon: Chiura Obata’s Art of the Internment,” and the retrospective exhibit of Obata’s work to appear this Fall at SFs De Young Museum. 

For details call 644-6850  

 

From Morgan to Modern 

“Bay Area Modern” 

7:30 p.m. 

The Hillside Club 

2286 Cedar St. 

$10. 841-2242 

 

ESL Teacher Job Fair 

7 - 8:30 p.m. 

Berkeley Adult School 

1222 University Ave., Room 7  

ESL program representatives from adult schools in Alameda and Contra Costa counties will provide information about desired qualifications, current job openings, credentialing requirements, and more.  

Call Kay Wade, 644-6130 

 

“Feeding the Moon: A Nutritive Approach to Feminine Fertility” 

Lern how fertility is affected by the environment and how it can be enhanced by healthy lifestyle choices 

7:30 to 9 p.m. 

The Ecology Center 

2530 San Pable Ave.  

558-1324, free 

 

“Diabetes: What to Know Head-to-Toe” 

Health Education Center, 400 Hawthorne Ave. 

12:30 to 4:30 p.m. Free 

869-6737 

 

Compiled by Chason Wainwright 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Breland corrects the record  

Editor, 

Last week your paper published a letter from Robert Cabrera, the president of the Berkeley Property Owners Association, which was an attack against me.  

In his letter, Mr. Cabrera alleged that we had met and had a conversation about rent control. His report of our conversation cast me in a very bad light. This is a conversation that never happened.  

My opponent in the upcoming election is supported by the mayor, who has long been an opponent of rent control and is closely aligned with the Berkeley Property Owners Association. Mr. Cabrera owns a substantial amount of income property in Berkeley. He is likely experiencing a considerable increase in his income due to vacancy decontrol.  

I’m sure he is concerned about jeopardizing his returns. Mr. Cabrera knows well that I am a supporter of rent control and voted to place Measure Y on the ballot.  

Measure Y would protect the disabled, the elderly, and long time renters from bogus evictions. Mr. Cabrera’s letter was nothing more than a political attack, motivated by the upcoming election.  

He would clearly like to see me unseated and fabricated a conversation that never happened to influence District 2 voters. Unfortunately, election time tends to bring out the worst in people. 

Councilmember Margaret Breland 

Berkeley 

Enough parking already 

Editor, 

Is the supply of parking available to public employees working in the Civic Center area of downtown adequate? (Berkeley Daily Planet, 10/19) Yes, it is. 

When city employees choose to park six or eight or ten blocks away from where they are working, it’s not because there is no parking closer to their workplace. It’s because they are looking for free parking and don’t want to pay for parking in the numerous garages or lots that are only one to four blocks from where they work. 

The City of Berkeley should not provide free parking for any employee.  

From an environmental standpoint, provision of free parking is a very bad idea. Rides for Bay Area Commuters’ Commute Profile 2000 found that only 4.8 percent of commuters with free parking at work use transit. For commuters without free parking, the use of transit and other modes jumps to 42.1percent.  

There is no doubt that expanding the supply of long-term parking, especially if it is free, will encourage driving, undermine transit, and worsen traffic and air quality. 

In fairness to rank and file city workers, no city employee from the City Manager and department heads on down should be given free parking.  

City Councilmembers and their aides should also not be given free parking spaces. They should set an example and pay like everyone else.  

Or better yet, they should set a positive example by taking transit, riding a bicycle or walking. 

The city should collect money for the use of every parking space on city owned property used by city officials and city employees. All of this money should go into a fund to help cover the cost of transit subsidies for city employees. The Southside/Downtown Transportation Demand Management Study draft and the draft General Plan both call on the city, 

UC and other area employers to establish a transit subsidy program similar to UC’s “class pass” or the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority’s “Eco-Pass” program. 

Just as UC negotiated with AC Transit to provide UC students with a pass that is paid for by a nominal increase in student fees; so the City and other employers need to sit down with transit agencies to establish programs for employees.  

The money generated by charging all city employees full market rate in city owned parking spaces can be used to help cover the cost.  

The total cost is likely to be relatively minor compared to the cost of other employee benefits. The City should be a model employer and provide all employees with transit passes at no cost. 

The School District and the County courts, which currently do absolutely nothing to provide incentives for employees to use transit, should be encouraged to do the same.  

No effort should be made to provide more parking for BUSD and Alameda County employees. 

Eco-Pass in Silicon Valley has been a big success. At companies where employees get the free passes, transit use has increased by an average of over 70 percent. 

The Class Pass at UC has increased student use of buses. 

Will all employees use transit if provided with free passes? Of course not. But enough will to significantly reduce demand for existing parking in the area.  

People who choose to continue to drive will have more parking spaces to choose from. There is no need to expand the existing supply of parking. 

The City should also implement the trip reduction strategies in the Resource Conservation and Global Warming Abatement Plan which they adopted in 1998, including the proposal to subsidize bicycle use by city employees. 

For city employees who get off work late at night, the city can provide escorts or shuttles at the end of shifts to BART, bus stops and to parking areas just as UC provides escorts and shuttles for its students. 

The proposal made by members of the Police Officers Association to give city employees permits to park in residential areas is a terrible idea that would turn neighborhoods west of downtown into employee parking lots and would have a detrimental impact on neighborhood quality of life. 

The City needs to take a comprehensive approach that recognizes the inter-relationship of parking, traffic and transit. Piecemeal planning and looking at parking in isolation is counterproductive. 

Rob Wrenn  

Chair, Berkeley Planning Commission 

Fuel reduction service still carries on in hills 

Editor: 

Please note – the hills area still pays for and receives fire-fuel reduction service – chipper and bins for yard waste, during the summer. The fire district coincides, mostly, with refuse collection District 3.  

The Council, after a public hearing, raised refuse collection rates for District 3 to cover the fire-fuel removal services. 

Tania Levy 

Berkeley 

Measure Y: reasonable assistance for renters 

Editor: 

Measure Y will help senior, disabled and other long-term renters to remain in Berkeley. 

I am confident that once Berkeley voters find out the truth about Measure Y, they will give it their overwhelming support. 

Rental property owners succeeded in passing a State law that substantially weakened our local rent control program; it allows rents to be raised as high as possible whenever old tenants move out of apartment units and new tenants move in.  

Now, landlords have a strong incentive to change tenants frequently. 

Unscrupulous landlords attempt to drive out long-term tenants with reasonable rents so they can lease their apartments at sky-high rates to newcomers. Such landlords initiate evictions based on the assertion that they (or their relatives) want to occupy the tenants’ homes.  

Once the tenants leave, the landlords move in for a short while, then hang out a “For Rent” sign. These ‘owner move-in’ evictions can be fought only with difficulty under current law. Measure Y will strengthen tenants’ legal protections against this kind of abuse. 

Under Measure Y, long-term renters of larger landlords will be shielded from owner move-in evictions. After all, the landlords have many options besides driving out people who have put down roots in Berkeley and who, because of the current feverish market, will often be unable to find replacement housing they can afford anywhere in the Bay Area. 

Measure Y will discourage deceitful evictions by mandating that when landlords claim they need to push out tenants in order to occupy a rental unit, they actually intend to live there for a substantial period of time instead of just a few months. 

Measure Y will not restrict the ability of small “mom and pop” landlords to move into their property. 

Measure Y will provide reasonable relocation assistance to renters who are displaced by owners the same dollar amount of assistance that is required when landlords exercise their right under State law to go out of the rental business. Only low-income tenants who have lived in a place for at least a year will be eligible for this help. 

Measure Y will keep some of Berkeley’s most vulnerable residents from being unfairly forced out of their homes. Please vote “yes” on Measure Y. 

Randy Silverman 

Chair, Berkeley Rent Stabilization Board 

Citizen documents selective enforcement 

Editor: 

I agree with Steven Finacom’s point about the Berkeley police’s singling out of Carrie Sprague.  

There’s another issue, though. What Sprague is documenting is selective enforcement by the police for their own benefit. That’s corruption, actually, which may explain their overblown reaction to a woman with a clipboard.  

I sympathize with their desire for more parking, but it;s a two-fold abuse of their power both to flaunt the law and then harass the one who calls them on it.  

John Parman 

Berkeley 

Editor: 

Your article on the dangers of so-called “natural” supplements never addressed as to why people turn to supplements in the first place: the failure of western medicine to successfully treat a wide variety of illnesses and ailments including, but not limited to, cancer, aids, heart-disease and diabetes (Daily Planet, Oct. 23). Unfortunately, the alternative health industries look very similar to western medicine, not only in terms of corporate profits, but more importantly, in their narrow-visioned attempts to treat symptoms, not causes, with pills and potions. While traditional peoples may have sometimes resorted to medicinal herbs and plants to treat disease, they always looked at food first. They understood the vital relationship between human health and natural foods. 

While we would all like to believe that their is a “magic pill,” yet to be discovered, that will “cure” not only minor ailments, but life-threatening ones as well. We have put all of our money and focus on finding a “cure;” a quick fix that will allow us to continue living our lives chaotically with absolutely no acceptance of any personal responsibility whatsoever. We have placed all of our faith in science, as if we are merely machines; as if modern science can explain life and health beyond cells and molecules; it obviously cannot as evidenced by the alarming lack of health today, by the failure of the “War on Cancer,” etc...etc... As human beings, we are much more than just a collection of genes and cells; we have emotions, imaginations and spiritual conditions that have an immense effect on our health. We have all freely chosen the physical, mental and spiritual conditions in which we now find ourselves (if not in this life, in past lives). Disease takes many years to manifest, so let’s stop investing our money and our lives in symptomatic, corporate solutions to disease...whether they be “natural” supplements or toxic drug therapy. There are no “magic pills,” no quick fixes. In these terms, disease can now be seen as a wake-up call; a teacher...and a friend. Make sure to listen carefully. 

Michael Bauce 

Berkeley 841-5420 

I would like this to appear in the Daily Planet but I know that it is too long for a letter. Can it be a perspective piece? Any other suggestions about how I can get my voice heard 

on this? 

Editor, 

Regarding the front page story of the Oct. 21 Daily Planet, I for one am glad that there will be no fast food service in that part of Berkeley and applaud Ms. Breland’s efforts on behalf of her constituents on this. However, I am puzzled about why she has remained silent on behalf of other members of her constituency, namely the families in the area surrounding 2700 San Pablo Ave. We too have “quality of life issues” in regards to the size and scope of the Kennedy/Choyce project planned there.  

Under their current proposal this massive building of 48 apartments takes up nearly an entire block, at 4-5 stories, towers over the surrounding 1 and 2 story homes and businesses and is built to the very edge of the property in all directions. In addition, there will be parking for 61 cars adding to the air pollution and traffic in this area. The Kennedy/Choyce plan also currently includes a permit for a fast food service. Why aren’t our “health ramifications” important to Ms. Breland? Like this other group, we also have a petition signed by 400 plus people living in the area, but we had to do it ourselves. Margaret Breland did not offer her services to us and was extremely difficult to reach when we did ask for her assistance. I have personally spoken with many members of this community – particularly elderly African-American homeowners who are very upset about this project but who are either too ill or too busy to do anything. Where is Ms. Breland in all this?  

Why has she chosen to represent the developers not her community? Not surprisingly, her list of campaign contributors include Patrick Kennedy and his wife as well as the Rev. Choyce. 

Our neighborhood would welcome this building if Kennedy/Choyce would simply modify their design to be a 3 story building. This could be economically feasible for them, still provide a great deal of necessary housing, create a sustainable precedent for future building and help San Pablo develop into a great avenue. Between Dwight and Ashby, there are 11 large lots that developers like Patrick Kennedy will want to develop into massive projects and companies like Shell Oil and Carl’s Jr. will want to stake their claim to with mini-marts that sell fast food and liquor. We need to tell developers and corporations that we want more desirable development that benefits our community! 

What about it, Margaret? 

Phyllis Kamrin 510 548-3627 

Berkeley 

Editor: 

To often, Berkeley “Activist” groups work seperately or take different approaches to solve the same problem. Your article about the southwest Berkeley neighborhoods opposition to a new fast food complex at 1200 Ashby Ave. appeared above an article stating that southwest Berkeley residents have a life expectency of 20 years less than those residents in the Berkeley hills. 

There is a major connection here between these two groups of activists and they should be working to help each other. Those residents in southwest Berkeley ( read African American) die at a younger age not only because of a lack of healthcare but because of poor eating habits. A recent study on health showed that black youth get 40 percent of their daily vegetable intake from french fries. An article about the free lunch program in Oakland High schools revealed that very few of those elegible took part but instead bought fast food.  

Obesity among all Americans has increased more than 60 percent since 1990. There is more of a health crisis than a health care crisis.Those who want healthcare for everyone should think in terms of wanting a healthy life for everyone. Help people to enjoy their lives by improving their quality of life not just prolonging it. Berkeley is proud of the fact that it promotes the use of bycyles and not the automobile. It is time for Berkeley to promote healthy lifestyles and ban fast food.  

Caring about health is as important as caring about healthcare. 

Michael Larrick  

(510) 849-4572 

Editor: 

I am and have been a resident on Carrison Street for the past 23 years. I am upset by the article written about the block and the people that represent the block. I believe that the opinions regarding the plans are valid and I would agree with them. 

What I do not agree with is the way my new neighbors portrayed Carrison Street as a “street overrun with drug dealers and prostitutes.” I’d like to point out that Vicki and Mike Larrick have not lived on Carrison Street for eight year as stated. Drug dealers and prostitution has never been a problem on Carrison Street. 

Up until their move, the Larricks, this street was filled by senior citizens. 

Actually the house in which they vacate was owned by a senior citizen until her death. They moved in her house maybe 4-5 years after she died. 

I know this because up until they moved in I watered the grass. I believe that my anger is mostly directed at the Larricks because of there portrayal of themselves as saviors to the community. 

Carrison st was fine and it is fine and it will be and will always be with or without there contributions. From the moment they have moved in they have only acted as conquerors. They have showed no respect for those that have lived here before and have raised successful families.  

For example, Mike Larrick decided to appoint himself as block Captain, until residents became aware of his self-appointment and voted him out. There lack of knowledge and need to feel heroic is overtly present in this article. It saddens me that my neighborhood has gone from predominately black to racially mixed, whatever that means. 

But as people move in to clean up the neighborhood they must keep in mind that are new that they are joining the group that was already established and attempting to make a change themselves. 

It is really sad to see that my neighborhood is being represented as a bad black neighborhood until it was saved by it’s new white residents. Some of the arrivals of the migration to South Berkeley, do not respect the people, the community, or the residents they have joined with. 

The Larricks have made this apparent by the extreme measures they have taken to isolate themselves from the community until it is time for the Great White Hope to appear. It is like prehistoric times,,as a resident I feel like existing residents are like the Indians. Our land, our efforts, our homes are being taken over by people that have only one thing on there mind how can I live here and make it the way I want it to be, not how can I become apart of this community and help with the efforts being made.  

If you want to write something about the community, write about the gentrification, genocide, and mentacide occurring in south Berkeley. It’ real and it’s occurring. 

As a matter of fact you can interview the Larricks to find out how their efforts have contributed. They are recruiters for those looking for cheap property, occupied by residents of over 20 years, that they can ask to move and give them enough money to pay 3 months rent. 

If you don’t believe me ask my old neighbors, senior citizens with historically fixed rents, uniformed of there rights and Measure Y, why they had to move out there homes, and move after over 25 years of occupation. Oh yeah the people that bought the house were friends of the Larricks. If I am not mistaken Vicki Larrick assisted with the selling of the home. Try to help them.....Please. Thank You  

Kinchasa Taylor, 

Berkeley 

The City Council will consider an ordinance tonight that would ban stores from displaying tobacco products in a manner that encourages minors to attempt to purchase or steal cigarettes.  

A study conducted by the city last February showed that despite state and city laws prohibiting the sale of tobacco to minors, it still occurs with alarming frequency. The study showed that minors were able to purchase tobacco products in 33 percent of stores surveyed.  

“Study after study shows if you start young the more likely you are to form a lifelong habit,” said Fred Medrano, director of Health and Human Services. “This ordinance will further prevent the purchase or theft of cigarettes by underage folks.” 

The ordinance will require all sales of tobacco to be “vendor assisted,” which means a store clerk will have to physically hand the cigarettes to the customer. It would also prohibit displays that allow cigarette self service.  

According to a study commissioned by the City Council, minors are more likely to attempt to buy or steal cigarettes when they are within easy reach. It also showed that vendors are more likely to ask for age verification if they are required to retrieve tobacco products from a secured location behind the counter and physically hand items to customers. 

One store that will be affected by the new ordinance is Fast Mart on University Avenue near Shattuck. The small store stocks candy, soda pop and other items that would attract the large numbers of high school students who walk down the street after classes. But among the candy and gum near the counter is a large display of cigarettes that dominates the front of the store. The display is not designed for self service but it is within easy reach of customers. 

The manager of the store refused to comment about the new ordinance. 

Marcia Brown-Machen, the Berkeley’s Tobacco Prevention Program director, said that most Berkeley merchants are in favor of the ordinance. 

President of the University Avenue Merchants Association, Kirtal Khanna said he would strongly support any ordinance that would reduce smoking among minors or adults. He said he couldn’t speak for the entire association but was reasonably sure other members would agree with him.  

Khanna owns the Bazaar of India on University Avenue, a retail store that sells handcrafts, books and sundries. “My personal opinion is that smoking is terrible,” said Khanna who used to sell Indian cigarettes but took them off the shelves five years ago. 

Brown-Machen said her department sent out 140 letters last June to tobacco retailers alerting them about the proposed ordinance and not one store owner responded negatively.  

She added that a survey completed last year showed that out of 95 tobacco retailers only 19 had tobacco displays customers could reach. 

Brown-Machen said this ordinance might not have a huge impact on teen smoking but there is evidence that a combination of factors is causing reduced smoking among young people. “Non-smoking campaigns, state laws, city ordinances and various other community programs are having an effect,” she said. 

All the states that passed cigarette tax rate increases have shown a reduction in smoking. In fact, California now has the lowest tobacco-use rate in the United States. 

Brown-Machen said another barometer is that the tobacco companies now spend 10 times more in advertising since Californians passed Proposition 99, the Tobacco Tax and Health Protection Act of 1988, a state law that adds 25 cents tax on each package of cigarettes. The revenue goes to smoking prevention and research. 

The Berkeley Tobacco Prevention Program currently has a variety of programs designed to reduce underage smoking. One is Youth Purchase Surveys, in which trained minors, under the supervision of the Berkeley Police Department, attempt to purchase cigarettes from tobacco retailers. Responsible store clerks who refuse to sell to minors can be rewarded with a certificate signed by the mayor. Those who do sell cigarettes to minors are cited on the spot and fined $200 for the first offense. Fines increase with each additional offense. 

There is also an advertising campaign in the Yellow Pages of the UC Berkeley phone directory, which features “Debbie” a woman who communicates through a stoma, a hole at the base of the throat through which she breaths and speaks since having her larynx removed due smoking related cancer. 

Ben Weintraub and Michael Liu became poster guys for the Measure Y campaign Monday afternoon.  

Standing in front of an apartment from which they were asked to leave, the duo explained to the press that the eviction would not happen under the proposed Measure Y. 

Measure Y protects seniors and the disabled against owner move-in evictions, provides $4,500 to low income renters who are displaced and guarantees renters a comparable rental unit if one is available. 

Weintraub, Liu and a third roommate rented the two-bedroom apartment at 1404 Fulton for $1,371 in June 1998.  

The building was sold and on June 14, 1999, a year after they had moved in, they got a certified letter from Peter Kutrubes, attorney for landlords Grace Chizar and Michael Lai, telling them that “Mr. Lai desires to take back your apartment, Unit 308, to make it his own personal residence.” Attached was a 30-day notice. 

The three UC Berkeley students were offered a one-bedroom apartment in the same building for $1,400 per month. 

Instead, they found an apartment on Haste Street for $500 more rent than they had been paying and moved in. Liu and Weintraub said they do not believe that Lai lives in the apartment, since he is seen daily leaving a Haste Street apartment building that he also owns.  

Neither Lai nor Chizar, responded to calls for comment. 

There’s more to the story than a fraudulent owner move-in eviction,Weintraub and Liu said, flanked by advocates for Measure Y and pro-rent-control candidates for the Rent Stabilization Board. 

Under Measure Y, large landlords would not be permitted to evict tenants and move into the unit, if there are other comparable units available. If there are non-comparable units available, they need to offer one to the tenants. The fair rent would be determined by the rent board. 

“If the landlord owns another available unit, the tenant has the right of first refusal,” said Paul Hogarth, a candidate for the Rent Board. 

Hogarth said the students’ eviction may have been legal, if, in fact, a relative of one of the owners moved into the unit. The identity of the person who moved into the unit has not been determined. 

“It’s possible that it might have been legal, but it’s unfair,” he said. “Measure Y stops the legal loopholes that exist.” 

Berkeley Property Owners Association President Robert Cabrera takes a different view. He says that if, in fact, the owner move-in eviction was fraudulent, then the renters should have taken the landlord to court. He points to a San Francisco Bay Guardian story that tells of a $500,000 settlement tenants in San Francisco won against such a landlord. 

“There exist legal remedies that have teeth,” he said. 

Cabrera has been working hard against Measure Y and says, if passed, it will hurt those it seeks to protect. He talks about a studio apartment he just rented for $1,000. He said he had his choice among dot-comers, students and others to rent to.  

With this kind of choice, landlords will not choose to rent to seniors and disabled, who would gain protection under the measure, he said.  

“Measure Y greases the skids for discrimination,” he said. “All you’ll get is a transient population in Berkeley.”

A yellow school bus that carried those who will defy the United States embargo against Cuba stopped Sunday at the Berkeley Fellowship of Unitarian Universalists. 

On its side, the vehicle sported a hand painted sign declaring “Cuba is not our enemy.” A tree of friendship adorned the left side of the bus and a blue dove of peace stood next to it. The portrait of Che Guevara was painted on the right side. On the rear window, a bumper sticker read: “Reality is for people who lack imagination.” 

The travelers, organized by Pastors for Peace, left Monday for Fresno. 

In San Antonio, Texas, it will meet other caravans from the East Coast and the midwestern states. The large group will then cross the border together and fly via the national Cuban airline from Tampico, Mexico, to Havana. Many Americans fly to Mexico or the Bahamas to avoid the watchful eye of U.S. authorities.  

“But we are publicly breaking the embargo, and telling the U.S. Treasury Department that we will go to Cuba,” said Alicia Jrapko, organizer of Sunday’s send off. 

For American citizens, it is legal to go to the Caribbean island. However, Americans are prohibited from spending money under laws governing trade with an enemy. 

“We oppose the embargo to demonstrate our solidarity with the Cuban people. This doesn’t mean that we’re Communists. We just believe in self-determination,” Jrapko said. “The Cuban system is not perfect, but it has a more humanist line than other regimes. While America bombs other countries, Cuba exports doctors,” she said. 

Inside church, a Cuban flag hung next to a poster of Che Guevara adorned with the slogan “Hasta la Victoria Siempre.” A group of musicians played John Lennon’s “Imagine,” and some Zapatista songs. 

Six people descended from the bus. Among them was Alfred Dale, a retired Methodist pastor from Washington, and leader of the West Coast caravan. He was the keynote speaker Sunday. 

“We will be among the 600 U.S. citizens who will attend the Second International Conference for Friendship and Solidarity with Cuba,” said Dale. He joined Pastors for Peace in 1988, and went to Cuba for the first time in 1992. “We also want to help install a solar plant in a school in the Pinar del Rio Province,” he said. 

“We believe the embargo is immoral, because sanctions are always aimed at the people,” he said. “Besides, we don’t think the government should block people’s right to go where ever they want to.” 

Regarding Pastors for Peace’s attitude towards political freedom on the island, Dale said that when he visited Cuba, he could talk to anyone and was followed only by his translators, since he doesn’t speak Spanish.  

“In the Cuban parliament, more than 80 percent of the members are new. That’s more than we have,” Dale said. 

When asked about his opinion on the status of political prisoners, he said: “If you are a saboteur, they throw you in prison. Every government defends itself against aggressors. There are more than 400 political prisoners in the U.S.”  

Regarding the treatment of dissident intellectuals, he said that he didn’t know of any such case, but that if intellectuals wrote against the government, it was because they felt under-compensated. “They get greedy. But if they cared about the people, they wouldn’t pay attention to that, “ he said. 

Amnesty International’s 2000 report on Cuba paints a different picture. It says there are more than 350 political prisoners. The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights reports that in Cuba, groups using only peaceful means to stand up for human rights, including trade union rights, are persecuted in various ways.  

“They are charged with ‘enemy propaganda,’ ‘contempt,’ ‘unlawful association,’ ‘clandestine possession of printed matter,’ ‘posing a danger,’ ‘rebellion,’ and ‘acts against state  

security,’” according to the report. 

SAN DIEGO — A coalition of environmental groups have settled a lawsuit against the U.S. Bureau of Land Management after the agency agreed to limit the amount of land that could be used by off-road vehicle owners in an Imperial County wilderness area. 

The Center for Biological Diversity, along with the California/Nevada Desert Sierra Club and Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, settled their lawsuit Friday when the bureau agreed to restrict off-road vehicles in 48,000 additional acres of the Algodones Dunes. 

The settlement went into effect  

Friday afternoon. The Dunes are located in Imperial County, near Interstate 8, about 125 southeast of San Diego. The agreement brings the total of protected acreage in the Algodones Dunes area to about 80,000 acres.  

The dunes cover about 150,000 acres. 

About 70,000 acres of the dunes will remain open to off-road vehicles. 

The groups sued the agency to force officials to deem more acres of the dunes area closed to off-roaders, which environmentalists complain trample critical habitat. 

Among the endangered species in the area is Peirson’s milkvetch, a silvery-colored perennial plant. According to the groups, the Algodones Dunes is the only area in the United States where the plant grows. 

Environmentalists are still at odds with the bureau over protection of other endangered species in the California Desert Conservation Area, which covers about 400 miles from the U.S.-Mexico border to Death Valley and the Sierra Nevada foothills. 

MIDDLETOWN — Firefighters who worked through the night proclaimed victory over a Lake County fire that had charred nearly 4,000 acres, but said it would take until Thursday to fully extinguish the blaze. 

The fire, which started Saturday, was 95 percent contained as of Monday morning. Officials said they hoped to have it fully contained by Tuesday morning. 

“There’s very little active fire at all,” Ann Rudesill, a spokeswoman for the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, said Monday. 

There were still 1,000 people working on the fire, which damaged four structures, including a barn, a vacant dwelling and a couple of sheds. Property losses were estimated at $200,000. 

Firefighters worked through the night to contain the 3,970-acre blaze. The fire started Saturday afternoon and was spread by strong northern winds. Most of the area consumed by the fire was remote ranchland and forested mountain country. 

Two minor injuries were reported, both of them to firefighters. An ember injured a firefighter’s eye, and another was involved in a traffic accident. There were no evacuations ordered, although some residents left their homes voluntarily. 

Improving weather conditions lessened the risk that the fire would spread. Wind slowed to 10 mph to 12 mph and humidity was up to 25 percent, compared to Sunday’s 10 percent humidity. 

Costs to suppress the fire reached $480,000, and were expected to reach $1 million. 

There were several other small fires around Lake, Napa and Sonoma counties, but firefighters were able to contain them within a few acres. And firefighters worked to keep fires in Oakland and San Jose under control. 

Firefighters in Oakland were on a fire watch and were clearing away dense brush and other fire hazards after a 10-acre grass fire Sunday at Mountain View Cemetery near Piedmont. 

In San Jose, the 25-acre fire that consumed a house and injured two in the eastern hills of the city was brought under control Sunday night.  

The fire started when a pine tree fell onto a power line. 

With lighter winds Monday, “we feel it’s a lot safer,” said Capt. Mark Mooney of the San Jose Fire Department. 

Most of the homes that lost power during the weekend’s high winds had regaining electricity by Monday afternoon. About 80,000 Bay Area customers lost power during the peak of the windstorms Sunday, with East Bay residents hit especially hard. 

SACRAMENTO — California’s minimum wage will rise $1 an hour to $6.75, one of the highest in the nation, under a decision Monday by the state Industrial Welfare Commission. 

The commission voted 5-0 for the minimum wage increase, which will take effect starting Jan. 1 with a 50-cent raise followed by another 50-cent raise Jan. 1, 2002. 

“I would have preferred it to go higher,” said Commissioner Barry Broad, who earlier acknowledged that he was in the minority on the board in seeking a bigger increase.  

“It should definitely go above $6.75 to help the families that are already struggling.” 

California last raised the state’s minimum wage in March 1998. 

Washington state and Oregon currently have the nation’s highest minimum wage, $6.50 an hour. In 2002, only Washington’s would be higher than California’s.  

Washington’s minimum wage is indexed to keep up with inflation and is expected to be slightly above $6.75 then, said Jean Ross with the California Budget Project, a liberal research group. 

The California increase was a blow to some business leaders who asked commissioners to wait until the federal government considered an increase in the federal minimum wage , which now stands at $5.15 an hour. 

Business leaders said a higher minimum wage would make it difficult for them to compete with companies in other states, which would have lower overhead costs because they could pay workers less. 

Farmers also protested the higher wages, arguing they would be unable to recoup their costs in the tight agriculture market. Grape grower John Baranek of Sacramento was the only speaker objecting to the increase Monday.  

He said the raise could keep California farmers from making their loan payments and leave them unable to compete internationally. 

“This will have a ripple effect, especially in the Central Valley,” Baranek said. “I ask that you postpone making a decision until it is determined what the shakeout is going to be.” 

California unions are pushing for a minimum wage of at least $8 an hour. They say a $1 increase is still not enough for minimum wage earners given California’s high cost of living. 

The increase approved Monday would affect 1 million workers currently making the minimum wage and 2 million workers who make less than $6.75, according to the California Labor Federation. 

The five-member Industrial Welfare Commission also withdrew exemptions for several classes of workers – including home health care assistants, actors and carnival workers – who were not covered by the state minimum wage law. 

An exemption for an estimated 100 shepherds in California was not removed Monday. 

The commission voted 3-2 to let a wage board examine the exemption before a final decision is made. That is expected to take six months. 

Shepherds work 24 hours a day and under federal law must be paid at least $900 a month and given free meals, housing and medical care. 

The shepherds’ employers were the only group to protest an end to the exemption, which persuaded commissioners to take a closer look at the issue, Bosco said. 

“It could be challenged in court if we try to take away that exemption, as most decisions are now days,” he said. “We want to make sure we are doing things the right way.”

SANTA CRUZ — The fervently liberal seaside city hopes to set an example Tuesday night by passing the nation’s highest “living wage” – $11 an hour, or $12 without benefits. 

Like most of the roughly 50 other living wage ordinances nationwide, Santa Cruz’s would at first only cover full-time workers for the city or for-profit companies with city contracts. Most, if not all, city workers already make more than $11 an hour. 

But officials in this surfing haven and college town of 56,000, 75 miles down the coast from San Francisco, have a more ambitious plan for the coming months. They want to extend the minimum wage to temporary workers employed by the city and to workers for social service agencies funded by the city. 

“Our hope is that the city can act as a role model,” Mayor Keith Sugar said. 

While some economists contend “living wage” laws are symbolic and have little effect, supporters of the Santa Cruz ordinance believe it will give hundreds of people a boost, even in communities elsewhere in the county. 

Theresa Espinoza, a 34-year-old single mother of five, works in nearby Watsonville as a receptionist for the Santa Cruz County Immigration Project, a nonprofit organization that gets money from the city of Santa Cruz. She said her organization recently decided to give her a raise from less than $9 an hour to $11 because it expects that will soon be mandated anyway by the new ordinance. 

Even so, she still has to work part-time as a library clerk to support her family. 

“I’m not even able to buy a house. I don’t think I’ll ever be able,” Espinoza said Monday. “I really think about those things. Do I have to wait to my children are of age to work? What I really want them to do is get an education and try to find a different way of life.” 

The California Industrial Welfare Commission voted 5-0 on Monday to raise the state’s minimum wage by a dollar, to $6.75, despite protests from business leaders and farmers who said it will give other states an unfair competitive edge. The federal minimum wage is $5.15. 

There was no formal business opposition to the Santa Cruz ordinance, which would take effect on Thanksgiving and lets companies facing hardships appeal for an exemption. Future increases in the minimum wage would be tied to the Consumer Price Index for the San Francisco Bay area. 

The National Association of Home Builders recently ranked Santa Cruz the second-least affordable area in the nation — behind only San Francisco. 

“Santa Cruz is a paradise destination for a lot of people, and our proximity to Silicon Valley and the big dollars there have a lot to do with why our housing prices and the cost of living have escalated here,” said city councilman Michael Hernandez, a supporter of the ordinance. 

Added Sandy Brown, coordinator for the Santa Cruz County Coalition for a Living Wage: “People who are performing service jobs and city work, child care, all of these industries are losing workers because people can’t afford to live here. We believe this will keep people living in our community.” 

The living wage in Santa Cruz would be the highest in the country, said Ron Bird, chief economist for the Employment Policy Foundation, a think tank in Washington, D.C. 

But he says such well intentioned laws have little effect, since they target only small slices of the workforce, and many companies forgo doing business with cities rather than greatly increase their labor costs. 

The federal government’s earned income tax credit, he said, is a more thorough and direct way of helping poor families. 

The Second Harvest Food Bank of Santa Cruz and San Benito Counties gets $57,000 a year from the city of Santa Cruz, and so executive director Willy Elliott-McCrea is preparing to make certain that all 20 of his employees make at least $11 an hour. A handful make less, as little as $9.40. 

He said the food bank, which serves 38,000 people, will have to work harder to raise money to cover the new living wage requirement, but he strongly supports the ordinance. “It’s clearly the right thing to do,” he said. 

——— 

On the Net: 

Santa Cruz County Coalition for a Living Wage: http://members.cruzers.com/cab/livingwage/livingwage.html 

City home page: http://www.ci.santa-cruz.ca.us 

Employment Policy Foundation: http://www.epf.org 

There were speeches, cheers and a symbolic breaking of ground in an area of Berkeley often neglected by city officialdom – the 3200 block of Adeline Street. 

A $1 million grant and $200,000 from the city will bring bike lanes, add bulb-outs to make crossing the extra-wide street safer and more friendly, include public art and other amenities in the south Berkeley shopping center. 

No one could have been happier than Patricia Stocken, a nearby neighbor who had come out to hear the speakers. “It means bringing more people into the area. It means safety, friendliness, openness,” she said. 

Rep. Barbara Lee, D-Oakland, was present to lend her support. She shepherded the federal transportation funds through Congress. Sam Dyke, head of the Alcatraz-Adeline Merchants Association, introduced the speakers. The mayor was there, and so were people from the Metropolitan Transportation Commission and Vice Mayor Maudelle Shirek, in whose district the project sits. “This is another piece in the rising of South Berkeley,” Shirek said. “We aren’t done yet.”

OAKLAND – When Ralph Nadar took the stage Saturday night at Oakland’s Henry J. Kaiser Auditorium, the more than 7,000 people who filled the seats and sat in the aisles jumped to their feet. 

When he talked about George W. Bush as “nothing more than a corporation disguised as a human being,” the crowd went wild. 

Nadar was no less kind to Democrat Al Gore, whose politics, he argued, were identical to those of Bush, particularly concerning their support for the North America Free Trade Agreement, the World Trade Organization and belief in the death penalty. 

“The stronger we get, the more fearful they become,” said Cornell West, Harvard professor of Africa-American studies, who was among the luminaries who appeared at the rally in support for Nadar.  

The Oakland rally was one in a series of “superrallies” that have attracted thousands of people in Portland,Ore., Chicago, New York as well as others nationwide.  

In addition to west, the rally featured entertainers Patti Smith and Jello Biafra.  

Nadar pointed to the growing numbers of people who support his campaign, citing polls that say he has 8 percent support in Minnesota, 6-7 percent support in California, 9 percent in Connecticut and 17 percent in Alaska.  

With that support behind him, his condemnation of the system that refuses him entry into the presidential debates grows. Tuesday Nadar filed suit in state and federal courts against the debate sponsors, claiming violations of his civil rights.  

At a press conference that preceded Nadar’s speech to the rally, a Berkeley High School Jacket reporter was the first to pose a question. 

Nadar first questioned the youth’s membership in the local press corps, then responded to the question on his position on Proposition 38, the voucher initiative. “We won’t solve the problems by funding vouchers,” he said. 

When asked what he’d have said, if allowed to participate in the debates, Nadar responded that, on the tax question, he’d “raise taxes on stock transactions and crack down on tax loopholes.”  

On the question of immigration, he’d stop the “illegal” use of force against undocumented migrants, allow people to work short periods in the United States on contract, then return home, and stop support for “oligarchies” from which people flee. 

While Nadar campaigns furiously trying to capture every vote he can in order to get the 5 percent support nationally the Green Party needs to receive matching funds in four years, Democrats say it’s dangerous to vote for Nadar. If too many people throw their vote his way, Bush might win, the argument goes. And if Bush wins, he could stack the Supreme Court with his ilk and get rid of a woman’s right to choose. 

The Nadar camps’ reply could be seen in signs scattered around the auditorium: “Vote your hopes, not your fears.” 

Monday, Oct. 23

“Dealing With Roommate  

Problems” 

2000 Tenants’ rights week 

hourly 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. 

ASUC/Rent Board booth at Sather Gate on the Berkeley campus. 

644-7714 

“Guess the Weight of the Pumpkin,”  

through Oct. 28. Guess the correct weight of the pumpkin and bring it home in time for Halloween. 

Kensington Library, 61 Arlington Ave., Kensington.  

(510) 524-3043. 

Berkeley Chinese Community Church Turns 100 

6 p.m. 

Nov. 4 

Silver Dragon Restaurant 

835 Webster St. 

Oakland 

Reservations: $30 per person 

More info: 548-5295 

Public Schools Parent  

Information Night 

7 - 9 p.m.  

Epworth United Methodist Church 

1953 Hopkins St. 

Parents, principals and other administrative staff from 11 elementary schools will speak about their schools. Sponsored by Neighborhood Parents Network.  

Admission: free to members, $5 non-members 

527-6667 

Parks & Recreation Board  

Meeting 

7 p.m. 

North Berkeley Senior Center 

1901 Hearst St.  

Solid Waste Management  

Commission 

7 p.m. 

Solid Waste Management Center 

1201 Second St. 

The Changes Happening with  

HMOs 

1 p.m. 

Berkeley Senior Center 

1901 Hearst 

644-6107 

Tuesday, Oct. 24

“Security Deposits” 

2000 Tenants’ rights week 

hourly 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. 

ASUC/Rent Board booth at Sather Gate on the Berkeley campus. 

644-7714 

Berkeley Farmers’ Market Fall Fruit Tastings 

2 p.m. - 7 p.m.  

Derby St. at MLK Jr. Way 

Come taste a bounty of fall fruit varieties for free. 

Info: 548-3333 

Blood Pressure 

Alice Meyers 

9:30- 11 :30 a.m. 

Berkeley Senior Center 

1901 Hearst 

644-6107 

Wednesday, Oct. 25

International Jewish Video Competition Winners 

7:30 p.m.  

Pacific Film Archive 

2575 Bancroft Way 

Screening of the four winners in the Museum’s seventh annual competition.  

Call 549-6950 

“How to Get Needed Repairs” 

2000 Tenants’ rights week 

hourly 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. 

ASUC/Rent Board booth at Sather Gate on the Berkeley campus. 

644-7714 

Hearing with City Council/Rent Board Housing Committee  

5:30 p.m. 

Eshleman Hall Chambers 

644-7714 

Low vision support group 

1:15 p.m. 

Berkeley Senior Center 

1901 Hearst 

644-6107 

Civic Arts Commission 

6:30 p.m. 

North Berkeley Senior Center 

1901 Hearst St.  

Halloween Puppet Show  

with Hazel Jazel 

3:30 p.m.  

San Pablo Library, 1555 International Marketplace, San Pablo. (510) 374-3998. 

Free. 

Disaster Council 

7 p.m. 

Emergency Operations Center 

997 Cedar 

Energy Commission 

5:30 p.m. 

North Berkeley Senior Center 

1901 Hearst St. 

Mental Health Commission 

6:30 p.m. 

Mental Health Clinic 

2640 MLK Jr. Way 

Planning Commission 

7 p.m.  

North Berkeley Senior Center 

1901 Hearst St.  

Police Review Commission 

7:30 p.m. 

North Berkeley Senior Center 

1901 Hearst St.  

Bay Area premier of Beyond Organic: The Vision of Fairview 

Gardens 

Reception begins at 7 p.m.; Program begins at 7:30 p.m. 

Martin Luther King Middle School auditorium, 1871 Rose Street, Berkeley, California. For more information call 845-4595 or e-mail info@ecoliteracy.org. 

Thursday, Oct. 26

“A Contemporary Food Fight: GM Foods in the market place” 

7:30 - 9 p.m.  

International House, Homeroom 

UC Berkeley 

2299 Piedmont Ave.  

A discussion with Dr. Peggy Lemaux, professor of Plant and Microbiology at UC Berkeley, and Dr. Petra Frey from Switzerland, of the scientific basis for biotechnology, it’s risks and benefits. 

Contact Maribel Guillermo, 642-9460 

“What Does Rent Control  

Do For You” 

2000 Tenants’ rights week 

hourly 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. 

ASUC/Rent Board booth at Sather Gate on the Berkeley campus. 

644-7714 

From Morgan to Modern 

Julia Morgan and Hearst Castle:Designing and American Country House 

7:30 p.m. 

The Hillside Club 

2286 Cedar St. 

$10 or $35 for series that continues through November. 

841-2242 

East Bay Science & 

Arts Middle School 

Noon  

BART Plaza, Downtown 

Middle school students perform dances of folk, swing, and Cuban rueda styles. Free.  

Contact Carrie Ridgeway, 549-2230 

Proposition Brown Bag 

Noon - 1:30 p.m.  

Institute of Governmental Studies 

109 Moses Hall 

UC Berkeley 

Hear presentations about and discuss the eight propositions on the California ballot.  

Call 642-4608 

Tai Chi 

2 p.m. 

Berkeley Senior Center 

1901 Hearst 

644-6107 

Homeless Action Center’s 10th Anniversary Benefit 

Club Muse 

The Vagabond Lovers, comedian Doug Ferrai 

856 San Pablo Ave. Albany 

For ticket information call 540-0878 

Friday, Oct. 27

“Transportation: What’s in Store?” 

11:45 a.m. 

Berkeley City Club  

2315 Durant Ave.  

Larry Dahms, Executive Director of the Metropolitan Transportation Council speaks at 12:30 p.m. Luncheon is served at 11:45 a.m. and 12:15 p.m. 

Luncheon: $11 

More info and reservations: 848-3533 

“Right Ways to Get Out of a Lease” 

2000 Tenants’ rights week 

hourly 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. 

ASUC/Rent Board booth at Sather Gate on the Berkeley campus. 

644-7714 

Conversational Yiddish 

1 p.m. 

Berkeley Senior Center 

1901 Hearst 

644-6107  

Saturday, Oct. 28

Shakespeare Festival’s annual costume and garage sale  

9 a.m. to 3 p.m. 

Featuring one-of-a-kind costumes, props, and set pieces from previous productions. Free. 701 Heinz Ave., Berkeley. (510) 548-3422 ext. 120. 

Community Workshop to discuss the strengths and weaknesses of Berkeley High School  

9 a.m. - noon 

Florence Schwimley Little Theater at Berkeley High School 

Students, parents, teachers, business owners, neighbors, and others are invited to a discussion on that will help set the course for future school improvements and provide the basis for accreditation review. 

Iris Starr, AICP, 540-1252 

tinstarr@earthlink.net 

— compiled by Chason Wainwright 

“Grassroots Globalization vs. Elite Globalization” 

2 p.m. 

Niebyl-Proctor Marxist Library 

6501 Telegraph Ave. 

595-7417 

“Halloween Mask Making” 

Tilden Regional Park 

2 p.m. 

Come learn the origins of Halloween and make a plaster-gauze mask. Registration required. $4. Take Canon Drive off Grizzly Peak Boulevard, Berkeley. (510) 525-2233. 

Pedaling the Green City 

11 a.m. -3:30 p.m.  

Take a leisurely bike ride along the future San Francisco Bay Trail. One in a series of free outings organized by Greenbelt Alliance.  

Call: 415-255-3233 for reservations  

Wild About Books? 

10:30 a.m. 

Berkeley Central Library 

2121 Allston Way 

Halloween for the little guys with (not so) scary stories, music, and more.  

Call 649-3943  

“The 3rd annual Habitot Halloween” 

Habitot Children’s Museum  

10 a.m. to 5 p.m.  

A not-too-spooky Halloween event for young children with entertainment, parades, games, magic and songs. Come in  

costume. Registration strongly suggested. $4 general; $6 for the first child age 7 and under; $3 for each additional child age 7 and under. Kittredge Street and Shattuck Avenue 

647-1111 

“Not Very Scary Halloween Celebration” 

10:30 a.m. at La Pena  

Betsy Rose performs songs and activities to celebrate the harvest season and the ancestral spirits. Children are invited to come in costume. $4 general; $3 children. 3105 Shattuck Ave. 849-2572. 

Run Your Own Landscape Business: Part 3 

11 a.m. to 1 p.m. 

Ecology Center 

2530 San Pablo Ave. (at Blake) 

Local horticultural consultant and UC Master Gardener Jessie West will teach you how to plant, prune, control weeds, and more. This is the final class in the series. 

$15 general; $10 for members; $5 materials fee 

Call 548-2220 x223 

Sunday, Oct. 29

“Almost Halloween Hike,”  

Tilden Regional Park 

10 a.m.  

Explore the nature of Halloween folklore on the trails.  

“Wake the Dead: A Music Concert”  

Celebrate the Celtic “Day of the Dead” (Halloween) with folksong artists Paul Kotapish and Danny Carnahan.  

2 to 4 p.m.  

(510) 525-2233. 

“Gateway to Knowledge” 

6 p.m. 

Tibetan Nyingma Institute 

1815 Highland Pl. 

Barr Rosenberg describes how to master new knowledge and take the power to shape our lives in wise and compassionate ways.  

843-6812 

An Evening with The Professor 

5 - 9:30 p.m. 

Mambo Mambo 

1803 Webster St.  

Oakland 

Berkeley resident Geoffrey A. Hirsch, better known as the Tie Guy from the “How Berkeley Can You Be” parade got his start in comedy in 1996. A professor in real life, Hirsch tell the story of how he became a funny guy.  

$5 for show only, $10 for show and dinner 

Call Geoffrey Hirsch at 845-5631 to reserve tickets 

Monday, Oct. 30

Fun with Oragami 

10 a.m. 

Berkeley Senior Center 

1901 Hearst St. 

644-6107 

“BYOP: Pumpkin Carving By Porch and Hearth,” 

Tilden Regional Park 

4 to 7 p.m. “Bring your own pepo” 

Take Canon Drive off Grizzly Peak  

Boulevard, Berkeley. (510) 525-2233. 

Tuesday, Oct. 31

Sing-A-Long 

11 a.m. 

Berkeley Senior Center 

1901 Hearst St. 

644-6107 

Wednesday, Nov. 1

Kathak Dancing with Pandit Chitresh Das 

7:30 p.m. 

Julia Morgan Center for the Arts 

2640 College Ave.  

The Graduate Theological Union presents a free lecture-demonstration with Pandit Chitresh Das, a master of India’s Kathak dance form. This event is free. 

Call 649-2440 for additional info 

Mountain Adventure Seminar 

In-store, registration required 

6 p.m.-9 p.m. 

Learn about equip,emt. fundamental climbing techiques and safety procedures. 

$100 REI members, $110 for non members 

To register (209) 753-6556 

Thursday, Nov. 2

PASTForward Panel Discussion 

2 p.m. 

UC Berkeley Art Museum 

Bancroft Way (below College) 

In conjunction with the White Oak Dance Project’s performances, a panel discussion with Judson era dance choreographers Yvonne Rainer and Deborah Hay. Free. 

From Morgan to Modern 

“Saddling the Site: The Environmental Designs of Wurster, Church and Others” 

7:30 p.m. 

The Hillside Club 

2286 Cedar St. 

$10. 841-2242 

Berkeley Metaphysic Toastmasters Club 

6:15 p.m. - 7:30 p.m. 

2515 Hillegass Ave.  

Public speaking skills and metaphysic come together at Avatar Metaphysical Toastmasters. Meets first and third Thursdays each month. 

Call 869-2547 or 643-7645 

Friday, Nov. 3

Taize Worship Service 

7:30-8:30 p.m. 

An hour of quiet reflection and song. First Friday of the month. 

Loper Chapel on Dana Street between Durant and Channing Way. 

848-3696 

“Want to Transform your Dreams Into Reality?” 

Lecture by Leonard Orr, world known for creating the Rebirthing and Conscious Breathwork Movement. 

7:30 p.m., 

The Berkeley Friends Church, 1600 Sacramento St. 

$25, 843-6514 

Saturday, Nov. 4

Breathtaking Barnabe Peak 

10 a.m. - 4 p.m. 

Hike through Samuel P. Taylor State Park’s lush forests and climb to the heights of Barnabe Peak, overlooking Point Reyes. One in a series of free fall outings organized by Greenbelt Alliance.  

Call: 415-255-3233 for reservations 

Wild About Books? 

10:30 a.m. 

Berkeley Central Library 

2121 Allston Way 

Dublin Library’s resident storyteller and featured teller at the 1998 National Storytelling Festival tell kids aged 3 to 7 her favorite tales.  

Call 649-3943  

Sunday, Nov. 5

Buddhist Psychology 

6 p.m.  

Tibetan Nyingma Institute 

1815 Highland Pl.  

Buddhist teacher Sylvia Gretchen on “Beyond Therapy and Into the Heart of Buddhist Psychology.” Free. 

Call 843-6812  

Monday, Nov. 6

Airports vs. the Bay 

7 p.m. 

Albany Community Center 

1249 Marin St.  

Albany 

David Lewis, Executive Director of “Save the Bay” will speak on the airports’ plans to expand into the SF Bay and other challenges to Bay restoration.  

Contact: Friends of Five Creeks, 848-9358 

Thursday, Nov. 9

The Life and Art of Chiura Obata 

7:30 p.m.  

North Berkeley Public Library 

1170 Alameda (at Hopkins) 

A slide show and lecture presented by Obata’s granddaughter, Kimi Kodani Hill, celebrating Obata’s book, “Topaz Moon: Chiura Obata’s Art of the Internment,” and the retrospective exhibit of Obata’s work to appear this Fall at SFs De Young Museum. 

For details call 644-6850  

From Morgan to Modern 

“Bay Area Modern” 

7:30 p.m. 

The Hillside Club 

2286 Cedar St. 

$10. 841-2242 

ESL Teacher Job Fair 

7 - 8:30 p.m. 

Berkeley Adult School 

1222 University Ave., Room 7  

ESL program representatives from adult schools in Alameda and Contra Costa counties will provide information about desired qualifications, current job openings, credentialing requirements, and more.  

Call Kay Wade, 644-6130 

“Feeding the Moon: A Nutritive Approach to Feminine Fertility” 

Lern how fertility is affected by the environment and how it can be enhanced by healthy lifestyle choices 

7:30 to 9 p.m. 

The Ecology Center 

2530 San Pable Ave.  

558-1324, free 

“Diabetes: What to Know Head-to-Toe” 

Health Education Center, 400 Hawthorne Ave. 

12:30 to 4:30 p.m. Free 

869-6737 

Saturday, Nov. 11

Moonlight on Mt. Diablo 

1 - 10:30 p.m.  

Hike up the Devil’s Mountain by daylight, catch a glorious sunset and hike back by the light of the moon. One in a series of free outing organized by Greenbelt Alliance.  

Call: 415-255-3233 for reservations 

Sunday, Nov. 12

Views, Vines and Veggies 

9:15 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.  

Climb Bald Mountain in Sugarloaf State Park and peer down upon the Napa and Sonoma Valleys. Then please your palate at the Landmark Winery and visit Oak Hill organic vegetable and flower farm. One in a series of free fall outings organized by Greenbelt Alliance.  

Call: 415-255-3233 for reservations 

“Time Across Cultures” 

2 - 4 p.m. 

St. Clements Church 

2837 Claremont Ave.  

The annual Roselyn Yellin Memorial lecture with a slide-illustrated panel discussion. Also a tour of the “Telling Time” exhibit at the Judah L. Magnes Museum followed by a reception at the museum, 4 - 5 p.m.  

More info: 549-6950 

Buddhism & Compassion 

6 p.m. 

Tibetan Nyingma Institute 

1815 Highland Place 

Psychiatrist and teacher Bobby Jones on “Healing through Compassion.” Free.  

843-6812 

Monday, Nov. 13

An Evening with Barbara Kingsolver 

7:30 p.m. 

King Middle School 

1781 Rose St. 

Barbara Kingsolver’s works include “Animal Dreams,” “High Tide in Tucson,” “The Poisonwood Bible” and “Prodigal Summer” 

free parking $10 in advance, $13 at the door 

Benefits KPFA and Urban Ecology. 

848-6767 

Tuesday, Nov. 14

Take a Trip to the Steinbeck Museum and 

Mission San Juan Bautista 

North Berkeley Senior Center 

1901 Hearst Ave. (at MLK Jr. Way) 

This is an outing organzied by the Senior Center.  

$40 with lunch, $25 without  

Call Maggie or Suzanne, 644-6107 

Thursday, Nov. 16

Reminiscing in Swingtime 

7:30 p.m.  

North Berkeley Library  

1170 Alameda (at Hopkins) 

George Yoshida, author and jazz drummer, presents a multi-media program recounting the big band experience in the Japanese American internment camps. The presentation will be capped with a set of live jazz by the George Yoshida Quartet. 

Call for more info: 644-6850 

Berkeley Metaphysic Toastmasters Club 

6:15 p.m. - 7:30 p.m. 

2515 Hillegass Ave.  

Public speaking skills and metaphysic come together at Avatar Metaphysical Toastmasters. Meets first and third Thursdays each month. 

Call 869-2547 or 643-7645 

Free blood pressure screenings 

Health Education Center, 400 Hawthorne Ave. 

free 

869-6737 

Saturday, Nov. 18

 

S.F. Stairs and Peaks 

10 a.m. - 3 p.m.  

Begin the day with a visit to the farmer’s market, then meander up the stairways and streets of Telegraph Hill to Coit Tower. Then up Russian Hill, descending to Fisherman’s Wharf for a ride back on the new historic streetcar line. One in a series of free fall outings organized by Greenbelt Alliance.  

Call: 415-255-3233 

 

Berkeley Free Folk Festival 

11 a.m. - 1 a.m.  

Ashkenaz  

1317 San Pablo Ave. 

Fourteen hours of free concerts, workshops, jam sessions and to top it off a Saturday night dance. The fifth annual Folk Festival will feature Shay & Michael Black, Spectre Double Negative & the Equal Positive, Larry Hanks, Wake the Dead and many others. Sponsored by Charles Schwab and the City of Berkeley.  

More info or to volunteer: 525-5099 

 

---

Sunday, Nov. 19

Soprano Deborah Voigt 

Cal Performances  

3 p.m.  

Voigt’s performance is a postponment from her original Oct. 15 date. The program will remain unchanged. 

$28-$48 For tickets call 642-9988 or e-mail tickets@calperfs.berkeley.edu 

Mt. Madonna & Wine  

10 a.m. - 2 p.m. 

Hike through evergreen forests and visit the remains of a 19th century estate, then finish the day with a visit to Kruse Winery. One of many free fall outings organized by Greenbelt Alliance.  

Call: (415) 255-3233 for reservations 

“Drawing Marathon”  

Merritt College’s Art Building 

Live models, group poses.  

$12 for half a day, $20 for a full day, senior and student discounts available. No cameras or turpentine. 

523-9763 

Tuesday, Nov. 21

Fibromyalgia Support Group 

Noon - 2 p.m.  

Alta Bates Medical Center, Maffly Auditorium 

Herrick Campus 

2001 Dwight Way 

Call D.L. Malinousky, 601-0550 

Saturday, Dec. 2

Wild About Books? 

10:30 a.m. 

Berkeley Central Library 

2121 Allston Way 

Storyteller Kellmar draws from her African-American roots with stories that touch the heart and the funnybone. For childen aged 3-7. 

Call 649-3943  

Compiled by Chason Wainwright 

LOS ANGELES — For decades, Los Angeles’ bus drivers and riders have looked at each other across the fare box with suspicion and distrust. 

The Metropolitan Transit Authority consistently told riders that drivers’ salaries were behind rising fares. Drivers, in turn, got the message that the only way to keep their jobs secure was to stick it to riders in the fare box. 

Yet, the recent 32-day drivers' strike saw drivers and riders forge a winning alliance against the MTA – an alliance that not only won the strike, but marks a shift in the city's balance of power.  

L.A. bus riders – overwhelmingly immigrants from Mexico and Central America – are the base of the city's new economy. The buses carry room cleaners in downtown luxury hotels, seamstresses from garment sweatshops, day laborers, domestics and janitors.  

A majority of the drivers are African-Americans. Over the last two decades, the closure of L.A.'s steel, auto and tire plants has left thousands of black workers in the street.  

Driving a bus today is one of the few secure jobs left carrying union benefits and a salary high enough to allow a family to buy a home. 

Defending those wages and conditions was an uphill struggle. 

As one picketer said, “there’s a lot of resentment out there against people of color, especially women, making $50,000 a year.” 

Los Angeles' changing economy has pitted these two sections of the workforce against each other, and many elected officials exploit the consequent hostility. Overcoming this divide in the course of a bitter labor dispute shows a new level of awareness in both communities. 

Riders and drivers saw clearly that the pressure to raise bus fares came not from salaries, but from the huge construction budgets for new rail systems bringing mostly white commuters in from the suburbs. 

The rail system will promote land development on the city's fringe –good news for the giant firms paid millions to do the work, and the building trades, the old guard of the city's labor movement. 

The MTA first tried to cut bus service to pay for rail, but the Bus Riders Union went to court and won a consent decree mandating minimum service levels. 

The transit strike started as a battle against MTA efforts to to pay ballooning construction costs by converting hundreds of full-time jobs to part time, reducing pay to affected workers and limiting overtime. 

Underlying these demands was a plan to break up the transit system into autonomous units serving smaller areas – a precondition for turning operations over to private contractors. 

As soon as the strike started, the riders' union began organizing big rallies to support the drivers. At the end of the strike, over 850 drivers signed letters demanding no cuts in service. 

“There was a radical change in the drivers' attitude towards the riders’ union,” says Eric Mann, a member of the riders’ union planning committee.  

“In the past, their union relied on an insider relationship with the MTA and saw us as troublemakers. That’s not true anymore.” 

The Los Angeles County Federation of Labor also backed the striking drivers, breaking long-established relationships with two MTA directors – staunch Democrats Gloria Molina and Yvonne Braithwaite-Burke – who are also county supervisors elected with labor votes and dollars. The two made common cause with Republican Mayor Richard Reardon against the unions. 

Miguel Contreras, the first Latino head of the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor, came to the drivers' defense, also breaking long-standing political relationships with the building trades and MTA management.  

Contreras took the side of the federation's most active unions today, which include janitors, hotel workers, and garment workers. 

Against this alliance, even Governor Gray Davis proved powerless. In the middle of the strike, Davis agreed to sign legislation guaranteeing MTA jobs, wages and union contracts for four years in the event of the breakup of the transit system.  

He then tried to use the agreement as leverage to get the supervisors and mechanics unions’ leaders to send their members across the drivers’ picketlines and back to work.  

The heads of these unions agreed, but the following morning, only eight of over 1,800 mechanics crossed the lines.  

The rest refused. Supported by Contreras, James Williams, head of the drivers' local of United Transportation Union, declined the governor's blandishments. 

In the process, both riders and drivers protected the integrity of the transit system. Since the agreement prevents the use of lower wages and broken unions as an incentive, at least for the next few years, it is less likely that the district will be broken up and privatized. 

The settlement that ended the strike is a compromise. It allows the MTA to begin hiring part-timers at lower wages. Overtime will be limited, and management will be able to intervene on work rules. 

But a new political truth overshadows this compromise – the city’s low-wage workers showed themselves willing to defend higher wage-earners. 

Latinos made common cause with African-Americans. Drivers came out against service cuts that would have bolstered rail service for suburban commuters at the expense of working-class bus riders.  

Just a few months ago, L.A.’s low-wage immigrant janitors fought a celebrated strike – the latest in a decade-long series of rebellions from below – for drastic improvements in pay and working conditions. 

They won the support of the city's emerging Latino political establishment, against the downtown old guard. 

When that movement came to the support of the drivers, it recognized a basic common interest. The city's low-wage workers desperately need the public sector – social welfare, public schools, subsidized transportation, free healthcare and other public services.  

L.A. county workers, for their part, find themselves engaged in a bitter struggle for wage increases and higher budgets for those public services. This new labor-based alliance has the power to redefine who will benefit from the city’s new economy. 

PNS associate editor David Bacon is a Berkeley resident who writes widely on immigrant and labor issues.

After a first half characterized by dropped passes and sloppy tackling, the tenacious play of unheralded St. Mary’s senior fullback Danny Wheeler sparked the Panthers to a 34-0 rout of Albany High (1-4) Saturday afternoon.  

Taking over after Albany’s first drive stalled on St. Mary’s 24-yard line, the Panther’s embarked upon a six-play, 3:10 drive capped by Wheeler breaking one tackle and rumbling into the endzone from 12 yards out. 

A back-up center for the Panther’s last year, Wheeler made the most of the opportunities afforded by an unsuspecting Albany defense to rush for 54 yards and one touchdown on nine carries, providing the backbone of the 237-yard Panther rushing attack.  

Commenting on his play, Wheeler said: "Most people key in on Trestin (George), but they have no idea that I’m there. I just run with my heart." 

After taking this seven-point lead, St. Mary’s fell asleep at the wheel and was unable to sustain any notable drives for the rest of the half, and accumulated only another 54 yards of total offense before halftime. Albany was similarly ineffective and put together only one more drive, pushing the Panther "bend but don’t break" defense to the 17-yard line.  

The Panthers woke up at halftime, and played the second half with all the intensity they had lacked in the first. After kicking off, St. Mary’s promptly forced Albany quarterback Yaw Yiadom to fumble, and Omar Young pounced on the loose ball to give the Panther’s their first scoring opportunity of the half. Starting on his own 37-yard line, St. Mary’s head coach Dan Shaughnessy turned to his newly founded inside-outside running attack. With the Albany defense keyed in on senior running back Trestin George, Wheeler pounded the ball up their gut and George stuck with his strength, sweeping downfield. Seven plays and 3:26 later the Panther’s took a 14-0 lead.  

After the game, Coach Dan Shaughnessy noted that "I was concerned about us being lethargic at the beginning, team-wise. We were slow getting ready. But that’s okay, we came through at the end." 

Wide awake and playing full-tilt, the Panther defense roared again, and forced Yiadom into his second consecutive turnover. Squeezed in a collapsing pocket, Yiadom tried to dump the ball to tight end XY. Junior Omarr Flood leaped, tipped, and intercepted the ball. His sprint to the endzone was short, and 20 yards later the Panthers took a commanding 21-0 lead.  

Looking confident after stopping Albany at midfield, St. Mary’s gave the ball to George, who sprinted 45 yards down the sideline to leave his Panther teammates salivating at the prospect of another six points. St. Mary’s pounded twice into the Albany line, and George bounded into the endzone on the third attempt to give his team a 27-point lead.  

After receiving another Albany punt on the 41-yard line, St. Mary’s gave the ball to George. In a deja vu, virtual replay of a few moments before, George took a sweep left, avoided two tacklers, and scampered 41 yards downfield. This time, however, George crossed the goal-line to earn his third touchdown of the afternoon, and giving him 159 yards for the afternoon and his team a 34-0 victory. 

The win carries St. Mary’s to 4-3 (2-0 BSAL) while Albany drops to 1-5. St. Mary’s goes on the road to take on St. Patrick’s High at 5:30 next Friday night.

Underground youth activist Jia Ching Chen has rappelled off buildings, been tear-gassed, and led throngs of multiracial youth in the first “hip-hop sit-in” at the San Francisco Hilton.  

Yet, the winner of this year’s Mario Savio Memorial Free Speech Award stumbled on his words while receiving his prize earlier this week. 

“I was nervous,” said the 27-year-old activist. “Maybe because it had a feeling of being mainstream.” 

He received $1,000 as part of the award from Lynne Hollander Savio, widow of Mario Savio, the famed Berkeley free speech activist in whose the honor the award is given.  

Chen was recognized for leading a new generation of activists in the fight for human rights and social justice with integrity, said Savio.  

He has led youth of all colors across the Bay Area in campaigns against police brutality. Last year, he organized a group that protested the World Trade Organization in Seattle. 

Although honored by his award, Chen later said he is more accustomed to addressing multiracial teenage groups and felt slightly awkward in front of the ceremony’s crowd.  

More than 200 activists and academics, many middle-aged and white, came to Pauley Ballroom Tuesday to see feminist authors Barbara Ehrenreich and Arlie Hochschild speak for the Savio Memorial lecture.  

“It’s a demographic that made me uncomfortable in my past,” he said.  

Growing up among few people of color in Salt Lake City, Chen, the son of Taiwanese immigrants, said he experienced racism. 

“It took me a long time to figure out what democracy really was,” he said. “That the government can provide checks and balances isn’t really true.” 

After getting his architecture and interdisciplinary arts degrees from the UC Berkeley, Chen became politically active.  

In 1998, he founded the East Bay chapter of the Third Eye Movement, a youth of color group that fights against police brutality. He has also worked with the Berkeley-based Ruckus Society, which trains people for the rigors of public demonstrations. 

A highlight in his short but vivid activist career was shutting down the WTO ministerial last year, he said. 

Seven months ago, Chen joined JustAct: Youth Action for Global Justice. This group educates other youth groups on how their individual issues, like gay and lesbian rights or environmentalism, tie in with global ones. 

“We’re trying to build a grassroots solidarity. To meet people engaged in similar struggles all over the world,” he said. 

The group often teaches workshops on world trade and banking to minority youth organizations. 

“We want to bring an understanding of global economics to traditionally marginalized constituents, explain its effects on their fights,” he said.  

Despite leading many in their struggles, Chen initially had doubts about how rallies with youth groups could change the world. 

“It can be really stressful and difficult,” he said. “It took me a while to feel empowered by working collectively,” he said. 

“In the beginning, I felt some discomfort at demonstrations,” he said. “But the need to act overcame that.” 

Daily Planet Wire Services 

SEATTLE - Washington scored 23 points in a 6:01 span of the fourth quarter to post a 36-24 come-from-behind victory over Cal Saturday afternoon in Husky Stadium.  

The Bears led for most of the game and entered the final period up, 24-13. However, two fumbles, an interception and a blocked punt in four straight possessions directly led to 23 UW points, giving the Huskies their 18th consecutive win over the Bears.  

Up to that point, Cal played one of its best games of the year. Joe Igber rushed for 116 yards and quarterback Kyle Boller threw for one touchdown and rushed for another. However, UW, which has outscored its opponents by more than 60 points in the fourth quarter this year, took control down the stretch.  

Cal enjoyed fine field position throughout the first quarter and broke into the scoring column on a 54-yard touchdown drive. The march was kept alive by a roughing the punter penalty, which set the ball at the Washington 30-yard-line. Two plays later, Boller hit freshman Geoff McArthur, who found a seam in the zone and he hauled in a 24-yard TD pass with 4:52 left in the quarter.  

Penalties also played a big role on the next drive. A Cal fumble recovery was negated by an offsides penalty and a Marques Tuiasosopo scramble inside Cal’s 10-yard line was wiped out by a holding penalty. However, the Huskies converted a 3rd-and-25 situation with a 28-yard pass to Paul Arnold at the Cal 16. Five plays later, Rich Alexis took the ball into end zone from one-yard out to tie the score on the first play of the second quarter.  

On its next possession, Cal marched all the way to the Husky 33, but failed on a fourth-down attempt.  

That field position paid off, though, as Cal got a major break on the next play. Andre Carter caused a Rich Alexis fumble and linebacker John Klotsche picked up the loose ball and rambled in 34 yards for a touchdown and a Bears 14-7 lead with 11:12 left in the half.  

Taking over at their own 23-yard-line with 2:51 left in the half, the Huskies used crossing patterns to quickly move down the field. After getting as far as the Cal 25. The Bears stiffened and John Anderson came on to nail a 42-yard field goal to make it 14-10 at the intermission.  

Cal began to take seemingly control of the game in the third quarter. After stopping the Huskies, the Bears again moved into Washington territory. A 40-yard run by Igber put the ball at the Husky 16. Three plays later, Boller dropped back, saw a wide open middle, and scrambled 15 yards for a TD and a 24-13 lead with 2:07 left in the third period.  

Washington attempted to get back into the game on its next drive. Thanks to a 4th-and-1 conversion at the Cal 30, the Huskies advanced deep into Cal territory. When the drive stalled, Anderson came on to attempt a 32-yard field goal attempt, but it sailed wide right with 12:37 left in the game.  

Disaster struck three plays later when Anthony Kelley came on a blitz and forced a fumble as Boller was attempting the throw. Linebacker Derrell Daniels fell on the ball at the Cal 12-yard-line. Cal’s defense rose to the occasion and this time Anderson hit a 29-yard field goal to make it 24-16 with 10:35 left in the game.  

Washington received yet another break on the next drive, when Swafford slipped trying to make a cut to the sidelines and the pass floated straight into the hands of cornerback Omare Lowe at the Cal 31-yard-line with just under nine minutes left in the game. A pair of first downs put the ball at the 10-yard-line with just over seven minutes to go. Tight end Jerramy Stevens culminated the drive when he hauled in a TD pass to pull the Huskies within two. A two-point pass conversion was negated by three penalties and everybody had to do it again. This time the pass across the middle was incomplete, knocked down by Jemeel Powell, and the Bears were clinging to a 24-22 lead with 6:49 left in the game.  

An illegal block on the ensuing kickoff put the Bears in poor field position at their own 12-yard-line. On the first play, Joe Igber fumbled the ball and Hakim Akbar recovered at the Cal 16-yard-line. Rich Alexis made the Bears play as he rambled 16 yards on an option pitch for the TD. With the extra point, Washington had its first lead of the day at 29-24.  

The trend continued for Cal on its next drive. After a 20-yard run by Igber, the Bears were eventually forced to punt. This time, UW blocked the Nick Harris kick, recovering the ball on the Cal 9-yard-line. Two plays later, Tuiasosopo his Todd Elstrom in the back of the end zone for the 36-24 lead.  

Boller finished the day completing 14-of-32 passes for 213 yards, including three each to Igber and Chase Lyman. Tuiasosopo was 19-for-35 on the day for 225 yards.

Ever since Martyn Smith, professor of toxicology at UC Berkeley and graduate student Christine F. Skibola, published their findings in the “Free Radical Biology and Medicine” journal, they’ve been inundated with phone calls and e-mails from very worried people.  

Their studies showed that an excessive intake of certain components of plant food, called flavonoids, in the form of supplements, could be toxic. High concentrations of flavonoids are present in popular products such as ginkgo pills, quercetin tablets, grape seed extract and flax seed.  

“People want to improve their own health, and unfortunately believe the wild claims made for these supplements. They believe that their memory is going to be sharpened by Gingko Biloba. There is absolutely no evidence for that in normal people. So, they’re trying to improve themselves, but in the effort, they may be doing more harm to themselves than good.”  

Smith and Skibola embarked on this study because they got tired of hearing only about the beneficial effects of flavanoids, which according to them are actually in fruits and vegetables. “The companies selling these compounds are touting the good things. But people have to be aware of the dangers they’re exposed to,” said Skibola.  

Smith points to the example of a supplement called Quercetin, which is widely advertised as an antihistamine, and is supposed to have anti-inflammatory properties. “The bottle of Quercetin in our lab has a skull and cross bones ‘poison’ sign on it. We handle it only with protective clothing. You can go to a health food store and buy it, and they recommend that you take a gram a day. There’s no warning on it. The first studies at Berkeley on that compound and others, which showed that it produced generic damage were done in 1977, and published in ‘Science’ on the Berkeley campus. People seem to have forgotten that. They seem to think that it’s a harmless natural substance, and that’s just not true.”  

Smith and Skibola don’t doubt that flavonoids are potentially very useful compounds. The duo say the benefits are in eating flavonoid-rich foods, like green teas, apples, onions, and other fruits and vegetables, and not in taking supplements with high flavonoid concentrations. “What is good for you in nature is not necessarily good for you in a concentrated form,” said Skibola. 

Smith said the crux of the problem is the 1994 Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act of 1994. With the passage of this act, the dietary ingredients used in dietary supplements were no longer subject to the pre-market safety evaluations required of other new food ingredients or for new uses of old food ingredients. “The supplements can only be taken off the market if the Food and Drug Administration can prove that they are unsafe. The burden of proving that they are unsafe is on the government, and not on the manufacturer,” said Smith.  

But manufacturing companies insist that this doesn’t give them any leeway to do as they please. “The FDA does regulate us. Certain label claims have to be approved by the FDA. We have to adhere to their guidelines. We have a legal department and a regulatory department to deal with label claims,” said Jim Sword, director of corporate communications at Twin Labs. 

And it appears that many consumers would rather believe the labels than the studies. 

Andrew Saito, 21, an ethnic studies student at UC Berkeley, likes to use grapefruit extract and black currant oil. He believes that they help with acne and eczema. He wasn’t sure if the findings would make him stop using these supplements.  

“There are conflicting theories about everything. So, I don’t know what to believe,” said Saito. 

Many consumers agreed with him. So did the people on the other side of the counter. “A lot of people are doing research. One says one thing. Another says some thing else. I look at a lot of reference books, before I decide what to keep in my store. And my reading tells me that flavonoids are good, because they are a part of the natural environment.” said Baoul Scavullo, the owner of a health food store that sells various dietary supplements. “When people say that to me, I tell them that arsenic, mercury, benzene and lead are all perfectly natural,” said Smith. “There are all these poisons you can think of, which are perfectly natural, and there’s no demonstration that with time, that you become more resistant to them.”  

Smith and Skibla are worried that too many people are self-medicating themselves with these supplements, and not telling their doctors about it. This could confuse matters when the doctor is trying to make a diagnosis or prescribe treatment. The only way out, according to Smith, is legislation.  

“You can combat this only with new legislation, requiring the manufacturers to establish safe levels of intake and to demonstrate that their products are safe. I think the burden should be on the manufacturer, and not on the government.”  

Sabo, Mueller score as Cal gets third straight shutout 

In a game marred by high winds and dirty play, the Cal women’s soccer team came out on top, 2-0, over a plucky but overmatched Arizona squad. 

First-half goals by forward Kyla Sabo and defender Ashley Mueller provided the scoreline, but it was during the second half that things got interesting. After playing with the strong wind at their backs in the first half, the Bears struggled to keep Arizona (3-11-2, 0-5-1 Pac-10) from getting scoring opportunities with the wind in their faces, as the Wildcats sent high ball after high ball down the field.  

“I’ll take rain, even a little snow over this kind of wind,” Cal head coach Kevin Boyd said. “It effects the gameplay quite a bit. You feel like you’re running uphill when its in your face. I thought we played well in spite of the conditions.” 

Midfielder Ashley Gonzalez stopped many charges short with her steady play in the air, but the Cal backs were caught napping several times as the Wildcats attacked down the flanks and sent crosses through the box. But Arizona’s forwards couldn’t get a boot to the ball at the right time, and several balls went untouched past the Cal goal. 

The second half also saw a change in strategy by the Arizona defense, who supplemented their man-marking and persistent double-teaming of Pac-10 leading scorer Laura Schott with hard fouls. Schott spent most of the half being hacked at, and she eventually retaliated with a hard foul of her own on Arizona’s Cassidy Guinn, who stayed down for several minutes before continuing. Boyd removed Schott from the game soon after, ending the sophomore’s eight-game scoring streak. 

“I’m pretty sure their coach got on them at halftime about trying to match up and battle with our forwards, and the referee pretty much swallowed his whistle,” Boyd said. “We just had to work through it and deal with the fouls we took.” 

The physical play wasn’t limited to the Arizona defense, as several battles emerged in the midfield, and the Cal defense responded with some physical play of their own. 

“We have to control the game. If they’re going to foul our forwards, we’ll go in harder on theirs,” senior sweeper Tami Pivnik said. “We don’t like to play like that, but we’re going to do it if we have to.” 

Sabo’s goal came just seven minutes into the game. Cal midfielder Natalie Stuhlmueller streaked down the left sideline and served a cross right onto the onrushing Sabo, who headed the ball past Arizona goalkeeper Inger Airheart. The goal was Sabo’s sixth of the season, giving the junior a career-high 20 points for the year. 

Sabo, who also scored a week ago against archrival Stanford, has become a complementary scorer behind Schott, something the team needs as opponents begin to key on stopping the All-America candidate. 

“Teams are coming in saying ‘Laura’s the scorer, we’ll man-mark her and they won’t score.’ Kevin’s been telling me I have to step up and be more dangerous,” Sabo said. “They’re so concerned with Laura that they forget about whoever else is up front with her.” 

Cal’s second goal came in the 24th minute, as an Arizona defender cleared the ball right to Mueller. The sophomore stepped up and hit the ball with her left foot from 35 yards out, and the ball whistled into the left corner of the net pas the diving Airheart for Mueller’s first goal at Cal. 

“I hit it really hard and it just went in,” Mueller said. “I wasn’t expecting it to be quite so accurate. It’s nice because defenders don’t get much of a chance to score.” 

The win boosted the Bears overall record to 14-1-1 and put them in second place in the conference with a 4-1 record. 

Next up for the Bears is a tough road trip to Los Angeles, where they will play at USC (11-3-2, 3-1-1) on Friday and UCLA (12-2-1, 3-1-1) Sunday. Both teams were undefeated in Pac-10 play before this weekend, when both lost close games to conference leader Washington. 

This weekend’s games will likely determine Cal’s postseason fate. Boyd said he feels his team has earned a tournament spot and are now vying for a first-round bye and possible seeded spot. If the Bears earn a split next weekend and sweep the Oregon schools at home to close the season, Boyd expects a first-round bye. The coach said the team needs to win all four remaining games to earn a seeded spot in the tournament, something he thinks is a very real possibility. 

“I think we’re playing well. I think we can go in there and give them tough games,” Boyd said. “They’re going to have to do a lot to beat us, that’s for sure.”

California scored six unanswered goals to top Davidson, 6-1, on Sunday at Kleeberger Field to finish the conference schedule undefeated at 5-0.  

Davidson (6-12, 1-4 in NorPac) came out at the started of the match with an aggressive attack and a stifling defense that virtually created a human wall at one point to stop Cal’s leading scorer, Nora Feddersen, from advancing with the ball.  

The Wildcats only score of the game came off a penalty corner when Davidson’s leading scorer Lea Jaeger took a set shot for a 1-0 lead. 

Fighting winds of up to 25 miles at some points in the game, Cal bounced back and scored six straight goals as Stephanie Lyons scored on the Bears fourth penalty corner to knot the game at 1-1.  

Cal (9-4, 5-0 in NorPac) scored one more goal before the intermission as senior defender Leslie Katch scored off of a rebound on a penalty corner. Erin Booth tipped the initial save and Katch was there to put it home for her third goal of the season.  

“It really feels good to help out the team on offense,” said Katch. “Mainly I’m a defender, but, we’ve been working on having our defense come up and help out offensively. Even if they’re scored on corners, it’s just nice to contribute that way instead of just stopping the goals.”  

In the second half, the Bears continued their offensive outburst on another corner as Feddersen faked a shot from the top of the circle setting up junior, Amber Stockstill who collapsed down towards the goal, putting Cal up, 3-1.  

“I have to give the team some credit,” said coach Shellie Onstead. “I actually made one up (corner formation) on the fly and that’s the one that Amber Stockstill scored. I yelled to them what to do and they executed it perfectly.”  

Harkins third assist came when she found a streaking Pooja Mehta who handled the pass and lifted the shot passed Davidson goalkeeper, Amanda Mordavsky.  

“After they scored that first goal, we were upset because we’re conference champions and they’re up on us like right away,” explained Harkins. “So we decided that we had to get it back.”

OAKLAND — Green Party Presidential Candidate Ralph Nader rejected calls from a dozen of his longtime fellow activists that he rethink his campaign because he could cost Democrat Al Gore the election. 

Twelve old “Nader’s Raiders” urged Nader on Friday to drop out of the White House race in states where Gore is in close fights with Republican George W. Bush. 

“There’s a dozen former Nader’s Raiders out of several thousand who decided to raise this point,” Nader said Saturday at a news conference preceding a rally that hall officials said drew more than 6,000 people. 

“I think they’re well-intentioned, but frightened liberals who sided with the lesser of two evils,” Nader said of the dozen, who call themselves “Nader’s Raiders for Gore.” 

Some of the dozen have in recent years gone into corporate employment or work for the government, and don’t understand that times have changed for consumer activists, he said. 

“We can’t get done what we got done when they were working with us,” because of “big money in politics and the increasing homogenization of both parties into one party indentured to business interests,” he said. 

The dozen critics also said Nader broke a promise to campaign only in states where his candidacy would not hurt Gore’s chances for victory. 

Nader denied ever making such a promise, and made plain he intends to press on with his campaign nationwide, if only to build a viable third party for the future. 

“This is a 50-state campaign,” he said. Nader offered rally-goers a glimpse of government under his leadership. 

“We’ve got to go back to the people of this country and build the civic power that we’ll (bring) back to Washington and take our government back and bend it to our will,” he said. 

Nader said the Democratic party assumes that its liberal base has “got nowhere else to go.” 

“That’s quite a choice for the American people, between the bad Democratic party and the worse Republicans,” he said. “I think we need a better choice than that.” 

A Field Poll earlier this month showed Gore leading Bush by 13 percentage points, with Nader drawing 4 percent. But more recent polls show the race tightening significantly. Democratic surveys in California show Gore leading by as little as 6 points.

OAKLAND – Oakland Fire Department Chief Gerald Simon credited hard lessons learned in the 1991 East Bay hills wild fire for today's quick and effective response to new fire threats. 

Speaking at a news conference at the department this evening, Simon said by 10:30 a.m. reports from residents of branches blown into wires by the wind prompted officials to open the city's emergency operations center. 

By 11:05 a.m he said the center was fully operational and ready to handle a report nine minutes later of a fire on Wisconsin Street at 11:14 a.m. 

Soon after, at 11:32 a.m., he said a second fire was reported in the Oakland hills, near Claremont Avenue and Harbord Drive, that charred 10 acres of land. 

But no structures were damaged today, the chief said, and no one was injured. 

Simon said that from the city of Oakland alone, 150 people were on the scene dealing with the fires.  

He also praised mutual assistance teams, which he said were alerted early on that their aid could be needed because of lessons learned in the October 21, 1991 fire, in which 25 people died and 3,000 homes were destroyed in Oakland  

and Berkeley. 

Today's story could have ended far worse, because similar dry, windy conditions held the potential for another “disaster-type event,” the chief said. 

Simon said that at one point the fire was moving up a slope and, if it had jumped a small fire break or embers had blown across, could have reached within 35 feet of striking distance to homes. 

Crews will remain on duty all night to ensure that the fire does not flare up again. 

Extra staff members are being called in, in addition to some mutual aid that is being retained. 

The 1991 fire was believed to be a rekindling of a fire from the previous day that had not been thoroughly extinguished. 

Simon said firefighters will continue to monitor the area until there is a significant decrease in wind activity. Helicopters will be used for monitoring the area. 

Oakland City Manager Robert Bobb said the forestry division had been deferring maintenance on trees for a number of years, and the city will need to address that area. He said more resources will be put into forestry and vegetation maintenance.

SAN FRANCISCO — Researchers say they’ve discovered what’s draining 10 percent of the electricity in homes in the San Francisco Bay Area and around the world. 

Vampires. 

Also called power supplies, vampires are the chunky, two-pronged plugs that power everything from refrigerators to cellular phone chargers.  

But long after household appliances such as stereos, computers and bread machines are turned off, vampires continue draining standby power from the electrical grid – at an average cost of $80 a year per household. 

“You know they are working when you’ve turned off your appliance and you touch that vampire and it’s still warm,” said Alan Meier, a researcher at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. 

A recent study by Meier and J.P. Ross of the University of California, Berkeley, found that standby power represents 67 watts, or 10 percent, of an average Bay Area home’s electricity use per year.  

With power rates expected to rise, every extra watt adds up, Meier said. 

Standby power use has become an international concern as more household appliances and electronics add features such as clocks and computerized displays that require a continual flow of power. 

Studies in Japan, Germany and the Netherlands have also found standby power accounts for as much as 10 percent of national residential electricity use.  

The quickest solution is unplugging the vampires, though Meier calls that unrealistic.  

He said the best solution is to convince manufacturers to use newer, energy efficient vampires for their products.  

The state recently gave the California Energy Commission $50 million to launch a campaign to cut power use by next June. 

State energy commission director Arthur Rosenfeld said under one proposal manufacturers would get a 50 cent rebate for each energy efficient vampire sold over the next year.  

The commission also proposes to provide funding for cities and other groups to install energy-efficient appliances and equipment. 

A growing number of portable devices charged by vampires, such as handheld computers, cellular phones and laptops makes cutting back on standby power imperative, says Craig Hershberg, manager of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and Department of Energy’s Energy Star program.  

At the federal level, the Energy Star program has given recognition to energy efficient products since 1992. 

Such programs have driven companies, such as Sunnyvale’s Power Integrations, Inc., a maker of power supplies, to incorporate energy efficiency into their product design, said Mike Matthews, director of strategic marketing. 

Their power supply design replaces traditional weighty iron and copper transformers with silicon chips and electronic components.  

This makes the power supply lighter, more energy efficient, and compatible with voltage around the world, Matthews said. 

Palo Alto’s Sun Microsystems, Inc., a network computing services provider, won an award this year from Energy Star for producing energy efficient products and workspaces. 

And Mountain View’s Cobalt Networks, Inc., also a computer networking services company, produces a server that uses only 30 watts of electricity, generates less heat and requires less work from cooling systems. 

Refrigerators, laptop computer chargers and set-top boxes for cable or satellite television are among the hungriest standby power appliances, the study said. 

Some appliances use more power in standby mode than when they are in use: A 1999 New Zealand study revealed that more than 40 percent of microwave ovens consumed more electricity in the standby mode than when heating food. 

On the Net: 

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and Department of Energy’s Energy Star program: http://www.energystar.gov 

Lawrence Livermore Laboratory Web site about Leaking energy sources: http://eetd.lbl.gov/standby 

California Energy Commission: http://www.energy.ca.gov 

Power Integrations, Inc.: http://www.powerint.com 

Cobalt Networks, Inc.: http://www.cobalt.com 

Sun Microsystems, Inc.: http://www.sun.com

Trees around school playgrounds do more than shade kids after a fast-round of keep-away. If enough playgrounds and parking lots are shaded, the whole city will stay cooler. 

Changing black roofs and parking lots to white also can help, federal scientists say. 

Those nice, cool colors, green and white, are the keys to using information which NASA provided two years ago in infrared photographs pinpointing the hottest spots in Louisiana’s capital of Baton Rouge. 

Sacramento, Atlanta, Baton Rouge and Salt Lake City were pilot cities in a NASA-Environmental Protection Agency project that has since spread to Houston, Los Angeles, Chicago and Phoenix. 

The object: reducing urban heat islands where asphalt, concrete and steel hold and intensify heat. Cities can be 2 to 8 degrees hotter than the area around them. That, in turn, intensifies pollution. 

The first flights were over Atlanta in May 1997. NASA researchers reported this year that Atlanta’s heat creates nighttime thunderstorms when the sky outside the metro area is clear. 

Baton Rouge, Salt Lake City and Sacramento were heat-mapped two years ago. 

Baton Rouge architect Coleman D. Brown is already convinced that white roofs are best for the commercial buildings he designs. Helping the city is a bonus. 

He replaced the coal tar roof at Brown & Brown Architects five years ago with an insulated white roof. His air conditioning bills fell from about $2,500 a month to $1,800 to $2,000 a month. 

“Here’s the kicker,” he says: the roof cost much less than a coal tar roof. It won’t last as long, but the air conditioning more than makes up the difference. 

Fran Stewart, an environmental scientist at the Department of Environmental Quality, reports to NASA and EPA this week on what the city-parish is doing to get out of the blacktop. A committee is rewriting the landscaping ordinance. 

“I’d like to see pretty much all shade covering all parking areas,” said Peggy Davis, education director for Baton Rouge Green, a group dedicated to planting trees in the city. “I’m hoping for 60 percent.” 

Sacramento already requires new parking lots to include enough trees to shade at least half of the parking lot after 15 years. 

In January, the Sacramento Municipal Utility District plans to offer the nation’s first incentive for white roofs on both homes and commercial buildings, said Ray Tretheway, executive director of the Sacramento Tree Foundation. 

“They’re projecting they’ll rebate 20 cents a square foot if you go to a cool roof,” he said. 

The Lawrence Berkley National Laboratory has said that doubling the space shaded by trees and adding several square miles of light surfaces would cut Sacramento’s smoggy days in half, he said. 

In Baton Rouge, turning every roof and every street and parking lot in the city from black to white would get the city halfway to its total air quality goal, said Hashem Akbari, head of the Lawrence Berkley National Laboratory’s urban heat project. 

It’s a long-term goal. 

“A lot of roofs are being changed every 10 years. And pavements also need to be resurfaced every seven to eight years. So we are hoping within 10 to 15 years, we would get to that objective,” he said. 

Salt Lake City isn’t changing its landscape ordinance, said Meryl Redisch, Executive Director of TreeUtah. 

She said she thinks it’s more important to work directly with developers and councils to get them to include cool community strategies. In the Highland community, she said, one of the architectural and landscape architecture firms is adding more trees in parking lots and more landscaping in general. 

Baton Rouge Green isn’t just working outside the schools, but teaching the children inside them. 

Both its tree planting and education programs were started well before the EPA’s urban heat initiative. Baton Rouge Green has been planting trees at 10 schools a year since 1992. 

The NASA data shows which schools need them most, Morris said. 

Architects in the city also began using white roofs before the project began, Brown said. A survey of the city’s biggest contractors found that they had installed 3.1 million square feet of white roofing — enough to cover the Superdome more than six times — over the past three years. The figure probably can be doubled to include all contractors, he said. 

A new roof isn’t always needed. Brown said one of his friends cut the temperature in his Houma boathouse by about 10 degrees just by painting the metal roof true white instead of off-white. 

——— 

On the Net: 

NASA: http://www.ghcc.msfc.nasa.gov/urban/ 

Lawrence Berkley National Laboratory: http://EandE.LBL.gov/HeatIslands/ 

EPA: http://www.livablecommunities.gov/toolsandresources/sg—heat.htm 

Lawrence Berkley National Laboratory: http://eetd.lbl.gov/HeatIsland/ 

Baton Rouge: http://www.batonrougegreen.com/ 

Sacramento: http://www.energy.ca.gov/coolcommunity/index.html 

Salt Lake City: http://www.treelink.org/treeutah/flyover.html 

OAKLAND — Oakland police have arrested an administrator with the city’s Office of Parks and Recreation on suspicion of embezzling more than $12,000 to pay for school supplies and a trip to the Virgin Islands. 

Lenora Hameed, 44, is the first employee of the office to be arrested as a result of a three-month police probe of the department. 

Hameed was arrested Friday morning as she left the Alhambra Academy School of Science and World Cultures, a school she co-founded. 

She was arrested on a $30,000 warrant charging her with two felony counts of embezzlement of public funds. 

Police believe the alleged embezzlement took place over the past year. 

Hameed has worked at the parks department since 1989. She has been on administrative leave from her position as administrative services manager since shortly before the new head took over the department in May.

LOS ANGELES — Southern California’s booming economy has pushed rents up so high that most apartments are far out of reach for lower-income families.  

And that’s contributing to a growing trend: entire families living – permanently or semi-permanently – in motels. 

“What’s different is that the people who are staying here are no longer the unemployed,” said Jim Parkin, owner of the Covered Wagon, a 70-unit motel in Anaheim that relies almost entirely on locals.  

“There’s no one here collecting cans.” 

The average apartment now goes for nearly $1,100 a month in Orange County and $838 in Los Angeles County.  

Rents are still climbing and the few new apartment projects under way are generally high-end. 

“We are reaching an unparalleled crisis in our housing,” Gary Squier, a consultant and former head of the Los Angeles Housing Department, told the Los Angeles Times. 

While there are no precise statistics on motel dwellers, motel owners in Anaheim, Long Beach and Van Nuys told the Times they’ve seen dramatic increases in the number of long-term motel residents. 

One such resident is 31-year-old Stephanie Hosey, who has lived since April at the Covered Wagon . 

Hosey earns little more than minimum wage answering phones at a nearby moving company and can’t afford an apartment in the area.  

All she can manage is a room in a roadside inn like the Covered Wagon, where she pays $161 a week. 

“If there wasn’t a place like this, I couldn’t stay in Anaheim,” Hosey said. 

In recent years income has soared for those in higher brackets.  

The more affluent have bid up home prices, locking out more of the middle class and, in turn, helping drive apartment rents to stratospheric levels. 

In few places are the working poor’s housing needs more acute than in Southern California, housing experts say. 

In Orange County, Southern California’s tightest housing market, monthly rent for a typical two-bedroom apartment has risen 26 percent over the last three years, according to Marcus & Millichap, a Palo Alto real estate brokerage. In Los Angeles County, rent for the same unit has jumped 20 percent. 

There are now four families for every low-income unit available in Southern California – the worst ratio in the nation, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, a Washington think tank.  

With land prices soaring, low-income homes have become difficult to build without government assistance, and housing needs far surpass available public resources. 

In the last decade, the population of the city of Los Angeles has grown by 300,000, but the total number of housing units has risen by only 31,000, according to city figures. More families are doubling or tripling up. 

Helen Dunlap heads Project Dignity, a Garden Grove group that aids motel families.  

She wishes more of the grants her organization gives would be used to pay for move-in costs. But they’re not, she says, because affordable apartments are so scarce.  

“There’s just nothing available.”

Carl’s Jr. and Shell Oil team up to develop complex in area where few services are available 

A group of West Berkeley neighbors who have spent years improving their community are now taking on Shell Oil and Carl’s Jr. The two giant corporations are planning to raze the gas station at the corner of Ashby and San Pablo avenues and rebuild a gas station-mini mart-fast food complex. 

“We fought every day to change this neighborhood and now they want to ruin it with another liquor store and 24-hour fast food place,” said Daniela Wooton, a mother of four who moved to the neighborhood five and half years ago into what she said had once been a crack house.  

ARC Inc., an architectural firm based in Benicia, has requested permits from the city for a 10,000 square-foot building on the site of the existing gas station and the empty lot at Carrison Street and San Pablo Avenue. 

Residents who live on Carrison Street, a quiet, tree-line street with rows of well-kept single family homes, say the proposed development will erode the quality of life they have worked hard to create. Mike and Vicki Larrick and their two children moved into the neighborhood eight and half years ago when the street was overrun with drug dealers and prostitutes.  

The Larricks began the fight to take the neighborhood back and now, almost nine years later, Vicki Larrick said she doesn’t get her life threatened so often. 

“We’ve worked very hard over the years to improve things and they are finally getting better,” Larrick said. “Now families are moving in here and there’s more concern for the neighborhood.” 

Neighbors pointed out that within three blocks of the proposed project site, there are already three liquor stores, one at San Pablo Avenue and 65th Street, one at San Pablo and Haskell Street and one at San Pablo and Murray Street. 

Residents said there are enough liquor stores and burger joints in the neighborhood already and that any more would deteriorate the quality of the neighborhood with garbage, traffic and customers with no connection to the community. 

“If you put in a phone booth down there it will attracts scum bags,” said Mike Larrick. “It doesn’t take a genius to figure out what it’s going to turn into with an all-night store.” 

The architect for the project said he has withdrawn the plans after getting input from city planners and the community and that he will try to make changes to the design that will be acceptable, although he did not know at this time what those changes might be. 

“We’re not sure what we need to do but it’s clear we weren’t ready to submit the plans,” said Timothy Boe, one of the ARC partners. “We’re limited on what changes we can make because my clients are a gas station and quick service restaurant.” 

There is already a moratorium on fast food restaurants in the downtown area and special restrictions for fast food restaurants along sections of University, Shattuck and San Pablo avenues.  

The moratorium along San Pablo, however, does not extend south of Dwight Way, about nine blocks north of the proposed site. 

A recommendation is coming to the City Council to extend the prohibitions against fast food restaurants along San Pablo to the Oakland border, which would include the proposed site.  

District 2 Councilmember Margaret Breland said she is concerned with the health ramifications of fast food consumption. The recommendation is currently being reviewed by the Planning Department and the Health Department after which the council will vote on it. 

“There’s so many things that could put on the site that would encourage small businesses and be a real benefit to the neighborhood,” said Cynthia Scheinberg, who just moved into the house directly across the street from the site with her husband Eliahu Klein and newborn baby. “They shouldn’t make this the fast food strip for all the businesses nobody else in Berkeley wants.”

Saturday, Oct. 21

Child Safety Seat Check-Up 

9a.m. -noon (drop-in) 

Alta Bates Staff Parking Lot 

2525 Shattuck Avenue at Dwight 

Sponsored by the City of Berkeley 

Call Dina Quan, 665-6839 or 

dquan@ci.berkeley.ca.us 

A Day on Mt. Tam 

9:30 a.m. - 6 p.m. 

Come play and hike in San Francisco’s beloved playground. This outing is part of a series of free fall outings organized by Greenbelt Alliance. 

Call: 415-255-3233 for reservations 

AHIMSA Eight annual  

Conference 

9 a.m. - 5 p.m.  

International House, Great Hall 

UC Berkeley 

2299 Piedmont Ave.  

The AHIMSA is a nonprofit foundation whose goal is to encourage dialogues and public forums which bridge spiritual, scientific and social issues. This years conference is titled “Violence! Scientific and Spiritual Perspectives.”  

Admission is free 

Contact Maribel Guillermo, 642-9460 

Berkeley Farmers’ Market Fall Fruit Tastings 

10 a.m. - 3 p.m.  

Center St. at MLK Jr. Way 

Taste a whole farmers’ market’s bounty of fall fruit varieties. 

Free. 

Info: 548-3333 

Run Your Own Landscape Business: Part 2 

11 a.m. - 1 p.m. 

Ecology Center 

2530 San Pablo Ave. (at Blake) 

Local horticultural consultant and UC Master Gardener Jessie West will teach you how to plant, prune, control weeds, and more. The second of three classes. The last is scheduled for Oct. 28 during the same timeslot. 

$15 general; $10 for members; $5 materials fee 

Call 548-2220 x223 

Sunday, Oct. 22

Run for Peace 

United Nations Association 

10K run and 5K run/walk 

9 a.m. Berkeley Marina 

$20 849-1752 

A Taste of the Greenbelt 

1 - 4 p.m. 

Presidio’s Golden Gate Club 

Greenbelt Alliance brings the farm to the city in this celebration of the Bay Area’s agricultural and culinary bounty. Featured are samples from over 40 local restaurants, farmers, wineries, microbreweries. Also featured are live music and local artwork. The event benefits Greenbelt Alliance’s ongoing efforts to protect Bay Area farmlands and open space.  

$45 per person 

1-800-543-GREEN, www.greenbelt.org 

An Evening with Alice Walker 

7:30 p.m.  

King Middle School  

1781 Rose St. (at Grant) 

free parking 

Join internationally loved novelist, poet and essayist Alice Walker in celebrating her new book of autobiographical stories, “The Way Forward is With a Broken Heart.” Benefits Berkeley EcoHouse and KPFA Radio, 94.1 FM.  

Tickets: $10 advance, $13 door 

Tickets available at independent bookstores 

More info: 848-6767 x609 

From Bahia to Berkeley 

11 a.m.  

Capoeira Arts Cafe 

2026 Addison St. 

A benefit brunch and auction with food, music, dance and culture to bring Brazilian folkloric dance group Nicinha Raizes from Bahia, Brazil to the Bay Area.  

428-0698 

Take a Trip to the Oakland Ballet 

North Berkeley Senior Center 

1901 Hearst Ave. (at MLK Jr. Way) 

This is an outing organized by the Senior Center to see “Glass Slippers.”  

Tickets: $6 each 

644-6107 

A Buddhist Pilgramage in  

India 

6 p.m. 

Tibetan Nyingma Institute 

1815 Highland Pl. 

June Rosenberg brings to life, through slides and lecture, her pilgrimages in India. Free. 

Call 843-6812 

University Avenue Indian Business Community 

10 a.m. - Noon 

Kirpal & Neelum Khanna, owners of the Bazaar of India, tell about the steps they took from spice and food retailing to today’s Bazaar, and the nuances and features of the Indian business community on University Avenue. One is a series of walking tours sponsored by the Berkeley Historical Society. 

$10 per person 

Call 848-0181 for reservations 

Monday, Oct. 23

“Dealing With Rommate  

Problems” 

2000 Tenants’ rights week 

hourly 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. 

ASUC/Rent Board booth at Sather Gate on the Berkeley campus. 

644-7714 

“Guess the Weight of the Pumpkin,”  

through Oct. 28. Guess the correct weight of the pumpkin and bring it home in time for Halloween. 

Kensington Library, 61 Arlington Ave., Kensington.  

(510) 524-3043.

What was really said 

Editor: 

In your October 18th coverage of the Berkeley School Board race I am quoted as saying: "Studies show that minority kids are strong in math and science, but weak in reading". This statement does not accurately reflect what I actually said, and I would like to clarify it. 

During the interview I talked about my plans to expand our literacy plan because of my belief that reading is the gateway skill. In order for all students to succeed they need to have strong reading skills. When we look at the achievement gap we can see that many of those minority kids not performing well have great potential but their reading skills are below grade level. 

We have seen data from our district which showed a group of minority students that had high scores in the math standardized test but low scores in reading/language arts. This group of students were not performing at their maximum potential because their reading skills were not at grade level. What I cited was an example based on this limited data from our district; not a generalization of all minority students. 

This shows that if we are serious about closing the achievement gap we need, among other things, to continue our focus on literacy to ensure that all students in our system read at grade level. That is why, as a first step in this effort, I am proposing an expansion of the literacy plan. I have been working on this subject for the past four years and, to continue working on this is my commitment to our community. 

Joaquín Rivera 

School Board President 

Candidate for School Board 

Unprofessional criticism 

Dear Editor: 

I was disappointed to read that Berkeley police officers attending a City Council meeting criticized Carrie Sprague for her efforts to enforce residential permit parking in the MAGNA neighborhood next to City Hall. 

I’ve always had the impression that one of the unspoken rules of American law enforcement is to avoid publicly attacking citizens by name (convicted felons an exception). Confidence in the police depends on both presumption and evidence that they will act impartially. When individual police officers publicly criticize even one citizen who has broken no laws, that faith is undermined. It’s worse when that citizen is actually trying to get the city to enforce one of its own laws. 

I’m also personally sympathetic to the frustrations of the MAGNA residents like Sprague, since my own Berkeley neighborhood is similarly sandwiched between large traffic-attracting facilities. That said, it’s probably a good thing that the City Council is hearing complaints about parking from public employees because it brings home the reality facing all public agencies in Berkeley. The Council is quick to criticize the University and other big local employers for traffic and parking impacts, but if statistics were to be calculated on who drives to work and who doesn’t, City employees – and perhaps even a majority of city councilmembers – may be among the least “transit friendly” groups of commuters in Berkeley. 

I saw this attitude first hand while working on a committee helping to plan future renovations to Civic Center Park. From the point of view of almost all of the citizen participants, removal of the little City Council / city staff parking lot just behind City Hall was an unquestionable benefit for the community. Land would be added to the park, and the park and City Hall would be reconnected. If the parking “needed” to be replaced, it could be done in the City-owned garage half a block up the street. But time and again some City staff kept raising the issue of carving out a new parking lot from another part of the green space. 

In this area the City could learn something from the University, which has consistently pursued policies to reduce single-driver commuting. You almost literally have to win a Nobel Prize to get a free parking space on campus.  

Parking spaces are set aside for carpools. Recently, the university and students negotiated with AC Transit to arrange the “Class Pass” which allows students to ride the bus without paying fare, in exchange for a surcharge on their registration fees.  

How about it, City Council? Will you consider “acting locally” with city owned development sites downtown – to directly address affordable housing issues for those who police Berkeley’s streets, teach its children, maintain its parks, and staff its government offices? 

Steven Finacom 

Berkeley 

Striker scores two more goals, leads Pac-10 

Striker Laura Schott scored two goals in less than two minutes to lead the Cal womens’ soccer team past Arizona State 3-0 Friday afternoon at Edwards Stadium. 

Twenty-five minutes into the match, forward Kyla Sabo lofted a pass that landed in a crowd in front of the goal that included Schott and three ASU defenders. Schott muscled the ball through the tangle of legs and slid the ball past goalkeeper Erin Reinke for her 19th goal of the season. Sabo was credited with her team-leading eighth assist on the goal. 

“She just keeps pulling them out,” Cal head coach Kevin Boyd said. “The first goal, I don’t even know how she came up with the ball, let along come out with it and put it away.” 

Schott came through with a solo effort as soon as play restarted, as she stripped the ball from ASU’s Jaclyn Clark, who was the last defender on the play. Schott calmly fired the ball past Reinke for her 20th goal, which leads the Pac-10.  

The sophomore now has 41 points on the year, tied for third-most in Cal history. With four games left in the regular season, slong with any possible post-season play, Schott is within striking distance of Joy Biefield’s school record of 54 points in a season, set in 1987 by the current U.S. National Team stalwart. 

Boyd praised midfielder Brittany Kirk for her play Kirk had one assist and controlled the midfield for most of the match. 

“She’s becoming our field general, which is a lot to ask of a sophomore,” he said. “She’s the one that tries to control the rhythm of the game.” 

Kirk roamed the midfield, knocking the ball forward to Sabo and Schott for numerous offensive opportunities, and showed good touch on the ball as ASU defenders looked a step slow all game. 

“I was trying to make an effort to keep possession of the ball and move it around, and to set up our forwards at the same time,” Kirk said. 

The final Bears goal came when a Sun Devil accidentally knocked the ball into her own net off of a Gretchen Vanderlip cross in the 67th minute. 

The starting Cal defense was impenatrable, giving up just one shot on goalkeeper Maite Zabala, who recorded the one of the easiest shutouts on record, extending her school-record total to 25.  

“Maite saves us so many times, it’s only natural that we do our best to help her out by not letting people get good shots,” said senior sweeper Tami Pivnik. 

The only tough Cal save on the day was made by backup Gabby Ronick, who came on in the 78th minute as Boyd removed several starters with a three-goal lead.

Berkeley High is both a microcosm of, and a model for, America. It is through this one simple sentence that Meredith Maran explains the premise of her book “Class Dismissed: A Year in the Life of an American High School, a Glimpse into the Heart of a Nation,” recently released by St. Martin’s Press.  

All Berkeley citizens know that Berkeley High has amazing qualities. It sends more students to UC Berkeley than almost any high school in the country, its students are among the most politically active of any their age, there is a nationally recognized jazz ensemble, its newspaper has been named the best high school paper in the country, and the list doesn’t stop there. 

However, everyone also knows that Berkeley High has its share of deep-rooted financial, social, and cultural problems. The achievement gap is more apparent than ever; roughly one-third of African-American students either fail out or drop out. The administration is ever changing – BHS now has its third principal in the last four years. The school boasts a superior high school college counselor, yet doesn’t have a reading specialist on campus even at a time when an estimated one in five students read below grade level. 

Class Dismissed took on the task of addressing the good, the bad, and the ugly. 

The book is based on the lives of three seniors: Jordan Etra, Autumn Morris, and Keith Stephens. Maran shadowed these three students through their daily routines for one entire school year. And although the focus is on the individuals, the clear protagonist throughout the pages is Berkeley High itself. 

“I think there are two different philosophies (about Berkeley High),” Maran said during a reading of her book Thursday evening at Cody’s Bookstore on Telegraph Ave.  

“The first is ‘Life is just a bowl of cherries.’ Berkeley High has so many good things about it that it is easy to ignore the bad. But oftentimes people get caught up in the ‘Everything is going wrong and BHS sucks’ view. The point of the book is that you can’t separate one from the other.” 

Roughly 200 people were on hand at Cody’s to hear Maran read from her book, which soared to number seven on The Chronicle’s Bay Area bestseller list after only five days in stores. They came from every area of Berkeley life, from the BHS teachers and students to UC professors to curious citizens who do not affiliate with the school at all, yet are interested to understand what really goes on behind those chain link fences. 

Berkeley senior Niles X’ian Lichtenstein opened the evening with a poem that Cody’s owner Andy Ross described as “the most eloquent and accurate description of Berkeley High that I have ever heard.” 

“(BHS) is like a TV evangelist- reborn every year,” Lichtenstein pronounced, drawing laughter and cheers from the audience. “Some find elevation, others are tucked into shadows (…) We’re not just building a school; we’re creating a culture.” 

BHS English teacher and newspaper adviser Rick Ayers introduced Maran with a poignant speech reflecting on his years of teaching. “In this profession you see a dozen miracles a day and a dozen tragedies a day,” Ayers said. “But we’ve never had a witness. Last year, Meredith was our witness.”  

Maran took the stage to applause and supportive cheers from the BHS students and staff who got to know her last year. “I wrote this book so that people can first see the problems that exist and then begin to solve them,” she said. “Just as Berkeley High led the nation as the first school district to voluntarily desegregate in 1968, the school now has the opportunity to serve as a model for public schools and for the country in taking steps to solve these problems.” 

The book excerpts Maran chose to read displayed the variety of experiences she had while at BHS. One of the first stories was from the chapter based on October 1999, focusing primarily on Keith Stephens, a stereotypical academically-troubled, athletically-talented African-American student. 

Keith sat in the front row of the audience laughing with friends as he remembered getting ready for senior pictures last fall. He fell silent, however, as Maran read her account of Keith and some friends being beat up by the police as they shot dice in an alley. 

“The cops throw (Keith) to the ground face down, hog-tie his ankles and start kicking him in the back,” Maran wrote. “Not just two cops now, but a bunch of them, all of them white (…) They wrestle him into a body bag. A cop holds Keith’s mouth open, pulls out his gold teeth.” 

The passage brought understanding nods from the Berkeley High students at Cody’s. They know the story; they’ve heard these stories of students being beat up by police officers over and over. Some of the older adults in the room, however, murmured with concern. 

“That doesn’t happen in Berkeley, does it?” one woman whispered. 

“They should be shocked,” Keith said afterwards. “These people don’t get it that this shit is happening every day!” 

The readings were broken up by a series of poems by Berkeley High students and alumni. BHS graduate Cassandra Tesch gave a particularly touching reflection of dealing with daily life. “I’m supposed to be grown now, at 17,” she explained to the crowd. 

Both Keith and Autumn spoke for a short time about their reactions to the book during Maran’s question period. The third student, Jordan Etra, is at college at UC Santa Cruz, and couldn’t come to the reading because of this week’s midterms. 

“It’s hard to look at yourself through an outsider’s point of view,” Autumn said. “It’s weird to see everything that I did, and everything that I didn’t do, from somebody else’s perspective.” 

The celebration continued with book signing, and Cody’s copies quickly sold out. People milled around, some lining up to talk to Keith and Autumn, while Berkeley students and teachers clustered in groups. 

“This is my wildest dream come true,” Maran said about the reading. “I’m completely stunned by the interest in the community and the hunger around Berkeley High to feel good about what they have.” 

Megan Greenwell is a junior at Berkeley High School and writes for the student newspaper, the Berkeley High School Jacket. 

Home is where the wins are for the Cal men’s soccer team this season. Playing at Edwards Stadium for the first time in more than a month, the struggling Bears upset No. 7 UCLA 1-0 Friday. 

The victory ended a month-long winless streak in which Cal lost six of its seven games—the only bright spot being a tie with Oregon State on Oct. 6—while being outscored 20 to 2. 

Cal’s record improves to 3-9-1 on the year (1-2-1 Pac-10), and the Bears have won each of the three games the team has played in Berkeley. The Bruins, meanwhile, after being ranked No. 1 earlier in the season, lost its second straight game and dropped to 9-3 (1-3 Pac-10). 

Bears’ forward Austin Ripmaster scored the game’s only goal at the 85th minute on an assist from Chris Roner. Ripmaster’s lined up from 25 yards out and sent a strike past a diving UCLA keeper D.J. Countess and into the left corner of the net to record his first goal of the season. 

The goal ended Cal’s two-game scoreless streak and also marked the Bears’ first shutout since its season-opener victory over UC Santa Cruz.  

“We’re searching for things to work for,” said Cal keeper Brian Walker, who recorded five saves against UCLA. “We have a goal of upsetting top teams and that’s what we did today.” 

Walker said that Cal’s ball control and time of possession contributed to the win. In previous outings, the Bears routinely played a solid first half only to squander opportunities in the second period.  

“We’ve been inching our way closer to a great performance,” said Cal coach Kevin Grimes. “Sunday versus Stanford we played an outstanding first half. Today we turned 45 minutes of magic into 90 minutes of magic.” 

Heading into Friday’s game against the Bruins, Cal had been outscored 34 goals to nine this year, including 10 unanswered goals prior to Ripmaster’s shot. 

“I’d be happy to win games 1-0 all the time,” Ripmaster said. “We’ve been here before with the nation’s elite and we have no doubt that we can play with them.” 

The Bears’ defense frustrated UCLA attacks throughout the game, but especially in the first half when the Bruins were denied repeatedly when they held the ball inside Cal territory. 

“We finally got everyone healthy,” defender Leo Krupnik said. “It seems that after the team scores their first goal we lose it. Today we got the break we deserved.” 

Grimes said he reminded his players at halftime that they’d been in the same situation before where they’d lost the game in the second half.  

“It seems like every second half we come on the wrong end of a W,” he said. “At halftime each guy had something to say and we were able to walk the walk.” 

“Coach promised us that if we gave our full effort in the second half we’d come out on top,” Ripmaster said. “And that’s what happened.” 

Following Sunday’s contest at St. Mary’s, Cal returns to Edwards Stadium for five of the team’s last six games of the season.  

“It’s nice to be home,” Walker said. “All the other teams look at us now and even though we’re 3-9, we’ve beaten UCLA so teams know anything can happen.”

Nearly 200 students, health care activists and professionals lit candles Thursday evening at Sproul Plaza on the university campus and spoke out against the widespread lack of health insurance . 

The vigil, sponsored by the American Medical Student Association, was part of a week of nation-wide activities intended to raise awareness of those without healthcare benefits. 

In Berkeley alone, more than 10,000 people have no health insurance, according to the city’s Health Department. 

People in southwest Berkeley are more likely to die 20 years earlier than the more affluent living in the hills, said Marty Lynch, chief executive officer of Lifelong Medical Care, a clinic that serves the uninsured. 

“Isn’t it outrageous that in a city like Berkeley, where people spend $400,000 to $500,000 on a house and people are working at dot-coms, that 10,000 people don’t have health insurance?” he said. 

Lack of health insurance is a lethal problem, said Dr. John Shearer of the California Physicians Alliance.  

Studies have shown that people without health insurance have a 20 percent greater chance of dying than those with insurance.  

Uninsured patients often come to the emergency room with advanced illnesses, he said, because they could not get preventive care covered by health insurance. 

This results in added costs to the patient and the hospital, he added. 

Gregg English of the Physicians Organizing Committee said 7,000 people go bankrupt each year due to healthcare bills. 

In California, 7 million people are without health insurance, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. That means one in five people are uninsured compared to one in six nationwide. 

Of these 44 million uninsured Americans, 25 percent are children. 

“It’s shocking,” said Chris Hamerski, coordinator of the vigil. “We’re the only developed nation that doesn’t have universal healthcare.” 

Lack of insurance is not a problem for just the jobless. Nationwide, 42 percent of the uninsured are employed, according to the bureau. 

“When you think about people who make minimum wages,” said Mayor Shirley Dean, “How do you afford (health care when you’re) making under $6 an hour?” . 

Besides health insurance, many at the rally pushed for better access to medical care that universal healthcare would provide. 

“We want medical care for everyone in the country, with no exceptions,” she added. “It ought not to be available only to those who can pay for it.”

Bone crushing tackles? Check. Bruising runs? Check. Showstopping plays? Check, check, check. When the dust had settled on Berkeley High’s 40-14 domination of the Richmond Oilers, the Yellowjackets ran off more checks than Bill Gates on a shopping spree. Berkeley won its third straight game to remain undefeated league play (3-4, 3-0 ACCAL) before a showdown next week with Pinole Valley that will, according to senior running back Ramone Reed, “test how really good we are.” 

Eight different Yellowjackets rushed for a Berkeley offensive attack that piled up 288 rushing yards. The top ballcarrier, as always, was Reed, who followed up last week’s 3 touchdown performance at Encinal with 11 carries for 134 yards and 4 scores. Fullback Joey Terry-Jones pounded out 77 yards on eight carries and a touchdown, and Leon Ireland rounded up the Yellowjacket scoring barrage with a 10-yard punt return for a score.  

Reed further noted that Berkeley’s turnaround of three wins after four season opening losses is really a result of “everyone getting more focused... we’ve just dedicated ourselves.” In doing so, they sent an Oiler team to their fourth loss in the ACCAL and their sixth loss in seven games. Reed dedicated himself to excelling at every facet of the game. In additon to his four touchdowns, Reed blocked a punt, deflected two passes, racked up a sack, and pooched a 49-yard punt of his own. 

Berkeley roared out of the gates with a 61-yard opening drive in just under three minutes that culminated in a one-yard TD run by Terry-Jones. Reed’s block and Ireland’s recovery of an Oiler punt put the Yellowjackets up by 14 before a 28-yard touchdown run by Reed with 1:57 left in the first quarter capped off a 20-point Berkeley first quarter. The Yellowjacket offense scored in every single quarter thanks to their dominating rushing attack. 

As for Berkeley’s defense, the Yellowjackets held all-league fullback Roderick Chocklin to just eight rushing yards on five carries and six receiving yards on three receptions.  

The ’Jackets were strong in the air as well, as Richmond quarterback Lewis Montgomery was sacked five times and completed just seven of 17 pass attempts. Corey Anderson’s bobbling 67-yard touchdown reception and Tanzil Wagin’s 16-yard touchdown catch late in the fourth quarter were the only scores for Richmond. 

The one downside to Berkeley’s performance were its penalties. Last week at Encinal, second-year coach Gary Weaver harped on his team’s penalties, noting that “if we can get it together mentally, we’ll be a good team.” This week saw little improvement as most of Berkeley’s eight penalties for 55 yards came on false starts.  

Berkeley hopes to remain undefeated in conference play next Friday at Pinole Valley.

SANTA ROSA – Correctional officers who responded when an inmate became ill at the Sonoma County Jail last month are not talking to Santa Rosa police investigating the man’s subsequent death. 

The eight officers have invoked their Fifth Amendment right not to give information in a criminal investigation, according to Santa Rosa Police Commander Scott Swanson of the homicide investigation unit. 

“It does prove problematic when those persons closest to the event choose not to speak with us. It’s proving difficult,’’ Swanson said Friday morning. 

Assistant Sonoma County Sheriff Mike Costa says the officers’ refusal to give statements to Santa Rosa police may create suspicion in the public’s mind. 

“It really impairs the investigation and the system as a whole,’’ Costa said. 

Costa said other corrections officers throughout the state have for the past 15 years taken similar stances, particularly in Southern California. 

“This is not unique to Sonoma County. It’s just the first time it’s happened here,’’ Costa said. 

Santa Rosa police are investigating the death of Paul Raymond Daniel, 51, on Sept. 28. He was pronounced dead at Sutter Medical Center about an hour after being taken there from the jail. 

Police say Daniel was brought to the jail after his arrest in Petaluma on a warrant at 12:30 p.m. on Sept. 27. He failed to report to breakfast the next morning. Guards found him sick in his cell and he became combative when restrained, according to police. During an exam by a jail nurse, he began vomiting and was taken to the hospital, police say. 

Santa Rosa police are investigating the incident rather than the sheriff’s department, which runs the jail, as part of police protocol. 

The corrections officers are required to cooperate with any internal investigation by their employer, the sheriff’s department, Swanson said. 

But Costa said statements given in that investigation cannot be used in any criminal proceeding. 

An autopsy failed to determine a cause of death, toxicology results are pending, and Daniel’s brain has been sent to Florida for forensic analysis, Swanson said. 

It was the third death at the jail this year. One inmate sliced his throat with a razor and another died of pneumonia while in prison. 

News of the correction’s officers’ silence coincides with an appearance in Santa Rosa tonight of two former police chiefs critical of police conduct nationwide. 

The forum, entitled “Transforming Police: What’s It Going to Take?’’ includes addresses by Penny Harrington, the first female police chief of a major U.S. city, and Ron Hampton, director of the National Black Police Association and a former Washington D.C. police officer.

Prosecution, defense agree that Peter Bradley had a rare reaction to encephalitis, are working on settlement 

SAN FRANCISCO – A man who broke into the cockpit of an Alaska Airlines flight yelling “I’m going to kill you!” and lunging for the controls was suffering from an extremely rare reaction to encephalitis. 

That’s the conclusion of both prosecutors and the defense attorney for Peter Bradley, 39, who were working Friday to negotiate a settlement in the case. 

“Sounds to me like he has a very good defense attorney,” said a noted encephalitis researcher, Dr. Ian Lipkin at the University of California, Irvine. “Is it possible? Absolutely. Is it likely? I’d have to review the data.” 

The medical mystery took experts hired by both the prosecution and defense weeks to unravel, said Bradley’s attorney Jerrold Ladar. Bradley has no memory of the cockpit attack, he said. 

“In the combined 50-plus years of criminal prosecution and defense work, neither of us has seen the sort of effort that was needed to track down the medical cause of the problem,” Ladar wrote in court papers filed Wednesday. 

Doctors hired by both sides of the case agreed “wholeheartedly” on the diagnosis, Ladar wrote. “Two highly qualified neurologists ... concur that Mr. Bradley was in a delirious state as a result of encephalitis — the defendant did nothing to bring it on.” 

Flight 259 was enroute from Puerta Vallarta, Mexico, to San Francisco on March 16 when Bradley, who was returning from a family reunion, began babbling incoherently, stripping off his clothes and wandering from seat to seat. 

His agitation gradually increased, passengers say, until he broke into the cockpit, threatened the pilots and grabbed for the controls. 

The pilot momentarily lost control of the jet as the co-pilot fended off the 6-foot-2, 250-pound Bradley with an ax. Passengers tackled and restrained him. 

Bradley faces federal charges of committing a violent act likely to endanger an airplane and assaulting a flight crew. Both charges are punishable by as many as 20 years in prison. He remains free on $100,000 bond. 

Bradley, a self-employed carpenter from Blue Springs, Mo., has returned to his job and family since being released and has suffered no subsequent outbursts. 

“When he read the reports from the passengers about what happened he was horrified,” Ladar said. 

Doctors and lawyers, friends and family were mystified by Bradley’s behavior. He had no alcohol or illegal drugs in his system, no history of psychiatric problems and his only previous run-ins with law enforcement were two traffic violations in 1979. 

“He’s an American-as-apple-pie kind of guy,” Ladar said. 

What finally prompted doctors to consider encephalitis was a high protein count in Bradley’s spinal fluid, his lawyer said. Normal range is between 15 and 45 milligrams; Bradley’s was 60. 

Bradley’s condition — he had been suffering from headaches for almost a month — was worsened by lack of sleep and the changing air pressure in the plane. 

“A unique combination of wind, sun, breathing apparatus, function, hypertension medication and air pressure combined to cause the delirium,” Ladar said. 

Independent neurologists told The Associated Press such a phenomenon is possible, though highly unusual. 

The most common symptoms of encephalitis include fever, headache and fatigue. When behavioral changes do occur, they are usually “lethargy and confusion more than agitated delirium,” said Dr. Richard Price, chief of neurology at San Francisco General Hospital. 

Dr. Diane Griffin at Johns Hopkins University called Bradley’s “a plausible scenario,” adding that people have been admitted to psychiatric hospitals before doctors realized they were suffering from encephalitis. 

“If somebody had an infection in their brain and it was affecting the parts of the brain that causes behavior ... then the person is not responsible for their behavior,” she said. 

Ladar said the best-case scenario would be to dismiss the case. 

“In this situation he’s unconscious because of the delirium,” Ladar said. “Criminal law says that’s a defense to these charges.” 

Assistant U.S. Attorney David Hall acknowledged in court Friday that doctors from both sides had agreed on the encephalitis diagnosis. But Hall pushed for a finding of temporary insanity, and disagreed that the charges should be summarily dismissed on the grounds that the crime resulted from a medical, rather than mental condition. 

The judge said he would rule next month on that point. Meanwhile, settlement talks continue, and Bradley is expected in court Thursday to give permission for a psychiatric evaluation.

Proposal could help avoid price spikes seen in San Diego following industry deregulation 

FOLSOM – California regulators want electricity suppliers to make pricing commitments to avoid the rate spikes San Diego power users experienced this summer. 

Terry Winter, CEO of the California Independent System Operator, filed a proposal Friday with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission that, if approved, would require power generators to sell 70 percent of their power anywhere from one day to five years in advance to keep wholesale rates lower for utilities. 

Right now, California allows power suppliers to charge no more than $250 per megawatt hour. Under the proposal, those that refused to sell 70 percent of their power in advance would be allowed to charge no more than $100 per megawatt hour. 

ISO officials say that requiring advanced sales would allow utilities to buy power when rates are low. 

“If you need 100 megawatts and you wait until a minute before, the market says you’re going to pay more,” Winter said. “If you’re willing to plan, the prices ... will be lower.” 

The lower wholesale prices would result in lower rates for residential and business customers, Winter said. 

It would also provide a more stable electricity market for the next two to three years, while more power plants come online and increase the supply of electricity, he said. 

Utility rates doubled and in some cases tripled this summer for customers of San Diego Gas and Electric Co., the first utility in the state to deregulate under a 1996 state law and buy power on the open market. 

The San Diego utility filed its own request with the FERC on Friday, asking regulators to implement emergency, temporary wholesale market price caps of $100 per megawatt hour until the market is competitive. 

Spokesman Art Larson of San Diego Gas and Electric said the utility’s proposal would last at least through March. 

“We believe the emergency measure should eventually be replaced with a refined formula, something that’s more inline with the cost of generation,” he said. 

Tom Williams, spokesman for Duke Energy North America, said his company, which generates about 4 percent of the state’s power, isn’t opposed to temporary price caps. 

“We don’t like caps, but if you need one for a temporary time period to solve a problem and it’s a piece of the equation, ... that needs to be part of the mix,” Williams said. 

A number of generators already sell at least 50 percent of their supply ahead of time, said Jan Smutny-Jones, executive director of the Independent Energy Producers. 

“I think that as a general matter, the generators are against price caps and over-intrusiveness into the market by the ISO,” said Smutny-Jones. 

State Sen. Dede Alpert, D-San Diego, called both proposals “interesting,” and said she would like the FERC to approve any plan that cuts wholesale rates. 

“If we’re going to get to a place where deregulation is going to work, maybe these are the tools to get us through the transition while still encouraging people to build new supplies,” Alpert said. 

The Folsom-based Independent System Operator controls the grid that transmits about 75 percent of the state’s power. The ISO’s authority to cap prices will end Nov. 15, unless the FERC extends it, said Roger Smith, senior regulatory counsel for the ISO. 

Since a cap on wholesale prices might discourage construction of new power plants, the plan would exempt new generators, Winters said. 

The ISO was created to control the last-minute demand, usually the last 5 percent of the power market, but that plan hasn’t worked, both Winters and Smutny-Jones said. 

“We’ve had days this summer where 25 percent to 30 percent is in the ISO market. That’s when reliability becomes jeopardized,” Smutny-Jones said. 

Calls to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission offices in San Francisco were referred to the Washington D.C. office. Messages left at the Washington D.C. office were not immediately returned.

Two deaths in two days at Fresno County Jail 

FRESNO – A prisoner died in the Fresno County Jail on Thursday, the second person to die in custody there in two days. 

Shortly before 7 p.m. Thursday, the inmate, a 45-year-old man, told guards he was ill and was sent to the jail infirmary, Lt. Nelson Beazley said. 

Some time later, he collapsed and stopped breathing. Staff members performed cardiopulmonary resuscitation but could not revive him. 

The man’s name was being withheld pending notification of relatives. 

Details about the inmate, including charges against him and how long he had been in custody were not made public. An autopsy will determine the cause of death. 

On Wednesday, Jessie Soliz died during a struggle with guards. 

Soliz was in a cell by himself when he became irate and began throwing things and hitting walls, sheriff’s spokesman Daniel Cervantes said. 

When deputies went into the cell to restrain Soliz, he began to fight with them. Three correctional officers were injured in the struggle. 

Deputies used pepper spray in an attempt to subdue Soliz and as he was being put into restraints, he stopped breathing. Jail and nursing staff tried unsuccessfully to revive him. 

Sheriff’s detectives, the Fresno County District Attorney’s Office and the Coroner’s Office are investigating the men’s deaths. 

Group calls for end to Yosemite sewage spills 

YOSEMITE NATIONAL PARK – A statewide recreational fishing group is seeking a federal court order to end Yosemite National Park’s sewage spills into the Merced River. 

United Anglers of California filed suit this week against the National Park Service in U.S. District Court in Fresno, alleging violations of the federal Clean Water Act over the past five years. 

After more than a dozen sewage spills since 1999, the group says it is time for Yosemite to clean up its system. No court dates have been announced. 

Park officials refused to comment, saying they had not seen the lawsuit. 

Yosemite already is under order from the Central Valley Regional Water Quality Control Board to stop the contamination or face a $10,000 fine for each day the river violates water standards. 

But lawyer Allen Beavan, representing the 10,000-member United Anglers, said his client does not believe the state’s action is enough. 

“It’s an awkward situation for the state to be ordering the federal government to comply with federal law,” Beavan said. “We want the court to order that they bring their sewage plant into compliance.” 

Yosemite is following the regional board’s order, park spokesman Scott Gediman said. He said officials already have filed changes to the park’s spill-prevention plan with the regional board. 

Big rig overturns, bursts into flames  

BAKERSFIELD – A big rig burst into flames when it overturned on state Route 99 south of Bakersfield on Thursday morning and spilled 7,400 gallons of diesel fuel. 

There were no reports of injuries in the single-vehicle accident, Kern County fire Capt. Chuck Dickson said. 

The truck was headed north when it drifted onto the right shoulder near Copus Road. 

The driver, Jerry Harvey Jr., 29, of Bakersfield, apparently overcorrected and ended up in the left shoulder, where the trailer overturned. 

The entire truck turned over in the center divider and caught fire. 

The accident was reported just before 7:30 a.m. 

Flames and plumes of thick black smoke billowed from the crash site, about five miles north of the Interstate 5 interchange. 

A strip of the highway was closed to traffic for nearly five hours as firefighters and hazardous materials crews worked to control the flames and mop up the fuel.

Former provost announces billion-dollar fundraising campaign for undergrads 

STANFORD – John Hennessy vowed to make undergraduate education a high priority as he was inaugurated Friday as the 10th president of Stanford University. 

Standing before an amphitheater audience of some 7,000 people, the computer science pioneer and former university provost announced the launch of a five-year $1 billion fund-raising campaign for undergraduate education programs. 

“This goal makes it the largest campaign devoted exclusively to undergraduate education ever undertaken by a university,” he said. 

Hennessy, 48, was named president of the elite university in April and in September assumed the post held for the past eight years by Gerhard Casper. Casper, a 61-year-old constitutional law scholar, announced his retirement last year. He will serve as co-chair of the new undergraduate education campaign. 

Hennessy was the university’s provost for the past year and the dean of the School of Engineering before that. He has been a member of the faculty since 1977. 

Internationally known and respected for his work in computer architecture, Hennessy is credited with starting a successful Silicon Valley microprocessor production company, MIPS Computer Systems Inc. The company was bought out by workstation giant Silicon Graphics and is now called MIPS Technologies Inc. 

Shortly after being named president, Hennessy said his three primary goals would be to improve the undergraduate experience, build on the success of technology and business, and strengthen arts and humanities.

PHOENIX – Arizona legislators, meeting in a one-day special session Friday, imposed an immediate one-year moratorium on the state’s runaway subsidy program for vehicles burning alternative clean fuels, a program now projected to cost at least 140 times what was first expected. 

The program allows residents to use rebates and tax credits to purchase alternative-fuel vehicles at about half the price of conventional cars or to convert their cars. It was initially estimated to cost $3 million. Projections now say it will cost taxpayers $420 million or more if not stopped. 

“This is what I would call a budget obscenity,” said Sen. Chris Cummiskey, D-Phoenix, at a Senate Finance Committee hearing Thursday. “We’ve got a situation here where we’re on the verge of bankrupting the state.” 

The Legislature voted Friday afternoon to pass the moratorium bill, which would cover contracts signed beginning Friday to buy alternative fuel vehicles or convert conventional cars. Gov. Jane Hull signed the bill two hours later. 

In hearings Thursday, lawmakers questioned how the program could have been so far off the mark. 

The Legislature’s budget director said it wasn’t clear last spring how popular the generous tax credits and incentives would become. 

“We did not step back and say what was the overall effect,” said Richard Stavneak of the Joint Legislative Budget Committee staff. “We found out the magnitude of the problem at the same time as everyone else.” 

A Hull aide said the surge in interest did not become apparent until late August and that action was taken once the trend was confirmed in September. 

But some senators said lawmakers should look in the mirror before second-guessing, noting the bill was rushed through in the closing days of the session. 

“When we do these things ... we run the risk that these types of things will slip through,” said Republican Sen. Ed Cirillo. He said he was “extremely embarrassed” by the legislation and its problems. 

Hull and lawmakers said they hope to use the one-year moratorium to craft changes in the loophole-riddled program to salvage it, in hopes of getting clean-air benefits. 

Some of the changes being discussed would require subsidized vehicles to actually use alternative fuels – they aren’t now – and would limit subsidies to the manufacturers’ suggested retail prices, excluding expensive add-ons such as leather seats and stereos that now are subsidized.

OAKLAND – Saturday marks the nine-year anniversary of the 1991 fire storm that swept through the Oakland hills, caused almost $1.7 billion in damage and killed nearly two dozen people. 

In order to prevent a similar event from happening, neighbors who survived the fire want to create an educational pavilion in the fire storm area. Friday, the Weyerhauser Company Foundation announced the donation of a $4,500 grant toward the completion of the project. 

The exhibit center will serve as both a memorial to those who died in the fires, and as an emergency preparedness center, which will hold educational displays instructing visitors on fire safety. It will be located at the interchange of state roads 13 and 24, where the fire storm began. 

Members of the North Hills Landscape Committee, who are developing the project, wish to be able to dedicate the pavilion on the fire’s tenth year anniversary in 2001.  

The project is being funded through donations, and gifts of tubular steel, as well as corporate sponsors for the actual displays are still being sought. 

When finished, the pavilion would be owned and maintained by the City of Oakland, and would be available for use by groups and individuals.

Company will hold graffiti contest despite mayor’s protest 

SAN FRANCISCO – Sega of America says it will go ahead with its “Graffiti is Art” contest in San Francisco tomorrow despite Mayor Willie Brown’s disapproval that the company’s message is inappropriate. 

Sega’s event is to promote its new street action game which features, among other things, graffiti art.  

Brown’s press secretary P.J. Johnston said, “Sega’s message is irresponsible, especially since the city spends $25 million a year removing graffiti and tries to turn kids away from it.” 

Sega’s event will take place at about the same time and just blocks away from the city’s street-cleaning effort “Stamp Out Trash and Graffiti.”  

“The timing is bad that way,” Johnston said. “Or maybe it is good and will shed more light on our event.” 

Johnston said the city granted Sega the permit for the mural contest to take place at Justin Herman Plaza. 

“As long as you get the proper permits, you can hold your event. We don’t have to agree with you, but you can still hold the event,” he said. 

Sega spokeswoman Gwen Marker said today that the company has invited the City of San Francisco to be involved in the event and a city representative will likely attend.  

“We have a space reserved for them to give out information on vandalism and have arranged for them to speak. ... We support them in all their graffiti eradication efforts,” Marker said. 

City officials have expressed interest in working with Sega, she added. 

Davis approves school-to-career grants 

Gov. Gray Davis Friday announced more than $18 million in grants to benefit School-to-Career partnerships throughout California, including programs in six greater Bay area counties. 

The partnerships are designed to expose students to career options and an academic curriculum that will prepare them to meet high educational standards. 

Davis said, “School-to-Career connects what kids learn in the classroom with real world experiences like job shadowing, internships and student-run businesses.” 

The funds are provided for investments in educational reform and to help strengthen the relationships between students, schools, businesses and labor by developing mentoring programs, internships, staff development and business-related courses. 

Striking Safeway workers urge store boycott 

SAN FRANCISCO – Workers on strike from the warehouse that supplies Safeway stores distributed leaflets here Friday asking would-be shoppers to boycott the chain. 

“Please don’t shop at Safeway today” read leaflets that Teamsters Local 439 workers handed out at as many as 40 Safeway stores across the San Francisco  

Bay area. The workers are at odds over a new labor contract with their employer, Summit Logistics, which supplies 245 Safeway stores in northern California, Nevada and Hawaii. 

“We’re just asking them to boycott Safeway to support us,” said Reeves Milton, a truck repairman who was one of 20 workers passing out leaflets in front Safeway’s Market St. store. “It’s not about the money. It’s about the safety and the long hours.” 

He said the Teamsters want to slow down sales so that Safeway will pressure Summit to restart negotiations. 

Safeway was distributing a leaflet of its own, which told shoppers that picketers in front of stores do not work for Safeway — and that Summit had made a fair offer to the workers. 

Although some shoppers at the San Francisco Safeway said they supported the workers, others said they would shop at Safeway for want of alternatives. 

“Safeway is about the only game in town,” said shopper Beau Long of San Francisco. “It’s not like the ’burbs where you’ve got Safeway and Albertsons and Ralphs.” 

The Teamsters started passing out leaflets Thursday and said they’ll continue to do so for as long as it takes to negotiate a fair contract. 

Muni workers approve new contract 

SAN FRANCISCO – Transportation workers approved a four-year contract Friday night, according to a spokeswoman for the city’s Municipal Transportation Agency. 

Muni spokeswoman Maggie Lynch said members of the Transport Workers Union Local 250-A approved the contract by a large margin, but she did not immediately have a final tally. Union members – some 2,000 city railway bus, trolley, cable car and light rail drivers – had already rejected to prior contract offers. 

Lynch said she could not discuss details of the contract until Saturday afternoon, when the Muni board of directors will formally receive it. She said that the seven member board must wait for 30 days of public comment before voting on the contract. 

The deal will be retroactive to July 1, Lynch said. 

Under the city’s charter, operators’ pay is mandated to be the second highest in the nation, which means they were eligible to get a 5.5 percent raise to $22.44 an hour. 

U.S. marshals arrest 63 Bay Area fugitives 

SAN FRANCISCO – The chief of the U.S. Marshals Service for Northern California announced in San Francisco that a joint federal and local task force arrested 63 Bay area fugitives over three days ending today. 

U.S. Marshal James Molinari said those arrested were wanted for various types of violent crimes, gang membership or drug trafficking on federal or state charges.  

Most of those arrested were apprehended in San Francisco or the East Bay, including San Leandro, Hayward, Fremont, Union City, Oakland, Berkeley, Richmond, North Richmond and San Pablo, Molinari said. 

The Fugitive Apprehension Strike Task Force, or FAST, is made up of representatives of 35 city, county, state and federal law enforcement agencies.

LOS ANGELES – The inside story of the 1974 Symbionese Liberation Army shootout is not relevant to the defense of former SLA fugitive Sara Jane Olson, a judge ruled Friday in denying her access to 25-year-old files. 

Superior Court Judge James Ideman rejected a defense argument that records on the shootout investigation could explain why Olson fled, changed her identity and disappeared after the shootout. 

Defense attorney Shawn Chapman argued that disclosure of records could show that the SLA members were targeted by police and that Olson fled because “she felt so in fear of her life.” 

“If there was evidence that they were targeted and it was a homicide, that would support Ms. Olson’s claim,” Chapman said. 

But Ideman said there was no way that Olson would have been privy to inside information at the time and thus the records would have no relevance to her state of mind. He said there was ample evidence including TV footage of the shootout to supply what the defense needs for the trial. 

“I don’t see where going into details of the shooting is necessary,” the juige said. “There was a shootout and people were killed. What happened happened.” 

The prosecution is expected to argue that Olson, formerly known as Kathleen Soliah, was motivated to leave by consciousness of her own guilt in trying to bomb police cars. She denies any involvement in the crimes. The bombs never went off. 

Ideman delayed ruling on other motions until Nov. 17. But he said he had privately reviewed personnel records of a former police officer who is scheduled to testify against Olson and believes that his civil claims against her are unsupported. 

James Bryan sued Olson after he claimed to have a belated recall that she was involved in an attempted pipe bombing of police cars in 1974. He said the event was so stressful for him that he had to take a disability retirement from the Police Department. 

The judge said that if Bryan testifies, the defense would have the right to confront him with formal statements that he made to police years ago in which he failed to indicate the attempted bombing had anything to do with his alleged disability. 

“Olson must have an opportunity to confront him with his inconsistencies,” Ideman said. But he said he would not release records unless the witness takes the stand. 

Meanwhile, the judge said he will tolerate no more delays in the case. 

“We’re going to go to trial on January 8. That’s as set in concrete as can be.”

‘West Wing’ actor Martin Sheen speaks out against California’s Proposition 36 

OAKLAND – Actor Martin Sheen joined Alameda County officials in Oakland Friday to speak against Proposition 36, a measure supporters say would put an end to prison sentences for non-violent drug users in California. 

Prop. 36 would allow those charged with drug-related offenses to join drug treatment programs. Once the programs are completed by the suspect in question, the charges would be dropped. 

Sheen says the proposition is misleading and allows drug users to go through relaxed treatment options that do not necessarily lead to sobriety. The actor claims his own life has been affected by drugs first-hand. 

“It purports a very simplistic solution to a very, very complex problem,” Sheen said about the proposition. “It cannot possibly work ... it has nothing to do with recovery, it has a lot to do with legalizing certain drugs.” 

According to Alameda County Superior Court Judge Richard Iglehart, the proposition would, perhaps unintentionally, “wipe out” drug courts, which in Alameda County have reportedly helped thousands of people to achieve sobriety since they were first instituted in 1990. 

Earlier Friday, Iglehart presided over the latest class of graduates from Alameda county’s four drug diversion programs. 

The ceremony, which Iglehart described as a “spiritual” experience, included skits, confessional testimony from the participants about their personal road to recovery and even a group sing-along that had everyone in the room – including the judge – shuffling from side to side and clapping along to the beat. 

The completion of the program leads to dismissal of charges or the sealing of records, Iglehart said. But although that sounds similar to what the proposition promises, he said, the proposition lacks the strong commitment to sobriety that the court system has shown. 

That commitment includes rigorous urine tests and the threat of incarceration if the tests turn out “dirty,” access to twelve-step programs and job assistance. It is only through the constant enforcement of these means that the recovering addicts are kept from relapsing, he said. 

Alameda County District Attorney Thomas Orloff also joined in the protest against the proposition, which he said would take away the judge’s ability to impose sanctions to keep the recovering addicts in check. 

“(Under Proposition 36) if you mess up treatment, you know what you get? You get a different treatment,” Orloff said. If that were to fail, he added, it would be followed by a court hearing to determine if the person is unaffected by treatment. 

If that were determined, the person would serve only a month’s sentence. “Then you’re all done, and you’re out of the system, and you start all over with your next arrest,” he said. 

A handful of the proposition’s supporters also attended the conference in order to present their views. 

Daniel Abrahamson, one of the proposition’s drafters, said Prop. 36 would add to the powers of the current judicial system, and would be available to everyone in the state, unlike the drug courts which only treat a small percentage of the population. 

“(The proposition) does not do away with drug courts,” Abrahamson said. “It expands treatment and adds another layer of supervised, responsible treatment.”

Want to find out which Hollywood stars donated to Vice President Al Gore’s Presidential campaign? How about the home prices of the donors to Texas Governor George Bush’s campaign? Or the crime rates in the neighborhoods of donors to either candidate? 

As this year's Presidential campaign climaxes, a University of California, Berkeley, professor has created a Web site that makes such searches easy, and demonstrates the power of new Internet technology he has developed to mine the “deep Web.” “This is more powerful than search engines on the Web," said Joseph Hellerstein, associate professor of computer sciences in the College of Engineering at UC Berkeley, who created the site with fellow computer sciences associate professor Michael Franklin and the help of five graduate students and one undergraduate. 

“With this you can do real data analysis, not just find a neat new Web page.” The software that Hellerstein and Franklin developed is called Telegraph, after the street near the UC Berkeley campus famous for its street vendors and street people.  

“Like the Berkeley main street after which it is named, Telegraph is the natural thoroughfare for a volatile, eclectic mix coming from all over the world,” Hellerstein wrote on his Web site. The “deep Web” refers to information on the Internet that is not available by simply following hyperlinks, and thus not accessible through search engines like Google or Inktomi. Some people estimate the deep Web contains 500 times as much information as the rest of the Web. 

The Federated Facts and Figures Website, is at http://fff.cs.berkeley.edu/.

OAKLAND — With warm outpourings of affection, a host of local and state leaders came to Clay Street in Oakland Wednesday to dedicate the twin-towered federal building to former U.S. Rep. Ron Dellums. 

When the statesman finally spoke – following the praise of mayors, city council members and supervisors past and present – Dellums expressed gratitude to the supporters who “kept sending me back to Washington.” 

But mostly Dellums thanked his family. 

“For (my mom) to call me on the phone and say, ‘I just walked by the federal building and I saw my son's name on the federal building and all the buttons popped off my jacket.’” 

Dellums was referred to as a political role model by many current politicians, including Oakland Councilman Ignacio de la Fuente, Berkeley Mayor Shirley Dean and Assemblywoman Dion Aroner, D-Berkeley. 

“For many of us in this room, our political history is so wrapped up in this man,'' Aroner said. 

The dedication concluded with the unveiling of an engraving inside the federal building's glass-domed aviary. 

It’s a day of building dedications for Dellums, who will be honored by the Chabot Space and Science Center with the dedication of the Dellums Science Building this evening.

SAN FRANCISCO — Outgoing flights were delayed at several Northern California and Nevada airports Monday because of a software malfunction in processing data from radar. 

The Federal Aviation Administration said the computer failure, which lasted almost six hours, occurred during regular maintenance early Monday morning. Mostly domestic flights were affected by the problem. 

“When the software was reinstalled, it wouldn’t come back up on time,” said Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Jerry Snyder. “It came back up on the third attempt at 7:50 a.m.” 

The software provides special “squawk” codes to departing flights, enabling airport controllers to track them in the air. The software, located in the FAA’s Oakland Center in Freemont, controls major Northern California and Nevada airports such as San Francisco, Oakland, San Jose, Sacramento and Reno. At San Francisco International Airport, nearly 120 flights were delayed. There were 38 flights delayed from Oakland, and 25 from San Jose. 

Last Thursday, massive delays to air traffic throughout mush of the western half of the United States resulted because of a failure of a main air traffic radar system in Los Angeles 

CATHEDRAL CITY— A 10-year-old boy abducted by a grandfather who wanted him to be involved in baseball rather than ballet has been returned to the gay couple who raised him since infancy, his uncle said. 

The child, Miguel Washington, was surrendered to authorities by relatives in Pennsylvania on Friday and returned to the home of his uncle, Paul Washington Jr., and Timothy Forrester on Sunday. 

“Right now he’s really happy to be home,” Washington Jr. said. “We’re absolutely elated. Our family is united again.” 

An attorney for Paul Washington Sr. and Sandra Washington, Miguel’s grandparents, said his clients intend to pursue custody. 

“My clients don’t feel that’s the best home for him,” said attorney Bill Hence Jr. “I’m very disappointed in the agencies that were supposed to be protecting the rights of the child.”  

A hearing is scheduled Dec. 4 in Riverside County to decide permanent custody of Miguel.  

Riverside County Deputy District Attorney Tex Ritter said his office is reviewing the possibility of filing criminal charges in connection with Miguel’s abduction. 

“We’re going to review the strengths and weaknesses of the case before we make any determination as to whether any charges will be filed,” Ritter said. 

Washington Sr. picked up Miguel for an overnight fishing trip on Oct. 6 and never brought him back, Washington Jr. said. 

Instead, Washington and Forrester received a letter from a Los Angeles law firm Oct. 7 stating that Miguel had been removed from their home and accused the pair of “actively promoting or influencing a gay lifestyle for the minor.” 

The letter cited Miguel’s participation in ballet and “gay art class” instead of baseball as one reason for the boy’s removal. 

Miguel is the child of Washington Jr.’s sister, Angelena Washington, who is unable to care for Miguel because of a mental disability, family members said. 

The younger Washington has cared for Miguel since he was 8 days old with the consent of family members, said Ritter, who heads the Riverside County Child Abduction Unit. No formal custody arrangement has ever been made, he said. 

Superior Court Judge Randall D. White issued an order Oct. 13 for Miguel to be returned to the home of Washington Jr. and Forrester. 

A five-acre blaze in Tilden Park Sunday was extinguished in a little over an hour, fire officials said. 

The blaze, in the area of Wildcat Canyon and Inspiration Point, threatened no structures and caused no injuries, said Battalion Chief Pete Nowicki of the Orinda-Moraga Fire Protection District. 

It was reported at about 11 a.m. and was under control at about 12:15 p.m., he said. 

The East Bay Regional Parks District and the California Department of Forestry also responded to the fire. No units from Berkeley were available, Nowicki said.  

It is believed that the high winds blew the electric power lines together, which caused sparks to fly, Nowicki said.  

“CDF will be staying there through the night,” he added.

YREKA – A man accused of luring two girls into his home with gifts and ice cream and then sexually assaulting them a decade ago pulled a gun in the courthouse during his trial Friday and shot one of his victims and her husband. He then killed himself. 

The court was recessed for jury deliberations in the Siskiyou County case against Edward Lansdale, 68, of Mount Shasta, when he fired two shots into Amber Pearce, a Sacramento woman who testified against Lansdale. He also shot her husband once, police Lt. Rick Riggins said. 

Lansdale ran down to a landing between the first and second floors, then shot himself in the head as deputies rushed toward him. 

Lansdale didn’t know it, but the jurors had just voted to convict him in the sexual assault case. 

Lansdale and the Pearces were taken to Fairchild Medical Center, where Lansdale died at about 1 p.m., Riggins said. 

Amber and Jeffrey Pearce, both 26, were in stable condition. Amber had a gunshot wound to the abdomen and Jeffrey was shot in the right leg, hospital spokeswoman Kathy Shelvock said. 

Lansdale had been on trial all week, charged with taking Amber Pearce, then 14, into his home in Big Springs and having sexual intercourse with her between September 1986 and late January 1990. 

Lansdale was charged with 24 felony counts of lewd and lascivious behavior with a child and 10 felony counts of oral copulation with a child, all related to Amber Pearce. The other alleged victim also testified. Charges could not be filed in her case due to a statute of limitations. 

Lansdale pleaded innocent to all charges. However, he didn’t testify at his trial, and the defense did not call any other witnesses or offer any evidence. His attorney, Allen King of Mount Shasta, did not immediately respond to messages left at his office Friday afternoon by The Associated Press seeking comment on the case. 

Assistant District Attorney Bill Davis said Lansdale ingratiated himself to the two girls’ families. 

“He would buy things for them. Literally, he brought ice cream when he was first trying to work his way into Amber’s family,” he said, adding that both girls lived for a time in Lansdale’s home with their parents’ permission. 

The charges carried a maximum penalty of nearly 60 years in prison. 

He said the jury had heard the shooting and knew something had happened, but did not know details. 

“The foreperson made a point of saying they had all agreed and reached guilty verdicts on all the counts before the shots were fired,” Davis said. 

The judge reconvened the court and read the verdict. 

“It was unusual,” Davis said. “It was really more of a closure sort of thing than it was a legal operation.” 

About 15 people were standing around outside the second-floor courtroom about 11 a.m. when Lansdale pulled out a 22-caliber “derringer-type revolver” and fired three rounds at the Pearces, Riggins said. 

Police were investigating how Lansdale got the gun into the building. 

However, Lansdale “went into the bathroom right after he left the courtroom and then he came out with the gun,” Davis said. 

After he shot them, the Pearces began fleeing down the nearby stairs, Riggins said. Lansdale followed, but stopped at the landing, “put the gun to his head and fired a round.” 

Lansdale was free on bail during the trial, Davis said. 

Siskiyou County Undersheriff Mike Lyon said there are airport-like metal detectors outside two of the courthouse’s three courtrooms. Officers use portable metal detectors at the third courtroom. 

But there are no detectors at the entrance, Lyon said. 

He said officials decided it would be too costly and an “inconvenience to the general public” to put detectors at the entrance. 

Riggins said the courthouse would reopen Monday. He said he didn’t know if there would be new security then, but said he was sure it would be looked into. 

“I have a strong suspicision that we will have stronger security in the very near future,” added prosecutor Davis. 

Lynn Holton, a spokeswoman for the state Judicial Council, the administrative agency for California courts, said the state allocated more than $240 million this year for court security measures. 

It’s up to each court how that money is spent. There’s no requirement for metal detectors at courthouse doors, she said.