After a background report was bogged down for two years in various departments, the City Council tonight will finally ask staff to prepare a domestic partner ordinance for city contractors. -more-

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Tuesday, Feb. 20

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YOKOSUKA, JAPAN – The uproar over the sinking of a Japanese fishing trawler by a U.S. nuclear submarine has overlooked the question of whether anyone could have survived inside the sunken vessel. -more-

924 Gilman St. All shows begin at 8 p.m. unless noted $5; $2 for a year membership Feb. 23: Subincision, 30 Second Fury, AKA Nothing, No Common Sense, Stalin’s War; Feb. 24: Slow Gherkin, Plus Ones, 78 RPMS, Merrick, Enemy You 525-9926 -more-

OAKLAND — Two Oakland filmmakers are once more in the running for Oscars in the Feature Documentary category. -more-

The Eastshore State Park, recently purchased by the state, contains 1,800 acres of land and water that stretches along the shoreline from Richmond to Oakland. Tonight the council will consider approval of a series of meetings in preparation for a general plan for the park. A separate planning meeting is also being held tonight by the East Bay Regional Parks District at 7 p.m. at Hs Lordships Restaurant at the Berkeley Marina. The first public workshop is scheduled for March. -more-

Has Proposition 21 criminalized youth in Berkeley? Some councilmembers want the Youth Commission to take a hard look at the results of the state law that makes it easier to try teens as adults. They want to know its specific impact in Berkeley. -more-

The Committee to Minimize Toxic Waste, the community watch dog group concerned with the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory Tritium Labeling Facility, is calling for a workshop to examine a city consultant’s report on possible tritium releases at the labs during a major fire. -more-

SAN DIEGO — The leadership of the American Bar Association voted Monday to recommend ending “zero tolerance” school discipline policies and stopping the government’s use of secret evidence in most immigration cases. -more-

NEW YORK — Could those deteriorating consumer confidence figures be a measure also of how spoiled Americans have become after a decade of plentiful credit, easy payments, lots of jobs and rising stocks? -more-