When a high school team improves its record dramatically from one year to the next, the reasons are usually found in the maturation of players as they gain experience. But for the Berkeley High boys’ golf team, which will likely claim a share of the league title after winning just one match last season, there are three factors for the improvement, and none of them are carried over from last year. -more-

Friday, April 20

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The City Council approved a recommendation Tuesday to add the David R. Brower Center to the list of possible tenants for a proposed downtown building. -more-

The Daily Planet received the following e-mail from Jeffrey Schilling, the Oakland man rescued by Filipino marines from rebels last week. -more-

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Although they are facing a “serious budget situation,” in the word’s of school district Chief Financial Officer George Sirogiannis, a majority of school board members indicated Wednesday that they would fight to maintain student-teacher ratios at current levels next year. -more-

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The very name “University of California” exudes respect and elicits images of academia’s hallowed halls. -more-

Friday, April 20 -more-

The Berkeley Community Fund is seeking nominations for the next Benjamin Ide Wheeler Medal and Berkeley Community Awards. -more-

SAN FRANCISCO — The California Highway Patrol’s commissioner ordered a ban on some car searches Thursday, a move civil liberties groups say is a tacit admission that officers single out minority drivers for unfair treatment. -more-

SAN FRANCISCO — California’s largest utility has made it abundantly clear to Gov. Gray Davis, to Wall Street and now to a federal bankruptcy judge that it believes it should be exempt from state regulation. -more-

SAN FRANCISCO — A logging company plans to reduce clear-cutting on about 560,000 acres in the Sierra Nevada, a move greeted with skepticism by some environmentalists. -more-

SAN DIEGO — A 15-year-old boy accused of killing two students and wounding 13 other people at his high school is drawing support from around the nation from strangers who see him as a victim of bullies who should not be tried as an adult. -more-

The homes people live in evolved out of simple need or grand design, or both, then were inevitably polished by the urge to change. -more-

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NEW YORK — For parents struggling to juggle work and child-raising, the news compounded their daily dilemmas: A comprehensive study found that children who spend many hours in day care are more likely to be aggressive and defiant. -more-

Now in its 44th year, the San Francisco International Film Festival is among the oldest and more reputable festivals in the world, bringing new work from around the globe to the Bay Area and unearthing historic gems from the century of cinema. It’s fitting that the festival’s only screening venue outside of The City be Berkeley’s Pacific Film Archive, a world-renown institution for the preservation and progression of film. -more-

WASHINGTON — One day after the Federal Reserve provided a surprise interest rate cut, a top Fed official said Thursday that it was too soon to say that the sagging economy has bottomed out. -more-

SAN DIEGO — Slumping sales and restructuring costs pushed computer maker Gateway Inc. deep into the red with a loss of $503 million for the first quarter. -more-

RAMALLAH, West Bank — An explosion Thursday rocked a building used by an elite Palestinian police unit, injuring three officers, as Palestinians defied Israeli warnings by firing more mortar shells at Jewish settlements in Gaza. -more-

TORI TOKOLI, Benin — When the corn harvest is bad or a breadwinner dies, child smugglers crisscross the red dirt roads linking Benin’s villages with the big city, offering money and promises of a better life. -more-

PRETORIA, South Africa — Pharmaceutical giants dropped a lawsuit Thursday challenging a South African law that would allow cheaper AIDS drugs to get to millions of Africans, ending an international battle that deeply embarrassed the companies. -more-

The City Council directed opposing factions in the dispute over the Beth El development to meet with a mediator and find common ground and possibly a solution to their differences. -more-

Thursday, April 19

Need innovation: autos killing us -more-

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Against a strong opponent and under an unexpected rain, the Berkeley girls’ lacrosse team put up a valiant effort Wednesday, coming up just short in a 13-10 loss. -more-

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A group of senior citizens recounted stories to the City Council of poor service and mistreatment by taxi drivers who they say are rude, unhelpful and overcharge. That is, of course, if they show up at all. -more-

MORAGA – Cal allowed Saint Mary’s to score four runs in the third inning and six runs in the fifth inning on the way to a 10-6 loss to the Gaels Tuesday at Louis Guisto Field in Moraga. The Bears fall to 22-19 overall and Saint Mary’s improves to 14-25. -more-

As the Berkeley school board considers ways to reduce an estimated $5 million budget shortfall next year, including possibly increasing class sizes slightly for some grades, some are wondering if the district can still afford to take hundreds of students each year from outside the city. -more-

SAN FRANCISCO — Five days after he was rescued from nearly eight months in the hands of Muslim rebels in the Philippines, Jeffrey Schilling arrived home Wednesday to an emotional welcome. -more-

SAN FRANCISCO — Survivors of San Francisco’s devastating 1906 earthquake gathered at a historic fountain Wednesday morning for a wreath-laying ceremony marking the 95th anniversary of the temblor that leveled much of the city. -more-

SANTA BARBARA — Nearly two years of attempts to reach an agreement on creating no-fishing zones around California’s northern Channel Islands almost collapsed Wednesday when fishermen and environmentalists failed to reach a compromise. -more-

SACRAMENTO — California lawmakers are looking for ways to lure more qualified teachers into the schools that need them the most – those with mostly poor, minority and non-English-speaking students. -more-

SANTA ROSA — Two men arrested for growing 899 pot plants were acquitted Wednesday on charges of cultivating and possessing marijuana. -more-

EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE — NASA on Wednesday unveiled a futuristic “scramjet”-powered aircraft designed to hurtle over the Pacific Ocean at up to 7,200 mph in a test this spring, becoming the world’s fastest air-breathing plane. -more-

SACRAMENTO — Unchecked free-market forces drove up the price of natural gas to Southern California Edison by about $750 million over the last year, an industry consultant testified Wednesday. -more-

SACRAMENTO — Gov. Gray Davis urged state regulators Wednesday to approve the construction of a controversial power plant in southern San Jose. -more-

SACRAMENTO — Former vice presidential candidate Sen. Joseph Lieberman Wednesday jumped on the pile of key Democrats thumping President Bush for ignoring California’s energy crisis. -more-

WASHINGTON — The Bush administration, under fire for scrapping former President Clinton’s standard for arsenic in drinking water, announced plans Wednesday to set a new standard within nine months. -more-

WASHINGTON — A largely black congressional district can be constitutional if drawn to satisfy political rather than racial motives, a divided Supreme Court ruled Wednesday. -more-

WASHINGTON — To paint wholesaler Erasmo Hinojosa, free trade means savings for his grandchildren’s college, more weekend getaways and the possibility of an early retirement. -more-

JACKSON, Miss. — The NAACP raised the threat of an economic boycott Wednesday to drag Mississippi “kicking and screaming into the 21st century” after voters overwhelmingly decided to keep their 107-year-old state flag with the Confederate emblem. -more-

NEW YORK— An unexpected interest rate cut and a stream of positive earnings news sent stock prices soaring Wednesday, with the Dow Jones industrials leaping as much as 470 points and the Nasdaq composite barreling back above 2,000. -more-

The Federal Reserve’s enormous power over the economy was demonstrated again on Wednesday with a brief announcement that in minutes added billions of dollars to stock market valuations. -more-

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — Despite American criticism, Israel on Wednesday briefly re-entered the Gaza Strip and leveled a Palestinian police station on territory granted to Yasser Arafat’s government in peace agreements. -more-

COTONOU, Benin — Police questioned passengers from a ship that sparked a frenzied hunt for suspected child slaves, seeking clues Wednesday to the status of scores of children once thought to be aboard. -more-

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Members of the Live Oak Codornices Creek Neighborhood Association held a press conference Tuesday at the gates of the proposed site of a synagogue to announce the next steps in their opposition to the project. -more-

Wednesday, April 18

Pedestrian-oriented environs good for mental health -more-

924 Gilman St. All shows begin at 8 p.m. unless noted $5; $2 for a year membership. April 20: The Blast Rocks, The Sissies, Uberkunst, Audiowreck, Pirx the Pilot; April 21: MU330, Slow Gherkin, Big D & The Kids Table, The Lawrence Arms; April 27: Atom & His Package, Phantom Limbs, Har Mar Superstar, The Frisk, Shubunkins; April 28: 7 Seconds, Throwdown, Vitamin X, Over My Dead Body, Breaker Breaker; 525-9926 -more-

In a perfect world, elementary schools might look like something out of the pages of a bucolic children’s book: rabbits and ducks would gaze in benevolently at the windows, and clouds of butterflies would drift down the corridors, carried in from peripheral gardens by a sweet-scented wind. -more-

Monday night was indeed different from other tax-filing nights in Berkeley. The downtown post office stopped accepting returns at 10 p.m., leaving some 75 late-night procrastinators in the lurch. -more-

Civil Rights Lawyer Steve Rosenbaum spoke Tuesday at a rally and petition drive of students and activists in the disability community, protesting a recent Supreme Court decision that limits the American with Disabilities Act. -more-

High school-aged assailants targeted pedestrians listening to portable CD players in a series of robberies last week, police said. -more-

The Berkeley school board will hold a special budget workshop tonight to consider some possible scenarios for reducing a projected $5 million budget shortfall next year. -more-

SAN FRANCISCO — As many as 2,300 health care workers continued their strike Tuesday at nine Northern California hospitals, while the state’s attorney general listened to hearings about whether their employer should be allowed to join the city’s largest charitable care hospital. -more-

LOS ANGELES — Outraged by a recent court ruling that the Japanese government need not compensate women forced to provide sex to Japanese soldiers during World War II, hundreds of activists staged a noisy protest Tuesday outside that country’s consulate. -more-

SACRAMENTO — Two men accused of selling fake masterpiece paintings on an online auction site and inflating the bid prices pleaded guilty Tuesday to fraud charges in federal court. -more-

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — It was all Ku Klux Klansman Mitchell Burns could do to keep from getting sick to his stomach. -more-

SAN JOSE — Intel Corp.’s first-quarter profit fell more than 80 percent, and the chip-making giant warned that the effects of the economic slowdown will continue to be felt for months to come. -more-

Union activists know the drill: -more-

Tuesday, April 17

Pedestrian deaths in Berkeley are a public health emergency -more-

Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen’s 1890 masterpiece “Hedda Gabler” tells the story of a big woman newly locked into a confining marriage with a small man – at a time when there were limited options for what women could do with their lives. -more-

Action Movie: The Play Through April 21, Friday & Saturday, 8 p.m. Non-stop action and martial arts mayhem with comedy, surprise plot twists, and the occasional movie reference thrown in. $7 - $12 The Eighth Street Studio 2525 Eighth St. 464-4468 -more-

The City Council will consider suggestions tonight from the Commission on Aging on ways to salvage a faltering subsidized taxi service for the elderly and disabled. -more-

Tonight the City Council will likely accept a $50,000 grant from the Alameda Alliance for Health, for a contract with Positive Outlook Consultant Services to provide substance abuse counseling to pregnant and parenting African American women. -more-

Martin Luther King Middle School has been named a California Distinguished School for 2001. -more-

A love of comic books and of the history of mid-20th century New York led Michael Chabon to write “The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay,” the book that won him a Pulitzer on Monday. -more-

The Supreme Court refused to let California jail inmates testify anonymously in the murder trial of two fellow prisoners. Prosecutors said the inmates needed to keep their names secret to protect their safety. -more-

NEW YORK — News coverage of the pre-dawn raid by federal agents who grabbed Cuban boy Elian Gonzalez resulted in two Pulitzer Prizes on Monday: a breaking news reporting award for The Miami Herald and a breaking news photography award for Alan Diaz of The Associated Press. -more-

American consumers must work four months just to pay taxes. Their mutual funds have plunged. Layoffs loom. Their utility bills are up. They are deep in debt. -more-

Cal Day, the University of California, Berkeley's annual open house, will host a daylong resource fair to help students and their families prepare for college. -more-

A powerful education reform movement sweeping the nation has hit Berkeley High School, and now parents are being invited to join the discussion. -more-

Monday, April 16

Treatment of Wozniak unfair -more-

Habitot Children’s Museum “Back to the Farm”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. “Recycling Center” Lets the kids crank the conveyor belt to sort cans, plastic bottles and newspaper bundles into dumpster bins, and become little “dump” workers. $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. (closed Sundays, Memorial Day through Labor Day) Kittredge Street and Shattuck Avenue 647-1111 or www.habitot.org -more-

Saturday, the Golden Bears hosted the USC Trojans at Evans Diamond for the third and final time in this week’s series. Having dropped the first two games, the Bears needed a win badly to salvage the series. But Cal got off to a rough start with starter Ryan Atkinson not lasting past the first inning, and it looked like the Trojans were gearing up for a sweep. -more-

A loose coalition of local businesses and city organizations gathered in Civic Center Park Saturday for Berkeley’s first Safety and Preparedness Fair. -more-

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – Cal volleyball player Candace McNamee has been selected as one of 14 athletes from around the nation who will train as part of the A-2 Women’s National Volleyball Team this summer at the United States Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, CO. -more-

The City Council will likely adopt a recommendation Tuesday directing the city manager to “vigorously pursue” the transformation of energy sources in public-owned buildings to renewable sources using mostly solar-based technologies. -more-

When the St. Mary’s track & field team shows up for a meet, they usually expect to do well, with several top finishers. Even though the Arcadia Invitational on Saturday was the top meet in California, the Panthers had high hopes. But when all was said and done, they came home with some disappointing performances and just one win. -more-

Most people think of Greenpeace and recycling when they think of Earth Day, but UC Berkeley kicked off its Earthweek 2001 events yesterday with panel discussions on political reform and nuclear weapons. -more-

The No. 4 Cal Bears softball team split a doubleheader with No. 3 Stanford on Saturday in Pacific-10 Conference action in front of a standing room only crowd of 450 at Levine-Fricke Field. The Bears dropped the first game 5-4, but came back to shutout the Cardinal in game two, 1-0. -more-

Earthquakes act on structures in two ways: -more-

Outraged over a sudden multibillion-dollar increase in cost estimates to retrofit the Bay Bridge, state Sen. Tom Torlakson has called a senate hearing in Oakland to investigate the matter. -more-

Berkeley’s Ecology Center announced Friday they will begin doing their recycling rounds with 10 new trucks that run on recycled vegetable oil. -more-

SACRAMENTO – Several University of California campuses have not been complying with federal crime reporting laws, but there is no evidence that the schools covered up campus crime, according to a report by a UC task force. -more-

Four-alarm fire guts S.F. hotel on Easter Sunday -more-

5,000 fewer inmates after first year of Proposition 36 -more-

Schilling says he wants his captors destroyed -more-

SAN FRANCISCO – Pacific Gas and Electric Co. officials demanded the utility be cut free from state regulation and be allowed to push huge rate increases onto its customers, two weeks before negotiations with Gov. Gray Davis broke off, the San Francisco Chronicle reported Sunday. -more-

SAN JOSE – In an effort to ease this summer’s promised power drain, state energy officials are pushing for approval of a proposed power plant in San Jose’s Coyote Valley, despite recommendations that other sites may be more environmentally suitable, a newspaper reported Sunday. -more-

LOS ANGELES – If the 2000 census reflected the decade of the Hispanic population explosion, look for the nation’s 2010 head count to reflect the decade of the Asian population boom. -more-

High-tech investors pay for paper profits -more-

NEW YORK – Amid warnings that some states could encounter power problems similar to those in California, small business owners should start thinking now about their energy strategies for the peak usage periods of the summer. -more-

Former captive chows down on fried chicken on first leg of journey home -more-

Saturday, April 14

Late-night parties at new Beth El bad for neighbors -more-

Habitot Children’s Museum “Back to the Farm”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. “Recycling Center” Lets the kids crank the conveyor belt to sort cans, plastic bottles and newspaper bundles into dumpster bins, and become little “dump” workers. $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. (closed Sundays, Memorial Day through Labor Day) Kittredge Street and Shattuck Avenue 647-1111 or www.habitot.org -more-

STANFORD – Junior Jocelyn Forest pitched a two-hitter, but the No. 4 California Golden Bears fell to the No. 3 Stanford Cardinal, 5-2, in game one of a Pac-10 three-game series. Forest allowed five runs, only two earned, as Cal committed two errors on the day, allowing Stanford to score three unearned runs. The Bears fall to 43-5 overall and just 2-4 in the Pac-10, while the Cardinal improves to 37-4-1 overall, 6-1 in the conference. -more-

At about 10:30 p.m. Thursday the phone rang. It wasn’t another reporter. Carol Schilling finally heard her son’s voice. -more-

Thursday, the Cal baseball team couldn’t score a run, falling to USC 1-0 in a rare pitchers’ duel. On Friday, they just couldn’t score enough. -more-

Berkeley may not seem like a high priority target for terrorists wielding weapons of mass destruction, but just in case it is, the fire department wants to be prepared. -more-

More than 80 percent of Berkeley students in grades seven through 12 are happy at their schools, but nearly half of them said they would put little effort into class work if not for the need to get “good grades”. -more-

The oldest school building standing in Berkeley is located at 1814 Seventh St. and was built in 1887. The simple, one-and two-story wood-frame building, with clipped gable ends, has tall sash windows and horizontal board siding. Although now used as a residence, it retains much of the character of the original school building. -more-

A team of recycling advocates in Berkeley is sifting through residents’ trash, hoping to find only garbage that is free of recyclable materials so they can hand over a hefty cash prize. -more-

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On April 22 Americans will be celebrating the 31st anniversary of Earth Day. In 1969 Senator Gaylord Nelson of Wisconsin, frustrated by the lack of political attention to the state of the environment, took a lesson from the anti-Vietnam War “teach-ins” that were taking place across the country. -more-

SAN FRANCISCO – A federal judge delayed a decision for a second time Thursday in the case of a gay U.S. Air Force doctor who was discharged and ordered to pay back $70,000 the government spent sending him to medical school. -more-

SAN FRANCISCO – NBC is being sued over its acquisition of its money losing Internet subsidiary NBC Internet. -more-

SAN FRANCISCO – An arraignment for two lawyers charged in the dog mauling death of their neighbor was delayed for a second time Friday because new attorneys for Marjorie Knoller and Robert Noel haven’t had time to review the case. -more-

SAN JOSE – A former telephone repairman pleaded innocent Friday to killing a woman’s little dog by throwing it into traffic after a minor fender bender. -more-

Ford Motor Co. must replace defective ignition devices on an estimated 2 million California vehicles prone to stalling, a judge ruled Friday. -more-

HALF MOON BAY – Organizers of the annual big wave surfing contest at the once-secret ocean spot known as Mavericks officially called off this year’s competition. -more-

Brown gives S.F. sales pitch -more-

SAN FRANCISCO – One in four tenants evicted from their San Francisco apartments over the past two years was a senior citizen, a study found. -more-

Companies branching out to other products to stay in business -more-

Up to three cameras allowed -more-

Criminals, victims sometimes put in same cells in current California penal system -more-

Davis wants $500 million more -more-

Panel denies pay raises to Davis, state officials -more-

Current violence a long time coming; 15 blacks, 0 whites killed by cops in five years -more-

GARDEN GROVE – Estela Cuevas had been trying to get tickets to the Crystal Cathedral’s “Glory of Easter” pageant for three years, so she jumped at the chance when a friend nabbed some this year. -more-

Summer blackouts could have an effect on tourism -more-

SANTA CLARA – Leading Internet portal Yahoo! Inc. has said it will remove pornographic products from its shopping, auctions and classifieds Web pages. -more-

NEW YORK – Investors’ bear market-ravaged portfolios haven’t kept them away from financial advisers – Wall Street’s recent fluctuations have many people looking for suggestions about their next move. -more-

SAN FRANCISCO — Two of the nation’s largest book chains, Barnes & Noble Inc. and Borders Group Inc., settled a federal antitrust suit Thursday brought by small, independent bookstores in an accord seen as a victory for the chains. -more-

Kids come to school on -more-

Going to work may become less onerous for disabled people if the state legislature backs AB925, a bill introduced by Assemblymember Dion Aroner, D-Berkeley. It was heard in the Assembly Health Committee Tuesday. -more-

PG&E Corp., the parent of Northern California’s bankrupt utility, reported a $4.1 billion fourth-quarter loss Monday in a grudging acknowledgment that the company might not be able to charge its customers for last year’s soaring electricity costs. -more-

Berkeley Police officials are looking for Pauline Grana, a 79 year old, white woman with white shoulder length hair and blue eyes. -more-

S. Stephen Nakashima announced his resignation Friday as a member of the University of California Board of Regents. -more-