The City Council increased a loan Tuesday for the downtown library renovation project, which is four months behind schedule and an estimated $2 million over budget. -more-
All-American will get a shot at more caps in Nordic Cup -more-
The Berkeley-based Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund filed a lawsuit in Alameda County Superior Court Wednesday morning against taxi services provider Friendly Cab Company, alleging that it discriminates against passengers who use guide dogs. -more-
With Berkeley High headed for rebuilding seasons in both football and boys’ basketball, the last thing the Yellowjackets needed was to lose two veteran players. But that’s exactly what has happened, as rising seniors Mohammed Nitoto and Chevallier Patterson will transfer to McClymonds for the next school year. -more-
Examples of work from the Young Writers’ Camp; see story on p. 1 -more-
Some school officials are cautiously optimistic that the latest round of reforms proposed for Berkeley High’s ninth-grade curriculum will make being a freshman less overwhelming than it has been in years past – particularly for students who arrive at the school at risk of failing. -more-
Saulius Kuzminskas, 6-foot-11 forward, has elected not to return to the Cal basketball team, deciding instead to play professionally in his native Lithuania. -more-
Teresa is reading her piece about her grandmother, Baby, who tries to ride a scooter but falls instead, head over heels; eight stitches are required to close up her burst-open chin. The audience cracks up when Teresa rolls her eyes and tells us this grandmother is a judge! -more-
Senate subpoenas energy provider’s financial records for investigation -more-
Gay and lesbian chorus sings music for social causes -more-
CORNELIUS, Ore. – Turn left at the American flag. Follow the dirt road lined with yellow dandelions. Pass the old house with the wooden porch and the dark brown llama in the front corral. Park in the back, where the rooster is crowing and the air is rich with a mixture of animal dung and ripening fruit. -more-
HOUSTON – When Compaq Computer Corp. announced earlier this year it was restructuring, the company hoped natural attrition would allow it to shave thousands of jobs. -more-
More than 70 people showed up at North Gate Hall for a public hearing Monday night, to challenge UC Berkeley’s Northeast Quadrant Science and Safety Project. -more-
A recent U.S. Supreme Court decision could make a Berkeley ordinance restricting tobacco advertisements near schools unenforceable, legal experts say. -more-
Class helps older adults stay on their toes -more-
Teachers and parents of the Berkeley site of Hickman Charter School are increasingly concerned about the impact a state Senate bill restricting home-school funding could have on their children’s education. -more-
A car fire atop a three-story parking building was extinguished by the Berkeley Fire Department in less than half an hour on Tuesday. -more-
Parents of disabled children who attend Berkeley schools made an impassioned appeal to the school board last week to reform the district’s special education programs. -more-
The San Francisco Mime Troupe brings its new musical play “1600 Transylvania” to Berkeley next weekend with Saturday and Sunday afternoon performances at Cedar Rose Park. -more-
Mayor Shirley Dean has put a new recommendation on the City Council’s agenda that asks the city manager to undertake a study of the growing number of day labors that congregate on Hearst Avenue in west Berkeley looking for short-term work. -more-
And now, it seems, there’s four candidates for the local State Assembly race. -more-
The City Council is expected to approve funds tonight for completion of the High Efficiency Traffic Signal program that will govern the city’s intersections with signal lights that burn cheaper, longer and brighter. -more-
SAN FRANCISCO — Online grocer Webvan Group Inc. closed Monday and said it would file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. -more-
NEW YORK — Bargain-hunting and news of an unsolicited bid for AT&T’s cable TV business helped revive blue chip and technology stocks Monday, pushing the major indexes higher after a weeklong slump. -more-
WASHINGTON — ETrade Securities, one of the largest online brokerage firms, has been fined $90,000 by a self-policing brokers’ group for allegedly violating advertising rules by making misleading claims. -more-
Mr. Confetti, the marionette, kicked and danced and even spun on his hands, moving to the beat of a group of animated Taiko drummers; juice from fresh-picked peaches poured down shirt fronts as market-goers strolled in the sun; connoisseurs fingered hand-made quilts and looked longingly at Elaine Pruitt’s sparkling “wearable art.” And even in the stress-free environment of Sunday’s first-ever West Berkeley Market, there were folks ready to enjoy a “quickie” massage. -more-
AC Transit holiday service doesn’t get it done for poor and disabled -more-
Thornton Wilder’s Pulitzer winner is first play by contemporary writer at the California Shakespeare Festival -more-
Berkeley Junior Giants short on volunteers -more-
Concerned about the constant challenges Berkeley’s large disabled community faces when it participates in special events, the Commission on Disability is currently working on a new set of guidelines for the accessibility of city-funded events. -more-
The school board chugged through a busy agenda Thursday, at its last regular meeting until Aug. 15. It reviewed summer construction plans, discussed new policies proposed for next year and approved plans for independent audits in key areas of district operations. -more-
CHICO – Curtis Scott is a 45-year-old prison guard who really wants to teach third grade. -more-
Members of an African American parent group at Berkeley High expressed anger Thursday that the school planned a program to aid failing students without consulting them. -more-
Habitot Children’s Museum “Back to the Farm” An interactive exhibit gives children the chance to wiggle through tunnels, 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. $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-
Two-sport star reportedly unhappy with new offense -more-
While UC Berkeley planners say they must retrofit buildings for earthquake safety on the northeast quadrant of the campus, at least one local resident is questioning the need for the work and the increased traffic the remodeled buildings might bring. -more-
As part of the city’s effort to address the power crisis, Mayor Shirley Dean will bring a recommendation to the City Council Tuesday that could lead to a citywide community-based energy conservation plan. -more-
When the trustees of the College of California commissioned Frederick Law Olmsted to develop a plan for their new campus in 1864, they also asked him to design a residential neighborhood southeast of the college property, between the college and the proposed state school for the deaf and blind. -more-
LOS ANGELES — It took a decade, but the last of 250 GPS monitoring stations was installed this week, allowing scientists to record, with unprecedented precision, the minute movements of the Earth associated with earthquakes, seismologists said Friday. -more-
LOS ANGELES — In its strongest stance yet against standardized testing, the National Education Association on Friday voted to support legislation giving parents the ability to let their children skip the tests. -more-
Physicists have taken some of the most precise measurements so far of the behavior of matter and antimatter, and their findings could help explain why the universe is filled with something rather than nothing. -more-
A Walnut Creek pharmacy suspected of selling contaminated cortisone shots that caused three deaths must stop compounding medicine, an administrative law judge ordered Friday. -more-
SACRAMENTO — After months of struggling to keep the lights on and his political fortunes intact, Gov. Gray Davis’s re-election committee is launching a statewide radio advertising campaign. -more-
WASHINGTON — President Bush, after faulting the Kyoto climate treaty for excluding developing nations from its requirements, wants to cut U.S. aid for helping Third World countries combat global warming. -more-
NEW YORK — Some of the country’s top colleges and universities are changing their rules to better calculate how much financial aid students need, The New York Times reported Friday. -more-
ALEXANDRIA, Va. — Former FBI agent Robert Hanssen pleaded guilty to spying for Moscow in an agreement aimed at providing a full accounting of the damage from one of America’s gravest espionage cases. -more-
SILVER SPRING, Md. — Steve Perna is wired, though not from his morning coffee. -more-
Dear Tom and Ray: -more-
Wall Street’s buyers have vanished, perhaps to seek out such summertime comforts as the swimming pool and a good book. Why shouldn’t they? After all, the season promises to be chilly for the stock market. -more-
LOS ANGELES — The Walt Disney Co.’s ambitious attempt to open a chain of virtual theme parks has come to an end with the announcement that DisneyQuest in Chicago will close at the end of the summer. -more-
PARIS — A locked iron gate and double metal doors now block the entrance to a cave in western France that archaeologists say contains the most important prehistoric engravings ever discovered in Europe. -more-
OKINAWA CITY, Japan — Ending a stalemate that threatened to cast a shadow over a key security alliance, the United States surrendered an American serviceman accused of rape to Japanese authorities Friday, allowing police formally to arrest him. -more-
An African American firefighter filed a lawsuit against the city of Berkeley and the California Occupational Health and Safety Administration (CALOSHA) for racial and disability discrimination on Tuesday, claiming that the two entities had prevented him from fighting fires due to safety rules that discriminate against black workers. -more-
Habitot Children’s Museum “Back to the Farm” An interactive exhibit gives children the chance to wiggle through tunnels, 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. $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-
On a misty Tuesday morning 12 teens made their way slowly up the winding roads of the Berkeley Hills. With a left on Prospect Street, up past Memorial Stadium, a right onto Panoramic Way, and a turn somewhat resembling a backwards G to somehow remain on Panoramic, the 12 students trudged on with great determination. -more-
Berkeley Police Sergeant Eric Gustafson isn’t worried yet. -more-
The Meiklejohn Civil Liberties Institute, a nonprofit organization based in Berkeley, has assembled a delegation to attend the U.N. World Conference Against Racism in South Africa – the nation where what is perhaps the most important battle against racism in recent history, the fight against apartheid, was fought and won. -more-
SACRAMENTO — The state Senate Judiciary Committee has approved a measure that would expand a civil rights law protecting transsexuals from job and housing discrimination. -more-
LOS ANGELES — As the number of charter schools grows nationwide, school districts should make sure they are held to the same standards as other public schools, the nation’s largest teachers’ union said Thursday. -more-
LOS ANGELES — The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission has ordered a company to stop large shipments of radioactive materials because of concerns the packages could break open in an accident. -more-
SACRAMENTO — Three pit bulls attacked a 43-year-old Sacramento woman as she was walking down the street, tearing an artery in her leg, before a construction worker and a sheriff’s deputy stepped in to save her, police said. -more-
The wife of Rep. Gary Condit was questioned by law enforcement officers Thursday in the disappearance of former federal intern Chandra Levy, according to the congressman’s lawyer. -more-
Nearly 5 million Pacific Gas and Electric Co. ratepayers could lose out on billions in power price refunds if they are not represented as a committee in its bankruptcy case, an attorney with the U.S. Trustee told a federal bankruptcy judge Thursday. -more-
The Swedes have a way of taking over derivative forms and making them their own, a point made by authors Barbara and Rene Stoeltie in “Country Houses of Sweden.” -more-
WASHINGTON — Two-thirds of Americans – both adults and teenagers – say they support the legal drinking age of 21, says an Associated Press poll. Teen-agers support the law even though teen drinking remains widespread. -more-
WASHINGTON — President Bush named veteran prosecutor Robert Mueller to take over the FBI and begin repairing the nation’s premier law enforcement agency after embarrassments ranging from bungled Oklahoma City bombing documents to the discovery of an FBI spy. -more-
WASHINGTON — Researchers have found serious abnormalities in cloned mice, a finding that strengthens the belief of many scientists that the technique used to clone Dolly the sheep should not be used on humans. -more-
WASHINGTON — Treasury Secretary Paul O’Neill, citing continued strong demand in such key sectors as autos and housing, predicted on Thursday that a $40 billion flood of tax rebate checks this summer will give the economy a needed boost that should carry into next year. -more-
NEW YORK — Stocks fell Thursday as profit warnings from Federated Department Stores and British telecom firm Marconi reminded investors how badly business is suffering here and abroad. -more-
Proposition 34’s contribution limits effectively waived by new regulation, reform advocates say -more-
Herbert George Baker, a professor of Botany and Integrative Biology at UC Berkeley for 33 years, died July 2, at Piedmont Gardens in Oakland after a long illness. He was 81. -more-
MODESTO — The mother of missing federal intern Chandra Levy pressed Rep. Gary Condit on Monday to take a lie detector test. -more-
SAN QUENTIN — San Quentin State Prison, the forbidding, 149-year-old stone fortress that is home to California’s death row, may have served its time. -more-
SAN FRANCISCO — Gov. Gray Davis is asking a state court for a 60-day cooling-off period to avert a BART strike. -more-
