Hours of input heard before votes -more-

Wednesday, July 25

Bush tax relief is just not enough -more-

924 Gilman St. Music at 8 p.m. unless otherwise noted. July 27: Throw Down, Glood Clean Fun, Count Me Out, Time Flies, Faded Grey, Lab Rats; July 28: Over My Dead Body, Carry On, Merrick, Some Still Believe, Black Lung Patriots; Aug. 3: Sworn Vengeance, N.J. Bloodline, Settle the Score, Existence, Step; Aug. 4: Toxic Narcotic, Menstrual Tramps, Emo Summer, Four Letter Word, Shitty Wickets; $5. 924 Gilman St. 525-9926. -more-

Nine protesters chanting “Books not bars, schools not jails” were arrested Tuesday for disrupting a public hearing in front of the Alameda County Board of Supervisors on whether a 450-bed Juvenile Hall should be built in Dublin. -more-

Air travel for the average person has become increasingly inconvenient with the rising number of reported complaints against airlines for overbooked flights, delayed departures and lost luggage. -more-

Alta Bates Summit Medical Center announced last week it will cut about 300 jobs throughout California by the end of the summer to stop their on-going financial hemorrhage. -more-

OAKLAND — The City Council voted Tuesday night cut in half the number of plants a medical marijuana grower can cultivate – but left the limit at a still sizable garden of up to 72 plants. -more-

OAKLAND — The Alameda County grand jury has recommended that the county board of education be eliminated or run by a financial expert after officials in one school district mishandled money. -more-

NEW YORK — Stock prices dropped sharply Tuesday with the Dow industrials tumbling by triple digits for a second day on a spate of bad news – a wider-than-expected loss from Lucent Technologies, lower profits from Exxon Mobil and revenue warnings from Amazon.com and AT&T. -more-

WASHINGTON — The Senate Judiciary Committee will examine whether Microsoft is improperly shutting out rivals and hurting consumers, wading into an antitrust dispute as the company prepares to the new version of its Windows operating system. -more-

The City Council is expected to approve a new police retirement package tonight that might entice veteran officers to leave the department – forcing the city into a competitive job market for new recruits. -more-

Tuesday, July 24

The Berkeley City Council can rightly be applauded for the effort it has made to help fund the expansion of some local arts groups seeking to locate new facilities downtown to develop their audiences. -more-

MUSIC

Supporters of sweeping reforms for Berkeley High School say they are building a broad base of support over the summer and will make a strong case to the Berkeley School Board in September, calling on board members to give their unequivocal support to the effort. -more-

The City Council is expected to vote tonight on the controversial proposal by the Beth El congregation to build a synagogue, school and social hall at 1301 Oxford St. -more-

The African American firefighter suing the city and California OSHA because he believes a state regulation regarding fire masks is discriminatory, is now asking the City Council for support. -more-

To do some things, Emily Hancock thinks, a woman’s got to have moxie. -more-

A 15-year-old girl was allegedly sexually assaulted by a pair of young men while exercising at the Downtown Berkeley YMCA at 7:30 p.m. Friday, said Berkeley Police Lt. Russell Lopes. -more-

LOS ANGELES — U.S. Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham unveiled a $300 million plan Monday to break a transmission-line bottleneck that has kept power from flowing freely through the state during times of peak usage. -more-

LOS ANGELES — An AIDS-stricken Thai boy used as a prop by immigrant smugglers will stay in the country and become the first applicant for a new kind of visa for victims of trafficking and violence, U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft said Monday. -more-

SACRAMENTO — The state budget cleared its final legislative hurdle Monday night, more than three weeks after it was supposed to take effect. -more-

SACRAMENTO — Voters could decide to ban the cutting of any tree that grew before California became a state in 1850, if a coalition succeeds in putting the initiative on next year’s ballot. -more-

A consulting firm recently reported that a large percentage of companies it surveyed continued to give managers performance bonuses despite the company’s poor performance. -more-

LOS ANGELES — In a deal that will give The Walt Disney Co. valuable distribution and News Corp. cash to finance an acquisition of its own, Disney is buying Fox Family Worldwide Inc. for $3 billion in cash and assuming debt of $2.3 billion. -more-

For the second Sunday in a row, Walker Toma took a slim lead into the top of the seventh inning. And for the second Sunday in a row, Toma’s Berkeley Legion team ended up losing in extra innings, a 6-5, eight-inning heartbreaker to De La Salle at San Pablo Park. -more-

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Editor’s note: -more-

Monday, July 23

Local officials involved in implementing Proposition 36 — the initiative that mandates that non-violent adults convicted of possessing illegal drugs be sentenced to drug treatment rather than jail time — say the law may need fine tuning if it is to have the impact supporters had hoped for. -more-

Due to scheduled surgery, Councilmember Dona Spring will not be able to physically attend Tuesday’s City Council meeting during which the council will finally vote on the long, contentious and controversial proposal to build a synagogue, school and social hall at 1301 Oxford St. -more-

Cohousing fills society’s natural need to live in a community, said Eric Utne, founder of the alternative magazine Utne Reader, at the opening of the 2001 North American Cohousing Conference Friday night. -more-

Tillie Olsen cannot forget that newspaper story. -more-

Bay Bridge toll may rise to $3 -more-

SACRAMENTO – Although 77 percent of voters in Gary Condit’s San Joaquin Valley district say he is doing a good job, nearly 60 percent say they won’t be voting for the congressman from Modesto in 2002, according to a San Jose Mercury News poll released Sunday. -more-

SACRAMENTO – The state Senate passed a $101 billion California budget and the bills to implement it early Sunday, ending partisan bickering that had left the state without a spending plan for nearly a month. -more-

SACRAMENTO – Eleven years after Californians adopted term limits, a new ballot battle is shaping up over whether voters should be able to give their state legislators extra time in office. -more-

LOS ANGELES – Police Detective Brian Solinsky doesn’t carry a wrist radio like Dick Tracy, but he does use a new tool that makes the comic book cop’s vision of high-tech policing a reality. -more-

The City Council closed the last Beth El public hearing Thursday and is set to render a decision Tuesday night on what has been called the “most important land use issue in more than 10 years.” -more-

Saturday, July 21

Seven-story ‘monster building’ is unacceptable -more-

We are fortunate that internationally famous music ensembles often visit Berkeley, especially in the years of the biennial Early Music Festival. But during the festival’s off years we can be glad that there is a rich vein of local talent that mounts concerts of pre-Classical music performed in authentic period style. -more-

924 Gilman St. Music at 8 p.m. unless otherwise noted. July 21: Babyland, 78 RPMs Derelectics, Man Alive, Philps & Reuter; July 27: Throw Down, Glood Clean Fun, Count Me Out, Time Flies, Faded Grey, Lab Rats; July 28: Over My Dead Body, Carry On, Merrick, Some Still Believe, Black Lung Patriots; Aug. 3: Sworn Vengeance, N.J. Bloodline, Settle the Score, Existence, Step; Aug. 4: Toxic Narcotic, Menstrual Tramps, Emo Summer, Four Letter Word, Shitty Wickets. $5. 924 Gilman St. 525-9926. -more-

Former St. Mary’s AD, football coach will assist son at Tamalpais High -more-

G-8 Summit events spur local action -more-

The piano music of Arnold Schoenberg is not played as often as it deserves. Each piece is a gem, yet these gems defy most attempts to display them in the normal context of a variety of compositions from the Classical and Romantic traditions. -more-

The 2001 California women’s lacrosse team finished its third season as a varsity sport this past spring with a 12-6 mark and advanced to the title game of the Western Women’s Lacrosse championship under head coach Jill Malko. -more-

Berkeley may soon have better transportation for disabled and elderly people. -more-

Neighborhood controversy over a proposed three-unit townhome development in north Berkeley is reaching a critical point as city officials prepare for an appeal hearing of the project. -more-

The area south of the UC campus is a good example of a Berkeley neighborhood that has retained the character of its initial development despite 134 years of change. -more-

SANTA MONICA — Frustrated by a federal decision they expect will extend California’s use of the pollutant MTBE, Southern California water agencies Friday drafted a plan to defend the region’s wells against the water-fouling gasoline additive. -more-

LOS ANGELES — A Texas man who pulled a small knife on board an eight-hour American Airlines flight was found innocent of a federal charge by reason of insanity Friday. -more-

Assembly measure stalled -more-

LOS ANGELES — A judge dismissed misdemeanor charges against the lead lawyer for former SLA fugitive Sara Jane Olson Friday after both sides agreed that the case against attorney J. Tony Serra would be burdensome to the court, Serra’s lawyers said. -more-

SACRAMENTO — The state Assembly continued negotiations Friday to try to break its budget logjam while the Senate adjourned until 9:30 a.m. Saturday. -more-

WASHINGTON — Ever since Woodrow Wilson, presidents have cozied up to popes. Lyndon Johnson lobbied a pope to back him on Vietnam. Ronald Reagan, once caught dozing during a papal address, talked Cold War tactics with a pope. -more-

WASHINGTON — The Bush administration will maintain a diverse AIDS panel from the Clinton era, Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson said Friday. -more-

Dear Tom and Ray: -more-

AUSTIN, Texas – When times were good, Agillion Inc. looked like a million bucks. -more-

Camps -more-

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City is avoiding -more-

Friday, July 20

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Proponents of a new transit system that uses the light-rail concept with buses instead of trains hope its possible implementation in the East Bay may become the Bay Area prototype in a system that is gaining ground across the country. -more-

The City Council extended a moratorium on the installation of wireless telecommunication antennas in Berkeley until the end of the year by unanimously approving a recommendation by the Planning and Development Department Tuesday. -more-

If an 8-year-old were given the task of designing a school curriculum, it might end up looking something like the Summer Program for West Berkeley’s Black Pine Circle private school. -more-

SAN FRANCISCO — The University of California is expanding admissions, guaranteeing a spot to students who graduate in the top 12.5 percent of their high school class under a program that will send some to community college first. -more-

The painstaking search for a missing California woman that has captured national media attention is hurting murder investigations in Washington, leaders of the police union said Thursday. -more-

LONG BEACH — A horned puffin chick has hatched at the Aquarium of the Pacific, making it only the second location in the United States to successfully breed the distinctive sea bird. -more-

SAN DIEGO — A U.S. Forest Service firefighter has been arrested and charged with setting five fires over the past two months in the Cleveland National Forest. -more-

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SALT LAKE CITY — An assistant U.S. attorney has been charged with lewdness for allegedly mooning a group of neighbors and exposing her breasts after losing her temper on the street outside their home. -more-

BALTIMORE — The government has suspended federally funded research on human subjects at Johns Hopkins University following the death of a healthy volunteer during an asthma experiment, the school said Thursday. -more-

WASHINGTON — Documents that the Democratic Party and unions have sued to keep secret reveal a campaign strategy in which labor and party officials served side by side on committees that directed the Democrats’ election activities in each state. -more-

SAN JOSE — Second-quarter profits more than tripled at eBay Inc., and the mammoth Internet marketplace said Thursday that business will be even better than expected the rest of the year. -more-

Another round of free outdoor summer theater hits Berkeley over this weekend – this time a very funny, slapstick all-female production of Shakespeare’s “Comedy of Errors,” staged by Woman’s Will and performed in John Hinkel Park. -more-

Members of the board that oversees Pacifica Radio Network have until 5 p.m. today to resign if they want to avoid being named in three lawsuits that target the company. -more-

From the unconventional opening to a new twist of the knife at the end, Berkeley Opera’s production of Georges Bizet’s “Carmen” is engaging. -more-

Thursday, July 19

New paint job for library -more-

In response to a series of home-fire deaths last year, the City Council adopted a new housing ordinance Tuesday designed to increase housing safety. -more-

Why would a recent high school graduate choose to spend part of his summer cooped up in a windowless laboratory using laser beams to test the elemental composition of a nickel? -more-

Homeless advocates, city officials and community activists applauded a Berkeley judge’s decision to rule, in the case of Ken Moshesh, that a law that makes sleeping outside a misdemeanor is unconstitutional. -more-

An Oakland man drowned Tuesday after he and a friend jumped off the Berkeley Pier as part of a bet to see who was the better swimmer. -more-

The Berkeley Community Gardening Collaborative will be giving away compost on Saturday July 21 at the Berkeley Farmer’s Market as part of “Sustainable Agriculture” Day. Berkeley residents can bring a bag or bucket to Center Street and Milvia to be filled with compost from their own yard debris that is collected by the city every other week. -more-

SAN FRANCISCO — University of California regents have endorsed a change in admissions policy they hope will increase enrollment, particularly of blacks and Hispanics, by blunting the disadvantage of being a high-achieving student in a low-performing school. -more-

NEW YORK — The change has been momentous, but it arrived so subtly that even those involved haven’t stopped to think about how it has changed their financial perspective. -more-

SAN FRANCISCO — Napster Inc. can resume its song-swapping operations on the Internet, a federal appeals court ruled Wednesday. -more-

SACRAMENTO — If you are a California farmer, you could save thousands of dollars on a new tractor and the diesel fuel to run it. -more-

The Alameda County Board of Supervisors will hold its last redistricting public hearing next Tuesday, before adopting the final plan setting the county’s new boundaries. -more-

SACRAMENTO – A state Senate committee wants to know why Morgan Stanley, a multibillion dollar financial firm and adviser to several power generators, destroyed documents that potentially could show efforts to gouge California consumers. -more-

Starting August 6, 19 Berkeley High School students will mount bicycles donated by the Berkeley Police Department and begin the 14-day, 600-mile ride from the entrance of Berkeley High to the entrance of Santana High School in San Diego County – the site of a deadly shooting rampage this year that left two students dead and 13 wounded. -more-

PASADENA — A Russian nuclear submarine launched a rocket Thursday to test a prototype of an American-sponsored spacecraft that sails on the feeble pressure of the sun’s rays. -more-

At Tuesday’s City Council meeting, Mayor Shirley Dean awarded $5,650 to the winners of the Cash for Trash contest. -more-