Six female employees filed a grievance in late July with the director of Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory charging that female administrative specialists are underpaid and underpromoted, compared to their male counterparts. -more-
The languishing farm economy in California has taken its toll on many family farmers. As California’s agricultural sector continues to struggle through a year plagued with energy crisis, low prices and water shortages, sustainable agriculture and organic farming offer realistic, viable solutions. -more-
From a land where time had more value than money and dreams were haunted by mysterious creatures called djinns came artist, philosopher and pacifist Khalil Bendib. -more-
The race to succeed state Assemblymember Dion Aroner in 2002 was thrown into chaos on Friday, when an Assembly committee released its statewide proposal for new district boundaries. -more-
Berkeley High, pixie dust and staggered lunch -more-
Elizabeth Rosner says she was “the child who asked a lot of questions, always trying to fill in the gaps and mystery” of her parents’ experiences during the Holocaust. -more-
By Jeffrey Obser -more-
FAIRFIELD (AP) — Teachers were back in class after a tentative two-year contract agreement was reached over the Labor Day weekend. -more-
A shooting near the corner of King and Harmon streets sent a 16-year-old male to Children’s Hospital in Oakland, according to Berkeley Police Lt. Cynthia Harris. -more-
SAN FRANCISCO — The threat of a BART strike may not be over, as a third union awaits a court decision to either extend or revoke a restraining order that prevents it from striking. -more-
LOS ANGELES — A contract signed before anyone knew billions would be made selling bioengineered drugs is at the heart of a $400 million legal dispute between a pharmaceutical company and the research center whose work led to several key patents. -more-
SAN JOSE — The lyrical pop-song question “Do You Know the Way To San Jose,” may soon have a new answer — the Norman Y. Mineta Airport. -more-
WASHINGTON — Texas Republican Phil Gramm said Tuesday he will leave the Senate at the end of his third term next year, following fellow conservatives Jesse Helms and Strom Thurmond into retirement and closing out a career as an unflinching advocate of lower taxes and less government. -more-
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Mint warned collectors of its new American buffalo commemorative silver dollars Tuesday to make sure they bought the real thing. -more-
KLAMATH FALLS, Ore. — Claiming their civil rights were violated by a policeman warning of violence over shutting off water to farmers, two environmentalists filed claims Tuesday against the city for $100,000 each. -more-
SACRAMENTO (AP) — Breast-feeding mothers would get breaks and an appropriate room to express milk at work for their infants at home under a bill sent to the governor Tuesday. -more-
SACRAMENTO (AP) — Female inmates serving life sentences could get overnight visits with their children under a bill approved Tuesday by the California Assembly. -more-
SACRAMENTO (AP) — Law firms that work for the state would have to attempt to provide a certain amount of free legal services to the poor under a bill approved Tuesday by the Senate. -more-
SAN FRANCISCO — Nearly five years after California voters approved Proposition 209 banning affirmative action, a state appeals court Tuesday declared invalid a host of race- and gender-based government hiring programs. -more-
SAN JOSE — About 80 of the 6,000 employees Cisco Systems laid off in April have found a good reason to hold their heads high at a time when many suddenly unemployed tech workers are having a tough time coping. -more-
DURBAN, South Africa — Desperate to save the U.N. racism conference, the European Union and South Africa joined forces Tuesday to try resolving the language dispute that prompted a walkout by the United States and Israel. -more-
“Is this the home of the sordid and sundry poets?” asked Julian Waller upon arriving at the Bay Area Poets Coalition’s seventh annual Labor Day potluck picnic and reading. Held in Live Oak Park, the cozy gathering was a way for an eclectic group of local poets and poetry aficionados to bond over poetry, food and conversation. -more-
Editor: -more-
It’s been common knowledge in the school district for years that certain students – a high percentage of them minority students – were not learning to read in the critical early grades of elementary school. -more-
OAKLAND — BART unions say they’re much closer to an agreement, but management says they’re still far apart, as negotiations continued through the Labor Day holiday. -more-
Editor: -more-
By Hank Sims -more-
Right now there are at least two programs under which Californians can save a significant amount of money by being energy efficient: the Governor’s 20/20 Rebate Program, and the 1-2-3 Cashback Program through Pacific Gas & Electric for energy-efficient appliances and fixtures. With a little up-front expense, the long-term benefits can mean more money in your wallet at the end of every month. Start by asking, “How efficient is your refrigerator?” -more-
BOSTON — Two months after Patrick McCullough lost his $60,000-a-year job installing computer networks for law firms, he’s having a hard time getting work — even though he’s had job offers. -more-
SAN FRANCISCO — Eateries and vendors at San Francisco International Airport are watching their business slide along with the troubled high-tech economy. -more-
SACRAMENTO — Note to potential gubernatorial candidates in California: Those without tens of millions of dollars, or the ability to raise them, need not apply. -more-
Berkeley’s working class has much to celebrate this Labor Day. As the national percentage of unionized workers decreased in the past year, new unions have appeared in town and the membership of local labor organizations has grown. -more-
All the talk about the Cal football team during the pre-season was focused on their new offense, which was supposed to break out of a four-year funk under new offensive coordinator Al Borges. Everyone assumed the Bears’ defense would be fine, especially the secondary with four cornerbacks who were presumed to be top caliber. -more-
The great American sell-out — GM logo could join Big Mac’s at the Smithsonian -more-
The differences between reality, fiction and spirit blur in “The Other Side of Haight,” the new novel by James Fadiman, the cofounder of The Institute of Transperson Psychology and director of the Institute of Noetic Sciences. -more-
After a months-long battle about budgeting priorities that seemed mired in stalemate, Alameda County Superintendent of Schools Sheila Jordan and the county Board of Education finally passed a budget Tuesday. -more-
In a game filled with quick momentum changes and several spectacular goals, the Cal Bears pulled out of a first-half funk to defeat Michigan, 4-2, in the final game of the Cal Invitational. -more-
Editor: -more-
All Florence Murray, 82, wanted when she called the city three weeks ago was some help installing a new water heater she had just purchased. -more-
The California Highway Patrol reports a solo vehicle accident occurred on northbound Interstate 880 at Fifth Avenue in Oakland early Sunday morning, killing one man and leaving another with major injuries. -more-
SAN JOSE – Union leaders and workers took to church pulpits on Labor Day weekend to demand legal status for undocumented immigrant workers. -more-
SAN FRANCISCO – A San Francisco man was arrested in connection with a carjacking with a child in the car. -more-
OAKLAND – BART’s largest workers’ unions issued a 72-hour strike notice Saturday night as negotiations over a requested salary and benefits increase continued through the long weekend. -more-
SAN FRANCISCO – Thirteen new power plants are in the works for the San Francisco Bay area, a new home for the structures that was once considered off-limits to their development. -more-
SAN FRANCISCO – More than 20,000 employees of Albertson’s and Safeway throughout Northern California agreed Saturday to extend their contract until midnight Sept. 8 -more-
MONTEREY – A Monterey County Superior Court judge has ordered strawberry growers near two schools to limit the amount of the pesticide methyl bromide that they apply to their fields near two schools. -more-
SAN FRANCISCO – Management of California’s energy crunch increasingly is falling under the purview of Gov. Gray Davis, which allows decisions affecting electric bills to be made in secret, a state official who opposes Davis said Friday. -more-
WILMINGTON – Wedged into a blue-collar neighborhood by the sea and partially walled off by cinder blocks sits an unlikely memorial to one of the bloodiest labor strikes in U.S. history. -more-
GRANITE BAY – Bony tree branches poke out of Folsom Lake now, skeletons from the forest that drowned when Folsom Dam was built east of Sacramento a half-century ago. -more-
There she stood, at the same spot she’s been at for decades, with stop sign in hand and wearing the obligatory fluorescent orange cap, vest, and gloves that are supposed to – but don’t always – alert drivers to her presence. -more-
Editor: -more-
The Sixth Annual Watershed Poetry Festival comes to Berkeley’s Civic Center Park Sept. 8, noon to 5 p.m. -more-
924 Gilman Sept. 7: Carry On, Champion, Breaker Breaker, Saturday Supercade, Fields of Fire; Sept. 8: Lab Rats, Relative; Most shows $5 and start at 8 p.m. unless noted. 924 Gilman St. 525-9926 -more-
Cal’s men’s basketball hopes took a nosedive on Thursday, as top recruit Julian Sensley was ruled ineligible for next season by the NCAA. -more-
The Water Transit Authority held a second meeting at Berkeley City Hall Friday to discuss an evolving plan to link San Francisco Bay communities with an expanded ferry service. -more-
Kevin Boyd said his team would be strong on the attack. It looks like he was right. -more-
A federal district court judge decided Friday that the lawsuit brought by two environmental activists against the FBI and the city of Oakland for false arrest will be decided on “narrow grounds.” Lawyers for Darryl Cherney and the estate of Judi Bari, Mendocino county Earth First! activists, will not be allowed to mention historical “dirty-tricks” campaigns conducted by the FBI. -more-
Editor: -more-
The Berkeley Municipal Rose Garden was dedicated in September 1937 after four years of construction. The building of the garden was a Civil Works Administration project. It was among the many public parks projects sponsored by the federal government to provide employment during the Depression. -more-
SAN FRANCISCO — BART directors have presented a proposal to workers’ unions, offering a wage and benefits increase of about 20 percent over the next four years, but union members said Friday it’s not enough to keep them off the picket lines. -more-
In an effort to understand and overcome institutional racism in Berkeley, the League of Women Voters plans to host a series of “conversations on race” beginning in early October. -more-
SACRAMENTO (AP) — Sunday is the deadline for community college students to apply for one of 11,250 state scholarships. -more-
SACRAMENTO — Democrats trying to recapture control of the House of Representatives may not get much help from a redistricting plan unveiled Friday by California legislators. -more-
SACRAMENTO — Since its inception four years ago, California’s payday loan industry has tripled each year and now makes 1 million transactions a month from 3,400 storefronts. -more-
SAN JOSE — In another blow to financially troubled Excite@ Home, two major cable companies said Friday they will terminate their partnerships with the high-speed Internet provider. -more-
The Cal Bears head into the 2001 season with nearly the same cast of characters that fashioned last year’s 3-8 disappointment. Star players Andre Carter, Nick Harris and Jacob Waasdorp are gone, as is offensive coordinator Steve Hagen. But head coach Tom Holmoe is back, as are 17 starters from last year’s squad. -more-
It took traveling halfway around the world for Berkeley actor Svetlana Couture to go full cycle, and return to her youthful love of theater. Couture opens tonight in a short, three-performance run at Berkeley’s Live Oak Theater in Bay Area playwright Dorotea Reyna’s show “Goddesses.” -more-
A push to debate India's caste system at the U.N. Summit on Racism set off a heated debate in India. Ironically, the same week that Indian pundits were protesting the inclusion of caste-based discrimination on the summit agenda, the dean of a university medical faculty in my home town of Nagpur was fired for submitting a fraudulent caste-certificate with his job application. -more-
The city is constructing a bridge spanning Interstate 80 for bikers, pedestrians and persons using wheelchairs as an alternative to walking along the freeway’s University Avenue onramp. Construction began in -more-
A movement born on the University of California campus last spring will spread across the nation this fall, if local Palestinian activists have their way. And Berkeley, as usual, will be ground zero. -more-
In an effort to understand and overcome institutional racism in Berkeley, the League of Women Voters plans to host a series of “conversations on race” beginning in early October. -more-
Berkeley firefighter John Mason, heralded in several publications a year ago for rebuilding housing for thousands of Albanian refugees in war-torn Kosovo, recently discovered that a bureaucratic oversight has left him without the protection of medical benefits for the past year. -more-
Berkeley astronomers may soon be able to get a better look at the stars thanks to the city’s Planning Department, currently working on an ordinance to reduce light pollution and make sky watching easier. -more-
A new study by the American Medical Association says that binge drinking is up among American college students, with 44 percent of students reporting that they binge drink, and nearly one in four saying they binge frequently. -more-
SACRAMENTO — The area known as “Condit Country” would move north under a congressional redistricting proposal released Thursday, further threatening Rep. Gary Condit’s re-election chances. -more-
SAN FRANCISCO — A federal grand jury has indicted three executives of a Marin County electronics firm, accusing them of illegally selling gear to India that could be used to make nuclear weapons, prosecutors said Wednesday. -more-
WASHINGTON — Long-distance mediation by Secretary of State Colin Powell helped Israeli and Palestinian leaders conclude a truce over a West Bank town. -more-
JERUSALEM (AP) — Three Palestinians were killed and 30 wounded Thursday in clashes with Israeli troops, dimming hopes that a limited U.S-backed truce in one Palestinian town might spread to other areas of the West Bank. -more-
Back in the ’80s we built a 4,200-plus square-foot home for our cousin. It had every imaginable feature and convenience: Multiple furnaces, a 400-amp main electrical service, a built-in intercom system, built-in ice maker, indoor barbecue, upscale everything. You name it, this house had it. About five years ago lightning struck, and everything in this magnificent home got cooked: televisions, radios, the computer and appliances — even the built-in intercom system. -more-
SAN FRANCISCO — Unable to lure its skittish customers back into the stock market, Charles Schwab Corp. said Thursday it will cut up to 2,400 more jobs as the leading online brokerage continues to dismantle its feverish expansion of a year ago. -more-
CUPERTINO (AP) — Apple Computer Inc. said Thursday it has cut an undisclosed number of sales jobs, but that the overall headcount in its sales and retail departments continues to grow. -more-
Dave Lyons, president of the Rosa Parks Elementary School PTA, thought he was ready for the first day of school. -more-
When Cal women’s soccer coach Kevin Boyd is asked about his biggest concern heading into the 2001 season, he has a hard time coming up with something he’s really worried about. But ask him about the team’s biggest strength, and an answer is immediate. -more-
Albatross Pub Sept. 1: David Widelock Jazz Trio; Sept. 5: Whiskey Brothers; Sept. 6: Kenji “El Lebrijano” Flamenco Guitar; Sept. 11: Mad & Eddie Duran Jazz Duo; Sept. 13: Kenji “El Lebrijano” Flamenco Guitar; Sept. 19: Whiskey Brothers; Sept. 20: Kenji “El Lebrijano” Flamenco Guitar; Sept. 22: Larry Stefl Jazz Quartet; Sept. 27: Kenji “El Lebrijano” Flamenco Guitar; Free. All shows begin at 9 p.m. 1822 San Pablo Ave. 843-2473 albatrosspub@mindspring.com -more-
SAN FRANCISCO – On a cable car over Nob Hill the other day, I overheard a blonde, middle-age tourist whisper this confidence to her companion: “It sure ain’t Texas, I can tell you that much.” “No kidding,” mumbled the burly man in a Hawaiian shirt as he continued filming the city with his camcorder. -more-
The first day of Berkeley High School’s new student ID policy was far from a booming success, with many students not receiving their identification cards and most of the others disregarding the policy even though they had their tags. -more-
About 50 law enforcement officers and 24 cadets attended an all-day seminar and training at Oakland City Hall to become more familiar with issues related to the Lesbian Gay Bisexual and Transgender community. -more-
By Daniela Mohor -more-
One lawmaker stuffed spinach in his milk carton. Another recalled “barfaroni” with distaste. A third learned to love liver. -more-
SACRAMENTO — Democrats proposed new districts Wednesday that would probably allow them to maintain their overwhelming majority in the state Assembly for the next decade. -more-
Patients rate hospital stays statewide -more-
WASHINGTON — At least 40,000 federal tax returns and payments involving $810 million were either lost or destroyed at a Pittsburgh processing facility. -more-
WASHINGTON — The nation’s economy inched ahead in the spring at the slowest pace in eight years. Still, the fact that there was any growth at all fueled hope that the economy may be ready to begin climbing again – without tipping into recession. -more-
OAKLAND — The tentative agreement that averted a possible BART strike will give the transit system’s workers wage and pension increases of more than 20.5 percent over four years, a union leader said Tuesday. -more-
WASHINGTON — Caught between setbacks and opportunity, union officials think aggressive politics on issues including immigration, trade, workers’ rights and the minimum wage could help build the resurgence they have sought unsuccessfully for years. -more-
OAKLAND – A developer is proposing a $45 million tram system to connect Alameda’s former Navy base to the West Oakland BART station. -more-
WASHINGTON — The share of HIV infections that are drug-resistant will jump to 42 percent in San Francisco by 2005, according to a team of researchers. -more-
Police and fire officials in Berkeley say that a small fire at a University of California fraternity on Tuesday was caused by lights that were being used to grow hydroponic marijuana. -more-
SAN FRANCISCO — A federal grand jury has indicted three executives of a Marin County electronics firm, accusing them of illegally selling gear to India that could be used to make nuclear weapons, prosecutors said Wednesday. -more-
