Gobbling up a thankful feast
Parents pitched in Wednesday to serve some 60 Emerson School first graders a Thanksgiving feast. -more-
Parents pitched in Wednesday to serve some 60 Emerson School first graders a Thanksgiving feast. -more-
Many of us will contribute turkeys, canned goods, gift certificates and volunteer time to help prevent hunger among low-income families this Thanksgiving holiday. To achieve an end to hunger for these same families in the weeks and months ahead, we propose a supplement to this traditional menu of charitable giving. In the spirit of strong families, healthy children, and successful communities this holiday season California Food Policy Advocates recommends that the public and state policy makers choose at least one option from the following menu of opportunities to reduce hunger. -more-
It’s a historical drama without period costumes. An underworld crime story with nary a gunfight. A car salesman’s tale without any car chases. It is a tight little civic mystery thriller that’s too polite to raise its voice. -more-
21 Grand Nov. 29: 9 p.m., Lemon Lime Lights, Hillside, Moe! Staiano, $6; Nov. 30: 9 p.m., Fred Frith, Damon Smith, Marco Eneidi, Sabu Toyozumi Ensemble, Phillip Greenlief, $10; Dec. 1: 9 p.m., Toychestra, Rosin Coven, Darling Freakhead, $6; All ages. 21 Grand Ave., Oakland. 444-7263 -more-
The Berkeley High girls’ volleyball team had their season rudely ended on Tuesday night, falling in straight games, 15-11, 15-9, 15-5, to the San Benito (Hollister) Haybalers in the first round of the CIF state tournament. -more-
Ann Fagan Ginger, executive director of the Meiklejohn Civil Liberties Institute and former member of the city’s Peace and Justice Commission, issued an activist’s impassioned call to arms Tuesday night. -more-
The University of California women’s volleyball program has signed local product Alicia Powers and Texas’ Jenna Brown to a National Letters of Intent, it was announced Wednesday by Golden Bear head coach Rich Feller. -more-
Community outcry and concern from neighboring cities about diminished fire service, has caused the Oakland City Council to rethink tearing down Fire Station No. 8 in north Oakland while a new station is built. -more-
Cal overcame a woeful shooting performance from three-point range and held on to beat Santa Clara, 67-60, Tuesday night in Haas Pavilion. With the win, the Bears are now 3-0 for the first time since 1995. -more-
Edward Treuting sat inside Point Richmond’s Hidden City Cafe, dipping a homemade sausage patty into his over-easy eggs and talked about his vision for the Emeryville stretch of San Pablo Avenue. -more-
Councilmember Spring, you were so very quick to “condemn” the actions of the Untied States government after the terrorist attacks that murdered 5,000 innocent civilians during the normal conduct of their daily lives. -more-
A mid-day fire at 2721 Garber St. on Tuesday caused about $75,000 in property damage, according to Deputy Fire Chief Debra Pryor. -more-
The Bay Area Air Quality Management District Wednesday adopted amendments that would reduce the number of smog-forming particles that are emitted by industrial paints. -more-
SAN FRANCISCO — San Francisco schools chief Arlene Ackerman said she plans job cuts in response to findings that voter-approved school repair and modernization funds were misspent and mismanaged. -more-
SAN FRANCISCO — Pity the Thanksgiving turkey, selectively bred so fat for so long that simply walking can be a problem and sex is no longer possible. -more-
SAN FRANCISCO — Dungeness crab season should be in full swing along the California coast, but most fishermen’s boats are docked as they protest the prices they have been offered for their catches. -more-
The Alameda County Housing and Community Development Department announced today that the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development has awarded $12 million in grants to county programs that help the homeless. -more-
BERKELEY – Researchers at the University of California, Berkeley say they are working to patent a design for aircraft wings that could dramatically cut the strength of wake turbulence. -more-
SAN FRANCISCO — A six-month state probe of San Francisco’s November 2000 election has found “very unusual” ballot-counting discrepancies in a limited sample that could suggest a problem “large enough to affect the results of several contests,” Secretary of State Bill Jones said Wednesday. -more-
SAN FRANCISCO — Before computer whiz Steven E. Brenner accepted his tenure-track research post at the University of California-Berkeley last year, he demanded that the school’s intellectual property police leave him alone. -more-
SAN FRANCISCO — A judge denied a request to reduce bail for the man who kept two dogs that mauled a San Francisco woman to death, saying Wednesday he considers Robert Noel a flight risk based on alleged connections with the Aryan Brotherhood gang. -more-
SAN FRANCISCO — Security screeners at San Francisco International airport are unhappy about the new airport security law, and they’re thinking of walking off the job during the year’s busiest travel weekend. -more-
SAN FRANCISCO — Federal prosecutors considered Wednesday whether to appeal a federal judge’s ruling dismissing insider trading charges against a former chief executive of now-defunct Granny Goose Foods, Inc. -more-
SACRAMENTO — In a flash this fall, California’s power woes fizzled and a budget crunch took hold as the new crisis — and with that change came a new political challenge for Democratic Gov. Gray Davis. -more-
LOS ANGELES — Filming bans at four city-owned airports since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks are causing entertainment industry job losses that some in Hollywood fear could lead to more runaway production. -more-
Turkeys, cranberry sauce and automatic weapons. -more-
LOS ANGELES — If it weren’t for the intervention of local sheriff’s deputies, Tim Moore figures Indian security officers would have kicked him out of his Colorado River home years ago. -more-
LOS ANGELES — Ralph Burns, who won Academy Awards, an Emmy and a Tony as a music arranger after making a name for himself in jazz as a piano player in the Woody Herman band, died Wednesday. He was 79. -more-
NEW YORK — A California company partly funded by the CIA has discontinued a free service that allowed Internet users to bypass Web censorship by governments and corporations. -more-
HELENA, Mont. — The Christmas tree harvest at the Hardy Plantation near Creston is over for the season, and Janet Hardy figures there won’t be many more. -more-
SAN DIEGO — San Diego Gas & Electric Co. can raise electricity rates to recoup the $2 million cost of upgrading lines to Mexico, federal regulators said Wednesday. -more-
RIALTO — Jealousy may have prompted two Siberian huskies to maul an infant girl to death in her bassinet, authorities speculated. -more-
Californians frequently spend more than 30 percent of their incomes for home mortgages or rent. The following is a look at Census Bureau estimates of California cities with a population over 250,000 people. The first column is the city; the second column is the percentage of city residents with a home mortgage who spend more than 30 percent of their take-home income on the mortgage; the third column is the percentage of renters in the city who pay more than 30 percent of their take-home income on rent. -more-
LOS ANGELES — Some of the nation’s biggest car rental companies are selling wrecked vehicles without making the proper disclosures, endangering the public and harming consumers, according to lawsuits filed in California in recent months. -more-
LOS ANGELES — A man who was believed to be unhappy with his seat assignment was taken into custody Wednesday for kicking an airliner’s emergency exit door during a flight from South Korea to Los Angeles, authorities said. -more-
Claiming the university has violated an 11-year-old agreement to steadily reduce its student population, city officials reacted angrily at the high enrollment figures released Monday for fall semester enrollment at UC Berkeley. -more-
Dear George W. Bush -more-
21 Grand Nov. 29: 9 p.m., Lemon Lime Lights, Hillside, Moe! Staiano, $6; Nov. 30: 9 p.m., Fred Frith, Damon Smith, Marco Eneidi, Sabu Toyozumi Ensemble, Phillip Greenlief, $10; Dec. 1: 9 p.m., Toychestra, Rosin Coven, Darling Freakhead, $6; All ages. 21 Grand Ave., Oakland. 444-7263 -more-
Even though St. Mary’s High School football team didn’t beat Pinole Valley, head coach Jay Lawson considers the Panthers’ Oct. 5 35-27 loss against the eventual Alameda Contra Costa Athletic League champion as the defining moment in his team’s season. -more-
The lunchtime crowd at the North Berkeley Senior Center is a tough audience for a performer. Dishes clatter, conversations continue, servers move among the tables trying to get food to hungry and sometimes impatient diners. -more-
Editor: -more-
Think regionally and act, well, regionally. -more-
Student registration marks all-time high -more-
Editor: -more-
SACRAMENTO — The Nature Conservancy will use $35 million in state grants to purchase and improve a large wildlife sanctuary in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, it was announced Tuesday. -more-
SACRAMENTO — The scores of California students were among the worst in the country in a national science exam given last year to fourth and eighth graders, state officials said Tuesday. -more-
SANTA BARBARA — A jury found a 22-year-old man guilty of first-degree murder Tuesday for the killing of a 15-year-old boy who was kidnapped in Los Angeles and shot because of his half brother’s unpaid drug debt. -more-
OAKLAND — The Oakland International Airport’s troubled security system is getting an overhaul. -more-
SAN MATEO — Just in time for Thanksgiving, some 1,000 pounds of frozen turkeys and ham were stolen from a local community services agency that was preparing to distribute the food to needy families. -more-
OAKLAND — Three former Oakland police officers accused of beating suspects and planting evidence will face a March trial, a judge decided Tuesday. -more-
PORTLAND, Ore. — A federal judge on Tuesday extended a court order that has temporarily blocked a move by the U.S. government to dismantle an Oregon law allowing physician-assisted suicide, the only one of its kind in the nation. -more-
RANDSBURG — Three old gold mining towns still stand in the dry hills south of Ridgecrest, but you can’t buy a restaurant dinner in any of them. The only gas station shut down years ago. The bank closed after World War I. There are no supermarkets or clothing stores, no movie theaters, no traffic lights. -more-
Call it the Imbruglia Imbroglio. -more-
SACRAMENTO — California power grid operators must stop giving the state’s energy traders advance notice of its electricity needs, unless it provides that information to all market participants, federal energy regulators ordered Tuesday. -more-
Global provider of wheelchairs to disabled launches prototype in town -more-
I was happy to see Hank Sims’ article on the UC Berkeley College of Natural Resources’ (CNR) proposal for developing the Gill Tract. Located on San Pablo in northwest Albany, the Gill Tract is the largest intact piece of agricultural land left in the Bay Area. The politics surrounding the CNR’s approach to agricultural research helps to understand their lack of interest in keeping the Gill Tract as a resource for conducting ecologically-based research. -more-
The fight that’s raged between those who want a more democratic rule at the Pacifica Foundation and the majority of Pacifica Board of Directors inched closer to a positive end during the weekend, when the board adopted a plan to transition to a more representative governance. -more-
University of California, Berkeley, officials released final enrollment figures Monday for fall 2001 undergraduate and graduate students. -more-
A power play article two weeks ago discussed using the sun’s energy to preheat water for a home or business. It is the fastest way to reduce energy bills – using the sun for the least initial investment – and requires the least amount of maintenance. But there are other ways to use the sun’s energy to reduce your energy bills. -more-
SAN FRANCISCO — With co-workers or even complete strangers, Californians love to pile into cars. Home of some of the nation’s longest commutes, the state has three of the nation’s top four cities where workers are most likely to carpool. -more-
OAKLAND — The Oakland Public Library is introducing a wireless local area network that will connect 120 computers in 17 sites. -more-
Last year, 2.5 million sub-Saharan Africans died from AIDS. -more-
A post-Sept. 11 fear of flying has some college students planning a rare Thanksgiving dinner away from home this year. -more-
SAN FRANCISCO — ChevonTexaco Corp. Monday said it will lay off about 500 more workers than management anticipated as part of the newly merged oil giant’s effort to save an additional $600 million annually in its combined operations. -more-
Feds see decline into first quarter of 2002 -more-
Former politician named vice chairman of LA financial services firm -more-
YAKIMA, Wash. — Washington wine grape growers are raising their glasses to a record harvest of 97,600 tons, up 9 percent from last year, largely because of more vines planted. -more-
In another sign of how the world has changed since Sept. 11, the City Council approved an update Tuesday that will include terrorist attacks in Berkeley’s Disaster Preparedness Plan. -more-
The Berkeley Daily Planet received this letter addressed to the Berkeley City Council: -more-
924 Gilman St. Nov. 23: The Stitches, Starvations, Neon King Kong, Kill Devil Hills, Problem; Nov. 24: Tilt, Missing Link, Cry Baby Cry; Nov. 30: Shitlist, Atrocious Madness, Fuerza X, Catheter, S Bitch, Delta Force; All shows start a 8 p.m. unless noted; Most are $5; 924 Gilman St. 525-9926 -more-
This is what it comes down to for the Cal football team this season: even when Stanford played its worst, the Bears couldn’t beat them. -more-
Images of protesters, peace signs and power struggles circled around three generations of women as they discussed their own experiences as activists to a packed room of around 100 people yesterday afternoon. -more-
The Berkeley Daily Planet received this letter addressed to Berkeley Mayor Shirley Dean and the City Council: -more-
Guilliard-Young dominates with 12 blocks for Berkeley -more-
Not many Boy Scouts — only about one percent — achieve the organization’s highest rank, that of Eagle Scout. Berkeley’s Troop Six has had an exceptionally distinguished year, as four of its members have advanced into the order of the Eagle. -more-
Editor: -more-
Three St. Mary’s runners qualify for state meet -more-
Hundreds of students surround the police car holding civil rights activist Jack Weinberg, one moment in a 36-hour protest on the UC Berkeley campus. -more-
The St. Mary’s High football team’s season came to an end on Saturday with a North Coast Section playoff loss to Campolindo, 23-20. -more-
The Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation says it is donating a total of $1 million to the University of California campuses in Davis and Berkeley to study Sudden Oak Death. -more-
STANFORD – The No. 6 ranked California men’s water polo team (13-6) upset No. 1 ranked and previously unbeaten Stanford (17-1), 4-3, Saturday in the Big Splash at the Avery Aquatic Center. The upset gave the Bears their third consecutive Steve Heaston Trophy. Heaston was the former Cal water polo coach (1989-98) who led the Bears to three NCAA titles and passed away in 1999. -more-
McPherson dies from gunshot to chest; Willie Brown offers $10,000 reward -more-
SACRAMENTO – The number of nationally certified public schoolteachers in California is expected to jump sharply this year, thanks in part to bonuses the state gives those who earn the honor, state officials said in a conference call with reporters Sunday. -more-
SACRAMENTO – State HMO regulators fined the Kaiser Foundation Health Plan Inc. $500,000 for failing to give a timely referral to a 19-year-old man who later died. -more-
SUNNYVALE – Yahoo! Inc. will cut 400 jobs, more than 12 percent of its work force, as it reorganizes in search of “sustainable, profitable growth,” the Internet company told analysts this week. -more-
SACRAMENTO – California education leaders say they expected schools would come under the ax in an attempt to stem an expected $12.4 billion budget shortfall. -more-
More than 80 automobile owners every day drive, tow or roll their problems into the Jim Doten Honda service department. For many Berkeleyans, the Shattuck Avenue auto shop, a department of the family-owned Jim Doten Honda dealership, is the best in the city. -more-
Windmills that pumped water from wells up to a holding tank above were once common backyard structures in Berkeley and they appear in many old photographs. Other sources of domestic water were wells with hand pumps and water piped from hillside reservoirs or springs. -more-
The Berkeley City Council’s 5-4 resolution regarding the bombing in Afghanistan has launched a passionate and continuing debate over the nature of patriotism and whether local government officials should take positions on foreign policy. -more-
As soon as the first airplane hit the World Trade Center on the morning of Sept. 11, photographers and ordinary citizens alike grabbed their cameras and rushed toward the scene to record history as it unfolded. -more-
Aspiring sincerely to an international peace based on justice and order, the Japanese people forever renounce war as a sovereign right of the nation and the threat or use of force as means of settling international disputes. -more-
UNION CITY — As would-be wizards hustled this week to track down tickets for “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone,” warehouse workers were hustling to deliver the film to theaters in hundreds of hefty metal canisters in time for its premiere. -more-
STANFORD – Cal ended its season in frustrating fashion, as Saint Mary’s defeated the Golden Bears, 3-2, in the first round of the NCAA women’s soccer tournament Friday evening at Stanford. -more-
The City Council approved $175,000 Tuesday for an emergency housing program at the Flamingo Motel, which serves the most vulnerable homeless – those with serious mental disabilities. -more-
Osama Saied, treasurer of the Berkeley Masjid Foundation, the only mosque in the city, fasted during Ramadan for the first time when he was a 10-year-old boy in Egypt. -more-
MARTINEZ — A juvenile computer hacker faces sentencing in January after pleading guilty to defacing NASA and U.S. Army Web pages last summer with his own Web page protesting the music industry’s suit against Napster. -more-
SACRAMENTO – Some familiar names are popping up in the field of candidates for statewide office next year. -more-
COMPTON — A box of 1,500 unused absentee ballots from the city’s hotly contested mayoral election turned up missing, adding another bizarre twist to a lawsuit alleging that voter fraud, bribery, perjury and death threats tainted the election. -more-
LOS ANGELES — Three police officers who were arrested during a corruption scandal filed a lawsuit against their employer and the district attorney’s office, claiming their reputations were destroyed and they were publicly humiliated. -more-
NEW YORK — Homeland security Director Tom Ridge, standing next to rumbling machinery in the World Trade Center rubble, on Friday affirmed the Bush administration’s commitment to $20 billion in aid to the city. -more-
SACRAMENTO — California education leaders say they expected schools would come under the ax in an attempt to stem an expected $12.4 billion budget shortfall. -more-
SAN FRANCISCO — Facing a potential shareholder revolt against the proposed marriage of their companies, Hewlett Packard Co. CEO Carly Fiorina and Compaq Computer Corp. CEO Michael Capellas have withdrawn from a bonus program that would have paid them $22.4 million for completing the merger. -more-
AUSTIN, Texas — Central Texas braced for more rain Friday after storms and flooding claimed four lives, left two people missing, turned streets into rivers and spawned several tornadoes. -more-
NEW YORK — A woman was shoved into the path of a subway train, a push so hard that her white clogs remained on the edge of the platform, police said. A homeless man was accused of attempted murder. -more-
In keeping with its namesake, Martin Luther King Jr. Civic Center Park is a monument to hope, to the future. Most days, its most notable feature is the Peace Wall, with its hand-drawn tiles made by children around the world, each wishing for the end of war. -more-
The Daily Planet received a copy of this letter addressed to the Berkeley Common (sic) Council: -more-
The above statements are pulled from a recent conversation with teacher and poet Grace Morizawa at her home in Berkeley. -more-
Berkeley to face nemesis O’Dowd for NCS championship Saturday -more-
Better get wishing – if Jiminy Cricket was right, there’s no way your wishes won’t come true this weekend. Astronomers predict this year’s Leonid meteor shower will be the best in 30 years. -more-
The Daily Planet received a copy of this letter addressed to the City Council: -more-
Eastern Washington shocks No. 10 St. Joseph’s in BCA Classic opener -more-
Free AC Transit bus passes for students from low-income families may become a reality next year, but only if the Bay Area’s regional transit board votes next month to subsidize a program that will benefit Alameda and Contra Costa counties. -more-
California women’s basketball head coach Caren Horstmeyer announced Thursday the signing of one of the top junior college post players in the country and two outstanding prep athletes. Timea Ivanyi, Renee Wright and Sarah Pool have all signed National Letters of Intent to play basketball at Cal beginning with the 2002-03 season. -more-
The Planning Commission took action on two controversial city issues during its meeting Wednesday night. -more-
The Daily Planet received a copy of this letter addressed to the City Council: -more-
SAN FRANCISCO — The budget outlook for the University of California is bleak, with cuts likely this year and next that may force officials to cap enrollment and increase student fees. -more-
Now that the recently-approved redistricting plan has apparently been thwarted, the bitterly divided City Council will have to pick up the pieces and start the process again. -more-
The Daily Planet received a copy of this letter addressed to the City Council: -more-
WASHINGTON — The Navy has dropped plans to use an old military base between Big Sur and the Hearst Castle as a practice range for 3,000 bombing missions a year. -more-
The day before a citizen’s group submitted a petition with more than 8,000 signatures challenging a recently-approved redistricting plan, the City Council began considering options to prevent U.S. Census Bureau blunders from throwing a highly political process into chaos. -more-
The Daily Planet received a copy of this letter addressed to Reid Edwards, chair of the Berkeley Chamber of Commerce: -more-
Nadia El-Guendy faces an anguishing choice: If she doesn’t return to Egypt next month, she may not see her 75-year-old father again. But if she leaves the country, she fears she might not be allowed to return and finish her Ph.D. in microbiology at the University of Kentucky. -more-
If you have a fireplace mantel, you have the ideal spot to showcase trimmings for the year-end holidays. You also have a firebox below to add holiday glow and sparkle with a crackling fire or with the gentle twinkle of candles. -more-
It was in the 2000 big-screen blockbuster “Charlie’s Angels” that one angel, Alex, played by Lucy Liu, displayed her lack of baking skills. To woo her boyfriend, Alex whipped up blueberry muffins. The baked goods turned out to be better weapons than enticers. One of the angels hurled one across a room, only to have it lodge in a hollow-core door. The other angels appropriately dubbed Alex’s quick breads “Chinese Fighting Muffins.” -more-
The Daily Planet received a copy of this letter addressed to the City Council: -more-
For gardeners, Thanksgiving is a special holiday, a time to celebrate the harvest and put it on the table, just as the Pilgrims did hundreds of years ago. Most gardeners today grow some form of the traditional fare of corn, beans, or squash. But do you know anyone who grows cranberries? -more-
The Daily Planet received a copy of this letter written to Councilmember Dona Spring: -more-
SUNNYVALE — Yahoo! Inc. will cut 400 jobs, more than 12 percent of its work force, as it reorganizes in search of “sustainable, profitable growth,” the Internet company told analysts Thursday. -more-
SAN FRANCISCO — Crippled credit card issuer Providian Financial Corp. endured another Wall Street beating Thursday as investors expressed disappointment with the company’s turnaround efforts and news that its loan losses continued to rise in October. -more-
SAN JOSE — Not many high-tech companies talk openly about the proposed Microsoft antitrust settlement. Even fewer criticize the deal in public, despite private misgivings. -more-
SAN JOSE — Test-and-measurement equipment maker Agilent Technologies Inc. will cut another 4,000 jobs despite meeting Wall Street’s expectations in its fiscal fourth quarter. -more-
REDWOOD CITY — Troubled Internet music company Liquid Audio will lay off 15 percent of its work force, the second round of deep staff cuts announced by the company this year. -more-
SAN JOSE — The Santa Clara Valley Water District is slated to receive $46.8 million in federal money for projects to control flooding and protect wildlife and habitat, the district announced Wednesday. -more-
SALT LAKE CITY — Networking software company Novell said Thursday it will cut 1,400 jobs — about 19 percent of its work force — in an effort to save money in a weak market. -more-
A UC Berkeley student organization protested labor violations Thursday by staging a baseball game at Sather Gate: “The Workers” vs. “The Bosses.” Their goal was to raise awareness of workers’ rights -more-
LOS ANGELES — Saying she “cannot plead guilty when I am not,” 1970s radical Sara Jane Olson renounced her plea agreement stemming from charges of attempting to blow up police cars in a Symbionese Liberation Army conspiracy to murder officers. -more-
PHILADELPHIA — A surplus of coins caused in part by fewer cash purchases in the softening economy has led the U.S. Mint to begin layoffs. -more-
SACRAMENTO — California is considering a four-tier system to decide when to warn the public about possible terrorist threats, Gov. Gray Davis’ new security adviser said Tuesday. -more-
SAN FRANCISCO – Middle East studies scholars say the fundamental Islamist movement won’t end with the capture or killing of suspected terrorist mastermind Osama bin Laden and his top lieutenants. -more-
After making his way through a packed and sweltering Pauley Ballroom Thursday night to give the Mario Savio Memorial Lecture, Dr. Cornell West was concerned that police might shut the event down because it was too crowded. -more-
LONG BEACH — Although the nation’s largest public university system is turning out a record number of new teachers, a quarter of them don’t believe they are well enough prepared to teach math and English in kindergarten through eighth grade. -more-
SAN DIEGO — A state appeals court on Wednesday threw out a challenge to an anti-airport initiative at the former Marine Corps Air Station in El Toro. -more-
LAS VEGAS — While the glittering Las Vegas Strip may not be as crowded over the four-day Thanksgiving holiday weekend as last year, those who do come are expected to spend more money, the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority reports. -more-
PARK CITY, Utah — It’s Thanksgiving week and the American flags on Park Avenue flutter in a quiet breeze, the sun hangs in a sapphire sky and a few gauzy clouds trail over the Wasatch Mountains. -more-