New law grants gays more rights
Adoption was not as joyous as it might have been for Pamela Springer and Terri Giamartino, a lesbian couple in Berkeley who adopted each other’s biological children in the mid-1990s. -more-
Adoption was not as joyous as it might have been for Pamela Springer and Terri Giamartino, a lesbian couple in Berkeley who adopted each other’s biological children in the mid-1990s. -more-
First there was a “big boom.” -more-
City’s mural may go on tour -more-
Berkeley police are investigating what could be the first homicide in the city for 2001. -more-
The holidays are over, and the bills are rolling in. While gas prices are currently lower than last year, there is no guarantee that they will remain that way. Unlike electricity, gas prices are unregulated, and as we experienced a year ago, prices can swing wildly out of control. -more-
SACRAMENTO (AP) — Domestic partners, the unemployed, nursing mothers, janitors, hat-loving students — even sheepherders — will have something extra to celebrate on New Year’s Day. -more-
ANTIOCH, Calif. (AP) — A body found floating in the Delta on Sunday afternoon was identified as Mark Osborn, a 17-year-old Oakley youth who apparently drowned in an accident while duck hunting with his father and a friend. -more-
LOS ANGELES (AP) — A group of wealthy Republicans in Orange County has created the state’s largest GOP political action committee in an attempt to broaden the party’s appeal. -more-
OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — An Oakland businessman is part of a pioneering extreme sports group that plans to run a marathon around the South Pole next month. -more-
MONTEREY, Calif. (AP) — With thick kelp forests and exotic wildlife, Monterey Bay has been described more than once as an underwater Yosemite. Now, the ocean expanse will get one of the true trappings of a national park, a visitor center. -more-
LOS ANGELES — A power crisis that cost the state billions. A dot-com bust that was far worse than expected. Finally, the devastating economic impact of a terrorist attack no one could have anticipated. -more-
SACRAMENTO (AP) — California’s 89,000 farm owners enter 2002 with 50,000 fewer acres to farm, thanks to urban growth. But they’re also finding more money than ever to save their farms for future generations. -more-
The south branch of the Berkeley Public Library overflowed with holiday cheer on Saturday as around 50 celebrants came to mark Ujamaa, the fourth day of Kwanzaa. -more-
After opening the Leo LaRocca Sand Dune Classic boys basketball tournament with a heartbreaking loss to Acalanes, Berkeley High was eliminated from contention in the holiday tournament and placed in the consolation bracket. It would have been very tempting for the Yellowjackets to phone in the tournament’s remaining two games and begin looking forward to a fresh start in 2002. -more-
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A applicant for a food cart license, who has invested $20,000 and waited over five years for an opportunity to start a business, is becoming impatient with the city’s apparent inability to clarify its licensing policy. -more-
Dennis Gates, known mostly for his defensive prowess, came through with the biggest shot of his career, nailing a 3-pointer with four seconds left in regulation to lift Cal to a 76-73 win over Penn State in the championship game of the Golden Bear Classic on Saturday at Haas Pavilion. -more-
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With 2001 drawing to a close, the Daily Planet asked members of the Board of Education to recall their most significant decisions from the past year. -more-
California matched its season low for points in a 64-48 loss to UCLA at Haas Pavilion, extending its losing streak to seven games. -more-
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Law enforcement personnel in Alameda, Contra Costa, Monterey and San Mateo counties are gearing up for the final days of their campaign to combat drunken driving during the holiday season. -more-
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PORTLAND, Ore. – Police say a man burdened with debt and a history of petty crime killed his wife and three young children, ditched their bodies in the Pacific Ocean and then fled south to California. -more-
LOS ANGELES – Gov. Gray Davis has successfully raised millions of dollars across the country for his re-election campaign, using the power of the nation’s most populous state like few politicians before him. -more-
LOS ANGELES – An airplane preparing for takeoff from Los Angeles International Airport was evacuated Sunday morning after the airline received a phoned bomb threat, authorities said. -more-
CAMARILLO – The 5-year-old Destino 2000 fund is nearing its goal of building a $400,000 endowment to assist Ventura County charities that serve the Hispanic community. -more-
SAN JOSE – Throughout top San Francisco Bay area campuses, interest the Army Reserve Officer Training Corps is on the rise, according to cadets and recruiters. -more-
SAN FRANCISCO – It’s shaping up to be a bad day at Black Rock for Burning Man. -more-
SAN FRANCISCO – A few months ago, California was a megawatt wasteland. As it finishes a tumultuous year, the state now has electricity in such abundance that fallen power giant Enron Corp. has come asking for leftovers. -more-
LOS ANGELES – Cars may be born in Detroit, but more and more these days they are conceived in California. -more-
UC scientist spends spare time trying to stop outbreaks -more-
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African celebration now in 35th year -more-
Ami Forney is the brightest light in what has been an up-and-down season for the California women’s basketball team. -more-
North Berkeley residents continue to march during holiday season -more-
“Black Hawk Down” – Producer Jerry Bruckheimer redeems himself for this year’s drippy debacle “Pearl Harbor.” And he can thank director Ridley Scott for that. The gritty, in-your-face film, based on the botched U.S. military mission in Mogadishu, Somalia, in October 1993, has all the scope and enormity of Bruckheimer’s earlier war extravaganza, but it plays like a documentary of disaster. Scott is relentless here; 90 minutes of the nearly 2 1/2-hour movie are nonstop gunfire. But the movie’s action is so compelling, it’s impossible not to be drawn in and emotionally drained. Josh Hartnett, Tom Sizemore, Ewan McGregor, William Fichtner and Sam Shepard lead the ensemble cast. R for intense, realistic, graphic war violence, and for language. 143 min. -more-
On April 6, when the city is scheduled to celebrate the opening of the newly renovated, 70-year-old Central Library, the project will be 17 months late and an estimated $5 million over budget. -more-
The California Coastal Commission has announced its fourth annual Amateur Photography Competition for 2002. -more-
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SAN JOSE – Doctors scrambled to stabilize about a dozen patients after power went off Thursday evening at a San Jose hospital. -more-
SAN FRANCISCO – In California, where the car is king, the roads are hardly fit for royalty. -more-
Some groups overlap in duties as coordination forms slowly -more-
CATIC: California Anti-Terrorism Information Center. Set up by Attorney General Bill Lockyer Sept. 25. Intelligence gathering and threat assessment. -more-
Good lighting for your home: Let it shineL -more-
This do-it-yourself project is pretty easy to do and can actually make your home safer a lot safer. We were once paid $55,000 to partially rebuild a fire-damaged condominium that had exploded into flames when a short circuit occurred in a frayed lamp cord. Fortunately, the owner was away at the time and was not injured. But, she lost just about everything she owned, family photos, personal records, memorabilia, her wardrobe, furniture, clothing everything. -more-
ALBANY, Ga. – Poinsettias, the traditional Christmas plants, are changing to meet designer tastes. -more-
Stone gardens inspire meditation, evoke nostalgia, and can be aesthetically pleasing -more-
SACRAMENTO – The Bush administration announced support Thursday for a Clinton-era management plan that gives a new environmental tilt to managing 11.5 million acres of national forests in the Sierra Nevada. -more-
LOS ANGELES – Insurance policy holders who were victims of the 1994 Northridge earthquake have until Dec. 31 to reopen claims. -more-
SAN FRANCISCO – A California judicial watchdog agency is charging a Fresno County judge with misconduct in connection with his alleged link to a fraudulent investment scandal. -more-
‘People’s Republic’ in Santa Monica considering code -more-
PASADENA – A San Marino family is suing Northwest Airlines for Grinch-like behavior, charging that the company destroyed Christmas last year by holding it prisoner on the tarmac at a Southern California airport. -more-
SANTA ANA – A man was arrested Thursday for allegedly trying to break his girlfriend’s neck and then pushing her off a cliff, police said. -more-
At least 537 Internet companies out of business or bankrupt -more-
SACRAMENTO – California shoppers will start paying more at the register when a quarter-cent sales tax increase kicks in Tuesday. -more-
It was three days after the Sept. 11 attacks, and Angela Porter, a Berkeley grantwriter, was on her way to a candlelight vigil in Petaluma. -more-
The Berkeley High boys’ basketball team mounted a dramatic comeback Wednesday night only to come up short in the final seconds, falling 58-55 to the Acalanes Dons in their opening-round game of the Leo LaRocca Sand Dunes Classic at Saint Ignatius Prep in San Francisco. -more-
City officials are keeping a close eye on a local medical marijuana club that has been robbed at gunpoint twice during the last two months. -more-
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Three weeks ago, when a janitorial company’s supervisor called Adalberto Mendoza, it wasn’t to extend the best wishes of the season to the janitor’s wife and four children. -more-
Arms are an instrument of evil, -more-
PETALUMA — An unmanned aircraft somehow broke from its moorings as its owner worked on the engine and took to the air Wednesday afternoon in rural Sonoma County. -more-
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SACRAMENTO — One of the state’s most notorious serial killers, serving a life sentence for the murders he said he committed at the command of voices in his head, is set to come up for parole for the ninth time on Thursday. -more-
STOCKTON — A Stockton man accused of going on a shooting spree on Christmas, shooting his father, the mother of his 7-month-old son and then fatally shooting her mother was booked Wednesday on murder charges, officials said. -more-
SACRAMENTO — Grapes and wine from Chile. Tomatoes, carrots and broccoli from Mexico. Apple juice from Hungary. Orange juice from Brazil. -more-
PASADENA — A judge says next week’s Rose Bowl game isn’t a judicial emergency and the courthouse will stay open, despite predictions that a crush of fans will clog city streets during the first-ever non-holiday football contest. -more-
SAN FRANCISCO — A man died and his wife was rescued from the San Francisco Bay after their Jeep Cherokee careened into the chilly waters Tuesday afternoon. -more-
SAN FRANCISCO — Prompted by rolling blackouts and some of the nation’s highest energy bills, California residents and businesses used rebates to buy record numbers of energy-efficient appliances and solar panels in 2001. -more-
WASHINGTON — No suspects. No telltale clues. Not even a trace of Chandra Levy has surfaced in the baffling case of the missing federal intern. -more-
NEWPORT, Ore. — Christian Longo, the father of the boy and girl found dead in Waldport last week, has a history of fraud and was recently charged with theft in Lincoln County. -more-
CARSON CITY, Nev.— A drive into the Sierra Nevada can seem like a retreat from time, a return to landscapes unmolested by the 20th century. -more-
GILLETTE, Wyo. — Looking through an office window across the expansive grasslands of his family’s South African ranch, Craig Knight could spot kudu, impala and warthogs foraging across the range land his family used to raise beefmaster cattle. -more-
EUGENE, Ore. — Think of a city known for coffee experts and Seattle, perhaps Portland, come to mind. But Eugene also is home to people who know a few things about whipping up a perfect double skinny latte. -more-
LOS ANGELES — El Salvador’s savage civil war drove Roberto and Margarita Herrador north to the United States in search of a safe haven for their family. They found it in a country that, after 15 years, still won’t accept them. -more-
ANCHORAGE, Alaska — In what may be among the most intense, well-funded investigations ever undertaken into a single species, scientists launched more than 150 studies this year to find out why the Steller sea lion population crashed and remains low. -more-
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — New Mexico cotton farmers have declared war on a small pest that can wipe out an entire crop. -more-
The interim Pacifica National Board held its first meeting by telephone Saturday and elected three officers. -more-
SAN FRANCISCO – Several San Francisco Bay area charities and nonprofit organizations are bracing for layoffs and budget cutbacks with the coming new year, citing lagging donations during the holiday season. -more-
SAN JOSE — Increased airport security has been difficult for parents, but for children, the waiting in long lines can be interminable. -more-