A recent study of the Writers’ Room, a one-year-old Berkeley High School program, which provides students with one-on-one writing coaches, suggests it is having a significant positive impact on students’ skills. -more-

Berkeley High boys’ soccer coach Janu Juarez named three captains at the beginning of the season: seniors Chris Davis and Liam Reilly and sophomore Kamani Hill. The trio proved worthy of the honor on Wednesday night, as each had a hand in two goals of a 3-0 Berkeley win over Washington High in the first round of the North Coast Section 3A playoffs. -more-

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Thursday, Feb. 14

Two Berkeley citizens will be leaving for Japan on a mission of peace today. -more-

Freshman Dea Wallach scored the game-winning goal in the second overtime period to give the Berkeley High girls’ soccer team a 1-0 first-round 3A North Coast Section playoff victory over Castro Valley on Wednesday night. -more-

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As Washington lawmakers strategize about increasing efforts abroad to wipe out terrorism, several East Bay activist picketed outside the Oakland Police Department demanding its end here. -more-

A controversial penalty kick just seconds before halftime gave Piedmont a 1-0 playoff win over St. Mary’s on a cold Wednesday night, ending the Panthers’ season. -more-

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When most of us daydream about vacationing, the scene is usually set with plenty of sunshine, white sandy beaches and exotic fruit cocktails festooned with paper umbrellas. -more-

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Today is Thursday, Feb. 14, the 45th day of 2002. There are 320 days left in the year. This is Valentine’s Day. -more-

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OAKLAND – The streets of Oakland’s Chinatown were strewn Wednesday with the red flakes of firecracker wrappers used to celebrate the beginning of the Chinese New Year. But Chinese who’ve celebrated the New Year in China said the day barely seemed like a holiday. -more-

About 10 members of the Committee to Minimize Toxic Waste demonstrated outside the Lawrence Hall of Science Wednesday afternoon to call attention the oxidation of tritium just down the hill at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. -more-

LOS ANGELES — Californians lined up at liquor stores and supermarkets Wednesday in a last-minute rush to buy tickets for a $136 million SuperLotto jackpot. -more-

SAN FRANCISCO — The father accused of starving his 19-month-old son to death and neglecting a dozen other children was also investigated 12 years ago for the mysterious death of an infant daughter. -more-

LOS ANGELES — A terminal at Los Angeles International Airport was evacuated for an hour Wednesday when a cylinder was found in a planter near a second-floor entrance. The plastic object turned out to be harmless and no flights were delayed. -more-

SACRAMENTO — After months of scraping for money, the project to link California’s major urban areas with trains traveling at more than 200 mph may be headed back on track, despite a worsening state budget. -more-

ALEXANDRIA, Va. — They showed up, unannounced, to call John Walker Lindh a traitor. The mother, father and widow of slain CIA officer Johnny Micheal Spann have a score to settle — and no hesitation about saying so. -more-

CENTURY CITY — As a mother, First Lady Laura Bush said she feels sympathy for the American Taliban’s parents, but said they also serve as a valuable example of how important it is to pay attention to adolescents. -more-

WASHINGTON — Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus told the Bush administration Wednesday that congressional support for its trade policy could melt away if it fails to protect the U.S. lumber and steel industries from cheap imports. -more-

FALLBROOK — Firefighters appear to have finally gained the upper hand on a blaze that destroyed 36 homes and consumed 5,000 acres in the town known as the “Avocado Capital of America.” -more-

SAN JOSE — First-quarter profits at Hewlett-Packard Co. more than tripled on strong computer and printer sales to consumers, beating analysts’ recently raised forecasts Wednesday. Even so, executives said HP still needs to buy Compaq Computer Corp. to solve long-term problems. -more-

SAN FRANCISCO — Microsoft Corp. on Wednesday launched its biggest weapon yet in its battle to dominate the emerging Web services market. -more-

Protesters in SF advocate for medical marijuana, while the DEA raids Bay Area clinics and scares Berkeley patients -more-

Despite some sloppy play and a short bench, the Berkeley High girls’ basketball team easily beat Encinal, 64-43, in a preview of next weekend’s ACCAL championship game. -more-

It was like his 1995 photograph of the railroad station in Bombay where a train had just pulled up: crowds of people anxious to get in. -more-

Wednesday, Feb. 13

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Superintendent Michele Lawrence warned that the Berkeley Unified School District will layoff a significant number of employees next year, and she cast doubt on the fate of an under-enrolled City of Franklin School at a public forum Monday night. -more-

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The Planning Commission will hold the first public hearing tonight on the Southside Plan, the document designed to guide development in the area around upper Telegraph Avenue for about the next 20 years. -more-

Theo Boguszewski, eighth-grader at Longfellow Middle School, is a little nervous. -more-

Today is Wednesday, Feb. 13, the 44th day of 2002. There are 321 days left in the year. This is Ash Wednesday. -more-

WASHINGTON — One in four American Indians lives in California or Oklahoma, according to the 2000 census. Cherokee and Navajo are by far the tribes most often checked off on forms. -more-

SACRAMENTO — A California Senate committee, convinced that bankrupt energy giant Enron has destroyed financial documents under legislative subpoena, voted Tuesday to seek criminal charges against the company for concealing evidence and conspiracy. -more-

SAN JOSE — Apple Computer Inc., Sun Microsystems Inc. and Ericsson Telephone Co. said Tuesday they have teamed up to develop a system for bringing multimedia content such as movie clips to cell phones and other wireless devices. -more-

SAN DIEGO — A director of Enron was reappointed Tuesday to Qualcomm Inc.’s board over the objections of labor groups and some shareholder activists. -more-

Being the daughter of a famous writer, being a BI-coastal child to divorced parents, being bi-racial and being a “movement child” of the sixties has not been easy — being Rebecca Walker has not been easy. -more-

PARK CITY, Utah — This town knows how to host a party. -more-

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Tuesday, Feb. 12

A man was wounded in the back when his Sacramento Street apartment was sprayed with about 10 bullets at 10:25 p.m. Friday. -more-

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Licensed child care in Alameda County is both scarce and expensive, according to a report released last week by the California Child Care & Resource Referral Network, a statewide organization that conducts research on child care issues. -more-

Today is Tuesday, Feb. 12, the 43rd day of 2002. There are 322 days left in the year. -more-

An eye for an eye, a pig for a pig -more-

WASHINGTON — The FBI issued an extraordinary terrorist alert Monday night, asking law enforcement and the American public to be on the lookout for a Yemeni man and several associates who might be plotting a terrorist attack as early as today. -more-

Bay Area Briefs -more-

SAN JOSE — Stanford University will require some companies that perform campus work to pay their employees a “living wage,” but student activists who have insisted upon such a rule said Monday the plan falls short of what they wanted. -more-

SAN FRANCISCO — City Attorney Dennis Herrera sued Pacific Gas and Electric Co.’s parent corporation Monday, accusing it of driving the utility into bankruptcy through unfair and illegal business practices. -more-

SAN FRANCISCO — Jerry Roberts will step down as managing editor of the San Francisco Chronicle, the paper and Roberts announced Monday. -more-

SAN FRANCISCO — PayPal Inc. warned Monday its popular online payment service is about to be shut down in Louisiana by that state’s banking regulators, casting another cloud over the company’s widely anticipated initial public offering of stock. -more-

SANTA CLARA — Intel Corp. introduced a family of microprocessors Monday that promise to improve the performance and increase the battery life of handheld devices such as cell phones and palm-sized computers. -more-

LOS ANGELES — Shares of Toymax International Inc. were up 38 percent Monday after it agreed to be acquired by Jakks Pacific Inc. for more than $54 million in cash and stock. -more-

College Freshman Derek Moser tried to capture a pose of the golden-brown King Cheetah lounging on a table in front of his anatomy and life drawing class. -more-

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Monday, Feb. 11

Halfway through the third quarter on Saturday night at Contra Costa College, the St. Mary’s Panthers were digging themselves into the deep hole. They had already blown a halftime lead and were down, 42-38, to archrival Salesian. But St. Mary’s head coach Jose Caraballo still had an ace up his sleeve: DaShawn Freeman. -more-

Berkeley, which has a long history of firsts in accessibility issues, is among the 10 finalists for the National Organization on Disability’s first annual Accessibility America contest. -more-

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Cal in four-way tie for third place in Pac-10 Conference -more-

Rep. Barbara Lee, D-Oakland, came home to the most gorgeous weather – and the cheeriest group of well-wishers when she and Loni Hancock, a candidate for the state Assembly, appeared at their joint campaign office on Saturday. -more-

The County Board of Education and County Office of Education have the responsibility to educate the most at risk students in Alameda County. -more-

Today is Monday, Feb. 11, the 42nd day of 2002. There are 323 days left in the year. -more-

Jean Chen is trying to teach a class about HTML, but there’s a DJ next to her and the music is getting louder by the second. Chen ignores the intrusion until her students can no longer hear her voice. "Could you please turn it down,” she shouts and then, without missing a beat, turns back toward her class of five teenagers. -more-

BERLIN — Marlene Dietrich was not the femme fatale she played in her films, but was an emotionally distant woman and a harsh disciplinarian with her only child, her grandson said Sunday. -more-

SAN FRANCISCO — A strange relationship between a man and four women he lived with has been marred by tragedy. The five adults face a Monday arraignment on charges related to an infant’s death and the mistreatment of their 12 other children. -more-

University of California Berkeley student Woody Hartman’s tic-tac-toe skills will be tested when he matriculates to Hollywood Squares as a contestant, beginning Tuesday, February 19. -more-

LOS ANGELES — Jakks Pacific Inc., which makes World Wrestling Federation action figures, is buying Toymax International, Inc., which makes kites, water toys and other products. -more-

Hours after Governor Gray Davis released an advertisement slamming Richard Riordan, the GOP front runner in the gubernatorial race, for his shifting views on abortion issues, Riordan launched a counterattack of his own. -more-

SANTA CLARA — Digital photography is constantly improving, allowing, for instance, 3-megapixel cameras to drop in price from $1000 a year ago to under $500 today. -more-

The San Francisco Airport Commission wants the Board of Supervisors to adopt a resolution that authorizes the $19.3 million purchase of several explosive detection systems to improve the airport’s security. -more-

Loni Hancock and Dave Brown, candidates for the 14th District state Assembly seat, criticized rival Charles Ramsey for accepting a $3,000 PG&E campaign contribution and took him to task on his school board record during a Thursday night debate at UC Berkeley. -more-

While Berkeley is noted nationally, even internationally, for its turn-of the twentieth-century architects such as Bernard Maybeck, and their creative and innovative residential designs, Berkeley also has a large number of housing types that could simply be referred to as common. -more-

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Shades of California, edited by local resident Kimi Kodani Hill and published by Berkeley’s Heyday Books, is billed as “California’s Family Album.” If this is accurate, then we are dancers; sentimental siblings and parents, highly charged lovers experts at offering the enigmatic and ever-compelling come hither glance; goofy and adorable children and assorted loners who stare with wordless passion into a camera lens. -more-

Music -more-

Saturday, Feb. 9

Berkeley boys get NCS playoff spot -more-

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It was a problem of preparing for the worst, and then the worst got worse. -more-

Everything was going as planned on Friday night for the St. Mary’s High girls’ basketball team. They were way ahead of St. Elizabeth, up by 39 points at halftime and even more in the third quarter. Then disaster struck. -more-

His organization under fire, Michael Dukakis, acting chairman of Amtrak, called for massive federal investment in the rail service during a speech at UC Berkeley Friday afternoon. -more-

Editor -more-

Professional cowboys from Canada and the United States will slap on their spurs to compete in the Olympic Command Performance Rodeo this evening – despite the best efforts of the Berkeley City Council. -more-

Today is Saturday, Feb. 9, the 40th day of 2002. There are 325 days left in the year. -more-

Sosa brothers robbed -more-

SAN FRANCISCO — There’s no better way to get a feel for nautical history than on the water, and there may be no better place to do it than San Francisco Bay. -more-

LOS ANGELES — The number of California households able to afford their own home increased in December to 34 percent, up from 32 percent a year ago, an industry study released Friday said. -more-

SAN FRANCISCO — A federal bankruptcy judge rejected Pacific Gas and Electric Co.’s request for a pre-emptive, blanket exemption from state laws and regulations it claims will prevent it from paying off thousands of creditors. -more-

—Incorporated: 1905, in California -more-

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SAN FRANCISCO — As de-facto mayor, police chief and reluctant figurehead of the remarkably successful www.craigslist.org, Craig Newmark says he’s “living la vida Dilbert.” -more-

Concerned about another negative media blitz, the City Council put the brakes on a letter-writing campaign to elected officials and major news organizations on Tuesday. The letter called for an end to the “attack on the First Amendment” resulting from Sept. 11. -more-

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The group Culture Clash consists of three 40-ish male Latino performers who write and perform political sketch comedy. They did their first gig nearly 18 years ago in a San Francisco Mission District gallery that sponsored political work. -more-

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Friday, Feb. 8

The season ended abruptly for the St. Mary’s High boys’ soccer team on Thursday, as the Panthers slipped and slid around their own field in a 2-1 loss to Berean Christian. -more-

The City Council sent the new Public Safety Tower back to the drawing board after neighbors complained that the 170-foot structure is too unsightly for a residential neighborhood. -more-

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LOS ANGELES — “Moulin Rouge” and “A Beautiful Mind,” already recognized by the directors’ and actors’ guilds, were among the movies receiving nominations Thursday for Writers Guild Awards. -more-

California shot a season-high 57.1 percent from the floor and held Oregon State to just 19 rebounds as the Golden Bears moved to 16-5 on the season with a 73-58 victory over the Beavers Thursday night in Haas Pavilion. -more-

During opening statements in the Samson murder trial on Tuesday, the prosecution called Oct. 29, 1996 “a very dark day.” -more-

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NEW YORK — Fire and police union officials expressed concerns Wednesday that former Mayor Rudolph Giuliani’s appearance at a screening of Arnold Schwarzenegger’s new movie might appear to link a Sept. 11 charity to the film. -more-

The Berkeley boys’ soccer team avenged its only league loss Thursday with a 3-1 win over Alameda. Today, the ’Jackets play Richmond for the ACCAL title. -more-

The March 5 primary election is approaching quickly but the Feb. 19 registration deadline is approaching even faster, and a recent change – essentially ending open primaries in California – may mean that many people will want to re-register. -more-

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Girls’ Soccer – Berkeley 4, Alameda 0 -more-

Today is Friday, Feb. 8, the 39th day of 2002. There are 326 days left in the year. -more-

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Friday -more-

Candidates for the 14th State Assembly District seat outlined competing visions on education and sparred over experience during a debate in a UC Berkeley political science class Wednesday. -more-

Science teachers object to the superintendent’s proposed schedule -more-

Dedicated judges spend two days -more-