Editor: -more-

LAS VEGAS — Nevada Power Co. said it will ask the state Public Utilities Commission to reconsider its order that rejected almost half of the $922 million rate increase the utility sought to recover the cost of buying power last year. -more-

On Thursday morning at 2 a.m. , two Orthodox Jews were reportedly attacked within one block of the Clark Kerr neighborhood. Witnesses say they believe the crime was just another bloody example of increased anti-Semitism. -more-

Editor: -more-

WASHINGTON — FBI agents and Director Louis Freeh denied imprisoned American Indian activist Leonard Peltier a fair chance at clemency and parole when they publicly protested against him in 2000, a lawsuit filed Thursday alleged. -more-

Today is Friday, April 5, the 95th day of 2002. There are 270 days left in the year. -more-

SAN FRANCISCO — New HIV infections are on the rise in the San Francisco Bay area, in part, because a small proportion of gay men who are having unprotected sex, a new study shows. -more-

SANTA CLARA — Silicon Valley firms are worried about the increasing violence in Israel, a major hub of the world’s high-tech industry. -more-

Salmonella poisoning causes FDA warning on cheese -more-

SACRAMENTO — More than $25 billion in education bonds to help fix up deteriorating schools was approved by the state Senate Thursday, sending the issue to Gov. Gray Davis. -more-

SAN DIEGO — Scientists said Thursday they have discovered at least a half-dozen new species of insect in Southern California, some of them in the midst of the nation’s seventh-largest city. -more-

DENVER — Colorado rafting groups, battling a lawsuit aimed at restricting passage through private property, will try to put an initiative on the ballot guaranteeing access rights. -more-

Day-to-day maintenance isn’t gender-specific. Nowhere is it written that leaking faucets are a “guy thing” or wallpaper is “women’s work.” -more-

A truly ripe peach is one that makes you jut your head forward with each bite to keep yourself from being showered with juice. You rarely can buy such a fruit, but you can grow it. Get it off to a good start with correct planting. -more-

If you regularly read our column you know that we are third-generation contractors. You also might recall that we grew up in a home built by our grandfather at the turn of the 20th century. The home was Mediterranean-style construction, plaster in and out, with spacious rooms and high ceilings. Not only were the ceilings high, in some rooms they were coved at the perimeter and had decorative cornice or picture mold. Other rooms, such as the living room and dining room, had intricate plaster moldings that bordered the ceiling and ornate ceiling medallions used as foils for chandeliers. -more-

Questions and Answers -more-

LIVERMORE — The golf nut wants to go to Monterey. The wine lover lobbies for Napa. Yet, they agree on one thing: They want a magic carpet to drop them in the middle of some fun without having to wait behind lines of cars or people. -more-

SAN FRANCISCO — It was April 5, 2001, and Gov. Gray Davis was assuring millions of Californians watching the evening news that the state was coming to grips with its energy crisis. -more-

It’s the holy grail of handheld computing: A technology that makes it just as easy to enter information into a mobile device as it is to type into a desktop personal computer. -more-

The building had been destroyed three times before. Each time, Palestinian refugees in the Dheisheh camp in the West Bank rebuilt it with the help of Berkeley’s Middle East Children’s Alliance. -more-

NOVATO - It’s called the San Marin Tournament, but they might want to rename it the ’Jacket Classic. -more-

Editor: -more-

Eric Clapton and Robbie Robertson challenging each other with progressively intense guitar licks. -more-

Thursday, April 4

The Berkeley Unified School District administration has scaled back plans to cut the music program next year, recommending fewer teacher layoffs than it proposed earlier this year. But some teachers and parents still have concerns about the layoffs and the larger class sizes that will result. -more-

NOVATO – The St. Mary’s Panthers pulled off another huge comeback against El Cerrito on Wednesday, but this time they couldn’t hold on for the win as the Gauchos mounted a comeback of their own to win, 10-9, in extra innings at the San Marin Tournament. Jacob Lucas’s single scored Randy Minix in the bottom of the eighth inning to end the game and send the Panthers home winless in three tries in the tournament. -more-

Editor: -more-

Church is good for you, according to a new Bay Area study, which will be published in today’s edition of the International Journal of Psychiatry in Medicine. -more-

Editor: -more-

Today is Thursday, April 4, the 94th day of 2002. There are 271 days left in the year. -more-

Editor: -more-

A pizza reward for fire safety -more-

SAN FRANCISCO — Insurance costs for the Golden Gate Bridge will more than double as a result of the Sept. 11 attacks, and the new policy will not include any coverage in case of future terrorism. -more-

In a switch of votes after three role call votes were completed on Tuesday night, the Zoning Adjustments Board finally decided 5-3 to continue discussion of the renovation plans for the Alta Bates Summit Medical Center. -more-

SAN FRANCISCO — Marking the end of a five-year lawsuit, Dow Chemical Co. announced plans Wednesday to contribute $3 million for San Francisco Bay protection while using new technology to clean up groundwater contamination at its nearby Pittsburg chemical facility. -more-

SAN FRANCISCO — An elderly neighbor frantically called police as Diane Whipple was fatally mauled outside her apartment door, saying she was too afraid to intervene, according to a tape of her 911 calls. -more-

GRANTS PASS, Ore. — The first in a series of safety projects to improve the narrow canyon stretch of the Redwood Highway that winds above the Smith River in Northern California has been put out for bid, officials say. -more-

SACRAMENTO — The rate of teen births in California dropped 31.3 percent since 1990, Gov. Gray Davis announced Wednesday. -more-

SANTA ANA — Federal immigration officials say there is no evidence that hundreds of Afghan women and children, including orphans, have been brought to the United States. -more-

SEATTLE — The company that owns the tanker Exxon Valdez argued before a federal appeals court Wednesday that the ship should be allowed to return to Alaska’s Prince William Sound, where it spilled 11 million gallons of oil in 1989. -more-

BOISE, Idaho — Wide swaths of the Southwest and a patchwork of forests along the East Coast are at the highest risk for wildfire this summer, National Interagency Fire Center officials said Wednesday. -more-

SACRAMENTO — Legislation that would forever ban Ventura County from approving houses on 2,800 acres surrounding an old nuclear meltdown site suffered a temporary setback Wednesday. -more-

SAN JOSE — While most of the high-tech world perpetually focuses on the next new thing, a familiar device quietly has gotten so good as to be almost stunning: the printer. -more-

SACRAMENTO — Enron executives have been cooperating with a Senate committee investigating the state’s energy crisis, under threat of a Senate vote to find them in contempt of a legislative subpoena, the committee’s chairman said Wednesday. -more-

What began as a march for peace in Palestine on Tuesday at approximately 5:00 p.m. ended in an ugly standoff between protesters and the Berkeley Police Department at Fourth Street and University Ave some five hours later. -more-

Berkeley High continued its offensive barrage on Tuesday, coming back from a 2-0 deficit to beat El Cerrito 12-2 in five innings at the San Marin Tournament in Novato. -more-

Editor, -more-

Wednesday, April 3

The University of California has pulled the plug on its study abroad program in Israel, citing concerns about escalating violence in the Middle East. -more-

The Cal men’s basketball team, already hurting for size with the probable departure of freshman Jamal Sampson, got even smaller on Tuesday when sophomore center Gabriel Hughes received a release from his scholarship. -more-

Editor: -more-

Parking vandals, beware. -more-

The St. Mary’s High baseball team is taking their lumps in the San Marin Tournament, following a 4-2 loss to Windsor on Monday with a 13-0 thumping by BSAL rival Salesian on Tuesday. -more-

Dear Chancellor Berdahl, -more-

Today is Wednesday, April 3, the 93rd day of 2002. There are 272 days left in the year. -more-

A panel of experts dissected the Enron fiasco, and poked holes in the pension and accounting reform proposals that have emerged in the wake of the energy company’s scandal, at a UC Berkeley seminar Tuesday. -more-

SAN FRANCISCO — Police are investigating the death of a premature infant found discarded in a financial district building’s restroom. -more-

VIP parking tightened at Oakland airport -more-

SAN FRANCISCO — Seven flights were diverted and others were delayed Tuesday after construction began on a major runway at San Jose’s international airport, one of three San Francisco Bay area airports renovating runways this summer. -more-

HALEAKALA NATIONAL PARK, Hawaii — Park rangers on horseback found a California woman and her 3 year-old-daughter Tuesday morning near a cabin in the crater of a dormant volcano on Maui, where they had spent the night after losing their way while hiking the day before. -more-

OAKLAND — Paul McCartney has nothing left to prove. -more-

LOS ANGELES — Executives of Gemstar-TV Guide International tried to calm nervous investors Tuesday as worries over its accounting practices sent its shares tumbling more than 37 percent. -more-

WASHINGTON — Microsoft Corp. is using a potentially risky strategy to avoid tough antitrust penalties, legal experts say. The company is portraying states that want the penalties as tools of its competitors. -more-

NEW YORK — The stock of PeopleSoft Inc. dropped sharply Tuesday after the maker of business software warned that first-quarter revenue would be well below Wall Street’s expectations. -more-

Matt Toma is a home run king. Last spring as a junior, Toma led his Berkeley High School Yellowjackets squad in long balls. He is not without some measure of pride when he says this. -more-

Editor: -more-

Tuesday, April 2

Alta Bates Summit Medical Center, the only hospital that provides emergency services in Berkeley, may finally get to work on renovating its emergency department, if the Zoning Adjustments Board approves its plan at tonight’s meeting. -more-

Editor: -more-

Community members and Berkeley High School administrators are questioning athletic cuts already approved by the Board of Education, and debating further cuts suggested by district administration. -more-

On Friday, 25-year-old Raymond Smith and 54-year-old Dwight Leeray both died at Highland Hospital from unrelated assaults, effectively doubling Berkeley’s homicide rate for the year. -more-

Today is Tuesday, April 2, the 92nd day of 2002. There are 273 days left in the year. -more-

A tardy note from the Department of Transportation -more-

ALEXANDRIA, Va. — Prosecutors acknowledged Monday they do not have evidence that John Walker Lindh killed Americans in Afghanistan. But a federal judge said that would not be necessary to prove Lindh joined a conspiracy to murder Americans as a Taliban fighter. -more-

SAN FRANCISCO — Abalone season opened in Northern California on Monday, but divers used to bringing home 100 of the meaty mollusks a year will now be limited to 24, thanks to poachers, overfishing and potential disease. -more-

•Abalone season runs from April 1 to June 30 and Aug. 1 to Nov. 30 off the California coast north of San Francisco. Diving is restricted to 30 minutes before sunrise and 30 minutes after sunset. -more-

DENVER — California authorities planned to visit Littleton this week to continue their investigation into Tuesday’s apparent double homicide-suicide near a Santa Cruz beach. -more-

OAKLAND — Take 40,000 baseball fans, add an ex-Beatle, a jazz crooner and a Latin pop sensation, then top it off with a dose of holiday airport traffic, and what do you get? -more-

SAN JOSE — Police are investigating a bizarre family disturbance that ended after an 11-hour standoff involving a woman found lying shot in the head on the family’s front lawn. -more-

SAN FRANCISCO — Vietnam veterans suffering from diabetes and prostate cancer after being exposed to Agent Orange won a round Monday in their battle against the federal government. -more-

VENTURA — Although their business is sweeter than that of out-of-state competitors, California’s beekeepers are worried they’re about to get financially stung. -more-

OLYMPIA — Less than four years ago, Washington state’s attorney general helped win billions of dollars from the tobacco industry for 46 states — money she saw as a bonanza for smoking-prevention programs and other health measures. -more-

IRVINE — A woman who claimed she was sexually abused by priests more than 20 years ago will receive a $1.2 million settlement from the Roman Catholic Diocese of Orange and the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, the parties said Monday. -more-

BOSTON — With little to celebrate lately, businesses in the $25 billion data-storage industry are looking for some gains from the confusion over the planned merger between Compaq Computer Corp. and Hewlett-Packard Co. -more-

SAN JOSE — Hewlett-Packard Co.’s board axed an olive branch to dissident director Walter Hewlett on Monday, reversing a plan to renominate him after he sued to try to stop the merger with Compaq Computer Corp. -more-

BOSTON — Silicon Valley still rules, but an annual survey of America’s most Internet-savvy cities found that Boston and Salt Lake City made huge strides over the past year. -more-

As the Middle East peace process reeled from a week of heavy fighting in the West Bank, about 250 Berkeley residents packed a Unitarian church yesterday to renew their hope for an end to the violence. -more-

To the Editor: -more-

Monday, April 1

Last year, the St. Mary’s High boys were the strength of the track & field program, winning a North Coast Section title and finishing third at the state championship meet. But by the looks of it, the boys may take a back seat to their female counterparts this year. -more-

Goliath has officially cried uncle. -more-

To the Editor: -more-

STANFORD – Eighth-ranked Cal (35-11, 2-1 Pac-10) was shut out, 6-0, by No. 3 Stanford (28-5, 1-2 Pac-10) in the first game of a double header, but came back to defeat the cross-bay rivals, 7-6, in the rubber match of the weekend series, Saturday afternoon in front of a Stanford softball record crowd of 962 at the Smith Family Stadium. -more-

When the credits roll on the last day of June, Berkeley cinéastes will have to bid adieu to the Fine Arts Cinema on Shattuck Avenue — but only temporarily. -more-

The Alameda County Office of Education announced this week that schools throughout the county now have direct access to the Internet, including access to resources from the University of California and the California State University systems. -more-

To the Editor: -more-

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BRITISH COLUMBIA, Vancouver - In the second match of the two game home-and-away series versus British Columbia, Cal (14-0) traveled to Vancouver and came out on top 28-17 over the Thunderbirds. Senior Dave Guest scored a team-high 13 points in the win. -more-

Happy April Fool’s Day! -more-

Bankrobber needs tip about discretionary spending -more-

No barefoot reading, please -more-

SAN JOSE — The man recently convicted along with his wife in the dog-mauling death of their neighbor last year said he is not surprised by his conviction, but accused the prosecutors and judge of political maneuvering -more-

WINDSOR — An elderly man shot and killed his teen-age grandson before taking his own life Sunday, according to a Sonoma County sheriff’s spokesman. -more-

SACRAMENTO – David Phillips grows grapes, Zinfandel grapes. And one of his wine labels seems to describe best the way people feel about a wine that may finally be getting some respect. -more-

SAN FRANCISCO – Sport divers who revel in finding abalone clinging to reefs will be bagging less of the meaty mollusks this season thanks to poachers, over fishing and potential diseases. -more-

Rape trial shocks community -more-

Son’s alleged cocaine ring under scrutiny -more-

MONTEREY — Long before Sept. 11 and last year’s virus-like attacks over the Internet, the U.S. government announced plans to train an elite corps of computer security experts to guard against cyberterrorism. -more-

LOS ANGELES — Not since the early days of Viagra has a lifestyle drug garnered so much attention as Botox. -more-

It’s Tuesday and I shouldn’t be here. I have research to do and income taxes to file. Instead, I’m eating popcorn in a movie theater and it’s not even noon. That would be fine if this were an arts theater with a limited run of a documentary. Instead, I’m watching “Death to Smoochy,” a movie that even Roger Ebert panned. I can still make something of this day if I leave now. -more-

Though Anne Brower was often overshadowed by her husband David, Berkeley will be honoring the woman who was a worthy environmentalist in her own right by dedicating a path in her name on Stevenson Avenue on Saturday. -more-

SAN FRANCISCO— In an effort to save the threatened red-legged frog, a group of environmentalists has sued the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. -more-

SAN RAFAEL — The patriarch of a 13-child family, and three of the four women he lived with, pleaded innocent Tuesday to charges they let one young child starve to death and severely neglected the other 12 children. -more-

Easter egg hunters would have had to look 65 million years ago to find this prize. -more-

LONDON — The Queen Mother Elizabeth, a symbol of courage and dignity during a tumultuous century of war, social upheaval and royal scandal, died in her sleep Saturday died at Royal Lodge, Windsor, outside London. She was 101 years old. -more-