A South Berkeley construction crew was burned early Monday when fumes from a diesel mixture combusted. The crew was working on a new foundation in the basement of a five-unit building at the southeast corner of Milvia and Parker streets. -more-

Three steps, for most of us, is the distance between the fridge and the cupboard while rummaging for yet another commercial-break snack. But St. Mary’s High track standout Solomon Welch stretches those three steps out a bit. -more-

To the Editor: -more-

LOS ANGELES — The Rock was ready to rumble at the box office. -more-

Tuesday, April 23

Ted Schultz, an eight-year veteran of the Board of Education, has announced that he will not run for re-election in November. Nancy Riddle, chief financial officer for Monster Cable Products, Inc. of Brisbane and long-time parent activist, has declared her candidacy for the coming vacancy. -more-

To the Editor: -more-

It’s the environmental catastrophe no one seems to know about – the degradation of the world’s islands – and a Berkeley group is addressing it head-on. -more-

To the Editor: -more-

Today is Tuesday, April 23, the 113th day of 2002. There are 252 days left in the year. -more-

To the Editor: -more-

ERIE, Pa. (AP) — Police are looking for three very unwelcome wedding guests. -more-

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Al Gore used Earth Day to unleash his harshest criticism of President Bush since losing the White House to him, saying the administration’s environmental policies serve “special interests instead of public interests.” -more-

WILMINGTON, N.Y. — After a muscle-burning walk through snowy Adirondack Mountain woods, President Bush defended his environmental record on Earth Day and dismissed a chorus of Democratic critics, including former rival Al Gore. -more-

NEW YORK — The nation’s recycling movement has been steadily expanding for three decades — so much that it has become almost standard practice for people to separate their paper, plastic and glass. -more-

SAN FRANCISCO — California will save $3.5 billion on its long-term energy pacts, state officials said Monday, under reworked terms on eight contracts with four power companies, including San Jose-based Calpine Corp. -more-

SACRAMENTO — Lawmakers on Monday sent the governor a bill raising unemployment benefits for workers who lost their jobs following the Sept. 11 attacks, but a partisan fight will delay the increases for months. -more-

YUMA, Ariz. — It’s 2:30 a.m. and Francisco Perez Marez wakes to his alarm. He’s had six hours of sleep. -more-

SAN FRANCISCO — Counties and cities in California may prohibit gun shows on their fairgrounds and other public properties, despite state laws that allow such events, the state Supreme Court ruled Monday. -more-

ALBANY, Ga. — Charles Batten turned a few goats loose on his cow pastures 10 years ago to keep weeds down. They do a great job, but these days they’re more valuable for their meat. -more-

NEW YORK — Oxygen, the cable television network for women that began with great fanfare two years ago, is barely being seen. -more-

NEW YORK — A decade after “Dateline NBC” got in trouble for staging a collision to illustrate fire dangers in a General Motors truck, the newsmagazine and automaker have apparently made peace. -more-

LOS ANGELES — Univision Communications Inc. is programming its Galavision cable channel to appeal to different audiences than its two broadcast networks. -more-

Prospective students and their parents flooded UC Berkeley's Sproul Plaza Saturday taking in the sights and sounds of Berkeley and gathering information, advice and tips on college life at the annual Cal Day. -more-

The juggernaut that is Cal rugby continued its quest for a 12th consecutive national championship with a 63-6 demolition of Ohio State in the Elite Eight on Sunday at Witter Field. The Bears allowed just two penalty kicks in the game and shut out the Buckeyes in the second half. -more-

-more-

SAN FRANCISCO — A federal judge in San Francisco spent little time Friday on a bid by the Oakland Cannabis Buyers' Cooperative to raise new arguments about why it should be allowed to dispense medical marijuana. -more-

On the strength of senior Jocelyn Forest’s one-hit, 15-strikeout performance, the No. 8 Golden Bears upset No. 1 Arizona, 2-1, Sunday afternoon at Levine-Fricke Field, marking the first time California has swept the desert schools in a weekend series dating back to the inception of Pac-10 softball in 1987. -more-

To the Editor: -more-

Past and present generations of Harmon House residents gathered Saturday to touch base with old friends, to share stories and memories and of course eat food and at what may be the final reunion at the historic Berkeley communal house. -more-

The No. 1 ranked Cal men’s varsity eight defeated No. 6 Wisconsin by five seconds in dual racing on the Redwood Shores Lagoon, April 21. The undefeated, defending IRA National champion Bears covered the course in a time of 5:40.43. -more-

YORBA LINDA — A 125-acre fire apparently sparked by illegal fireworks came dangerously close to homes on the eastern edge of Yorba Linda on Sunday evening, but winds pushed it northeast into a state park and no evacuations were required, authorities said. -more-

Tuesday -more-

ALBANY, Ga. — Charles Batten turned a few goats loose on his cow pastures 10 years ago to keep weeds down. They do a great job, but these days they’re more valuable for their meat. -more-

When a prestigious scientific journal backed away from a study that found genetic contamination in Mexican corn, it was a big public relations victory for the biotechnology industry. -more-

SAN FRANCISCO – An 11-year-old boy was severely mauled by a neighbor’s pit bull, an attack that came just a day after a 5-year-old Monterey girl died after being attacked by her family dog. -more-

SANTA CLARA – Paramount’s Great America theme park was evacuated and closed an hour early Saturday night after several fistfights broke out, leaving several parkgoers injured, officials said. -more-

SACRAMENTO – The chairman of the Senate Public Safety Committee and other lawmakers plan to call this week for the state to halt its plans to build a new maximum security prison at Delano. -more-

CAMARILLO – Gasoline prices edged down a fraction of a cent over the past two weeks, despite tensions in oil-producing regions like the Middle East and South America, an analyst said Sunday. -more-

SAN FRANCISCO – As Congress and President Bush have debated whether to open the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil drilling, three indigenous spokespeople have devoted their days to ensuring the potential effects on the land, its wildlife and their people are not overlooked. -more-

A speech by a “pro-life feminist” on the UC Berkeley campus Friday afternoon sparked a stand-off between activists from both sides of the abortion debate. -more-

The Berkeley High baseball juggernaut continued to roll over opponents Friday afternoon, riding a two-hit gem from starting pitcher Cole Stipovich to a convincing 5-1 victory against El Cerrito High. -more-

To the Editor: -more-

By David Scharfenberg -more-

By Jared Green -more-

To the Editor: -more-

By Chris Nichols -more-

Cal softball upsets No. 6 ASU -more-

By Bruce Gerstman -more-

Today is Saturday, April 20, the 110th day of 2002. There are 255 days left in the year. -more-

LOS ANGELES — The World Trade Center lives on in a handful of new films whose makers left intact their pre-Sept. 11 footage of the twin towers out of respect for the dead and defiance of the terrorists who destroyed the buildings. -more-

SACRAMENTO — The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has agreed to consider for the first time in a decade how 18 commonly used pesticides may affect endangered salmon and woodland plants. -more-

KATMANDU, Nepal — Having just finished breakfast, a team of mountaineers in Nepal were robbed by Maoist rebels who allowed their victims to bargain over the amount to be stolen and then wrote out receipts. -more-

SAN FRANCISCO — Pacific Bell customers are less than thrilled with the service they’ve been getting since SBC Communications agreed to buy the company in 1996, according to a recently released survey. -more-

The exhibition, on display at Traywick Gallery through May 4, marks new ground for a process artist who has documented the marginal events of everyday life, not through the lens of the camera, but via the unlocked complexity of photographic paper. -more-

NEW YORK — A Wall Street TV showdown began Friday night as financial journalist Louis Rukeyser returned to the air. -more-

SAN FRANCISCO — Ward Connerly proposes a California so colorblind that government officials would not be allowed to classify people by race. -more-

SAN FRANCISCO — Pacific Bell customers are less than thrilled with the service they’ve been getting since SBC Communications agreed to buy the company in 1996, according to a recently released survey. -more-

SAN JOSE, Calif. — Sun Microsystems Inc. posted a slim third-quarter loss that beat Wall Street expectations by a penny, though the company — still faced with slumping demand for high-powered network servers and workstations — had sequentially flat revenues. -more-

SUNNYVALE, Calif. — A former senior vice president for Advanced Micro Devices Inc. claims in a lawsuit that the computer chip maker’s top two officials humiliated him and forced him out because he is an Arab-American. -more-

SAN FRANCISCO — Williams-Sonoma Inc. said Wednesday it has raised its guidance for 2002 and the first two fiscal quarters of the year, citing stronger sales, better-than-expected gross margins and the success of its cost-management initiatives. -more-

Berkeley Earth Day 2002 – the 32nd anniversary of the national environmental awareness day – is Saturday. -more-

To The Editor: -more-

The Flying Karamazov Brothers started out as street jugglers from U.C. Santa Cruz who performed around San Francisco in the mid-1970s. I remember watching them work a crowd of tourists one afternoon at the end of the Hyde Street cable car line near Fisherman’s Wharf. -more-

Ongoing

The Berkeley High boys’ tennis team won their second straight ACCAL title Thursday with a 5-2 win over second-place Alameda, an identical result to the teams’ first meeting a month ago. -more-

Community members formally requested an opportunity to evaluate the performance of City Attorney Manuela Albuquerque on Wednesday prior to the annual evaluation of the city manager’s office. -more-

To the Editor: -more-

Berkeley High’s boys’ volleyball junior varsity team lived to play another day, and they rewarded Justin Caraway’s decision with a win over De Anza. Unfortunately, their existence doomed the varsity team to a loss. -more-

If you like volleyball, you may be in luck. -more-

New details on the Wednesday afternoon assault at Berkeley High School emerged Thursday, as the district began weighing a shift in the BHS safety plan. -more-

Today is Friday, April 19, the 109th day of 2002. There are 256 days left in the year. -more-

Old growth advocates got a political boost from Berkeley City Council by way of a unanimously-supported resolution, which they’ll use as they move forward into a signature drive to get an initiative on the upcoming statewide ballot. -more-

SAN FRANCISCO — Government investigators violated the privacy rights of a San Francisco city official when they searched her office in 1999 as part of a fraud probe in the city’s minority contracting program, a federal appeals court ruled Thursday. -more-

Alleged cross-bow killer is arraigned in death of housemate -more-

SAN FRANCISCO (BCN) - Urban growth experts speaking Tuesday in San Francisco said cities and counties need economic incentives from the state before they will adopt smarter building plans for urban areas. -more-

WASHINGTON - Two "superplumes" of molten rock appear to be powering through the boundary between the Earth's upper and lower mantle, perhaps feeding volcanoes and affecting movement of the planet's crust. -more-

SAN FRANCISCO — Chanting, “Racist fashion’s got to go,” more than 100 Asian-Americans protested Thursday outside an Abercrombie & Fitch store. -more-

NEW YORK — A television industry trade group is speaking out against the disappearance of credits at the end of TV shows. -more-

SAN JOSE, Calif. — Keeping up its blistering growth, Internet trading leader eBay Inc. reported earnings that beat Wall Street forecasts and expressed confidence about its outlook Thursday. -more-

SAN JOSE, Calif. — Thanks to brisk demand for its new iMac, Apple Computer Inc. posted a second-quarter profit that beat Wall Street estimates. -more-

SACRAMENTO — The chair of a legislative audit committee called on Attorney General Bill Lockyer Thursday to look into the validity of a state contract that could cost taxpayers millions more than if the state hadn’t signed the deal. -more-

SAN FRANCISCO — The stock price of Trimeris Inc., a small biotechnology company, soared on stellar results from pivotal human tests on its experimental AIDS drug, which could help patients resistant to currently available treatments. -more-

SAN FRANCISCO — More than 100,000 illegal immigrants could be affected by a federal appeals court ruling this week that rejected immigration authorities’ interpretation of a decision by Congress in the 1980s to grant some illegal immigrants amnesty, plaintiffs said. -more-

LOS ANGELES – O.J. Simpson said Thursday that the law firm suing him for $204,000 in unpaid bills from the custody battle for his children “will have to wait” because he doesn’t have the money to pay them. -more-

Chanting “Yes to education, No to super-jails,” and carrying signs reading “No expansion of the Alameda County Jail,” demonstrators gathered at the County of Alameda Administration Building to protest plans for a new and expanded juvenile corrections facility in Dublin. -more-

In a matchup of the ACCAL’s only undefeated teams, Berkeley High rode an 11-run third inning to a 12-4 victory over the Encinal Jets on Wednesday, taking over sole possession of first place with its 11th straight win. -more-

To the Editor: -more-

Thursday, April 18

Four males entered the Berkeley High School campus Wednesday afternoon and one assaulted a BHS student in the outdoor lunch area behind the “C” Building, according to school officials and students. -more-

To the Editor: -more-

The standoff between pro-Israeli and pro-Palestinian students on the UC Berkeley campus continued Wednesday with a pair of dueling events on Israel Independence Day. -more-

Urban density and the future development of Berkeley are not only key issues in the upcoming mayoral and City Council elections, but are being taken straight to the people with a new initiative to reduce the height limits of buildings and amend existing zoning ordinances. -more-

Today is Thursday, April 18, the 108th day of 2002. There are 257 days left in the year. -more-

Jurors in the Earth First! v. FBI case examined up-close the bomb-blasted car environmental activists Judi Bari and Darryl Cherney were traveling in almost 12 years ago. -more-

SAN FRANCISCO — Groups representing disabled passengers sued San Francisco International Airport on Wednesday, accusing it of failing to provide adequate access to deaf and hard-of-hearing travelers. -more-

WASHINGTON — More Americans are commuting on buses, subways and trains, new statistics show. -more-

KLAMATH FALLS, Ore. — The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation has finished design of special screens to keep endangered fish out of the Klamath Reclamation Project’s primary canal intake and hopes to have the devices installed by next spring. -more-

LOS ANGELES — More than 30 sick and dying sea lions have swamped a San Pedro marine mammal recovery center, where workers are struggling to care for the apparent victims of a naturally occurring neurotoxin. -more-

RANCHO CORDOVA, Calif. — Officials from California’s expanded Cal Grant scholarship program say they’ve worked out the bugs that led to a shortfall in the number of grants given out last year. -more-

NEW YORK — How would aggressive nudist Richard Hatch do against sweet-talking schemer Tina Wesson? Can you imagine Susan Hawk from the first “Survivor” dressing down would-be godfather Rob Mariano from the current show? -more-

WASHINGTON — Personal watercraft such as Jet Skis will be permanently banned at three national seashores and two national recreation areas beginning next week, the National Park Service said Tuesday. -more-

SACRAMENTO — A bill that asks the University of California to stop using standardized tests as the sole criterion for graduate school admissions passed an Assembly committee Tuesday. -more-

SACRAMENTO — The California Public Employees’ Retirement System dropped two of the four major health maintenance organizations offered to its 1.2 million members Wednesday while raising rates for next year by 25 percent. -more-

LOS ANGELES — Former mayor Richard Riordan said Wednesday he plans to start a new newspaper to offer an alternative voice to the Los Angeles Times. -more-

NEW YORK — Welcome to the new world of real estate ads: four-story brownstone, six fireplaces — and high-tech, armor-reinforced safe room. -more-

LOS ANGELES — The five brightest planets visible from Earth have lined up in plain sight to form a spectacular celestial array that won’t be seen again until 2040. -more-

SACRAMENTO (AP) — State revenues have dipped more than $1 billion below expectations this year and officials are anxiously awaiting the results of April’s tax returns to gauge California’s fiscal health. -more-

SAN FRANCISCO — Authorities said Wednesday they are searching for a former executive at Cisco Systems Inc. accused of diverting about $10 million in Cisco-owned stock into personal accounts in the Bahamas. -more-

About 150 teachers and supporters rallied on the steps of the Berkeley Unified School District’s Martin Luther King, Jr. Way headquarters Tuesday afternoon, protesting teacher layoffs scheduled to take effect next year. -more-

The Berkeley High swimming team continued their undefeated ACCAL run with a win over Encinal on Tuesday, making the ’Jackets 3-0 in league meets. -more-

To the Editor: -more-

Wednesday, April 17th

The Berkeley-based Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund filed suit against the Santa Cruz Metropolitan Transit District in U.S. District Court in San Jose Tuesday, alleging that the bus service violates the civil rights of the visually-impaired by failing to call out stops and announce routes. -more-

Just when things were starting to look up for the Berkeley High boys’ volleyball team, a freak injury may have thrown their season into chaos. -more-

The public hearing concerning TuneUp Masters and the possible revocation of the garage’s business license due to an ongoing nine-year dispute with neighbors who say the business is just not in tune with Berkeley had two distinctly different sides last night. -more-

Today is Wednesday, April 17, the 107th day of 2002. There are 258 days left in the year. -more-

Just $100 to kick mayor’s butt -more-

Sexually explicit material and its appropriateness at certain hours of the night are hot topics in Berkeley, especially for viewers of B-TV Channel 25. -more-

SACRAMENTO — A nearly 10-year-old California experiment with a once-radical substance treatment program has proven effective in cutting both crime and drug abuse, two groups with interests in the program said Tuesday. -more-

SAN FRANCISCO - A veteran public policy researcher from Berkeley's renowned Public Health Institute has been named the new director of San Francisco State University's Public Research Institute (PRI). -more-

SACRAMENTO — Lawmakers may eliminate a state department this spring based on an audit Tuesday that found a faulty state computer contract could cost taxpayers millions of dollars. -more-

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan — Well after midnight, police who hadn’t been paid in four months pulled over a vehicle at a checkpoint on a barely lit street. But it wasn’t money they were after. They asked the car’s Western passengers for help getting artificial limbs. -more-

Julia Morgan was a remarkable woman and an exceptional architect. Not only was she the first woman to be admitted to the prestigious Ecole des Beaux Arts in Paris, she was also the architect of San Simeon, the fabulous "castle" built by William Randolph Hearst, near San Louis Obispo, which is now a state park. -more-

Turkey attacks -more-

LOS ANGELES — A 17-year-old Air Force ROTC student with an Arabic name has received an apology from the military after allegedly being handcuffed and interrogated by recruiters on campus. -more-

The Berkeley Police Department has released a sketch of a man who assaulted two Jewish men who were walking on Claremont Avenue earlier this month. -more-