East Bay bus agency wants
parcel tax on November ballot -more-

To the Editor: -more-

Berkeley graduate McCurdy can’t wait to play the Greek -more-

Friday, August 9

Former pro gives Berkeley
players a chance to shine -more-

State regulators who rejected Berkeley’s affordable housing plans earlier this month said Wednesday they expect that the city will ultimately win state approval. -more-

To the Editor: -more-

Centerfielder robs Ramirez of game-winning
homer with two out in bottom of the ninth -more-

Last month, Berkeley leaders put pressure on marina restaurant Skates by the Bay to pay its employees a “living wage” – an attempt to make the Bay Area’s high cost of living more bearable. This month, the city of Oakland is following suit. -more-

Union gives in on hot topic, but no penalties
have been established for positive results -more-

Citing dangerous work conditions and a heavy workload, about 30 Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory custodians used their lunch hour to wear bright union T-shirts, waive placards and chant labor slogans at the entrance of the lab. -more-

The show must go on,
even in the dark -more-

Part potluck and part crime prevention, Berkeley residents, city officials and public safety officers met Tuesday evening at various locations to celebrate the annual National Night Out Against Crime. -more-

OAKLAND – The Oakland Police Department is investigating the city’s 68th homicide this year, as a 19-year-old man was shot to death Tuesday night. -more-

SAN FRANCISCO – Vice President Dick Cheney said Wednesday he’d like to serve a second term “if the president’s willing and if my wife approves.” -more-

Upon hearing Dick Cheney’s remarks about corporate responsibility halfway through his hour-long speech to 500 guests of San Francisco’s Commonwealth Club, five members of the activist group Global Exchange stood up, stripped an outer layer of business attire and revealed anti-Cheney T-shirts. -more-

Small biotech firm
announces positive
results in battling
non-Hodgkins -more-

Companies would be required to acquire
permission before selling customer info -more-

State regulators this week rejected Berkeley’s affordable housing plan, putting the city at risk of losing valuable state housing funds and weakening its ability to regulate new housing developments. -more-

NEW YORK – A co-owner of the New York Mets accused baseball commissioner Bud Selig of conspiring with a former Arthur Andersen accountant to “manufacture phantom operating losses” in the sport’s books. -more-

To the Editor: -more-

Friday, August 9 -more-

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BOSTON – Ramon Hernandez hit a three-run homer, and Olmedo Saenz added a two-run shot to lead Mark Mulder and the Oakland Athletics over the Boston Red Sox 9-1 Tuesday night. -more-

To the Editor: -more-

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To the Editor: -more-

Heeding long-standing requests from city officials and student activists, UC Berkeley plans to add more than 1,000 new beds for students over the next three years. -more-

Hank Henson, 57, a long-time Berkeley tenants’ rights activist, died unexpectedly July 28 of a heart attack. -more-

LIVERMORE – A spokesman for the California Department of Forestry reported that mutual aid helped extinguish a 549-acre grass fire before it threatened any structures near the Alameda/Contra Costa county line Monday. -more-

SACRAMENTO – A proposed crackdown on millions of Bay Area motorists, blamed for the wind-blown smog that spills into an already-polluted Central Valley, cleared a key committee Tuesday on its way to a Senate vote expected this month. -more-

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SAN JOSE – The brain of Yosemite killer Cary Stayner is probably damaged in a region that controls emotional impulses, a neuropsychologist testified Tuesday as the triple-murder trial resumed. -more-

LOS ANGELES – One-year-old Guatemalan twins joined at the head were separated in a 22-hour operation that ended early Tuesday, but one of the girls underwent nearly five more hours of surgery to remove blood that built up in her brain. -more-

PHOENIX – Infected mosquitos and birds will bring the sometimes-fatal West Nile virus into Arizona within the year, and the virus will be coast-to-coast by the end of next summer, state health officials say. But they add that the chances of getting sick from the virus are low. -more-

SACRAMENTO – Two of biotechnology’s biggest companies are locking horns in a courtroom battle over nearly $1 billion in profits generated by Genentech Inc.’s breast cancer drug Herceptin. -more-

SACRAMENTO – Assembly Speaker Herb Wesson proposed Tuesday to abandon a plan to raise California’s car tax and instead increase cigarette taxes to $3 a pack – the highest in the nation. -more-

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EUREKA – State senators plan a new showdown Wednesday over fellow Democratic Gov. Gray Davis’s stewardship of the state’s environment – this time over alleged inaction by his appointees that protected a key campaign contributor. -more-

SAN FRANCISCO – A toddler has died after falling three stories from her bedroom window onto a concrete driveway. -more-

Thrown to the wolves of the city’s merciless housing market for many years, UC Berkeley students may finally be getting a reprieve. -more-

To the Editor: -more-

Friday, August 9

Ageing team taking it easy during training camp -more-

This November Berkeley voters will decide if Old City Hall – where the city’s unique style of politics has been staged for the last 94 years – is worthy of a $21.5 million face-lift. -more-

To the Editor: -more-

SAN DIEGO – San Diego State announced a series of self-imposed penalties Monday for violating NCAA rules by holding summer football workouts at a local beach. -more-

Future of University Ave.
development is uncertain -more-

SAN DIEGO – Spilling beyond the doors of a synagogue, thousands of people gathered Monday to honor Marla Bennett and to mourn the 24-year-old California woman they remembered as accomplished, loving, idealistic and filled with promise. -more-

All that swimming for nothing -more-

Contra Costa may lose some
social services -more-

A spokeswoman for the East Bay Regional Park Police said that they sent at least 25 people and a helicopter Monday to assist with a fast-moving grass fire near the Alameda and Contra Costa county border. -more-

President could declare a national economic
emergency to keep West Coast workers on the job -more-

SAN FRANCISCO – An effort by California’s Supreme Court to clarify the state’s convoluted tobacco liability law only clouded the issue Monday, with both sick smokers and cigarette makers claiming victory. -more-

LOS ANGELES – The nine telecommunications companies that have filed for bankruptcy in the last 13 months suffered a common problem. They were unable to cover massive debt racked up as they acquired competitors or built vast fiber-optic networks for an expected Internet traffic explosion. -more-

Prosecutor says there is “no question” on issue -more-

FOREST FALLS – A mother bear and cub foraging for food broke into a home in a San Bernardino National Forest mountain community and died in the house fire they started. -more-

On Saturday afternoon 1,136 tot-totting moms filed into the Berkeley Community Theater. Each mom settled a hungry baby in her lap, readied a lactating breast and sat poised to suckle their way into the Guinness Book of Records. -more-

To the Editor: -more-

OAKLAND – Cory Lidle teamed with three Oakland relievers on a one-hitter, and Miguel Tejada hit a three-run homer Sunday as the Athletics beat the Detroit Tigers 4-0. -more-

Monday, August 5 -more-

About 700 people rallied at Frank H. Ogawa Plaza in Oakland Saturday in protest of plans to hire 100 new Oakland police officers and build a new 420-bed juvenile hall to serve Alameda County. -more-

To the Editor: -more-

WASHINGTON – Well, they got the halftime show in. -more-

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To the Editor: -more-

A fifth candidate has entered the race for Berkeley’s hotly contested 8th District City Council seat. -more-

The Rent Stabilization Board will hear the appeal tonight of a Berkeley landlord accused of overcharging residents and ignoring sanitary regulations at a boarding house for UC Berkeley students. -more-

SACRAMENTO — About 1 million Californians laid off as a result of the terrorist attacks will get an extra bonus in their unemployment checks starting this week, Gov. Gray Davis announced Sunday. -more-

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DAVIS – Former University of California eye researcher Bin Han, his wife and their two sons, ages 9 and 14, were home watching “Jurassic Park III” on May 17 when police showed up with a search warrant. -more-

Dozens of residents in south Berkeley are burning mad about two vacant buildings on the bustling 3000 block of Telegraph Avenue. Gutted by fire earlier this year, the structures have since become a haven for graffiti and the homeless. -more-

To the Editor: -more-

In 1902 the Berkeley Development Company purchased approximately 2000 acres of land in north Berkeley that would become the Northbrae and Thousand Oaks residential subdivisions. -more-

For Raymond Nat Turner and Zigi Lowenberg, it’s all about finding a blend and balance between art and commerce, music and language, social justice and entertainment, Jewish New York and African-American Los Angeles and the personal and public personas that they project through Upsurge!, their jazz-poetry ensemble. The Oakland couple, who has lived together and collaborated for more than a decade, addresses these issues in their newest CD “Chromatology,” which hits the streets in October. -more-

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NEW YORK – With a pivotal week of talks upcoming, baseball players hope there’s enough progress in negotiations to make setting a strike deadline unnecessary. -more-

New questions are surfacing about the November 2000 departure of a high-ranking Berkeley Unified School District employee and an $800,000 consulting contract that followed. -more-

To the Editor: -more-

EAST TROY, Wis. – They came with Garcia-esque beards. Tie-dyed T-shirts. Tattoos. -more-

OAKLAND – Mark Redman outpitched Barry Zito at the Coliseum, where the Oakland ace hadn’t lost a regular-season game in 14 months, as the Detroit Tigers beat the Athletics 3-1 Friday night to snap a five-game losing streak. -more-

“Berkeley should be consulted about possible impacts,” she said. -more-

To the Editor: -more-

JERUSALEM – A day after a bombing that killed seven people, including five Americans, many U.S. students opened a new semester at Hebrew University saying they wouldn’t be driven away by the attack. But some were shaken enough to consider leaving. -more-

SAN FRANCISCO – An unregulated division of PG&E Corp. engaged in potentially deceptive energy-trading practices during the California power crisis that drove the company’s utility into bankruptcy, according to documents filed Friday. -more-

SAN FRANCISCO – Alameda County on began a pilot program to test making payments to welfare recipients using debit cards instead of issuing checks. -more-

SACRAMENTO – Strengthening the state’s toll bridges against earthquakes, a job already costing twice initial 1990s estimates, could rise another $630 million and imperil other transportation projects, a new state audit warns. -more-

SACRAMENTO – A convicted child molester apparently committed suicide Thursday in Sacramento County jail by overdosing on psychiatric medication. -more-

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It takes nerve to take on Shakespeare’s recalcitrant and probably untamable “Troilus and Cressida,” but the East Bay’s nerviest theater company, Shotgun Players, is giving it a go. In a production playing Saturdays and Sundays at Berkeley’s John Hinkel Park, Shotgun jabs at the wayward beast, wrestles it, gets knocked down, staggers up, leaps into the fray and all in all does a creditable job of staying in the ring until the final bell (or dull thud) that brings the match to a close. -more-

MUSIC -more-

Saturday, August 3 -more-

Berkeley sure seems like a special place for 17-year-old Ayinde Ubaka. After leading the Slam ‘N Jam Soldiers to a championship victory at last weekend’s AAU Elite 8 tournament, held at Cal’s Recreational Sports Facility, many Golden Bear fans hope the Oakland High senior point guard will continue to feel right at home on the UC Berkeley campus. Scoring the final nine points in Saturday’s first game, including a desperation 4-point play with no time left, and adding another dazzling performance during the championship game, the 6-foot-3 Ubaka thrilled fans and college scouts alike at the weekend tournament. -more-

To the Editor: -more-

The Berkeley Unified School District made at least six months of errors in calculating employees’ income tax withholdings, district officials said Thursday. -more-

NEWPORT, R.I. – It was a watershed event in popular music: Bob Dylan, folk music’s young minstrel, taking the stage with an electric guitar slung over his shoulder. -more-

OSAKA, Japan – The 49ers arrived for the American Bowl on Thursday and made a surprising request: They want to hold on to a Japanese player added to the roster just for the game. -more-

To the Editor: -more-

The transition from a seven- to a six-period day at Berkeley High School, slated for September, has put school administrators and teachers at odds. -more-

The trailers for “Martin Lawrence Live: Runteldat” suggest that the comedian at last bares his soul about the personal difficulties he’s had since his last concert film, the enormously successful “You So Crazy” in 1994. -more-

OAKLAND – Eric Chavez homered twice as the Oakland Athletics beat the Detroit Tigers 5-3 on Thursday night. -more-

To the Editor: -more-

SAN DIEGO – Each time a bomb exploded in Jerusalem, Marla Bennett’s parents would fear for their 24-year-old daughter, a student at Hebrew University. But within 15 minutes she would be on the phone, assuring them she was safe. -more-

LOS ANGELES – When last seen by America, Anna Nicole Smith was locked in a seven-year legal battle over her late husband’s Texas oil fortune. -more-

NEW YORK – Baseball’s arbitrator postponed for a second time his decision on whether owners can fold teams without the agreement of players. -more-

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To the Editor: -more-

Marla Bennett, 24, had planned to visit her alma mater UC Berkeley later this month. But that plan ended with the most recent episode of violence in the Middle East. -more-

To the Editor: -more-

NEW YORK – A string of reminders that the economy is still struggling as well as disappointing earnings at Exxon Mobil irked investors Thursday, and pushed stocks sharply lower. The Dow Jones industrials tumbled nearly 230 points, their first triple-digit loss in nearly two weeks. -more-

SAN FRANCISCO – PG&E Corp. disclosed deepening financial troubles Thursday that threaten to push its once-prosperous energy trading business into bankruptcy court alongside its utility, Pacific Gas and Electric Co. -more-

Our remodeling company recently was called to repair a leaking second-story deck. The deck is located on the windward side of the house and leaks were showing up at adjacent interior walls and ceilings. -more-

LANCASTER – Two teenage girls kidnapped early Thursday from a remote lovers’ lane and raped were rescued hours later when sheriff’s deputies closed in on the suspect’s stolen Ford Bronco and shot him to death. -more-

LOS ANGELES – Officials credited a recently adopted child abduction alert system with the safe rescue Thursday of two Lancaster girls. -more-

Dear Tom and Ray: -more-

Drivability on all sorts of road surfaces and in all sorts of conditions has been the rallying cry for Subaru for as far back as we can remember. Their tagline—the beauty of all-wheel drive—demonstrates their focus on safety and a go anywhere mentality rivaled only by Jeep. This year Subaru has taken a huge chance and restyled their Impreza line of small cars, of which we drove the new-for-2002 Impreza Outback Sport. -more-

Today’s Highlight in History: -more-

OAKLAND – Oakland homicide investigators say that a man who stands accused of two unrelated killings has been charged with murder for a third time. -more-

Today’s Highlight in History: -more-

SAN FRANCISCO — A 12-year-old Chinese girl missing for two days was found safe with relatives on the East Coast early Saturday after disappearing from her youth tour group, authorities said. -more-

It is said, “good fences make for good neighbors.” And good fences provide a margin of safety and security, as well. -more-

Ballistic tests performed by the Berkeley Police Department last week showed that the handgun used in a June robbery in Albany was the same weapon used in three earlier Berkeley shootings. -more-