Maria Magana has an old, yellowing photograph of her shop, Pepitos Deli, taken before a 1999 facelift. Four years ago, her storefront was in as bad a shape as the photo. -more-

I support Doug Fielding's enthusiasm for creating more playing fields in Berkeley, and I don't even object to his support for the existing playing field at Harrison Park (Gabe Catalfo Field) which is an area with poor air quality. But I do object to Mr. Fielding's attempt to ignore and/or distort the facts about the city of Berkeley's current air study at the park. -more-

Scattered around west Berkeley is an unusual building system which consists of pre-cast concrete wall panels with translucent glass blocks set into the concrete in a pattern that created a lattice-work of diamond-shaped openings in a grid-pattern. They are referred to as “concrete grid forms.” -more-

“The closer you get the funnier we seem,” urged the guy on the portable stage tucked into the northeast corner of Willard Park. He beckoned the crowd nearer, smiling. It scooted up with tarps and blankets and coolers so late arrivals could fit in. A bluegrass band enlivened the mellow afternoon air while someone passed out “No War” bumper stickers and vendors sold cookies and drinks. -more-

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Friday, August 9 -more-

If the Cal football team is going to have any success this season, the Bears will have to lean on the strong right arm of quarterback Kyle Boller. But to do that, they’ll have to keep him upright. -more-

The race for five City Council seats is on. -more-

To the Editor: -more-

The Associated Press -more-

First a fare hike. Then a parcel tax. -more-

Thank you Berkeley for listening to all the people and caring for our children, our disabled and the elderly. -more-

The San Mateo County Sheriff's Office reports that two suspects in a police chase Friday morning that ended in an officer shooting a man at San Francisco International Airport are in custody on suspicion of attempted murder and attempted murder of a peace officer. -more-

To the Editor: -more-

LOS ANGELES — California’s jobless rate dipped to 6.3 percent in July, down from a revised 6.5 percent a month earlier, as the state added 7,500 payroll jobs, officials said Friday. -more-

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Parts of the city will become an art gallery for two weeks as the fifth annual Berkeley Arts Festival’s schedule of performances and exhibitions liven the downtown district, neighborhoods in west Berkeley and even City Hall. Starting Saturday, a citywide spotlight will shine on musicians, writers, performers, tinkerers, filmmakers, designers and a panoply of people who operate artistically. -more-

Music -more-

Friday, August 9 -more-

When the Cal football team opens fall practice on Saturday, they’ll do so in the friendly confines of Witter Field rather than the campus of Cal State Stanislaus in Turlock. -more-

To the Editor: -more-

University lecturers and clerical workers are setting plans for a strike that could disrupt the start of UC Berkeley’s fall semester. -more-

BOSTON – Derek Lowe became the American League’s first 16-game winner, outdueling Barry Zito with seven strong innings as the Boston Red Sox beat the Oakland Athletics 4-2 Thursday night. -more-

To The Editor: -more-

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NEW YORK – Players and owners agreed to a $100,000 increase in baseball’s minimum salary Thursday, making more progress on minor issues as labor negotiations head into a key weekend. -more-

To the Editor: -more-

OAKLAND — In about a month, traffic sensors being installed along San Francisco Bay area highways will be able to track a quarter million drivers along their commutes. -more-

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Running for elected office and campaigning strategies for young -more-

NEW YORK — Bankrupt telecommunications firm WorldCom Inc. said Thursday it has uncovered another $3.3 billion in bogus accounting, adding to the $3.85 billion fraud it revealed in June. -more-

WASHINGTON — California has reached agreement with five more energy companies to revise long-term power contracts negotiated during the state’s energy crisis, the federal official overseeing the negotiations said Wednesday. -more-

LOS ANGELES— The number of Californians able to afford their own homes decreased 5 percentage points compared with a year earlier, bucking a national trend of greater affordability, according to an industry report released Thursday. -more-

Ask parents who’ve seemingly lugged every item their college-bound child owns into a dorm room and you hear the same moan: why did we bring so much stuff and how can it possibly fit into such a small space? -more-

“Ladybug, ladybug, fly away home ...” goes the children’s rhyme, and that’s just what ladybugs that you purchase for your garden might do. Well, not exactly fly away home, but fly away, at any rate. -more-

After buying a new car (a Toyota Tundra), I feel ripped off. Just when I was feeling good about the deal (we agreed to a price just 5 percent above invoice), the guy added on an "advertising fee" just as we were signing the papers. Four hundred bucks! When I asked what this was, he said "Everybody pays for this." So, feeling like we had no recourse, we dutifully signed the papers. Both my husband and I woke up the next morning thinking about that stupid fee and wondering just what it is?? Does everyone who buys a car pay for this, or are we being penalized because we didn't want any add-ons, like undercoating? -- Pamela -more-

SAN JOSE — Yosemite killer Cary Stayner thought about killing himself but didn’t plan to carry it out. -more-

SAN FRANCISCO — The Public Utilities Commission has approved the use of state funds in the forming of a partnership to get California’s largest utility out of bankruptcy. -more-

LOS ANGELES — The body of Daniel Pearl, the Wall Street Journal journalist kidnapped and slain by Islamic militants, arrived in Los Angeles on Thursday, a family spokesman said. -more-

SAN FRANCISCO: If Tiffany's were in Borneo, this is how you'd get there. Okay, of all the useless SUVs in the world, this is the most. Who really needs an SUV with a 5-liter, SOHC V8 putting out 292 rip snorting horsepower? Who really wants an SUV that looks like the box its more cultured brethren came in? Who really wants a vehicle that simply screams "LOOK AT ME"? Lord help me, I do. -more-

RALEIGH, N.C. — A state legislative committee voted to ban the use of public funds for a University of North Carolina reading assignment on the Quran unless other religions get equal time. -more-

NEW ORLEANS — Ten aquarium visitors, including four children, fell into a shark tank and thrashed around in terror for up to 15 minutes with the animals swimming beneath their kicking feet before they were pulled out. -more-

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-

SONICblue chief ousted after -more-

The recent spate of toddlers falling from windows in the Bay Area – including one last night – has prompted safety advocates to remind parents to be diligent and to use protective window guards that can ensure a measure of prevention. -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-