Nonprofit and city agencies who had been dreading budget cuts for months felt the first sting of the state budget crisis Tuesday at a special City Council public hearing. A long line of nonprofit advocates lamented funding reductions for programs that serve the community’s most vulnerable people. -more-
Berkeley-born koto master Shirley Kazuyo Muramoto uses melodies from traditional Japanese court music to interpret a diverse cross section of music, including rhythm ‘n’ blues, reggae, Ethiopian music and jazz. -more-
As a UC Berkeley exchange student in China, Connie Wu, a junior, at first thought the foreign press might be overplaying the SARS story. -more-
Berkeley High School Drama Department presents “Guys and Dolls,” music and lyrics by Frank Loesser, directed by Jordan Winer. The musical is based on short stories by Damon Runyon, of gamblers and chorus girls who lived on the fringes of the criminal world in the Broadway district of New York City. May 9 and 10 at -more-
Why do we believe a large majority of the U.S. public approves of President Bush’s job performance? We believe it because that’s what the pollsters tell us. -more-
The new general manager for KPFA, 94.1 FM, has no experience in journalism. But former Berkeley mayor Gus Newport said his new post suits him just fine. -more-
The decision by the University of California, Berkeley, to bar hundreds of admitted students from SARS-afflicted Asian nations from attending summer sessions on campus risks racializing a public health issue and intensifying hysteria. -more-
A caravan of buses from Berkeley, carrying students, parents and teachers, converged on the state capital Thursday to challenge proposed cuts of some $5 billion in education funds from this year’s state budget. -more-
A group of UC Berkeley students upset over a campus newspaper photograph they described as racist have caused the student-run Daily Californian to “lock down” their offices indefinitely. -more-
EXTERIOR. DAY. Rubble-strewn street. A lone soldier, heavily armed, is standing guard. -more-
A main water pipeline ruptured early Wednesday morning on Grant Street near Allston Way, sending a stream of water onto the street and flooding the garage and basement of a nearby residence. -more-
Half of Berkeley High School’s 3,000 students will be in “small schools” of 200 to 250 pupils by the 2005-2006 school year, according to a much-anticipated reform package unveiled at the Board of Education meeting Wednesday night. -more-
A last-ditch effort to save the 19th-century home of Berkeley pioneer John M. Doyle is $15,000 short and running out of time. -more-
“Chile is living through a period of transition ... it’s the transition to democracy, not democracy. There is currently no freedom of expression in Chile.” -more-
Berkeley teachers, facing heavy layoffs, are raising questions about hefty executive salaries and an apparent conflict of interest in upper-level contract negotiations at the Berkeley Unified School District. -more-
In the early 1890s, the hilly areas north of the university campus began being developed with houses that were a dramatic contrast to the late Victorians still in fashion. The first of these was a fraternity house designed by Ernest Coxhead in 1892 (now the School for Public Policy at Hearst and Le Roy) followed by Bernard Maybeck’s Charles Keeler house in 1895. -more-
Residents fighting to save the 19th-century home of Berkeley pioneer John M. Doyle announced Monday that they will give up their battle, allowing developer Patrick Kennedy to go ahead with plans to demolish the old Victorian building and develop a 35-unit housing project on the site. -more-
Hopefully you will receive dozens of e-mails from teachers who, like me, are insulted by Michael Larrick’s commentary piece (May 2-5 edition), which reveals more about the author’s ignorance than it does about the current state of education. He says we should keep the graduation exam as a means of gauging teacher quality; that the current sorry state of education can be laid in the laps of academically challenged teachers who are responsible for inflating grades and engaging in social work more than teaching academics. -more-
The University of California, concerned about the spread of severe acute respiratory syndrome, has canceled its summer study abroad program in Beijing, China, and has barred students from SARS-affected countries from enrolling in UC Berkeley summer classes. -more-
Everyone agrees that California’s health care system is in crisis. Seven point three million Californians, a full 20 percent of our population, lack health coverage. Costs are rising at rates far above inflation, and workers all over the state are seeing skyrocketing co-pays and declining service. -more-
New Police Chief Roy Meisner has taken the helm of a department that will have to struggle to maintain police services with a high percentage of young officers and a reduced budget. -more-
Every Tuesday morning for a couple of years, I have enjoyed the special moment when the city recycling truck passes by. The truck stops, I hear the crash of glass dumped into the truck, then a voice signaling to the driver, “Yo!” and the truck moves a few yards onward. Then pickup, crash, “Yo!” and, perhaps, the pickup man jumping onto the running board as the truck lurches onward before he jumps off again. -more-
UC Regents approved the construction of a six-story molecular foundry in Strawberry Canyon last month without an environmental impact report (EIR), rankling some city residents and at least one City Councilmember worried about environmental impacts. -more-
Fifth-grader Ruthie Praskius is one of hundreds of Berkeley students who will head to Sacramento Thursday to protest some $5 billion in proposed education cuts, and she has a message for the governor. -more-
Unchained melodies float free and constant in the azure air off Telegraph Avenue in South Berkeley’s The Village while boys and girls from age 13 to 70 drift into James Casella’s second floor Blue Note Music-storefront searching for their “Holy Grail.” -more-
A dozen members of the Berkeley-based California Peace Action joined hundreds of demonstrators in Santa Clara Friday, where President Bush toured a United Defense Inc. facility and later addressed the company’s workers. There Bush promised a brighter economic future for Silicon Valley and the United States. -more-
Last week was May Day and it made me think of the three lovely young Russian women who stayed in our home several weeks ago. Funded by the U.S. Department of State, they were part of a group of 10 Russians studying advocacy issues with the Center for Independent Living, the Center of Accessible Technology, World Institute on Disability, Whirlwind Wheelchair International and several other Bay Area organizations that work on disability issues. -more-
A Berkeley city report on whether to install a stoplight at a busy Shattuck Avenue intersection where a man was killed last January recommends that one should be installed — eventually. -more-
