With nearly 200 Berkeley public school teachers facing layoffs, union leaders are rejecting a call for all district employees to take a 10 percent pay cut to save the jobs. -more-
The Planning Commission on Wednesday will consider amendments to the city’s zoning ordinance that would make it easier for property owners to create accessory dwelling units, also known as secondary, or in-law, units. -more-
In a prior column that ran on the Daily Planet Web site, I wrote about the genesis of state law mandating an easier local process for the development of in-law units in single-family homes, and about some of the factors to be considered in Berkeley as we implement the state-mandated changes. -more-
The City Council will hold a regular meeting for the first time since it began its spring break on April 8. The critical item on the agenda is the budget. -more-
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), which sits on the hill overlooking Berkeley is planning to build a six-story, 94,000-square-foot molecular foundry in Strawberry Canyon for the study of nanoscience. If such a construction was to take place elsewhere in the city, we would all be pouring over plans, discussing it with neighbors, attending public hearings, and writing to our mayor and councilmembers to make sure that the concerns of increased traffic and noise, environmental impacts and infrastructure degradation were adequately addressed. -more-
Critics of the UC Berkeley decision to bar summer students from SARS-affected countries said Monday that the university did not go far enough this weekend when it partially lifted the ban. -more-
A meeting sponsored by Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) was nearly derailed before it began Thursday night when a group of vocal citizens protested the meeting’s format, which they called a “dog and pony show.” -more-
Berkeley’s newest theater group, the two-year-old Transparent Theater, is closing its second season with the world premier of “Virginia Woolf’s Night and Day” by Tom Clyde. The multi-talented — and clearly energetic — Clyde is also the theater’s artistic director and co-founder, and has directed three out of four of the season’s plays, including the current one. -more-
I didn’t intend to raise butterflies when I planted the fennel. It was decorative enough, and figured in a few Italian recipes I had. It did entirely too well, propagating like crazy and muscling into the rest of the garden; and it tended to get woody and inedible before I harvested it. Weeding was complicated by its tenacious rootmass. But every year it produced a fine crop of anise swallowtails. -more-
The Downtown Berkeley Association (DBA) presents Summer Noon Concerts 2003, a unique series of nine free concerts, Thursdays at noon in June & July, beginning June 5th. From Rhythm & Blues to Brazilian capoeira, these concerts at the Downtown Berkeley BART Plaza (Shattuck Ave. at Center St.) are a showcase of the culturally rich performing arts in Berkeley. This outdoor summer celebration of Berkeley-based musicians & dancers is just a small sampling of the performing arts happening nightly in clubs, cafes, schools, theaters and concert halls in Downtown Berkeley. -more-
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-
Two weeks ago, when I called the New York publishing house Villard and asked to speak to Jane Juska’s publicist, a polite but curt voice demurred, “As you can imagine, she’s quite busy right now. Everyone’s talking about Ms. Juska and her book.” Eventually he put me through to the assistant to the publicist who sent me Jane’s new memoir, “A Round-Heeled Woman: My Late-Life Adventures in Sex and Romance.” -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-
