When Berkeley High School junior Allison Roberts entered the New York Times Magazine high school photography contest, she did it only because it was required for a grade in her photography class. -more-
Full confession: I live on a Transit Corridor in a house without a backyard, so I sympathize with people who complain when their blocks are designated as urban sacrifice zones. Many of Berkeley’s Transit Corridors (translation: bus routes) have actual humans living right on them, or near them. The Amazing South Shattuck Flying House in the last Planet, though on the 43 bus route in a commercial zone, is surrounded by homes. Streets like my street became Transit Corridors in the first place because residents of Neighborhoods (translation: side streets) didn’t want cars (or, godforbid, buses) mucking up their lovely blocks. The barrier explosion of the early seventies re-routed all that nasty traffic onto just a few streets (MLK, Ashby, Sacramento, Sixth, University, San Pablo, Shattuck), and their residents were told to shut up and smell the diesel. -more-
City Manager Weldon Rucker has asked Deputy City Manager Phil Kamlarz to run the city’s troubled Planning Department temporarily. -more-
A controversy over a fall 2002 UC Berkeley course description that warned “conservative thinkers ... to seek other sections” has sparked a systemwide debate at the nine-campus University of California over one of academia’s most treasured concepts: academic freedom. -more-
If Charles Siegel (“NIMBYs Shout ‘It’s Too Big!’” May 23-26 edition) had bothered to talk with any of the actual neighbors of Patrick Kennedy’s proposed 1950 Martin Luther King, Jr. Way project, he would have discovered that we are not NIMBYs, but a group of reasonable people working to protect the character of our neighborhood and peacefully coexist with the project. -more-
The demolition process has begun in the construction of the new Congregation Beth El synagogue, the 35,000-square-foot project that pitted the synagogue against neighborhood activists. -more-
In reply to Charles Siegel’s commentary on the emerging opposition to Patrick Kennedy’s proposal to build 191 units of housing at Martin Luther King, Jr. Way and University Avenue: I am a resident of the 1800 block of Berkeley Way and I want to defend my neighborhood against the slander of Mr. Siegel, who attempts to brand us as suburban NIMBY whiners because we dare to challenge the “received” wisdom of the person he considers the only successful developer in town. -more-
The Planning Commission put final touches Wednesday on a proposal to allow more in-law apartments in the city. -more-
A Berkeley couple, reported missing Tuesday by a concerned parent when they did not return on schedule from a hike near Big Sur, were located by search and rescue teams later that day, according to the Monterey County Sheriff's Department. -more-
The administration of Oakland Mayor Jerry Brown often totters on the edge of both absurdity and obscenity, sometimes threatening to split itself in half and fall on both sides simultaneously. Such a time, it seems, is when the mayor puts out word that he might be interested in running for the office of California attorney general. -more-
One of Saddam Hussein’s top generals was not included in the U.S. card deck of 55 most-wanted Iraqis. Now stories are circulating in European, Middle Eastern and other foreign press that he was paid off to ensure the quick fall of Baghdad. -more-
Close to 200 Berkeley artists will display their work as part of the Pro Arts gallery’s East Bay Open Studios beginning this weekend. -more-
The quasi-rural stretch of the Gravenstein Highway south of Sebastopol is more adventurous to roam than the one-block Berkeley that Sebastopol has become. Forever looking behind trees for the radical chicken ranchers that once hid out here, I find current equivalents as antiques and collectibles dealers, cheese makers and tenders of flea markets and nurseries along the seven-mile “Antique Row.” -more-
Some of the biggest names in the world of East Bay spoken word went head to head at the Starry Plough on Wednesday in the first semifinal of the Berkeley Poetry Slam, a seven-month-long competition. -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-
Ching “Christina” Sun doesn’t consider herself a developer: she would rather do without the label’s implied power, without the antipathy it often evokes. -more-
It’s a deadly disease that could be heading to California, and it isn’t SARS. -more-
The following letters were exchanged between Aran Kaufer and Planet Executive Editor Becky O’Malley: -more-
The Romare Bearden mural that has served for nearly 30 years as a backdrop to the drama of Berkeley city politics is going on a two-year tour with the National Gallery of Art as the centerpiece of a Bearden retrospective. -more-
For anyone living in Berkeley in the fifties and sixties, the “ticky tackys” of that time today seem luxurious apartments when compared to the cramped, high-density living quarters built by developers of late. -more-
SAN FRANCISCO — In barrios, inner-city communities and immigrant enclaves nationwide, ethnic media reporters cover stories often ignored by mainstream newsrooms. Now, with a media deregulation plan being formulated by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), critics fear that ethnic media’s civic role may be undermined. -more-
Berkeley’s Mayor Tom Bates needs to brush up on the history of the city of Berkeley’s and community members’ relationship with Lawrence Berkeley National Lab (LBNL) as well as the democratic process known as Roberts’ Rules of Order. -more-
In one universe, George W. Bush is soaring from victory to victory. His wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, waged with solid domestic support, each ousted unsavory regimes at a cost of relatively few U.S. casualties. He has prodded a historic series of tax cuts through Congress. -more-
America’s college graduates are entering the worst job market in 20 years. With few good jobs on the horizon, many graduating seniors think it is time to get an advanced degree. They should think again. -more-
I took a flight into Kennedy International Airport, got myself through security, grabbed a shuttle into Manhattan, made my way to the Port Authority, bought a bus ticket for Atlantic City and called my parents in New Jersey from a pay phone to say I’d be arriving in three hours. -more-
The following is an excerpt of an article on the 10-year anniversary of Berkeley’s first municipal elections, 125 years ago this month, published in the Berkeley Advocate on April 18, 1888: -more-
The short version of this review is that the Shotgun Players’ new production, Dylan Thomas’ “Under Milk Wood,” is terrific. If you have any interest or response or even curiosity about the famed Welch poet, his poetry or maybe just 20th-century literature, go get a ticket. -more-
The following is adapted from a Clemens Lecture presented in April for the Mark Twain House in Hartford, Conn. -more-
Two documentary filmmakers held an impromptu showing of their award-winning film, “Bums’ Paradise” Sunday night in a Berkeley pub courtyard after the East Bay Regional Park Police shut down an unofficial showing at the Albany Landfill the previous night. -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-
What is authorship after all, I wondered, as I pondered Jayson Blair, formerly of the New York Times, surfing the Internet for juicy details for his stories. -more-
It was the kind of mail I usually throw away without opening: a form letter with the return address “Yale Class of 1968 Thirty-Fifth Reunion.” No thanks, I thought. “Bright College Years” (“for God, for country and for Yale”) hasn’t been my song for a long time. -more-
