Surrounded by worn chasing hammers, punches and gravers that were made by her father, jeweler Susan Brooks sat at a cluttered workbench and shaped a thin piece of sterling silver with short, precise hammer strikes. -more-

FRIDAY, JUNE 6 -more-

THE REAL PROBLEM -more-

For 26 years, the Berkeley Bowl grocery store has provided customers with a taste of everything Berkeley—organic fruit, upscale orange juice, tattooed cashiers and baggers working their way through college. Now, shoppers are getting a dash of another local flavor: labor strife. -more-

I do not share the Daily Planet’s great hope that Phil Kamlarz will turn the Planning Department around. As budget director and deputy city manager, Kamlarz has been one of the most powerful people in Berkeley city government over the past 20 years. As such, he has had a major say not only in hiring Carol Barrett, but also in the hiring of her last four of five predecessors. The major reason planning directors do not get along with Berkeley residents and commissioners is that they come here with an agenda. In the recent past, that agenda has been to build as much and as high as possible—the neighborhoods be damned. -more-

The discovery of two submerged fuel tanks beneath the Harrison House Adult Shelter in West Berkeley means another environmental problem for the city-owned property and another cleanup cost for taxpayers. -more-

Icons are falling at The New York Times in the wake of its Jayson Blair plagiarism scandal. -more-

“Time served—one day!” -more-

A superior court judge on Tuesday suspended criminal proceedings against Ryan Lee Raper until psychiatrists determine whether he is mentally competent to stand trial for the murder of Berkeley transient Kevin Lee Freeman. -more-

Berkeley’s Gourmet Ghetto now has an organic option. -more-