Stepped-up police patrolling in Southwest Berkeley following two recent shootings has led to the arrest of a suspect in the murder of Ronald Easiley, a 19-year-old who was shot to death on Jan. 14 on Harmon Street in Berkeley. Desmen Lankford, 19, was arrested Tuesday evening after leading police on a foot chase to the 1400 block of Alcatraz Avenue in Oakland. -more-

FRIDAY, JUNE 27 -more-

Gray Davis is a pretty unattractive fellow, even to many Democrats. He has a history of cozy relationships with unsavory campaign contributors, like the prison guards’ union. He has enthusiastically promoted their agenda, building more and more prisons at the expense of social programs which might prevent incarceration. His detractors on the left have ugly anecdotes going back to the days when Jerry Brown was governor, when he served as enforcer for shadowy deals that Jerry didn’t want to have on his public record. He’s a jerk, but face it, he’s our jerk. -more-

FRIDAY, JUNE 27 -more-

Drivers will pay more for parking violations and homeowners and businessmen will pay more in property taxes under a final 2003-2004 budget passed by City Council Wednesday night. -more-

NEW BUS ROUTE -more-

With Green Party leader Peter Camejo set to formally announce his candidacy for governor Monday, local party members are attacking him for taking advantage of an “undemocratic” Republican-led effort to recall Gov. Gray Davis. -more-

I’m not the first to observe, with some trepidation, that the Bush administration is rapidly erasing the line that separates church from state. Never before so many prayer breakfasts in the White House, never before public money transferred to “faith-based” social programs offered by proselytizing churches. But I see a greater issue still, something that’s making rational political discourse impossible. Policies are becoming articles of faith. -more-

The face of Berkeley is changing. Vacant lots, former gas stations, parking lots and one-story commercial buildings are being replaced with infill, housing projects, often above ground floor retail. -more-

School District staff appear to be proposing a giant game of musical chairs whereby (a) the Adult School would be moved from the West Campus to the Franklin School site; (b) the district’s administrative offices and storage and maintenance functions would be relocated from Old City Hall, and from the district’s Russell Street building, to the West Campus, and (c) the Rusell site would be redeveloped for housing. -more-

Enrique Lessa’s advanced genetics class at UC Berkeley this summer teaches the same material a similar class would during the academic year. The only difference? Lessa’s students are not formally enrolled at UC Berkeley—they are between 12 and 17 years old. -more-

In a primary that will shape the future of the 2004 presidential campaign, more than 300,000 MoveOn.org members voted on-line Tuesday and Wednesday to endorse a candidate for the Democratic nomination. -more-