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-

Ignacio Chapela has a teaching position at UC Berkeley for at least another year, but his concern about the “secretive” tenure review process he has undergone has led to a very public display of his dissatisfaction. -more-

Kevin Freeman memorial and march set for Saturday -more-

An amendment proposed by Congresswoman Barbara Lee that would have ordered an investigation into recent revelations that the Bush administration may have distorted or withheld information regarding Iraq’s possession of weapons of mass destruction fell 33 votes shy of passage Wednesday. -more-

This summer my friend, Gloria, is sending her son to space camp at Moffet Field and then hauling him off to Europe to visit distant relatives and musty cathedrals. Another friend’s child is going to music and dance camp, and a third is being coached in crew, lacrosse and golf. I know a kid who is attending an exclusive private camp in the mountains above Santa Cruz where he can rock climb, mountain bike, study Spanish and learn to program a computer. -more-

Oakland, bless our hearts, approaches the issue of the sideshows like a youngster spinning donuts at the corner of 90th and International ... round and round we chase ourselves, mugging for the reporters and television cameras, always ending up back where we started. -more-

Residents living near the Corporation Yard, a 4.5-acre site located on Bancroft Way near Acton Street, staged a small protest Wednesday to protest the city’s plan to partially demolish one of the buildings on the property and install three portable buildings. Neighbors said the plan will increase the traffic, noise and pollution that already stem from the site, which is used to store city vehicles, including diesel trucks, and includes a gas station. -more-

The third event in the city of Berkeley’s Summer Noon Concert series on Thursday featured a bit of jazz, a bit of funk and a whole lot of dancing and foot tapping despite the unseasonably warm weather. -more-

Sen. Gil Cedillo, a stalwart Latino Democrat from Los Angeles, knows an opportunity when he sees it. -more-

Berkeley, one of the most liberal cities in California, has not exactly been a hotbed of recall activity. But that didn’t stop the Berkeley College Republicans from setting up a table on the UC Berkeley campus this spring and collecting signatures to oust Democratic Gov. Gray Davis. -more-

For Berkeley ice cream lovers, life has been good lately. -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-