JEFF PHILLIBER, LBNL Environmental Planning Group Coordinator, leads a tour of the building site.
JEFF PHILLIBER, LBNL Environmental Planning Group Coordinator, leads a tour of the building site.

Page One

LBNL Plans to Fill Valley for Parking

By ANGELA ROWEN
Tuesday July 08, 2003

Residents are opposing a proposal by the Lawrence Berkeley National Lab to construct a six-story office building on a sloping one-acre plot of land and pave over a nearby valley to build a parking lot. Many of those neighbors came out on Monday to take a tour guided by LBNL officials as part of the scoping process, a preliminary step required before a draft environmental impact report can be done on a project. -more-



Berkeley This Week

Tuesday July 08, 2003

TUESDAY, JULY 8 -more-



Four Myths About Berkeley

Becky O'Malley
Tuesday July 08, 2003

Discussions about the future of Berkeley are often built around cherished myths, fiercely debated without recourse to fact. -more-



Arts Calendar

Tuesday July 08, 2003

TUESDAY, JULY 8 -more-



Disabled Kids Thrive in Sports Program

By FRED DODSWORTH Special to the Planet
Tuesday July 08, 2003

If laughter heals all wounds then children's laughter is the most magical of elixirs. Watching a few dozen boys and girls laughing, shouting, flirting and chasing each other around on a basketball court can cure whatever ails you. Such laughter can heal children as well. For the last 20 years or so, Berkeley-based BORP (Bay Area Outreach & Recreation Program) has been providing a hefty dose of Saturday feel-good medicine for hundreds of Bay Area children with physical disabilities. -more-



Letters to the Editor

Tuesday July 08, 2003

INFILL PROJECT -more-



Southside Plan Deal in Works

By DAVID SCHARFENBERG
Tuesday July 08, 2003

After five years of debate and dozens of public meetings, UC Berkeley and the city planning staff have come to a tentative agreement on the future of the area just south of the university campus, according to a Planning Department memorandum. -more-



Oxford Street Housing Project Will Not Satisfy Family Needs

By SUE FISCHER
Tuesday July 08, 2003

Although I had heard some rumors about a building going up on the Oxford Street Parking Lot in downtown Berkeley, it was not until I read the article by Rob Wrenn that I knew what was being planned. Mr. Wrenn wrote: “Resources for Community Development (RCD) together with Equity Community Builders, has been selected as the developer for the City of Berkeley’s Oxford Street surface parking lot. The planned mixed-use project will include approximately 90 apartments, a majority of them below-market units. The plan includes 28 three-bedroom units and one four-bedroom. If built as planned this would be the largest amount of affordable family-oriented housing built in Berkeley for many years.” -more-



Exit Exam Protest Set for Capitol

By ANGELA ROWEN
Tuesday July 08, 2003

Hundreds of students, teachers, parents and education advocates will converge on Sacramento on Wednesday to pressure the state board of education to hold off on administering the high school exit exam, which they say unfairly punishes students who do not have access to quality education. -more-



Democrats Have No Easy Answers in Election

By MATTHEW HALLINAN and SANDRA CHELNOV
Tuesday July 08, 2003

Your June 27 editorial “It Could Get Worse” closes by urging the newly formed Wellstone Democratic Renewal Club to take “as part of its mission finding better Democrats for California races, so that we won’t be stuck with embarrassments like (Governor) Davis in the future.” We certainly intend to do our best to meet such a challenge. But you, like us, know this will be no easy matter. The challenge in getting better politicians into office lies in organizing and mobilizing a majority that will elect them. This might be relatively easy in Alameda County, but we’re not doing as well at the statewide level, or in most of the country. Indeed, we are witnessing a rightward shift that is fueled by an administration that is masterful at manipulating people’s fears and obfuscating the issues. -more-



Code Violation Unit to Aid Appeals

By ANGELA ROWEN
Tuesday July 08, 2003

Residents who are cited for code violations—from parking junkers on city streets to illegally converting their garages—will now be able to appeal their citations a lot sooner. But they may also face higher fines if they’re found guilty. -more-



Features

Academia and Opera Give Way to the Pen

By DOROTHY BRYANT Special to the Planet Special to the Planet
Tuesday July 08, 2003

Jim Schevill was born in 1920, in a woodsy hillside Berkeley home that barely survived the great fire of 1923. His father was creator and chair of the romance languages department at UC, his mother an artist and a scholar of Navaho culture and mythology. Despite the Great Depression and the rise of Hitler, Jim might have been expected to live a quiet life, like his father and his neighbors, in the security of academia, or, at most, deviating from that path to a career in opera. (“A dream. I had a light baritone, and asthma.”) In either case, a fortunate birth, a comfortable, if not wealthy future.   -more-


Merging Books and Literature With the Visual Arts

By FRED DODSWORTH Special to the Planet
Tuesday July 08, 2003

“I think I’m predisposed to really love books,” said Indigo Som. “I mean, we’re in Berkeley, right? One of the reasons I live here is because you walk down the street and you look in everybody’s windows and you see massive bookshelves and books overflowing. Right? You can see people walking down the street, reading as they’re walking down the street. You know? I love that.” -more-


New Political Cartoon Collection Presents Muslim Perspective

By SUSAN PARKER Special to the Planet
Tuesday July 08, 2003

A Cartoon Culture War: Soiling Disney’s Image

By CHRISTIAN NEWTON Special to the Planet
Tuesday July 08, 2003

Silverman’s Midwest Journey a Social Critique

By ALYCE MILLER Special to the Planet
Tuesday July 08, 2003

A Dark Turn For Harry Potter

By MEGAN GREENWELL
Tuesday July 08, 2003

Summer Noon Concerts in Downtown Berkeley

Tuesday July 08, 2003

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-


Editorial

City Weighs Closer Watch on LBNL

By DAVID SCHARFENBERG
Tuesday July 08, 2003

City Council will consider on Tuesday keeping closer tabs on Lawrence Berkeley National Lab and weigh new ordinances that would allow speedy approval of “in-law” housing units—the small backyard cottages or above-garage apartments that dot the city. -more-


Back Stories

Opinion

Editorials

City Weighs Closer Watch on LBNL 07-08-2003

Cal Football Team Breaks Boycott, Stays at Claremont 07-04-2003

News

LBNL Plans to Fill Valley for Parking By ANGELA ROWEN 07-08-2003

Berkeley This Week 07-08-2003

Four Myths About Berkeley Becky O'Malley 07-08-2003

Arts Calendar 07-08-2003

Disabled Kids Thrive in Sports Program By FRED DODSWORTH Special to the Planet 07-08-2003

Letters to the Editor 07-08-2003

Southside Plan Deal in Works By DAVID SCHARFENBERG 07-08-2003

Oxford Street Housing Project Will Not Satisfy Family Needs By SUE FISCHER 07-08-2003

Exit Exam Protest Set for Capitol By ANGELA ROWEN 07-08-2003

Democrats Have No Easy Answers in Election By MATTHEW HALLINAN and SANDRA CHELNOV 07-08-2003

Code Violation Unit to Aid Appeals By ANGELA ROWEN 07-08-2003

Academia and Opera Give Way to the Pen By DOROTHY BRYANT Special to the Planet Special to the Planet 07-08-2003

Merging Books and Literature With the Visual Arts By FRED DODSWORTH Special to the Planet 07-08-2003

New Political Cartoon Collection Presents Muslim Perspective By SUSAN PARKER Special to the Planet 07-08-2003

A Cartoon Culture War: Soiling Disney’s Image By CHRISTIAN NEWTON Special to the Planet 07-08-2003

Silverman’s Midwest Journey a Social Critique By ALYCE MILLER Special to the Planet 07-08-2003

A Dark Turn For Harry Potter By MEGAN GREENWELL 07-08-2003

Summer Noon Concerts in Downtown Berkeley 07-08-2003

Budget Impasse Threatens City By DAVID SCHARFENBERG 07-04-2003

Berkeley This Week 07-04-2003

Steal This Paper Becky O'Malley 07-04-2003

Arts Calendar 07-04-2003

People’s Park Garden Grows its Own Way By MEGAN GREENWELL 07-04-2003

Marina Victim Still Critical By DAVID SCHARFENBERG 07-04-2003

Letters to the Editor 07-04-2003

Teens Find Summer Jobs Hard to Come By By MEGAN GREENWELL 07-04-2003

Senior Medi-Benefits Clarifies Confusing Health Care System By CAROL DENNEY 07-04-2003

Berkeley Beauty Will Represent California in Miss America Race By MEGAN GREENWELL 07-04-2003

Lawrence Lab Infill Project Threatens Creek, Wildlife By PHIL PRICE 07-04-2003

UC Lecturers Get Pay, Seek Respect By DAVID SCHARFENBERG 07-04-2003

Family Housing Hard to Find In New Crop of Apartments By ROB WRENN Special to the Planet 07-04-2003

Affordable Housing Succeeds for Disabled By ANGELA ROWEN 07-04-2003

AC Transit Board Reduces Berkeley’s 17 Bus Line Megan Greenwell 07-04-2003

Hot Times in Fleece From Susan Parker 07-04-2003

Suspect Eludes Police In Border Area Chase By ANGELA ROWEN 07-04-2003

The Mysterious Maneuvers of Mayor Brown J. DOUGLAS ALLEN-TAYLOR 07-04-2003

South Berkeley Artists Plan to Shine in Mural By MEGAN GREENWELL 07-04-2003

Democracy Not Goal of Hong Kong March By YOICHI SHIMATSU Pacific News Service 07-04-2003

Mock Antennae Annoy Neighbors In North Berkeley By ANGELA ROWEN 07-04-2003

Operation Sidewinder Will Fail To Eradicate Iraqi Dissidents By WILLIAM O. BEEMAN Pacific News Service 07-04-2003

Zoning Adjustments Board Approves Blood House FEIR By ANGELA ROWEN 07-04-2003

Police Blotter By DAVID SCHARFENBERG 07-04-2003

Summer Noon Concerts in Downtown Berkeley 07-04-2003