City Council voted unanimously Tuesday night to offer emergency financial assistance to eight local child care programs that face delays in state funding as a result of the budget stalemate in Sacramento. -more-

FRIDAY, JULY 18 -more-

Before Berkeley became a fully built city and empty lots were plentiful, moving buildings from one place to another was common. Although houses were moved off University Avenue to nearby residential areas when University Avenue changed to a more commercial thoroughfare, a few residential buildings have survived this transformation. -more-

The Feb. 20 press release just about said it all in the headline: “Mayor Tom Bates Launches Task Force to Fix Berkeley’s Broken Development Process.” But just to make sure we got the point, the subhead referred to “Berkeley’s dysfunctional process for approving building permits.” And then, in the body of the press release, “Developers, neighborhood preservationists, and city staff all agree that our permitting process is broken.” Anyone who still didn’t get it was invited to click over to a fact sheet, which told them that “it is generally agreed that the permitting process in the city of Berkeley is cumbersome, unclear, lengthy and often unfair to all those involved.” -more-

FRIDAY, JULY 18 -more-

When Hugo Brenni helped create La Peña Café in 1973, he intended it to be a small, local restaurant and performance space. Thirty years later, the retiring Brenni leaves behind a cultural center that has become a Bay Area landmark. -more-

EAST TIMOR -more-

Mo Kashmiri, a third-year student at UC Berkeley’s Boalt Hall School of Law, may not be returning to school next month. -more-

Let me state at the outset that I am a strong supporter of the comprehensive employment benefit packages espoused by labor unions, progressive employers and proponents of the Western European style welfare state. -more-

The historic Kenney Cottage will remain at 1725 University Ave. for at least a few more days. -more-

I’ve often thought that the easiest way of checking out the state of the American left is to go see the latest production of the San Francisco Mime Troupe. Last Saturday I caught the Troupe’s new show, “Veronique of the Mounties,” at Cedar-Rose Park. What this summer’s offering suggests, I’m sorry to say, is that these days the left and Mime Troupe alike are just going through the motions. -more-

Pedestrians and bikers along the San Francisco Bay Trail in Emeryville will now be able to see an addition to the waterfront landscape: a dozen statues on posts three feet in the air. -more-

The Berkeley-Albany YMCA will celebrate its 100th anniversary with a YMCA Day in the Park Saturday. -more-

At 1 p.m. on July 14, Bill Keller stood before the top editors and managers of The New York Times in an 11th-floor dining room at the paper’s West 43rd Street headquarters. He was there, according to sources at the meeting, to offer an unvarnished version of the introduction he had given to staffers in the third-floor newsroom two hours earlier, when he was crowned the new executive editor of The New York Times. -more-

“Get your feet off the coffee table,” my mother often hollered at my brothers and me back in our home in the suburbs of Philadelphia. “You don’t live in a barn, do you?” -more-

The UC Board of Regents voted Thursday to ban romantic or sexual relationships between professors and the students they oversee or can reasonably expect to supervise in the future. -more-

In recent months, President Bush and the Republican-controlled Congress have missed no opportunity to heap richly deserved praise on the military. But talk is cheap—and getting cheaper by the day, judging from the nickel-and-dime treatment the troops are getting lately. -more-

Dissemble: “To disguise or conceal one’s real nature, motives or feelings behind a false appearance.” -more-

The following is an anonymous letter from a resident of Senegal originally posted on the SunMt.org Web site: -more-

With SARS fears dwindling worldwide, UC Berkeley has lifted the last of its summer school travel restrictions on students from the southeast Asian nations affected by the disease. -more-

Kamala Appel hopes to educate people about animal life. Her medium? A “documentary” that showcases a rapping elephant seal, an aspiring Olympian otter and a lemur dating game. -more-

The officer leans over the window. “Sir. Can I see your driver’s license?” -more-

This summer, nine-year-old Sara Lopez hopes to perfect her foul shot, hit a home run and learn to swim the backstroke. Through UC Berkeley’s Blue Bears program, Lopez will become that three-sport athlete for two weeks alongside hundreds of other kids her age. -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-