A city program that subsidizes taxi and van rides for the elderly and disabled is in disarray, leaving participants scrambling for transportation to the grocery store and doctor’s office, seniors say. -more-

FRIDAY, JULY 25 -more-

We think we have problems in Berkeley with the University of California. The Planet has been deluged with irate letters from citizens who oppose UC’s newest expansion projects in Strawberry Canyon: a six-story nanotechnology laboratory plus a new office tower, with the excavation debris dumped into a creekbed to form a parking lot. Local residents are fed up with arrogant UC expansion, no question about it, but it’s even worse in Davis. The Sacramento Bee carried an article about a raucous recent meeting between UC Davis administrators, city officials and citizen opponents of UC’s latest project in that formerly sleepy agricultural town. -more-

FRIDAY, JULY 25 -more-

Following a series of domino effects set off by the need for more student housing, UC is planning to convert Albany’s Gill Tract urban agriculture plots into Little League diamonds next spring. The farming space is currently used by the university’s College of Natural Resources (CNR) to conduct agriculture research projects. -more-

ANOTHER BIG BOX -more-

Ed O’Neill, who lived outside Nevada City, Calif., was visiting his father in San Francisco in April 1977 when he saw the news clips. -more-

Getting a parking ticket in Berkeley is the psychological equivalent of being mugged by your local government, the same institution that collects a percentage on every dollar you spend within city limits. It’s a twice-inflicted wound because often when shopping you’re victimized by circumstances beyond your control. For example, you’re patronizing our downtown restaurants. The waiter, not wanting to intrude on your conversation, takes an extra few minutes before delivering your check. Then bam, when you get to your car there’s a parking citation on your windshield that exceeds the cost of your lunch. Suddenly, you realize you have been playing with a stacked deck. It’s next to impossible to have lunch and conduct business within the restricted time allotment of one hour in Berkeley. As they say in Las Vegas, the house always wins. In this case, it’s the entrenched bureaucracy in city hall where fringe benefits such as pensions and early retirement come to a whopping, additional 40 percent of a starting salary. It also comes with a guaranteed lifetime employment backed by powerful, public employee labor unions. -more-

In an age when electronic games have replaced classic wooden toys and independent toy stores have made way for mega-marts, Berkeley remains a haven for parents searching for traditional playthings for their children. -more-

I applaud Rob Wrenn’s series on Berkeley housing. I would like to add a few comments that may make the recent changes in Berkeley housing patterns more understandable. Berkelely’s preferred mode of new housing production is mixed-use developments that combine ground floor retail/commercial with upper stories of housing, thus furthering two important development goals, revitalizing our commercial/retail base and providing needed housing. To achieve these goals the city zoning ordinance permits significant increases in density, lessened project resident amenities (in particular open space and housing) and significantly weakened protections for neighboring residential zones. The laudable goals of mixed-use projects have been hijacked by clever developers and winked at by a complacent zoning administration that apparently has never met a project they didn’t like. -more-

Claiming that last-minute student fee hikes represent a breach of contract, a group of University of California students are asking for millions of dollars in tuition refunds in a class action lawsuit filed Thursday. -more-

A documentary about the construction of Berkeley’s Peralta Community Garden and the community organizer behind it will make its television debut Sunday at noon on KQED, Channel 9. -more-

On day 11 of my trip back east I took the Long Island railroad from Montauk to Pennsylvania Station in Manhattan, then walked to the Port Authority and caught a casino bus to Atlantic City. -more-

The Berkeley art community will celebrate the life and work of artist and arts commissioner Brenda Prager at a party in her honor Sunday. -more-

AC Transit Board and Green Party member Rebecca Kaplan has been circulating an e-mail this summer, calling on Gov. Gray Davis to resign ahead of the impending recall election. -more-

Finding Saddam Hussein is “definitely the most important thing we have to do right now,” declared Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz in the wake of the killing of Saddam’s sons on July 22. -more-

There’s a Yiddish saying, “If you want to understand Jews, look at Christians.” -more-

The following letter was sent to Vice President Dick Cheney on July 21, 2003: -more-

In England, they shot the messenger. True, the death of British biological weapons expert David Kelly was a suicide. But if the reserved scientist took his own life, it was in response to the British Ministry of Defense outing and reprimanding him as the alleged whistle-blower behind the BBC's controversial report that the government “sexed up” its intelligence information to make the case for war. -more-

Think beyond the foul oil smell you conjure up when imagining Martinez on a sunny day. It isn’t always there, and a rather historic small town is. Thriving on pride derived from its famous sons, major league baseball’s Vince, Dom and “Joltin” Joe DiMaggio, and the city’s claim that the martini was born here, Martinez offers collectibles and antique stores, great parks and historic sites, of course surrounded by Shell oil tanks. -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-