Berkeley City Manager Weldon Rucker stunned city workers and councilmembers Thursday when he announced his retirement—saying he wanted more time to manage himself than his “24-hour, seven-day-a-week job” could offer. -more-

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 5 -more-

News, as of the morning of press day, is that Berkeley’s City Manager ( Weldon Rucker, known to almost everyone as Weldon) plans to retire in the very near future. This is not unexpected, since he admits to being in his early sixties, and is known to have had a few health problems in the past. It is, however, sure to be distressing news to Berkeley citizens who care about the health of the body politic. -more-

Former U.S. Poet Laureate Robert Hass brings his talents to the cause of liberating Berkeley’s Strawberry Creek—the city’s premier living stream—at the Eighth Annual Watershed Poetry Festival, to be held Saturday, Sept. 6 at Civic Center Park at Martin Luther King Jr. Way and Center Street. -more-

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 5 -more-

We used to be pretty smug about our species’ ability to use tools—the dividing line, some thought, that separated humanity from the rest of the animal kingdom. But naturalists’ observations have laid that notion to rest. -more-

Berkeley residents sitting down for dinner Thursday had an unexpected and unnerving guest—a magnitude 3.9 earthquake centered just three miles southeast of town, eight miles directly below Cochrane Avenue in Rockridge. -more-

ADULT SCHOOL MOVE -more-

Berkeley activists will take to the streets Saturday to mobilize support to defeat the recall of Governor Gray Davis following a 10 a.m. rally at Washington School, 2300 Martin Luther King Jr. Way (across from Berkeley High School). -more-

To many voting Californians, the gubernatorial recall election is being taken as a joke—an unexpected and entertaining twist to the usually boring political scene. But for me and my community, this recall is very important. -more-

With her soft brown hair that falls neatly to the sides of her unblemished 19-year-old face, Monique Desindes looks so wholesomely apple pie that it’s hard to believe she is homeless. Yet there she was on Tuesday evening, squatting outside Cody’s Bookstore on Telegraph Avenue, half-eaten food and torn garbage bags strewn to her right. To her left sat Trek, an 18-year-old from Utah, wearing a spiked collar and sporting unkempt blond curls. -more-

President Bush may not face much opposition in Congress to his plan for perpetual preemptive war, but he better watch out for the women. -more-

The upcoming celebration planned for a local arts icon has Berkeley city officials scrambling to avoid a potentially embarrassing free speech controversy. -more-

Shannon Williams, the 37-year-old former Berkeley High School employee busted by Oakland police, plead not guilty Wednesday to a misdemeanor count of soliciting prostitution. -more-

The parent of a Berkeley High School student died of apparent natural causes in his van parked in front of the school on Allston Way Thursday afternoon while waiting to pick up his son. The African-American man, appearing to be in his late 30s to mid-40s, was not identified to press by the Berkeley Police pending notification of next of kin. -more-

Where some just see an old pair of glasses, Raymond Ascher, the 59-year-old owner of Phoenix Optical, sees both beauty and opportunity. -more-

Prostitution Busts -more-

Proposition 54, the ballot measure proponents claim would lead to a colorblind society, poses serious dangers to the physical and social health of Californians, contend local opponents of the controversial ballot proposition. -more-

Morrill Folsom’s a survivor. Just ask any shopowner on Telegraph Avenue, where he’s been doing business longer than anyone else he knows. Specializing in Asian and Renaissance art, antiques and jewelry, Folsom’s House of Kuan Yin on Telegraph Avenue has been around for 45 years. -more-

Last week’s column about my less than stellar experiences as a new graduate student at San Francisco State prompted e-mails from people recalling their own frustrations. -more-

Saddled with $410 million in state cuts this year, the University of California took an unprecedented cost-cutting measure Tuesday, rejecting out-of-hand transfer applications from about 1,600 students for the winter semester. -more-

Berkeley Police have released sketches of one of two men sought in the attempted rape of a woman on Aug. 9 in the 1900 block of Addision Street. -more-

Opposition to Ward Connerly’s Proposition 54—the “color conscious” initiative—has centered around what opponents call its “hidden agenda.” Prop 54, they say, is the unholy companion to Proposition 209, the 1996 initiative that gutted California’s affirmative action programs. Prop 209 made it more difficult to operate programs in California to counter discrimination against African-Americans and Latinos. In preventing the government from collecting race-based data, the argument continues, Prop 54 would cover up the effects of continuing anti-black and anti-brown discrimination. First the stab in the neck by the assassin’s stiletto. Then the assistant comes to sop up the blood and destroy any evidence of a crime. -more-

Heaven forfend! UC Berkeley beaten by the California Community Colleges? And for activism, no less! -more-

The first step in a proposed plan to shift half of Berkeley High students into small school programs came Wednesday as the city school board unanimously bestowed formal small school designation on the already existing Communication Arts and Sciences program at the high school. -more-

Continuing labor troubles at a non-profit Berkeley program that provides housing, health care, education and legal aid for the homeless reached a new level of intensity this week after the agency notified staff that their paychecks would be delayed up to five days because of cash flow problems. -more-