A city-commissioned voter survey predicts that over six out of 10 Berkeley residents would support a bond referendum for a $250 per year average increase in city property taxes in order to maintain city services at their current levels—which may or may not be good news, depending on how and when the city eventually presents the notion to voters. -more-

TUESDAY, SEPT. 30 -more-

Generations of Berkeley jazz fans have gone to San Francisco’s North Beach to get regular fixes of their favorite kind of music. They were not happy when one of the last real jazz venues in San Francisco—Pearl’s, at Columbus and Broadway—closed its doors in April, but they will be delighted to learn that Pearl’s has re-opened as Jazz at Pearl’s, thanks to a strong infusion of East Bay talent. -more-

TUESDAY, SEPT. 30 -more-

Of the two constitutional amendments on the Oct. 7 ballot, the one getting the least publicity this summer and fall—Proposition 53—could end up having the more dramatic long-term effect on the state of California. -more-

IMPORTANT WORK -more-

Consider the local scene, circa 1926. -more-

Frederick J. Lupke, III, known to his many Berkeley friends as Fred, died Thursday, Sept. 25, as a result of injuries he received when he was struck by a car on Ashby Avenue near the South Berkeley Senior Center. -more-

The following was addressed to Berkeley City Council and the Berkeley School Board. -more-

Thanks in part to the recall election, those error-prone punch cards are well on their way out in California. The bad news is that their replacement has some voters fearing the cure may be worse than the disease. -more-

The following was an address to Berkeley City Council on Sept. 7. -more-

Ursula Sherman Village—Berkeley’s most ambitious proposed home for homeless families—is two steps closer to becoming a reality, but environmental and funding concerns are forcing an outcome somewhat different than the original design. -more-

After almost five months of organizing, Berkeley Bowl workers filed a formal request with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) Friday, asking them to schedule a date for a union election. -more-

Proposition 54, the Oct. 7 ballot measure that promises to create a colorblind society, doesn’t look quite so benign to medical researchers in Berkeley and environs, who say that, author Ward Connerly’s protestations notwithstanding, the measure could do severe damage to public health programs. -more-

Foiled Robbery -more-

Prominent Bay Area advocates will debate the core Mideast conflict on the UC Berkeley campus Thursday evening under the sponsorship of the Associated Students of the University of California (ASUC). -more-

I recently accepted an assignment to attend a Cybersalon debate entitled “Matchmakers Duke it Out Over Best Strategies.” Though I didn’t think I was the best person to attend since I’m married and haven’t been in the dating game since 1983, I was curious to learn more about this growing social phenomenon. -more-

You can always count on Berkeley to provide an alternative take on anything, so I expected nothing less from the High Holiday services I attended Friday night, put on by Kehilla Community Synagogue, one of several alternative congregations in Berkeley. -more-

A truck fire rendered a local couple homeless Monday as they were driving to work. -more-

UC Berkeley Chancellor Robert Berdahl stunned the city and university community Wednesday when he announced that he will step down after the end of this school year. -more-

FRIDAY, SEPT. 26 -more-

FROM THE MAYOR -more-

A symphony conductor staying at the helm of one orchestra for 25 years is pretty remarkable, but in the case of Berkeley Symphony Orchestra conductor Kent Nagano it’s a labor of love. -more-

Festival Event -more-

The behemoth that is UC Berkeley squatted down on its haunches at a Clark Kerr Campus public hearing Monday night to listen to university students and residents of the city in which it resides, and got an earful on the subject of the university’s 2020 Long Range Development Plan (LRDP). -more-

I am a parent of two children at Malcolm X Elementary School. I led the Malcolm X Parent community as PTA President for two years and now fill the roll of PTA Council President for all the Berkeley public schools. My experience with PTA has given me some insights on the Berkeley Unified School District administration and the parent community. After reading School Board Vice President John Selawsky’s letter to you this past week (“Planet Reportage Lacking, Says School Board VP,” Daily Planet, Sept. 23-25) and the accompanying response from Executive Editor Becky O’Malley, I felt compelled to respond. -more-

If you find yourself tooling along near University Avenue this Sunday and you happen to peek in the rearview mirror and see 100 or so cars behind you, customized with hedges, neon lights and aquariums, take a deep breath and resist the impulse to call the police. -more-

Caught in a blizzard of outdated and conflicting regulations, UC Berkeley is trying to determine whether the student government violated UC laws by funding a campaign against Proposition 54. -more-

As suggested by the UC Community Coalition on UCB’s Long Range Development Plan environmental review, community open space should be created in compensation for increased traffic, increased building density, for exceeding by twofold the development goals of the 1990 LDRP, etc. I am writing in support of this recommendation and in addition to advocate for preserving existing open space in Strawberry and Claremont Canyons. -more-

Shotgun Players’ new production, “The Water Principle,” takes place at the end of the road at the end of the world. Addie lives alone in a broken-down shack. Water, for drinking or even bathing, has become scarce. Weed, who covets Addie’s land, talks about man as a hunter and farmer, but there’s little left to hunt or to farm. Weed has a stash of canned beans. Addie survives on worms and an occasional crow. -more-

Fred Lupke died at 7:30 Thursday night of massive head injuries sustained a week ago when his wheelchair was struck by a car on Ashby Avenue in Berkeley. He never regained consciousness after the accident. His sister, Alice Strang of Charlottesville, Va., and his good friends of thirty years, Rich and Mary Rhodes of San Leandro, were with him at Eden Medical Center in Castro Valley at the time of his death. Rich Rhodes said plans for a memorial service are incomplete. Fred Lupke made many friends in Berkeley by participating in community political activities of all kinds, and was much appreciated at the Daily Planet for his work on our calendar and for the pleasure of his company on many occasions. -more-

I love science. -more-

A lawsuit filed by neighborhood opponents of the school district’s planned Adult School move to the former Franklin Elementary School site has no merit, Berkeley Unified School District Superintendent Michele Lawrence said. -more-

Berkeley’s “Early Women” exhibit -more-

Drug bust -more-

Ward Connerly—the man so many Berkeley residents love to hate—showed up on the UC campus this week, speaking at a packed conservative lecture series event to promote passage of Proposition 54. -more-

Those of you with long enough memories will recall the time, during the Vietnam War, when the Pentagon stopped issuing the daily reports of actual U.S. deaths. Instead, they went to a system of estimation. -more-

There was a small traffic jam on Gayley Road on Friday just before noon, like a miniature version of the big tie-ups when pop stars are playing the Greek Theater. I’m not sure of the cause, but it’s tempting to believe that it was because a big crossover star was on the bill at the Haas Business School. That’s crossover between academia and journalism—Paul Krugman, today’s top poster boy for intellectual types who are deeply worried that the United States is seriously, perhaps terminally, ill. Krugman, both a New York Times columnist and a Princeton economics professor, told the overflow crowd at his noon lecture that his own favorite columnist quote was from Molly Ivins: “What I hate most about the Bushies is that they make us feel like paranoid conspiracy theorists all the time.” In the audience, we roared our approval of that one. We are all getting tired of feeling paranoid, it’s true. -more-

After seventeen months of wrangling, the UC Berkeley student government made a final lease offer to independent campus newspaper the Daily Californian. -more-