At least two major properties built by prominent developer Patrick Kennedy are not paying Berkeley special fees and assessments, according to Alameda County property tax records and officials interviewed by the Daily Planet. -more-

FRIDAY, OCT. 24

“As California has become more solidly Democratic, the name [Left Coast]—with its political connotation—is most closely associated with that state. (Oregon and Washington are still up for linguistic grabs.) -more-

Smiling, understanding and patient, Seymour Fromer ambled through the museum he’s been building for the past four decades, explaining the remarkable touchstones to history he’s selected for the show that will mark the reopening of a treasured Berkeley institution. -more-

FRIDAY, OCT. 24

n an occasional series by UC Berkeley journalism students. -more-

The future site for the Berkeley Adult School will have a different look as neighbors had demanded, but some now fear that the additional expenses required could cost them a planned playground. -more-

On this date in 1945, World War II battle-weary nations came together in San Francisco in the War Memorial Building, appropriately enough. They agreed to establish an international organization that could ensure world peace, and they brought the United Nations into existence with the highest of hopes. Today, the Bush administration charges that the UN has become an outmoded debating society lacking the gumption to act. But as the president should know, the UN was not designed to exercise power on its own; rather, it was intentionally set up to be almost entirely dependent on the will and wishes of its member states. Thus, when the Bush administration pulls the rug out from under the UN and then blames the UN for falling down, the administration is deliberately misleading the public on the rules by which the UN operates. -more-

As Casen Maloy leisurely walks down Billie Jean Walk she is following a timetable controlled by a bus. -more-

The Berkeley Rent Board entered a new era Monday, but the results looked a lot like the old as members agonized over a dizzying array of rent hike proposals—with the monthly dollar differences between the lower and higher increases barely enough to cover the cost of a cup of coffee. -more-

BOSS WOES -more-

Last Tuesday’s Berkeley City Council meeting began with a love fest and ended with a bloody fistfight...literally. -more-

Residents on a South Berkeley block victimized by a rash of car vandalisms are uniting to build a community they hope will be strong enough to stop the culprit from striking again. -more-

A curmudgeon, according Merriam-Webster Online, is a crusty, ill-tempered old man, so I guess I don’t qualify as a full-fledged curmudgeon. But, except for the man part, every year as Halloween approaches I feel more like a curmudgeon than ever. Halloween used to be a nice, low-key, non-sectarian opportunity for the kids to have a little cheap fun. It wasn’t part of any religious group’s traditional calendar, so everyone could participate. -more-