Berkeley’s proposed parcel tax plan died Monday night, almost exactly 24 hours before City Council was scheduled to approve final language to place the measure on the March, 2004 ballot. -more-
Aurora Theatre’s production of Kenneth Lonergan’s Lobby Hero turns out to be well worth the three years of somersaults Director Tom Ross had to perform to bring it to Berkeley. -more-
Ask anyone on City Council about passing a tax hike in Berkeley these days and they’ll say it’s no easy task. Last year only one cause out of four won the hearts and votes of two-thirds of Berkeley’s increasingly stingy voters: a new animal shelter. -more-
EDITOR’S NOTE: This is the first of two articles on the Mayor’s Task Force on Permitting and Development. This article addresses the task force process; the next article will address the substance of the recommendations. -more-
Drivers on upper Ashby Avenue are getting a graphic reminder of just how fast they’re going, legally or otherwise, thanks to a trio of solar-powered signs that flash their speeds on glowing digital panels. -more-
Editors, Daily Planet: -more-
Berkeley fourth graders—forced by budget cuts to trade in their violins and trumpets for rhythm lessons and recorders—are banking on unwanted CDs to bring the band back together. -more-
The achievement gap separating white Berkeley public school students from other racial groups remains profound, according to an analysis of test scores unveiled at last week’s meeting of the Berkeley Unified School District board. -more-
“If for one week [America] saw the true face of war, war would be eradicated,” broadcaster and activist Amy Goodman told a supportive crowd of several hundred who turned out to see her receive this year’s UC Berkeley Mario Savio Free Speech award at UC Berkeley’s student union. -more-
Just days after UC Berkeley released money to pay more than $30,000 in student government (ASUC) expenses from a campaign to oppose Proposition 54, the ASUC has frozen the funds. -more-
Every November, I test my memory cells by trying to recall where I’ve spent Thanksgiving for the past 30 years. I do okay for the most recent ten, and then things get blurry. I vaguely remember Thanksgivings at Uncle Bill’s and Aunt Alma’s during the 50s and 60s, but I don’t recall any Thanksgivings between the years of 1970 and 1974. This lapse can’t be attributed entirely to over-indulging in turkey, but can be blamed, in part, on a wayward cousin who always provided me with something to stimulate my appetite (though I never inhaled). -more-
Striking Southern California grocery workers who set up picket lines at Bay Area grocers last week in solidarity with their Southern California companions returned in force Saturday with over 1,000 supporters to rally outside the Safeway at 51st and Broadway. -more-
Berkeley City Council gets a last chance to finalize language for three election law ballot measures at tonight’s regular Council meeting (7 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 25). The proposed changes would add filing fee and/or signature requirements to run for office in Berkeley, lower the percentage needed for a candidate to win, lengthen the time between elections and runoffs, and authorize Council to adopt Instant Runoff Voting in the city once it becomes legally and economically feasible. -more-
EDITOR’S NOTE: This is one of an ongoing series of articles by UC Berkeley journalism students on the paths of Berkeley. -more-
Berkeley City Council asked citizens to come out to the regular meeting last Tuesday to air their opinions on the proposed March, 2004, parcel tax increase ballot measure. A large number of Berkeley citizens complied, packing Council chambers Tuesday night, and pretty much telling Council to take their tax and shove it. -more-
FRIDAY, NOV. 21
There are two ways to balance a budget, earn more or spend less. Berkeley’s mayor and city Council have decided to “earn more.” For you or I, “earn more” means work more; for city government it means charge higher fees and create new taxes. -more-
UC Berkeley plans to develop a downtown hotel and convention center which Mayor Tom Bates hopes will capture both millions in tax revenue in the near future and the imagination of residents by restoring Strawberry Creek sometime later. -more-
To Berkeley City Council: -more-
Critics of the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) gave lab officials an earful Monday, arguing that planned expansion at the lab threatens to pollute their lungs, clog their streets and devour their tax dollars. -more-
It is time to start thinking about and discussing the renewal of our Berkeley Schools Educational Excellence Project (BSEP). For almost 18 years, in two different measures, Berkeley voters have authorized an additional special tax (a rate per square footage, both residential and commercial, with different rates assigned to each). The current BSEP measure sunsets in 2006; it is likely that the measure will be brought back to the voters much sooner than that 2006 sunset date. -more-
Oop, she did it again. Berkeley developer Christina Sun violated a stop work order issued by the Planning Department when under the guise of weatherizing the roof at her 3045 Shattuck Ave. building, she had construction workers proceed towards finalizing the project. -more-
Strawberry Canyon is in the city’s backyard, and for many of us, it’s as if it isn’t even there. How else to explain that in the span of less than a year, a six-story nanotechnology research facility was approved without the benefit of a public hearing, the Alquist-Priolo Earthquake Fault Zone was selected as the preferred location for six-story Building 49, and a water distribution upgrade project was deemed exempt from the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) despite significantly denuding the landscape? -more-
UC Berkeley’s Dean of Students Karen Kenney this week issued her ruling on the fates of three students charged with violating the student code of conduct during an anti-war sit-in at Sproul Hall last March. -more-
One of y’all out there has got to help me out with this one—you really do—cause I’m a little bit puzzled here. -more-
Six UC Berkeley student photographers say they may sue the Daily Californian for copyright infringement after the independent student-run paper severed ties with them for refusing to sign away all future rights to their pictures. -more-
Berkeley officials say the city is owed less than originally estimated from property fees and assessments they say were inadvertently not billed to several buildings in the city. -more-
For those who believe that if something is good for you it has to taste bad, Vital Vittles bakery might be the cure. -more-
EDITOR’S NOTE: The author of this tribute to a veteran Berkeley activist is her daughter-in-law. -more-
With business booming at the Berkeley Bowl, the battle to unionize store employees that ended with a vote of rejection a few short weeks ago already seems a distant memory to most customers. -more-
ROME—The Vittoriano monument in central Rome, towering over the bustling Piazza Venezia, is usually one of the city’s most chaotic traffic areas and foremost tourist destinations. -more-
Lately I’ve been feeling warmly nostalgic for that comfy old Cold War. -more-
ORANGE COUNTY—Rachel Walters is among 71,000 Southern California grocery workers who are either on strike or locked out at Albertson’s, Ralphs and Vons supermarkets as they fight to keep company-paid health care, the best and often only reason for putting up with erratic part-time hours and low wages. -more-
If you tuned into radio-station KECG recently, you may have caught an interview with the woman who runs the cafeteria at El Cerrito High. Some students at the school were complaining that food quality had fallen off, so they had “The Cafeteria Lady” in to give her side of the story. -more-
The Jul. 22 story “Waterfront Artwork: An East Bay Tradition” mistakenly reported that statues of Snoopy and his nemesis the Red Baron built last year by local youth had fallen into San Francisco Bay. The statues remain nailed to posts in the waters by the Berkeley Marina. -more-
The Feet of Clay award for this week is shared by two recipients, Sen. Diane Feinstein and the American Association of Retired Persons, for supporting the bogus Medicare bill which the Republicans have already shoved through the House with support from some Democrats. Senator Diane’s presence on any list of sellouts comes as no surprise to those who have followed her career, but if you’re too young to have encountered the AARP first-hand, you might wonder what’s gone wrong there. -more-
Vox populi is out in full throat after the proposed parcel tax, as anyone who reads the opinion pages of this paper will know by now. City Council’s hearing on Tuesday gave public voice to sentiments which have been circulating in small meetings and on the Internet for two months or more. -more-
