Father Bill O’Donnell, often described as one of the last activist priests, died suddenly Monday morning while carrying out his duties at St. Joseph the Worker church. He was 74 years old. -more-
In early October, I meandered the shores of Lake Geneva, Switzerland with easy-laughing Mahmoud. We were bleary-eyed from international travel, and from many hours of animated discussions at our conference. -more-
When Philip Barry told his son that Shambhala Booksellers had to close, his nine-year-old protested, “But Dad! I want to work there when I grow up!” The boy immediately made some bookmarks to sell to help the store make more money. -more-
A town/gown disaster preparedness summit at the Berkeley City Club Friday brought out approximately 100 city, public utility and university top brass—including Mayor Tom Bates and Chancellor Robert Berdahl—but some community members complained about a glaring omission from the list of invitees: John Q. Public. -more-
When I was a boy in the 50s, I had a large wall map of the world. Much of it was still pink, the pink of the British Empire: Canada and much of the Caribbean, large swaths of East and West Africa, Australia, New Zealand, and the Indian subcontinent. At that age, I found something reassuring about the uniformity of color. It made the vast world look orderly and safe. -more-
Berkeley schools—already reeling from several rounds of spending cuts—must slash another $2.2 million to balance this year’s budget, according to a First Interim Report presented to the school board last week. -more-
As a photographer with modest skills—I’ve shot for several newspapers, a magazine or two, and one book—I’m always awed by the truly gifted artists who capture so deftly the images that elude all my skills and hardware. -more-
Berkeley’s Options Recovery Services held a graduation ceremony on Friday for 38 clients who successfully completed a drug and alcohol treatment program designed for hardcore substance abusers who have no resources and nowhere else to go. -more-
When I told Pat Cody I wanted to write about her role in starting up social action projects, her first words were typical. “Only if you don’t imply that I did it alone. No one person can do anything alone!” -more-
Berkeley citizens get their first look tonight (Tuesday, Dec. 9) at just how lean and mean City Council is willing to become when Council holds its first meeting in the belt-tightening, post-parcel tax era. -more-
A Wednesday night candlelight Holiday Vigil scheduled for the Hilltop Mall in Richmond isn’t designed so much to bring peace on earth to the Contra Costa County city as it is to keep a big-box retailer out. -more-
A group of Berkeley citizens have filed ballot arguments against the March charter amendment referendum that would change requirements for running for office in the city. -more-
Recently, I met Kim Severson at Andronico’s on Telegraph Avenue. We weren’t there to shop. We were looking for hidden trans fats. -more-
EDITOR’S NOTE: This is one in a continuing series by UC Berkeley students on the paths of Berkeley. -more-
Berkeley’s political establishment—scarcely having drawn a breath since the abortive battle over the parcel tax measure—has jumped into the next round of City Council elections fully eleven months before voters head to the polls. -more-
The visitor to Keiko Nelson’s exhibition, called “Wave,” at the City of Oakland’s Craft and Cultural Arts Center, will encounter examples of her forceful sculptures before entering the gallery space. -more-
When Zhirong Li, a second-year Ph.D. student at UC Berkeley, flew back to China last December to visit her family and boyfriend, she bought a return flight booked for Jan. 23. -more-
When the Berkeley City Council voted not to ask for voter approval for a parcel tax increase in next March’s election, the critical factor may have been a failure to communicate. City officials failed to successfully communicate a message that no one—not the voters, not the employees, neither unions nor management—wanted to hear: that, without a tax increase, significant reductions in police, fire, and youth services are in the immediate future. -more-
So what if it isn’t Christmasy—some people might even see that as a plus. -more-
Today’s Berkeley Police Department bears little resemblance to the force that fired on People’s Park protesters in 1969 and prompted voters to approve one of the nation’s first citizen review commissions four years later. -more-
For several years I’ve watched in shock as the “development community” took over this town. When the escaped tax issue came to light, I thought this outrageous loss of revenue in the face of a deficit might remind city staff that their salaries are actually paid by the taxpayers of Berkeley. -more-
The Blood House battle—pitting a Berkeley historical landmark against a prominent developer in the arena of California’s complex environment law—entered a new phase this week when the city ordered developers back to the drawing board. -more-
Berkeley’s city planning commissioners got their first chance to question the man behind UC Berkeley’s proposed downtown hotel and convention center Tuesday afternoon, and—among other things—they learned that the complex will likely be shorter than the twelve-story tower sketched in the university’s conceptual drawings. -more-
The University of California reached a tentative labor contract with its student instructors Tuesday, two days before a scheduled system-wide strike threatened to leave some students without last-minute instruction or final grades. -more-
The founder and CEO of Project Gutenberg—the nonprofit venture which makes thousands of books available free through their website, www.gutenberg.net—will appear at the Berkeley Public Library Dec. 11, and all who attend the session will walk away with either a CD containing about 3,500 e-books or a DVD containing nearly 9,400. -more-
Was it Machiavelli who said “the prudent prince needs an enemy at the gate, always, to draw the attention of the populace from scandal within the court”? Or it could have been Sun Tzu, maybe. Age advances, memory fades, and I get my 60s icons confused. The optimum enemy in this situation, in any event, ought to be one who is both anonymous and seemingly dangerous, but not so dangerous that he can actually cause harm. -more-
Friends and colleagues remembered Clark Kerr—the first chancellor of UC Berkeley and the father of the modern public university system—as a man blessed with a spirit as strong as his intellect. -more-
Three UC Berkeley luminaries have landed in the literary limelight after receiving two awards from the prestigious Modern Language Association of America (MLA). -more-
For Michael Masley, Wednesday was the day the music died—at least for a day. That’s when Berkeley Police hit Masley, a well-known local street performer, with two citations totaling $800. -more-
U.S. commanders say their troops killed at least 54 Iraqis in the northern city of Samarra on Nov. 30. Townspeople say far fewer died, but that they were mostly civilians. Either way, it was a massacre, and the shocking surprise for Americans is that the organized Iraqi troops who provoked the attack are being hailed as heroes. -more-
Arnold Schwarzenegger is proving to be a more skillful politician than many expected. -more-
As Madeline Duckles tells the story, she and a loosely organized group of Berkeley women were hosting an informational house party for neighbors, with the idea of spreading the word about the risks of American presence in Vietnam, when the television news came on. The Cuban missile crisis had started. -more-
As the holidays approach, volunteer opportunities abound—part of a seasonal tradition. Unfortunately, after New Year’s rolls around, this burst of good will seems to get packed away with the decorations. -more-
An old lefty labor organizer, someone I’ve known slightly for a while, came up to me at a party in The City this week. “How come no one asked me if I’d support a parcel tax increase?” he said. “I live in Dona Spring’s district…I get mail from Linda Maio all the time…but no one asked me!” He has a point. As the former head of a big public service union, his opinion is predictable—he favors a tax increase. But we discussed the bigger question of What Went Wrong at some length. He wondered where all the opposition came from. -more-
