Rent Board Orders Council Aide To Repay Overcharged Tenants
A champion of Berkeley rent control was ordered last week to pay his former tenants more than $100,000 in restitution by the very rent board he campaigned to create. -more-
A champion of Berkeley rent control was ordered last week to pay his former tenants more than $100,000 in restitution by the very rent board he campaigned to create. -more-
The Peralta Community College District and the City of Berkeley have reached a settlement on parking mitigations owed to the city by Peralta, giving the district the green light to start construction on its new downtown Vista College campus. -more-
As someone who has lived in Berkeley for 29 years, I am annoyed by the continuing manipulation of our local electoral system. Berkeley ballot measures in recent years have changed the election date, replaced at-large city council elections with district elections, changed the vote total needed to win from 50 percent to 45 percent, and changed council terms from four years to two years and back to four years again. But of all these changes, the Instant Runoff Voting proposal—Measure I on the ballot, is the most sinister and anti-democratic. -more-
Despite misgivings by several commissioners, Berkeley’s Civic Arts Commission voted 6-3 Wednesday night to endorse a major Seagate Properties project for downtown Berkeley. If it eventually passes full city approval, the 149-apartment, mixed-use complex would replace four Center Street buildings between the City Center Garage and the Wells Fargo Annex. -more-
In what has become a school ritual almost as common as an afternoon assembly, students at Berkeley’s Malcolm X Elementary headed for dry ground upstairs after Wednesday’s torrential downpour flooded their classrooms for the second time in two months. -more-
At a Wednesday night Berkeley School Board meeting this week, with Chez Panisse owner Alice Waters sitting beside board members, district brass pledged to tackle one of their most foul problems—bad food. -more-
Those observers who believe in the old Thomas Jefferson adage that “the government is best which governs least” would have been tickled to death with Berkeley City Council last Tuesday night. The council managed to adjourn before 8 p.m., with the bulk of the hour-long meeting taken up by public comment. And if Councilmember Miriam Hawley had not stopped to ask a couple of questions about an off-street parking ordinance, the council would have gotten by without discussing a single item. -more-
Friends of Fred Lupke—the Berkeley disabled activist killed in a traffic accident last year—will gather at 1:30 p.m. on Sunday at the third floor Community Room of the Berkeley Library’s Main Branch, 2090 Kittredge St. to celebrate his life and work. -more-
Police Review Commission Holds Off On Police Dog Vote -more-
I have often said that in the 16 years since I’ve been back in my home town—almost all of them living in Oakland’s District 7—I have never actually seen my councilmember inside the boundaries of my district. That takes in three separate councilmembers: L eo Bazile, Dezzie Woods-Jones, and now Larry Reid. For the record, I am not claiming that none of my councilmembers have never set foot in the district. Just not in the places where I frequent, during the times that I frequent them. And I am also not clai ming that they are purposely avoiding me. It just so happens that I ain’t happened up on them, is all. -more-
Three measures touted as electoral reforms will greet Berkeley voters when they confront their electronic voting machine touchscreens next Tuesday: two propositions designed to transform the way they vote and a third that would change the way candidates make it on the ballot. -more-
Wondering what to do with all those unwanted holiday presents? Tired of negotiating the clustered clutter that’s filling up your garage? Wondering what to do with your old camera now that you’ve gone digital? -more-
Jesus Diaz pats a callused palm on the smooth, stretched head of a drum. The sound of it, a single beat, reverberates across the mostly-empty La Peña rehearsal space. It is answered, almost immediately, with booming percussion from the flock of accompanying drummers. -more-
Rosario Marín is betting that the California Republican Party is ready to nominate a pro-choice, anti-illegal immigration and anti-tax hike Mexican immigrant to go against Democratic Senator Barbara Boxer in November. After all, Californians just elected a pro-choice immigrant Republican governor. -more-
Armed with a camera and a curious eye, Daily Planet reporter Richard Brenneman strolled along four blocks of a Berkeley street recently week in search of interesting visual discoveries that might escape the ordinary hurried pedestrian. The photographs on this page represent the first selection of his findings, and more will follow in future editions. Guess as many as you can. Free Berkeley Daily Planet T-shirts await the first five readers to correctly identify the street addresses where each photograph was taken. Send your responses to the Daily Planet Photo Contest, Berkeley Daily Planet, 3023A Shattuck Ave., Berkeley 94705, or e-mail to news@berkeleydailyplanet.com. Deadline is 5 p.m., March 12. -more-
How to vote in the primary on Tuesday? Here’s a simple algorithm: If Kerry is way ahead, vote for Kucinich, because In Your Heart You Know He’s Right. (If you’re under 50, that was Barry Goldwater’s old slogan, and it worked for him. Well, not exactly. If you’re under 30, it’s too hard to explain who Goldwater was.) -more-
Editorial: Election Day Simplified 02-27-2004
Protest Pries Teeth From Commission Proposal 02-24-2004
Rent Board Orders Council Aide To Repay Overcharged Tenants By Matthew Artz 02-27-2004
Berkeley This Week 02-27-2004
Letters to the Editor 02-27-2004
Vista College Finally Gets Green Light By Matthew Artz 02-27-2004
Instant Runoff Voting is Sinister and Undemocratic By CLIFFORD FRED 02-27-2004
Giant Project Leaps Nimbly Over First Legal Hurdle By Richard Brenneman 02-27-2004
Green Party and Others Oppose Propositions 57 and 58 02-27-2004
Berkeley’s Malcolm X Awash Once More By MATTHEW ARTZ 02-27-2004
BUSD Losing Big Bucks On Food Service Program By MATTHEW ARTZ 02-27-2004
A Guide to State And Local Measures 02-27-2004
Almost Without a Word, Council Bans Bus Stop Smoking By J. DOUGLAS ALLEN-TAYLOR 02-27-2004
Celebrate Lupke’s Legacy By MATTHEW ARTZ 02-27-2004
Police Blotter By MATTHEW ARTZ 02-27-2004
UnderCurrents: Missing Councilpersons and Hissing Republicans J. DOUGLAS ALLEN-TAYLOR 02-27-2004
Berkeley Votes on Voting Changes By RICHARD BRENNEMAN 02-27-2004
New Elmwood Business Hawks Wares on eBay By JOHN LETZING Special to the Planet 02-27-2004
Africa to Cuba to Berkeley: Riding the Rhythm By JAKOB SCHILLER 02-27-2004
Arts Calendar 02-27-2004
GOP Senate Candidate Faces an Uphill Battle By PILAR MARRERO Pacific News Service 02-27-2004
Hey, What’s That? Free Daily Planet T-Shirts Awarded For Correct Answers Staff 02-27-2004
West Berkeley Go-Cart Accident Kills Teenager By Matthew Artz 02-24-2004
Berkeley This Week 02-24-2004
Letters to the Editor 02-24-2004
Arts Calendar 02-24-2004
Finance Department Looks To Close Escaped Tax Loopholes By J. Douglas Allen-Taylor 02-24-2004
Propositions 57 and 58 Are a Necessary First Step By SHIRLEY DEAN 02-24-2004
Candlelight Vigil Marks Tragic Death By JEANNE PIMENTEL Special to the Planet 02-24-2004
Last Words On Lecture Controversy 02-24-2004
Kashani Quits Affordable Housing Business By MATTHEW ARTZ 02-24-2004
Safeway Struggle Escalates to Full Boycott By JAKOB SCHILLER 02-24-2004
Police Blotter By MATTHEW ARTZ 02-24-2004
Transportation Commission Passes Rapid Bus Plan By MATTHEW ARTZ 02-24-2004
This Week in Berkeley Government By J. DOUGLAS ALLEN-TAYLOR 02-24-2004
Court Delays Ruling On BUSD Desegration Plan By MATTHEW ARTZ 02-24-2004
Despite Uprising, U.S. Haitians Still Support Aristide By MARCELO BALLVE Pacific News Service 02-24-2004
News Analysis: Federal Taxes Favor Big Chains Over Local Mom and Pops By SCOTT KLINGER AlterNet 02-24-2004
Conservative Historian Links Bush Family to Oil Scandals By DYLAN FOLEYFeaturewell 02-24-2004
From Susan Parker: Richmond Author Explores Teen Drug Epidemic Susan Parker 02-24-2004
Blood House Catalogs Southside History By LESLEY EMMINGTON 02-24-2004
Destructive Development on Southside By SHARON HUDSON 02-24-2004
Flowering Trees Make Berkeley Plum Beautiful By RON SULLIVANSpecial to the Planet 02-24-2004