By Matthew Artz -more-

TUESDAY, MARCH 2 -more-

The deposed President of the Caribbean island nation of Haiti has charged that he was forced out of office by a United States-orchestrated coup d’etat, and that view has been affirmed by Bay Area Congressmember Barbara Lee (D-Oakland). On Sunday of this week, under pressure from a rebel army which Lee characterized as “thugs,” Jean-Bertrand Aristide left Haiti under U.S. military escort. From temporary asylum in the Central African Republic, Aristide told CNN that “I was told that to avoid bloodshed, I’d better leave.” Aristide repeated that charge in telephone conversations Congressmembers Maxine Waters and Charles Rangel (both members of the Congressional Black Caucus) as well as with Randall Robinson, a respected African-American expert on African affairs. -more-

Berkeley-based Fantasy Records, which owns many of the greatest recordings from the Golden Age of jazz, is for sale, according to a report in Billboard magazine. -more-

A headline in last Friday’s Commentary section incorrectly stated -more-

Neighbors of the defunct Franklin Elementary School have reached a tentative settlement with the Berkeley Unified School District, clearing the way for BUSD’s plan to shift its Adult School to the Franklin campus this fall. -more-

The Zoning Adjustment Board gave the green light Thursday to Library Gardens—the largest development ever planned for the city center. But a ruling on the equally controversial Blood House development was postponed for two weeks while city staff analyze an independent proposal to spare a Berkeley landmark. -more-

Alice Strang spoke last Sunday at the Berkeley community memorial for her late brother, Fred Lupke. It was held at the Berkeley Public Library, one of the many good causes he supported. Lupke, also a dedicated volunteer for the Berkeley Daily Planet, was killed last September when a car struck his wheelchair as he traveled in the street on Ashby between Harper and Ellis. Disabled activists charged at the time that he had been forced into the street because the sidewalk on that block was sloping and badly cracked. The city of Berkeley has recently completed repairs to the sidewalk. -more-