It’s the biggest mystery swirling through Berkeley City Hall these past few days. What possessed Councilmember Margaret Breland to sack her appointee to the Planning Commission, John Curl, one day before the Wednesday night meeting where Curl appeared set to be elected vice chair of the commission? -more-

The ire surrounding the presidency of George W. Bush officially made its way to the Berkeley City Council Tuesday night when the council voted 8-0, Dona Spring abstaining, to support MoveOn.org’s efforts to censure President Bush. -more-

The project director of the proposed Berkeley UC hotel and conference complex stated this week for the first time, at least publicly, that the massive downtown development project will have to come under the city’s zoning ordinances and permit process. UC Senior Planner Kevin Hufferd told a Tuesday afternoon meeting of the Planning Commission’s UC Hotel Complex Task Force, however, that the hotel would probably exceed the city’s downtown height restrictions, leaving the distinct impression that it is the zoning ordinance itself which will have to give if the project is to go through. -more-

Wednesday morning’s walkout at El Cerrito High School was one protest that left Principal Vince Rhea smiling. -more-

FRIDAY, MARCH 12 -more-

After months of painful debate among parents about letting their young children vote on an issue heavy with racial overtones, students at Jefferson Elementary School will have final say on a controversial petition drive to change the school’s name. But they will participate only from the confines of their homes. -more-

The Board of Education voted Wednesday night to approve the latest incarnation of the Identity and Ethnic Studies (IES) program, Berkeley High’s most maligned class. The move came despite a call for ending IES from the student senate, which claimed it exacerbates racial tension on campus and costs students valuable electives. -more-

A proposal that could change the way Berkeley calculates how much can be built in a single development—and aimed at cutting down the size of future projects—was passed unanimously by the City Council Tuesday night. -more-

Oakland school district officials announced today that they won’t be sending layoff notices to tenured teachers this year. Last year the school district sent layoff notices to 1,160 teachers only to find itself seeking in the summer and fall to rehire them or find replacements. -more-

Robbery Victim Shot -more-

SAN JOSE, Calif.—Once touted as the centerpiece of the Silicon Valley dream, San Jose now seems to be collapsing from the inside. In the past few weeks: A father was mistakenly killed downtown by a state drug agent, a Sikh man killed three other Sikhs in a park, longtime Bay Area families were threatened with deportation, and growing reports of abuse came out of our Santa Clara Juvenile Hall. -more-

NORMAN, Okla.—Defending his decision to support a constitutional amendment against same-sex marriage, President Bush declared that the “union of a man and woman is the most enduring human institution, honored and encouraged in all cultures and by every religious faith.” -more-

If society is judged by the way it raises its children, what does the present condition of the East Bay’s major school systems say about us? -more-

Since last fall, Berkeley Design Advocates (BDA), a group of architects, planners and developers, has been promoting its vision of a gentrified West Berkeley. -more-

LEADERSHIP GAP -more-

The proposed downtown hotel and conference center poses an unprecedented risk to Berkeley’s unique character. This is not just another development fight, as the stakes are far greater. Defeating this project requires rare unity among longtime combatants in the city’s development wars. -more-

Out of a whole year filled with most improbable and sometimes inelegant arm movements, bow or baton in hand, there is only one Monday when I always come to work with a sore wrist. That’s usually the first or second Monday of February, after the annual weekend of auditions for the Junior Bach Festival, now in its fifty-first year in Berkeley. -more-

Maybe if we all go over to the university and picket Zellerbach Playhouse we can persuade the university’s theater department to extend the run of their present production of Marat/Sade past this weekend. -more-

Let me begin my completely biased and highly arbitrary list of events by telling you about the Oakland Museum Jazz Series. Four days of the week you can grab an inexpensive lunch, sit in the light-filled room that is the dining area, and hear bassist Ron Crotty accompany one of three fine Bay Area pianists who are in rotation there: Brian Cook, Terry Rodriguez, and Bliss Rodriguez. Terry was the fellow playing when I stopped in recently. -more-

FRIDAY, MARCH 12 -more-

Years ago I had a duck who would have killed for a tomato. I almost feel the same way about scalloped potatoes. When the potatoes have grown in one’s garden, the pleasure is doubled. Yet each year I fail to achieve the maximum crop, in spite of having tried nearly every known method of cultivation. Could it possibly be that potatoes have their limits—about two pounds per plant—and never will fill a twenty gallon garbage can with tubers, as is so often stated? -more-

A grass-roots project organized by Berkeley parents and supported by State Assemblymember Loni Hancock will be distributing $66,500 between Berkeley’s 17 public schools on Friday as part of a fundraising drive to help the district which has been hit hard by budget cuts. -more-

The true traveler is he who goes on foot, and even then, he sits down a lot of the time. -more-