While Berkeley’s office vacancy rate is the lowest in the East Bay, the city is not so fortunate when it comes to retail space—those street-level locations so prized by merchandisers and restaurants. -more-

For students at Thousand Oaks Elementary School, the only thing worse than losing a game at recess was losing their ball in the polluted Blackberry Creek that runs through their schoolyard. -more-

While Berkeley Police are offering few details about the in-custody death of 45-year-old Tyrone Hughes Sr., the dead man’s son is talking lawsuit, and he’s already arranged for a private autopsy. -more-

FRIDAY, APRIL 2 -more-

Pedestrian tunnels, daylighted creeks, “green” construction, mass transit, a field trip to San Luis Obispo, street musicians, bus fumes and funding issues dominated the discussion last Wednesday night at the Planning Commission’s UC Hotel Task Force presentation. -more-

Birthdays. Some people love them, some people hate them. For optimists, it’s a chance to have a party, to get gifts and bouquets from your friends, and to look forward with enthusiasm to new triumphs in the coming year. For pessimists, there’s the temptation to be excessively aware of how the time has slipped away since last year, with concomitant worrying about what hasn’t been accomplished. Pessimists are the people who need the parties and the bouquets, but often they greet friends’ efforts to cheer them up on birthdays with surly rejection. -more-