An Alameda County Superior Court judge Tuesday dismissed a challenge filed by the conservative Pacific Legal Foundation that threatened to undo Berkeley’s plan for integrating its schools. -more-

On the first anniversary of the bloody waterfront confrontation between Oakland Police and antiwar protesters, officers did their best to stay out of the way of several hundred anti-war protesters—including a large group from Berkeley—who demonstrated Wednesday along the docks of the Port of Oakland. -more-

The Planning Commission’s UC Hotel Task Force’s final public input session Wednesday focused on the project’s likely impact on the downtown business community. -more-

FRIDAY, APRIL 9 -more-

Lawrence McGrew, a Berkeley High football standout who finished his NFL career a Super Bowl champion, died last Friday of a suspected heart attack. He was 46. -more-

Inebriated student sparks campus hazing probe -more-

Recently-circulated reports of a ban on the sale of bio-diesel in California are not true, according to Dave Williamson of the Ecology Center in Berkeley. -more-

SAN PABLO —A hospital that provides the majority of emergency care to West Contra Costa County residents could be shut down unless voters approve Measure D, a $1 per week parcel tax that would fund hospital operations, Contra Costa County Supervisor John Gioia and West Contra Costa Healthcare District officials said in a news conference on Thursday. -more-

SAN FRANCISCO—A civil lawsuit filed against a Berkeley landlord by four natives of India who claimed they were sexually abused or exploited for cheap labor was settled in federal court in San Francisco on Wednesday just before the start of a trial. -more-

A friend and I were speaking this week about events in Iraq—what else?—and she posed the questions that haunt many Democrats who came of age in the Vietnam war era: If John Kerry wins in November, how does he extricate the country from the Iraqi war? Even under a Kerry presidency, aren’t we looking at months—perhaps even years—of continued American military occupation while the new administration seeks out that elusive “peace with honor”? -more-

ONE YEAR -more-

As a gray-haired 60-year-old whose activism, such as it is, started with Free Speech Movement sit-ins, I find it ironic to be back to civil disobedience. -more-

When Jon Alff generalizes about Europe based on what he has seen in Bilbao and says that removing parking increases congestion, he is just plain wrong. (Letters, Daily Planet, April 6-8) -more-

Months before Mel Gibson’s picture The Passion of the Christ was even released, the public was counseled by a plethora of spiritual mentors to avoid autonomic assumptions that the Jews were responsible for Christ’s death. Although there is little coherent evidence that has put the issue of culpability to irrefutable rest, there is nothing inductively impossible in the gospels’ telling of the social-political denouement leading to the crucifixion of the Nazarene, Jesus Christ. -more-

Richard Clarke’s recent televised apology during the commission investigating 9/11 was a rarity in public American life. It not often that a high ranking public leader takes responsibility for the failure to protect the American people and for the ultimate disaster of 9/11. The issue, however, goes way beyond 9/11. It speaks about our inability to act humanely and decently in a variety of situations. No one, especially our leaders, wants to be seen as “weak.” Somehow we’ve come to confuse apology with weakness. The myth is that real men and women do not make large and serious mistakes, and that the effort to deal with these errors will only compound the sin. For a variety of reasons the act of apology is taboo. It has been in serious disrepute for as long as we can remember. -more-

EDITOR’S NOTE: The Berkeley Daily Planet extends a hearty welcome to Beyond Chron, (www.beyondchron.org) the Voice of the Rest, a new online publication launched by Randy Shaw, the director of the Tenderloin Housing Clinic. His announced goal is to “provide coverage of political and cultural issues often distorted or ignored by the Bay Area’s largest newspaper, the San Francisco Chronicle... with a critical look at the cutting edge issues of the day.” The Daily Planet has agreed to provide a newsprint outlet from time to time for interesting articles from Beyond Chron. We are pleased to launch this collaboration with part one of an article on spam blocking by Berkeley resident and technology expert Henry Norr. Part two will appear next week. -more-

No question but that the Shotgun Players are on a roll. Ever since last summer’s terrific production of Mother Courage they’ve been showing their stuff by leaping from one high point to another—all equally fine shows, but extraordinarily different in content and style. -more-

Q. I hired a contractor to remodel my bathroom and expected it to be finished while I was out of town. When I returned, the job was not completed and the contractor keeps stalling. I’m really frustrated. What should I do? -more-

FRIDAY, APRIL 9 -more-

Each no bigger than a poppy seed, a host of minuscule critters lurks in Northern California woodlands, loaded with bacteria capable of inflicting misery on campers, hikers and picnickers who take to the woods this spring. -more-