The state of the City of Berkeley this year has been reflected in Mayor Tom Bates’ multiple State of the City addresses. The general public must pay for what they used to expect as free public services, or else wait around and pick up the leavings at a later time. -more-
In one of its last acts as manager of the recently-sold Claremont Hotel and Resort, former Claremont owner KSL Resorts has fired two workers whose charges of unfair labor practices against the resort were upheld by the National Labor Relations Board. -more-
Despite the city’s bohemian reputation, artists don’t have an easy time in Berkeley—especially when it comes to finding spaces to create, perform and display their works—and many fear the city may be losing its one sure creative haven. -more-
After 12 years of playing the theatrical equivalent of musical chairs, Managing Director Patrick Dooley and his acclaimed Shotgun Players solved their performance space needs the old-fashioned way—the purchase of the Transparent Theater by a generous patron, who turned around and leased it to the theater company. -more-
Berkeley residents better stock up on milk because, as part of the world’s largest bake sale event, the city will be over-run this weekend with cookies and brownies. And no, it’s not a Guinness Book of Records attempt, but rather another innovative campaign action by MoveOn.org to support the presidential candidacy of Democratic hopeful John Kerry. -more-
A draft UC Berkeley Long Range Development Plan (LRDP) and Environmental Impact Report (EIR) projecting 18 percent growth in academic building space, 30 percent growth in student housing, and 18 percent growth in parking was released by the university this week. The documents, when implemented in final form, are expected to direct future development on the campus and in surrounding Berkeley neighborhoods for the next fifteen years. -more-
Nic Rotolo, the Berkeley High Junior who collapsed and died on a San Jose ice rink during a hockey game last February, died from an irregular heartbeat, according to an amended death certificate released by the Santa Clara County Coroners Office Tuesday. Rotolo’s heart problem was most likely caused by a past viral infection, myocarditis, said Diana Hunter, a spokeswoman for the coroners office. -more-
The Board of Education unanimously approved a new contract for its classified employees Wednesday, ending a three-year battle over wages and health benefits. -more-
If this Sunday is a typical one in Berkeley, most residents will still be asleep around dawn. It will be quiet enough to hear the bells of the Campanile ringing across town. Berkeleyans will begin to rise and start their weekend routines—breakfast or brunch, church perhaps, or yoga, a morning walk or jog, a ruffle through the daily newspaper, an early start to garden work or studying or an excursion out of town, or perhaps just a morning spent relaxing in bed. -more-
• The marquee earthquake-related event takes place Wednesday, April 21 on the UC campus. The Seismological Laboratory sponsors the annual Lawson Lecture, featuring a distinguished speaker on issues of earthquakes and society. -more-
Ray Bradbury once wrote a story about a man who entered a home, hung around a while, visiting, and then killed the fellow who lived there. On his way out, the man took out a rag and wiped the places where he thought his fingers might have touched. Each time he was ready to leave, he thought of a new place to wipe where he might have left traces of his identity. And then, it occurred to him that he might not have sufficiently wiped each place, and so he went back to rewipe. The police caught him there some hours later, the house spotless and sparkling, the murderer still mindlessly polishing. He had even polished the wax apples at the bottom of the bowl on the kitchen table. -more-
The Planning Commission took a baby step Wednesday towards capping the size of future developments on University Avenue. -more-
As Democratic activists and friends of Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi, we read with dismay a statement imputed to her calling for more troops to bring stability to Iraq. We strongly disagree. The U.S. is sinking into a quagmire in Iraq. We cannot get out of this quagmire by going deeper into it. That reasoning led to our debacle in Vietnam. As in Vietnam, a U.S. administration has underestimated the power of nationalism. In a country where a people feel their sovereignty is being violated, greater intervention by a foreign occupier only deepens hostility and national resistance. -more-
In front of the proposed hotel, museum and conference center in the heart of Downtown Berkeley, Center Street—from Oxford to Shattuck—could be closed to motor vehicle traffic and redesigned as a pedestrian street. Imagine an entire block without the noise generated by cars, trucks and buses. A well-designed plaza could be created with benches and other street furniture. Trees could be planted to provide shade and additional landscaping could be added to naturalize the open space. -more-
This Saturday on the UC campus bells will ring, bands will play, dancers will dance, football players will scrimmage and choruses will sing. In building after building, faculty, students, and staff will throw open the doors of laboratories, classrooms, libraries, museums, and lecture halls. It’s Cal Day, the annual campus open house for the community. -more-
Born on New Years Day 1942 in Washington D.C. to a Jewish mother and a Presbyterian minister father and named after Soviet leader Josef Stalin, Berkeley’s Country Joe McDonald went on to star at two of the seminal musical events of the ‘60s—the 1968 Monterey Pop Festival and, a year later, Woodstock. -more-
EDITOR’S NOTE: This article by Shirley Barker is the first of what we hope will be an ongoing series of articles from local gardeners writing about their own gardens. We thought readers would like to see her in her garden. She’s originally from England “with a touch of Irish,” she says. She comes from a long line of gardeners and farmers, and says she learned about gardening at her mother’s knee. -more-
Berkeley Mayor Tom Bates recently threatened to explore alternative options to touchscreen voting machines if security problems aren’t worked out and the machines cannot ensure a secure and accurate vote. But City Clerk Sherry Kelly says that any switch would be an expensive project that might need approval from Berkeley voters before it could be implemented. -more-
Berkeley High students—already bombarded with a potpourri of culinary choices—were greeted Monday with the most conveniently located entry into the no-holds barred competition for student lunch money: a new school cafeteria. -more-
As the Berkeley Planning Commission’s UC Hotel Task Force heads into its next-to-last session this afternoon (Tuesday, April 13), the 25 panelists are examining a sizable stack of suggestions. -more-
It’s Sacramento’s never ending tug-of-war. The Legislature tries to extend its control over local governments, while the affected localities scratch and claw to stop them. -more-
When Iran’s influential former president, Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani recently hailed the Shi’ite Muslim militia of wanted Iraqi cleric Muqtada al-Sadr as “heroic,” he might have been signaling that Iran is finally coming out from behind the scenes in the confrontation between the U.S. and al-Sadr that has left dozens dead. -more-
I’ve never been active in politics. Growing up on the East coast in the ‘50s and ‘60s, my parents expected my brothers and me to agree with them on political issues. Anything less resulted in enormous shouting matches, hurt feelings, and veiled threats. Even today, now that my brothers and I are practically senior citizens ourselves, we don’t discuss political views with my elderly parents. If you aren’t Republican and in support of George Bush, if you neglect to attend church, or if you don’t believe prison is full of people who need to be kept out of sight and out of mind, then it’s best to keep your opinions to yourself. We drink cocktails and talk about sports and the weather. It’s better for everyone’s nerves and high blood pressure. -more-
Thanks to the Reed family and the Daily Planet for the willingness to publicly address bullying in our schools. I too have navigated the institutional and family requirements to educate, keep healthy and resilient a student harmed by bullying and violence. For those students who have the unfortunate experience of persistent and pervasive harassment and abuse their childhood is quite different than others. Many students will encounter taunting and harassment in school, and may become wiser and stronger from the experience, but for many others the reality is disturbing and the problem and solutions are not completely in their control. Aggression in our schools is a constant; dismissing or pretending otherwise interferes with taking the right actions. Blaming the victim is a device of the ignorant. -more-
What’s Berkeley like at rush hour? Traffic on Shattuck Avenue. Traffic on Ashby Avenue. Traffic on University Avenue. Berkeley’s major streets are at capacity, and are already clogged with traffic. This also affects commuters who take the bus, who are stuck in the same traffic. -more-
A product of sheer hard work, self-discipline, and enthusiasm, the En Pointe Youth Dance Company’s spring show “Young Syncopations” brings together six pieces, each with a unique style of choreography. -more-
Citizens: Please report to the Berkeley Art Museum (BAM) by April 25. That’s the last date to catch “Ant Farm 1968-1978” before it leaves on a five-city tour. For your own protection, don’t miss this retrospective of architecture, urban-planning, and media pranks. It’s thought-provoking, transparent, and great fun. -more-
Red horsechestnuts are blooming now. It’s an interesting phenomenon: the rosy-red flowers are in great big stacks, but somehow easy to miss as you drive by. You walk by, or sit at a stoplight, and suddenly they’re astonishing. In a big mature tree like the handsome one at the southeast corner of Sacramento and Hopkins, the foliage is deep and thick enough to make the flowers less prominent to the fast-passing eye; in younger trees like those near the Berkeley Bowl, they’re like big candles on the twigs. -more-
It’s often hard, when it comes time to write editorials, to decide what readers are most interested in thinking about. Editorial departments in many newspapers seem to believe that their job is to tell readers what to think. In Berkeley, and particularly at the Berkeley Daily Planet, that’s definitely not our job. Our readers can make up their own minds, thank you. What we hope to do is to point out what’s going on, in case someone’s missing something, so that readers know when it’s their duty to form opinions on important topics of the day. -more-
