“I’m 77 now, and I’ve never seen anything like this,” said UCB Professor Donald Glaser. “I’ve never gotten so involved with politics before. I’ve given money to candidates in the past, but this year we’ve stretched ourselves financially.” -more-

Kimberly Sellers says that one of her most vivid memories from childhood is of helping her father, every year, track the number of African Americans graduating with doctorates from American universities. She remembers it so well, she says, because the nu mbers were always dismally low, usually in the single digits. -more-

The City Council Tuesday easily adopted a budget that erases Berkeley’s $10.3 million general fund deficit without laying off a single employee. -more-

Three West Berkeley businesses say that recent changes in the signage, traffic signals and road striping at three Berkeley intersections—Ashby and 7th, Ashby and 9th and 7th and Murray—have created hazards for drivers and pedestrians and at the same time made it extremely difficult to get to their stores without breaking the law. -more-

The Peralta Community College District Board of Trustees, still reeling from allegations made by outgoing Vista College President John Garmon that he was ousted by a black racial conspiracy, named a district veteran to replace Garmon on an interim basis. -more-

It is clear that important new evidence about al Qaeda has been gathered and released by the 9/11 Commission. But it is also clear that the commission did nothing when a Justice Department official, in commission testimony last week, brazenly covered up the embarrassing relationship of the FBI to a senior al Qaeda operative, Ali Mohamed. By telling the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) to release Mohamed in 1993, the FBI may have contributed to the bombing of the U.S. Embassy in Kenya five years later. -more-

SAN FRANCISCO--She's been called "The Good Jailer" by the New York Times and hailed as a reformer. -more-

Berkeley voters will likely face landmark ballot initiatives that would make the city the friendliest place in California for medical cannabis users, sex workers and some trees. -more-

Berkeley real estate agent and developer John Gordon is floating before the Zoning Adjustments Board the notion of relocating two landmarked buildings onto a lot he owns. Whether the two buildings will actually fit on the small lot remains an open question. -more-

WASHINGTON (NNPA) – The overall cancer death rate has decreased slightly over the past decade, but African-Americans continue to suffer higher rates of death from every major form of cancer than their white counterparts, according to a joint report issued this week by four leading health agencies. -more-

When I first heard the Gwo-Ka Masters debut album, Yonn-dé, I was, in a manner of speaking, blindfolded, even hoodwinked. A friend played it without showing me the cover and I said, with a bittersweet feeling, “Now we have to go to the West Indies to hear great jazz saxophonists.” I’m always lamenting the death of jazz. In this case I was wrong. The remarkable tenor saxophonist and bass clarinetist embedded within the olla podrida of jazz players and Guadeloupean musicians was Berkeley’s own David Murray, among the greatest of all living jazz musicians. -more-

For Farmers’ Market shoppers who have been wondering what to cook with the array of interesting and unusual produce to be found at the Berkeley Ecology Center Farmers’ Market, the Market will present the first program in its Ethnic Food Festival, Latin American Cuisine, this Saturday, June 26. Three popular market food purveyors will demonstrate the tricks of their trade. Amigas, a Mexican caterer, Flaco’s, with vegan Mexican food, and Sofrito Puerto Rican Cuisine will give cooking demonstrations at the market, located next to the Berkeley City Hall on Center St. at Martin Luther King, Jr. Way. -more-

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School Board Backs Community Park -more-

Mr. John Protopappas, the President of the Port of Oakland Commission, informs us of an interesting new math being practiced over there at the commission’s glass palace by the bay. The new executive director for the port started this week. Meanwhile, the outgoing executive director—Mr. Tay Yoshitani—will be allowed to stay on the payroll for three more months as something called “Extra Position No. 1” (no, I am not making this up) at his regular salary of $20,650 per month, complete with full benefits and an office of his own, even though Mr. Yoshitani may actually have left Oakland and is already on his way back to Baltimore. -more-

It’s a safe bet there weren’t many buses of Reagan mourners leaving Berkeley for Simi Valley or Washington the other week. We understand that behind the soaring rhetoric was a cruel reality, an indifference to people in need, foreign policy by death squad. -more-

Virtually everyone agrees on the goal of getting more people to take public transit. And this past March voters passed Regional Measure 2 to fund more mass transit projects. However, when it comes to how and where there are some differences of opinion. -more-

At first, to the doctor who checked her over, the illness that struck my daughter, Cora, looked like a virus. Even the blood test suggested a virus. That was because I had taken her in so quickly when she started shaking with chills. -more-

MEANS TESTING -more-

A few weeks ago my friend Jernae and I attended a tea party in the middle of Addison Street in downtown Berkeley. This wasn’t just any tea party. This was a tea party with an environmental agenda. Entitled “A Tea Cup Give Away Storytelling Tea Party,” it was sponsored by the Berkeley Art Commission’s Addison Street Windows Gallery. In association with the Urban Creeks Council, local interdisciplinary artist/performer Patricia Bulitt has put together the current window exhibit that includes photo imagery, text, poetic prose, costumes, hats, and recycled kettles. -more-

Playwright Doug Wright, who won this year’s Tony, as well as the Pulitzer Prize for Drama for his current Broadway hit, “I Am My Own Wife,” apparently has learned a lot about playwriting in the years since he wrote the play, which is currently being perf ormed at the Julia Morgan Theatre. -more-

FRIDAY, JUNE 25 -more-

Even non-railroad buffs of all ages will find adventure at the California State Railroad Museum in Old Sacramento State Historic Park. -more-

June 21, 2004 -more-

FRIDAY, JUNE 25 -more-