Larnice Holliman, an 87-year-old Berkeley woman, died Thursday afternoon in a fire that swept through her one-story wood-frame house in the 1500 block of Allston Way. -more-

The former head of a local African American landlords association has charged that the Berkeley Housing Authority’s new Section 8 rules will result in a severe reduction in available Section 8 housing and a drop in minority renters using the program. -more-

Oakland Police are continuing to seek the gunman who murdered Nyima Sorenson, a young Berkeley man, outside a tavern in Rockridge shortly minutes before 2 a.m. on June 25, said Homicide Lt. Jim Emery said Thursday. -more-

Dana Rassas has done her fair share of traveling, but when the 24-year-old Jordanian decided her latest adventure would take her to Israel for a masters program in environmental studies, she was hesitant to spread the news. -more-

Sometimes all it takes is a phone call. -more-

The Alameda County Medical Center—the only option in specialized medicine for Berkeley’s roughly 10,000 uninsured residents—has been driven to the brink of financial collapse by poor management and lax county oversight, according to a report released Tuesday by the Alameda County Civil Grand Jury. -more-

The roughly 12 employees of the Berkeley Jobs Consortium—who have devoted their time to helping some of the area’s most at-risk residents find work—might now find themselves in the unemployment line. -more-

I am weary of the strong sea -more-

SOLEDAD, Calif.—Farm worker unions and the Bush administration are heading rapidly towards confrontation over immigration. -more-

Something happened in Oakland this week that will have significant impact on the direction of the city, but it’s probably going to take some time to understand how much impact, and in what direction. -more-

Police Seek Couple in Home Invasion -more-

BONES OF TRUTH -more-

As a Berkeley landlord for some 37 years I offer some hopefully relevant observations. -more-

Two weeks ago I had a bone scan. I was injected with radioactive barium. It migrated to my bones (“Don’t worry,” said the nurse, “it’s gone in a few hours, less radiation than an x-ray.”) I lay on a platform while a camera positioned a few inches above my nose slowly moved along a beam from my head to my feet, recording the emanations from my bones on a film. “The doctor is in the next room interpreting the film,” said the nurse as she helped me up and I threaded my belt through the loops of my pants and returned the keys to my pocket, relieved to be in charge of my life again. -more-

What if your neighbors could organize, with the city’s blessing, to force you to pay an additional $2,000 a year in property taxes to improve their views of the bay and increase property values? -more-

One of the things long separating California from other states has been the quality of its higher-education system. Forty years ago, Californians embraced the Higher Education Master Plan, which set aside spaces for California’s high-school graduates in the University of California, California State University and community-college systems. -more-

THEORY AND PRACTICE -more-

Parachuting out of an airplane isn’t usually considered a political statement. Not unless you’re Berkeley resident Ken Norwood and you try to make it one. -more-

The venerable San Francisco Mime Troupe brings its newest offering to Berkeley this weekend, with two free performances of its (George W.) Bush League Spaghetti Western, Showdown at Crawford Gulch. -more-

“All I wanted was a quiet place in the country to write and loaf in and get out of nature that something we all need, only most of us don’t know it.” -more-

FRIDAY, JULY 9 -more-