Before a single vote has been counted in Berkeley, clear winners have emerged in the race to raise money for city council elections, according to campaign contribution and expense reports released Tuesday. -more-
When Michael Shaub moved into his home in North Berkeley last year, he didn’t know his pricey new address would cost him the chance to vote in Berkeley on Election Day. -more-
City housing officials have launched an investigation into the Gaia Building’s electric apartment heaters following a complaint from tenant Thomas Miller. -more-
Confronted by too many unresolved questions, the Richmond City Council Tuesday delayed a vote on the sale of Point Molate until they can get more answers. -more-
Despite dire warnings from firefighters, the City Council Tuesday voted 6-2 Tuesday to shut down one of its two truck companies during evening hours unless the firefighters’ union agrees to a salary giveback. -more-
In a bit of political theater that could reverberate in the District 3 City Council race, Councilmember Maudelle Shirek infuriated several progressives Tuesday by casting the deciding vote against a proposal to strengthen the rights of tenants facing evictions. -more-
The Howard Automobile Building, one of Berkeley’s last remaining Art Deco/Moderne buildings, may be pulled from the tax rolls and reincarnated as a tax-exempt Institute of Buddhist Studies. -more-
If ballot measures are the true measure of citizen voter participation, and citizen voter participation is the true measure of democracy, then the Nov. 2 election would seem to confirm the City of Berkeley as the democratic (small “d”) capital of the East Bay. -more-
As reported in Tuesday’s Fire Log in the Planet, revelers at Willard Park last Saturday afternoon were ordered to vacate by Berkeley police. As they cleared the park, they looked up at the sky to see: not a bird, not a plane, but a MedEvac helicopter touching-down on the park’s grassy knoll. -more-
Board Approves After School Fees -more-
The Free Speech Movement’s (FSM) 40th anniversary commemoration ends Sunday with gatherings for the veterans of the movement in Strawberry Canyon and a similar get-together for SLATE activists in Stiles Hall. -more-
The United States House of Representatives voted 402 to 2 this week to defeat a bill to reinstate the military draft. The Republican Party insists that this vote ought to end any speculation that the President has any plans to start up the draft again. -more-
Everyone who lived through the McCarthy Cold War period in the U.S. knows that an FBI on the prowl for “communists” soon goes after “fellow travelers” and anyone on a list of “subversive organizations.” Many intelligent, politically-active writers, actors, and scholars left the U.S. to avoid blacklisting and possible criminal charges because of their beliefs and activities. -more-
Berkeley firefighters faced a frantic afternoon Thursday. -more-
The debate’s about to start and I’m stuck in traffic, cursing, pounding the wheel, and trying very hard not to get into an accident. Damn the drivers clogging the road. They should be home watching, or at least pulling over to let those of us through who do want to watch, like they would for an ambulance or a fire truck. I’m racing to a global emergency. -more-
These are responses to questions posed to City Council candidates by readers of the Berkeley Daily Planet. Questions can be sent to opinion@berkeleydailyplanet.com. -more-
As the time for the big debate grew near, Democratic partisans acknowledged that it would be an “all or nothing” event for John Kerry. He was behind in most polls and his followers needed a victory to boost their sagging spirits. The angular Senator from Illinois did not disappoint his supporters. With his back against the wall, Kerry did what he had to do—clearly won the debate. -more-
District 6 starts at the northern side of Hearst Avenue and the eastern edge of Oxford Street and runs north to Cedar Street. It jogs up Cedar to Spruce Street and then continues along the eastern edge of Spruce all the way up to Tilden Park. District 6 has a diverse population that includes students, professors, homeowners and tenants. -more-
Why vote for me? I promise to fight against high property taxes and for the improvement of city services. I oppose all the city tax measures as many of us are living on fixed incomes and we’re already paying one of the highest property tax rates in the state, enough already. However, I do endorse Measure B because this time it will be spent in the classroom. -more-
I’m running for City Council with the number one priority of improving the lives of District 2 residents. My experience, energy, and enthusiasm prepare me to be a strong and effective voice for District 2. -more-
For some Berkeley residents, football season at the University is about as welcome as a visit from the Republican National Convention. They’re regular autumn gripes about home game day noise, crowds, and traffic or the philosophical meaninglessness of college sports. -more-
“That’s enough!” A voice rings out from the back of the Lissiter Auditorium at Mills College, angrily moving forward through the house. The audience, just seated, was waiting for the play (TheatreFIRST’s Joe Egg) to begin, finding itself suddenly to be the play, for the moment. -more-
Yet another casino is being floated for the East Bay, this one near the Oakland airport. -more-
Some towns fade with unfulfilled dreams. Luckily, Benicia is not one of them. While no longer California’s state capital, the original capital building, now a State Historic Park, provides a rare look back into Benicia and California’s history. While no longer a major military outpost, Benicia’s contribution to 19th century military history is well exhibited at the Historical Museum at the Camel Barns. And, while no longer an international port, Benicia’s former industrial section now houses a thriving arts and crafts community. -more-
Backed into a corner by a mounting deficit and an obstinate firefighters’ union, the City Council Tuesday will contemplate approving the first cut to fire response services in over 20 years. -more-
As crews prepare to dredge a shoreline marsh in Richmond on the edge of one of the region’s most polluted sites, Assemblymember Loni Hancock (D-Berkeley) is pushing for a legislative hearing. -more-
The math of building affordable housing in Berkeley looks especially troubling this year. -more-
There are 16 state ballot propositions this year. Enjoy. -more-
With school board elections less than a month away, controversial items are generally absent from BUSD’s board agenda for Wednesday night. One such contested item, however, may be a fee for the Middle School Extended Day Program. -more-
As string trios played and wait staff served up wine and munchies Friday evening, a hundred or so Berkeley business and political leaders got their first look at Patrick Kennedy’s newest additions to the downtown. -more-
Like many of you, I came to Berkeley to be a student at the University of California and I liked so many things about the city that I have lived here ever since. My wife Marilyn and I raised both of our children here, and Sarah and Matt went through the Berkeley schools. I graduated in 1967 with a degree in political science and began teaching social studies. I chose to teach high school because I wanted to help people understand the forces, policies, and even mythologies that shape the lives of ordinary people not only in this country but all over the world, and because I wanted to help give young people some of the tools they could use to change those conditions and to create better and fairer conditions for themselves and others. Although I changed careers in 1978, those values are still fundamentally important to me. They are the reasons I became active in city government 25 years ago, and they are the reasons why I’m running for City Council in District 5. -more-
District 5 and the city need Barbara Gilbert as councilperson because, put simply, the points of view for which I speak are not now adequately represented on our City Council. -more-
As important as the national elections are, we need to remember that our local democracy is also at risk. While I am not suggesting that we have local equivalents of Dick Cheney or John Ashcroft in our city government, I am suggesting that there is a connection between development and the democratic process which demands our attention. At a time when malign neglect of the economy at the national level and irresponsible grandstanding by our own governor have left cities such as Berkeley in severe economic distress, it is tempting to let the richest and most powerful segments of our community “solve” our problems for us. -more-
Paula Casio wants President Bush out of office. But with a daughter and a full-time job, she can’t spend the next month canvassing the streets of swing states. -more-
Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter Seymour Hersh, political humorist Molly Ivins and satirist Paul Krassner are among the voices speaking out as the Free Speech Movement’s 40th anniversary commemoration continues throughout the week. -more-
SAN FRANCISCO—Outside of a Vietnamese coffee shop in the Tenderloin district, two older Vietnamese men are smoking and talking about Bush and Kerry. “Kerry did very well, but Bush came out solid and strong,” says Mr. Tinh Nguyen. “Kerry might still have a fighting chance. Too bad we are voting in California. We can’t help President Bush from here.” -more-
Arsonist Strikes Julia Morgan Shed -more-
Attending the first day of an MFA fiction workshop at San Francisco State, I listened as the instructor took roll. When he came to the name Kirk Read, he hesitated, and then mumbled something about Kirk Read telling him he wouldn’t be taking the class. My ears perked up. The name Kirk Read was familiar. During the school year of 1982-83 in Virginia, when I was teaching fourth grade, I had a student named Kirk Read. Could it be the same little boy, all grown up and enrolled in graduate school? -more-
Probably the best-known human rights in the U.S. are the right to a lawyer and the right to due process. Anyone who has ever been arrested in a mass protest or in a strike may have also heard of the right to habeas corpus: the right, immediately after being arrested, to be brought before an official in the judicial system and told on what charges you are being held. -more-
Matthew Artz’ article “Owners Can Rebuild Near Creeks and Culverts,” (Daily Planet, Oct. 1-4) focused on the contentious nature of the Sept. 28 public hearing. Readers may remain unaware of some underlying details and issues. -more-
Daily Planet letter writer Doug Pestrak (Sept. 21-23) doesn’t have to look far for an answer to the homeless situation which puzzles him so much. If he just turns a few pages in the issue of the Planet in which his letter appeared, he’ll see that a site which once housed more than 70 low-income people with come-as-you-are (no large security deposits, leases, etc.) units runs the risk of being replaced with a building housing only 20 people, with possibly one or two “low income” units for the $35,000 a year set. -more-
I attended the public hearing on the Berkeley Creek Ordinance on Wednesday and was taken aback by the degree of fear and anxiety over the ordinance. The fear is based on the mistaken belief that you could not rebuild your home to the same footprint and height after a disaster or fire. I cannot think of any instance where the Creek Ordinance prevented a home from being rebuilt. Nevertheless, the City Council passed Alternative No. 2 with some amendments to make that clear. When misconceptions are repeated frequently enough, it can give listeners a mistaken impression that the idea is true. This is reminiscent of FOX news. -more-
In 1989 a group of creek enthusiasts, presumably with personal ties to members of the City Council, surreptitiously sold the City a strange bill of goods – an ordinance filled with nitpicking regulations and a glossary of arcane terms (rip-rap, crib-walls, fascines, gabions) – that reads as if it were written not by common-sense conservationists but by a cult of creek-worshipers intent on imposing their obsession on the world. It offered some reasonable constraints – no new construction within thirty feet of a creek, the day-lighting of culverted creeks where feasible – but hidden within it and unnoticed for fifteen years wasa larger vision. Following a major disaster – something like the ‘06 quake and its attendant firestorms – no creek-side structure could be rebuilt without a special variance from the City’s notoriously willful and erratic Zoning Adjustments Board. Thus, after such an event, great swaths of homes and businesses could be replaced by parkland with footpaths and biketrails. -more-
In the past 40 years the world of ceramic art has undergone a metamorphosis. In the 1960s every Berkeley housewife was a potter, producing clunky mugs and vases in the muted, often glassy, grays and browns of high temperature reduction firing. The influence of Bernard Leach was strong. -more-
In the shimmering, intricately beautiful music of the Balinese gamelan orchestra, the recurring cycles of melody are marked by the stirring ring of a gong. -more-
Although nature writers are supposed to have benign feelings about their (nonhuman, anyway) fellow creatures, I draw the line at raccoons: garbage-raiding, koi-eating thugs that make alarming noises in the dead of night. But to give the Devil his due, they’re good with their hands. Lacking opposable thumbs doesn’t seem to slow them down much. Scientists have claimed that raccoons far outrank their fellow carnivores in manual dexterity and are almost up there with the primates. -more-
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