A downtown Berkeley bank robbery ended Friday with the arrest of the dye-smeared suspect aboard a packed AC Transit bus in rush hour traffic. -more-

Berkeley’s Zoning Adjustments Board has greenlighted the most controversial building yet in the downtown area, the nine-story luxury Seagate apartment—or is it condo?—on Center Street. -more-

With its final meeting before Election Day scheduled for Tuesday, city councilmembers insist they won’t duck quite possibly the most controversial issue of the year. -more-

With Berkeley voters set to decide the fate of $8 million in proposed tax increases, Mayor Tom Bates publicized Monday a preliminary report claiming that the city on average offers more services for about the same price than comparable California cities. -more-

Zoning Adjustments Board members voted Thursday to allow an upscale Shattuck Avenue pasta eatery to sell take-out vino along with their penne and linguini. -more-

A friend of ours has been planning to go to Florida in the next couple of weeks to help with the get-out-the-vote effort. As the date approaches, she’s begun to wonder if it would be more effective to donate the cost of the trip to an organization already working in the field. Trying to help her make up her mind, I offered to poll my several politically astute cousins who live in Florida to see if they thought she should go. Their return emails were a good window on what’s going on in their part of the country. -more-