Neighbors of an alleged Oregon Street drug-dealing two-house complex say they never suspected any illegal activity at the residences, but call it a “problem property” that they now want the owner to sell. -more-

One of Berkeley’s largest affordable housing developers has been stripped of its federal funding amid charges that it has engaged in nepotism and misallocated funds. -more-

In City Council District 5, running for the seat being vacated by Councilmember Miriam Hawley are Jesse Townley, a civic-minded musician who offers youth and a fresh perspective, Laurie Capitelli, a real estate broker, connected to the city’s establishment who hasn’t sought to make waves, and community activist Barbara Gilbert, who thinks that the establishment will tax and spend the city into the ground. -more-

Following complaints by neighbors of a controversial South Richmond development site, the top official of the San Francisco Bay Area Water Quality Control Board promised Thursday to order round-the-clock monitoring of potentially toxic dust and compounds escaping from the Campus Bay project. -more-

Backed by a crowd of some 40 sign-carrying union members, representatives of the Berkeley Unified School District’s custodians, maintenance and food service workers, and bus drivers told BUSD board members Wednesday night the district must change its stand on worker health care and salary needs in contract mediation talks scheduled to begin next week. -more-

If 2000 was the year of the soccer mom, 2004 is the year for flip-flops: as fashion footwear, waving props (at the Republican convention) and taunting yells (at Bush rallies). This strategy was the brainchild of Karl Rove, Bush’s chief political strategist, who decided that the way for Bush to win was to destroy Kerry’s credibility and to attack his leadership qualities, largely by focusing on his alleged inconsistencies about the war in Iraq. -more-