When the freshly elected Berkeley City Council convenes next month it will have three new members and one unenviable challenge. -more-
Race, which formed a quiet subtext to the Berkeley School Board elections, bubbled over the surface this week as a representative of presumed defeated candidate Karen Hemphill charged that “that Berkeley showed its true colors” on election day. -more-
Several thousand votes likely remain uncounted in Berkeley after an unprecedented surge in last minute voter registrations left nearly 5,000 residents off of the voter rolls. -more-
Berkeley Landmarks Preservation Commissioners Monday approved plans for a pair of duplexes in the city’s newest landmarked historic neighborhood, ending a long and grueling battle. -more-
A new citizen seeking to cast her first vote and her husband screamed, yelled and threatened to call the police before they were allowed to cast their ballots at the YWCA polling station Tuesday. -more-
On an election day when Republicans painted most of the country red, Berkeley called it an early night. -more-
In the aftermath of the victory of Oakland’s safety Measure Y, supporters were calling it the result of a “measured, reasonable compromise” while progressive opponents said they lost because of defections from organizations and politicians “we would have expected to be fighting on our side.” -more-
Measure K, one of the most heated issues this year in El Cerrito, went the way most thought it would, passing with 6,427 votes, or 65.3 percent. -more-
The heated battle over the cleanup and development of the heavily polluted South Richmond site of a chemical manufacturing complex heads to a higher venue Saturday. -more-
On Tuesday the Berkeley Daily Planet had its first hearing in Alameda Superior Court concerning the unsealing of records filed in a class action lawsuit brought against California Wal-Mart stores. -more-
An Alameda County Coroner’s office toxicology report has revealed that UC Berkeley senior Patrick McCann had illegal drugs in his system when he died under mysterious circumstances two weeks ago, but there is no evidence yet as to what may have caused his death. -more-
As a social anthropologist I observed the collapse of communism in Eastern Europe and the rise of powerful, close-knit circles that filled the leadership vacuum and seized large chunks of state-owned wealth. These exclusive groups resemble the neoconserv ative or “neocon” core of 10 or so players who helped push the United States into Iraq. The rise of this neocon power circle—and its continued prominence within and without the second-term Bush administration—signals troubling changes in American governin g and policymaking. -more-
After two shootings, one serious, and a series of four vehicle arsons in seven days along a three-block stretch of Harmon Street in South Berkeley, police are declining to say if the crimes are related. -more-
http://www.jfdefreitas.com/?path=/00__Latest%20Work¯ -more-
On Tuesday evening, as actual vote tallies in the presidential race began coming in, television commentators immediately noted that there was a marked difference between the actual vote tallies and the projected vote tallies as worked out in the exit pol ls. The exit polls were being conducted outside of voting booths across the country by Edison Media Research/Mitofsky International in a national election pool jointly sponsored by the Associated Press, CNN, Fox News, and the three broadcast television ne tworks. -more-
Some people do it for civic duty. The pay certainly doesn’t attract any but the most desperate or the most dedicated. Retired seniors accept the $80 for a 14-hour day (minus a one-hour break) as pin money for being useful. -more-
It is traditional for the losing candidate in a presidential race to give a concession speech thanking his or her supporters, and calling on them to join together with those who did not vote the same way. John Kerry followed that tradition in his concess ion speech, but as one of his supporters, here is some of what I would have liked to hear him say: -more-
Berkeley, what are we seeing about ourselves this morning? Many of us woke up this morning feeling a deep depression about the state of our country, especially as we absorbed the vast numbers of people who supported the arrogant, self-serving, mean spiri ted leadership of our president. I, like many others in Berkeley, felt marginalized in my perspectives about everything from international policy and national priorities to individual and social concerns. But when I look at my own community, I see some of the same trends that I see in the national results. I am heart sick at the defeat of Measures J, K, L and M—which would have paid for youth programs, libraries, police, fire and other front-line services. In the decision to save those of us who might hav e had to spend a few hundred dollars a year, from having to spend those dollars, I see a community that is trying to “protect” individuals at the cost of our commonwealth. Sound familiar? -more-
On Election Day, Berkeley voters trounced five ballot measures put forth by our political establishment (mayor, City Council, city manager, city labor unions, and various vested and invested friends of). Four of these (Measures J, K, L, and M) would have resulted in direct tax increases upon an already overtaxed population. The fifth (Measure H) was an indirect tax increase, since it would have committed the city to creating a $1,800,000 fund for political candidates. -more-
On a narrow, winding country lane in the lower Berkeley hills stands an empty house, described affectionately by its neighbors as the Jensen Cottage. It is one of the most famous homes designed by the distinguished mid-century architect William W. Wurster. And Wurster Hall, the building that houses the College of Environmental Design on the UC Berkeley campus, is named after this famous architect. -more-
Long ago in England, in a bizarre BBC interview, an ancient Irish countryman with a voice from a J.M. Synge play was expressing his low opinion of architecture. Asked about St. Paul’s Cathedral, he opined that, “All buildings are ugly, but some are uglier than others.” Fifty years later I feel somewhat the same about the “built environment” of Berkeley, particularly the new crop of downtown apartments squeezed into landlocked “opportunity sites.” -more-
Max Sinton, 11, a sixth-grader at Longfellow Junior High School attentively fills out his ballot in the school courtyard. In a mock presidential election at Longfellow Junior High on Monday, John Kerry won by a landslide with 245 votes. President George Bush came away with only 8 votes, and 22 ballots were thrown out. Of the 433 students at the school, 297 registered to vote, a requirement in order to participate. At right, a voter enjoys a post-decision lollipop while showing off his “I Voted” souvenir sticker. -more-
Over the protests of neighboring business and property owners, Zoning Adjustments Board members Thursday issued a mitigated negative declaration and a use permit for a major University Avenue project. -more-
If John Kerry emerges triumphant Tuesday, he will have thousands of volunteers to thank, including quite a few from Berkeley. -more-
Richmond city officials abused their discretion three years ago in approving a plan by ChevronTexaco to create two 30,000-barrel liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) tanks, a state appellate court ruled Friday. -more-
With the supply scarce, Berkeley health officials are struggling to decide how to dole out potentially life-saving flu vaccines this winter—a challenge made more complicated by the fact that most of the doses are in private hands. -more-
One of the largest homeless service providers in the Bay Area is slated to take over a jobs training program in Berkeley after the current provider ran afoul of federal regulators. -more-
Political junkies who don’t want to spend election night alone staring at television news anchors have plenty of social opportunities Tuesday night. -more-
Albany City Council candidates Brian Parker and Robert Lieber have filed a complaint with the California Fair Political Practices Commission, charging two of his opponents with attempting to subvert Albany’s campaign finance ordinance by illegally coordinating with an independent campaign committee. -more-
Many of the campaign posters plastered on Berkeley telephone poles and staked into lawns this political season, no matter the political slant, have a common thread: They’re made in Emeryville. -more-
Civic Arts Commission members Wednesday voted 7-2 to accept “Spaceship Earth,” a massive quartzite and bronze sculpture honoring the late Berkeley-born environmentalist David Brower. -more-
The Berkeley elections claimed at least one victim last week when Berkeley Unified School District Superintendent Michele Lawrence accidentally fell and broke her ankle in two places during a block party where she had planned to give a talk promoting Measure B. -more-
The recent announcement that scientists had found the bones of a “human dwarf” species on the remote island of Flores in Eastern Indonesia shocked anthropologists across the globe. Could these human dwarf people, dubbed Homo floresiensis, have lived alongside our taller human ancestors just 13,000 years ago? Before the discovery, scientists would have said “impossible!” But if you asked people I know on the island of Flores, they would say, “Yes, we know they lived here—until very recently, in fact.” -more-
San Francisco State -more-
Berkeley recently—and rightfully—celebrated the 40th anniversary of the Free Speech Movement. But news coverage of the events barely mentioned the heavy-handed role the university played, in first causing the movement by curtailing speech, and later in ratcheting up the violence that accompanied subsequent protest activities. Today UCB basks in the glow of the FSM, but don’t forget: UC was the oppressor that made Berkeley radical. And still does. -more-
El Cerrito aspires to be Contra Costa County’s progressive bastion, providing supermajority support for school, library and transit taxes. But emulating Berkeley cuts both ways, and the city, seemingly inspired by Berkeley’s “Budget Watch,” now has a like tax revolt battling “Measure K”—an attempt to legitimize a hitherto illegal 8 percent utility user’s tax. The City Council ignored a 2001 court decision forcing it to get voter approval. All it did was cut its statute of limitations exposure to a year, to minimize tax rebate requests in case of a lawsuit. Now it plays catch-up in a very heavy-handed manner. Political satellites tend towards theatrics, achieving a nuttiness of their very own. -more-
Everyone who’s been anxiously awaiting the national election might learn a thing or two from Samba Ngo, an African musician who lives by the motto “Let’s dance now, because tomorrow who knows.” -more-
There’s a pretty row of ginkgo trees along the curve where Shattuck Avenue meets Henry Street in North Berkeley, and shorter rows and isolated specimens elsewhere around town. -more-
A friend has a post-election analysis: “I’m disgusted and fed up with the working class in this country. They sold out their own self interest for the right to yell ‘faggot’ out of their pick-ups.” She’s got a point. About half of the American electorate has once again distinguished itself by preferring snake oil to vitamins—not the first time this has happened historically, not even the first time in my lifetime, but it’s always disheartening to see this self-destructive behavior in action. -more-
That uncanny silence you hear all over Berkeley is the sound of more than a hundred thousand people simultaneously holding their breath until the election is over. This paper will be on the stand for three days, and it’s a pretty fair bet that most Berkeleyans won’t be able to exhale until the next issue comes out, if then. The good thing about this election is that it’s got people talking to one another who have managed to disagree about a lot of the important issues for the last 30 years, give or take a few. Whoever wins the presidency, there’s sure to be a post-election honeymoon during which born-again Democrats will continue to talk to one another about what’s best for the country—it’s just that different tactical responses will be required depending on who wins the presidency. Not even very different, really, because the Republicans are likely to retain control of Congress in any event. -more-
