The Week

Richard Brenneman: 
          The “flying cottage,” a Shattuck Avenue home elevated atop two stories built last year, was roundly assailed by neighbors, who want to see the structure scaled down to fit into their neighborhood of century-old one- and two-story homes. o
Richard Brenneman: The “flying cottage,” a Shattuck Avenue home elevated atop two stories built last year, was roundly assailed by neighbors, who want to see the structure scaled down to fit into their neighborhood of century-old one- and two-story homes. o
 

News

Design Panel Slams Latest ‘Flying Cottage’ Plan By RICHARD BRENNEMAN

Tuesday December 21, 2004

City Design Review Committee (DRC) members got their first glimpse Thursday at the latest plans for the “floating cottage” at 3045 Shattuck Ave., and they didn’t like what they saw. -more-


Complaints From Residents Spark Changes at Senior Home By MATTHEW ARTZ

Tuesday December 21, 2004

Rita Garcia knew the senior housing complex where she lived couldn’t go much longer without a resident manager the day she locked her keys in her apartment last August. -more-


Landlord Sweetens the Deal for Tenants By MATTHEW ARTZ

Tuesday December 21, 2004

When it comes to Berkeley landlords, Mark Tarses breaks the mold. -more-


Parents Fume Over Oakland School for the Arts Miscues By J. DOUGLAS ALLEN-TAYLOR

Tuesday December 21, 2004

A group of disillusioned parents of students at Oakland Mayor Jerry Brown’s Oakland School for the Arts (OSA) charter school have issued a scathing “Report Card 2004” on the school, blasting OSA for everything from unqualified teachers to undisclosed fees to what it calls “academic labeling of students.” -more-


Critics Win New Victory in Campus Bay Cleanup By RICHARD BRENNEMAN

Tuesday December 21, 2004

The constant flow of heavily loaded trucks scheduled to move out of Campus Bay this week marks a second partial victory for critics of the marshland cleanup at the heavily contaminated Richmond site. -more-


BUSD Wins Measure A Funding For 3 School Nurses By J. DOUGLAS ALLEN-TAYLOR

Tuesday December 21, 2004

An Alameda County bond measure passed this year primarily to shore up Highland Hospital will now be used to put three nurses in Berkeley public schools. -more-


Supervisors Back County Detox Center By MATTHEW ARTZ

Tuesday December 21, 2004

Alameda County took a big step last week towards building a detox center when the Board of Supervisors voted unanimously to set aside $2 million to fund a program. -more-


Levine Ridicules Challenges to Point Molate Casino Plan By RICHARD BRENNEMAN

Tuesday December 21, 2004

“Ridiculous,” said Berkeley developer James D. Levine when asked about the latest legal challenges to his plans to build a major tribal casino, resort, shopping center and entertainment complex at Richmond’s Point Molate. -more-


Claremont Employees Stage One More Picket By JAKOB SCHILLER

Tuesday December 21, 2004

Claremont workers said they hope the 12-hour picket line they staged at the hotel on Friday will be their last. -more-


Bayer Backs Out of Genetic Engineering in India By PESTICIDE ACTION NETWORK UPDATE SERVICE

Tuesday December 21, 2004

Greenpeace India announced in November 2004 that Bayer CropScience has ended efforts to commercialize genetically engineered (GE) crops in India. Bayer’s announcement came after weeks of protests, including an 11- hour protest in Mumbai, during which Greenpeace activists chained themselves to Bayer headquarters and unfurled banners proclaiming, “Bayer Poisons Our Food.” -more-


Campaign 2004: Are There Signs of Life After Death? By BOB BURNETT News Analysis

Special to the Planet
Tuesday December 21, 2004

Dante wrote that the gates of Hell bear the admonition “All hope abandon, ye who enter here!” This phrase aptly conveys the feelings of many Americans as we prepare to enter four more years of the Bush administration. -more-


Another Water Revolt Begins in Bolivia By JIM SHULTZ Commentary

Pacific News Service
Tuesday December 21, 2004

COCHABAMBA, Bolivia—Five years ago the issue of water privatization exploded here when massive public protests forced out a consortium of firms led by the California engineering giant, Bechtel. Within weeks of taking over the city’s public water company, Bechtel hiked up rates by as much as 200 percent, far beyond what the city’s poor could afford to pay. -more-


Letters to the Editor

Tuesday December 21, 2004

MARIN AVENUE -more-



Teaching a Child to Swim: A Fun, Wholesome and Righteous Activity By SUSAN PARKER

Column
Tuesday December 21, 2004

One of the first columns I wrote and published was about teaching my friend Jernae to swim at the Emeryville Public Pool. I described how I was the only adult in the water, and how children surrounded me, wrapped their skinny arms around my neck and hollered at me to watch them as they did multiple cannonballs in my face. Most of the kids did not know how to swim and were therefore relegated to the shallow end of the pool. The deep end was empty, serene, and placid; the three-foot section was crowded, wild and noisy. Within the middle of this storm I attempted to instruct Jernae on the finer points of the doggie paddle. -more-


Police Blotter By RICHARD BRENNEMAN

Tuesday December 21, 2004

Cyclist Badly Hurt in Hit-and-Run -more-


Why Unhappy People are Voting Against Things By ZELDA BRONSTEIN Commentary

Tuesday December 21, 2004

Rarely does an elected official publicly broach spot-on analysis of so delicate a topic as the defeat of the four city tax measures that the Berkeley City Council placed on last November’s ballot, especially when that analysis puts the onus on his colleagues, their staff and himself. -more-


Invasion and Reconstruction: It’s Déjà Vu All Over Again By NEIL COOK, Commentary

Tuesday December 21, 2004

I’ve got to admit it: There were parts of American history back in high school that simply bored me to sleep. So I probably slept through extensive parts of the subject. Recent events have, however, awakened an interest. -more-


Surviving Suprematism: Lazar Khidekel By PETER SELZ

Special to the Planet
Tuesday December 21, 2004

An exhibition of art and architecture by the Russian artist and architect Lazar Khidekel is currently on view at the Judah L. Magnes Museum. It is entitled “Surviving Suprematism” and the drawings, watercolors, sketches and photographs of Khidekel’s buildings are indeed examples of survival. -more-


Arts Calendar

Tuesday December 21, 2004

TUESDAY, DEC. 21 -more-


Celebrating the Spectacle of the Returning Grebes By JOE EATON

Special to the Planet
Tuesday December 21, 2004

The grebes are back on the bay: the chunky eared and horned grebes, the elegant javelin-beaked Clark’s and western grebes. The eared and horned have traded the golden plumes of the nesting season for winter black and white, the permanent pattern of the two larger species. A couple of days ago at Cesar Chavez Park I was watching an eared grebe just offshore as it submerged with a forward leap, then popped up like a cork a few yards away. -more-


Berkeley This Week

Tuesday December 21, 2004

TUESDAY, DEC. 21 -more-


Critics Assail Proposed West Berkeley Bowl By RICHARD BRENNEMAN

Friday December 17, 2004

West Berkeley home and business owners told planning commissioners Thursday that when they endorsed the notion of a new Berkeley Bowl on their turf, they weren’t reckoning on a heavily trafficked super-store. -more-


Controversial Laney College Contract Put on Hold By J. DOUGLAS ALLEN-TAYLOR

Friday December 17, 2004

Peralta Chancellor Elihu Harris revealed Tuesday that he has halted negotiations on a plan to develop commercial uses for Laney College properties because of a perceived conflict of interest for one of the participants. -more-


Challenge to Point Molate Casino Filed by Open Space Advocates By RICHARD BRENNEMAN

Friday December 17, 2004

Eastshore State Park supporters Wednesday filed legal papers in an attempt to block the casino and resort complex planned for Point Molate. -more-


Oakland Village Offers a Glimpse of the Past By RICHARD BRENNEMAN

Friday December 17, 2004

There’s a time warp in Oakland, nestled on the gentle slopes at the base of Dunsmuir Ridge, overlooking San Leandro to the west. -more-


Council Postpones Marin Avenue Plan, Approves Expansion For Elmwood Clothier By MATTHEW ARTZ

Friday December 17, 2004

The City Council Tuesday opted to postpone a vote to reduce traffic lanes on lower Marin Avenue until after residents get a second chance to chime in. -more-


Council Calls for Presidential Vote Investigation By MATTHEW ARTZ

Friday December 17, 2004

As a recount proceeds in Ohio, Berkeley has become the first city to add its voice to the chorus of skeptics demanding an investigation into alleged voting irregularities in last month’s presidential elections. -more-


Around Town

Jakob Schiller
Friday December 17, 2004

Tony McNair takes a break from panhandling outside the Walgreens in downtown Berkeley Monday morning.. -more-


New City Fire Chief Ready for the Challenge By MATTHEW ARTZ

Friday December 17, 2004

Berkeley’s new fire chief Debra Pryor was greeted with more hugs than handshakes as she took the reins of the Fire Department this week. -more-


Interim Report Says School Budget is Back on Track By J. DOUGLAS ALLEN-TAYLOR

Friday December 17, 2004

The board of directors of the Berkeley Unified School District received a guardedly optimistic first interim budget report at this week’s board meeting, showing that the assumptions in the district’s 2004-05 budget are on track. -more-


Locals Open Wallets for Berkeley Public Library By MATTHEW ARTZ

Friday December 17, 2004

Boosters of the Berkeley Public Library have raised $100,000 to help the cash strapped institution buy more books. -more-


Independent Study Program Offers Model for State By ANNIE KASSOF

Special to the Planet
Friday December 17, 2004

On a balmy December morning, a student with dreadlocks and headphones sits in a sun-dappled courtyard, reading a book. Another student, with a green backpack and hair to match, strolls into a nearby classroom where a handful of kids sit at computers. Others work at round tables or talk quietly with teachers. -more-


Let’s Name All the Bridges By GAR SMITH

Special to the Planet
Friday December 17, 2004

San Francisco Chronicle cartoonist Phil Frank recently used his pen to draw attention to a sad fact: When it comes to naming our bridges, the Bay Area has responded with an uncharacteristic lack of panache. The Golden Gate stands alone as the one span with a memorably gilded moniker. Can you imagine how diminished that epic stretch of steel would be were it known simply as the San Francisco-Marin Bridge? -more-


Cody’s Workers Approve Contract By JAKOB SCHILLER

Friday December 17, 2004

Employees at Cody’s bookstore voted unanimously, 41-0, to approve a new union contract earlier this week. The vote comes after almost three months of heated contract negotiations. -more-


Homefinders Bankrupt By MATTHEW ARTZ

Friday December 17, 2004

After 34 years of service, mounting debt and a sudden illness plummeted Berkeley’s longest running rental referral service into bankruptcy. -more-


Letters to the Editor

Friday December 17, 2004

GIVING THANKS -more-



The Battle for Control of Oakland’s Public Schools By J.DOUGLAS ALLEN-TAYLOR

UNDERCURRENTS OF THE EAST BAY AND BEYOND
Friday December 17, 2004

The great abolitionist leader Frederick Douglass once cautioned us that “power concedes nothing without a demand, it never has, and it never will.” While this may be small comfort to Oaklanders agonizing over the present state of their public schools, one of my old ministers used to say that “if you want to get yourself up out of your bed of affliction, children, you must first pull off the covers.” -more-


Police Blotter By RICHARD BRENNEMAN

Friday December 17, 2004

Gunman Foiled -more-


They Say Kofi Annan is Scandalous? By NICHOLAS SMITH Commentary

Friday December 17, 2004

OK, as an early aside, I feel like I really need someone, anyone, to dedicate this letter to. I’ll just call my fictional recipient “Andy D. Quinio.” Sounds good. -more-


Rent Control is Fully Constitutional And Good Public Policy By PAUL HOGARTH Commentary

Friday December 17, 2004

I normally don’t waste my time responding to anti-rent-control hit pieces by Berkeley landlord and former BPOA President Robert Cabrera, but his latest attack on rent control (“Berkeley’s Rent Control Violates the U.S. Constitution,” Daily Planet, Dec. 7-9) contained so many lies and inaccuracies that even a second-year law student can easily refute them. So I’ve decided to take time out of studying for final exams to write a response. -more-


Holiday Gift Ideas From Two Berkeley Neighborhoods, and Then Some By ZELDA BRONSTEIN

Special to the Planet
Friday December 17, 2004

Elmwood District -more-


Local Merchants Promote ‘Green’ Holiday Gifts By PATRICK GALVIN

Special to the Planet
Friday December 17, 2004

For many people, the thought of shopping at a crowded shopping mall or big-box store fills them with dread. In addition, many Bay Area shoppers are concerned about the state of our local landfills in this age of consumer excess. -more-


Arts Calendar

Friday December 17, 2004

FRIDAY, DEC. 17 -more-


Literature of the Plant Hunters in the Giving Season By SHIRLEY BARKER

Special to the Planet
Friday December 17, 2004

As the season for exchanging gifts approaches, presenting something to read to an experienced gardener is a challenge. How-to books for beginners must surely number in the thousands. What book would most please the expert who has long gone beyond the double-digging and the companion planting, who requests a gardening book with humorous or scientific clout, who wants, in short, reading matter that rises above the mundane? -more-


Berkeley This Week

Friday December 17, 2004

FRIDAY, DEC. 17 -more-


Opinion

Editorials

Seasonal Cheer at the Berkeley Flea By BECKY O'MALLEY

Editorial
Tuesday December 21, 2004

Right about now things are starting to slow down a bit for some people (especially public employees who are taking advantage of optional holiday days off) and speed up for others (Santa Claus and the harried folks who help him out, especially mothers and fathers who have jobs they can’t escape even during the holidays). Last weekend was the countdown weekend for busy people who like to give gifts but don’t have much time to shop. And it was also the only pre-Christmas weekend for parties and such, given that the holidays are on Saturdays this year. There are those, of course, who pride themselves on using the solstice period as an opportunity to demonstrate that they can even be self-absorbed in the midst of the frenetic efforts to connect that motivate others at this time of year. While those about them are wrapping presents and singing carols, such people are taking long solitary walks on the beach. -more-


The Market Speaks: Can Berkeley Hear? By BECKY O'MALLEY

EDITORIAL
Friday December 17, 2004

It’s official. The apartment shortage is over, the apartment glut begins. The end of Homefinders, a worthwhile enterprise which served a lot of needy customers in its heyday, is the final nail in the coffin of Berkeley’s haphazard building boom. While it lasted, it lined the pockets of a few already well-fixed investors, notably UC’s B-School Prof. Teece. Its legacy is demolished landmarks (the Doyle House, the Fine Arts Theater), crumbling buildings (the Gaia Building) and vanished institutions (the Gaia Bookstore, Anna’s Café on University). In its wake are promises: Anna’s really will re-open sometime in the Gaia Building; the fake marquee on the Fine Arts apartment building touts shows which will never play there. (Red Diaper Baby Josh Kornbluth shouldn’t let his good name be used for this particular scam.) -more-