Beneath its tranquil surface, the Berkeley Public Library is rife with tension. -more-

Freedom of information advocates got a boost this week when national media company Bloomberg Financial Markets joined the Berkeley Daily Planet’s action to unseal California Wal-Mart records filed in a class action lawsuit. -more-

A Berkeley High School student accused of inadvertently bringing a gun on campus in her backpack is entitled to an expulsion hearing before the school board which could limit her punishment, expel her for a full year, or find her innocent, according to a youth rights expert. -more-

Blocked from showing first-run art films by the collective clout of Berkeley’s two major theater operators, Allen Michaan has given up the Oaks Theater at 1875 Solano Ave. -more-

UC Berkeley Monday asked the Richmond City Council to derail a proposed council resolution that calls for stricter oversight of the ongoing toxic waste cleanup at the Richmond Field Station (RFS). -more-

Question: How can an election in which women are not allowed to run or vote, which is restricted to the municipal level and in which voters are allowed to elect only half of their city councils be vitally important? -more-

Small schools, diversity, and the achievement gap between white and minority students—issues that have been driving Berkeley public school policy for several years—will be highlighted Wednesday at the Berkeley Unified School District board meeting. -more-

The Berkeley City Council meets today (Tuesday) with a single-minded focus on how to deal with the city’s estimated $7.5 million deficit. -more-

A group of local environmentalists kicked off their bid Tuesday to pressure U.S. Congress and the Bush administration to ratify the Kyoto Protocol one city at a time. -more-

“Everything happened so quickly,” says Pradeep, a tall, trim real estate agent based in the eastern San Francisco Bay Area, recalling his first nervous meeting with Madhu, his bride-to-be, at a four-star hotel in New Delhi on Christmas 2002. -more-

NIGHT LIFE DISTRICT -more-

Click here to view the latest work by Justin DeFreitas -more-

Now that the movie Million Dollar Baby has been nominated for seven Academy Awards, and conservative groups and some members of the disabled community are openly criticizing the subject matter covered within the film, I think it’s safe to talk about its plot in this column. However, if you haven’t seen this flick and would like to be surprised by the ending, read no further. I’m about to disclose the final moments of the film and my reaction to it. -more-

Do you think Strom Thurmond loved his baby mama? Did he love her gentleness, her sense of humor, the look of her luscious brown skin or the feel of her soft, cottony hair? Or was she just a booty call? No, those are generally consensual. And how could a poor, black, teenaged maid consent to have sex with her wealthy, white, adult employer in the 1920s, and in South Carolina, no less? If it wasn’t statutory rape, perhaps it was just another case of American family values, Southern Christian style. -more-

In 1984 George Orwell described a Ministry of Truth, which operated a system of mind control, Newspeak, used to keep the citizens of Oceania under the thumb of a totalitarian regime headed by the ubiquitous Big Brother. The slogans of the Ministry were: “War is Peace,” “Freedom is Slavery” and “Ignorance is Strength.” -more-

Middle School Stoners -more-

MONTREAL— Before last year’s election, lots of blue-state Americans said they'd leave for Canada if Bush was re-elected. Then the unthinkable happened. But the word on the street is that few have left. -more-

Saturday, Jan. 22 marked the 32nd anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court’s Roe v. Wade decision, which abortion rights supporters celebrated as necessary for women’s equality and well-being. Here in the Bay Area, a new Roe tradition began on that day—a first ever Walk for Life in honor of those whose lives were ended before birth, and in support of women and men who bear the scars of abortion. -more-

Gov. Schwarzenegger has broken his promise to protect schools and students from harmful budget cuts. His recent budget proposals undermine the education funding protections California voters supported through Proposition 98. We cannot allow this to happen. Just in the last several years, California schools have suffered more than $9.8 billion in cuts. This means that schools across the state have had to shut down, increase their class sizes, layoff many wonderful teachers and support staff They suffer from a shortage of needed librarians, counselors, nurses, custodians, and grounds keepers. Gov. Schwarzenegger is content with California’s ranking 43rd in the nation for per-pupil funding. By under funding our education he is forcing our schools to go without basic supplies and instructional materials, cut art and music programs, extracurricular activities and, after-school programs. -more-

When Rita Kimball became the principal of Washington Elementary School seven years ago, she says, it was an institution in crisis. Morale was low, test scores were down and teachers argued bitterly in staff meetings. -more-

The May Flower -more-

Fledgling theater troupe Ragged Wing Ensemble has plucked a triumph from a famous exercise in physical theater in their first production, Jean Claude Van Itallie’s The Serpent, originally created for The Open Theater (Joe Chaikin’s group) in New York, 1968. -more-

TUESDAY, FEB. 15 -more-

It’s still mid February, but by some measures it’s already spring. The wildflowers are popping up—half a dozen species on the coastal bluffs at Point Reyes last week, and fetid adder’s-tongues and trilliums among the redwoods. I’ve seen reports of returning swallows in the East Bay: not just the predictably early tree swallows, but a couple of barn and cliff swallows as well. And some birds are well into their nesting seasons, the calendar be damned. -more-

TUESDAY, FEB. 15 -more-

As Jimmy Rogers, 67, sat through a screening of the landmark civil rights documentary Eyes on the Prize Tuesday night in Berkeley, he was quick to point out the faces and names of the people he recognized from the time he spent in the south as a member of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee. -more-

Charging that the Lytton Band of Pomos acquired Casino San Pablo “the wrong way,” maverick Arizona Republican Sen. John McCain announced Thursday evening that he’ll hold hearings on a law that would reverse part of the tribe’s special status. -more-

The states’ leading toxics agency has ruled that Campus Bay poses “an imminent or substantial endangerment to the public health or welfare or to the environment because of a release or threatened release of a hazardous substance.” -more-

Berkeley’s newest landmark—technically a structure of merit—poses a potential hitch in plans to build a square block of condos at the University Avenue gateway to the city. -more-

Barring a sustained surge in the stock market, city leaders said Tuesday that Berkeley’s employee pension fund will continue to drain the city’s budget. -more-

The battle of the Berkeley Bowl—centered on the proposed cloning of the city’s most popular grocery store—heads to yet another round before the city Planning Commission. -more-

For months they stood before the City Council trading barbs and doing battle. -more-

During a week when steel foundation girders had only reached the second of floor above the gaping construction hole on Center Street in downtown Berkeley, Vista College president Judy Walters announced the kickoff of a five-year $10 million fundraising drive for money projected to be used in Vista’s new headquarters. -more-

Motorists speeding down Telegraph Avenue, beware. Officer Bob Rollins and, on occasion, his partners are lurking on side streets, their radar guns firing. -more-

OAKLAND ANIMAL SHELTER -more-

Click here to view the latest work by Justin DeFreitas -more-

Berkeley High’s new small-school SSJE (School of Social Justice and Ecology) is scheduled to open this fall with a curriculum that emphasizes “critical thinking.” Though it’s a good idea, “critical thinking” is one of those terms that has lost all meaning by repeated overuse. Plainly put, it simply means not necessarily accepting the conclusions put before you, but assembling (or re-assembling) the available facts, looking for the “contradictions” (another useful but much abused word), and making up your own mind as to what it all might mean. -more-

Murder Attempt Charged -more-

On Feb. 1, King Gyanendra of Nepal dissolved the government, declared a state of emergency, and claimed absolute power. Political opponents were arrested, including Prime Minister Deuba who was placed under house arrest. Army troops are patrolling the st reets and have occupied the parliament building, radio stations and newspaper offices. Freedom of the press and other forms of free speech, such as the right of assembly and the right to criticize the government, no longer exist according to announcements from the palace. -more-

President Bush’s program to privatize Social Security gives progressives an opportunity to advocate for an alternative approach, one which will instead increase the economic security of working people rather than fan their anxieties. It would also lift the benefits for all retirees without undermining the soundness of the social security trust fund. Indeed, rather than our energies being completely absorbed in defensive battles, it is incumbent upon us to project a progressive vision. Otherwise, we are allowing conservatives to define the issues, which lock us into a poverty of low expectations. -more-

I don’t normally comment on projects in other neighborhoods, as I don’t like people outside my neighborhood telling me what’s best for mine. I feel we each know our area the best. However, with the “expansion” of the Berkeley Bowl I will take an exception. -more-

With a little more than a week to go before their biggest challenge of the school year, members of the Berkeley High Debate Squad sit through their lunch period in an upstairs classroom, munch sandwiches, and plot strategy for the 32nd Annual Cal Berkeley Invitational Debate Tournament. -more-

It may appear small-minded to dwell on the point, but it does feel good to know that in Berkeley, you can actually see live drama for 10 (count’em 10!) bucks in a perfectly charming, completely traditional, theater. This seeming piece of magic occurs with absolute regularity in the Actors Ensemble productions at the Live Oak Theater in the Arts Building at 1301 Shattuck Ave. at Berryman. -more-

Lovers of Caribbean sounds, and world music listeners in general, are in for a pre-Valentine’s Day treat when Andy Narell brings the 14-piece steel drum band Calypsociation from Paris to the Chabot College Little Theater in Hayward for two shows Sun. Feb. 13 (at 2 p.m. and 7 p. m.) with local steel drummers The Chabot Panhandlers, under Jim Munzenrider’s direction, opening. -more-

FRIDAY, FEB. 11 -more-

It’s a tantalizingly warm winter day. I’m walking toward the sound of power—water tumbling down, around and across a series of rocks. Is this a canyon at 6,000 feet in the Sierras? No, I’m just one hour from home, approaching Little Yosemite, one of many natural wonders to discover at Sunol Regional Wilderness. -more-

FRIDAY, FEB. 11 -more-

“This is the story of a thousand people drinking Shirley Temples and smoking candy cigarettes, and they all think they’re in a back room with their Scotch and cigars.” -more-

Ash Wednesday was this week, the traditional opening day of six weeks of reflection for Christians. And today an old friend e-mailed a link to a website, rememberthesechildren.org, which lists the names and ages of children killed in the ongoing dispute between the Palestinians and the Israelis. The numbers alone are sobering. Since the first of this year, one Israeli child and 16 Palestinian children have died. Since September of 2000, dead Palestinian children number 671, with 118 Israeli kids dead. We’ll get letters, undoubtedly, pointing out that more children have probably died in Darfur, and in the tsunamis, and the letter writers will perhaps therefore try to minimize the impact of the deaths of the children in Israel. Or perhaps they will try to blame the adults who are associated with the dead children, and accuse them of negligence or of fomenting the strife which produced the deaths, or even of sending children on suicide missions. Such partisan argument misses the point: As long as the rest of us in the rest of the world acquiesce in the death of any child anywhere, we are participating in some way in causing these deaths. And in the words of John Dunne, “any man’s death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind.” -more-