Facing growing anger from residents and librarians over plans to lay off workers and implement tracking devices on materials, the Berkeley Public Library Board of Trustees has selected a veteran of local political battles to join its ranks. -more-

The Berkeley Federation of Teachers filed an unfair labor practice charge against the school district last week, demanding that the district hand over its master list of student addresses so the union could give parents its side of the ongoing labor stalemate. -more-

Thousands marched in San Francisco Saturday on the second anniversary of the war in Iraq, beating drums, chanting slogans and carrying signs to deliver a message to the Bush administration that U.S. aggression and occupation in Iraq, Afghanistan, Palestine and Haiti destabilizes the world and wastes tax dollars that should serve human needs. -more-

Gene Bernardi of Berkeleyans Organized for Library Defense said she was collecting signatures against automation of the library’s main branch in front of the main doors recently when she was ordered away from the library. -more-

Three hundred and fifty-seven local middle school girls, 50 adults and 130 volunteers showed up at the 29th annual Expanding Your Horizons math and science conference for girls, held on the Mills College campus, last Saturday. -more-

The 75-year-old woman whose throat was slashed with a butcher knife while walking outside the Berkeley Rose Garden last week said she is on her way to a full recovery. -more-

An alarming report on asthma in Berkeley and Oakland will be front and center at this Tuesday’s Berkeley City Council meeting -more-

PATONG BEACH, Phuket, Thailand—Some three months after the tsunami waves invaded its shores, Phuket’s most popular beaches are haunted by ghosts, locals say. -more-

WORK TO RULE -more-

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

In September I wrote a column about how my friend Corrie desperately wanted to buy a sweatshirt at San Francisco State University’s bookstore but she couldn’t find one that satisfied her sense of fashion. Well, I’m happy to report that after a long search she has finally found the gray, zippered hoodie she was looking for. -more-

Elmwood Attack -more-

In the wake of the flap over the Harvard president’s comments about women in science, the University of California Berkeley has thrown a spotlight on efforts by two of its own to explain why men still outnumber women on the tenure track of university faculties. -more-

Since the presidential election, Democrats have been challenged to go back to the basics, to remember their core values. As the process continues there is agreement on basic principles of social justice and on key ethical standards. For example, the vast majority of Democrats do not believe that the ends justify the means; unlike Republicans, they do not feel that it is okay to do anything to win. Because of these scruples, Democrats face a conundrum with regards to the tactical use of fear: How to talk to voters about the very real dangers facing America. The challenge for the Democratic leadership is to tell the truth about the perils America faces, and, yet, provide a message of hope, to reason with voters, not scare them. -more-

“History is written by winners... and the bad witch is old.” -more-

On a sunny afternoon last month, a vehicle struck resident John Wang while he walked in the crosswalk across Martin Luther King Jr. Way at Addison in Central Berkeley. Unconscious at the scene and requiring several days’ hospitalization, Mr. Wang lost weeks of work and is still in a neck brace. He continues in physical therapy in hopes that his neck fracture will heal. Meanwhile, with considerable pain in his shoulders, neck and back, he fears that arm numbness and paralysis are permanent. -more-

As a member of the Berkeley Unified School District community, I recently received a letter from Superintendent Michele Lawrence explaining the situation with teacher contract negotiations, facts about BUSD’s financial situation, and the proposed state budget as it relates to education. We were asked to contact the governor’s office to express our feelings about the proposed budget, so I did. -more-

Your recent article about the New Leaf Gallery’s move out of its Berkeley location unfairly puts the blame on “development pressures”. Not only did the article contain a number of inaccurate statements, but also the overall picture that you painted does not describe what is happening and leaves your readers with the wrong impression. As the architects working with Carl Lasagna, the property owner, we feel the need to respond. -more-

Berkeley didn’t always have a city-run Fire Department or professional police force. Back in the late 19th century, when the community was still a small town, volunteer fire companies and elected town marshals provided basic protection. -more-

TUESDAY, MARCH 22 -more-

So I go -more-

I keep being reminded that the universe, as either the geneticist J. B. S. Haldane or the astronomer Arthur Eddington (or both) said, is not only stranger than we imagine, it’s stranger than we can imagine. And I’m not talking about superstring theory or quantum weirdness here. This is about plain old biology, and the unexpected link between the eastern fox squirrels in my yard and the unfortunate George III of England. It’s not breaking news—the basic facts have been known for quite a while—but it’s just too strange to be left alone with. -more-

TUESDAY, MARCH 22 -more-