News

Fourteen Berkeley firefighters took home more than $30,000 in overtime last year, while six earned more than $50,000 over their base salary, city records show. -more-

Foes and fans of a Berkeley developer’s plans for a Las Vegas-style casino resort pleaded their cases before federal and Richmond officials last week. -more-

Environmental activists and North Berkeley residents told Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory officials Thursday night to leave intact an unused building full of toxic and low-level nuclear wastes on its present four-acre site atop the Hayward Fault in the Berkeley hills. -more-

A noon rally of angry UC Berkeley workers in front of California Hall last Friday had a surprise result—a chance sidewalk encounter between union leaders and Chancellor Robert Birgenau in which Birgenau agreed to a formal, fact-finding meeting with worker representatives. -more-

A hydraulic crane pulled a runaway construction truck out of the side of a house in the Berkeley hills Monday afternoon. No one was in the house when the driverless vehicle went barreling into the side of the structure. The 17,000-pound truck held equipment for a crew that was re-paving part of a private driveway about 100 feet up the hill. Although Berkeley police found that the parking brake was engaged and the truck was in gear, it managed to roll several feet before it went over a curb and into the house. Neighbors on the two streets below the house were evacuated until the truck was pulled out. One room of the house was destroyed. The damage was estimated at $50,000 to $100,000.. -more-

A lovely spring weekend sparked an impromptu trip to see wildflowers last Sunday. Pinnacles National Monument is about an hour and a half south of the Santa Cruz grandchildren, so it seemed like the right destination. We spent Saturday night in Santa Cruz in order to leave by 7 a.m. on Sunday, though daylight saving and the five-minute rule (add five minutes to departure time for every person in the party) got us going with our five adults and four children at about 10 instead. While we were waiting for everyone to get organized, we had an unusual opportunity to read the fat Sunday edition of the metro daily, something we usually skip because the ratio of ads to interesting content is unappealing. -more-