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-
“Reuniting families, protecting refugees, encouraging diversity and cultural exchange—that’s what our country is supposed to be about.” -more-
The University Students Cooperative Association voted last week to appeal a small claims judgment won by neighbors of the student co-op, Le Chateau. -more-
Berkeley Mayor Tom Bates and Berkeley Unified School District Superintendent Michele Lawrence joined religious and health leaders and education and children’s activists at a downtown press conference Monday to announce support for a statewide California for Healthy Kids (CHK) campaign. -more-
With Berkeley Unified School District Superintendent Michele Lawrence calling the district’s budget situation “precarious,” the Berkeley public will get its first look at the possibility of a slightly leaner face of public education in the city when the district directors consider “Anticipated Budget Reductions and Program Modifications” at the school board’s meeting Wednesday night. -more-
Two major East Bay casino debates are scheduled for today (Tuesday), one in Washington D.C. and the other in Martinez. -more-
It was by coincidence that I was catching up with Eleanor Vincent a day after Terri Schiavo passed away and at the start of National Donate Life Month, but the significance was not lost on either of us. Thirteen years ago Eleanor’s daughter Maya was declared brain dead by her doctors after a freak accident left her in an irreversible coma. At the request of Maya’s neurosurgeon, Eleanor made the life affirming decision to donate Maya’s organs to others in need. Last year her memoir, Swimming with Maya: A Mother’s Story was published by Capital Books. In it, she describes this heart wrenching event, and the repercussions Maya’s death has had on her, Maya’s younger sister, Meghan, family members, friends, and the recipients of Maya’s organs. -more-
I appreciated reading your article on the laptop computer that was stolen from UC Berkeley’s Grad Division—it answered some questions I had that the UC-generated press releases and web info lacked, such as if there was any encryption/password protection on the computer at all. I am a graduate student at UCB, and received a notice from the university that my data was among that stolen with the laptop. -more-
I, Zachary Running Wolf, provide leadership and effort on behalf of 85,000 Native Americans here in the Bay Area (the second largest urban native population after Oklahoma City). -more-
The views expressed on the Daily Planet’s commentary page are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the paper or its staff. -more-
As a handsome young man, Karol Wojtyla was a playwright and an actor. In the course of his life, Wojtyla sensed as much about the role of the actor as Chaplin or Garbo or Winston Churchill. He was one of the great theatricals of the century. -more-
Closing April 16 at the California Historical Society (678 Mission, at Third, San Francisco), “Poetry and its Arts, Bay Area Interactions 1954-2004,” celebrates the visual arts wrapped around the poetry heard at the San Francisco State University Poetry Center. -more-
Earlier this year, PBS ran (in its usual annoying fashion, all three episodes back to back) a documentary about American English, with Robert MacNeill traveling around the country and reporting on the state of the language. It was in part an elegy for dy ing dialects (Southern Appalachian, Gullah) and in part a forecast of linguistic change (the Northern Cities Vowel Shift, the lingo of rappers, skateboarders, text-messagers). -more-
Local regulators have cited West Berkeley’s Pacific Steel Casting for releasing foul smelling air from its factories, plant General Manager Joe Emmerichs confirmed Thursday. -more-
Tupper & Reed Music—downtown Berkeley’s oldest business—is closing its doors after 99 years. -more-
When it came down to whether or not Terri Schiavo should live or die, many in Berkeley’s famously left-wing disabled community found themselves in lock step with the Christian Right. -more-
The task force charged with rewriting Berkeley’s contentious creeks law is scheduled to approve a plan Monday that will ask the city to grant it up to $200,000. -more-
The Berkeley Historical Society announced the winning photographers for its Life Magazine-Style Photo Essay Competition this week. -more-
City-mandated upgrades to Berkeley Iceland will be delayed by six months, according to rink owners, after city officials rejected the rink’s initial proposal to upgrade its facility. -more-
Despite the recent city decision to landmark one of the buildings he plans to demolish, developer Dan Deibel is pushing ahead with plans for a major residential and commercial block in West Berkeley. -more-
In this small, sad space where the overwhelming emotions seem to have temporarily waned with the death of Terri Schiavo, and before we have forgotten this issue entirely and moved onto other things, it seems appropriate to take some time to talk calmly and quietly about the issues that have been raised. This is an issue which ought to rise above partisan politics. -more-
The defining moment for me in the O.J. Simpson trial was not Simpson’s acquittal and the firestorm that it ignited nationally. It was a note I got from an associate in Johnnie Cochran’s law firm. He said that Johnnie wanted me to know that he admired my comments about the case. I was one of the legion of talking heads during the trial, and like many of the other analysts, I was critical of some of Cochran’s legal maneuvers. -more-
AMSTERDAM, Netherlands—After a 19-year-old man of Moroccan descent was run down and killed in January by a Dutch woman driver trying to recover her stolen purse, mourners blamed Immigration Minister Rita Verdonk for the death. -more-
American culture is driven by consumerism. As a result, from time to time our favorite brands get new packaging: the Coca-Cola can features a new paint job; the New York Times gets a facelift; Cadillac introduces an SUV. This process has even affected that venerable institution, Christianity. -more-
In the March 25-28 Daily Planet, Heath Maddox, a city staffer and union member, replies to my query—given that the city’s current contracts with unionized employees grant salary increases of 28.5 percent or (for fire and police) 31.5 percent over six yea rs, how is budgeting zero raises for two years after the current contracts expire asking city workers, in the words of a Planet reporter, “to sacrifice”? -more-
I hope you assign some of your reporters to follow up on the statements summarized below made in a letter by SEIU union member Heath Maddox published in your March 25-28 issue. In his letter, Mr. Maddox lists a number of “sacrifices” city employees have made to reduce city expenses. -more-
The commentary by Bill Hamilton (“Disarming Violence: Three Choices,” March 29-31) presents a nice convenient package for commenting, but fails to accurately portray important aspects of the situation. It is but the latest from among the people who pontificate between lattes, cop-bashing, and massage appointments. Far from being illuminating, it muddles the controversy by framing incongruous circumstances as the same. It also shows a bit too much of the self-righteousness hypocrisy the Bay Area is renowned for. Much like other cases of officious largesse, the choices proffered don’t fit the actual situation. I’m getting used to people who, by age alone, should know better. More than one professional writer, among them inappropriately anointed and self-appointed spokespersons for the Black community, have wrongly referred to my act of self-defense as vigilantism, in spite of the fact that the word choice is obviously incorrect and that I have publicly criticized vigilante acts. -more-
If you’d like a preview of the university’s expanded future—the big dog that already wags the tail that is Berkeley, drive or walk up to Channing Way and Bowditch, stand on the end of the grand old Anna Head site, and take in the dramatic transformation from a sea of boring temporaries to gleaming, state-of-the-art architecture. -more-
“From the Hills to the Bay” might have been an appropriate theme for the Berkeley Historical Society’s spring series of history walking tours starting this weekend. -more-
To attend the 10 a.m. tour this Saturday morning, gather at Founder’s Rock—Gayley Road and Hearst Avenue—and purchase tickets then. Wear good climbing shoes for the steep hike. -more-
Warm spring days beckon us out of our homes like monarchs emerging from their cocoons. Time to brighten our views and feel the touch of the sun. Time to renew our dreams of travel to destinations far and away. -more-
A page 2 headline in the March 29-31 issue for an article on a hazardous waste pickup contained errors. The program is not free, but requires a $10 copay. Also, it is a door-to-door program, not a curbside program. -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-
If the front page looks a bit brighter to you today, it’s because we’ve made a few small changes to what’s called “the flag” by newspapers insiders. The dictionary and many civilians still call it the masthead, but these days the pros seem to reserve that term for the place on the inside that lists the address and the staff. In any event, it’s that strip across the top of the paper that lets you know what you’re getting when you pick the paper up. -more-
