Page One

Taggers Stage Costly Raids On Telegraph,College Avenue By RICHARD BRENNEMAN

Friday April 08, 2005

Graffiti vandals armed with glass-etching acid struck hundreds of windows along College and Telegraph avenues on two consecutive nights this past week, inflicting hundreds of thousands of dollars in damage. -more-



Margaret Breland Dies at 69 By MATTHEW ARTZ

Friday April 08, 2005

Margaret Breland, one of Berkeley’s toughest political fighters, has succumbed to her long struggle with cancer. She died in her sleep at Alta Bates Hospital in Berkeley Thursday morning. She was 69. -more-



Teachers Rally at Board Meeting As Contract Dispute Escalates By J. DOUGLAS ALLEN-TAYLOR

Friday April 08, 2005

Berkeley teachers took their increasingly rancorous contract dispute back to the Berkeley Unified School District board meeting Wednesday night, filling the Old City Hall Council chambers with union members and supporters chanting “Fair Contract Now!” -more-



Thai Temple Doesn’t Hesitate to Tear Down Garden By MATTHEW ARTZ

Friday April 08, 2005

For urban gardeners and several neighbors of the Thai Buddhist Temple, it was the Berkeley chainsaw massacre. For the temple it was a new beginning. -more-



Staff Charges Library Dumped Too Many Books By MATTHEW ARTZ

Friday April 08, 2005

Several Berkeley library employees contend that a stepped-up effort to thin the library’s collection in the past year has been so rushed that valuable books were carted off in dumpsters. -more-



Features

Firefighters Fired Upon by Pellet Gun While on Drayage Patrol By MATTHEW ARTZ

Friday April 08, 2005

Firefighters withdrew from their round-the-clock watch outside the Drayage warehouse Tuesday evening, one day after being fired upon from the warehouse by a pellet gun. -more-


County Worker Surrenders In Rose Garden Slasher Case By MATTHEW ARTZ

Friday April 08, 2005

The Alameda County mental health worker who was accompanying a 16-year-old girl at the time the teen slashed the throat of a Berkeley woman last month was arraigned and charged as an accessory to the attack Thursday, Berkeley police said. -more-


Creeks Task Force Asks for $100,000 to Begin Work By MATTHEW ARTZ

Friday April 08, 2005

The Creeks Task Force unanimously approved a work plan Monday asking the city for $100,000 as it begins work to recommend a new creeks ordinance. -more-


Special Council Meeting for Foothill Bridge By MATTHEW ARTZ

Friday April 08, 2005

The City Council will meet Monday, April 11 at UC Berkeley’s foothill dorms to discuss the university’s proposal to suspend a pedestrian bridge over Hearst Avenue to connect the two halves of the residential community. -more-


Spirited Landmarks Meeting Focuses On Maybecks, Preservation Ordinance By RICHARD BRENNEMAN

Friday April 08, 2005

In one of its more rancorous sessions, the Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) was attacked by citizens accusing it of obstructionism, and in turn assailed Planning Commissioners with the same allegation. -more-


Two Berkeley Landmarks Singled Out for Honors By RICHARD BRENNEMAN

Friday April 08, 2005

Two Berkeley landmarks have been singled out recently for recognition, one a Craftsman creation and the other the embodiment of Art Deco. -more-


Feds Launch Corruption Probe of New Bay Bridge By RICHARD BRENNEMAN

Friday April 08, 2005

The Federal Bureau of Investigation has launched a major public corruption investigation of alleged misconduct involving welds in the construction of the new eastern span of the Bay Bridge. -more-


Negroponte Film Coincides With Nomination to New Post By JAKOB SCHILLER

Friday April 08, 2005

In the film The Ambassador, human rights workers and former victims of torture in Central America sometimes look straight into the camera when they talk about former American ambassador to Honduras John Negroponte. -more-


Laurette Goldberg, 1932-2005 By ROBERT P. COMMANDAY

Special to the Planet
Friday April 08, 2005

Laurette Goldberg, pioneer, prime mover and doyenne of early music in the Bay Area, died of heart failure Sunday morning in Alta Bates Hospital where she was undergoing treatment for other conditions. She was 73. -more-


Letters to the Editor

Friday April 08, 2005

BORDER PATROL -more-



Jerry Brown Gives Us the Aging Rock Star Tour J. DOUGLAS ALLEN-TAYLOR

Undercurrents
Friday April 08, 2005

It appears that with a full two years still left in his term, Oakland Mayor Jerry Brown is going the aging rock star route, giving us a sort of nostalgic farewell tour, complete with “the best of Jerry” retrospectives by local media as he waves his way out the City Hall door. Our friends at the San Francisco Chronicle have been leading the pack, absolutely gushing over Mr. Brown as they describe the “success” of the mayor’s promise to bring 10,000 new residents to downtown Oakland (“Downtown Brown,” March 20), his increasingly law-and-order stances as he bucks up his credentials for California Attorney General (“Tough Penalties For ‘Sideshows’—Mayor Proposes Curfews For Those Convicted Of Reckless Driving,” March 30), or his wedding to Anne Gust (too numerous to mention in one column). -more-


Fire Department Log By RICHARD BRENNEMAN

Friday April 08, 2005

Buena Vista Blaze -more-


Election Section

RFID: Many Problems, Little Public Discussion By PETER WARFIELD and LEE TIEN

Commentary
Friday April 08, 2005

Decisions about public libraries should be made publicly. But just as radio frequency identification (RFID) tags in library books can be secretly read and tracked, the Berkeley Public Library (BPL) installed RFID technology with little public awareness or discussion. Indeed, it appears that BPL did not tell the library’s governing body about known problems with RFID at other libraries before RFID was approved in April 2004. We think this gives the Board of Library Trustees (BOLT) ample reason to reconsider and reject RFID in Berkeley. -more-


Firefighter Compensation a Complicated Issue By DAVID SPRAGUE-LIVINGSTON

Commentary
Friday April 08, 2005

I would like to pose several questions and also state a couple of facts that were left out of your article discussing public safety overtime in the City of Berkeley. -more-


Maria King Memorial

Friday April 08, 2005

A memorial service for Maria King scheduled for Saturday, April 9, has been postponed. The memorial will now be held at 4 p.m. May 15 at St. Joseph The Worker Church. King, a homeless woman, was stomped to death earlier this year.? -more-


Arts Calendar

Friday April 08, 2005

FRIDAY, APRIL 8 -more-


Extraordinary Encounters with Insects in Gardens and Houses By SHIRLEY BARKER

Special to the Planet
Friday April 08, 2005

Several years ago on a visit to Los Angeles I passed a woman who seemed to me quintessentially Californian. She wore immaculately tailored jeans, a crisp shirt, her burnished hair flowed luxuriantly, her complexion glowed, she was the very picture of health and elegance. And she was swinging along on rollerblades. -more-


Berkeley This Week

Friday April 08, 2005

FRIDAY, APRIL 8 -more-


Editorial

Public is Watching School Dispute By BECKY O'MALLEY

Editorial
Friday April 08, 2005

It seems that the suggestion in this space and in a letter or two that some teachers somewhere might be less than optimum touched a nerve. We’ve received and printed a number of very defensive letters from teachers, many of them zeroing in on one sentence in a long editorial which was generally supportive of teachers’ demands for better pay and smaller classes. This is the offending sentence: -more-


Back Stories

Opinion

Editorials

Public is Watching School Dispute By BECKY O'MALLEY 04-08-2005

Poseys and the Pursuit of Pleasure at Pinnacles By BECKY O'MALLEY 04-05-2005

News

Taggers Stage Costly Raids On Telegraph,College Avenue By RICHARD BRENNEMAN 04-08-2005

Margaret Breland Dies at 69 By MATTHEW ARTZ 04-08-2005

Teachers Rally at Board Meeting As Contract Dispute Escalates By J. DOUGLAS ALLEN-TAYLOR 04-08-2005

Thai Temple Doesn’t Hesitate to Tear Down Garden By MATTHEW ARTZ 04-08-2005

Staff Charges Library Dumped Too Many Books By MATTHEW ARTZ 04-08-2005

Firefighters Fired Upon by Pellet Gun While on Drayage Patrol By MATTHEW ARTZ 04-08-2005

County Worker Surrenders In Rose Garden Slasher Case By MATTHEW ARTZ 04-08-2005

Creeks Task Force Asks for $100,000 to Begin Work By MATTHEW ARTZ 04-08-2005

Special Council Meeting for Foothill Bridge By MATTHEW ARTZ 04-08-2005

Spirited Landmarks Meeting Focuses On Maybecks, Preservation Ordinance By RICHARD BRENNEMAN 04-08-2005

Two Berkeley Landmarks Singled Out for Honors By RICHARD BRENNEMAN 04-08-2005

Feds Launch Corruption Probe of New Bay Bridge By RICHARD BRENNEMAN 04-08-2005

Negroponte Film Coincides With Nomination to New Post By JAKOB SCHILLER 04-08-2005

Laurette Goldberg, 1932-2005 By ROBERT P. COMMANDAY Special to the Planet 04-08-2005

Letters to the Editor 04-08-2005

Editorial Cartoon By JUSTIN DEFREITAS 04-08-2005

Jerry Brown Gives Us the Aging Rock Star Tour J. DOUGLAS ALLEN-TAYLOR Undercurrents 04-08-2005

Fire Department Log By RICHARD BRENNEMAN 04-08-2005

RFID: Many Problems, Little Public Discussion By PETER WARFIELD and LEE TIEN Commentary 04-08-2005

Firefighter Compensation a Complicated Issue By DAVID SPRAGUE-LIVINGSTON Commentary 04-08-2005

Maria King Memorial 04-08-2005

Arts Calendar 04-08-2005

Extraordinary Encounters with Insects in Gardens and Houses By SHIRLEY BARKER Special to the Planet 04-08-2005

Berkeley This Week 04-08-2005

Firefighter Overtime Costs City Millions By MATTHEW ARTZ 04-05-2005

Point Molate Casino Foes, Fans Testify At Hearing By RICHARD BRENNEMAN 04-05-2005

Bevatron Demolition Plan Alarms Residents By J. DOUGLAS ALLEN-TAYLOR 04-05-2005

UC Workers Rally, Win Promise of Meeting with Chancellor By J. DOUGLAS ALLEN-TAYLOR 04-05-2005

Over the Edge By JAKOB SCHILLER 04-05-2005

Lee Urges Immigrants to Work for Policy Reforms By LYDIA GANS Special to the Planet 04-05-2005

Le Chateau Will Challenge Nuisance Ruling By MATTHEW ARTZ 04-05-2005

Berkeley Leaders Support Children’s Health Initiative By J. DOUGLAS ALLEN-TAYLOR 04-05-2005

School Board Will Discuss Budget Cuts By J. DOUGLAS ALLEN-TAYLOR 04-05-2005

Two Casino Hearings Planned for Tuesday By RICHARD BRENNEMAN 04-05-2005

Editorial Cartoon By JUSTIN DEFREITAS 04-05-2005

Letters to the Editor 04-05-2005

In the Wake of Loss, The Healing Impact of Organ Donation By SUSAN PARKER Column 04-05-2005

Police Blotter By RICHARD BRENNEMAN 04-05-2005

Student Questions UC’s Data Security By IRENE NEXICA Commentary 04-05-2005

Native American Casinos Will Provide Financial Benefits to California By ZACHARY RUNNING WOLF 04-05-2005

Daily Planet Commentary Page Policy and Submission Guidelines 04-05-2005

Remembering John Paul II, the Actor Pope By RICHARD RODRIGUEZ Pacific News Service Commentary 04-05-2005

‘Poetry and its Arts’ Explores the Visuals in Poems By JOHN McBRIDE Special to the Planet 04-05-2005

Arts Calendar 04-05-2005

Mimicry and Practice to Get the Bird Song Right By JOE EATON Special to the Planet 04-05-2005

Berkeley This Week 04-05-2005