The Week

Richard Brenneman:
          David Early, school district consultant and chair of advocacy group Livable Berkeley, discusses proposed plans for the district’s West Campus site at a Thursday night citizen planning session, the second of four planned to gather input on the now largely vacant facility.?
Richard Brenneman: David Early, school district consultant and chair of advocacy group Livable Berkeley, discusses proposed plans for the district’s West Campus site at a Thursday night citizen planning session, the second of four planned to gather input on the now largely vacant facility.?
 

News

Conflict of Interest Charge At West Campus Planning Meeting By RICHARD BRENNEMAN

Tuesday April 12, 2005

Heated tempers and pointed questions dominated the opening minutes of Thursday’s Berkeley Unified School District’s public planning meeting last week on the West Campus site. -more-


Peralta Board to Vote on No-Bid Contract at Laney By J. DOUGLAS ALLEN-TAYLOR

Tuesday April 12, 2005

Peralta Community College District Trustees this week will be asked this week to approve an $8 million no-bid contract to build Laney College’s new art building using a controversial interpretation of the California Public Contract Code. -more-


BUSD to Replace Five Principals, Food Chief By J. DOUGLAS ALLEN-TAYLOR

Tuesday April 12, 2005

As if ongoing budget and contract problems and the task of hiring 60 new teachers were not enough, Berkeley Unified School District must replace five of its 16 school principals and the district director of food services this summer. -more-


City Looks to Boost Condo Conversion By MATTHEW ARTZ

Staff
Tuesday April 12, 2005

The City Council Tuesday will consider a proposal that could make the condominium king in Berkeley. -more-


Bayer Moves Division Headquarters to Berkeley By MATTHEW ARTZ

Tuesday April 12, 2005

Berkeley is set to be at the center of hemophilia research as the new headquarters for Bayer’s Biological Products Division. -more-


Margaret Breland Funeral Services

Tuesday April 12, 2005

Funeral services for former Berkeley City Councilmember Margaret Breland will be held at 11 a.m. Friday morning at the Liberty Hill Missionary Baptist Church, 997 University Ave. Mourners are also invited to pay respects at a “Quiet Hours” vigil at 7 p.m. Thursday at Fouche’s Hudson Funeral Home, 3665 Telegraph Ave. -more-


Contra Costa County, Orinda Say No to Urban Casinos; Senate May Act By RICHARD BRENNEMAN

Tuesday April 12, 2005

Contra Costa County and the City of Orinda joined the ranks of East Bay casino foes last week, while a Washington D.C. hearing targeted Casino San Pablo. -more-


East Bay Pickets Target Controversial Developer By RICHARD BRENNEMAN

Tuesday April 12, 2005

Protesters plan to target the San Francisco offices of Simeon Properties today (Tuesday), challenging the firm’s plan to bring a Super Wal-Mart to the Oakland Metroport, near the Oakland International Airport. -more-


Berkeley Loses Key Health Official Namkung By MATTHEW ARTZ

Tuesday April 12, 2005

Poki Namkung, Berkeley’s health officer for the past ten years, resigned last week to become health officer for Santa Cruz County. -more-


City Hopes New Meters More Intelligent Than Vandals By MATTHEW ARTZ

Tuesday April 12, 2005

Drivers who bank on parking at a broken meter in Downtown Berkeley might have to start riffling through their change. -more-


Weighty Wednesday Agendas for ZAB, Planners By RICHARD BRENNEMAN

Tuesday April 12, 2005

Berkeley’s planning commissioners will face only two action items Wednesday, each freighted with enough potential controversy to carry a meeting. -more-


CORRECTION

Tuesday April 12, 2005

The Daily Planet incorrectly reported April 8 that Robert Pennell had initiated landmark designation for three homes on Buena Vista Way. All three were initiated by the Berkeley Landmarks Preservation Commission. Pennell supplied documentation only for his own house at 2730 Buena Vista. -more-


Berkeley High Crew Finishes Strong in San Diego By DAVID ARNOLD

Special to the Planet
Tuesday April 12, 2005

SAN DIEGO—The race was over. -more-



Letters to the Editor

Tuesday April 12, 2005

-more-


In Spring, Comforting Others in Time of Loss By SUSAN PARKER

Column
Tuesday April 12, 2005

Spring is a time for renewal, yet the headlines for the past few weeks have been filled with the news of death and dying. As politicians wrestled over the fate of Terri Schiavo, and the world mourned the passing of Pope John Paul II, my own small circle of acquaintances experienced sadness, confusion and loss. -more-


Police Blotter By RICHARD BRENNEMAN

Tuesday April 12, 2005

Whole Foods Stick-up -more-


Governing Berkeley by Questionnaire and Fiat By ZELDA BRONSTEIN

Commentary
Tuesday April 12, 2005

“There’s no action tonight,” said City Manager Phil Kamlarz as he introduced the Berkeley City Council’s March 8 work session on business revenue and the budget. “It’s really just informational and a discussion.” -more-


AC Transit’s Van Hools Hated by Riders, Drivers By JOYCE ROY

Commentary
Tuesday April 12, 2005

Jaimie Levin’s letter praising the Van Hool buses (DAILY PLANET, March 8-10) shows how totally out of touch AC Transit is with its riders. When these buses were first introduced, riders’ complaints were so loud and clear, that one could assume they would not continue to order them. But no, they plugged their ears and didn’t even listen to their own Riders Advisory Committee (RAC) which gave the buses their thumbs down. The board then eliminated the RAC to avoid listening to riders’ pesky demands. And soon Van Hools will be invading all the bus lines—AC Transit plans to replace ALL their buses with them. -more-


Kathakali: Ancient Indian Theater at MLK Middle School By KEN BULLOCK

Special to the Planet
Tuesday April 12, 2005

“Kathakali discovered long ago that the secret of the Great Stories is that they have no secrets.” -more-


Arts Calendar

Tuesday April 12, 2005

TUESDAY, APRIL 12 -more-


Blooming Flannelbush, One of Area’s Showiest Plants By RON SULLIVAN

Special to the Planet
Tuesday April 12, 2005

It’s not quite a tree—except for a specimen belonging to a friend of ours, a monster some twenty-five feet tall, standing, or rather lounging, somewhat angled in the arms of a Hollywood juniper in his back yard. But I can’t resist it; it’s one of Berkeley’s showiest plant citizens, and it’s blooming now, if the rain hasn’t knocked the flowers off between deadline and distribution. It’s even a California native. -more-


Berkeley This Week

Staff
Tuesday April 12, 2005

TUESDAY, APRIL 12 -more-


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-


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-


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-


Opinion

Editorials

Watchdogging Government By BECKY O'MALLEY

Editorial
Tuesday April 12, 2005

The front page of Sunday’s Contra Costa Times featured an impressive team effort by reporters Jessica Guynn, Lisa Vorderbruggen and John Simerman, documenting, in the words of Guynn’s lead paragraph, that “a state law to help poor people in California has turned into a tax loophole almost as big as the city of Oakland.” Their story, which took up three pages and was copiously illustrated with maps, charts and photos, looked at enterprise zones, where businesses get big tax breaks for locating in supposedly poor areas. A variety of points of view were included in the report, but the clear bottom line is that the enterprise zone strategy has become just another of the many mechanisms by which the rich get richer. Cost to California taxpayers, according to a graph of data supplied by the state’s Franchise Tax Board: $179.4 million in lost revenues, with benefits to citizens which, most charitably, can be described as illusory. -more-


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-