The University of California and the union representing its 7,300 low-wage service workers announced Wednesday that they had come to a tentative agreement on a new three-year contract after almost 10 months of negotiations. -more-

Opponents of the proposed casino coastal resort at Richmond’s Point Molate gained a powerful ally this week when the state attorney general’s office intervened on their behalf. -more-

The 19-year-old African-American shooting victim in a sideshow-vicinity East Oakland robbery attempt last weekend has charged that Oakland Police officers failed to search for him while he lay bleeding from two gunshot wounds and hiding from his attackers, and prevented friends from searching for him as well. -more-

Red light runners in Berkeley should prepare to smile as they illegally cross intersections this June when the city implements its new red light camera system. -more-

Berkeley City Councilmembers will meet an hour before their regular Tuesday night meeting to consider the new—and final—five-year-plan for the West Berkeley Redevelopment Area. -more-

º An agreement between the state and the city housing department cleared a major hurdle this week for the Ed Roberts Center, a planned facility serving Berkeley’s disabled community, when a state agency verbally agreed to withdraw its objections. -more-

The fountain at Civic Center Park will stay dry indefinitely after the City Council Tuesday unanimously rejected a proposed $600,000 renovation. -more-

On Sept. 13, 1971, a four-day revolt against abominable prison conditions ended with police and guards storming Attica State Prison, killing 32 inmates and 11 corrections officers. At Abu Ghraib, Guantanamo Bay and elsewhere, U.S. military and private prison guards have tortured prisoners. In Dublin, Calif., and other federal prisons around the country, inmates known for political activism have been convicted for alleged criminal acts. Political prisoners—some charged as criminals, many not charged at all—sit in jails in Palestine, the Philippines, Haiti and elsewhere. -more-

Professor L. Ling-chi Wang’s colleagues across the country tell him he’s lucky to work at UC Berkeley, a bastion of academic freedom. -more-

Driving home close to midnight after an 11-hour workday last August, Carol Harris never expected to become embroiled in a free speech fight. -more-

“Interpreters work best when they’re unnoticed, when you do your job so well no one knows you’re there,” explained Berkeley resident Fred Burks. -more-

Three separate bills inspired by the struggles over the polluted site of a proposed housing complex in Richmond are scheduled for hearings Tuesday in Sacramento. -more-

With little discussion and only minor tweaking, Berkeley Unified School District directors unanimously passed a policy Wednesday night to modify the process of selecting new principals. -more-

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

WORK-TO-RULE -more-

I don’t think that this is a column with a point to it, though I may not be the best judge. It’s just some observations about life swimming in the multicultural creek that we call East Oakland. -more-

Dodged the Big One -more-

For the last 35 years, since Earth Day was first celebrated in 1970, we have come together as a global community to celebrate our planet and recognize the importance of a clean and healthy environment. The theme of Earth Day this year, “Protect Our Children and Our Future,” is an important reminder that our responsibility to build a cleaner, healthier and safer world is a long-term commitment to our children and the planet they will inherit. -more-

A recent editorial by a Berkeley teacher confirmed my fears that teachers are not really hearing the truth about most parents’ opinions about the “work-to” rule. Ask any parent if they support higher pay for teachers and the answer is a resounding yes. We are well aware that the vast majority of teachers are dedicated, committed people that have our children’s best interest at heart. Of course we wish for them to receive the highest wages possible. However, ask a parent if they support the current union work action and I believe the majority will answer no. -more-

It’s not true that the vast majority of parents support the work-to-rule situation in the Berkeley Public Schools. Virtually every parent I’ve spoken with has been frustrated at the whole evolution of events and felt like their kid has been put in the middle of a complex conflict over benefits without being notified, fully informed and where their kids education has been held hostage to a settlement. -more-

Call it Being Something. The whole unwieldy title of the production we’re concerned with here is actually Being Something: Living Young and Growing Old in Oakland and it opens this Friday night at the Metro Theater on the corner of Broadway and Second Avenue in Oakland, two blocks short of Jack London Square. -more-

This Monday, at 7:30 p.m., Berkeley’s downtown Pegasus Bookstore at the corner of Shattuck and Durant avenues is sponsoring a free production that should be worth checking out. -more-

All the action of Joe Penhall’s Blue/Orange (now at the Aurora) plays out in the confines of an examining room in a mental hospital in London. It is a place where two people usually meet, one listening to the other. -more-

On Saturday, April 23, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., the Pacific Center for the Book Arts will present the 31st Annual Printers’ Fair at the Fort Mason Conference Center in San Francisco. “The letter, the word and the book, from the romance of calligraphy to the integration of letterpress printing and digital technology” will be the theme of the fair, with some 40 exhibitors. The event is free to the public. -more-

FRIDAY, APRIL 22 -more-

The courtship begins with an exchange of suggestive looks across the trees. Next comes an offering, a choice twig. If reciprocated, the courtship ritual proceeds and the cycle of life begins anew for great egrets and herons. The ballet atop the redwoods has already begun and tickets are available for nest building, rearing and send-off at Audubon Canyon Ranch. -more-

FRIDAY, APRIL 22 -more-