Berkeley residents will not get the opportunity to view the terms of a high stakes legal settlement with the University of California, university officials said. -more-

Father George Crespin returned to the pulpit Sunday, two days after Oakland Diocese officials cleared him on charges that he sexually molested a boy more than 30 years ago. -more-

Reversing a decision by his predecessor, UC Berkeley Chancellor Robert Birgeneau has granted tenure and retroactive pay to embattled Professor Ignacio Chapela. -more-

Berkeley is poised to become the third city in the nation to require companies that do business with the city to disclose any financial ties with slavery. -more-

The controversial Seagate Building, a nine-story condo-and-commercial project planned for Center Street, has been sold and renamed The Arpeggio of Berkeley. Construction is slated to begin this fall with completion two years later. -more-

Ozzie’s, the soda fountain at the former Elmwood Pharmacy, has been granted a one-month reprieve from its scheduled June 1 closing, said operator Michael Hogan. -more-

Berkeley’s Planning Commission could act on their proposed revisions to the city’s Landmark’s Preservation Ordinance as early as Wednesday night. -more-

Plans for a new 800-acre North Oakland redevelopment district just south of the Berkeley border have been put on hold. -more-

Neighbors of Le Chateau, UC Berkeley’s most infamous student co-op, and the University Students Cooperative Association have reached a tentative settlement on the neighbor’s nuisance suit. -more-

Six months after it was initially authorized by the outgoing Peralta Community College District Board of Trustees, Oakland developer Alan Dones’ proposed exclusive negotiation agreement for development of Laney College lands goes back to the board for final approval tonight (Tuesday). -more-

Almost three months after the Berkeley School Board killed a proposal to consider a regulation high school baseball field for its Derby Street properties, the proposal is back on the table. -more-

Click here to view the latest work by Justin DeFreitas -more-

WHERE? -more-

After the city tax measures went down to defeat last fall, Tom Bates started talking about “re-inventing Berkeley government.” -more-

Just after I’d written a column about our friend Leroy contacting us from the beyond, but before it was published last week, I got a phone call from his sister, Cleo. -more-

Middle School Arson -more-

North Aquatic Park Rape -more-

In February the City filed a lawsuit against the university over its Long Range Development Plan (LRDP) and its meaningless environmental impact report (EIR). The university plans to expand by 4000 full-time students (adding to Berkeley’s housing problems), 3500 faculty, staff, and visitors (adding to Berkeley’s traffic and parking problems), and 2.2 million square feet (built who-knows-where and creating who-knows-what problems). The city stated, correctly, that the LRDP/EIR “falls far short of providing adequate information, analysis, or mitigations for the tremendous burden this growth will place on our city.” -more-

So far the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) dispute between the City of Berkeley and University of California has played out with commendable respect for the involved interests. The university published its draft environmental impact report (EIR), the city and community commented on it, and the university responded as it saw fit. The city, visualizing the University’s environmental shortcomings and their economic implications, challenged UC in court—ultimately seeking a better decision through litigation or negotiation. To their credit, the two parties then engaged in negotiations to resolve the city’s concerns by consensus if possible. I praise the city for calling UC’s bluff by commencing litigation that keeps the process open, just as I praise both parties for attempting to produce a final product now and not after years in court. -more-

Terry Francke is right about the purpose of the Brown Act, as stated in its preamble: Government Code Section 54950. In enacting this chapter, the Legislature finds and declares that the public commissions, boards and councils and the other public agencies in this State exist to aid in the conduct of the people’s business. It is the intent of the law that their actions be taken openly and that their deliberations be conducted openly. The people of this State do not yield their sovereignty to the agencies which serve them. The people, in delegating authority, do not give their public servants the right to decide what is good for the people to know and what is not good for them to know. The people insist on remaining informed so that they may retain control over the instruments they have created. -more-

Toy instruments have been used in classical music for their humor and novelty effect at least since Father Angerer’s nineteenth century Toy Symphony (I know, until recently everyone thought it was by Leopold Mozart). Just the other day, in 1948, experime ntalist John Cage wrote a Suite for Toy Piano. -more-

Not long ago, a very wealthy American couple visited a beautiful little village in the south of France while on vacation. They loved what they saw—everything. So captivated were they with the little town that they extended their vacation seven days, giving them time to get to know the locals, until they were all on a first-name basis. During their stay one thought kept racing through their minds: “There must be a way that more people could come here and enjoy such a place!” -more-

TUESDAY, MAY 24 -more-

The new tree planted at Malcolm X School last month is an alien here, but not an invasive species nor as troublesome as, say, blue gum eucalyptus; I’d call it a perfectly respectable city tree. It’s a northern red oak, native to the eastern part of the continent, and it will pay its biological dues here in due time, when it starts bearing acorns. There might be an organism or three willing to dine on its leaves, too. -more-

TUESDAY, MAY 24 -more-