Stalled plans in Richmond are giving Berkeley the edge in the effort to land the East Bay’s first new ferry stop in years. -more-
The Alameda County Medical Center (ACMC) Board of Trustees voted last week to replace 45 staff doctors at John George Psychiatric Pavilion in San Leandro with contracted psychiatrists and physicians, but a motion for a preliminary court injunction filed by the employees’ union could scuttle the deal. -more-
Berkeley’s outgoing health officer has charged that her bosses have mismanaged a bloated department and are jeopardizing services by using public health funds to pay for unnecessary bureaucracy. -more-
With students leading the way, 57 percent of the Jefferson Elementary School community voted Tuesday night to change the name of the school to Sequoia Elementary. -more-
A few tossed chairs and a sidewalk showdown are the latest signs that Berkeley’s peace-loving, left-wing radio station, KPFA, is in the throes of another civil war. -more-
Hamaseh Kianfar, the former mental health worker at Alameda County Juvenile Hall, pled not guilty Wednesday to charges that she helped a teenage girl flee after slashing a 75-year-old woman in the throat outside the Berkeley Rose Garden in March. -more-
The Berkeley school district released its master plan for its West Campus site along University Avenue Thursday without major alterations, angering several neighbors who had demanded several revisions to the plan’s draft. -more-
Troubled by the city’s bloody history of black-on-black youth violence, the Richmond Improvement Association is sponsoring an all-day conference Saturday aimed at ending city murders within three years. Rev. Andre Shumake Sr., who heads the organization modeled after Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.’s Montgomery Improvement Association, said the community-wide gathering is focused on solutions to the city’s notoriously high murder rate. -more-
When it comes to the environment, Berkeley has won the bronze medal. -more-
DEAD SEA, Jordan—In a region where hardly anyone can agree with anyone about anything, the governments of Jordan, Israel and the Palestinian Authority recently signed an agreement to save the magnificent and strangely silent desert sea where Jesus once walked. -more-
Berkeley High has produced a number of outstanding individuals over the years and Joel Kaji is no exception. After graduating from BHS in 1981 Joel attended Haverford College in Pennsylvania, graduating in 1985 with a degree in political science. -more-
Malcolm Gladwell. Ever heard of him? He’s been written up in several national publications, all applauding this bright young New Yorker staff writer and his unique analysis of why and how we think. His two books, The Tipping Point and Blink—which explore the value of first impressions—have become bestsellers. -more-
Well, you absolutely knew this one was coming, didn’t you, friends? -more-
The agreement we recently approved with UC Berkeley does much more than simply end a lawsuit. It welcomes a new era of cooperation between our city and the campus. -more-
As members of BudgetWatch we carefully monitor the development and adoption process of each budget cycle. We appreciate the work that city staff and the City Council must undertake to balance each budget. That being said, we want to say that we were st unned by the council’s action on April 19 to eliminate the Citizens Budget Review Commission. We strongly protest this action on the following grounds: -more-
I think we were right to attack the former Iraqi regime because: -more-
Suddenly they’re everywhere. After weeks of heavy equipment churning up the asphalt and concrete pours between thunderstorms, my neighborhood is surrounded by “traffic-calming” round traffic barriers studded with curious signs. The symbol on the signs, w hich has a resemblance to elemental symbols from native cultures, is apparently an effort, occasionally successful, to keep drivers going in a uniform direction. -more-
Last fall the Berkeley City Council created a Creeks Task Force (CTF) to review and make recommendations to the Planning Commission and City Council about the Creeks Ordinance and overall City policy regarding creeks and culverts. The CTF is a broad-based, 15-member body, representing several diverse points of view. -more-
Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin survived a razor-thin vote of confidence on May 17 when the House of Commons voted 152-152, putting his minority government in peril. It survived by a single vote when the Parliament speaker gave the minority government its one-vote victory. -more-
On the day before the conclave to choose a new pope began, future pontiff Joseph Ratzinger led a liturgy that reassured the church’s believers that the Holy See was not giving up on them and was prepared to fight for the salvation of their souls. He surely meant to allude to the fight against moral relativism, but he also had his sights set on evangelicalism. -more-
From tango to reggae, Big Bones’ blues to Celtic rock. With the sound of Steel Drums, electronics, Indian flute, hip hop and musical saw the second annual Berkeley World Music Weekend will make a joyous noise on and around Telegraph Avenue during this weekend, all for free (except a Saturday night show at Larry Blake’s for $8), with a little bit more than something for everybody—from everywhere. -more-
So, naturally, what you’re asking is why on earth is the Subterranean Theatre Company producing Shakespeare’s The Taming of the Shrew—arguably the best-known, supposedly funny, and longest-running assault on women’s human rights on the English-speaking s tage—and they’re committing this outrage firmly in the middle of Berkeley? -more-
Adagia, the new restaurant at the corner of Bancroft Way and College Avenue, looks like the dining hall of an East Coast prep school. Luckily, the food doesn’t follow suit. The restaurant, opened in February after months of planning, permitting, and delays, is located in Westminster House, a 1926 Tudor-style building designed by Berkeley Architect Walter Ratcliff, with an enormous fireplace in the dining room, wood panelled walls, and stained-glass windows. -more-
To the delight of environmentalists and the dismay of anarchists, artists and dog-lovers, the Albany Bulb is one major step closer to joining the Eastshore State Park. -more-
Some neighbors of the old Berkeley High School East Campus say they are afraid that a BUSD school board decision last week on whether to close a block of Derby Street might mean the campus will long remain an abandoned, empty lot instead of the promised multi-purpose athletic fields and community park space. -more-
Praised by citizen activists in Richmond, the state Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC) got a less than friendly reception Thursday night in Berkeley. -more-
Without granting a hearing, a superior court judge Friday denied the petition of three Berkeley residents, including a city councilmember, seeking to ultimately undo a settlement agreement reached last week between the city and UC Berkeley. -more-
A Los Angeles mega-mall developer is pushing forward with his plans for an up-scale shopping complex and a hotel at Golden Gate Fields. -more-
Recent actions at Peralta Community College Trustee meetings may be signaling a new era of increased financial scrutiny within the four-college district. -more-
The Zoning Adjustment Board ruled Thursday that the cottage resting atop a weathering plywood shell that dominates the corner of Shattuck Avenue and Emerson Street, known as the “flying cottage,” now complies with city zoning laws. -more-
If you have flown the polar route, from London to San Francisco, you may have had the opportunity to look down on the arctic ice cap from 35,000 feet. In the summer the vast span of perennial sea ice—some 1.7 billion acres—begins just west of Greenland a nd extends for hundreds of miles, ending in a span of open water off the coast of North America and Eurasia. The next time you fly this route, take a long look at this endless expanse of whiteness. Before the end of the century the ice cap will be gone, a victim of global warming or, more precisely, the anthropogenic forcing of global climate change. -more-
I read in the paper that front row tickets for the upcoming Rolling Stones concerts are selling for over $5,000 a piece. That’s a lot of money to shell out to see four geezers prance arthritically around on stage. -more-
We got lice. We got staph. We were temporarily brainwashed by an amateur cult leader. We paid our own way, took semesters off to travel and took in homeless veterans. We learned that, sadly, sometimes things do need to get worse before they get better. -more-
Thanks to the Daily Planet, it has now become an open secret that Tom Bates is extending his heavy hand to thwart the efforts of the Berkeley Unified School District to begin construction of the transportation facility that was to be located on Sixth and Gilman streets. (A faded poster containing the formal legal announcement of the district’s plans for the project is still affixed to the anchor fence on the site.) -more-
For the past 10 years California population has grown at an average rate of 1.3 percent a year, with the result that the state is now adding almost 500,000 people per year. However, from 2000 to 2003 (the years for which I found data) Alameda County grew by only 0.4 percent per year, and Berkeley actually shrank at a rate of 0.3 percent per year. There are many in Berkeley who have fought hard to achieve this. We have a zoning ordinance which limits new building heights to one-half that of some existing buildings. We have people who appeal to have buildings landmarked in order to block development plans. We have people who protest when plans trade-off an increase in units against a decrease in parking places. We have people who want an environmental impa ct report for any large, or medium-sized development. We have succeeded in halting growth in Berkeley, despite the growth in the state as a whole. -more-
I’ve been hearing a lot of foolishness and hypocrisy about parking in Berkeley. -more-
As a fan of the Berkeley Daily Planet, I was worried when I learned that Knight Ridder was starting a free daily newspaper in the East Bay. I had just finished reading Davis Merritt’s new book, Knightfall: Knight Ridder and How the Erosion of Newspaper Journalism Is Putting Democracy at Risk. The story he tells does not inspire faith that, when Knight Ridder moves in, good journalism will prevail. -more-
One hundred years ago poet George Sterling arrived in Carmel on the cusp of a storied era for the Monterey Peninsula. -more-
Gothic columns of petrified motion, -more-
The wild turkeys continue to expand their presence in the Berkeley hills. Some of their new neighbors have mixed feelings about these large untidy and sometimes aggressive birds. And the turkeys may be impacting other species, either through predation (on salamanders and the like) or displacement. -more-
Today’s lesson in comparative local government in university cities (a putative excuse for our trip to Oxford) started with a two-hour walking tour of Oxford’s university, including seven or eight of its colleges and some principal university buildings. We were lucky to have as our guide the retired university marshal (head of its police and security services), previously superintendent with the fabled Oxfordshire police force of Inspector Morse fame. Besides giving us a capsule history lesson at every s top, he entertained us with anecdotal asides about how public relations image diverges from reality, here as in Berkeley. -more-
Well, we don’t take many trips, and it’s a good thing for the public interest that we don’t. Every time we leave the country, it seems that something happens. We were in France when Watergate broke. We were in England during Tianamen Square. We were in Italy at the time of 9/11. And those are just about all the vacations we’ve taken in the last 30 years, so we sometimes feel that we’re influencing the course of world history every time we go somewhere. -more-
