If you’re going to be a starving artist in Berkeley, then the place to starve is 800 Heinz Ave. -more-
A legal blunder will keep East Bay Drayage tenants in their homes for another two months and will cost the building’s owner nearly $200,000 in additional city fines and safety costs. -more-
Legislation by Assemblymember Loni Hancock (D-Berkeley) that would require “green” construction for new school buildings in the state may have minimal effect in Berkeley, despite the fact that several new school construction projects are pending in the city. -more-
The S.H. Kress building at 2036 Shattuck Ave. was built in a different time, but due in no small part to the foresight of founder Samuel Kress, the 73-year-old building is still standing today. -more-
A pair of Oakland bakers have stepped up with a bid to take over the cash-strapped Nabolom Bakery. -more-
The Alta Bates hospitals have risen a notch on the five-level accreditation scale of the private agency whose imprimatur is required for federal patient dollars, but they still fall short of full accreditation. -more-
Sudan Vice President John Garang’s recent death imperils the peace accord that stopped the country’s civil war and gave Garang’s Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA) a role in the military government headed by General Omar Bashir. -more-
Saturday Aug. 6 marked the 40th anniversary of the Voting Rights Act. Passed by Congress and signed by President Johnson, it provides voter protections against actions taken by states to limit participation in the electoral process, actions most often targeted toward Blacks, Latinos and low income citizens. -more-
At a dinner party in Wales, a British conservative asked if it was true that American activists opposed to the Bush administration hated George. Have our feelings about him grown so intense that we categorically reject everything he does? In truth, many of us cannot bear to watch Bush on television, and find it is easier to make fun of him than to consider how dreadfully effective he has been as a politician. In the remaining three and a half years of his administration, our challenge is to turn this antipathy into effective action. -more-
I’ve been obsessively thinking about my lack of a nickname ever since my teenage friend Jernae recently rechristened herself Suga’ Baby. I’ve been asking a lot of questions of my neighbors and housemates, quizzing Jernae on her friend’s nicknames, and just generally grousing about the unfairness of it all. Why do some people have three or four nicknames, and others have none? -more-
http://www.jfdefreitas.com/index.php?path=/00_Latest%20Work -more-
The pages of this paper have overflowed with typographical adamancy bemoaning the changes in a cherished Berkeley commission devoted to “peace and justice”—the mother and apple pie of Berkeley politics. Some have pointed to a Zionist cabal which, with Beth El, appear to comprise our local axis of evil. It is inspiring to mourn and honor those dead Jews who perished in the Holocaust, but apparently those live ones can sure cause problems. -more-
The Peace and Justice Commission has long been a beacon for believers in human rights and equality. It became a place where Berkeley citizens explored ways to creatively exercise humanitarian concerns. It was a place to share information and develop guidelines to become a more inclusive and democratic people. The Commission would gather information and then advise City Council how to implement. Thus, we, as citizens, could consider what makes Peace and what makes Justice in ways that City Council didn’t have time to do. It helped us to grow awareness of ourselves as part of the human family. It became the conscience of Berkeley. -more-
Reports from participants at a recent Leconte neighborhood meeting had Mayor Tom Bates making some astounding allegations. Mr. Bates reportedly told people that they were paranoid regarding the UC Long Range Development Plan (LRDP) lawsuit settlement agreement. He denied that it was kept secret from the public or that it gives the university veto power over the Downtown Area Plan (DAP), and asserted that the city was completely in charge of the plan which controls development standards including zoning. -more-
I play it cool -more-
The people of Villa El Salvador and Maria must have been surprised to see a large charter bus negotiating their steep, narrow, winding streets. The shantytowns of Lima are not on the typical tourist itinerary. -more-
Sausalito may have forgotten about the humming toadfish—the Toadfish Festival with its marching kazoo bands is history—but Andrew Bass hasn’t. The Cornell biologist, formerly at the Bodega Marine Laboratory, is still learning unexpected things about this curious creature and its perceptual world. -more-
A panel discussing Berkeley’s application of the always controversial density bonus had a surprise visitor Wednesday—developer Patrick Kennedy, perhaps the city’s foremost beneficiary of the law. -more-
An Oakland City Councilmember says that a San Francisco Chronicle column about a confrontation between her and an Oakland police officer is factually untrue in key points, and that she never looked in the officer’s personnel file or evaded a traffic citation. -more-
Berkeley and Pacific Steel Casting have agreed to study the source of the burning rubber smell wafting from the company’s West Berkeley plant. -more-
In another example of a local business making it big, Elephant Pharmacy has announced its intention to open three new stores in the next year and has hired a new CEO to facilitate the company’s growth. -more-
Lookout! Records, the venerable Berkeley-based punk recording label, gave layoff notices to two-thirds of its staff last week. -more-
More than 100 people filled the South Berkeley Senior Center Monday to debate the Berkeley Public Library’s practice of placing radio frequency identification devices (RFIDs) in books. -more-
Over the objections of some neighbors, Berkeley opened the door Tuesday for its largest Jewish congregation to move into its newly built multi-million dollar synagogue. -more-
North Berkeley residents say a truck driver has been taking aim at the Arlington Traffic Circle. -more-
An Oakland Unified School District Board member says that she was misquoted in a July 29 story on the Oakland School for the Arts (“OSA Will Now Include Middle School”). -more-
Steven Vincent, a U.S. freelancer kidnapped and executed in Basra on Aug. 2, was one of a kind. For Americans trying to make sense of the war in Iraq, that’s precisely the problem. -more-
http://www.jfdefreitas.com/index.php?path=/00_Latest%20Work0 -more-
Some years ago, shortly after I got my first Internet account, I signed up to an online discussion group on African-American affairs. It was the opening up of a whole new world. Every morning, first thing, I’d log on and read through the 25 or so e-mails that had already been posted from back east and the midwest. If one or two of them seemed particularly provocative and ripe for reply, I’d think it over while eating breakfast. By the time I got back to the computer a half hour later or so, the west coast had joined in, and another 25 or so messages had been posted to the discussion list, many of them in response to the one or two that had caught my own attention. -more-
People who bear firearms have a legal, moral, and financial responsibility for the terminal resting place of every projectile that is fired. Our rights come with real responsibilities. As a firearms instructor, I am well aware of the flagrant and common ignorance regarding firearm ownership. Often people who keep firearms for self defense do not bother undergoing the training and practice sessions required for proficiency. Firearms education is on a dangerous decline in large part due to the disinformation published by the media and Hollywood. The problem is compounded by the elimination of firearms education in the schools. With today’s “no tolerance” policies you cannot so much as wear a T-shirt depicting a firearm, let alone teach firearm safety in our schools. It may be difficult for many to believe but marksmanship was a sport for which you could earn a letter in high school. It would be irresponsible to abandon our means of self defense because of accidents. Automobile accidents cause far more death and injury than firearm accidents, yet no one is rallying for “car control.” -more-
Summer in Berkeley is wonderful. No need for reservations at restaurants, parking galore, and best of all we have our neighborhood pools for the whole family. When I see the Willard Pool full of kids and families I want to look around for the oak tree with the rope swing. Even though there are no rope swings around these swimming holes, Willard, King and West Campus pools are the destination (usually within walking distance) for kids and families looking to share the magic of aquatic recreation. In the shallow pool a wide-eyed tiny tot grips her mom’s neck while being lowered for the first time into the water. In the deep pool two teenaged boys are trying to catch the eye of a sunbathing girl by doing outrageous cannon balls into the water. In the long pool several adults are doing laps while a lifeguard makes suggestions about swim technique. -more-
Editors, Daily Planet: -more-
I am surprised that the Berkeley Daily Planet, whose editor recently called for “communication” as the solution to the world’s ills, would publish two pieces in a recent issue (Aug. 2) that pull out all the old anti-Semitic shibboleths in order to beat up both selected individuals and Jews in general. -more-
As I envision my young, African-American, Jewish sons walking past the anti-Beth El signs on Oxford Street to enter their new synagogue, I cannot help but think about the Civil Rights Movement and all the children and young adults who had to be taught to hold their heads high and bravely go where they were so clearly unwanted. Our Beth El children will have to do the same. -more-
On May 15, I attended Maria King’s funeral at St. Joseph the Worker Church. Maria’s funeral was beautiful, though wrenchingly sad. Saddest of all, I thought, was that the church was only half-full. Since the San Francisco Chronicle had run a front-page story that day “A Death in Berkeley”—I expected the service to be packed. It wasn’t. Some of Maria’s homeless friends were there, and locals who knew her. The priests at St. Joseph’s, especially pastor George Crespin were there, having grown to think of Maria as a friend. Her shocked family was there en masse having flown in long distance from scattered locations. -more-
It’s summer in Berkeley again, and that means that the Shotgun Players are back with their 9th annual production in John Hinkle Park. It’s a double gift—almost any excuse to spend the afternoon in that lovely outdoor theater would do—but Shotgun’s plays have been consistent delights in themselves. -more-
Pauline Kael (1919-2001) was the nation’s preeminent critic of motion pictures for almost 40 years. The London Times Literary Supplement described her writings as “a body of criticism which can be compared with George Bernard Shaw’s criticism of music and theater.” -more-
The 2005 Trails Challenge sponsored by the East Bay Regional Park District has reached the halfway point. It’s time to crunch some numbers. Assuming you’re with me, we’ve taken three hikes for a total of 9.1 miles. A total of five hikes need to be completed to qualify for the 2005 pin and four months remain for this task. To qualify for marathon mileage, we need 26 miles. Already signed up for the program are 1,700 enthusiasts; are you one of them? If not you can still call (636-1684) and get with the program. -more-
The death of longtime ABC evening news anchor Peter Jennings reminds us of a time when network news created reality for millions of Americans. For about four decades those who cared about what was going on in the nation and the world—and it seemed that most adults did—could get a quick and trusted summary of world events by watching television for a half-hour in the evening. In his heyday, everyone believed Walter Cronkite, of course. After Cronkite’s era, there was no single news anchor who commanded the same unquestioning respect, but for a period of time Peter Jennings came close. -more-
He’s a soft-spoken man with a relaxed manner, an open smile and a gentle handshake—the perfect temperament for a developer tackling a landmarked Berkeley building. -more-
