Jakob Schiller: Fannie Brown, the state chair of the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN), and her son Derek Brown, 10, were among the people who rallied outside the Oakland Federal building Tuesday to protest the federal government’s response to Hurricane Katrina..
Jakob Schiller: Fannie Brown, the state chair of the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN), and her son Derek Brown, 10, were among the people who rallied outside the Oakland Federal building Tuesday to protest the federal government’s response to Hurricane Katrina..

Page One

East Bay Rallies for Katrina Aid By J. DOUGLAS ALLEN-TAYLOR

Friday September 09, 2005

East Bay progressives, politicians, celebrities, and business and religious leaders rallied this week in front of the Federal Building in Oakland to alternately denounce the Bush administration and urge aid for the Louisiana and Mississippi residents displaced by last week’s devastating storm and floods. -more-



New Orleans Family Finds Refuge in Berkeley By MATTHEW ARTZ

Friday September 09, 2005

Sixty-two years ago Shirley Thompson left her family in New Orleans behind to start fresh in Bay Area. Last week, 13 members of her family, their homes underwater and with little left besides the clothes on their backs, joined her. -more-



Hurdles Still Confront Proposal to Turn UC Theatre Into a Jazz Club By RICHARD BRENNEMAN

Friday September 09, 2005

The landmark UC Theatre on University Avenue in Berkeley could soon be the home of a jazz club, but just when remains a question. -more-



Rising Costs Derail Civic Center Park Renovation By MATTHEW ARTZ

Friday September 09, 2005

Renovations to Berkeley’s Civic Center Park, in the works since 1996, have been delayed once again after the city learned that the project would cost at least $400,000 more than anticipated. -more-



City Council Resumes Meetings By MATTHEW ARTZ

Friday September 09, 2005

The Berkeley City Council meets Tuesday at 7 p.m. after an eight-week recess. Items on the agenda include: -more-



Features

City Considers Fee for Grocery Bags By MATTHEW ARTZ

Friday September 09, 2005

The drive to make Berkeley the first city in the country to charge a fee for grocery bags at city supermarkets hit a snag this week when results were released of a recent unscientific online survey conducted by the mayor’s office. -more-


Chemical Pollution Kills Strawberry Creek Fish By RICHARD BRENNEMAN

Friday September 09, 2005

Hundreds of dead fish floated to the surface of Strawberry Creek Tuesday morning, the apparent result of chemicals dumped in the stream, according to a group of residents who reported the incident. -more-


Union Dispute Keeps Bayer Workers From Voting on Contract By MATTHEW ARTZ

Friday September 09, 2005

At least one-quarter of unionized workers at Bayer Corp.’s Berkeley facility were barred by their union from voting on a new contract Wednesday because they had refused to pay a $40 surcharge after an embezzlement scheme had depleted union coffers of more than $100,000. -more-


BUSD Pledges to Maintain Fiscal Guidelines By J. DOUGLAS ALLEN-TAYLOR

Friday September 09, 2005

Berkeley Unified School District leaders pledged this week that even though the Fiscal Crisis Management Assistance Team has left the building, the district itself will continue the organization’s work. -more-


Assembly Targets Sutter as Alta Bates Strike Date Nears By RICHARD BRENNEMAN

Friday September 09, 2005

As Tuesday’s strike deadline nears for the East Bay’s Summit Alta Bates hospitals, a state legislator announced plans Thursday for hearings on the tax-exempt status of their corporate parent. -more-


Berkeley’s Katrina: Not If, But When By JESSE TOWNLEY Special to the Planet

Friday September 09, 2005

One of the most heart-wrenching facts of Hurricane Katrina’s horrific destruction is that so much of the death and devastation was completely avoidable. Another sobering fact is that the means to avoid so much pain and loss was well known and technologically low-tech. -more-


Hurricane Katrina and the Mumbai Floods By Siddharth SrivastavaSpecial to the Planet

Friday September 09, 2005

NEW DELHI—Even as the United States struggles to come to terms with the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina that has destroyed New Orleans, there is a sense of shock in India. Pictures of victims begging for food, reports of looting, rapes, racist attacks, an ineffective disaster management routine has revealed the innards of America that many believed never existed. After all, making it to America, the land of opportunities, freedom and quality lifestyle, remains one of the abiding Indian dreams. New Orleans is a modern city and a tourist destination. -more-


Editorial Cartoon By JUSTIN DEFREITAS

Friday September 09, 2005

http://www.jfdefreitas.com/index.php?path=/00_Latest%20Work< -more-


Letters to the Editor

Friday September 09, 2005

A CLARIFICATION -more-


Column: Four Days Late and Millions of Dollars Short By P.M. PRICE

Friday September 09, 2005

Imagine that you are young and poor and nursing your beautiful new baby (brown and dimpled, with a head full of hair) while looking after your sister’s children and thumbing through the newspaper looking for a job. Your mother, who has been your rock, is in the next room tending to your ailing father who is suffering from diabetes. Your little brother walks in from school, hungry as usual. You butter the last slice of bread and try to help him with his homework which, at the seventh grade level, is already beyond you. -more-


Column: The Public Eye: Three Strikes and Counting By BOB BURNETT

Friday September 09, 2005

Watching the Bush administration’s bumbling response to Hurricane Katrina, one felt a chilling sense of déjà vu. American has seen this ineptitude before: first with 9/11—George frozen while reading The Pet Goat and meandering across the country on Air Force One; and then the “liberation” of Baghdad—chaos fanning the fires of insurgency. History will remember that George Bush had three chances at crisis leadership, and struck out each time. -more-


Column: New Orleans: Do You Know What it Means? By J. DOUGLAS ALLEN-TAYLOR

Friday September 09, 2005

Do you know what it means, what happened in New Orleans? To understand it, we must look to the nation’s past. -more-


Police Blotter By RICHARD BRENNEMAN

Friday September 09, 2005

There is no blotter today because repeated calls to Officer Steve Rego were not returned. Officer Shira Warren of the Community Services Bureau said Rego was filling in during the absence of Berkeley Police spokesperson Officer Joe Okies. -more-


Election Section

Commentary: The Berkeley Progressive Alliance Wants YOU! By Laurence Schechtman

Friday September 09, 2005

A new progressive coalition is growing in Berkeley, and you are invited to our second meeting at 7 p.m. Monday, Sept. 19 at the Unitarian Fellowship at Cedar and Bonita. -more-


Commentary: Housing Dilemmas and the Greater Good By PETER LEVITT

Friday September 09, 2005

It is interesting that it is often anti-development proponents who complain of insufficient low- and middle-income housing being built in Berkeley. It is -more-


Commentary: Peace and Justice Needs Citizen Input By ALAN MOORE

Friday September 09, 2005

Musicians and Fine Artists for World Peace has been working since 2001 to establish a U.S. Department of Peace. In partnership with the Peace Alliance we were successful in getting the cities of Berkeley and Oakland to endorse resolutions in support of that initiative. -more-


Arts: Ron Jones Brings His One-Man Show to the Marsh By KEN BULLOCK Special to the Planet

Friday September 09, 2005

Just into Ron Jones’ monologue/solo show, adapted from his book, When God Winked, the protean Jones—who takes on the mannerisms and voices of his charges and colleagues from the Recreation Center for the Handicapped in San Francisco—blows out through the exit, into the lobby of The Marsh’s new Berkeley theater in the Gaia Building, and shepherds in (like a Border Collie) late arrivals, with high-pitched admonitions: “Don’t be tardy! Have you seen Carol?” -more-


Arts Calendar

Friday September 09, 2005

FRIDAY, SEPT. 9 -more-


Summer’s End in Wildcat Canyon By MARTA YAMAMOTO Special to the Planet

Friday September 09, 2005

The carefree days of summer have slipped through our fingers, making time spent outdoors all the more crucial. Make a commitment today to walk, hike, bike, play or just sit enjoying the nature around you. There’s still time to participate in the 2005 East Bay Regional Park District’s Trail Challenge and hike number five offers a number of options for an outdoor adventure. -more-


Berkeley This Week

Friday September 09, 2005

FRIDAY, SEPT. 9 -more-


Editorial

Editorial: Does Berkeley Still Believe in Diversity? By BECKY O'MALLEY

Friday September 09, 2005

A curious development in Berkeley’s social evolution has recently surfaced in these pages. Despite the fact that the official city logo is derived from the multi-hued faces which are part of the mural Romare Bearden created for the City Council chambers, it’s apparent that the city has a residual population of pull-up-the-ladder cultural isolationists. Embedded political commentator Zelda Bronstein’s recent column documented and lamented the fact that Berkeley’s building boom has still produced almost no housing for low-income people (anticipated more than a year ago in an article by Rob Wrenn). It has elicited responses from seemingly well-educated and articulate residents who ask why anyone would want to live with such people anyhow. -more-


Back Stories

Opinion

Editorials

Editorial: Does Berkeley Still Believe in Diversity? By BECKY O'MALLEY 09-09-2005

Sutter Health Union Sets Strike Deadline By RICHARD BRENNEMAN 09-06-2005

News

East Bay Rallies for Katrina Aid By J. DOUGLAS ALLEN-TAYLOR 09-09-2005

New Orleans Family Finds Refuge in Berkeley By MATTHEW ARTZ 09-09-2005

Hurdles Still Confront Proposal to Turn UC Theatre Into a Jazz Club By RICHARD BRENNEMAN 09-09-2005

Rising Costs Derail Civic Center Park Renovation By MATTHEW ARTZ 09-09-2005

City Council Resumes Meetings By MATTHEW ARTZ 09-09-2005

City Considers Fee for Grocery Bags By MATTHEW ARTZ 09-09-2005

Chemical Pollution Kills Strawberry Creek Fish By RICHARD BRENNEMAN 09-09-2005

Union Dispute Keeps Bayer Workers From Voting on Contract By MATTHEW ARTZ 09-09-2005

BUSD Pledges to Maintain Fiscal Guidelines By J. DOUGLAS ALLEN-TAYLOR 09-09-2005

Assembly Targets Sutter as Alta Bates Strike Date Nears By RICHARD BRENNEMAN 09-09-2005

Berkeley’s Katrina: Not If, But When By JESSE TOWNLEY Special to the Planet 09-09-2005

Hurricane Katrina and the Mumbai Floods By Siddharth SrivastavaSpecial to the Planet 09-09-2005

Editorial Cartoon By JUSTIN DEFREITAS 09-09-2005

Letters to the Editor 09-09-2005

Column: Four Days Late and Millions of Dollars Short By P.M. PRICE 09-09-2005

Column: The Public Eye: Three Strikes and Counting By BOB BURNETT 09-09-2005

Column: New Orleans: Do You Know What it Means? By J. DOUGLAS ALLEN-TAYLOR 09-09-2005

Police Blotter By RICHARD BRENNEMAN 09-09-2005

Commentary: The Berkeley Progressive Alliance Wants YOU! By Laurence Schechtman 09-09-2005

Commentary: Housing Dilemmas and the Greater Good By PETER LEVITT 09-09-2005

Commentary: Peace and Justice Needs Citizen Input By ALAN MOORE 09-09-2005

Arts: Ron Jones Brings His One-Man Show to the Marsh By KEN BULLOCK Special to the Planet 09-09-2005

Arts Calendar 09-09-2005

Summer’s End in Wildcat Canyon By MARTA YAMAMOTO Special to the Planet 09-09-2005

Berkeley This Week 09-09-2005

BUSD Fiscal Crisis Improving, But Not Over By J. DOUGLAS ALLEN-TAYLOR 09-06-2005

UC Halts Field Station Talks; Radioactivity Fears Raised By RICHARD BRENNEMAN 09-06-2005

Exhibit Explores African-American Improvisational Quilts By BECKY O’MALLEY 09-06-2005

Berkeley School Board to Consider Facilities Plan, Test Results, Recruiters By J. DOUGLAS ALLEN-TAYLOR 09-06-2005

Doing Well by Doing Good With Campaign Software By RICHARD BRENNEMAN 09-06-2005

ZAB Hearing Thursday on David Brower Center By RICHARD BRENNEMAN 09-06-2005

News Analysis: How 9/11 Destroyed New Orleans By KRISTIN BALDWIN SEEMAN Special to the Planet 09-06-2005

Editorial Cartoon By JUSTIN DEFREITAS 09-06-2005

Letters to the Editor 09-06-2005

Column: A Response to My Critics By SUSAN PARKER 09-06-2005

Column: Can You Hustle and Flow with the Aristocrats? By P.M. Price 09-06-2005

Commentary: Diebold Delivers Untrustworthy Results By RICHARD STEINFELD 09-06-2005

Commentary: A Corrupt Track Record By KARLA BEAN 09-06-2005

Commentary: The Future of the Albany Track: Park? Casino? Housing? By TONY CAINE 09-06-2005

Arts Calendar 09-06-2005

Celebrating the Sweet Songs of the Katydids By JOE EATON Special to the Planet 09-06-2005

Berkeley This Week 09-06-2005