Berkeley Planning and Development Director Dan Marks unveiled the draft work program for the joint city/UC Berkeley Downtown Area Plan (DAP) at Monday night’s meeting of the Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC). -more-

Planning Commissioners made clear Wednesday that they want to take the lead as the city and UC Berkeley begin rewriting downtown zoning laws. -more-

Did George W. Bush steal America’s 2004 elections? -more-

With disaster preparedness suddenly on everyone’s minds, the Berkeley Unified School District published its District Emergency Response Plan in last week’s school board packet for the first time in what school officials called “many years.” -more-

Sensitive Data Said to be Uncompromised -more-

Bowing to pressure from a well-organized opposition, Oakland Vice Mayor Jane Brunner has withdrawn her plan to expand an existing redevelopment district to include 800 acres immediately south of the Berkeley border. -more-

Just 21 years old, Jesse Arreguin, a UC Berkeley senior and tenants’ rights advocate, has made a name for himself in Berkeley. -more-

The Berkeley City Council meets Tuesday at 7 p.m. Items on the agenda include: -more-

The Library Board of Trustees voted unanimously Wednesday to reopen the main branch of the public library on Sundays starting Sept. 25. -more-

Last Sunday night I stood with another reporter in the middle of the street in a neighborhood near downtown New Orleans. I had been sent to capture photographs of the damage caused by Hurricane Katrina, but at that moment all I could see in front of me was blackness, interrupted only by the occasional lights from a passing police car and the yellow glow from a nearby light run by a generator. -more-

EDITOR’S NOTE: The Palo Alto Daily News is a free daily newspaper published by Knight-Ridder, which also publishes Berkeley’s East Bay Daily News. The East Bay paper uses the same “Town Talk” format found in its Palo Alto counterpart. -more-

Robert Purdy, 85, a World War II veteran, ex-P.O.W., hero, and activist, died in Berkeley on Sunday, Sept. 11 after a short illness. -more-

Christopher Wilson, the 20-year-old charged with murder in the death of his friend, Berkeley High graduate Meleia Willis-Starbuck, was given a three-week extension to enter a plea. -more-

Here’s the story of my attempt to virtually join the U.S. Army. -more-

Landmarks commissioners gave their blessing to Roy Nee’s plans for the venerable Shattuck Hotel on Monday, while casting a more critical eye at Darrell De Tienne’s plans for the former Durkee Famous Foods warehouse at 740 Heinz Avenue. -more-

Immigrant and civil rights activists have managed to get several key questions, including some from Berkeley attorney James Brosnahan, into the confirmation hearings of Supreme Court nominee Judge John Roberts. The questions spotlight their growing concerns about the vulnerabilities of immigrants and ethnic minorities. -more-

In the pre-dawn hours of Sept. 17, 1862, a division of Confederate soldiers moved into place just south of a cornfield near where the Hagerstown Pike runs past a white, clapboard church on its way to the town of Sharpsburg, Md. Northeast of the Confederates, Union Major General Joseph Mansfield was getting his XII Corps into line facing a small forest. -more-

The traditions of community service and citizen participation have been at the heart of American civic culture since before the nation was founded. Historically, our greatest strength as a nation has been to be there for one another. Citizen participatio n has been the lifeblood of democracy. -more-

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

UC THEATRE -more-

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My teacher anxiety dreams started in mid-July, even though I retired in June. The dreams keep coming, warning me of my failings and of imminent disaster. Never mind that I will not ever have to step back in any classroom again. The dreams are vivid attacks on my confidence. They aren’t true nightmares, filled with chasing or falling, but they are enough to make the next day gloomy. -more-

You ever wonder what happens to sensational stories that hit the local media, get everybody talking for a few days, and then just drop off the face of the earth? How many times in these situations do you see a follow-up story—either in the media or in some government agency—to find out how much of the original story was true? And if we don’t have a follow-up, how much effect does the original story—true or not—have on city policies? -more-

Your brief Sept. 2 item on the ZAB subcommittee on 3045 Shattuck may have misled some readers to believe that the subcommittee’s purpose is to seek a compromise between neighbors and the developer, Christina Sun. In fact its purpose is simply to work with Ms. Sun’s architect to find a more attractive, less blocky, higher-quality design that she and ZAB would both find acceptable. -more-

I have seen New Orleans clinging to a tower. -more-

Can Berkeley elect and maintain a government worthy of our progressive ideals? Can we once again ignite a movement? -more-

“I ask you to remember: with used furniture, you cannot be emotional!” -more-

FRIDAY, SEPT. 16 -more-

Arlene Blum, a chemist who contributed to the banning of three toxic chemicals, leader of mountaineering expeditions and founder of Berkeley’s annual Himalayan Fair, will appear at two local celebrations of her new book, Breaking Trail: A Climbing Life. -more-

FRIDAY, SEPT. 16 -more-