Jakob Schiller: Althea Rankins, 56, walks back to her apartment behind the Grove Liquor store on Ashby Avenue Monday afternoon. Rankins said the store has been a “lifesaver” for her, providing easy access for staples such as milk and eggs..
Jakob Schiller: Althea Rankins, 56, walks back to her apartment behind the Grove Liquor store on Ashby Avenue Monday afternoon. Rankins said the store has been a “lifesaver” for her, providing easy access for staples such as milk and eggs..

Page One

Liquor Store’s Demise Spurs Neighborhood Hopes By MATTHEW ARTZ

Tuesday September 20, 2005

Ever since he moved into the neighborhood earlier this year, Don Oppenheim wished for the demise of Grove Liquor in the heart of the fledgling Ashby Arts District. -more-



Commission Says Police Failed to Act In Man’s Death By MATTHEW ARTZ

Tuesday September 20, 2005

Berkeley police waited too long to call for paramedics as a man died in their custody last year, a three-person panel of the Berkeley Police Review Commission concluded. -more-



Green Party Protests War at Laney College Gathering By J. DOUGLAS ALLEN-TAYLOR

Tuesday September 20, 2005

Former gubernatorial and vice-presidential candidate Peter Camejo told a gathering of progressives in Oakland Saturday that recent events in New Orleans and the drop in American support for the occupation in Iraq “is a tremendous opening for the Green Party. This is a peculiar moment where we can win over people massively by explaining to them what is happening in our country and in the world.” -more-



Kozol to Speak at MLK Middle School Benefit By J. DOUGLAS ALLEN-TAYLOR

Tuesday September 20, 2005

What is the shame of the American nation? -more-



Berkeley Train Stop Gets $2.4 Million Upgrade By MATTHEW ARTZ

Tuesday September 20, 2005

Amtrak passengers no longer have to leap onto commuter trains at Berkeley’s rail stop. -more-



Features

Deciphering Incan Secrets in Ancient Strings By MARTA YAMAMOTO Special to the Planet

Tuesday September 20, 2005

String is not a material known for its lasting qualities. Just right for tying up a package, substituting for a shoelace or belt, fashioning a phone between two cans or serving as a memory enhancer tied around your finger, you wouldn’t expect to find your accountant’s office hung with string assemblages. String wouldn’t be your first choice for a grocery list or message to a friend. -more-


Mental Health Needs of Blacks Acute After Katrina By KEVIN WESTON Pacific News Service

Tuesday September 20, 2005

BATON ROUGE, La.—The New Orleans Stare. You can see it in the faces of Katrina survivors here at the evacuation shelter at the River Center in Baton Rouge. -more-


Mexican Independence and the Iraq War By Theodore G. Vincent Special to the Planet

Tuesday September 20, 2005

On Sept. 16, 1810, Father Miguel Hidalgo y Costillo gave the grito (shout) and launched the Mexican war for independence from Spain. Meanwhile, a convention in the Kingdom of Spain was debating a constitution for representative government for the homeland and the colonies. Similarities appear in having debates in Spain for a constitution for Mexico, and debating one for Iraq, not in Iraq proper, but in the Green Zone, under the watchful eye of the U.S. top representative. -more-


The Case of the ‘Indian Spy’ By Siddharth Srivastava Special to the Planet

Tuesday September 20, 2005

NEW DELHI—In Pakistan, Sarabjit Singh is an “Indian spy’’ whose death sentence has been upheld by the country’s Supreme Court for his alleged involvement in 1990 bomb blasts in Lahore. In India, Sarabjit is an innocent man, a farmer and father of two teenage girls, who mistakenly ventured into Pakistan 15 years back in an inebriated condition and was picked up by Pakistani security personnel, as happens quite often. -more-


Editorial Cartoon By JUSTIN DEFREITAS

Tuesday September 20, 2005

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


Police Blotter By MATTHEW ARTZ

Tuesday September 20, 2005

Rape -more-


Letters to the Editor

Tuesday September 20, 2005

-more-


First Person: Pregnant and Puzzled By SONJA FITZ Special to the Planet

Tuesday September 20, 2005

“Pregnant,” people echo, their faces lighting up—most with true hormonally induced baby fever, others because they sense it’s expected of them. And then—“Congratulations!” -more-


Column: High Finance on Dover Street By SUSAN PARKER

Tuesday September 20, 2005

I have to go to the bank today because it is payday at our house. Every day is payday at our house so, in fact, it will be my 292nd visit to the bank this year, but who’s counting? -more-


Commentary: Department of Peace Still Deserves Support By ALAN MOORE

Tuesday September 20, 2005

Jonathan Wornick, Councilman Wozniak’s appointee to the Peace and Justice Commission, has already written at least two op-eds in the Daily Planet attacking a U.S. Department of Peace (DOP). His most recent, entitled “Is Free Speech Dead in Berkeley?”, not only continued that attack, but personally tried to brand me and others in the peace movement as radical leftists. In fact, he used that term no less than eight times. -more-


How George Bush Destroyed FEMA And Robbed U.S. Taxpayers By JAMES K. SAYRE

Tuesday September 20, 2005

“We don’t care, we don’t care” was the chant of pro-war, pro-Bush hecklers across the street from the Camp Casey peace vigil in Crawford, Texas, in late August 2005. This “we don’t care” chant pretty much sums up the attitude of the Bush Syndicate toward the rest of us in America. Actually, Bush, Cheney and the rest of this idiotic neoconical government believe that the only true function of the federal government is to create private moneymaking opportunities for themselves, their friends, and their corporate contributors. Any activity other than waging aggressive war to invade, colonize and steal other countries’ natural resources falls into the category of “we don’t care.” -more-


Joining the March Toward Freedom By JIM HARRIS and PAUL LARUDEE

Tuesday September 20, 2005

In the year 2001, the International Solidarity Movement (ISM) was created in response to the lack of international presence in Palestine. ISM aims to support and strengthen the Palestinian popular resistance by providing the Palestinian people with two resources: international protection and a voice with which to nonviolently resist an overwhelming and brutal military occupation force—a military occupation fully funded by U.S. tax dollars. -more-


Anti-Israelism: Only in Berkeley By JOHN GERTZ

Tuesday September 20, 2005

As we longtime residents know, Berkeley can be an odd place. We have led the nation in some great directions. But sometimes our national reputation for nuttiness is actually well deserved. I happened to be in Germany the day the Berlin Wall fell. It was an amazing scene watching hordes of East Germans flood across the old barrier for their first look at freedom. Several days later I arrived back at SFO and grabbed a cab home. As soon as I said I was going to Berkeley, the driver identified himself as a Berkeleyan. He proceeded to give me a long harangue about how wonderful it was that the Wall had fallen because now everyone will know what an evil Stalinism had been, and what an evil Leninism had been. Now the whole world, at long last, will welcome the great truth of Trotskyism. Right! Only in Berkeley. -more-


Arts: Wilde Irish Productions Explores the Hostage’s Psyche By KEN BULLOCK Special to the Planet

Tuesday September 20, 2005

In a stark circle of light a man sits on the floor, shackled, humming “Someone Who’ll Watch Over Me,” the title—not title song—and the opening scene of Frank McGuinness’s play about hostages in Beirut, now at the Berkeley City Club as staged by Wilde Irish Productions. -more-


Election Section

Arts Calendar

Tuesday September 20, 2005

TUESDAY, SEPT. 20 -more-


Finding Food Everywhere: The Adaptive Foraging of Turnstones By JOE EATON Special to the Planet

Tuesday September 20, 2005

Long before Labor Day, the shorebirds began moving south. I’ve been seeing good numbers since early August: black-bellied plovers still in their dapper breeding plumage, least and western sandpipers working the tidelines, red knots, dowitchers, curlews. Among the migrant throngs, in singles and small clumps, are a couple of personal favorites, the small chunky sandpiper relatives called turnstones. -more-


Berkeley This Week

Tuesday September 20, 2005

TUESDAY, SEPT. 20 -more-


Editorial

BUSD Board to Review Property Sale Policy By J. DOUGLAS ALLEN-TAYLOR

Tuesday September 20, 2005

The Berkeley Unified School District Board of Directors meets Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. at the Old City Hall at 2134 Martin Luther King Jr. Way. Items on the agenda include: -more-


Back Stories

Opinion

Editorials

BUSD Board to Review Property Sale Policy By J. DOUGLAS ALLEN-TAYLOR 09-20-2005

Editorial: Starting Now: The Battle for New Orleans By BECKY O'MALLEY 09-16-2005

News

Liquor Store’s Demise Spurs Neighborhood Hopes By MATTHEW ARTZ 09-20-2005

Commission Says Police Failed to Act In Man’s Death By MATTHEW ARTZ 09-20-2005

Green Party Protests War at Laney College Gathering By J. DOUGLAS ALLEN-TAYLOR 09-20-2005

Kozol to Speak at MLK Middle School Benefit By J. DOUGLAS ALLEN-TAYLOR 09-20-2005

Berkeley Train Stop Gets $2.4 Million Upgrade By MATTHEW ARTZ 09-20-2005

Deciphering Incan Secrets in Ancient Strings By MARTA YAMAMOTO Special to the Planet 09-20-2005

Mental Health Needs of Blacks Acute After Katrina By KEVIN WESTON Pacific News Service 09-20-2005

Mexican Independence and the Iraq War By Theodore G. Vincent Special to the Planet 09-20-2005

The Case of the ‘Indian Spy’ By Siddharth Srivastava Special to the Planet 09-20-2005

Editorial Cartoon By JUSTIN DEFREITAS 09-20-2005

Police Blotter By MATTHEW ARTZ 09-20-2005

Letters to the Editor 09-20-2005

First Person: Pregnant and Puzzled By SONJA FITZ Special to the Planet 09-20-2005

Column: High Finance on Dover Street By SUSAN PARKER 09-20-2005

Commentary: Department of Peace Still Deserves Support By ALAN MOORE 09-20-2005

How George Bush Destroyed FEMA And Robbed U.S. Taxpayers By JAMES K. SAYRE 09-20-2005

Joining the March Toward Freedom By JIM HARRIS and PAUL LARUDEE 09-20-2005

Anti-Israelism: Only in Berkeley By JOHN GERTZ 09-20-2005

Arts: Wilde Irish Productions Explores the Hostage’s Psyche By KEN BULLOCK Special to the Planet 09-20-2005

Arts Calendar 09-20-2005

Finding Food Everywhere: The Adaptive Foraging of Turnstones By JOE EATON Special to the Planet 09-20-2005

Berkeley This Week 09-20-2005

Commissioners Demand Role in Formation of UC-City Downtown Plan By RICHARD BRENNEMAN 09-16-2005

Planning Commission Seeks Lead In Changing Zoning Laws By MATTHEW ARTZ 09-16-2005

Voting Rights Activists Gather in Oakland To Urge Fair Elections By J. DOUGLAS ALLEN-TAYLOR 09-16-2005

BUSD Officials Renew Disaster Response Plan By J. DOUGLAS ALLEN-TAYLOR 09-16-2005

UC Police Recover Stolen Computer By J. DOUGLAS ALLEN-TAYLOR 09-16-2005

Brunner Pulls Plug on Proposed North Oakland Redevelopment By RICHARD BRENNEMAN 09-16-2005

Council Says Sitting on Two Commissions is Legal By MATTHEW ARTZ 09-16-2005

City Council Agenda 09-16-2005

Library to Open Sundays Beginning Sept. 25 By MATTHEW ARTZ 09-16-2005

A Reporter Confronts the Nightmare Left by Hurricane Katrina By JAKOB SCHILLER 09-16-2005

The Ethical Confusion of Knight-Ridder’s Daily News By DON KAZAK Palo Alto Weekly 09-16-2005

Robert Purdy 1920-2005 By MARGOT SMITH 09-16-2005

Plea Postponed in Willis-Starbuck Case By MATTHEW ARTZ 09-16-2005

Breaking the Army’s Digital Trojan Horse By MICHAEL KATZ Special to the Planet 09-16-2005

Landmarks Commmission Favors Shattuck Hotel Proposal By RICHARD BRENNEMAN 09-16-2005

What Immigrants Need to Know About the Chief Justice Nominee By RENE CIRIA-CRUZ Pacific News Service 09-16-2005

September Morning in Maryland and Iraq By Conn Hallinan Special to the Planet 09-16-2005

Choose to Make a Difference By Arthur I. BlausteinMother Jones 09-16-2005

Editorial Cartoon By JUSTIN DEFREITAS 09-16-2005

Letters to the Editor 09-16-2005

Letters to the Editor II 09-16-2005

First Person: Teacher Anxiety Dreams By Mary J. Barrett Special to the Planet 09-16-2005

Column: Undercurrents: Looking for Follow-Up Answers to Oakland Police Story By J. DOUGLAS ALLEN-TAYLOR 09-16-2005

Commentary: Cottage Subcommittee Excludes Neighbors By ROBERT LAURISTON 09-16-2005

Commentary: A Streetcar Named Disaster By CLAIRE BURCH 09-16-2005

Commentary: Progressive Alliance Will Be Launched at Monday Meeting By Laurence Schechtman, Judy Shelton and Jesse Townley 09-16-2005

Arts: Arthur Miller’s ‘The Price’ Shines at Aurora Theatre By KEN BULLOCK Special to the Planet 09-16-2005

Arts Calendar 09-16-2005

Arlene Blum Explores the Climbing Life in New Memoir By KEN BULLOCK Special to the Planet 09-16-2005

Berkeley This Week 09-16-2005