On the day the Water Transit Authority announced it had received a major infusion of federal funds to all but guarantee a new ferry line in Berkeley, the City Council made clear that a terminal at the mouth of Gilman Street was off-limits. -more-

East Bay little leaguers could have five new playing fields by 2007, after the State Department of Parks awarded $2 million in grants Tuesday for the Gilman Street Playing Fields in Berkeley. -more-

Berkeley Unified got bad news and good news under the federal No Child Left Behind Act this week, with Rosa Parks Elementary entering the fifth year of low performance “program improvement” status, and John Muir Elementary winning national “blue ribbon” honors for program excellence. -more-

Despite its name, the San Francisco Foundation showed this week that it has not forgotten the East Bay. Three of the four recipients of the foundation’s annual awards this year at Tuesday’s Herbst Theater ceremonies were either from the East Bay or were recognized for activities undertaken in the East Bay. -more-

What began as one of the more contentious development/preservation battles in recent Berkeley history ends with both sides reasonably happy this Sunday when the First Presbyterian Church dedicates its new Geneva Hall and refurbished McKinley Hall facilities. -more-

A Berkeley organization that sends elementary school children from different income levels into nature together to help them better understand one another was awarded the Agape Foundation’s 2005 Peace Price. -more-

Two years ago when Carl Farrington and his four partners bought the three-unit building where they now live, they hoped to one day convert it to condos. -more-

The City Council meets Tuesday Sept. 27. Items on the agenda include: -more-

Five years ago Theresa Johnson of South Berkeley headed off to work at Federal Express, a healthy 30-year-old woman with two jobs and a fiancee. -more-

An article in the Sept. 20-22 issue about Jonathan Kozol mistakenly reported that a reception would precede his appearance at Martin Luther King Middle School tonight (Friday) at 7:30 p.m. There will be no reception. -more-

Police are have made no arrests in a suspected arson early Saturday that badly damaged the Tilden Park Golf Course offices. -more-

EDITOR’S NOTE: The avian flu virus, H5N1, has the potential to kill millions once it learns how to jump from human to human. So far, most people who become infected have worked with live chickens. But scientists say it’s a matter of time before avian flu makes the leap. The virus most recently surfaced in Indonesia, where four people have died. Pacific News Service and New California Media editor Andrew Lam spoke with Dr. David Relman, professor of medicine and of microbiology and immunology at Stanford University. Lam is author of Perfume Dreams: Reflections on the Vietnamese Diaspora, forthcoming in October from Heyday Books. NCM is an association of over 700 print, broadcast and online ethnic media organizations founded by PNS and members of ethnic news media. -more-

HOUSTON (Sept. 13)—Outside the Houston Astrodome earlier this week, dozens of tents for State Farm Insurance, the Bank of America, Chase, Veteran’s Aid, and many more seemed to promise a quick return to something like shopping-mall normalcy. It was easy to sign up for a credit card. An ATM city had sprung up, so you could slide your new card in and get cash right away, and pay the bill later. -more-

When former Oakland resident, now Haiti-based filmmaker Kevin Pina and Haitian journalist Jean Ristil Jean-Baptiste were arrested Sept. 9 in Port-au-Prince while covering a police search of the home of a political prisoner/possible presidential candidate, the wheels of justice ground forward. -more-

Injury to Insult -more-

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

CITY-UC AGREEMENT -more-

At a recent performance, Bill Maher noted that 36 percent of Americans continue to believe that George Bush is doing a good job. The political comedian shook his head and wondered what it would take for them to change their opinion, “On [Bush’s] watch, we’ve lost almost all of our allies, the surplus, four airliners, two Trade Centers, a piece of the Pentagon and the City of New Orleans.” Despite his many blunders the President continues to get stolid support from his base; he’s viewed positively by 81 percent of Republicans. One factor accounts for this loyalty: Bush supporters trust that he is a Christian. -more-

My children and I all have birthdays this week, mine sandwiched between theirs, usually neglected. This year my husband wanted to do something special so he packed up the kids and took them to New York for five days. My gift was to stay home alone and as it’s turned out, it has been a real treat. -more-

Even when you’re crawling around on the bottom by your own admission, it’s sometimes possible to sink to a new low. And so comes the item “Dellums vs. De La Fuente?” by East Bay Express columnist Will Harper in this week’s “Bottom Feeder” column about a possible heavyweight matchup in the 2006 Oakland mayoral race. -more-

John Gertz’s commentary titled “Anti-Israelism: Only in Berkeley” misses the mark on multiple levels. While the foundation of some observations are valid, his assumptions about people he doesn’t understand destroys any sense of context. -more-

Again I find myself having to respond to a commentary liberally spiced with mistruths and disinformation written by Tim Lubeck, an employee of Berkeley Honda (owned by Stephen and Tim Beinke and Steve Haworth.) Mr. Lubeck claims he is a service writer at Berkeley Honda. This is the person customers count on to tell them the truth about what services and or repairs are needed on their cars. If this commentary represents how he does his job at Berkeley Honda, I would hope he get more training quickly. Perhaps the fact that he acts like an assistant service manager and is being paid a guaranteed wage in the six-figure range when the old service writers were being paid well within five figures may explain some of the statements that Mr. Lubeck makes on behalf of his “benevolent” employers. By the way, nobody walked away from a six-figure job at Berkeley Honda; only the non-union new hires such as Mr. Lubeck were offered that kind of money. -more-

Amichai (Ami) Kronfeld’s death on Sept. 1 deeply saddened the extensive group of his family, friends, and colleagues here and abroad. It represents a major loss to the activist peace community. -more-

“In our town, we like to know the facts. About everybody.” -more-

Our Town author Thornton Wilder, winner of three Pulitzer Prizes, best remembered for his stage portraits of small town American family life, went to Emerson Grammar School in Berkeley’s Elmwood District, and was an alumnus of Berkeley High School class of 1915. -more-

I have to say at the outset that I’m an old friend of Jerry Carlin, indeed, a fellow realist and sometime “plein air” artist. Such closeness and affinity make it difficult to lash-out at the odd picture or period that I don’t really like, as I probably would faced with half a cow suspended in formaldehyde in a plate-glass tank! Fortunately I love and admire most of Jerry’s work, so am urging readers to go see some of it for themselves, especially in such an enjoyable setting. -more-

FRIDAY, SEPT. 23 -more-

FRIDAY, SEPT. 23 -more-