In the last use of non-paper trail electronic voting machines in Alameda County before new state standards kick in next year, voting reportedly went smoothly in last Tuesday’s special election, but the vote tallying trailed behind counting in other parts of the state. -more-
Two years after the North Oakland community successfully fought to regain their Oakland Police Department Crime Reduction Teams (CRT), the new chief of the Oakland Police Department has removed them again. -more-
UC Berkeley’s nearly halfway to funding a major retrofit of Memorial Stadium, and plans unveiled Thursday have already sparked controversy. -more-
In a massive show of force on June 16, Berkeley police officers served a search warrant on Karim Cycle at 2800 Telegraph Ave., drawing the attention of neighbors and press whom they summoned to the scene. -more-
Berkeley residents will get two chances next week to hear about relationships with the University of California, and the direction of the presentations could probably not be further apart. -more-
As Berkeley lobbies neighboring cities to join in its greenhouse gas reduction efforts, constituents at UC Berkeley are trying to get their school to follow suit. -more-
Given their penultimate chance to raise issues for the environmental impact report on the new Berkeley Bowl store planned for the corner of Ninth Street and Heinz Avenue, most speakers focused on one issue: traffic. -more-
Due to a copy editing error, Joe Eaton’s Nov. 8 column did not run in its entirety. The complete article is available on our website: www.berkeleydailyplanet.com.2 -more-
Campbell Coe, legendary resident of Berkeley and Seattle, Wash., died in his sleep at 4 p.m. on Oct. 2. Campbell’s six-year battle with prostate cancer ended in Honeydew Home, a hospice, in Renton, Wash. He was 81. -more-
Women have had a bruising time in the public eye lately, ranging from Judith Miller’s deceptive reports in the New York Times to Harriet Miers’ embarrassing qualifications for the Supreme Court. So when a woman manages to outperform the most confident governor in America, it’s worth celebrating. -more-
“The World Can’t Wait! Drive Out the Bush Regime! The World Can’t Wait! Drive Out the Bush Regime!” was the battle cry of some Bay Area residents last Wednesday. -more-
Bay of Pigs Redux? -more-
It’s hard for a politician to lose more decisively than California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger did on Tuesday night. And within moments after Mr. Schwarzenegger made his concession speech at a Beverly Hills hotel on Tuesday night, political observers were calling this a self-inflicted wound, accusing the governor and his advisors of hubris, overreaching in an attempt to stuff their mouths with political power. -more-
To view Justin DeFreitas’ latest editorial cartoon, please visit -more-
From time to time in our nation’s history, a cultural or social upheaval has resulted in a wave of new lawmakers entering Congress. Often the triggering event has been war. John F. Kennedy was one of many young men who returned from World War II to serve the nation as political leaders, and several members of the “greatest generation” continue to serve in Congress. There are numerous Korean War and Vietnam War veterans in Congress as well, the two most prominent Vietnam veterans being former presidential candidates John Kerry (D-MA) and John McCain (R-AZ). -more-
This Tuesday the City Council will consider neighbors’ appeal of a ZAB decision approving the conversion of a small, single-story, single-family house at 2901 Otis St. into a three-story “pop-up” apartment building. One controversial aspect of this proposed project is that the developers propose to provide the three required off-street parking spaces by converting the rear yard into a parking lot. -more-
It seems even in Berkeley McCarthy-like tactics are alive and well. Because Andrea Prichett has the temerity to note the many-layered nuances of the issues of drugs and crime and their relationship to poverty, racism and injustice, her job is threatened by one of the plaintiffs in the small claims court suit telephoning her place of employment. It is naïve and disingenuous to ignore the direct relationship that these issues play to the situation involving Mrs. Moore and her home, and we stand with Andre a and Daily Planet Executive Editor Becky O’Malley for courageously addressing them. -more-
Walk into another room past the barroom, and one encounters another bar. Some shows have a play-within-a-play; Woman’s Will has staged Bertolt Brecht/Kurt Weill’s musical play Happy End in a bar-within-a-bar—at Luka’s Taproom in downtown Oakland. -more-
Because of incorrect information provided by the theater, the names and roles of the actors in The Dick ‘N Dubya Show were reversed in the text and accompanying caption in the Nov. 8 Daily Planet. -more-
Vatey Seng is the bureaucrat you could have encountered in an Alameda County office, the mom you may have met at a high school open house, a neighbor you wave to from across the way. -more-
Prince Charles and his wife Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, made it a priority to tour Berkeley’s student-run Edible Garden at Martin Luther King, Jr. Middle School Monday as part of a week-long tour of the United States, in part devoted to exploring environmental issues, such as organic farming. -more-
The enormous photo of the distinguished young African-American man—dressed for success, as the saying goes—has disappeared from the front of the hangar at the entrance to the Oakland International Airport, along with the inferences that his success was linked to the type of gin he drank. -more-
Rising construction prices and economic realities have forced a redesign of the planned upgrade to Berkeley’s landmark Shattuck Hotel, developer Roy Nee said Monday. -more-
From the far end of the pier, the newest addition to Richmond’s Rosie the Riveter National Historical Park seemed, as it hung suspended from the crane of a tug barge, like an odd-shaped child’s toy dredged out of the bay waters being held up and examined by a curious beachcomber. -more-
Berkeley’s on-again off-again Veterans’ Day observance is back on, thanks to the withdrawal of a controversial participant. -more-
Berkeley’s Planning Commission and the Zoning Adjustments Board (ZAB) will each hold hearings this week on the draft environmental impact report (EIR) on the proposed new Berkeley Bowl. -more-
Rejected in San Francisco, then spurned in Berkeley, Spaceship Earth is headed south. -more-
To view Justin DeFreitas’ latest editorial cartoon, please visit -more-
“The EIR [environmental impact report] is to demonstrate to an apprehensive citizenry that the agency has, in fact, analyzed and considered the ecological implications of its action.” -more-
“I brought my rap sheet,” he says. -more-
Editors, Daily Planet: -more-
My first admonition is given as a citizen looking for better governance—everyone should vote yes on 77, the redistricting initiative. Really, this is not a conservative/liberal issue. The Legislature is, as currently constituted, a total failure. It is unable to grapple with the problems of California. The main reason this is so is that competition for seats has been rendered moot by gerrymandering. This causes candidates of both parties to migrate to the extremes because the extreme groups of both parties’ bases choose the candidates. There is no penalty for stupid voting behavior by legislators. We need to change that. Both parties are guilty of this, and there is a lot of moaning and groaning from politicians about how this is bad for California. Bullshit. California desperately needs a better-functioning Legislature. Vote yes on this one even if you hate Arnold. -more-
Ideology does count. What is the common thread running through our nation’s current war on terror (see Iraq) and the efforts of a neighborhood (see Oregon Street) to rid itself of undesirables? An ideology drummed into us from those that write the script and produce the show says that our problems stem from evil people (see others) that look and act different, that don’t follow the rules, and that act contrary to our standards. These evil doers should be controlled or eliminated by force or violence. This ideology is the basic tool, used by the directors of this show to contain and control popular discontent during periods of severe public service cutbacks while increasing spending for the military, the police, and the prison system. The current administration used the 9/11 tragedy to round up a posse and go take out a dictator they did not like and who stood on some prime real estate. We need to do something to protect our homeland we were told. Get the evil doers. It’s simple and direct, black and white, American as apple pie. Don’t be detracted by complexity and nuance. It just enables the evil doers. We went along because we were hysterical. Now we are more than a little embarrassed and confused by a very complex Iraqi intervention. It doesn’t work in Iraq and it won’t work in Berkeley. -more-
America’s favorite comic pairing, Dick ‘n Dubya, is returning to Berkeley, with the promise that they’ll take all questions from all comers. -more-
After following a trail of footnotes, I can tell you this much about the last victim of a grizzly bear attack in Berkeley: he was killed sometime in the 1860s in Strawberry Canyon, and a woman named Mrs. Parsons, the aunt of a Frank Armstrong who worked for the Schmidt family, made his shroud. -more-
The now distinctly unstylish 19th-century Jesuit poet Gerard Manley Hopkins once wrote a poem based on the lamentations of the prophet Jeremiah which could have served as a mantra for disappointed progressives in the last six years or so: -more-
The second-highest ranking University of California official resigned suddenly Friday amid allegations of favoritism in hiring and possible conflicts of interest. -more-
