New Orleans native Victor Lewis sat in an Oakland hotel lobby Sunday afternoon wondering when he would finally catch a break. His post-Hurricane Katrina westward migration began with five grim nights in the New Orleans Superdome, followed by 20 days shelter in Dallas’ Reunion Arena, four nights sleeping on Dallas streets, and finally a bus ride to Oakland, and a Red Cross-subsidized hotel room a few blocks from Jack London Square. In less than two weeks, he may be forced to move his few belongings again. -more-

Complaints about alcohol sales and possible city code violations have raised new questions about the Gaia Building, the tallest structure built in downtown Berkeley in recent years. -more-

Demonstrators crowded the narrow street leading to the east entrance to San Quentin Prison on Saturday morning to demand clemency for convicted murderer and Nobel Peace Prize nominee Stanley “Tookie” Williams. -more-

Among the kids playing basketball, the folks bringing food, the gardeners, the chess players and the homeless people who all fill some sort of niche in their lives in People’s Park, there’s been another creature hanging out there—a wild turkey. -more-

Smiling and brimming with upbeat assessments, Berkeley Mayor Tom Bates and UC Berkeley Chancellor Robert Birgeneau last week gave the Berkeley Chamber of Commerce rosy views of the future of town and gown cooperation. -more-

For the third time in as many months, UC Police have torn down the freebox at People’s Park. -more-

Police are seeking clues in the mysterious Nov. 10 disappearance of a 23-year-old Berkeley man who left home that morning to drive a friend to work and hasn’t been seen since. -more-

Transportation commissioners voted Thursday night to raise the cost of evening parking at the Oxford Street lot and extend the time limits on the new pay and display meters downtown to 90 minutes. -more-

The walking tour of the area to be included in the new Downtown Area Plan will be held Dec. 3, and not Nov. 26 as reported in Friday’s Daily Planet. -more-

Pizza guy robbed -more-

To view Justin DeFreitas’ latest editorial cartoon, please visit -more-

DRUG HOUSE -more-

I got my first personal impression of UC Berkeley Chancellor Birgeneau last Tuesday, when he and Mayor Bates were the featured speakers at the City Lunch sponsored by the Berkeley Chamber of Commerce. Up to then, I’d only encountered Robert Birgeneau in print—through quotes in many newspaper articles, and through the admirable speech he delivered when he was inaugurated as the campus’s ninth chancellor last April. I was curious to see how he and the mayor would address their announced theme, “The City and the University Partnership for Berkeley’s Future.” -more-

This semester at San Francisco State, I’m taking classes with several excellent, talented instructors. Nona Caspers is the recipient of the 2005 Grace Paley Prize in Short Fiction. Toni Mirosevitch is the author of Queer Street and My Oblique Strategies, winner of the 2005 Frank O’Hara Chapbook Award. Michelle Carter’s play, Ted Kaczinski Killed People With Bombs, has won a slew of prestigious prizes including a 2003 Pen Award, a commission from the Mark Taper Forum, and a 2005 residency for the playwright at London’s Donmar Warehouse. -more-

So the lord sent down the rainbow sign, no more water the fire next time. -more-

The environmental impact report (EIR) procedure is far from perfect (see “West Berkeley Bowl EIR Conceals the Truth,” Daily Planet, Nov. 18), but the beauty of this legal process is that it permits the public to examine potential impacts of a development prior to its approval. -more-

The unrest in France provides us with the opportunity, even the necessity, to think about our world in some new ways. While the various sociological analyses about poverty and racism are important, a longer view may tell us even more. What happens when we hit the “zoom out” key and, instead of a perspective spanning a few years, or even decades, we look over a period of centuries? -more-

A few weeks ago I called the City of Berkeley about a mattress illegally dumped in front of my apartment, which was promptly removed within eight hours. In late October Berkeley fixed another problem after neighbors complained—the city’s Zoning Adjustments Board (ZAB) declared Dwight Way Liquors a public nuisance and ordered its closure (‘Liquor Store Declared Public Nuisance, Ordered to Close,” Daily Planet, Nov. 1). Cited for 32 violations, this alcohol outlet was disciplined for operating after hours, selling alcohol to intoxicated persons, public drinking by minors, excessive littering, prostitution, vandalism, illegal drug activity, noise, the harassment of passersby, double-parking, and loitering. -more-

After 25 years of community pressure to stop polluting Berkeley, Albany, El Cerrito and Kensington neighborhoods, Pacific Steel Casting is finally planning to take steps to curb its levels of emissions. We appreciate the recent announcement that Pacific Steel will take additional steps to reduce toxic air pollution from its West Berkeley plant but more needs to be done. -more-

With a fine mural of Marseilles’s Vieux Port as backdrop for César’s airy cafe right down on the quais—Greg Dunham’s set—the players are positioned to begin their round of Provençal comedy and passion. -more-

TUESDAY, NOV. 22 -more-

When conservationists talk about biodiversity hotspots, the association is usually with remote, exotic places: Madagascar, Yunnan, the tepuis of Venezuela, the Western Ghats of India. That’s not always the case, though; in fact, we live in one. The biodiversity of California is astounding. An island on the land, cordoned off from the rest of North America by mountains and deserts, our state is full of plants and animals that have gone their own evolutionary ways. Of a total of 5,500 California species, just over a quarter occur nowhere else in the world. -more-

TUESDAY, NOV. 22 -more-

Regents Give 3 Percent Raise to Top UC Brass -more-

Labor and student activists held a series of on-campus demonstrations at the UC Berkeley this week coinciding with the two-day meeting of the UC Board of Regents on the Clark Kerr campus. -more-

Richmond’s largest employer may soon have more eyes looking over its shoulder after the City Council voted to repeal an ordinance that since 1992 has allowed Chevron to inspect its own projects with little independent oversight. -more-

The City Council this week grappled with the debate over installing electronic identification devices in public library books. -more-

With its roster finally decided Thursday, the advisory group that will work with city and UC Berkeley officials on a new downtown plan is ready for its first session Monday night. -more-

In a repudiation by a majority of its members, the Peralta College District Board of Trustees voted 5-1-1 Tuesday night on a modified resolution to censure board member Marcie Hodge for “behavior that is out of compliance with the laws and regulations governing trustee conduct and the established policies of the Peralta Community College District.” -more-

Many who came to see controversial Boalt Hall law professor John Yoo on a panel Monday night, also came to be seen. -more-

The photographer of the persimmons on the back page of the Nov. 15 issue was misidentified. Joni Diserens took the photograph. -more-

On Wednesday night, the Berkeley school board voted to proclaim Dec. 1 as Rosa Parks Day. During the public comment period, Rosa Parks Elementary School students lined up to speak in favor of the honor. -more-

Soya and her volunteer tutor were getting together recently for one of their regular meetings at the West Branch library on University Avenue. Soya, who has an infant daughter, was born and raised in Nepal and came to the United States in 1998. -more-

Soft story collapse -more-

To view Justin DeFreitas’ latest editorial cartoon, please visit -more-

ENOUGH REDUX -more-

In 1980, Johnny Lee had a crossover hit with “Lookin’ for Love (In All the Wrong Places).” Democrats would do well to remember the first verse, -more-

When a powerful politician voluntarily agrees to give up power, watch your back. When a powerful politician voluntarily agrees to give up power immediately after a smashing political victory, watch your back while keeping your hand firmly on your most important possessions (you decide which possessions you consider the most important). While there are rare instances when politicians voluntarily give up power, they are so rare that one has to treat each such occurrence with extreme skepticism. -more-

Dismissing the alternative of a reduced size store that would reduce the impacts on the neighborhood, the West Bowl EIR currently before the planning commission states that a store smaller than the proposed 91,060-square-foot megastore (54,735 square feet of groceries, 28,805 square feet of storage, 4,120 square feet of office space) would not fulfill the applicant’s intent of “a full service supermarket,” and that the applicant’s original proposal of a 65,815-square-foot development consisting of a 26,625-square-foot marketplace, 5,330-square-foot corner store, 5,050-square-foot office, and 28,810-square-foot warehouse “was not intended to be a full service supermarket” (Page VI-17). By that standard, there are no “full service supermarkets” in Berkeley. The average of all existing Berkeley supermarkets is 30,297 square feet (including storage and office). The Andronico’s on University Avenue is 26,000 square feet; the Safeway on Shattuck and Rose is 28,763 square feet; the Andronico’s on Solano is 23,200 square feet; the Andronico’s on Shattuck and Cedar is 36,200 square feet; Whole Foods on Telegraph and Ashby is 28,000 square feet; the Andronico’s on Telegraph is 27,700 square feet; the existing Berkeley Bowl is 42,150 square feet, the largest supermarket in Berkeley. But the applicant claims that anything less than his proposed megastore is not “a full service supermarket,” and the EIR blithely supports this absurdity. This is but one example of the attitude that infuses every page of the EIR. The distinguished experts seem to think that their job is not to present an impartial analysis, but to spin cherry-picked nuggets of data to reach foregone conclusions in support of a project that is consistent with neither the General Plan nor the West Berkeley Plan. I will leave it for others to detail the numerous inadequacies and tendentious excesses of the document. -more-

Battle lines are being drawn in what may prove to be an epic conflict—one that pits small-town Albany against a wealthy and powerful developer from LA. -more-

I am not sure what the final accounting will be, but I have seen credible reports that the special election that most Californians didn’t want cost upwards of $300 million, about $50 million that the state spent putting on the show and at least $250 million in private money for or against the propositions. Not one child got educated, not one person received health care, not one solar roof was installed—in short, no services were provided by this incredible waste of money. -more-

The conflict in Palestine and Israel is surely one of the best documented in human history. Every twist and turn in the struggle has been recorded and analyzed in scores of books, articles, websites, and films. -more-

Why the hell is Berkeley Citizens Action siding with the drug dealers in my South Berkeley neighborhood? Speaking on behalf of the BCA Steering Committee, Linda Olivenbaum (Commentary, Nov. 11) endorses the charges of racism leveled against me and 13 of my neighbors who are suing a local drug house in small claims court and chastises us for pursing “narrow, short-sighted solutions.” Our problem, BCA suggests, is that “when newer, often white and more affluent residents moved in as gentrification has proceeded” they neglected to notice “what’s going on around them and to acknowledge the dynamics and strengths of the existing community.” -more-

The Prometheus Symphony Orchestra is celebrating its 40th anniversary this year. This remarkable musical institution began as an outgrowth of Randy Hunt’s choral music program at Merritt College—when it was still downtown on “Grove Street” in Oakland. Randy needed instrumentalists to perform with his singers, for scenes from operas, oratorios, and such. He turned the orchestra into a Merritt College class, where he was on the music faculty, and began a rigorous performance schedule. A showman at heart, he not only presented concerts but also involved the orchestra in a number of exciting performance adventures. -more-

FRIDAY, NOV. 18 -more-

FRIDAY, NOV. 18 -more-

During inspections, I often hear people refer to old houses as having “good bones.” This is such a trigger for me that I have to duct tape my mouth shut to keep from launching into a day-long lecture on what’s good AND bad about old houses. Luckily for me, there’s no duct tape on my keyboard so I can rant all day. Or as long as space permits, anyway. -more-

I went down to the East Bay Nursery -more-

Thanksgiving is upon us, and the traditional jocular soft news press releases about the president’s annual pardoning of a turkey are being prepared for distribution. Particularly with the current president, believed by many to be the real turkey, the subject lends itself to a lot of levity in the media, but this year a serious story about a human facing death at the hands of fellow humans has dominated the news instead. -more-

The theme of the week’s news is lying. President Bush and Vice-President Cheney have now shamelessly adopted the Big Lie technique perfected by Nazi propagandists. They have jointly and severally repeated not once but often their latest Big Lie, that they didn’t tell Congress earlier Big Lies in order to coerce a yes vote on going into Iraq. Senator Reid is calling them on it, though I haven’t yet seen Reid quoted as using the L-word, possibly because American politics tends toward genteel euphemisms. The British, who can be seen in parliamentary debate on late-night TV, have no such scruples. Tony Blair has been called a liar by members of his own party, by the British press, and by British bloggers, one of whom branded a particular Blair statement as “utter bollocks.” In fact, a Google search on “bush liar” or “blair liar” produces many charges against each of them. -more-