When the newly-constructed Vista Community College campus opens in downtown Berkeley this summer, it will include a 21st century structure but a decidedly retro name. 

In response to an initiative by the Vista College administration, the Peralta Community College Board of Trustees voted this week to change the name of the 30-year-old Vista to Berkeley City College when it moves to its new campus. 

Vista (or soon-to-be Berkeley City College) President Judy Walters told trustees Tuesday night that the name change was selected after a survey of college faculty, staff, and students, and that moving into the new building makes this an “ideal time” for the renaming. 

Peralta trustees voted unanimously to ratify the change. 

The change came after a year-long survey of students and faculty groups at the college, as well as businesses, government organizations, residents, and nonprofits in the Albany, Berkeley, and Emeryville areas, the three communities served by Vista. 

Of 305 Vista students contacted in the survey, college officials reported that 138 supported the change to Berkeley City College, 92 supported Berkeley Community College, and 75 wanted the Vista name to remain. 

One of the flagship colleges of the Peralta Community College District was originally named Oakland City College in 1954, which eventually operated out of the Merritt campus (then on old Grove Street—now Martin Luther King Jr. Way—in North Oakland) and the Laney campus near Lake Merritt. Merritt and Laney eventually split into two separate colleges, and the name “city college” went out of fashion as the State of California joined the national trend of naming two-year institutions “community colleges.” City College of San Francisco is one of the few area institutions which retained the “city college” name. 

The change of Vista to Berkeley City College also goes opposite the decision made last year by administrators at California State University Hayward, who changed the name of the university to California State University East Bay. College President Norma Rees said the change was made to reflect CSEB’s role as a “regional university.” 

Vista College/Berkeley City College also has a regional role, targeting the cities of Emeryville and Albany as well as Berkeley. 

President Walters said that she had worked on the name change in conjunction with the Emeryville Chamber of Commerce and with Mayor Allan Maris, among others. 

“For the most part, people were very supportive of the name change. Everybody loved having a ‘place’ in the name,” she told trustees, and called the new name “more portable.” 

“College names have become increasingly important in the world of higher education,” Trustee Nicky González-Yuen said in a statement. “Vista’s move to a new building provided us with the perfect opportunity to consider a name identified with a city known throughout the world for its commitment to education and learning.”  

When Walters told trustees that Berkeley Mayor Tom Bates was “very supportive” of the name change, trustees asked—perhaps not jokingly—if Bates was going to back that support with financial help to the college.  

Vista/Berkeley City College is in the midst of a fund-raising drive to provide furniture, equipment, and other amenities for the new college campus building. 

?

Alameda County Court Commissioner Jon Rantzman this week awarded $5,000 apiece to 14 South Berkeley residents who had sued neighbor Lenora Moore in Small Claims Court, arguing that she allowed family members to operate a drug house out of the premises. 

Rantzman ruled that the 75-year-old Moore “maintained and continues to maintain a nuisance at her property at 1610 Oregon Street.” 

The $70,000 judgment was a victory for the plaintiffs. Collecting on it, however, will be another matter. 

“We’re extremely gratified and happy about the outcome,” plaintiff Paul Rauber said by telephone. “Mrs. Moore has now been held accountable for the terrific grief and disruption she and her family caused our neighborhood because of their activities.” 

And Grace Neufeld, whose Neighborhood Solutions organization guided the neighbors through the Small Claims process—though did not represent them in court—said, “We’re very pleased by the outcome. We think the judge, in his ruling, really laid out what our clients presented in the courtroom. We now hope the defendant will take responsibility for these problems.” 

Berkeley paralegal Leo Stegman, who represented Moore in the Small Claims proceeding, was on leave from his job with the East Bay Community Law Center in Berkeley a nd was not available for comment. Stegman represented Moore on his own time, and not in connection with his law center employment. 

Berkeley attorney Osha Neumann, who did not represent Moore but provided moral support for her during the proceedings, call ed the decision “sad, but not surprising.” 

“I’m afraid it’s not going to solve anything,” he said. “It’s going to make Lenora Moore’s life harder without making anything better for the neighbors. There’s more than enough victims to go around here. Lenora is a victim. The plaintiffs are victims, too.” 

Neumann said that he hoped the small claims court decision “doesn’t become a precedent on how we deal with our social problems. There are some instances where this type of action is appropriate, against a l arge slumlord, for example, but not against someone like Lenora Moore.” 

In two days of court testimony late last year, neighbors presented evidence that Moore’s Oregon Street home was a hub of South Berkeley drug dealing activity, with several of Moore’s children and grandchildren serving as the leaders and operators in a drug gang. Neighbors complained of frequent violence, noise, drug paraphernalia left on sidewalks and in yards, and other activities they say traced directly to Moore’s house. 

In her t estimony, Moore did not deny that some of her children and grandchildren were involved in the drug trade, but said that she was an elderly woman who worked every day and took care of an invalid husband, and was unable to control her offspring. 

That defen se was rejected by the court commissioner. 

Calling Moore’s defense “stale obfuscations,” Rantzman wrote that “in utter disregard of overwhelming evidence to the contrary, defendant continues to deny complicity or even knowledge of drug dealing out of her home, often by members of her immediate family, their friends or acquaintances, or harborage of drugs and related paraphernalia within her home.” 

He continued, “In a classic effort to shift responsibility to others, she argues the problem, if any, lies with the chronic social and economic conditions existing in southwest Berkeley; the police who do not do their job; the district attorney, who does not vigorously prosecute offenders; and even with the neighbors, who do not call the police when they see violations of restraining orders.” 

Rantzman said that “the failure, if any, of various public agencies to do more does not entitle the property owner to do less.” 

Asked if he expects to actually get the money awarded by the court from Moore, Rauber said, “Why not? We seem to be in this weird situation where everybody assumes that she won’t obey the law.” 

Rauber added, however, that “I’m not going to spend it yet.” 

Neufeld said that collection issues will be “discussed as a group” with the plaintiffs. S he said that small claims court collections “can be challenging; it depends upon the circumstances.” 

Neighborhood Solutions is associated with attorneys who, if necessary, will represent the plaintiffs at the collection or the appellate level, if that becomes necessary, Neufeld said. The organization’s standard fee for helping clients in such cases is 20 percent of the judgment, she said, but added that the money was not really the issue with the plaintiffs, however. 

“It’s not about the money for them,” Neufeld said. “They’re interested in getting a more peaceful area to live in.” 

Neufeld said she believed it was unlikely that Moore and her family would change their behavior, but suspected they would leave the neighborhood. “She can’t sustain herself i n that location,” she said. “And she’ll take her family with her.” 

Neumann said Neufeld’s statement only confirmed what he had been saying from the beginning, that the real aim of the court action was to force Moore out of her house. 

“This is only a victory if they can force her out of there,” he said, “and if they can’t force her out, what kind of victory is it? It won’t change what’s going on in the neighborhood, it will only make her life miserable, and it will make her more dependent on the members of her family.” 

?Ú

On the morning of Dec. 18, a home owner on Schoolhouse Creek had her entire house flooded within 15 minutes after the creek swelled up to six feet from the rain that day. 

Because the house was built almost four feet below street level and has no foundation, water from the creek caused the yard to flood and filled the interiors with two inches of water. The flood water caused extensive damage to furniture, expensive rugs, and personal belongings. Flood damage experts estimated the damage at $50,000. 

This was just one of the many stories that residents of West Berkeley shared with City Councilmembers and staff of the Berkeley Public Works Department during a meeting Wednesday at the Francis Albrier Center in San Pablo Park. 

Councilmember Darryl Moore called the meeting after receiving numerous phone calls and e-mails from residents of West Berkeley who were concerned about the damage that the recent floods had caused. At the meeting, Moore (District 2) and Councilmember Linda Maio (District 1) listened to complaints from residents of the flood-affected areas. 

A resident of Curtis Street, who has lived on the block for 20 years, told the councilmembers that flooding from heavy rains and storms has been an ongoing problem for the last four years. 

Most of the residents said that a faulty drainage system caused the street drains to overflow, resulting in water rising above the curb and flowing into yards and garages. In extreme cases, some houses were flooded with water as high as 16 inches in the basement, which took days to pump out.  

Two homeowners who live near San Pablo Avenue said that their properties turned into lakes every time it rained heavily. 

“The city has to take some liability,” said a Curtis-street resident. “We have double-wide blocks which have severe drainage problems. It would get a lot better only if they installed new drains on the block.”  

A resident of Heinz Street complained that water pumped out from small stores and businesses in the area flooded many of the neighborhood streets. The reason behind this, he explained, was that the interconnected areas under each street were clogging, which in turn caused drainage pipes to collapse. 

A resident who lives on Curtis Street expressed concern at the fact that every time a basement or house flooded, there was gasoline, chemicals, wires, and chords that came in contact with water. 

“Every time it rains my backyard gets 12 to 24 inches of water. I have been dealing with it for the last two and-a-half years,” he said. “I cannot imagine the plight of those dealing with it for the last 15 years now.” 

Two doors down, another resident spent three hours in her basement on New Year’s Eve trying to pump out water. She said that such floods had been occurring for the last 17 years. Anther homeowner in the same area said that their yard got a foot-and-a-half of water every large storm. 

A resident on 2nd Street and University Avenue said that they got four feet of water every time it rained. When the street exploded with water on February 2004, throwing up sewage, dead leaves and branches, the Public Works Department declared it a “red flag area.” Little has been done since then, residents said. 

Residents also said that the sewage flowing in with the water did a lot of damage to the businesses between Oregon and San Pablo Street. 

The Berkeley-East Bay Humane Society suffered roof damage from the December storms although no animals were hurt. 

“I hope the City of Berkeley views the flooding that happened in West Berkeley as a small picture of what it will be like in a major disaster, and that their disaster planning include caring for animals,” Mim Carlson, executive director of the Humane Society, told the Daily Planet. “The Berkeley-East Bay Humane Society would be happy to work with Berkeley officials to determine the best plan for this city’s animals if a disaster strikes.” 

Mayor Tom Bates made a brief appearance during the meeting and acknowledged that the flooding problem had been going on for a long time now and that he would do his best to improve the current situation. 

City Manager Phil Kamlarz informed the residents that although it would take almost $35 million to fix the current problem, adding that the city’s storm-drain fund had not been increased since 1996. However, there are now plans to increase the fund by half a million dollars every year for the years 2006, 2007, and 2008.  

Councilmember Maio suggested that storm water management could be paid for in the same way that sewage management is. 

“Aging infrastructure is to be blamed for the current flood situation. It has not been changed in the last 80 years,” she said. “One of the main jobs is to seek funding for the repair and replacement of the storm drainage system.” 

Councilmember Moore promised residents that inspections would be carried out on illegal connections draining rain water from roofs to sewers. 

Claudette Ford, acting director of Public Works, said that the department was working to solve problems and suggested that residents report problems to its 24-hour hotline, which is 644-6620. 

”

A construction worker fell 45 feet from atop a scaffold where he or she was applying stucco to the new Vista College building in the 1800 block of Center Street just after 10 a.m. on Jan. 3. 

Berkeley paramedics rushed to the scene, and transported the injured worker to Highland Hospital. 

Deputy Fire Chief David Orth said privacy regulations prevented him from providing the name or gender of the victim, nor any details concerning the worker’s injuries.

While city officials have called one public meeting to discuss plans for the proposed housing and commercial development at the Ashby BART station, concerned neighbors have called another of their own. 

The first meeting, organized by project neighbors, will be held on Tuesday starting at 7 p.m. at the South Berkeley Senior Center, 2939 Ellis St. 

Speakers include Sam Dykes of the Alcatraz Avenue Merchants Association, former Mayor Shirley Dean, former Planning Commission Chair Zelda Bronstein, former Oakland City Councilmember Wilson Riles and Bob Brokl, who spearheaded the successful opposition to the recent North Oakland redevelopment proposal. 

A website featuring information about the project, gathered by Robert Lauriston who lives near the site, is available at www.nabart.com. 

The city-sponsored meeting will be held on Jan. 23 at the North Berkeley Senior Center, 1901 Hearst Ave., starting at 7 p.m. 

Officially titled “A BART Plaza and Transit Area Design Plan Workshop,” the meeting will be the first of several sessions held to help design a project proposal. 

The City Council approved a grant application seeking state funding to develop the project proposal in December. The project has already drawn opposition from the Community Services United (CSU), which operates the weekend Berkeley Flea Market that would be displaced by the project. 

CSU attorney Osha Neumann sent a six-page letter to the City Council Wednesday calling for the city to withdraw support for the grant application. 

The letter outlines detailed objections to the project and asks the city to prepare a feasibility study reflecting concerns and issues raised by the community and then provide an opportunity for the public to respond to the report. 

Neumann told the Daily Planet Wednesday that a city proposal to close down a stretch of Adeline Street on weekends to make room for the flea market was inadequate and was certain to garner opposition from business owners. 

Wednesday night’s Planning Commission workshop on finding sites for car dealers in industrial West Berkeley raised as many questions as it did answers. 

Mayor Tom Bates and the City Council have asked the commission to consider zoning changes and plan amendments to allow car sellers to set up shop close to the freeway on land now zoned solely for manufacturing and industrial uses. 

The city is losing two major dealerships and is in danger of losing a third, and the question before planning commissioners is whether or not allowing them to move close to Interstate 80 will keep them in the city. 

City Economic Development Director Dave Fogarty said dealers are important for the city because new-car sales generate 11 percent of the city’s sales tax revenues. 

The city has lost one dealership—McNevin Cadillac at 1500 San Pablo Ave.—when it was sold to the Oakland Auto Center in December, and Fogarty said the ongoing boycott of Berkeley Honda has also probably led to a decline in sales tax revenues. 

A second dealership—McKevitt Volvo at 2700 Shattuck Ave.—will soon be moving to a new facility on Shellmound in Emeryville.  

Even the future of Berkeley’s dealer closest to the freeway and the biggest source of new car sales taxes, Weatherford BMW at 735 Ashby Ave., is questionable, Fogarty said. BMW doesn’t approve of the dealership architecture that seems more suited to a manufacturing plant than a luxury car sales facility. 

Fogarty said the pressure for moves is coming from car manufacturers, who want their dealers located in regionally accessible—“freeway close”—locations while Berkeley’s dealers are mostly located on Shattuck and San Pablo avenues, venues that were more suitable in the 1950s and 1960s. 

Weatherford’s lease expires in four years, “and they have told their landlords they’ll be leaving at that time,” Fogarty said. 

While Berkeley officials want to keep the dealership—which has the highest volume of sales of any Northern California BMW dealership—Oakland is recruiting the firm to relocate at the site of the old Oakland Army Base, Fogarty said. 

Even though several dealers have told Fogarty they’d be interested in moving to West Berkeley, he told commissioners that the most likely scenario would see the move of only one or two. Because dealerships typically have very low profit margins on new-car sales, they couldn’t afford to buy new sites where they have to compete with other more profitable commercial uses. 

“One of the original justifications of the manufacturing district was the fear that office and retail development would bid up the price of the land and price manufacturers out of the district,” he said. 

West Berkeley residents and business owners, already well organized in opposition to the mayor’s call to open up the Ashby Avenue and Gilman Street corridors, turned out in force to oppose any significant incursions on land now zoned for manufacturing and industry. 

“It looks like a nice idea, but if it means it will come at the cost of destroying an area plan, you have to be very careful going forward,” said Dale Smith. 

“What are the other options,” asked West Berkeley resident Ann Armstrong. “What are the other potential ways to gain sales tax?” 

Several supporters of the ongoing union job action at Berkeley Honda said that dealership shouldn’t be allowed to relocate until they settle with workers. 

John Curl, a West Berkeley woodworker and a leading opponent of the proposed zoning changes, said that any changes should come with mitigations to protect against the piece-by-piece dismantling of the existing manufacturing zones. 

“I suggest instead that the Planning Commission should give some thought about how to create the manufacturing zone of the future,” he said, “the manufacturing zone that Berkeley needs for the next century.” 

Several speakers mentioned that manufacturing jobs offer the highest blue-collar wages. 

Tim Southwick, who as the owner of Toyota of Berkeley for the last 33 years is the city’s new car dealer with the greatest longevity, said the ideal cost for dealership property is $25 a square foot—though a dealer like Weatherford could possibly pay as much as $85. 

“Volvo, Toyota—all the manufacturers want these new facilities, They want their customers to come into very nice facilities,” Southwick said. 

“It’s a wonderful paradox that the price of the land is low because it is zoned for manufacturing and protected by the West Berkeley Plan,” said commissioner Gene Poschman. 

Another opponent of reducing manufacturing zoning was consultant Neil Mayer, who in an earlier incarnation as founding director of the city’s Office of Economic Development, played a key role in bringing Weatherford to Berkeley. 

“Dealerships are not appropriate to the West Berkeley Plan,” he said, noting that the plan calls for any commercial uses to serve the neighborhood rather than the region. He said that a better location would be where self-storage units are located on the freeway frontage road, a use that creates few jobs and generates little revenue for the city. 

Susan Libby of Libby Labs said the city should look at long-term impacts of zoning changes rather than short-term sales tax gains. 

Southwick suggested that one possible change would be to allow smaller, boutique-type dealerships along the commercial corridors. 

By the time Commission Chair Harry Pollack adjourned the hearing, it was obvious that a lot more remained to be discussed, so he continued the workshop until the commission’s next meeting on Jan. 25.›

Berkeley and Oakland aren’t the only East Bay school districts beset by budget woes.  

The Alameda Board of Education voted 3-1 Tuesday to merge two of its elementary schools, a decision that is estimated to save the financially strapped Alameda Unified School District (AUSD) about $300,000. 

The move will help reduce a projected $800,000 deficit the district must recover to achieve solvency in the next fiscal year. The shortfall results from plummeting enrollment district-wide, staff said. 

“Enrollment has continued to decline, which has created schools that are well under their enrollment capacity,” AUSD Superintendent Ardella Dailey said Tuesday. “Schools that are under-enrollment cost the district money that, at this point in time, we do not have and therefore cannot afford.” 

AUSD is a medium-sized urban school district serving more than 10,000 students. Miller and Woodstock elementary schools suffer from some of the lowest enrollment in Alameda, each with fewer than 250 students. When the schools are combined, all 486 students will attend a yet-to-be-constructed campus at Alameda’s former Naval base. The school is slated to open this fall. 

In November, district staff proposed merging a third school, saving the district an additional $300,000. The recommendation was scrapped, however, because it could have led to overcrowding in the new school, staff said. 

At Tuesday’s meeting, Dailey warned that “this does not eliminate the potential of closing the school during the next school year,” if budget problems persist.  

For Woodstock students, leaving their old facility isn’t much of a surprise, since the new school was commissioned exclusively for them several years ago and they had anticipated relocating this fall. But for Miller students, the consolidation comes as a blow. 

“Originally it was a shock to the families to lose the neighborhood school,” said Miller Principal Neil Tam in a phone interview Wednesday. Tam said the school is comprised of a largely mobile population, including Coast Guard and inter-district children, and has often served as stable ground for students who have spent much of their lives in transition. 

Tam tried to look at the positive: “At the same time, the problem with having a small school is that we don’t have the personnel our school needs, so a larger school will pool more resources,” he said. “I think the families understand what that means.” 

Tam said negotiations between the district and employee unions will begin shortly to determine whether or how Miller staff will be reassigned.  

Both Woodstock and Miller are situated in Alameda’s lower-income, ethnically diverse West End, and have a high proportion of ethnic minorities compared to the district average, particularly apropos black students. 

According to 2003-2004 data released by the California Department of Education, AUSD is approximately 14.6 percent black. Miller and Woodstock each have student populations that are more than 30 percent black. 

That, coupled with the fact that research has shown the achievement gap to widen with larger schools, raises questions about the fairness of consolidating the two West End schools, some have said. In response to criticism, district staff have said if they didn’t combine the schools, they would have to make cuts elsewhere—in athletics, the arts, counseling programs and so forth—which would only further exacerbate inequity. 

Enrollment in Alameda schools has been waning for half a decade. Longtime education advocate retired Judge Richard Bartalini, estimates that AUSD has lost more than 500 students in five years, almost entirely from the West End. 

The mass eviction of residents from a multi-family West End apartment complex in 2004 is partly to blame, but accounts for only part of the decline. Gentrification is another possible factor, as the escalating cost of living in Alameda puts families with school-age children at a disadvantage. 

No one has a conclusive answer to why AUSD continues losing students, school officials said. 

“I don’t think I feel comfortable understanding why this district is experiencing that decline,” said immediate past school board president Mike McMahon. “So, moving forward, what I would like to see is a better process gathered around trying to identify and isolate the causes and effects that are occurring within the district for declining enrollment.” 

The Berkeley School Board held its first meeting of the new year Wednesday and approved, without discussion, payment of $64,000 in legal fees; up to $74,000 to two different firms for inspection services during King Middle School’s dining commons construction; and payment to the Berkeley YMCA so that special needs students can use the Y’s shallow pool for swimming instead of the district’s warm pool. 

Superintendent Michelle Lawrence stated last month that she did not consider the district’s warm pool safe for use by students. The district will pay the YMCA $2,800 for 32 hours of pool use over the year. 

Professional development 

The board also received the third of a series of reports from the superintendent’s education priorities workgroup on professional development. Neil Smith, the director of educational services and the chair, presented the report. 

The workgroup concluded that no matter what the education program, the key to academic success in all programs, is “teacher quality,” Smith said. 

All board members endorsed the need for quality professional development, but the report contained no specific recommendations other than the need for professional development to be considered a fundamental component and a requirement for all teachers. 

Superintendent Lawrence cautioned that any district-wide program is “complicated and complex to implement” because of the limitations of the number of hours in a school day and the limited number of school days in a year. 

Lawrence indicated that in order for teachers to have time for professional development, a substitute had to take over the classroom, and so there was a need for the teacher to prepare lessons and for substitute training.  

Boardmember Shirley Issel raised the issue of whether the district needed to work with the union to “reconsider the professional workday.” 

Budget calendar 

The board also voted on the timetable in which to prepare the district budget. 

Board President Terry Doran suggested a board resolution that any budget balancing measures not be done through lay-offs. However, Superintendent Lawrence said that while she didn’t anticipate layoffs, she recommended against such a resolution because 87 percent of the district’s budget was salaries and the school district did not have adequate reserves in case of a budget shortfall. 

If the budget did result in a shortfall, the board would be required by the tax measures to declare an emergency in order to take actions such as raising class sizes accompanied by layoffs in order to balance the budget, she said. 

Issel expressed exasperation over the fact that, while the current budget was solvent, the board might still have to consider making a declaration of emergency. 

Boardmember Nancy Riddle said that she thought the most important function for the board was to compare the future budget projections with the actual numbers. In the end, the board approved the budget calendar as presented by the staff. 

Enrollment and discounted meals 

Other reports to the board showed that overall enrollment in the elementary and middle schools has dropped, but enrollment at the high school increased by 300 students so that the total district enrollment is higher. Unfortunately, slightly fewer students are attending school this year compared to last year, which will result in the district receiving less funding from the state. State funding is based upon attendance. 

The number of low-income students measured by the number of students who qualify for the free or reduced-price meals at some of the schools has also increased dramatically, notably at Emerson Elementary School, which increased from 46 percent to 52 percent, Willard Middle School which increased from 45.3 percent to 59.6 percent, and LeConte Elementary School, which increased from 56 percent to 62 percent. 

Boardmember John Selawsky noted that perhaps these increases are due to a more vigorous effort by these schools to sign up students for these programs, but that these numbers should be monitored. Schools with higher numbers of low income students, in addition to the meal programs, are eligible for other state and federal grants.

Have you ever wanted to attend a Berkeley High School event and really see how great of a dance program they have? Well, now is your chance. This Friday and Saturday, under the direction of Linda Carr, around 150 BHS students are putting on a show called “Dance Productions.” 

According to BHS Senior Sophie Bridgers, 17, there is a main group of dancers, called the Dance Productions class, that have sixth-period dance class, and there is an intermediate and an advanced dance class as well. The Dance Productions class requires an audition to enter, while the intermediate and advanced dance classes do not. 

“We all auditioned last spring,” said Bridgers. “The top maybe 30 to 35 people got accepted. I think there were like close to 80 who auditioned.” 

The dances include people of all levels and styles. 

When asked what the biggest thing that they have gained from participation in Dance Productions, sophomore Johanna Cheney, 16, a member of the advanced dance class, answered, “Probably getting to work with such highly skilled dancers ... It pushes you. When you’re dancing next to them, you get pushed to do better than you normally would.” 

The Dance Productions class is specifically geared towards this show. This group started practicing towards the end of September. Originally, there were around 20 dances and the class voted on which fourteen they wanted to keep. 

“About every student is in six dances,” remarked Bridgers. “Each person whose piece was selected is a choreographer. For the costumes, most people got stuff from home or made their own. We have more freedom as opposed to the intermediate and advanced dance classes.” 

Cheney joked, “It’s kind of funny. My class began working on this in November. It started out as a little group project. We didn’t know it would be a production dance. But it morphed into this huge dance.” 

Cheney describes her group’s dance as a “strange, modern ballet mix.” To prepare for the show, Carr had them do technique classes and had professional choreographers come to their class. 

Bridgers and Cheney started dancing at very young ages. 

“I have been dancing since I was 3 years old,” reminisced Cheney. “My mom was a ballerina for eighteen years. So I sort of got sucked into it.” 

“I started dancing when I was 4,” Bridgers recalled. “After I saw the Nutcracker, my parents enrolled me in classes. It’s been so much fun and such a nice balance from school. It’s very free.” 

Dance Productions is said to be very wild. There will be a lot of high powered energy dances, and some of the best dancers at BHS will be performing. There is a lot of exuberance and varieties of dance style. 

Cheney chimed, “Even if you’ve never taken a dance class, everybody can appreciate how hard this is. They take ballet and put it to Michael Jackson and end the normal stereotypes for certain dances.” 

The Dance Productions show will be held this Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m. in the Florence Schwimley Little Theater at the high school. Admission is $5 for students and $10 for Adults. All proceeds benefit the Dance Productions class. 

Rio Bauce is a sophomore at Berkeley High School. Comments, suggestions, or story ideas may be sent to baucer@gmail.com. 

Deputy Fire Chief David Orth constantly reminds folks of the dangers of leaving candles lit when residents are out of the room. 

He had another example to cite Thursday afternoon when he arrived at an apartment at 2204 McKinley St. to find a coffee table burning because the residents had left unattended candles aglow. 

Though there was no structural damage from the blaze—which destroyed only the coffee table—there was heavy smoke throughout the apartment, which caused an estimated $10,000 in damage to contents, Orth said.

Armed with shotgun  

A bandit confronted a pedestrian walking along the 2000 block of Shattuck Avenue moments before noon Monday, then pointed a shotgun at her while demanding she hand over her money, reports Berkeley Police spokesperson Officer Steve Rego. 

The 33-year-old victim complied, and the thug departed. 

Attempted murder 

Gunshots echoed along the 1400 block of Russell struck about 40 minutes after midnight Tuesday morning after an encounter between a resident and what a neighbor described as a would-be burglar. 

Officer Rego said the incident began with a dispute between a woman and the suspect. 

A neighbor who asked not to be identified said the woman had heard noises outside and when she went out to check, found a man attempting to burglarize her home. 

The armed suspect followed the woman to the house, where another resident produced a firearm. The two exchanged shots, Rego said. 

The suspect fled on foot as officers arrived. More units arrived, sealing off the area and the Richmond Police canine unit was called in to aid in the search. 

The dog quickly located the man, who was taken into custody on suspicion of attempted murder, Rego said.

As pollution and environmental degradation in China worsen, the Communist government has been unable or unwilling to prescribe measures needed to address the problem. This inability carries grave consequences, threatening stability not only in China, but also the region. 

There is little disagreement that China’s environment is a mounting problem for Beijing. According to an Aug. 19, 2004 Economist report, China produces as many sulfur emissions as Tokyo and Los Angeles combined; it is home to 16 of the world’s 20 most-polluted cities; water pollution affects as much as 70 percent of the country; and air pollution is blamed for the premature death of some 400,000 Chinese annually. 

In spite of greater awareness, pollution and environmental degradation are likely to worsen. Chinese consumers are expected to purchase hundreds of millions of automobiles. Despite pledges to put the environment first, national planners still aim to double per capita GDP by 2010. Cities will grow, leading to the creation of slums and stressing urban sanitation and delivery systems. 

The nation lacks a powerful national body able to coordinate, monitor and enforce environmental legislation: the State Environmental Protection Agency (SEPA) is under-staffed and has few resources. 

To address the problems, it will take an aggressive effort by the central government to eliminate corruption, establish the rule of law and transparency, incentives and investment. As it stands, decision-making falls to local officials who are more concerned with economic growth than the environment. 

As the impact of pollution on human health becomes more widespread, it is leading to greater political mobilization and social unrest. There were more than 74,000 incidents of unrest recorded in China in 2004, up from 58,000 the year before. While there are no clear statistics linking protests, riots and unrest specifically to pollution issues, pollution was one of four social problems linked to disharmony by the Central Committee. 

Pollution issues unite communities and impact rich and poor, farmers and businessmen, families and individuals alike. As local communities respond through united opposition, Beijing is left with no easy target on which to blame unrest, and no simple option for how to quell whole communities that have a common grievance. The steady spread of new media like cell phones, e-mail and text messaging prevents authorities from silencing and hiding unrest. 

Moreover, protests serve as a venue for the politically disaffected, who may be open to other forms of political rule. Social unrest could challenge the Communist Chinese Party’s (CCP) total political control, thus potentially destabilizing a state with a huge military arsenal and a history of violent, internal conflict that cannot be ignored. 

While unrest is the most obvious example of security threats linked to pollution, the cost of environmental destruction could also begin to reverse the blistering rate of economic growth that is the foundation of CCP legitimacy. Estimates maintain that a 7 percent annual growth is required to preserve social stability. Yet the costs of pollution are already taxing the economy by 8 and 12 percent of GDP per year. As 

environmental problems mount, this percentage will increase, reducing annual growth. As a result, the CCP’s legitimacy could be undermined. 

While many would welcome political change in China, especially the implosion of the Party, it must be noted that such an event would most likely be marked by transitional violence. Though mostly directed toward dissident Chinese, violence would affect regional security through immigration, impediments to trade, and an increased military presence along the Chinese border. 

On the international scene, China’s seemingly insatiable appetite for timber and other resources, such as fish, is fueling illegal exports from nations like Myanmar and Indonesia. As these states continue to deplete key resources, they too will face problems in the years to come. 

Pollution, if linked to a specific issue like water shortage, could have important geopolitical ramifications. China’s northern plains, home to hundreds of millions, face acute water shortages. Growing demand, a decade of drought, inefficient delivery methods and increasing water pollution have reduced per capita water holdings to 

critical levels. Although Beijing hopes to relieve some of the pressures via the North-South Water Diversion project, it requires tens of billions of dollars and its completion is at best several years away and at worst impossible. Yet just to the north lies one of 

the most under-populated areas in Asia, the Russian Far East. 

Russian politicians already allege Chinese territorial designs on the region. They note Russia’s falling population in the Far East, currently estimated at some 6 to 7 million, and argue that the growing Chinese population along the border, more than 80 million, may soon take over. Any attempt by China to occupy Russian territory would 

certainly lead to full-scale war between two powerful, nuclear-equipped nations. 

Realistically, China would probably embrace greater cooperation and a possible alliance with Moscow to gain access to water, oil and other natural resources. Recent accords between the two countries include a joint military exercise and continued investment and work on an oil pipeline. Warming ties between Moscow and Beijing could threaten Western regional interests. 

In assessing security issues in China and Asia, it is essential to consider the environment. Social unrest, the potential for large-scale political mobilization and democratization are increasingly challenging CCP power and legitimacy. These trends, when linked to political change, could lead to outbreaks of violence, possible large-scale immigration and economic instability. 

Wealthy states and NGOs should consider helping China form a credible environmental movement supported by legal experts, academics and Party officials sympathetic to change. Although not a complete solution, increased foreign assistance may be a step in the right direction. Alternatively, China’s environmental degradation, left unchecked, is a threat to one of the most populated and dynamic areas on Earth. 

Nathan Nankivell is a senior researcher for the Canadian Department of National Defense. The views in this article do not necessarily reflect those of the department.

One of the singular events of 2005 was Congressman John Murtha’s announcement that he had changed his position on Iraq. Calling the occupation “a flawed policy wrapped in illusion,” decorated veteran Murtha said, “The United States and coalition troops have done all they can in Iraq ... Our military is suffering.” 

Unlike President Bush, Murtha makes weekly trips to Washington-area hospitals in order to visit with soldiers wounded in Iraq. There have been 16,000 such casualties, in addition to the more than 2100 deaths. The Columbia Journalism Review called the growing number of wounded one of the top five under-reported stories of 2005. The Bush administration prohibits pictures of coffins returning from Iraq. They’ve also told the Department of Veteran’s Affairs to not give out the names of the wounded. 

In October, the Cleveland Plain Dealer profiled four wounded Ohio veterans. All suffered traumatic injuries. They are typical in that they have had severe difficulties adjusting to civilian life due both to their injuries and the psychological after-effects: “survivors guilt.” 

Congressman Murtha spoke movingly of his visits with the wounded. “I have a young fellow in my district who was blinded and he lost his foot. And they did everything they could for him at Walter Reed, then they sent him home. His father was in jail; he had nobody at home—imagine this: young kid that age—22, 23 years old—goes home to nobody.” 

Murtha noted that in addition to their grievous physical injuries, “50,000 will suffer from what I call battle fatigue.” Roughly 10 percent of all the soldiers treated at the Landstuhl Army hospital in Germany had “psychiatric or behavioral health issues.” 

In July 2004, the PBS News Hour reported, “about one-sixth of troops returning from Iraq showed symptoms of mental health problems but many are not receiving treatment.” This finding was consistent with long-term studies done on Vietnam War veterans, where 15 percent showed signs of depression, severe anxiety or post-traumatic stress disorder. 

There are approximately 160,000 members of the U.S. armed forces in Iraq at the present time. (The exact number isn’t known due to the presence of Special Forces’ personnel.) Assuming that over the three year course of the war the total personnel assigned is roughly double this amount—many troops have served multiple rotations—the probabilities are one in twenty of receiving a serious wound and one in six of incurring a major psychological disorder.  

These grim statistics are made worse by the fact that the United States has a limited pool of personnel to draw upon. Our former overseer in Iraq, L. Paul Bremer, revealed on Jan. 9 that the White House denied his request for more troops. Journalist Fred Kaplan wrote in the Jan. 1 New York Times that approximately half a million troops are required for a successful occupation. But such a number would require reintroduction of the draft, an option that the Bush administration will not entertain. Meanwhile, in 2006 the Army needs 80,000 new recruits to replenish its combat forces; it expects to recruit only 8000. For these reasons, Kaplan reported that, “the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office calculated that … the military could not sustain more than 123,000 troops in Iraq for much longer.” 

Therefore, troops stationed in Iraq must remain there as the war goes on. Seymour Hersh noted in the Dec. 5 issue of the New Yorker, “There are grave concerns within the military about the capability of the U.S. Army to sustain two or three more years of combat in Iraq. Michael O’Hanlon, a specialist on military issues at the Brookings Institution, told me … ‘If the President decides to stay the present course in Iraq some troops would be compelled to serve fourth and fifth tours of combat by 2007 and 2008, which could have serious consequences for morale and competency levels.’” 

Of course, having to continue to serve in Iraq, with no end in sight, will accelerate psychological stress and make our troops more accident-prone. 

The administration keeps a tight lid on the information coming out of Iraq, particularly as it pertains to troop morale. Hersh reported, “Many of the military’s most senior generals are deeply frustrated, but they say nothing in public, because they don’t want to jeopardize their careers … A retired senior C.I.A. officer with knowledge of Iraq told me that … in a congressional tour there … The legislators were repeatedly told, in meetings with enlisted men, junior officers, and generals that ‘things were f____d up.’” 

Those of us who oppose the war in Iraq have generally based our argument on the logic that we were wrong to invade in the first place and the occupation is doing more harm than good. However, there is another line of reasoning—the stance that Congressman John Murtha takes, “Our military is suffering.”  

A good and sufficient reason to end the war is to save our troops from further misery. 

Bob Burnett is a Berkeley writer and activist. He can be reached at bobburnett@comcast.net. 

Oakland having been such a violent place for so long, the city ought to be one of the leading national experts on the causes of urban violence, and its possible cures. But if such expertise is present somewhere inside Oakland City Hall or at the Oakland Police Department headquarters further down Broadway, it’s not being shared with the rest of the citizens. 

At the very least we’re being kept in the dark. 

Somewhere around the beginning of last year, perhaps before, we began noticing a significant jump in what you might call “message tagging.” There are two distinct types of graffiti “tagging.” One of them we’ll call “arts tagging,” just for the sake of this discussion. It’s the kind of thing you commonly see on water towers and old freightcars and freeway overpasses—those enormous, multicolored letterings where the visual impact appears to be as important as the words themselves. 

“Message taggings” are the scrawled names and messages that you see showing up on any free spaces—particularly the sides of buildings—where individuals or groups appear to be marking their territory or putting out information to other groups. Most of these writings are incomprehensible to the average person walking by, but it doesn’t take much expertise to know that a scrawled signature put up one day—and then a line drawn through it a few days later—is an ominous sign. 

Whether there’s a cause and effect here I don’t know, but, right at the end of the year, following the rise of “message tagging,” we saw an explosion of violence in Oakland. 

Around the first of July we had our 39th homicide—a man found stabbed to death in an International Boulevard and 57th Avenue motel known for its nearby prostitute trade. That put the city on a pace for around 80 murders for the year. That pace continued through the end of September, when 15 year old Michael Cole, Jr. was shot to death in the 1200 block of 30th Street, the city’s 61st homicide. 

That number has some significance, since it surpassed the “goal” of 60 homicides set by newly-hired Police Chief Wayne Tucker back in late February. Hoping for a significant reduction in killings in the city from the 88 in 2004, Mr. Tucker told the Tribune last winter that “if we (hold) it to 60 that would be great. I think getting homicides reduced that much would be encouraging not only to the city, but to the men and women of the department. It would show what commitment and hard work can accomplish.”  

I’ll reserve comment about a police chief who thinks 60 people murdered in a city is “great.” 

In any event, between the end of September and the end of the year, there were 33 more murders in the city, a three-month pace that would have put us at 132 homicides, if it had continued through the entire year. 

But it’s not just the number of killings that took place near the end of the year that’s disturbing, it’s the manner in which they occurred. In mid-December, 39-year-old Jason Graham, 27-year-old “Bu” Dixon, and 23 year old Sean Scott were shot to death in a triple homicide in the 2600 block of 68th Avenue, not far from Eastmont Mall (where, coincidentally, the Oakland police have a substation).  

The next day, at 9 a.m., 32-year-old Darcel Lewis was shot and killed on International Boulevard not far from the East Oakland Youth Development Center on 83rd Avenue. A day or so later, if memory serves me, a gunman followed another man into a convenience store across the street from where Lewis was killed, also in broad daylight, shooting him several times in front of witnesses, but not killing him (I can’t find anything about this incident in my newspaper records, but I remember seeing it on the television news; unlike murders, Oakland shootings don’t usually make it into the Tribune). 

The proliferation of message tagging, the 68th Avenue triple homicide in mid-December, and the two daylight shootings near 83rd and International a couple of days later—one of them a homicide—suggest a turf war of some kind, possibly over drug territory. And, in fact, East Oakland residents have been complaining that during the summer of 2005, they began to see dealers set up crack-selling activities on neighborhood corners where they had never been seen before, many of these dealers identified as people who were not from that community. 

Are we, then, in the midst of a drug war in Oakland? I don’t know, but it would be nice if city or police officials let us know—exactly—what they think is going on. 

One of the problems in getting accurate information on the exact nature of Oakland’s violence, as always, is politics. Mayor Jerry Brown is running for California Attorney General in the June Democratic primary, and so every bit of official information coming out of the city administration these days must be sifted through the sieve of whether or not it will help—or hurt—his chances against Los Angeles City Attorney Rocky Delgadillo. Problems must be minimized, accomplishments puffed up, and blame shifted in order to buck up Mr. Brown’s law-and-order credentials. 

And so we have Oakland Tribune columnist Peggy Stinnett writing this week that Mr. Brown “admits much still needs to be done in the area of public safety, and progress is slow because of the requirements of the ‘Riders’ agreement that arose from that police scandal in West Oakland.” (Blame) 

Or the San Diego Union-Tribune noting last March that Oakland, under Mr. Brown, is, among other things, “concentrating more police in problem neighborhoods. … Brown said Oakland's get-tough policies are paying off. Robbery dropped 12 percent last year compared with the previous year. Murder was down 23 percent…” 

“Look, I have a record of reducing crime,” the Union-Tribune quoted Mr. Brown as saying back in March. “Not only that, I live in a high-crime area, where I walk the streets. I deal with it. I get people arrested.” 

Really? That may sell in San Diego and Sacramento, where they don’t have access to the facts. But tell that to the Oakland citizens who live along the high-crime, high-violence corridor of International Boulevard southeast of the Fruitvale, or deep in those patches of Dogtown and Ghost Town in West Oakland where the drug dealing proliferates, and the mothers mourn for their dead sons. Something is stirring there, ominous and troubling, and all the sunny boasting and blame-shifting coming out of the mayor’s office won’t cover that up. 

Oakland needs some straight talk and some serious, adult conversation on this recent explosion of violence in our city, where it’s coming from, and where it may be leading. And we need it soon. Our lives depend upon it. 

›

To view Justin DeFreitas’ latest editorial cartoon, please visit  

www.jfdefreitas.com To search for previous cartoons by date of publication, click on the Daily Planet Archive.



ALITO’S WAY 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

The headline in the Jan. 11 San Francisco Chronicle, “Alito offers few hints on how he would rule,” is a deception that supports Samuel Alito’s confirmation. The headline might have read, “Alito won’t reiterate his views. Claims positions on abortion, defendant’s rights, racial and gender discrimination, and employer discrimination relate to legal technicalities.” Or it might have read, “Alito stonewalls hard questioning by Democrats.” 

In spinning the headline the way it has, the media (the New York Times headline was even worse) have backed the confirmation of Alito, a man who never noticed a democratic instinct he didn’t despise, to the U.S. Supreme Court. By softening the controversy the media killed the possibility of a filibuster. However, if he’s confirmed we can forget about the 4th and 13th amendments, as well as the right to abortion. And when the Constitution lies in tatters, thousands more languish in prisons and even speech is more openly suppressed (as Bush and Cheney are clearly trying to accomplish) will the managers of huge corporations who own the media congratulate themselves and tell their reporters to stop crying in their beer, it’s the American way?  

Marc Sapir 

• 

THE GOVERNOR 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

The media is constantly trying to find something wrong with our current governor, along with giving the public misinformation about his current Class C driver license. Most of us know you can’t drive a motorcycle if you have a Class C license, but if there is a sidecar attached, it is legal because you’ve just introduced the third axle. In fact, according to the California DMV, “You may drive any three-axle vehicle weighing 6,000 pounds or less gross,” if you have a valid California Class C license, meaning, Schwarzenegger was actually driving legally when he was backed into by another vehicle on Sunday.  

Amber Tevis 

• 

THE MYTH 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Poor Anna de Leon! I read about the problems she is having trying to run her downtown club (“Anna’s Jazz Island Files Complaint,” Daily Planet, Jan. 10) and realized that she must have fallen for the myth that city officials and developers are “revitalizing” our downtown in order to draw long-term residents back for evening entertainment. 

Anna, that’s just the cover story—concocted to keep Berkeley citizens quiet while Mayor Bates and his developer cronies systematically convert the heart of our city into wall-to-wall student dormitories serving UC. (If you have any doubt at all about who is going to inhabit these new multi-story apartment buildings, take a look at the tiny rabbit hole floor plans of the units they contain. Working adults and families sure won’t rent them.) It’s no wonder that your complaints about recurring overcrowded noisy parties with young people spilling out into the streets are being ignored by the city. That’s the current model for a successful business in our downtown now. Anna, you’d better convert your club into a pizza parlor with 2-for-1 beer blowout Thursdays before it’s too late. 

Doug Buckwald 

• 

TEST SCORES ARTICLE 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I would like to criticize Yolanda Huang’s Jan. 10 article about racial differences existing in high school exit exam performances. There seems to be an editorializing by omission problem here with the race with the highest performance group simply omitted, not mentioned. Is this a clever way to avoid the obvious. Asians score better than all others, they are the dominate ethnic group on Cal’s campus.  

How can we be considered anti-racist when the opposite is obvious. It cannot be hidden by using the language as means to deny the truth when everything is race based. The differences should not be masked and those who do are pandering too a social agenda that is both sexist, racist and including downright evil.  

Shame, Shame on you! 

Ronald Branch 

San Francisco 

• 

EAST BAY EXPRESS 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I’ll take a short break from my cowboy-libertarian plot to destroy local journalism to comment on Becky O’Malley’s editorial (“Fruitvale is a Lesson for Ashby,” Daily Planet, Jan. 10). While we appreciate your editor’s backhanded praise, the intellectual dishonesty with which she prefaces it is pathetic. Since O’Malley can’t mention a New Times-owned paper without resorting to snide remarks, let’s hear some legitimate criticism—because, yes, even we corporate puppets like to think critically about our paper and ways to improve it. Instead, O’Malley parrots the Bay Guardian’s tired and fictional party line that our corporate parent somehow dictates our content. I quote: “Once in a while the New Times chain allows a good article which doesn’t follow the company line of cowboy libertarianism to slip past the editors of one of its magazines.” Puhlease! Similarly dishonest criticisms have implied that New Times stocks papers with out-of-towners who are not of the community, or lump together New Times papers as one, rather than judging each on its merits. 

OK, Ms. O’Malley, meet the editors of the East Bay Express: Editor Stephen Buel and I both hold masters degrees from Cal’s Graduate School of Journalism. I’ve lived in the East Bay most of my adult life, as have the lion’s share of our editorial staff—two of our staff writers pre-date the New Times acquisition, and Calendar Editor Kelly Vance has been with the Express since it first hit the streets in October 1978. Buel and I each have spent many years writing and editing for locally based dailies, weeklies, and magazines; in fact, Buel started his career back when Berkeley’s “daily” was actually daily, as an intern at the Berkeley Gazette. And although it’s none of your damn business, both of us are registered Democrats—although we’re not shy about criticizing them for failing to get their shit together. As for the cowboy thing, I actually like horseback riding, but the music sucks. 

The false claim that New Times dictates what we publish, however, is Bruce Brugmann’s little fantasy—and God knows he doesn’t have an agenda. I’ve been managing editor here going on four years. Know how many times I’ve met Executive Editor Mike Lacey during that time? Once. Know how many times Executive Managing Editor Christine Brennan has stopped by to offer a critique of our news section? Once. That’s hardly corporate control. It’s true that our general format is similar to that of other New Times papers, but the paper’s content—its heart and soul—is not. If there’s any corporate dictate (and I’ve certainly never seen one), it’s to be smart, unpredictable, entertaining, and as local as possible. Fact is, the New Times folks trust us to put out a good paper, and we aim to do so. They help us when we ask for it, and cheer us when we break national stories (like Chris Thompson’s revelation that U.S. soldiers were swapping Iraq gore photos for access to online porn), uncover local wrongdoing (like Robert Gammon’s story about how a CHP chief desperate to nab a suspect in the I-580 sniper case led his agency to set up the wrong guy), or pull down local, regional, and national awards for our coverage, as we do consistently. 

Now back to the grind. 

Michael Mechanic 

Managing Editor 

East Bay Express 

• 

RENT STABILIZATION 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

As the new year begins, a significant 25th anniversary event—directly impacting hundreds of thousands of Bay Area renters—was observed during 2005’s final months: the passage, in 1980, of Berkeley’s and San Francisco’s respective Rent Stabilization and Good Cause Eviction ordinances, commonly known as rent control. 

Twenty-five years on, both cities’ rent stabilization measures remain each community’s single largest affordable housing public policy programs, ensuring stable rent levels and housing security for hundreds of thousands of tenants in one of the nation’s most expensive rental housing markets. In Berkeley, nearly 19,000 rental units are regulated, San Francisco’s ordinance regulates approximately 80,000 units. 

At the time of its passage in 1980, Berkeley’s voter-approved rent stabilization ballot measure was considered a legislative and constitutional landmark: The ordinance guaranteed property owners a constitutional right to a “fair return” on their property investment, while protecting renters from arbitrary, unwarranted rent increases.  

During the period between 1978-1981—like the dot-com boom 20 years later—rent levels in Berkeley and San Francisco dramatically (and unexpectedly) increased causing significant tenant economic hardship and dislocation. At the height of San Francisco’s 1999-2001 dot-com explosion, the city’s rent control program managed to shield hundreds of thousands renters from the ripple effect of the era’s rent increase spike. 

Ten other California cities would follow Berkeley’s and San Francisco’s 1980 lead and pass local rent control measures, including Los Angeles, Santa Monica, Oakland, San Jose and Hayward among other cities. In addition, at least 100 other California communities would pass local measures regulating mobile home residential park rent levels.  

Berkeley’s 1980 rent stabilization measure would subsequently be upheld as reasonable and constitutional by both the California Supreme Court 

and the U.S. Supreme Court.  

Recently, Oakland’s 2002 Measure EE ballot measure—“Just Cause” eviction— was declared constitutional by an Alameda County Superior Court. This court ruling is directly connected to the legal precedent established by the good-cause eviction provision of Berkeley’s 1980 Rent Stabilization Ordinance. 

Under Berkeley’s and San Francisco’s rent measures, as long as a renter is a good tenant (ie, pays rent, abides by the lease, is lawful, etc), that renter, generally speaking, will be able to enjoy the same housing security as a homeowner, avoiding the specter of a “no fault” eviction.  

Outside of communities with Good Cause provisions, it is sobering to realize that literally millions of California renter households can be subject to a 30-day eviction notice without cause at any time 

Twenty-five years on, it is important to acknowledge the legacy of rent level stability and housing security that has been provided to tenants by Berkeley’s and San Francisco’s watershed 1980 rent stabilization measures.  

Chris Kavanaugh 

• 

BERKELEY HONDA 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I was wondering if I could meet Nat Courtney or any of the other 11 union employees who are no longer employed at Berkeley Honda, out in front of the business?   

In a recent visit to have my car repaired at this dealership I was confronted by an aggressive picketer who continued to confront me after I politely said I was not interested in anything but having my car repaired, and that I was not going to go elsewhere. Why should I go somewhere else? Berkeley Honda and its staff have been nothing but polite and professional. They employ honest, hard-working people who are just trying to make a living to support their families. They don’t deserve the daily harassment they endure from these picketers!  

I wondered about these picketers so I did a little research: It may come as a surprise but those “dedicated picketers” who have been out in front of Berkeley Honda are paid professional picketers. They are not union members, unless there is a Professional Picketers Union. I’d like to know if these picketers are being provided health benefits, and pension plans from their employer? 

The only thing I think Berkeley Honda has is the City of Berkeley itself. Berkeley Honda pays the most in tax revenue and yet their the bad guys. What’s wrong with this picture? What tune will the “neutral” Mayor Tom Bates and the City Council of Berkeley be singing when Berkeley Honda says they’ve had enough. It seems to me that the city needs Berkeley Honda more than Berkeley Honda needs the city.   

I think that people should remember there is always another side.  

D. Doulgeropoulos 

Walnut Creek 

• 

NOT JUST SOUTH BERKELEY 

Your article about poor service at the South Berkeley Post Office was very timely and right on the mark, but one should not lose sight of the fact that similar conditions prevail at all the Berkeley post offices, not just in “the poorer parts of town.” The U.S. Postal Service does not seem to discriminate to whom it offers poor counter service, at least not in Berkeley. I have never been to any Berkeley post office when I did not have to wait 20 to 40 minutes. 

Even though I buy my postage-paid priority mail labels from the USPS website, the package still has to be handed to a clerk in person, and for that one has to take a number. This completely negates the convenience of online postage purchasing, when one still has to stand in line for what seems an interminable length of time. 

I have just about given up going to any Berkeley post office; one will receive much quicker service at both, the Albany and El Cerrito post offices. Even though I may have to drive a few miles, the time saved and frustration avoided, make it worthwhile. 

That said, the U.S. Postal Service does a phenomenal job of delivering the mail—if only they could put a few more clerks at the customer counters. 

Peter Klatt 

• 

WHY, EVEN IN  

NORTH BERKELEY... 

The Adeline Street Post Office is not the only local post office with serious understaffing problems. North Berkeley’s Shattuck Avenue office, although in a more affluent part of town, has shut down three Saturdays in the past year when it was clearly supposed to be open for box access and stamp purchases. Customers hovered bewildered, in front of this “semi-independent” federal agency, scratching their heads or repeatedly trying to push open the locked door in utter disbelief.  

The post office is not a local mom and pop store or private corporation. But you wouldn’t know it by its increasing propensity to allow market forces to dictate its service profile. Another example of deregulation making our lives more stressful. Oh, and don’t forget to stick it to them with an extra two cents this year for a standard letter. Obviously, they need our help! 

Marc Winokur 

Oakland 

• 

DRIVEN TO LAFAYETTE 

Your Jan. 10 front-page story, “Waiting in Line at the Adeline St. Post Office,” rang true to me. When I first moved from the Peninsula to Rockridge, Oakland some four years ago, I rented a post office box at the Temescal North Oakland branch station at 4900 Shattuck Ave. The lines were long and slow. Parking in the tiny little shopping center was often hard to find, but at least it was unmetered, a treat in the Berkeley-Oakland area.  

Finally, I wised up, drove through the Caldecott Tunnel to Lafayette, where I rented a box at the post office located on Mt. Diablo Boulevard. The lines were much shorter and the service was more pleasant. Parking is free and easy in this strip shopping center, which has a Trader Joe’s, a Longs Drugs and a Diablo Foods all close to the post office. 

Now I do virtually all of my shopping in Lafayette, Pleasant Hill and Concord. Traffic is rarely a problem, parking is free and there are no worries about street crime. I do not know exactly why Berkeley and Oakland are such unpleasant places to shop in with their endless traffic, rude bicyclists, rude pedestrians, ubiquitous parking meters and with security guards hanging around the larger stores.  

My late brother labored as a mail handler for many years in the Oakland West Annex of the Post Office. At family holiday gatherings he used to regale us with stories of postal management incompetence and the generally depressing workplace environment. If you don’t care for poor post office service you may call their universal 800 number and complain. Good luck. Two years ago, I called to inquire as to why they had stopped delivery of my late parents’ mail and a man rudely informed me that, “Dead people don’t get mail.” He was wrong, of course. This sort of mail is easily forwarded after filling out a form and showing proper identification.  

Another insult from the post office is their annual increasing of their rates charged for their fourth-class parcel post mail to where it almost matches their first class mail rates. Now it is cheaper to use the United Parcel Service (UPS) for shipping small packages cross-country. And UPS even throws in free insurance and tracking, too. Now the United States Postal Service feels that it has to advertise with ads during the Olympic Games and even for Lance Armstrong, the American bicyclist who has won several Tour de France races recently. Someone has to pay for all this expensive, but unnecessary, advertising. You and I pay for it with higher postal rates and longer, slower lines at the window.  

James K. Sayre 

Oakland 

›

Recently there has been a good deal of discussion about the “by-right” exemption to Berkeley’s general policy of discretionary review for conforming residential additions under 500 square feet. Since there seems to be quite a bit of misunderstanding about my position and about the limited scope of the proposals being considered by the City Council, I’d like to make clear my own view of the matter. 

I do acknowledge that there is a problem, and that the current “by-right” exception has flaws that should be addressed. I am all too familiar with the litany of second story additions, primarily in the hills, that have seemingly intruded into views and privacy, leaving festering wounds in previously amicable neighborhoods. It is painful to witness and consumes tremendous amount of staff resources and constituent goodwill.  

But, as a general principle, I’m opposed to adding new layers of discretionary review to the Berkeley permitting process. Such a review adds significant time and expense to the planning process, and may not be warranted with most of the small projects requesting approval. In my many years as a member and chair of the Planning Commission and the Zoning Adjustments Board I saw first hand the unnecessary costs and discord that are created by unending review of new projects. Our highest priority should be a process that is fair, predictable and efficient, so that citizens can plan their time and their resources accordingly. 

Berkeley’s General Plan directs us to both encourage construction of more housing space (in part through residential additions) and to protect the quality of life in our neighborhoods through careful zoning decisions. The dilemma in regulating these small projects is that homeowners want some envelope for expansion free from bureaucratic oversight, expense and public scrutiny, while “neighbors” (often the same property owners) want some consideration regarding adjacent structures that could impact their light, their view and their privacy. But no one has an absolute legal “right” to stop an addition, nor an absolute “right” to build one without consideration of the public good. This is a quality of life issue for everyone, that leaves city staff, and ultimately the City Council, with a Solomon-like challenge to create balanced zoning laws that protect rights for all the city’s citizens.  

The issue now before the City Council is a narrow one and involves a relatively small percentage of “by-right” projects: those in which a second or third-story addition less than 500 square feet would significantly impact surrounding neighbors by drastically changing their access to light, air, privacy or views—whether from the flatlands to the Berkeley hills or from the hills to the Bay. The current law is completely one-sided because it gives no consideration of these impacts to the affected neighbors. That is just as wrong as it would be to give those neighbors the right to veto a proposed addition. 

I believe we can do this fairly, avoid costly discretionary review, and build good neighbor and neighborhood relations. Some possible ways to accomplish this are to adopt objective standards for second story and higher additions based on the slope of the land and other measurable factors (as some neighboring cities have done); require neighborhood notification prior to the project; make frivolous and unreasonable appeals significantly more expensive in order to reflect their true cost to the city, and by reforming the entire permitting process so that it moves expeditiously in all cases. (In 2003-04 I chaired the mayor’s Task Force on Permitting and Development and created a plan to streamline Berkeley’s cumbersome permitting process. I’m proud that our proposals are now being considered and adopted by the Council.) 

Though the emergency moratorium on these projects proposed by Councilmember Olds did not find the adequate council support, she deserves credit for bringing this issue to the front burner, after years of inattention. Good policy-making shouldn’t take years, and I intend to ensure that is the case here. I’ve proposed a six-month deadline for adoption of a final ordinance addressing this issue, and I look forward to the planning director’s report on Jan. 17 and his recommendation as to when the Planning Commission can have a proposal to City Council ready for adoption. 

Councilmember Laurie Capitelli represents Berkeley’s District 5. 

Recent stories in the Daily Planet about the 300-unit “transit village” proposed for the west parking lot of the Ashby BART station have referred to upzoning of the surrounding area. It’s important that neighbors understand that these are two separate issues—a transit village could be built at Ashby BART without upzoning the area, or vice-versa. 

A “transit village” is a building or group of buildings, adjacent to a subway or train station or other major transit hub, including a mix of housing, retail, offices, open space, and/or community facilities such as daycare or libraries. Best-case scenario, a transit village increases mass transit use, decreases automobile use, and provides needed housing and services. Worst-case, it’s just a giveaway of public land to private developers. 

A “transit village development district” (TVDD) is a legal tool that, according to California law, is intended to increase mass transit use and decrease automobile use. A local legislative body with jurisdiction over a rail transit station—in the case of Ashby BART, the Berkeley City Council—may declare the quarter-mile area around the station a TVDD, entitling all developments within the area to a 25 percent density bonus, “expedited permitting,” and access to certain kinds of state or federal transit funds. If the City Council were to declare a TVDD at Ashby BART, the affected area could extend west to California, east to Fulton, north to Stuart, and south to the Oakland border. 

Declaring a TVDD currently would not give the city the power of eminent domain over the area, as would a redevelopment district. However, some legislators in Sacramento are seeking to amend the law to that effect. 

The effects of the density bonus would be most dramatic in the residential portions of the area. Most of those lots are zoned R-2A, in which district the zoning code allows one unit for every 1,650 square feet of lot area, plus one additional unit if the remaining lot area is at least 1,300 square feet. A 25 percent density bonus would reduce those thresholds to 1,320 and 1,040 square feet, allowing an additional unit on many lots. This would effectively upzone the neighborhood as noted in the above chart. 

In a nutshell, declaring a transit village development district would cut the number of one- and two-unit lots in half and quintuple the number of four-unit lots. The distribution of upzoned lots would be random, since whether a particular lot would be allowed an additional unit would depend on its area, and lot areas in this neighborhood are highly inconsistent. 

In the commercial portion of the area, zoned C-SA, the zoning code currently allows mixed-use buildings of up to three stories south of Russell and four stories north, and discourages construction of commercial-only or residential-only projects. The commercial portion of a mixed-use development is limited to the first two floors (but is usually only the first) and can cover 100 percent of the lot, minus some small required setbacks. The residential portion is limited to 45-50 percent of the second floor, 40-45 percent of the third floor, and 35-40 percent of higher floors (the higher limits apply to corner lots). How the TVDD density bonus should be applied is debatable, but based on past experience developers would ask for and be granted both additional stories and greater lot coverage. Developments with five or more residential units would gain additional height and bulk from the 25 percent density bonus granted for providing the mandatory 20 percent so-called “affordable” units (which for the most part rent at market rates; see my “Note to ZAB: Time to Say No To Phony Affordable Housing” from the April 26, 2005 issue). 

I see no good reason for the City Council to declare a transit village development district around Ashby BART. The Zoning Adjustments Board already has the authority (under zoning code section 23E.52.070.D.5) to relax development standards for mixed-use projects in the C-SA district to allow buildings of any height, density, and lot coverage, and to waive any or all off-street parking and open-space requirements. The existing housing substantially exceeds the Metropolitan Transportation Commission’s “housing threshold” of 3,850 units in the half-mile radius around the BART station, which means the area is less qualified for state and federal transit-village grants than most other East Bay BART neighborhoods. 

Project director Ed Church told me that he has no desire to pursue a TVDD designation, and that there would be no advantage to doing so. I suggest that the City Council put neighbors’ concerns about this possibility to rest by passing a resolution adopting policy guidelines that a TVDD would be inappropriate for the Ashby BART station. 

Neighbors interested in learning more about this proposal should visit nabart.com for additional information and attend a community meeting at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 17 at the South Berkeley Senior Center. 

Robert Lauriston lives across the street from Ashby BART. 

›

Last month, the Berkeley City Council voted to apply for a state grant that will pay for an extensive community process to plan a possible residential and commercial development on the west parking lot at the Ashby BART station. While this is quite preliminary, since the funding is by no means certain, the Council strongly endorsed the application as an extraordinary opportunity to right a wrong.  

In the late 1960s, the construction of the Ashby BART station displaced residents and tore a hole in one of Berkeley’s most interesting, beautiful, and historic neighborhoods. While much of the neighborhood’s charm still exists, this lovely area has struggled—in part because of the dead zone created by the station’s large sunken parking lots. 

The city and the community have long looked for ways to repair the damage done by the creation of the BART station and to capitalize on its unique proximity to the region’s subway system. In fact, over 15 years ago, an analysis done as part of the creation of the South Berkeley Area Plan found that the “South Berkeley community has expressed an interest in mixed commercial and residential development on the [Ashby BART] site.” In 2001, the City Council passed a resolution “that the west parking lot at the Ashby BART Station be developed with housing as a top priority. To the extent possible, housing should be affordable and available to public sector workers.” This desire was also incorporated in Berkeley’s overall General Plan—which took many years and dozens of public meetings to create. 

Bringing new residents and neighborhood serving shops to the Adeline corridor can clearly increase the vitality and safety. It would be good for South Berkeley, good for the city as a whole and good for the environment, since it would locate residents near a significant transit hub and provide alternatives to automobile use. 

In most development scenarios, a private developer proposes a project on which the public is allowed to comment. We wanted something better for this important site—a project envisioned by the community from the beginning planning stages. That is why the city applied for the grant and why the South Berkeley Neighborhood Development Corporation (SBNDC) stepped up to help lead this discussion. 

The South Berkeley Neighborhood Development Corporation was itself born out of a public planning process in 1987. It has been involved in managing low-income housing, conducting social programs, providing business assistance, and working to beautify the neighborhood. New boardmembers were recently added to its existing veteran boardmembers to help embark on this new project. 

At the City Council’s Dec. 13 meeting, the City Council asked SBNDC to name a task force to conduct a public process regarding this proposal. Members of the City Council, the community, and others can all suggest people to serve on that task force. Upon selection, the task force’s first task will be to coordinate meetings with the community to develop a shared vision for the project. If that process is successful, the city will conduct a nationwide search for a potential developer to work with the task force and the community on designing a specific project that is in keeping with that vision.  

We do not know of another city that has a public/private partnership in which the public is empowered to set the elements of the project, help select the developer and hire its own experts. This will take many months, and significant amounts of staff time and money, all of which must be secured by SBNDC. South Berkeley has never had resources of this magnitude before. 

We hope and expect that planning for this site will be done carefully and with full community engagement. Many types of transit-oriented development that have worked in other areas might not work here. Height, scale, architecture, parking, streetscapes, and other issues will need to be carefully examined. The planning grant would also allow the community to look beyond the project itself and consider how it could integrate with the Arts District, Malcolm X School, the Senior Center, Library and other valued community institutions.  

However, there are several concerns that have been raised about the planning process that we feel should be addressed immediately: 

First, there is absolutely no plan for any increase in density or any other zoning change for the area surrounding Ashby BART. South Berkeley is a beautiful and historic neighborhood and any potential new development at the BART station will need to fit within its existing character.  

Second, the city will not use eminent domain—the government’s power to seize private property for a public good—as part of this project. The only construction to be planned in this process is on the Ashby BART station parking lot.  

Lastly, the grant application is to fund a community discussion. The grant can help us consider alternatives, but it does not obligate us to build anything. We want to find out what is economically feasible on the site and what the community would like. If these are not in sync, we need not move forward with any proposal. 

We have an historic opportunity to realize the aspirations of South Berkeley residents and small business owners, to build badly needed housing for families, and to repair the damage done to this neighborhood when BART was built. We look forward to working closely with the community throughout this effort.  

Tempering the operatic and balletic flights of Kurt Weill and Bertolt Brecht with a descent into a real inferno, The Crucible will be staging The Seven Deadly Sins as “A Fire Opera” through Saturday at The Crucible’s studio in West Oakland. 

Singers from San Francisco Opera will be accompanied by a 30-piece orchestra drawn from the Oakland East Bay Symphony, conducted by Sara Jobin of the San Francisco Opera, featuring performances—including aerialists, fire dancers, fire eaters, blacksmiths and foundry workers—and sculptures by many local artists. 

The production is directed by Roy Rallo of the San Francisco Opera and produced and designed by Michael Sturtz, founder and executive director of The Crucible.  

The Brecht-Weill piece is being staged as an anniversary celebration, fitting in both a numerologic and a purgatorial sense: The Crucible is seven years old this week. Founded as “an educational facility that fosters a collaboration of Arts, Industry and Community,” The Crucible features training in both industrial and fine arts in the 56,000 square foot studio, a former industrial workshop. 

It bills itself as the Bay Area’s only nonprofit sculpture studio, educational foundry and metal fabrication shop. Offering over 150 classes and workshops per session—“from cast iron to neon, large-scale public art to the most precise kinetic sculpture, hot glass work to fire dancing,” The Crucible boasts a faculty of over 100 professional artists, tradespeople and educators, and has had 150,000 visitors and class and lecture attendants, including those attending the community events and performance programs that fulfill its role as a publicly accessible arts venue. 

Remarkable for a nonprofit, over 70 percent of The Crucible’s budget comes from earned income. 

The Seven Deadly Sins is the second “Fire Opera” The Crucible has featured, the first being Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas in 2004. Originally staged in June 1933 at the Theatre des Champs-Elysee in Paris, conducted by Maurice Abravanel, with choreography by George Balanchine, this collaboration of The Seven Deadly Sins was conceived as opera and ballet on equal terms, expressed by the division of the role of the young heroine into two parts: Anna I, played by a singer, and Anna II, a dancer. 

The first Anna represents practicality and conscience, constantly chiding the flightier, more artistic dancer for her descent into the seven sins, which are represented by seven American cities. Anna, a Louisiana native, visits these cities to earn enough money to build a home on the banks of the Mississippi. 

Constantly confronted by a “Greek chorus” of her kin, Anna steers her way through the evils of capitalism and the sinful cities, finally repenting each fall into error and returning to live a creative life in the house she’s built. 

The Crucible’s production is spread across seven different stages, with the orchestra playing in a loft below the building’s metal roof. Singers include Catherine Cook, Eugene Brancoveanu, Kevin Courtemanche, Joe Myers and Jere Torkelsen. Also performing are Ed Holmes, Xeno, Harlem Shake Burlesque, the As Is Brass Band, Tom Sepe and Lee Kobus in an extravaganza of live hot metal work and fire arts.  

The Crucible has announced a Fire Arts Festival for July, though probably no more Fire Operas this year. This unique local enterprise is perhaps the only theatrical producer who can use hackneyed adjectives like “sizzling” and “fiery” without exaggeration or metaphor to describe its mission to “set opera ablaze.”  

The Seven Deadly Sins runs through Saturday at The Crucible, 1260 7th St., Oakland at 8 p.m. For more information, call 444-0919 or see www.thecrucible.org.

Something significant has been happening in the last several years. While the political discourse of the mainstream media has skirted the scandalous actions of the Bush administration, regurgitating the administration’s rhetoric rather than attending to the dubious actions taken in the name of “the American people,” a vigorous political criticism has increasingly been voiced in the arts. 

In films, plays, the visual arts, music, poetry and novels, contemporary politics is being either analogized or symbolized in scarcely disguised form. It seems to me no accident, for example, that Peter Selz’s Art of Engagement has just appeared, the first serious examination since 1945 of politically engaged art.  

Focusing on California, though not exclusively, Selz moves through the second half of the 20th century looking at art that has emerged from political struggle, from the Nazi death camps, the Free Speech Movement of 1964, the farm workers’ labor movement, the Black Panther Party in Oakland, the women’s movement, ending with the recent responses to Sept. 11 and the war in Iraq.  

Today one has only to tour Bay Area galleries to find proliferating examples of visual art fiercely critical of the unholy alliance of politicians and corporations that have created chaos in Baghdad and beyond. 

Indeed, we are seeing a sort of samizdat for our time and place: acts of passionate political engagement embedded and articulated in the arts rather than in the inhospitable political arena, in a manner once associated with what went on under the repressive Soviet regimes. 

It seems that, the Internet aside, and with the exception of a few challenging journalists on the op-ed pages, the arts have become the cultural bearers of political ideas and ideals that challenge the Orwellian rhetoric of our politicians and their echoes in the mainstream media.  

This political infusion is perhaps the one bright light in these dodgy dark times, reinvigorating the arts themselves as well as their audience. Think of John Adams’ recently performed anti-nuclear opera, Doctor Atomic. Based on Richard Rhodes’ book The Making of the Atomic Bomb, Adams’ work with a libretto by Peter Sellars, focuses on physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer and the project he led--the creation of the first atomic bomb. 

This is not Adams’ first foray into political opera; as he noted in a recent interview, “if opera is actually going to be a part of our lives ... it has to deal with contemporary topics.” But as the threat of nuclear proliferation becomes more of a reality under this administration, so does the shadow of an impending nuclear holocaust. Not if, but when, as someone recently commented. Adams’ latest work confronts our nightmares about the future and explores the complex psychology that allows a humane and learned scientist to think and, even more strikingly, to make possible, the unthinkable end of human civilization. 

On a less operatic scale, there is Charlie Haden’s new Liberation Music Orchestra concert now touring the country with “Not in our Name.” This extraordinary grouping of musicians perform compositions that play riffs on familiar musical themes and iconic American songs such as America the Beautiful, opening them up to expose, through improvisational flights and musical changes--from major to minor, from dominant to 7th, from harmonic to atonal—the violence done to the ideals that the songs originally celebrated. As if each musician in Haden’s brilliant group, using the improvisational space that jazz allows each, were asking in the words of another lyric from another time—“What is America to me?”—each musician expresses his outrage, despair and sadness about what has been happening to the American dream celebrated in these songs. But each also seems to discover and convey to the audience the ecstatic possibilities of the ideal, as if through a musical articulation he could recover its hope. 

From music to words: so many works of fiction have appeared that eloquently forge a pact between politics and art. My own recent favorite is Ian McEwan’s Saturday, which pits the influential power of poetic discourse against the more empirical understanding of cause and effect in dealing with violent human impulses. Narrated through the consciousness of an acutely sensitive neurosurgeon, Henry Perowne, McEwan’s novel subtly represents his detailed observations of his material circumstances on a Saturday in London—the day of one of the largest anti-war marches in recent European history as well as a day on which he is able to divert a personal violent assault by understanding the medical condition of his assailant and responding cleverly to it. 

But although his diagnostic abilities seems to give him a confident mastery over the adverse contingencies of modern urban life, he is confused by the more ambiguous aspects of human interactions: by the political complexities of the war on terrorism as well as by the internal subtleties of literature. At the novel’s climax, he finds himself helpless to deal with a violent threat to his family while his daughter, a poet, prompted by her poet-grandfather to recite “Dover Beach,” captures the imagination of the assailant, himself soon to die, and renders him no longer dangerous.  

In retrospect, as the novel suggests, there is an ironic analogy between the war against which the marchers demonstrate and the urban violence which the man of reason confronts. In both instances, a command of rhetoric is key. The peace marches did not stop the aggressive acts of the U.S. government and its British backers in great part because the rhetoric of the powerbrokers turned political uncertainty into certainties that overwhelmed the doubters. Indeed, McEwan’s novel shows that language matters, that the pen is still mighty, though the sword has grown to apocalyptic proportion. Can the literary arts politically sway hearts and minds enough to disarm those wielding that sword? Can the arts really change consciousness?  

Certainly that seems to be the hope in British theater of the past several years. Last fall’s London season was particularly rich in political theater that directly or indirectly commented on the policies and politicians of today, and much of it traveled to New York this past year. Michael Frayn’s Democracy anatomized the duality of the politician’s psyche and his precarious isolation through a dramatization of the career of Willy Brandt. David Hare’s Stuff Happens, a dramatized account of the cabals that led to the invasion of Iraq, portrayed Bush as a forcefully committed though naïve politician who, backed by religious certainties, too easily overwhelmed a feeble Tony Blair’s frustrated attempt to assert a more sophisticated British position. 

Significantly, Hare’s play did not caricature Bush and his cohort, but allowed them sufficient humanity so that the play’s politics would evoke more than comfortable assent. As the Guardian reported, “the caricatures of the players we think we know all too well—George Bush, Tony Blair, Colin Powell and the rest—talk back, often stirringly, against our first impressions.” Yet the dramatic irony of history that inhabits their speeches—their future is now our present—drives the play toward the war that “happened”.  

Given this past year’s revelations about Abu Ghraib and American renditions of “suspects” sent to secret prisons for interrogation, the re-appearance of Ariel Dorfman’s Death and the Maiden in London last year seemed especially prescient. The play, about a woman who has been subject to torture and revenges herself when the opportunity accidentally presents itself, starkly illuminates the moral issues and psychic consequences of torture. And again, no doubt provoked by widespread doubts about the war in Iraq, this season in New York saw another play of Dorfman’s, The Other Side, which raises questions about the nature of identity and love under conditions of war. Taking place in a war torn country, it presents a man and a woman who survive by identifying and living off the casualties. Paradoxically when peace finally arrives, their predatory world falls apart.  

Dorfman has talked about the vital element that drives his plays: his belief that we must confront what we know but want to look away from, that political crimes be acknowledged even if they can’t be undone. If they are buried, as he points out, “Something submerged will always come up, like the bodies come out of the river in Widows. They come from the imagination, from the past, from the human soul. They come from the bad conscience of the military, they are conjured up from the mind, from history which says ‘do not forget’. And until we have put them to rest, have buried them well, we cannot solve the problem.”  

This seems to me a fitting description of what drives all the contemporary artists who are producing political art in our time. Until recently, when Bush’s popularity, or rather his numbers, began to fall, too many American newspapers buried in the back pages or the neutral middle what needed to be highlighted on page one. It has become the task of today’s literary writers, filmmakers, playwrights and artists to insure that political memory is not buried, nor political outrages covered up. To this concern, Harold Pinter in his Nobel Prize acceptance speech spoke clearly and luminescently words that burst through the spin much of the press tried to impose on them, words that it had avoided for too many years—words that themselves reflected upon the power of words, and thus, on the power of the media.  

The majority of politicians, on the evidence available to us, are interested not in truth but in power and in the maintenance of that power. To maintain that power it is essential that people remain in ignorance, that they live in ignorance of the truth, even the truth of their own lives. What surrounds us therefore is a vast tapestry of lies, upon which we feed. As every single person here knows, the justification for the invasion of Iraq was that Saddam Hussein possessed a highly dangerous body of weapons of mass destruction, some of which could be fired in 45 minutes, bringing about appalling devastation. We were assured that was true. It was not true. We were told that Iraq had a relationship with al Qaeda and shared responsibility for the atrocity in New York of Sept. 11, 2001. We were assured that this was true. It was not true. We were told that Iraq threatened the security of the world. We were assured it was true. It was not true. The truth is something entirely different. The truth is to do with how the United States understands its role in the world and how it chooses to embody it. 

From his blunt repudiation of official justification for the invasion of Iraq, Pinter went on to identify a deeper, more disturbing, yet only very rarely acknowledged problem with the media-sustained American mindset.  

Listen to all American presidents on television say the words, ‘the American people’, as in the sentence, ‘I say to the American people it is time to pray and to defend the rights of the American people and I ask the American people to trust their president in the action he is about to take on behalf of the American people.’ It’s a scintillating stratagem. Language is actually employed to keep thought at bay. The words ‘the American people’ provide a truly voluptuous cushion of reassurance. You don’t need to think. Just lie back on the cushion. The cushion may be suffocating your intelligence and your critical faculties but it’s very comfortable.” 

When the politicians and the pundits have so deliberately and unconscionably set about degrading and destroying language for their own careers and questionable purposes, no wonder that those who truly care for words and images, who wrestle with their difficult meaning and power, become prominent in the pursuit of truth. 

Noted jazz and popular music critic Phil Elwood, a life-long Berkeley resident, died Tuesday of heart failure at age 79, just a month after the death of his wife, Audrey. 

Elwood, San Francisco Examiner critic from 1965, until the Hearst paper merged with the San Francisco Chronicle in 2000, from which he retired in 2002, also was a pioneer FM broadcaster, with his weekly “Jazz Archive” on KPFA from 1952 to 1996. His history of jazz classes on Monday nights at Laney College in Oakland filled in the background to the music for new generations of musicians, critics and fans. 

Elwood was hailed by musicians, fellow journalists and music fans alike. Eulogies came from a range of performers. Vocalist Jon Hendricks, emphasizing the range of Elwood’s musical and stylistic interests, called Elwood “the quintessential jazz critic.” Affectionate tributes also came from popular rock and R&B singers, such as Boz Scaggs and Huey Lewis. 

“Phil always served it to you straight,” singer Kim Nalley, proprietor of North Beach jazz spot Pearl’s, said in an E-mail. “I credit him with discovering me.” 

Elwood becoming her “constant proponent,” Nalley remembered, turning interviews into long sessions of listening to CDs and talking about jazz, before settling down to the journalistic business at hand. 

Elwood relished expressing his opinion on the spot, sometimes humming or scatting a snatch of a tune to illustrate his point. His interests not only extended straight-ahead jazz to the avant-garde, but also took in a whole spectrum of popular music. An amateur drummer, Elwood once recalled how an early interview with Rolling Stones drummer Charlie Watts became reversed, with the jazz-trained Stone bird-dogging the critic on the counter-rhythms of drummers of older generations Elwood had heard live.  

Credited with giving unknown Bruce Springsteen his first important review, Elwood also would proudly refer to the personal letters of thanks from Lawrence Welk, praising the originator of “Bubble Music” with “a remarkable knowledge of the American Songbook.” 

When Elwood retired from regular reviewing, he recalled his first weeks on the job, covering shows that ranged from Duke Ellington to musical satirist Tom Lehrer, bop drummer Art Blakey to the Mills Bros, and from singers Kay Starr and Lena Horne to “The Beatles at the Cow Palace in the afternoon and Judy Garland at the Circle Star that night.” 

Born on March 19, 1926, Elwood was raised in Berkeley. His father was professor of agriculture at UC Berkeley. As a teenager, he caught big band shows at Sweets Ballroom in Oakland, after his conversion to jazz when photographer Dorothea Lange played a Louis Armstrong record while Elwood was visiting her Berkeley home. 

An avid hunter for out-of-issue sides and 78s in his teens, what became a gargantuan record collection of legend and lore was kept in the basement of his house on The Alameda. 

Elwood continued to write about music on the website Jazz West after his retirement from newsprint. The San Francisco Jazz Festival honored him in 2002 with their Beacon Award and a tribute concert. 

Survivors include sons Peter and Joshua of Berkeley, Benjamin of St. Paul, Minn., daughter Lis of Sierra City, and six grandchildren. No services are planned at present. 

Most of our older housing stock still peeks out on the world thought original wooden double-hung windows. Since we still live with so many of these, we should understand their advantages and disadvantages.  

Double-hung windows are those with two moveable frames, called sashes. Many of these sashes are divided up into multiple “lites” by “muntins,” “mutts” or “mullions.” 

These windows were originally designed to operate with weights and pulleys and remind us of a time when blocks and tackles were the prevailing technology for lifting heavy objects. Each sash had a pair of cast-iron torpedo-shaped weights tied to the end of a cotton cord which hung over a simple pulley mounted in the window frame on either side of the sash. The cords were mounted with knots inserted in a pocket drilled in either side of the sash and the cord lay in a groove cut just above the pocket.  

If you are repairing or replacing the cord, I always find it advisable to tack a very small nail through the knot into the wood to keep it from creeping up in the pocket. This creeping is a common cause of windows sticking or the ropes pulling free. Some of the early installers put a tiny nail through the knot. That’s where I picked up the trick, much as I’d like to take credit.  

The weights hang in a void between the window frame and the nearest 2x4 in the wall and get covered over with a wooden trim, called a “casing,” on the inside and by exterior siding (stucco or what have you) on the exterior.  

The weight can be extracted by removing the casing and possibly a bit of plaster, if some excess was placed there.  

The weights can also be found through a commonly installed pocket cut into the side of most window frames. This is usually painted over and hard to find, but may be visible as a diagonal cut into the frame on the side of the sash with tiny grooves running down the frame just above. Some of these aren’t fully cut through but were partially cut in for future access. 

If you want to try to repair the window weights, you’ll need to remove at least one sash, and this will require removing a trim that holds the window in place at the most inside edge. This is called a “stop” and is almost always coated with paint to a degree that removal requires finding the separation with a utility knife or similar tool. If you remove a stop on one side, you can then tilt the window out and extend the ropes (if they’re still there) and pull the sash out. This might be enough for the repair of the lower sash, which is the one that is closer to the interior. Lower sashes need ropes repaired far more often than uppers because they are used the most and also because the rope is visible when the window is shut and therefore exposed to the sun. 

If you want to get the weight through the diagonal pocket, you’ll need to remove one more trim called a “parting bead.” This is a strip of wood that sticks out of the side frame or jamb between the sashes. Each sash rides along the parting bead, preventing them from rubbing against each other. The parting bead is usually nailed into a groove with a few very small nails but is often stuck with paint. Again, the trusty utility knife (my favorite tool for taking blood samples from my thumb) can cut the paint bond and make it easier to remove.  

Removal of the upper sash will require the removal of at least one parting bead, although taking both out makes it much easier. I personally don’t like fixing weights through this pocket and prefer to take a casing off one or both sides of the window. This lets me get my fat hands on the weight. Once this is done it’s not hard to copy the length of the original rope with new cotton sash cord. Make nice tight knots on the cord (two half hitches for you boy scouts, if you can manage it).  

Be sure to buy 1/4” cotton cord. Nylon can slip between the pulley wheel and the axle and become jammed. Cotton seems to hold a nice shape but flows over the wheel in splendid fashion. 

A couple of thoughts about the use of double hung windows: Try to get used to using the upper sash. This does as least two things for you, but will likely require you to free it from the paint that holds it in place (many, if not most, of the upper wooden sashes I see have been painted shut). Using the upper sash allows heat to escape from the room. That’s where the heat is, up in the top of the room. It also allows for ventilation without blowing that antique vase off the table. When you open the upper sash and leave the lower sash closed, you keep children from falling out of windows—although, there’s a lot more to do and say in the way of child safety. Briefly, let me note that I was at a building yesterday that had a 20-foot drop from the back windows in the upstairs and there was a scant 21 inches from the floor to the window sill. I’m sure an adventurous 3-year-old could have climbed up that high. Think about locking lower sashes in place when small children might be present. 

The last reason is as noted above. The ropes on the uppers are likely in great shape and may have 40 years left in them, while the lowers are tired or gone altogether. 

As I’ve noted in the past, if you’re interested in upgrading these old beauties to add double glazing (quiet and warm) or out of dire need (they’re toast), consider some Marvin Tilt Pac replacement sashes. They eliminate the pulleys, ropes and air leaks and look quite a bit like the original equipment. 

This is an area where many of you men and women can try your hands at a home repair project without fear of burning down anything. I encourage you all to take a stab at fixing some sash weights. It’s very satisfying and might be just the task to set you on the path to becoming your own handyguy or gal.  

Happy tinkering.›

FRIDAY, JAN. 13 

THEATER 

“Walkin’ Talkin’ Bill Hawkins ... In Search of My Father” performed by W. Allen Taylor at 7 p.m. at the Marsh-Berkeley, 2118 Allston Way, through Jan. 28. Tickets are $15-$22. 800-838-3006. 

Shotgun Players “Cabaret” Thurs. - Sun. at 8 p.m. at the Ashby Stage, 1901 Ashby Ave. Through Jan. 29. 841-6500. www.shotgunplayers.org 

EXHIBITIONS 

“Off the Grid: New Paintings by Collective 9” Opening reception at 6 p.m. at ACCi Gallery. 1652 Shattuck Ave. Exhibition runs to Feb. 9. www.accigallery.com 

The Huarache Show Artists transform the traditional shoes. Reception at 7 p.m. at Boontling Gallery, 4224 Telegraph Ave. Show runs to Jan. 29. 

FILM 

“Best of Youth, Part 1” at 7 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Dance Production 2006 at 8 p.m. at Florence Schwimley Little Theater, Allston Way. Tickets are $5 students, $10 adults. 

“The Seven Deadly Sins” A Fire Opera with the Crucible, artists from the San Francisco Opera and the Oakland East Bay Symphony, through Sat., at 8:30 p.m. at 1260 7th St., Oakland. Tickets are $25-$100. 444-0919. www.thecrucible.org 

Justifi at 9:30 p.m. at Blakes on Telegraph. Cost is $8-$10. 848-0886. www.blakesontelegraph.com 

Juanita Ulloa’s Paz y Alegria at 8 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. Cost is $ 12-$15. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

Walter Savage Quartet at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. Cost is $7. 841-JAZZ. www.AnnasJazzIsland.com 

Ras Midas & The Bridge, with Root Awakening at 9:30 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $13. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

Diamante, latin, at 8 p.m. at Caffe Trieste, 2500 San Pablo Ave., at Dwight. 548-5198.  

Utah Phillips at 8 p.m. at the Roda Theater, 2015 Addison St. Cost is $18.50-$19.50. 548-1761. www.freightandsalvage.org 

Cathi Walkup Quartet at 9 p.m. at Downtown. 649-3810.  

DJ and Brook, jazz, at 7:30 p.m. at Nomad Cafe, 6500 Shattuck Ave. 595-5344.  

The Meat Purveyors, Loretta Lynch, Pickin’ Trix at 9 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $6. 841-2082. www.starryploughpub.com 

Hard Skin, Deadfall, Nuts & Bolts, The Vals at 8 p.m. at 924 Gilman St., an all-ages, member-run, no alcohol, no drugs, no violence club. Cost is $7. 525-9926. 

Wu Li Masters at 9:30 p.m. at Beckett’s Irish Pub, 2271 Shattuck Ave. 647-1790.  

Santero, Fuga, world, fusion, dub at 9:30 p.m. at Shattuck Down Low, 2284 Shattuck Ave. Cost is $5. 548-1159.  

LoCal Music Expo with Ben Strom at 8:30 p.m. at Epic Arts, 1923 Ashby Ave. Cost is $5-$10.  

Broun Fellinis at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 848-8277. 

Mark Hummel’s Blues Harmonica Blow Out at 8 and 10 p.m., through Sun. at Yoshi’s at Jack London Square. Cost is $15-$30. 238-9200. www.yoshis.com 

SATURDAY, JAN. 14 

CHILDREN 

Los Amiguitos de La Peña with Ingrid Noyes and Paul Shelasky, interactive music, at 10:30 a.m. at La Peña. Cost is $5. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

J.Soul in a concert for families at 3:30 p.m. at Spuds Pizza, 3290 Adeline St. Cost is $2-$7. 558-0881. 

THEATER 

Moshe Cohen and Unique Derique “Cirque Do Somethin’” Sat. and Sun. at 1 p.m. at the Marsh, 2120 Allston Way. Tickets are $10-$15. 800-838-3006. www.themarsh.org 

EXHIBITIONS 

Eric Ott and Michael Dean, video installation and paintings. Reception at 8 p.m. at the Living Room Gallery, 3230 Adeline St. Donation. 601-5774. 

FILM 

“Best of Youth, Part 2” at 3 p.m. and Mikio Naruse “Street Without End” at 7 p.m., “The Whole Family Works” at 9:15 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4-$8. 642-0808.  

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Toni Alexander introduces her novel “Sometimes I Forget to Breathe” at 2 p.m. at Changemakers Books, 6536 Telegraph Ave. Oakland. 655-2405. 

Mango Mic, Asian American open mic at 8:30 p.m. at Epic Arts, 1923 Ashby Ave.  

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Dance Production 2006 at 8 p.m. at Florence Schwimley Little Theater, Allston Way. Tickets are $5 students, $10 adults. 

Celebration of Life Concert Tribute to Rosa Parks with Oleta Adams at 7 p.m. at Love Center Church, 10440 International Blvd., Oakland. Tickets are $15-$30. 548-4040, ext. 357.  

Coro Hispano de San Francisco “Día de los Reyes” at 8 p.m. at St. Joseph the Worker Church, 1640 Addison St. Tickets are $15-$20. 415-864-4681.  

San Francisco Early Music Society “Ciaramella” at 8 p.m. at St. John’s Presbyterian Church, 2727 College Ave. Tickets are $10-$25. 528-1725.  

Tony Malaby at 8 p.m. at The Improv Garage, 4514 West St., Oakland. Sponsored by the Jazz House. rob@thejazzhouse.com 

Curtis Lawson, R & B, soul, at 9 p.m. at Baltic Square Pub, 135 Park Pl., Pt. Richmond. Cost is $5. 527-4782. 

“Paces” with Lucinda Weaver and Alan Bern at 4 p.m. at Berkeley Public Library, 2090 Kittredge. 981-6150. 

Marina la Valle and Lalo Izquierdo, Peruvian music, at La Peña Cultural Center. Cost is $8-$10. 849-2568.  

Kurt Ribak Jazz Group at 9:30 p.m. at Albatross, 1822 San Pablo Ave. Cost is $3. 843-2473.  

Querezima Sextet at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. Cost is $7. 841-JAZZ.  

The Secret Life of Banjos at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $18.50-$19.50. 548-1761.  

Steve Mann and Friends at 8 p.m. at Spuds Pizza, 3290 Adeline St. Cost is $7-$10. 558-0881. 

Rio Brasil Forró Band at 9 p.m. at Capoeira Arts Cafe, 2026 Addison St. Cost is $8. 666-1255. 

Tom Rigney & Flambeau at 9 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $13. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

Kali's Angels Kirtan Ensemble at 7 p.m. at Studio Rasa, 933 Parker St. Cost is $15-$18. 843-2787. 

SoulJazz Trio at 9 p.m. at Downtown. 649-3810.  

Jon Roniger and David Serotkin at 7:30 p.m. at Nomad Cafe. 595-5344. 

John Richardson Band at 9 p.m. at Circus Pub, 389 Colusa Ave., Kensington. 

Brainoil, Asunder, Embers, Lid Toker at 8 p.m. at 924 Gilman St. Cost is $5. 525-9926. 

André Sumelius Quartet at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 848-8277. 

SUNDAY, JAN. 15 

FILM 

Mikio Naruse “Not Blood Relations” at 5:30 p.m. and “Traveling Actors” at 7:25 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4-$8. 642-0808.  

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Poetry Flash with Richard Silberg and Chad Sweeney at 7:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books. Donation $2. 845-7852.  

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Berkeley High School Jazz Ensemble at 7:30 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Benefit for the Jazz Program. Cost is $5-$15. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

“In the Name of Love” Tribute to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. with Linda Tillery and the Cultural Heritage Choir, at 7:30 p.m. at the Oakland Scottish Rite Center. Tickets are $6-$22. 800-838-3006.  

Tony Malaby, all ages jazz workshop at 1 p.m. at The Improv Garage, 4514 West St., Oakland. Sponsored by the Jazz House. rob@thejazzhouse.com 

Organ Recital at 4 p.m. at St. John’s Presbyterian Church, 2727 College Ave. 845-6830. 

Carlos Oliveira & Brazilian Origins at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. Cost is $10. 841-JAZZ. 

The Latin Jazz Youth Ensemble San Francisco at 7 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. Cost is $10-$15. 849-2568.  

Cheap Suit Serenaders at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $22.50-$23.50. 548-1761.  

Jack Irving at 11 a.m. at Nomad Cafe. 595-5344.  

MONDAY, JAN. 16 

THEATER 

“The Meeting” A play of a fictitious meeting between Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and Malcolm X at 7 p.m. at Malonga Casquelourd Center for the Arts, 1428 Alice St., Oakland. Suggested donation $5. 238-7217. 

Subterranean Shakespeare “The Merry Wives of Windsor” Staged reading at 7:30 p.m. at the Berkeley Unitarian Fellowship, Fireside Room, 1924 Cedar St. Donation $5. 276-3871. 

Playground, “Inspired by the Beatles” Six emerging playwrights debut 10-minute plays at 8 p.m. at the Berkeley Repertory Theater. Pre-show discussion at 7 p.m. Tickets are $16. 415-704-3177.  

EXHIBITIONS 

Works by Bill A. Dallas and Amana Brembry Johnson opens at the Craft & Cultural Arts Gallery, 1515 Clay St., Oakland, and runs through March 3. 622-8190. 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Poetry Express with an open mic for “Other People’s Poems” at 7 p.m. at Priya Restaurant, 2072 San Pablo Ave. berkeleypoetryexpress@yahoo.com 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

“Expressing the Dream” a showcase of intergenerational arts at 2 p.m. at Malonga Casquelourd Center for the Arts, 1428 Alice St., Oakland. Free. 238-7217. 

Faye Carol at 8 and 10 p.m. at Yoshi’s at Jack London Square. Cost is $10-$16. 238-9200.  

TUESDAY, JAN. 17 

FILM 

“Crossroads: Avant-Garde Films from Pittsburgh” at 7:30 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4-$8. 642-0808.  

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Peter Selz introduces “Art of Engagement: Visual Politics in California and Beyond” at 7:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books. 845-7852.  

Melissa and Alison Houtte write about vintage clothing in “Alligators, Old Mink & New Money” at 7:30 p.m. at Black Oak Books. 486-0698.  

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Swamp Coolers at 8:30 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cajun dance lesson at 8 p.m. Cost is $9. 525-5054.  

Freight and Salvage Open Mic at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $5.50. 548-1761.  

Howard Barkan Trio, jazz, at 7 p.m. at Caffe Trieste, 2500 San Pablo Ave. 548-5198.  

Russell Malone Quartet at 8 and 10 p.m. at Yoshi’s at Jack London Square. Cost is $10-$16. 238-9200. www.yoshis.com 

Jazzschool Tuesdays at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 848-8277. 

WEDNESDAY, JAN. 18 

EXHIBITIONS 

Annual Members’ Showcase opens at Berkeley Art Center, 1275 Walnut St. in Live Oak Park.  

“Dreaming California” Photographs by Ruth-Marion Baruch, Bill Owens and Larry Sultan, opens at the Berkeley Art Museum, 2626 Bancroft Way. 642-0808.  

“American History and Culture by Grandmothers Who Help” Photographs and exhibits with disscussion at 3 p.m. at Eastmont Branch Library, 7200 Bancroft Ave., Oakland. 615-5726. 

“The Family of Clay: CCA Ceramics” Reception for the artists at 6 p.m. at Tecoah Bruce Gallery, Oliver Art Center, California College of the Arts, 5212 Broadway. 530-304-0499. 

“Illuminated Garden” Pinhole sun prints by Susannah Hays at North Berkeley Frame and Gallery, 1744 Shattuck Ave., through March 4. 549-0428. 

FILM 

Weird America: “Derailroaded” at 7:30 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4-$8. 642-0808.  

READINGS AND LECTURES 

“Introduction to Film Language” with Russell Merritt at 3 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4-$8. 642-0808.  

Joanne Jacobs tells the story of a successful charter school in San Jose in “Our School: The Inspiring Story of Two Teachers, One Big Idea, and the School that Beat the Odds” at 7:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books. 845-7852. 

Cafe Poetry hosted by Paradise at 7:30 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. Donations accepted. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Music for the Spirit with Ron McKean, organ, at noon at First Presbyterian Church of Oakland, 2619 Broadway. 444-3555.  

Calvin Keys Trio Invitational Jam at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island. 841-JAZZ.  

Ned Boynton Trio at 8 p.m. at Downtown. 649-3810.  

Blues & Grooves with Mike Pyle at 8:30 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Lessons at 7:30 p.m. Cost is $6. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

Sol Spectrum at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 848-8277. 

Country Joe McDonald, in a fundraiser for Easy Does It Disability Assistance at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $17.50-$18.50. 548-1761.  

Whiskey Brothers at 9 p.m. at Albatross, 1822 San Pablo Ave. 843-2473.  

Absinthe Academy, Dan Tedesco at 9 p.m. at Blakes on Telegraph. Cost is $7. 848-0886.  

Russell Malone Quartet at 8 and 10 p.m. at Yoshi’s at Jack London Square. Cost is $10-$16. 238-9200. www.yoshis.com 

THURSDAY, JAN. 19 

EXHIBITIONS 

“Claim the World of Art as Our Domain” Artists’ reception at 6 p.m. at Pro Arts, 550 Second St., Oakland. www.proartsgallery.org 

Works by Bill A. Dallas and Amana Brembry Johnson Reception at 5 p.m. at the Craft & Cultural Arts Gallery, State of California Office Building, 1515 Clay St., Oakland. Runs through March 3. 622-8190. 

Matt Gil and Stephen Giannetti, sculptures and paintings, at Gallery 555, 555 12th St., Oakland. 238-6836.  

FILM 

Mikio Naruse: “Hideko the Bus Conductress” at 7 p.m. and “Ginza Cosmetics” at 8:15 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4-$8. 642-0808.  

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Nomad Spoken Word Night at 7 p.m. at Nomad Cafe, 6500 Shattuck Ave. 595-5344.  

Joe Loya describes “The Man Who Outgrew His Prison Cell: Confessions of a Bank Robber” at 7:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books. 845-7852.  

Word Beat Reading Series with Alexandra Yurovsky and Bruce Barnes at 7 p.m. at Mediterraneum Caffe, 2475 Telegraph Ave. 526-5985. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Plays Monk at 8 p.m. at the Hillside Club, 2286 Cedar St. Tickets are $10-$15. 701-1787. 

3 Fox Drive at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $17.50-$18.50. 548-1761.  

Andre Sumelius FinnJazz at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island. Cost is $5. 841-JAZZ.  

Benefit for Code Pink with Famous Last Words and Robert Temple and his Soulfolk Ensemble at 9 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $6. 841-2082.  

Brian Kane, jazz guitar, at 8 p.m. at Downtown. 649-3810.  

Ledisi at 8 and 10 p.m., at Yoshi’s at Jack London Square. Cost is 20-$24. 238-9200. 

FRIDAY, JAN. 20 

THEATER 

Actors Ensemble of Berkeley, “Twelfth Night” Fri. and Sat. at 8 p.m., at Live Oak Theater, 1301 Shattuck Ave., through Feb. 18. Tickets are $12. 649-5999. 

“Walkin’ Talkin’ Bill Hawkins ... In Search of My Father” performed by W. Allen Taylor at 7 p.m. at the Marsh-Berkeley, 2118 Allston Way, through Jan. 28. Tickets are $15-$22. 800-838-3006. 

Ragged Wing Ensemble “Splinters ... and Other F-Words” Fri. and Sat. at 8 p.m. at Northbrae Community Church, 941 The Alameda, through Feb. 11. Tickets are $12-$25 sliding scale. 800-838-3006. www.raggedwing.org 

Shotgun Players “Cabaret” Thurs. - Sun. at 8 p.m. at the Ashby Stage, 1901 Ashby Ave. Through Jan. 29. 841-6500.  

EXHIBITIONS 

“Painting Italy” Works by Audrey Brown opens with a reception at 6:30 p.m., at Red Oak Realty Office, 2983 College Ave. 849-9990. 

FILM 

“The Best of Youth, Parts 1 and 2” at 3 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4-$8. 642-0808.  

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Sesshu Foster introduces a fantastical mythology “Atomik Aztex” at 7:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books. 845-7852.  

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Oakland East Bay Symphony performs Puts, Mozart and Brahms at 8 p.m. at Paramount Theater, 2025 Broadway, Oakland. Pre-concert lecture at 7 p.m. Tickets are $15-$60. 625-8497. 

King Wawa and the Oneness Kingdom Band at 9 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. Cost is $15. 849-2568.  

Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company “As I Was Saying” at 8 p.m. at Zellerbach Hall, UC Campus. Tickets are $26-$48. 642-9988.  

Warsaw Poland Brothers, Hukanolix at 9 p.m. at Blakes on Telegraph. Cost is $8-$10. 848-0886.  

Bradford Powers & Trio at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island. Cost is $7. 841-JAZZ.  

Steve Lucky & the Rhumba Bums with Ms. Carman Getit at 9:30 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $13. 525-5054. 

Corinne West at 8 p.m. at Caffe Trieste, 2500 San Pablo Ave., at Dwight. 548-5198.  

Palm Wine Boys at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $17.50-$18.50. 548-1761.  

Eric Swinderman Quartet at 9 p.m. at Downtown. 649-3810.  

Meric Long, The Pigeon and the Peasant at 8 p.m. at the Living Room Gallery, 3230 Adeline St. Donation $3-$5. 601-5774. 

Robin Galante and Martin Dory at 7:30 p.m. at Nomad Cafe, 6500 Shattuck Ave. 595-5344. www.nomadcafe.net 

Pansy Division, Fleshies, Abi Yo Yo’s at 8 p.m. at 924 Gilman St. Cost is $6. 525-9926. 

Monophonics at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 848-8277. 

Ledisi at 8 and 10 p.m., through Sun. at Yoshi’s at Jack London Square. Cost is 20-$24. 238-9200. www.yoshis.com 

Dear Matt: 

I’m a new owner of an old house in Berkeley. It was built in 1912 and I have no reason to believe that once-natural-now-painted shingles have ever been replaced. Several shingles near the southern roof line have fallen off the house. 

So my question to you is: what’s the lifespan of a shingle? Any tips on what to look for in a shingle-contractor? What’s the biggest mistake/oversight people make about shingled-houses? 

Many thanks, 

Rachel Anderson  

Dear Rachel: 

Great question. My experience is that the life of shingles varies widely and I’ve seen shingle fail at 20 years and also survive to almost 100 years. Factors include the species and quality of the shingle (A-grade Cedar seems to perform very well), exposure to sun, proximity to trees, moisture in the immediate environs, compass orientation and maintenance. Maintenance can include anything from brushing loose material off, through treatment with preservatives such as Penofin (highly recommended) to painting, which works but may be an aesthetic issue for some.  

Painted shingles do seem to perform really well, if you keep them thoroughly painted. I think it’s possible for your painted shingles to last for 100 years if you can paint properly and regularly. 

For those who have unpainted shingles, I recommend that they be brushed free of any foreign matter (including lichens, moss, etc.) and saturated with a good quality preservative every few years. This cuts down on cracking and warping, which are, in large part, a function of the shingle drying out.  

Preservatives are like moisturizer and keep your shingles looking youthful. Whatever you do, don’t pressure wash wooden shingles. This can severely damage them and also blows water through the complex of shingle and felt and can saturate the interior of the walls. If you feel a great need to clean, use a garden hose at a low force and a fiber broom. There are also medications available for this.  

Thank you for loving your shingles. They love you back. 

Best of luck, 

Matt Cantor 

While we’re on the topic of seeds, there are some you can start right now. Some of these are exotic to some of us, but comfort food from Grandma’s kitchen for others. And some of our grandmas’ kitchens have been through more changes than others. 

You can find seeds from Kitazawa Seed Company, a Bay Area distributor and broker, in their bi- and trilingual, green-printed manila packets in nurseries and in food stores like the Berkeley Bowl. Most contain lots of seeds—ideal for sharing among friends or for sequential planting, to get a constant supply for the table.  

Kitazawa Seed Company has been through several big changes in its own corporate life. Brothers Buemon and Gijiu Kitazawa started their nursery and seed company in 1916, splitting the halves of the business between them next year.  

Gijiu moved the seed brokerage to a downtown San Jose storefront and sold seeds wholesale and retail, adding his own line of Asian vegetables. This became the main seed source for the growing population of Japanese tenant farmers in California and Oregon. He enlisted his family in the business of packing, recording, growing out and testing. His eldest daughter, the landscape architect Mai Arbegast—who’s now a Berkeley resident—recalled to Nikkeiwest writer Margaret Schulze, “I spent much of my early life in boots stomping on particular tomatoes and collecting the seed for further crosses.”  

A second big change was visited on the company in 1942, when the family was packed off to the Heart Mountain internment camp. They got a sponsor and clearance to move to Michigan until World War II ended; when they returned to San Jose they had to wait for the family that had occupied their house to leave. In 1945, the business was restarted from the basement of that house. Kitazawa made the wartime scattering of his fellow Japanese-descended Americans over the continent into a service opportunity, and began mail-order sales and shipping.  

When Gijiu died in 1963, his oldest son Ernest took over the business. The next uprooting was by eminent domain, when the San Jose Airport authority bought the house and demolished it for expansion in 1991. The next year, Sakae Komatsu, husband of Gijiu’s youngest daughter Helen, bought the business and ran it until his death in 1997. Helen and their children took over until Helen retired and sold it to Maya Shiroyama in the Spring of 2000. 

Shiroyama, an Oakland resident, is the first owner of the 88-year-old company who’s not a Kitazawa relative; fortunately for us all, she was primarily interested in keeping the seed company on its course. She’s well situated on the wave of interest in fresh vegetables, new sensations, and (paradoxically) home-grown familiar tastes that’s been one of the happier trends of the last couple decades. 

Kitazawa sells some 200 varieties of seeds to home gardeners and to commercial farmers, including small-farm growers of the sort you meet at local farmers’ markets. Sources are expanding: varieties coming from Thailand, Vietnam, India, and, in an interesting circle, include things recalled from the kitchens of grandmas from Egypt, the Mideast, and other scattered places of which we’re all, ultimately, the harvest. 

FRIDAY, JAN. 13 

City Commons Club Noon Luncheon with Denis Kuby on “Pending Death Changes in California” Luncheon at 11:45 a.m. for $13.50, speech at 12:30 p.m., at the Berkeley City Club, 2315 Durant St. For information and reservations call 526-2925 or 665-9020.  

Berkeley Critical Mass Bike Ride meets at the Berkeley BART the second Friday of every month at 5:30 p.m.  

Womansong Circle participatory singing and chants with Betsy Rose and Gael Acock at 7:15 p.m. at First Congregational Church of Berkeley, 2345 Channing Way. Donation $10-$20. 525-7082. 

Berkeley Chess School classes for students in grades 1-8 from 5 to 7 p.m. at 1581 LeRoy Ave., room 17. 843-0150. 

Berkeley Chess Club meets Fridays at 8 p.m. at the East Bay Chess Club, 1940 Virginia St. Players at all levels are welcome. 845-1041. 

Women in Black Vigil, from noon to 1 p.m. at UC Berkeley, Bancroft at Telegraph. wibberkeley@yahoo.com 548-6310, 845-1143. 

“Enlightened Vision: Seeing the Qualities of Buddha” a workshop from 7 to 9 p.m., and on Sat. at the Tibetan Nyingma Institute, 1815 Highland Pl. Cost is $95. 843-6812. www.nyingmainstitute.com 

SATURDAY, JAN. 14 

Free Emergency Preparedness Class on Basic Personal Preparedness from 10 a.m. to noon and also 1:30 to 3:30 at the Fireside Room, St. John’s Presbyterian Church, 2727 College Ave. To sign up call 981-5605. www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/ 

fire/oes.html 

Richmond General Plan Community Meeting on the re-write of the city’s general plan which will affect shoreline, housing, business, neighborhood character and transportation. Richmond residents encouraged to attend at 1 p.m. in the Madeline F. Whittlesey Community Room, Richmond Public Library, 325 Civic Center Plaza. 672-1897. www.richmondgeneralplan.org 

Lead-Safe Work Practices Learn how to remedy lead hazards in older homes, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. in Oakland. Sponsored by the Alameda County Lead Poisoning Prevention Project. 567-8280. 

Wildcat Creek Watershed Hike Meet at 2 p.m. at the Tilden Nature Area for a 3-mile hike to learn how the creek has been protected for trout and newts. Bring a snack and water. 525-2233. 

Fossil Detectives A hands-on children’s workshop at 11 a.m. at Lawrence Hall of Science, Centennial Drive. Cost is $5.50-$9.50, plus $5 reservation fee. 642-5132. 

Down Home Martin Luther King Potluck Celebration at 6 p.m. at Inserstake Center, Mormon temple, 4780 Lincoln Blvd., Oakland. Bring your favorite dish from “back home” for four. 654-2592. 

Vegetarian Cooking Class from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at he First Unitarian Church of Oakland, 685 14th St. Cost is $45. Registration required. 531-COOK. www.compassionatecooks.com  

“Off Road to Athens” A documentary on the US Pro Mountain Bikers and discussion with Todd Wells at 7 p.m. at Berkeley Community Theater, 1930 Allston Way. For tickets and information call 352-6502. 

“Wal-Mart: The High Cost of a Low Price” the documentary at 9:30 a.m. at the Niebyl-Proctor Library, 6501 Telegraph Ave. Sponsored by Democratic Socialists of America. 415-789-8497. www.dsausa.org 

“Feng Shui for the Writer” from 8:30 a.m. to noon at Pyramid Alehouse, 901 Gilman St. Presented by the SF Chapter of Romance Writers of America. For reservations email dginny1942@cs.com 

By the Light of the Moon Open Mic and Salon for Women at 7:30 p.m. at Changemakers, 6536 Telegraph Ave. Donation $3-$7. To sign up call 482-1315. 

“Jewish Literature: Identity and Imagination” A reading and discussion at 2 p.m. at the Kensington Library, 61 Arlington Ave., Kensington. 524-3043. 

Bipolar In Order Workshop with Tom Wootton, Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. at the Alta Bates Herrick Campus. Registration required. 760-749-5719. www.bipolarinorder.org  

Fasting Made Easy A workshop at 11 a.m. at Elephant Pharmacy, 1607 Shattuck Ave. 549-9200. 

Preschool Storytime for 3-5 year olds at 11 a.m. at the Albany Library, 1247 Marin Ave. 526-3720, ext. 17. 

SUNDAY, JAN. 15 

“Safe at Home: Oaklanders Who Changed the Game of Baseball” A tribute to the late George Pawles, McClymonds High School coach at 2 p.m. at Oakland Museum of California, 10th and Oak Sts. 238-3402. www.museumca.org 

Fireside Storytelling at 2 p.m. at the Tilden Nature Center, Tilden Park. 525-2233. 

Family Bird Walk Discover the bird life on the trails and at the marsh at 2:30 p.m. at the Don Edwards San Francisco Bay National Wildlife Refuge in Fremont. Recommended for children ages 5-10. Reservations required. 792-0222. 

Winter Flowers on the Ridge Explore the fragile ecosystem of Sobrante Ridge. Meet at 10 a.m. at the staging area at the end of Coach Drive, El Sobrante. Appropriate for age 10 and up, hike is 3 miles with some hills. 525-2233. 

Berkeley Gray Panthers MLK Jr. Birthday Celebration to honor local activists who went south to work on civil rights, at 2 p.m. at Redwood Gardens Community Room, 2951 Derby St. 548-9696. 

Berkeley CyberSalon with Jaron Lanier, who coined the word virtual reality and founded VPL Research at 5 p.m. at the Hillside Club, 2286 Cedar St. Donation is $10. www.hillsideclub.org 

Brainstormer Trivia Pub Quiz at 8:30 p.m. at Albatross, 1822 San Pablo Ave. 843-2473. www.albatrosspub.com 

Free Garden Tours at Regional Parks Botanic Garden in Tilden Park Sat. and Sun. at 2 p.m. Call to confirm. 841-8732. www.nativeplants.org 

Lake Merritt Neighbors Organized for Peace Peace walk around the lake at 3 p.m. at the colonnade at the NE end of the lake. 763-8712.  

Tibetan Buddhism with Sylvia Gretchen on “Transforming the Power of Pain into Well-Being” at 6 p.m. at the Tibetan Nyingma Institute, 1815 Highland Pl. 843-6812. www.nyingmainstitute.com 

MONDAY, JAN. 16 

Reduced City Services Today Call ahead to ensure programs or services you desire will be available. 981-CITY. www.cityofberkeley.info 

“A Day On, Not Off” Volunteer at the MLK Shoreline from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at Arrowhead Marsh, at Doolittle Drive and Swan Way. Registration encouraged. 562-1373. 

“Make the Dream Real” Martin Luther King Celebration at 10 a.m. at Taylor Memorial Methodist Church, 1188 12th St. at Adeline, Oakland. 652-5530. 

McGee Avenue Toastmasters meets at 7:30 p.m. at the McGee Ave Baptist Church, 1640 Stuart St. 501-7005. 

STD Clinic Volunteer Training for Gay/Bi Men for the Gay Men’s Health Clinic at 7:30 p.m. at 2339 Durant Ave. 548-3007, ext. 6307. 

World Affairs Discussion Group for seniors at 10:15 a.m. at the Albany Senior Center. Cost is $2.50. 

Berkeley CopWatch organizational meeting at 8 p.m. at 2022 Blake St. 548-0425. 

TUESDAY, JAN. 17 

Ashby BART Development Community Meeting at 7 p.m. at the South Berkeley Senior Center, 2939 Ellis St., to discuss the development proposal and transit villages. 

Berkeley High School Site Council meets at 4:30 p.m. in the BHS Library. On the agenda are: Berkeley International High School Proposal-decision on a recommendation for the Board, review of lottery results and an update on the plan for the Master Schedule. 525-0124. 

Birdwalk on the MLK Shoreline from 3 to 5 p.m. to see the shorebirds here for the winter. Beginnners welcome, binoculars available for loan. 525-2233. 

Berkeley Garden Club “Saving San Francisco Bay for the Future” with David Lewis of Save the Bay at 1 p.m. at Epworth Methodist Church, 1953 Hopkins St. 527-5641. 

Berkeley Salon Discussion Group meets to discuss “Status Anxiety: What Me Worry?” from 7 to 9 p.m. at the BRJCC, 1414 Walnut St. 527-1022. 

“English Country Life” Travel photography with Don Lyon at 7 p.m. at Chapel of the Chimes, 4499 Piedmont Ave., Oakland. 654-1548.  

“Tax Saving Tips for the Small Business Owner” with Cathy Mu, C.P.A. at 6:30 p.m. at the El Cerrito Library, 6510 Stockton Ave., El Cerrito. Reservations recommended, call 925-646-5377.  

“Medicare Part D Prescription Drug Plans” and other options with Florence Piliavin, Advocate with HICAP at noon at Maffly Auditorium at Alta Bates Herrick Campus, 2001 Dwight Way. 644-3273. 

“Spiritual Wickedness in High Places” a four-day course on the Christian Conscience, Dissent, and Public Policy in Contemporary American Society at the Pacific School of Religion, 1798 Scenic Ave. Fees for Continuing Education Credit are $150-$300. www.gtuss.org/psr 

Tuesday Tilden Walkers Join a few slowpoke seniors at 9:30 a.m. in the parking lot near the Little Farm for an hour or two walk. 215-7672, 524-9992. 

American Red Cross Blood Services Volunteer Orientation at 6 p.m. at its headquarters in Oakland. Volunteers are needed to support the more than 40 blood drives held each month all over the East Bay. For more information, please call 594-5165. 

Sleep Soundly Seminar with hypnosis and relaxation skills at 6:30 p.m. at New Moon Opportunities, 378 Jayne Ave. Free, but registration required. 465-2524. 

Family Story Time at 7 p.m. at the Kensington Branch Library, 61 Arlington Ave., Kensington. Free, all ages welcome. 524-3043. 

Free Handbuilding Ceramics Class 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at St. John’s Senior Center, 2727 College Ave. Also, Mon. noon to 4 p.m. at the South Berkeley Senior Center. Materials and firing charges not included. 525-5497. 

Brainstormer Weekly Pub Quiz every Tuesday from 7:30 to 9:30 p.m. at Pyramid Alehouse Brewery, 901 Gilman St. 528-9880.  

Berkeley Camera Club meets at 7:30 p.m., at the Northbrae Community Church, 941 The Alameda. Share your digital images, slides and prints and learn what other photographers are doing. Monthly field trips. 548-3991. www.berkeleycameraclub.org 

Introduction to Buddhist Meditation at 7 p.m. at the Dzalandhara Buddhist Center in Berkeley. Cost is $7-$10. Call for directions. 559-8183. www.kadampas.org 

“Ask the Social Worker” free consultations for older adults and their families from 10 a.m. to noon at BRJCC, 1414 Walnut St. To schedule an appointment call 558-7800, ext. 716. 

St. John’s Prime Timers meets at 9:30 a.m. at St. John’s Presbyterian Church, 2727 College Ave. We offer ongoing classes in exercise and creative arts, and always welcome new members over 50. 845-6830. 

WEDNESDAY, JAN. 18 

Tilden Explorers An after-school nature adventure program for 5-7 year olds, who may be accompanied by an adult. We will learn about patterns in nature, from 3:15 to 4:45 p.m. at Tilden Nature Center, Tilden Park. Cost is $6-$8, registration required. 636-1684. 

“What Makes a Great Downtown?” a symposium, sponsored by the City of Berkeley and University of California Downtown Planning Committees at 7 p.m. at 22 Warren Hall, UC Campus. 981-7487. 

Berkeley School Volunteers Training workshop for volunteers interested in helping the public schools, from 3 to 4:30 p.m. at 1835 Allston Way. 644-8833. 

“Medicare: How to Avoid Problems with Your Prescription Needs” with Michael Lyons of the California Alliance for Retired Americans at 7 p.m. at the Berkeley Gray Panthers, 1403 Addison St. 548-9696. 

“Animal Health Care: Eastern and Western Perspectives” at 7 p.m. at the Berkeley East-Bay Humane Society, 2700 Ninth St., at Carleton. Donation $10. Please RSVP to 845-7735, ext. 22. 

“Out of the Pit: Dog Fighting in Chicago” a film by Butch Campbell at 7 p.m. at Humanist Hall, 390 17th St., Oakland. Sponsored byt East Bay Animal Advocates. Donation $5. www.HumanistHall.net 

Green Health Care at 7 p.m. at the Teleosis Institute, 1521B Fifth St. 558-7285. 

Lead Funding Informational Meeting on financial assistance to reduce lead hazards, from 9 to 11 a.m. at Truitt and White conference room, 1817 Second St. Owners of pre-1978 rental housing with low-income tenants encouraged to attend. 567-8280. 

Community Policing in Oakland A program of the MGO Democratic Club with Deputy Chief Greg Lowe of the OPD, Claudia Albano of the City of Oakland’s Home Alert and Neighborhood Services Dept. and others, at 7 p.m. at the Piedmont Gardens, Oakland. 834-9198. 

Berkeley Communicators Toastmasters welcomes curious guests and new members at 7:15 a.m. at Au Coquelet Cafe, 2000 University Ave. at Milvia. 435-5863.  

Entrepreneurs Networking at 8 a.m. at A’Cuppa Tea, 3202 College Ave. at Alcatraz. Cost is $5. 562-9431. 

Walk Berkeley for Seniors meet at 9:30 a.m. at the Sea Breeze Market, just west of the I-80 overpass. Heavy rain cancels. 548-9840. 

Fresh Produce Stand at San Pablo Park from 3 to 6:30 p.m. in the Frances Albrier Community Center. Sponsored by the Ecology Center’s Farm Fresh Choice. 848-1704.  

Sing your Way Home A free sing-a-long at 4:30 p.m. every Wed. at the Albany Library, 1247 Marin Ave. 526-3720. 

Stitch ‘n Bitch Bring your knitting, crocheting and other handcrafts from 6 to 9 p.m. at Caffe Trieste, 2500 San Pablo Ave. 548-5198. 

Berkeley Peace Walk and Vigil at the Berkeley BART Station, corner of Shattuck and Center. Sing for Peace at 6:30 p.m. followed by Peace Walk at 7 p.m. www.geocities.com/ 

vigil4peace/vigil 

THURSDAY, JAN. 19 

Golden Gate Audubon Society with Seth Brewer on “The Hunt for Brewer, Buckwheat and Bowerman” at 7 p.m. at the Northbrae Community Church, 941 The Alameda. www.goldengateaudubon.org 

Alaskan Rainforest Kayak Journey with Dan Kiely at 7 p.m. at the Ecology Center, 2530 San Pablo Ave. 548-2220, ext. 233. 

Benefit for Code Pink and the Campaign to Bring Home the National Guard with Famous Last Words and Robert Temple and his Soulfolk Ensemble at 9 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $6. 841-2082.  

LeConte Neighborhood Association meets at 7:30 p.m. at the LeConte School, Russell at Ellsworth. Agenda items will include: The Transit Village at Ashby Bart, the Black & White Liquor store, our annual election and other District concerns. For more information, please contact: KarlReeh@aol.com or 843-2602. 

Red Cross Blood Drive from noon to 6 p.m. at MLK Student Union, UC Campus, also on Fri. To schedule an appointment call 1-800-GIVE-LIFE.  

World of Plants Tours Thurs., Sat. and Sun. at 1:30 p.m. at the UC Botanical Garden, 200 Centennial Drive. Cost is $5. 643-2755. http://botanicalgarden.berkeley.edu 

FRIDAY, JAN. 20 

City Commons Club Noon Luncheon with Robert Flammia on “The Power of Touch” Luncheon at 11:45 a.m. for $13.50, speech at 12:30 p.m., at the Berkeley City Club, 2315 Durant St. 526-292  

Berkeley Chess School classes for students in grades 1-8 from 5 to 7 p.m. at 1581 LeRoy Ave., room 17. 843-0150. 

Berkeley Chess Club meets Fridays at 8 p.m. at the East Bay Chess Club, 1940 Virginia St. Players at all levels are welcome. 845-1041. 

Women in Black Vigil, from noon to 1 p.m. at UC Berkeley, Bancroft at Telegraph. wibberkeley@yahoo.com 548-6310, 845-1143. 

ONGOING 

Free Tax Help—United Way’s Earn it! Keep It! Save It! program provides free filing assistance to households that earned less than $38,000 in 2005. To find a free tax site near you, call 800-358-8832 or visit www.EarnitKeepitSaveit.org 

CITY MEETINGS 

City Council meets Tues., Jan. 17, at 7 p.m in City Council Chambers. 981-6900. www.ci. 

berkeley.ca.us/citycouncil 

Board of Library Trustees meets Wed. Jan. 18, at 7 p.m. at the South Berkeley Senior Center. Jackie Y. Griffin, 981-6195. www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/ 

commissions/library 

Citizens Humane Commission meets Wed. Jan. 18, at 7 p.m. at the North Berkeley Senior Center. Kate O'Connor, 981-6601. www.ci.berkeley.ca. 

us/commissions/humane 

Commission on Aging meets Wed. Jan. 18, at 1:30 p.m., at the South Berkeley Senior Center. William Rogers, 981-5344. www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/commissions/aging 

Commission on Labor meets Wed., Jan. 18, at 6:45 p.m., at the North Berkeley Senior Center. Delfina M. Geiken, 981-7550. www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/ 

commissions/labor 

Downtown Area Plan Committee meets Wed., Jan. 18, at 22 Warren Hall, just east of Oxford at University. Matt Taecker, 981-7487. www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/commissions/dapac 

Human Welfare and Community Action Commission meets Wed. Jan. 18, at 7 p.m., at the South Berkeley Senior Center. Kristen Lee, 981-5427. www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/commissions/welfare 

Berkeley Rent Stabilization Board meets Thurs., Jan. 19, at 7 p.m. in City Council Chambers, Pam Wyche, 644-6128 ext. 113. www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/rent 

Design Review Committee meets Thurs., Jan. 19, at 7:30 p.m., at the North Berkeley Senior Center. Anne Burns, 981-7415. www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/ 

commissions/designreview  

Fair Campaign Practices Commission meets Thurs., Jan. 19, at 7:30 p.m., at the North Berkeley Senior Center. Prasanna Rasaih, 981-6950. www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/commissions/faircampaign 

›

Patrons Petition For Additional Postal Workers 

On the first working day that the new 39-cent first-class postage stamp went into effect, a patron walked into the Adeline Street Post Office in South Berkeley at 12:25 in the afternoon and stood in line. 

There were 12 people ahead of him. The line stretched across the entire lobby, past the door leading outside, and through the inner door into the adjoining space that houses the post office boxes. 

The Adeline Street Post Office is a block from the Ashby BART station. 

Most of the customers were not there to buy two-cent stamps—necessary to bring up to the new first-class rate any of their remaining 37-cent stamps—but to conduct the kind of mail business that can only be taken care of in person: mailing or picking up packages or purchasing postal money orders. 

The Adeline Street Post Office has two service windows, but only one window was being operated on Monday afternoon. 

“It’s always this crowded,” a man standing in line offered. “They only have one clerk.” 

Most of the patrons took the wait stoically, but one woman, after being served, stormed out saying, “This ain’t right. You know I ain’t got no patience for this.” 

During the next half-hour, the clerk answered the phone and coordinated work with post office delivery workers while serving customers in the line. 

At 10 minutes to 1 p.m., twenty-five minutes after the patron first got in line, with two people still ahead of him and seven or eight more now behind, the clerk called out to everyone in the lobby, “I’m going to have to make an announcement. I’m the only person working here. I have to close the window at 1 p.m. for lunch. I’ll be at lunch for an hour. I’ll try to get to everyone in line. I’m doing the best I can. I’m the only one here.” 

At one minute to 1 p.m., with seven people still in line, the clerk announced she would be closing in a moment. There were groans and heads thrown back in disbelief by several of the remaining patrons. One woman, who only minutes packages from her car and set them beside her on the floor, turned around to reverse the procedure, taking the packages in several trips back to her car. One man said he wished there had been a sign to alert him to the situation. 

There was. Placed at the service window, it read: “Dear Customers: Due to staffing, window services will close daily during the following hours for breaks & lunch. 1st Break 11-11:15 a.m. Lunch 1-2 p.m. 2nd Break 3-3:15 p.m.” 

Fifteen minutes after 1 p.m., the clerk had still not taken her lunch break, however. She remained at the window, patiently fielding questions from a final patron who had inadvertently had his post office box closed and was not getting his mail forwarded. 

What do customers do when the window closes? 

“Go home and come back when it opens again,” one man said. “Or go to another post office, if you can’t wait.” 

A woman wanted to emphasize that nobody was blaming the clerk. 

“She’s terrific,” the woman said. “She’s always pleasant and smiling and helpful. But she needs help herself.” 

At least one Adeline Street Post Office patron has taken it upon himself to change the situation. For several weeks, South Berkeley businessperson Jesse Palmer has been circulating a petition among the Adeline Street customers, calling for “adequate staffing levels” at the Adeline Post Office. 

Addressed simply to the Postmaster, the petition reads, “Because you have not provided adequate staffing for the post office, we often have to wait for an unreasonable period in line. In addition, the post office is closed for lunch and for breaks. We support the postal clerk at this post office and want to see her receive the support and additional staffing she needs so she can do her job.” 

So far, Palmer said he has gathered about 700 signatures. 

In a letter attached to the petitions and mailed to U.S. Postmaster General John Jack Potter and the Berkeley Postmaster at the main post office on Allston Way last month, Palmer wrote that “the Postal Service has adequately staffed the post offices in wealthier areas. For instance, there are always plenty of clerks at the Claremont Post Office on College Avenue. It certainly appears that the postal service doesn’t care about patrons in our lower-income neighborhood.” 

Palmer has yet to receive a response. 

The one-person window staffing “has been going on at Adeline Street for years,” Palmer said in an interview. “They used to have multiple staffing, but they cut it back to one person. People are hopping mad about it. It seems like a simple matter to get adequate staffing. That’s not rocket science. It’s a minor reform thing that gets on your nerves after a while. They’ve got all these posters up about customer service being their priority. That really rings hollow.” 

Palmer said that he has met with Berkeley U. S. Postal Service Customer Service Coordinator Mercer W. Jones about the Adeline Street problem, but said that Jones “wasn’t very helpful. He suggested I do things like use the computer to conduct my mail business.” 

Palmer said that his zine and book distribution business requires him to send large packages several times a week, packages which must be taken in person to a post office because of the new security regulations following the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks. 

Jones did not respond to telephone requests for comments concerning this story. 

The single clerk at the Adeline Street Post Office, identified only by her name tag as “Yolanda,” said that post office employee regulations did not allow her to answer any service or staffing-related questions by reporters. She referred all queries to the main post office on Adeline Street, and asked a Daily Planet reporter and photographer to leave after determining that they were in the post office only to develop a story. 

Originally a federal department, the  

U. S. Postal Office was reorganized in 1971 as a semi-independent federal agency with a Board of Governors appointed by the president and run by a Postmaster General hired by the board.»

Berkeley government agencies scored far above other government agencies in the area, according to a Berkeley Daily Planet review of online accessibility to local government meeting information. 

Of six local city and education agencies reviewed by the Planet, the Berkeley City Council had the top score of 40 points, with the Berkeley Unified School District coming in second with 35. The Board of Trustees of the Peralta Community College District came in last with minus 10 points. 

The Daily Planet assigned five points a piece for such items as having agendas and supporting documents online, giving extra points for extra amenities. The Planet also took away points for misleading or confusing online information. 

The government entities reviewed were the City of Richmond, the Peralta Community College District, the Berkeley Unified School District, the City of Oakland, the City of Berkeley, and the Oakland Unified School District. 

Sara Cox, Berkeley City Clerk, said she was not surprised by the city’s high rating. 

“We’ve worked long and hard to make information available online for our citizens,” she said. “We try to make as much available as soon as possible.” 

Mark Coplan, Public Information Officer for the Berkeley Unified School District, agreed. “That’s been a real focus of the district,” he said. “It’s something that’s demanded by our community. We’re in a community who don’t just want to know what’s on the agenda, they want to be able to see the specific documents in advance of the meeting.” 

Both the City of Berkeley and BUSD provide a calendar for meetings scheduled for the year, agendas and minutes with links to online PDF documents of the backup material for each agenda item, with online access for the information going back to the summer of 2002. 

Berkeley Unified got extra credit for having the easiest accessibility, including a link on its homepage to the “Next School Board Meeting,” including the meeting date, agenda in both Microsoft Word and Adobe PDF, and a complete backup packet. The City of Berkeley got extra credit for being one of the few city governments in the country to include online access to stored videos of past City Council meetings. 

Cox called the meeting videos “invaluable. They are worth their weight in gold for research.” 

She said the only extra work entailed in posting the videos is having a staff person to provide indexing, so that citizens can go directly to the portion of the meeting they want to view. 

Both Cox and Coplan said online production of meeting documents was saving their respective agencies money, with both the city and the school district having to print fewer documents to be made available for meetings. 

“It saves a lot of money in paper cost, as well as staff time putting together the agenda packets,” Cox said. “Eliminating the physical job of assembling the packets eliminated a good deal of drudgery.” 

Coplan estimated that online posting of documents had saved BUSD “thousands of dollars a year. We used to print a few hundred copies of backup documents for each board meeting, and we sometimes had to print up to 500 copies for items that were of particular community interest. Now we normally print less than 50.” 

And Cox added that the storage costs for the documents, even for the meeting videos, is “not that costly. The price of online storage has gone down tremendously, from year to year.” 

Cox said that Berkeley is working on establishing an online legislative history, which should be available within the next year. The legislative history provides information on when a city ordinance was introduced, the original text, any amendments, and any votes taken. The City of Oakland currently is the only local agency covered by the Daily Planet that supplies such a legislative history, but does so through an outside company called Legistar. Cox said that Berkeley considered Legistar, but eventually decided on purchasing an alternate program “which will bend more to the city’s way of doing business, and is more forgiving of the public trying to do online research.” 

Following are the scores for the six government agencies surveyed by the Daily Planet. 

City of Berkeley: 40 points 

Provides an online meeting schedule, meeting agendas, minutes, links to online meeting documents, and a meeting history going back several years (5 points apiece). Extra points for online meeting videos (10 points) as well as an online calendar that provides links to past and future meetings, agendas, meeting summaries, and videos. 

Berkeley Unified School District: 35 points 

Provides an online meeting schedule, meeting agendas, minutes, links to online meeting documents, and a meeting history going back several years (5 points apiece). Extra points given for the “Next School Board Meeting” information link on the district’s homepage and the most user-friendly list of past meetings in chronological order, including accompanying agendas, packets, and minutes links. 

City of Oakland: 25 points 

Provides an online meeting schedule, meeting agendas, minutes, links to online meeting documents, and a meeting history going back several years (5 points apiece). Using Legistar, the City of Oakland provides the basic minimum package for online government meeting access. 

Oakland Unified School District: 15 points 

Provides an online meeting schedule, meeting agendas, minutes, links to online meeting documents, and a meeting history going back several years (5 points apiece). While online meeting documents are easily accessible for 2006, past documents are stored under a format called webXtender, under which they are so difficult to access on both a PC and a Mac that some users may eventually give up. 10 points was subtracted for lack of past document accessibility. 

City of Richmond: 15 points 

Agendas, minutes, and meeting history online (5 points apiece). No online documents or meeting schedule available. 

Peralta Community College District:  

10 points 

The only agency surveyed with a negative rating. The district provides a calendar only for January 2006, with no meeting dates or other information posted. No agendas, minutes, online documents, or meeting history is available online. The district does provide online links to agendas and minutes for various board committees. However, these lists are completely useless as they are kept in no chronological order whatsoever, with minutes and agendas for the same meeting appearing at random and in separate places on the list. Five points were taken away for a complete lack of organization for the committee meeting list. No similar list for the full Board of Trustees meetings themselves was readily apparent, so another 5 points was subtracted for having links to board committee meeting information but not full board information.

Anna de Leon, owner of Anna’s Jazz Island in the Gaia Building on Allston Way, filed a complaint with the Berkeley Zoning Adjustments Board Monday, charging the neighboring catering business with hosting illegal and dangerous events. 

De Leon’s complaint said that the Glass Onion Catering Company, which has leased the performance space and mezzanine in the Gaia Building next to the jazz club, is a serious detriment to her business and to the well-being of downtown Berkeley. 

Both the jazz club, at 2120 Allston Way, and Glass Onion Catering, at 2118 Allston Way, lease space from landlord Patrick Kennedy of Panoramic Interests. The businesses share a lobby and restrooms. 

On Saturday, de Leon said she was expecting a crowd that night at her club, but was surprised to find that Glass Onion was also hosting a party, which she claims was unlawful. Neither Glass Onion nor Kennedy was contacted for this story, which is based wholly on the allegations in de Leon’s complaint. 

“As per usual Glass Onion practice, I was given no notice that there would be a huge party,” de Leon wrote in her complaint, which was sent by mail to city officials Monday. “I saw the security guard and learned the nature of the event. Cesar Mejia, an employee of Panoramic Interests, told me he had rented the entire space for his daughter’s 18th birthday party.” 

De Leon said that she has written several letters to the Planning Department, Fire Department and Building Department complaining of the uses to which the neighboring address is being put, all with no use permit. She has also said the catering company has hosted many large events where they have served alcohol despite the fact that they have no license to do so, cutting into her business. 

De Leon said she believed that because of her earlier complaints, Kennedy would be required by the city to go through a public process before the ZAB to gain a use permit and that his application for an occupancy permit for 300 people on the mezzanine area had been denied last month. 

Despite this, the party was held Saturday and before long the police had to be called to contain the rowdy party guests. 

“The huge parties with teenagers and young adults have proved very detrimental to my business,” de Leon wrote. “The worst so far occurred this past Saturday.” 

She described the events at the party: 

“By 9:00 p.m., we were full and the performance space next door at 2118 was overflowing with young adults, mostly young men. The guard was keeping party- goers out of the theater. Over my objections, they were coming through my business to get to the shared bathrooms and gain entry to the party from the back door of the theater. I complained to Mr. Mejia in the lobby but he could not control the crowd. I had no access to the security guard who was blocking the theater entrance since the front lobby was packed with young people. Every time I left my front door to get help, more people came through. By 10 p.m., I had been shoved aside several times by young adult men. I called the police the first time. By then, approximately 100 young men had forcibly come through. We had become the ‘alternate entrance’ to the party.” 

De Leon said many of her customers felt intimidated by the event which had almost taken over her club space. She called the police again. 

“Just before the police arrived, a second guard physically barricaded the entrance to my business with his body. By this time, approximately 200 young adults were massed outside the main entrance on the sidewalk, approximately 40 were closed in the front lobby and locked out of the party. ... Young people were climbing either into or out of the mezzanine windows.” 

The police arrived, shut the party down and told everyone to leave. Some were so drunk that they could hardly walk out the building, she said, noting that she heard shouts and fights break out on Shattuck Avenue soon after. 

De Leon mentioned numerous times she has complained to the city about the unlawful events hosted next door. 

“I have a use permit for my premises which allows me to serve food and alcoholic beverages and present music to the public,” she wrote. “Neither the owner nor lessee of 2118 holds a use permit or ABC license for any food or beverage service. There is a requirement for cultural use, and dining hall/private party use is clearly not cultural use.” 

“Needless to say, this melee has terrible consequences for my business,” de Leon wrote in her complaint. “Many of my customers were fearful. Not a single new customer entered our doors after 9:30 p.m. The hundreds of unhappy young adults massed on the sidewalk were a considerable deterrent to new customers. ... People erroneously thought my business the source of the problem. This is bad for the image of my business (and bad for downtown).” 

›

Legal Action Begun by Environmentalists Ends With Amendment  

The City of Richmond and the developers who hope to install a Las Vegas-style casino at Point Molate have reached a tentative settlement to a suit filed by environmentalists and supported by the state. 

The Richmond City Council has scheduled a vote on the settlement during Tuesday’s council meeting, as well as a vote on a proposed amendment to the sale agreement which was challenged by the lawsuit. It would allow for development of the site to occur in stages. 

The meeting begins at 7 p.m. in City Council Chambers, 1401 Marina Way South. 

The settlement ends a legal action begun 13 months ago when Citizens for East Shore Parks (CESP) filed suit, seeking to void an agreement between the city and Upstream Point Molate LLC that transferred the former U.S. Navy fuel depot to the developer. 

Robert Cheasty, an Albany attorney and president of CESP, said Monday that his group filed the suit because the sale violated the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). 

“We think a massive casino project is a horrible use for Point Molate,” said Cheasty. “Whatever changes in use they propose to do, they will now have to do an Environmental Impact Report (EIR) first.” 

However, Richmond City Councilmember Tom Butt said the settlement would have little effect. 

“Our guys tell us there has been no change,” said the elected official. “The whole thing was just an exercise in futility for the plaintiffs.” 

James D. Levine, who heads the consortium that plans to build the casino, agrees. “We didn’t agree to anything we haven’t already agreed to,” he said. “The settlement says that the city can’t take a move until an EIR is completed, and that was the intent all along.” 

Not so, said Cheasty. “We said that the EIR should come first,” before the sale of development rights, he said. 

Nothing in the settlement precludes the development of the casino that lies at the heart of the deal between the city and Upstream, the limited liability corporation founded by Berkeley entrepreneur James D. Levine to develop the resort project. 

To build the casino, the land at Point Molate would first have to be declared a Native American tribal reservation, and Levine and his partners have teamed with the Guidiville Rancheria band of Pomos, which has applied for reservation status on the land. 

Approval of reservation status must come from the Bureau of Indian Affairs, which is now considering the Guidiville band’s application. 

But the revisions to the original agreement between the city and Upstream that are on tonight’s City Council agenda would allow for some development before the feds reach a decision on whether or not to confer reservation status, Butt said. 

“The agreement would allow for a phased take-down of the project,” said Butt, meaning that the developer could break off part of the land and use it to build housing while waiting for approval on the reservation that would house the resort. 

Rumors that Upstream is planning a luxury condominium project have been percolating through the community, and Butt said he understands that if condos are built on part of the property—a former railroad siding on the southern inland side of roadway inside the former base—they would remain as part of the city and on the tax rolls. 

Levine agreed, adding that no development whatever could occur until the EIR had been completed and the city had approved an overall plan for the site. 

Councilmember Butt sent a furious email to constituents Sunday, in which he charged city staff members with concealing the details of amendment negotiations with Upstream from the city council. 

“Some of the circumstances related to the proposed ... amendment have been the subject of rumors for months, and every time I have queried either city officials or representatives of Upstream, those rumors have been decided. Now, for the first time, I am finding out that at least certain elements of the rumors are true,” he wrote. 

That said, Butt acknowledged that he liked the phased-development approach, which he said would allow for construction of needed infrastructure and generate an early cash flow for the city. 

Levine’s partners in the casino venture include Harrah’s Entertainment—the world’s largest gambling consortium—and the Cohen Group, headed by former Secretary of Defense William Cohen. 

CESP’s lawsuit charged that Richmond’s Nov. 14, 2004, vote to sell the land—which the city had bought for a dollar under the federal Base Closure and Realignment Act of 1988—violated CEQA because the city failed to prepare an Environmental Impact Report spelling out the potential consequences of the sale. 

The East Bay Regional Parks District joined the suit, as did the California Attorney General’s office. Though filed in Contra Costa County Superior Court, jurisdiction was transferred to Marin County, where the settlement was reached. 

Under terms of the settlement, the city will retain control over the eventual use of the property, according to Cheasty and City Councilmember Tom Butt. 

Some details remain to be resolved, including the question of legal fees.  

Under the existing agreement, Upstream is scheduled to make a $2 million payment to the city this month, on top of the $20 million already paid to the city. 

Upstream and city officials have estimated the value of the casino project to the city at over $350 million, including jobs, new business, payments in lieu of taxes and other revenues. 

Levine said a consulting firm is now preparing the draft EIR on the site, which should be available for review and comment sometime this summer. No development can occur prior to approval of that document. 

In the interim, Levine said he is working closely with the Navy to accelerate the environmental cleanup of the site, which contains some contaminants remaining from decades of use as a refueling station. 

He said the amended agreement would help move development along “in the event that it turns out that the process of restoring Indian lands is a legal one.” 

The Guidivilles are claiming the land in compensation for a reservation that was taken away during the middle of the last century, when the Bureau of Indian Affairs was aggressively attempting to move Native Americans off their reservations and into urban centers. 

Tribes that lost reservations in the process are currently the only Native American groups allowed to acquire new reservation lands for development as casinos.›

Last week California Superintendent of Schools Jack O’Connell said all high school seniors must pass the California exit exam in order to receive their diplomas in June. 

Ninety-seven out of 700 Berkeley High School seniors have not passed the English portion of the exit exam, according to a district report given to the Berkeley school board last month. Nearly half of those students are African-American and almost a third of them are Hispanic.  

Of the 90 seniors who have yet to pass the math portion of the exam 52 of them are African-American and 18 are Hispanic, according to the district. 

Students must pass both sections to graduate. 

The exam is taken by students during their sophomore, junior and senior years. Of all Berkeley High School students who took the exit exam last academic year, about 96 percent of all white students passed the high school exit exam, while about half of all African-American and Hispanic students passed. 

In contrast, at Albany High School a similarly high percentage, 94 percent, of white students passed the exit exam, but the pass rate for African-Americans and Hispanic students at Albany High was also relatively high. At Albany High, almost two-thirds of African-American and Hispanic students passed the exit exam. 

Even with special education students, the contrast between Berkeley and Albany was notable. For students in special education at Albany High School, 64 percent passed the exit exam, while in Berkeley, only 23 percent of special education students passed the math and 17 percent passed the English portions of the test. 

The state is making available an extra $600 per student for intensive instruction and services to help students pass the high school exit exam. In addition, the state is working to make summer school and independent study available to students who are unable to graduate because of the exit exam.

Berkeley City Councilmember Darryl Moore and other city officials will meet with West Berkeley residents tonight (Tuesday) to discuss flooding problems resulting from the recent storms. 

Ryan Lau, aide to the councilmember, said the meeting will begin at 7 p.m. in the Frances Albrier Center in San Pablo Park, 2800 Park St. The city’s Acting Public Works Director Claudette Ford and city engineers are slated to attend the meeting. 

The meeting was scheduled after some residents contacted Moore’s office with reports of flood damage to vehicles and some reported damage to their residences, Lau said. 

—

More than a year after his election, Berkeley City Councilmember Darryl Moore has named his appointment to the Planning Commission. 

Landscape architect and planner Jordan DeStaebler, a Berkeley native, replaces Sara Shumer, who had been appointed by Moore’s predecessor Margaret Breland. 

The new commissioner is a Berkeley High School graduate and a student of landscape architecture and urban planning at UC Berkeley, Moore said. 

—

Berkeley, along with other local governments such Oakland, Emeryville, San Francisco and Marin, wants to have local control over energy and how it affects our communities. 

Energy has regularly been in the headlines. And most of these headlines are generated by actors outside our community, including multi-national corporations such as ENRON, foreign countries such as Saudi Arabia, the United States government through its favoritism of energy companies, or local corporations such as PG&E. Now, local governments want to change this dynamic through a program called Community Choice Aggregation, which is being offered by the California Public Utilities Commission. 

Community Choice Aggregation allows local governments to get into the electricity business by developing their own supplies. For many local governments, it is not just the control issue, but it is also the opportunity to implement local policies of promoting renewal and alternative energy sources such as wind, solar, tidal power, or methane from solid waste. The electricity would still flow through PG&E’s transmission lines. Residents would have a choice of staying with PG&E or signing on with the city. 

By going the Community Choice Aggregation route, consultants in April estimated that once the power plant was built, there would be electricity savings of up to 6 percent over 20 years and an increase in renewable energy by 50 percent by 2017, double the renewable energy PG&E is required to develop. 

Currently, California as a state imports 20 percent of its energy from dirty, coal fired power plants in Nevada and Arizona, although PG&E says it only imports 3 percent of its electricity from coal fired power plants. Those coal fired plants do not meet California clean air standards. This is California’s “dirty little secret,” said V. John White, executive director of the Center for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Technologies. 

The San Francisco Chronicle recently reported that there are 22 new coal fired power plants being proposed for the West. California’s use of electricity from coal fired power plants produces carbon dioxide equal to 11 million cars. Locally built electrical plants using renewable resources such as solar, tidal or wind, would reduce the need for new coal fired power plants. 

The supporters of Community Choice Aggregation want local governments to build clean power plants because these new power plants would also contribute to greater electrical stability in California, where construction of new electricity power plants has stalled. Calpine, which had 26 power plants in California under construction or development in 2000, saw huge mounting losses in the last couple of years following the collapse of ENRON, and the easing of the energy crisis. 

Calpine’s power plants were designed to burn natural gas to generate electricity. But with the collapse of energy prices, Calpine has seen huge operating losses and the drop of the value of its shares of stock from a high of $85 in 2001, to 54 cents by the end of November 2005. The threat of bankruptcy faces Calpine. 

Berkeley’s feasibility study, prepared by Navigant Consulting, Inc. in April 2005, concluded that one of the advantages Berkeley would enjoy, along with all other government agencies, includes low cost financing, that will allow the city to produce energy at 40 percent below what an investor financed plant would cost. Navigant recommended that once Berkeley committed to a Community Choice Aggregation program, it could begin by purchasing power on the open market, while it proceeds to build a publicly financed, community owned power plant. 

Neal deSnoo, Berkeley’s energy officer, stated that the city is investigating a wind power plant, and that the idea at present is to work with Oakland and Emeryville to jointly finance and construct this plant. DeSnoo stated that Berkeley’s share of costs will depend upon the pro rata share of the city’s energy usage. Berkeley’s share of the construction costs is estimated to be around $130 million, with total costs at half a billion dollars. 

The City Council allocated $100,000 in this year’s budget to continue with the process of evaluating a Community Choice Aggregation Program.  

Berkeley’s Energy Commission, on Dec. 14 recommended that the City Council move onto the next step, which is the development of a business plan. Citing the benefits of an energy policy that is under local control, developed for “social good rather than the interests of corporation,” the commission is urging moving to the next step states: “… Berkeley could choose to emphasize renewable energy sources within its procurement portfolio and to purchase and ‘grow’ renewable energy sources.… that would allow Berkeley to control its energy resources and to chart a coherent and sustainable energy future.” 

Neal deSnoo stated that this action taken by the Energy Commission, may be the “most significant” action the Energy Commission has ever taken. DeSnoo also stated that Oakland Emeryville are in a parallel place in their process as well. This issue is expected to go to council this month. 

.

To view Justin DeFreitas’ latest editorial cartoon, please visit  

www.jfdefreitas.com To search for previous cartoons by date of publication, click on the Daily Planet Archive.



PROFESSOR JOHN YOO 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Some so-called legal experts within the Justice Department like John Yoo have claimed the president has near imperial powers. Shortly after the 9/11 attacks Justice Department attorney John Yoo wrote that Congress could not place “limits on the president’s determinations as to any terrorist threat, the amount of military force to be used in response, or the method, timing and nature of the response.” Yoo went on to write “These decisions under our Constitution, are for the president alone to make.” Oh really? At the time Yoo was the deputy assistant attorney general in the Office of Legal Counsel at the Justice Department, he is now a law professor at the University of California, Berkeley. But last year Sandra Day O’Connor said “A state of war is not a blank check for the president when it comes to the rights of the nation’s citizens,” but John Yoo believes it is. It’s so nice to know that we have law professors like John Yoo teaching young law students at Berkeley so then they can become a “legal” experts like him.  

Thomas Husted  

• 

CARTOONS 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I read the political cartoons in the last edition of the Daily Planet. And yeah, one of the main reasons that I voted for Bush is that he did promise to keep the institution of marriage between man and woman. Yes, it is that important. Bush is a liar, buffoon, and someone that has dragged this country into the pits. But at least he had the gumption to speak out about something that is wrong and immoral. And why is it wrong and immoral? Because God said so! So, have your political cartoonist do some Bible study before he starts mocking Christians and their beliefs. If his way is so much better, why is the world in such chaos now?  

Troy Smith 

• 

DEVELOPMENT 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

The intent of City Hall, led by the mayor, seems to be to change how development occurs and use the powers of eminent domain to facilitate desired projects. This type of redevelopment was pursued in Oakland with disastrous results—one business person lost his business, land and livelihood so the city could qualify for HUD monies. Berkeley is euphemistically calling this type of development “opportunity zones.” It may be an opportunity, but not for property owners who have caught the eye of economic development. 

Sucha Banger, owner of Black & White Liquors, seems to be one of these. On Nov. 2, Wendy Cosin wrote to him warning him that the city would attempt to remove his liquor license because the business was “non-conforming.” The business has been in operation since 1936, according to the Sanborn Insurance Maps. At a meeting attended by several South Berkeley merchants and facility operators, the mayor commented that if he couldn’t get Mr. Banger out through a public nuisance citation, he would use zoning and code violations and eminent domain if need be to do so. 

At the ZAB public hearing many of the opponents to the Black & White Liquor Store uttered total falsehoods to paint a lurid picture of the area. Nothing could be farther from the truth. The Grove Liquor Store and the M&N have had a long history of loitering, especially the M&N, which is close by the Drop-In Center. As someone who has lived in the area for 15 years, the unsavoriness of those two stores makes going to the Vault a challenge. One opponent subsequently remarked that although Mr. Banger has his license back, there has been no increase in crime or public nuisances. 

Many of the issues raised by the city as indicative of the problems at the liquor store are actually associated with BART and city services. The city recently added a mental health center there, increasing the number of clients, rather than customers. Who wants to go shopping where there are clients loitering about, waiting for their appointment? I have been told by the Berkeley police that I can expect higher crime because someone can come to the area by BART, commit a crime and disappear by BART and not get caught or even observed. 

This is an attempt by the city to persecute a hardworking, minority businessman so an overly large building can be built at the BART station to “repair the neighborhood.” Plopping a monolithic block in the middle of a neighborhood of two- and three-story buildings does not repair it. It undermines the minority residents and moves the area towards gentrification. A good way to start is to get minorities out on trumped up charges. Another is to apply for federal grants without any public input, using a tight deadline as an excuse. Are these two events unrelated? Think again. 

Dale Smith 

• 

DERBY FIELD 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Whatever happens with the Derby Street field—and right now it looks like the home team is behind—school board member John Selawsky should recuse himself from any more votes and lobbying on the issue. 

This idea may spark a long rebuttal—actual sophist or not, Selawsky is certainly more verbose than even this correspondent.  

But if nothing else, there is an appearance of a conflict of interest, and that should be enough for him to stand down. 

Selawsky lives in the Derby Street neighborhood. He lives, as the long ball flies, about 150 to 200 feet beyond the 500-foot conflict-of-interest zone that School Board members sometimes cite when an issue hits close to home.  

But that is a narrowly legalistic argument, a distinction without meaning. (It is also, by the way, an argument that progressives would properly attack as phony if it were used by a more conservative school board or city councilmember who lived near a disputed piece of land.) 

Selawsky’s political career and personal life is tied to that neighborhood and to the Derby Street issue, which has long been a sacred rallying cry for progressives, or least for homeowners in the area who are also progressives. That’s fine.  

But he is elected by a citywide vote, and when he votes on this issue and lobbies against closing Derby Street, how is anyone to know which hat he is wearing—neighborhood activist cherry picking information or, as he portrayed himself during the Adult School fight, deliberative board member whose first job is to do what’s best for all the city’s students.  

He may also see himself as a helpful facilitator/mitigator, as indeed he has been, though only after he and the school board have tossed down some heavy-handed edict about the fate of a neighborhood.  

The Derby Street debate is already complicated and at times poisonous. There will be yet more public meetings in the next few months. We should remember that our beloved “process” can be an attempt by self-disciplined officials to gather facts and adjudicate differences or a cruel, emotionally draining sham orchestrated by politicians who have already made up their minds, as some city council members have privately or even publicly admitted. 

That we’ve failed for so long to do what most cities are perfectly capable of doing—building a ball field for kids who clearly need one, and a field of their own—is not just embarrassing. It’s meant that rumors of deals and property swaps, general mistrust, and suspicions of double standards for politically connected neighborhoods are infecting the body politic. 

There’s no reason for John Selawsky to make things worse. John, recuse thyself. 

James Day 

• 

CLEAN MONEY 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Loni Hancock drew a full house on Saturday in Oakland for her public meeting about her bill AB582—the California Clean Money and Fair Elections Act. 

Several people noted that a reform in election financing will be the basis for numerous other reforms in public policy, such as clean air and universal health care, which have been stalled by special interest lobbying. If there was ever a time when the stars, moon and whatever are all aligned for getting this done, that time is now, when so much corruption and anti-democratic practice are in the news. The public wants to take back democracy. Legislators want to take back their dignity, to serve the people, and not have to cater to well-funded corporate lobbyists. 

Loni Hancock has done a great job preparing this bill, and the California Clean Money Campaign has done the homework to make sure the proposed financing is practical. It looks like great law and I sure hope it passes. 

AB582 allows a candidate to accept public financing of his campaign, and not accept corporate contributions or large contributions from a wealthy individual. A candidate would qualify for public financing by collecting a sufficient number of $5 contributions to demonstrate sufficient support. 

One speaker gave us a good analogy. He noted that Rosa Parks showed that one can stand up for one’s rights by sitting down. He said that current campaign finance practice is like charging $2 extra to sit in the front of the bus. We the people need to sit up front, where we have access to the driver and can determine the direction of the bus. 

A unique feature of AB582 is the provision for additional public funding to match “independent expenditures,” by people not officially connected with an opponent’s campaign, up to a cap. This would fund a reply to a last-minute ad blitz by a supporter of one’s opponent. 

Maine and Arizona have already implemented clean money campaign rules. At the meeting, an Arizona state representative told us that she decided to run for office only because of the public financing; she was running against people who had plenty of special interest money. 

Maine has already passed a universal health care system, probably because clean money campaign rules made it difficult for the usual corporate opposition to kill the plan. Here in California, environmental bills often don’t make it to the Assembly floor because of such opposition. This situation can be changed. The time is ripe. 

Steve Geller 

• 

INSIDIOUS SUFFIX 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Lawyers, politicians, and journalists are generally held in low esteem by the public at large. This may be because their sole product is words and they tend to use them more as weapons than as instruments for discourse. Whether out of malice, profit or negligence contemporary word merchants cripple communication and nothing illustrates this more cogently than the pervasive use of insidious suffixes.  

Every use of “ism” creates an abstract category that is vague, pejorative, doctrinaire and super-charged for controversy. Notice how a noun like “sex” is besmirched in the word “sexism” and consider too the explosive power you get when you join “ism” to the end of “race.” In effect, “ism” pollutes while its partner “ist” simultaneously personifies and vilifies as happens with sexist, racist, elitist, fascist, communist, extremist, terrorist and so on.  

The noun “terror” merits special consideration for when “ism” is suffixed it subtly erases clarity and jeopardizes civil disagreement. For example, every major TV news outlet has a terrorism expert. What special knowledge does this person possess and what exactly is he qualified to do? How did he achieve this status? Who supervised his research and approved his dissertation? How much do terrorism experts earn? Why don’t we have more female terrorism experts? Is Osama Bin Laden a terrorism expert? 

These sarcastic questions are intended to illustrate the confusion inherent in all occurrences of the “ism” suffix. 

Some “ism” words denote vague concepts: Creationism, Socialism, Capitalism, and Extremism.  

Others are relative and contentious; conservatism versus liberalism and secularism versus clericalism. 

Some are always bad: Fascism, Nazism, Imperialism, Totalitarianism, while nearly everyone considers Humanitarianism and Patriotism good. Finally, time and/or context can change good “ism” words like feminism and athleticism into bad ones.  

Not long ago an historian claiming that our society “…suffers from the tyranny of the present” coined the word “presentism.” More recently, in a New York Times op-ed commentary, the historical context of the Bush team’s expansion of presidential authority was referred to as persidentialism.  

Evidently “ism” can be appended indiscriminately, even to surnames. The sinister and tactical nature of the suffix is highlighted when persons accused of McCarthyism or Marxism are ipso facto condemned. A while back “Saddamism” was used for the first time in a respected newspaper, obviously assuming the reader understood its meaning.  

How long before the vocalizing classes start talking about Bushism and Chenyism? 

Marvin Chachere 

San Pablo 

?

Box cutter attack 

A 46-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon after he allegedly attacked an 18-year-old man with a box cutter shortly before 5 p.m. on Dec. 29. 

Berkeley Police spokesperson Officer Shira Warren said the young man was taken to Highland Hospital for treatment of his injuries. Reports listed no reason for the attack. 

Cells, cash taken 

Two hours later, three armed robbers burst into the Hi-Tek Communications store at 1008 University Ave., where they stole cash and a collection of cell phones. 

Hospital fray 

One of two visitors who had dropped in to visit a patient at Alta Bates Summit Medical Center in Berkeley just after 8 p.m. on the 29th lost her cool and assaulted the other. She was booked on suspicion of battery. 

Restaurant heist 

A gunman burst into La Bayou Cajun, a restaurant at 3278 Adeline St., and demanded cash just after 8 p.m. on Dec. 30, then took flight after his unlawful appetite was satisfied. 

Purse snatch injury 

A 34-year-old woman was rushed to the emergency room after a purse-snatching in the 900 block of Addison Street on Dec. 30, said Officer Warren. 

Police were alerted to the crime by a caller who had heard the woman’s screams for help. 

Robbery washout 

Three suspects, at least one of them armed, entered the Bing Wong Wash Center in the 2400 block of Parker Street moments after 11 p.m. on the 30th and demanded cash—then left before accomplishing their aim.  

Another washout 

Another gang of three failed in their attempt to the rob a 25-year-old man of his valuables in the 1700 block of Channing Way shortly after 1 a.m. on New Year’s Eve. 

Knife attack 

An 18-year-old woman was injured when one of a group of four women attacked her with a knife in the 1200 block of Ashby Avenue about 12:20 a.m. on Jan. 2. 

Robbery 

A lone gunman in his mid-20s walked into Car Quest at 900 Gilman St. five hours later and demanded cash, received same, then fled. 

Arson 

Person or persons unknown rifled through the glove box of a car parked in the 3000 block of Ellis Street on the evening of Jan. 2, then set the car’s interior alight. 

Park crime 

An unknown vandal drove a vehicle through Cedar Rose Park sometime before 1 a.m. last Wednesday and left deep tracks in the turf atop the parks grassy knoll, said Officer Warren. 

Barracuda caper 

Police arrested 38-year-old man after bartenders at Thalassa, the new bar and billiards parlor at 2367 Shattuck Ave., reported he’d walked off with the joint’s prize plastic barracuda just before closing time early Saturday morning. 

The ersatz fish was recovered and restored to its former place of honor. 

Shots fired 

Responding to multiple “shots fired” calls at 12:27 p.m. Saturday, Berkeley Police arrived in the 1600 block of 62nd Street to find the apparent victim, a 19-year-old man, was unhurt in the attack. 

Hit with stick 

A 42-year-old man was struck in the head by a stick-wielding assailant in the 2300 block of Webster Street about 4:20 p.m. Saturday. 

The attacker was gone by the time officers arrived. 

Armed robbery 

Two robbers, at least one carrying a pistol, robbed a 25-year-old woman of her cash and ID as she walked along the 2000 block of Shattuck Avenue shortly after midnight Sunday. 

Witness hit 

A witness to a fight between a man and a woman in the 800 block of Spruce Street just before noon Sunday was abruptly assaulted by the male half of the battling duo, who hit him in the head with a street barricade. 

A witness called police, but the disputatious couple had fled the scene by the time they arrived.?

I make a New Year’s resolution that I will be a kinder, gentler person. I will listen more and talk less. I will be sincere and philosophical. I will be deep.  

I will read The New York Times, The Nation, salon.com, and Slate. At the dentist’s office I will read the Economist instead of People magazine. In the event that the Economist is not available, I will read Newsweek, and if Newsweek is not in the offerings I will read the Yoga Journal, and Good Housekeeping, in that order.  

I will not look at the National Enquirer, The Star, or In-Touch magazine while in the checkout line at the grocery store. I will not buy frozen pizzas, sugarcoated cereal, or Cheez-whiz-like products. I will shop more at the Berkeley Bowl and less at Safeway, even if it means sneaking into Walgreens first in order to get a parking space. 

I will see good movies and watch only good TV or no TV, if necessary. I will read all the books I’ve been intending to read of the past 37 years: Moby Dick, Anna Karenina, and Ulysses. I will learn to play bridge and chess, and dance the tango. I will go to the theater more, and, perhaps the opera.  

I will not get angry when someone cuts me off at an intersection. I will not think mean thoughts about pedestrians who throw candy wrappers in my garden. I will not assume the teenage boys lingering on the corner near my house are drug dealers.  

I will not be jealous when I learn good fortune has come to other people. I will be happy for them, and wish them well. I will not envy friends who have book contracts and movie deals, large inheritances, and normal family situations. Someday I will take a Mediterranean cruise, and if not, so be it.  

I will call my mother more often, concentrate on what she is saying, multi-task less. I will not read the newspaper while eating. I will consider each piece of food I put in my mouth and chew it slowly and thoroughly before swallowing. I will drink multiple glasses of water daily. 

I will exercise more, lose weight, forego using a cell phone while driving.  

I will compose columns that are intelligent, sophisticated, reflective, thoughtful, weighty, and witty. I will focus on worldly issues instead of my own little problems and obsessions. I will write about international hunger, world peace, global warming, AIDS, mad cow disease, and avian flu. 

I will rally the masses against injustices. I will promote goodwill and friendship. 

I will have ideas on prison reform, urban sprawl, and corporate theft. I will make predictions and forecasts; I will be visionary and prophetic. I will end each essay with an epiphany that will make readers sigh. At the very least I will say something diplomatic about the sideshows I have witnessed in my neighborhood. 

But just as I am putting the finishing touches on this very column, my housemate Andrea comes to my bedroom door.  

“Hey Suzy,” she shouts. I don’t turn around, busy as I am with being insightful.  

“Suzy,” she repeats. “I’m talkin’ to you.”  

“Yes,” I mumble, annoyed to be interrupted from thoughts of profound importance.  

“You know that big hurricane in Louisiana a couple months ago?” 

I nod my head without turning to look at her. 

“What happened to all them alligators down there, do you know?” 

I pause. 

“Did you hear me? I was just watchin’ the Weather Channel and it occurred to me that I never heard any reports about the alligators. You should do a column about that, don’t you think?”  

I turn around and look at Andrea. She is dressed, as always, in raggedy-ass pajamas and a head scarf. On her feet are my old sheep-lined slippers, and across her cheeks, nose and forehead is smeared a new face cream. 

“Hold that thought,” I say. I turn back to my computer screen.  

What happened to them alligators, I type. Andrea and I would like to know.  

I’m in with the In Crowd 

I go where the In Crowd goes 

I’m in with the In Crowd 

And I know what the In Crowd knows… 

Those of us of a certain age remember this good-natured taunt at uncool outsiders who are not “in the know.” At my school, the teenage In Crowd was innocuous and short lived; by the late ‘60s, the In Crowd was Out and the Out Crowd was In. And then we all grew up, and what was In and what was Out seemed much less important than what was Right and what was Left. Or in Berkeley, than what was Left and what was Lefter. 

Now, as adults, we find that focusing only on right and left might have been a mistake. Because there’s still an In Crowd, but it’s not so innocuous any more. The In Crowd is politicians and lobbyists, developers and corporate tycoons, meta-organizations like the University of California and ABAG, self-serving bureaucrats who control information, and similar power brokers. They may cultivate a cool demeanor, but actually they are busy fellows, singing while they work: “We make every minute count; Our share is always the biggest amount”—which, if not Miltonic, is at least honest.  

The In Crowd runs the show. Occasionally the Out Crowd attempts to get in and reduce the backroom dealing of the In Crowd, for example, by passing a Brown Act, a Public Records Act, a California Environmental Quality Act, or campaign finance reform. But the In Crowd always finds a way around them—usually by “spendin’ cash, talkin’ trash.”  

So what brings this amusing little song to mind? It is Berkeley Planning Director Dan Marks’ quixotic flailing at the university over UC’s proposed Southeast Campus Integrated Projects (SCIP) around Memorial Stadium. The SCIP was absent from the university’s Long Range Development Plan (LRDP) of less than a year ago, because the SCIP was supposedly so distant and hypothetical. Then, suddenly, here it is, almost ready for prime time! Talk about “talkin’ trash”! 

Director Marks is a capable, experienced planner who knows Berkeley, and he probably believes that the project and project environs would benefit from his input. In addition, Director Marks already participated in an excellent city criticism of the original LRDP, after which he (along with the rest of Berkeley) was stabbed in the back by a craven council that failed to pursue its LRDP challenge. Why did he decide to challenge UC again, without any council backup? How does Marks feel? Confused? Used? Abused? Defused? Or just happy that (unlike citizen activists) he gets paid no matter how much time he wastes on fruitless gestures? 

Marks’ attempts to protect Berkeley from UC’s exceedingly bad planning on the SCIP warms the hearts of us perpetual outsiders who live near campus, who are also routinely ignored by the university In Crowd that plans the systematic demise of our community. But my appreciation of Dan Marks would be a lot deeper if his indignation were not so hypocritical.  

Usually Marks is in the In Crowd. As the Godfather of the planning department, he routinely protects his misbehaving staff and trivializes the rights of outsiders—that is, Berkeley citizens. In addition, although now Marks expresses moral indignation at the university’s sham environmental impact reports, Godfather Marks has never been a champion of environmental review. But in light of his own recent outsider outrage, will Marks now have more respect for the input of people who know and care much more about their neighborhoods than he does, instead of helping freeze them out of the public process? I wonder. 

Will the real Dan Marks please stand up? Is it Dan Quixote or Don Marks? Do we dare to hope for Dan Quixote, who, when he finishes tilting at UC, will return home and apply similar zeal for public participation to his own domain? Not likely, I fear.  

The smart money is all on Don Marks. His outrage stems not from violation of his principles, people say, but from violation of his territory. When Marks is invited to the party, he is happy and cooperative. Isn’t he a willing party to a new downtown plan that empowers UC but tramples the rights of Berkeley citizens? they ask. Isn’t he in the back room with UC and the mayor, helping to “position” and “fast track” the downtown hotel project and sidelining Berkeley citizens? Inquiring minds want to know. 

But one thing is obvious: At the moment there is no champion of the public’s right to know in the Planning Department. Just one recent example: For 18 months, Southside has been enmeshed in an orgy of procedural impropriety carefully orchestrated by the planning staff. A proposed project at the corner of Dwight Way and Regent Street, involving removal of a parking lot and major alteration of an 1876 house, has been discussed at length, and endorsed in concept, by the Zoning Adjustments Board, without any public noticing. This is precisely what the Brown Act was written to prevent. The planning staff, ZAB, and a daisy chain of three big developers are tickled pink, but the Out Crowd remains in the dark about their plans. Dwight Way residents will be surprised when they find out how many decisions the In Crowd has made without their knowledge.  

In yet another surprise from the In Crowd, a massive housing project at the Ashby BART station has been proposed to displace BART parking and the Berkeley Flea Market. This problem began with the “smart growth” crowd in Sacramento, but the local In Crowd (council member Max Anderson, planning staff, BART, and project sponsors) has been working on this project since last summer. (The fact that the council “decision makers” found out about it months later shows that the council itself goes In and Out as it suits their puppeteers.) The In Crowd has already decided to put a transit village there, and perhaps even the project’s size and affordability. Eventually the Out Crowd will spend thousands of unpaid hours to influence the color scheme—if that. 

Residents near Ashby BART station may be outraged to find themselves so far out, but they are lucky: Most people don’t find out about the In Crowd’s plans for them nearly so early. For example, neighbors of the “Flying Cottage” at 3045 Shattuck lived in ignorant bliss until the cottage was actually taking off. Unsuspecting Berkeley drivers who use Telegraph Avenue may soon find themselves squeezed into one lane by Bus Rapid Transit, the pet project of a very formidable and smug In Crowd (UC, AC Transit, and ivory tower smart-growthers) supported by passionate local autophobes. And currently a messianic In Crowd of developers, the mayor, and some councilmembers is attempting to strip the Out Crowd of its protections under the Landmarks Preservation Ordinance.  

But the mother of all surprises, of course, was the secret sellout of the city to the university last May. While Berkeley citizens dutifully waited “outside” for the city to protect them from massive university expansion, the City Hall/UC In Crowd was in the back room agreeing to deprive city residents not only of environmental protection, but of their existing legal rights. This epitomizes the arrogance of In Crowds, which often think they are smart enough to make major policy decisions without consultation with the public. They aren’t. But as the song goes: “We got our own way of walkin’; We got our own way of talkin’.” Yep, they sure do—but it seems mighty out-of-step with the rest of Berkeley. 

When you’re out, it doesn’t matter if you are out in left field or out in right field—you’re just out. The In Crowd is well aware that Berkeley citizens don’t like being outsiders in our own city. Since knocking politely at the gates of power hasn’t worked, the next step for the Out Crowd is to kick the In Crowd out of office. 

Sharon Hudson is a 35-year Berkeley  

resident and an observer of land use issues. 

He was out for some refreshment, an ice cream on a warm summer evening in Philadelphia, and on his way home. We didn’t start out looking for trouble. We were bored and had nothing to do. In some ways we were just like Fat Albert and the Cosby kids. We were all decent athletes and loved to play sports. We all wore weird hats and had different nicknames. We played football in the street, used milk crates for basketball, and broomsticks as baseball bats. Usually we were all about fun. But that night the school yard was locked, the playground was gang turf and the only fields of dreams in our neighborhood were a cemetery and a junkyard. The idle mind can be the playground for the devil! 

He was large, the starting lineman on the local high school football team, about 6’2”, 220 pounds and only in the ninth grade. Unfortunately there was one of him and eight of us. We were all about 15 years old. He didn’t have a chance. His only crime was being alone and we had nothing to do. 

Bruce stepped in front of him and said, “Man, where you going, you got any money?” He said, “All I’ve got is a quarter.” Bruce, who was barely 5’2”, said, “Man you’re lying,” and punched him in the mouth. He tried to fight back, but someone grabbed his arm. He tried to kick, but someone grabbed his leg. He fell down. He started to cry. Before they could rush in and stomp him, I intervened. Now they were all mad at me, and wanted to kick my butt. I stood my ground. We let him walk away, tears in his eyes, stripped of feeling secure about being the biggest guy in the neighborhood, and going out alone. All for 25 cents, and because we had nothing to do! 

Ten years later I joined a local health club. On my first day I went to work out, and there he was. The same guy we had jumped years before. He was huge, with a crowd around him, pumping iron that may have intimidated Arnold Schwarzenegger. I knew why! I didn’t wait to find out if he remembered that I was the one who prevented him from being hurt. I wanted to apologize, but instead I cleaned out my locker and never returned.  

In no way am I suggesting that if kids can’t play sports they’ll have an excuse to turn to violence. Some of the kids I went to school with, and never played sports, became judges, politicians, musicians and scientist. Their path may have been easier, though, if they had the advantages that not only sports but also the arts can provide. I’ve recently read of millions of dollars designated to build and support sports programs in Berkeley, but I have heard very little of similar funding supporting other endeavors. In addition to sports we need to address the lack of opportunities for young people to pursue theater, art, science, dance, music and other activities after school as well. But that’s another story! 

Derby Street—a field of dreams for some, a locked facility for others? 

I don’t live on Derby Street, but I live near James Kinney Park, and I enjoy hearing and watching kids rooting for their favorite teams and players on a cool summer evening instead of roaming the streets. However, we need to make sure that whatever is decided gives as many youths and the rest of our community somewhere to go, and something to do. Hopefully this can happen sooner rather than later. Too many young people have never heard of, and don’t care about, the baseball movie Field of Dreams, but they know about the rapper movie Get Rich or Die Trying!  

We’re running out of open space, and kids with nothing to do are running out of time!  

Winston Burton is a Berkeley resident.›

“Daddy-ooo! I know you didn’t disappear on me again ... How was that impression? You’re always movin’ and groovin’, slidin’ and glidin’ ...” 

So The Kid spins it out in W. Allen Taylor’s one-man show, Walkin’ Talkin’ Bill Hawkins ... In Seach of My Father at The Marsh in Berkeley. Just one of a gallery of real and unreal characters out of his and his absent father’s past that Taylor plays with gusto, The Kid is an alter ego (and counterpoint) for both the man looking for his father and the elusive pioneer Black D.J. who sired him, then slipped out of his life. 

Taylor puts on The Kid like a glove, the way he plays the other characters. As he reminds his own listeners while signing off during his stint on the air (in college, before discovering who and what his father was), “It’s been real ... reminding you everybody’s got a Thang—make sure you’re doing yours!” Even playing himself, he’s fueled by a mixture of long tamped-down anger and disappointment, sparked by the sardonic self-consciousness of a professional actor and director knowing he’s doing it—for real. 

The Kid, a recent addition to this slow-cooking stew, comes out with the raucous gibing of an anger that Taylor says he has always held in or soft-pedaled. In slouch hat and shades, The Kid deliberately spins wax of his own time, past Bill Hawkins’ prime, or tunes by contemporaries he didn’t dig, like Monk. And he dances outrageously to the sounds—as Taylor does playing himself—of Marvin Gaye, James Brown, Al Green, Aretha and others. It’s funny and disconcerting. 

On opening night, younger spectators in the packed audience, some of them Taylor’s students from the College of Marin, laughed uproariously at his scarecrow stance with splayed arms and legs, alternating with serpentine gyrations as if in front of a mirror. 

Taylor’s father, the Walkin’ Talkin’ of the title, was the first black disc jockey in Cleveland, clearly an influence on Alan Freed, the white Cleveland D.J. later credited with launching rock ’n’ roll’s popular reign. Playing jazz and R&B, sometimes from the front window of his record store, Hawkins was also one of the first on the air to use rhyming slang for patter, a style that influenced others like comedian Lord Buckley, and provided the bridge between the hip-talk of the streets and clubs (and its origins in toasting and other Afro-Caribbean and American vernacular forms) and the nouvelle jive of hip-hop.  

Taylor only learned who his father was upon his graduation from college—three months after Hawkins’ death. His parents had agreed that the married Hawkins would be in the shadow, and that Taylor’s mother (recently divorced from a Baptist minister at the time of his birth) would withhold knowledge of Taylor’s paternity from him until later, too late for Taylor to know his father, whom he met only once as an adult, not knowing his real identity. “I guess we thought we still had time,” he intones his own mother’s lament. 

Taylor started putting the show together in the late ’90s. There was an NPR program featuring his story in 1999. At the same time, his investigations continued and old friends of his father and new material kept popping up, including a recording, the first he’d heard, of his father on the air, which is played during the show. Offstage, Taylor says he often speculates whether he listened to his father, unaware, as a boy turning the dial to the local black station. 

The search is documented in the show, first as a boyhood search for a substitute father, then looking for Bill Hawkins himself—what could be found of him. Taylor excels at slipping in and out of the characters he’s met, such as the m.c. and singing club owner who partied with his father (“He introduced me to my first wife—I never forgave him for that!”) and who was one of his pallbearers; the old fan who tells Taylor as he D.J.s for a party that he looks like Bill Hawkins, unaware of his relationship; and the dignified older woman, who hosted gospel shows as a colleague of Hawkins, politely disapproving the R&B he played and the rhyming slang he reeled out. 

These portraits are montaged well in the second half of the performance—their words slipping in and out of each other as the shadowy figure of Hawkins emerges from them. It also gives Taylor a chance to act, less fettered with exposition. His own on-stage persona is engaging, and Gloria Weinstock’s direction cuts a clear path through the profusion of anecdote and explanation. But as a piece still-growing and not yet free of its original status as therapeutic, Walkin’ Talkin’ remains a fascinating and exhausting jumble. 

Allen Taylor’s got the material and the juice to make his piece stand out in a theatrical landscape crammed with personalized solo shows like castoff furniture crammed in a Salvation Army showroom. And when, as he’s faithfully promised, he’s honed down his abundant and personally gamey material to just the right succession of what Diderot called “pregnant moments” (like the one in which his mother cold-cocks his father with a high-heeled shoe), then the journey to that crystallization will be looked back on as part of a revelation even more interesting and enjoyable than it is right now, in its present, still-shifting form. 

›

TUESDAY, JAN. 10 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Alan Kaufman introduces “Matches” the story of an American Jew in the Israeli Army, at 7:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books. 845-7852. www.codysbooks.com 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Creole Belles with Andrew Carriere at 8:30 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cajun dance lesson at 8 p.m. Cost is $9. 525-5054.  

Ellen Hoffman and Singers’ Open Mic at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. Cost is $5. 841-JAZZ.  

Freight and Salvage Open Mic at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $5.50. 548-1761.  

Jazzschool Tuesdays, a weekly showcase of up-and-coming ensembles from Berkeley Jazz- 

school at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 848-8277. 

Brozman, Low & Thorne Trio, jazz, at 7 p.m. at Caffe Trieste, 2500 San Pablo Ave., at Dwight. 548-5198.  

Mike Vax Jazz Orchestra at 8 and 10 p.m. at Yoshi’s at Jack London Square. Cost is $10-$12. 238-9200. www.yoshis.com 

Debbie Poryes, jazz piano, at 8 p.m. at Downtown. 649-3810. 

WEDNESDAY, JAN. 11 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Café Poetry hosted by Kira Allen at 7:30 p.m. at La Peña. Donation $2. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

Jared Diamond describes “Collapse: How Societies Chose to Fail or Succeed” at 7:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books. 845-7852. www.codysbooks.com  

MUSIC AND DANCE 

“The Seven Deadly Sins” A Fire Opera with the Crucible, artists from the San Francisco Opera and the Oakland East Bay Symphony, through Sat., at 8:30 p.m. at 1260 7th St., Oakland. Tickets are $25-$100. 444-0919. www.thecrucible.org 

Berkeley High School Jazz Combos at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. Cost is $5. 841-JAZZ. www.AnnasJazzIsland.com 

Music for the Spirit with Ron McKean, organ, at noon at First Presbyterian Church of Oakland, 2619 Broadway. 444-3555. www.firstchurchoakland.org 

Ned Boynton Trio at 8 p.m. at Downtown. 649-3810.  

Balkan Folk Dance at 8 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Lessons at 7 p.m. Cost is $7. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

Tracy Amos, Shooters Dream Atris at 9 p.m. at Blakes on Telegraph. Cost is $8. 848-0886.  

Evan Raymond, guitar, at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 848-8277. 

E.S.T. Esbjorn Svensson Trio at 8 and 10 p.m. at Yoshi’s at Jack London Square. Cost is $10-$14. 238-9200. www.yoshis.com 

THURSDAY, JAN. 12 

FILM 

Mikio Naruse “Nightly Dreams” at 7 p.m. with Bruce Leob on piano, “Tsuruhachi and Tsuruijiro” at 9 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4-$8. 642-0808.  

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Black and Disabled Artists Sharing Stories at 7 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. Cost is $5-$10. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

Nomad Spoken Word Night at 7 p.m. at Nomad Cafe, 6500 Shattuck Ave. 595-5344.  

Kim Strongfellow describes a man-made disaster in “Greetings from the Salton Sea” at 7:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books. 845-7852.  

Word Beat Reading Series with Nicole Henares and Brian Morrisey at 7 p.m. at Mediterraneum Caffe, 2475 Telegraph Ave. 526-5985. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

New Century Chamber Orchestra with Gang Situ, ‘cello, at 8 p.m. at St. John’s Presbyterian Church, 2727 College Ave. Tickets are $28-$42. 415-392-4400.  

Fishtank Ensemble at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $17.50-$18.50. 548-1761. www.freightandsalvage.com 

Dick Conte Trio, CD release party, at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. Cost is $5. 841-JAZZ. www.AnnasJazzIsland.com 

Pete Madsen, guitar, at 7 p.m. at Caffe Trieste, 2500 San Pablo Ave., at Dwight. 548-5198.  

Wu Li Masters at 9:30 p.m. at Beckett’s Irish Pub, 2271 Shattuck Ave. 647-1790.  

Mark Little Duo at 8 p.m. at Downtown. 649-3810.  

Nightingale with caller George Marshall, concert at 8:30 p.m., dance at 9 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $12. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

E.S.T. Esbjorn Svensson Trio at 8 and 10 p.m. at Yoshi’s at Jack London Square. Cost is $10-$14. 238-9200. www.yoshis.com 

FRIDAY, JAN. 13 

THEATER 

“Walkin’ Talkin’ Bill Hawkins ... In Search of My Father” performed by W. Allen Taylor at 7 p.m. at the Marsh-Berkeley, 2118 Allston Way, through Jan. 28. Tickets are $15-$22. 800-838-3006. 

Shotgun Players “Cabaret” Thurs. - Sun. at 8 p.m. at the Ashby Stage, 1901 Ashby Ave. Through Jan. 29. 841-6500. www.shotgunplayers.org 

EXHIBITIONS 

“Off the Grid: New Paintings by Collective 9” Opening reception at 6 p.m. at ACCi Gallery. 1652 Shattuck Ave. Exhibition runs to Feb. 9. www.accigallery.com 

FILM 

“Best of Youth, Part 1” at 7 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Dance Production 2006 at 8 p.m. at Florence Schwimley Little Theater, Allston Way. Tickets are $5 students, $10 adults. 

“The Seven Deadly Sins” A Fire Opera with the Crucible, artists from the San Francisco Opera and the Oakland East Bay Symphony, through Sat., at 8:30 p.m. at 1260 7th St., Oakland. Tickets are $25-$100. 444-0919. www.thecrucible.org 

Justifi at 9:30 p.m. at Blakes on Telegraph. Cost is $8-$10. 848-0886. www.blakesontelegraph.com 

Juanita Ulloa’s Paz y Alegria at 8 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. Cost is $ 12-$15. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

Walter Savage Quartet at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. Cost is $7. 841-JAZZ. www.AnnasJazzIsland.com 

Ras Midas & The Bridge, with Root Awakening at 9:30 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $13. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

Diamante, latin, at 8 p.m. at Caffe Trieste, 2500 San Pablo Ave., at Dwight. 548-5198.  

Utah Phillips at 8 p.m. at the Roda Theater, 2015 Addison St. Cost is $18.50-$19.50. 548-1761. www.freightandsalvage.org 

Cathi Walkup Quartet at 9 p.m. at Downtown. 649-3810.  

DJ and Brook, jazz, at 7:30 p.m. at Nomad Cafe, 6500 Shattuck Ave. 595-5344.  

The Meat Purveyors, Loretta Lynch, Pickin’ Trix at 9 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $6. 841-2082. www.starryploughpub.com 

Hard Skin, Deadfall, Nuts & Bolts, The Vals at 8 p.m. at 924 Gilman St., an all-ages, member-run, no alcohol, no drugs, no violence club. Cost is $7. 525-9926. 

Wu Li Masters at 9:30 p.m. at Beckett’s Irish Pub, 2271 Shattuck Ave. 647-1790.  

Santero, Fuga, world, fusion, dub at 9:30 p.m. at Shattuck Down Low, 2284 Shattuck Ave. Cost is $5. 548-1159.  

LoCal Music Expo with Ben Strom at 8:30 p.m. at Epic Arts, 1923 Ashby Ave. Cost is $5-$10.  

Broun Fellinis at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 848-8277. 

Mark Hummel’s Blues Harmonica Blow Out at 8 and 10 p.m., through Sun. at Yoshi’s at Jack London Square. Cost is $15-$30. 238-9200. www.yoshis.com 

SATURDAY, JAN. 14 

CHILDREN 

Los Amiguitos de La Peña with Ingrid Noyes and Paul Shelasky, interactive music, at 10:30 a.m. at La Peña. Cost is $5. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

J.Soul in a concert for families at 3:30 p.m. at Spuds Pizza, 3290 Adeline St. Cost is $2-$7. 558-0881. 

THEATER 

Moshe Cohen and Unique Derique “Cirque Do Somethin’” Sat. and Sun. at 1 p.m. at the Marsh, 2120 Allston Way. Tickets are $10-$15. 800-838-3006. www.themarsh.or 

EXHIBITIONS 

Eric Ott and Michael Dean, video installation and paintings. Reception at 8 p.m. at the Living Room Gallery, 3230 Adeline St. Donation. 601-5774. 

FILM 

“Best of Youth, Part 2” at 3 p.m. and Mikio Naruse “Street Without End” at 7 p.m., “The Whole Family Works” at 9:15 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4-$8. 642-0808.  

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Toni Alexander introduces her novel “Sometimes I Forget to Breathe” at 2 p.m. at Changemakers Books, 6536 Telegraph Ave. Oakland. 655-2405. 

Mango Mic, Asian American open mic at 8:30 p.m. at Epic Arts, 1923 Ashby Ave.  

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Dance Production 2006 at 8 p.m. at Florence Schwimley Little Theater, Allston Way. Tickets are $5 students, $10 adults. 

Celebration of Life Concert Tribute to Rosa Parks with Oleta Adams at 7 p.m. at Love Center Church, 10440 International Blvd., Oakland. Tickets are $15-$30. 548-4040, ext. 357. www.embracingthedream.org 

Coro Hispano de San Francisco “Día de los Reyes” Concert at 8 p.m. at St. Joseph the Worker Church, 1640 Addison St. Tickets are $15-$20. 415-864-4681. www.corohispano.org 

San Francisco Early Music Society “Ciaramella” at 8 p.m. at St. John’s Presbyterian Church, 2727 College Ave. Tickets are $10-$25. 528-1725. www.sfems.org 

Tony Malaby at 8 p.m. at The Improv Garage, 4514 West St., Oakland. Sponsored by the Jazz House. overdue. rob@thejazzhouse.com 

Curtis Lawson, R & B, soul, at 9 p.m. at Baltic Square Pub, 135 Park Pl., Pt. Richmond. Cost is $5. 527-4782. 

“Paces” Dance and Poetry with Lucinda Weaver and Alan Bern at 4 p.m. at Berkeley Public Library, 2090 Kittredge. 981-6150. 

Marina la Valle and Lalo Izquierdo, Peruvian music, at La Peña Cultural Center. Cost is $8-$10. 849-2568.  

Kurt Ribak Jazz Group at 9:30 p.m. at Albatross, 1822 San Pablo Ave. Cost is $3. 843-2473. www.albatrosspub.com 

Querezima Sextet at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. Cost is $7. 841-JAZZ. www.AnnasJazzIsland.com 

The Secret Life of Banjos at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $18.50-$19.50. 548-1761. www.freightandsalvage.org 

Steve Mann and Friends at 8 p.m. at Spuds Pizza, 3290 Adeline St. Cost is $7-$10. 558-0881. 

Tom Rigney & Flambeau at 9 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cajun dance lesson at 8 p.m. Cost is $13. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

Kali's Angels Kirtan Ensemble at 7 p.m. at Studio Rasa, 933 Parker St. Cost is $15-$18. 843-2787. 

SoulJazz Trio at 9 p.m. at Downtown. 649-3810.  

Jon Roniger and David Serotkin at 7:30 p.m. at Nomad Cafe, 6500 Shattuck Ave. 595-5344. www.nomadcafe.net 

John Richardson Band at 9 p.m. at Circus Pub, 389 Colusa Ave., Kensington 

Brainoil, Asunder, Embers, Lid Toker at 8 p.m. at 924 Gilman St., an all-ages, member-run, no alcohol, no drugs, no violence club. Cost is $5. 525-9926. 

André Sumelius Quartet at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 848-8277. 

SUNDAY, JAN. 15 

FILM 

Mikio Naruse “Not Blood Relations” at 5:30 p.m. and “Traveling Actors” at 7:25 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4-$8. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Poetry Flash with Richard Silberg and Chad Sweeney at 7:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books. Donation $2. 845-7852. www.codysbooks.com 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Berkeley High School Jazz Ensemble at 7:30 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Benefit for the Jazz Program Cost is $5-$15. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

“In the Name of Love” Tribute to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. with Linda Tillery and the Cultural Heritage Choir, at 7:30 p.m. at the Oakland Scottish Rite Center. Tickets are $6-$22. 800-838-3006. www.mlktribute.com 

Tony Malaby, all ages jazz workshop at 1 p.m. at The Improv Garage, 4514 West St., Oakland. Sponsored by the Jazz House. overdue. rob@thejazzhouse.com 

Organ Recital at 4 p.m. at St. John’s Presbyterian Church, 2727 College Ave. 845-6830. 

Carlos Oliveira & Brazilia n Origins at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. Cost is $10. 841-JAZZ. 

The Latin Jazz Youth Ensemble San Francisco at 7 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. Cost is $10-$15. 849-2568.  

Cheap Suit Serenaders at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $22.50-$23.50. 548-1761.  

Jack Irving at 11 a.m. at Nomad Cafe, 6500 Shattuck Ave. 595-5344.  

MONDAY, JAN. 16 

THEATER 

“The Meeting” A play of a fictitious meeting between Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and Malcolm X at 7 p.m. at Malonga Casquelourd Center for the Arts, 1428 Alice St., Oakland. Suggested donation $5. 238-7217. 

Subterranean Shakespeare “The Merry Wives of Windsor” Staged reading at 7:30 p.m. at the Berkeley Unitarian Fellowship, Fireside Room, 1924 Cedar St. Donation $5. 276-3871. 

EXHIBITIONS 

Works by Bill A. Dallas and Amana Brembry Johnson opens at the Craft & Cultural Arts Gallery, State of California Office Building, 1515 Clay St., Oakland, and runs through March 3. 622-8190. 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Poetry Express with an open mic for “Other People’s Poems” at 7 p.m. at Priya Restaurant, 2072 San Pablo Ave. berkeleypoetryexpress@yahoo.com 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

“Expressing the Dream” a showcase of intergenerational arts by members of the Oakland Community at 2 p.m. at Malonga Casquelourd Center for the Arts, 1428 Alice St., Oakland. Free. 238-7217. 

Trovatore, traditional Italian music, at 7 p.m. at Caffe Trieste, 2500 San Pablo Ave., at Dwight. 548-5198.  

Faye Carol at 8 and 10 p.m. at Yoshi’s at Jack London Square. Cost is $10-$16. 238-9200.  

TUESDAY, JAN. 17 

FILM 

“Crossroads: Avant-Garde Films from Pittsburgh” at 7:30 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4-$8. 642-0808.  

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Peter Selz introduces “Art of Engagement: Visual Politics in California and Beyond” at 7:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books. 845-7852. www.codysbooks.com  

Melissa and Alison Houtte write about vintage clothing in “Alligators, Old Mink & New Money” at 7:30 p.m. at Black Oak Books. 486-0698. www.blackoakbooks.com 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Swamp Coolers at 8:30 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cajun dance lesson at 8 p.m. Cost is $9. 525-5054.  

Ellen Hoffman with Singers’ Open Mic at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. 841-JAZZ. www.AnnasJazzIsland.com 

Freight and Salvage Open Mic at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $5.50. 548-1761. www.freightandsalvage.org 

Howard Barkan Trio, jazz, at 7 p.m. at Caffe Trieste, 2500 San Pablo Ave. 548-5198.  

Russell Malone Quartet at 8 and 10 p.m. at Yoshi’s at Jack London Square. Cost is $10-$16. 238-9200. www.yoshis.com 

Jazzschool Tuesdays at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 848-8277. 

WEDNESDAY, JAN. 18 

EXHIBITIONS 

Annual Members’ Showcase opens at Berkeley Art Center, 1275 Walnut St. in Live Oak Park.  

“Dreaming California” Photographs by Ruth-Marion Baruch, Bill Owens and Larry Sultan, opens at the Berkeley Art Museum, 2626 Bancroft Way. 642-0808.  

“American History and Culture by Grandmothers Who Help” Photographs and exhibits with disscussion at 3 p.m. at Eastmont Branch Library, 7200 Bancroft Ave., Oakland. 615-5726. 

“The Family of Clay: CCA Ceramics” Reception for the artists at 6 p.m. at Tecoah Bruce Gallery, Oliver Art Center, California College of the Arts, 5212 Broadway. 530-304-0499. 

“Illuminated Garden” Pinhole sun prints by Susannah Hays at North Berkeley Frame and Gallery, 1744 Shattuck Ave., through March 4. 549-0428. 

FILM 

Weird America: “Derailroaded” at 7:30 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4-$8. 642-0808.  

READINGS AND LECTURES 

“Introduction to Film Language” with Russell Merritt at 3 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4-$8. 642-0808.  

Joanne Jacobs tells the story of a successful charter school in San Jose in “Our School: The Inspiring Story of Two Teachers, One Big Idea, and the School that Beat the Odds” at 7:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books. 845-7852. 

Cafe Poetry hosted by Paradise at 7:30 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. Donations accepted. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Music for the Spirit with Ron McKean, organ, at noon at First Presbyterian Church of Oakland, 2619 Broadway. 444-3555.  

Calvin Keys Trio Invitational Jam at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. 841-JAZZ. www.AnnasJazzIsland.com 

Ned Boynton Trio at 8 p.m. at Downtown. 649-3810.  

Blues & Grooves with Mike Pyle at 8:30 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Lessons at 7:30 p.m. Cost is $6. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

Sol Spectrum at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 848-8277. 

Country Joe McDonald, in a fundraiser for Easy Does It Disability Assistance at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $17.50-$18.50. 548-1761.  

Whiskey Brothers at 9 p.m. at Albatross, 1822 San Pablo Ave. 843-2473.  

Absinthe Academy, Dan Tedesco at 9 p.m. at Blakes on Telegraph. Cost is $7. 848-0886.  

Russell Malone Quartet at 8 and 10 p.m. at Yoshi’s at Jack London Square. Cost is $10-$16. 238-9200. www.yoshis.com 

?

Instead of trees this week, I’m going to talk about something bigger: mushrooms.They’re popping up all over since the major rains, and in bewildering variety. For pete’s sake, don’t be inspired to go on a mushroom-eating binge because they look so pastry-pretty. The old saw goes; “There are old mushroom hunters and there are bold mushroom hunters, but there are no old, bold mushroom hunters.” Think agonizing death in a pool of your own various wastes. Think liver transplant. Think never being able to have another beer if you do survive. Got that?  

But look at them! 

They’re gorgeous. I’ve seen them in classic mushroom shapes, in banded fans, in brilliant glistening globs, in wavy combs, and in the rather startling shapes that give rise, so to speak, to the species name of one, Phallus impudicans, commonly known as the stinkhorn.  

They’re colorful. They come in white and gray and various shades of brown and russet, in maroon, burgundy, scarlet, orange, yellow, even blue. They’re ubiquitous, too. There’s a lemon-yellow cluster right now in my dining room, emerging jauntily from the base of the Yule tree’s pot. (It’s a live redwood that lives in the backyard most of the year.) We’ve entertained clusters of Peziza domiciliana in the bathroom caulking; the species’ major habitat is the North American bathroom. Once, though, we had it growing in the floor carpet of our pickup truck.  

When you see them popping up on the grass, mushrooms are telling you two things: it’s wet—either poor drainage or just constant rain—and there’s decomposing plant matter there. This is a problem if it’s your oak tree and the fungus is Armilliaria, but not so much if it’s just some random instrument of composting on the wood-chip mulch. 

They’re not plants. It’s not just that they lack chlorophyll; more basically, they have cell walls like plants (rather than cell membranes like us animals) but the walls are made of chitin, like, say, shrimp shells. Fungi are their own separate “kingdom” (and there are more of those than you’d think, several all-unicellular).  

What you see above ground is just the reproductive organs, and they reproduce in dizzyingly complex fashions; four or five “genders” can be present. (Actually, I’ve seen the allegation that mushrooms have 36,000 sexes, but I’d want to see some definitions.) The spores they shed push out mycelial threads that can mate with other threads—sometimes with fertile results, sometimes not—in several ways. The spores, like our ova and sperm, have only a half set of chromosomes—they’re called “haploid.” They can join with one or more other threads in various ways, in effect giving some offspring three parents: two for the chromosomes and another for the cytoplasm, the part of each cell outside the nucleus.  

When two compatible haploid spores meet, they effectively merge into one cell that still keeps two nuclei. These can split into two cells with four nuclei, and so on. This gives the organism an advantage—it can grow faster, since instead of stretching one cell over a gap it can just multiply cells.  

So you get those fuzzy patches … Have I mentioned that the weird science experiments on the leftovers in the fridge are generally fungi too? Anyway, these patches can grow rapidly, meet other compatible fuzzy patches, grow “clamp connections” between themselves (this gets kinkier as you learn more about it) and complete mating.  

Keep the kids out of the fridge! Better be ready to have a family discussion about what’s happening on the mulch out back, too. 

There’s a great account of this on the Web at the Shroomery site—www.shroomery.org—and I take the blame for any errors here in trying to fit that into my space.  

But did I say “something bigger” at the top? Yes. Those toadstools and fairy rings are only a small part of the fungus they represent. The actual organism is below ground, spread out as a net of myceliae. There’s an Armillaria in Malheur National Forest in eastern Oregon that’s three and a half miles across, covers 2,200 acres, and is at least 2,400 years old. It might be 7,200 years old. That would make it the oldest known organism on Earth, as well as the biggest. 

TUESDAY, JAN. 10 

Flooding Issue in West Berkeley Community Meeting at 7 p.m. at the Frances Albrier Center, San Pablo Park, 2800 Park St., between Russell and Ward. 981-7120. 

Celebrate the Dream Ceremony marking Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s 77th birthday at 11:30 a.m. at Frank Ogawa Plaza, 14th and Broadway, Oakland. 444-CITY. 

Tilden Tots Join a nature adventure program for 3 and 4 year olds, each accompanied by an adult (grandparents welcome)! We’ll learn about animal habitats, from 10 to 11:30 a.m. at Tilden Nature Center, Tilden Park. Cost is $6-$8. Registration required. 636-1684. 

Birdwalk on the MLK Shoreline from 3 to 5 p.m. to see the ducks and shorebirds here for the winter. Beginnners welcome, binoculars available for loan. 525-2233. 

Women’s Snowshoe Workshop Learn the essentials for getting started in the sport at 7 p.m. at REI, 1338 San Pablo Ave. 527-4140. 

Oakland-East Bay Gay Men’s Chorus Auditions at 7 p.m. at Lakeshore Avenue Baptist Church, 3534 Lakeshore Ave. 800-706-2389. 

Guitar and Music Lessons for Teachers Free ongoing classes at 7:30 p.m. at 2304 McKinley Ave. Registration required. 848-9463. www.guitarsintheclassroom.com 

Berkeley School Volunteers Training workshop for volunteers interested in helping the public schools, from 7 to 8:30 p.m. at 1835 Allston Way. 644-8833. 

Family Story Time at 7 p.m. at the Kensington Branch Library, 61 Arlington Ave., Kensington. 524-3043. 

Tuesday Tilden Walkers Join a few slowpoke seniors at 9:30 a.m. in the parking lot near the Little Farm for an hour or two walk. 215-7672, 524-9992. 

Free Handbuilding Ceramics Class 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at St. John’s Senior Center, 2727 College Ave. Also, Mon. noon to 4 p.m. at the South Berkeley Senior Center. Materials and firing charges not included. 525-5497. 

Searching Within A free 9-week course, Tues. at 7:30 p.m. at 2510 Channing Way. To register call 654-1583. www.gnosticweb.com 

Brainstormer Weekly Pub Quiz every Tuesday from 7:30 to 9:30 p.m. at Pyramid Alehouse Brewery, 901 Gilman St. 528-9880. 

Berkeley Camera Club meets at 7:30 p.m., at the Northbrae Community Church, 941 The Alameda. S548-3991. www.berkeleycameraclub.org 

St. John’s Prime Timers meets at 9:30 a.m. at St. John’s Presbyterian Church, 2727 College Ave. 845-6830. 

“Ask the Social Worker” free consultations for older adults and their families from 10 a.m. to noon at BRJCC, 1414 Walnut St. To schedule an appointment call 558-7800, ext. 716. 

WEDNESDAY, JAN. 11 

Tribute to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. at noon at the second floor auditorium, 300 Lakeside Drive., Oakland. Free. 464-7139. 

Poetry Writing Workshop with Alison Seevak at 7 p.m. at Albany Library, 1247 Marin Ave. 526-3720, ext. 17. 

Film Series on Animal Agony, laboratories and factory farms, at 7 p.m. at Humanist Hall, 390 27th St., Oakland. Donation of $5 suggested.  

East Bay Genealogical Society with Marjorie Bell of the staff of the Family History Center on the use of newspapers in genealogical research, at 10 a.m. in the Library Conference Room of the Family History Center, 4766 Lincoln Ave., Oakland. 635-6692. 

Walk Berkeley for Seniors meets every Wednesday at 9:30 a.m. at the Sea Breeze Market, just west of the I-80 overpass. Everyone is welcome, wear comfortable shoes and a warm hat. 548-9840. 

Sing your Way Home A free sing-a-long at 4:30 p.m. every Wed. at the Albany Library, 1247 Marin Ave. 526-3720. 

Fresh Produce Stand at San Pablo Park from 3 to 6:30 p.m. in the Frances Albrier Community Center. Sponsored by the Ecology Center’s Farm Fresh Choice. 848-1704. www.ecologycenter.org 

Red Cross Blood Drive from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Oakland State Building, 1515 Clay St., 2nd Floor. To schedule an appointment call 1-800-GIVE-LIFE. www.BeADonor.com 

Stitch ‘n Bitch Bring your knitting, crocheting and other handcrafts from 6 to 9 p.m. at Caffe Trieste, 2500 San Pablo Ave. 548-5198. 

Berkeley Peace Walk and Vigil at 6:30 p.m. followed by Peace Walk at 7 p.m. www.geocities. 

com/vigil4peace/vigil 

THURSDAY, JAN. 12 

Tilden Tots Join a nature adventure program for 3 and 4 year olds, each accompanied by an adult (grandparents welcome)! We’ll learn about animal habitats, from 10 to 11:30 a.m. at Tilden Nature Center, Tilden Park. Cost is $6-$8. Registration required. 636-1684. 

Grizzly Peak Flyfishers meets at 7 p.m. at the Kensington Community Center, 59 Arlington Ave. in Kensington. Mike Kaul, a Wyoming guide, will talk on fishing the waters of the Wind River Range. All welcome. 547-8629. 

“The World Can’t Wait” Drive Out the Bush Regime Speakers include Medea Benjamin, Mark Leno, Marc Bamuthi Joseph, Sunsara Taylor and devorah major, at 7 p.m. at Grand Lake Theater, 3200 Grand Ave., Oakland. Tickets are $10-$20. 415-864-5153. 

East Bay Mac Users Group meets to discuss Mac World Review with guest David Feng from Beijing Mac Users Group, at 6 p.m. at Expression College for Digital Arts, 6601 Shellmound St., Emeryville. http://ebmug.org 

“How to Reduce Your Taxes” with Thomas Andres, at 6 p.m., upstairs at Sabia Indian Cuisine, 1628 Webster, Oakland. Cost is $5-$10. 530-6699. 

Climate Change and Other Environmental Topics, an ongoing class, Thurs. at 1 p.m., beginning Jan. 12 at North Berkeley Senior Center. 981-5190. 

American Sign Language Classes begin at Vista College, 2020 Milvia St. To register call 981-2872. www.peralta.edu 

International Business Classes for students and entrepreneurs, offered by Vista College. For information call 981-2852.  

Sleep Issues for Older Babies at 7 p.m. at Bananas, 5232 Claremont Ave., Oakland. Registration required, 658-7353. 

The Bipolar Advantage A lecture with Tom Wootton, Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance at 7 p.m. at Alta Bates Herrick Campus, Dwight Way. For details, call 760-749-5719. 

World of Plants Tours Thurs., Sat. and Sun. at 1:30 p.m. at the UC Botanical Garden, 200 Centennial Drive. Cost is $5. 643-2755. http://botanicalgarden.berkeley.edu 

FRIDAY, JAN. 13 

City Commons Club Noon Luncheon with Denis Kuby on “Pending Death Changes in California” Luncheon at 11:45 a.m. for $13.50, speech at 12:30 p.m., at the Berkeley City Club, 2315 Durant St. For information and reservations call 526-2925 or 665-9020.  

Berkeley Critical Mass Bike Ride meets at the Berkeley BART the second Friday of every month at 5:30 p.m.  

Womansong Circle participatory singing and chants with Betsy Rose and Gael Acock at 7:15 p.m. at First Congregational Church of Berkeley, 2345 Channing Way. Donation $10-$20. 525-7082. 

Berkeley Chess School classes for students in grades 1-8 from 5 to 7 p.m. at 1581 LeRoy Ave., room 17. 843-0150. 

Berkeley Chess Club meets Fridays at 8 p.m. at the East Bay Chess Club, 1940 Virginia St. Players at all levels are welcome. 845-1041. 

Women in Black Vigil, from noon to 1 p.m. at UC Berkeley, Bancroft at Telegraph. wibberkeley@yahoo.com 548-6310, 845-1143. 

“Enlightened Vision: Seeing the Qualities of Buddha” a workshop from 7 to 9 p.m., and on Sat. at the Tibetan Nyingma Institute, 1815 Highland Pl. Cost is $95. 843-6812. www.nyingmainstitute.com 

SATURDAY, JAN. 14 

Free Emergency Preparedness Class on Basic Personal Preparedness from 10 a.m. to noon and also 1:30 to 3:30 at the Fireside Room, St. John’s Presbyterian Church, 2727 College Ave. To sign up call 981-5605. www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/ 

fire/oes.html 

Richmond General Plan Community Meeting on the re-write of the city’s general plan which will affect shoreline, housing, business, neighborhood character and transportation. Richmond residents encouraged to attend at 1 p.m. in the Madeline F. Whittlesey Community Room, Richmond Public Library, 325 Civic Center Plaza. 672-1897. www.richmondgeneralplan.org 

Lead-Safe Work Practices Learn how to remedy lead hazards in older homes, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. in Oakland. Sponsored by the Alameda County Lead Poisoning Prevention Project. 567-8280. 

Wildcat Creek Watershed Hike Meet at 2 p.m. at the Tilden Nature Area for a 3-mile hike to learn how the creek has been protected for trout and newts. Bring a snack and water. 525-2233. 

Fossil Detectives A hands-on children’s workshop at 11 a.m. at Lawrence Hall of Science, Centennial Drive. Cost is $5.50-$9.50, plus $5 reservation fee. 642-5132. 

Down Home Martin Luther King Potluck Celebration at 6 p.m. at Inserstake Center, Mormon temple, 4780 Lincoln Blvd., Oakland. Bring your favorite dish from “back home” for four. 654-2592. 

Vegetarian Cooking Class from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at he First Unitarian Church of Oakland, 685 14th St. Cost is $45. Registration required. 531-COOK. www.compassionatecooks.com  

“Off Road to Athens” A documentary on the US Pro Mountain Bikers and discussion with Todd Wells at 7 p.m. at Berkeley Community Theater, 1930 Allston Way. For tickets and information call 352-6502. 

“Wal-Mart: The High Cost of a Low Price” the documentary at 9:30 a.m. at the Niebyl-Proctor Library, 6501 Telegraph Ave. Sponsored by Democratic Socialists of America. 415-789-8497. www.dsausa.org 

“Feng Shui for the Writer” from 8:30 a.m. to noon at Pyramid Alehouse, 901 Gilman St. Presented by the SF Chapter of Romance Writers of America. For reservations email dginny1942@cs.com 

By the Light of the Moon Open Mic and Salon for Women at 7:30 p.m. at Changemakers, 6536 Telegraph Ave. Donation $3-$7. To sign up call 482-1315. 

“Jewish Literature: Identity and Imagination” A reading and discussion at 2 p.m. at the Kensington Library, 61 Arlington Ave., Kensington. 524-3043. 

Bipolar In Order Workshop with Tom Wootton, Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. at the Alta Bates Herrick Campus. Registration required. 760-749-5719. www.bipolarinorder.org  

Fasting Made Easy A workshop at 11 a.m. at Elephant Pharmacy, 1607 Shattuck Ave. 549-9200. 

Preschool Storytime for 3-5 year olds at 11 a.m. at the Albany Library, 1247 Marin Ave. 526-3720, ext. 17. 

SUNDAY, JAN. 15 

“Safe at Home: Oaklanders Who Changed the Game of Baseball” A tribute to the late George Pawles, McClymonds High School coach at 2 p.m. at Oakland Museum of California, 10th and Oak Sts. 238-3402. www.museumca.org 

Fireside Storytelling at 2 p.m. at the Tilden Nature Center, Tilden Park. 525-2233. 

Family Bird Walk Discover the bird life on the trails and at the marsh at 2:30 p.m. at the Don Edwards San Francisco Bay National Wildlife Refuge in Fremont. Recommended for children ages 5-10. Reservations required. 792-0222. 

Winter Flowers on the Ridge Explore the fragile ecosystem of Sobrante Ridge. Meet at 10 a.m. at the staging area at the end of Coach Drive, El Sobrante. Appropriate for age 10 and up, hike is 3 miles with some hills. 525-2233. 

Berkeley Gray Panthers MLK Jr. Birthday Celebration to honor local activists who went south to work on civil rights, at 2 p.m. at Redwood Gardens Community Room, 2951 Derby St. 548-9696. 

Berkeley CyberSalon with Jaron Lanier, who coined the word virtual reality and founded VPL Research at 5 p.m. at the Hillside Club, 2286 Cedar St. Donation is $10. www.hillsideclub.org 

Brainstormer Trivia Pub Quiz at 8:30 p.m. at Albatross, 1822 San Pablo Ave. 843-2473. www.albatrosspub.com 

Free Garden Tours at Regional Parks Botanic Garden in Tilden Park Sat. and Sun. at 2 p.m. Call to confirm. 841-8732. www.nativeplants.org 

Lake Merritt Neighbors Organized for Peace Peace walk around the lake at 3 p.m. at the colonnade at the NE end of the lake. 763-8712.  

Tibetan Buddhism with Sylvia Gretchen on “Transforming the Power of Pain into Well-Being” at 6 p.m. at the Tibetan Nyingma Institute, 1815 Highland Pl. 843-6812. www.nyingmainstitute.com 

MONDAY, JAN. 16 

“A Day On, Not Off” Volunteer at the MLK Shoreline from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at Arrowhead Marsh, at Doolittle Drive and Swan Way. Registration encouraged. 562-1373. 

“Make the Dream Real” Martin Luther King Celebration at 10 a.m. at Taylor Memorial Methodist Church, 1188 12th St. at Adeline, Oakland. 652-5530. 

STD Clinic Volunteer Training for Gay/Bi Men for the Gay Men’s Health Clinic at 7:30 p.m. at 2339 Durant Ave. 548-3007, ext. 6307. 

World Affairs Discussion Group for seniors at 10:15 a.m. at the Albany Senior Center. Cost is $2.50. 

Berkeley CopWatch organizational meeting at 8 p.m. at 2022 Blake St. 548-0425. 

ONGOING 

United Way’s Earn it! Keep It! Save It! needs volunteer tax preparers and language interpreters to help low-income families in Alameda County claim tax credits. No previous tax preparation experience is necessary. Training sessions run through mid-January. For more information, call 238-2415. www.earnitkeepitsaveit.org 

CITY MEETINGS 

Berkeley Unified School District Board meets Wed. Jan. 11, at 7:30 p.m., in the City Council Chambers. 644-6320. 

Planning Commission meets Wed., Jan. 11, at 7 p.m., at the North Berkeley Senior Center. Janet Homrighausen, 981-7484. www.ci.berkeley. ca.us/commissions/planning 

Police Review Commission meets Wed., Jan. 11, at 7:30 p.m. at the South Berkeley Senior Center. 981-4950. www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/commissions/policereview 

Housing Advisory Commission Special Meeting Thurs. Jan. 12, at 7:30 p.m. at the South Berkeley Senior Center. Oscar Sung, 981-5410. www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/commissions/housing 

Zoning Adjustments Board meets Thurs., Jan. 12, at 7 p.m., in City Council Chambers. Mark Rhoades, 981-7410. www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/commissions/zoning  

West Berkeley Project Area Commission Public Meeting on the Aquatic Park Streetscape Connection Project, Thurs., Jan. 12, at 7 p.m. at the West Berkeley Senior Center. 981-7402. 

The picture said it all. Jack Abramoff was photographed on his way to court wearing a black trenchcoat and a black fedora. To San Francisco opera-goers, the outfit meant that he was soon going to be facing the music. Abramoff, The Opera, was about to begin. 

During the reign of San Francisco Opera General Manager Pamela Rosenberg, now on her way back to Germany where she got her start, a large percentage of S.F. Opera characters were costumed in trenchcoats and/or fedoras, regardless of the roles they were playing. Even the angels in Messaien’s St. Francis wore trenchcoats. Perhaps one in three productions was mounted in this style, reminiscent of the film noir gangster opuses of the thirties and forties. Cynics began keeping box scores for operas according to the number of trench coats they featured. For those of us in the nosebleed seats, too high to see the faces of the singers even with binoculars, the ubiquitous trenchcoats and hats were particularly annoying—they made it hard to keep track of the characters, who all looked alike.  

Now that Abramoff’s started singing, it’s time for John Adams, Berkeley’s most famous opera composer, to get to work on the score. Even the name is perfect—those of us with a couple of years of college Russian can roll it mellifluously off the tongue: Ah-BRAHM-off. Sounds like it could be a work by Tchaikovsky.  

And the plot’s a classic too: well-brought-up Beverly Hills boy makes pact with devil, gets rich, falls from grace. It’s been done before (all those Fausts by various composers) and it will be done again. Despite all of the doom-and-gloomers who are saying that things are worse today than they’ve ever been, there have always been crooks and influence peddlers buzzing around the Washington honey-pot, and there always will be. And state legislatures are even worse. As the sainted Jess Unruh used to say when he was speaker of the California Assembly, money is the mother’s milk of politics. So the libretto of Abramoff, The Opera, will be familiar to many.  

What’s truly shocking, however, is not how much money is involved, but how little. The Center for Responsive Politics has charted the money that flowed through the Abramoff apparatus, and it’s still hovering under four million dollars. To the ordinary wage earner, that might seem like a lot of money, but considering what it seems to have bought, it’s nothing. It’s the total value of five or six median priced Bay Area houses, for example. But the added value which it purchased for the donors has been multiplied by a factor of hundreds in legislative concessions of all kinds. The names of some of the recipients on the list are surprising—Boxer, Waxman, Stabenow, Leahy for example, good liberals all, who got a thousand or five, though there’s no evidence that they did anything for the money. A lot of recipients did, however, but proving who did what for their money will not be easy. 

Another familiar plot which has re-surfaced lately is government spying on citizens. What’s shocking here is Dubya’s baldfaced admission that he broke the law and he’s proud of it. At least Nixon (cf. John Adams’ opera by the same name) had the good grace to lie about his transgressions. It used to be the case that when government groups in this country spied on citizens they did it covertly, and were a bit ashamed if they got caught. Peter Dale Scott and Earl Ofari Hutchinson have chronicled past episodes in these pages recently. 

Martin Luther King’s birthday holiday this weekend reminds me of a fellow I knew in Michigan who left the FBI after he was assigned to place bugs under the beds of Dr. King’s hotel rooms. He came from one of those Norman Rockwellesque small towns in the rural Midwest where people grow up believing that life in America is just like the civics textbooks say it is. He joined the FBI because he wanted to protect the American Way, and when he realized that the person he was supposed to spy on was the good guy and his organization was the bad guys, he quit and became a campus radical.  

The reason grand operas (and soap operas) have always had so many fans is that they faithfully mirror human failings, which don’t change much. Many of us Americans, on both the left and the right, still believe that our government isn’t supposed to spy on us, even though governments spying on the governed has always been the rule, not the exception. We believe, again on the right as well as on the left, that legislative votes should be based on principles, not payoffs. We’ve seen these operas before, and we’re hoping that they will again come out the way they always have. We have faith that Abramoff, like Faust, will be brought down in the last act for his sins. We believe that that the virtuous citizen will eventually triumph over the corrupt government, as Beethoven’s Fidelio did. For the classic drama now being played out in Washington, the overture for the finale is beginning.  

One of the reasons our house is somewhat crowded is that we are reluctant to throw away perfectly good magazines which are just a bit old. The New Yorker in particular is a living reproach, because it comes every week and (since the departure of airhead editor Tina Brown) is again full of good stuff which we can’t necessarily consume on a timely basis. It’s instant history: a pity to waste it.  

All of this is a prelude to explain why I happened this weekend to be reading a September 2004 “Talk of the Town” piece by George Packer about what was going badly wrong in Iraq. He’d originally been a reluctant supporter of the invasion, but as the war progressed and he reported on it for the New Yorker he changed his mind. This piece was his last-minute advice to John Kerry to get tough on Bush’s war, something the candidate never managed to do. He said that “the senator has allowed the public to think that the president, against all the evidence of his record, will fight the war in Iraq and the larger war against radical Islam with more success. If Kerry loses the election, this will be the reason.” And Kerry did lose the election, and that’s why. Packer later released a book, The Assassins’ Gate, in which he detailed exactly what went wrong in Iraq. 

On Sunday I missed attending my first meeting of Grandmothers Against the War because of a previous commitment. They sent me an instant e-mail update about their plans, for some kind of direct action on Valentine’s Day at a recruiting office somewhere as yet to be decided, which I forwarded to my oldest friends, now most of them grandmothers scattered around the country. Now that the grandmothers are getting organized, there might be some hope for taking back the Congress in the 2006 election and stopping the crazy war in Iraq. 

Sometime in the last couple of years a woman with a Middle-European accent, someone we’d previously encountered as, I think, a supporter of some union organizing effort, brought the Daily Planet newsroom some banana bread because she liked an article in the paper. “I always send my grandson some banana bread when he writes a good article,” she said. “Who’s your grandson?” we asked. “Where does he write these good articles?” 

Now I remember that she said her grandson was George Packer, and that he was a staff writer for the New Yorker. At that time I hadn’t noticed his byline there, but I was impressed nevertheless. And we enjoyed the banana bread.  

I don’t know this for sure, but I just bet George Packer’s grandmother knew from the start that the invasion of Iraq was a mistake, long before he figured it out for himself. She seemed like that kind of woman. Young men, unfortunately, tend to have more optimism about the success of military ventures than do their grandmothers, who have seen wars before and know the outcome.  

The popular press, left division, is full of pieces these days on the general theme of “us good guys need to get organized for the next election,” which is now almost upon us. One smug young man who’d worked the 2004 election in Ohio for a national organization opined in The Nation that the problem was that too many amateurs tried to get into the act. He said he’d taken a call from someone who wanted his attention because she represented “GAG.” What was GAG? Grandmothers Against George—and he was supposed to waste his valuable time and money on people like that? Well, yes.  

One big problem in 2004 was too much money thrown at too many self-important semi-pros who didn’t really understand what was happening on the ground. Organizations like his relied entirely too much on bank calls from yuppies in California with cell phones and too little on savvy homefolks. 

Eve Pell, a card-carrying grandmother and seasoned political writer, told me that she showed up in Philadelphia in 2004 to help get out the vote, having been recruited by one of these national groups. She discovered that the precinct to which she’d been assigned was already under control—the African-American grandmothers who’d been working there for years had covered all the bases, and the turnout was terrific. The national guys hadn’t understood or appreciated their work. 

There are those who think that John Kerry really won Ohio, and thus the election—that the thugs stole the vote there. It’s possible that they’re right. If the smug young man in Ohio had been more respectful of the Grandmothers Against George, they might have been able to help him figure out that the local Republicans had their hands in the cookie jar.  

Now that the Grandmothers Against the War are getting their act together, they might even be able to figure out a way to bring America’s grandchildren who are in Iraq home again. In the fall of 2002 I was able to snatch a young man of my acquaintance out of the very clutches of a dishonest recruiter, who had persuaded the boy to enlist because he was out of work, restless, and didn’t follow politics enough to know that war in Iraq was looming. I was standing in then for his own grandmother, my good friend who died much too young of breast cancer, and who was a vigorous opponent of every war she ever saw. At the very least, if the Grandmothers are present at the recruiting offices, they might be able to make sure that no more young people sign up as he did without understanding the consequences.  

B