The state Division of Occupational Safety and Health (Cal/OSHA) has launched an investigation into the fall that claimed the life of a construction worker at the new Berkeley City College Building. 

Robert Walton, a 58-year-old Oakland man, sustained fatal injuries when he fell four stories while working on the new community college building at 2000 Center St. 

Cal/OSHA spokesperson Renee Bacchini said investigators were on the scene of the Jan. 3 accident soon after the accident. 

Walton was rushed to Highland Hospital, where he died a week later on Jan. 10. The Alameda County Coroner’s officer attributed the cause of death to “multiple blunt force injuries.” 

Bacchini said Walton was applying stucco to the surface of the building from a scaffolding at the time of the accident. “He fell from four stories up,” she said. 

Walton was an employee of J&J Acoustics, a San Jose firm. 

Bacchini said investigators will question witnesses, co-workers, and his employer and will examine equipment he was using, whether he had received adequate safety training, any safety equipment or mechanisms he may have been using and whether he was properly equipped with a safety harness. 

“It will be a very comprehensive investigation,” she said. 

While the agency is allowed six months to conclude an investigation, the Cal/OSHA spokesperson said she expected that results would be available in two to three months. 

A memorial service for Walton will be held at 11 a.m. Friday at Fouche’s Hudson Funeral Home, 3665 Telegraph Ave., Oakland.

A Berkeley High School student was gunned down in Oakland Saturday night as he was standing on the street with friends, police said. 

“We’re not sure of the motive,” said Oakland Police homicide Sgt. Ersi Joyner. 

The crime, a drive-by shooting, occurred at 11:54 p.m. in the 2200 block of East 15th Street, said Joyner. 

Alberto Salvador Villareal, 15, a sophomore at Berkeley High, was standing with several others when shots were fired from a passing car. He was the only person struck by the bullets. 

A spokesperson for the Alameda County Coroner’s office said Monday that the youth was a Berkeley resident. 

The murder is Oakland’s second of 2006, said the officer.  

The three candidates for this June’s Oakland mayoral race—Oakland City Councilmember Nancy Nadel, Oakland City Council President Ignacio De La Fuente and former Congressmember Ron Dellums—have begun to increase campaign activity.  

Both Dellums and De La Fuente have opened up campaign headquarters at the same downtown Oakland office near 12th and Broadway, with De La Fuente on the 14th floor and Dellums two floors higher. It could not be determined whether Nadel had yet opened a campaign office. 

Nadel’s website lists a series of campaign house parties throughout Oakland, beginning last summer. 

A De La Fuente spokesperson said the candidate is also planning a series of house parties, as well as school visits throughout the city, and kickoff events in each of Oakland’s seven council districts. 

Dellums, meanwhile, has been on a series of speaking events in Oakland that highlighted his celebrity status, providing keynote speeches for Martin Luther King Jr. birthday events. This past weekend demonstrated the power of that celebrity at Rhythmic Concepts’ 5th Annual Tribute to Dr. Martin Luther King at the palatial Oakland Scottish Rite Center, when Oakland Humanitarian Award recipient David Muhammad called Dellums a “living legend.” 

Dellums gave a 15-minute address to a packed audience, never directly mentioning the Oakland mayoral race. Instead, in outlining the relevance of Dr. King’s message of peace and social protest to today’s situation, Dellums mentioned several times what “we have to do in this city.” To a crowd packed with Oakland voters, the inference was clear. 

Reports of a poll putting Dellums far in the lead of the mayoral race surfaced at the weekend event. Oakland School Board member Greg Hodge, who entered the mayor’s race and then dropped out last fall when Dellums became a candidate, said that a poll recently commissioned by Nadel had Dellums at 52 percent and Nadel and De La Fuente trailing badly at “around 17 percent apiece.” 

Hodge said that he did not know which polling organization actually conducted the poll. He said the results of the poll showed the “difficulty” present for Dellums’ challengers. 

Last fall, before Dellums entered the race and before several other candidates dropped out, Oakland political activists had reported seeing two private polls which showed Nadel with a slight lead over De La Fuente. A notice on the front page of the “Nancy J. Nadel for Oakland City Mayor” website indicates that “recent polls taken on the mayoral election show [Nadel] as a frontrunner.” No date was given for the poll referred to on Nadel’s website, and only a voicemail message was available at the telephone number supplied for the campaign. 

Oraiu Amoni, a staff member in the De La Fuente for Mayor campaign, said that he was “not aware of any poll” showing Dellums with a significant lead over De La Fuente and Nadel, and said “I would be hard-pressed to talk about a poll I haven’t seen.” 

Before Dellums dramatic entry into the race last fall after a grassroots petition campaign convinced him to run, the Oakland mayoral race appeared to be a faceoff between two longtime members of the Oakland City Council. Nadel, who represents predominantly-black West Oakland and a portion of the downtown area, has long been seen as the council’s most progressive voice, frequently a critic of big development and pushing for more police accountability. De La Fuente, who represents the predominantly-Latino Fruitvale area, came to City Council from the labor movement, but has identified more closely in recent years with large development. 

The two candidates’ relationship to Oakland Mayor Jerry Brown—who is being termed out this year—demonstrates the sometimes insider, family warfare type campaign that the Oakland mayor’s race had been shaping up to be before Dellums’ arrival. 

In 1998, De La Fuente was a candidate for Oakland mayor against Dellums, and Nadel was Brown’s sole supporter on the Oakland City Council. De La Fuente lost in 1998, running fourth in an 11-member field with a little over 5,000 votes while Brown got almost 44,000. But following the election, Brown formed an alliance with De La Fuente, running the city in a triumvirate that included the mayor’s office, De La Fuente’s council presidency, and the office of then-City Manager Robert Bobb. 

Despite her support for Brown during the campaign, Nadel was frozen out. And until Councilmember Desley Brooks’ election to the 6th District Council seat in 2002, Nadel was often the sole dissenter to De La Fuente and Brown initiatives on the City Council. 

›

The fate of Berkeley’s warm water pool—a treasured resource to many of Berkeley’s disabled and elderly residents—looks bleak, City Councilmember Dona Spring said Thursday. 

The pool, located on the grounds of Berkeley High School, can’t be replaced with the $3.25 million bond measure city voters approved five years ago, and the outlook for additional money looks grim. 

Located in the aging Old Gym at Berkeley High School, the pool is the home to a wide range of programs, including a Summit Alta Bates physical rehabilitation program for head trauma patients and physical therapy classes for people with arthritis and other degenerative diseases. 

“It’s meant everything to me,” said Frances Breckenridge, a 71-year-old Oakland native who moved to Berkeley four years ago to be closer to the pool. “I wouldn’t be able to walk without it.” 

Breckenridge, who suffers from a degenerative spinal disease and congestive heart failure, said the presence of others like her at the pool is an incentive to greater activity. 

She visits the pool on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays, and said she’d go more often if she could afford it. 

“The fee is only $2, but that’s all that I can afford,” Breckenridge said. 

With the rise of construction costs since the bond issue was passed, the raising of additional funds becomes more difficult. 

“The school district is prepared to dedicate space for the pool, but there is no financial participation presumed,” said Berkeley Unified School District facilities manager Lew Jones. 

Demolition of the existing structure is planned as the second phase of new development at the high school, with the first phase being the construction of new bleachers on the eastern side of the property with locker and weight rooms. 

The second phase calls for demolition of the Old Gym and its replacement with classrooms and other facilities. 

Preparation of an Initial Statement, the preliminary environmental document required under California, should be completed in the next few days. 

Jones said the district had looked at the idea of heating the pool at the West Campus site, but found too many problems with the plan—including the fact that users said the water wasn’t deep enough for their needs.  

The existing pool is the only facility of its type in the East Bay, Spring said, predicting that demolition would result in negative consequences for the school district. 

“I don’t believe it will play well with the voters when the district comes to them for more money after using tax dollars to destroy a valuable resource,” she said. “After all, everyone in this community is going to get old, and they’ll need to us it.” 

As it now stands, the gap between available funds and actual construction costs is at least $2 million, and the school district rebuffed a call by the city to chip in a million dollars of their own. 

While Mayor Bates and the city manager’s office have suggested going back to the voters to fund the difference, Spring said the approach was problematic in light of recent elections in which virtually all proposed funding measures were defeated. 

“We also don’t have a Fred Lupke to organize the campaign this time,” she added. 

Lupke, a disabled activist who was instrumental in organizing support for the initial bond measure, died when a car struck in wheelchair in September 2003. 

Spring said other options for preserving the existing pool should be explored, noting that one possibility might be to enclose it under a geodesic dome. 

Meanwhile, the existing building continues to deteriorate. Recent storms revealed leaks in the roof, which will cost the city $100,000 to repair. 

“It’s just a shame to have to keep on wasting money on a building the school district says it’s going to demolish,” Spring said. 

Meanwhile, BUSD isn’t letting its own students use the pool and has signed a contract with the Berkeley YMCA to accommodate special needs students. The decision was based on the education code, said district spokesperson Mark Coplan. 

“It’s the same with our offices,” he said, referring to the Old City Hall building on Martin Luther King Jr. Way. Because the building is considered seismically unsafe, the structure is off-limits to students but can be used by adults. 

Coplan said the decision to bar the use of the pool came because the structure is also semismically unsafe and because of the general condition of the aging structure.›

The University of California continues to harbor big plans for a 152-acre parcel of land near door to a massive chemical plant on the southern Richmond shoreline—both as an academic research facility and as the potential home for cash-generating corporate research programs. 

But environmental hazards have postponed those plans until the state Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC) studies the site. 

When the university first took possession of the Richmond site in 1950, it offered just what the university wanted—lots of room to try out massive engineering projects away from the main campus, where future development was targeted for the school’s primary teaching mission. 

“The College of Engineering was interested in the site for large-scale testing facilities,” said Kevin Hufferd, project manager and senior planner for the university’s Facilities Services/Capital Projects staff. 

With room to spare the site allowed for testing of such large-scale projects, including a fog tunnel to test aircraft landing lights, test tracks for self-steering cars, testing facilities to measure the capacity of cables for the Bay Bridge and a massive “shaking table” to test architectural scale models for earthquake safety. 

The site also houses a Forest Products Laboratory, a major regional chemical testing for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and a regional library for the UC system.  

Future plans 

The university has been pondering ways to increase use of the field station, which Hufferd called “a wonderful piece of property” and the school’s largest off-campus possession. 

Sparsely and casually developed—Hufferd called it a “hodgepodge”—the site contains a number of 22 pre-1940 buildings rated as seismically poor and very poor in a 1997 survey. Hufferd said the university’s long-term goal is to develop the site as “an auxiliary high-end research campus, but the question is how to get there.” 

In the interim, he said, the school is considering adding private sector research facilities alongside the university’s as a means of generating revenue to fund infrastructure improvements. 

But the regulatory change has delayed the negotiations with Simeon Properties, the San Francisco-based development firm the university had picked as its potential partner in developing the site. 

“We thought we would place them on hold until we could see what would come out” of the administrative hand-over, Hufferd said. 

For the time being, “everything is on hold pending further feedback from the DTSC” and an evaluation by campus administration, which has yet to give final approval of the joint corporate/academic research park concept, Hufferd said. 

Of the 152 acres owned by the university, 100 consist of dry lands and the remainder is either shoreline marsh or submerged beneath the waters of the bay. 

In its call for development discussions, Hufferd’s staff proposed a project that would add 2.2 million square feet of new construction on 70 acres of the site. Structures now on the site total about 500,000 square feet. 

Part of the development would be purely academic, including an expansion of the 215,000-square-foot regional University of California Northern Regional Library Facility to 500,000 square feet. 

The climate-controlled library currently houses 7.7 million books from all Northern California UC campuses. The volumes are computer-indexed and stored according to size rather than subject matter or authorship. 

Despite the temporary setback, Hufferd said he is still very interested in pursuing the proposal, in which the university would retain ownership of the land. 

Because space leased to corporations would pay a possessory interest fee equivalent to property tax, the City of Richmond is also very interested in the proposal, said Steve Duran, the city’s Director of Community and Economic Development. 

Hufferd said development would occur over a number of years, and that in the long-run, the sites leased to corporations would revert to university use. 

“In the interim, it would provide a tax benefit to the community and help us create a critical mass of development to allow us to invest in infrastructure and amenities,” he added. 

No housing is planned for the site, and is precluded by the existing water board cleanup order. 

Officials also insist that the site poses no health risks to employees. 

Mark Freiberg, director of the university’s Office of Environment, Health & Safety, said the university recognized that residual contaminants remained at the site when they purchased the property in 1950, but he said that evaluations made at the time of purchase and in the years since “indicate that there is no hazard to the occupants.” 

Field station workers have repeatedly raised concerns about residual contamination at the site, but Freiberg said extensive testing over the years has never yielded evidence of health risks to employees. 

UC officials say they have worked hard to provide information to employees and the public. 

“We do struggle with how to get communications out effectively,” said Freiberg. 

Health concerns are evaluated as they come in, he said, “and we have yet to find any that actually pan out.” 

Reports are regularly posted on a web site—http://rfs.berkeley.edu/—and on bulletin boards at the facility. The web site also gives contact information for university officials, state and county regulators and others. 

“There is more current information on our web site than on the DTSC’s,” said Greg Haet, UCB’s associate director of environmental protection. “We post things more quickly.” 

“The rumors are frustrating,” said Christine Shaff, communications manager for Hufferd’s department. “We’re not getting the information to follow up on them.” 

Shaff said she has scheduled meetings with staff, and sends weekly updates to all who are interested while construction and remediation work is conducted. 

But along with the land, the university also inherited a toxic legacy, one which has stalled development plans and raised concerns by field station employees, neighbors and environmental activists. 

Contaminated earth 

Until two years before the purchase, the property had been the home of a plant where for 68 years the California Cap Company had used a particularly dangerous chemical to manufacture a variety of explosives. 

At the site once known as Stege Station, California Cap manufactured a variety of explosives. But their primary product was the blasting cap, a small metal-clad explosive ignited by a burning fuse or an electric charge and used to detonate other explosives like dynamite and TNT. 

The explosive compound in the caps, mercury fulminate, is made from mercury—a hazardous metal in itself and the source of a variety of other toxic compounds, one of which—methyl mercury, derived from a variety of sources—has made San Francisco Bay fish unsafe for pregnant women to consume. 

California Cap also added other contaminants to the soil, most notably lead and copper. 

When the university acquired the land in 1950, the plant itself had been demolished and removed, though a collection of smaller buildings remained—along with some of the contaminants. 

But there were other contaminants, as well, coming from right next door. 

Toxic Neighbor 

When UC bought the 152-acre property, the largest source of contamination lay immediately to the east, in the massive manufacturing complex that was then churning out a host of noxious compounds, including sulfuric acid and a variety of herbicides and pesticides. 

The plant, owned by Stauffer Chemical and a variety of successor firms, generated a massive amount of a dangerous wastes, including hundreds of thousands of cubic yards of iron pyrite ash. 

Pyrite, a brittle metal commonly known as “Fool’s Gold,” is composed of iron and sulfur. Heated, the metal releases the sulfur, which is used in the manufacture of acid. Some remains with the iron, and when wet, the residual acid produces an acid solution and releases other metals that naturally occur in pyrite into the environment. 

Pyrite ash was used as landfill both at the chemical plant and at the field station. 

Acid production ceased in 1970, but the production of other hazardous chemicals continued until the plant closed. 

The San Francisco Bay Regional Water Quality Control Board exerted its jurisdiction over the Stauffer site in 1980, when tests revealed that chemicals from the complex were leaching out into the waters of the bay. 

The board’s jurisdiction also extended to the Richmond Field Station. In 1999, the agency ordered evaluations of both sites, and followed up with a pair of cleanup orders two years later, one for the Stauffer site and the other for the RFS. 

Controversial cleanup 

While the university was legally responsible for cleaning up the legacy of California Cap, AstraZeneca—the giant London-based pharmaceutical and chemical manufacturer—was held liable both for the Stauffer site and for contamination at RFS that had come from the Stauffer plant. 

While the pharmaceutical giant hired an Emeryville-based private contractor to conduct their cleanup, UC opted to do its own work, relying on the scientific expertise of its own staff. 

The plan the water board approved for cleanup at the Stauffer site proved controversial from the start, in part because it called for burial of most of the hazardous wastes on site rather than their removal to an approval toxic waste disposal landfill—the costlier option chosen by the university. 

“We’ve spent over $16 million to date,” said Mark Freiberg, director of the university’s Office of Environment, Health & Safety. 

But community suspicions generated over the Stauffer cleanup—starting with the unregulated demolition of plant buildings which generated massive amounts of dust—had created a critical, often hostile environment. 

Suspicions heightened after the Stauffer site was sold on Dec. 31, 2002 to Cherokee-Simeon Ventures LLC, a consortium formed by Simeon Properties—the university’s would-be partner at the fiield staiton—and Cherokee Investment Partners, a firm which specializes in funding projects developed on restored contaminated sites. 

After the firm found few takers for its planned research park at the site, Cherokee-Simeon unveiled a scheme to build a 1330-unit high-rise housing project directly atop the entombed 350,000 cubic yards of pyrite cinders and other hazardous wastes assembled during the cleanup. 

The announcement served as a catalyst to neighbors and political activists, and they began mobilizing around the issue of forcing a change in regulatory oversight. 

Instead of the regional water board—an agency without a single toxicologist on its staff—groups like Bay Area Residents for Responsible Development (BARRD), the Richmond Progressive Alliance (RPA) and the West County Toxics Coalition called for oversight by the state Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC), an agency staffed with a wide range of scientific experts. 

Their cause was joined by East Bay Assemblymember Loni Hancock, along with Cindy Montanez, another powerful Assembly Democrat, followed by the Richmond City Council. 

While the activists’ initial focus was aimed at Campus Bay, their focus soon expanded to include the field station—especially after the announcement that UC Berkeley had selected Simeon Properties as their potential developer of the proposed academic/corporate research park expansion of the field station.  

UC Berkeley officials—Freiberg included—opposed a handover, but after the Richmond City Council joined the call for DTSC control and the state Environmental Protection Agency ordered the transfer. 

With the DTSC takeover came the creation of a Community Advisory Group composed of officials, activists and other citizens who advise the agency on what should be included in cleanup plans. 

That panel has called for a thorough characterization of the field station—a detailed examination of all parts of the site to determine what contaminants remain and where. 

Meanwhile, plans for the housing complex at Campus Bay have been placed on hold. One thing is certain. The university’s efforts will be closely monitored, not only by the DTSC, but by the community. 

Union officials like Joan Lichterman and activists like BAARD’s Sherry Padgett say they are concerned that the university’s drive for growth may come at the expense of workers and the community, and they say they’ll be keeping a close eye on the field station in the months and years to come.â

A test dig at the Richmond shoreline site where a retired UC Berkeley worker said barrels of possible radioactive waste had been buried has turned up no evidence of radioactivity or barrels, a state agency reported. 

The California Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC) reported the results last week following the conclusion of the dig at a site between Marina Bay and the UC Berkeley Richmond Field Station. 

“No metal drums were found and no evidence of metal drums was observed” during the investigation, DTSC Public Information Officer Angela Blanchette said. 

State officials had been alerted to the site (known as Meeker Beach) by Rick Alcaraz, who said he and other university employees had dumped drums from the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory at the site three decades ago. 

A preliminary UC Berkeley exploration had determined that metal had been buried beneath the surface at the site, and the agency hired a private contractor, Engineering/Remediation Resources Group (EERG) of Concord, to conduct a test dig at the site to search for radioactivity. 

The site is no longer located on UC property but on land owned by the Richmond Redevelopment Agency, which gave permission for the survey and subsequent excavations. 

EERG dug two 12-foot-deep trenches at the site Monday, and “no metal drums were found and no evidence of metal drums was observed in either trench,” reported the DTSC in a report issued Tuesday morning. 

Detection equipment also recorded no readings of radioactivity or harmful volatile organic compounds above normal background levels.

Sometimes, apparently, government can act quickly. 

Less than a week after a Daily Planet story appeared concerning long lines and inadequate staffing at the Adeline Street Post Office in Berkeley, a post office spokesperson called to say that the problem has been solved. 

“We have made adjustments to the situation at the South Berkeley Post Office,” Berkeley U.S. Postal Service Customer Service Coordinator Mercer W. Jones said in a telephone message. “We have assigned another employee to cover lunches and breaks as well as for some additional time. Hopefully you’ll have a more pleasant experience if you go there again.” 

In its initial article, the Daily Planet had reported waiting a half hour in line to see the single clerk assigned to the Adeline Street Post Office. The article also reported the service window closed three times a day during the single clerk’s half hour lunch break and two 15-minute additional breaks. 

A check of the post office on Friday afternoon following Jones’ call showed a second employee covering the service window while the first clerk took her afternoon break. While there had consistently been about a dozen customers waiting in line during the Planet’s first visit, only three customers were there when the Planet made the follow-up visit after the new employee was assigned. 

South Berkeley business owner Jesse Palmer, who had initiated a petition campaign late last year to ask the post office to increase staffing at the Adeline Street station, said he was cautiously optimistic about the changes. 

“It’s fantastic that the post office appears to have responded, and I’m hopeful that things will improve,” Palmer said. 

He added, however, that “there were two issues involved in our complaint. One of them was about the window closing down during breaks. The second one was about the long lines.” 

Palmer said that the second complaint—the long lines—could only be addressed if the new employee is present at the Adeline Street facility all day and works the window simultaneously with the original employee during crowded periods. Saying that he had not yet heard from Berkeley Post Office officials directly, Palmer said, “It’s still too early to tell if this will be a permanent improvement.” 

—

Prosecutors and Internal Affairs investigators have launched a criminal investigation into the handling of drug evidence at the Berkeley Police Department. 

BPD Chief Doug Hambleton said in a statement released Friday that he ordered on Jan. 6 a review of drug evidence handling which uncovered “irregularities in the handling of some of the drug evidence.” 

The criminal investigation “to determine if any improper or illegal conduct may have occurred” was launched after the chief met to discuss the findings with Alameda County District Attorney Tom Orloff. 

According to a report published in the Oakland Tribune, the investigation centers on impounded heroin and one officer, a sergeant with over two decades on the force who has worked on the narcotics and robbery units. 

A parallel administrative investigation of possible violation of department policies and procedures will be conducted by BPD’s own Internal Affairs Bureau. 

“The public should be assured that Chief Hambleton and all members of the BPD take this matter very seriously,” declared the department statement. 

—

The panel charged with helping draft a new plan for downtown Berkeley will hear from a panel of experts Wednesday discussing “What Makes a Great Downtown?” 

The meeting, scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. in room 22 Warren Hall on the UC Berkeley campus, is located just east of the intersection of University Avenue and Oxford Street. The meeting is co-sponsored by UCB’s Advisory Committee on the Downtown Plan. 

Creation of the new plan was mandated as one of the conditions of the settlement agreement that ended the city’s lawsuit against the university’s Long Range Development Plan 2020. 

Panelists will include: 

• Former San Francisco Planning Director and UCB Professor Emeritus Allan Jacobs; 

• Dena Belzer, a member of the board of the Center for Transit-Oriented Development and a principal of Strategic Economics, a consulting firm; 

• Donlyn Lyndon, an emeritus UCB professor of architecture and urban design and the editor of PLACES, an environmental design journal; 

• Paul Okamoto of Okamoto Saijo Architecture and a former board member of Urban Ecology and the Greenbelt Alliance. 

• A representative of the Berkeley Architectural Heritage Association. 

Among the subjects to be discussed related to the downtown plan are economics, livability, cultural identity, social equity, design and environment. 

—

The Berkeley City Council will face a relatively light agenda when they hold their first meeting of 2006 Tuesday. 

Among the items to be discussed are: 

• An amendment to the sidewalk vending ordinance to bar future sidewalk flower vendors from setting up within 300 feet of existing flower shops. 

• An amendment by Councilmember Dona Spring to the new standards of care passed at the council’s last meeting governing the care of dogs kept outdoors. Spring’s amendment would exempt canines kept by the homeless, which would continue to be covered by existing codes governing cruelty to animals. 

• Amendments to the city’s Coast Live Oak Moratorium Ordinance barring excessive and injurious pruning of the trees—“excessive” being defined as removal of more than 25 percent of the leaf, stem or root system within a two-year period. 

The meeting begins at 7 p.m. in council chambers at the Maudelle Shirek Building—Old City Hall—2134 Martin Luther King Jr. Way. 

—

Toward the end of the Jan. 13 article “A Samizdat For Our Time,” quotation marks were mistakenly omitted from a quote by playwright Harold Pinter, giving the impression that the words were those of the story’s author. We regret the error..

Berkeley High students Robert Coil, a senior, and Alexis Hooper, a junior, are two of the most gracious teens you could hope to meet. They have ambition, good manners, and guts—the kind of kids who would make their parents proud, if only their parents were around. 

Because of their families’ problems, the two have been living in a group home in Berkeley, one of several operating in the Bay Area under the auspices of the Fred Finch Youth Center. On Jan. 10 they were notified that they will have to leave by the end of the month, and they have no idea where they’ll go. 

The Fred Finch Youth House administration is converting the home into a facility for young adults 18-24 years old, including those recently emancipated from the foster care system. According to Robert and Alexis, the group home isn’t making enough money on its younger residents, and state law prohibits youth under 18 from living in group homes where adults also reside. Currently the home’s only other resident is an Oakland Tech student who has already turned 18. 

“We’ve got each other’s backs,” says Robert, a year-long resident of the South Berkeley home, who met Alexis when she moved in about six months ago. The pair—he’s slender and soft-spoken with gentle brown eyes, and she has close-cropped black hair and a confident demeanor—call each other “brother” and “sister.” Their bond is evident from the moment they start talking. They finish each other’s sentences or playfully tease each other.  

“I grew up a lot faster than I was supposed to,” says Alexis. 

Alexis had been kicked out of her single mother’s home “many times,” ultimately for good, over disagreements about Alexis’ sexuality among other issues. She wound up homeless for two months yet managed to get herself to school at Skyline High in Oakland, maintaining a 4.0 grade point average despite her dyslexia, before moving to Berkeley. 

Alexis is interested in “the science of the brain.” With the same certainty and confidence as someone who’s always had a loving home and a roof over her head, she says specifically she’d like to be an “FBI profiler” and “study the brains of serial killers.” She had taken anger management classes, and by the time a spot opened for her at the Fred Finch Youth House she was on a direct path toward self-acceptance, graduation (from BHS, she hopes), a four-year-college, and police academy. 

Robert, who talks with a slight speech impediment, has no doubt that he wants to be a firefighter and an EMT. He was adopted when he was 1, but his adoptive mother and later his stepmother both died. His adoptive father, who lives in Grass Valley, is unable to continue raising him. Besides earning good grades, Robert has a part-time job teaching arts and crafts to fifth- and sixth-graders at Berkeley Arts Magnet school. He has already ordered his graduation gown, but now he wonders whether he’ll be able to remain at BHS to wear it. 

Robert and Alexis both desperately hope to stay at Berkeley High, and they want to continue living together. Against all odds, Alexis and Robert have been thriving, due in part to the stability they’ve found living at the Fred Finch Youth House, but also because of the support they give each other. A sympathetic staff is apparently powerless to arrange for Alexis and Robert to remain together in the house that has become their home. 

The two feel that, as displaced youth, they have few advocates outside the Fred Finch Youth Services organization to help with their transition. A mental health therapist who has worked with them only since November has also been unable to find an option in the East Bay for either one, and cannot provide any assurance that either will be able to continue at the school where they’ve both found a niche. 

As of press time, calls to the Fred Finch Youth House administration concerning this issue had not been returned. 

›

Berkeley High School Principal Jim Slemp’s State of the School speech last week gave the picture of a high school that is ready to step into the future. 

Before 200 parents, many of whom were parents of 8th graders, Slemp outlined the vision for the high school and presented his accomplishments of the past two and a half years in his Jan. 10 speech. These accomplishments had eluded his predecessors for over a decade and range from the mundane—such as having clean grounds, clean bathrooms and improved security—to the less routine—such as making sure the high school that not too long ago received only conditional accreditation is now accredited until 2011. 

Slemp stated that this significant accreditation awarded by the Western Association of Colleges and Schools was based upon the new high school plan, which took two years to develop. The high school is now “goal focused” toward becoming a learning community where “all” 3,263 currently enrolled students would graduate with the skills to go onto a four-year college, he said. 

Slemp also reaffirmed the high school’s commitment to diversity, stating that all small schools and academic choice would reflect the diversity of the entire student body. There were several questions from parents about students who lived in the “wrong” zip code and were not accepted into a small school or academic choice. Slemp told parents that they are to “expect quality teaching” and that the “comprehensive high school still does good things.” 

Slemp stated that Berkeley High is “one of the top high schools in the country.” Comparison of Berkeley High’s college entrance SAT scores for high school seniors confirms that Berkeley High School’s combined totals for the SAT verbal and math scores are higher than most other public high schools in Alameda County, except for Piedmont High and Albany High, and compares favorably with other top public schools in neighboring areas. 

And while the scores of African-American students at Berkeley High were the lowest among Berkeley High School students who took the SAT test, these scores were still higher than the school average of the best of Oakland’s high schools.  

Slemp also cited the increased number of students who enrolled in advanced placement (AP) classes. Over the past year, the number of students taking AP courses at Berkeley High has substantially increased from 905 students in 2004 to 1,334 in 2005. This included a 35 percent increase in African-American students taking AP classes to a total of 97. Slemp said he was proud that the African-American students did as well on the AP exam as white students. 

Starting this September, Slemp said he wants to see an International Baccalaureate program added because he thought that such a rigorous and challenging curriculum would increase student achievement and help eliminate the achievement gap. 

Slemp said his goal is to monitor classroom practices by being in every classroom once every two weeks.  

Seniors Niles Dhar and Huey Lerer said that they see Principal Slemp frequently around the school. Lerer said that Slemp “actually cares about kids because if he sees you out of class, he doesn’t get you into trouble, he finds a place for you to go.” 

Dhar added that Slemp’s comment to students at an assembly the week before, that when other students are “messing up the school with graffiti, tell them how you feel, but students shouldn’t snitch,” was a good approach. 

Andrew Hoeft-Edenfield commented that the creation last year of on-site suspension, instead of sending students home was also a good idea, and that since transferring to Berkeley, he hadn’t gotten into a single fight. 

Juniors Melina Pauline, Alina Schanke-Mahl and Judith Joy all said that they regularly see Principal Slemp in their classes, but not for very long. Pauline stated that Slemp “pops in, waves and leaves.”  

All students interviewed agreed that graffiti is now hardly visible, and that the new bathrooms in the D building were nice. However, many students complained that the C building only had one bathroom for four floors of classrooms. 

Stephanie Allen, business agent for the custodial union, commended Slemp for advocating and obtaining additional custodial staff for the high school. She said that before the additional staffing, it just wasn’t possible to keep the huge campus high school clean. 

Slemp vowed to continue cleaning up the school and work his way into the classrooms. 

›

In Sunday’s New York Times Book Review, I read that Louis Sachar has finally written a sequel to his best-selling, award-winning young adult novel, Holes. Reading the review of this new novel, Small Steps, reminded me of a trip I took three years ago. Although I didn’t go far, it made a lasting impression, just as the book Holes made an impression when I read it back in 1999.  

In the spring of 2003, my friend Jernae asked me to help chaperone her seventh-grade class to the Metreon to see the Hollywood movie version of Holes. I met her and her classmates in front of their school, St. Paul of the Shipwreck in Hunters Point. When the No. 15 Muni bus pulled to the corner where we stood, the driver opened the door and shouted, “Oh lord! If I’d known Shipwreck was waitin’ for me, I wouldn’t of stopped.” Then she laughed and let us on her bus.  

The bus ride felt as if I was in a shipwreck, not just riding with Shipwreck. Third Street was, and still is, under construction. The No. 15, a double-length bus, swayed back and forth, dangerously close to huge potholes, piles of rubble, and orange-clad Caltrans workers. It was not smooth sailing. 

But most of the kids were occupied with electronic devices, and they seemed not to notice the rocking and rolling. Jernae’s teacher, Mr. Quinn, told me class trips were much more peaceful than in years past. “The noise level used to be off the charts,” he said, demonstrating by rolling his eyes and making little circles with his hands around his ears. “A Shipwreck class trip used to be just that: a shipwreck. But now they all have cell phones, Game Boys, and CD players. Shipwreck kids are multi-taskers.” 

When we finally got off the bus, within the theater, and into our seats, the lights dimmed and a hush fell over the crowd. We were transported to Green Lake, Texas, where our hero, Stanley Yelnats, has been sent to juvenile detention. Stanley digs holes every day in a dry lake bed under the hot desert sun in order, he is told, to build his character. In truth, the wicked warden is looking for buried treasure and is using the young inmates as her personal excavating machines. Stanley has to fight off vicious rattlesnakes, deadly yellow-spotted lizards, and other juvenile delinquents. He’s been sent to Camp Green Lake unfairly. The future looks grim. 

When the movie ended, Mr. Quinn asked his students which did they liked better, the book or film version. “The book!” shouted all 14 Shipwreckers, and then they got back on the No. 15 and stared at their Game Boys. In front of the school, at the corner of Jamestown Avenue and Third Street, we parted company. 

A few weeks later the Archdiocese of San Francisco closed down St. Paul of the Shipwreck Elementary School as a cost-saving measure. The students scattered. Some enrolled in different Catholic schools across the city; others went to public schools. Jernae bounced around in several parochial and San Francisco Unified junior highs before finally winding up at her current high school in Vallejo.  

There won’t, of course, be anymore class trips with the Shipwreckers, which is too bad, because I really liked their M.O. But if I’m lucky, I’ll find another group of seventh graders, or at least one pre-teen to read Louis Sachar’s newest novel with. Small Steps is recommended for children age ten and older. It features two of the characters from the first novel, Armpit and X-Ray. According to the Times review, there are “...no poison lizards or buried treasure, just racism, adult indifference and the arduous daily struggle against them.” Sounds like a good book for all of us. 

Louis Sachar will read from Small Steps (published by Delacorte Press) on Jan. 26 at Books Inc., 3515 California St., San Francisco, at 6:30 p.m.; and on Jan. 27 at Stanley Middle School, 3455 School St., Lafayette, at 7 p.m.  

›

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.

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CAMPAIGN FINANCE 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Perhaps Steve Geller (Letters, Jan. 10) forgot that Berkeley voters rejected a City Council initiative for public campaign financing a short while ago by a huge margin. 

It was rejected because it was revealed that given the present state of our democratic experiment, such public campaign financing with our tax dollars mainly benefits (our) incumbents. Apparently, this prospect horrified an overwhelming number of Berkeley voters. 

Given the Loni/Tom axis, one wonders if Loni’s AB582 is a way to circumvent the will of Berkeley voters. 

Maris Arnold 

• 

PHIL ELWOOD 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

While in his mid 20s, Phil Elwood taught civics at Albany High School. His classes almost always segued into discussions about the contemporary jazz musicians of the day, and on many days, and always on Fridays, after a pro functionary lecture, he’d use a portable phonograph to play 78 rpm records. His collection of records numbered in the many thousands. For many students, this was their introduction to jazz and for some of us, jazz music became a life-long passion as a result of his unbridled enthusiasm and knowledge. 

Michael Yovino-Young 

• 

AC TRANSIT 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I found out yesterday that, without any consulting of the community, AC Transit plans to close several bus stops on the No. 51 line through Berkeley. One of them is University/California and the other is Durant/Oxford. There may be others.  

The closures will happen on Jan. 29, which gives about two weeks notice. 

The notices say that this will “standardize bus stop distances” and “streamline service.” 

On one short bus ride, however, I found five bus stop duos that are as close as, or closer than, the distance between the stops slated for closure and the next one down the line. How is this “standardizing bus stop distances?” 

At one stop, mine at University and California, at least 30 people use the stop regularly. Three of us are disabled, including two with mobility impairments and one blind. How is this serving the community? 

The bus service at my stop was already cut 50 percent when AC Transit cut the No. 67 bus, leaving the No. 51 the only bus serving that stop. 

Clearly this decision was made by someone with a map and a pencil, not by anyone who bothered to come and check out the stops.  

I ask bus riders to e-mail AC transit and ask them to not cut the proposed stops. 

Dianne Leonard 

• 

MAIL DELIVERY 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Another tale of woe. I’m elderly so a few years ago I had railings installed on each side of my front steps so I’d have something to hold on to. My mailman refused to put his hands through the railings to put the mail in the box though there was plenty of room. He also refused to climb the three steps to the porch to put the mail in the back of the built-in mailbox. Instead he threw the mail on the porch. On one occasion this included a box of checks which would have been a real gift to any thief. 

I told the mailman I guessed I’d have to put up a new mailbox at the bottom of the steps. He said I couldn’t do that without a permit from the post office and he continued to throw the mail onto the porch. I wrote to the superintendent of the Berkeley system asking for a permit and never got an answer. In desperation I bought and installed the new box anyway. 

Nancy Ward 

• 

EAST BAY EXPRESS 

To East Bay Express Executive Editor Michael Mechanic, 

I am glad to see that you read the Berkeley Daily Planet, I certainly do faithfully. It is such a blessing to have this interesting, informative and authentically local paper in our community. I’m sorry, but the noticeable decline of the East Bay Express since its sale to the New Times Chain has made it unworthy of my precious time. Frankly, I thought Ms. O’Malley hit it on the head with the “cowboy libertarianism” comment. The common tone of your paper is to sensationalize and de-merit issues like they don’t actually affect the lives of people around here. Chris Thompson is a prime example. His snide belittling of the real struggles of the times is a lot like the ignorance cowboys had of the depth and beauty of the natives they were harming. Puhlease! Real journalism knows the important role it plays in creating a wise and just society. The Express is not at this time. And you even messed up your Billboard section so the paper is useless for the simple apolitical task of helpfully listing local nightlife/events. Maybe your corporate overlords don’t have to visit often as you have quite successfully destroyed our local weekly all on your own. 

Cynthia Johnson 

• 

TRANSIT VILLAGE 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Dear Mayor Bates and Councilmember Anderson, 

I appreciated reading about the Ashby BART transit village plans in your e-tree newsletter and the Berkeley Daily Planet. As you know, this is a very contentious issue for our neighborhood. 

Your article states clearly that the city does not intend to use eminent domain, yet it's my understanding that the current plans allow for eminent domain within a quarter-mile radius. What guarantee is the City of Berkeley willing and able to make in regard to this particular issue? 

It’s also been my understanding that the zoning for this project would change the overall character of the neighborhood by rezoning for higher density. Your letter again refutes that idea. How will it be possible to re-zone only for the project, but keep the current zoning for the surrounding areas? Again, what guarantees can the city offer in this regard? 

Lastly, so far, it appears the City of Berkeley has done little to support broad community discussion. It’s been suggested that the city withdrew the rental waiver on the South Berkeley Senior Center for the community discussion slated for Jan. 17 at 7 p.m.. How does the city propose to reverse the contentious course that has been set? 

I would like to be able to support this project, but without guarantees on the first two critical issues, and progress on the last, I don’t see how it can develop the broad community support such a project requires. 

Please do whatever you can to address these issues, and perhaps a more meaningful dialog and process can begin to take shape. 

Julie Chervin 

• 

BERKELY HONDA PICKETERS 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

D. Doulgeropoulos’ letter complains that Berkeley Honda picketers are “paid professional picketers” rather than dedicated picketers. But two paid picketers, Judy Shelton and Jennifer Kidder, spend more hours each week protesting the inhumane practices of Berkeley Honda than the number of hours they are gainfully employed. Another paid picketer is a striking worker. The small hourly wage helps cover some of his living expenses. 

To put the issue in perspective, the more than 50 picketers who protest every week management’s refusal to seriously negotiate with the union do not receive a single penny for their efforts. And they pay their own gas going back and forth. Their compensation is the satisfaction they enjoy for taking a principled stance on behalf of working people who are standing tall and proud against wealthy, influential, and callous business men.  

In addition, many progressive organizations have joined us. A large contingent from the Berkeley Federation of Teachers, including its president and vice president, just picketed at Berkeley Honda. None of them was paid. Nor are members of the UC Berkeley Labor Coalition and SEIU 790, who are joining us on the picket line. The Gray Panthers, Green Party, and the Social Justice Committee of St. Joseph Church are also among our supporters. Members of the Wellstone Democratic Club picket Berkeley Honda regularly. 

S. Doulgeropoulis writes that “I was not interested in anything but having my car repaired, and that I was not going to go elsewhere”. But our wonderful activist individuals and organizations have very different motives for coming to the dealership. Making money as a condition for working on progressive causes is certainly not among them.  

Harry Brill 

Co-Chairman, Berkeley Honda Labor and Community Coalition 

• 

POINT ISABEL 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

My partner and I went to Point Isabel on Sunday, Jan. 8. It was a beautiful day and people and dogs abounded.  

My partner was ahead of me when a woman called her dog. The dog tore down the hill and hit my partner broadside, knocking her off her feet. I watched in horror as my partner’s body slammed to the ground. 

By the time I reached her, a stranger was cradling her head, which was bleeding profusely. Several people offered to call 911.  

The dog’s owner sat off to the side, and asked if I wanted her to stick around. I told the woman I wanted her name and phone number, but I didn’t have anything to write with. She said she had pen and paper in her car. She left the scene, and didn’t return. 

Meanwhile, another bystander got a blanket and covered my partner, who shivering uncontrollably. 

The ambulance arrived, and took my partner to the hospital. The puncture wound on her scalp bled for five hours. Her right ankle was broken. She is bruised from head to toe.  

My partner has lived with chronic illness and disabilities for many years. Walking is one of her greatest joys. Point Isabel has always seemed the best of all worlds—great views, bay breezes, and fabulous dogs and their humans. 

While we are deeply grateful for the outpouring of help and concern from many strangers, we are disappointed and angry at the woman whose dog caused the accident. The dog did not intend to cause harm. In fact, she seemed to know something was wrong and nosed and sniffed my partner. The owner was less concerned.  

My partner has osteoporosis and osteoarthritis. She could have broken her neck, her spine, or her hip. The head wound could have caused bleeding in the brain. How could the dog’s owner leave the scene? 

In many ways, we are fortunate. We have medical insurance, and most of our costs are covered. My sick leave allows me to stay home until my partner can fend for herself. Even so, my partner will have limited mobility for the next six weeks. She is not able to use crutches. 

Since Sunday, we’ve heard about two other “fast-moving dog” accidents at Point Isabel. We are both passionate dog lovers. We want dogs to have a place to run and play. However, when dogs are off leash around people of all ages and abilities, there will always be the potential for an accident. As a community, let’s find a way to keep the park safe for dogs and people.  

Nora Hale 

Richmond 

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Editors, Daily Planet: 

Does my recollection fail me or has the editorial staff of the Berkeley Daily Planet periodically excoriated various local free newspaper rags for selling out their journalistic integrity by nakedly promoting the interests of an advertiser in their so-called news coverage? 

Now I read in the Planet ad nauseum about Anna’s Jazz Island’s troubles with its neighbor Glass Onion Catering Company, noting the important proviso in the article, “Neither Glass Onion nor Kennedy was contacted for this story, which is based wholly on the allegations in de Leon’s complaint.” Flip to page five of the Planet and, surprise(!), there’s an ad for Anna’s Jazz Island. 

Is there any other disclosure the Planet would like to make regarding any old personal friendships or other relationships between staff members of the Planet and de Leon who is a fellow traveler of the same generation and ilk? 

Regardless of that, now that the Planet is littered with ads for Scientology in various vacuous guises, what are we to expect next from articles attributed only to the “Daily Planet Staff”? Perhaps an angry, one-sided apologia for the life and works of L. Ron Hubbard wholly based on material supplied by the Church of Scientology? 

O once esteemed Daily Planet! To what depths of journalistic turpitude you have sunk in desperation for an advertising buck! Perhaps only even heavier doses of anti-Israel and anti-Neo-Con (the latter as commonly understood code for the former) screeds could now resuscitate your clearly failing enterprise. 

Edna Spector 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

As the management company for the Gaia Arts Center I was astounded to see an article published in your paper regarding a private event that was hosted at the Gaia Arts Center on Saturday, Jan. 7. The party was the 18th birthday celebration of a local Latino Berkeley High School honor student. The birthday party was a private celebration and was not facilitated in any way by Glass Onion Catering, Gaia Arts Management or Panoramic Interests. The student’s father is not an employee of Panoramic Interests, and is in fact the owner of his own company. No alcohol was being served at the event. 

The amount of erroneous facts that have been quoted in the article make it difficult to address each one so I will simply address the major issues. There were claims that the Gaia Arts Center and Glass Onion Catering have engaged in the illegal sale of alcohol. All public events hosted at the Gaia Arts Center that fall under ABC regulations are required to obtain proper permits from the ABC before alcohol can be served. These permits require the approval of the Berkeley Police Department and the building owner before they can be approved by the ABC. According to officials at the ABC, neither Glass Onion Catering nor the Gaia Arts Center is under investigation by the ABC in any way.  

Your article further states there were masses of young drunk adults gathered outside the Arts Center alleging there were fights and other illegal activity. According to the police record there were no arrests or citations written . I am appalled at the lack of journalistic integrity required to print such a piece. You stated in your article that you did not contact Glass Onion Catering, Gaia Arts Management or Panoramic Interests, I would hope that you would have checked you facts more carefully.  

If you really want to know what is going on at the Gaia Arts Center, I would encourage you and your staff to attend one of the many artistic or community functions we host weekly. The Gaia Arts Center opened its doors in July. In August, we introduced “The Marsh,” a well-known San Francisco Theater Company to downtown Berkeley. Since their debut in August The Marsh has had weekly theater performances, more than 70 in total. The Marsh has introduced more than six new performers to downtown Berkeley, and I believe the Gaia Arts Center is the only facility in downtown Berkeley that can boast weekly theater 12 months a year!  

In addition to weekly theater, the mezzanine has an ongoing art exhibit by local Berkeley artist Carol Brightman (curator of the Addison Street Window Project), Audrey Wallace Taylor and Sylvia Susman. Berkeley’s non-profit and local business community have also embraced the facility. We have hosted fundraisers, meetings and/or seminars for the following organizations: Cal State 9 Credit Union, BAHIA, the mayor’s office, Berkeley Repertory Theatre, Hop-A-Long Animal Rescue and Clif Bar. In the next few months we will be hosting events sponsored by Berkeley Food & Housing, the Berkeley Art Museum, and The VERGE (a local nonprofit committed to supporting youth music and art programs). The San Francisco City Church will also be using the facility temporarily for worship services as it searches for a permanent location to house its East Bay parishioners.  

This is what should be making headlines. The Gaia Arts Center has become and will continue to be a positive presence in the downtown Berkeley community. We should all be applauding the positive impact the new community center has had.  

Gloria Atherstone 

Gaia Arts Management Inc.

You’d never know it from reading his press releases, but Mayor Bates is pushing a proposal to effectively eliminate Berkeley’s Landmarks Preservation Ordinance (LPO). He recently told a group of concerned citizens, “This is going to happen, I have a majority on the council.” But there’s more to it than a council majority. 

Across the bay in Palo Alto, where I once lived, demolitions have averaged nearly 150 per year since its preservation ordinance was lost in 2000. As a result that city no longer has a single neighborhood which qualifies as an historic district. Mayor Bates is proposing the same fate for Berkeley. I wonder if we are ready for McMansions and tract condos by the hundreds? 

Interestingly, the mayor’s proposal starts off recognizing Berkeley’s unique architecture and neighborhoods and the need to conserve both. Reading farther into it, however, makes clear the proposal’s intention is exactly the opposite. Most importantly the proposal would prevent consideration of neighborhood context by eliminating the “structures of merit” category entirely. At the heart of the issue are these structures of merit, buildings which were not designed by a famous architect like Julia Morgan or lived in by a famous person but are fundamental to the character of their neighborhood. Without this category the LPO would only apply to the few dozen stand-alone structures which qualify for the state or national registers. This revision alone would attract developers to traditional neighborhoods, away from the city’s many blighted lots. It is not a smart-growth proposition by any measure. 

Why are Mayor Bates and the Planning Department spending so much time and effort attacking the LPO? The reason most often cited is that it is in violation of the state Permit Streamlining Act (PSA). However, no developers have complained of PSA violations nor have any been attributed to the LPO. In truth the PSA and state environmental law (CEQA) explicitly allow for more than enough time to perform historic reviews. 

Obviously, the Permit Streamlining Act is a red herring. The real beneficiaries of Mayor Bates’ LPO revision efforts would be big developers. The same individuals who don’t actually live in Berkeley and are frequently afforded subsidies, fee reductions and zoning “adjustments” while our local homeowners, carpenters, painters and electricians are shortchanged by increasing permit delays and fee hikes. This local version of corporate welfare is no different from that practiced by Schwarzenegger in Sacramento or Bush in Washington. 

Politics aside the real question is what would Berkeley look like in 10 or 20 years were the mayor’s LPO revision efforts to succeed? We need only look back 40 years for the answer. Demolition permits were doled out by the dozen in the 60s and early 70s. It was during this time that Berkeley lost many residents to suburban flight, property tax rolls fell, crime increased, and civic pride plummeted. The city is still suffering the effects of those demolitions. We responded by passing a Neighborhood Preservation Initiative in the 1973 election from which the council created the LPO in 1974. Have we already forgotten why? Do we really need to relive the city’s most difficult decade to remember how quickly neighborhoods can decline?  

Roger Marquis is a local computer security consultant and a UC graduate.

Last weekend my son was confronted by a team of police in a parking lot when he was returning from watching the Chronicles of Narnia. He was held at bay on suspicion of robbing the nearby Circuit City store even though the description of the suspect was i n no way similar to his physical features except that he is an African-American.  

He was ultimately released but not without substantial emotional distress. The incident, the first of its kind for him, has officially initiated him as a black male in America. Ironically, the incident occurred just weeks after a lengthy debate that was held among the student body and faculty of his high school about whether racism is still a factor in the East Bay.  

As rewarding as it may be at times, being the parent of a 16-year-old is no easy task. There are many lessons we must teach about the finer points of getting along in the world, even when we’d rather not, especially the message I needed to deliver to him about the varying levels of freedom in America.  

Here i s my message to my 16-year-old son:  

Freedom has a different ring. 

Even though you maintain an A average in math and science at one of the most prestigious high schools in the nation, even though you are fluent in French and play on the tennis team, eve n though you are a featured musician in a local youth orchestra, in spite of all of the good you will do in life helping others, in the eyes of the police and the majority population of Americans, you are black and therefore a criminal.  

Many of your fri ends live in upscale residential areas where it is not safe for you to walk at night when you visit them because the neighbors will automatically suspect you of wrongdoing. You will be followed when you go shopping, especially if you choose to shop in ups cale department stores.  

Since you have started driving, you also need to know that you will most likely be pulled over by the police, even though you are not speeding, have current registration and insurance and have your seat belt fastened. 

It is a ge neral societal policy, my son, that black youths are questioned for crimes more frequently than any other segment of the population. These incidents create fear and distress for you, but just imagine what it must be like for other young black males target ed for this discrimination. Most do not have the resources or an advocate to fight back. 

Recent studies on health disparities of ethnic groups have proven decidedly how social stress can have a devastatingly negative effect on normal physiologic function ing. This association holds for most chronic illnesses, including hypertension, diabetes and coronary artery disease. The psycho-social stress caused by these insidious racist incidents builds up over time, affected by one incident after another. The para noia about future experiences only adds to the stress level. 

When researchers control for variables such as education level, income and other socio-economic factors, African-American males, whether Harvard- or Yale-trained professionals, or not, are stil l more likely to have a shorter life span. Living in a racist society is deadly. 

There are hard lessons for a 16-year-old to learn, and even more difficult for a parent to teach. 

Carolyn Doelling is an Oakland resident.›n

Thanks for publishing a lengthy obituary on Campbell Coe, one of Telegraph Avenue’s colorful characters and an important person in the local music scene. Scott Hambly’s writing evokes the wide-ranging talents of a true “Renaissance man” and observes his conversational style thoughtfully. His description of the “incredible” tales that turned out to be true was as well put as it’s ever been. I have a few corrections and comments: 

The accompanying photo is erroneously credited to Carl Fleischhauer (correct spelling), according to Carl. 

Hambly writes (perhaps assumes) that Campbell died in his sleep. That is not true. According to the Seattle hospice owner, who was with him at his passing, Campbell was fully awake and conscious right up to the moment of death. (The hospice is not called “Honeydew House,” as reported in this piece. Its correct name is “Honeydew Adult Family Home.”) The manner of his death convinced the owner, not that she hadn’t already discovered (even knowing nothing of his broad interests and skills), that this patient was a most remarkable person. 

The obituary says Campbell was in the UC Berkeley graduating class of 1955. According to the university, he would’ve been in that graduating class if he’d completed his studies, but he did not, so he wasn’t. His major was biophysics, not biochemisty. 

Aschow’s wasn’t the East Bay’s only violin shop back then, as stated, but it was likely the best. Respected luthier Hideo Kamimoto apprenticed with the Aschow family after learning from Campbell at Campus Music Shop or, as he says, learning patience by waiting for Campbell to show up at the shop. 

I believe it was Barry Olivier, not Campbell, who originally helped Jon and Deirdre Lundberg start their Berkeley guitar shop, although at an early point Campbell was in partnership with the Lundbergs. Later the two shops existed not far from each other. Lundberg’s was well known for collectible acoustic instruments and a coolly rarefied “folk atmosphere.” Campbell’s shop had affordable instruments, sometimes electric guitars and country LP records, and people remember it, and him, as “warm and friendly.” When he was there. 

During the ‘70s, Hambly writes, the music store’s “transactions diminished incrementally.” In fact, Campbell (whose abundant energy and flowing rap caused Jerry Garcia to dub him “the straight Neal Cassady”) continued sharing his wealth of musical knowledge with pickers far and wide, pursuing his passion for marine and other photography, and continuing whatever playing and repairing gigs came his way. Also in this period Campbell, an expert carpenter/woodworker like his father and brother, presaged the recycling movement by working with his pals in what he liked to call the “deconstruction trade”: salvaging useful parts from old houses slated for demolition. While in the ‘60s you might’ve gone to his shop to look through dusty boxes of old banjo or mandolin parts, which he would often sell for next to nothing, in the ‘70s you’d find boxes of interesting old door locks and face-plates rescued from houses. 

A gifted musician, Campbell’s major guitar inspiration was Chet Atkins. Hank Snow is cited, but he really wasn’t a special exponent of that flatpick style. Able enough with a flatpick (though he usually used a thumbpick as a flatpick, even on mandolin), Campbell was without question mainly a fingerstyle guitarist. He was also a spirited singer, notably from the western swing songbook. 

Hambly says Campbell occasionally tested the “his own limits, and those of others, as well.” I’d say it plainer: he might take six years to finish your banjo repair job, a delay best appreciated by your upstairs neighbor. 

But “blandishments”? I don’t think so. Flattery and cajoling seem to be at the core meaning of this five-dollar word, and I didn’t see that. Yes, we’ll remember his “confidence, optimism, and irrepressible spirit,” and something even greater: his humanity and continuous advocacy. Not to those who “he thought needed his support,” a strange and incorrect spin. To know Campbell as a friend was to be encouraged by him. 

Decades ago somebody, I still don’t know who, produced a run of Day-Glo bumperstickers reading “Campbell Coe Is A Myth.” It was hard to know what effect this might’ve had on Campbell, but it was entertaining when one of them was spotted on a Berkeley police car. After Campbell’s Oct. 2 passing, a mutual friend’s e-mail was titled: “Campbell Coe: not a myth to me.” 

Sandy Rothman is a Berkeley resident. 

It would be impossible to write a comprehensive history of American poetry in the last century and not make significant reference to the Bay Area. Only New York would seem to exceed it in importance. And one couldn’t very well compose that Bay Area section without paying considerable attention to Berkeley, home at one time or another to a number of major poets, such as Allen Ginsberg and Gary Snyder. 

Robert Hass, a present member of the UC Berkeley English faculty, served as U.S. Poet Laureate from 1995 to 1997, and Robert Pinsky, a former member, succeeded him in that position from 1997 to 2000. UC professor of Slavic languages and literature Czeslaw Milosz, who died in 2004, won the Nobel Prize for his poetry in 1980. 

All these poets can, of course, be read, and those still living can be heard, if you know where to go and how to get there. As Berkeley continues to be an important center for poetry, you can occasionally hear them without leaving town, as well as many other poets. For the living poetic word, there are three major local spots: Cody’s Books on Telegraph for the Poetry Flash readings, the Starry Plough Pub for Berkeley Poetry Slam, and UC’s Morrison Library for the Lunch Poems series. 

Poetry Flash is a remarkably comprehensive, free Berkeley publication for and about poets and poetry that appears in your local bookstore several times a year. Its associate editor, Richard Silberg, presents two or more poets reading their own work virtually every Sunday evening of the year at 7:30. These are generally local poets, some well known like Silberg himself (who read last month) and Diane di Prima (who will read on March 12), some not. 

Many in the audience come to hear the poets they already know, but others, perhaps drawn by the biographical information to be found on Poetry Flash’s Web site, show up to experience someone new. For a schedule of readings through June 2006, see www.poetryflash.org. Donation is $2. 

Berkeley Poetry Slam explodes each Wednesday night at 8:30 p.m. A poetry slam, if you don’t already know, is a spoken poetry contest with rules that are neatly printed on a card each audience member receives upon arrival at the Starry Plough. You may be a judge or, if you want, a competing poet. All you need to do is sign up, although I recommend at least one evening’s quiet observation, to see what you’re getting into. 

Poets are judged both on the quality of their poems and the effectiveness of their presentations, which—on a 10-point scale ranging from gently reflective to manically enthusiastic—average out to about 8.2. Audience response is even higher than that. Up to 15 poets read each night, and the contest rules, which are generally followed, limit each contestant to one poem not to exceed three minutes in reading time. Admission is $7 if you’re not a student, $5 if you are. See www.starryploughpub.com or call 841-2082 for more information. 

Lunch Poems begins the university year with readings in September by university faculty and staff (of poems they like by other people) and closes its series in June with UC students reading poems they’ve written themselves. In the intervening months, except for January, when no event is scheduled, one poet reads. 

Everything happens at noon on the first Thursday of each month in the Morrison. Admission is free. Here you can find poets that everyone has heard of, like Lawrence Ferlinghetti, who did a reading in December, and Billy Collins, who appeared in 2004-05. For a schedule and of Lunch Poems readings in previous years, see www.berkeley.edu/calendar/events/poems. 

Another way to acquaint yourself with what these folks do on first Thursdays is to consult a magnificent, new book, The Face of Poetry (UC Press, 2005), which contains selections from some 45 Lunch Poems readings since the first one in 1996. There is a striking photograph by Margaretta K. Mitchell of each one of the poets, whose number includes Milosz, Hass, Snyder, and Pinsky, as well as Linda Pastan, someone I had never heard of, but who seems to be speaking directly to me, Maxine Hong Kingston, Ishmael Reed, and Galway Kinnell. There is a thoughtful, instructive foreword by Robert Hass, as well as introductions by photographer Mitchell and by the poet Zach Rogow, who made the selections.  

In their foreword and introduction, both Hass and Rogow stress the diversity of American poetry today, a point amply borne out by the book’s poems and poets. Richard Silberg, in conversation with me, emphasized the variety of poetic styles and subjects to be found at the Poetry Flash readings, and given the set-up at the Starry Plough on Wednesday nights, who would expect anything else? 

Diversity’s the word, and it’s a good one, if not exactly a guarantee of excellence. In fact, diversity almost requires that all poets be appreciated, or perhaps not, on their own merits. You are at liberty to like or dislike. Give yourself the chance to decide. In this town, it’s easy.›

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. www.lapena.org 

Eurythmy Recital Dance by students of the East Bay Waldorf School at 7:30 p.m. at Julia Morgan Center for the Arts, 2640 College Ave. Free. www.juliamorgan.org 

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. www.calperfs.berkeley.edu 

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. www.AnnasJazzIsland.com 

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. www.freightandsalvage.org 

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 

SATURDAY, JAN. 21 

CHILDREN  

Los Amiguitos de La Peña with Mary Ellen Hill, multicultural folk and fairy tales, at 10:30 a.m. at La Peña. Cost is $4 for adults, $3 for children. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

Mikio Naruse “The Song Lantern” at 7 p.m. and “A Tale of Archers at the Sanjusangendo” at 8:55 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4-$8. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

THEATER 

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

Masquers Playhouse "Over the River and Through the Woods" Fri. and Sat. at 8 p.m. through Feb. 25 at 105 Park Place, Point Richmond. Tickets are $15. 232-4031. www.masquers.org 

FILM 

“NeoPaganism in California: Visions of the Past and Memories of the Future” Films and panel discussion from 1 to 5:30 p.m. at the Chapel, Pacific School of Religion, 1798 Scenic Drive. Cost is $15-$25 sliding scale. www.thepaganalliance.org 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

“I Have Been to the Mountaintop” Listen to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s last speech, followed by discussion with Demetrius Gins at 2:30 p.m. at Lakeview Branch Library, 550 El Embarcadero, Oakland. 238-7344. 

Ronne Hartfield describes “Another Way Home: The Tangled Roots of Race in One Chicago Family” at 4 p.m. at Cody’s Books. 845-7852. www.codysbooks.com  

Gary Hart introduces “God and Caesar in America: An Essay on Religion and Politics” at 7:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books. 845-7852. www.codysbooks.com 

Miss Poppy (Elaine Addison) talks about “Miss Poppy’s Guide to Raising Raising Perfectly Happy Children” at 11:30 a.m. at Cody’s Books on Fourth St. 559-9500. 

“The Genite Chronicles - A Link to the Past” with transgendered authors Nicole and Debbie Cook at 2 p.m. at Changemakers, 6536 Telegraph Ave., Oakland.  

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company “Blind Date” at 8 p.m. at Zellerbach Hall, UC Campus. Discussion with Bill T. Jones after the performance. Tickets are $26-$48. 642-9988. www.calperfs.berkeley.edu 

San Francisco Early Music Society at 8 p.m. at St. John’s Presbyterian Church, 2727 College Ave. www.sfem.org 

Sarah Cahill, pianist, at 8 p.m. at Trinity Chapel, 2320 Dana St. Tickets are $8-$12. 549-3864. trinitychamberconcerts.com 

American Bach Soloists at 8 p.m. at First Congregational Church, 2345 Channing Way. Tickets are $18-$40. 415-621-7900. www.americanbach.org 

Jessica Neighbor Quartet at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. Cost is $10. 841-JAZZ. www.AnnasJazzIsland.com 

Sambo Ngo at 9:30 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $13. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com  

Caribbean Youth Project Presents: Youth in Action at 8 p.m.at La Peña. Cost is $7-$10. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

KaUaTuahine Polynesian Dance Company at 8 p.m. at Maha Uchiyama Center, 729 Heinz Ave. Tickets are $12-$15. 845-2605. 

Noitada Brasileira at 8 p.m. at The Beat, 2560 Ninth St. Tickets are $15-$20. 548-5348. www.the-beat.org 

Jared Karol and Nate Cooper at 7:30 p.m. at Nomad Cafe, 6500 Shattuck Ave. 595-5344. www.nomadcafe.net 

CV1 at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 848-8277. 

Maria Muldaur at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $18.50-$19.50. 548-1761. www.freightandsalvage.org 

Finless Brown, The Contaminates at 9 p.m. at Blakes on Telegraph. Cost is $8-$10. 848-0886. www.blakesontelegraph.com 

Dave Bernstein Quartet at 9 p.m. at Downtown. 649-3810. 

Moment’s Notice, improvised music, dance and theater at 8 p.m. at Western Sky Studio 2525 8th St. Cost is $8-$10. 649-1791. 

Jason Webley, Two Gallants, Teenage Harlets at 8 p.m. at 924 Gilman St., an all-ages, member-run, no alcohol, no drugs, no violence club. Cost is $6. 525-9926. 

SUNDAY, JAN. 22 

CHILDREN 

Gary Laplow at Ashkenaz at 3 p.m. Cost is $4-$6. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

EXHIBTIONS 

Annual Members’ Showcase Reception at 2 p.m. at Berkeley Art Center, 1275 Walnut St. in Live Oak Park. 

FILM 

Screenagers: Bay Area High School Film Festival at noon and 2:30 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4-$8. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

A Tribute to Frenando Alegría at 7:30 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. Cost is $5-$10. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Poetry Flash with Kate Gale and Heather Lee at 7:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books. Donation $2. 845-7852. www.codysbooks.com 

Island Literary Series, hosted by Avotcja, at 3 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. Cost is $3. 841-JAZZ. 

Andrea Johnston talks about “Girls Speak Out: Finding Your True Self” at 3 p.m. at Cody’s Books on Fourth St. 559-9500. 

Jürgen Vsych reads from “The Woman Director,” the first autobiography by an American female film director, at 2 p.m. at Change Makers Books. 655-2405 www.TheWomanDirector.com  

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Tribute to Barbara Shearer at 3 p.m. at Hertz Hall, UC Campus. Free. 642-4864. http://music.berkeley.edu 

Brad Mehldau Trio & Bill Frisell Quintet at 7 p.m. at Zellerbach Hall, UC Campus. Tickets are $20-$40. 642-9988. www.calperfs.berkeley.edu 

San Francisco Symphony Chamber Music Sundaes at 3 p.m. at St. John’s Presbyterian Church, 2727 College Ave. Tickets are $9-$17. 415-584-5946. www.chambermusicsundaes.org 

Oakland Civic Orchestra, with Callan Milani, finalist in OEBS Young Artist Competition at 4 p.m. at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, 114 Montecito Ave., Oakland. Free. 338-0538. 

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

Nate Cooper at 11 a.m. at Nomad Cafe, 6500 Shattuck Ave. 595-5344. www.nomadcafe.net 

Flamenco Open Stage at 8 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $10. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

Jacqui Naylor at 4:30 p.m. at the Jazzschool. Cost is $18. 845-5373. www.jazzschool.com 

John McCutcheon at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $24.50-$25.50. 548-1761. www.freightandsalvage.org 

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

MONDAY, JAN. 23 

THEATER 

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

EXHIBITIONS 

“Making Cakes for the Queen of Heaven” an exhibition on family religion in Ancient Israel opens at the Bade Museum at Pacific School of Religion. 849-8201. 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

“Saving Antiquities” Matthew Bogdanos, author of “Thieves of Baghdad” and a colonel in the Marine reserve will describe his efforts to save irreplaceable antiquities looted from the Iraq Museum in 2003, at 7:30 p.m. at 145 Dwinelle Hall, UC Campus. www.savingantiquities.org 

“Women’s Religious Culture in Ancient Israel” with Carol Meyers at 3:30 p.m. in Chapel Room 6, Pacific School of Relgion, 1798 Scenic Ave. 849-8201. 

Theodore Rosak reads from his new book “World Beware! American Triumphalism in an Age of Terror” at 7:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books. 845-7852.  

www.codysbooks.com  

Poetry Express with John Curl at 7 p.m., at Priya Restaurant, 2072 San Pablo Ave. 644-3977. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Hallifax & Jeffrey at 7 p.m. at Caffe Trieste, 2500 San Pablo Ave., at Dwight. 548-5198.  

West Coast Songwriters Open Mic at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage Coffee House. Cost is $5.50. 548-1761 www.freightandsalvage.org 

Willie Jones III Quintet at 8 and 10 p.m. at Yoshi’s at Jack London Square. Cost is $10-$14. 238-9200. www.yoshis.com 

?

Political analysts in Europe and the United States a month ago reacted with horror to the news that a native-born Belgian woman had become the first female Western convert to Islam to blow herself up for “martyrdom.” It’s as if being born and raised in the West were a vaccine against religious extremism.  

But Muriel Deraque’s tragic end in Iraq could be a sign that the lure of religious self-sacrifice is once again resonating among some Europeans, a zeal that isn’t exclusive to fanatical followers of Islam.  

As an Italian and a Roman Catholic, I find in Muriel’s story a confirmation that the spiritual wall that separates Muslim and Christian extremism isn’t very thick. Italian, German and French thinkers, both on the left and on the right, have often advocated nationalism, protectionism and anti-globalism with an unapologetic embrace of extremist violence. Indeed, the fight against evil worldwide provides Catholic and Islamic zealots a lot to agree on, including the practice of martyrdom.  

Doctrinal similarities between Roman Catholicism and Islam provide an easy bridge for dissatisfied Christians to cross into Muslim faith. Seen through the window of Catholic orthodoxy, Muriel’s decision not only becomes conceivable—even the late Pope John Paul II called the invasion of Iraq immoral—but also hints that she may be only the first of a long line of European defenders of God getting ready to fight against Western materialism and moral turpitude.  

Martyrdom, intrinsic to Catholicism, rose to prominence during the fourth century when Catholics came to believe that dying for one’s faith was not just a duty, but also an honor and a privilege. Under Catholic canon law, Christian martyrs are assured immediate ascension to Paradise upon their death. Martyrdom cleanses the person of every sin, even capital ones. At the time of the Crusades, the promise of eternal life achieved through fighting for the glory of God, and not only the lure of free land and war loot, compelled thousands of Christians to travel to Jerusalem, especially during the first Crusade.  

Closer to our time, the late Pope Jean Paul II actively celebrated the gift of martyrdom. During his papacy, he beatified 266 martyrs. In 1982, he canonized Maximilian Kolbe as a martyr of charity. Kolbe was a Polish priest and theologian who, while interned at Auschwitz in 1941, offered his life in exchange for that of another prisoner. The Nazis condemned him to slow death by starvation, but seeing that he was lasting longer than expected they terminated him with a poisoned injection. Today Kolbe is considered the protector saint of journalists, families, prisoners and chemically addicted persons.  

“Charity, in conformity with the radical demands of the Gospel, can lead the believer to the supreme witness of martyrdom,” wrote JPII in his encyclical Veritatis Splendori. In so doing, he recognized that those who act—witness—on their faith against tyranny are to be considered martyrs. While the definition has been used generally to recognize those who do not fear self-destruction for the sake of affirming the sacredness of human life, in the U.S., anti-abortion bombers and snipers do not hesitate to cloak themselves with the mantle of martyrdom.  

Members of the Army of God, like Paul Hill, who was executed in a Florida prison on Sept. 3, 2003; Eric Rudolph, who was responsible of the 1996 bombing of the Atlanta Summer Olympics that caused the death of two people; and James Kopp, a Catholic who in 1998 summarily executed abortion provider Dr. Barnet Slepian at his house in Buffalo, N.Y., have never hesitated to define themselves as martyrs in the fight to save innocent unborn children.  

“If you believe abortion is a lethal force, you should oppose the force and do what you have to do to stop it,” said Hill from the death chamber on his execution day. “May God help you to protect the unborn as you would want to be protected,” Hill added before exhaling for the last time.  

These warriors of God had found plenty of support and refuge across Europe. Many security analysts say European women converting to Islam via marriage could represent the latest and most serious threat to the stability of the continent. Anti-terrorism experts believe that while in many cases these conversions are just normal steps in marrying a Muslim, in a few instances they are true political statements.  

In 2003, French Judge Jean-Louis Bruguiere, foretelling what would come years later, warned that terrorist networks in Europe were actively seeking to recruit Caucasian women. He predicted that in an initial phase they would be used merely for logistics and communication, but that it would be just matter of time before they started to carry out attacks themselves. Deraque’s case seems to confirm that the time has come.  

Paolo Pontoniere is a correspondent for Focus, Italy’s leading monthly magazine.

For many years big budget Hollywood movies depicted Arabs as terrorists or greedy oil barons, but since Sept. 11, 2001, and the war in Iraq, it seems such films are finally falling out of fashion. Arab analysts and media are lauding portrayals of Arabs and Muslims in the recent films Syriana and Munich, and the smaller budget independent film Paradise Now. Each are contenders to be on the list of Academy Award nominations released on Jan. 31.  

Hafez Mirazi, Al Jazeera’s Washington bureau chief and host of its weekly television program “From Washington,” devoted a recent hour-long program highlighting these films. He also added a fourth movie, the upcoming Looking for Comedy in the Muslim World. 

As Mirazi explains, “Yes, these films talk about Arab terrorists, suicide bombers and oil sheiks, but what is new is that Hollywood is finally trying to sympathize with Arab characters, understand their motives and give them human characteristics.” Evil and good parts are being portrayed equally, he says.  

Syriana is about an imaginary oil-rich Arab country. The two sons of its dying king are competing to succeed their father. One resembles the stereotypical image of a rich, short-sighted Arab sheik who cares only about promoting his personal wealth and prestige. The other, Nasir, is kind and generous. He wants to reform his country and stop American oil companies from taking his nation’s resources for granted.  

Director Stephen Gaghan (Traffic) told Al Jazeera, “I felt that it is very important to portray the true image of Arabs I have met. They were kind, polite, educated and wonderful. I live in Hollywood where many of the things about the Middle East in the movies are frankly inaccurate and stereotypical. This is why I wanted these characters to speak for themselves in their own voices.”  

Alexander Siddig, a British Arab actor who played Nasir, explains that the name Nasir was chosen because “it is the name of one of the most respected leaders in the Arab world.” Gamal Abdel Nasser, Egypt’s second president and the father of pan-Arab nationalism, envisioned a united and strong Arab world that could defend its resources from imperialism.  

The film reflects the aspirations of Arabs and Muslims to have a national leader who puts his country’s interests ahead of his own.  

In Munich, director Steven Spielberg tells the story of an Israeli intelligence Mossad cell that is tasked with killing 11 Palestinian leaders. The Palestinians were suspected of masterminding the operation in which 11 Israeli athletes were kidnapped and eventually killed during the 1972 Munich Olympics.  

The movie does not stereotype its Palestinian characters. In fact, one talks about why he is fighting and explains how he lost his homeland.  

Likewise, the film shows the internal struggles of Avner, the leader of the Mossad cell. Each time Avner’s group kills a Palestinian leader, their romantic ideas of Israel are challenged. By the time they kill the seventh man they realize that what they are doing is not so much different from what the Palestinian armed group did in Munich.  

The movie was banned in Israel and condemned by the Israeli general consul in Los Angeles Ehoud Danoch, who said any comparison between the Palestinian “terrorists” and the Israeli Mossad cell was “immoral.”  

The spokesman of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), however, told Al Jazeera that he “expected this new Hollywood film to depict Muslims, Arabs and Palestinians as terrorists, monstrous and criminals, but I was surprised because the film was much deeper ... the film avoided depicting one side of the conflict or character as evil.”  

A much less publicized Palestinian independent film submitted for the Oscars is Paradise Now, in Arabic with English subtitles. The film explores two Palestinian young men who carry out a suicide operation against Israelis. It portrays how these young men were driven to do the extreme by unbearable and humiliating Israeli policies. At one point, however, one of the two men decides not to detonate himself on a bus because he saw a Jewish child.  

The film does not attempt to justify suicide operations; rather, it attempts to humanize those who are driven to become suicide bombers.  

Although not up for Oscar contention this year, the upcoming film Looking for Comedy in the Muslim World attempts to bridge U.S.-Arab tensions through comedy. Director Albert Brooks, who also plays the leading role, is assigned by the U.S. State Department to go to India and Pakistan and write a 500-page report on what makes a Muslim laugh as a new foreign policy strategy.  

Brooks told Al Jazeera, “This is the first comedy film on this topic produced in America. We should have 50 films if not 100 because this is the only way we can begin to build bridges and this is why I decided to make the film.”  

The Sept. 11 attacks provoked interest among Americans to learn more about Muslims and Arabs and “why they hate us.” Americans seem no longer willing to accept the pre-911 Hollywood films, such as Rules of Engagement or The Siege, in which Muslims are stereotyped as terrorists. Instead, they are now following more accurate and fair portrayals of the Arab world.  

Jalal Ghazi monitors and translates Arab media for New America Media (a project of Pacific News Service) and Link TV.  

Two small gray shorebirds pitched down into the new Berkeley Marina mitigation wetlands, among the ducks and geese, and swam off out of binocular range. They were red phalaropes, part of a huge involuntary invasion blown in by the winter storms, scattered along the coast from the mouth of the Columbia River to Morro Bay. Some were dying of starvation when they hit land; the luckier ones seemed to be hanging around and regrouping before heading back out to sea. 

They wouldn’t be red for a few more months. A red phalarope in high breeding plumage is a nifty little bird: black crown, white face, bright chestnut neck and body. The fact that females have more vivid colors than males is consistent with their unorthodox lifestyle. Phalaropes—three species, the red, red-necked, and Wilson’s—are among a handful of birds in which females sport brighter plumage, take the lead in courtship, and hand over the chores of incubation and childrearing to the males. The phenomenon is known as reversed sexual dimorphism. Other birds exhibit it to some degree—females are larger in many species of birds of prey—but the syndrome is best developed in the shorebird order, in jacanas and painted snipe as well as phalaropes, and in the button-quail family. 

If the sex ratio on the red phalarope’s high-Arctic breeding grounds is skewed in favor of males, females may practice serial polyandry: deserting their first mate for a second male and laying a second clutch of eggs. When there’s no male surplus, the birds are more or less monogamous. Looking at the habits of some phalarope relatives, you can see how this may have evolved. In monogamous spotted sandpipers, the female produces a second clutch which she incubates herself while her mate incubates the first. Phalaropes have taken this one step further by delegating incubation to a second mate. Among birds, only jacanas go in for simultaneous polyandry: several males nesting in the territory of a dominant female. 

Red phalaropes were suspected of polyandrous tendencies for a long time, but it wasn’t until 1975 that two intrepid ornithologists, Douglas Schamel and Diane Tracy, braved the biting insects of the Alaskan marshes near Barrow to catch them in the act. Of eight paired females in their study area, half had multiple mates. Courtship involves aerial chases and a behavior called “pushing,” in which male and female face off and bump their chests together. 

The female lays her eggs in a scrape on the tundra, usually sheltered by sedges, and the male takes it from there. He has well-developed brood patches to conduct body heat to the eggs, and his blood is laced with the hormone prolactin which facilitates nurturant behavior. The hatchlings are precocial, able to run around and feed themselves, and stay with their father for only a couple of weeks. 

Once all that’s out of the way the phalaropes return to their other world, for which they’re superbly suited. “So well adapted to a floating life are phalaropes”, writes Peter Matthiesen in The Wind Birds, “that they seem to scud before the slightest breeze, like feathered pingpong balls.” They’re adept at foraging in crashing surf. 

Like many marine birds, phalaropes have glands that allow them to drink seawater and excrete salt through their nostrils. They lack fully webbed feet, but their toes are lobed. Whether on sea or tundra ponds, they spin in tight circles—up to 57 rotations per minute—to concentrate small aquatic prey, scooping it up with specialized bills that may act as strainers. The direction of spin can be either clockwise or counterclockwise and appears independent of the Coriolis force.  

Whalers used to call red phalaropes “bowhead birds” because of their association with the great baleen whales. They’ve been observed picking “whale lice” and other ectoparasites off the cetaceans’ backs. In late summer in the Bering Sea, reds take advantage of the sloppy feeding behavior of California gray whales. As the whales plow up the seafloor, the phalaropes sift the resulting mud plume for small bottom-dwelling crustaceans.  

For most of the winter, red phalaropes are birds of the great nearshore currents, where upwellings bring a cornucopia of plankton to the surface. The ones that were blown ashore here may have been lingering in the California Current. Most Alaskan and eastern Siberian nesters wind up further south, in the Humboldt Current off Peru and Chile. Their counterparts in Canada and northern Europe traverse the Atlantic to the west coast of Africa, concentrating in the Canary, Guinea, and Benguela currents. Both populations migrate over the open ocean. 

Red phalaropes from the Benguela Current, off Namibia, sometimes fetch up in South Africa after storms, so I assume they’re the titular bird of Alan Paton’s apartheid-era novel Too Late the Phalarope. As I recall, there are no actual phalaropes in the book except the ones in a bird guide that the protagonist gives his estranged father, or vice versa. It’s been a few decades since I read it, so my memory may not be reliable. 

When El Nino-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) events perturb sea-surface temperatures, red phalaropes appear to suffer. One study showed a decline in breeding densities at Prudhoe Bay following the 1983 ENSO. And if, as some climatologists speculate, global warming deranges the oceanic currents, the phalaropes will be in deep trouble. 

As will we all, of course. 

TUESDAY, JAN. 17 

Martin Luther King Day Celebration at noon in the Civic Center Lobby, 2180 Milvia St. 981-7000. 

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. 

Martin Luther King Day Celebration at noon in the Civic Center Lobby, 2180 Milvia St. 981-7000. 

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. 

Berkeley Drop-In Center Neighborhood Advisory meeting at 7 p.m. at 3234 Adeline St. This is an opportunity to find out how you can support the Drop-In Center, or to voice neighborhood concerns. Light refreshments. 653-3808, 652-5891. 

“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. 

Simplicity Forum on “What to Incorporate in Your Life this Year?” at 6:30 p.m. at the Claremont Branch of the Berkeley Public Library, 2940 Benvenue Ave. 549-3509. 

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. 548-6310, 845-1143. 

SATURDAY, JAN. 21 

Free Emergency Preparedness Class on Disaster First Aid from 9 to noon at 997 Cedar St., between 8th and 9th. To sign up call 981-5605.  

Mini-Farmers in Tilden A farm exploration program, from 10 to 11 a.m. for ages 4-6 years, accompanied by an adult. We will explore the Little Farm, care for animals, do crafts and farm chores. Wear boots and dress to get dirty! Fee is $5-$7. Registration required. 525-2233. 

Kid’s Garden Club for ages 7-12 to explore the world of gardening, from 2 to 4 p.m. at Tilden Nature Area, Tilden Park. Cost is $6-$8, registration required. 636-1684. 

Birds of Mystery A stroll to listen for the Great Horned Owls looking for mates. Meet at 2 p.m. at the Tilden Nature Center, Tilden Park. 525-2233. 

Wintertime Pruning and Tree Care A hands-on Workshop from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. in Berkeley. Cost is $10-$15. Registration required. 548-2220, 233. www.ecologycenter.org 

Mend a Marsh for the Birds Planting and restoration at 9 a.m. at The Watershed Project, 1327 South 46th St., Richmond Field Station, #155, Richmond, followed by naturalists talk at noon. To register call 665-3689. 

Volunteer for Cerrito Creek Wear shoes with good traction and clothes that can get dirty. Meet at 10 a.m. at Creekside Park, south end of Santa Clara St., El Cerrito. 848-9358. www.fivecreeks.org 

A Ghost Town in San Francisco Bay? Learn about the town of Drawbridge on Station Island in the salt marshes of South San Francisco at 3 p.m. at the Don Edwards San Francisco Bay National Wildlife Refuge in Fremont. 792-0222. 

“In the Company of Wild Butterflies” A new nature documentary by Bill Levinson at 6:30 p.m. at the Lindsay Wildlife Museum, 1931 First Ave. Walnut Creek. Donation $5-$8. 925-935-1978. 

Berkeley Alliance of Neighborhood Associations meets at 9:15 a.m. at St. John’s Presbyterian Church, Sproul Conference Room, 1st Floor, 2727 College Ave. www.berkeleycna.com 

“Building the Progressive Movement in the East Bay” Kick-Off event with Congressman Ron Dellums and Alameda County Supervisor Keith Carson at 5 p.m. at First Congregational Church of Oakland, 2501 Harrison St. at 27th. 272-6060. 

“War Powers: How the Imperial Presidency Hijacked the Constitution” with Prof. Peter Irons, UCSD at 7 p.m. at Home of Truth Center, 1300 Grand Ave., Alameda. Sponsored by the Alameda Public Affairs Forum. www.alamedaforum.org 

“A Literary Lion at Your Side” with Peter Miller, literary agent at 10 a.m. at Barnes & Noble, Jack London Square, Oakland. 420-8775. www.berkeleywritersclub.org 

“I Have Been to the Mountaintop” Listen to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s last speech, followed by discussion with Demetrius Gins at 2:30 p.m. at Lakeview Branch Library, 550 El Embarcadero, Oakland. 238-7344. 

Bayshore Walk at Point Isabel with the Solo Sierrans. Meet at 3:30 p.m. in the parking lot off Rydin. Bring binoculars. Optional dinner follows. Rain cancels. 234-8949. 

Piedmont Choir Spring Tryouts for children ages 5 to 10 from 9:30 a.m. to noon in Piedmont and Alameda. To schedule an appointment call 547-4441. www.piedmontchoirs.org  

“New Era, New Politics Walking Tour” at 10 a.m. at the African American Museum, 659 14th St., at Jefferson, Oakland. A two-hour guided tour of the points of interest in African American history in Oakland. 238-3234. 

Workshop with Magician Norman Ng for 6th-8th graders at 2 p.m. at the Albany Library, 1247 Marin Ave. 526-3720, ext. 17. 

“NeoPaganism in California: Visions of the Past and Memories of the Future” Films and panel discussion from 1 to 5:30 p.m. at the Chapel, Pacific School of Religion, 1798 Scenic Drive. Cost is $15-$25 sliding scale. www.thepaganalliance.org 

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

Spirit Walking Aqua Chi (TM) A gentle water exercise class at 10 a.m. at the Berkeley High Warm Pool. Cost is $3.50 per session. 526-0312. 

Car Wash Benefit for Options Recovery Services of Berkeley, held every Sat. from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Lutheran Church, 1744 University Ave. 666-9552. 

“Transforming Negative Emotions” a workshop from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Tibetan Nyingma Institute, 1815 Highland Pl. 843-6812. www.nyingmainstitute.com 

SUNDAY, JAN. 22 

Newt Walk Join the annual trek to Sindicich Lagoons, the breeding waters for the California newt. Hike is 5 miles, over the Briones Crest, some muddy trails. Sturdy young hikers eight and older are welcome. Bring lunch and liquids. 525-2233. 

From Fog to Stormdrains A complete tour of our watershed at 2 p.m. at the Environmental Education Center, Tilden Nature Area, Tilden Park. 525-2233. 

“The U.S. Sees the U.N.: A Media Analysis” with Larry Bensky of KPFA at 3:30 p.m. at the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship Hall, 1924 Cedar St. Sponsored by the United Nations Association.  

El Cerrito Historical Society meeting with Richard Tuck on his “Playland-Not-at-the-Beach” Musuem at 1 p.m. at the El Cerrito Senior Center, 6510 Stockton Ave. Pot-luck lunch. for details call 526-7507. 

Berkeley City Club free tour from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. Tours are sponsored by the Berkeley City Club and the Landmark Heritage Foundation. Donations welcome. The Berkeley City Club is located at 2315 Durant Ave. 848-7800. 

Cottage Brunch . . . in French! Hosted by Leonard Pitt and Kimberly Vergez from 9:30 a.m. to noon at 1542 Grant St. at Cedar. Cost is $20, reservations required. 841-0686. 

“Interfaith Families and Anti-Semitism” from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. at Temple Sinai, 2800 Summit St., Oakland. 547-2250. 

Lake Merritt Neighbors Organized for Peace Peace walk around the lake every Sun. Meet at 3 p.m. at the colonnade at the NE end of the lake. 763-8712. lmno4p.org 

Tibetan Buddhism with Jack Petranker on “When it Rains, Does Space Get Wet?” at 6 p.m. at the Tibetan Nyingma Institute, 1815 Highland Pl. 843-6812. www.nyingmainstitute.com 

MONDAY, JAN. 23 

Berkeley School Volunteers Training workshop for volunteers interested in helping the public schools, from 2 to 3:30 p.m. at 1835 Allston Way. 644-8833. 

Kensington Library Book Club meets to discuss William Saroyan’s novel, “The Human Comedy” at 7 p.m. at 61 Arlington Ave., Kensington. 524-3043. 

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

Free Small Business Counselling with SCORE, Service Core of Retired Executives at the Berkeley Public Library, 2090 Kittredge. To make an appointment call 981-6244. 

Medical Qigong Clinic at 5 p.m. at Acupuncture & Integrative Medicine College, 2550 Shattuck Ave. For an appointment call 666-8234. 

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

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 

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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. 

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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 

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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.