Small-business niches are scattered through downtown Berkeley, occupied by people who know things the rest of us don’t. -more-
The Zoning Adjustments Board handed a reprieve to Black & White Liquors Thursday night, declining to declare the 3027 Adeline St. store a public nuisance. -more-
Testimony is expected to continue on Tuesday in Alameda County Superior Court in Oakland in a hearing to determine whether two friends of 19-year-old Dartmouth College student Meleia Willis-Starbuck should be bound over to trial for her murder on a Berkeley street. -more-
Spurred by neighborhood concerns, Max Anderson is asking his fellow city councilmembers to agree to limit the statutory powers to be used in building a proposed housing project at the Ashby BART station while re-affirming their support for a planning grant application for the site. -more-
Albany residents and other environmentalists packed the multi-purpose room of Albany High School Thursday to voice their opposition to Los Angeles developer Rick Caruso’s proposal for a massive shopping plaza on what is now the parking lot for Golden Gate Fields racetrack. Proponents introduced an initiative calling for a community planning process to guide development of commercial and park areas on the Albany shore. -more-
Alex Katz, the longtime education reporter for the Oakland Tribune, has been hired as the new press secretary for the Oakland Unified School District, continuing to report for the newspaper on school district matters while he was being recruited for his new job. -more-
California State Assemblymember Loni Hancock’s (D-Berkeley) public campaign finance bill passed the Assembly Appropriations Committee last week on a straight-line party vote, leaving it vulnerable to a possible veto by Republican Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. -more-
The Audubon Society’s Christmas Bird Count is a hallowed tradition and a valuable exercise in citizen science—but it’s not for everyone. Counts take place as scheduled, rain or shine, and shine is never guaranteed. As often as not, you wind up standing in a downpour, feeling the cold rain run down your neck, as you try to sort out very small, very active birds way up in a Douglas fir, or slogging through an alder swamp in search of whatever’s hiding in there, or bracing yourself against the winds off the ocean as you scope for seabirds. -more-
Jean Siri told it like it is and had a vision of how it should be. Former El Cerrito City Manager Pokorny said that Siri “had the courage to tell those who elected her and those who served with her, what they needed to hear, not what they wanted to hear.” Unfortunately, those abilities are so rare these days they are described as “refreshing.” -more-
White House staff members, who are trying to prevent Iran from developing its own nuclear energy capacity and who refuse to take military action against Iran “off the table,” have conveniently forgotten that the United States was the midwife to the Iranian nuclear program 30 years ago. -more-
Berkeley city councilmembers voted Tuesday to pledge $4 million in federal funds to pay for community services and affordable housing as collateral for a federal loan to help fund the David Brower Center and Oxford Plaza. -more-
Sitting in his curio shop on University Avenue, Tsewang Khangsar recalls the onerous journey that he had made almost 45 years ago across the Himalayas from Tibet. -more-
There’s no denying that Berkeley has a worldwide reputation, not always positive. From humble beginnings in the 1850s, through the turbulent 1960s and up to today, Berkeley’s citizens are seldom shy about voicing their passions. -more-
Members of the joint commission formed to look into the city’s density bonus are moving closer to formulating suggestions for a new ordinance. -more-
A report on negotiations between the Oakland Unified School District and the Oakland Education Association has brought the city closer to a teacher strike or closer to a settlement. -more-
Planning Commissioners tackled creeks, cars dealerships and a proposed transportation services fee Wednesday—long-term issues that will eventually result in new city ordinances. -more-
In September 2003, two days after receiving an excellent evaluation, Chaplain James Yee was arrested, charged with espionage and thrown into solitary confinement for 76 days. When he left the Army in 2005 after all charges were dropped, he received a medal. He recounts his journey from Muslim American poster boy to “enemy of the state” in his memoir, For God and Country. Yee was interviewed by Sandip Roy, host of “UpFront,” New America Media's radio program. -more-
Brenda ran Los Angeles’ citywide marathon representing John Adams Middle School. After finishing at the top of her age group, she felt “on top of the world.” -more-
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