“It’s pretty clear that we as a City Council got out in front of the community. I’m sorry. I think it was a mistake,” said Mayor Tom Bates to a crowd gathered in a church meeting room Saturday morning. -more-
The Daily Planet recently spoke with new Pacifica director Greg Guma. See Page 14 for the interview. -more-
El Cerrito High School student Juan Ramos was fatally stabbed and three others received knife wounds when a Berkeley party—mobbed because of an Internet posting—turned deadly Friday night. -more-
The battle over Black & White Liquors took a new turn Thursday when the Zoning Adjustments Board (ZAB) voted to reject a proposed settlement imposing new hours and conditions on the store. -more-
Three important meetings are slated for this week on documents that will play a central role in shaping the city’s future: the Landmarks Preservation Ordinance, the new Downtown Plan and the Creeks Ordinance. -more-
On Jan. 24, print and radio journalist Greg Guma took the reins of Pacifica, a foundation that holds the licenses to five progressive radio stations, including KPFA in Berkeley. -more-
“You’re pushing against an open door!” said a dignitary in the audience. -more-
In the face of angry neighborhood opposition, Berkeley City Councilmember Max Anderson Tuesday withdrew his motion to have his council colleagues reaffirm support of a state grant to plan development at the Ashby BART station. -more-
City councilmembers voted Tuesday to spend the city’s full $1.23 million budget surplus, discussed proposed changes in city landmarks law and watched a tense confrontation between two of their colleagues over the issue of diversity in appointments, in addition to debating the proposed development project at the Ashby BART station. -more-
In a town where free speech is holy and libraries are sacred, library workers are claiming retaliation from management for speaking out about work-related issues. -more-
The Transportation Commission’s proposal to charge new developments and businesses a fee to offset the impacts of additional car traffic they cause has raised red flags with Community Economic Development Coordinator Dave Fogarty. -more-
The two-year-long labor dispute at the Alta Bates Summit Medical Center hospitals appears at an end, with both sides announcing a settlement Thursday. -more-
Supporters filled the more than 200 seats in the City Council Chambers Tuesday evening for the annual State of the City address, applauding Mayor Tom Bates as he touted accomplishments over his three years in office and addressed the challenges of the coming year. -more-
Nevada County Sheriff’s investigators are seeking child molestation charges against a Berkeley firefighter already jailed on charges of possession of child pornography in his locker and a city-owned computer. -more-
As it nears its deadline for recommending a new creeks ordinance to the City Council, a citizen task force remains deeply divided, Chair Helen Burke told the Planning Commission Wednesday night. -more-
A recently-released chancellor’s report on the Peralta Community College District Office of International Affairs concludes that the controversial office is not spending “lavishly” on foreign meals, accommodations, and travel, giving a sharp rebuke to charges made by Peralta Trustee Marcie Hodge. -more-
Allegations last quoted in a Berkeley Daily Planet story have now surfaced in an employment termination lawsuit filed against the Peralta Community College District by a former president of Vista College (now Berkeley City College). -more-
The developers of a massive housing project that will feature a Trader’s Joe store at 1885 University Ave. will meet with neighbors Monday. -more-
This Friday and Saturday, the Berkeley High School drama department will be performing Eve Ensler’s play The Vagina Monologues. -more-
Since the beginning of time, people have been dispersed, by force or mutual consent, far from their homes. Through famine, political unrest, acts of nature and searches for a better life, many miles now separate groups from their ancestral habitations. With the belief that human life began in Africa, this continent is at the heart of the human spirit and the Museum of the African Diaspora (MOAD) has opened in San Francisco to give voice to this spirit. -more-
The press over the weekend was full of bad news about our security at home. The Associated Press got ahold of a leaked copy of the summary of the Congressional report on what went wrong with Katrina, and it sounds like a doozy. -more-
The cliché, surely quoted at some time previously in this space, is that anyone who loves law or sausages should not watch either being made. As someone who loves the law with all its defects, I’ve tried to follow that warning in recent years, but occasionally I can’t avoid seeing what goes on in government. The last month has been particularly bad at the federal level, what with the always excruciatingly embarrassing State of the Union speech, followed by the attorney general’s mealy-mouthed performance before the Senate Judiciary Committee. But what’s been going on in Berkeley is even more embarrassing. -more-
To view Justin DeFreitas’ latest editorial cartoon, please visit -more-
I don’t blame Jim Doten (Commentary, Daily Planet, Jan. 24) for being upset about having to pay $541,000 in withdrawal liability to cover his employees pensions. No one likes unexpected bills, not even millionaires. -more-
The Creeks Task Force (CTF), charged by the City Council to recommend revisions to the Creeks Ordinance, will hold its first Public Hearing on Feb. 15 at the North Berkeley Senior Center. At that Hearing, the CTF, of which I am a member, will be presenting a series of preliminary recommendations for public review and comment. These recommendations consist of four proposals (Options A-D) which can be seen on the city’s website at www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/planning/land use/creeks. -more-
On Feb. 21, the Berkeley City Council will hold a workshop on its policy concerning the conversion of rental units into condominiums. The council has for many years prohibited most conversions, but has recently opened the door to a minor extent because a San Francisco lawsuit cut the legs from under the council’s parallel prohibition of tenants-in-common sales. As a result, interest has been awakened in a topic long considered closed. -more-
I turned on the TV and there was a black boxer fighting a white boxer. I had the sound turned down and was blasting a Jimi Hendrix record while I was watching the fight. I had never seen or heard of either fighter before and didn’t know a thing about them. -more-
After last Tuesday’s meeting, I can tell that most of you City Council members would like to pull some irons out of this Caltrans proposal fire. I’m sure that your motives are good: wanting something good to develop on the Adeline strip in South Berkeley. You all seem very sorry that Max didn’t do better outreach in bringing this proposal to the community. -more-
I spent over four hours working on this week’s column, but I wasn’t satisfied with the results. When this happens, I send it to friends whose opinions I respect. -more-
This is not an owl column per se, but it was inspired by a recent conversation with an owl person: Maggie Rufo of the Hungry Owl Project, who brought a barn owl named Wookie to a Keep Barn Owls in Berkeley event. We were talking about barn owl diets, and Rufo mentioned finding a lot of Jerusalem cricket remains in the nests she monitors. -more-
In December, the New York Times revealed that the Bush administration has been eavesdropping on our phone calls, by means of National Security Agency computer systems, without a court order. Although the exact nature of the surveillance is highly classified, it appears that the White House has gone on a massive “fishing trip”—one that invades the privacy of thousands of ordinary Americans. This article considers the pragmatics of Administration eavesdropping—why we should care about it. -more-
As expected—or feared, depending on your point of view—Pennsylvania Congressmember John Murtha is rapidly becoming one of the Democratic Party’s de facto spokespersons on defense policy. That may be a good thing for centrist Democrats who don’t want to get beat by our Republican friends with the “soft on defense” stick in another election. But where does it leave progressives? -more-
Thornhill Nursery is a bit out of the way, not so much in distance from Berkeley, but tucked away on Thornhill Drive in the Oakland Hills. It’s most easily accessible from the freeway, if you don’t mind a little daring on- and off-ramp dodge’em game. Take the Thornhill Drive exit, drive on past the entrance to the Foothill business district and through a tiny patch of school and mini-mall on Thornhill. Keep it slow—you ought to anyway; the sidewalks are narrow and foot traffic can be a tad chaotic and full of rompity schoolkids. The nursery’s not hard to see once you get to its block, and the parking area, though small, is handy on the right. -more-
It has often occurred to me how primitive our houses are for a people who can look to the edges of the universe and plumb the living paths of bozons and muons. They’re not exactly mud huts but they are so simple that you’d think we were still fighting wars with guns and killing each other with bombs. Oh wait. Sorry. Anyway, if you look at the way in which our houses are built, you might think that we’d missed the U-boat altogether. -more-
If, in Marx’s famous phrase, Hegel saw the history of the world as though seeing a man walking on his head, TheatreFIRST has put that history flat on its back—or whatever position a couple might assume—in Loveplay. -more-
It’s not a criticism to remark that the most remarkable thing about the Actors Ensemble’s current production of Shakespeare’s grand old comedy Twelfth Night might well be the fact that there wasn’t a messed-up line in the entire evening. -more-
This is not an owl column per se, but it was inspired by a recent conversation with an owl person: Maggie Rufo of the Hungry Owl Project, who brought a barn owl named Wookie to a Keep Barn Owls in Berkeley event. We were talking about barn owl diets, and Rufo mentioned finding a lot of Jerusalem cricket remains in the nests she monitors. -more-
Nick is a dot-commer pushing 30, an Italo-American from New Jersey, but really pretty white bread. He is the good grandson, however; long after his parents and sister have fled the immigrant family hearth he leaves the city every week to spend Sunday dinn er with all four grandparents. -more-
Thornhill Nursery is a bit out of the way, not so much in distance from Berkeley, but tucked away on Thornhill Drive in the Oakland Hills. It’s most easily accessible from the freeway, if you don’t mind a little daring on- and off-ramp dodge’em game. Take the Thornhill Drive exit, drive on past the entrance to the Foothill business district and through a tiny patch of school and mini-mall on Thornhill. Keep it slow—you ought to anyway; the sidewalks are narrow and foot traffic can be a tad chaotic and full of rompity schoolkids. The nursery’s not hard to see once you get to its block, and the parking area, though small, is handy on the right. -more-
It has often occurred to me how primitive our houses are for a people who can look to the edges of the universe and plumb the living paths of bozons and muons. They’re not exactly mud huts but they are so simple that you’d think we were still fighting wars with guns and killing each other with bombs. Oh wait. Sorry. Anyway, if you look at the way in which our houses are built, you might think that we’d missed the U-boat altogether. -more-
