“A Portrait of Mills: Photographs by Imogen Cunningham,” like other significant art exhibitions, instructs while it gives pleasure. Visitors will find in it, to their satisfaction, some of the iconic images for which the artist has long been famous as well as images with which they are unfamiliar. -more-
Berkeley students who don’t pass the high school exit exam may still walk with their peers on graduation day, the school board ruled Wednesday. -more-
The Berkeley Board of Education approved an environmental impact report (EIR) of the East Campus/Derby Street field Wednesday, re-igniting debate over whether a baseball diamond will be built there. -more-
Berkeley’s city councilmembers face an array of business tonight (Tuesday), starting with a workshop on condo ordinance changes, then moving on to a regular meeting that will feature landmarks, a liquor store and ADUs. -more-
Two Richmond quarries are a threat to public safety, a Richmond councilmember and a state agency both say. -more-
UC Berkeley officials will give the public and three city commissions a brief presentation of their plans for development at and around Memorial Stadium on Wednesday evening. -more-
The Peralta Community College District brought out the big guns to the district Board of Trustees meeting last week, with presentations by Chancellor Elihu Harris, two vice chancellors, and the chief financial officer to try to end the continuing controversy over the district’s office of International Affairs. -more-
With a possible teachers strike looming over stalled contract talks, the state-run Oakland Unified School District received a blow this week when the Service Employees International Union backed out of a tentative contract agreement that would have run through 2008. -more-
In the past week, Berkeley High School (BHS) student leadership has made changes to the school’s controversial attendance policy. -more-
Juan Carlos Ramos didn’t know how much he was loved, friends said through tears Wed-nesday at a memorial for the 18-year-old Contra Costa College student, who was mortally stab-bed Feb. 10 at a party in Berkeley. -more-
Preservationists made passionate pleas to preserve the city’s Landmarks Preservation Ordinance Tuesday night, but by the time the City Council meeting ended, they had little to cheer about. -more-
The people banging on the door of the downtown Oakland Army recruiting center on St. Valentine’s Day weren’t your typical military wannabes. -more-
There were tears shared at Wednesday’s memorial for Juan Carlos Ramos, victim of a stabbing Feb. 10 at a party on Contra Costa Avenue. -more-
Berkeley was Mayor Tom Bates’ sweetheart this Valentine’s Day when he announced he’ll pursue the city’s chief position for one more term. -more-
Invective flowed Wednesday at the first of two hearings to address the future of Berkeley’s embattled waterways. -more-
A big five-story building is going up at the northwest corner of University Avenue and Martin Luther King Jr. Way and there’s nothing neighbors can do to stop it. -more-
Trader Joe’s probably ranks as the most attractive bait the city’s seen skewered on a developer’s hook in recent years. -more-
A veteran Oakland progressive community police activist says that the combination of federal judicial oversight, the upcoming expiration of Oakland’s agreement with the police union, and a cooperative new police chief has the chance to result in significant positive reforms this year in the Oakland Police Department. -more-
Fearing their jobs could be at stake if the plant was forced out of Berkeley’s shrinking industrial zone, some 200 Pacific Steel Casting workers bearing hard hats came to a Wednesday night community meeting at the West Berkeley Senior Center to laud their employer for the healthy working conditions they say they find at the plant. -more-
Downtown Berkeley’s never again going to be a major commercial center with department stores and other large retailers, a city economic development officer said Wednesday night. -more-
UC Berkeley’s Recreational Sports Facility will play host to the Western Open, a four-star table tennis tournament this weekend. -more-
UC Berkeley clericals will get pay raises of about 12 percent—the first increase since 2002—but they’re not dancing in Sproul Plaza. -more-
The Berkeley City Council’s special hearing on proposed revisions to the city’s Landmarks Preservation Ordinance was both impressive and discouraging. It was impressive because 40 articulate citizens showed up, many with statements written out in advance to take exactly three minutes, and many representing even larger numbers of signers including most of the city’s neighborhood organizations. All 40 and those they represented, probably adding up several thousand citizens, were in favor of maintaining the city’s current level of protection for historic resources. -more-
To view Justin DeFreitas’ latest editorial cartoon, please visit -more-
Since buying my first bungalow in Berkeley 19 years ago, I have restored eleven other houses, consulted on many others, and written six best-selling books about bungalows, including Bungalow Kitchens, Bungalow Bathrooms, and Bungalow: The Ultimate Arts and Crafts Home. -more-
I took the oath to become an American citizen this week. Presidents’ Day is a perfect time to take the monumental step of becoming a citizen of this great country. After all, on Monday Americans celebrate the birthday of two men who helped form the America that made it possible for this to happen. -more-
Have you noticed there is a concerted effort on the part of the city to eliminate public parking? The idea of demolishing one of the best downtown parking lots (Hink’s) in the city, and replacing it with scores of housing units that have half as much parking as they will need for themselves and none for the public. Brilliant! Oh, and while we are at it, let’s eliminate half of the parking lot for the Ashby BART station (does anyone really use BART anyway) and install more housing and businesses, using the same model of no public parking. Is the strategy for downtown revival to provide a captive audience of shoppers within these housing developments only and to heck with shoppers from the rest of the city or other areas of the East Bay? Have you ever tried to find parking downtown on a rainy winter evening to do any shopping? And we wonder why businesses are closing and leaving? -more-
To view Justin DeFreitas’ latest editorial cartoon, please visit -more-
I haven’t seen the cartoons myself and frankly don’t care to (much in the same way if I hear that there is a porno picture that is being passed around, I probably wouldn’t want to see it; I rather personally dislike trashy things.) What I know is that they were printed in September and there were protests and outcries. Nothing was done. No apologies. Then, they were reprinted another time. And then the clerics caught on to it. And massive protests were organized and many people were genuinely outraged. I have to say, the stupidity of both sides astounds me and really shows some murky truths that further sadden me. First, how uncouth, how disrespectful, how racist, muslim-phobic do you have to be to mock another religion at its core of symbolism? All religions depend on symbolism. There is no imagery of the Prophet Muhammad because of a deep belief that no person should become a source of worship. Worship should be of God also left formless to take form in the individual. -more-
As a resident in the Ashby BART vicinity, I attended the city-sponsored meeting this past Saturday. The city had given us only four days notice before the meeting, and had not notified any area residents directly. Yet over 200 people were there, thanks in part to the Daily Planet’s good coverage of the City Council meeting. We were interested in learning the official view of the proposed BART parking lot project. -more-
My friend Andrew is back in town for some high-level, covert schmoozing. I last wrote about Andrew Boyd in 2004 when he was in the Bay Area directing a street theater effort against the Bush administration’s economic policies. Andrew is the founder of Billionaires for Bush, a do-it-yourself grassroots media campaign using humor and drama to expose politicians who support big business interests at the expense of everyday Americans. -more-
You’ve probably seen Canary Island pines around Berkeley, though I don’t know of any that are official street trees. They’re spotted in groups around the UC campus—there’s one near the Campanile—and they show up in various civic plantings, on big lawns and open spaces. They’re big trees—the largest pine native to the “Old World”—with a soft look when they’re mature. -more-
In the past two weeks the rhetoric on Iran has taken a chilling turn, in part because it doesn’t all come from the White House. Consider the following statements: -more-
At what point should the citizens of Oakland begin declaring the two-term administration of Mayor Jerry Brown to be a failure? Massive. Total. Complete. -more-
When I need some retail therapy, you won’t be surprised to hear, I often go look for something for the garden. I spend time in the nurseries I write about in this space, and I have to be careful if I actually want to make my occupation produce income, rather than outgo. There’s just something so hopeful about a fresh seedling or seed packet, and the scent of wholesome dirt makes my spirits rise. -more-
Our friends the Shnozzles (names herein will be changed to protect me, the person I’m always most concerned about) are in the throws of a major remodel and the festivities attending this blessed event are reminding me of all the things I learned back in the days when I engaged in this most cruel and unusual of professions. I’ve been giving them a little advice here and there and hearing about their woes-du-jour so I’ll pass along a few of each in the hopes that you might be spared just a little of the misery that so often accompanies the day when our houses change. -more-
Two local singers who are starting to make their mark in the national and international opera world will come back to Oakland as featured soloists in Friday’s Oakland East Bay Symphony concert, conducted by Michael Morgan at the Paramount Theater in Oakland. -more-
You’ve probably seen Canary Island pines around Berkeley, though I don’t know of any that are official street trees. They’re spotted in groups around the UC campus—there’s one near the Campanile—and they show up in various civic plantings, on big lawns and open spaces. They’re big trees—the largest pine native to the “Old World”—with a soft look when they’re mature. -more-
Junie B. Jones is a rambunctious 6-year-old—and 6-year-olds take things very literally. She doesn’t mean to get into trouble; it just kind of happens to her. -more-
When I need some retail therapy, you won’t be surprised to hear, I often go look for something for the garden. I spend time in the nurseries I write about in this space, and I have to be careful if I actually want to make my occupation produce income, rather than outgo. There’s just something so hopeful about a fresh seedling or seed packet, and the scent of wholesome dirt makes my spirits rise. -more-
Our friends the Shnozzles (names herein will be changed to protect me, the person I’m always most concerned about) are in the throws of a major remodel and the festivities attending this blessed event are reminding me of all the things I learned back in the days when I engaged in this most cruel and unusual of professions. I’ve been giving them a little advice here and there and hearing about their woes-du-jour so I’ll pass along a few of each in the hopes that you might be spared just a little of the misery that so often accompanies the day when our houses change. -more-
