Stephan Babuljak:
              Oakland Teachers Rally for New Contracts
               Susan DeNault, left, a retired Oakland Public school teacher of 25 years, now a substitute, cheers in support during a rally to encourage fair labor contracts between the district and its employees.
Stephan Babuljak: Oakland Teachers Rally for New Contracts Susan DeNault, left, a retired Oakland Public school teacher of 25 years, now a substitute, cheers in support during a rally to encourage fair labor contracts between the district and its employees.

Page One

State Supreme Court Backs Berkeley in Sea Scout Case By RICHARD BRENNEMAN

Friday March 10, 2006

Berkeley’s decision to cut off subsidies to the Sea Scouts because they refused to guarantee they wouldn’t discriminate against gays and atheists was perfectly legal, a unanimous California Supreme Court ruled Thursday. -more-



State Officials Order Radiation Tests for Campus Bay Site By RICHARD BRENNEMAN

Friday March 10, 2006

State officials have ordered extensive new tests at Richmond’s Campus Bay, looking for radiation, dioxin, asbestos, hexavalent chromium, cyanide, methyl mercury and other hazardous substances. -more-



County Opts For Paper Ballots for June Election By J. DOUGLAS ALLEN-TAYLOR

Friday March 10, 2006

Faced with the impossibility of purchasing electronic touch-screen voting machines that meet federal, state, and county guidelines in time for the June primary election, the Alameda County Registrar’s office has come up with a novel solution: paper ballots. -more-



Willard Park Tot-Lot Closed By Riya Bhattacharjee

Friday March 10, 2006

The City of Berkeley has announced that the Willard Park Tot-Lot will be closed from March 9 to March 17 in order to bring the park’s current rat infestation under control. -more-



Landmarks Ordinance Draft Adds a Few Surprises By JUDITH SCHERR

Friday March 10, 2006

While Councilmember Laurie Capitelli lauded the proposal for a new Landmarks Preservation Ordinance which was approved by the City Council Tuesday night, saying it will give people more power to preserve their neighborhoods, Councilmember Kriss Worthington, argued that the revised law will open the door for “a whole bunch of developers who want to steamroll over historic resources.” -more-



Features

Wrong Report Derails Berkeley Bowl Progress By SUZANNE LA BARRE

Friday March 10, 2006

Progress on the West Berkeley Bowl project has stalled due to a case of mistaken identity—of a traffic report. -more-


Oakland School Labor Talks to Resume Next Week By SUZANNE LA BARRE

Friday March 10, 2006

With a shiny red truck and neon green T-shirts, protesters descended on the Oakland Unified School District (OUSD) office Wednesday to demand fair contracts for teachers. -more-


UC Students Look Toward Another Win In Fee Lawsuits By J. DOUGLAS ALLEN-TAYLOR

Friday March 10, 2006

With University of California officials announcing plans to appeal this week’s professional fee hike lawsuit loss in Superior Court in San Francisco, attorneys for the victorious students are already looking ahead to a second lawsuit now making its way through the courts. -more-


School Board Favors Fire Science Curriculum for BHS Students By Riya Bhattacharjee

Friday March 10, 2006

Berkeley School Board members at Wednesday’s meeting were in favor of introducing a fire science curriculum at Berkeley High School. -more-


BUSD Considers Parcel Tax Measure By SUZANNE LA BARRE

Friday March 10, 2006

A school parcel tax is likely to grace the ballot this November, as the Berkeley Unified District (BUSD) struggles to offset a projected $19 million deficit. -more-


City Council Explores Cutting Ties to PG&E By JUDITH SCHERR

Friday March 10, 2006

A plan that would allow Berkeley residents to pull the plug on PG&E, with its nuclear power plant and investor-driven mindset—and replace it with a community-owned power provider—may be too good to be true, some city officials say. -more-


East Bay Parks Board to Fill Vacancy By RICHARD BRENNEMAN

Friday March 10, 2006

Directors of the East Bay Regional Parks will meet this afternoon (Tuesday) to pick one of the six finalists to fill the seat left empty by the death of Jean Siri, who represented Ward 1. -more-


Implementation Urged for Instant Runoff Voting By JUDITH SCHERR

Friday March 10, 2006

Berkeley voters approved instant runoff voting (IRV) with a 72 percent vote two years ago. Advocates came to Tuesday night’s council meeting to lobby the lawmakers to make it happen. -more-


New Radiation Concerns Prompt Orders for More Campus Bay Testing By RICHARD BRENNEMAN

Friday March 10, 2006

Concerns about the possible presence of radioactive waste at the Campus Bay site in south Richmond have prompted the state to order new tests for the controversial site. -more-


Police Blotter By RICHARD BRENNEMAN

Friday March 10, 2006

Arson arrest -more-


Public Comment

Letters to the Editor

Friday March 10, 2006

SWEATSHOP LABOR -more-


Commentary: Renters’ Units Should Not Be Converted By SHARON HUDSON

Staff
Friday March 10, 2006

David Wilson, in his Feb. 28 letter, supports the conversion of rental units to condos, as a way of improving the opportunity for home ownership, reducing the rental vacancy rate, and rehabilitating dilapidated rent-controlled units. -more-


Commentary: Condo Conversions Bad for Berkeley By RANDY SHAW

Friday March 10, 2006

There is a move afoot for Berkeley to weaken its restrictions on the conversion of rental apartments to condominiums. This would be the worst possible move for the city’s future. We need only look at San Francisco and New York City to see how condo conversions displace elderly and long-term tenants, gentrify neighborhoods, and ultimately destroy a city’s economic diversity. -more-


Commentary: Will City Enforce Gaia Cultural Use? By ANNA DE LEON

Friday March 10, 2006

We of Anna’s Jazz Island were excited to move into downtown Berkeley where there has been a push to create a vital Arts District. We were thrilled to be part of a genuine arts center, with a live theater, arts organizations and our jazz venue—10,000 square feet of cultural use. The Gaia Building has a mission for cultural use that originated in a “cultural density bonus” agreement made between the developer, Patrick Kennedy, and the city. In this current real estate market, new downtown cultural spaces can come into being only with such agreements. After lots of community discussion, our Zoning Adjustments Board (ZAB) voted to give Mr. Kennedy two extra floors of apartments from which he generates extra revenue. In exchange, ZAB also voted, and he agreed, that he would place the ground floor in cultural use and that he would divide the huge mezzanine into four spaces for arts organizations. Anna’s Jazz Island opened in late May of 2005; we use only 15 percent of all the promised cultural use space. -more-


Editorial

Editorial: Do-It-Yourself Leadership By BECKY O'MALLEY

Friday March 10, 2006

Lately we’ve been privileged to get some short letters from Pat Cody, someone who has always been in the forefront of doing what needs to be done around here. She founded Cody’s Books with her husband Fred, the first bookstore in the Bay Area if not in the country to feature quality paperback books and to stay open for those of us who needed a reading fix late at night. My memory is that the original Cody’s, on the north side of campus, was open 24 hours a day, but that might be an exaggeration. -more-


Columns

Column: The Public Eye: The Striking Similarities Between Bin Laden and Bush By Bob Burnett

Friday March 10, 2006

Today is Osama bin Laden’s birthday, his 49th. A good time to consider the strange similarities between the world’s most notorious fugitive and the president of the United States. -more-


Column: Undercurrents: Brown’s Downtown Entertainment District Failure By J. DOUGLAS ALLEN-TAYLOR

Friday March 10, 2006

Opportunities either mishandled or long left neglected during the Jerry Brown administration are now rapidly catching up with the mayor, threatening to give him a rocky send-off on his way out of Oakland’s door. (If you don’t get the pun, ask somebody.) -more-


Mount Everest Cooks Up Authentic Napalese Fare By B.J. CALURUS Special to the Planet

Friday March 10, 2006

Although the closest I’ve been to Nepal is the Himalayan Fair in Live Oak Park, I’ve come to like Nepalese food—at least as represented by Kathmandu on Solano Avenue and Little Nepal on Cortland Street in San Francisco. -more-


Arts Listings

Arts Calendar

Friday March 10, 2006





Events Listings

Berkeley This Week

Friday March 10, 2006


Back Stories

Opinion

Editorials

Editorial: Do-It-Yourself Leadership By BECKY O'MALLEY 03-10-2006

Editorial: Berkeley’s Landmark Ordinance Hits the Soup By BECKY O'MALLEY 03-07-2006

Cartoons

Correction 03-10-2006

Correction 03-07-2006

Public Comment

Letters to the Editor 03-10-2006

Commentary: Renters’ Units Should Not Be Converted By SHARON HUDSON Staff 03-10-2006

Commentary: Condo Conversions Bad for Berkeley By RANDY SHAW 03-10-2006

Commentary: Will City Enforce Gaia Cultural Use? By ANNA DE LEON 03-10-2006

Letters to the Editor 03-07-2006

Commentary: Thoughts on Iceland By Tom Killilea 03-07-2006

Commentary: Making a Better Berkeley Bowl By BETSY MORRIS 03-07-2006

Commentary: Citizen Silence on Bush Regime Must End By Ariel Parkinson 03-07-2006

News

State Supreme Court Backs Berkeley in Sea Scout Case By RICHARD BRENNEMAN 03-10-2006

State Officials Order Radiation Tests for Campus Bay Site By RICHARD BRENNEMAN 03-10-2006

County Opts For Paper Ballots for June Election By J. DOUGLAS ALLEN-TAYLOR 03-10-2006

Willard Park Tot-Lot Closed By Riya Bhattacharjee 03-10-2006

Landmarks Ordinance Draft Adds a Few Surprises By JUDITH SCHERR 03-10-2006

Wrong Report Derails Berkeley Bowl Progress By SUZANNE LA BARRE 03-10-2006

Oakland School Labor Talks to Resume Next Week By SUZANNE LA BARRE 03-10-2006

UC Students Look Toward Another Win In Fee Lawsuits By J. DOUGLAS ALLEN-TAYLOR 03-10-2006

School Board Favors Fire Science Curriculum for BHS Students By Riya Bhattacharjee 03-10-2006

BUSD Considers Parcel Tax Measure By SUZANNE LA BARRE 03-10-2006

City Council Explores Cutting Ties to PG&E By JUDITH SCHERR 03-10-2006

East Bay Parks Board to Fill Vacancy By RICHARD BRENNEMAN 03-10-2006

Implementation Urged for Instant Runoff Voting By JUDITH SCHERR 03-10-2006

New Radiation Concerns Prompt Orders for More Campus Bay Testing By RICHARD BRENNEMAN 03-10-2006

Police Blotter By RICHARD BRENNEMAN 03-10-2006

Rodents Scare Parents Away From Willard Park Tot Lot By Riya Bhattacharjee 03-07-2006

Oakland Police Plan Delayed By J. DOUGLAS ALLEN-TAYLOR 03-07-2006

Public Hearing Revives Debate Over West Berkeley Bowl By SUZANNE LA BARRE 03-07-2006

Inter-City Rapid Bus Transit on the Fast Track By SUZANNE LA BARRE 03-07-2006

Council Takes on Landmarks Law, Instant Runoff Voting By JUDITH SCHERR 03-07-2006

McLaughlin Announces Run for Richmond Mayor By RICHARD BRENNEMAN 03-07-2006

No Child Left Behind Act Threatens Professional Jobs By SUZANNE LA BARRE 03-07-2006

UC Students Combat Muslim Stereotypes By JUDITH SCHERR 03-07-2006

No Albany Counter-Initiative Planned, Says Measure Foe By RICHARD BRENNEMAN 03-07-2006

Police Blotter By RICHARD BRENNEMAN 03-07-2006

First Person: Otis Chandler: A Publisher with a Conscience By RICHARD BRENNEMAN 03-07-2006

Fire Department Log By RICHARD BRENNEMAN 03-07-2006

News Analysis: ‘Brokeback’ to ‘Kill Bill’: We’re All Asians Now By ANDREW LAM New American Media 03-07-2006

News Analysis: The New Bolivarian Revolution in Latin America By TED VINCENT Special to the Planet 03-07-2006

Columns

Column: The Public Eye: The Striking Similarities Between Bin Laden and Bush By Bob Burnett 03-10-2006

Column: Undercurrents: Brown’s Downtown Entertainment District Failure By J. DOUGLAS ALLEN-TAYLOR 03-10-2006

Mount Everest Cooks Up Authentic Napalese Fare By B.J. CALURUS Special to the Planet 03-10-2006

Column: Watching the Academy Awards From Room 921 By Susan Parker 03-07-2006

The Chemical Reactions of Spring Buds By RON SULLIVAN Special to the Planet 03-07-2006

Arts & Events

Arts Calendar 03-10-2006

Moving Pictures: A Masterful Imitation of Hollywood Moviemaking By JUSTIN DeFREITAS 03-10-2006

Arts: Berkeley’s Jewish Music Festival Kicks Off By BEN FRANDZEL Special to the Planet 03-10-2006

Garden Variety: Plant Amnesty Teaches Impacts of Bad Pruning By RON SULLIVAN 03-10-2006

Jazzschool Benefit Features Prominent Stars By IRA STEINGROOT Special to the Planet 03-10-2006

Mount Everest Cooks Up Authentic Napalese Fare By B.J. CALURUS Special to the Planet 03-10-2006

Berkeley This Week 03-10-2006

About the House The Dangers of Aluminum Wiring in Your Home By MATT CANTOR 03-10-2006

Arts Calendar 03-07-2006

Life in Berkeley on the Day of the Great Quake By RICHARD SCHWARTZ Special to the Planet 03-07-2006

The Chemical Reactions of Spring Buds By RON SULLIVAN Special to the Planet 03-07-2006

Berkeley This Week 03-07-2006