A South Berkeley birthday party for a 15-year-old turned lethal Saturday night after the host tried to relieve a heavily tattooed man of a black pistol. -more-

A Berkeley cinema staple for 35 years has closed. -more-

The state chancellor of the California Community College system has asked the Peralta Colleges to become the administrative agent for Compton Community College in an effort to keep the troubled, 6,600-student Southern California school from being disbanded on June 30 because of loss of accreditation. -more-

Richmond’s getting ready to take the Plunge. -more-

The ongoing saga of the Gaia Building took a new turn Thursday night when members of the Zoning Adjustments Board (ZAB) voted to reopen the thorny issue of culture. -more-

It’s been three years since the United States invaded Iraq, so the press this month has been full of reminiscences tempered by a pinch of self-doubt. Some of the many high-visibility commentators, both press and politicians, who were dead wrong about what was going on have acknowledged that they were duped by the official story, but many have not. The Daily Planet was in the process of re-inventing itself that same month three years ago, and we’re proud to say we’ve been aware of how bogus this invasion was from our first day, and have told our readers about it (not that many of them were fooled anyhow.) -more-