Day-glo netting mounted atop galvanized steel pipes along the property line separating a popular Ashby Avenue discount gas station from an unfinished apartment building proves yet again that good fences don’t make good neighbors. 

The netting—along with the tarps covering the side of the three-story apartment building—testifies to a feud between two men, both immigrants and engineers, that continues without resolution. To complete construction, the owner of the apartment building must have access from the gas station lot, permission that the station owner has refused to grant. 

For Athan Magannas, a native of Athens, the barrier is all that prevents him from completing the building at 2076 Ashby that has cost him over a million dollars to date. 

For Shahzad Khan, a native of Pakistan, the fence is a means of protesting what he calls both a violation of city ordinances and a menace to public safety. 

Getting permission to build the structure with its 11 apartments and ground-floor commercial space, wasn’t an easy task, said Magannas. 

“About five years ago, I started going around the neighborhood and telling people about my plans to replace a burned out apartment building on the site,” said Magannas. 

His original plans called for a four-story building with parking on the ground floor, but after numerous meetings with neighbors and city officials, the Zoning Adjustments Board finally issued permits for a design for a building with three floors and no parking by architect Marcy Wong. 

ZAB member Dave Blake strongly opposed the permit, partly on the grounds of the lack of parking, but the proposal was supported by Planning Director Dan Marks, who said that the close proximity of bus and BART transit made the lack of parking permissible. 

“It was one of the neighbors who came up with the idea,” said Robert Lauriston, a neighborhood activist who often takes a leading role in land use issues. 

“There was an eight-unit apartment on the site previously that had burned down, and it had no parking” he said. “Given the crazy traffic on Ashby, it seemed reasonable,” he said. 

But Khan, a mechanical engineer born in Pakistan, says the issue is the law. 

Pointing to photocopies of the city’s zoning ordinance, he argues, “How can they build something without the yards it says they have to have? They violated every single one of their own guidelines.” 

How also can they build apartments without parking and so close to the openings of his underground gasoline storage tanks, Khan asks. 

Khan has been operating the gas station at 3000 Shattuck Ave. since 1996, and has owned the property since March, 2003. 

The gas station owner also said that Magannas’s building extends onto his own property by a foot—something Magannas denies, pointing to the surveyor’s marks scratched into the concrete at what he says is the property boundary. 

Magannas also cites the certified surveyed he conducted prior to building and which he said he filed with the city. 

Blake said he doesn’t understand why Magannas is being blocked from building his project. “Once something is approved, you have to provide reasonable access,” he said. 

Magannas said he appealed to Max Anderson, the city councilperson who represents the district, but Anderson said there’s not much he can do. 

“I talked to both sides, and it’s actually beyond the point where the city can do much. Each side claims it has issues,” Anderson said. “I don’t know where they can go from here. 

“Some of the stuff is in dispute. The boundary line is in dispute, and there’s some dispute about whether it [Magannas’s building] conforms to setbacks and side space. It’s kind of murky right now, and that’s about all I know,” said Anderson. 

But there’s no doubt that the city issued Magannas a building permit, and work is continuing on the building—though not on the eastern wall, which is covered by tarps on Magannas’s side and blocked by the pipe-suspended webbing and a parked truck on Khan’s side. 

“This is completely corrupt,” said Khan, who also makes darker allegations that would be libelous for a reporter to put into print. 

Brad Rudolph, the city building inspector who’s been overseeing the project, said the problem isn’t his concern. “It’s between the two of them. They’re working it out,” he said. 

“It’s a private matter,” said Principal Planner Debra Sanderson, who is assigned to work with ZAB. “It’s not a city responsibility.” 

Berkeley City Attorney Manuela Albuquerque has refused to get involved in the issued, writing to Magannas on Dec. 13, that she did not “believe it appropriate for the city to take a side in this private matter,” and faulting Magannas for failing “to plan for the development of this project. He cannot expect the city to intervene on his behalf when it turns out he did not do so.” 

Meanwhile, work has continued at Magannas’s building—although not on that all important eastern wall, and the developer said he’s ready to take the final step, which involves court and lawyers. 

Fire threat? 

Khan said Magannas’s building poses one threat so extreme that the only solution is for the city to demolish Magannas’s buildings. 

“Trucks park right beside the building twice a day when they come to deliver gas,” said the station owner. “If someone was in the apartment and threw a cigarette out the window, it could create a spectacular fire that people would remember for centuries to come. This is a killer. It could kill the whole city of Berkeley.” 

Not so, said Deputy Fire Chief David P. Orth, “in my professional opinion.” 

First, he said, gasoline delivery trucks are required to capture the vapors given off when tanks are filled. 

Second, and more important, “gasoline requires an open flame to ignite, not a cigarette.” 

And, despite what Khan said, Magannas’s building does meet the fire code, Orth said, though “he really pushed the envelope” when it came to planning escape access.  

And the building it replaced really did burn down because of a gasoline fire almost 20 years ago—but only because the arsonist who set it was dumping out gas near a heater with a pilot flame that ignited the vapors. 

“It blew him right out the window. He landed on the roof of a car, brushed out the flames and ran away,” said Orth, who was a lieutenant at the time and almost stumbled over part of the torch’s stash of gas cans. 

The owner, it seems, was locked in a bitter dispute with tenants, and had called them out for a make-up brunch one Sunday. A half hour later the arsonist snuck inside to do his dirty deed, only to become an inadvertent victim of his own “insurance lightning.” 

As for Magannas, Orth agreed with Albuquerque that better planning might have avoided the problems he now faces. 

“As it is, he may have to pay the guy something,” said Orth..

After almost 20 years in education, Hosanna Kitzenberger leaves her job as a reading resource specialist—a position she says has brought her great joy—with a tinge of bitterness. 

Kitzenberger is one of 57 Berkeley Unified School District (BUSD) employees who do not meet the higher education standards required of para-professionals by the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB), and are on track to lose their jobs, following a unanimous vote by the Berkeley Board of Education Wednesday. 

“I’m overly qualified for this job,” said Kitzenberger, who offers reading and math support to slow learners and at Malcolm X and John Muir elementary schools. “I’ve just begun to see that you do a great job and at the end of the year, you get a layoff notice.” 

As a result of No Child Left Behind, a federal education initiative signed into law by President Bush in 2002, instructional assistants, technicians, specialists and interpreters for the deaf at Title I-funded school districts must earn an associate’s degree, a higher education equivalent, or pass a test displaying advanced competence in reading, writing and math. 

Layoffs affect those hired before 2002, when higher education was not a requirement of the job.  

Paraprofessionals who do not come into compliance by June 30 will find themselves out of work. Those who do not meet the deadline may work as day-to-day substitutes if they so choose, said Superintendent Michele Lawrence. 

Between March 1 and April 5, almost 20 employees passed the test, provided documentation demonstrating compliance or announced retirement. 

According to Ann Graybeal, president of the Berkeley Council of Classified Employees, which represents the district’s 376 teacher’s aides, library aides, secretaries, accountants and after-school program coordinators, many employees don’t have time to go back to school or to attend district-subsidized tutoring sessions aimed at passing the test. 

Others, like Kitzenberger, who was scheduled to retire in a couple years, oppose the mandate on principle.  

“I’m not taking any test,” she told the Daily Planet in March. “I know how good I am.” 

Board of Education directors insist their hands are tied.  

“It’s reprehensible that we have to do this, but we have to uphold the law,” said Vice President Joaquin Rivera. 

The council maintains that the district could have explored other options to enforce the NCLB requirement, such as evaluating on-the-job skills, but chose not to. 

The district rejected an evaluation-based alternative citing legal roadblocks. 

Graybeal voiced her frustration with the arrangement. 

“I’m embarrassed for the board. Employees deserve better,” she said, telling the Daily Planet that if paraprofessionals must meet additional requirements per No Child Left Behind, the district should consider increasing their compensation. 

Pink slips and promotions 

At Wednesday’s school board meeting, directors also issued additional pink slips for classified employees and instituted two high-paying managerial positions. 

Director of Certified Employees Patricia Calvert takes leave of the district June 30, and will be replaced with an assistant superintendent slated to earn $134,931. 

Director of Educational Services Neil Smith will get promoted to assistant superintendent of curriculum and instructional services, and his old position will be eliminated. He will also earn $134,931. 

Together, the new titles cost the district an extra $30,847, but shifting resources will prevent encroachment on the general fund, Lawrence said. 

Directors voted unanimously in favor of the new positions. They also agreed unanimously to eradicate or cut the hours of more than a dozen classified employees, including bilingual assistants, arts specialists and a health coordinator. The decision was unrelated to the No Child Left Behind policy discussed earlier. 

Rather, the cuts come about because the district does not know whether classified staff will receive financial support until the state, the primary source of funding for California schools, finalizes its budget this summer. Some positions may eventually be spared, but by law, if layoffs are to occur, employees must receive 45-days notice. 

Given the unpredictable nature of K-12 revenue in California, the issuance of pink slips is something of an annual ritual, Graybeal said, but this year’s coupling with raises for administration is particularly disturbing for the council.  

She said, “If management is receiving increases at the same time classified staff is being laid off, that’s obviously a great blow to morale.” 

Ward Street: it’s 6 in the evening, and the roads are sepia tinted, the pavement is wearing a jaded look. It looks like your everyday neighborhood—until you come across house number 2122.  

As the lights go up in number 2118 next door, anyone passing by can now see a property disclosure sign warning them to steer clear of the house at number 2122. A dozen reasons for staying away from the property have been listed on the sign, including “3 deaths on property,” “no gas service,” and “bad foundation.”  

What is even more arresting is the graffiti adorning the walls of 2122 itself. The word “thief” screams out in bold black letters from above the garage door and “don’t buy this house” and “stolen by fraud” are scrawled all over the front porch with the help of home-made stencils. 

The vandalism is a result of a feud over the ownership of 2122 Ward St. Jim Hultman, the former owner, claims that his house was stolen through fraud by his mortgage company—Fairbanks Capital Corporation. Loren and Jeff Toews, who bought the property through foreclosure sale, say that they are now the legal owners of the property. 

For the past couple of weeks, the graffiti has appeared mysteriously at night and after getting promptly cleaned up, reappears the following day. Apart from the graffiti, the house has also been covered in paintballs and has had its windows broken and doorbell ripped off on numerous occasions. 

Lorian Elbert, a photojournalist and a resident of Berkeley, said she first noticed the graffiti a few weeks ago. 

“My dog led me to it,” she said. “I’ve never seen this kind of graffiti on a residential house before.” 

Elbert photographed the house every time fresh writing appeared on it. 

“It goes through a phase. I saw ‘scum’ written on it last Tuesday and it disappeared on Wednesday. And nobody seems to know whose doing it,”  

However, the story does not end there.  

Five houses on the block have displayed signs on their windows and front porches reading, “Don’t Buy 2122 Ward St.,” and “It’s Just Wrong.”  

When the Daily Planet asked a homeowner who had a sign up on her window why the neighbors were doing this, she said that the signs were there to show support for “Jim and Brett”—the former owners of the property.  

“Jim Hultman was like the mayor of our street,” the neighbor said. “He was so active in the community. We really want him to get his house back.” 

She said that many of the neighbors were concerned that people from outside the neighborhood were buying old houses such as 2122 Ward St. through foreclosure sales. 

“It could be my house next,” she said. 

Meg Veitch, a freshman at Berkeley High said that she supported the sign which her parents had put up on their window because she “loved Jim and Brett and wanted them back.”  

In an interview with the Planet, Hultman said that the house on 2122 Ward St. had been in his family for 90 years. 

“I had been making mortgage payments on a small loan to Aames Home Loans when the company sold the servicing rights for the loans to Fairbanks Capital Corporation (now Select Portfolio Servicing) in 2003,” he said. “I never missed a payment and was never behind on my mortgage.” 

Hultman said he had no warning that his house was being sold at a foreclosure auction in July 2003. 

“I found out at 9:30 the morning of the sale,” he said, “when I returned home to let my dog out and found one of the buyers, Jeff Toews, in my back yard. I asked him who he was and what he was doing in my back yard and he told me that he was buying my house at an auction that day.” 

Hultman said that he has still never received anything from the mortgage company informing him that his house has been sold. 

“They continued to take my payments and cash my checks for five months after my house was sold,” he said. “To not inform someone you sold their house and continue to accept and cash their mortgage payments is indisputably fraud.”  

Select Portfolio Servicing (formerly Fairbanks Capital Corp.) was contacted by the Planet but was unable to offer comment regarding 2122 Ward St. because of privacy issues. 

Fairbanks Capital Corp. was involved in a class action lawsuit in May 2004 as a result of charges of misconduct against Fairbanks in servicing its customers’ mortgage loans which resulted in the court approving a $55 million settlement. 

“Substantial changes in Fairbanks’ business practices and a default resolution program to limit the imposition of fees and foreclosure proceedings against Fairbanks’ customers” was also established as a result of the settlement, according to information on the website of Lieff Cabraser , the law firm which served as nationwide co-lead counsel for the homeowners.  

Steve Barton, director of the Berkeley Housing Department, told the Planet that incidents of fraudulent transactions and predatory lending practices are not uncommon and are more frequent in the case of the elderly or the disabled. 

Toewes, the current co-owner of 2122 Ward St. and former Pittsburgh Steelers’ linebacker, told the Planet that he and his brother Jeff (former Miami Dolphins football player) had bought the 2122 Ward St. property at a public auction. The brothers are real estate agents, although Jeff said that the Ward Street property was not currently on the market.  

“We responded to a public announcement and had nothing to do with the lender (Fairbanks Capital Corp.) or the borrowers,” said Loren. 

Towes added that he had reported the graffiti problem to the Berkeley police but had no idea who was behind it. 

“We understand that the neighbors are angry with us but their anger is misdirected,” he said. 

Graffiti referring to Toews has also appeared on the house, such as: “Pittsburgh house stealer” and “Loren and Jeff Toews, how can you sleep at night?” 

Hultman said, “the Toews don’t care how this happened to us or if what my mortgage company did was legal.” 

Towes told the Planet that he had had no problems with Hultman so far and that all their conversations had been cordial. 

Fresh graffiti continues to appear on 2122 Ward St. every other day. The Berkeley police say they are as clueless as the owners about who could be behind it. 

Officer Spencer Fomby, Area 3 coordinator of the Berkeley Police Department, told the Planet that Jeff Toews filed a vandalism report on March 16. 

Fomby added that it was the property owner’s responsibility to inform the police if vandalism was taking place regularly on private property. Only after that can the police take further action against the perpetuators. 

Photo by Lorian Elbert 

Vandalism at 2122 Ward St.  

›

A website dedicated to exposing the supposed mistreatment of Foster Farms’ chickens is under attack for allegedly infringing on intellectual property and defaming the company’s name. 

A lawyer representing Foster Farms, a family-owned American poultry company since 1939, ordered the operators of fosterfacts.net to turn over the domain and “refrain from any libelous or slanderous activity toward Foster Farms” or risk legal retribution. 

Fosterfacts.net details alleged health violations such as unsanitary living conditions and inadequate veterinary care uncovered in surreptitious investigations of Foster Farms facilities. The website is owned by the East Bay Animal Advocates (EBAA), an animal rights group based in Martinez. 

In a letter dated Feb. 24, Foster Farms attorney Bobby Ghajar accuses the advocacy group of using the domain “fosterfacts.net” to promote its own views and agenda, and intentionally misusing the “Foster” trademark, which could cause visitors to mistake the EBAA website for a legitimate Foster Farms website. 

He further argues that EBAA attempts to tarnish the company’s image by drawing blanket conclusions about labor and animal treatment practices based on questionable evidence, like an alleged interview with a Foster Farms employee who claims he’s forbidden to use the restroom at work. 

“EBAA has made sweeping and misleading allegations about Foster Farms’ trade practices,” Ghajar writes. “This is a deceptive and irresponsible attempt by EBAA to injure Foster Farms’ image and goodwill.” 

Vicki Steiner, a pro bono attorney for the animal rights group, said the First Amendment grants EBAA the right to post information about the company online. 

“Obviously Foster Farms doesn’t want us putting this information out on the Internet, but the First Amendment protects our right to do that,” said EBAA Director Christine Morrissey. 

Steiner further dismisses allegations of defamation, arguing that photographic and videographic evidence of animal cruelty posted on fosterfacts.net speaks for itself. The website depicts photographs of dead and injured chickens, said to have been taken at a Merced County Foster Farms broiler operation, where poultry is raised. 

In a March 10 response to Ghajar, Steiner declines a request to dismantle the website and challenges Foster Farms to allow an EBAA expert to conduct unannounced, videotaped inspections of the company’s facilities. 

The EBAA, which formed in May 2003 and has developed a reputation for conducting “rescues,” or liberating farm animals headed for the slaughterhouse, has never been sued, Morrissey said. 

Fosterfacts.net was the group’s first foray into targeting a major corporation. Other large poultry operations exhibit similarly grim business practices, Morrissey said, but the EBAA hones in on Foster Farms because it is the largest poultry production in the Western United States. 

A representative for Foster Farms did not return multiple calls for comment. 

Foster Farms paints a far prettier picture of its poultry treatment on the official website fosterfarms.com. Chickens are “taken to a local ranch with optimal conditions to promote natural growth,” the website says. “Each ranch has a ‘buffer zone’ of empty land all around. The climate is ideal. The chicks’ environment is kept comfortable and sanitary, and is monitored around the clock.” 

In 2001, the British medical services firm Huntingdon Life Sciences successfully quieted an animal rights group when it instructed a Pittsburgh-based web service provider to shut down two websites attacking the company.  

At press time, Ghajar said the company had not filed a lawsuit. He declined to comment further, saying he was “not at liberty to talk about this case, because it’s ongoing.” 

Regardless of Foster Farms’ next move, EBAA will continue speaking out against animal rights’ infringements, Morrissey said. “The mission of our organization is to reveal cruelty of agriculture in California, and we’ll continue to do that.” 

!!

As the words “Beauty is truth, truth beauty—that is all Ye know on earth, and all ye need to know” from Keats’ “Ode on a Grecian Urn” echoded through the UC Berkeley Wada Tower multipurpose room on Wednesday evening, you could see five excited pair of eyes in the last couple of rows. 

They belonged to ten new students. These students were UC Berkeley Housing and Dining custodians who were enrolled in Vocational English as a Second Language class taught as a special project by Laney Community College. 

They were guests that evening at UC Berkeley’s “Poetry for the People”—the popular poet-in-residence program which focuses on poetry as a means of social action.  

According to Jarralynne Agee, CALS Project coordinator, “merging the classes together with the custodians and the Cal students will give a new approach to helping service workers build their English skills on campus. It is a dream for us to be sitting in a class with UC Berkeley students.”  

Close to 70 percent of service workers on the UC Berkeley campus speak English as a second language, including a very large number of those who have limited English proficiency, Agee told the Planet.  

The custodians received credits for their vocational English class at Laney for attending that evening. Laney professor Sonja Franeta and UC Berkeley staff member and Laney lecturer Candace Khanna instruct the custodians every week. They are supported by CALS Project interns Alyce Ford Gilbert and Ann Linsley. UCB students Bryant Park and Jennifer Chang assist with multi-level classroom needs.  

“It’s a great way to break down borders,” said Franeta of bringing the custodians to the UC Berkeley event. “Everyone gets to learn from each other. We really need student volunteers who would help my students with their spoken English conversations.” 

As the class unfolded, around a dozen of the 150 undergraduate students read poetry which covered topics as diverse as odes to daddies, human rights, and the twin hurricanes down in New Orleans. The word of the day was “magnificent” and the subject “odes.”  

Francisco X. Alarcon, a visiting professor from UC Davis, read aloud from his original work. A professor in UCD’s Spanish for Natives Program, Alarcon praised the idea of bringing the custodians into the classroom that day. 

“Borders don’t exist,” he said. “The more windows you have, the more access you have to the universe. It’s O.K. to be who you are—dark, latino, Chicano, Mexicano. Poetry is a universal form bridging all the borders. This was a wonderful way of showing that.” 

Kim Lang, a cook at Berkeley’s International House, told the Planet at the end of the class that he had enjoyed Alarcon’s readings. 

“It was definitely more difficult than what the students were reading out, but I still found it very interesting,” he said. 

Richard Huang, who waxes and cleans on campus, admitted to liking Pablo Neruda’s “Ode to an Onion.” 

“I hope we get to come for these classes more often. I love interacting with students. It helps brush up my English,” he said smiling.  

Francesco Azuara, who works at the Zellerbach Theatre, and Daniel Pizano, who works in dining services at the International House said they were still shy when it came to conversing freely with students. 

“We need to practice more English grammer,” Francesco said pointing to his Grammar 3—Step by Step book. 

Poto by Riya Bhattacharjee  

Daniel Pizano, who works at the I-House, and Francesco Azuara, a custodian at the Zellerback Theatre, listen to poetry with UC Berkeley students Wednesday.

It’s not secret that California’s public school libraries have plenty of room for improvement.  

With one librarian for every 4,541 students, the state ranks 51st—behind the other 49 states and Washington D.C.—in the ratio of library media teachers to students. Collections carry about 16 books per student compared with the national average of 22 books per student, and the average tome is 15 years old. 

Funding is in short supply, too. Between 1998 and 2003, state financial support of school libraries plummeted 92 percent, according to the California Department of Education. Currently, California allots 73 cents per student for books. 

The trend is unsurprising in an educational era that places the utmost importance on standardized testing, and finds the link between flourishing school libraries and test scores too fuzzy to expend much energy on improving resources. 

Be that as it may, the recipe for successful media programs is quantified. Based on research conducted over the last 13 years, solid school libraries are comprised of large, varied, up-to-date collections, credentialed librarians, active, knowledgeable staff members who teach information literacy, and flexible hours. 

Berkeley Unified School District is on its way there, said District Library Coordinator Pete Doering. 

With an average copyright year of 1990 and about 21 books per student, the district’s collection is slightly older and smaller than the national average. 

But staffwise, BUSD is on a roll. This year, Measure B of 2004 earmarked $1.34 million for school library employees including two full-time librarians and a clerk at the high school, a credentialed librarian and a part-time clerk at each of the middle schools, library technicians who work six hours a day in the elementary schools and a new district-wide coordinator who oversees general library operations.  

Staff additions have been a boon to library employees, some of whom were at their wit’s end following significant district cutbacks a few years ago.  

“We have 3,200 students and over 150 teachers. I love what I do, but there’s no way I could collaborate with every teacher and help every student [before],” said Ellie Goldstein-Erickson, who has worked at the Berkeley High School library for 10 years. 

As of February, she is assisted by an additional full-time credentialed librarian and a part-time clerk, and works in a newly erected facility where she estimates there are more than 30,000 books and seating for 150-plus. 

The facility is “the most beautiful library in a public high school,” she said. 

“Now, we’re able to give a lot more service than we were in the past,” she said. “We’re virtually always busy. When we open at 7:30 a.m., people are waiting.” 

Deborah Howe, the library technician for Rosa Parks Elementary School, agreed that more staff time spells better service for students and a less stressful workplace for her. Howe’s hours recently grew from three to six hours a day. 

“Before, I had to cut back a lot on classes that I saw,” she said. “And also, I had to work a lot of overtime. I still do, but before, I couldn’t get everything done.” 

Howe sees every Rosa Parks class at least once a week for half an hour to 40 minutes. Students can pick up encyclopedias, cookbooks, contemporary recreational reads or peruse the library’s special display; most recently it featured farm worker books in honor of Cesar Chavez Day. 

Howe touts the importance of exposing students to books and libraries on a routine-basis, but fears library services are at risk of losing support. 

Measure B sunsets in 2007, as does the Berkeley Schools Excellence Project, which has contributed $410,000 to K-12 library materials this year. The average cost of a book in 2005 was $20.52, an increase of 14.4 percent over the last five years. 

The school district is considering a replacement measure for the November 2006 ballot, but the question arises: Will it be enough to make school libraries great? 

Despite extended hours for elementary school library employees, facilities still aren’t open before and after school. Additionally, those sites lack a fundamental feature: trained librarians. Library technicians aren’t certified to teach, an expertise administrators believe students need to reap the full benefit of media centers. 

Librarians can train students on how to look up books, how to turn raw information into a well-researched paper, and how to conduct fruitful Internet searches—rather than grant gospel status to the first Google hit that comes up, like many kids do, Doering said. 

BUSD also lacks a standard curriculum that would transcribe those teaching points into a districtwide policy. The district is in the process of developing such a program, which would include annual library orientations, storytelling, book talks, author visits and access to online resources for all students.  

“I’d like a K-12 curriculum to become a vital part in every school,” said Doering, “and that every kid leaves our high school knowing how to do the research to be in a university.””

In Berkeley, when it rains, it floods. 

“During any moderate rainstorm, there are currently over 500 trouble spots throughout the city that have continual problems of blockages, failures, or flooding,” City Manager Phil Kamlarz wrote in his 2006 Budget Report. 

The city’s storm water system, built 80 years ago or so, can’t direct all the rain water to the bay as it was designed to do. The often-abused and sometimes broken system is “undersized and undercapacity,” according to Claudette Ford, interim Public Works director. 

There’s only one definitive solution, said Councilmember Linda Maio: new taxes must be raised to overhaul the system. 

In her flood-prone West Berkeley council district, people working on Second Street paddled canoes in the street during a December storm, Maio said. 

The March rainy season, which dropped 9.42 inches of intermittent rain on Berkeley, caused the storm drains to back up, but in a less dramatic fashion.  

“It’s our turn now to step up and pass a measure to fund the rehab of storm drains,” Maio said. 

The system is made up of 78 miles of pipes, manholes, about 2,000 catch basins that trap the water and direct it through pipes to the Bay and some 4,000 storm drains that catch the water and direct it through culverts that move the water underground to the other side of the street. The water exits the outlets and descends along the street to storm drains that take it to the Bay. 

The system backs up when the old pipes break and because the pipes are too narrow to handle the quantity of water. People further reduce the system capacity by clogging the drains—pouring motor oil, sweeping leaves and throwing plastic bottles into them. 

The city and county try to educate the public to be better storm drains stewards by distributing literature and talking to people at fairs and festivals. They also advertise and make presentations at schools. Thirty-one people have signed up for the city’s adopt-a-drain program, where volunteers clean out drains near their homes. 

Businesses also pollute the storm drain system. Restaurant workers sometimes pour grease into the drains or allow garbage into the system. 

About a year ago, the San Francisco Regional Water Quality Control Board issued a violation to the city, demanding that it do a better job policing its restaurants. Since that time, the city’s improved in this area, according to Dale Bowyer, senior water resource control engineer, with the RWQCD. 

Another part of the solution is street sweeping, which removes debris from the streets, which would otherwise go into storm drains. The sweeping takes place only in the flatlands. 

However, “the last budget cuts caused the Public Works Department to cut one of the street sweeper positions,” according to Public Works Commissioner Carlene St. John.  

onsequently, they stopped sweeping in West Berkeley, she said, adding, “The Public Works budget keeps getting squeezed.”  

Also, Maio pointed out that the city owns “only one vacuum unit to get the gunk out” of the drains. At times, they contract for additional help. 

Another reason the system doesn’t work is asphalt. As the city has built up, and roads and other surfaces have been paved, there is less soil available for rain absorption. 

“The more asphalt there is, the more the water goes into the storm drain system,” St. John said. 

The city needs a new way of looking at the storm drain problem, said Jennifer Pearson, co-chair of Friends of Strawberry Creek. That approach would go beyond fixing a broken culvert here or cleaning out a pipe there. The city needs to address storm drain needs in the context of protecting the watershed—its groundwater, creeks, soil and the Bay. 

Whatever the specifics of the solution, it will be expensive. Berkeley residents already pay a storm water fee of about $17 for the average homeowner with a 1,900 square-foot home. 

The city manager’s budget report said that reconstructing the system would mean obtaining $1 million annually from new taxes. That would cost the average homeowner an additional $25 each year. 

“We’ve been trying to get the council to put (a storm water tax) on the ballot the last three elections,” said Commissioner St. John. “It isn’t a lot of money.” 

Maio said she’s ready to call on the council to support putting the tax before the voters. It would have to be passed by a two-thirds majority..

Hungry for a place to shop for food but fearful that the proposed West Berkeley Bowl complex will worsen the area’s already snarled traffic, several dozen nearby people came to the Planning Commission’s Wednesday evening public hearing on the project, held at the North Berkeley Senior Center.  

The hearing—to elicit comments on a revised draft report projecting the development’s traffic impacts—was part of a formal process leading to the Planning Commission’s public hearing on the Final Environmental Impact Report, expected May 10. 

The final report will include consultants’ responses to community concerns expressed at various public hearings or submitted to the Planning Department in writing by April 24.  

The City Council’s eventual acceptance or rejection of the project is expected in June or July. 

Speaking at the public hearing, where he called the proposal “the entry into Berkeley of the big box,” West Berkeley artisan John Curl cautioned commissioners to “think carefully of what we’re getting into.” 

The proposed project at Ninth Street and Heinz Avenue would comprise two buildings: one, of about 84,000 square feet would be a supermarket, with a second story of offices; it would include a 109-space underground parking garage. A smaller building of about 7,000 square feet would have prepared food, seating, and a community room on the second floor. There would be 102 surface parking spaces. 

Mary Lou Van Deventer of nearby Urban Ore and Gary Robinson of Meyer Sound echoed Curl’s comments.  

“We’ll be one and one-half blocks from a mega-store,” Van Deventer said. Acknowledging the desire of West Berkeley residents for the market, she added: “I’m in favor of the store if it is scaled down.”  

Residents of the area, which includes no supermarket, spoke out strongly in favor of the project. 

“Most people in my neighborhood cannot believe there’s any opposition,” said Michael Larrick, who lives a few blocks southeast of the proposed store. “Most people are aware that there’s going to be more traffic. They’re willing to deal with that.” 

One resident of the San Pablo Park area told commissioners she had collected 50 signatures from her neighbors in an hour and a half in support of the market, with only two in opposition. 

“The Berkeley Bowl is a ray of sunshine for everybody who lives in south Berkeley,” said David Snipper, whose residence is close to the proposed project. “We’ve waited for the Berkeley Bowl project to go through.” 

He expressed fear, however, that his residential neighborhood and the French American School would be overwhelmed by traffic. 

“We want some protection for Eighth Street, Ninth Street and Tenth Street,” he said. 

There’s more to alleviating traffic tie-ups than re-engineering streets and signals, said Nancy Jewel Cross, representing Clean Air Transport Systems. 

“In Emeryville, there are free shuttles,” she said. “Berkeley needs to think about access other than bicycles and cars.” 

To accommodate the project, the area’s light industrial zoning will have to be changed. Rick Auerbach suggested the city come up with new zoning that would allow only grocery stores. 

“It it goes out of business, we’ll still have a grocery store,” Auerbach said. 

Copies of reports on the project are available at the Permit Service Center at Milvia and Center streets or on line at www.ci.berkeley,ca.us/planning/landuse. Submit comments on the project to the Planning Commission, c/o Aaron Sage, 2120 Milvia St., Berkeley Calif. 94704 or email to asage@ci.berkeley.ca.us..

Updating the Creeks Ordinance, the project a task force has been struggling with for about 18 months, is aimed at maintaining the city’s natural waterways and surrounding habitat. 

But it is no less about people’s property rights—how close to a stream can a property owner build and how high? What if a structure is destroyed—how is it to be rebuilt? And does one look at open creeks in the same way as those encased in concrete culverts? 

Although the Creeks Task Force finally presented its “completed” recommendations to the Planning Commission Wednesday night, the 15-member body will continue to tweak its proposals. And community groups will keep vigilant. The Planning Commission will vote on the final Creeks Task Force recommendations April 26. The vote is advisory to the City Council. 

The commission’s discussion of the task force recommendations seemed to raise more questions than answers. 

Planning Commissioner Gene Poschman wanted to better define what a ‘creek’ is. 

“The definition of ‘creeks’ is fuzzy,” he said. There are swills, depressions and other ways of referring to them, he added, which could impact how the creeks and building around them are regulated. 

“What’s the definition of a culvert?” he asked. And what is the difference between a storm water culvert and a creek culvert?  

Furthermore, Poschman wanted to know if building on an open creek is more restrictive than on a culverted creek, what is the incentive for homeowners to daylight their creeks? 

One of the most contentious questions is how close to an open creek one can build. The task force is recommending the existing law’s mandate for new buildings —30 feet away from the creek. 

However, speaking at the Planning Commission’s public comment period, Barbara Allen, a member of Neighbors on Urban Creeks, said the proposal fails to address the steepness of the banks and the shape and size of the lot. 

The building rules should be “on a case by case basis,” she said. 

Planning Commissioner Harry Pollack noted the 30-foot setback is same in the hills and flatlands, though conditions are different.  

Other Creeks Task Force recommendations include: 

• The city ahould look for funds to help homeowners with costs related to maintenance and repair of creeks and creek culverts. 

• Creek culverts should be regulated similarly to storm water culverts. 

• Rebuilding a structure after a loss on the same footprint is permitted. 

• An environmental analysis is necessary if building higher.  

Former Mayor Shirley Dean, also a member of Neighbors on Urban Creeks, raised the question of the homeowner who unknowingly buys property with a culverted creek, which had happened to her. The regulations would put this homeowner at a disadvantage, she said. 

Planning staff argued that the city had notified some 2,000 homeowners who live on open and culverted creeks. A property list appears on the Planning Department web site. 

During the public comment period, one person challenged Planning Chair Helen Burke, a member of the Creeks Task Force, saying she had a conflict of interest and shouldn’t serve on the body, because her home is on a creek. Another person challenged two unnamed members of the task force, saying they are professionally involved with creeks and able to profit from their recommendations. 

Planning Director Dan Marks responded, saying because task forces are advisory, their members do not have the same conflict of interest regulations as commissioners. 

“I’ll double check with the city attorney,” he promised..

The landscape for California school bonds has changed radically since the Peralta Community College District last asked local voters for money. 

Peralta officials hope the new state school bond structure, set up by the passage of Proposition 39 in 2000, will be helpful both in the passage of the $390 million Measure A bond on the June ballot and in the impact on the district if the measure is approved. 

In 2000, close to 80 percent of Peralta district voters approved Measure E, the $153 million construction bond measure. A major portion of that money was used for the construction of Berkeley City College (formerly Vista College), scheduled to open its new downtown Berkeley campus this year. 

But even with its large approval percentage—far in excess of the two-thirds vote needed—and its success in bringing the new Berkeley City College campus into being, problems plagued Measure E both before and after its passage. 

Measure E came under the authority of the old Proposition 13, which limited expenditures to school construction but gave districts leeway as to what construction projects they were going to work on once the money was approved. 

Prior to the vote on Measure E in November of 2000, Berkeley politicians sought written assurances from Peralta officials that at least $25 million of the bond money would be spent on a new Vista College campus, with the Daily Planet reporting Councilmembers Kriss Worthington and Dona Spring threatening to pull their political support for the measure if it did not. 

“I hate to issue ultimatums, but Vista College has been burned in the past by [the Peralta Trustee] board, and before we support such a measure, we want to make sure we have a guarantee, in writing,” the Planet reported Worthington as saying a month before Measure E went before voters.  

“It’s already designated in the budget if the measure passes,” then-Peralta Chancellor Ron Temple told the Planet. “The commitment is there. We’ve bought land, we’ve hired an architect, we have a plan.” 

Temple also said that Peralta trustees had already passed a resolution committing a portion of the potential Measure E funds to the Vista construction, an action which didn’t satisfy the two Berkeley City Councilmembers.  

Peralta eventually honored their commitment to Vista, but squabbles over other Measure E expenditures have surfaced over the past year, with Peralta trustees complaining that there is no comprehensive list of proposed Measure E construction projects. During the recent debate over approval of the Laney athletic field renovations, for example, some trustees said that they had no idea of what needed construction projects might be left out when new construction projects were requested. 

In part, that comes from the fact the leeway the old bond measure laws gave districts in spending the construction bond money, allowing them to spend it on any school construction project so long as it met state law and the parameters of the bond itself. 

But during the same election in which Peralta District voters approved Measure E, California voters approved Proposition 39, amending the California Constitution to allow changes in school bond measures. 

One such change, outlined in the League of Women Voters election guide of that year, involved a requirement for a list of proposed projects to accompany the bond measure on the ballot. It read, “Taxpayers want to know how their money will be spent before they vote on local school bonds. Proposition 39 requires local districts to list in advance the projects that will be paid for . . .” 

The new Peralta bond measure on the June ballot, written under the authority of Proposition 39, will now contain a detailed list of all of the specific projects authorized under Measure A. 

Just as significantly, while Prop 39-authorized bond money cannot be spent on administration or salaries, it adds equipment purchase and some forms of training to the types of allowable expenses. 

“It’s incorrect to call Measure A merely a ‘construction bond measure,’” Peralta Chief Financial Officer Tom Smith told a League of Women Voters Measure A forum in Albany this week. 

Peralta officials, however, have not yet come up with a short phrase which describes the measure. 

At the same forum, Peralta Trustee Nicky Gonzalez Yuen explained one example of the Measure E construction restrictions in the Vista College project. 

“We could spend Measure E money on facilities within a classroom, but only if those facilities were considered permanent,” Yuen said. “Chairs and a lectern could be purchased, but only if they were bolted down as part of the classroom structure.” 

Yuen said this created an artificial barrier that prevented flexibility in construction. 

The new bond measure, if passed, will also allow for such non-construction items as new computer purchase and technology upgrades throughout the four-college district, items which are particularly needed at Laney College in Oakland, the district’s oldest facility. 

Proposition 39 had another significant impact on school bond measures in California: while under Prop 13, such measures had to received two-thirds voter approval, Prop 39-mandated bonds now only need 55 percent voter approval. 

Still, Peralta officials are scrambling to build support for the measure, with a clear campaign strategy and team not yet in place. The effort is complicated by the short time between now and the June election. 

According to trustee Yuen, the district had originally envisioned the bond measure going on the November ballot, but moved it up to keep it from being voted on in the same election as Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger’s proposed California infrastructure bond. 

Peralta officials were concerned that the governor’s massive infrastructure bond would overshadow the Peralta measure, dragging the Peralta measure down to defeat either because the governor’s measure was so unpopular or because voters were only inclined to give money to one major project on the ballot. 

The Albany City Council Monday approved creation of a burrowing owl habitat at the base of the Albany Bulb and extended a ban on cannabis clubs for another year. 

Both measures passed on 4-0 votes. Councilmember Jewel Okawachi was not present for Monday’s meeting. 

The owl habitat was mandated as a condition of approval of the Gilman Playing Fields, a joint project of several East Bay cities on park land within Berkeley city limits. 

An endangered species, the burrowing owls had been spotted nesting on the site, and constructing the new habitat was a condition of the mitigations spelled out. 

The Albany Council also approved $20,000 to prepare a ballot analysis of the potential impacts of a proposed November ballot measure that would limit development on the city’s waterfront. 

The funding will kick in only if initiative sponsors turn in enough signatures to place the measure on the ballot, said City Administrator Beth Pollard. 

The initiative, sponsored by environmentalists and park activists, would pose a threat to plans by Los Angeles developer Rick Caruso to build a themed shopping mall on the northwest parking lot of Golden Gate Fields. 

Caruso and Magna Entertainment, the Canadian racetrack firm that owns the Bay Area’s last remaining horse racing venture, has also partnered with Caruso on a similar project in Southern California. 

The other Bay Area track, Bay Meadows in San Mateo, has been approved for conversion into a condominium development. 

The proposed Albany measure targets 102 acres including the race track and the parking lot site. 

The proposal also calls for creation of the Shoreline Protection Planning Process, and the implementation of a citizen task force to draft a specific plan limiting development outside the 500-foot shoreline ban now in effect. 

A coalition of groups is gathering signatures to place the measure on the November ballot..

According to a notice received at our deadline (4:54 p.m. on April 6), and too late to appear in our Berkeley This Week Calendar, a special meeting of the Library Board of Trustees will be held on Saturday, April 8 at 10:15 a.m. at the South Branch Library, 1901 Russell St. The meeting will include a public comment period from 10:15 to 10:35 a.m., followed by a closed session conference with counsel on Anticipated Litigation. For information call 981-6195 (Voice) or 548-1240 (TDD). `

As he embarks on a fifth career—teaching—while avidly pursuing his fourth—writing—one-time presidential contender Gary Hart came to Berkeley Wednesday to discuss his latest book and talk about the subjects of his first and third careers, religion and po litics. 

Recently retired from his second career—law—Hart is best known as the 1988 Democratic presidential candidate whose campaign foundered aboard a ship called Monkey Business. 

He came to Berkeley this week stumping for his latest book, God and Caesa r in America. 

The slender (86-page) paperback resembles in form the political tracts of an earlier era that began with Thomas Paine’s Common Sense, a 46-page call to action that eventually reached almost every American reader during the Revolutionary War. 

God and Caesar examines the nature and consequences of the capture of the Republican Party by the religious right. 

It’s one of four books Hart has written in a span of 16 months. A prolific writer, Hart has penned both serious tomes and political thri llers.  

Unlike Bill Clinton, whose rock star presence set fans beaming during his Cody’s book signing appearance in July 2004, Hart was more professorial than charismatic when he addressed fans at the store Wednesday afternoon. 

Between an on-air intervi ew at KPFA and his talk to fans at Cody’s Books on Telegraph, Hart took an hour to talk to a reporter over a cup of tea at the Caffe Mediterraneum. 

Popular message 

The former Colorado Senator’s message is a popular one in Berkeley, a ringing endorsement of the separation of church and state and an exposition of the activist Christianity of the 1960s that marshaled behind the civil rights and anti-war movements. 

Like former President Jimmy Carter in his recently published Our Endangered Values, Hart cal ls for a resurgence of a Christianity based on the compassionate values of the Sermon on the Mount. 

“The Fundamentalists are Old Testament people,” he said. “They are not New Testament. The same people who fought to keep Terry Schiavo alive are for the d eath penalty. You don’t find any of that in the gospel of Jesus. It’s impossible to believe Jesus would’ve supported the death penalty.” 

Hart said he blames himself for not writing about the issue five or 10 years ago, and notes that his book is one of s everal recently or about to be published on the subject by liberal writers. 

“When I was getting involved in politics, you didn’t talk about religion,” he said. 

Later, during his talk at the book store, he recalled that John F. Kennedy—whose activism Har t said had inspired him to abandon the ministry for a secular career—had been reviled from the pulpits of his home town. 

“Preachers said that if he was elected, the Pope would be in the White House,” he said. As now the current occupant of the White House consults clergy before making Supreme Court nominations. 

Contradictions  

For the author of a book that makes a powerful argument for the peaceful and pietist Jesus, the pacificist Christ of the Sermon on the Mount, Hart is coy about his own beliefs. 

“I have no affiliation,” he said. “I’m eclectic. I don’t find any specific doctrine or creed that meets my needs. Like a lot of Americans—including Ronald Reagan—I create my own religion.” 

Born into a “dirt poor” family in a small farm town in Kansas, Ha rt first felt his calling was the ministry, the legacy of his upbringing in the Church of the Nazarene, a strait-laced sect that split from the Methodists and teaches that obedient Christians can live in a state of absolution from original sin. 

Hart attended the a church college in Bethany, Okla., graduating in 1958, and followed up with a Yale divinity degree in 1961. That same year he shortened his birth name from Hartpence to Hart and enrolled in Yale Law School. 

He began his legal career with the U.S. Justice and the Interior Departments, then entered private practice in Colorado. In 1972, he burst onto the national scene as the manager of Democrat George McGovern’s presidential campaign against Richard Nixon. 

Two years later, in his first run for office, Hart was elected to the Senate from Colorado, where he served two terms. 

He lost out to Walter Mondale in his first presidential campaign in 1984, and was considered the front runner four years later when rumors of adultery began to reach the ear s of the press. 

Monkey Business 

What followed still clearly rankles 22 years later. 

When New York Times reporter E.J. Dionne raised the question during an interview, the journalist wrote that Hart responded, “Follow me around. I don’t care. I’m serious. If anyone wants to put a tail on me, go ahead. They’ll get very bored.” 

Two Miami Herald reporters who were doing just that uncovered a clandestine rendezvous with a part-time model 21 years younger than the 50-year-old contender. Then a photo surfaced of Hart and his inamorata aboard a yacht called Monkey Business. His campaign never recovered. 

“It wasn’t a challenge,” Hart said of his remarks to Dionne. “I said, ‘I’m a senator running for president. I’m a very busy man. I don’t have any free time and you’re welcome to join me on my daily rounds.’ And I was being followed before it ever got into print. I was not stupid. I was elected two times to the Senate. 

“I don’t think any candidate was ever staked out before, and no one has done it since. What if I’d dared them to kill me? Would they have taken me up on it?” 

Civil formality 

Commentators have repeatedly described Hart as formal, and sometimes as distant, and he decries what he perceives as the lack of formality and civility in contemporary cul ture. 

“People are not civil any more. You see it when you’re driving, and going in and out of doorways at stores. People will knock you down. Sometimes I don’t know where I am any more,” he said. “Certainly not in Kansas. 

The often vitriolic comments ma de on his posts at the huffington.com blog are another sign of the lack of civility that so concerns him. “About of third of them are vicious,” he said.  

Where he does find comfort is in small towns, which is one of the reasons he has chosen to live in K ittredge, Colo., a hamlet of just over 800 souls that reminds him of his farm town childhood. 

“Everybody knows each other, and maybe that’s a corrective. It kept people in line. People didn’t want to be perceived in a negative light,” he said. 

A reporter born in an even smaller Kansas farm town nine years later and a hundred or so miles to the west might be inclined to agree. 

New career  

In the fall, Hart will take up his newest career—teaching—as the occupant of an endowed chair at the University of Colorado named for his senatorial successor, Tim Wirth. 

Will it be his last career? 

“No,” he said. “I’ve got something else to do, but I can’t figure out what it is yet.” 

Another run for office, perhaps? 

“No, no more runs,” he said. “Been there, done that.” 

God and Caesar in America, Fulcrum Publishing, Golden, CO, $9.95. 

Photograph by Richard Brenneman 

Assaulted 

A 45-year-old Oakland man was beaten early Monday morning in the 1500 block of University Ave., and police are listing the incident as an assault with a deadly weapon—although just what the weapon was remains a mystery. 

The incident was reported by the manager of the Capri Motel at 1:38 a.m. 

The injured man was taken to the emergency room at Alta Bates Summit Medical Center, reports Berkeley Police spokesperson Officer Ed Galvan. 

Stick, then knife 

A former boyfriend broke into the home of a woman in the 1200 block of Haskell Avenue Tuesday morning, armed with a stick and making lethal threats. 

He later replaced the wooden weapon with a knife, and continued the threats as he held the woman captive in her bathroom. 

After she was finally freed, the woman called police, who captured the 28-year-old suspect and booked him on suspicion of kidnapping, burglary and making deadly threats. 

Rolex robbery 

A gang of three men, one a gunman clad in a black hoodie and packing a black pistol, and two equipped with hammers, burst into Gold Palace Jewelers at 1085 University Ave. at 1:45 Tuesday afternoon. 

While the gunman held store personnel captive, his accomplices started smashing jewelry cases. Once they had scooped up between 20 and 25 high-ticket timepieces, the trio fled. 

Gang attack 

A gang attack across the street from the city Mental Health Department, 2640 Martin Luther King Jr. Way, resulted in minor injuries to one of two young men attacked by others late Tuesday afternoon, said Officer Galvan. 

The suspects, also young men, stopped their cars—a black Honda Civic and an older model Cadillac—then attacked the hapless duo. 

One of the assailants was carrying a baseball bat and struck one of the youths in the chest. The attackers were gone by the time police arrived, and the battered youth refused medical attention. 

Police are seeking the attackers on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon carried out as a street gang crime. 

Roxie robbed again 

The often-robbed Roxie Food Center at 2250 Dwight Way was hit again Wednesday by a ski-masked gunman who walked into the store with a gun and walked out with the gun and the content of the store’s till. 

The robbery, which was reported at 9 :57 p.m. Wednesday, marks at least the fourth time a heist has been reported at the market this year.h

The long-running battle between developer Gary Feiner and residents of the landmarked Sisterna Tract neighborhood has flared up again. 

The city ordered a halt to construction at one of two Sixth Street homes Feiner is turning into duplexes—at 2104 Sixth—declaring that he had exceeded the bounds of his permit and carried out an effective demolition. 

The Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) will take up that issue Thursday night. 

Meanwhile, a commission subcommittee met Tuesday afternoon with neighbo rs and Feiner’s architect to talk about the other building, created after an approved demolition at 2108 Sixth. 

Neighbors made it clear they weren’t happy with architect Timothy Rempel’s creation, nor were they happy with his drawings—which played a majo r role in their decision to approve the project. 

Rempel conceded the key point raised by critics, namely, that the drawings of streetscapes he’d created were not done to scale. 

The architectural drawings themselves—the technical designs used in the actual construction—were to scale, but they didn’t present the house in the context of the streetscape. 

That meant a great deal to Carrie Olson, the LPC member who chairs the subcommittee that has been working with neighbors, the developer and the architect. 

Historic District  

Concern about the projects—originally conceived as more massive modernist creations—played a central role in mobilizing neighbors to create what became the city’s second designated historic neighborhood. 

On March 1, 2004, the Landm arks Preservation Commission (LPC) created Sisterna Historic District 106. 

Psychotherapist Elise Blumenfeld and colleague Sarah Satterlee, joined by 14 other volunteers, including an archeologist, an architect and a woodworker, prepared a lavishly illust rated 48-page application calling for the landmarking of the neighborhood and its working-class cottages. 

In creating the district, commissioners landmarked nine dwellings within the boundaries of the district, including both the home and property at 2104, but only the land at 2108 because the structure had been significantly altered from its original Victorian features. 

Creation of a district imposes guidelines on all new buildings within its boundaries, requiring projects to fit in with the character of the neighborhood. 

Feiner appealed the designation on May 12, and commission hearings in June and July drew large turnouts of preservationists and neighbors on one side and architects and development partisans on the other. 

Feiner’s plans went through numerous revisions and significant downsizing before the LPC finally approved them on Nov. 1. 

Before the approval, Elise Blumenfeld and her spouse, psychiatrist Neal, offered renderings by Oakland architect Charles Coburn, who specializes in restoration s. 

Those sketches drew favorable comments from several commissioners, who said some of the details were more in keeping with the character of the neighborhood than those offered by Rempel. 

Subcommittee meeting  

At issue during Tuesday’s subcommittee me eting were the height and appearance of the home at 2108 Sixth, the structure that had been legally demolished after the LPC declined to landmark it. 

The new home appears to be much taller than was portrayed in the streetscape sketches shown to the LPC a t the time they approved the designs, a point noted by Chair Olson as the meeting began. 

“The roof height is higher than we approved,” said LPC member Leslie Emmington. 

“I believe it’s the correct height,” said Rempel—which a check of the plans by LPC m ember and architect Steven Winkel proved correct. 

The streetscape drawings, which had been ordered by the LPC to place the buildings into context, were done by an assistant from photographs, Rempel said, acknowledging that “in the future when building be tween historic buildings, you should require measurement of the adjacent buildings.”  

Rempel also said he had to convince his client to spend the money to do even the drawings the commission had seen. 

“Story poles would actually be cheaper,” said Winkel, referring to poles erected to the height of proposed buildings and often used in projects in the Berkeley hills to evaluate the impact of designs on neighbors’ views. 

“Story poles would be a fine idea,” said Rempel, who noted that in two hills projects he was working on, the poles were required, as was a verification of their height by an independent surveyor. 

Emmington said the streetscape sketches “are like criminal because they are so far off. We have to keep reminding ourselves when we get excited about a plan that that’s not necessarily what’s going to happen.” 

The height is further emphasized because the demolished structure wasn’t as high in its street-facing facade. 

“Historic districts are supposed to have a ‘feel,’ and that feel is definite ly not here,” said Emmington. 

Winkel said that when construction resumes on the landmarked building at 2104, “we should send a surveyor out to make sure it matches the drawing.” 

“I am very disappointed,” said Elise Blumenfeld, who, with her husband, own s the building at 2110 Sixth immediately south of the nearly completed Feiner duplex. “As citizens we made an enormous effort on this project, and now it feels likes smoke and mirrors.” 

“It doesn’t have any spirit,” said Neal Blumenfeld. 

“I completely d isagree,” said Rempel. 

“I’m talking about the spirit of the neighborhood, said Blumenfeld. 

“I find that very insulting as an architect,” said Rempel. 

“You deserve to be insulted,” said Jano Bogg, a neighbor. 

Reached the following afternoon, Olson said the LPC had learned a significant lesson from the project. “The drawings are very deceptive. We’re given just so much information, and we’ve never been successful in getting the (city) planning department to put up story poles,” she said. “This project m ay give us what we need to require them the next time.” 

LPC meet 

Thursday’s LPC meeting begins at 7:30 p.m. in the North Berkeley Community Center, 1901 Hearst Ave. 

While the notice mailed out by city staff referred to a hearing on “proposed legaliza tion of a demolition,” Olson said the whole project at 2104 is open for a resubmission. 

Neighbors claimed Tuesday that additional demolition had taken place at the landmarked structure, including removal of siding that was specifically singled out for re tention. 

------ 

West Berkeley historian and activist Stephanie Manning will lead a Berkeley Historical Society walking tour of the Sisterna Tract on Saturday, May 20. (See article on the historic walking tour series in this issue, page 7) The walk “Sisterna Tract: A Small Chilean Ranch Transformed,” will begin at 10 a.m. For more information, see www.cityofberkeley.info/histsoc/, or call the Berkeley Historical Society at 848-0181..?

The hours of several instructional aides in the Berkeley Unified School District (BUSD) may get slashed, whereas the Berkeley Board of Education considers pay increases for district administration.  

More than a dozen classified employees, including math, reading and arts instructional specialists, could lose their jobs or find their hours significantly reduced because funds earmarked for those positions may not materialize until after the state finalizes its budget—if at all. 

Meanwhile the board will weigh in on a proposal to promote the director of educational services to assistant superintendent and to add an additional assistant superintendent to payroll, positions paid for through the district’s general fund, and therefore unrelated to looming layoffs of classified employees, said Superintendent Michele Lawrence. 

The board will vote to issue pink slips at Wednesday’s meeting. 

The vote would not instantly eliminate jobs, however. The district may find other sources of funding to maintain employees, but by law, if layoffs are to occur by the end of the school year, notices must go out 45 days in advance, meaning now. 

“We regret the hardship this notification process places on employees and the uncertainty of their future employment status,” Lawrence said in correspondence to the board. “Nevertheless, the district must guard against encroachments into the general fund due to the loss of categorical dollars.” 

She guesses that “some but not most” of the jobs will be cut. 

“It’s hard to predict which ones will be funded and which ones won’t,” she said. 

Funding for district administrators appears more stable. 

Under a proposal slated for consideration at tomorrow’s board meeting, current Director of Educational Services Neil Smith would earn a $14,249 salary hike, from $120,682 to $134,931 a year.  

District spokesperson Mark Coplan said Smith is already performing the tasks of an assistant superintendent. 

“He’s basically been doing the job without the title,” Coplan said.  

In his existing position, Smith is charged with the oversight of instructional support to schools, including staff development, student achievement and curriculum standards. He also supervises colleagues at the same level, a capacity Lawrence calls “awkward.”  

“He needs to have formal higher authority within the organization warranting the proposed position,” she said.  

As assistant superintendent, he would be expected to work 227 days a year, 10 days more than an existing requirement and attend Board of Education meetings. 

The second assistant superintendent would also work 227 days a year, earn $134,931 attend board meetings and would replace the director of certified employees, Patricia Calvert. Calvert receives $118,333 a year and will vacate the job June 30.  

A designated assistant superintendent for certified employees is necessary to offset an increased workload due to a larger work force, five unions and credentialing complexities associated with the No Child Left Behind Act, Lawrence said. 

The district offered a similar high-level position prior to 2002 when fiscal hardships stripped administration to the bare bones. 

Hiring two assistant superintendents will not encroach on the General Fund, because other central office retirements and resignations have freed up resources, Lawrence said. 

The positions will also take some pressure off Lawrence and deputy superintendent Eric Smith who bear the brunt of the district’s CEO responsibilities, said Coplan. 

BUSD’s maintenance department is also slated for a shakeup. Director of Maintenance Rhonda Bacot left the district in February to take a position at another school district. Rather than find a replacement, department oversight will fall to Facilities Director Lew Jones. Jones, who will not receive a raise, will secure the support of managers, one each for maintenance, transportation and custodial operations.  

The reorganization is expected to dig into the general fund by $65,000, but because of ongoing cost saving and budgetary adjustments, the district expects a net zero fiscal impact. 

The Berkeley Board of Education meets Wednesday at 2134 Martin Luther King Jr. Way, at 7:30 p.m. For more information, call 644-6206.  

Mixed baby greens dressed in Sesame Goddess vinaigrette and soy bacon bits drenched in Miso Ginger dressing paved the way for the nation’s first ever certified organic kitchen on an American college campus at UC Berkeley’s Crossroads dining commons on Thursday. 

According to Kim LaPean, marketing coordinator for Cal Dining, one of UC Berkeley’s food services, all four of the dining halls managed by Cal Dining will start offering certified organic salad bars by next spring. 

Speaking to The Planet, Chuck Davies, Assistant Director/ Executive Chef for Cal Dining described the organic spread as “rotating salads ranging from pasta and grain salads, kidney and garbanzo beans to fresh spinach, carrot and cucumber slices, sunflower seeds, and anything else that adds to its appeal.” 

Davies added that getting certified under CCOF (California Certified Organic Farmers) had not been easy. 

“There are so many institutions dabbling in organic food today,” he said. “But we decided to take that extra step, spend that extra dollar to go ahead and get certified.” 

Davies hired Lorraine Aguilar, a senior at UC Berkeley’s Nutritional Science and Toxicology department, to help him with CCOF’s application process. 

“We had to create product flow charts, audit trails showing from scratch how organic products would be handled, maps of the kitchen and dining areas, and outline how the staff would deal with dishwashing and pest control using only approved products,” he said.  

CCOF, the oldest and largest organic certifier in N orth America, was started by a group of activist farmers in 1973.  

“Getting certified is a huge achievement,” said Jake Lewin, director of marketing and international programs at CCOF. “With organic food becoming more and more popular everyday, it’s onl y logical to have something like this. It definitely provides more options to customers.” 

Cal Dining partnered with Piranha Produce, the largest food distributer on campus, and United Natural Foods for the launch of the organic salad bar at Crossroads, a t 2415 Bowditch St. 

Both Piranha Produce and United Natural Foods are certified organic distributors of fresh vegetables and fruits as well as processed vegetables, beans, dried fruits, nuts, dressings, oils and vinegars.  

“Cal has put up a cutting e dge program and rest of the nation will soon follow in its footsteps,” said Jan Burkett, school food service specialist for Piranha Produce.  

The organic vinaigrettes, with their exotic combinations and funky names, caused quite a stir among students dur ing lunch hour on Thursday. They were manufactured by Organicville—the brainchild of Berkeley’s Haas School of Business alumni Rachel Kruse. 

Kruse, a third generation vegetarian, quit her job in the corporate world and started her own business in Emeryvi lle. 

“I felt the need to create something different,” she said. “Something that is vegan, gluten free, one carb per serving and still manages to taste good. I wanted salad dressings to be fun.” 

The result was organic vinaigrettes such as Orange Cranberr y, Sesame Tamari, and Sun Dried Tomato and Garlic.  

“It feels really great to give back to my school like this,” Kruse said. “I feel I have come full circle. I want to show people that organic is accessible and that it helps the environment.” 

Liese Gree nsf elder from Berkeley’s Office of Public Affairs told the Planet that prices have not been increased after the revamp. “They worked very hard to keep the cost down. Student’s won’t need to pay extra for the organic salads.” she said. 

Venus, an intended psy chology major at Berkeley was taken by surprise when she saw the revamped salad bar. “I am very excited. The salad dressings are usually very messy but I like what they had today. I am definitely coming back for more.” 

Then there were those who knew about the opening and had come to sample the goodies during lunch time. 

“I think it’s very important to keep the spirit of the organic movement alive,” said Allen Feldman, a student at UC Berkeley. “This is a great way of doing it.”” 

Photo by Riya Bhattacharjee: 

Venus You-Ching Tsai, a UC Berkeley sophmore, checks out the revamped organic salad bar at Crossroads dining commons.

The Berkeley Housing Authority has accused a 70-year-old man, who is mentally impaired of neglecting to report that he was receiving general assistance payments. The man has said he believed he had informed the BHA, but the authority insisted on taking the man to a hearing, where he could have lost his housing. 

Fortunately for him, Naomi Young, housing attorney with Bay Area Legal Aid, learned of the situation, stepped in at the hearing and cleared up the mess.  

“It’s (potentially) a very serious problem for a minor infraction,” said Young, who wants to see the BHA strengthen its advocacy for vulnerable clients. 

With two other Legal Aid attorneys, Young wrote a report asking the Housing Authority, already under the gun from the federal government to make a host of improvements, to change procedures to serve victims of abuse, disabled persons and people with limited English skills better. Moreover, the attorneys asked the BHA to improve its due process procedures. They presented the report at a Housing Authority meeting March 21. 

The Legal Aid attorneys have been looking at deficiencies in various housing agencies in the area. 

“Berkeley seems more deficient than others,” Young said. 

Victims of spousal/partner abuse often have to leave home quickly and should get priority consideration for subsidized housing, the report said, quoting a Ford Foundation study that reported that 50 percent of homeless women are without shelter due to domestic violence. 

In the Bay Area, 80 percent of those who want to go to battered women’s shelters are turned away for lack of space, the Legal Aid report says, concluding: “Finding and preserving affordable housing is an essential step for abuse survivors in their struggle to keep themselves and their children safe.”  

And there are special considerations the Housing Authority should take to support abuse victims. When one spouse batters the other in a subsidized unit and the victim moves out, the victim should receive a new housing voucher, the report said. 

Further, when battery causes property damage to a public housing unit, the Housing Authority should seek payment by the perpetrator, not by the victim. 

People who speak little English should also have special consideration from the Housing Authority, Legal Aid attorneys said. Their leases and other notices should be in the language they understand. And interpreters should be available at hearings. 

Some 15 percent of Berkeley residents self-identify as having a disability and, says Legal Aid, disabled persons are three times more likely to live in poverty than non-disabled people. Because this group cannot afford Berkeley rents, they should be given greater access to public housing.  

Legal Aid attorneys say that the BHA has erred in not writing specific instructions for BHA staff on getting and keeping disabled persons in public housing. Accommodations should include explicit permission to have companion and service animals, parking accommodations, accessible units, and lease modifications to allow payment of rent on a date tied to receipt of disability payments. 

Acting BHA Manager Berverli Marshall said in a phone interview Monday that she was sorry the Legal Aid attorneys had not contacted her before making their report public. 

She explained that BHA is not allowed to prioritize any single group, such as victims of abuse or disabled people.  

The Housing and Urban Development Department has no preference requirements, Marshall said. 

“Each agency is allowed to adopt its own preferences,” she said. 

The Housing Authority Board, made up of the City Council and two public housing residents, can write its own policies, Marshall said. 

Moreover, the Housing Authority does consider individual needs, she said. It deals with situations on a case-by-case basis.  

As for translating documents, Marshall said that will be done. First, however, the BHA has to survey the residents to ascertain their language needs. The BHA now has software that will help compile the data, Marshall said. 

Finally, there is the due process question. BALA would like public housing clients to be better informed of their rights and of the agencies that can help them keep their housing.  

But Marshall said they already give the required information to the residents. 

“We tell them that there is a process and how much time they have to respond,” she said. “We’re not required to tell them about other agencies. We don’t need to list agencies like Bay Area Legal Aid.” 

The BHA is responsible for 75 city-owned units of public housing and about 1,840 units of Section 8 housing, where housing subsidies are paid to private landlords. 

The Housing Authority has until June to clear up some of the problems identified by HUD including failure to meet annual deadlines to re-certify Section 8 recipients, complete unit inspections and submit reports to HUD. If they fail to comply, another agency, such as the Oakland Housing Authority, could take over the BHA. 

Young said Legal Aid understands that clearing up these problems will take precedence for the BHA. She said she hoped to meet with Marshall after that time. 

Thanks to a grant from a major national nonprofit, arts education in Alameda County is a quarter of a million dollars richer. 

The Alameda County Office of Education recently secured $250,000 through the Ford Foundation, an independent grant-making organization based in New York. Funding will support professional development for arts educators in Berkeley, Oakland and Emeryville unified school districts. 

“It’s a great thing,” said Suzanne McCulloch, visual and performing arts coordinator for the Berkeley Unified School District. “The arts are often the first thing to get cut when funding’s tough, and funding’s been tough for a few years now. This really supports arts education.” 

The grant is part of the Ford Foundation’s nationwide effort to address the snowballing deterioration of art, music and performance in public schools, said Louise Music, Alameda County Coordinator of Arts Learning.  

Other communities to receive funding include Washington, D.C., Cleveland, Baltimore, Dallas, Jackson, Miss., and St. Louis.  

In Alameda County, the grant is the result of a year of planning conducted by a countywide network of school district and arts organization professionals called the Alliance for Arts Learning Leadership.  

Funding will supplement the Arts Is Learning Anchor School Initiative, an education reform effort taking place at 15 schools in three county school districts, including Berkeley’s Arts and Humanities Academy. The initiative aims to make arts learning available to all students.  

Berkeley School Board President Terry Doran, who headed up Berkeley High School’s art department for several years, said arts education is of great importance.  

“All the research I’ve read leads me to believe when students get an arts education, it helps them to be more open and accepting to other academic work,” he said. Art “helps to build ego and confidence as well as build an appreciation for visual beauty.”

Teachers, parents, labor supporters and other members of the community will descend upon Oakland City Hall Wednesday at 4 p.m. to demand support from city officials in an ongoing clash over contract negotiations. 

Protesters will beseech Oakland’s key mayoral candidates to throw their weight behind the Oakland teachers’ union, which has been battling the Oakland Unified School District (OUSD) for fair contracts for two years. The union represents 3,200 teachers, nurses and librarians. 

Mayoral hopeful Ron Dellums unilaterally defends Oakland’s teachers. 

“He very much supports the teachers and their efforts to get a raise,” said his spokesperson Mike Healy.  

City Council President Ignacio De La Fuente, who will battle Dellums for the mayor’s seat in November, refused to pick sides.  

“He is against a strike,” said his spokesperson Libby Schaaf. “He believes the district and the teachers need to get back to the negotiating room and find a compromise.”  

A representative for Nancy Nadel, who will also vie to become Oakland’s mayor, could not be reached for comment by press time.  

The rally comes just a week after Oakland Education Association (OEA) President Ben Visnick announced that Oakland’s teachers will walk off the job April 20 if a contract settlement is not reached. 

Recent talks between the school district and the union have yielded some progress—the district agreed March 21 to give teachers a 5.5 percent raise, up from an earlier offer of 4 percent—but disagreement over two issues, healthcare and teacher preparation periods, remains strong.  

District spokesperson Alex Katz said schools will remain open in the event of a strike..

The good news is the student at King Middle School who came down with pertussis—whooping cough to most of us—a couple of weeks ago has taken the prescribed dose of antibiotics, is no longer contagious and is back at school. 

The news that parents don’t want to hear, however, is that whooping cough is on the upsurge in Alameda County and across the country. Preteens and teens are particularly vulnerable.  

“A substantial increase in reported cases has occurred among adolescents, who become susceptible to pertussis approximately 6-10 years after childhood vaccination,” according to a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Dec. 23, 2005 ,Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. 

Whooping cough is a “reportable” disease—one about which doctors inform local health officers. When Berkeley Health Officer Dr. Linda Rudolph learned of the illness, she asked the school to send home notices.  

Historically, a whooping cough vaccine has been given routinely to babies. 

“But now we’re seeing cases in school-age kids,” Rudolph said. The public health department is recommending a new vaccine for those 11-18 years of age. 

“The vaccine (given to babies) appears to need a booster,” she said. 

King Middle School sent home two different letters to parents, depending on whether the children were in class with the child who had become ill or others who were simply attending the school. For those who may have had direct contact, the school recommended that parents take the children to the doctor. 

“Antibiotics can prevent the spread of pertussis and are recommended for persons who have had close contact with someone who has pertussis. To prevent your child from becoming ill with pertussis, we recommend that he/she take antibiotics,” the letter states. 

According to Rudolph, the “typical symptoms are spasmodic coughing. A lot of times there is a running nose.” 

The cough often ends with a “whoop,” with the patient gasping for air. Sometimes there is vomiting. 

While the disease is very contagious, it is considered most severe in infants. 

“If people think they have been exposed or have symptoms, they should go to the doctor and get an evaluation,” Rudolph said. 

In Alameda County—without Berkeley, which has its own health department—the number of reported cases has grown exponentially. However, cautioned Linda Frank, chief of Alameda County Disease Surveillance and Epidemiology, some of the rising numbers may be due to better reporting of cases.  

Reported cases in Alameda County since 2001 are as follows: 2001, 23 cases; 2002, 41 cases; 2003, 37 cases; 2004, 84 cases; 2005, 120 cases. Statistics in Berkeley, which are not included with the rest of Alameda County, show: 1999, two cases; 2000, four cases; 2001, one case; 2002, three cases; 2003, four cases; 2004, one case; 2005, two cases; 2006, one case to date. 

Across the United States the jump has been from a historic low in 1976 with 1,010 cases reported to 11,647 cases reported in 2003, according to the CDC..

Due to an administrative snafu, the public has additional opportunity to debate Wednesday the merits of a study assessing traffic patterns at a proposed West Berkeley marketplace. 

Planning Commission staff mistakenly distributed two versions of a report detailing potential peak-hour traffic jams at West Berkeley Bowl, a 1.9-acre grocery store and prepared food service project slated for development at 920 Heinz Ave. 

One report outlined car travel in December—a month known to produce the heaviest gridlock—while the other looked at January traffic. The January analysis shows typical traffic patterns more accurately, said Principal Planner Allan Gatzke, because it does not include holiday traffic. 

Christopher A. Joseph & Associates, an environmental planning and research firm based in Petaluma, prepared both studies. The same company drafted an environmental impact report in October 2005 that did not find any “significant and unavoidable impacts” associated with the project, but was deemed inadequate for failing to account for weekend traffic patterns. 

The recirculated report, available for public consideration until April 24, finds considerable impacts. West Berkeley Bowl would include an 83,990-square-foot grocery store and an adjacent 7,070-square-foot prepared food service building, in addition to a 109-space underground car garage and 102 surface parking spaces. To accommodate the development, the city would have to rezone the area from mixed use/light industrial to commercial.  

As proposed, the project is expected to generate about 6,095 vehicle trips a day on Saturdays, which would jam up the intersection of San Pablo Avenue and Ashby Avenue by an extra 44 seconds, and San Pablo at Heinz by 107 seconds during Saturday peak hours.  

Installing a traffic light at the latter intersection would decrease traffic to a less-than-significant level. Mitigation efforts at San Pablo and Ashby, however, would not adequately offset congestion, the report says.  

The latest report includes alternatives to the proposed 91,060-square-foot project.  

One option would be to leave the site as is. Another alternative would involve building a 150,000-square-foot office building, which would eliminate weekend traffic impacts, but increase weekday gridlock. Planners say mitigation measures could reduce the latter effect. 

A third option would see the development of a 50,000-square-foot single story light industrial/manufacturing building, expected to generate less traffic than an office building. However, because of the cost of land in West Berkeley, the city is unlikely to receive many—if any—applications for manufacturing buildings, the report says. 

Neither plan fulfills the West Berkeley Plan objective of erecting an affordable food-shopping hub. West Berkeley, a mixed-residential, commercial/industrial and educational community, does not currently house a full-service supermarket. 

Other alternatives consider reducing the scope of the West Berkeley Bowl project. One proposal would cut back development to 65,815 square feet, and would include a 37,005-square-foot grocery store, a 28,810 warehouse, 111 parking spaces and 33 spots for bicycles. 

The store would sell natural and organic produce and groceries, but would not be a full-service supermarket. Car buildup would occur during peak weekday and weekend hours, but mitigation efforts could curb much of the major congestion. 

A second reduced-size alternative would develop the site with a 45,430-square-foot grocery, a 3,420-square-foot office and a 23,908-square-foot warehouse for a total of 72,758 square feet. This project would create more traffic than the 65,815-square-foot alternative, but less than the proposed West Berkeley Bowl. 

Project developer Glen Yasuda, who owns the original Berkeley Bowl on Oregon Street, has said he would rather build the marketplace elsewhere than downsize. He could not be reached to comment for this article. 

Planning Commissioner Susan Wengraf admitted that a new grocery store in West Berkeley would introduce added congestion, but she said it’s a small price to pay.  

“Personally, I think it is going to create more traffic and I don’t think that can be mitigated,” she said. “But I do think you have to look at the bigger picture, which is that there will be a greater good. West Berkeley needs a marketplace.” 

That might be the case, said Commissioner Mike Sheen, but the commission needs to pay special attention to the alternatives.  

“There’s a lot of potentially bad things that could happen if we were to put in something that big,” he said. “I haven’t fully made up my mind yet, but I am wanting to take a closer look at possible size reduction.” 

The Planning Commission will take comments on the recirculated traffic impact analysis and revised alternatives analysis of the draft environmental impact report Wednesday, 7 p.m., at the North Berkeley Senior Center, 1901 Hearst Ave..

There have been “significant improvements” in the payroll problems that have plagued the Alameda County Medical Center in recent weeks, according to a spokesperson for the union representing hospital workers. 

Union officials said they have not yet decided if they will ask for a paper trail backup to the electronic system. 

Two weeks ago, the Berkeley Daily Planet reported that union officials had received more than 40 recent complaints of payroll problems with the medical center’s new Kronos automated payroll system, “with some people missing hours, some people missing whole pay periods,” and some workers being dropped from the center’s health benefit plan because they were improperly dropped to part-time worker status. 

The Kronos automated system replaced the center’s paper-based payroll system. 

ACMC trustees had asked to receive a status report from the center’s chief financial officer at the board’s March 28 meeting, but that meeting was canceled for lack of a quorum. 

This week, Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Director of Communications Brad Cleveland said that while the union has not yet received a copy of the error report detailing the exact number of problems that occurred in the last pay period, “it is our understanding that things have gotten better.” 

SEIU officials and the hospital had earlier worked out an agreement in which the Kronos automated system would be initially operated alongside a paper-based payroll system, but that plan was later scrapped by the hospital. 

“It’s my understanding that [ACMC Chief Executive Officer Wright] Lassiter is amenable to putting in place the dual payroll system, if we ask for it,” Cleveland said. “We want to look at the error report first before we make that request. There’s always going to be some level of error in any system. We just have to determine if the number of errors in the ACMC payroll are still sufficient enough to warrant a dual system.” 

ACMC officials declined to comment on the status of the payroll problem, citing pending litigation by a former center employee that includes complaints about the payroll system. The officials would only say that they are working on solving the problem..

As the dismembering of the once-mighty Knight Ridder newspaper chain progresses, a leading shareholder of one of the nation’s leading homebuilding companies has emerged as a potential buyer of two papers. 

Bruce Toll, one of the owners and founders of Toll Brothers—a Horsham, Pa.-based home-building company that is one of the Bay Area’s largest builders—is a key member of a consortium making bids on two Knight Ridder papers in Philadelphia. 

Toll Brothers is the major builder of new homes in Richmond and has projects throughout the Bay Area. Toll’s group is not bidding on any of the chain’s Bay Area papers—though another homebuilder wants the paper in Monterey. 

The fates of the Bay Area’s second- and third-largest papers remain uncertain, as does the fate of a host of smaller publications. 

Sacramento-based McClatchy Corp., publishers of the Sacramento Bee, 11 other dailies, and 16 community papers, bought the 32-paper Knight Ridder chain last month in a $3.75 billion deal. 

Because the purchase included $2 billion in Knight Ridder debt, McClatchy promptly announced it would sell a dozen of its new dailies, including the Contra Costa Times (circulation 182,000), San Jose Mercury News (circulation 249,000) and the Monterey County Herald (circulation 32,000). 

Unmentioned papers 

McClatchy officials said papers selected for sale were those that didn’t meet the chain’s growth expectations. 

In addition to the three Bay Area and two Philadelphia papers on the block, McClatchy is peddling the Aberdeen American News, the Akron Beacon Journal, the Duluth News Tribune, the Fort Wayne News-Sentinel, the Grand Forks Herald, the Saint Paul Pioneer Press and the Wilkes-Barre Times Leader.  

Besides the 12 paid-circulation daily papers up for sale, McClatchy is also selling a collection of other publications, including the free-distribution Daily News papers, based in Palo Alto, as well as papers published under the umbrella of the paid dailies. 

Sarah Lubman, of New York’s Brunswick Group public relations firm, is representing McClatchy in the sale. She declined to comment about any offers pending for the papers. 

As for the so-called “community papers” published on the turf of the large dailies, Lubman said they “will generally be considered along with the daily newspapers when we are selling the dailies.” 

Publications under the Contra Costa Times umbrella include: the Alameda Journal, Antioch News, Berkeley Voice, Brentwood News, Concord Transcript, Contra Costa Sun, Danville Times, East County Times, The Montclarion, Oakley News, The Piedmonter, Pleasant Hill/Martinez Record, Pleasanton Times, San Ramon Valley Times, The Journal (Albany/El Cerrito), Valley Times, Walnut Creek Journal, and the West County Times. 

Also for sale is the 50,000-circulation chain of Daily News papers, headquartered in Palo Alto, which includes the East Bay Daily News. According to last Wednesday’s Palo Alto Weekly, Diana Diamond, who served as executive editor of all the Daily News papers, was fired last week, and the chain has been operating under a hiring freeze. 

Palo Alto Weekly editor Jay Thorwaldson wrote that Knight Ridder CEO Tony Ridder had praised Diamond after he bought the ten-year-old chain on Feb. 15, 2005, for running “the paper of the future.” Three months later, Knight Ridder launched the mini-chain’s East Bay edition. 

The contenders 

Two groups have entered bids for all 12 of the Knight Ridder paid dailies, one the proposed employee-owned ValuePlus Media and the other MediaNews, a Denver-based chain that already owns the Oakland Tribune and a collection of other Bay Area papers. 

ValePlus Media, the employee group, was launched after Mercury News reporters Julie Patel and Rick Tulsky began email discussions with other staff journalists and the president of the local chapter of the American Newspaper Guild—an employee union.  

Two Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP) experts helped formed ValuePlus to buy the paper, and Yucaipa Companies, a labor-friendly pension fund investment firm, offered the financial clout to make the bid. 

If successful, the resulting company would become the nation’s first employee-owned media chain. 

MediaNews is the creation of media magnate Dean Singleton whose firm is renowned for what some consider ruthless cost-cutting and layoffs—although his reputation has been rising, reported a 2003 article in Columbia Journalism Review that carried the subhead, “Once, Angry Reporters Threw Beer Cans at Him. Now He’s Reaching for Journalistic Respect-ability.” 

Were MediaNews to win, the chain would control daily and weekly papers circling the bay with a combined circulation of more than 800,000, double the average daily figure for the San Francisco Chronicle. 

Concerns about the implications of such regional dominance have prompted a preliminary investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division, reports John McManus of Grade the News, an on-line media monitoring web site (www.gradethenews.org) in an item posted on the site Wednesday. 

McManus wrote that he was contacted by a Justice Department paralegal who asked about the potential sale’s impact on advertisers, “rather that on consumer prices of news quality. But he was willing to listen to concerns about concentration of ownership on the news product.” 

Monterey bidder? 

While Toll Brothers is not interested in any of the Bay Area papers, another homebuilder is. 

Nader Agha is the leader of a consortium that wants to buy the Monterey County Herald, according to an article reported last Tuesday in that paper. Also involved is Charles Chrietzberg, president and CEO of Monterey County Bank, the paper reports. 

The Herald was scooped on the story by the Los Angeles Times, which broke the news two days earlier in a story that included a quote from Herald editor Carolina Garcia, who observed that Agha offers to do a lot of things, but not a lot comes to pass.” 

Lubman declined to comment when asked if Agha’s group had submitted a bid..

The Richmond City Council will make two key decisions tonight (Tuesday) on the proposed 269-condo Westshore Marina Project at Marina Bay. 

During a public hearing, councilmembers will be asked to approve the final environmental impact report (EIR) on the project and to issue conditional approval for Toll Brothers’ plans for the site. Toll Brothers, a home-building company based in Horsham, Pa., is one of the Bay Area’s largest builders and a major builder of new homes in Richmond. 

The state Department of Toxic Substances Control, which has final say over all Marina Bay projects, has ordered removal of antimony-contaminated soil from part of the site that is not slated for housing. 

A large and divided crowd appeared at the council to argue for and against the project last month. 

The project site once housed a Ford Motor plant that made cars and, during World War II, military equipment. The site also housed buried fuel tanks. 

Other matters 

The council will consider paying up to $75,000 a year more to increase the city’s Internet band width. 

The council will also consider creating a number of new city positions, including Deputy Police Chief-Human Resources at a salary to be determined, City Prosecutor at a salary range of $59,880 to $111,204, Law Office Supervisor ($57,108 to $68,700), Legal Secretary ($46,334 to $56,340) and Engineering Operations Administrator ($48,684 to $58,224). 

The council has also scheduled a discussion of the Richmond Improvement Association’s plans to spend the $200,000 the council awarded the group last week to fund anti-violence programs. 

The council voted to award the funds last week over the strong objections of Councilmember Tom Butt, who said he was alarmed at the lack of specifics of the faith-based groups’ proposal. Butt charged that the vote was conducted in violation of the spirit of the Brown Act, which governs public meetings in California. 

The appropriation wasn’t listed on the council agenda as an action item, and was listed only for discussion, Butt said in an e-mail to constituents. 

Tonight’s (Tuesday) meeting will begin at 7 p.m. in council chambers at the temporary city hall at 1401 Marina Way South..

The acting registrar of voters for Alameda County urged citizens registering for the first time who want to vote in the June 6 primary and nominating election to get their paperwork in early, expecting numerous delays and problems with California’s new registration requirements. 

A state senator has charged that Secretary of State Bruce McPherson cut a deal with the Bush Administration which would prevent many Californians from registering or reregistering to vote. 

California law sets a registration deadline of 5 p.m. on May 22 for voters who wish to cast ballots in the June 6 election. But according to Acting Registrar Elaine Ginnold, because of delays caused by the setting up of a statewide registration database mandated by the federal Help America Vote Act (HAVA), “if you wait until May 22 to register, your name won’t be listed on your precinct roll.” 

There have been reports of widespread registration and re-registration problems around the state since the state registration database requirements went into effect on Jan. 1 this year. 

In Alameda County alone the problem was “just enormous” in the beginning of HAVA database compliance, with some 6,000 registration forms returned by the office of the Secretary of State because of data discrepancies, according to Ginnold. 

“Now it’s diminished quite a bit because most of what we’re doing now is changes to existing registration forms,” she said, but added that she expects the problem to resurface as new registrations get turned in to her office near the May registration deadline. 

Under the HAVA requirements, states must cross-check the information on voter registration forms with the information in the state database for licensed drivers and individuals with state identification cards. 

California was not able to meet the statewide registration database requirements in time, and an interim solution was worked out between federal officials and Secretary of State McPherson. Ginnold estimated that the final statewide registration database won’t be in place until 2010. 

According to Brennan Center for Justice at the New York University School of Law (www.brennancenter.org), under the McPherson-Bush Administration agreement, California is one of nine states which has chosen to adopt an “exact match” standard of compliance. 

What that means, according to Ginnold, is that “if you got your driver’s license under the name James T. Smith and then registered to vote under the name Jim Smith, the names don’t match, and the Secretary of State’s office sends the registration form back to the county to verify whether the two names apply to the same person.” 

Ginnold said that once new registration forms or change of address forms are received in the Alameda County Registrar of Voters office, “it takes about a week for the information to be keyed into the computer. It takes about 5 days for the Secretary of State’s office to do the database matching and send back registration forms that have discrepancies.” 

Registrar of Voters workers must then contact the voter to attempt to clear up any discrepancies. The Registrar of Voters office publishes two voter registration lists for precincts—for the June election, the main registration list will be published on May 12, and a supplemental list will be printed on May 31. 

Ginnold said that while any voter showing up at the polls can vote by provisional ballot if their name is not on their precinct registration list, new voters or voters changing precincts should count on getting their forms in by the week of May 8 to ensure that their names are on one of the precinct lists.  

Meanwhile, the controversy over the new statewide voter list requirements—and the resulting reports of large numbers of voters needing to have their data verified—had the Secretary of State’s office scrambling to contain the political damage. 

On March 30, Secretary of State McPherson commemorated his first year in office by declaring April “Voter Education and Participation Month” in California. 

“It is my hope for every eligible Californian to exercise their precious right to vote,” McPherson said in a prepared press statement.  

McPherson, a Republican, was appointed by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger after former Secretary of State Kevin Shelley resigned under a cloud of ethics violation charges. 

The same day, California State Senator Debra Bowen (D-Redondo Beach), chair of the Senate Elections, Reapportionment and Constitutional Amendments Committee, told reporters, “It’s ironic to see him proclaim April as ‘voter participation month’ after he signed a landmark agreement with President Bush’s Department of Justice that makes it hard for people to register and re-register to vote in California. The deal he cut with the Bush Administration nearly five months ago has been a disaster for anyone who is trying to register for the first time or re-register because they moved, got married and need to change their name, or because they want to change parties. The Bush Administration has referred to its deal with Secretary McPherson as a ‘model for other states,’ but given the number of eligible voters who have been prevented from registering and re-registering to vote in California thanks to this deal, I can’t imagine why anyone would want to follow California’s lead. The Secretary said the agreement will ensure that ‘all eligible voters will be able to cast a ballot in California,’ but the evidence in so far means exactly the opposite is what’s going to happen. Thousands of people are likely to be prevented from registering or re-registering in time for the April 11 municipal and special elections in California as a direct result of this agreement, and I think the problem is going to get even worse as we approach the May 22 deadline to register for the June primary.”  

Bowen went on to say, “The problem we’re having in California goes beyond missing driver’s license numbers and it stems directly from the Bush-McPherson deal that adopted the most restrictive standards possible. ... The potential for tens of thousands of voters to be disenfranchised thanks to this deal is astronomical. People shouldn’t be prevented from voting or have to jump through additional hurdles simply because they move, get married and change their name, or want to change parties. Counties are required to go back and contact voters one by one to make sure John Smith is the same as Jonathan A. Smith, even when the addresses, birth dates, and driver’s license numbers of the two are identical, and that takes an incredible amount of manpower, especially in a county like Los Angeles where during the height of the season, it’s receiving 20,000 voter registration forms a day. If the Bush-McPherson standards continue to reject 43 percent of all voter registration and re-registration forms, it means more than 8,000 people a day who are legally entitled to register to vote may not be able to do so, and that’s just in L.A. County.” 

The next day, McPherson issued a second statement, proposing state legislation that would allow county registration offices to clear up discrepancies in registration data using existing state databases, rather than being forced to contact the voters themselves. 

“I’ve listened to the concerns that dedicated county election officials have about current state law,” McPherson said, adding that his proposed new legislation “will help to ensure access to eligible voters while still providing safeguards against voter fraud.” 

In addition, McPherson put the onus on the voters themselves, urging “all Californians to remember to completely fill out their voter registration card. ... Providing all necessary information will avoid complications when registering to vote.””

“Sleep when the baby sleeps” 

This is perhaps the most basic, most oft repeated, most bogus piece of advice I received in the never-ending, well intentioned (largely unsolicited) tsunami of advice that swept over me during my pregnancy last year. My first son was born the day before Christmas and I’ve had two months to try and heed their advice, to no avail. 

Ostensibly, catching 40 (or at least five or six) winks whenever the baby naps will keep the blurry-eyed, mildly delusional crankiness of newborn-induced sleep deprivation at bay. 

Sounds good in theory, doesn’t it? 

Unfortunately, a handful of catnaps cannot take the place of a deep and luxurious full night’s sleep, and in fact, for someone operating on 2-3 hours sleep a night, a tiny interrupted daytime doze is like a sadistic amuse bouche—a gourmet canape offered to, then snatched from the grasp of, a starving man. 

Besides which, how can I think of sleep when there are half a dozen undone chores waiting, and now—(ssh... ssh... his eyes are drooping ... one last flail of teensy arms ... and he’s asleep!)—suddenly there’s a ten minute to two hour window to get things done. Clear the decks! Batten down the hatches! Take no prisoners! I will clean every last dish before he wakes!  

Admittedly, forgoing sleep to sort mail or tidy the living room is partly the product of a personality tinged with mild-to-moderate OCD, but in my defense, the pervasive encouragement to let the laundry and dishes pile up is kind-hearted but unrealistic. 

My little bundle of bodily functions goes through a third of his stash of outfits, blankets, and burp cloths every day, and if they aren’t laundered at a jaunty pace, he’ll have to go naked as a jaybird and I’ll be forced to wipe his spit-up with a souvenir tea towel, the only hygienic scrap of fabric in the house. 

Alas, sleep is second—or third—priority for now. I’d rather have clean undies. 

And then there’s the big taboo for new moms—wanting to keep other interests alive, interests that preceded my new addition by, oh, three-plus decades or so? Prior to getting pregnant, I visited a parenting chat room online and vented my concern that, post-baby, I wouldn’t have time for any of the hobbies that have meant so much to me for years. One of the moms promptly told me that if I was worried about my hobbies, I wasn’t ready to be a mom. 

Harrumph! 

Okay, my bad—“hobbies” was definitely the wrong word. What I’d meant was, those soul-fulfilling, self-defining passions that have infused my existence with joy, pleasure, challenges, and learning my whole life. Yes, I know (personally, now!) that parenthood gives you that soul-food a thousandfold, but I’d rather not eat the same food at every meal, whether it’s a meal for my stomach, or my brain and heart.  

So while caring for my perfect little snuggle bunny mini-me and hanging on his every sound, gesture, and expression happily occupy the bulk of my days (and nights—oi!), when he naps, I’ll be damned if I’m going to lie down and close my eyes. If the laundry and dishes are done, I can actually crack open a book! Or draw a little, do some yoga, blog-surf, or write this little ditty, for whatever it’s worth. 

Sleep shmeep. Sleep is for suckers. I’ll sleep when the baby starts pre-school.  

Er, kindergarden? 

College? 

Historic neighborhoods coping with change seem to be an informal unifying theme of most of this spring’s Berkeley Historical Society’s walking tours. 

Set for five Saturday mornings from April 8 through June, the inexpensive two-hour walking tours are le d, as always, by community volunteers and serve both as a public educational activity and fundraiser for BHS. 

The first tour (led by the author) on Saturday, April 8, recalls Downtown Berkeley from the decades after 1906 and before World War II. Downtow n burgeoned then, in the era between architectural and cultural Victorianism and the Modern age. 

The streets were lined with new and handsome masonry buildings from the original Tupper and Reed music store (now Beckett’s Pub) to Berkeley’s first high-ris e—with Berkeley’s first controversial high-rise neon billboard—the Chamber of Commerce building that now houses Wells Fargo Bank.  

The tour will also explore the commercial enterprises and lively cultural life that Berkeleyans enjoyed in a pre-War downto w n “arts district” which included Art Deco movie palaces, a genuine cutting-edge repertory theatre in an old church, and the “Berkeley Art Museum” on Shattuck Avenue.  

Next, on April 22, community historian and photographer Bruce Goodell, who has done sev eral informative and intriguing tours for BHS, brings the catastrophic events of April 1906 home when he leads a tour of sites on the UC Berkeley campus where refugees of the 1906 earthquake were cared for. 

Displaced San Franciscans—many with nothing mor e than the proverbial “clothes on their backs”—boarded ferries for Oakland and Berkeley in the disaster aftermath. 

A tent city on an early football field, open-air kitchens under the oaks, and refugee quarters in gymnasiums, were all part of the camp us picture.  

Fewer and fewer Berkeleyans now seem to remember that, in addition to the tracks near the freeway, a second railroad line cut diagonally across central Berkeley for several decades. 

Trains—including highly controversial troop transports dur ing the Vietnam War—regularly rumbled right behind homes and businesses and across University Avenue, Sacramento Street, and smaller neighborhood streets. 

On May 6, guide Susan Schwartz—a stalwart of the local creek restoration movement, and a board memb er o f Berkeley Path Wanderers—will recall and explain that receding past.  

Her walk traces the history—and future—of some four miles of the Santa Fe Right of Way, part of which has now been transformed into community gardens and linear park space. 

This prom ises to be a vigorous excursion but the terrain is largely flat and the scenery and history varied and interesting (it is also the one walk not wheelchair accessible because of the distance covered over bare earth). 

West Berkeley historian and acti vist S tephanie Manning leads the Saturday, May 20 tour through a more compact but equally interesting area, the “Sisterna Tract: A Small Chilean Ranch Transformed.” 

Never heard of it? Sisterna was a familiar name in early Berkeley, belonging to a Chilea n family that came to the area as early as 1860 and built a house on what is now Fifth Street in 1878.  

Survivors of that era, including Victorian cottages and commercial buildings, still dot the neighborhood just south of University Avenue and east of A quatic Park. 

Back then, Oceanview—the settlement that preceded Berkeley—was a mix of factories, stores, homes both humble and substantial, and open fields. 

Manning will guide the group through “the layers of time represented by the various styles of arc hitectu re and culture present there.”The neighborhood is still alive and kicking; not long ago current residents worked successfully to document and have part declared a historic district, one of only a handful in Berkeley. 

The last tour, on June 3, switches fr om West to South Berkeley, focusing on the Lorin neighborhood around Alcatraz and Adeline. 

An early “streetcar suburb,” Lorin was induced to officially join the City of Berkeley in 1892 and “promised services and stature,” according to historic resources consultant Dale Smith, who will lead this tour “through time, and in and out of the shops and galleries of this original township.” 

The area retains many of Berkeley’s best older houses and a lively community culture. 

Like West Berkeley, it’s also a fo cus of hot development discussion and controversy, including the recent turmoil over a grant to study infill development at the Ashby BART Station parking lot. 

The tours run from 10 a.m. to approximately noon. Each costs $10 for the general pub lic and $8 for BHS members. If you want to have a guaranteed spot on all the tours (which can fill up), it’s $30 for a “season ticket” package for Berkeley Historical Society members only. You can join BHS when making your reservations. 

Those stalwarts w ho purchas e tickets for at least three tours have the opportunity on Saturday, June 10, to take a free “Bonus Tour” providing an inside look at the new Berkeley Community College headquarters building that has risen on Center Street, west of Shattuck. 

For tour reservation information, visit the Berkeley Historical Society (1931 Center Street, in the Veteran’s Memorial Building) Thursday through Saturday, 1-4 p.m., see www.cityofberkeley.info/histsoc/, or call 848-0181. 

Photo courtesy of author  

Downtown Berkeley at Shattuck and Center in the early decades of the 20th century when there was still a train station (at left), an imposing office building (center right) where the Bank of America now stands, and a giant flagpole instead of today’s giant tuning fork.

Bank robber 

Berkeley Police are seeking the public’s help in learning the name of the fellow who robbed the Bank of America at 1500 Shattuck Ave. Wednesday. 

The bandit (at right) walked into the bank claiming to have a gun and demanded cash from the teller. Berkeley Police spokesperson Ed Galvan said the robber may be the same man who pulled similar heists at banks in Albany, El Sobrante and Fremont over the last two weeks. 

The robber is described as a white male in his early to mid 40s. He has blond hair, stands 5’6” tall, weighs about 150 pounds and sports a longer style mustache. 

Bank of America is offering a reward of up to $5,000 for his arrest and conviction. 

Galvan asked anyone with information on the robber to call his department’s robbery detail at 981-5742. 

Pistol-whipped 

A resident of the 2800 block of Ellsworth Street was startled Saturday morning when the knock on the door turned out to be a man bleeding from a head wound in need of help. 

As he later told police, the man had been pistol-whipped by a bandit who walked up to him and demanded cash. After telling the bandit he was carrying no money, the robber settled for his iPod instead. 

Note to readers 

The police blotter has been brief of late because the Berkeley Police Department hasn’t been posting many entries to its Daily Police Bulletins website. No entries were posted at all for the period between March 23 and April 1.

Fires damaged two Berkeley residences Friday night and almost killed a cat, while mudslides threaten to cut off three homes from emergency services, reports Deputy Fire Chief David P. Orth. 

Candle fire 

A thoughtless resident committed one of the BFD’s least favorite sins by leaving a candle burning unattended in a dwelling at 2340 Eighth St. 

Fire engines rushed to the scene after the resident called at 4:22 p.m. to report that the candle had fallen to the floor, where the burning wax ignited the carpet and burned through the floorboards. 

The blaze had self-extinguished by the time emergency workers had arrived, but not before doing an estimated $10,000 in damage to the structure and an additional $15,000 in harm to the contents. 

Never, ever, leave candles burning unattended, warns Orth. 

Eight lives left 

After an upstairs neighbor saw smoke pouring from the apartment below, firefighters rushed to 1521 Francisco St. 

Receiving no answer to their knocks, firefighters forced their way in to find that the resident had left a cardboard box partially atop a floor heater, resulting in the blaze. 

In the course of fighting the flames, firefighters discovered a cat collapsed in the apartment’s rear bedroom. A quick application of resuscitation skills brought the critter back from the brink. 

Orth estimated the damage to the structure at $20,000. 

Slide alert 

Rain-saturated soil has sparked a series of mudslides along Panoramic Way that threaten to isolate at least three homes at the upper reach of the roadway, Orth said Monday. 

“I’m sending out an e-mail to the Oakland and East Bay Regional Park District fire departments warning that we may lose our access,” Orth said. 

While the homes are located within Oakland city limits, the only regular road leading into them is Panoramic Way from Berkeley. While fire trails offer access in dry weather, Orth said he suspects that the main trail leading into the uppermost home may be impassible. 

An acacia tree along the roadway was also felled by the storm, but neighbors cleared enough of the debris to open one of the two lanes to traffic.d

In the olden days, back around 1960, I first heard Dylan Thomas’s recording of “A Child’s Christmas in Wales” on one of the Pacifica stations, in the period when they were not afraid to celebrate sectarian holidays like Christmas. 

“Were there Uncles like in our house?” Thomas asks in his child’s voice. And the adult’s answer: 

“There are always Uncles at Christmas. The same Uncles... Some few large men sat in the front parlors, without their collars, Uncles almost certainly, trying their new cigars, holding them out judiciously at arms’ length, returning them to their mouths, coughing, then holding them out again as though waiting for the explosion…” The Uncles popped up a few more times in the tale, jumping and rumbling and “breathing like dolphins.”  

Of course, I thought, from the sophisticated vantage point of my 20 years, Uncle Tom and Uncle Fritz. Uncles loomed large in the Christmases of my own then remote-seeming St. Louis childhood of 10 years before. Uncle Fritz was always good company at a party, unmarried then and helping out however he could, telling jokes to the children and getting drinks for the adults. But Uncle Tom was another matter entirely.  

“Waiting for the explosion” is an apt description, though not of Uncle Tom but of the expectations of the rest of the group when he showed up. I eventually ended up with 18 first cousins, but in 1950 I was the only pre-war kid at the Christmas party, in my own opinion light-years older than the flock of post-war boom babies who were following me. At 10 I was starting to listen to the adult conversation and to join it occasionally.  

Most of the adults in the family had not much interest in politics in those days, though many were the kind of genteel liberal Republicans who were quietly pleased when General Eisenhower beat out the more conservative Senator Taft for the 1952 presidential nomination. But Uncle Tom! Uncle Tom Schwarz, a smart young lawyer who had married my mother’s sister Mary Lucille while he was in the Navy during The War, was a mouthy, opinionated hereditary Democrat, and he viewed the family gathering as an ideal arena to set doubters straight on any and all contemporary political topics. Like Dylan Thomas’s Uncles, he was a smoker who used his cigarettes and cigars as props, punctuation for his speeches. He was one of nature’s contrarians, always loudly on the side of the underdog, and never afraid to tell you why you were wrong. 

He’d moved his growing family to the suburbs like many in the post-war period, though in my culturally conservative family leaving the city was viewed as dangerously radical. He designed his own suburban house without benefit of architect, and it was, the in-laws said politely, “unusual.” He loved his pretty good-humored wife and his six lively children extravagantly, but pretended to order them around with much bluster, though they were seldom fooled.  

He’d show up at the Christmas or Thanksgiving gatherings in those days with the three or four oldest, all still under 5, and declaim, as likely as not with a baby or two on his lap. Sometimes someone would engage him in argument, especially his father-in-law, who still thought of President Roosevelt as “that man in the White House”, but the challenger would inevitably be blown away by his sharp wit and cutting logic. My mother now claims that she was a Democrat too then, and maybe she was, but it was Uncle Tom who made the big noise about it. Watching him, I learned that ideas matter, that politics is important, and that there is more to life than Republican pieties. And that arguing could be fun. 

He taught the same lessons to his own children, who grew up knowing that it was up to them to stand up to injustice wherever they found it. The oldest was held up as an example to my own sixties-born children, who lived too far away by that time to get to know their St. Louis cousins, as “Your Cousin Elsa Who Marched at Selma.” I never knew the younger ones well, because my family moved to California when I was in high school, but I’ve been delighted to see various offspring of the next generation, Uncle Tom’s grandchildren, turning up in Berkeley, still bent on saving the world if they can. 

Of course Uncle Tom himself, contrarian to the end, moved to Florida and turned Republican in his old age. Much to my liberal mother’s horror, he even claimed to have voted for one or more Bushes, but he might have said that just to shock her. He also had sarcastic comebacks for those who taxed him with the health pieties of the ’80s and ’90s—he smoked like a chimney, drank like a fish, and became a gourmet cook specializing in high-cholesterol delicacies. And pretty much got away with it.  

He died on Monday at 86, still doing as he pleased, wisecracking until the end. They finally persuaded him to go to the hospital, which he hated, the day he died. My aunt told my mother afterwards that as she sat next to his bed holding his hand a young nurse came in. He opened his eyes one more time and asked the nurse “Am I dead yet?” She fled, not knowing what to say to this, a common reaction for many confronted with one of Uncle Tom’s quips.  

I’ve been thinking it over, and I think the answer is no. As long as there are still some of us around—and there are a lot of us now—who remember what we learned from him, that it’s important to care passionately about what’s happening in this world, Uncle Tom’s not dead yet, even though his body is being buried today.  

Rain. Rain. And more rain. We have sure had a lot of it this spring. Around the bay, March’s 31 days produced from 22 to 25 days of rain, depending on where you were standing when you counted, breaking records going all the way back to the middle of the 19th century. The total amount of rain in March set records too, ranging from 7.22 inches at the usually warm and sunny Oakland airport to 8.74 inches in San Francisco, always somewhat damper than the East Bay. And the prediction is that it won’t let up for a while. 

In the face of so much weather, it’s not hard to believe what they’ve been telling us about climate change. No scientific authority, in the reports I’ve read, is attributing last month’s record rainfall specifically to climate change, but all of the dire reports of the melting of the polar ice cap have led to informal speculation across back fences that what we’re seeing might be the forerunner of worse to come. Some, of course, notably the ostriches who hold the power in Washington at the moment, pretend not to believe that climate change is in our future, but they’re in a shrinking minority. 

Among those who keep up with such things, there are now at least three schools of thought, not just two. Politically minded optimists continue to preach that individual action can make a difference. The Ad Council last week launched a new series of television spots, in partnership with Environmental Defense (formerly known as the Environmental Defense Fund) to promote personal attitude change in response to perception of threat—a direct confrontation with the administration’s “it’s not happening” stance. They show a man in front of a speeding train who steps aside just in time to avoid being hit, but reveals a little girl standing behind him. “There’s still time,” the ad says.  

But some scientists are not so optimistic, as reported by Seth Borenstein for the Associated Press: 

“There are limits, experts say, to how much individuals can do. The best we can hope for is to prevent the worst—world-altering disasters like catastrophic climate change and a drastic rise in sea levels, say 10 leading climate scientists interviewed by the Associated Press. They pull out ominous phrases like ‘point of no return.’”  

Americans are culturally optimistic. They need and want to believe that they can shape the future, so doomsday predictions have never found a big audience. That’s why ad campaigns about how people can reduce the dangers of climate change are going to be popular. According to the AP report, “Despite what scientists say, 70 percent of Americans believe it’s possible to reduce the effects of global warming, and 59 percent think their individual actions can help, according to a poll commissioned by Environmental Defense as part of its public service campaign. Climate scientists find themselves in the delicate position of trying to balance calculations that lead to scientific despair with an optimistic public’s hope.” 

The Bay Area’s dominant progressive political culture leans toward bigger and better band-aids: Motorcycle parking on Telegraph! Ever-more refined trash sorting! Organic produce from Chile! New Priuses for city employees! Windmills on the waterfront! What we lack in conventional religious affiliation we make up for with belief in our power to change outcomes by local or personal pious behavior. Pursuing this train of thought too far will inevitably produce a barrage of angry letters from Berkeley zealots, but perhaps it’s time to face the fact that just about the only chance Americans have of affecting the inexorable progress of climate change is serious major political change, and this needs to happen immediately at the national and international level. 

In a major policy speech on Monday, Senator Barack Obama got it right: “…there’s a reason that some have compared the quest for energy independence to the Manhattan Project or the Apollo moon landing. Like those historic efforts, moving away from an oil economy is a major challenge that will require a sustained national commitment.”  

The current national administration’s total abdication of responsibility for looming climate disaster is yet another example (like the messes we’ve made in Iraq and Afghanistan, the Medicare prescription screw-up and many more) of why Americans need to work as hard as we can for national regime change, and why just “think global, act local” won’t cut it any more. We need to do whatever we can as fast as we can, and on the national level, even, perish the thought, skimping on some of the time we devote to household recycling if necessary.  

The Environmental Defense commercial’s image of the runaway train is even more apt if it’s taken as a metaphor for where this country has been going in the last six years. A country as big and as powerful as the United States of America cannot be allowed to roll along any longer with no one in the engineer’s cab. Even Republicans are starting to realize that, as they contemplate the burgeoning national debt. 

B

KATE DOWLING 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Kate Dowling was born July 8, 1946 and passed on April 2, 2006. She was best known as the proud mother of James. For 17 years she worked at the Cheese Board Collective in Berkeley where she originated live jazz and the generous extra slice. She was also famous for her sumptuous chocolate truffles and wedding cakes. She was formerly the pastry chef at Bay Wolf Restaurant in Oakland. She was well loved by all who knew her and generous to a fault. There will be a celebration of Kate’s life from 6-11 p.m. April 8 at the Jewish Community Center, 1414 Walnut St. Donations may be made to the Kate Dowling Memorial Fund in care of Wells Fargo, account number 3012327494, 6304 Dana St., Oakland, CA 94609. 

Ina Clausen 

• 

CORRECTION 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

While J. Douglas Allen-Taylor’s March 24 article provided an accurate picture of the problems that have plagued the Kronos payroll system at the Alameda County Medical Center, I want to correct an error. 

Neither I nor Local 616 members blame the Medical Center’s CEO, Wright Lassiter, for the Kronos implementation problems. I’m sorry if I did not make that clear when I spoke with Mr. Taylor. In fact I got an earful from our members when they read that I blamed the CEO for escalating the problem. I can’t say who exactly “made the unilateral decision to go completely electronic,” but as noted in the article, ACMC has put the VP for human resources on administrative leave. 

Once Lassiter learned about the extent of the problems, which was brought to his attention at the caucus meeting with nurses, as noted in the article, he has worked to resolve the problems. We are meeting with ACMC representatives this week to review the payroll error report from the last pay period. While there remain some problems, we believe the Medical Center has made significant improvements. Mr. Lassiter has assured SEIU that if problems persist, ACMC will reintroduce the parallel electronic and paper time keeping systems while the bugs are resolved. 

Thanks for correcting this error. 

Bradley Cleveland 

Director of Communications 

SEIU Local 616 

• 

NOT FOR RUSSO 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I will never vote for Democrat Russo for state Assembly or any position except dog catcher, even though I am a lifelong Democrat and occasional voter for Green Party candidates. 

I have never met or talked with Russo but unfortunately attempted to deal with his staff when Russo was my district’s Oakland City Council Representative.  

I have never encountered such an unresponsive staff as Russo’s. 

I repeatedly called his office regarding an issue with a stop sign and another with street sweeping, but his staff never responded to my calls. Feeling like I was dealing with the customer service of a giant corporation or the DMV, I instead turned to our At-Large City Councilmember Henry Chang, whose staff not only returned my call within three days but investigated and fulfilled both of my requests within two weeks days by dealing with the relevant city agencies (agencies that hadn’t responded to my complaints spanning approximately six months).  

Russo is not fit to be a Democrat regardless of his top-down endorsements. 

1. Russo is infamously unresponsive to specific concerns from individuals (he seems more concerned with his next stepping stone to higher office than actually fixing something). He simply blows off calls from anyone lacking connections, a la Bush, in effect telling his constituents/customers they have no recourse. 

2. Russo approaches the role of serving the public in the same manner as the worst bloated, unresponsive high-tech corporation with overseas tech support.  

3. I cannot imagine Russo was good at being a lawyer or any other job requiring measurable performance. If he headed a company selling actual products, the company would probably go bust after pissing off its customers. 

4. While once complaining to neighbors about Russo’s unresponsiveness as city councilmember, a neighbor remarked that he’d watched Russo in City Council meetings on local-access T.V. and thought Russo had his head in the clouds, speaking about national issues and listening only to himself instead of addressing the matters associated with his job.  

Russo obviously doesn’t understand Tip O’Neil’s famous saying that “all politics are local.” 

I cannot believe Russo will improve education or anything since he can’t even improve a pot hole. As a dog lover, however, I would vote for Russo for dog catcher. 

John Gordon 

Oakland 

• 

KEEP DERBY OPEN 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I am writing in support of the folks in South Berkeley who want a multi-use field/park at Martin Luther King and Derby streets and who want to keep Derby Street open. As a long-time South Berkeley resident who lives near San Pablo Park I thoroughly appreciate and support open green space in neighborhoods. I am concerned and curious about whose interests are driving this proposal to close Derby Street. It is my understanding that many (or most) of the parents of the high school baseball team members and other residents who are pushing to close Derby Street do not live in our neighborhood. How can the school district and the City Council prioritize the desires of the baseball team over the real needs and concerns of a neighborhood? How would closing Derby Street affect the firefighters access to my neighborhood should there be a fire west of Milvia? What would be the long-term traffic and parking effects on the neighborhood? Where would the Farmers’ Market be able to move where there is such easy access and centrality in location? Why is there a willingness to develop an athletic park for the baseball team and not the same initiative and willingness to push to fix the public pools, fund after-school and nighttime sports programs, extend library hours and fund other socially thoughtful and comprehensive programs for the benefit of youth in all Berkeley neighborhoods? Voters said “no” to recent proposed bond measures, which would have provided needed services to all Berkeley residents. Where are the monies going to come from to hire new staff and provide specialized maintenance for this ideal baseball project? I think effort should be made to improve existing parks and baseballfields. Where is the long-term financial infrastructure going to come from to support this baseball filed project? There are not enough parks and recreation staff to adequately maintain the existing park. 

I support keeping Derby Street open and spending existing monies on existing needs and projects. I do not support plans to spend monies that are not in the school district budget on projects initiated by people who want to alter a neighborhood where they do not live. And should there be surplus in the school budget or the city budget, projects like this one to develop a contemplative baseball field could then be considered. 

Margaret Benson Thompson 

• 

GUIDE TO THE GOOD LIFE 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

The Berkeley PTA Council has undertaken an audacious project—selling 8,000 information/coupon books called “Guide to the Good Life in Berkeley”—to raise $50,000 for providing diversity training and education for parents throughout our district during the 2006-2007 school year. With your help, we believe that together we can reach our goal—a goal that will benefit not just Berkeley parents but our children, schools, and community as well.  

Please endorse and promote the sales and purchase of “Guide to the Good Life in Berkeley” throughout our school district and city, across your professional, personal and electronic networks. Encourage your constituents and friends alike to take action in support of diversity and book sales by “spreading the word” and our intention, by purchasing and selling books, and by cheering on our students in doing the same. Understand that book buyers receive truly useful coupons that save many times more money than its $10 cost! Please do all that you can, as both an individual and as a vital conduit, to help us advance our movement. 

Like you, we recognize that each of us must work to build our individual and collective capacity to relate to one another in ways that enhance and ensure excellence, equity, and equality in our children’s education. In Berkeley and beyond, race and diversity lie at the core of all that we hold dear as a value and all that we recognize as responsible for what divides us. The Berkeley PTA Council, leading the parents of Berkeley Unified School District, intends to build strong, effective bridges between the peoples in our school communities. We intend to guide Berkeley to the bonafide “good life” and we ask that you join us! 

Thank you for all you do and are. 

The PTA Council Executive Board: Wanda Stewart, Ann Williams, Roia Ferrazares, John Penberthy, Cindy Tsai, Mark Coplan, Marissa Saunders,  

Lorenzo Blades 

• 

AFFORDABLE HOUSING 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I read with interest Marianne Robinson’s commentary “Affordable Housing: Reality or Myth,” and wanted to let her and the thousands of seniors who need and the thousands of seniors who need affordable housing know that the new senior housing going up on Sacramento, San Pablo and University will soon be open and is truly affordable. 

AHA’s Sacramento Senior Homes at 2517 Sacramento will offer 40 new apartments for seniors 62 and over, including seniors with disabilities and seniors that live with HIV and AIDS. All of the units have Project-Based Section 8, which means that no senior will pay more than 30 percent of their monthly income to rent—for example, if you live on SSI and receive $700 a month, your portion of the rent is $210. While some of the apartments in the building will be studio apartments, the majority of apartments will be one-bedroom apartments and two-bedroom apartments.  

On San Pablo Avenue, Resources for Community Development will soon be opening the Margaret Breland Apartments, a 28-unit apartment building for seniors. These studio and one-bedroom units will be available for rent at 30 percent of a person’s household income also. These apartments are available to seniors with annual incomes below $29,350 a year for a one-person household and $33,500 for a two-person household. 

Applications for these two buildings are available now at the Berkeley Public Library, the Berkeley Senior Centers, and Berkeley Housing Authority, among other places. While deadlines for submitting are upcoming, seniors are still encouraged to apply—waiting lists will be formed for both buildings. Early next year there will be another affordable senior housing development opening up—University Avenue Senior Homes by Satellite Senior Homes, which is currently starting construction. This development will have 79 units of affordable housing for seniors.  

For more information on Sacramento Senior Homes, please visit our website at www.ahainc.org. 

Kevin Zwick 

Director of Development 

Affordable Housing Associates 

• 

OPEN EXCHANGE 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Thank you for the reminder! (April 1st Brings Memories, March 31.) My first letter to you in April 2003 was a thank you for your new exciting publication, but also a complaint that the paper was now almost impossible to throw away! As a disabled senior, it has become my accessible “Berkeley Town Hall”—a welcome gift for my twice-a-week education and occasional personal opinions! 

Thus said, Becky O’Malley, I again honor your policy of open exchange. I certainly agree with most of the Berkeley treasures and frustrations you point out. But I was surprised to hear you say you are offended by those who are “more than willing” to risk the health of others so they “can have a cheap grocery store” in their own backyard. As I find the Berkeley Bowl as indispensable as your publication, I was very much hoping that this wonderful market could be in the West Berkeley area as well—after working out the usual glitches, of course.  

Have you considered that many of your neighbors probably use their cars to get to the “East” Berkeley Bowl now, or other desirable food outlets, polluting “our” area somewhat?  

By the way, Ashby Avenue would not have to be a narrow congested “highway,” toxic to scores of residents along the way (which is probably illegal, if not immoral) if many of our famous Berkeley diverters were removed, so that traffic could freely and fairly find other pathways, as it does in most other (dare I say) even more progressive cities! 

Gerta Farber 

• 

WIND ENERGY 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

As a former Berkeley Energy Commission member, and a wind-energy developer, I was struck by the angry tone of James K. Sayre’s letter concerning Southwest Windpower’s gift of a wind turbine to the City of Berkeley. The turbine is very small and only 40 feet high. It would be very surprising if it kills anything more than some mosquitoes—certainly nothing compared to other sources of bird mortality in Berkeley, such as the nearby 880 freeway, downtown buildings with glass windows, housecats, etc. In the meantime, it is a very nice addition to a park intended to educate people about renewable energy. 

The wind turbines in Altamont Pass do not kill significant numbers of migratory birds. Local raptors collide with each turbine each year. They probably also collide with the cars on the 580 freeway. The overall bird population in the Altamont Pass has actually grown each year, due to constant loss of habitat to housing developments located all around. The Altamont Pass is one of the few remaining open spaces in the area. That raptors there collide with wind turbines is lamentable but basically unavoidable. 

Development, pesticides, and global warming are the major threats to birds, bats, and all life on earth. We need new sources of energy, like wind energy, on a BIG scale, to change the direction our planet is heading. Unlike other industries that impact birds, the wind energy industry has carried out dozens of studies of interactions between wind turbines, birds, and bats, over the years. Despite the very low levels of bird mortality these studies have shown (average of two birds/turbine/year, less than the average car typically kills), wind turbine designs have been substantially changed, and wind energy projects moved away from many windy sites, to further reduce bird mortality. 

People who are incensed about “wind turbines and birds” and “wind turbines and bats” never seem to be concerned, or active, about truly major threats to birds and bats. When I see a letter from someone who is systematically working on the greatest, most widespread and serious sources of bird and bat mortality, I’ll take it more seriously.  

Jessie Audette 

• 

IMMIGRATION 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Letter-writer Marvin Charere erroneously sited the figure of 12 million illegal immigrants in this country. It is more likely that is there is approximately 30 million illegals in this country at any given moment. And that doesn’t even take into account the tens of millions of “anchor babies”—American-born babies of illegal immigrants who immediately qualify as U.S. citizens. 

The odd thing is, whenever I bring up the scope—and the disastrous consequences—of our insane level of mass immigration, both legal and illegal, the response from the heroic Berkeley liberals has been simply to toss the “race card” at me. Might I suggest that some of these liberals leave their safe, middle- class havens and spend some time living amongst the blacks in the inner city, like I have. Black Americans happen to have the strongest negative opinion about immigration of any segment of the American population (check all the polls if you don’t believe me). Why? Because they are precisely the ones on the front lines of this invasion and who are paying the biggest brunt of this problem. They are in fact getting displaced from their own inner-city neighborhoods to make room for the endless immigrant hordes. Now play the “race card” on that, Berkeley liberal. Instead, I suggest you check out an April 4 opinion piece in the San Francisco Examiner titled: “Illegal Immigration is Hurting America’s Poorest People.” Apparently, plenty of these middle-class Berkeley liberals—who already “got theirs”—can afford to be very magnanimous about this hideous process. Those on the bottom, who are struggling to keep a roof over our heads, do not find this nearly as endearing.  

Peter Labriola 

• 

GIRLFEST 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I was distressed by Nancy Ward’s letter published in the Daily Planet’s March 31 edition. Ward took Diana Russell to task for picketing Girlfest, who held their two nights of entertainment at the Shattuck Down Low. Situated next door to the now infamous Pasand Restaurant in a building owned by Lakireddy Bali Reddy, a convicted sex trafficker in underage girls, the Down Low proprietor pays rent to members of the Lakireddy family. Nancy believes that Diana and the other picketers should not care where the events were held, but instead appreciate that Girlfest got it for free. 

What Nancy probably does not know is that Girlfest had been apprised of the inappropriateness of their choice of venue three weeks prior to the event by a concerned woman named Gina. When the Girlfest leaders made it clear to her that they would not change their venue, Gina posted this information to the general Community section of Craigslist. In response, Gina “was threatened with lawsuits, accused of ‘having ulterior motives’ and now, when I try to tell the people of Berkeley that a high-profile non-profit is making a mistake in holding their event on a property owned by people who prey on children for sex and labor, they [the Girlfest organizers] are flagging every post I put up...” Similarly, Women Against Sexual Slavery was also treated with hostility and threatened with a law suit.  

Councilmember Kriss Worthington, who supported our protest, offered the organizers of Girlfest alternative locations to hold their concerts, at least one of which was also free. The Girlfest organizers declined these options. Ward is correct that Daniel Cukierman, the proprietor of the Down Low, generously offered this facility free of charge. However, this does not negate the contradiction in Girlfest’s use of property owned by a criminal pedophile. 

Ward concludes her letter by saying that, “I and many other feminists, wish that instead of picketing Shattuck Down Low that she [Diana Russell] and her supporters had been able to appreciate the nightclub’s generosity and also how much women would benefit. The money will help to prevent future Reddy-like crimes.” I say, education without heart is no education at all. Diana Russell actually deserves thanks from our community for making us aware that our actions should follow our awareness and that we should work to help all those who are in need and suffer and not be swayed by money and power. My beret goes off to her. 

Marcia Poole 

• 

WIND TURBINES 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

The April 4 commentary by reader James K. Sayre regarding wind turbines deserves a response. Mr. Sayre is incorrect in believing that the bird fatalities in Altamont Pass are typical of all wind turbine installations. Lessons learned in Altamont Pass, the world’s first large-scale windfarm, are now applied in siting wind turbines throughout the country, and nothing even remotely similar has occurred. Is Mr. Sayre serious in comparing the threat of a single home-scale (not industrial) turbine in the Berkeley Marina to the potential damage of a nuclear power plant? Does he realize how many birds, animals, and trees (not to mention humans) would be saved annually by eliminating the pollution associated with coal and other fossil-fueled power plants? Mr. Sayre may discount my opinion as easily as he does that of the Audubon Society, but as an engineer working in wind power for over 20 years, I can say that Southwest Wind Power is no corporate behemoth, and wind power is not something to be feared. Wind is the fastest growing source of energy worldwide and will play an important part in the search for solutions to our energy and climate change problems. Berkeley is correct to promote public education regarding wind power, and all renewable energy sources. 

Joseph W. Pasquariello 

Oakland 

• 

OUR TAX DOLLARS 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

As tax day on 17 April draws near, we need to remember that our tax dollars are paying for torture and death. 

They are paying for an endless war that is killing and maiming our troops and the Iraqi people. 

Our tax dollars are spent by Congress. 

Let our senators and representatives know we want the funding of an illegal aggression stopped. 

No more money for war! 

The Bush budget pays for war by cutting social services including veterans’ benefits. 

We can tax ourselves by sending a contribution to groups like Iraq Veterans Against War (www.ivaw.net), Veterans for Peace (coxschueler@igc.org) and Vietnam Veterans Against War (vvaw@vvaw.org). 

We can also join activities like the Grandmothers Against the War who plan to leaflet on April 17 outside the IRS in downtown Oakland at noon, and in front of local post offices. For more specifics call the Grandmothers at 845-3815 or e-mail bayareagrandmothers@yahoo.com. 

Pat Cody 

• 

PRISON LIFE 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

My story is a plea to the public who has a tendency to lump all formerly incarcerated black men in one pot, and reject their efforts to find gainful employment. I am a black man pushing 40 years of age who has no desire to become a re-incarcerated statistical failure. I refuse to support prisons far away from my home that have become major economic boons for poor white communities in rural areas, e.g., Pelican Bay in the State of California. The price I’ve paid is unemployment for myself, and increased employment for white residents in these rural communities. In those instances when I have become employed, I’ve suffered the indignity of abrupt dismissal once my background check is completed. This situation has been going on since my release over two years ago. It has taken all the strength I have to suppress the seething anger and rage I feel when I’m let go, but far stronger is the firm commitment I’ve made to myself that I will not give up and become a contributor to an evil system that has no regard for my well-being. 

Inside, I’ve experienced the day-to-day horrors of prison life; the lack of privacy; the monotony of doing time; living en masse amongst strangers to whom I have no familial ties; watching my back to avert attacks; and perhaps the worst experience, listening to the voice of loneliness, my voice. When you are alone, you become in touch with the deepest part of yourself, the part that is concerned with your preservation. 

Outside, I’m no longer physically incarcerated, yet my mind is. I’m bound to a past from which I can’t seem to escape. I am thwarted in reaching my goal of being employed and having power over my life. My past remains an impenetrable, constant barrier to my future. My deepest wish is that employers will interview me and allow me to express myself by discussing the reasons for my past incarceration. I’m not expecting employers to be social workers, but I’m seeking to come out from under the label of “ex-offender.” I want to be a real father to my 18-year old son. I don’t want to leave a blueprint of prison as a life-path for him to follow. 

I write this for all black men who have been entrapped in the prison system. I know they will concur with all I’ve written, and I cling to the hope that collectively, we can come up with a solution to our problems. Despite the music videos, there is no glamour, no peace, no life, to be found within the total institution of prison. 

James Hopkins  

• 

LIFE AT BERKELEY HIGH 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

My son is a senior at Berkeley High now, and here’s what I’ve learned about what it takes to survive at this huge, wonderful, but sometimes alienating school: The kids who do well at Berkeley High are those who get involved in a sport, dance, theater, jazz band, Art Club, Barbecue Club. The kids who don’t often fall through the cracks and have problems in this big, daunting place. And for an activity to occur, the kids need a place to play, act or gather to do that activity. That’s the major reason why I support making Derby Field a baseball field. There are places for LaCrosse, soccer, jazz band, swimming, dance, theater... you name it at Berkeley High, but there’s no place for baseball except a field that’s overcrowded, inadequate and where Albany Little League teams have greater priority. The baseball team doesn’t have an adequate place to play their games, and shipping them to a potential Gilman Street site just doesn’t get the job done. These kids too, need a place to call home. This issue is and always has been about supporting our kids which Berkeley has a fine, long history of doing. 

I understand the neighbors worries from having listened to them one-on-one, and dealing with similar issues related to parks, religious institutions, s ores and other public places in my neighborhood. They raise issues that need to be analyzed and mitigated in a fair, thoughtful EIR process. Unfortunately, the dialogue about this baseball field has been more of food fight than the kind of reasonable discourse that should occur. An environmental impact report is a good way to start a healthier discussion, and I hope that the Berkeley City Council agrees to be a joint partner with BUSD in preparing an EIR. 

Dave Fogarty 

• 

MEDICARE DRUG BENEIFT 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I write on behalf of the millions of senior citizens and people with disabilities confused and poorly served by the president’s disastrous privatized prescription drug Part D “benefit.” 

Part D does nothing to rein in out-of-control drug prices. It leaves millions of Americans worse off by requiring them to pay more for drugs than they currently do under Medicaid and allowing private plans to deny them drugs that were covered before. 

On top of that, the Part D disaster will cost taxpayers $800 billion more over the next decade than a direct benefit under Medicare with negotiated drug prices would. Part D is no benefit and it’s not Medicare—it’s just ineffective, inefficient, private insurance. 

If Medicare were allowed to directly negotiate drug costs, it would be possible to pay for all Medicare drugs—without premiums, deductibles or co-payments—at no additional cost. 

We need a real drug benefit under Medicare that gives seniors and people with disabilities access to the drugs their physicians prescribe. It’s up to Congress to provide one. 

Jean Pauline 

Oakland

EDITOR’S NOTE: The Daily Planet is inviting all candidates for office in Berkeley to contribute regularly to our Commentary pages between now and the election. This is the only submission we have received so far; Mayor Bates’ aide Cisco DeVries says the m ayor will eventually submit a piece on this topic, but can’t do so until later in the month because he’s on vacation. Other candidates are encouraged to submit pieces when they can. 

Four years ago I worked hard to bring Tom Bates out of retirement. He p romised us “Berkeley at its Best.” What we got was Sacramento-style politics—backroom deals, cronyism and incessant spin.  

I’m not a career politician. I’ve never before sought public office. That I’m doing so now is a sign of how distressed I am about t he direction Berkeley is being taken. I know that many others share my concern.  

Our first and most urgent task is to restore the democratic character of our public life. Berkeley, of all places, should have a government that’s fair, open and accounta ble. I will ask the council to rescind the most egregious decision in Berkeley’s history—the disastrous secret settlement of the city’s lawsuit over UC expansion. To prevent further secrecy, I’ll push for a strong Berkeley Sunshine Ordinance—a law that gi ves citizens legal access to information about local government, and the right to sue the city if they think the law’s provisions have been violated by city officials. Imagine: Citizens wouldn’t need to file Public Record Act requests to find out what’s goin g on!  

Second, today out-of-control development is threatening Berkeley’s unique character and its quality of life. Nobody wants to live in a West Coast version of Colonial Williamsburg. But new buildings must enhance our neighborhoods and honor our arch itectural heritage.  

Our Landmarks Preservation Ordinance is under assault. I’ll lift the siege and then work with Berkeley’s preservation community to strengthen our protections for the city’s historic buildings. Those protections must include a st ructu re of merit designation with guts. What makes Berkeley recognizably Berkeley is an ensemble of the old and the new, the spectacular and the mundane. We need to care for the whole urban fabric.  

We also need to start asking: How much development can Berke ley take without losing its identity? To get an honest answer, we have to confront a powerful myth: The notion that if we want to stop gentrification, we have to build as much housing as possible. The fact is that only a fraction of the hundreds of new ap artments that have gone up over the past few years are even officially affordable. Let’s build truly affordable housing and stop using the myth of affordability to justify huge, market rate projects that are beyond the reach of all but the affluent.  

And let’s make sure that all development respects our neighborhoods. The city needs to stop foisting out-of-scale, out-of-character projects on Berkeley residents, and to start taking its cues from the people who are going to be directly affected by new deve lopment. I will meet with and support neighborhood groups who are working to make their community a place they want to live.  

Third, the University of California is the elephant in Berkeley’s room—a cultured and sophisticated elephant—but an ele phant nonetheless. I will do my utmost to defend the interests of Berkeley’s citizens against UC’s unbridled growth.  

After the settlement is rescinded, we’ll still be faced with the hard issues: traffic, and the university’s huge drain on the city’s bud get. The incumbent boasts that he got UC to pay the city $23 million for city services. What he doesn’t say: that’s $23 million over 15 years. A 2004 independent fiscal analysis estimated that providing police, fire and sewer services for UC’s existing an d expande d needs would cost the city of Berkeley $13.5 million a year.  

We’ve been repeatedly told that when the city settled, it got the best deal possible. But two months before the city sued the university, Chancellor Birgeneau offered somewhat bette r terms th an what we ended up with. We need to find out what the city could have gotten if it had pressed ahead with its original suit or a stronger one.  

Fourth, in a nation where independent business is an endangered species, thank goodness our neighborhood shop ping districts are filled with locally owned and operated stores. At a time when American industry is on the ropes, Berkeley has a vital manufacturing sector. San Francisco’s artists were devastated by the dot.com office boom; we still have a community of working artists and artisans.  

I will fight to uphold the zoning that keeps West Berkeley affordable to artisans and industry. Instead of shedding crocodile tears as artists are evicted from their studios by high-end developers, I’ll ask the city to hel p artists buy their own buildings. Instead of turning Gilman and Ashby west of San Pablo into strip malls on steroids, the city should be promoting our unique neighborhood shopping districts through creative, year-round marketing events. And we should fig ure out how to fund a free shoppers’ shuttle.  

Of all my goals, the fifth and last I’ll mention here is the most ambitious: delivering the highest quality city services. “The city doesn’t work”—I hear that complaint again and again, all ove r town. It’s n ot just the brushoffs at city hall. It’s the deplorable condition of our streets. It’s our crumbling sewers. The floods that happen throughout the city whenever there’s a hard rain. The decimation of our disaster preparedness office. It’s t he rolling blac kouts of our fire stations, the rising rate of property crimes, and the drug dealing and street violence that have left some Berkeleyans dead and made others prisoners of their own homes.  

We pay some of the highest property taxes in Cali fornia. We ought to be getting value for our money. The main reason we’re not is that the city manager and his colleagues are not getting proper direction from the mayor and the council. Last year, the council set Berkeley’s priorities by filling out a qu estionnaire. The budget process is another municipal embarrassment, a bureaucratic exercise conducted without meaningful council direction or public input. To make matters worse, last April, without prior notice, the council eliminated the Citizens Budget Review Commission.  

I’ll propose that at the beginning of each budget cycle, the council identify essential services, the priorities to be undertaken during that fiscal year, and a clear policy framework within which fiscal decisions will be made. These actions should guide the formation of the city manager’s budget. I’ll also ask the council to reinstate the Budget Commission and to give it adequate staff and political support.  

Finally, I’ll propose that each year the council evaluate the performance of the city man ager, the city attorney and other department heads. In 2000 the council directed the city manager to solicit on an annual basis each commission’s opinions regarding staff service. That directive has never been carried out; I’ll ask that it be put into eff ect in 2007. We also need to find ways for ordinary citizens to effectively express their opinions about city services. And we need to make sure that all these report cards aren’t simply filed away, but have practical consequences.  

My history in Berkele y goes back nearly 40 years. I first came here to attend the university. After graduating from Cal in 1970, I left town twice to go to graduate school and once to take a job. I spent most of the 1980s working as an English professor at UC Santa Barbara. I n 1990, when I moved back for the third time, I said: I’m here for good.  

Since 1992, I’ve been on the board of the Thousand Oaks Neighborhood Association. I was TONA president from 2000 to 2005. I served on the site committee that he lped plan the new Th ousand Oaks School. With my next-door neighbor Christine, I led the successful community effort to build the new tot lot at Thousand Oaks School Park.  

In 1997 I was appointed to the Berkeley Planning Commission. I served on the commission for almost sev en years and chaired it from 2002 to 2004. As a planning commissioner, I initiated and then helped guide the community-based process that led to Berkeley’s first new General Plan in 25 years.  

I also helped to start the Main Street Alliance, the West Ber keley Traffic and Safety Coalition, Neighbors of Ashby BART and the Northern Alameda County Sierra Club Group.  

A reporter recently asked me what I thought would enable me to win. I told him: “If people know what’s going on, they’ll vote for me.” I’m sure that’s true. But I’m also sure that our biggest challenge is going to be getting people to see the reality behind the spin. We’re going up against a powerful political machine.  

I’m running on the slogan, “It’s OUR City!” Please join me in making that claim a political reality.  

Zelda Bronstein is the former chair of the Planning Commission and a graduate of UC Berkeley.

At a March 21, 2006 press conference, when President Bush was pressed as to whether there would be a complete withdrawal of troops during his presidency, he repeated his common mantra, “I can only tell you that I will make decisions on force levels based on what commanders on the ground say.” He went on to admit that it would be up to a future president to decide when and if the troops should be brought home. He is clearly preparing the country for a war with no end. 

Bush has not listened to the American people who in poll after poll disapprove of his actions in Iraq. He claims to listen to the military leaders who know best because they are there. But does anyone expect that military commanders will actually challenge their commander-in-chief? 

Remember Army General Eric K. Shinseki? He was the general who was foolish enough to state that the United States would need several hundred thousand troops in postwar Iraq. Since this contrasted with the Bush regime’s rosy picture of a quick and easy victory followed by rapid re-construction paid for by Iraqi oil sales, the General was put on the road to retirement. Other commanders were duly warned by this example. 

But perhaps instead of listening to the “commanders on the ground” as he constantly repeats, Bush should listen to the troops on the ground who do the actual dying as a result of the Bush regimes decision to engage in pre-emptive war. 

A Zogby International poll which was released on Feb. 28 indicated that of the 944 military respondents to the poll, 72 percent think that the United States should exit Iraq within the next year. The 944 active duty troops were interviewed at various locations in Iraq and represented the various services, as well as regular and reserve troops. 

This poll has received surprisingly very little attention in the press. But it is quite revealing as to the thoughts of those in the military—not those who order others to die, but those who risk their lives to carry out the orders of the chicken hawks in Washington. 

Twenty-nine percent of those polled stated that the United States should withdraw immediately, 22 percent said troops should leave within six months, and another 21 percent said withdrawal should occur within six to 12 months. Only 23 percent stated to the pollsters that troops should stay as long as they are needed which appears to be the stated Bush view. 

Different branches of the military had somewhat varying responses. Eighty-nine percent of the reserves and 82 percent of the National Guard thought the troops should leave Iraq within a year, while 58 percent of the Marines agreed. Seven in 10 of those in the regular army supported withdrawal within the year. 

Part of the survey shows the extent of the success of pro-war propaganda. Fifty-eight percent of troops surveyed stated that the U.S. mission in Iraq is clear in their minds, while 42 percent say it is somewhat or very unclear. What do the troops think the mission is? Eighty-five percent say the U.S. mission is mainly “to retaliate for Saddam’s role in the 9-11 attacks” and 77 percent state that a major reason for the war was “to stop Saddam from protecting al Qaeda in Iraq.” Since even Bush admits that Saddam had no role in 9/11 and no credible source claims he was protecting al Qaeda this particular aspect is quite frightening. Given the extent of the Bush regime’s attempts to closely associate Saddam and bin Laden in the public’s mind it is not surprising that so many of those surveyed have been confused.  

But do not hold your breath waiting for the Bush regime to pay any more attention to this poll than those conducted among civilians. Bush, Cheney, Rummy and company lied to get the United States into this war and they will not voluntarily withdraw. Only by driving the Bush regime from power can we expect to see the United States exit this war. But the world can’t wait another three years to oust those who deceived the country into entering the Iraq war. 

Unfortunately they are now actively engaged in beating the war drums with similar tactics around Iran. If left unchallenged how long before we will attack Iran to keep the Iranians from using weapons of mass destruction and supporting terrorism? You do not think this is possible? The world can not wait to find out if the Bush regime will again use its well oiled propaganda machine to drag us into another war. We must force the regime from power now before it is too late. 

Kenneth J. Theisen is an Oakland resident.

The other day I heard a Hamas spokesman on BBC insist that their charter does not call for the destruction of Israel. Incredulous, I searched the text of this odious document and found that the phrase, “destruction of Israel,” indeed is not there. Instead, the term that is used is “obliterate,” as in this passage, “Israel will exist and will continue to exist until Islam will obliterate it.” The method of obliteration is clearly stated as “jihad.” Indeed, nothing in Mein Kampf is any worse than the words of Hamas’ charter, which, among other things, insists that the Jews control the world media, and in fact, the whole world, through their alleged organ of power, the U.N. (how’s that for a fantasy). The Hamas Charter even cites as definitive proof of Jewish nefariousness none other than the Protocols of the Elders of Zion, the long discredited czarist forgery purporting to be the minutes of a Jewish plot for world domination. You can read the whole chilling document for yourself at www.mideastweb.org/hamas.htm. 

Since the election of Hamas, I have been monitoring the pages of the Daily Planet for Palestinian propaganda or at least some juicy blame-it-all-on-the-Israelis letters to the editor. However, the Daily Planet, has been largely and uncharacteristically quiescent. Could it be that neither the Daily Planet nor the vast majority of Berkleyans can stomach what the Palestinians have done this time?  

Berkeley, in its small way, bears real responsibility for this debacle. The Daily Planet, the Peace and Justice Commission, and members of our City Council, Linda Maio, Donna Spring, and Kris Worthington sent a clear message to the Palestinians that it was perfectly OK to elect this theocracy of terror when they condemned Israel for imagined transgressions, while entirely overlooking the overwhelming evidence of the complete dysfunctionality of the Palestinian body politic.  

It has long been chic among Berkeley’s radical left to give adoring and utterly uncritical support to the Palestinian cause. But the radical left got this one all wrong. For years, Arafat was their darling. It is now universally acknowledged that Arafat was not a leftist. He was a kleptomaniac, a thug, a murderer, and a terrorist. Arafat diverted almost all of the billions of dollars of donor aid to his own pockets, to the pockets of his close cronies, and to the upkeep of his 17 separate security services. Courts remain functionally non-existent, and the rule of law null. Homosexuals are routinely murdered. Hundreds of women have been killed by their own family members in “honor killings” for such trespasses as refusing to marry the family’s choice or having premarital sex. Tragically, one young mother was even forced to blow herself up at a Gaza border crossing after she was caught in an extra-marital affair (and Israel is routinely blamed for stifling Gaza’s economy when border crossings are closed in response to innumerable Palestinian attacks upon them). Numerous and reliable polls of Palestinians have shown that a clear majority have favored suicide bombings. And the plain fact for all to see is that when given the opportunity to freely elect their leaders, they anointed none other than the suicide bombers themselves.  

So Berkeley’s radical left has been mostly silenced, perhaps dumbfounded, by Hamas’ victory, though the excuse is already making the rounds that given the choice between a kleptocracy and a theocracy, who can blame the Palestinians for choosing the latter. Let’s stop that nonsense right now. Instead, perhaps Berkeley’s Peace and Justice Commission and City Council should call the Palestinians to task for failing to build for their own future a civil society with any other options but these. 

Is the Daily Planet’s general quiescence a sign that Berkeley is finally sobering up from its heady fling with the Palestinians? Let us hope, because the Palestinians could use some tough love from their diehard friends. And if the Palestinians do not listen to their friends, perhaps the radical left should move on and devote its energies to Darfur.  

John Gertz is a Berkeley resident.

BERKELEY BOWL 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Bravo to Steve Donaldson for his letter published in the March 28-30 edition commenting that “the approval of the West Berkeley Bowl has turned into an absurd saga, strung out over two years by a handful of people wit h the money and time to use the system for their own personal agendas and ignoring the needs of the local community.” I am part of the community and I can attest that it has become a virtual nightmare to drive to the Shattuck Berkeley Bowl. There is insan e traffic, pollution created by the overabundance of cars and even though the clerks are very efficient, the lines are extremely long. Why not spread the wonderful advantages of fresh inexpensive produce and other goods to people who really need those ser vices in the West Berkeley area and relieve the congestion existing in the south Berkeley neighborhood? I would not blame the owners of Berkeley Bowl to give up and go somewhere other than Berkeley rather than fight this idiotic bureaucracy. 

Andree Leenaers Smith 

• 

DERBY FIELD 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

The letter by Susi Marzuola (March 31) which compares the amount of asphalt in the closed-Derby field vs. the open-Derby field avoids the real issue: The Berkeley High School baseball team does not have an adequate home field. The BUSD has committed to rectify this situation. It needs to have Derby street closed so that a regulation baseball field can be part of the multi-purpose field. 

The open-street plan which came out of a public process is only an int erim measure. I attended this meeting and that is what all participants were told. Proponents of closing Derby were told that we couldn’t discuss that aspect of the plan that night. The meeting was to get input from the community for the first phase of th e project (demolishing existing structures and making the property usable while awaiting funding for the next phase) and that nothing would be built that would preclude future closing of the street for the purpose of adding baseball as one of the uses for the facility. Apparently BUSD has decided to try to move directly to the final phase of development of their property, as it is needed now and would be the most cost effective way. 

If BUSD is not allowed to close Derby now they will try again later. It is a matter of money and political will and will not go away until the kids in the BHS baseball program are finally afforded a suitable facility that includes them. The open-Derby plan specifically marginalizes these kids and it hurts them. Attend any cou ncil meeting that affects this project and you can see and hear from them yourselves. 

It appears from my viewpoint that opponents of closing Derby have entrenched themselves into a position of “I don’t care about the BHS baseball team and I will fight al lowing baseball on this site with every resource available.” If that position could be modified to “I’m willing to accept kids baseball on the site but I don’t want night or adult baseball, locked fields, PA systems, etc.. and I do want a place for the Farmers’ Market and I have concerns about parking, etc…” then maybe a compromise can be achieved. 

The battle over this issue is being waged in a way that will lead to one group losing. We need to solve the problem of no BHS baseball home field while being sensitive to the needs of the neighbors. I’m sure that there is a way for kids to practice and play baseball in a facility that enhances the neighborhood that it is in. Let BUSD know what those enhancements need to be and maybe we can all be winners. 

Ed M ahley 

• 

US AND THEM 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Despite intense, expanding and irresolvable conflict regarding illegal immigration, so called, no one seems aware that the issue springs from a very basic tribal instinct.  

It is blithering idiocy for grown me n, legislators no less, to talk about constructing a wall to seal our “porous southern border.” It is sanctimonious nonsense to wave the “nation of immigrants” banner, a hallowed ideal contradicted by slavery, the Alien Sedition Acts (1789), the Chinese Exclusion Act (1882), the Walter McCarren Act (1952). It makes me vomit to hear “true Americans” plead for sympathy for Hispanics who come here to do work Americans are unwilling to do, as if these folks, filled with brotherly love, leave their homes just to help us get things done. How does one account for such nonsense? 

A world populated by a single human being is hardly conceivable. A world in which all humans are identical is conceivable but sterile. Fortunately, in the real world humans are vastly di fferent and this makes it not only expedient but necessary that we self-identify. 

Basic to our nature is the need to be of a certain kind, a phenomenon referred to by David Berreby in his recent book Us and Them (Little Brown and Company, 2005) as origin ating in “our tribal minds.”  

Each of us must, per force, locate ourselves in a group, a collection with whose members we share some common attribute. Each human being belongs to an Us group—family, teacher, male, cleric, invalid, parent, etc. The compos ition of any Us group depends on the attribute that defines it. Anyone who is not one of Us belongs to the non-Us group and gets referred to with scornful disdain as being one of Them. “What do They want, anyway?” “Who speaks for Them?” played like motifs during the Civil Rights Movement. 

Us groups come in many kinds, some permanent and involuntary like nationality, some temporal and voluntary like student; their number and nature are limitless. All Us groups, however, are essentially exclusionary and superior in everyway to non-Us members—We’re better than they. 

We are told that our nation has 12 million illegal immigrants. Although that’s an uncommonly large non-Us group it’s nowhere near as large as Us. In fact, there are 25 times more of Us than of Them. 

Who do they think they are, anyway? 

Marvin Chachere 

San Pablo 

• 

XXXXXXXXXX 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

This is in response to Richard Brenneman’s false fact that there is a South Berkeley gang called the “South Side Boys.” I am 18 years old, grew up i n Berkeley and, on behalf of the youth of Berkeley, there is no South Side Boys. It was mistaken for the letters S.S.B., which stand for South Side Berkeley.  

Justin Davis 

• 

NAIVE 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Unwisely, Harry Weininger (“In Praise of Jewish People,” March 28) seems to derive his identity from the group he belongs to. We Jews, as with all classifications of human-groups, have our praise-worthy members and, of course, the not so admirable in our ranks as well. Naively, Weininger skips over this reality, mentioning only being perplexed with some Jews who seem to “buy into anti-Semitism,” apparently his only possible answer to such self-criticism.  

Many of us, though not denying these worthy attributes, hear such listed praises of one’s own group as a claim to superiority, or as degrading others; enforcing the very world dissension he is attempting to dispel. Harry Weininger could use his writing proficiency to unite people instead; perhaps noting the similarity of human endeavors, fears, and des ires.. 

We are not responsible for our identity at birth, but we can claim our pride, or at least insight, for the individual we can become.  

Gerta Farber 

• 

RICHMOND PLUNGE 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I appreciated the article on the Richmond Plunge. My firs t memory of a swimming pool, at age three, are of the Plunge. This was in 1940. It was very magical to a 3-year-old.  

There was an error in your article. It named Todd Jeremy as the clever architect who figured out how to reduce costs of restoring the Pl unge. The Richmond Plunge web site identifies the architects as, Todd Jersey Architecture and Ron Gammill, architect. Perhaps Mr. Jersey and Mr. Gammill could perform the same cost savings for the restoration or rebuilding of Warm Pool at Berkeley High Sc hool.  

Nancy Bartell 

• 

INSTANT RUNOFF VOTING 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Berkeley’s crucial November general election process, (along with Oakland and San Leandro) is now in the hands—literally—of the Alameda County Board of Supervisors and the Board’s coun sel or attorney’s office. The reason for this situation is connected to the 2004 passage of Berkeley Measure I that mandates all future elections use instant runoff voting (IRV), or “ranked choice voting.” 

Instant runoff voting is an enhanced, highly dem ocratic voting process that is transforming local, municipal and county elections across California and the United States. Berkeley voters passed the 2004 IRV ballot measure by a 72 percent landslide. 

In November 2004, San Francisco successfully used IRV voting to elect that city’s Board of Supervisors, Board of Education and other candidate offices. In February 2006, the City of Burlington, Vermont—the state’s capital and largest city—used IRV voting to elect that city’s new mayor. IRV is widely used in the U.K., Ireland and Australia. Bills permitting IRV voting are now pending in several U.S. state legislatures.  

Meanwhile, the East Bay cities of Berkeley, Oakland and San Leandro have each incorporated IRV voting provisions for use in future elections. According to Measure I, Berkeley must implement IRV for the city’s next general election in November 2006.  

In a nutshell, IRV enables a voter to rank his or her preferred candidates by marking the ballot with a simple “one, two, three” ranking (next to each candidate’s name). If three candidates are on a ballot, after votes are tabulated, the last ranked candidate is dropped and his or her votes transferred to the next favored candidate until one candidate receives at least 50.1 percent.  

IRV voting avoids the need for a second, separate runoff election 30 days after the first election, saving taxpayers hundreds of thousands of dollars. Also, if five or six candidates seek one elected office, IRV avoids one candidate winning with only 20 or 25 perce nt of the total votes cast—the least democratic means of winning a multi-candidate contest. On March 13, Berkeley Mayor Tom Bates, on behalf of the City Council and the city’s voters, sent a request to the Alameda County Supervisors and the board’s counsel. Currently, the City of Berkeley is anticipating a legal opinion—to be rendered by the Alameda County Counsel’s office—on Berkeley’s IRV election status.  

Once the counsel’s office renders a decision, Berkeley is prepared to move forward expeditiously to arrange IRV voting for the November election. The timeline, however, to arrange IRV in time for the November election is very narrow.  

It is critical that the supervisors and its counsel act with all deliberate speed to enable Berkeley and other East Bay cities to prepare their polling stations with IRV-compatable voting machines, and uphold each city’s respective voter mandates. It is important that each city’s democratic process be respected.  

Chris Kavanagh 

• 

AMERICAN DREAM 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

It has always puzzled me that this country wants many new children to be born, but turns its back on them in terms of medical care, education, and housing. Berkeley’s current version of “eat your young” keeps young people from buying homes in Berkeley w ith it’s housing policies that make it impossible for young families and first-time home buyers to acquire their piece of the American dream: home ownership.  

Berkeley now has a glut of rental housing, with literally thousands of new units either built or under construction by the university, private developers, and “not-for-profit” developers taking advantage of city subsidies. A sensible condo conversion process would not negatively impact the market at all, as our real crisis in housing is the dearth of affordable ownership opportunities.  

All of the city’s rental investment subsidies go toward building new units—not rehabbing neglected old properties. Instead of policies that promote upgrading or care of our unique older housing stock, we have made it economically unfeasible to maintain these buildings. After 25 years of rent control, condo-conversion could be the way to spur new investment in old properties, making them showcases instead of slums for Berkeley. 

Roslyn Fuerman 

• 

MARIJUANA BUST 

Edito rs, Daily Planet: 

Indeed kudos to the Daily Planet for continued reporting regarding the marijuana cultivation arrests, the five-month Berkeley police investigation, and the related issues in light of Berkeley’s marijuana initiatives.  

While I don’t bel ieve the “cultivating” individuals were arrested illegally, I find it extremely difficult to justify the amount of city taxpayer money spent in a five-month investigation. What if information of surveillance could have been passed to the suspects months ago; perhaps they would have discontinued their operation. Since guns were found, the Berkeley Police Department may have the benefit of the doubt. 

Still, I can’t help but feel the overwhelming will of Berkeley voters was not taken into consideration. By the way, if the city has interpreted Judge Lionel Wilson’s decision to apply only to “unlawful” marijuana, what if the cultivators were growing for medical use and had displayed enough proper caretaker paperwork from certified medical cannabis patients? A s a medical cannabis patient and patient advocate, I would have appreciated more definition and clear policy from the city attorney cited in your article. Likewise from the BPD, city manager, and our elected officials. Patients’ safe, secure, and continue d access to their medicine deserves high priority in my view.  

Dale Gieringer and Bill Panzer mentioned, are especially knowledgeable and informed individuals relating to California’s medical cannabis situation and the concerns and problems legitimate, certified patients often face too frequently with various law enforcement agencies and many uninformed and uncaring elected officials. Finally, the individual who wrote the “police procedure” letter to the editor, is certainly entitled to his opinion. But, as a Berkeley homeowner and taxpayer, I simply do not understand how “our entire community, in multitude of ways” was “benefited” by the west Berkeley pot bust. The times my van has been vandalized I attribute to society’s economic inequities as well as substance abuse. I object to the notion that unlawful marijuana use is associated with committing crimes.  

Charles A. Pappas 

• 

MOUSSAOUI TRIAL 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I hope many of you have been reading the print media about the Moussaoui trial. In t he last few days of the trial, Moussaoui, who had been the government’s sole living alleged 9/11 conspirator, the so-called “20th hijacker” of their 19-Arab hijacker story, has made such fantastic and easily disprovable claims which have thrown into quest ion his mental stability and destroyed his credibility that the government has been forced to introduce, in a deus-ex-machina fashion, another 20th Arab hijacker from out of nowhere. In a March 29 New York Times article we are now told that Mohammed Al-Qahtani, [is] “widely believed to be the real missing ‘20th hijacker.’” Of course, he is out in there in the ether under detention somewhere, no doubt being primed for later revelations on an as-needed basis. 

In the trial a few days ago, purported written “testimony” was introduced (and as far as I know, unchallenged for its veracity by defense lawyers) from one Khalid Shaikh Mohammed to affirm that Moussaoui was to have been used in a second wave of attacks. Mohammed, is reportedly being held in a secret location—presumably not under any form of duress, unlike what has been shown to be the case with every other U.S. kidnapped detainee. In much the same way that Moussaoui has been superseded as the “20th hijacker,” Shaikh Mohammed had replaced Osama bin La den, as the so-called “mastermind” of 9/11 about a year or so ago when bin Laden’s usefulness as a principal perp had become dated.  

I think it is becoming increasingly clear, especially from this trial, that the whole Neocon fantasy about 19 Arab hijack ers perpetrating the acts of 9/11 under the direction of Osama bin Laden, oops, I mean, Shaikh Mohammed, is your classic house of cards. This is completely consistent with every other claim this administration has made about anything and everything. It is another giant lie that has gained traction through endless repetition. 

Peter Teichner 

BERKELEY HONDA 

Dear Mr. Stephen Beinke, 

Blackhawk Services: 

I have been following the strike at Berkeley Honda for some time, and am dismayed by the way in which this situation continues to drag on. I am particularly troubled by your unwillingness to bargain in good faith with the affected unions so that you can settle this matter once and for all. 

As the co-founder, along with Cesar Chavez, of the United Farm Workers, I have spent my life fighting for justice in the workplace. Thus I and countless others in the workers’ rights movement have been urging unions across the country to stand in solidarity with their striking brothers at Berkeley Honda. We are appalled at your callous refusal to retain many long-time workers, among them a 31-year veteran only two years from retirement, and at your refusal to maintain the pension plan. 

But it is not only union workers who are watching what you do. Your potential customers are also watching you. People who buy Hondas know that in treating your workers fairly, you also treat your customers fairly; customers want to know they are doing business with a fair company. 

Please re-think your stance on this dispute. You have the power to make another choice, and to return in earnest to the bargaining table. If you would be regarded as the conscientious and reasonable employers you claim to be, you have the obligation to sit at that table until you reach a satisfactory agreement with the affected unions. 

I hope you will accept that obligation. 

Dolores Huerta.

Bird-killing guillotines in Berkeley? Your recent article, “Berkeley Plans to Accept ‘Free’ Wind Turbine for Marina” (Daily Planet, March 31) was quite depressing. It seems that the City of Berkeley is planning on allowing Southwest Wind Power, Inc. to install one of its industrial electricity-generating wind turbines on the Marina as part of a “green energy” demonstration project. 

The corporate logic of this supposedly free gift should be quite obvious to one and all. If a corporation can get the City of Berkeley to accept and approve use of its new technology, then the corporation can happily market its product to towns and cities across the country. This activity is just exploiting Berkeley’s traditional reputation as being a very progressive city. That reputation may have been deserved twenty or thirty years ago, but it is a somewhat dubious notion these days. 

This same corporate scheme was used in the selling of the highly intrusive tracking technology used in the Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) chips implanted in every book in the Berkeley Public Library several years ago. Once this corporation got Berkeley to accept and install the RFID system, it was easy for them to sell it elsewhere. 

Now we are being treated to the spectacle of the coordinator of the Shoreline Nature Center at the Marina, Ms. Patty McDonald, saying about the new high-tech wind turbines, “We can’t be so scared by the technology that we don’t try (it).” By this ignorant lack of thought, she asserts that we can no longer think critically and come to intelligent decisions. By her attitude, we should also consider installing a nuclear reactor on the Marina. One can easily read the scientific and environmental literature available on the Internet about the many deficiencies and problems associated with modern high-tech industrial wind turbines, but Ms. McDonald just can’t seem to be bothered with this thoughtful approach. 

She also wants to fall back on to the alleged expertise and morality of the Audubon Society in the matter of the bird killing by these industrial wind turbines. Unfortunately, the Audubon Society is just another large corporate entity with its own agenda, which does not always place protecting all bird life at the top of its priorities. The National Audubon Society has long been trying to play God by advocating the killing of certain plants and animals in favor of other plants and animals.  

Ms. McDonald also seems to suggest that just because wind turbines in the Altamont Pass area have an awful record of killing several hundred hawks and other birds each year that somehow, a wind turbine installed in the Berkeley Marina would not repeat this sort of killing. Is this notion faith-based or what?  

Modern industrial wind turbines are just giant metal bird-killing guillotines. Now there is news from West Virginia and Pennsylvania that these machines are also killing hundreds of bats each year. We need to find other more passive ways to generate and conserve energy. Solar energy comes to mind. Increased vehicle fuel efficiency requirements would be highly useful. Maybe we should stop pigging out with our massive SUVs, our massive houses and our endless reproduction and our covering the earth with our roads, malls, factories and houses.  

In the 1960s and the 1970s, Berkeley was open and supportive of progressive and positive social change. Now, in the 21st century, Berkeley seems open to regressive corporate technology. 

James K. Sayre is an Oakland resident.

In this progressive City of Berkeley, so-called “affordable housing” is not within reach of people with incomes that hover around the poverty line. Section 8 is a high-odds lottery that’s hanging by a thread. Investing in a condo or TIC is not a possibility for people living on fixed incomes whose nest egg is gone. And for older folks, applying for the scarce senior housing options that exist can mean years of waiting for a one-room studio and saying goodbye to treasured possessions. 

My experience as a tenant illustrates what happens when real estate interests succeed in destroying the few protections low-income tenants have against joining the ranks of the homeless.  

In 1979, Vacancy Decontrol became law in New York, replacing years of Rent Control. I was a working mother who had lived with my daughter for 15 years in a two-bedroom, rent-controlled apartment on the Upper West Side. When a corporation bought the building, tenants had two choices: buy shares in the corporation, or move out—unless two-thirds of us voted against the offer. Though some tenants voted against it, a majority agreed to buy into the “co-op” (the corporation held the “lion’s share”), knowing they could not find another affordable rental in the fast-becoming-gentrified Upper West Side. When the bank rejected my mortgage application, I made a deal with a lawyer who wanted my apartment and, with the money he paid me, left New York in 1980 for a newly rent-controlled apartment in Berkeley.  

Since the implementation of Vacancy Decontrol in Berkeley, I’ve witnessed a replay of New York with the highest rentals this side of Manhattan in previously controlled, old buildings. Newer so-called “affordable housing” offers a small percentage of units at rents that are unaffordable for low-income residents. 

The decontrolled apartments in my building go for $1,200 to $1,800/month, generally rented to students whose parents are paying their rent and their tuition. The turnover is frequent, the building is maintained minimally, and some apartments remain vacant. Because Eviction Control was not wiped out, the owners cannot legally evict long-time residents unless we default on our rent or otherwise violate the terms of occupancy. 

When I asked a former member of the Rent Stabilization Board about other housing options, he advised me to stay where I am, saying I could not afford the “affordable housing” springing up around Berkeley. Unless I have to face an attempt to convert this damp and moldy, poorly constructed and maintained building into condos or Tenants in Common, I will consider myself fortunate to live in a progressive city like Berkeley with its dwindling economically “diverse” population. If the changing face of neighboring Shattuck Avenue in the “gourmet ghetto” is any indication—not to mention Fourth Street and other neighborhoods being “redeveloped,” I am witnessing Berkeley’s version of what I fled in Manhattan’s unaffordable, upscale Upper West Side.  

Marianne Robinson has been a tenant in Berkeley for 26 years. ›

Kenoli Oleari’s commentary in the March 31 Daily Planet contains erroneous statements about the development-planning grant for the west parking lot of Ashby BART. It concerns me that such misinformation could discourage some people from participating in the planning process. Below are some clarifying comments, correct information and resources for the reader to review on their own.  

First, Kenoli states that a task force is being formed before the community has had “one conversation” about what is desired at Ashby BART. 

This is simply not true. Hundreds of people know that there was an initial meeting on Jan. 17, chaired by Robert Lauriston, because many of them were there, holding dozens of conversations for a couple of hours.  

Subsequently, the mayor, City Councilmember Max Anderson and Ed Church held a community meeting at St. Paul’s AME church on Feb. 11. You can see this presentation at www.southberkeley.org. This meeting was also very well attended by community members who also held conversations. 

Certainly, as well, there has been discussion here in the Daily Planet’s opinion pages. In addition, I can’t imagine that members of the community haven’t been holding conversations on their own, but maybe not. Is this what Kenoli meant when he said the community hasn’t had “one conversation”?  

Most people I’ve spoken to seem to understand that the reason the task force is being formed is to have that very conversation to which Kenoli refers. I’m sure Kenoli has read the grant, which states: 

“The Community-Based Transportation Planning (CBTP) Grant Program funds coordinated transportation and land use planning projects that encourage community involvement and partnership. Projects should support livable community concepts, and promote community identity and quality of life.” This document can be read online at www.dot.ca.gov. 

When I read the grant and the application itself, I immediately noticed the word “planning.” The grant does not fund the implementation of the plan or construction. It funds a planning process. Utilization of the planning grant funds, however, doesn’t commence until after the task force completes it’s assignment.  

City Councilmembers passed a resolution authorizing the grant application and a community-based planning process, defining “appropriate development parameters,” in concert with the developer, that meets “community interests” (Item 12, City Council meeting packet for Dec. 13, 2005: www.ci.berkeley.ca.us.) 

And so, putting the cart before the horse, Kenoli demands community participation. I am mystified that Kenoli continues to beat this drum. Though there has been plenty already, the official planning process has yet to begin. The whole point of the task force is to effectively engage in this very conversation that he demands, so that everyone can be heard, inclusively and equally.  

Why would Kenoli and others attempt to stop the community-based planning process (as funded by the CalTrans grant) that he demands? Kenoli suggests the community take on the planning process. So, why doesn’t he do it? 

Second, Kenoli’s letter says: “The specific and only task assigned to this task force is to advise the City Council on signing a contract with a developer for the Ashby BART site, before there is an opportunity for any kind of broad community process to decide what we want, if anything.” 

But, from the South Berkeley Neighborhood Development Corporation Ashby BART Task Force website it says the task force will: 

• Identify the basic elements of a potential development at the site and the desired qualifications of potential developers 

• Make written recommendations to the City Council that can be the basis for Council’s issuing an RFQ (Request For Qualifications) 

• Review responses to the RFQ and make recommendations to the Council regarding selection of the developer(s). (For more information see www.southberkeley.org/TaskForce.html.) 

I can see why Kenoli would say it’s all about the developer, but upon close reading, it becomes clear that the task force will be defining “basic elements” of the “potential development,” and making written recommendations to City Council, all as a basis upon which a developer RFQ will be announced, by the city, not the task force.  

All of South Berkeley would benefit from appropriate development; changes in the streetscape as well as mixed land use can really enhance and rejuvenate South Berkeley, making it the dynamic neighborhood it once was. Everyone I have spoken to wants to see the Flea Market persevere and flourish. I see no reason why it wouldn’t.  

South Berkeley needs vision. Share your vision, voice your ideas, nominate yourself or someone you think would make a positive contribution, to the task force. By participating, we—all of us—can forge our own vision, and create a South Berkeley to match our vision. 

In order to be involved in the Ashby BART planning process, I have nominated myself for the task force. Whether or not I am chosen for the task force, I look forward to participating as a member of the community in open, productive discussion.  

Marcy Greenhut is a nine-year South Berkeley resident.  

Unless Democrats win control of either the House or the Senate, nothing is going to change in Washington. There will be no meaningful shift in Iraq, ethics, or economic policy until there is real debate on Capitol Hill. The good news is that the Dems have a reasonable shot at winning a majority of House seats. 

According to veteran D.C. prognosticator, Charlie Cook, there are 36 House seats in play. In order to prevail, the Democrats will have to hold onto 11 shaky seats and win 15 of the 25 tenuous GOP seats. Here’s my look at how the Dems are doing in close races. 

Anti-War: Rather than treat all Democratic candidates equally, I’ve clustered them into two groups: anti-war and incomprehensible. To gain the BB anti-war rating a candidate must say something about Iraq such as, “I was always against the war” or “We need a detailed plan for withdrawal.” 

Francine Busby (California, 50th) is running for the congressional seat vacated by convicted Republican congressman Duke Cunningham. The special election is on April 11th and the runoff will likely be on June 6. This is a slightly Republican district and the race leans Republican (according to Cook). 

Joe Courtney (Connecticut, 2nd) is facing Republican incumbent Rob Simmons in a district that leans Democrat. This race is a toss up. 

Tammy Duckworth (Illinois, 6th) is competing for an open congressional seat, where incumbent Republican Henry Hyde is retiring. Duckworth is a retired Army pilot who lost both legs when her helicopter was shot down in Iraq. The district leans GOP, as does the race. 

It’s unusual for an incumbent Democrat, in a solid Dem district, to be challenged by a grassroots revolt. Nonetheless, in the September 12 primary, Congressman Albert Wynn (Maryland, 4th) will receive stiff competition from community activist Donna Edwards. Wynn voted for the invasion of Iraq and continues to support Bush’s position. Edwards just announced; she can be reached at Edonnafern@aol.com. 

Diane Farrell (Connecticut, 4th) is running against Republican incumbent Christopher Shays. The district leans Democrat, but the race leans Republican. 

New Mexico Attorney General Patsy Madrid (New Mexico, 1st) is running against ultra-conservative incumbent, Heather Wilson, in a slightly Democratic district. The race is a toss up. 

Lois Murphy (Pennsylvania, 6th) is running against Republican congressman Jim Gerlach in a district that leans Democrat. This race is a toss up. 

Joe Sulzer (Ohio, 18th) is one of a set of Democratic hopefuls running for the seat of embattled incumbent Bob Ney, who’s caught up in the Abramoff corruption scandals. The district leans Republican, but the race is seen as a toss up. The primary is on May 2. 

Incomprehensible: Turns out that it’s easy to garner the incomprehensible rating. The candidate’s web site simply avoids talking about Iraq, or says something so vacuous that I can’t figure out where they stand. I’ve listed the candidates involved in tight races alphabetically. 

In Georgia’s 12th district, Democratic incumbent, John Barrow, is running in a radically gerrymandered district. Democratic incumbent Melissa Bean (Illinois, 8th) faces well-financed Republican opposition in what has historically been a GOP enclave. Incumbent Chet Edwards (Texas, 17th) is facing his usual stiff opposition in a gerrymandered district that is more Republican than it was before. 

Popular local sheriff Brad Ellsworth (Indiana, 8th) is facing GOP incumbent John Hostettler in a district that leans Republican. Baron Hill (Indiana, 9th) is running to retake the seat he lost to Republican Mike Sodrel in a district that leans Republican. 

Ron Klein (Florida, 22nd) is facing GOP incumbent Clay Shaw in a slightly Democratic district. Nick Lampson (Texas, 22nd) is facing whoever the Repugs chose to replace the despicable Tom DeLay. 

In Georgia’s 8th district, Democratic incumbent, Jim Marshall, is running in radically gerrymandered district. In Colorado’s 6th district Ed Perlmutter is the likely Democrat to oppose Republican Rick O’Donnell in an open seat. In Colorado’s 3rd district incumbent John Salazar is favored in a Republican leaning district. 

Heath Shuler (North Carolina, 11th) is running against incumbent Charles Taylor in a District that leans Republican. Democratic incumbent John Spratt (South Carolina, 4th) is facing his usual tough fight in a district that leans Republican. 

In Ohio’s 6th district Charlie Wilson is the likely Democratic candidate for a seat now held by Democrat Ted Strickland in a slightly Democratic district. 

If your big issue is Iraq, then you should go to the websites for the eight anti-war candidates and take a look at them. If you simply want the Dems to win, then all the candidates merit your attention. 

In a couple of months, I’ll take another look at the House races. In the meantime, please let me know about candidates that I’ve overlooked or misplaced. 

Bob Burnett is a Berkeley writer and activist. He can be reached at bobburnett@comcast.net.

For our 150th UnderCurrents column, let’s return to an old subject: the failure of the city of Oakland to address the problem of violence in an adult manner (I originally wrote “inability” instead of “failure” but crossed that out; inability means you can’t do something, while failure means you could, but don’t, for whatever reason; I also put “city” with a lower case “c” in order to make the point that we’re not just talking about the people at Ogawa Plaza as a source of this failure—it’s a citywide problem, not a city government problem). 

Let’s start with a story from the east coast. Ten years ago, New York Times reporter Fox Butterfield set out to discover why Willie Bosket was so violent. Bosket, as a New York teenager, had committed crimes so horrendous and horrific—his last was the murder of two robbery victims on Manhattan subways—that it eventually led to a change in the nation’s juvenile crime laws, allowing underage defendants to be tried as adults. 

Butterfield traced Bosket’s family history back through a similarly-violent father and grandfather, a familiar story. The reporter also found that each era of family violence had its history in a previous generation. Bosket’s grandfather had fled from South Carolina during the era of anti-black lynchings that immediately preceded the civil rights times. Before that, Butterfield drew a direct link through Bosket’s family to the brutality of the Southern chain gangs, to the murders of black South Carolinians during the Black Codes era following the Civil War, back to the unspeakable brutality of slavery itself, then to the patriot-tory backcountry violence of the American Revolution (where lynchings became an American pastime), and then back across the Atlantic to the bloody British-Scots wars undertaken by the people who eventually settled in the American South. Butterfield’s book on the subject— All God’s Children: The Bosket Family and the American Tradition of Violence—is required reading for all who confess they can’t understand the impact of slavery and race in America and why things have turned so violent in this country. 

Butterfield’s study came to mind after I read recent newspaper accounts of our own East Bay brand of street violence. 

The first was the reports of the shooting death of Aderian “Dre” Gaines, the Berkeley father who was killed by a young man who Gaines had earlier removed from his daughter’s house party because the young man was acting belligerent and had a gun stuck in his belt. Reportedly, when Gaines’ wife hysterically confronted the shooter, he told her “shut up, bitch! I’ll smoke you, too.” According the Oakland Tribune report, witnesses then said the shooter and a friend “got into a car, cranked up the music and joyfully danced in their seats as they drove off.” 

Reports of the callousness surrounding the Gaines shooting, as much as it shocked local readers, was nothing compared to the accounts coming out of the trial of the first of the young men accused in the “Nut Case Gang” attacks. The “Nut Case Gang” was a group of young East Oaklanders who reportedly conducted a 10-week spree of violence at the end of 2002 (they are accused of five murders and 23 robberies during that period). According to a San Francisco Chronicle article at the time the men were arrested, “some of the Nut Cases bragged to investigators about driving up Oakland’s homicide rate and relishing the media coverage of their crimes.” The young men reportedly played the video game “Grand Theft Auto” by day and then roamed the city streets in a Buick at night, looking for random targets either to rob or to shoot. Oakland murders hit 113 in 2002, and local media coverage all that summer and fall stressed the rising murder rate, and the fact that Oakland murders could hit triple digits that year. 

Accused members of the “Nut Case Gang” were caught by Oakland police, one of them has been tried and convicted on four counts of murder, and others await trial. The accused murderer of the Berkeley father, West Oaklander Antonio Harris, has been caught and is in jail. The law enforcement portion of this story is either over, or running its course. 

But what role, if any, does that leave for the rest of us?  

No role at all, if we don’t want to have any. We can return to whatever we were doing when the news came on about the arrests or convictions, secure in the belief that the law is doing its job. 

But for those who are worried about escalating violence in our community, a deeper look is in order. 

We might start with last week’s Tribune article entitled “Cops: Party shooter leads a violent life” that begins with the sentence, “It was no surprise to Oakland police that Antonio Harris’ name quickly surfaced as a suspect in Saturday night’s shooting of a Berkeley man hosting a birthday party for teenagers at his home.” The article reports Oakland police describing the 18-year-old Harris as the member of a drug dealing gang centered around the Campbell Village Housing Project in West Oakland’s Lower Bottoms neighborhood. Harris’ group is suspected of being currently involved with a drug turf war with an Acorn Housing Project gang, and Oakland police suspect Harris himself of other murders. “Everybody I’ve interviewed, even in his gang, they’re all afraid of him because of his willingness to use violence,” the Tribune quotes an Oakland homicide sergeant. “Broad daylight, on video, it doesn’t matter. He’s a hard little dude.” 

What would lead a young man growing up in West Oakland to become such a “hard little dude?” 

Some clues, perhaps, come from across the city in East Oakland’s Brookfield Village, where the Nut Case gang was centered. 

This week, the Tribune reported on the penalty phase testimony of 21-year-old Demarcus Ralls, the young man convicted in the first of the Nut Case trials. “Ralls described a troubled, violent childhood spent moving from the homes of abusive family members to group homes,” the Tribune story said, adding that he had been born while his mother was in jail and then placed with his grandmother in Oakland, where he and two half-brothers were “whipped with brooms, pots, glasses ... anything [our grandmother] could get her hands on,” according to Ralls’ testimony. “His grandmother also disciplined him and his brothers by making them stand for hours on one leg with their hands in the air, never letting them go to the bathroom,” the Tribune went on to report Ralls as telling the court. “Often they would urinate on themselves, he added. When he was 5 years old, Ralls said, he and his 7-year-old half-brother got tired of being beaten, so they ran away. They went to a friend’s house and lived inside a car owned by his friend’s parents, stealing dried salami and chips from a local grocery store to survive.” 

If Mr. Ralls’ testimony is to be believed, he is not describing South Africa under apartheid, or the Gulag Archipelago of Alexander Solzhenitsyn, lower bottom London in the days of Dickens’ Oliver Twist, or conditions in the dungeons of Abu Grahib under either the regimes of Saddam Hussein or the American occupiers. This was a household in Oakland in the 1980s. 

Brookfield and Campbell villages are the forgotten part of Oakland, forgotten, at least, in the present grand plans for the future of this city, which presently center around the Forest City uptown project and the Oak To Ninth project, where much of the attention and the money is going in the last days of the administration of Mayor Jerry Brown. 

But the discussion of violence in Oakland and the East Bay must begin with a discussion of Brookfield and Campbell villages. These are the dark funnels through which the sewage of our social policies are being funneled. This is not where the violence was started. But to understand where it started, and how it can be stopped, Brookfield and Campbell villages are the places where our attention must now turn. There’s work to be done. 

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Nature as science or nature as art? There’s no need to choose. Left and right sides of the brain combine their efforts heralding California’s native landscapes and wildlife at the Oakland Museum. The Natural Sciences shine in the comprehensive Permanent Gallery, unique art exhibits and the museum’s multi-tiered outdoor gardens. 

The Oakland Museum has targeted the state of California for its collections in art, history and the environment. Each floor offers opportunities for hours of observation and enjoyment. Every tour leaves you with a deep appreciation of California’s past and present eras and artists, each significant to shaping the state in which we reside today.  

In need of an outdoor experience in spite of ever-present deluges, I focused my attentions on a recent visit to California’s natural world. Entering the Permanent Gallery exhibit, “A Walk Through California,” I was greeted with ceiling-high black and white photographs of diverse ecosystems and a series of quotes on nature above my head. The words of Voltaire, Emerson and Thoreau echoed environmental concerns of today. 

Immediately I was transported to the rugged coastline, listening to crashing waves amid the calls of sea birds and mammals. Dramatic photomurals, topographical models and dioramas set the scene, instructive and compelling. Traveling eastward I passed harbor seals at rest within a high coastal marsh and magnificent redwoods of the coastal mountains, so real I expected to see them extend beyond the roofline. A bird-egg treasure chest masqueraded as an innocuous filing cabinet, protecting over 500 eggs.  

The softness of mule deer hair belied its insulation qualities. A staged confrontation between coyote, marmot and wolverine looked ready to spring into action. In the desert I smiled at the gurgling mating call of a male sage grouse, hoping it would do the trick while I marveled at the quality of the exhibits. Dramatic in their size and lighting, life-size rocks, wildlife and interpretive panels created an accurate sense of place. The sounds of nature mingling with the excited voices of visiting school children vouched for the repeat value of this venue. 

The juried exhibit, “The Art of Seeing: Nature Revealed Through Illustration,” continued the theme of science as art while celebrating California’s biodiversity. “Art is born of the observation and investigation of nature.” As true today as when spoken by Cicero so long ago. How could one ignore the importance and beauty of a bristlecone pine or red fox after rendering them in pencil or watercolors? 

Fifty artworks representing forty artists are displayed. Some, like Lee McCaffree’s white trillium and Sharron O’Neil’s American robin, portray watercolor illustration at the highest level. Grace Smith’s miniature book drawings of Graceful Natives are exquisite. Lisa Holley reminds us of the predator-prey relationship in Osprey Packing a Lunch, her osprey-in-flight composite of finely detailed, pastel-hued fish. 

One of my favorite works were the beautifully carved and anatomically accurate grizzly bones in Joyce Clements’ All That Remains. The warm oak tones and smooth curves of skull and femur are ripe for touch. Texture is also explored in the weavings of George-Ann Bowers, her Madrone rich in yarns of red, rust, brown and beige. 

California’s unique landscapes are also well represented. Las Trampas, Elkhorn Slough, Marin Hills and Abbotts Lagoon in oils, colored pencils, pastels and acrylic in rich color- saturated tones remind us of the importance of preserving open spaces. 

Another display features the work of future environmentalists in a series of illustrated quilts created by Oakland elementary students. Using animal specimens supplied by the Lindsey Museum, photographs document the process students used, from pencil renderings, adding color and the final pen and ink biological illustrations formed into quilts. The rapt faces of the intent artists at work in their classrooms are worth the trip. 

Landscapes as seen through the lens of a camera, some using an f.64 aperture, are hung in the Art Special Gallery. “Edward Weston: Masterworks from the Collection” is an exhibit of fifty-eight photographs from one of the best in his field. Known for natural close-ups and nudes, Weston moved to Carmel in 1929 and, like myself, became enchanted with the coastal scenery. 

Point Lobos was the site of many of his darker, hard-edged and finely detailed photographs in black and white. Small in size but powerfully dramatic are his Rock and Hills and Whale Vertebrae. Sandstone Erosion resembles the fossil outline of a mythical sea monster while Cypress Detail displays the fine texture and sensuous curves of this organic form. 

Weston continued his portraiture of California landscapes in Crescent City, Stump On a Deserted Beach, the pastoral hills along the Eel River, the Bodega surf, Modoc Lava Flats and Oceano Dunes. His dunes series is luminous with sharp contrasts between light and dark and the surface so finely detailed that the ridges of sand stand out in sinuous curves. 

The ardor of his task is brought home in a portrait of his son and camera along a rocky shelf. While today we extol the convenience of digital cameras allowing hundreds of images, the size and heft of Weston’s box camera and wood tripod speak to the art behind individual shots carefully selected and timed for the perfect light. The beauty of Weston’s work inspires a return to the art of his craft. 

Landscape on a smaller scale is an integral part of the Oakland Museum’s outdoor gardens, terraces and patios, home to lush plantings. Unlike many urban museums, space and attention have been given to these outdoor environments as extensions of the galleries indoors. Concrete walkways between exhibit levels, some topped by marine blue awnings, showcase sculpture by California artists.  

Welded steel and cast bronze in works by David Anderson, Bruce Beasley and Peter Voulkos have weathered well as evidenced by rich surface patinas. Mature pines shade the Koi Pond, home to good size, multi-colored koi and sculptured hippos. Terraced gardens lead you from tier to tier, in a park-like setting, every pathway home to works of art, Oakland’s cityscape just beyond the walls. 

Search dioramas for camouflaged pigmy rabbits and whiptail lizards. Get up close and personal to a finely drawn grizzly and mountain lion. Stroll the garden and watch Alexander Calder’s red projections sway in the breeze. Sample a Bistro sandwich or Thai chicken salad from the Museum Café, listening to the quiet sounds of jazz or outdoors on the terrace. Celebrate the science and art of California’s rich natural diversity at the Oakland Museum.  

The Oakland Museum of California: 10th and Oak streets, 238-2200, www.museumca.org. Open Wed –Sat. 10 a.m.-5 p.m., Sun. noon-5 p.m. Adults $8, seniors and students $5. Exhibits “Edward Weston” shows through June 11, and “The Art of Seeing” shows through June 4.  

Photo by Marta Yamamoto 

Sculptures by California artists share outdoor galleries with rich native plantings at the Oakland Museum..

Seth Paris Babson (1826–1907) was one of the most eminent Victorian architects on the Pacific coast. A native of Maine, he set sail for San Francisco a year after the discovery of gold in California. Having rounded Cape Horn, Babson arrived in the spring of 1850. 

A brief sojourn among the dissolute gold miners of Coloma so disgusted the temperate Babson that he soon decided to move to Sacramento. There, according to his youngest son, “he developed his native skill as a carpenter and eventually became a m ost capable architect and designed and constructed many of the homes of the pioneer families...” 

Among Babson’s still-standing landmark Sacramento buildings are the Leland Stanford Mansion (1857), the Crocker Art Museum (1869–1873, described as the “sing le finest Italianate building in the West, if not in America”), and the Stick-style Llewellyn Williams Mansion (1885). 

In 1874, when he was almost fifty, Babson married Juanita Josepha Smith (1855–1940), 30 years his junior. The following year, the coupl e moved their residence to Alameda, where their three children were born. Babson’s office was located in the Phelan Building on Market and O’Farrell streets in San Francisco. 

He was a major force in the establishment of the Northern California chapter of the American Institute of Architects (AIA) and served as its president in 1890 and again from 1896 to 1903. 

There are only two Berkeley buildings known or believed to have been designed by Seth Babson. One of those was the Southside home of Juanita’s si ster, Miss Eleanor Mary Smith, a teacher who over the course of 30 years taught at Emerson, Whittier Grammar, Dwight Day, Willard, and McKinley schools. 

Her simple brown-shingle house, with interior redwood paneling and a clinker-brick chimney, was const ructed in 1902 by Mr. Martin, an independent builder who is said to have ”lost his money through bad investment in an asbestos mine.” 

The retired Babson may have contributed to the design. 

Located at 2529 Hillegass Ave. on land now owned by the American Baptist Seminary of the West, the Smith house was designated a City of Berkeley Landmark in January 1980. However, the designation didn’t protect it from demolition when ABSW wanted to create a parking lot where it stood. 

In 1893, Babson and builder R. Wenk erected for Bartine Carrington a house at 2323 Bowditch St., just south of Durant Avenue. This was a charming, raised-basement cottage clad in redwood shingles. An embodiment of the transition from the Victorian style to the First Bay Region traditio n, the cottage featured the roof-ridge ornaments and fishscale shingles of the former with the unpainted exterior of the latter. Box-like corner window bays with small panes lent it a picturesque aspect. 

A very similar cottage, essentially unaltered with the exception of a modified entrance porch, still stands at 2277 Vine St. in north Berkeley. 

Bartine Carrington (1871–1926), a clergyman’s son born in China, worked in real estate for many years and apparently built the house as an investment, for he never lived there. Next door at 2600 Durant Ave., Hiram Brasfield built a rooming house, where his family occasionally lived until 1911, when they moved into the newly-constructed Brasfield Apartments at 2520 Durant Ave. 

From 1906 to 1916, Hiram’s brother-in-law Jim Davis resided in the Carrington house. At the time, Davis was the manager of the U.C. Associated Students Store. By 1917, Davis had moved to 2525 Durant Ave., across the street from the Brasfield Apartments.  

It was probably during the Davis re sidence that the Carrington cottage was jacked up and gained a new ground floor. The enlarged house retained all its old charm, blending well into its village-like neighborhood of shingled homes set within flower-bedecked gardens. 

Over the ensuing decade s, the character of Durant Avenue and of the Southside gradually changed. In 1928, the six-story Hotel Durant replaced Brasfield’s rooming house. To the east, the nine-story U.C. Unit 1 dormitories went up between 1956 and 1959. 

A faceless apartment bloc k completed the scene just south of the Carrington house. Isolated on its block, the house was subdivided into apartments, the redwood shingles were painted white, and the small-pane windows replaced with aluminum. Neglect set in. 

As in the case of the E leanor Smith house, the Carrington house’s fate was sealed when its location was coveted by the hotel for a parking garage. In March 1982, the house was designated a City of Berkeley Landmark, structure of merit. 

The designation saved it from outright de molition but not from degradation. In the late 1980s, the upper story was moved to 1029 Addison St., just west of San Pablo Avenue. There it was insensitively “restored” and sold to a new owner, who doesn’t know that he lives in a designated structure. Th e house’s present appearance is testimony to the toothlessness of Berkeley’s preservation enforcement. 

Photo By Daniella Thompson  

What might have been—a cottage at 2277 Vine St. in North Berkeley looks very similar to one of Babson’s Berkeley houses th at has since been altered almost beyond recognition. 

Buying houses is an expensive proposition as anyone who has ever done it can tell you and it doesn’t stop when you pay the closing costs and put your boat in the backyard (you really have a boat?) 

So many houses I see folks buying these days truly qualify as fixer-uppers. It seems that in this buyer’s market (will I still be using this term in 6 months?), people will buy anything that doesn’t wobble too severely. I genuinely think that if the inventory, as they call it, were significantly higher, many of the dogs that get walked around the arena would get left at home and never even get those funny haircuts. 

The houses that would be up for sale would tend to be more select and less dicey. As it is, though, many, if not most have a large pallet of defects from which to choose. “Will Madam be having ze leaky dishwasher zis evening or peut-etre, le ground disposer de garbage (featuring le chanson de heavy metal)?” 

When faced with these potential trials, one wonders whether a Home Warranty might be the solution. Certainly it is worth considering. 

My friend Bonnie Ross, a realtor at Coldwell Banker in Montclair says that she regularly buys these for her clients because, as she says, “they haven’t got a penny left when they’ve bought the house so it can help them when things go wrong.” 

Bonnie says that the warrantee company she uses calls her (since she buys the policy) whenever a repair is called for by one of her clients. This has enabled her to track the usage of the policy and has found that most people use the policy at least once in the first year. She’s also noted that occasionally a client will use the policy as many as four times and few fail to use the service at all. 

She says “So its an insurance policy and I’m not crazy about insurance policies but it can help.” 

One of the problems inherent in this whole business is that you as the homeowner don’t have any say in who they’re going to send when you call in with a problem. 

Amongst the many anecdotes I’ve had shared with me over the years have been several about less than sterling workers who got sent to their homes. Scheduling is often cited as a problem but other deficiencies can attend as well. 

If you were an insurance company and wanted to try to retain as much of that $250-$300 that’s typically charged for a one-year policy, you’d be likely to find the cheapest plumber you could get your hands on to go over and fix Mrs. Mickiewicz’s leaky water heater. 

So what this means to you as recipient of one of these policies is that you might not be getting the best tradesman in town when you call in your claim. 

This is, of course, a generalization but I think that the logic is sound and that you’d do well to pay close attention to the workmanship and the decisions made for you by this person. I’m sure that your home warranty company does not want you to have a bad experience but they are sure to want to control costs. 

This also expresses itself in another form. Virtually all of these companies reserve the right to repair, rather than replace, any defective system. This means that you won’t be very likely to get a new furnace if the old one can be repaired enough to hobble one more mile. 

Again, this doesn’t mean that you’re going to get a substandard repair (although that can happen) but it does mean that the sort of decision you might tend to make when consulting with a paid tradesman might not be the chosen path when the warranty company is in the driver’s seat. You just won’t get a say in how it’s done. 

Now, that said, it is not uncommon for the person making the repair to try to sell you on some additional services once they have your attention. This is, of course, your choice but be sure that the argument seems sound and that you’ve called the warranty provider to be sure that they won’t cover the other option. 

When you call for help, you will generally pay a small “co-pay” or basic service call fee, which is usually quite reasonable and probably under $50 bucks. This helps cut down on people calling for any odd sound that comes out of the dishwasher. I think it’s fair. 

You also have a range of choices when buying such a policy. A basic policy will cover most of the following: Heating (and ducting with a forced air system), water heater, electrical system (what’s in the walls), plumbing, appliances such as dishwashers, disposers, built-in microwave ovens, stoves, garage door openers, central vacuums (not a lot of those around here but nice if you have one) and exhaust fans and door bells.  

If you want to pay an extra fee for an optional item, you call also cover things like washers and dryers, refrigerators, air conditioners, pools and spas. Note that most of the big things are missing from this list, like foundations and roofs, although roof repairs are offered by some providers. 

The key is to read the policy carefully, ask a lot of questions when buying one (unless you’ve had one given to you) and to have reasonable expectations about what sorts of repairs you can expect when things go wrong. 

I would advise my client not be guided by the policy and to be prepared to pay for the right repair when the stop-gap offered by the warranty company isn’t really in their best interest. It IS nice to have this as an option but it’s important not to let that become the sole criteria for decision making when the facts about a faulty furnace or roof come to light. 

There is a Home Warranty Association of California (who knew?) and you can contact them with questions about a policy you have or one you are considering. HADD (Homeowners against Deficient Dwellings) an advocacy and watchdog agency also offers a report on Home Warranties that’s worth reading.  

Here’s a top-ten list that the Home Warranty Association of California has recently published of items they think consumers should consider: 

1. What is included in the basic warranty? 

2. What additional options are generally available? 

3. How much is the fee for a service call? 

4. What are the total dollar limits on the warranty, and what are the limits for individual items? 

5. Is the company licensed by the California Department of Insurance? 

6. Is there 24/7 customer service available for processing emergency claims? 

7. Will licensed insured contractors be used to make repairs? How long is the warranty on repairs or replacements? 

8. What is the typical turnaround time for a claim to be dispatched and completed? 

9. Can the warranty be renewed at the end of the first year? 

10. Is the company a member of the Home Warranty Association of California? 

If this list leaves you hungry for more info on the subject, you can call the HWAC and talk to Mark Lightfoot (901) 537-8020 or Art Ansoorian (805) 653-1648. 

I feel obliged to share one last anecdote before closing on this small subject and that is that I have occasionally (albeit rarely) heard someone say in the course of a home inspection that a Home Warranty could be used to address things that we found wrong during the inspection. 

“Just wait a couple of months,” they would say, “Then call it in and they’ll come and fix it.”  

Now, I have no great love of insurance companies but it seems to me that this is part of what’s wrong with our corporate culture. 

I suspect that we pay premiums that are too high due, in part, to this sort of behavior (would you tell your kids you did this?). So, if you hear someone say this, do as I have done (no joke) and take them aside and have a little talk with them on the subject of ethics. 

And may all your homebuying fears be truly unwarranted. 

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Flowerland Nursery is the corner store of local plant shops. Evidently it’s been there for generations: the friendly worker there told me that that the current owner, Bob Wilson, has had it for some 30 years and the previous owners had run it “for, oh, 30 to 40 years” before him. 

It’s on lower Solano Avenue in a narrow slot between apartment/small office buildings and across the street from The Baptist Church on the Corner, and you don’t get more neighborhoody than that.  

It’s also, like the rest of us, been flinching a little at the protracted rainy weather. There was recently a note on its old-fashioned wooden marquee that the place would, for the time being, open only on sunny (or was it “dry”?) days. 

Even that seemed optimistic, I guess, and now it’s open almost daily for its regular nine-to-five hours, though, as that worker said, “When it’s raining, we don’t open till about 10 a.m. because nobody comes in before then.” 

That’s not such a puzzle. Back when I was a pro, Flowerland didn’t offer the locally customary discount for professionals, and it’s mostly folks in the landscaping business who get that early start and buy plants at 8:30 a.m. 

So most of the customers here must be home gardeners and weekenders, and even mad gardeners deserve to sleep in once in a while. 

I bought stuff there anyway sometimes, because I just kind-of liked the place, but my business practices tended toward the sentimental anyway. I never did get rich or even turn much of a profit, but I met some good people and plants and some of them were at Flowerland. 

That marquee alternates irregularly between inspirational messages and strictly informational notices like “Bareroot fruit trees are in.” Come to think of it, that’s a little like the marquee in front of the average Baptist church; maybe it’s a neighborhood theme.  

So what do you find here? The basics and standards: six-packs of alyssum, two-inch pots of veggie seedlings, four-inchers of bedding perennials, one-gallon New Zealand flax, five-gallon ferns, and a few slightly larger trees. 

Then, just for fun, there’s usually something different: a new cultivar of an old familiar plant, or something like black viola that you forgot you liked. There’s a half-price table with stuff that’s aged a bit in the pot, but I’ve had good luck with these pound puppies myself.  

Tools, pots, bagged soil amendments including some earth-friendly brands, and potted plants are inside and next to the shop. 

Spotted around the stock are some of those outdoor figurines that can be little-old-lady or edgily ironic, depending on context. The gulls nestled in the asparagus ferns looked odd, but then I’m a birder. I get upset when a movie has a California birdsong in a Dakota Badlands scene.  

In winter Flowerland switches over largely to Firewoodland and Christmastreeland. Other corner-store touches: three-packs for $1.99 (“Will cut inside”) like a half-dozen eggs; a handwritten card patiently explaining the difference between Sun and Shade, a homey potting table where plants get seeded into pots or moved up to larger ones. 

Ron Sullivan is a former professional gardener and arborist. Her “Garden Variety” column appears every Friday in East Bay Home & Real Estate. Her column on East Bay trees appears every other Tuesday in the Berkeley Daily Planet. 

Flowerland Nursery 

1330 Solano Ave., Albany 

9 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday-Saturday; closed Sunday 

526-3550

The Landmark Theatre Act 1 & 2 on Center Street is shutting down and I can’t say that I feel bad about it. Act 1 is inaccessible to wheelchair users due to stairs. Act 2 can be accessed by using a small lift located in the lobby. But the lift doesn’t always work. My husband and I were once refunded our money after getting trapped inside it, unable to go up or down.  

The last time Ralph and I went to the Act 1 & 2 was in 1999 when we saw The Blair Witch Project on opening night. We were unaware that the film was a word-of-mouth, overnight Internet blockbuster. We arrived in front of the building to find a line stretching to Oxford Street. I went to the box office to inquire about wheelchair seating. I was told there was room for us. 

We waited in line. We paid for our tickets. I took the footrests off Ralph’s wheelchair, backed him into the lift, and shoved his feet underneath the chair. The lift sputtered and stalled, then rose the four feet or so necessary to accommodate the steps into the theater. I replaced the footrests and pushed Ralph into the hallway, then down into the screening room where I maneuvered him into the designated wheelchair space. By doing so we blocked the view of the patron sitting behind us. The seat next to Ralph was occupied by a young man. I asked him to move but because the show was sold out, there were no empty seats left.  

Management asked Ralph to move into the aisle, and gave me a folding chair on which to sit. Now we were blocking an exit and therefore breaking the law. But at least the people around us could see and stretch their legs. After the show was over we vowed never to return. It wasn’t worth the trouble.  

But the Act 1 & 2 is not the only local theater we sometimes rule out as too difficult to patronize. The Albany, Elmwood, Piedmont and Grand Lake cinemas present similar seating problems. Additionally, at the Albany we must enter through a locked side door. The Piedmont requires some tricky hallway turns. The Elmwood has an awkward entranceway to negotiate.  

We are better off in theaters where the wheelchair seating is located in the rear. Though not our favorite place to sit, at least we don’t get in the way of other patrons. It’s sometimes a pain to be seated next to the entrance door, but better than having to ask others to move.  

There are quite a few local theaters in which this type of seating is available. The downtown Shattuck Cinemas is one of these establishments and it works well for us except that nearby disabled parking isn’t easy to find. The United Artists Emery Bay complex provides lots of wheelchair seating and plenty of free, accessible parking. Too bad they rarely show the movies we want to see. 

You might think that the new AMC Bay Street 16 would be ideal, but that is not the case. In some of the theatres the wheelchair seating is located mid screening room on a wide aisle. There is a railing bordering this area. Ralph once leaned back and somehow got the top of his chair caught behind the railing. Several AMC employees had to help me disentangle him.  

Although the seating was iffy at the Act 1 & 2 I did enjoy The Blair Witch Project. Remember the last scene where the hapless protagonist looks into her handheld camera and cries? That could be me agonizing over our next movie date.

There sure are some funny-looking trees in this town. Some of them are the results of whimsical pruning—there’s a big cedar in my general neighborhood, a traffic accident in waiting because I can’t be the only person who reflexively eases up on the gas p edal to stare when passing it. 

It’s completely sheared into poodle balls, little bluish pompoms, shaggy in some seasons, on the ends of long bare upcurved branches. It’s been maintained that way for years, and it’s tall enough that this must take a ladder and lots of labor.  

Some poodle-balled trees (yes arborists really call them that, and it’s not something a veterinarian can fix) seem to be a sort of Japanese-style pruning gone off in odd directions. Classical Japanese pruning includes some shearing, especially of shrubs, into the smooth-contoured “cloud form.” 

Here, I’m not sure whether someone liked the look and applied it to any old species, or lots of people didn’t quite get it and sheared things into shapes that reminded them vaguely of what th ey’d seen in Japan, or in picture books.  

You see lots of junipers done up into green pads on racks, and they’re tough enough to take it. But a Japanese maple I knew had been sheared into a perfect globe. I started a long reshaping process; when I took m y first whacks at it, I found lots of dead twigs and branches, deprived of light and air circulation inside that mass. Lots of plant-eating bugs, too, and mildewed leaves. 

There are species—mostly shrubs like boxwood but a few trees like Syzygium panicul atum (eugenia or lilly pilly)—that tolerate shearing, so they’re used for topiary. There’s a eugenia in San Lorenzo shaped into a sort of bas-relief kangaroo, against a house wall, and I’m told there’s a lot of it done up as topiary in Disneyland. 

Another technique that turns out weird-looking trees is pollarding. Some of the planetrees on the UC campus, for example the rows just inside Sather Gate, are pollarded. Planetrees and sycamores in general seem not to mind this, and if it’s done right it doesn’t hurt the tree. (Why am I hearing Marlon Perkins reassuring the TV audience that “this does not hurt the animal” as someone lassoes a hapless antelope?)  

The tree has to be cut repeatedly to exactly the same point, until it forms those odd knobs you see all winter. Then the twigs that shoot out of those knobs must be cut off every fall, and the knobs mustn’t be cut off or into. It’s originally a technique for harvesting firewood while keeping the trees alive, but it turned into a sort of French-aestheti c tradition. It’s also good for fruitless mulberries in hot-summer places where you want summer-only shade.  

Another source of funny trees is PG&E pruning. This is perfectly utilitarian, so to speak—solely for the purpose of keeping utility lines up wher e they belong. It’s merciless to the trees involved, but believe it or not it used to be worse. Sort of.  

Line-clearing pruning crews used to just top a tree—whack it off bluntly, a procedure that usually, gradually, kills the tree. Now, since Alex Shigo introduced his studies to arboriculture, they instead cut limbs down to the place they sprouted off bigger limbs. They call this “drop-crotching.” It’ll still probably kill the tree, but more slowly, and urban trees generally aren’t that long-lived anywa y.  

What you see after this is a Y-shaped tree, another silly shape but one that coaxes the tree to grow away from the lines that run through its middle rather than sending a zillion sprouts straight up into those lines in a year or two.  

A reader asked me if that was a result of trees’ being sensitive to electromagnetic frequencies. You might think so, looking at the trees, but, what being sensitive to EMFs means is that their foliage turn brown foot or two from the line. Those awkward trees you’re seeing are results of line-clearing; they didn’t do that all by themselves.  

Lots of arborists and even PG&E urge people to choose smaller trees to plant under city powerlines in the first place, so they won’t have this problem when the tree reaches mature size. Good idea.  

Photo by Ron Sullivan  

A good example of PG&E pruning: a sycamore "dropcrotched" into a big "Y" shape to clear powerlines above it.›

FRIDAY, APRIL 7 

CHILDREN 

Stage Door Conservatory Children’s Musical Theater presents “Into the Woods, Jr.” at 7:30 p.m. at Julia Morgan Center for the Arts, 2640 College Ave. Tickets are $15-$20 sliding scale, for adults, $10, children. 

THEATER 

Actors Ensemble of Berkeley “The Devil’s Disciple” by G.B. Shaw, Fri. and Sat. at 8 p.m. at Live Oak Theater, 1301 Shattuck Ave. at Berryman, through May 6. Tickets are $12. 649-5999. www.aeofberkeley.org 

Berkeley Rep “Culture Clash’s Zorro in Hell” at 8 p.m. in the Roda Theater. Tickets are $45-$59. Runs through April 16. 647-2949.  

Masquers Playhouse “Relative Values” by Noel Coward. Fri. and Sat. at 8 p.m. at 105 Park Place, Point Richmond, through May 6. Tickets are $15. 232-4031. www.masquers.org 

Shotgun Players “Bright Ideas” opens at 8 p.m. at the Ashby Stage, 1901 Ashby Ave. and runs Thurs.-Sun. to April 23. Tickets are $15-$30. 841-6500. www.shotgunplayers.org 

EXHIBITIONS 

“Inside Out” Detail in Dress from 1850 to the Jazz Age. Reception at 6 p.m. at Lacis Museum of Lace and Textiles, 2982 Adeline St. 843-7178. 

“Books Open, TV Off” An exhibition to promote reading. Reception at noon at Richmond Health Center, 100 38th St. (enter at 39th and Bissell), Richmond. Sponsored by ArtsChange. www.artschange.org 

“Headache New Work” Figurative sculpture and line drawings by John Casey and Lucien Shapiro. Reception at 7 p.m. at Boontling Gallery, 4224 Telegraph Ave., Oakland. www.boontlinggallery.com 

“Organics 3” Cibachrome prints by Kiyo Eshima. Reception at 6 p.m. at Fertile Grounds Café, 1796 Shattuck Ave. Through April 30. 548-1423. 

“Gigantic” A group show exploring scale, proportion, and impact in a variety of media. Reception at 7 p.m. at auto3321art gallery, 3321 Telegraph Ave., Oakland. 593- 8489. 

FILM 

65 Seconds that Shook the Earth Commemorating the 1906 Earthquake “Earthquake” at 8 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4-$8. 642-0808.  

2006 EarthDance: Short Attention Span Environmental FIlm Festival at 7 and 9 p.m., with receptions at 6 and 8 p.m. at the Oakland Museum of California. Cost is $8. 238-2200. 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

J. California Cooper reads from her collection of short stories, “Wild Stars Seeking Midnight Suns” at 7:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books. 845-7852.  

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Iris Stone, violin, and Eva-Maria Zimmerman, piano, at 8 p.m. at Giorgi Gallery, 2911 Claremont Ave. Cost is $12. 848-1228.  

Chamber Music at noon at Hertz Hall, UC Campus. Free. 

“Music in the Dharma, Dharma in the Music” Songs of the teachings of Buddha, at 7:30 p.m. at Berkeley Buddhist Monastery, 2304 McKinley Ave. 845-2215. 

Tchaikovsky Perm Ballet “Swan Lake” at 8 p.m. at Zellerbach Hall, UC Campus. Tickets are $36-$68. 642-9988.  

Future Action Villians, Coin Operated Machine, Stereo Chromatic at 9 p.m. at Blakes on Telegraph. Cost is $8-$10. 848-0886.  

Monk’s Bones at 8 p.m. at the Jazzschool. Cost is $18. 845-5373. www.jazzschool.com 

Rami Khalife & Kinan Azmeh, Arabic, jazz, contemporary and classical music at 8 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. Cost is $15-$18. 849-2568.  

Helene Attia/Owen Davis Quintet at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island. Cost is $7. 841-JAZZ.  

Steve Lucky & The Rhumba Bums with Ms Carmen Getit at 9:30 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Swing dance lesson at 8 p.m. Cost is $11-$13. 525-5054.  

Judy Wezler, jazz, at 8 p.m. at Caffe Trieste, 2500 San Pablo Ave., at Dwight. 548-5198.  

Del Rey & Steve James, Eric & Suzy Thompson, traditional American music, at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $17.50-$18.50. 548-1761.  

Jon Steiner Trio at 9 p.m. at Downtown. 649-3810.  

Nate Cooper and Jack Irving at 7:30 p.m. at Nomad Cafe, 6500 Shattuck Ave. 595-5344.  

Oddua, Diamond Moodie, Judea Eden Band at 9 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $7. 841-2082.  

Brutal Knights, Tamora, Rabies at 8 p.m. at 924 Gilman St. Cost is $6. 525-9926. 

Shotgun Wedding Quintet, Felonious at 9:30 p.m. at Shattuck Down Low, 2284 Shattuck Ave. Cost is $5. 548-1159.  

Stolen Bibles at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 848-8277. 

Joey DeFrancesco with George Coleman at 8 and 10 p.m. at Yoshi’s at Jack London Square, through Sun. Cost is $15-$22. 238-9200.  

SATURDAY, APRIL 8 

CHILDREN 

Los Amiguitos de La Peña with Bonnie Lockhart, interactive music for children, at 10:30 a.m. at La Peña. Cost is $4 for adults, $3 for children. 849-2568.  

Stage Door Conservatory Children’s Musical Theater presents “Into the Woods, Jr.” Sat. and Sun. at 5 p.m. at Julia Morgan Center for the Arts. Tickets are $10-$20. 

EXHIBITIONS 

The Crucible Student Art Show and Open House from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. at 1260 Seventh St., at Union, Oakland. www.thecrucible.org 

“Paul Robeson: The Tallest Tree in Our Forest” A multi-media exhibition. Reception at 6 p.m. at the African American Museum and Library, 659 14th St., Oakland. Exhibition runs through July 8. www.oaklandlibrary.org 

Nancy Backstrom watercolor show from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sat. and Sun. at the Terrace Cafe, 5891 Broadway Terrace, at Clarewood, Oakland. 482-9602. 

FILM 

65 Seconds that Shook the Earth “Disaster at Dawn” at 7 p.m. and “Flame of the Barbary Coast” at 8:45 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4-$8. 642-0808.  

READINGS AND LECTURES 

“How Poetry Can End Global Warming, and Other Dilemmas” with Robert Aquinas McNally at the Annual Poets’ Dinner at noon at Spenger’s on Fourth St. Tickets are $25. 

Traditional Chinese Opera Lecture and demonstration with Grace Wang, Roger Lin, and Mark Kuo at 1:30 p.m. at the Berkeley Public Library, 2090 Kittredge. 981-6136. 

Rhythm & Muse All Open Mic at 7 p.m. at Berkeley Art Center, 1275 Walnut St. 644-6893.  

California Society of Printmakers annual business meeting and public program with Larissa Goldston, Pam Paulson and Renee Bott, from noon to 3 p.m. at Berkeley Art Museum, 2626 Bancroft Way. 642-0808. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

American Bach Soloists, with soloist Mary Wilson, at 8 p.m. at First Congregational Church, 2345 Channing Way. Tickets are $18-$40. 415-621-7900.  

Tchaikovsky Perm Ballet and Orchestra “Swan Lake” at 8 p.m. at Zellerbach Hall, UC Campus. Tickets are $36-$68. 642-9988.  

African Music & Dance Ensemble at 8 p.m. in Hertz Hall, UC Campus. Tickets are $3-$10. 642-9988. 

Claudia Schmidt at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $19.50-$20.50. 548-1761.  

Larry Stefl Jazz Group at 9:30 p.m. at Albatross, 1822 San Pablo Ave. Cost is $3. 843-2473. 

Yancie Taylor Quintet at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island. Cost is $7. 841-JAZZ.  

Son De Madera at 8 p.m. at at La Peña Cultural Center. Cost is $12-$15. 849-2568.  

Gary Wade at 8 p.m. at Spuds Pizza, 3290 Adeline St. Cost is $7 per family. 558-0881. 

The Highway Robbers, The Devil's Own, The Wiggle Wagons at 10 p.m. at The Ivy Room, 858 San Pablo Ave. Cost is $7. 524-9220.  

Jai Uttal & The Pagan Love Orchestra at 9:30 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $15-$18. 525-5054. 

Last, Nasty Habits, Aliplast at 9 p.m. at Blakes on Telegraph. Cost is $8-$10. 848-0886.  

Dick Conte Quartet at 9 p.m. at Downtown. 649-3810.  

Evan Raymond and Splintered Tree at 7:30 p.m. at Nomad Cafe, 6500 Shattuck Ave. 595-5344.  

Tarnation, Last of the Blacksmiths at 9 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $7. 841-2082.  

Hostile Takeover, Annihilation at 8 p.m. at 924 Gilman St. Cost is $7. 525-9926. 

CV1 at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 848-8277. 

SUNDAY, APRIL 9 

ARCHITECTURE TOUR 

Oakland Museum of California Tour of the building and gardens, designed by architect Kevin Roche and landscape architect Dan Kiley. Meet at 1 p.m. at the koi pond on the first level. 238-2200. 

EXHIBITIONS 

Berkeley Treasures Series 1 Opening Reception at 2 p.m. at Berkeley Art Center, 1275 Walnut St. 644-6893. 

The Crucible Student Art Show and Open House from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. at 1260 Seventh St., at Union, Oakland. www.thecrucible.org 

FILM 

65 Seconds that Shook the Earth Commemorating the 1906 Earthquake “The Night the World Exploded” at 6 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4-$8. 642-0808.  

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Laura Sims, Danielle Pafunda and Geraldine Kim, poets, at 7:30 p.m. at Pegasus Books Downtown, 2349 Shattuck Ave. 649-1320. 

Joanna Fuhrman, Donna De La Pierre and Joseph Lease will read at 7:30 p.m. at Moe’s Books, 2476 Telegraph Ave. 849-2087. 

“Selections from the Collection” A gallery talk by Peter Selz with Timothy Dresser at 2 p.m. at the Berkeley Art Museum. 642-0808.  

Poetry Flash with Phyllis Stowell and Elaine Terranova at 7:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books. Donation $2. 845-7852.  

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Tchaikovsky Perm Ballet “Swan Lake” at 3 p.m. at Zellerbach Hall, UC Campus. Tickets are $36-$68. 642-9988.  

Trio Tangria at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. Cost is $10. 841-JAZZ.  

Grupo Folklórico, Reflejos de México at 2 and 4 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. Cost is $5-$7. 849-2568.  

Bill McHenry Trio at 4:30 p.m. at the Jazzschool. Cost is $15. 845-5373. www.jazzschool.com 

Willy Porter, guitarist and songwriter, at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $17.50-$18.50. 548-1761.  

Flamenco Open Stage with Adela Clara & La Monica at 8 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $10. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

Philips Marine Duo at 11 a.m. at Nomad Cafe. 595-5344.  

Americana Unplugged at 5 p.m. at Jupiter. 848-8277. 

MONDAY, APRIL 10 

THEATER 

Shotgun Theater Lab: “Frankie & Johnny” Mon. and Tues. to April 18 at 8 p.m. at the Ashby Stage, 1901 Ashby Ave. Tickets are $10. 841-6500. 

EXHIBITIONS 

Kawase Hasui & His Era: Masters of the Japanese Woodblock Print opens at the The Schurman-Scriptum Gallery, 1659 San Pablo Ave. 524-0623. 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Michael Palmer and Douglas Blazek read at 7:30 p.m. at Moe’s Books, 2476 Telegraph Ave. 849-2087. 

“Strictly Speaking” with New York Times associate editor Frank Rich at 8 p.m. at Zellerbach Hall, UC Campus. Tickets are $20-$32. 642-9988.  

“The Art of Gaman” Arts and crafts from the Japanese American Internment Camps at 7 p.m. at the Bade Museum, Pacific School of Religion, 1798 Scenic Ave. 

Poetry Express with Akelah Atumeril at 7 p.m. at Priya Restaurant, 2072 San Pablo Ave.  

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Zilberella Monday at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. Cost is $5. 841-JAZZ.  

Parlor Tango at 7 p.m. at Caffe Trieste, 2500 San Pablo Ave., at Dwight. 548-5198.  

Brubeck Institute Quintet at 8 p.m. at Yoshi’s at Jack London Square. Cost is $10. 238-9200. 

TUESDAY, APRIL 11 

CHILDREN 

Ventriloquist Tony Borders and his puppets in celebration of National Library Week at 6:30 p.m. at the Kensington Library, 61 Arlington Ave. 524-3043. 

EXHIBITIONS 

The Dirt Show 30 ceramic works created by members of Richard Shaw and Lesley Baker’s ceramic studio. Reception at 4 p.m. at the Worth Ryder Gallery, 116 Kroeber Hall, UC Campus. 642-2582. 

THEATER 

Shotgun Theater Lab: “Frankie & Johnny” Mon. and Tues. to April 18 at 8 p.m. at the Ashby Stage, 1901 Ashby Ave. Tickets are $10. 841-6500.  

Berkeley Rep “The Glass Menagerie” opens at 8 p.m. at the Thrust Stage, 2025 Addison St. Tickets are $59. Runs through May 31.647-2949.  

FILM 

Vantage Points: New Documentaries by Women “How Little We Know Our Neighbors” at 7:30 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4-$8. 642-0808.  

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Tim Flannery discusses “The Weather Makers: How Man is Changing the Climate and What it Means for Life on Earth” at 7 p.m. at 145 Dwinelle Hall, UC Campus. 845-7852.  

Daniel Alarcon reads from his novel “War by Candlelight” at 7:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books. 845-7852. www.codysbooks.com 

David Hollinger, author of “Cosmopolitanism and Solidarity: Studies in Ethnoracial, Religious, and Professional Affiliation in the United States” at 5:30 p.m. at University Press Books, 2430 Bancroft Way. 548-0585. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Singer’s Open Mic with Ellen Hoffman at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island. 841-JAZZ.  

Todd Sickafoose’s Blood Orange and the Myra Melford Group at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $17.50-$18.50. 548-1761.  

Jamie Stewart of Xiu Xiu, and the Devin Hoff Platform at 8 p.m. at AK Press, 674-A 23rd St., Oakland. A benefit for the The Prisoners Literature Project Cost is $8, or $7 with the donation of a book in good condition. 208-1700. 

Debbie Poryes & Friends at 7 p.m. at Caffe Trieste, 2500 San Pablo Ave., at Dwight. 548-5198.  

Jovino Snatos Neto at 8 and 10 p.m. at Yoshi’s. Cost is $10-$14. 238-9200. www.yoshis.com 

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 12 

THEATER 

The Marsh Berkeley “Faulty Intellegence”satirical songs by Roy Zimmerman, Wed.-Thurs. at 7 p.m. at 2118 Allston Way, through April 27. Tickets are $15-$22. www.themarsh.org 

FILM 

Film 50: History of Cinema “WR: Mysteries of the Organism” at 3 p.m. and Video: Recent and Strange at 7:30 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4-$8. 642-0808.  

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Berkeley Treasures “A Conversation with Ariel,” artist and set designer, at 7 p.m. at Berkeley Art Center, 1275 Walnut St. 644-6893. 

Philip Lopate in Conversation with David Thompson on “American Movie Critics: An Anthology From the Silents Until Now” at 7:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books. 845-7852. 

Beshara Doumani, editor of “Academic Freedom after September 11,” at 5:30 p.m. at University Press Books, 2430 Bancroft Way. 548-0585. 

Café Poetry hosted by Kira Allen at 7:30 p.m. at La Peña. Donation $2. 849-2568.  

Berkeley Poetry Slam with host Charles Ellik and Three Blind Mice, at 8:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $5-$7. 841-2082. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Wednesday Noon Concert, “Japanese Music” at Hertz Hall, UC Campus. Free. 642-4864.  

Berkeley High Jazz Ensembles at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. 841-JAZZ.  

Ned Boynton Trio at 8 p.m. at Downtown. 649-3810.  

The Savoy-Doucet Cajun Band at 9 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cajun dance lesson at 8:30 p.m. Cost is $18-$20. 525-5054.  

Famous Last Words, alt-rock and blues, at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 848-8277. 

John Scofield Quartet at 8 and 10 p.m. at Yoshi’s at Jack London Square, through Sun. Cost is $12-$24. 238-9200.  

THURSDAY, APRIL 13 

THEATER 

Aurora Theatre “Small Tragedy” opens at 2081 Addison St. and runs Wed.-Sat at 8 p.m., Sun. at 2 and 7 p.m. Tickets are $38. 843-4822.  

EXHIBITIONS 

“Everyting I Know, I Learned in the Movies” Color photography by Ann P. Meredith. Reception at 5 p.m. at Muse Media Center, 4221 Hollis St. at Park Ave., Emeryville. 655-1111. 

FILM 

Brave Outsiders: The Films of Kim Longinotto “Pride of Place” at 7 p.m. and “Dream Girls” at 8:45 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4-$8. 642-0808. 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Robert Hass will guide a walking tour of the Addison Street Poetry Walk. Meet at 6 p.m. at Half-Price Books on the corner of Addison and Shattuck. 526-6080. 

“Earthquake Exodus, 1906, Berkeley Responds to the San Francisco Refugees” with author Richard Schwartz, at 7:30 p.m. at Builders Boooksource, 1817 Fourth St. 845-6874. 

Mark Fainaru-Wada and Lance WIlliams discuss “The Game of Shadows: Barry Bonds, BALCO, and the Steroid Scandal that Rocked Professional Sports” at 7:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books. 845-7852.  

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Savoy-Doucet Cajun Band at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $18.50-$19.50. 548-1761.  

Megan Lynch with Tony Marcus, Kelly McCubbin, The Uke Apocalypse at 8 p.m. at DaSilva Ukulele Co., 2547 8th St., Suite 28. 649-1548.  

Steve Gannon’s Blue Monday Blues at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. Cost is $5. 841-JAZZ.  

Pete Caragher Band, 735 Institution at 9 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $5. 841-2082. 

LoCura, music of Spain, Cuba and California at 8 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. Cost is $5-$7. 849-2568. 

Showtime @ 11 Hip Hop at 10 p.m. at the Ivy Room, 585 San Pablo Ave. at Solano. 524-9220. 

Dave Bernstein Duo at 8 p.m. at Downtown. 649-3810.  

Elemental Harmonics, dub, house, funk, at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 848-8277. 

?

All too often, films about the mentally ill descend into preciousness, romanticizing the drama and pain of madness. But The Devil and Daniel Johnston, a fascinating documentary opening today (Friday) at Shattuck Cinemas, does not fall into this trap. 

For this is not the story of a mentally ill man who happens to be talented, but rather the story of a great artist and the trials he faces in pursuit of his art—the most significant among them being manic depression. 

Daniel Johnston may be the best living artist you’ve never heard of. At one point the film places him alongside Van Gogh, Sylvia Plath, Virginia Woolf and Lord Byron. This may seem like hyperbole, but the comparison is appropriate; Johnston is truly a unique artist. 

Yet the word “artist” does not accurately convey his talents, for Johnston is more than that. He is a fine artist, a cartoonist, a filmmaker and a singer/songwriter. And he excels in each field.  

Johnston’s journey from suburban Boy Scout to cult legend has all the trappings of folk music mythology. Like the story about Robert Johnson making a deal with the devil at the crossroads, his life is full of archetypal imagery: devils and demons, divine revelations, wayward road trips, traveling carnivals, mental breakdowns, plane crashes, a “lost year,” falls from grace followed by triumphant resurrections. Johnston’s odyssey zigs and zags through wellness and illness, through the South, the Midwest and New York City, through folk music, MTV and early ’90s grunge rock. 

His story is one of salvation through art. He believes he has lost his soul to the devil in pursuit of fame; he believes that he is damned, yet is actively and forever seeking redemption. Though the man has clearly been through hell in his lifetime, his current state is more or less a season in Purgatory as he continually tries to purge his demons. 

“True love will find you in the end,” he sings, and he is singing of the love of God as much as love of woman. 

Earthly love, however, is also a major theme, specifically his desire for Laurie, the unrequited love of his life whom Johnston met in college. She became his muse, the Beatrice to his Dante, “the inspiration for a thousand songs.” Her image is his guiding light, a symbol of youth and beauty with whom he hopes to one day be reunited.  

In 1985, a 22-year-old Johnston arrived in Austin, Texas, where the critics and musicians in the city’s burgeoning folk scene were stunned by the brilliance of the music pouring forth from this strange kid. Word spread and soon Johnston became something of a local celebrity. When MTV came to town to document the local music scene, Johnston wormed his way before the cameras, thereby planting the seeds for a nationwide cult following. He went on to win several Austin Music Awards, including best songwriter and best folk artist, beating such soon-to-be-famous musicians as Nanci Griffith, Timbuk 3 and the Lounge Lizards.  

A breakdown followed soon after, but he made a triumphant return to Austin a few years later. And that in turn was followed by tragedy. There seems to be something in him that won’t allow him to enjoy success, as if deep down he knows that salvation requires greater suffering. And if that anguish isn’t forthcoming, he’ll create some of his own. 

Johnston’s music is haunting. He has recorded 20 albums worth of stripped-down, no-frills songs and the film captures the context and drama of their creation. They are poignant and unadorned, their spareness allowing the listener to imagine the instrumentation and full production that might have accompanied them had Johnston had the means or ability to complete his vision. Though he can’t exactly sing and his guitar skills are rudimentary at best, he has a talent for piano and is a gifted and poetic lyricist, with an ear for melody and phrasing. His songs are powerful and his performances in the film are heartrending and raw. Much of his music is a lo-fi melding of blues and folk turned inside out. He was a quirky, geeky, white-boy deconstructionist before Beck even hit puberty. He has a knack for cleverly turned phrases and honest, soul-baring simplicity. 

The film effectively demonstrates that the power of Johnston’s art is in its immediacy. Every drawing and every song is a sort of exorcism, a method by which he continually divests himself of the tumult in his mind and heart. The creations themselves are not so important to him; he churns them out at an astonishing rate. He does not dwell on them; they are too many in number. Once the exorcism is complete, he is on to the next one. This is his most effective therapy. It is as if each day brings new demons that must be put down before dusk. “Do yourself a favor,” he sings, “become your own savior/And don’t let the sun go down on your grievances.” 

The Devil and Daniel Johnston is both inspiring and heartbreaking, a stylish yet simple and effective portrait of an extraordinary artist. The film leaves us with an image of Daniel and his parents in front of their current home in Waller, Texas. His parents are elderly and will not be able to support their son much longer. Though this seems to be a somewhat peaceful period in his life, it is clear that another life-altering change is just around the corner. One gets the feeling that the trials and tribulations of Daniel Johnston are hardly in the past. His most difficult years may still lay ahead. 

The Devil and Daniel Johnston 

Written and directed by Jeff Feuerzeig. 

Featuring Daniel Johnston, Bill Johnston, Marta Johnston, Louis Black, Jeff Tartakov, David Thornberry, Kathy McCarty 

Photo Courtesy Sony Pictures Classics 

Daniel Johnston has achieved a cult-figure status as an artist and singer/songwriter.›

“This week, she’s a nun—the one who gets captured by the Japanese!” 

As a young housemaid (Jennifer Carrier) tells the soap opera-ish cinema exploits of screen star Miranda Frayle (Emily Cannon-Brown) to the dour butler (Robert Taylor), the curious melange that makes up the style of Noel Coward comes to the fore in the opening minutes of Relative Values, onstage at Masquers Playhouse in Point Richmond: a cross (or cross-eyed look) between comedy of manners and a deadpan, decorous campiness. 

Frayle’s coming from Hollywood to the precincts of the gentry served by the backstairs folk assembled; she’s the betrothed of Nigel, Earl of Marshwood, young nobleman with many past loves. 

Between Crestwell, the savvy butler, and Countess Felicity (Loralee Windsor), Lord Nigel’s doting mother, it’s hard to choose who’s the driest. When Crestwell considers the issue on everybody’s mind, Nigel marrying below his station, he muses, “Class . . . I’ve forgotten what that means. I’ll look it up in the crossword dictionary.”  

“Ever since the news came, you’ve been behaving like a tragedy queen!” Lady Marshwood’s personal maid, “Moxie” (Marilyn Hughes) does indeed look under the weather. Asking to leave Felicity’s service immediately, she refuses at first to tell exactly why she’s so upset. But, when the truth comes out, it seems there’s a more awkward kinship at hand than the wedding in the works. And the secretive, bend-over-backwards adjustments to cover for the embarrassments that could happen, make this a merrier melodrama than any Miranda acted out on the silver screen. Drawling Texan glamor-puss Don Lucas (Kevin Hazelton), her former leading man in more ways than one, arrives on set, evading the Girl Guides from the local village in the shrubbery, stalking autographs, and slips into the manor, palling up to servants and peerage alike, as he maneuvers to confront Miranda about her engagement. 

“I ran across a movie one afternoon called Relative Values,” notes Taylor, who also directed, “I began to think that it would make a wonderful play. While watching the credits, I was surprised and slightly embarrassed to see that it was based on a Noel Coward play . . . I found it in a collection of his later writings.”  

Relative Values may be a bit of a rarity, but Coward’s sophisticated comedies form a part of the usual repertoire of community theater troupes—and are a problematic choice, due to the difficulty of putting an amateur-semi-pro ensemble onstage that can sustain the tone and timing of Sir Noel strewing his gems. 

Which is why it’s a pleasure to watch the Masquers do just that, each player deftly parrying each comic thrust with appropriate repartee. Everyone holds his own in the cast. 

And the opening night audience was with the Masquers all the way—proof that the mission of community theater is community enjoyment. 

“It’s not the first time an English peer has married an actress; in the old days, they hardly stopped!” The quips and asides never stop, even slyly comparing the predicament to the best of English stage comedy—to Mr. Somerset Maugham (then a rival, later bosom friend of fellow-survivor Sir Noel). 

The last word is voiced by delightful Loralee Windsor, ever-poised as aptly-named Felicity: “You must pretend that nothing has happened—and when you analyse it, not very much has!” 

Masquers Playhouse presents Relative Values, Fri. and Sat, 8 p.m., at 105 Park Place, Point Richmond, through May 6. Tickets $15. For more information, call 232-4031 or see www.masquers.org. ?

Mondays At Moe’s features an unusual pairing of poets this coming Monday at 7 p.m. when Michael Palmer and Douglas Blazek split the bill at the popular reading series on Telegraph Avenue, programmed by Owen Hill. 

Blazek’s reputation for poetry, associated in the 1970s with Charles Bukowski and with Cleveland poet d. a. levy—as well as various other writers dubbed “The Meat Poets”—would seem at a considerable remove from Michael Palmer’s work, associated with older poets like Robert Duncan and Robert Creeley, as well as experimentation with language. 

But Blazek, who lives in Sacramento, has been long involved in an intense transformation of his own writing, and credits the example of Palmer’s as a source of inspiration for his changes. 

“I don’t think that I write like him at all, but his work helped me to turn some corners,” Blazek said. “By the theories he applies to his work, and some of the results in his poems, he—and others—gave me, at a crucial time in life, the permission to explore how language works. Not just a change in subject matter, or in the description of experiences in this world, but the language in poetry itself.” 

Blazek’s “restoration” of his work began a quarter century ago. 

“Somewhere in the mid-’80s, I started looking back,” he said. “I’d published hundreds of poems in hundreds of places. But they were lacking something, not as realized as they could be. I was going through a deep life transformation, slowly evolving into a considerably different person than the one associated with my older poems. I started to draw back, go into a cave. My appearances in periodicals dwindled, calculatedly, while I worked exceptionally diligently on the poems, rewriting a great many of my earlier poems, and drafting notes for new ones while rewriting.” 

Blazek has produced seven unpublished full-length manuscripts, besides the one he will read from Monday. 

From two unpublished poems: 

To fall out of step. 

To fall through the dance-thinned floor. 

No earth but a bonfire of light 

and the gesticulations of wind 

—from “Revision” 

“So what if winter 

scales down the hands 

we once entertained 

with the tree of our mind? 

Whatever wavering 

there is 

is change fitting 

together.” 

—from “Attendance Shifting Its Absence To Another Presence”  

Blazek says that reading with Palmer is “symbolic of how far I’ve departed from where I came from.” 

Palmer recalls that Blazek had seemed to disappear, to become “a voice from that curious past” of the ’70s. Then “he showed up at a reading I did with Eliot Weinberger at Cody’s last fall, and asked if I’d be willing to read with him at Moe’s in the spring.” 

Palmer said he hadn’t had any idea until then of Blazek’s self-recreation—and that he hasn’t seen his newer work. 

Palmer is a familiar figure to readers of poetry. He arrived in San Francisco in 1969 from Massachusetts, attracted by “the openness of culture,” he said. “For the kind of exploratory work I wanted to do, Cambridge was not so welcoming.” 

The scene in the Bay Area was then “sort of in between—the age of the S.F. Renaissance, of, say, Jack Spicer had ended a few years before,” Palmer said. “By the mid-’70s new poets had flooded into the area, with dual communities in San Francisco and Bolinas, which made for a very exciting, portentious time. It was a very supportive community, which kept me going.” 

His work has changed in recent years, he said, by “moving a little bit away from radical syntax into the mysteries of ordinary language, in the philosophical if not every day sense. It probably looks less unusual on the page. And I’ve been interested in the infinite, ingathering potential of the lyrical phrase—not confession, but the voicing of selves that make up the poetic self, from Greek lyrics to the Italians, to modern poets like Mandelstam. It’s a parallel development to empire, to materialism, but provides both a counter-voice and an echo chamber of other poets you’re overwriting. ‘Circulations of song,’ Dante called it in his homage to Rumi; voices that pass through us, rather than the notion of a singular psyche.” 

“Una Noche (after Bandeira),” from Company of Moths. 

Then El Presidente 

uncoiling his tongue, 

’You cannot stop time 

but you can smash all the clocks.” 

And so seeking Paradise 

we have burned down the bright house 

to the ground. 

A necessary act. 

We have invented glass 

and ground a dark lens 

and in the perilous night 

we continue to dance. 

The tarantella, the tango, 

the passadoble and the jig, 

the bunnyhop, the Cadillac, 

the Madison and the sarabande, 

mazurka and the jerk, 

the twist on tabletops, 

Roling our eyes, flailing our limbs. 

It’s how we keep time, 

our feet never stop. 

Michael Palmer and Douglas Blazek read Monday at 7p.m. at Moe’s Books, 2476 Telegraph Ave.e

Nature as science or nature as art? There’s no need to choose. Left and right sides of the brain combine their efforts heralding California’s native landscapes and wildlife at the Oakland Museum. The Natural Sciences shine in the comprehensive Permanent Gallery, unique art exhibits and the museum’s multi-tiered outdoor gardens. 

The Oakland Museum has targeted the state of California for its collections in art, history and the environment. Each floor offers opportunities for hours of observation and enjoyment. Every tour leaves you with a deep appreciation of California’s past and present eras and artists, each significant to shaping the state in which we reside today.  

In need of an outdoor experience in spite of ever-present deluges, I focused my attentions on a recent visit to California’s natural world. Entering the Permanent Gallery exhibit, “A Walk Through California,” I was greeted with ceiling-high black and white photographs of diverse ecosystems and a series of quotes on nature above my head. The words of Voltaire, Emerson and Thoreau echoed environmental concerns of today. 

Immediately I was transported to the rugged coastline, listening to crashing waves amid the calls of sea birds and mammals. Dramatic photomurals, topographical models and dioramas set the scene, instructive and compelling. Traveling eastward I passed harbor seals at rest within a high coastal marsh and magnificent redwoods of the coastal mountains, so real I expected to see them extend beyond the roofline. A bird-egg treasure chest masqueraded as an innocuous filing cabinet, protecting over 500 eggs.  

The softness of mule deer hair belied its insulation qualities. A staged confrontation between coyote, marmot and wolverine looked ready to spring into action. In the desert I smiled at the gurgling mating call of a male sage grouse, hoping it would do the trick while I marveled at the quality of the exhibits. Dramatic in their size and lighting, life-size rocks, wildlife and interpretive panels created an accurate sense of place. The sounds of nature mingling with the excited voices of visiting school children vouched for the repeat value of this venue. 

The juried exhibit, “The Art of Seeing: Nature Revealed Through Illustration,” continued the theme of science as art while celebrating California’s biodiversity. “Art is born of the observation and investigation of nature.” As true today as when spoken by Cicero so long ago. How could one ignore the importance and beauty of a bristlecone pine or red fox after rendering them in pencil or watercolors? 

Fifty artworks representing forty artists are displayed. Some, like Lee McCaffree’s white trillium and Sharron O’Neil’s American robin, portray watercolor illustration at the highest level. Grace Smith’s miniature book drawings of Graceful Natives are exquisite. Lisa Holley reminds us of the predator-prey relationship in Osprey Packing a Lunch, her osprey-in-flight composite of finely detailed, pastel-hued fish. 

One of my favorite works were the beautifully carved and anatomically accurate grizzly bones in Joyce Clements’ All That Remains. The warm oak tones and smooth curves of skull and femur are ripe for touch. Texture is also explored in the weavings of George-Ann Bowers, her Madrone rich in yarns of red, rust, brown and beige. 

California’s unique landscapes are also well represented. Las Trampas, Elkhorn Slough, Marin Hills and Abbotts Lagoon in oils, colored pencils, pastels and acrylic in rich color- saturated tones remind us of the importance of preserving open spaces. 

Another display features the work of future environmentalists in a series of illustrated quilts created by Oakland elementary students. Using animal specimens supplied by the Lindsey Museum, photographs document the process students used, from pencil renderings, adding color and the final pen and ink biological illustrations formed into quilts. The rapt faces of the intent artists at work in their classrooms are worth the trip. 

Landscapes as seen through the lens of a camera, some using an f.64 aperture, are hung in the Art Special Gallery. “Edward Weston: Masterworks from the Collection” is an exhibit of fifty-eight photographs from one of the best in his field. Known for natural close-ups and nudes, Weston moved to Carmel in 1929 and, like myself, became enchanted with the coastal scenery. 

Point Lobos was the site of many of his darker, hard-edged and finely detailed photographs in black and white. Small in size but powerfully dramatic are his Rock and Hills and Whale Vertebrae. Sandstone Erosion resembles the fossil outline of a mythical sea monster while Cypress Detail displays the fine texture and sensuous curves of this organic form. 

Weston continued his portraiture of California landscapes in Crescent City, Stump On a Deserted Beach, the pastoral hills along the Eel River, the Bodega surf, Modoc Lava Flats and Oceano Dunes. His dunes series is luminous with sharp contrasts between light and dark and the surface so finely detailed that the ridges of sand stand out in sinuous curves. 

The ardor of his task is brought home in a portrait of his son and camera along a rocky shelf. While today we extol the convenience of digital cameras allowing hundreds of images, the size and heft of Weston’s box camera and wood tripod speak to the art behind individual shots carefully selected and timed for the perfect light. The beauty of Weston’s work inspires a return to the art of his craft. 

Landscape on a smaller scale is an integral part of the Oakland Museum’s outdoor gardens, terraces and patios, home to lush plantings. Unlike many urban museums, space and attention have been given to these outdoor environments as extensions of the galleries indoors. Concrete walkways between exhibit levels, some topped by marine blue awnings, showcase sculpture by California artists.  

Welded steel and cast bronze in works by David Anderson, Bruce Beasley and Peter Voulkos have weathered well as evidenced by rich surface patinas. Mature pines shade the Koi Pond, home to good size, multi-colored koi and sculptured hippos. Terraced gardens lead you from tier to tier, in a park-like setting, every pathway home to works of art, Oakland’s cityscape just beyond the walls. 

Search dioramas for camouflaged pigmy rabbits and whiptail lizards. Get up close and personal to a finely drawn grizzly and mountain lion. Stroll the garden and watch Alexander Calder’s red projections sway in the breeze. Sample a Bistro sandwich or Thai chicken salad from the Museum Café, listening to the quiet sounds of jazz or outdoors on the terrace. Celebrate the science and art of California’s rich natural diversity at the Oakland Museum.  

The Oakland Museum of California: 10th and Oak streets, 238-2200, www.museumca.org. Open Wed –Sat. 10 a.m.-5 p.m., Sun. noon-5 p.m. Adults $8, seniors and students $5. Exhibits “Edward Weston” shows through June 11, and “The Art of Seeing” shows through June 4.  

Photo by Marta Yamamoto 

Sculptures by California artists share outdoor galleries with rich native plantings at the Oakland Museum..

Seth Paris Babson (1826–1907) was one of the most eminent Victorian architects on the Pacific coast. A native of Maine, he set sail for San Francisco a year after the discovery of gold in California. Having rounded Cape Horn, Babson arrived in the spring of 1850. 

A brief sojourn among the dissolute gold miners of Coloma so disgusted the temperate Babson that he soon decided to move to Sacramento. There, according to his youngest son, “he developed his native skill as a carpenter and eventually became a m ost capable architect and designed and constructed many of the homes of the pioneer families...” 

Among Babson’s still-standing landmark Sacramento buildings are the Leland Stanford Mansion (1857), the Crocker Art Museum (1869–1873, described as the “sing le finest Italianate building in the West, if not in America”), and the Stick-style Llewellyn Williams Mansion (1885). 

In 1874, when he was almost fifty, Babson married Juanita Josepha Smith (1855–1940), 30 years his junior. The following year, the coupl e moved their residence to Alameda, where their three children were born. Babson’s office was located in the Phelan Building on Market and O’Farrell streets in San Francisco. 

He was a major force in the establishment of the Northern California chapter of the American Institute of Architects (AIA) and served as its president in 1890 and again from 1896 to 1903. 

There are only two Berkeley buildings known or believed to have been designed by Seth Babson. One of those was the Southside home of Juanita’s si ster, Miss Eleanor Mary Smith, a teacher who over the course of 30 years taught at Emerson, Whittier Grammar, Dwight Day, Willard, and McKinley schools. 

Her simple brown-shingle house, with interior redwood paneling and a clinker-brick chimney, was const ructed in 1902 by Mr. Martin, an independent builder who is said to have ”lost his money through bad investment in an asbestos mine.” 

The retired Babson may have contributed to the design. 

Located at 2529 Hillegass Ave. on land now owned by the American Baptist Seminary of the West, the Smith house was designated a City of Berkeley Landmark in January 1980. However, the designation didn’t protect it from demolition when ABSW wanted to create a parking lot where it stood. 

In 1893, Babson and builder R. Wenk erected for Bartine Carrington a house at 2323 Bowditch St., just south of Durant Avenue. This was a charming, raised-basement cottage clad in redwood shingles. An embodiment of the transition from the Victorian style to the First Bay Region traditio n, the cottage featured the roof-ridge ornaments and fishscale shingles of the former with the unpainted exterior of the latter. Box-like corner window bays with small panes lent it a picturesque aspect. 

A very similar cottage, essentially unaltered with the exception of a modified entrance porch, still stands at 2277 Vine St. in north Berkeley. 

Bartine Carrington (1871–1926), a clergyman’s son born in China, worked in real estate for many years and apparently built the house as an investment, for he never lived there. Next door at 2600 Durant Ave., Hiram Brasfield built a rooming house, where his family occasionally lived until 1911, when they moved into the newly-constructed Brasfield Apartments at 2520 Durant Ave. 

From 1906 to 1916, Hiram’s brother-in-law Jim Davis resided in the Carrington house. At the time, Davis was the manager of the U.C. Associated Students Store. By 1917, Davis had moved to 2525 Durant Ave., across the street from the Brasfield Apartments.  

It was probably during the Davis re sidence that the Carrington cottage was jacked up and gained a new ground floor. The enlarged house retained all its old charm, blending well into its village-like neighborhood of shingled homes set within flower-bedecked gardens. 

Over the ensuing decade s, the character of Durant Avenue and of the Southside gradually changed. In 1928, the six-story Hotel Durant replaced Brasfield’s rooming house. To the east, the nine-story U.C. Unit 1 dormitories went up between 1956 and 1959. 

A faceless apartment bloc k completed the scene just south of the Carrington house. Isolated on its block, the house was subdivided into apartments, the redwood shingles were painted white, and the small-pane windows replaced with aluminum. Neglect set in. 

As in the case of the E leanor Smith house, the Carrington house’s fate was sealed when its location was coveted by the hotel for a parking garage. In March 1982, the house was designated a City of Berkeley Landmark, structure of merit. 

The designation saved it from outright de molition but not from degradation. In the late 1980s, the upper story was moved to 1029 Addison St., just west of San Pablo Avenue. There it was insensitively “restored” and sold to a new owner, who doesn’t know that he lives in a designated structure. Th e house’s present appearance is testimony to the toothlessness of Berkeley’s preservation enforcement. 

Photo By Daniella Thompson  

What might have been—a cottage at 2277 Vine St. in North Berkeley looks very similar to one of Babson’s Berkeley houses th at has since been altered almost beyond recognition. 

Buying houses is an expensive proposition as anyone who has ever done it can tell you and it doesn’t stop when you pay the closing costs and put your boat in the backyard (you really have a boat?) 

So many houses I see folks buying these days truly qualify as fixer-uppers. It seems that in this buyer’s market (will I still be using this term in 6 months?), people will buy anything that doesn’t wobble too severely. I genuinely think that if the inventory, as they call it, were significantly higher, many of the dogs that get walked around the arena would get left at home and never even get those funny haircuts. 

The houses that would be up for sale would tend to be more select and less dicey. As it is, though, many, if not most have a large pallet of defects from which to choose. “Will Madam be having ze leaky dishwasher zis evening or peut-etre, le ground disposer de garbage (featuring le chanson de heavy metal)?” 

When faced with these potential trials, one wonders whether a Home Warranty might be the solution. Certainly it is worth considering. 

My friend Bonnie Ross, a realtor at Coldwell Banker in Montclair says that she regularly buys these for her clients because, as she says, “they haven’t got a penny left when they’ve bought the house so it can help them when things go wrong.” 

Bonnie says that the warrantee company she uses calls her (since she buys the policy) whenever a repair is called for by one of her clients. This has enabled her to track the usage of the policy and has found that most people use the policy at least once in the first year. She’s also noted that occasionally a client will use the policy as many as four times and few fail to use the service at all. 

She says “So its an insurance policy and I’m not crazy about insurance policies but it can help.” 

One of the problems inherent in this whole business is that you as the homeowner don’t have any say in who they’re going to send when you call in with a problem. 

Amongst the many anecdotes I’ve had shared with me over the years have been several about less than sterling workers who got sent to their homes. Scheduling is often cited as a problem but other deficiencies can attend as well. 

If you were an insurance company and wanted to try to retain as much of that $250-$300 that’s typically charged for a one-year policy, you’d be likely to find the cheapest plumber you could get your hands on to go over and fix Mrs. Mickiewicz’s leaky water heater. 

So what this means to you as recipient of one of these policies is that you might not be getting the best tradesman in town when you call in your claim. 

This is, of course, a generalization but I think that the logic is sound and that you’d do well to pay close attention to the workmanship and the decisions made for you by this person. I’m sure that your home warranty company does not want you to have a bad experience but they are sure to want to control costs. 

This also expresses itself in another form. Virtually all of these companies reserve the right to repair, rather than replace, any defective system. This means that you won’t be very likely to get a new furnace if the old one can be repaired enough to hobble one more mile. 

Again, this doesn’t mean that you’re going to get a substandard repair (although that can happen) but it does mean that the sort of decision you might tend to make when consulting with a paid tradesman might not be the chosen path when the warranty company is in the driver’s seat. You just won’t get a say in how it’s done. 

Now, that said, it is not uncommon for the person making the repair to try to sell you on some additional services once they have your attention. This is, of course, your choice but be sure that the argument seems sound and that you’ve called the warranty provider to be sure that they won’t cover the other option. 

When you call for help, you will generally pay a small “co-pay” or basic service call fee, which is usually quite reasonable and probably under $50 bucks. This helps cut down on people calling for any odd sound that comes out of the dishwasher. I think it’s fair. 

You also have a range of choices when buying such a policy. A basic policy will cover most of the following: Heating (and ducting with a forced air system), water heater, electrical system (what’s in the walls), plumbing, appliances such as dishwashers, disposers, built-in microwave ovens, stoves, garage door openers, central vacuums (not a lot of those around here but nice if you have one) and exhaust fans and door bells.  

If you want to pay an extra fee for an optional item, you call also cover things like washers and dryers, refrigerators, air conditioners, pools and spas. Note that most of the big things are missing from this list, like foundations and roofs, although roof repairs are offered by some providers. 

The key is to read the policy carefully, ask a lot of questions when buying one (unless you’ve had one given to you) and to have reasonable expectations about what sorts of repairs you can expect when things go wrong. 

I would advise my client not be guided by the policy and to be prepared to pay for the right repair when the stop-gap offered by the warranty company isn’t really in their best interest. It IS nice to have this as an option but it’s important not to let that become the sole criteria for decision making when the facts about a faulty furnace or roof come to light. 

There is a Home Warranty Association of California (who knew?) and you can contact them with questions about a policy you have or one you are considering. HADD (Homeowners against Deficient Dwellings) an advocacy and watchdog agency also offers a report on Home Warranties that’s worth reading.  

Here’s a top-ten list that the Home Warranty Association of California has recently published of items they think consumers should consider: 

1. What is included in the basic warranty? 

2. What additional options are generally available? 

3. How much is the fee for a service call? 

4. What are the total dollar limits on the warranty, and what are the limits for individual items? 

5. Is the company licensed by the California Department of Insurance? 

6. Is there 24/7 customer service available for processing emergency claims? 

7. Will licensed insured contractors be used to make repairs? How long is the warranty on repairs or replacements? 

8. What is the typical turnaround time for a claim to be dispatched and completed? 

9. Can the warranty be renewed at the end of the first year? 

10. Is the company a member of the Home Warranty Association of California? 

If this list leaves you hungry for more info on the subject, you can call the HWAC and talk to Mark Lightfoot (901) 537-8020 or Art Ansoorian (805) 653-1648. 

I feel obliged to share one last anecdote before closing on this small subject and that is that I have occasionally (albeit rarely) heard someone say in the course of a home inspection that a Home Warranty could be used to address things that we found wrong during the inspection. 

“Just wait a couple of months,” they would say, “Then call it in and they’ll come and fix it.”  

Now, I have no great love of insurance companies but it seems to me that this is part of what’s wrong with our corporate culture. 

I suspect that we pay premiums that are too high due, in part, to this sort of behavior (would you tell your kids you did this?). So, if you hear someone say this, do as I have done (no joke) and take them aside and have a little talk with them on the subject of ethics. 

And may all your homebuying fears be truly unwarranted. 

?

Flowerland Nursery is the corner store of local plant shops. Evidently it’s been there for generations: the friendly worker there told me that that the current owner, Bob Wilson, has had it for some 30 years and the previous owners had run it “for, oh, 30 to 40 years” before him. 

It’s on lower Solano Avenue in a narrow slot between apartment/small office buildings and across the street from The Baptist Church on the Corner, and you don’t get more neighborhoody than that.  

It’s also, like the rest of us, been flinching a little at the protracted rainy weather. There was recently a note on its old-fashioned wooden marquee that the place would, for the time being, open only on sunny (or was it “dry”?) days. 

Even that seemed optimistic, I guess, and now it’s open almost daily for its regular nine-to-five hours, though, as that worker said, “When it’s raining, we don’t open till about 10 a.m. because nobody comes in before then.” 

That’s not such a puzzle. Back when I was a pro, Flowerland didn’t offer the locally customary discount for professionals, and it’s mostly folks in the landscaping business who get that early start and buy plants at 8:30 a.m. 

So most of the customers here must be home gardeners and weekenders, and even mad gardeners deserve to sleep in once in a while. 

I bought stuff there anyway sometimes, because I just kind-of liked the place, but my business practices tended toward the sentimental anyway. I never did get rich or even turn much of a profit, but I met some good people and plants and some of them were at Flowerland. 

That marquee alternates irregularly between inspirational messages and strictly informational notices like “Bareroot fruit trees are in.” Come to think of it, that’s a little like the marquee in front of the average Baptist church; maybe it’s a neighborhood theme.  

So what do you find here? The basics and standards: six-packs of alyssum, two-inch pots of veggie seedlings, four-inchers of bedding perennials, one-gallon New Zealand flax, five-gallon ferns, and a few slightly larger trees. 

Then, just for fun, there’s usually something different: a new cultivar of an old familiar plant, or something like black viola that you forgot you liked. There’s a half-price table with stuff that’s aged a bit in the pot, but I’ve had good luck with these pound puppies myself.  

Tools, pots, bagged soil amendments including some earth-friendly brands, and potted plants are inside and next to the shop. 

Spotted around the stock are some of those outdoor figurines that can be little-old-lady or edgily ironic, depending on context. The gulls nestled in the asparagus ferns looked odd, but then I’m a birder. I get upset when a movie has a California birdsong in a Dakota Badlands scene.  

In winter Flowerland switches over largely to Firewoodland and Christmastreeland. Other corner-store touches: three-packs for $1.99 (“Will cut inside”) like a half-dozen eggs; a handwritten card patiently explaining the difference between Sun and Shade, a homey potting table where plants get seeded into pots or moved up to larger ones. 

Ron Sullivan is a former professional gardener and arborist. Her “Garden Variety” column appears every Friday in East Bay Home & Real Estate. Her column on East Bay trees appears every other Tuesday in the Berkeley Daily Planet. 

Flowerland Nursery 

1330 Solano Ave., Albany 

9 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday-Saturday; closed Sunday 

526-3550

FRIDAY, APRIL 7 

City Commons Club Noon Luncheon with Bernice Linnard & Dennis Kuby on “Why Shakespeare Matters” Luncheon at 11:45 a.m. for $13.50, speech at 12:30 p.m., at the Berkeley City Club, 2315 Durant St. 526-2925. 

Inspiration Point Walk Meet at 4 p.m. in the Inspiration Point parking lot for this walk with stunning views. Walk at your own pace. Rain cancels. Sponsored by Solo Sierrans. 925-376-4529. 

Poison Safety Day at 11 a.m. at Habitot Children’s Museum, 2065 Kittredge St. 647-1111. www.habitot.org  

“To Bethlehem and Beyond” A report-back with Jim Haber at 7:30 p.m. at St. Joseph the Worker Church, 2125 Jefferson St. 482-1062. 

Fundraiser for Sacred Ride to Albuquerque to promote green energy in the Native community at 7 p.m. at Fellowship Hall, Cedar and Bonita. Cost is $10. zacharyrunningwolf@yahoo.com 

American Red Cross Blood Drive from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at MLK Student Union, 5th Floor, UC Campus. To schedule an appointment call 1-800-GIVELIFE. www.BeADonor.com 

Berkeley Chess School classes for students in grades 1-8 from 5:30 to 7 p.m. A drop-in, rated scholastic tournament follows from 7 to 8 p.m. at 1581 LeRoy Ave., Room 17. 843-0150. 

Berkeley Chess Club meets Fridays at 8 p.m. at the East Bay Chess Club, 1940 Virginia St. Players at all levels are welcome. 845-1041. 

Women in Black Vigil, from noon to 1 p.m. at UC Berkeley, Bancroft at Telegraph. wibberkeley@yahoo.com 548-6310, 845-1143. 

Meditation, Peace Vigil and Dialogue, gather at noon on the grass close to the West Entrance to UC Berkeley, on Oxford St. near University Ave. People of all traditions are welcome to join us. Sponsored by the Buddhist Peace Fellowship. 655-6169. www.bpf.org 

SATURDAY, APRIL 8 

Yard Sale and Bake Sale to benefit the animals of the Berkeley Animal Shelter from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at 1257 Hopkins St. http://share4shelter.org/ 

Berkeley Path Wanderers Association walk to explore the paths and gardens of the Claremont district. Meet at 10 a.m. at the historic plaque at the northeast corner of Claremont Ave. and The Uplands. Bring water and a snack. 524-2383. www.berkeleypaths.org 

Mini-Farmers in Tilden A farm exploration program, from 10 to 11 a.m. for ages 4-6 years, accompanied by an adult. We will explore the Little Farm, care for animals, do crafts and farm chores. Wear boots and dress to get dirty! Fee is $6-$8. Registration required. 636-1684. 

Toddler Nature Walk to look for different animal habitats at 2 p.m. at Tilden Nature Center, Tilden Park. Especially for 2-3 year olds and their grown-ups. 525-2233. 

“Alternative Materials Cob and Strawbale” an introduction to two natural building materials from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Building Education Center, 812 Page St. Cost is $75. 525-7610. www.bldgeductr.org/seminars 

“Two Seas, Two Feet” with Andrew Skurka who walked the entire 7,778-mile transcontinental Sea-to-Sea Route, at noon at REI, 1338 San Pablo Ave. Free. 527-4140. 

“Dilemmas of Getting Old: How Can We Cope?” A presentation by Nina Falk at 10:30 a.m. at Berkeley co-Housing Community Room, 2220 Sacramento St. Presented by OWL, Older Women’s League. 528-3739. 

Organic Vegetable Gardening Learn how to grow your own food from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the UC Village Community Garden in Albany. Cost is $10-$15. Registration required. 548-2220, ext. 233. 

Berkeley History Center Walking Tour: “Downtown! Culture and Character Before World War II” led by Steve Finacom, from 10 a.m. to noon. Cost is $8-$10. 848-0181. www.cityofberkeley.info/histsoc 

Bird Walk on Mt. Wanda led by Park Ranger Cheryl Abel. Meet at 8:30 a.m. at the Park and Ride lot at the corner of Alhambra Ave. and Franklin Canyon Rd., Martinez. Wear sturdy shoes and bring water and binoculars. Rain cancels. 925-228-8860. 

Beyond Good Intentions Equipping the Ministries of LGBT Allies from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Episcopal seminary in Berkeley, Church Divinity School of the Pacific, 2451 Ridge Rd. Free, but registration required. 204-0720. allytraining@gmail.com  

“Menopause: A Naturaopathic Perspective” at 4 p.m. at Pharmaca, 1744 Solano Ave. 527-8929. 

Preschool Storytime for 3-5 year olds at 11 a.m. at the Albany Library, 1247 Marin Ave. 526-3720, ext. 17. 

Fasting Made Easy at 4 p.m. at Elephant Pharmacy, 1607 Shattuck Ave. 549-9200. 

Car Wash Benefit for Options Recovery Services of Berkeley, held every Sat. from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Lutheran Church, 1744 University Ave. 666-9552. 

Jewish Literature Discussion Group on “The Centaur in the Garden” by Moacyr Scliar at 2 p.m. at The Kensington Library, 61 Arlington Ave., Kensington. 524-3043. 

SUNDAY, APRIL 9 

Garden Glory A walk through the native plant butterfly garden and a chance to lend a hand pulling weeds, from 1 to 3 p.m. at Tilden Nature Center, Tilden Park. 525-2233. 

“Green Sunday” on the The Criminalization of Our Culture with Mike Wyman, Green Party Candidate for Attorney General, at 5 p.m. at Niebyl-Proctor Library, 6501 Telegraph Ave. at 65th in North Oakland. 841-8678. 

Steps for Peace: Peace Festival & Walk Around Lake Merritt Peace Social at 1 p.m., Peace Awards at 2 p.m., and Peace Walk at 3 p.m. at Lake Merritt United Methodist Church, 1330 Lakeshore Ave., Oakland. 625-0589, 336-3676. peacerising@sbcglobal.net 

California Horticultural Society’s Plant Sale, featuring thousands of unusual and rare plants and free lectures by gardening experts, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., at Lakeside Garden Center, 666 Bellevue Ave., off Grand Ave., Oakland. www.calhortsociety.org  

Red Oak Victory Ship Pancake Breakfast from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Berth #6, 1337 Canal Blvd., Richmond. Cost is $6, children under 5 free. 237-2933. 

National Women’s Political Caucus Susan B. Anthony Award will be presented to the California Nurses Association at 4 p.m. at the Montclair Women’s Cultural Arts Club, 1650 Mountain Blvd., Oakland. 549-2839. 

Free Garden Tours at Regional Parks Botanic Garden in Tilden Park Sat. and Sun. at 2 p.m. Call to confirm. 841-8732. www.nativeplants.org 

Lake Merritt Neighbors Organized for Peace Peace walk around the lake every Sun. Meet at 3 p.m. at the colonnade at the NE end of the lake. 763-8712. lmno4p.org 

Beat the Cycle of Stress at 1 p.m. at Elephant Pharmacy, 1607 Shattuck Ave. 549-9200. 

“Feminism and Religious Dialogue” with Jewish scholoar Susannah Heschel at 11 a.m., brunch at 10:30 a.m. at Congregation Beth El, 1301 Oxford St. Cost is $5. RSVP to 848-0237, ext. 132. 

Passover Family Program: Feast of Freedom at 2 p.m. at the Magnes Museum, 2911 Russell St. For reservations call 549-6950 ext. 345. 

Tibetan Buddhism with Bob Russo on “Prayer Wheels for the West” at 6 p.m. at the Tibetan Nyingma Institute, 1815 Highland Pl. 843-6812. www.nyingmainstitute.com 

MONDAY, APRIL 10 

Earthquake Day Make a house that keeps standing when the earth moves, from noon to 2 p.m. at Lawrence Hall of Science, Centennial Drive. Cost is $7.50-$9.50. 642-5132. 

“Punishment and Redemption: The Death Penalty in America” with Judith Kay and Elisabeth Semel at 4:30 p.m. in the Richard S. Dinner Boardroom, 2400 Ridge Rd. Free and open to the public, but RSVP appreciated. 649-2420. 

Annual Review of the Presidency: Second Term Troubles - President Bush Struggles with War, Natural Disasters, and Politics. Panel discussion with Michael Barone, Janet Hook, Michael Kinsley, and Nelson W. Polsby, at 7 p.m. at 155 Dwinelle Hall, UC Campus. Sponsored by the Institute of Governmental Studies. 642-9429. 

“Perspectives on Berkeley: Past and Present” Chuck Wollenberg’s Berkeley history class at 7 p.m. at the Berkeley Public Library, 2090 Kittredge St. Meets Mon. evenings through May 22. Free. 981-6150. 

Freedom From Tobacco A new series of free quit smoking classes, with the option of free hypnosis begins at 5:30 p.m. at the North Berkeley Senior Center, and runs through May 15th. To sign up call 981-5330. 

“End of Life Medical Issues” with Dr. McGillis at 10:30 a.m. at the North Berkeley Senior Center, 1901 Hearst Ave. 981-5190. 

Berkeley CopWatch organizational meeting at 8 p.m. at 2022 Blake St. Join us to work on current issues around police misconduct. Volunteers needed. For information call 548-0425. 

TUESDAY, APRIL 11 

“How Man Is Changing the Climate and What It Means for Life on Earth” at 7 p.m. at 145 Dwinelle Hall, UC Campus. 643-7008. 

“China Syndrome: SARS and Globalization” with Karl Taro Greenfeld, former editor of Time Magazine Asian edition, at 5:30 p.m. at North Gate Hall Library, Hearst at Euclid. 

“Kayaking 101” a class with Brad Bostrom at 7 p.m. at REI, 1338 San Pablo Ave. Free. 527-4140. 

Raging Grannies of the East Bay invites new folks to come join us the 2nd and 4th Tues, of each month, from 2:30 to 4:30 p.m. to sing(any voice will do), help plan our next gig, or write outrageously political lyrics to old familiar tunes, and have fun at Berkeley Gray Panthers office, 1403 Addison St., in Andronico’s mall. 548-9696. 

“Utilizing California’s Water Supply Efficiently and Effectively” with Tom Birmingham, General Manager, Westlands Water District, at 5:30 p.m. at the Goldman School of Public Policy, Room 250. Corner of Hearst and LeRoy. www.westlandswater.org 

“Ferris Bueller’s Day Off” Film showing in a benefit for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society at 9:15 p.m. at the Parkway Theater, Oakland. Tickets are $7.  

“Introduction to Judaism” Class on Tues. evenings through June 6 at Lehrhaus Judaica, 2736 Bancroft Way. Cost is $90-$100. To register call 845-6420. 

Stress Less Seminar at 6:30 p.m. at New Moon Opportunities, 378 Jayne Ave., Oakland Free, but registration required. 465-2524. 

Infant Massage at 10:30 a.m. at Elephant Pharmacy, 1607 Shattuck Ave. 549-9200. 

Tuesday Tilden Walkers Join a few slowpoke seniors at 9:30 a.m. in the parking lot near the Little Farm for an hour or two walk. 215-7672, 524-9992. 

Free Handbuilding Ceramics Class 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at St. John’s Senior Center, 2727 College Ave. Also, Mon. noon to 4 p.m. at the South Berkeley Senior Center. Materials and firing charges not included. 525-5497. 

Berkeley Camera Club meets at 7:30 p.m., at the Northbrae Community Church, 941 The Alameda. Share your digital images, slides and prints and learn what other photographers are doing. Monthly field trips. 548-3991. www.berkeleycameraclub.org 

St. John’s Prime Timers meets at 9:30 a.m. at St. John’s Presbyterian Church, 2727 College Ave. We offer ongoing classes in exercise and creative arts, and always welcome new members over 50. 845-6830. 

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 12 

Great Decisions Foreign Policy Association Lecture with Sener Akturk on “Turkey” at 10 a.m. at the Berkeley City Club, 2315 Durant Ave. Cost is $5. 526-2925. 

Native Plant Nursery Wetlands Restoration We need your help to prepare native seedlings for future plantings along The Martin Luther King, Jr. Regional Shoreline and Damon Slough. From 1 to 3 p.m. at the Martin Luther King, Jr. Regional Shoreline, Oakland. RSVP required. 452-9261 ext. 109. www.savesfbay.org  

“Arsenal of Hypocrisy” a film about the space program and the Military Industrial Complex, and “Battle for America’s Soul” at 7:30 p.m. at Humanist Hall, 390 27th St., Oakland. Donation of $5 accepted. 

Volcanoes Explore the fire beneath the earth’s crust from noon to 2 p.m. at Lawrence Hall of Science, Centennial Drive. Cost is $7.50-$9.50. 642-5132. 

“Climbing Mt. Shasta: Tips for the Novice and Expert” with Chris Carr of Shasta Mountain Guides at 7 p.m. at REI, 1338 San Pablo Ave. Free. 527-4140. 

Animal Communication at 7:30 p.m. at Elephant Pharmacy, 1607 Shattuck Ave. 549-9200. 

Poetry Writing Workshop, led by Linda Elkin, at 7 p.m. at the Albany Library ,1247 Marin Ave. 526-3720, ext. 17. 

Berkeley Communicators Toastmasters welcomes curious guests and new members at 7:15 a.m. at Au Coquelet Cafe, 2000 University Ave. at Milvia. 435-5863.  

Entrepreneurs Networking at 8 a.m. at A’Cuppa Tea, 3202 College Ave. at Alcatraz. Cost is $5. For more information contact JB, 562-9431. 

The Berkeley Lawn Bowling Club provides free instruction every Wed. and Sat. at 10:30 a.m. at 2270 Acton St. 841-2174.  

Walk Berkeley for Seniors meets every Wednesday at 9:30 a.m. at the Sea Breeze Market, just west of the I-80 overpass. Everyone is welcome, wear comfortable shoes and a warm hat. Heavy rain cancels. 548-9840. 

Fresh Produce Stand at San Pablo Park from 3 to 6:30 p.m. in the Frances Albrier Community Center. Sponsored by the Ecology Center’s Farm Fresh Choice. 848-1704. www.ecologycenter.org 

Sing your Way Home A free sing-a-long at 4:30 p.m. every Wed. at the Albany Library, 1247 Marin Ave. 526-3720.  

Stitch ‘n Bitch Bring your knitting, crocheting and other handcrafts from 6 to 9 p.m. at Caffe Trieste, 2500 San Pablo Ave. 548-5198. 

Berkeley Peace Walk and Vigil at the Berkeley BART Station, corner of Shattuck and Center. Sing for Peace at 6:30 p.m. followed by Peace Walk at 7 p.m. www.geocities.com/ 

vigil4peace/vigil 

THURSDAY, APRIL 13 

Cooking Demo and Book Signing for “GRUB: Ideas for an Urban Organic Kitchen” with essays by author Anna Lappé and menus, musical playlists, and cooking tips from chef Bryant Terry at 3:30 p.m. at Berkeley Farmer’s Market, Shattuck and Rose. In case of bad weather the event will move to Black Oak Books, 1491 Shattuck Ave. 548-3333. www.ecologycenter.org 

Richmond Southeast Shoreline Area Community Advisory Group Meeting at 6:30 p.m. at the Richmond Convention Center, Bermuda Room, 403 Civic Center Plaza at Nevin and 25th Sts. 540-3923. 

Teach-In and Vigil on U.S. Torture Policy, every Thurs. from 4:30 to 5:30 p.m. outside the classroom of Prof. John Yoo, Boalt Hall, UC Campus. Weekly speakers. Sponsored by the Buddhist Peace Fellowship and other organizations. www.bpf.org 

“Defend Science: The Attack on Scientific Thinking and What Must be Done” A panel discussion with Kevin Padian, Phil Plait and Michael G. Hadfield at 7 p.m. at 1 LeConte Hall, next to Campenile, UC Campus. 384-1816. www.defendscience.org 

Quakes and Shakes Do some heavy shaking to learn about earthquake engineering at 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. at Lawrence Hall of Science, Centennial Drive. Cost is $7.50-$9.50. 642-5132. 

American Red Cross Blood Drive from noon to 6 p.m. at East Pauley Ballroom, UC Campus. Also on Fri. To schedule an appointment call 1-800-GIVELIFE. www.BeADonor.com 

East Bay Mac User Group presentation on .Mac at 6 p.m. at Expression College for Digital Arts, 6601 Shellmound, Emeryville. http://ebmug.org 

Healthy Eating Habits Seminar at 6:30 p.m. at New Moon Opportunities, 378 Jayne St. Free, but registration required. 465-2524. 

Ask a Union Mechanic every Thursday, from 4:30 to 6 p.m., at Parker and Shattuck, until the strike is settled. They will offer advice on all makes of car. 

Historical & Current Times Book Group meets on Thursdays from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Albany Library, 1249 Marin Ave. 548-4517. 

World of Plants Tours Thurs., Sat. and Sun. at 1:30 p.m. at the UC Botanical Garden, 200 Centennial Drive. Cost is $5. 643-2755. http://botanicalgarden.berkeley.edu 

ONGOING 

Free Tax Help—United Way’s Earn it! Keep It! Save It! program provides free filing assistance to households that earned less than $38,000 in 2005. To find a free tax site near you, call 800-358-8832.  

Albany Library Free Drop-in Homework Help for students in third through fifth grades, Mon. - Thurs. from 3 to 5:30 p.m. Emphasis is placed on math and writing skills. No registration is required. 526-3720, ext. 17. 

Bringing Back the Natives Garden Tour is seeking volunteers who will spend a morning or afternoon greeting tour participants and answering questions at the free native plant garden tour, featuring sixty-four gardens located throughout Alameda and Contra Costa counties on Sunday, May 7, 2006. Volunteers can select the garden they would like to spend time at by visiting the “Preview the 2006 Gardens” section at www.BringingBackTheNatives.net 

Public Art Opportunities Request for Entries The City of Berkeley is looking for artists for the 2006 Civic Center Art Competition and Exhibition. Entries are due April 18. For details contact the Civic Arts Program, 981-7533. 

Find a Loving Animal Companion at the Berkeley-East Bay Humane Society Adoption Center (open from 11 a.m. - 7 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday). 2700 Ninth St. 845-7735. www.berkeleyhumane.org  

Medical Care for Your Pet at the Berkeley East Bay Humane Society low-cost veterinary clinic. 2700 Ninth St. For appointments call 845-3633. www.berkeleyhumane.org 

CITY MEETINGS 

Council Agenda Committee meets Mon. April 10, at 2:30 p.m., at 2180 Milvia St. 981-6900. www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/ 

citycouncil/agenda-committee 

Youth Commission meets Mon., April 10, at 6:30 p.m., at 1730 Oregon St. Philip Harper-Cotton, 981-6670. www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/commissions/youth 

TUESDAY, APRIL 4 

THEATER 

Shotgun Theater Lab: muwumpin presents “Frankie & Johnny” Mon. and Tues. to April 18 at 8 p.m. at the Ashby Stage, 1901 Ashby Ave. Tickets are $10. 841-6500.  

EXHIBITIONS 

“American Mythology: The Monstrous and the Marvelous” Works by 22 artists on the idea of the mythic, opens at 4 p.m. at the Worth Ryder Gallery, UC Campus, College and Bancroft. 

“Nude Photographic Work” by Dana Davis opens the Bade Museum, Pacific School of Religion, 1798 Scenic Ave., and runs through June 29. 

“Everyting I Know, I Learned in the Movies” Color photography by Ann P. Meredith opens at Muse Media Center, 4221 Hollis St. at Park Ave. Emeryville. 655-1111. 

FILM 

Vantage Points: New Docu- 

mentaries by Women “The Tailenders” at 7:30 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4-$8. 642-0808.  

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Kevin Phillips on “American Theocracy: Oil, Preachers, and Borrowed Money: America’s Coming Catastrophe” at 7:30 p.m. at First Congregational Church, 2345 Channing Way. Seating opens at 6:30 p.m. on a first-come, first-served basis. 

Mimi Koehl author of “Wave-Swept Shore: The Rigors of Life on a Rocky Coast,” with photographs by Anne Wertheim at 5:30 p.m. at University Press Books, 2430 Bancroft Way. 548-0585.  

Freight and Salvage Open Mic at 8 p.m. Cost is $4.50$5.50. 548-1761.  

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Bandworks with five teen and adult bands at 7:30 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $5. 525-5054. 

Ellen Hoffman and Singers’ Open Mic at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. Cost is $5. 841-JAZZ.  

PhilipsMarine Duo at 7 p.m. at Caffe Trieste, 2500 San Pablo Ave., at Dwight. 548-5198.  

Karen Blixt at 8 and 10 p.m. at Yoshi’s at Jack London Square. Cost is $6-$10. 238-9200.  

Jazzschool Tuesdays at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 848-8277. 

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 5 

THEATER 

The Marsh Berkeley “Faulty Intellegence”satirical songs by Roy Zimmerman, Wed.-Thurs. at 7 p.m. at 2118 Allston Way, through April 27. Tickets are $15-$22. www.themarsh.org 

FILM 

Film 50: History of Cinema “Au Hasard Balthazar” at 3 p.m. and Video: Recent and Strange at 7:30 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4-$8. 642-0808.  

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Berkeley Treasures “A Conversation with John Toki,” ceramic sculptor, at 7:30 p.m. at Berkeley Art Center, 1275 Walnut St. in Live Oak Park. 644-6893. 

“Creativity is a Muscle” A beginner’s guide to community-based arts with Mat Schwarzman at noon at California College of the Arts, Center for Art in Public Life, 5275 Broadway. 

“Veterans of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade” with photographer Richard Bermack at 7 p.m. at the BRJCC, 1414 Walnut St. Suggested donation $5. 848-0237. 

Theodore Roszak will speak about his book “World Beware: American Triumphalism in an Age of Terror” at 1 p.m. at the Albany Senior Center, 846 Masonic. 524-9122. 

Gary Hart looks at “God and Caesar in America: An Essay on Religion and Politcs” at 12:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books. 845-7852. 

David Edmonds introduces “Rousseau’s Dog” at 7:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books. 845-7852.  

Berkeley Poetry Slam with host Charles Ellik and Three Blind Mice, at 8:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $5-$7. 841-2082. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

The Movement Spring 2006 Showcase at 8 p.m. at Julia Morgan Center for the Arts, 2640 College Ave. Also on Thurs. Tickets are $8. 925-798-1300. 

Wednesday Noon Concert, with the Copland and Beethoven Quartets at Hertz Hall, UC Campus. Free. 642-4864.  

Whiskey Brothers Old Time and Bluegrass at 9 p.m. at Albatross, 1822 San Pablo Ave. 843-2473. www.albatrosspub.com 

Calvin Keys Trio at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. Cost is $5. 841-JAZZ.  

Ned Boynton Trio with Jules Broussard on sax, at 8 p.m. at Downtown. 649-3810.  

Edessa at 8:30 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Balkan dance lesson at 7:30 p.m. Cost is $9. 525-5054. 

3 Strikez and guests at 9 p.m. at Blakes on Telegraph. Cost is $8-$10. 848-0886.  

Neurohumors, improv, at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 848-8277. 

Sakai, neo-soul singer, at 8 and 10 p.m. at Yoshi’s at Jack London Square. Cost is $10-$14. 238-9200. 

THURSDAY, APRIL 6 

EXHIBITIONS 

“Drawn Together by Line” works on paper by Nora Pauwels, Ann Stoeher and Livia Stein, opens at Kala Art Institute, 1060 Heinz Ave. Reception at 6 p.m. 549-2977.  

“Amid Abstraction” Paintings by Mary Vaughan at Albatross, 1822 San Pablo Ave. 843-2473.  

“Masque Romance ... George to Genesse” works by visually impaired artist Genesse McGaugh. Reception at 5:30 p.m. at the Prescott-Joseph Center, 920 Peralta St., off 10th St. in West Oakland. 835-8683. 

Livia Stein Paintings and works on paper. Reception at 4 p.m. at the Joseph P. Bort MetroCenter, 101 Eighth St., Oakland. 817-5773. 

FILM 

65 Seconds that Shook the Earth Commemorating the 1906 Earthquake with works by George Kuchar, Christina McPhee, Dolissa Medina, Bill Morrison, and Semiconductor at 5:30 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. 642-0808.  

READINGS AND LECTURES.  

Leslie Freudenheim presents “Building with Nature” at 7:30 p.m. Builders Booksource, 1817 Fourth St. 845-6874. 

Jan Steckel, poet, followed by open mic at 7 p.m. at the Albany Library, 1247 Marin Ave. 526-3720. 

Jacquelyn Baas author of “Smile of the Buddha: Eastern Philosophy and Western Art from Monet to Today,” in conversation with Lawrence Rinder at 5:30 p.m. at University Press Books, 2430 Bancroft Way. 548-0585.  

Robert Barnett introduces “Lhasa: Streets with Memories” at 7:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books. 845-7852.  

Word Beat Reading Series with Alice Templeton and Christina Hutchins at 7 p.m. at Mediterraneum Caffe, 2475 Telegraph Ave. 526-5985. 

Nomad Spoken Word Night at 7 p.m. at Nomad Cafe, 6500 Shattuck Ave. 595-5344.  

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Tchaikovsky Perm Ballet and Orchestra “Swan Lake” at 8 p.m. at Zellerbach Hall, UC Campus. Tickets are $36-$68. 642-9988.  

Garnet Rogers, musical storyteller, at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $17.50-$18.50. 548-1761.  

Brian Kane Trio at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. Cost is $5. 841-JAZZ.  

The Buttless Chaps, Lane Murchison, The Porch Flies at 9:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $6. 841-2082.  

Chelle and Friends at 7:30 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. Cost is $13-$15. 849-2568.  

Sebastien Lanson & Marcus Shelby at 8 p.m. at Downtown. 649-3810.  

Subnautic, electronic jazz funk, at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 848-8277. 

Joey DeFrancesco with George Coleman at 8 and 10 p.m. at Yoshi’s at Jack London Square, through Sun. Cost is $15-$22. 238-9200.  

FRIDAY, APRIL 7 

CHILDREN 

Stage Door Conservatory Children’s Musical Theater presents “Into the Woods, Jr.” at 7:30 p.m. and Sat. and Sun. at 5 p.m. at Julia Morgan Center for the Arts, 2640 College Ave. Tickets are $15-$20 sliding scale, for adults, $10, children. 

THEATER 

Actors Ensemble of Berkeley “The Devil’s Disciple” by G.B. Shaw, Fri. and Sat. at 8 p.m. at Live Oak Theater, 1301 Shattuck Ave. at Berryman, through May 6. Tickets are $12. 649-5999. www.aeofberkeley.org 

Berkeley Rep “Culture Clash’s Zorro in Hell” at 8 p.m. in the Roda Theater. Tickets are $45-$59. Runs through April 16. 647-2949.  

Masquers Playhouse “Relative Values” by Noel Coward. Fri. and Sat. at 8 p.m. at 105 Park Place, Point Richmond, through May 6. Tickets are $15. 232-4031. www.masquers.org 

Shotgun Players “Bright Ideas” opens at 8 p.m. at the Ashby Stage, 1901 Ashby Ave. and runs Thurs.-Sun. to April 23. Tickets are $15-$30. 841-6500. www.shotgunplayers.org 

EXHIBITIONS 

“Inside Out” Detail in Dress from 1850 to the Jazz Age. Reception at 6 p.m. at Lacis Museum of Lace and Textiles, 2982 Adeline St. 843-7178. 

“Books Open, TV Off” An exhibition to promote reading. Reception at noon at Richmond Health Center, 100 38th St. (enter at 39th and Bissell), Richmond. Sponsored by ArtsChange. www.artschange.org 

“Headache New Work” Figurative sculpture and line drawings by John Casey and Lucien Shapiro. Reception at 7 p.m. at Boontling Gallery, 4224 Telegraph Ave., Oakland. www.boontlinggallery.com 

“Organics 3” Cibachrome prints by Kiyo Eshima. Reception at 6 p.m. at Fertile Grounds Café, 1796 Shattuck Ave. Through April 30. 548-1423. 

“Gigantic” A group show exporing scale, proportion, and impact in a variety of media. Reception at 7 p.m. at auto3321art gallery, 3321 Telegraph Ave., Oakland. 593- 8489. 

FILM 

65 Seconds that Shook the Earth Commemorating the 1906 Earthquake “Earthquake” at 8 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4-$8. 642-0808.  

2006 EarthDance: Short Attention Span Environmental FIlm Festival at 7 and 9 p.m., with receptions at 6 and 8 p.m at the Oakland Museum of California. Cost is $8. 238-2200. 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

J. California Cooper reads from his collection of short stories, “Wild Stars Seeking Midnight Suns”at 7:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books. 845-7852.  

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Iris Stone, violin, and Eva-Maria Zimmerman, piano, at 8 p.m. at Giorgi Gallery, 2911 Claremont Ave. Cost is $12. 848-1228.  

Chamber Music at noon at Hertz Hall, UC Campus. Free. 

“Music in the Dharma, Dharma in the Music” Songs that embody the teachings of Buddha, at 7:30 p.m. at Berkeley Buddhist Monastery, 2304 McKinely Ave. 845-2215. 

Tchaikovsky Perm Ballet “Swan Lake” at 8 p.m. at Zellerbach Hall, UC Campus. Tickets are $36-$68. 642-9988.  

Future Action Villians, Coin Operated Machine, Stereo Chromatic at 9 p.m. at Blakes on Telegraph. Cost is $8-$10. 848-0886.  

Monk’s Bones at 8 p.m. at the Jazzschool. Cost is $18. 845-5373. www.jazzschool.com 

Rami Khalife & Kinan Azmeh, Arabic, jazz, contemporary and classical music at 8 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. Cost is $15-$18. 849-2568.  

Helene Attia/Owen Davis Quintet at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island. Cost is $7. 841-JAZZ.  

Steve Lucky & The Rhumba Bums with Ms Carmen Getit at 9:30 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Swing dance lesson at 8 p.m. Cost is $11-$13. 525-5054.  

Judy Wezler, jazz, at 8 p.m. at Caffe Trieste, 2500 San Pablo Ave., at Dwight. 548-5198.  

Del Rey & Steve James, Eric & Suzy Thompson, traditional American music, at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $17.50-$18.50. 548-1761.  

Jon Steiner Trio at 9 p.m. at Downtown. 649-3810.  

Nate Cooper and Jack Irving at 7:30 p.m. at Nomad Cafe, 6500 Shattuck Ave. 595-5344.  

Oddua, Diamond Moodie, Judea Eden Band at 9 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $7. 841-2082.  

Brutal Knights, Tamora, Rabies at 8 p.m. at 924 Gilman St. Cost is $6. 525-9926. 

Shotgun Wedding Quintet, Felonious at 9:30 p.m. at Shattuck Down Low, 2284 Shattuck Ave. Cost is $5. 548-1159.  

Stolen Bibles at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 848-8277. 

Joey DeFrancesco with George Coleman at 8 and 10 p.m. at Yoshi’s at Jack London Square, through Sun. Cost is $15-$22. 238-9200.  

SATURDAY, APRIL 8 

CHILDREN 

Los Amiguitos de La Peña with Bonnie Lockhart, interactive music for children, at 10:30 a.m. at La Peña. Cost is $4 for adults, $3 for children. 849-2568.  

Stage Door Conservatory Children’s Musical Theater presents “Into the Woods, Jr.” Sat. and Sun. at 5 p.m. at Julia Morgan Center for the Arts. Tickets are $10-$20. 

EXHIBITIONS 

The Crucible Student Art Show and Open House from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. at 1260 Seventh St., at Union, Oakland. www.thecrucible.org 

Nancy Backstrom watercolor show from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sat. and Sun. at the Terrace Cafe, 5891 Broadway Terrace, at Clarewood, Oakland. 482-9602. 

FILM 

65 Seconds that Shook the Earth Commemorating the 1906 Earthquake “Disaster at Dawn” at 7 p.m. and “Flame of the Barbary Coast” at 8:45 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4-$8. 642-0808.  

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Rhythm & Muse All Open Mic at 7 p.m. at Berkeley Art Center, 1275 Walnut St., between Eunice & Rose Sts. 644-6893.  

“How Poetry Can End Global Warming, and Other Dilemmas” with Robert Aquinas McNally at the Annual Poets’ Dinner at noon at Spenger’s on Fourth St. Tickets are $25. 

Traditional Chinese Opera Lecture and demonstration with Grace Wang, Roger Lin, and Mark Kuo at 1:30 p.m. at the Berkeley Public Library, 2090 Shattuck. 981-6136. 

California Society of Printmakers annual business meeting and public program with Larissa Goldston of the Larissa Goldston Gallery in New York City, and Pam Paulson and Renee Bott, of Paulson Press in Berkeley, from noon to 3 p.m. at Berkeley Art Museum, 2626 Bancroft Way. 642-0808. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

American Bach Soloists, with soloist Mary Wilson, at 8 p.m. at First Congregational Church, 2345 Channing Way. Tickets are $18-$40. 415-621-7900.  

Tchaikovsky Perm Ballet and Orchestra “Swan Lake” at 8 p.m. at Zellerbach Hall, UC Campus. Tickets are $36-$68. 642-9988.  

African Music & Dance Ensemble at 8 p.m. in Hertz Hall, UC Campus. Tickets are $3-$10. 642-9988. 

Claudia Schmidt at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $19.50-$20.50. 548-1761.  

Larry Stefl Jazz Group at 9:30 p.m. at Albatross, 1822 San Pablo Ave. Cost is $3. 843-2473. 

Yancie Taylor Quintet at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island. Cost is $7. 841-JAZZ.  

Son De Madera at 8 p.m. at at La Peña Cultural Center. Cost is $12-$15. 849-2568.  

Gary Wade at 8 p.m. at Spuds Pizza, 3290 Adeline St. Cost is $7 per family. 558-0881. 

The Highway Robbers , The Devil's Own , The Wiggle Wagons at 10 p.m. at The Ivy Room, 858 San Pablo Ave. Cost is $7. 524-9220.  

Jai Uttal & The Pagan Love Orchestra at 9:30 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $15-$18. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

Last, Nasty Habits, Aliplast at 9 p.m. at Blakes on Telegraph. Cost is $8-$10. 848-0886.  

Dick Conte Quartet at 9 p.m. at Downtown. 649-3810.  

Evan Raymond and Splintered Tree at 7:30 p.m. at Nomad Cafe, 6500 Shattuck Ave. 595-5344.  

Tarnation, Last of the Blacksmiths, Two Sheds at 9 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $7. 841-2082.  

Hostile Takeover, Annihilation, Bad Reaction at 8 p.m. at 924 Gilman St. Cost is $7. 525-9926. 

CV1 at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 848-8277. 

SUNDAY, APRIL 9 

ARCHITECTURE TOUR 

Oakland Museum of California Tour of the building and gardens, designed by architect Kevin Roche and landscape architect Dan Kiley. Meet at 1 p.m. at the koi pond on the first level. 238-2200. 

EXHIBITIONS 

Berkeley Treasures Series 1 Opening Reception at 2 p.m. at Berkeley Art Center, 1275 Walnut St. 644-6893. 

The Crucible Student Art Show and Open House from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. at 1260 Seventh St., at Union, Oakland. www.thecrucible.org 

FILM 

65 Seconds that Shook the Earth Commemorating the 1906 Earthquake “The Night the World Exploded” at 6 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4-$8. 642-0808.  

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Laura Sims, Danielle Pafunda and Geraldine Kim, poets at 7:30 p.m. at Pegasus Books Downtown, 2349 Shattuck Ave. 649-1320. 

Joanna Fuhrman, Donna De La Pierre and Joseph Lease will read at 7:30 p.m. at Moe’s Books, 2476 Telegraph Ave. 849-2087. 

“Selections from the Collection” A gallery talk and booksigning, Peter Selz with Timothy Dresser at 2 p.m. at the Berkeley Art Museum. 642-0808.  

Poetry Flash with Phyllis Stowell and Elaine Terranova at 7:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books. Donation $2. 845-7852.  

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Tchaikovsky Perm Ballet “Swan Lake” at 3 p.m. at Zellerbach Hall, UC Campus. Tickets are $36-$68. 642-9988.  

Trio Tangria at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. Cost is $10. 841-JAZZ.  

Grupo Folklórico, Reflejos de México at 2 and 4 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. Cost is $5-$7. 849-2568.  

Bill McHenry Trio at 4:30 p.m. at the Jazzschool. Cost is $15. 845-5373. www.jazzschool.com 

Willy Porter, guitarist and songwriter, at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $17.50-$18.50. 548-1761.  

Flamenco Open Stage with Adela Clara & La Monica at 8 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $10. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

Philips Marine Duo at 11 a.m. at Nomad Cafe, 6500 Shattuck Ave. 595-5344.  

Americana Unplugged, bluegrass and oldtime music showcase, at 5 p.m. at Jupiter. 848-8277.

The Ballad Singer strikes up with the one about Mack The Knife—“Mackie Messer,” more properly—and the upside-down underworld odyssey of Brecht and Weill’s Threepenny Opera begins. 

The show runs the gamut through the stews, prisons and streetlife of a L ondon that’s really Weimar Republic Berlin (or anywhere “civilized” today) as the quarrels and antics of beggars, crooks and whores are valorized in great songs that have become the staple of cabaret. 

Virago Theatre Co.’s reprise of their sold-out run of this masterpiece of musical theater, which plays this Saturday at Alameda’s Masonic Hall, capitalizes on all these elements. 

Though staged many times, and filmed several—with roles originated or taken up by performers ranging from Weill’s wife Lotte Len ya and Peter Lorre, to Raul Julia and Sammy Davis, Jr.—most people are familiar with at least a song or two, rather than the full-dress version. And Virago’s production takes it up from here with staging that has the flexibility of cabaret. 

“The actors e ngage with the audience,” said Virago’s Artistic Director Laura Lundy-Paine, who staged the show. “Mack The Knife will take a seat next to a spectator, glance at their program, even blow them a kiss. The songs are directed to the audience, and the ensembl e performs the action around it. 

We’ve done everything, too, to make this performance one of today’s world—no accents, no historical settings. When Peachum, the head of the beggars union, derides Mack The Knife for being a crook while Peachum’s a business man, when one character offhandedly orders another to die—these are the lawless struggles among the powerful in any city, anywhere, any time in history.” 

Virago’s production is mounted with a pocket orchestra of three (piano, accordion and drums) and a c ast of nine, most of whom act multiple roles. 

“It’s fun to watch spectators flip through their programs to identify a tough gangmember that just came onstage,” laughed Lundy-Paine, “when they just saw the same actor singing demurely, quite a lady!” 

Ther e’s been a spate of Brecht revivals over the past year or so, the first time since the ‘60s and ‘70s that as much interest has been shown to the socially-conscious playwright, who endeavored to found a form of theater on a new way of getting the message a cross. 

Threepenny Opera, his most popular work (and one of a handful of works he did with composer Weill), both charms and scalds the audience, its easy air of skepticism a model for the cynical pose of later representations of pre-World War II Weimar Be rlin, like Caberet. 

Based on John Gay’s 18th century ballad drama, The Beggar’s Opera, this masterpiece has the timeless air of its predecessor—a satiric touch for the sacred cows of polite society, an ageless entertainment that delivers its message with a crooked smile. 

Virago Theatre presents Threepenny Opera at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, April 8 at Masonic Hall, 2312 Alameda Ave., Alemeda. $17; students $10. For more information, call 865-6237 or see www.viragotheatre.org. 

Photo by: Philip Kaake 

Virago Theatre’s Cynthia Rogers Baggot, Michelle Mills, Anthony Abate and Eileen Meredith perform Threepenny Opera in Alameda this Saturday.

“How much do I love my child?” The question is repeated over and over like a mantra in Eric Coble’s Bright Ideas, a comedy that “combines Macbeth, pesto and murder,” now running in Shotgun Players’ production at the Ashby Stage. 

Joshua (Ben Ortega) and Genevra (Anna Ishida) are ambitious young parents, but haunted by their memories of a hard-scrabble upbringing and put off by the more middle-class couples they find themselves competing with at work and with the jockeying to get their three-year old into a prestigious preschool. 

Finding out her colleague Denise (Melanie Case) has placed her son at the prestigious Bright Ideas, where Genevra and Josh’s little boy’s on the waiting list, through a well-placed family donation to the school’s aquatic center, Genevra invites divorcee Denise over to dinner. Dinner develops into a culinary conspiracy to “whack” the mom of their little boy’s competitor, sending the orphan back to grandparents and freeing their wait-listed preschooler “to matriculate among the pros,” as poet Lew Welch once dubbed his (higher) educational opportunities.  

Spurred on by her husband, who needles her with an inverted “what kind of mother are you?” argument, Genevra prepares a killer pasta pesto. Among the many comic gestures in the show, the couple’s green-stained hands brandished over their Cuisine-Art with ghastly, appalled expressions—between sprints to the living room by Josh to “entertain” their unsuspecting guest and back to the kitchen to escape her advances—bring some faux-melodramatic theatrical parody to the glib, amusing gags of Coble’s script. 

Bright Ideas is a kind of Macbeth of the dotcoms, its atrocities appropriately escalating with a role-reversal: Josh, so hot on doing the deadly deed to ensure their son’s future, seems hit by the consequences, sliding into alcoholism and self-pity, while Genevra’s now flush with ambition, after quailing at dispatching her perceived rival mother. She becomes the meglomaniacal soccer mom of the preschool, organizing field trips that exhaust the kids, spurring competition among the other parents that amounts to blood-sport—and threatening staff and administrators with invitations to dinner. 

This tournament of parenting finally peaks with a showdown at a balloon-strewn fourth birthday party, complete with a song-and-dance beaver.  

Director Mary Guzman notes that “the possibilities of staging” were a plus that made her want to take on Bright Ideas for Shotgun, and she has taken every opening the script’s offered to block out a brisk, funny comedy of gestures, expressions and quick interplay between cast members. 

The cast of five contribute everything to this development of humorous expression, asides, touches, with all but the leads serving multiple duty in a range of roles: anxious parents, self-absorbed coaches, loopy teachers and administrators, even exasperated flight attendants. A couple of the players have considerable experience in improv comedy, and it shows, as the vignettes break down into sketches, one overlapping with the next. 

Bright Ideas is billed as black humor, by an author of “biting political and societal farce.” The play did well in New York, and is more the neo-”New Yorker” type of humor—off-handed gags ricocheting off a topical theme, in this case yuppies or dotcoms. It doesn’t have the explosive surprise, the over-the-top excessiveness of comedie noire. Few sacred cows are punched, much less sacrificed; at one point, Lynzie (Rami Magron), the pregnant mom, even lectures Genevra with a “have you hugged your kid today?” kind of harangue, as if the audience hadn’t gotten the point of all the wannabe super-parental shenanigans. 

The most interesting point in the staging remains undeveloped: the play is all adults, reacting with goo-goo eyes and cameras to children never seen or heard. A parent-teacher conference on the garishly orange set is carried out on wee plastic chairs, to show the parents the kids’ point-of-view. 

More of this contrast between the two worlds that look up and down at each other, with trust, expectation, hope and longing, would have served up a real comedy, one with an inherent message in the style of playing, instead of a well-performed fashionable treat, a series of pot-shots at easy targets. 

Shotgun Players presents Bright Ideas at 8 p.m. Thursday-Sunday through April 23 at the Ashby Stage, 1901 Ashby Ave. $15.  

For more information, call 841-6500 or see www.shotgunplayers.org. 

There sure are some funny-looking trees in this town. Some of them are the results of whimsical pruning—there’s a big cedar in my general neighborhood, a traffic accident in waiting because I can’t be the only person who reflexively eases up on the gas p edal to stare when passing it. 

It’s completely sheared into poodle balls, little bluish pompoms, shaggy in some seasons, on the ends of long bare upcurved branches. It’s been maintained that way for years, and it’s tall enough that this must take a ladder and lots of labor.  

Some poodle-balled trees (yes arborists really call them that, and it’s not something a veterinarian can fix) seem to be a sort of Japanese-style pruning gone off in odd directions. Classical Japanese pruning includes some shearing, especially of shrubs, into the smooth-contoured “cloud form.” 

Here, I’m not sure whether someone liked the look and applied it to any old species, or lots of people didn’t quite get it and sheared things into shapes that reminded them vaguely of what th ey’d seen in Japan, or in picture books.  

You see lots of junipers done up into green pads on racks, and they’re tough enough to take it. But a Japanese maple I knew had been sheared into a perfect globe. I started a long reshaping process; when I took m y first whacks at it, I found lots of dead twigs and branches, deprived of light and air circulation inside that mass. Lots of plant-eating bugs, too, and mildewed leaves. 

There are species—mostly shrubs like boxwood but a few trees like Syzygium panicul atum (eugenia or lilly pilly)—that tolerate shearing, so they’re used for topiary. There’s a eugenia in San Lorenzo shaped into a sort of bas-relief kangaroo, against a house wall, and I’m told there’s a lot of it done up as topiary in Disneyland. 

Another technique that turns out weird-looking trees is pollarding. Some of the planetrees on the UC campus, for example the rows just inside Sather Gate, are pollarded. Planetrees and sycamores in general seem not to mind this, and if it’s done right it doesn’t hurt the tree. (Why am I hearing Marlon Perkins reassuring the TV audience that “this does not hurt the animal” as someone lassoes a hapless antelope?)  

The tree has to be cut repeatedly to exactly the same point, until it forms those odd knobs you see all winter. Then the twigs that shoot out of those knobs must be cut off every fall, and the knobs mustn’t be cut off or into. It’s originally a technique for harvesting firewood while keeping the trees alive, but it turned into a sort of French-aestheti c tradition. It’s also good for fruitless mulberries in hot-summer places where you want summer-only shade.  

Another source of funny trees is PG&E pruning. This is perfectly utilitarian, so to speak—solely for the purpose of keeping utility lines up wher e they belong. It’s merciless to the trees involved, but believe it or not it used to be worse. Sort of.  

Line-clearing pruning crews used to just top a tree—whack it off bluntly, a procedure that usually, gradually, kills the tree. Now, since Alex Shigo introduced his studies to arboriculture, they instead cut limbs down to the place they sprouted off bigger limbs. They call this “drop-crotching.” It’ll still probably kill the tree, but more slowly, and urban trees generally aren’t that long-lived anywa y.  

What you see after this is a Y-shaped tree, another silly shape but one that coaxes the tree to grow away from the lines that run through its middle rather than sending a zillion sprouts straight up into those lines in a year or two.  

A reader asked me if that was a result of trees’ being sensitive to electromagnetic frequencies. You might think so, looking at the trees, but, what being sensitive to EMFs means is that their foliage turn brown foot or two from the line. Those awkward trees you’re seeing are results of line-clearing; they didn’t do that all by themselves.  

Lots of arborists and even PG&E urge people to choose smaller trees to plant under city powerlines in the first place, so they won’t have this problem when the tree reaches mature size. Good idea.  

Photo by Ron Sullivan  

A good example of PG&E pruning: a sycamore "dropcrotched" into a big "Y" shape to clear powerlines above it.›

TUESDAY, APRIL 4 

“Rafting the Colorado” A photo journey with Steve Miller at 7 p.m. at REI, 1338 San Pablo Ave. Free. 527-4140. 

“American Theocracy: Oil, Preachers, and Borrowed Money: America’s Coming Catastrophe” with author Kevin Phillips at 7:30 p.m. at First Congregational Church, 2345 Channing Way.  

NCRA Recycling Update The Northern California Recycling Association’s eleventh annual Recycling Update with experts on what is happening and what works in the world of resource recovery. From 8:45 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at the California State Office Bldg.,1515 Clay St., Oakland. Cost is $80, includes lunch and refreshments. 217-2433. www.ncrarecycles.org 

Discussion Salon on “Taxes and Investing” at 7 p.m. at the BRJCC, 1414 Walnut St. at Rose. Please bring snacks to share, no peanuts please. 

Stress Less Seminar at 6:30 p.m. at New Moon Opportunities, 378 Jayne Ave., Oakland Free, but registration required. 465-2524. 

Free Guitar and Music Lessons for Teachers Beginners at 7 p.m. and Intermediate at 8 p.m. at Marin Elementary School, 1001 Santa Fe Ave., Albany. Sponsored by Guitars in the Classroom. 848-9463. 

Family Story Time at 7 p.m. at the Kensington Branch Library, 61 Arlington Ave., Kensington. Free, all ages welcome. 524-3043. 

Tuesday Tilden Walkers Join a few slowpoke seniors at 9:30 a.m. in the parking lot near the Little Farm for an hour or two walk. 215-7672, 524-9992. 

Free Handbuilding Ceramics Class 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at St. John’s Senior Center, 2727 College Ave. Also, Mon. noon to 4 p.m. at the South Berkeley Senior Center. Materials and firing charges not included. 525-5497. 

Berkeley Camera Club meets at 7:30 p.m., at the Northbrae Community Church, 941 The Alameda. Share your digital images, slides and prints and learn what other photographers are doing. Monthly field trips. 548-3991. www.berkeleycameraclub.org 

St. John’s Prime Timers meets at 9:30 a.m. at St. John’s Presbyterian Church, 2727 College Ave. We offer ongoing classes in exercise and creative arts, and always welcome new members over 50. 845-6830. 

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 5 

Berkeley Path Wanderers Association walk to explore the churches of North Berkeley. Meet at 10 a.m. at the large redwood in front of Live Oak Park Theater, 1301 Shattuck at Berryman. Bring water and a snack. 524-2383. www.berkeleypaths.org 

$390 Million Bond Measure for Peralta Community College District with Tom Smith, Chief Financial Officer for the Peralta Community College at 12:30 p.m. at the Albany Library, 1247 Marin Ave. Sponsored by the League of Women Voters. http://lwvbae.org 

Great Decisions Foreign Policy Association Lecture with Darren Zook on “China and India” at 10 a.m. at the Berkeley City Club, 2315 Durant Ave. Cost is $40 for the eight lecture series. 526-2925. 

Chiapas Support Committee Report from Zapatista Territory at 7:30 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. Cost is $5-$15 sliding scale. 849-2568.  

“What I Have Learned About U.S. Foreign Policy: War Against the Third World” A compilation of documentaries about CIA covert operations at 7:30 p.m. at Humanist Hall, 390 27th St., Oakland. Donation of $5 accepted. 

“Who Wants to Be a Mathematician?” A competition for the smartest Bay Area math students, semi-finals at 11 a.m. finals at noon atSimons Auditorium in Chern Hall at MSRI in Berkeley. www.msri.org 

American Red Cross Blood Drive from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Publisher’s Group West, 1700 Fourth St. To schedule an appointment call 1-800-GIVELIFE. www.BeADonor.com 

“The Spanish Civil War—the First Battle in the War of Globalization” with Richard Bermack at 7 p.m. at Berkeley Richmond Jewish Community Center, 1414 Walnut St. 848-0237. www.brjcc.org 

Bookmark Nonfiction Group meets to discuss George Lakoff’s “Don’t Think of an Elephant” at 6:30 p.m. at Bookmark Bookstore, 721 Washington St., Oakland. 444-0473. 

“Awaken Your Strongest Self” with Neil Fiore, psychologist and hypnotist at 5 p.m. at Pharmaca, 1744 Solano Ave. 527-8929. 

Breema Open House at 6 p.m. at 6201 Florio St., Oakland. 428-1234. www.breema.com 

The Berkeley Lawn Bowling Club provides free instruction every Wed. and Sat. at 10:30 a.m. at 2270 Acton St. 841-2174.  

Walk Berkeley for Seniors meets every Wednesday at 9:30 a.m. at the Sea Breeze Market, just west of the I-80 overpass. Everyone is welcome, wear comfortable shoes and a warm hat. 548-9840. 

Sing your Way Home A free sing-a-long at 4:30 p.m. every Wed. at the Albany Library, 1247 Marin Ave. 526-3720.  

Fresh Produce Stand at San Pablo Park from 3 to 6:30 p.m. in the Frances Albrier Community Center. Sponsored by the Ecology Center’s Farm Fresh Choice. 848-1704. www.ecologycenter.org 

Stitch ‘n Bitch Bring your knitting, crocheting and other handcrafts from 6 to 9 p.m. at Caffe Trieste, 2500 San Pablo Ave. 548-5198. 

Berkeley Peace Walk and Vigil at 6:30 p.m. at the Berkeley BART Station, corner of Shattuck and Center. www.geocities. 

com/vigil4peace/vigil 

THURSDAY, APRIL 6 

Teach-In and Vigil on U.S. Torture Policy, every Thurs. from 4:30 to 5:30 p.m. outside the classroom of Prof. John Yoo, Boalt Hall, UC Campus. Weekly speakers. Sponsored by the Buddhist Peace Fellowship and other organizations. www.bpf.org 

“Sir, No Sir!” A preview screening benefit for Iraq Veterans Against the War, at 7 p.m. at Grand Lake Theater, 3200 Grand Lake Ave. Tickets are $8-$10. 415-255-7296, ext. 244. 

“Building with Nature” with Leslie Freudenheim at 7:30 p.m. at Builders Booksource, 1817 Fourth St. 845-6874. 

Historical & Current Times Book Group meets on Thursdays from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Albany Library, 1249 Marin Ave. 548-4517. 

“Model Citizen Canine” A lecture on teaching your dog good behavior at 7:30 p.m. at Borders Books in Emeryville. 644-0729. www.openpaw.org 

Natural Solutions for Digestion at 1 p.m. at Elephant Pharmacy, 1607 Shattuck Ave. 549-9200. 

Healthy Eating Habits Seminar at 6:30 p.m. at New Moon Opportunities, 378 Jayne St. Free, but registration required. 465-2524. 

World of Plants Tours Thurs., Sat. and Sun. at 1:30 p.m. at the UC Botanical Garden, 200 Centennial Drive. Cost is $5. 643-2755. http://botanicalgarden.berkeley.edu 

FRIDAY, APRIL 7 

City Commons Club Noon Luncheon with Bernice Linnard & Dennis Kuby on “Why Shakespeare Matters” Luncheon at 11:45 a.m. for $13.50, speech at 12:30 p.m., at the Berkeley City Club, 2315 Durant St. 526-2925. 

Inspiration Point Walk Meet at 4 p.m. in the Inspiration Point parking lot for this walk with stunning views. Walk at your own pace. Rain cancels. Sponsored by Solo Sierrans. 925-376-4529. 

Poison Safety Day at 11 a.m. at Habitot Children’s Museum, 2065 Kittredge St. 647-1111. www.habitot.org  

“To Bethlehem and Beyond” A report-back with Jim Haber at 7:30 p.m. at St. Joseph the Worker Church, 2125 Jefferson St. 482-1062. 

Fundraiser for Sacred Ride to Albuquerque to promote green energy in the Native community at 7 p.m. at Fellowship Hall, Cedar and Bonita. Cost is $10. zacharyrunningwolf@yahoo.com 

American Red Cross Blood Drive from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at MLK Student Union, 5th Floor, UC Campus. To schedule an appointment call 1-800-GIVELIFE. www.BeADonor.com 

Berkeley Chess School classes for students in grades 1-8 from 5:30 to 7 p.m. A drop-in, rated scholastic tournament follows from 7 to 8 p.m. at 1581 LeRoy Ave., Room 17. 843-0150. 

Berkeley Chess Club meets Fridays at 8 p.m. at the East Bay Chess Club, 1940 Virginia St. Players at all levels are welcome. 845-1041. 

Women in Black Vigil, from noon to 1 p.m. at UC Berkeley, Bancroft at Telegraph. wibberkeley@yahoo.com 548-6310, 845-1143. 

Meditation, Peace Vigil and Dialogue, gather at noon on the grass close to the West Entrance to UC Berkeley, on Oxford St. near University Ave. People of all traditions are welcome to join us. Sponsored by the Buddhist Peace Fellowship. 655-6169. www.bpf.org 

SATURDAY, APRIL 8 

Yard Sale and Bake Sale to benefit the animals of the Berkeley Animal Shelter from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at 1257 Hopkins St. http://share4shelter.org/ 

Berkeley Path Wanderers Association walk to explore the paths and gardens of the Claremont district. Meet at 10 a.m. at the historic plaque at the northeast corner of Claremont Ave. and The Uplands. Bring water and a snack. 524-2383. www.berkeleypaths.org 

Mini-Farmers in Tilden A farm exploration program, from 10 to 11 a.m. for ages 4-6 years, accompanied by an adult. We will explore the Little Farm, care for animals, do crafts and farm chores. Wear boots and dress to get dirty! Fee is $6-$8. Registration required. 636-1684. 

Toddler Nature Walk to look for different animal habitats at 2 p.m. at Tilden Nature Center, Tilden Park. Especially for 2-3 year olds and their grown-ups. 525-2233. 

“Alternative Materials Cob and Strawbale” an introduction to two natural building materials from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Building Education Center, 812 Page St. Cost is $75. 525-7610. www.bldgeductr.org/seminars 

“Two Seas, Two Feet” with Andrew Skurka who walked the entire 7,778-mile transcontinental Sea-to-Sea Route, at noon at REI, 1338 San Pablo Ave. Free. 527-4140. 

“Dilemmas of Getting Old: How Can We Cope?” A presentation by Nina Falk at 10:30 a.m. at Berkeley co-Housing Community Room, 2220 Sacramento St. Presented by OWL, Older Women’s League. 528-3739. 

Organic Vegetable Gardening Learn how to grow your own food from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the UC Village Community Garden in Albany. Cost is $10-$15. Registration required. 548-2220, ext. 233. 

Berkeley History Center Walking Tour: “Downtown! Culture and Character Before World War II” led by Steve Finacom, from 10 a.m. to noon. Cost is $8-$10. 848-0181. www.cityofberkeley.info/histsoc 

Bird Walk on Mt. Wanda led by Park Ranger Cheryl Abel. Meet at 8:30 a.m. at the Park and Ride lot at the corner of Alhambra Ave. and Franklin Canyon Rd., Martinez. Wear sturdy shoes and bring water and binoculars. Rain cancels. 925-228-8860. 

Beyond Good Intentions Equipping the Ministries of LGBT Allies from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Episcopal seminary in Berkeley, Church Divinity School of the Pacific, 2451 Ridge Rd. Free, but registration required. 204-0720. allytraining@gmail.com  

“Menopause: A Naturaopathic Perspective” at 4 p.m. at Pharmaca, 1744 Solano Ave. 527-8929. 

Preschool Storytime for 3-5 year olds at 11 a.m. at the Albany Library, 1247 Marin Ave. 526-3720, ext. 17. 

Fasting Made Easy at 4 p.m. at Elephant Pharmacy, 1607 Shattuck Ave. 549-9200. 

Car Wash Benefit for Options Recovery Services of Berkeley, held every Sat. from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Lutheran Church, 1744 University Ave. 666-9552. 

Jewish Literature Discussion Group on “The Centaur in the Garden” by Moacyr Scliar at 2 p.m. at The Kensington Library, 61 Arlington Ave., Kensington. 524-3043. 

SUNDAY, APRIL 9 

Garden Glory A walk through the native plant butterfly garden and a chance to lend a hand pulling weeds, from 1 to 3 p.m. at Tilden Nature Center, Tilden Park. 525-2233. 

“Green Sunday” on the The Criminalization of Our Culture with Mike Wyman, Green Party Candidate for Attorney General, at 5 p.m. at Niebyl-Proctor Library, 6501 Telegraph Ave. at 65th in North Oakland. 841-8678. 

Steps for Peace: Peace Festival & Walk Around Lake Merritt Peace Social at 1 p.m., Peace Awqards at 2 p.m., and Peace WAlk at 3 p.m. at Lake Merritt United Methodist Church, 1330 Lakeshore Ave., Oakland. 336-3676. pearising@sbcglobal.net 

California Horticultural Society’s Plant Sale, featuring thousands of unusual and rare plants and free lectures by gardening experts, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., at Lakeside Garden Center, 666 Bellevue Ave., off Grand Ave., Oakland. www.calhortsociety.org  

Red Oak Victory Ship Pancake Breakfast from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Berth #6, 1337 Canal Blvd., Richmond. Cost is $6, children under 5 free. 237-2933. 

National Women’s Political Caucus Susan B. Anthony Award will be presented to the California Nurses Association at 4 p.m. at the Montclair Women’s Cultural Arts Club, 1650 Mountain Blvd., Oakland. 549-2839. 

Free Garden Tours at Regional Parks Botanic Garden in Tilden Park Sat. and Sun. at 2 p.m. Call to confirm. 841-8732. www.nativeplants.org 

Lake Merritt Neighbors Organized for Peace Peace walk around the lake every Sun. Meet at 3 p.m. at the colonnade at the NE end of the lake. 763-8712. lmno4p.org 

Beat the Cycle of Stress at 1 p.m. at Elephant Pharmacy, 1607 Shattuck Ave. 549-9200. 

“Feminism and Religious Dialogue” with Jewish scholoar Susannah Heschel at 11 a.m., brunch at 10:30 a.m. at Congregation Beth El, 1301 Oxford St. Cost is $5. RSVP to 848-0237, ext. 132. 

Tibetan Buddhism with Bob Russo on “Prayer Wheels for the West” at 6 p.m. at the Tibetan Nyingma Institute, 1815 Highland Pl. 843-6812. www.nyingmainstitute.com 

MONDAY, APRIL 10 

Earthquake Day Make a house that keeps standing when the earth moves, from noon to 2 p.m. at Lawrence Hall of Science, Centennial Drive. Cost is $7.50-$9.50. 642-5132. 

“Punishment and Redemption: The Death Penalty in America” with Judith Kay and Elisabeth Semel at 4:30 p.m. in the Richard S. Dinner Boardroom, 2400 Ridge Rd. Free and open to the public, but RSVP appreciated. 649-2420. 

“Perspectives on Berkeley: Past and Present” Chuck Wollenberg’s Berkeley history class at 7 p.m. at the Berkeley Public Library, 2090 Kittredge St. Meets Mon. evenings through May 22. Free. 981-6150. 

Freedom From Tobacco A new series of free quit smoking classes, with the option of free hypnosis begins at 5:30 p.m. at the North Berkeley Senior Center, and runs through May 15th. To sign up call 981-5330. 

“End of Life Medical Issues” with Dr. McGillis at 10:30 a.m. at the North Berkeley Senior Center, 1901 Hearst Ave. 981-5190. 

Berkeley CopWatch organizational meeting at 8 p.m. at 2022 Blake St. Join us to work on current issues around police misconduct. Volunteers needed. For information call 548-0425. 

ONGOING 

Free Tax Help—United Way’s Earn it! Keep It! Save It! program provides free filing assistance to households that earned less than $38,000 in 2005. To find a free tax site near you, call 800-358-8832.  

Albany Library Free Drop-in Homework Help for students in third through fifth grades, Mon. - Thurs. from 3 to 5:30 p.m. Emphasis is placed on math and writing skills. No registration is required. 526-3720, ext. 17. 

Bringing Back the Natives Garden Tour is seeking volunteers who will spend a morning or afternoon greeting tour participants and answering questions at the free native plant garden tour, featuring sixty-four gardens located throughout Alameda and Contra Costa counties on Sunday, May 7, 2006. Volunteers can select the garden they would like to spend time at by visiting the “Preview the 2006 Gardens” section at www.BringingBackTheNatives.net 

Public Art Opportunities Request for Entries The City of Berkeley is looking for artists for the 2006 Civic Center Art Competition and Exhibition. Entries are due April 18. For details contact the Civic Arts Program, 981-7533. 

Find a Loving Animal Companion at the Berkeley-East Bay Humane Society Adoption Center (open from 11 a.m. - 7 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday). 2700 Ninth St. 845-7735. www.berkeleyhumane.org  

Medical Care for Your Pet at the Berkeley East Bay Humane Society low-cost veterinary clinic. 2700 Ninth St. For appointments call 845-3633. www.berkeleyhumane.org 

CITY MEETINGS 

Commission on the Status of Women meets Wed., April 5, at 7:30 p.m., at the North Berkeley Senior Center. Tasha Tervelon, 981-5190. www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/commissions/women 

School Board meets Wed. April 5 at 7:30 p.m., in the City Council Chambers. Queen Graham 644-6147 or Mark Coplan 644-6320. 

Planning Commission meets Wed., April 5, at 7 p.m., at the North Berkeley Senior Center. Janet Homrighausen, 981-7484. www.ci.berkeley. ca.us/commissions/planning 

Housing Advisory Commission meets Thurs., April 6, at 7:30 p.m., at the South Berkeley Senior Center. Oscar Sung, 981-5400. www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/commissions/housing 

Landmarks Preservation Commission meets Thurs. April 6, at 7:30 p.m., at the North Berkeley Senior Center. Gisele Sorensen, 981-7419. www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/commissions/landmarks 

Public Works Commission meets Thurs., April 6, at 7 p.m., at the North Berkeley Senior Center. Jeff Egeberg, 981-6406. www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/commissions/publicworks 

Zoning Adjustments Board meets Thurs., April 6, at 7 p.m., in City Council Chambers. Mark Rhoades, 981-7410. www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/commissions/zoning   

Council Agenda Committee meets Mon. April 10, at 2:30 p.m., at 2180 Milvia St. 981-6900. www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/ 

citycouncil/agenda-committee 

Youth Commission meets Mon., April 10, at 6:30 p.m., at 1730 Oregon St. Philip Harper-Cotton, 981-6670. www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/commissions/youth