News

Hundreds of demonstrators flocked to Sproul Plaza at UC Berkeley Monday to protest proposed federal immigration reform and to shore up support for immigrant rights. -more-

With South Berkeley residents complaining of threats against their lives following an appeal hearing in their Small Claims Court “drug house” lawsuit last week, questions are again being raised as to whether such lawsuits should be handled by city officials rather than by neighbors. -more-

After two years of labor strife between employees and Library Director Jackie Griffin—and growing discontent with the director from a citizen’s group—Berkeley’s Board of Library Trustees met Saturday behind closed doors to discuss possible litigation threatened by the library director’s attorney, were she to be terminated. -more-

Proposed development on San Pablo Avenue described by one resident as resembling “someone who squeezed into a pair of pants two sizes too small and is bursting at the seams” was narrowly granted a use permit by the Zoning Adjustments Board Thursday. -more-

Cheryl Chinn received a special delivery Friday: a Tupperware filled to the brim with an oily, murky liquid, and an accompanying note handwritten in marker. -more-

The battle between a developer and neighborhood preservationists in the city’s Sisterna Tract Historic District continues, in part because city staff failed to date a key document. -more-

City landmarks commissioners took up matters concerning construction at UC Berkeley twice Thursday night—once as a pitch about a massive new project at and around Memorial Staduim and again to set a hearing on landmarking the Bevatron. -more-

A crowd gathered Thursday on Bancroft Way outside UC Berkeley’s Boalt Hall School of Law to denounce the United States’ role in torture, the centralization of federal power in the executive branch and Boalt Hall Professor John Yoo, the man protesters condemn as the author of these policies. -more-

Responding to Mayor Tom Bates’s proposal to weaken the city’s landmarks ordinance, Berkeley preservationists say they’ll be taking the issue to the voters. -more-

EDITOR’S NOTE: This is the first in a series of interviews with local elected officials. -more-

Eye check-ups topped the list of “to-do things” for homeless kids attending Berkeley’s “Youth Connect” event at the Youth Emergency Assistance Hostel (YEAH!) on April 3. -more-

Carjacked -more-

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. -more-

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. -more-

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. -more-

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. -more-

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. -more-

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

In Berkeley, when it rains, it floods. -more-

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. -more-

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. -more-

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

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. -more-

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). ` -more-

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. -more-

Assaulted -more-