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Photograph by Judith Scherr: Berkeley Police Chief Douglas Hambleton shows the Police Review Commission how Sgt. Cary Kent tampered with drug evidence envelopes, through the bottom.
Photograph by Judith Scherr: Berkeley Police Chief Douglas Hambleton shows the Police Review Commission how Sgt. Cary Kent tampered with drug evidence envelopes, through the bottom.
 

News

Police Chief Details How Cop Stole Drugs

By Judith Scherr
Friday April 28, 2006

While Berkeley Police Chief Doug Hambleton called Sgt. Cary Kent’s drug evidence theft “a profound violation of public trust,” in an oral report he gave to the Police Review Commission Wednesday, the chief’s accounting left some commissioners and audience members still searching for answers. 

Hambleton’s summary, presented to six commissioners and some 20 audience members—mostly Berkeley Copwatch supporters—began with an explanation of why it took several months for officers to recognize Kent’s problem.  

In the fall, colleagues noticed the 18-year veteran, “someone all trusted,” appeared in poor health. “What police observed was consistent with a medical condition,” Hambleton said. 

At the end of November the department scheduled a medical exam for Kent, who came late to the appointment, rescheduled, finally saw the doctor, but refused blood tests at the time because, Hambleton explained, “he said he was too weak to fast,” a prerequisite for the tests. 

Scheduled to transfer out of the narcotics division, Kent said he wanted to move ahead with the drug destruction process—preparing to destroy drug evidence no longer needed to convict suspects—something that “had not been done for several years,” Hambleton said. 

“Because of some of the behavior exhibited, I decided I needed to do a full audit [of the drug evidence room],” Hambleton said. He had three officers check the evidence, an audit he admitted had never been done before.  

Generally an evidence room audit consists of looking at files to make sure all envelopes are accounted for. “I believe we have never examined every envelope to that degree of scrutiny,” Hambleton said. 

The officers found about 25 envelopes opened and resealed, with evidence missing, sometimes replaced by other substances. 

Copwatch and others have raised the question of whether other officers—four others had access to the evidence room—tampered with evidence in addition to Kent. Andrea Prichett of Copwatch has filed a formal complaint with the PRC asking for an investigation of the other officers.  

“Their access to evidence was fairly limited,” Hambleton said in his report. “They’d go in and out only if [Kent] wasn’t available.” 

Once the officers uncovered the tampering with the initial 25 envelopes, Hambleton said he placed Kent on administrative leave, which some days later, at Kent’s request, was changed to medical leave. 

Hambleton secured the evidence and discussed the situation with District Attorney Tom Orloff and most the other local police chiefs, as there happened to be a police chief’s conference the following Monday, Jan. 9. 

“There was every police chief in Alameda County. I discussed (the case) with everybody in the room,” he said. 

Based on their advice, Hambleton set up a joint BPD-Alameda County District Attorney investigation. 

It took “weeks,” Hambleton said, to examine the narcotics envelopes and determine that 181 among them had been tampered with. Many envelopes were examined by the crime lab, which determined that Kent’s fingerprints were inside the envelopes where they would have appeared only if he had tampered with them. 

Among the 181 envelopes, some involved evidence for cases that had been closed, some had been prepared for sale by undercover narcotics agents, and three involved pending cases. In two of these cases, the individuals pleaded guilty to unrelated charges and in one case getting ready to go to trial, the district attorney dropped all charges, Hambleton said. 

Meanwhile other evidence against Kent was growing. 

“We knew from his cell phone records that he was in touch with an informant,” Hambleton said. “That informant said Sgt. Kent had been meeting him and purchasing methadone pills.” 

Also, a person was arrested who told officers he had been “meeting with Sgt. Kent and Kent had been purchasing heroin from him,” the chief said. 

At this point, Kent “was well aware of his legal jeopardy,” Hambleton said. He declined to come in for a criminal interview. 

“His attorney told us fairly early on that he was unavailable because he was receiving medical treatment,” which a doctor’s letter confirmed. “It did not say the nature of the treatment—we can all speculate,” Hambleton said. 

Subsequently, Hambleton asked Kent to come to an administrative interview. An officer can refuse a criminal interview, but is obligated to respond to an administrative interview. Rather than be interviewed, Kent resigned and retired. 

“I can’t stop someone from quitting and retiring,” Hambleton said. “At that point I had no more jurisdiction over him.” 

On April 14, Kent turned himself in, was booked at Santa Rita jail, released on his own recognizance and pleaded guilty to charges of grand theft, possession of heroin and possession of methamphetamine.  

Commissioners and the public questioned the chief after his report. Commissioner William White wanted to know, given the stressful nature of a police officer’s job, how the department proactively addresses stress. 

Hambleton said that during the annual physical, exam alcoholism sometimes shows up. He also monitors complaints against officers—both sustained and not. These officers might be referred to the confidential counseling sessions offered to all city employees, peer counseling or counseling through the city’s mobile counseling team. 

“I plan to strengthen the peer counseling program,” Hambleton said. 

Commissioner Michael Sherman wanted to know if the police had to face drug testing and the chief answered that, like the rest of the city employees, they did not.  

Prichett suggested to the chief that, since Kent was not drug tested, then the department would not know if he was a drug user—he could be a dealer, she said.  

And she asked if the drug evidence had been destroyed to which Hambleton responded that it is in tact.  

To date, Kent has never been interviewed regarding his actions. Jack Radish, a former Alameda County prosecutor, said there is still an opportunity for the district attorney to interview Kent. 

Kent’s plea bargain gave him five years probation, no prison time, but he will be before a judge May 12 to receive a possible one-year jail sentence. 

“Certainly a judge would consider [willingness to be interviewed] as part of a mitigated term,” he said. 

 


Bitter Honda Strike Ends With Contract Agreement

By Suzanne La Barre
Friday April 28, 2006

Service workers at Berkeley Honda overwhelmingly ap-proved a contract late Monday, ending a bitter 10-month strike—and the reign of an inflatable rat over Shattuck Avenue.  

Employees of Machinists Lodge 1546 and Teamsters Local 78 voted 14-1 in favor of a five-year deal that concludes the work action initiated last June when incoming Berkeley Honda owners declined to rehire several veteran employees and refused to renew union contracts.  

Under the watchful eye of the union’s symbol, a towering blowup rat, community members joined the picket line at 2600 Shattuck Ave. urging potential customers to take their business elsewhere. 

No longer. 

The settlement, tentatively reached late last week, extends phased employment to the roughly 20 workers who lost their jobs, calls for an annual 3 percent raise and requires owners to contribute to a new pension plan. 

The unions’ Automotive Industries Pension Plan was at the crux of the labor dispute. Management said it exacted an insurmountable financial burden on dealership owners, and left former Berkeley Honda owner Jim Doten on the hook for more than half a million dollars. In its place, dealership negotiators proposed a 401K plan, an option the unions summarily rejected. 

“A lot of our folks took wage increases and put it in their pensions, so to suddenly have that taken away, to them it’s like grabbing into their pockets and taking money out,” said Don Crosatto, area director of Machinists Lodge 1546. 

As a compromise, the owners agreed to pay into a new pension, the Machinists National Pension Plan. The contribution rate is about the same, but employees may be required to work four or five years longer before they can retire, Crosatto said. 

The unions made an additional concession by agreeing to phased reemployment. Those not hired back in June will be reinstated at a rate of about two workers every four weeks, as work demands dictate, Crosatto said. 

Mayor Tom Bates facilitated negotiations between the two sides though he did not take a formal seat at the bargaining table. The dealership rejected his offers to mediate, because he joined with the City Council last year in calling on citizens to support a boycott. 

The clash over contracts commenced when Danville businessmen assumed ownership of Berkeley Honda from Doten, and required employees to reapply for their positions. When only about half the service workers were rehired, union members walked off the job. 

Employees accused management of trying to bust the unions, a claim reinforced eight months later, some said, when an assistant manager filed a petition for a union decertification election. The petition was signed by at least 30 percent of the dealership’s employees. 

The unions’ outstanding unfair labor practice allegations thwarted progress of the petition (which is now moot due to the settlement). But the message was clear: Union support at Berkeley Honda was far from unanimous. 

Outside the tinted windows of the dealership, a different atmosphere existed.  

Legions of community members joined forces with the unions on the strike line, from labor activists and politicians to outraged Honda owners like Judy Shelton, who not only took her business elsewhere, but took to brandishing picket signs, too. More than 40 organizations supported the picket line, a representative from the Alameda Labor Council said. 

Their efforts exacted a toll. Berkeley Honda General Manager Steve Haworth estimates the boycott diminished service business by 60 percent.  

“The consumers voted with their pocketbooks and dramatically reduced the sales,” said City Councilmember Kriss Worthington, who would not give specific sales tax figures, because state law forbids it. “You could certainly tell there were a lot less customers.” 

Now, union representatives, Berkeley Honda management and the mayor are calling on the public to resume patronage of the dealership. 

“We’ve done a great job of chasing [business] away,” Crosatto said. “Now let’s chase it back in.” 

Though both sides and city representatives were all smiles at a press conference Tuesday, an undercurrent of hostility remains. Sales Representative Allen Bonet complained that the unions had mismanaged their pension fund and were now mismanaging the settlement. Assistant Manager Barry Strock, who filed the decertification petition, rued the relentless heckling he endured during the strike, and said he still doesn’t see the point in having unions. 

Crosatto hopes once workers are back on the job, animosity will wane. 

“People will be so busy, they won’t have time for personal reminiscing,” he said.  

As for the rat: Crosatto said it is now available for weddings, bar mitzvahs and children’s parties.  

 


International Food Festival Lands in West Berkeley

By Riya Bhattacharjee
Friday April 28, 2006

Ever heard of a little something called “Mulligatawny”? In case you haven’t, it’s a a spicy Anglo Indian soup made with red lentils, vegetables and chicken. Nothing foreign about red lentils, vegetables or chicken, is there? And yet, most of us would think of it as something exotic and even have a hard time relating it with food. 

On Sunday, the West Berkeley Neighborhood Development Corporation along with the city will host the inaugural Berkeley International Food Festival to celebrate diversity in the city. 

As Michael Caplan, assistant to the city manager and festival liaison, said, “The idea behind the food fest was to highlight the uniqueness of West Berkeley. It’s the mecca for world cuisine and we want people to know that.” 

Coplan said the idea for the event originated almost three years ago when West Berkeley was being cleaned up.  

“We realized that it was the gateway to the City of Berkeley, given that the I-80 is so close. So we thought why not give the place the importance it deserved?” he said. “No other place has such high a concentration of Indian, Fijian, Filipino, Spanish, Mexican, Middle Eastern, Turkish, Lebanese, Jamaican, and so many more ethnicities in one place.” 

Coplan also told The Planet that the city plans to address the lighting and parking problems on San Pablo Avenue in the near future through the San Pablo improvement plan which involved AC Transit working with the city to install more lights in the bus stops. 

“The food festival will be a good way to raise awareness about the place,” he said. 

“The neighborhood has a tremendous, tremendous amount of talent,” said Pam Weatherford, who was hired by the neighborhood group to organize and publicize the day. “It’s like a treasure-trove.” 

Stores such as Milan, Bombay Spice, Halal Market, Spanish Table, Mi Tierra foods, Country Cheese and Middle East Market who sell specialty foods will be present at the festival along with restaurants such as Templebar Tiki Bar and Restaurant, Bosphorous, Siam Cuisine, Casa Latina and Rountrees. 

Rosalyn Loong, co-owner of Templebar, which survived the San Francisco fire in 1906 and moved to Berkeley in 1992, will be serving Hawaiian barbeque on Sunday.  

“We are thrilled to be a part of the festival. It’s the first of its kind in Berkeley and we hope it’s a grand success,” she said. 

Maulin Chokshi, owner of Bombay Jewelry Company and President of Universty Avenue Merchants Association describes the festival as an excellent way for merchants to interact with the community. 

“We are definitely involved and would help in every way to make it a success,” he said. 

On Sunday, a promenade area running two blocks in each direction from the intersection of University and San Pablo Avenues will host restaurant specials, cooking demonstrations, and exciting samplings from noon to 5 p.m.  

The Cal Cooking Club will be present at the Spanish Table to give cooking demonstrations. 

“We will be showing how to cook Paella, a traditional Spanish rice dish made with seafood and meat. It will be accompanied by some guitar music,” said Adam Reich, Cal Cooking Club Vice President. 

There will also be music and dance.  

Khalil Shaheed’s Mo’Rocking Project will offer a mix of jazz and traditional Morrocan music while the David Thom Band will be performing its own brand of hard-driving California Bluegrass.  

The Templebar’s Royal Hawaiian Ukele Band will also be stopping by and West Berkeley’s very own Irene Sazer will be present with the School of String Improvisation to synthesize jazz, classical, and pop music. 

Freight and Salvage will be hosting Los Cenzontles, the internationally renowned performing and recording group from the Mexican Art Center in San Pablo while Sekar Jaya, the Bay Area Balinese arts ensemble, famed as the best gamelan orchestra and dancers outside of Indonesia, will also perform that afternoon. 

A fashion show showcasing the latest in international wear will be carried out to classical tabla and sitar music performed by South Asian group Dhamaal. 

Speaking to the Planet, Bruce Williams, Vice Chair of WBNDC said that one of the main reasons for the fesival was that the city needed to galvanize the area in some way.  

“It’s an economic development plan disguised as a festival,” he said. “But we also want people to come and discover for themselves the uniqueness of the different regions. Again, you would be surprised to find how food from different countries can have similar uses.” 

“This is a wonderful opportunity to showcase different talents and communities. I wouldn’t miss it for anything,” said Councilmember Darryl Moore. “We hope we will be able to make it into an annual event.” 

 

Photograph by Stephan Babuljak 

“Uncle Kem” Kanikapila Loong, left, and Dean “Dino” Morrow, demonstrate some ukulele playing at Loong’s restaurant Temple Bar Wednesday in preparation for the International Food Festival this weekend in Berkeley. 

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North Shattuck Plaza Planned for Gourmet Ghetto

By Suzanne La Barre
Friday April 28, 2006

A tree-lined plaza. Grassy area for feasting on a slice of Cheese Board pizza. Small kiosks housing newsstands, cafes and flower shops. 

These are a few of the possibilities in the works for a reconfigured streetscape at the northern tip of the gourmet ghetto, a stretch currently dominated by a complicated conflux of roadways. 

The project is still in its infancy, but some general ideas include broadening the eastern sidewalk along Shattuck Avenue from Vine Street to Rose Street and building a pedestrian plaza, closing a stretch of Shattuck Avenue where the Ecology Center holds a weekly farmers’ market, redirecting traffic onto Shattuck Place and redistributing parking. Trees, grass, benches, exhibit space and other pedestrian-friendly amenities at the plaza would feature prominently, project organizers say. 

If this sounds familiar, that’s because it is. The same scheme won approval from the City Council in 2001, but proponents never found a funding mechanism and the project was subsequently tabled. Now, more than five years later, community members are brainstorming with some top city officials to develop North Shattuck Plaza on their own. 

At the helm of the mobilization team is Planning Commissioner David Stoloff, chair of North Shattuck Plaza, Inc., a nonprofit organization formed in February to develop and manage the project.  

The nonprofit’s board of directors includes Councilmember Laurie Capitelli of District 5, who is also a partner at Red Oak Realty, retired Councilmember Mim Hawley (also of District 5), former Board of Education Director Lloyd Lee, the executive director of the North Shattuck business association and others. 

Stoloff’s overarching motivation is to develop an awkward streetscape into usable, pedestrian-friendly public space. 

“I would love to have such a plaza to grace the community where I spend a lot of time,” he said. 

The surrounding area is made up of retail shops, restaurants, cafes and side streets with single-family homes, rooming houses and apartments. Stoloff, a Bates appointee to the Planning Commission, owns property in the adjacent neighborhood. 

North Shattuck Plaza Inc. will finance the plaza in collaboration with the business association, which tucked away $250,000 for the project. In 2000, reconfiguring the area was estimated at half a million dollars, Stoloff said, though he guesses costs have gone up. Project planners are looking into securing grants and private donations, hoping, as Stoloff says that “the project will sell itself.” The city of Berkeley is also providing staff time, per a unanimous decision by the Berkeley City Council in September.  

Berkeley-based landscape architecture firm Meyer and Silberberg is in the process of drafting a detailed plan and cost estimate of the project under the direction of a design committee comprised of residents, business owners and board members.  

A preliminary scheme should be available in June, Stoloff said. Depending on how much the plan deviates from what council originally approved—a negative declaration on an initial environmental study--project developers may need to conduct more studies and go through additional approval steps. 

The project’s four main goals are to provide community space, a place for the farmers’ market to expand, maintain the same number of parking spaces and uphold the flow of traffic, said Heather Hensley, executive director of the North Shattuck Association, the district’s business group. 

The latter has been cause for concern among some residents and business owners who fear the new configuration will exacerbate congestion.  

When the plaza idea was first floated, the fire department reportedly squawked over losing a thoroughfare to the hills and access to Shattuck Commons, the triangular commercial island where Shattuck Avenue splits off. But on Wednesday, Deputy Fire Chief David Orth said an alternative route would not cause an “appreciable delay.” Plaza planners have also proposed incorporating an emergency road into the project. 

Fred Shokouh, who owns Bel Forno at the fore of Shattuck Commons, worries that the closure will impact business. Patrons may have more difficultly parking and accessing the café, which has one entrance on Shattuck, he said.  

“A business like ours, people come because it is convenient to park,” he said. 

It could also cause backups at Long’s across the street at Rose and Shattuck, he said. A traffic study conducted along with the initial study in 2000 found that traffic on Shattuck Avenue between Rose and Shattuck Place is mild enough to “allow consideration of reducing or eliminating service to through-travel, without undue impacts on surrounding streets and intersections.” The study did not include a quantitative analysis. 

Peter Levitt, co-owner of Saul’s, which is located on Shattuck north of Vine, supports the project because in the long term, it would boost business, he said.  

“Generally, when you create an urban landscape that is people-friendly, the merchant community overall would benefit,” he said. 

Others are waiting until concrete details are released before coming down on one side or another. 

Todd Paradis of Safeway, which stands adjacent to the proposed reconfiguration, can’t form an opinion just yet, since he doesn’t know how the grocery store will be affected, he said.  

“They have a lot more work to do on showing us the configuration of the street,” he said. “[Until] they get down to the nitty gritty, I don’t think we’re anywhere.” 

 


Council Jumps into the Gaia Building Culture War

By Judith Scherr
Friday April 28, 2006

When Patrick Kennedy got permits to develop the Gaia Building on Allston Way, he was allowed to build two stories more than the downtown height limit allowed, in exchange for the promise of using the ground floor and mezzanine for cultural purposes. 

Since the building opened, however, the fire department, tenant Anna de Leon, city planners and councilmembers have clashed with Kennedy on a number of fronts, especially questioning the extent to which Kennedy has kept faith with his agreement to provide cultural opportunities. 

The council may have averted a lawsuit threatened by Kennedy, by passing a resolution Tuesday which Kennedy says appears to conform to his view on the question. 

The proposed resolution, first discussed behind closed doors because of the threatened lawsuit, was read to the council by Councilmember Linda Maio minutes before the council’s scheduled 11:15 p.m. adjournment. Neither councilmembers nor the public were provided with written copies of her motion.  

The resolution: 

• Affirms a ruling by a former planning director that 30 percent of the scheduled time for the first floor and mezzanine must be devoted to actual performance. 

• Requires that in addition to the 30 percent time devoted to actual performance, an unspecified amount of time should be allotted to preparation and rehearsal time. 

• Asks city staff to propose specific parameters for cultural and non-cultural use, on which the council will then make a determination.  

With Councilmember Max Anderson absent, the council voted its approval 

of the first three parts of the resolution 6-1-1, with Councilmember Dona Spring abstaining and Councilmember Kriss Worthington voting in opposition. Another part, however, provoked a heated dissent from Councilmember Dona Spring. 

This was the statement that the cultural bonus also allows non-cultural incidental uses though prioritizing the scheduling of cultural uses. 

The council approved this provision separately with Spring and Worthington voting in opposition. Spring contended that the ruling by former Planning Director Carol Barrett did not approve or even mention non-cultural uses for the space covered by the cultural use bonus. 

In a phone interview Thursday, Kennedy said he had not seen the final draft of the council resolution, but from what he understood initially, it appears consistent with an agreement between himself and the former planning director. 

In a phone interview Wednesday, Councilmember Kriss Worthington told the Daily Planet he opposed the council resolution for several reasons. One is that the staff report explaining the item on the council agenda was not available in advance of the meeting and neither was a draft resolution. 

“They should have told the public what action they were thinking of taking,” Worthington said. 

Worthington also questioned whether the council, in ruling on the question of cultural use, was pre-empting the Zoning Adjustment Board, which usually rules first on use permit controversies, subject to appeal to the City Council. The topic was before ZAB at its last meeting because of complaints filed by Gaia ground floor tenant Anna de Leon, proprietor of Anna’s Jazz Island, and ZAB was expected to rule on the question at its next scheduled meeting on Thursday. 

 


Contentious Lawn Parking Law Revision Delayed

By Judith Scherr
Friday April 28, 2006

As Berkeley curbs get increasingly jammed hood-to-trunk with stationary vehicles, easing rules about parking cars on private property becomes a viable solution, the city’s planning staff says.  

But throwing down a cement slab in a back or side yard to house an automobile or two could mean blowing exhaust fumes into a next-door baby’s bedroom window or providing a neighbor with a view of a car rather than trees or grass. The increased asphalt also reduces the amount of land where rainwater can drain through the earth rather than running off the solid surface into an already overburdened storm water system, planning commissioners argue. 

These were some of the thorny questions the City Council faced Tuesday, when looking at competing proposals for a new ordinance regulating where people can park cars in private yards. Rather than vote on the question, the body put off the decision until the council’s next meeting, May 16. 

Planning Department staff is recommending that people be allowed to create parking spaces in the side and back yards, simply by obtaining a “zoning certificate,” a permit issued administratively. This means that neighbors will not be notified of a person’s intent to create parking in a nearby yard and have no right to contest it.  

The Planning Commission is recommending something different—that an administrative use permit be required when creating parking spaces anywhere on private property. This type of permit obliges the city to alert neighbors of the project and gives them a way to file an objection and stop or alter the project. 

Councilmember Dona Spring was particularly outraged at the staff proposal. 

“How do you get out and enjoy your backyard?” she asked in an interview Tuesday morning. “It’s against what our neighborhoods are all about.” 

Spring also pointed to the problem of creating more impervious surfaces. “We’re already flooding,” she said.  

Representing the Planning Commission majority, Commissioner Gene Poschman weighed in at the meeting against the staff proposal, which, if adopted, means, “We’ll see a vast amount of paving,” he said. 

Councilmember Linda Maio agreed. Speaking of her north-central Berkeley neighborhood, she said, “People are squeezing cars in wherever they can. It’s not a good thing to take away places where people can have gardens.”  

Mark Rhoades, land-use planning manager, argued that the situation won’t change significantly if the staff recommendation is approved. 

“Driveways go through the side yards now; driveways lead to garages in the rear yard,” he said. 

Councilmember Laurie Capitelli agreed with Rhoades. Both staff and Planning Commission proposals continue to allow building garages in back and side yards, he said, arguing that it is not fair that the person who needs to obtain a permit to create an uncovered parking space can build a garage without such a permit. 

In a phone interview Wednesday, Capitelli noted, however, that he is sympathetic to the need to avoid creating new solid surfaces. 

“We should insist that any work be done using crushed granite or other pervious landscaping materials,” he said. And, he added, people should be required to provide “proper screening” for the parked vehicles. 

Councilmember Kriss Worthington said he does not accept either of the proposals, but would rather keep things as they are now, with a variance required for back and side yard parking. A variance is very hard to obtain, more difficult than the administrative use permit the Planning Commission has envisaged, he said. 

To get a variance one would have to prove an absolute need for the parking space to get it through the Zoning Adjustments Board, Worthington said..


Oakland Teachers’ Contract Meets Mixed Reception

By Suzanne La Barre
Friday April 28, 2006

Reviews of a tentative contract agreement for Oakland’s teachers are decidedly mixed. 

Negotiators for the Oakland Education Association (OEA), representing 3,200 teachers, nurses, librarians and others, settled a tentative three-year deal on the eve of a scheduled walkout April 20, hoping to end a two-year battle for fair contracts. But that prospect is on shaky ground as details of the agreement emerge—though official contract language is not yet public--and teachers must decide whether to accept the compromises.  

“Everyone agrees there are parts of this that are really not good,” said OEA bargaining team chair David de Leeuw. “But the question is, are the good things good enough?” 

The tentative agreement offers an overall salary hike, raises the wage for substitute teachers, increases the ratio of students to counselors, and ends fully funded health care. The contract also spells out policy on teacher transfers and preparation periods. It is retroactive to July 1, 2005. 

Terms reached on substitute pay and salary are a straightforward union gain, de Leeuw said. Salaried employees would earn a 6.25 percent raise over three years, of which 4 percent restores a previous cut. For substitutes, wages would increase from $111 to $118 a day, a rate that would increase with more days worked.  

Health care was a major bone of contention during negotiations, as the state administrator-run Oakland Unified School District insisted teachers share the cost of medical expenses, while the union endeavored to maintain full coverage. 

The tentative settlement offers free health care the first year, then calls on union members to contribute a half a percent of their salaries toward medical premiums, a model consistent with findings of a neutral fact-finding report. The union used the report as a basis for its demands at the bargaining table. 

On the last day of the contract, the funding apparatus would change, requiring teachers to pay 4 percent of the total cost of health care but no more than $700 a year. 

This is a higher contribution rate, “but it’s not a huge amount of money,” said de Leeuw. “It won’t do in our members.” 

Edna Brewer Middle School teacher Mark Airgood said it sets a dangerous precedent. Once the district enacts a new contribution formula, it will be difficult to reverse.  

“If we set that precedent, it’s very hard to get these things back,” he said. “It’s an automatic escalator.” Airgood is voting no on the tentative agreement. 

Compromise over elementary school prep periods is a questionable, de Leeuw said. Teachers would continue to have staffed preparation time, but financial support would come from school sites and a parcel tax, not the general fund. 

The logic, he said, is to push schools to spend their funds effectively. But some union members fear that schools wouldn’t bother with teacher prep time if they’re forced to use their own money. 

Increasing the student-counselor ratio from 500-to-1 to 700-to-1 uses a similar rationale, de Leeuw said. Schools would be encouraged to use parcel taxes and site funds to reduce that ratio. 

Castlemont High School math teacher Jack Gerson said his biggest fear is proposed policy on teacher transfers. According to the settlement, when the district shuts down a school or teachers are involuntarily transferred, they are given five choices from a list of priorities. If turned down for a position, they can go through an appeals process. 

Gerson complains that the arrangement gives the district too much power; bargaining team member Bill Balderston agrees.  

“It was not the language we wanted,” he said, but he doubts members will reject the settlement based on that fact alone. 

The last tentative agreement included a similar clause and was rejected by 84 percent of voting OEA members. 

The union’s 15-member executive board was scheduled to take a position on the settlement Tuesday, but after nearly five hours of debate, directors had gone over only about half the contract, de Leeuw said. A second meeting was scheduled for Thursday after press time. Once a recommendation is drafted, OEA members will obtain the full details of the tentative agreement.  

Generally, when the board declines to recommend a tentative agreement, members also reject it, de Leeuw said. 

Balderston, who is on the board, is confident fellow directors and the broader membership will vote “yes.” 

“I’m going to vote to recommend this,” he said. “But it’s qualified support. I’m not going to sugarcoat it. At this point in time, it gives us breathing room.” 

Oakland Technical High School P.E. teacher Josh Fuchs said he’s ready to put a stop to the chaos that’s plagued the district since he arrived three years ago, but he won’t make a decision on the contract until he sees it. 

“My basic feeling is, we’re here for the students and we have to get this settled,” he said. “But I understand teachers want to look out for their livelihood.””


Opt Out Bill Passes Committee

By J. Douglas Allen-Taylor
Friday April 28, 2006

Despite the absence of public speakers in opposition at a hearing held this week in the state Assembly Education Committee, a high school military recruitment notification bill co-sponsored by Bay Area Assemblymembers Loni Hancock and Sally Lieber only won the support of committee Democrats, leaving much work to be done if the bill is to become state law. 

The Hancock-Lieber bill would require that school districts within the state place an “opt out” military recruitment notification on the high school emergency information forms filled out each year by parents. 

Under the federal No Child Left Behind Act, military recruiters are allowed access to high school student contact information unless the student or their parents choose to “opt out,” notifying the school that they do not wish to be contacted by the military.  

Hancock represents Berkeley in the assembly, while Lieber represents San Jose. Both are Democrats. 

At this week’s Assembly Education Committee meeting, Lieber told legislators that when Pajaro Valley Unified School District administrators voluntarily placed the opt out provision on emergency contact forms, parents or students choosing to opt out went from 16 percent of the school population to 63 percent. Pajaro Valley USD is in Watsonville. 

But that argument was not enough to sway committee Republicans. The measure passed 7-3, with all committee Republicans voting against it without comment, and the committee’s eighth Democrat, Tom Umberg of Anaheim, not voting. 

Because Democrats only hold 60 percent of the Assembly seats, at least some Republican support would be needed to prevent a possible veto by Republican Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger if the bill were to pass the Assembly on a party partisan vote. 

The next hurdle for the Hancock-Lieber opt out bill comes in the Assembly Veterans Affairs Committee. A hearing date in that committee has not yet been scheduled. The bill has already received opposition from one veterans’ organization, the Veterans of Foreign Wars of California. 

 

 


David Beauvais: Defender of the First Amendment

By Riya Bhattacharjee
Friday April 28, 2006

David Beauvais loves the First Amendment.  

And the more controversial the lawsuit surrounding it happens to be, the better he says his chances are of winning it. 

When two sidewalk chalk artists were arrested for vandalism in the early 1990s after chalking political messages on a sidewalk in Berkeley and Oakland, Beauvais came to their rescue.  

He went on to defend both the cases on grounds of First Amendment rights and they were subsequently settled for a total of $40,000. 

Beauvais has also represented dozens of protesters arrested at demonstrations. Of those charged, only one was convicted for simple assault while two went to jury trials in Berkeley and won acquittals. The other cases were all dismissed. 

Born in New Jersey in 1952, Beauvais graduated from the American University in Washington D.C. with a B.A. in political science in 1973 and went on to study law at the University of the Pacific’s McGeorge School of Law. 

He began his practice in 1978 in Sacramento and later worked in Fresno, Irvine, Berkeley, and Oakland. 

“I remember being fascinated by law. I took up anything that walked in through the door back then,” he said. 

Beauvais also served as judge pro tem of the juvenile court in Fresno in the mid ’80s. 

Today, Beauvais dabbles in both civil rights as well as juvenile dependency cases dealing with violations in the Child Protection Services (CPS). 

On March 31, a federal jury in Sacramento returned a verdict of $2.6 million against the City of Stockton for violating the constitutional rights of Crystal Keller (aged 4 years in 2002, the year of the case) and her father Dennis Keller of Fair Oaks, California, when they took the child into police custody without a warrant. 

Beauvais served as case counsel in the case which involved the Stockton police receiving a complaint in July 2002 about how Crystal was being abused in her mother’s home where she was spending alternate weeks as part of a joint custody agreement granted after her parents separation.  

Officer Ernie Alverson of the Stockton Police responded to the complaint by putting Crystal under her father’s care and forwarding his report to Sgt. Ken Praegitzer who assigned the case to Detective Kathryn Henderson. 

Two days later and just 72 hours short of her fifth birthday, Crystal was removed from her father’s care and placed under protective custody by Henderson with approval from Praegitzer.  

Detective Henderson’s explanation for taking Crystal was that “the father was in violation of the custody order by keeping Crystal when the mother was supposed to have her.” 

Beauvais argued that “Henderson was not enforcing the custody order by taking Crystal from both parents.” 

Instead, he suggested, “Henderson could have gotten an emergency protective order to give the father full custody while the allegations against the mother were investigated.” 

The jury ruled that since Crystal had been in no danger of physical abuse in her father’s care, a warrant should have been used to remove her. The jury further ruled against the City of Stockton for “failing to have a policy in place that protects children from lawless seizures.”  

According to Beauvais, cases like this are not unusual.  

“The City of Stockton does not tell its officers what it can do. But it’s not just Stockton. Children everywhere are often removed from their parents without a warrant when one should be obtained. I found out about this problem when I represented a Berkeley family in 2000. We settled with Alameda County for $4000,000. Later, I discovered that these illegal removals are pandemic and not just limited to Alameda County.” 

Alameda County was forced to change its policy in 2000 after this particular case and currently a child has to be in immediate danger of bodily injury or death from his surroundings to be removed from his parent’s care without a warrant.  

Beauvais stated that systemic corruption in the child welfare system was a common occurrence. 

“Social workers have impossible case loads and are often poorly trained. Parents are often tricked or intimidated into agreeing to a watered-down version of the petition filed against them,” he said. “Courts too often rubber-stamp CPS recommendations and hearings are confidentially held. There is no public access and no media scrutiny. Once in the system, parents are well on their way to losing their parental rights. The system cracks down disproportionately on poor people without resources to hire attorneys and experts to counter CPS. Study after study has shown that poor people are no worse as parents than those in other socioeconomic groups.” 

Beauvais also said that county agencies received payment for each child they removed from the parents as well as bonuses from the federal government for each child they managed to have adopted. 

“Perverse federal funding incentives reward counties for removing children unnecessarily from their homes. Social workers often turn out to be creative writers of reports,” he pointed out. 

Beauvais spoke of a recent incident where the father had told the social worker that he had smoked a joint with the mother on their first date. Although there was not her evidence of drug use, the social worker wrote in her report several paragraphs later that "both parents have a history of using drugs." 

Beauvais is currently involved in the “Heil Krohn” case where he represents a homeless activist in Santa Cruz who was arrested at a Santa Cruz city council meeting for making “a silent, fleeting Nazi salute toward the mayor (Christopher Krohn) after the mayor interrupted a speaker and cut off public comment.” 

Although the mayor did not notice the gesture another council member did. “At that point my client was told to leave the meeting or be arrested. He refused to leave and was arrested,” Beauvais said. 

Although a federal judge in San Francisco dismissed Beauvais’s client’s federal civil rights action case for “false arrest and violation of his first amendment rights,” it was later reinstated by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. The case is currently awaiting trial. 

When he’s not fighting civil rights cases, Beauvais enjoys traveling to third world countries—especially Central and South America. He recently returned from Peru and Bolivia and said he can’t wait to get back to discover more about his latest interest—ancient rituals and practices of shamanism in the Peruvian Amazon. 

 

Photograph by Hans Barnum 

David Beauvais (left) with law student intern Steve De Caprio (right) and office fashion trendsetter, Parker (center).


Commission Grills UC Officials On Campus Disaster Plans

By Riya Bhattacharjee
Friday April 28, 2006

Officials from UC Berkeley’s Office of Emergency Preparedness met with the Disaster and Fire Safety Commission and the public Wednesday to present the emergency aspects of the university’s Memorial Stadium project and take part in a question and answer session related to it. 

Tom Klatts, UC Berkeley manager of emergency preparedness, presented the overall UC campus emergency plan to address the concerns by the commission about the impact of the stadium with respect to disaster resistance.  

Klatts was joined by university planner Jennifer Lawrence and Richard Raymond, a representative of URS Corporation, the company that received the contract to rebuild the stadium. 

Gilbert K. Dong, Berkeley’s assistant fire chief/fire marshall told the Planet that the commission was responsible for making recommendations about the stadium’s emergency preparedness to the City Council. 

Doug Buckwald, who lives on Dwight Way, expressed concern about the increase in development on the Hayward Fault.  

“The fault goes right through the center of the stadium,” he said. “The rebuilding of a very dangerous structure in a very dangerous place only puts people at risk. Put the stadium where it belongs, in a seismically safe place.” 

He added that engineers have agreed that no amount of retrofitting would make the stadium structurally safe and in the event of an earthquake it would just split apart. 

Klatt said that talks were on going with UC geologists to look at construction possibilities that would make the ruptures less serious.  

Carol Shimmerling, a member of the public, said that when the university had wanted the deaf school to move out of the Clark Kerr campus, they had cited the existence of a fault underneath which was in actuality non-existent. So why were they saying that it was all right to build there once again when there was absolutely no reason to do so?, she asked. 

The plan for the Student Athletic High Performance Center was also discussed. According to Klatt, the roof of the center would be constructed in such a way that fire trucks would be able to access it in the case of a fire emergency.  

Jesse Townley, vice chair, questioned the school officials about their plans. 

In reply to whether the UC Campus emergency plan covered an earthquake on the Hayward, other Bay Area faults, or combination of faults, Klatt replied that the same plan applied to all although the challenges would vary in each case. 

With respect to addressing hill fire issues, Klatt said that UC’s Office of Emergency Preparedness would be able to set up an instant command center and offer treatment to those affected depending on the magnitude of the fire. Klatt also mentioned that since UC Berkeley did not have their own fire department, help would be requested from the Berkeley Fire Department. 

When asked about the impact of a potential radioactive/chemical release from Lawrence Berkeley National Lab, Klatt said it would depend on wind conditions and other related factors and also the direction of release of the toxic materials.  

He also added that although none of the labs had refinery or industrial quantities of any toxic material, even small fires in the UC labs in the past had been “horribly disruptive.” 

Klatt was also asked how the current UC emergency plan interacted with the planned four-part Southeast Campus Integrated Project during a major disaster.  

He replied that the university was currently looking at improvements in the current stadium plan and working on a project with graduate students in the planning department about how campus population oscillates during weekday and weekend classes. 

“The reason behind this survey is to develop a plan to evacuate students in sequenced degrees in the event of a major disaster. Disabled students will also have to be taken into consideration,” he said.  

When asked whether construction activities would interfere with emergency response in the aftermath of a major earthquake or fire, Klatt said that they would try to make provision for emergency response.  

Klatt also added that there was a contingency plan, in the event of an earthquake or a fire, to use construction equipment to “shore up collapsed buildings” and rescue those trapped.  

It was also mentioned that UC Police Department and the City of Berkeley would need to hire additional staff to control the traffic depending on traffic flow in key intersections.  

The UC Berkeley team also said that university police anticipated opening the Lower Jordan Trail for access by emergency personnel and residents in case of an emergency. However no vehicles would be allowed on the trail and the traffic would be pedestrian.  

With respect to adding a second access to Panoramic Hill, different ideas were discussed to create a foot-trail down Stonewall. 

When Sharon Hudson, a resident of Willard neighborhood, asked Klatt if there were enough shelters for students in the event of a large scale earthquake, he said that the number was not enough.  

In case an earthquake occurs in another area, the stadium could not be converted into a shelter because it did not meet the Red Cross’s needs, Klatt said. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


May Day Action Calls for Immigration Strike

By Riya Bhattacharjee
Friday April 28, 2006

This May 1 could become the day without immigrants if calls to boycott schools and work by national and local immigrant organizations are heeded all over the United States. 

“The Great American Boycott 2006, A Day Without An Immigrant” calls for a nationwide general immigration strike on May 1 to protest the current anti-immigration bill.  

San Francisco, Oakland, and Berkeley will be the Bay Area locales for a co-ordinated action that includes 100 cities across the nation, said Siu Hin Lee, spokesperson for the National Immigrant Solidarity Network. 

The Mexican “Nothing Gringo” campaign scheduled for May 1 has drawn criticism from U.S. lobbyists—as well as the American Chamber of Commerce in Mexico—who feel that U.S. Corporations lobbying the U.S. Congress for immigration reform are being wrongly targeted in this campaign. 

“No Work! No School! No Buying! No Selling!” screams an El Gran Paro poster distributed by Mayday in the Bay, an informal group of organizers and activists that got together in the San Francisco Bay area to support the call for a General Strike on May 1. The Los Angeles-based March 25th Coalition against HR4437 called the strike to help defend immigrant rights. 

The group plans to hold rallies around “local symbols of economic trade,” such as stock exchanges and anti-immigrant corporations. The organizers are asking participants to wear white and bring pots, pans, spoons, and noisemakers to the May 1 actions. 

From the government, they are demanding “full, unconditional and immediate ‘amnesty’ for all immigrants,” “de-militarization of the U.S. Mexico border,” and “the repeal of NAFTA and all neoliberal trade agreements which create economic conditions leading to the displacement of people,” among other things. 

Closer to home, the Berkeley May 1 Mobilization Committee, an ad hoc coalition of ten student groups, campus workers, and community members, have planned a student and worker walkout and rally on Sproul Plaza at noon Monday.  

“There’s a lot of excitement on campus right now,” said Michael Smith, a spokesperson for the group. “People are beginning to understand what a big movement this is becoming. It’s going to be huge. Berkeley has always had a history of activism and this will definitely help to revive that.” 

Smith added that similar rallies and walk-outs have also been planned at San Francisco State University, City College of San Francisco, UC Santa Cruz and other schools across the U.S. 

“There have always been immigrants in America, but immigrant workers have never been given the dignity they deserve,” he said. “They have always been exploited and it’s time to fight for their liberation, their rights. The fact that they are slowly finding their voice is taking people by surprise.” 

Berkeley’s Inkworks Press on Seventh Street will also be hosting their annual May Day event on Monday. Now in its sixth year of May Day celebrations, Inkworks will be getting together with the Network of Bay Area Workers Co-operative to celebrate May 1. The party, with a barbecue, dancing and music, starts at noon and will go into the evening, and is located at 2827 Seventh St. 

“We celebrate labor in its most liberated sense,” said Innosanto Nagara, who formerly worked for Inkworks and is now with Design Action Collective, a spin-off of Inkworks. “We want to give May 1, the International Worker’s Day, the importance it deserves.” 

Independent businesses around the area, such as Arizmendi Bakery Co-op, Tinker’s Workshop, and Pedal Express will also be celebrating the day. 

In San Francisco, the SF Workers Co-operative will observe May Day, as will Rainbow Grocery and the Lusty Lady. 

International Boulevard in Oakland will be the venue of a mass march organized by high school BAMN (Coalition to Defend Affirmative Action, Integration, and Immigrant Rights and Fight for Equality By Any Means Necessary). Student organizers will be taking a stand against “racist, second-class treatment of Latinas/os, immigrants, and all minorities,” according to organizers. 

“History is only made in key moments, and this is a key moment for people to come together and demand equality. This is the start of a new civil rights movement and we will not be intimated,” Yvette Felarca, one of the organizers, told the Planet..


County Medical Center Settles Nurses’ Contract

By J. Douglas Allen-Taylor
Friday April 28, 2006

Finalizing a settlement reached after a year of contract negotiations with its 2,000 registered nurses, the Alameda County Medical Center turned this week to shore up its remaining nagging budget problems. 

Members of Service Employees International Union 616 voted 4-1 last week to ratify a three-year contract with the medical center, and center trustees unanimously approved the agreement at this week’s trustee meeting. The contract provides a 4 percent across-the-board wage increase beginning the end of March this year, with additional 4.5 percent increases the following two years. 

ACMC CEO Wright Lassiter said that with the Local 616 approval “we have all of our outstanding labor issues resolved. It was a very long negotiation, but I think it ended well.” 

The negotiations began under Lassiter’s management predecessor at ACMC, Tennessee-based management consultants Cambio Health Solutions. Cambio was hired by the medical center in early 2004 to analyze ACMC’s finances. The company’s involvement with ACMC ended when Lassiter was hired last September. 

The rest of the fiscal news for ACMC was not so good. Lassiter and ACMC Chief Financial Officer Geoff Dottery told trustees this week that the medical center continues to run in excess of a million dollars a month behind what was projected in the budget produced by Cambio before it left the center, and is still projecting an $11 million figure over budget for the entire fiscal year. 

Dottery said that one primary cause of last month’s budget deficit was $221,000 in larger retirement costs than was anticipated. Lassiter and trustee board finance chair Stanley M. Schiffman said that in the past, ACMC accepted the projected retirement figures given them by county officials but that has now changed. 

“This is the first time that our staff is being actively involved in developing retirement amount information in conjunction with the county,” Schiffman said. 

Lassiter also told trustees that the recently completed Margin Audit Process, in which more than 80 staff members and consultants “looked at every line item in the budget for cost savings and improvements” over a 4-month period, has resulted in recommendations of $23 million a year in savings. Trustees have scheduled a public hearing on the Margin Audit Process report for May 9. 

“With the margin audit process suggestions implemented, I hope we will be able to move forward with a balanced budget,” Lassiter said. 

Meanwhile, the Alameda County Board of Supervisors moved this week to fill one of the two vacancies on the 11-member ACMC board of trustees, approving the appointment of former Berkeley City Police Chief and Compton City Manager Ron Nelson on Tuesday morning on the nomination of Supervisor Scott Haggerty. 

Nelson sat in on Tuesday’s board meeting but was unable to participate because he had not yet been sworn in. Health management professional Gwen Sykes was removed from the ACMC board last month in a disputed vote by county supervisors, and former Pleasanton Mayor Tom Pico resigned for health reasons earlier this month. A spokesperson for the Board of Supervisors said Nelson replaced Pico..


City College Completion Scheduled for Mid-July

By J. Douglas Allen-Taylor
Friday April 28, 2006

Construction of the new Berkeley City College in downtown Berkeley is 85 percent complete with a tentative opening date scheduled for mid-July, Peralta Community College District trustees learned this week at their regular meeting.  

At the same meeting, trustees approved an additional $100,000 in overtime costs, as well as another $196,000 in change orders, to SJ Amoroso Construction Company in order to finish the construction project this summer. 

Trustees changed the college name from Vista to Berkeley City College earlier this year. 

Peralta Trustee Nicky Gonzalez Yuen, a frequent critic of Vista construction project change orders in the past, told fellow trustees that while he could “complain here and there about some of the items on the [change order] list, the alternative to completing the building in July isn’t good. We would have to continue paying $150,000 a month in rent” to stay at the college’s present facilities on Milvia “as well as face losing enrollment because we couldn’t accommodate the new students that the new building will allow us to add.” 

Yuen praised Peralta General Services Director Sadiq Ikharo, saying that “I’m fairly satisfied he did an outstanding job in bargaining” over some of the proposed change orders, “in some cases, saving us more than $100,000.”  

Saying that the district is continuing to try to save costs on the $65 million construction project, Chancellor Elihu Harris mentioned the signature open book that graces the front of the new building, joking that “we want everybody to understand that this doesn’t represent an open checkbook, it’s a college textbook.” 

The mid-July projected completion date is more than six months later than the originally-projected December 2005 completion date. And then, while Berkeley City College staff can begin occupying the facilities in July, construction crew members are expected to remain in the building doing cleanup work until late August. 

Both construction and district officials blamed the setback on a 7-month delay in installation of permanent power to the facility, as well as recent rains. 

Amoroso Construction representative Mike Childs told trustees that “the biggest concern right now is completing the atrium,” a towering structure that will dominate the center of the college. 

Childs said that the atrium will be the last portion of the construction completed, adding that “we’re confident that we’ll have the scaffolding down and be ready for business in August.” 

Berkeley City College President Judy Walters said that even uncompleted, the atrium is “awe-inspiring when you stand in the middle of it on the ground floor and look up. Some of our faculty members are calling it a cathedral to education.” 

 

 


Police Blotter

By Richard Brenneman
Friday April 28, 2006

Bloody arrest 

A fracas that broke out during an arrest by undercover Berkeley police officers resulted in bloody but minor injuries to a 33-year-old Oakland man suspected of dealing drugs in South Berkeley. 

Though some witnesses told Berkeley Copwatch that the officers attacked the man after they stopped him using unmarked vehicles, Berkeley Police spokesperson Officer Steve Burcham said force was used only after he resisted arrest. 

The arrest, which took place on Adeline Street between Fairview and Harmon Streets, just after 2 p.m., was made in conjunction with the execution of a search warrant at the suspect’s Oakland residence, where officers recovered two ounces of crack cocaine and two shotguns, Officer Burcham said. 

Strongarmed wallet 

Two bandits, described by the victims as men in their 20s, robbed a 63-year-old Berkeley man at midnight Friday as he was walking along the 400 block of Colusa Street. 

The strongarm artists wrestled the man’s mallet away from him, then departed. 

 

Broken nose 

A 26-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of assault with serious bodily injury after an April 13 fracas in the 2500 block of Haste Street. The victim, a Berkeley man, sustained a broken nose and other injuries in the 4:30 p.m. attack. 

 

Armed robbery 

A pair of bandits, one packing a pistol, robbed a 22-year-old Berkeley woman of her purse and its contents after they confronted her at 12:30 p.m. last Thursday as she walked along the 1800 block of Solano Avenue, said Officer Burcham. 

No one has been arrested in connection with the incident..


Council Joins Impeachment Campaign

By Judith Scherr
Tuesday April 25, 2006

A resolution on tonight’s (Tuesday) City Council agenda, calling on the House of Representatives to impeach President George W. Bush and Vice President Richard Cheney, is not just another feel-good Berkeley measure. 

Rather, it’s part of a burgeoning nationwide effort to recognize the crimes of the nation’s top executives and remove them from office, according to Councilmember Kriss Worthington, who has sponsored the resolution calling on the council to ask the House of Representatives to impeach Bush and Cheney and has co-sponsored a second resolution calling for a similar measure to be placed before the voters in November. 

“We’re doing it to build momentum, to build a campaign, to get members  

of the House and Senate  

and general public to demand accountability,” Worthing- 

ton said. 

The related resolution before the council, written by Mayor Tom Bates and Councilmemebers Linda Maio, Dona Spring and Worthington calls for the Peace and Justice Commission to prepare an advisory impeachment measure for the November ballot. 

“If enough people on the grassroots level support the resolutions, then others will join,” said Nora Foster, who worked with Worthington’s office on the resolution and is a member of ImpeachPAC, (impeachPAC.org) an organization attempting to get local resolutions passed through cities and change the Congress nationally to one that would be friendly toward impeachment. 

“The media has left important questions slip under the wire,” Foster said. “People need to understand how far (Bush and Cheney) have gone to abrogate people’s rights.”  

If the council approves the measure, it will be the third city in California to do so, following San Francisco, Arcata and Santa Cruz. 

Oakland may also move in that direction. Oakland Councilmember Nancy Nadel, a mayoral candidate, is working on such a resolution, but is still researching whether she will opt to support impeachment or censure, according to Marisa Arrona, a policy analyst in Nadel’s office. 

John Conyers is the top Democrat on the Judiciary committee and is leading the move to investigate Bush’s crimes in the House. Thirty-two colleagues have called for the investigation, including Rep. Barbara Lee (D-Oakland) and Rep. Pete Stark (D-Fremont.) 

The Progressive Democrats of America are bringing the question to the state Democratic Party by holding a forum on impeachment during the state Democratic Convention on Saturday in Sacramento. Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Los Angeles) will speak. 

A Berkeley-based student group, Constitution Summer 2006, is calling for “honesty, integrity and responsibility in government,” according to student organizer Abraham Kneisley, who will be working with students on the ground and in cyberspace in a “constitutional summer,” where students across the nation will spend their summer organizing for impeachment. (WWW.constitutionsummer.org.) 

The Berkeley City Council resolution cites the following reasons for impeaching Bush and Cheney: They “defrauded” the country by misleading Congress and the public regarding a threat from Iraq in order to justify war; they authorized torture and indefinite detention; they failed to act quickly and adequately to respond to Hurricane Katrina and they ordered secret surveillance of American people. 

 

Other related websites include: afterdowningstreet.org, democrats.com, www.impeachnow.org, and impeachbush.meetup.com 

 

 

 

 


Alta Bates Road Cut Could Be Permanent

By Riya Bhattacharjee
Tuesday April 25, 2006

After decades of wrangling, neighbors of Alta Bates Hospital gathered at the Alta Bates auditorium last week to express their outrage at the city’s decision to install a road across the hard-won grassy mall next to the hospital. 

While construction continues to renovate the Alta Bates emergency room, a temporary road has been made through a grassy area called the Bateman Mall (located off of Prince Street before the Colby cul-de-sac by Bateman Park). The road had been designed to accommodate two-way traffic between Prince Street and residents of houses in the southernmost cul-de-sac. 

The residents said they were alarmed that the City of Berkeley had informed them that this temporary road may become permanent. 

So far one meeting had been held with the neighborhood, the hospital and the city to discuss issues important to the new construction. Councilmember Kriss Worthington was the only city official attending the Thursday night meeting. 

“Although the date and time were suggested by Peter Eakland, the city’s associate traffic engineer in charge of the policy and design changes to the Bateman Mall, our neighborhood group was informed two days ago that neither he nor any representative from the city would be attending the meeting,” said Dorothy Hale, a resident of Prince Street. “This is highly frustrating, since the whole point of the meeting was to begin to correct the lack of due process and neighborhood involvement. We can’t help but take this as a sign that the city is not seriously responding to neighborhood opinion.” 

Hale added that the local residents wished the city would be more responsive to their pleas to seek alternatives and avoid cutting a road through the Bateman Mall. This measure directs emergency vehicle traffic onto one of the narrowest two-way streets in Berkeley, she said, and it creates severe drainage problems for Prince and Dana streets. 

The other concern that was raised during the meeting was safety concerns for the children who frequented the adjacent Bateman Park. 

Wendy Cosin, deputy planning director for the city, said that Eakland would be meeting with neighbors in May to discuss options for how Bateman Mall would look after it underwent construction. 

“Our goal is to start working on it after Alta Bates finishes with their construction in August,” she said. “We want to reach an agreement with the neighbors that would address the current drainage problem successfully.” 

Deborah Pitts, manager of public affairs at Alta Bates Summit, told the Planet that the Bateman Mall project falls outside the Hospital-Neighborhood agreement signed in 1983 that was meant to govern hospital growth for 99 years. 

“We have an obligation to put it back the way it was, but if the city for safety reasons think that there needs to be a change, we would have to go with that,” she said. “Right now we are waiting to see what happens.” 

Pitts added that the property in question belonged to the city. 

At the May meeting, the neighbors said they will demand information concerning conditions dealing with soil, noise, traffic, drainage, mosquito infestation from standing water, and whether the new construction would be a violation of the California Environmental Quality Act. 

At last Thursday’s meeting the residents noted that the city memo by Eakland for review by Alta Bates-area residents contained no option for restoration of the Bateman Mall to its original state.  

The memo notes that the original emergency access which provided a grass surface for the entire mall needed (1) to be moved to avoid constraints on the Prince Street side; (2) to be widened several feet to accommodate emergency vehicles; (3) guidance on both sides of the road surface; (4) an all-weather road surface that does not require maintenance, and (5) improvement of the drainage system to increase capacity and reduce the tendency of clogging. 

The memo also mentions that “originally it had been thought that construction would be accomplished without closing Colby south of the emergency room area.”  

In meetings between the contractor and the Alta Bates staff in the week prior to the start of construction, it was established that the existing drainage system would have to be removed to provide the needed access for residents during construction 

As a result a temporary asphalt surface with drainage was constructed along the east of the road between the cul-de-sac and Prince Street. Although the memo reads that “the roadway has provided adequate access for residents and good drainage during the rainy season” the residents said that drainage remained a problem. 

Suzanna Yeh, who lives near the corner of Prince and Bateman, said that the flooding caused after the temporary road was built caused tremendous problems for her disabled mother.  

“I have to lift the wheelchair up at times because there is so much water there,” she said. “I have lived here for 30 years and the flooding started only after the temporary road was built. This is my quality of life we are talking about. I don’t want the city to change that.” 

The residents noted that “emergency” could mean anything from police vans, ambulances, fire-trucks or even an exit for the kids in the tot lot, if need be, and added that this kind of an emergency exit would not be in keeping with the spirit of the original idea of allowing only fire-trucks to move in during a crisis.  

“We don’t want it to be used as a thoroughfare,” said Marty Barclay, a neighbor. “More than aesthetics, the issue is about the resident’s safety and health.””


Hancock Bill Slows Military Recruiters

By J. Douglas Allen-Taylor
Tuesday April 25, 2006

A Berkeley assemblymember’s bill scheduled for debate this week in the assembly Education Committee would not end military recruitment on California’s high school campuses, but it would make it easier for parents to exempt their children from the recruitment process. 

Assemblymember Loni Hancock (D-Berkeley) and Sally Lieber (D-San Jose) jointly introduced the bill, AB 1778, which would require that high schools include an “opt out” military recruiter checkout box on the emergency information contact forms filled out every year by the state’s students and parents. 

The bill was co-authored by Oakland Assemblymember Wilma Chan. The bill would tighten up and clarify the military recruitment “opt out” notification procedures to parents and students that are required under the federal No Child Left Behind Act. 

The Hancock-Lieber bill has been labeled the “Student and Family Protection Act of 2006.” 

Under NCLB, schools receiving federal funds are required to provide student contact information to military recruiters unless the individual student or the student’s parents notify the school that they do not want the information to go to the recruiters. 

That is the so-called “opt out” provision of the law. 

A representative in Lieber’s office said that bill would also assist California school districts in both avoiding litigation and complying with NCLB. 

“Not only are parents and students often not aware that their private contact information may be released by their school, school districts themselves risk litigation if they do not provide adequate notice to parents of their right to opt out of the release of this information,” Lieber staffmember Cory Jasperson wrote earlier this year in a fact sheet to Assembly Education Committee members. 

“In fact,” Jasperson added, “earlier this year the Albuquerque Public Schools settled a lawsuit over this issue after being sued by the ACLU for sending students’ contact information directly to military recruiters without properly notifying parents of their right under NCLB to opt out of such information sharing.” 

In support of the Hancock-Lieber bill, Northern California-based Mainstreet Moms says on its website that “with a $1 billion Army advertising budget and an overall $4 billion recruiting budget at work, kids choosing whether or not to enlist face some of the most sophisticated marketing tactics and shrewdest messaging money can buy. Who has their personal information, and how that information is used, should be left up to the students and their families to decide.” 

The organization says that the Hancock-Lieber bill “makes it easy for families to make that decision” and adds that “it’s clear that when students and families are made aware of their rights, they take action.” 

A small number of school districts, including Berkeley Unified, have adopted a more liberal “opt in” policy which allows the school district to withhold student contact information from military recruiters unless the student or their parent turns in a form authorizing the release of that information. NCLB specifically bans the “opt in” practice. 

South Bay Congressmember Mike Honda (D-San Jose) has introduced legislation in Congress that would make the “opt in” procedure legal, but that legislation has been stalled in committee since last spring. 

While indicating that she supports “the aims” of Honda’s “opt in” bill, Lieber said by telephone that changing federal law was a “slow process,” and her emergency form opt out state legislation is an interim step to reduce military recruitment on school campuses. 

That would make a difference in such districts as the Mountain View-Los Altos Unified School District, for example, she said, where the opt-out provision appears on page 53 of the student handbook. 

“My hats are off to the parents and students who make it through the first 52 pages,” Lieber said. 

Saying that the bill is getting “a lot of support from local school districts,” Lieber added that “I think this is going to get support from a lot of unexpected quarters as well. At one PTA meeting in my district, I met a woman who was a career military official. She said that even she was offended that she could not get military recruiters to leave her school-age son alone.”  

Lieber said that in some studies she’s seen where school districts have used the opt-out checkout box on emergency contact information forms, “the choice of opting out from military recruitment has jumped from 8 to 12 percent to more than 80 percent” of parents and students in a school. 

A spokesperson for the American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California, which is supporting the bill, said that while the ACLU-NC would prefer to either include an “opt in” provision” or to “get rid of military recruitment out of the schools altogether,” the Hancock-Lieber bill would “at least make the opt out provision as accessible as possible.” 

Opposition to the bill has not yet jelled. Only one organization, the Veterans of Foreign Wars of California, have come out in opposition, and the Republican Caucus of the state legislature has not yet taken a formal position. 

The bill has been “double referred” to committee, meaning that if it survives the Education Committee vote scheduled for Wednesday, it must go next to the Assembly Veterans Affairs Committee before it reaches the floor of the Assembly. 

The last day for the Assembly to pass its own bills this year is June 2, with an Aug. 31 deadline for the Senate to approve bills that have made it through the Assembly. 

 


UC Regents Delay Action on Compensation Issue

By J. Douglas Allen-Taylor
Tuesday April 25, 2006

The chairperson of the UC Board of Regents said this week that there may be disciplinary action taken in the wake of the university’s employee compensation scandal, but what those disciplinary actions might be will not be revealed until the regents’ May meeting. 

The scandal surfaced last November after a series of articles appeared in the San Francisco Chronicle, charging that many highly paid university employees had gotten close to $600 million in additional compensation packages not publicly reported by the university. 

As a result, the university has already initiated three separate audits of compensation package procedures. Further, UC President Robert Dynes convened a task force of business, government, media, and education community members to look into the current compensation scandal and the regents have formed a permanent committee of compensation. 

Saying that the secret compensation packages were contrary to regents’ policy, regents chairperson Gerald Parsky said in a telephone interview following a special regents meeting in Los Angeles this week that regents “have asked [Dynes] to come to the May meeting to offer an explanation” as to why the secret compensation packages did not come before the regents for public approval. 

Parsky said that Dynes “believes that there will be consequences taken.” 

Parsky said that after Dynes’ presentation and a review of three separate audits of the compensation issue, regents may also take action themselves. 

One of those likely actions, Parsky said, “is a change in policy so that voluntary compliance with disclosure won’t be the framework for the future.” 

On Monday, UC auditors PricewaterhouseCoopers of San Francisco released the results of one of the compensation audits to regents, concluding that “certain benefits promised or paid” to some top-level university employees had not been approved by regents “as required by Regental policies” and that some of these benefit packages were “exceptions to university policies or standard practices.” 

In addition, the PricewaterhouseCoopers’ audit concluded that “certain of the compensation items” were not disclosed to the public as required. 

Among the compensation items listed as not approved by the regents in the PricewaterhouseCoppers’ audit was $97,500 in relocation allowances to UC Berkeley Chancellor Robert Birgenau, $248,000 in bonuses and incentives to UC San Diego Chancellor Marye Anne Fox, and $125,000 in relocation allowances to UC Santa Cruz provost M.R.C. Greenwood.  

In answer to a reporter’s question, regents’ chairperson Parsky said that it was “inappropriate to speculate whether or not the regents would have approved the compensation packages if they had been aware of them. The regents should have been made aware of them, and been allowed to address the situation. 

It’s important that the regents have a complete picture of what is being offered. That’s one of the responsibilities of every public board that I’m aware of.” 

Also listed in the PricewaterhouseCooper audit as one of the compensation items that was an “exception to university policies or standard practices not approved by the regents” was a perk granted to former UC Chancellor Robert Berdahl following a one year leave of absence after he left the chancellor’s position. 

An article in the San Francisco Chronicle earlier this year revealed that contrary to university policy, Berdahl was not required to return to a teaching position with the university, and did not have to pay back $355,000 he had earned from the university while on leave. 

“UC policy usually requires faculty members to return to teaching for at least as long they were on paid leave,” the Chronicle reported at the time. “Otherwise, they are supposed to pay back a prorated portion of the money.” 

Following the article, the UC Berkeley Associate Vice Chancellor for Public Affairs, George Strait, had issued an open letter to “the Cal community” stating that “we are certain that a review of relevant documents makes it quite clear that Chancellor Robert Birgeneau’s decision regarding former Chancellor Berdahl’s sabbatical and compensation was a matter of public record, in no way violated existing policy, and was completely consistent with the best interests of the university.” 

In his telephone press conference on Monday, regents chairperson Parsky said that it was a “reasonable expectation that the public should be informed of everything in the compensation packages. We have made it plain to [President Dynes] that if he can’t defend the terms of the compensation package to the public, then the compensation should not go forward.””


Public Invited to Weigh In on School Parcel Tax

By Suzanne La Barre
Tuesday April 25, 2006

Small class sizes, school libraries and music and arts education are just a few of the programs the Berkeley Unified School District (BUSD) will ask local voters to support this November.  

The district is considering a measure to renew two parcel taxes, the Berkeley Schools Excellence Project and Measure B of 2004, both slated to sunset in 2007. 

The measure would direct $19.6 million a year—the same rate as the existing taxes combined—plus cost-of-living adjustments into district coffers for 10 years. 

Superintendent Michele Lawrence has identified programs in need of continued funding. The options are up for public debate at a special Board of Education meeting Wednesday.  

About two-thirds would be earmarked for salaries to ensure small class sizes, high school electives and counselors for middle school students. 

The number of students-per-class in grades kindergarten through third-grade would be about 20, fourth- and fifth-grades would be 26, and middle and high schools would max out at 28. This is roughly consistent with current figures. 

A quarter of the funds would go toward programs to enhance student learning, of which 42 percent—or about $200 a student—would be dedicated to the individual schools, effectively giving sites more discretion over the distribution of dollars. The allocation of those resources would fall to site governance councils.  

Of the remaining 58 percent, 30 percent would fund staff at school libraries, and 20 percent would maintain existing arts programs for elementary and middle schools students.  

The last 8 percent under the umbrella “programs to enhance student learning” would support families of students with three parent outreach specialists, parent workshops and additional materials.  

Some financial leeway would exist should a school choose to expend extra resources for a specific purpose, like new band instruments. Up to 10 percent of money earmarked for one program could be rolled over to another program, so long as it doesn’t go over 15 percent of its annual allocation. 

Nine percent of the total amount would fund professional development and data-driven program evaluation. BUSD does not currently have a system in place that implements data to improve student achievement. Lawrence said she hopes to build an evaluation office that would require new research staff and software.  

Lawrence also suggests setting aside 2 percent of the renewed tax for public information, translation services and the Planning and Oversight Committee, which oversees the district’s parcel taxes.  

The proposed measure covers most bases built into the current levies, with one notable exception. More than $800,000 earmarked for school facilities in the Berkeley Schools Excellence Project would go toward student achievement; specifically $345,000 for middle schools and $420,000 for professional development and program evaluation. 

Some debate has focused on whether to increase the tax rate and allot funding for additional programs, such as an extended pre-school program, facilities, a healthy nutrition program, high school athletics, schools nurses, seventh period for all middle schoolers, which would allow students to enroll in an elective, and physical and mental health services. 

District spokeman Mark Coplan said the current recommendation—to maintain the tax rate as is—reflects the district’s fear that a rate hike could decrease chances of earning the two-thirds majority needed to pass the measure. 

“The real issue behind it is, if the board goes out for a measure in November and it fails, a third of our teachers would go away as would all of the music programs, and our libraries would close,” Coplan said. “It would devastate the district.” 

There is some evidence to suggest that voters would support a tax increase. In a telephone poll of 600 likely voters conducted in March, 77 percent of respondents said they would approve an additional $63 a year. 

A public hearing will be held Wednesday at 7:30 p.m., at 2134 Martin Luther King Jr. Way. For more information, call 644-6206.


City Council Will Discuss Gaia Building, Backyard Parking and Bus Service

By Judith Scherr
Tuesday April 25, 2006

The Berkeley City Council will begin its meeting tonight (Tuesday) with a Disaster Training Workshop at 5 p.m. An executive session meeting on the threat of a lawsuit be developer Patrick Kennedy will by held at 6 p.m. The council will begin its regular meeting at 7 p.m. 

The lawsuit threat to be discussed in closed session concerns the Gaia Building at 2116 Allston Way which Kennedy built and now owns. The city allowed Kennedy to build two floors higher than normal downtown limits as a trade-off for the promise of cultural uses on the ground floor and mezzanine. 

An open-session discussion on the Gaia Arts Center use permit is also on the regular council agenda. 

 

Yard parking considered 

A proposed ordinance on the agenda would permit parking in yards—back yards and side yards—of residences without going through a use-permit process and thereby notifying neighbors of the possible change in land use in the dwelling next to them. 

In a memo to the council, city resident Robert Lauriston writes: “Allowing parking in required yards by right would allow developers to convert the entirety of a rear yard into a parking lot and result in the proliferation of incongruous “pop-up” projects similar to 3045 Shattuck and 2901 Otis.” 

In recommending the ordinance, Land-Use Planning Manager Mark Rhoades wrote in the council report that he believes the change to be minor: “Given the fact that the city is mostly built out and many of the city’s parcels already have off-street parking, staff does not expect many new spaces in rear or side yards to be created.” 

The requirement of an administrative use permit would unfairly burden these few property owners who are making a change in their existing parking arrangements, such as having torn down a garage, Rhodes wrote. 

 

Creek ordinance delayed 

An ordinance aimed at preserving Berkeley’s creeks has been in the works for more than a year. The Creeks Task Force was to have presented an ordinance to the council this month for adoption, but final language for the revised creeks law is yet to be written. 

The planning staff is recommending that the council adopt draft ordinance language in July and final language in September. 

 

Rapid transit cuts addressed 

While AC Transit is gearing up for enhanced rapid service from International Boulevard to Telegraph Avenue, it is considering cuts on the 43 and 40 line in Berkeley, which will impact bus riders on Shattuck Avenue. 

The council is asking the city manager to write a letter to AC Transit to delay a hearing on the cuts until the Berkeley City Council can make a formal recommendation on them. 

 

Storm system demystified 

Acting Public Works Director Claudette Ford will make a presentation to the council on the city’s complex storm-drain system.  

 

Consent calendar matters 

The consent calendar, which council can adopt without discussion if no councilmember chooses to pull off the item for debate, includes the following: 

• The council will vote to create a committee to look at the process of assessing historical resources in the downtown area. The committee will be made up of members of the Downtown Area Plan Advisory Committee and the Landmarks Preservation Commission. 

• The Berkeley Alcohol Policy Advisory Coalition has outlined new policies for the city to reduce alcohol sales venues that become neighborhood nuisances. The council will be asked to hold a workshop in July on the proposals and then adopt them in ordinance form at a later date. 

• The city will also accept a $23,000 grant from the California Family Health Council to participate in an assessment of contraceptive gel users and their partners. ›


Commission Looks at Parking, Traffic Concerns

By Suzanne La Barre
Tuesday April 25, 2006

The Transportation Commission last week weighed in on a traffic report for mixed-use development at University Avenue at Martin Luther King Jr. Way, moved forward with a solution to parking losses on Telegraph Avenue and introduced design options for the downtown Berkeley BART station. 

Commissioners at the Thursday meeting developed a plan for improved transportation circulation at 1885 University Ave., where developers are proposing a 156-unit apartment complex and a 13,515-square-foot Trader Joe’s, accessible via a driveway on Berkeley Way. 

The project includes additional commercial space and both above- and below-ground parking lots. 

A traffic impact analysis drafted by Korve Engineering, a civil engineering and planning firm in Oakland, found that the project would exacerbate congestion in an already-bustling corridor, but that implementing mitigation measures—adding traffic signals, reconfiguring lanes and removing parking, for instance—would ameliorate poor conditions. 

“What this study tells us is cars will still move and they’ll probably move better with mitigation measures,” said Chris Hudson, who is co-developing the project with fellow Berkeleyan Evan McDonald. 

Neighbors have raised a number of concerns, nonetheless. Many residents complain that a commercial driveway on Berkeley Way will be dangerous for children who live on the street and play outside.  

“I think it’s monumentally presumptuous of the project to suggest all the traffic should come onto a residential street,” said Rob Browning, who has lived in the neighborhood for 40 years.  

He joined with several residents in advocating for a diverter on Berkeley Way to prevent Trader Joe’s shoppers from using the residential street as a thoroughfare. 

Commissioners Wendy Alfsen and Rob Wrenn took it a step further and called on developers to consider alternative entryways.  

“I just can’t believe there’s not a way to design this site so access to Trader Joe’s isn’t from Berkeley Way,” Wrenn said.  

Developers insisted they considered all alternative possibilities, and Berkeley Way was the only viable option.  

The loss of parking spaces along MLK between Berkeley Way and University was a further concern. Jerry Cho, who owns a business in the neighborhood said, “It will kill small retailers.” 

Other issues raised included pedestrian safety, residential permit parking, bike parking and construction. 

Alfsen made a motion to address those concerns; it passed with one commissioner opposing (Michael Issel) and one abstention (Nathan Landau). An additional motion urging developers to seek different entryways to the project’s commercial space failed. Instead, commissioners passed a recommendation to install a diverter on Berkeley Way, as supported by many residents.  

The Transportation Commission’s recommendations will be forwarded to the Zoning Adjustments Board, which will consider the project next month, said Peter Hiller, assistant city manager for transportation.  

 

Telegraph Avenue lane changes 

Also Thursday, commissioners instructed transportation staff to draft a solution to the removal of car parking and winding lane stripes on Telegraph Avenue. 

Late last year, residents and shopkeepers started complaining when they discovered that about 20 spots along Telegraph north of Ashby Avenue to Dwight Way, had been replaced by motorcycle parking, and accompanying straight lane stripes had been repainted to bottleneck at intersections. 

The reconfiguration occurred without public process, and multiple businesses say they’ve been adversely affected. 

“Customers have told me they wanted to come to dinner, and they couldn’t find a parking space, so they just left,” said Thomas Cooper of Le Bateau Ivre. 

The design was part of a larger plan to revamp road markings in Berkeley, but as transportation staff now admit, it didn’t quite pan out. Several years ago, a traffic engineer, who is no longer with the city, according to city Transportation Director Peter Hillier, configured Telegraph with bike lanes of substandard width. 

To correct the mistake, staff say they had to remove parking at intersections and redraw lane lines to accommodate wider bike thoroughfares. Compact parking was not an option, Hillier said, and rather than red-curb the affected spots, staff opted to implement parallel motorcycle parking.  

Many business owners say they’ve rarely—if ever—seen motorcycles use the parking, and they want car spaces restored. 

Commissioners heeded their demands and called on transportation staff to consider reinstating car parking by shrinking pedestrian medians where it is safe to do so, where there are traffic signals, for example. Of 17 intersections, eight are signalized. 

Hillier estimates that the work will not cost very much money, so long as staff can piggyback it onto another contract project.  

The commission instructed transportation staff to return with a proposal. 

Downtown Berkeley BART 

The Transportation Commission got its first look at four preliminary design options for the downtown Berkeley BART plaza, which members of the public are invited to examine and weigh in on this Saturday at the Berkeley Public Library from 1 to 4 p.m. They are: 

• Option 1: Shattuck Avenue would host an exclusive center bus lane, and left turns would be removed. Various design enhancements would be implemented at the plaza, such as a newsstand and a stage, but the existing BART rotunda would remain as is.  

• Option 2: Traffic would be reconfigured to two lanes in each direction north of Center Street. The east side of Shattuck Square would accommodate a northbound lane for buses only. Additionally, there would be more open space on the east side of Shattuck at Center. The BART rotunda would be similar to Option1. 

• Option 3: The main entrance to BART would be relocated to the east side of Shattuck and the existing rotunda would be removed. Shattuck would be reconfigured into a four-lane road to the west of Shattuck Square, and a two-lane street to the east. 

• Option 4: Shattuck would be reconfigured to create an open plaza on Center, and create a central transit station for buses and BART. There would be no through traffic on Center at Shattuck. The rotunda would be removed. 

Commissioners discussed the options briefly, with Comissioner Sarah Syed expressing support for Option 4. The other commissioners said theey had not yet formed opinions.  

 

Contact Suzanne La Barre at slabarre@berkeleydailyplanet.com.  

 


City Seeks Deadline Extension For Contentious Creeks Ordinance

By Suzanne La Barre
Tuesday April 25, 2006

Time is running out for the Planning Commission to officially weigh in on the city’s much-debated Creeks Ordinance, but a viable recommendation is still weeks away. 

Planning Director Dan Marks will go before the Berkeley City Council tonight (Tuesday) to request further time for consideration of the Creeks Ordinance, a law enacted in 1989 that regulates development on and near Berkeley’s open and interred waterways.  

Marks will ask councilmembers to extend a May 1 deadline initially prescribed in 2004 when they formed a Creeks Task Force charged with suggesting revisions to the ordinance. 

The council stipulated that if the task force failed to draft recommendations by May 1—recommendations the Planning Commission would also consider—creek culverts would be removed from the ordinance.  

That timeline has not been upheld. 

However, Deputy Planning Director Wendy Cosin does not foresee any problem securing an extension. 

“I don’t think there’s an issue,” she said. “The Creeks Task Force is moving ahead, the Planning Commission will make a recommendation and we will bring the whole package to the City Council in May.” 

For almost a year and a half, the task force has toiled over how to appease homeowners who want fewer restrictions on development near waterways and environmentalists who want to protect creeks and their natural habitats. 

Generally their recommendations—which are under constant revision—forbid or require permitting for development within 30-feet of a creek’s centerline, with exceptions made for repairs and rebuilding. 

Emma Gutzler, the restoration coordinator for the creeks advocacy group Urban Creeks Council, said those suggestions look pretty good.  

“Overall, we feel we are happy with what was presented,” she said Friday. “There are some measures we wanted to see, but generally it’s good for our creeks.” 

But as of April 17, the task force has submitted new recommendations and clarifications.  

One of the key additions is the definition of a creek. Currently, the ordinance restricts development within 30 feet of a waterway, whether open or interred. This has been cause for much brouhaha, since about a third of the 1,833 homes affected by the ordinance live near creek culverts. Many property owners insist those waterways are better likened to storm drains not natural channels that warrant environmental protection.  

The latest ordinance language agrees culverted creeks should be treated as storm drains under the authority of the Public Works Department. 

But former mayor Shirley Dean, who’s a member of the homeowners’ rights group Neighbors on Urban Creeks, says it isn’t enough.  

“It concerns us because of this atmosphere of distrust surrounding this ordinance,” she said. 

The group believes culverted creeks should be referred to in a completely separate resolution. 

Planning Commission Chair Helen Burke, who also heads up the Creeks Task Force, said there must be some mention of culverted creeks in the ordinance, per the city attorney’s advice.  

Further recent recommendations put forth by the task force include environmental analyses for some development (decks under certain circumstances in addition to vertical and horizontal expansions within 30 feet of a creek), and a requirement that affected homeowners must be notified before all future changes to the ordinance.  

Contingent on the City Council granting the extension, the Planning Commission is scheduled to compose final comments on the ordinance by May 10.  

Councilmembers should consider a draft ordinance by June, Burke said..


Hispanic Media Split on May 1 Economic Boycott

By Elena Shore New America Media
Tuesday April 25, 2006

Although Hispanic media helped to mobilize hundreds of thousands of people in last month’s immigration protests, they are split when it comes to the economic boycott planned for May 1.  

From Univision, which has prohibited its employees from publicizing the boycott, to KIQI La Grande 1010-AM in San Francisco, which is actively promoting it, Latino media are more ambivalent this time around. 

According to the Mexican newspaper El Diario, based in Ciudad Juarez, Univision sent out an e-mail asking Spanish D.J.s and employees not to promote or mention the boycott, a move that other media see as acquiescing to the demands of their advertisers. Popular syndicated D.J.s like “El Piolín” on Univision’s La Nueva 101.9-FM in Los Angeles were critical in mobilizing large numbers of people in last month’s marches. 

“It’s sad that Univision is not supporting the boycott because of their sponsors,” says Margarita Molina, general manager of La Grande 1010. “Univision is the most popular channel, and for them not to support a big movement like that is sad.” 

La Grande 1010, she says, is the only station in the area that is actively promoting the boycott, including a 14-hour commercial-free radio marathon on May 1 to provide continuous coverage of the protest. In an advertisement for the radio marathon, the voices of protesters can be heard chanting “Sí se puede” (Yes, we can), the famous slogan of Cesar Chavez. 

Other media that supported last month’s marches, like Los Angeles-based La Opinión, the nation’s largest Spanish-language daily newspaper, are reluctant to back the boycott openly. 

“La Opinión has a historical role of promoting community participation, from voting to school politics,” says editorial page editor Henrik Rehbinder. “But the boycott is very risky. It’s not clear it will benefit everybody. It’s certain that it will hurt some people, that some people will be fired. If you are a dishwasher, a waiter or another unskilled worker, you may be replaced. As a media outlet, you can’t tell people not to go to work.” 

Instead, La Opinión is calling for a day of action on May 1 in which people can make their own decision about how they will participate: whether that means boycotting or attending the marches and vigils after work, going to church or talking about immigration in school. “We are not going to encourage the boycott, but we are not opposing it,” Rehbinder says. “There are many different ways to participate and everyone has to be responsible and make the right choice.” 

Others in the Latino media say they can’t afford to take a position.  

Jonathan Sanchez, associate publisher of Eastern Group Publications, says his publication did not support the march or the boycott and is critical of media that took an active role. 

“It was radio primarily that pushed the envelope,” Sanchez says. “Radio stations are adding fuel to the fire, misleading people by the way they are reporting it. As media we don’t have any business promoting either way. I think it’s out of line to do that. But Spanish radio has that tradition.” 

Spanish-language media has a history of defending its community, beginning with the first Spanish newspaper 151 years ago, says Jose Luis Benavides, journalism professor at California State University, Northridge. Founded June 19, 1855, El Clamor Público (The Public Outcry) advocated for the rights of Latinos, who made up the majority of the population of Los Angeles but were victims of violence, judicial bias and lack of political representation—many of the same issues they experience today, says Benavides. 

In 1939 the newspaper El Espectador in the San Gabriel Valley helped organize a boycott against the local movie theatre Upland Theater that only allowed Mexicans to sit in the side aisles and balcony, writes Mario Garcia in his book Mexican Americans. The boycott was successful in integrating the theater. 

The paradox of Hispanic media today, Benavides says, is that despite its activist tradition, very little Hispanic media are now owned by Latinos. This is especially true in radio and TV, where large corporate-owned media may choose to side with advertisers.  

If greater corporatization of media continues, Benavides says, we can expect to see more instances in which media may have to choose between activism and the economic bottom line. “But,” he adds, “if they move really far away from the community they are supposed to represent, then no one is going to watch them.” 

“The peculiar phenomenon of Latino immigration,” according to an April 17 editorial in La Opinión, “has allowed for the development of a journalism that combines the commitment to the immigrant public with the Anglo search for objectivity.” 

“There are principles of professionalism that demand a distance to ensure a level of objectivity,” writes La Opinión, “although there are certain situations that demand drastic action. The threat of the bill HR4437 is one of these cases where one cannot simply be a spectator.”


Kragen Site, Pacific Steel, Sisterna Top ZAB Agenda

By Richard Brenneman
Tuesday April 25, 2006

The controversial proposal to build a massive five-story high-rise at the corner of University Avenue and Martin Luther King Jr. Way comes before ZAB Thursday. 

Two other lightning rods adorn the agenda—Pacific Steel Casting and the Sisterna Tract Historic District. 

Developers Chris Hudson and Evan McDonald hope to win Zoning Adjustments Board (ZAB) approval for their project at 1885 University Ave. that has drawn the ire of neighbors, who claim it’s too big and will cause too much traffic. 

The property is currently occupied by a strip mall with Kragen Auto Parts as the principal tenant. 

The developers have promised a sweetener for the city—a highly popular Trader Joe’s market in the ground floor commercial space. 

Neighbors have decried the building’s shadowing effects on Berkeley Way, the residential street that flanks the structure on the north. They also fear the impacts of traffic to the market, which will be directed into an entrance on their street. 

The developers have promised the city that the market will bring needed sales taxes to the city and have said they’re already entitled to build an even more massive project at the 1885 University Ave. site. 

Steve Wollmer of PlanBerkeley.org is a project neighbor and has submitted a series of lengthy objections, and city staff have provided their own massive report. 

During Thursday’s meeting, the board will take public testimony and advise the developers on issues of building height and mass. 

Also on the ZAB agenda is a proposal by Pacific Steel Casting to install air filtering equipment at their Second Street foundry. 

Neighbors have waged a long-running battle over foul odors emanating from the plant, and the company responded with a plan to install the equipment after neighbors raised the threat of a flood of small claims lawsuits. 

The proposal is listed on the board’s consent calendar. 

Another agenda item certain to generate public comment is a request by developer Gary Feiner to give retroactive approval to his demolition of a landmarked building at 2104 Sixth St. 

Part of a two-building pop-up and build-out project, the landmarked cottage was effectively demolished in direct contravention of an agreement with the city. 

A contractor removed the roof in violation of the building permit, replacing it with a steel-framed replacement. Architect Timothy Rempel, who is working for developer Gary Feiner, said the action was a mistake, leading to the firing of the contractor. 

Project neighbors who landmarked the 19th-century working-class neighborhood in response to Feiner’s plans can be expected to turn out to air their grievances, as they did at the Landmarks Preservation Commission earlier this month. 

Another West Berkeley project on the agenda is a proposal to add a rooftop parking structure to an automotive service building at 1218 Seventh St. and construct a new three-story, 8,075-square-foot building with a mezzanine on a vacant lot next door at 1220 Seventh St. 

Because of the unusually crowded agenda, the meeting will begin an hour earlier than normal at 6 p.m. in City Council Chambers at Old City Hall, 2134 Martin Luther King Jr. Way.w


News Analysis: Italy’s Murky Election: A Vote for Weak Government

By Paolo Pontoniere New America Media
Tuesday April 25, 2006

It’s over. The Italian superior court has declared that Silvio Berlusconi is out and that Romano Prodi has won. But more than voting out Berlusconi’s center-right alliance or approving Prodi’s center-left coalition, Italians have chosen to go back to the splintered governments preceding the early 1990s. 

Italian analysts are busy debating the significance of the April 12 elections. Some say the new government will be strong enough to steer the Italian ship through the waves of globalization; others claim the opposite. Both may miss the point. In dividing their votes to the dime—49.8 percent to 49.7—Italians have signaled that they think a weak government may be better than the solid majoritarian governments that have been managing Italy since the Tangentopoli (”Bribeville”) flare-up 14 years ago.  

A financial scandal of immense magnitude, Tangentopoli hastened the extinction of the Christian Democrats and the Socialists—two parties which had governed Italy with a relative majority of the seats in parliament—and eventually fostered the advent of the country’s Second Republic in 1992.  

Under this new republic, Italy did away with old political oligarchies—at least theoretically—and launched an extensive revision of the constitution and of the welfare, criminal and civil justice systems. It undertook radical labor reform and changed the electoral system, adopting a majoritarian mechanism similar to that of the United States.  

Superficially, it seemed to work. Since the inception of the Second Republic, Italy has seen some of its longest-serving governments since World War II. Massimo D’Alema, the first former communist to head an Italian government, was at the helm of one, and Berlusconi guided two, including his most recent, a five-year stint of uninterrupted stewardship that made him the longest-serving prime minister in modern Italy. Conversely, First Republic governments had an average lifespan of nine months. Sixty of them rose and fell from power between the end of the war and the beginning of the 1990s. 

But despite the relative stability of its governments during the Second Republic, during the same period Italy has suffered some of the most serious downturns of its post-war history. Italy has become the tail-light economy of the Eurozone—public debt is above 100 percent of GDP, growth is null, youth unemployment has reached 25 percent—and the country is marred by a loss of purpose and common direction.  

Today, Italy has one the lowest birth rates of the developed world. Social structures such as the Church, political organizations and unions have lost their allure, and the country seems to be able to find its passion and creativity only when it comes to soccer games or the discussion of the latest fashion fad or TV show.  

Not that the old First Republic was in any way more accountable or competent than the Second. It had a sketchy control of economic dynamics, produced anemic public institutions, fostered the growth of political clienteles and encouraged citizens’ indifference toward the state. But, strangely, in such a climate of lasseiz-faire, Italians thrived. 

During the First Republic, Italy’s economy rose to fifth place in the world, thanks to the contribution made by a widespread network of small and medium-sized family-owned businesses, and to the widespread use of undocumented labor. Thanks to wise investment in research and development, products of Italian style and design, as well as those of the food and agricultural sector, became the trademark of good living across the globe. Italian cinema competed head-to-head with Hollywood. And Italy itself, because of its historical and natural treasures, became a world-class tourist destination.  

Central to this success was consociationism, a political arrangement in which amicable agreements between majority and minority produced gains for everybody. In such a fashion, governments doled out, through prolonged bargaining among constituencies, a good amount of subsidies to every social group.  

While the government handsomely subsidized the private industry, at the same time it provided blue collar elites—those close to the Communist and the Socialist parties—with a pervasive welfare system ranging from housing assistance, free universal health coverage and higher education to good pension plans and extended unemployment benefits. This allowed the working class to defray many of the costs for those services that in other countries—such as the United States—are borne by the workers.  

Forward to the post-tangentopoli governments, and Italians have been pushed into a one-size-fits-all economic agreement with the rest of Europe. According to market guru Allen Sinai and Nobel laureate economists Gary Becker and Paul Samuelson, that agreement eliminates the ability of the national government to use monetary levers to keep Italian exports and labor competitive on world markets. Furthermore, Berlusconi’s erosion of the welfare system has further exasperated the public, which since the introduction of the euro has been enraged about the rising cost of living.  

Writing for Il Manifesto, popular commentator Grabiele Polo has defined this election as the last memoir of a country dissolving itself into thousands of threads of individual passion. Taking a different view, La Repubblica’s Franco Carlini, another renowned analyst, notes that when a country is confused or unconvinced by the proposals of either political coalition, 50-50 is the only possible result.  

Both fail to see that by giving a slight majority to Prodi’s Unione, Italy’s civil society may have meant to affirm that the primacy of the state stands with its people—and that political parties must find a way to work together for the good of all. 

 

Paolo Pontoniere is U.S. correspondent for Focus, Italy’s leading monthly..


First Person: Learning Never to Say ‘This Time Next Year’

By Winston Burton
Tuesday April 25, 2006

I was in Atlantic City, New Jersey, at my aunt’s 95th birthday party. Her name was Pricilla, but everyone called her Aunt Gussie. She had outlived all of her friends and contemporaries and was the matriarch and Griot (oral historian) of our family. 

She was the one who passed down to us not just our own history but what it was like growing up in a racially divided America, living as a black woman, in the South and in Philadelphia during the early 20th century. 

Someone asked, “Gussie, are you having fun?” 

She said, “I’m just fine, but I won’t be here this time next year.” 

I thought that was kind of morbid! Later, after she blew out the number 95 candle on her cake, I asked, “Hey, Aunt Gussie, how about some words of wisdom?” 

“Well, this has been a marvelous party,” she said, “but I’m not going to be here this time next year.” 

I gave her a loving look and assured her. “Yes you are, you’re not going to die, and we won’t let you.” 

“Die! Who said anything about dying? This time next year I’m going to have a party in New York City!”  

For a major part of my life, especially in my 20s and 30s, my optimism and pessimism had been driven by the thought—this time next year. It was why I did things and why I didn’t. I knew in my mind that by this time next year, no matter what was actually happening, I would either be dead or rich. There was no in-between. It was why I got in and out of relationships, in and out of jobs, and in and out of trouble. Sometimes it was positive. I made impulsive moves that took me on adventures and places I would never have gone, and I took chances that taught me things I would never have learned. 

It was also how I dealt with pain. I knew that no matter how much something hurt, this time next year I would feel different, if not better. However, more often than not, I would find myself a year later broke and still alive with a whole lot of apologizing to do—with a trail of regrets and people I either hurt or disappointed, never having lived up to my potential, and occasionally on the run.  

Almost everyday, I’m horrified when I read of young people killing each other, robbing each other, and going to jail for long stretches of time. They have no regard for their life or anyone else’s. They are living for the now and believe that this time next year they’ll either be on top or gone—so what does it matter? 

Some people believe in life after death and that they’ll get their reward in the next life. Isn’t that what also motivates suicide bombers? The catch is you have to die to see if it’s true. A lot of people both young and old live in the reverse—they want their rewards now, on Earth, and are willing to give up their life or yours to get paid today. 

When I was young, I was terrified by two things—polio and the atomic bomb. Today’s youth have to worry about terrorism, war, cancer, AIDS, crack, drive-bys and a host of other things. Even the birds pose a threat to our existence! It’s no wonder many people are fatalistic. We as a society are also constantly looking for the instant fix and get-rich-quick proposition. Instant breakfast, instant coffee, fast food, instant tan, liposuction (why wait to lose weight?), instant mega super lotto millionaires. 

The movies, literature, and TV shows are full of rags-to-riches stories. There are reality shows such as “Who Wants to be a Millionaire?” and “American Idol.” It’s as if we were all living in some contemporary vision of The Count of Monte Cristo. In this Alexander Dumas story the count breaks out of prison, discovers a fabulous treasure and proceeds to knock off anyone that wronged him in the past. Many people believe that with one stroke of good fortune or roll of the dice this time next year they’ll have it made. They’ll have grabbed hold of the American Dream! 

It would be nice if I could say that some great love, profound experience or moral realization changed my ways and made me believe I would be around next year, but actually it was traffic tickets. Every year I would get dozens of tickets and throw them away. Shucks, I thought! As soon as my saxophone recording of “Hey Joe” hit the airwaves I’d make plenty of cash to take care of all my debts! 

My indifference also contributed to my phone, gas and electricity being frequently turned off, so parking tickets were the least thing on my list—until it came time to renew my driver’s license. 

Standing at the DMV counter, contemplating forking over the hard-earned cash I had worked and schemed for, for the third year in a row, I had a choice: lose my license and go to jail or pay for studio recording time. As I slowly gave the DMV all the money I had, it dawned on me—it’s always been about the little things—not just getting rich or dying while trying. The little things had always been holding me back and kicking my butt for years. 

I realized that everyday it was the little things that could make or break me and that life was too short to wait a year! It’s not the bills you pay, it’s the one you don’t that gets you in trouble. It’s not about the big thing you dream of that never happened, but the little things you do that no one knows about.  

There are many people who are not intimidated by either jail or death; they’re focused on chasing the American Dream. If they would believe that they’ll be here five years, ten years, even 20 years from now and learn how to appreciate the little things, maybe they’d make it to next year. 

Aunt Gussie never had her 96th birthday party in New York City; she died six months later, still an eternal optimist. Her glass was never half empty but always half full. Now that I’ve gotten older, I never say “this time next year.” But I must admit that every now and than, I find myself thinking, this time next month!!


Opinion

Editorials

Sewers, Impeachment, Alcohol Policy on Council Agenda

By Judith Scherr
Friday April 28, 2006

After a serenade by Berkeley’s Kairos Youth Choir and enlightenment by clever Public Service Announcements written by students in Berkeley High’s Communication Arts and Sciences program to inspire recycling, the City Council was ready to dig into the more meaty issues of the evening—aging sewers, creating an alcohol policy and impeaching the president. 

But not before Councilmember Betty Olds, who last week got the Barn Owl named as the city’s official bird, announced the Honda strike settlement, saying: “One week after the Barn Owl was chosen as the official bird, the Honda wrath has disappeared.” 

The creek’s task force got a reprieve—its final plan aimed at preserving Berkeley’s waterways was to go to the council in May, but it won’t be ready. So the council will look at a draft ordinance in July, then vote on the ordinance in the fall. 

 

Curbing alcohol nuisances 

During the public comment period, Lori Lott of the Berkeley Alcohol Policy Advocacy Coalition told the council that the present complaint-driven system of regulating alcohol-vending outlets is not working and Jeana Radasevich from Students For A Safer Southside spoke of “easy access (of alcohol) for minors.” 

The council agreed and voted unanimously to ask the City Council to take the packet of suggested legislation the group provided in order to craft an ordinance 

regulating the sale of alcohol. 

 

Impeaching Bush and Cheney 

With a unanimous council vote, Berkeley became the fourth city in California, after San Francisco, Santa Cruz and Arcata to call for the impeachment of President George Bush and Vice President Richard Cheney. The council also approved a measure asking the Peace and Justice Commission to consider an advisory measure that would place impeachment on the November ballot. 

 

Sewer woes 

There was no action on the city’s aging storm water system, simply a presentation of the vast need by Acting Public Works Director Claudette Ford. One solution is funding new sewers, which Councilmember Linda Maio said she’d like to see on the November ballot. Mayor Tom Bates, however, said he thought that the large school bond measure on the ballot was enough to ask of Berkeley voters. 

City Manager Phil Kamlarz talked about a bill in the state legislature that would amend the state constitution—ACA 13—and would allow cities to fund the storm drain system through fees, rather than having to float a bond measure. 

Also, the council put off a discussion of AC transit cuts in Lines 40 and 43 until its May 16 meeting..


Editorial: Impeach Bush in the State Assembly

By Becky O'Malley
Tuesday April 25, 2006

Monday morning’s e-mail brought a dispatch from the lively Op-Ed News website, the first to report, as far as we know, that Assemblymember Paul Koretz has just introduced in the California Legislature a resolution to impeach not only the despised Dubya but also the odious Dick Cheney. He has submitted it as amendments to his prior Assembly Joint Resolution No. 39. They reference Section 603 of Jefferson’s Manual of the Rules of the United States House of Representatives, which allows federal impeachment proceedings to be initiated by joint resolution of a state legislature. A similar resolution is already underway in Illinois, and proponents have high hopes that it will be passed. 

Koretz’s press release says that he “bases the call for impeachment upon the Bush administration intentionally misleading the Congress and the American people regarding the threat from Iraq in order to justify an unnecessary war that has cost billions of dollars and thousands of lives and casualties; exceeding constitutional authority to wage war by invading Iraq; exceeding constitutional authority by federalizing the National Guard; conspiring to torture prisoners in violation of the Federal Torture Act and indicating intent to continue such actions; spying on American citizens in violation of the 1978 Foreign Agency Surveillance Act; leaking and covering up the leak of the identity of Valerie Plame Wilson, and holding American citizens without charge or trial.” Whew. That’s a stunning assortment of high crimes for one president to have committed, and Bush did them all and more.  

We first called for impeachment in this space around Christmas time, which doesn’t seem like so long ago. Since then the smoking gun in the Plame Wilson case has been deftly placed in the Bush-Cheney briefcase by the incomparable Patrick Fitzgerald. Bush’s lawless spying on Americans has been documented even more fully. No one, even many conservatives, believes any more that the presidential propaganda leading up to the Iraq invasion contained an iota of truth. In fact, what’s most shocking at the moment is the question of why not more has happened now that all of this is out. Why do members of the U.S. House of Representatives seem to be dragging their feet on the bill of impeachment introduced by John Conyers and others?  

One answer, the simplest one, is that the Democrats know that they’ll never get it passed in the Republican-dominated House. That’s why the November election looms large at the moment. As of this writing, we can’t find any reliable authority to tell us what the consequences of the state legislatures’ passing these resolutions might be. It doesn’t seem likely that the U.S. House of Representatives would be out of the picture altogether, but it would at least give Congress members something to think about. 

The job now for people around here is to persuade our local state Assembly members to quickly add their names to the Koretz crusade. He represents West Hollywood, a district as progressive as ours if not more so, but there’s no reason Loni Hancock and Wilma Chan shouldn’t jump on board immediately, not to mention the rest of the Bay Area members who are in safe Democratic districts. And for our Internet readers, there are several safe Blue States (Vermont, Rhode Island and Massachusetts come to mind) where an impeachment crusade has a chance of success.  

While we’re talking about persuasion, however, and about the usually excellent Op-Ed News site, could we make yet another plea to be left out of their robot-mail operation? Their home page contains a button which generates this option: “This special one click action page is brought to you by OpEdNews.com and The People’s E-mail Network (P.E.N.). It will submit your personal message on any issue YOU care about to your local newspaper as a Letter to the Editor. We can either determine your closest daily paper from your address, or you can pick on a particular one in your area yourself.”  

The result of this is that the Planet (and probably other papers as well) is being deluged with the written equivalent of sound bytes on “everyone-around-here-agrees” topics like, in fact, impeaching the president. The format of the auto-mailer limits writers to 250 words and encourages less, so they don’t do much except shout hallelujah with the choir. We can recognize these letters easily because many signers don’t notice the box where they’re supposed to select an honorific to add to the signature, so a letter might be signed “Mr. Sarah Glutz.” They’re nothing more than spam, even if they’re progressive spam. All we do is press the delete button—we don’t even count such letters.  

Some of the attached names are our friends, local people we know to be thoughtful and good writers. We’d love to get well-written letters from them, tailored to the Planet’s literate readers, but please, folks, skip the People’s E-mail Network form. You’re filling up our mail boxes and driving us nuts. Better you should write good letters to Hancock, Chan et al., urging them to join Koretz’s crusade. He probably needs all the help he can get at this point. 

 

 

 

 


Public Comment

Letters to the Editor

Friday April 28, 2006

OREGON STREET 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I have lived on Russell Street around the corner and down the block from Lenore Moore for over seven years. My wife and I were shocked when we heard what the neighbors were doing.  

I often would hitch my little trailer to my wheelchair and take a ride to the Berkeley Bowl. When we would get to California Street we would take a left and go the rest of the way up Oregon Street. It felt safer going this way right past Ms. Moore’s home where we would often get a smile and a hello from her or one of the kids. They especially liked our cart and always had something nice to say. The newer people on the block seemed cold and distant.  

I sat in Jon Rantzman’s courtroom. I heard an elderly woman explain how she loved her grandchildren and how they helped her take care of her ailing husband. I heard the white people wail about how they were afraid of the black people and how they were bringing down the property values.  

I have never been more ashamed of my race. There was Shirley Dean and the ever-politically maneuvering Zelda Bronstein; what did they do when Shirley Dean was in office? Absolutely nothing. I have to admit that when I see Shirley and Zelda show up I jam my wallet deeper in my pocket and put my backpack in front of me. But, if I had heard just one thing from those 30 white people and one black on the other side of the courtroom, I would have held my tongue. But it never came. Not one of those good neighbors ever said “Lenore, if your husband should fall out of bed in the night, just give us a call.” No, not one.  

Max Anderson is right to be alarmed. These neighborhood associations are scary. They smack of the “No Blacks Allowed” neighborhood groups of the 1920s (read Arc Of Justice by Kevin Boyle). I can’t remember the name of the legal hacks that helped put this lawsuit together, but does no one find it just a little suspicious that everyone they have gone after was in some way involved in helping the poor and homeless? I hear the boast by these people that the courts are on their side but anyone one who knows the scene here in Berkeley knows that a court ruling from Commissioner Rantzman is akin to a lawful order from Adolf Hitler.  

When I moved over here on Acton Street the first thing I heard from my “good” neighbors was how I should watch out for the black people down the street. They are loud, have a lot of visitors and may be up to something. I have a brother and I love him very much. He’s in prison for drugs but gets out soon. He is always welcome in my home. My home... Shirley, Zelda, Paul Rauber, Paul Lecky, and all the rest of you racist class bigots when you see me ride by, try a smile and a wave. You’re bringing this neighborhood down. 

Dan McMullan 

Disabled People Outside Project 

 

• 

BERKELEY HIGH BASEBALL 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Hooray for Neil Cook! He’s come up with a brilliant solution to the Berkeley High School baseball team’s misuse and abuse of the baseball field at San Pablo Park—replace that open field with an enclosed stadium! If this happens, he will no longer have to worry about foul balls, foul language and foul behavior at his local park because these foul events will all happen out of sight. And since San Pablo Park is the largest park in Berkeley, there will be plenty of room left over for the neighborhood kids to play in the grassy areas, tennis courts and playgrounds not covered by the stadium. 

And thank goodness that we in the beleaguered neighborhood between MLK and Shattuck won’t have to deal with all this foulness, either. After all, unlike Neil Cook, we have no park at all in our neighborhood. To get to any green space, our kids have to cross one of those major motorways—MLK or Shattuck—and walk for blocks to Willard Park or to Oregon Street park. Plus, as Cook mentions, our park-free neighborhood is already used as an RV park. We deal on a daily basis with trash and foul behavior from some RV residents who use our sidewalks as a dumping ground for their discarded stuff and worse. 

The neighborhood between MLK and Shattuck hosts Berkeley Honda, the UC maintenance facility, a public health clinic, the Alternative High School, and Iceland. Our neighborhood’s only pleasant public amenity is the Farmers’ Market. Thank goodness for Cook’s stadium proposal. Not only will this stadium spare residents of both our neighborhoods the foul balls and foul behavior reported by Cook. It will also save the only pleasant public activity that we have here between MLK and Shattuck—a once-a-week Farmers’ Market. Thank you very much, Mr. Cook. 

Betsy Thagard 

Carleton Street 

• 

FAST-TALKING LIAR 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

President Bush pretended for three years to be looking for the White House leaker, when all along it was him. America is saddled with a fast talking liar in the Oval Office. 

Ron Lowe 

Grass Valley 

 

• 

FREE BOX 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

On Tues., April 25, at 2:45 p.m., in front of the Free Speech stage in People’s Park, Berkeley Police Officer Uranus, badge No. 84, impounded a bicycle cart whose intended use was to distribute free clothing (it was empty at the time of the arrest.) University of California Police Officer Murray, badge No. 76, was assisting. Community activists were informed that the bicycle cart could be repossessed at the UC police station in Sproul Hall. When activists presented their request to Lieutenant Dillard, badge No. L8, they were informed, after much beating around the bush, that they needed a court order in order to procure the release of the alleged free box. 

Arthur Fonseca 

 

• 

CARUSO’S PROPAGANDA  

CAMPAIGN 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

As an Albany resident, I have received more than one letter from Caruso Affiliated asking what kind of development I’d like to see on the Albany waterfront. These letters imply that Caruso is here to help me realize my vision for the Albany shoreline, and they promise open space, breathtaking views, and coastal restoration. In more honest times, such letters were called propaganda. 

Caruso’s primary responsibility is not to me. Nor is it to any other resident of Albany. It is to Magna Corp., a $13 billion Canadian corporation that owns Golden Gate Fields and has hired Caruso to produce a development along the Albany waterfront that will mean big profits for Magna.  

So what kind of development would be most profitable? A public park? Open space? Environmental restoration? An expanded beach front? Recreational opportunities for all? Not exactly. 

A mega-mall and casino on Albany’s shoreline are sure to mean big profits for Magna, so this is what we can expect if we give Caruso a green light. And while Caruso’s current proposal for a mall does not include plans for a casino, this is not because Magna has your best interests in mind. Instead, this is because California voters recently rejected Prop 68 that would have allowed for a casino at Golden Gate Fields. Prop 68 was backed strongly by none other than Magna, to the tune of $2 million. But Magna will not be deterred. They continue to push for legislation that would allow racetrack casinos, and would like nothing more than to build one right here in Albany. 

In short, Caruso must answer to Magna, whose primary aim is to guarantee a return on their investment. And the profits will only roll in when visitors to the waterfront are spending money, be it on blackjack, a Café Latte, or a new pair of shoes. One thing is certain: If Caruso and Magna have their way, there will be no place at their “lifestyle center” for those of us who want to leave the credit card at home and simply enjoy the natural beauty of our waterfront. 

Michael Marchant 

Albany 

• 

ALL IS SACRED 

Editors, Daily Planet:  

On April 20, the second-to-the-last day of the American Indian Movement’s Sacred Run from San Francisco to Washington D.C., I actually walked 13 miles! And, as you can imagine, walking through this great country is the absolute best way to get to know America first-hand. 

We learned about the hurricane devastation that still haunts New Orleans. We learned how to survive tornadoes in Tennessee. We learned about the grim cruelty of feed lots in Texas. And we also learned about the milk of human kindness that flows through America’s small towns. We learned that all across America, churches, city halls, National Guard armories and Indian casinos were willing to put us up for a night because many wonderful Americans across this broad country also believe in the Sacred Run’s motto that “All life is sacred.” 

And, as we trudged doggedly past the various Civil War battlefields between Fredricksburg and Arlington, Virginia, we also learned something else. Apparently some people are still having trouble learning one of life’s more obvious lessions—that war doesn’t work. Some 150 years after 17,000 soldiers were callously sent to their deaths by their idiot commanders at Fredricksburg, some people still think that war is a good idea. 

In the short space of time that it took us to walk past the U.S. Marine base at Quantico, Virginia—15 minutes max—we saw two military funeral corteges leaving the main gate on their way to the cemetery. One funeral every 15 minutes? Does this funeral production line go on all day? Every day? Or did we just come at a bad time. 

If Americans truly believe that all life is sacred—not just fetuses and the brain-dead—we need to make certain that not one more of our finest young men are being forced to die at the whim of the silver-tonged avaricious old liars in the White House. 

Jane Stillwater  

 

• 

WAR STANCE 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Bob Burnett’s “First look at the 2006 senate races” (April 21-24) has an odd nonsequitur: “To have the BB ‘solidly anti-war’ rating you have to say something like, ‘I was always against the war and now I support John Murtha’s position.’” 

The problem with this is that Murtha’s position isn’t “solidly anti-war.” Murtha wants U.S. troops on the ground in Iraq replaced by an “over the horizon” rapid deployment force which would attack from bases in other Middle Eastern countries. This isn’t “anti-war,” it’s continuation of war with a different strategy. 

This illustrates a basic political problem. To be a “progressive Democrat,” it seems to be necessary to pretend that things are what they aren’t. 

Marsha Feinland 

Peace and Freedom Party candidate for U.S. Senate 

 

• 

ALBANY BULB 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Please choose your description of the Albany Bulb is more carefully and accurately. It is not a landfill, it is a toxic waste dump created during and after World War II and contains huge amounts of contaminates including petroleum. A trip out to the end will verify this by sniffing the many vent pipes in the area. When it was first opened to the public in the early 1980s, the stench was very, very strong and the adjacent shrubs discolored. All this is in Sierra Club home turf! 

Ronald Branch 

 

EDITOR’S NOTE: “Lady of the Landfill” was the name of the sculpture pictured on the front page of the April 25 edition. 

 

• 

BERKELEY PUBLIC LIBRARY 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

In response to Ruth Gordon’s April 25 letter regarding Judith Scherr’s article about recent events at the Berkeley Public Library, how Ms. Gordon could have gotten the history of the Berkeley Public Library mess so wrong is baffling. The Daily Planet’s reporting over the past couple of years must have been open to some upside-down interpretation that was not apparent to anyone else. 

When Ms. Gordon characterizes 77 signers of the no-confidence petition as “a small band of discontents,” does she mean small as compared to, say, the Normandy Invasion? Seventy-seven signatures represent a lot of people, more than two-thirds of the total library staff, including managers, who could not sign it, and to say that any of the signers was “afraid to speak out fearful of [Local] 535 threats should they disagree” is preposterous. The union has no powers of retaliation—that has been the library administration’s response to disagreement. 

In answer to Ms. Gordon’s question, “Has [Local] 535 filed grievances with the city,” the answer is a resounding yes, they have. The director has consistently chosen to “discipline” anyone who dares to disagree with her library policies. She has wrenched people from their home libraries, changed their duties, and found other ways to retaliate against staff members who questioned her totalitarian approach to administration. 

The “small band of unhappy leaders‚ [who] love the library so much that they are happily willing to kill it” Gordon talks about in her letter can only refer to the director and her handful of supporters, whose intention it is to reduce the library to a monolithic, computerized, depersonalized building, with drastically reduced hours and personnel, and as few books and services as possible. 

I have lived in Berkeley for more than 40 years and have followed the evolution of the library since Griffin’s appointment with anger and dismay. As a taxpayer I was outraged when she ramrodded through the RFID system at an outlay of hundreds of thousands of dollars, with costs escalating to more than a million dollars and no end in sight, money that could have been spent on improving the library instead of degrading it. 

Historically, the Berkeley Public Library has been a place where the community gathered to enjoy the interactions of a population as diverse as anywhere in the nation. Alterations Griffin has made to the structure and function of our library amount to distortions and corruptions of that ideal. 

Recent articles indicate that the Board of Library Trustees and the City Council are planning to terminate Griffin’s tenure with the library. If this is true, the sooner it is accomplished, the better for our library. As things now stand, it will take years to reverse the damage she has done. 

Shirley Stuart 

 

• 

PUBLIC SAFETY 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

The mayor’s forum on teen violence fell short in many ways. Let’s hope the follow-up meeting gives parents a significant role in planning the event and allows for enough time to hear their concerns. In the 15 minutes parents spoke we heard details of violent incidents involving their kids and the conditions in our city and schools parents want to change. 

Do we have gang activity in Berkeley? Just look around, have you ever seen so much tagging? Check out Milvia Street, right across from Berkeley High School. Is there a need for anti-gang curriculum in middle and high school, and gang suppression strategies for West Berkeley parks? 

Do we have a consistent problem with rat-pack assaults? Just a sampling of parents’ stories reveal we do. Of equal concern is the high rate of underreporting to both the schools and police. Are rat-pack assaults the result of peer pressure and bullying or an initiation into criminal activity? What should the response be, considering the nature of theses incidents in which the victim is significantly outnumbered and the resulting injury is usually to the face and head? Why did we not discuss this at the mayor’s forum? 

Is there a connection between the politicians’ “spin” and the unwillingness of school officials to properly inform and notice parents/students so we can better prepare ourselves? Do we enable the normalization of youth violence by pretending it is not as bad as it is? 

I found it painful listening to the mothers from West Berkeley speak to the prevalence of gang activity, and hear the same answers from both city and school officials: volunteer. We pay some of the highest taxes, and we have questions. What needs to change so the extensive array of services and programs reach their intended clients and goals? How can volunteers affect services when there is a need for program evaluation and innovation? When will public officials show leadership in addressing these tough issues? 

As a long time parent volunteer on youth safety issues, I offer these questions in the same spirit as when I developed the Incident Reporting Guide for Berkeley High School. We are asking for a partnership based on mutual respect between the parents and the city/schools agencies to improve the conditions and circumstances for all Berkeley kids. 

Laura Menard 

Former chair of BHS Safety Committee 

?


Commentary: ‘Push Polls’ Not Part of Downtown Association’s Agenda

By Mark McLeod
Friday April 28, 2006

I appreciate the Daily Planet’s interest in the fact that several merchant associations, including the Downtown Berkeley Association (DBA), have been discussing the commissioning of a professionally created and administered survey of Berkeley residents to determine their public policy interests and preferences. 

The DBA’s primary motivation for conducting such a resident survey is to determine what public policies our associations can support which will increase the willingness and desire of this city’s residents to do business in our neighborhood commercial centers. 

The charge given the DBA by its members is to protect and nourish the downtown as a place to conduct business. We believe that such a survey could help us understand how to do this by giving us insight into how the residents of Berkeley want to address issues such as: 

• Ability of the xity to retain and attract business, capture a greater portion of Berkeley’s discretionary dollars, and generate sales tax revenue,  

• The future of retail development. 

• Development of multi-modal transportation, including parking, Bus Rapid Transit, and the BART Plaza redesign. 

• Population density along transit corridors. 

• The hospitality industry, including hotels and conference center. 

• Cooperative developmental planning between the city and UC Berkeley. 

• The maintenance of clean and safe streets. 

• The exit of some high revenue generating businesses, such as auto dealerships, from the city.  

The DBA is preparing to hire a professional survey research firm to conduct the survey. Over recent weeks, several of us brainstormed topics and hypothetical questions. We will rely on the professional survey firm to take our list of topic ideas and transform them into a coherent and informative survey. 

We have absolutely no interest in a “push poll.” It would be a completely self-defeating and financially wasteful exercise. At its best, a sophisticated survey is a tool that educates those who commission it. In contrast, a “push poll” is simply a piece of propaganda which accomplishes nothing for anyone who sincerely wants to learn more about their community.  

 

Mark McLeod is the board president of the Downtown Berkeley Association. 


Why I’m the Only Viable Candidate for Mayor

By Zachary Running Wolf
Friday April 28, 2006

I am a Native American leader, not a sold-out career politician. Berkeley citizens need me as mayor at this very important time in world history. A career politician sells his or her souls to the highest bidder, climbs the political ladder by making “compromises” with fellow politicians, and leaves behind and ignores the best interests of their constituencies. A perfect example of a career politician and his dirty dealing is Mayor Bates and his closed-door sweetheart deal to sell out downtown Berkeley to his alma mater, the University of California at Berkeley. In contrast, a Native American leader looks to the future and out for the well being of the community (or tribe), which comes first before personal security and economic gain. This means looking out for the well-being of the children for seven generations. 

The residents of Berkeley need this kind of leadership. Buying and selling our future cannot be handed over to yet another career politician. The city and it’s residents (including the student population) need someone who will put their needs ahead of the big players (UCB, developers, etc.) in Berkeley politics. This is especially true now that Mayor Bates has given the downtown away to UCB for a song. I believe the only way to get the downtown back from the clutches of UCB is to hunger-strike them back to the negotiation table in front of all the parties concerned. Berkeley residents at the negotiation table would give strength and power to the mayor (the city), strength and power Tom Bates sold behind closed doors. Hunger-striking is not an outlandish idea: this same technique has been used many times in the past and against this same university in victorious fashion. For example, in 1999 I was involved in the victorious Ethnic Studies strike. As mayor I will hunger-strike UCB back to the negotiation table. I believe this is the only viable route rather than trying to go into court facing their vast economic wealth and capable legal team. I’m not ruling out the courtroom method, but the downtown problem has to be dealt with immediately with all our efforts. I also support a strong sunshine ordinance.  

The University of California at Berkeley is involved with genetically altered foods and is growing these crops within the city limits. This is careless and disrespectful to the surrounding communities and their gardens, which are vulnerable to pollination from these untested crops. I plan to spearhead a ban on genetically altered foods focused on these dangerous crops. The ban on genetically altered foods would mirror the Berkeley Nuclear-Free ban, which has been done by other counties in Northern California. Berkeley has the opportunity to be the first mid-sized city to induce a ban on GMO (genetically modified organisms). As they say, “if it can’t pass in Berkeley it can’t work anywhere”: we can prove that Berkeley is indeed a world leader! 

Being a traditional Native American leader requires that I take care of our mother (Earth). With that in mind I maintain that we need to get Berkeley’s diesel fleet back to 100 percent (B100) bio-diesel with the possibility of eventually going to straight vegetable oil (SVO). This would extend my work in the field of bio-diesel as I spearheaded the movement to get AC Transit to begin a bio-diesel pilot program. Along with an emphasis on green energy, my platform includes designating part of downtown Berkeley and/or Telegraph Avenue as a pedestrian bicycle and service vehicle-only zone.  

As a 43-year-old resident of Berkeley who attended Berkeley schools and graduated from Berkeley High in 1981, I have seen clearly the areas of society who need the most help. As mayor I pledge to donate the entire mayor’s salary evenly to the three most unrecognized groups in our community: to our elders with their wisdom and experience who help us throughout our lives by steering us away from danger; to our children who are our future generations and must be cultivated and trusted with their own decisions; to our homeless or less fortunate who do not take more than they need but must be given the resources to help them get where they want to go. Society has failed these groups economically and spiritually. How will I survive without getting paid? The truth is that I have already been surviving without getting paid (economically) for the past 11 years. In the Native American way our chiefs are looked after (paid if you will) by the Creator Great Spirit. It is considered the highest honor to represent your people. I have never been more proud to say I am a Native American leader and I consider the citizens of Berkeley to be my people. Helping my people is enough payment for me.  

Education will be emphasized in my administration: supporting our teachers (heroes) by ensuring that they have enough resources to provide a world-class education for our future generations. The current hurdles will be addressed head on, such as the “No Child Left Behind” act which I call “Every Child Left Behind” or “What Children?” My experience in this field includes helping start the American Indian Public Charter School. I also helped save Ethnic Studies at UCB where I was a guest lecturer (in Native American studies). I have also spoken at many schools in the East Bay. Strengthening Ethnic Studies in the schools of Berkeley is a priority. This is not just for our youth of color and women, but for our dominant culture to learn about the important contributions from these groups to our country. Strengthening ethnic studies will help reduce the student dropout rate in communities of color. 

This brings us to my views on future development in the City of Berkeley. First, I’m strongly against the West Ashby BART (transit village) development brought forward by our current Mayor Bates and other city Councilmembers without the proper notice or input by the neighborhood affected. This project has a number of problems including the mis-measurement of the lot at six acres instead of the actual four. The proposed transit village would be a 300-unit condo project, which would be at least five stories in monstrous height. It would also push out the Berkeley Flea Market, which provides a much-needed cultural and meeting place in south Berkeley. We cannot just build structures in every available space in this city; I’m for playing fields and parks for our children. I also see the need for communities to have space available for community gardens. Being a carpenter by trade I will support architecture that would rival the historical treasures this city is known for instead of this current trend of penitentiary building. Residents of areas affected by redevelopment need to be given enough notice and input to have their voices heard, a right that has been lost in Berkeley.  

Finally, educational resources such as our libraries are under assault. I reject the use of RFID in the Berkeley public libraries, as this is a bad idea for numerous reasons. We do not need a big brother system, especially in one of the most progressive cities in the world.  

My experience in city politics goes back 11 years: dealing with schools, land acquisition (Oak Knoll Naval Hospital—3.75 acres), sitting on the board of directors of the Inter-Tribal Friendship House and helping bring them out of $385,000 of debt, and defending Native American rights on a national level. My experience in the city of Berkeley includes spearheading the name change of Columbus Elementary School to Rosa Parks, serving on the Peace and Justice Commission, helping save Ethnic Studies at UCB, and finally spearheading AC Transit to start a bio-diesel pilot program.  

In closing, the City of Berkeley needs a strong leader who will make the right decisions that will benefit the community first and not just another career politician looking out for their own self interest. It is time for the first indigenous mayor of Berkeley: Ah-ho Zachary RunningWolf! 

 

Zachary RunningWolf is a graduate of Berkeley High School and a candidate for mayor of Berkeley. 

 

 

 


Commentary:How to Create a Lively ‘Green’ Oasis in Downtown

By Kirstin Miller
Friday April 28, 2006

Increasingly, people living in cities are calling for the creation of natural, beautiful, functional, and healthy public spaces accessible to all citizens, regardless of age, ability or income. Cities are also taking greater steps to heal the natural environment within their borders. Revitalizing and restoring nature in the city not only helps the environment, but also connects people with place. 

Berkeley is currently discussing ideas for improving its downtown. Citizens for a Strawberry Creek Plaza is advocating for a “green” downtown centerpiece, featuring what we are calling “Strawberry Creek Plaza,” by closing Center Street between Shattuck and Oxford to motor vehicle traffic and by daylighting a portion of now-culverted Strawberry Creek on that block. A welcoming urban oasis would be created in the heart of downtown, attracting visitors for shopping, recreation, education and enjoyment of a well-designed, pedestrian-oriented open space. 

The recent development of the Arts District is an exciting step towards increased vitality in downtown. But Berkeley still lacks a feeling of a central gathering place. A Strawberry Creek Plaza could provide that missing piece. As one model of a successful strategy that celebrates nature in the city, San Luis Obispo’s Mission Plaza and San Luis Creek restoration has unequivocally contributed to bringing the downtown commercial vacancy rate from 60 percent to current full occupancy. Other cities successfully showcasing urban waterways include: Ashland, Oregon; Santa Rosa, Calif.; Denver, Col.; San Antonio, Tex., and Providence, Rhode Island. 

Citizen interest in downtown creek daylighting has been strong for many years. It was initially inspired by the city’s (and the nation’s) first urban creek daylighting project, launched at Strawberry Creek Park in 1982. In 1999, the City of Berkeley commissioned a “Strawberry Creek Downtown” data collection study that, after public review, concluded that daylighting on Center Street would be preferred over other alternatives studied. 

Then, in late 2003, the university announced plans to develop a hotel, conference center, and museum complex on Center Street, where their printing plant and the Bank of America and its parking lot are now located. This is the same block that the 1999 Strawberry Creek Downtown study indicated was the best location for creek daylighting to occur. 

In the first phase of development, the hotel and conference center portion of the plan will be constructed with private financing. The museum complex will follow in a second phase, supported by campus fundraising efforts. The project will supply the university’s need for conference and meeting space. It also will create new quarters for the Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive. (The art museum is now housed in a seismically problematic building on Bancroft Way.) Additionally, the project will provide a new and more publicly accessible facility for the Phoebe Hearst Museum of Anthropology collection, now tucked into cramped campus quarters in Kroeber Hall. 

The project site is not only the core of the downtown; it is also a transit hub served by the Downtown Berkeley BART station and several AC transit lines. Approximately 10,000 pedestrians traverse Center Street each day, walking from BART to campus. 

It’s a location that has great importance to the citizens of Berkeley and the greater Bay Area as a destination for the Arts and entertainment, as well as education and commerce. To provide community input and recommendations to the new proposals, in December 2003 the City Council approved a recommendation from Mayor Tom Bates that directed the City of Berkeley Planning Commission to form a task force to “examine the potential hotel and conference center in downtown Berkeley and to report back to the council no later than May, 2004, with preliminary recommendations.” 

Included on the task force were members of AC Transit, Berkeley Architectural Heritage Association, Berkeley Chamber of Commerce, Berkeley Convention and Visitors Bureau, Bicycle Friendly Berkeley Coalition, city commissions on Civic Arts, Design Review, Planning, Public Works, and Transportation, Downtown Berkeley Association, East Bay Alliance for a Sustainable Economy, Ecocity Builders, Livable Berkeley, Sierra Club, Urban Creeks Council, local architects, and landscape architects. 

Task force meetings featured lively discussions with active participation by interested members of the public. The recommendations leaned heavily towards “green” building and design, closing Center Street to traffic, and the creation of a pedestrian environment with a daylighted Strawberry Creek included, if deemed feasible. 

After the Hotel Task Force made its report, a conflict arose over the university’s Long Range Development Plan (LRDP). A lawsuit was filed by the city in protest to the LRDP, and in the end, a settlement was reached, where, among several other agreements, the city and university made a decision to hammer out a new Downtown Area Plan that would help manage the needs of both UC and the city. 

The new downtown planning process is now in motion, and Citizens for a Strawberry Creek Plaza is hoping that a central focus on the core downtown area as a “green” centerpiece and anchor for the larger downtown area will emerge.  

In addition to the Strawberry Creek Plaza, a “green” downtown would have many or all of the following features: 

1. Demonstration of a healthy urban “ecological footprint.” 

2. Ecological design—design with nature. 

3. Re-establishment of an important urban waterway. 

4. Some natural urban habitat to bolster local biodiversity. 

5. Demonstration of the correlation between the creation of a great public place and increased economic vitality. 

6. Live rooftops and terracing. 

7. Increased transportation alternatives. 

8. Increased housing near jobs/reduction of auto dependence. 

9. Teaching about sustainability by example. 

10. Energy conservation, solar orientation of buildings. 

11. Additional “green building” methods and materials used. 

Such a “green” downtown, we believe, would bring a wealth of aesthetic, social, economic, and environmental benefits to Berkeley. It would also establish Berkeley as a leader in conservation and restoration of a healthy relationship between the natural and the urban. 

Restaurant patrons would be able to enjoy the creek as they lunch outside or stop for coffee and conversation. Cafes with outdoor seating could be added on the sunny north side of Center Street to supplement the restaurants that already exist on the south side. Pedestrian amenities such as benches, trees and plantings, and public art would be included. Space could possibly also be set aside for small-scale outdoor concerts. 

Students could easily walk to and from the university. Sightseers, school groups and visitors will appreciate a scenic environment near the two new museums on the north side of the plaza. Conference attendees would arrive via BART, making their way towards the hotel while admiring their new surroundings, briefly stopping at a kiosk with information about Berkeley’s downtown and nearby Arts District. 

Bus Rapid Transit buses traveling in their own dedicated lanes would arrive and depart frequently near the plaza, adding to the flow of visitors, residents, and commuters in the heart of downtown. Added housing at locations close to BART and to the new BRT bus routes would provide opportunities for more people to live close to their jobs in downtown and on the UC campus while all the Bay Area is just a transit ride away. The new housing would include affordable apartments and be designed to minimize energy consumption. 

Within this green urban oasis, human voices and sounds of running water and singing birds would come alive without the usual competition from cars and traffic. It would be a beautiful downtown center celebrating Berkeley’s natural and architectural past while demonstrating a commitment to a sustainable future. We hope you will join us in advocating for this promising green vision for downtown. Together, we can make it happen! 

For more information about Citizens for a Strawberry Creek Plaza, or to request a presentation, please visit www.strawberrycreekplaza.org. 

 

Kirstin Miller is program manager for Citizens for a Strawberry Creek Plaza and is on the Steering Committee. Other Steering Committee members are Syliva McLaughlin, Robert Hass, Richard Register, Rob Wrenn, Elyce Judith, Juliet Lamont, Gus Yates and David Koehn. 

 

 

 

 


Commentary: 1610 Oregon Street: It’s Everyone’s Concern

By Shirley Dean
Friday April 28, 2006

It is hard to believe that Councilmember Max Anderson actually said that the action taken by 14 neighbors in Small Claims court regarding 1610 Oregon St. involved a “revenge motive.” But, there it was in the April 18 Daily Planet, in a news story about the appeal brought by 1610’s owner against the judgment the neighbors had won in January in Small Claims Court which awarded $5,000 to each of the neighbors. The news story reported that the owner’s appeal had been dismissed by Superior Court Judge Wynne Carvill.  

Judge Carvill wrote in his statement of opinion that the owner “has been on notice for well over a decade of the problems surrounding 1610. She had, and continues to have, a duty to abate that nuisance.” There have been multiple police actions near, on and in the property. The police even testified in court that they visited the owner prior to their actions to warn her to clean up the problems or they would have to take action. As mayor, I tried to deal with the problem when the city brought an action coordinated across several city departments to clean up the property in 2000.  

The City Council at that time directed staff to provide the owner and her husband with services to assist her in any way possible. We were able to get the property repaired and cleaned-up for awhile, but it didn’t last. I attended and testified in the Small Claims Court hearing in January, and I attended both days that the appeal was heard in Superior Court during this month. 

Let’s make no mistake. The problems experienced at 1610 Oregon and flowing out from that property touch each and every one of us in Berkeley no matter where we live. Unfortunately, there are other 1610s in our community and that number will increase the more we close our front doors and delude ourselves into believing that what we are reading about is just a problem for an unfamiliar South Berkeley neighborhood in Council District 3. Recognizing that this is a city problem is the first step in finding real solutions. If members of the City Council can’t understand that, the community should make sure they get the message and get it soon.  

The situation on Oregon Street represents the failure of our city to provide the protections that are rightfully and normally expected by residents any where and any place. When a city fails to provide those protections, it is undeniable that that neighborhood and its residents feel as if, and are in fact, being treated as if they were disposable. In this case, the record screams with accounts of murders, shootings, two small claims processes in which the court ordered judgments totaling somewhere around $200,000 to the neighbors, two appeals of those small claims judgments which were upheld in favor of the neighbors by Superior Court judges, police actions, drug dealing and possession arrests. There is absolutely no doubt that 1610 is a problem. In the most recent court appeal, the owner of the property herself legally admitted that her property did indeed constitute a nuisance!  

I agree with those who maintain that those in need of services from the city should have them. The owner of 1610 has been offered services for many years, stacks of files have been created, to no avail. After years of problems, neighbors have been driven to seek the only other course that is open to them, Small Claims Court. All they want are the things that every resident wants no matter where they live—to be able to walk down the block, to sit on their front porches, to allow their children to walk to school or have their friends over, to stand in their front yards and chat with their neighbors on the sidewalk, to have yards free of condoms and syringes. 

Instead of help from the city what they got was death threats after they filed their Small Claims action and criticism playing the race card all the way up to the City Council. Neighborhoods need action not talk that ‘we’re working on it,’ press conferences, press releases or promises. The essential task before the city is as clear as it can be: 1) declare 1610 Oregon a public nuisance; 2) take all necessary action to abate the nuisance, including instituting and collecting fines for continued violations; and 3) enact a process that will ensure that no other residents will have to face the fear, terror and disruption that the people around the 1600 block of Oregon have had to live with for years.  

The essential task for the community of Berkeley residents no matter where you live is to support the neighbors of 1610 and to press the City Council to take action. The best way to do this is simply to write the council at 2180 Milvia, Berkeley 94704 or send an e-mail at clerk@ci.berkeley.ca.us. It’s a simple action, but an effective one if enough of us do it! 

 

Shirley Dean is the former mayor of Berkeley. 


Letters to the Editor

Tuesday April 25, 2006

STRAWBERRY CREEK 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I have a simple question about the idea of daylighting Center Street between Oxford and Shattuck and perhaps some reader out there knows the answer. My question is this: Does Strawberry Creek even run under Center Street? I always believed it ran from the campus under Oxford and then down Allston. Now I may be wrong about this. 

But if this is the case then “daylighting” would actually mean relocating the creek to Center Street and then at some point downstream ret urning it to Allston. And that would be a much more expensive and disruptive project. Moving a creek probably even violates whatever Creeks Ordinance will be in force soon. 

So, does anybody know for sure where the creek runs after it leaves campus? 

Frank Greenspan 

 

• 

I’M A PERFORMER! 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

As the parent of a Berkeley public school student, I would like to thank the Berkeley Symphony Orchestra and the school district for the wonderful “I’m a Performer!” program held each year in four Berkeley elementary schools. 

This morning, April 20, students, grades K-5, from Jefferson School and Oxford School, enjoyed the opportunity to perform with this great symphony, the highlight of a relationship that includes classroom visits by musicians and attending a Berkeley Symphony Orchestra concert. The children worked hard to prepare and were thrilled by the opportunity to play with a “real” orchestra. Thanks go to the symphony, today’s conductor George Thomson and the orchestra members for giving our kids the thrill of a musical lifetime! Imagine being a kindergartener who can say, “I sang with the symphony today.” 

That’s our Measure B tax dollars at work, friends! Thanks to everyone who has made music alive once again in our schools. 

Kim Smith 

 

• 

P EOPLE’S PARK 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Thank you so much for Riya Bhattacharjee’s article on the crackdown on free clothing exchange in People’s Park. I’m sure many Berkeley residents share my relief that the police are finally up there arresting sweaters a nd shoes. I can finally sleep at night. 

Carol Denney 

 

• 

RED HERRING IN THE CREEK 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

What does the city of Berkeley really gain from turning over the fate of 2,400 homeowners to a task force stacked with paid and self-affirmed creek ad vocates? This is clearly another round of the city’s smokescreen blame game where two groups of citizens fight it out over important problems with no coherent or appropriate application of commonly accepted principles of public planning or policy. 

The Creeks Task Force has primarily been a venue for frightening many of us who have homes on small lots which are entirely covered by this proposed 60 foot ban (30 feet from the centerline on either side) on construction along our so-called creeks. My “creek,” which I grew up alongside, runs only for one or two months a year, is not spring-fed and doesn’t contain pure or even uncontaminated water. It’s never had a fish or frog, and is fed primarily by all the runoff from the gutters and backyards serving Solan o Avenue businesses. That’s dry cleaners, restaurants, copy stores, and hair salons. When people think “creek” they think clean. They think natural. Not so. And not an honest use of the word by the task force. Think instead storm drains and the city’s sew er system and you have a far more accurate picture. But the truth is so inconvenient and contrary to the picture they want to present that the task force won’t even allow anyone to use the term “storm drain”—nope, you have to say “creek” so we can all mai ntain some fantasy about the urban paradise we live in. Like many other people, I think trying to legislate individual behavior without a plan for the whole watershed is a waste of time and lots of money ($100,000 so far of your money). The task force’s o wn consultants have said that trying to revitalize Berkeley’s creeks from the top-down doesn’t make sense. Money and time would be better spent at the points where the creeks intersect with the bay. And can someone please explain to me why my property has a potentially stringent ordinance keeping me from improving or rebuilding my home when less than three blocks away the very same creek in the city of Albany has no such ordinance “protecting” it from those residents? 

This task force has served really as a red herring to distract the city’s taxpayers and homeowners from the mounting and catastrophic cost associated with checking, repairing and replacing the aging storm drain system. The city is the real winner in this whole charade. They are hoping for t hose of us on creeks and culverts to pay their way in repairing and maintaining these public goods that benefit the entire city. Watch out Berkeley taxpayers, it’s open season on your property if you live over a culvert or near a creek. This isn’t a harml ess “only in Berkeley” story, it’s one that will impact your investment in your home, your ability to insure it for future replacement, and even your chance of rebuilding it if it’s lost to a disaster, natural or manmade. 

Sarah Armstrong 

 

• 

FAIR AND BALANCED 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Recent reporting concerning the Berkeley Public Library reminds me of Bill O’Reilly’s “Fair and Balanced” opinions on almost any topic. Judith Scherr might agree that he is neither. Nor is she. 

Her reportage presents one, and only one, opinion, local SEIU 535’s. It appears that Ms. Scherr is the mouthpiece for 535. Have any employees had the courage to decline signing the declaration of no-confidence in the library director? Has each and every member of 535 been given the oppo rtunity to sign—or not to sign? Has she checked? There are at least two other unions at BPL, as well as unrepresented employees. Has she interviewed any of the members of the other unions? 

Has Ms. Scherr interviewed any union member who is afraid to spea k out fearful of 535 threats should they disagree? 

What was the administrative action that caused a small band of discontents to seek and wreak vengeance? She might seek the cause. Are 535 members not covered by an MOU that specifies a grievance procedure? Has 535 filed grievances with the City and what have been the results? The Planet appears to have made itself a part of grievance rather than investigating it? Will Ms. Scherr publish that particular procedure for the benefit of the public? 

Of course, Library Director Griffin cannot speak of personnel matters in a public forum, nor on any pending personnel matter. But there may be others Ms. Scherr might interview who represent different opinions if she will seek them out. 

I remain interested in Berk eley happenings because I lived there when I was at the university. Thus, I access the Planet on the Web. Before I retired as a librarian, I was an active union member. It strikes me that were I in 535 I would try to unionize my colleagues to decertify it because it represented me in no way. Rather, it has created palpable fear in the library. The small band of unhappy “leaders” love the library so much that they are happily willing to kill it. 

Ms Scherr and the Planet might try to show more than one sid e of the story. 

Ruth I. Gordon 

Retired Librarian 

Cloverdale 

• 

WATERFRONT  

DEVELOPMENT 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

One of the vital services that we should expect our city government to provide is an open, comprehensive process to plan for our city’s future. T his is especially important for preserving our unique natural resource, the Albany shoreline. Those who claim that such a process is too expensive to undertake should consider the long term consequences, financial and otherwise, of leaving planning to others who would put their own interests above those of the citizens. 

Unfortunately, the City of Albany has so far declined to engage in a comprehensive process for the development of our waterfront that is not developer driven. For this reason, a group of Albany citizens has been gathering signatures to put an initiative on the ballot that defines a process that must occur before any development can take place on the waterfront. Contrary to misleading claims by opponents of the initiative, it contains prov isions that ensure the process is an open one and that no plan may go forward without a vote of the citizens. This is a reasonable step to ensure that any development that occurs on our waterfront is in the best interests of the citizens of Albany, not of developers. 

Mark Maslow 

Albany 

 

• 

TRANSPORTATION 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Fifty-nine percent of women and 41 percent of men feel unsafe waiting for their bus, according to a recent study published on UC Berkeley’s Institute of Transportation Studies Revie w Online website (”Fear Factor: How scary are bus stops?” Winter 2005-2006, www.its.berkeley.edu/itsreview/winter2005/busstop.html). 

Furthermore, “If someone is fearful, she (or he) will not use transit if there are any other options.” 

The author (Anast asia Loukaitou-Sideris) makes the case for good design and maintenance of bus stops as a way of reducing this “fear factor.” As a “Transit First” city committed to reducing greenhouse gas emissions, Berkeley should follow her advice and improve the desig n and maintenance of its bus stops.  

For instance, the southbound Bus Rapid Transit stop at the corner of San Pablo and Gilman in Berkeley is neglected: there is an abandoned newsstand filled with trash; the other newsstands and the shelter badly need cl eaning; shopping carts are frequently abandoned next to the bus stop; and a city garbage can is parked directly in front of the bus stop. Other stops have damaged benches (e.g. Cedar and San Pablo northbound). 

In order to reduce traffic congestion, co nserve oil, and slow down global warming, it is imperative that we reduce auto use. Proper maintenance of bus stops will bring us closer to this goal.  

Leonard Conly 

 

• 

DOWNTOWN  

ASSOCIATION 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

As the executive director of the Downtow n Berkeley Association, please accept my apology for the inadvertent release of a draft internal document that was published in the April 21 issue of the Daily Planet. That preliminary document—“Survey on Economic Development”—was a draft intended for the purpose of committee discussion only, and not for public review.  

For 16 years, our non-profit organization has represented over 800 business members with a mission to improve the vitality of the downtown commercial district. We follow the Main Street o rganizational model which encourages community participation through committees which report to a board of directors. The committees cover issues related to access, design, economic development, and promotions.  

With e-mail, it has become very easy to fo rward our correspondence out to growing numbers of people. Our communications are currently sent to around 80 people who are active in our organization, plus numerous additional community members. Our standard of broadly circulating our committee work has unfortunately resulted in the mis-use of an internal draft document. 

To the readers of the April 21 edition, I request that you forgive my mistake. For community members interested in improving the downtown district, I strongly encourage you to engage with our organization. For the DBA itself, I will take necessary action to ensure that all future draft documents are not circulated publicly.  

Deborah Badhia 

Executive Director  

Downtown Berkeley Association 

 

On our city streets, most anywhere, 

We find a Starbucks opened there. 

Every store seems quite afflicted 

With lines of the caffeine-addicted. 

Throughout this nation, like busy ants, 

There’s quite a coffee ambiance 

From early morn to late night again. 

 

—George Banks. 

Oakland


Commentary: Berkeley High Baseball: A Field of Reams

By Neil Cook
Tuesday April 25, 2006

Much has been written in these pages about the prospect of a regulation baseball diamond for the Berkeley High baseball team. Reams of articles and opinions have been written as a matter of fact. Others have been written as a matter of fancy. Few articles or commentaries have, however, addressed the perspective of what results from not building such a field. What happens, of course, is that things stay the way they are. With San Pablo Park being the practice and game field for the team. So what’s that like?  

But first, a disclosure. I reside across from San Pablo Park where the team currently practices and plays its home games. I have seen the alternative of leaving things as they are. When the Romans were faced with such an alternative, they called it the status quo. Easy for them to say, they probably didn’t have foul balls. 

Foul balls are a reality of life—of life around a baseball field at least. It’s more of a reality when home plate is too far from the backstop and when the backstop has no overhang. Because of these factors, many of these foul balls end up in the street or in neighbors’ yards. Or through car windows. Or through home windows. Oddly enough, the diamond at the opposite end of the city’s park has an overhang to reduce the number of foul balls. It’s just the backstop where games are played and where batting practice takes place that has no overhang. It’s all about the integrity of the game, you know.  

It’s not as if the City of Berkeley is unaware of the foul ball issue. Numerous claims have arisen over the years (some mine) and promises have been made to improve the situation. Another season; no improvement. A few years back a wire mesh was placed over the dugouts to protect players, but nothing has changed for the public.  

Apparently, it will only become an issue of concern to the city and to you, its taxpayers, when one of those round orbs launched from the playing field lands on someone’s head. It may then end up costing taxpayers more than the cost of a real baseball diamond being built on school district land.  

Not surprisingly, there are people at this (ostensibly) public park who use it for things other than to play baseball for the local high school team. Like walk. Or push baby strollers. Or sit in the grass. Or ride bicycles. In short, some people treat San Pablo Park as though it were a public park!  

Unfortunately, the Berkeley High baseball team holds no such point of view. It is, after all, their home diamond and practice field. Not just after school in the afternoon and not just on game days.  

Coaches come with individual team members or with groups of players for instruction throughout the day. Or on the weekends. Whenever. Because it’s their field, after all.  

But it’s only fair. The City of Berkeley is appropriately compensated by the BUSD for all the additional grooming and care the diamond commands. Isn’t it? You’ve seen the numbers reported in stories about this subject. Haven’t you?  

So how ‘bout a description of a typical practice day?  

Because of where their current practice and home field is located, players and coaches travel from the campus to the park in private vehicles. Never, in the brief history of high school student automobile driving, have testosterone-loaded competitive young men been tempted to drive recklessly. At least it certainly doesn’t happen on these trips back and forth. That’s probably because the school has firm written rules about driving and other conduct by players and coaches. Shirley, (and those of you with other first names as well) in all this debate, you’ve read those written rules for yourself in these pages. Haven’t you?  

Just like you’ve read the written rules issued to players urging them to respect the property rights of people living around the park. You know, the ones about not leaving trash in the dugout or not tramping into people’s yards without permission to retrieve foul balls. Rules like those are a part of any quality organized sports program, of course, because sports builds character. And because, without such instruction, boys will be boys. Which is to say they’ll dash across a street without looking in order to snag a foul ball from somebody’s bushes without first asking permission.  

Why? Well (as stories from the world of sports remind us on a daily basis) male athletes have a strong, almost hormonal, attachment to their balls but somewhat less regard for other people’s bushes.  

But I digress. Back to a typical practice day.  

Once the players arrive, they have to change into uniform. Given the absence of a locker room, they, naturally enough, change on the street beside their cars or in the dugout. It’s just all part of the friendly family atmosphere of a public park.  

There is a restroom in the park, but walking all that distance to change would, apparently, require too much exertion. The same could frequently be said of the effort required to walk to the restroom for another purpose as well. The supply shed near the baseball diamond is thus frequently used as a urinal. Not inside the supply shed (which is locked) but the side of the shed. 

Speaking of wet grass, the rain this year has presented a real difficulty both for baseball practice and for games. Last Friday (April 7) was an example. The park had been closed to the public for days on end because of standing water and soggy grass. That didn’t, however, stop efforts to play a BHS game. It was raining virtually from the onset and that’s when it hit me.  

Not another foul ball (that went into a neighbor’s driveway and hit a parked car). But the realization of what Berkeley High baseball really needs. Not just a dedicated-use open-air baseball field but a domed stadium! A sports arena with room for serious fans and air conditioning too. And concessions. And maybe practice games against the Oakland Athletics. A place untouched by weather.  

After all, we’re talking about a high school that already has an indoor swimming pool. Water polo, crew, badminton, golf, lacrosse, tennis, mountain biking, swimming and baseball are a vital part of the learning experience. Just like dance studios. And like not simply having a cafeteria but a “food court.” Which is almost as essential as having a state-of-the-art library just blocks from the newly renovated Berkeley Main Library.  

As I recall, the latest bill for updating the Berkeley High School campus was around $13 million. Not a dime too much either. I’m sure those beautiful exotic wood tables and chairs are still in pristine condition without a scratch or single wad of bubble gum under them. The point here is that the quality of education is determined entirely by the cost of physical facilities. There is just no legitimate argument about it: If Berkeley High is ever going to become the baseball dynasty this region deserves, a domed stadium is the only answer.  

Forget nonsense like closing that vital transit artery called Derby Street. What nitwit could have conceived such an idea? In Berkeley no less—a city that prides itself on maintaining open streets free of obstructions or other impediments to straight navigation. It’s particularly loathsome to consider closing a street which has proven itself so vital to travel that it is now closed only once a week for a farmer’s market.  

A farmer’s market which, by the way, could never possibly exist in any other location on the planet except for right where it is. Except for the other days of the week when it’s located elsewhere. Mere facts, however, should not stand in the way of building a domed stadium. Nor should existing buildings stand in the way of such a project.  

I understand some of the space on the BHS campus is currently being wasted on classrooms. Has the school board even considered the close relationship between classrooms and poor student achievement? Most high school drop-out have spent time in a classroom. Eliminate classrooms and you eliminate academic failure.  

The (lighted) football field (with artificial turf), the track, softball field, building M (gymnasium), Donahue Gymnasium, Building E (Jacket Pool, Jacket Gym), the Community Theater...these are all essential parts of the school campus. But what about the other parts? There’s enough brick just in buildings C, D, and G to make a fine domed stadium.  

Look at reality folks: My plan doesn’t require closing any streets with so little traffic that people park RVs there to sleep at night. And, my plan will practically pay for itself through ticket and hot dog sales. Include beer sales and you could soon also afford to build an on-campus ski slope.  

 

Neil Cook lives near San Pablo Park.  




Commentary: Berkeley Urgently Needs Responsible Alcoholic Beverage Service Training

By Emer Cunningham
Tuesday April 25, 2006

On April 25 the Berkeley City Council will vote to consider a comprehensive Alcoholic Beverage Sales Commercial Activities Regulation plan. One aspect of this proposal is mandatory Responsible Beverage Service training (RBS) for licensees, managers, servers and clerks prior to selling alcoholic beverages. 

A resident of the Berkeley community for four years and a patron at local Berkeley bars, I see mandatory RBS training to be of paramount importance to secure the safety of Berkeley residents who are consumers at these bars and to ensure more quiet and peaceful neighborhoods. 

Through my participation with a student division of the Berkeley Alcohol Policy Advocacy Coalition at UC Berkeley, Students for a Safer Southside, I performed observations of five bars and restaurants within a quarter-mile of the campus. Upon obtaining the same Responsible Beverage Service training that a bartender would receive, I was able to assess the current sales and service mechanisms on the premises. My results were shocking: At three of the five locations I evaluated, servers themselves were noted to be consuming alcohol while working. In addition, patrons exhibiting signs of obvious excess intoxication were served. These practices are against the law. What is more, examination of driver’s licenses and identification cards was unsatisfactory. Bouncers were inconsistent in regards to verifying age, and underage drinking on premises was confirmed.  

In the restaurants my group reviewed, transition times from day time food consumers to evening drinkers proved to be problematic. Around 10 p.m. when hand stamps verifying age were given upon entrance to the location, three employees did not question those remaining on the site after their dinner for their identification. This would not be a problem if the servers knew to simply ask the patron to wave their hand stamp during this challenging changeover period from restaurant to bar. 

These behaviors will be improved if the correct education program is implemented. Responsible Beverage Service training is such an education program to teach licensees, clerks and servers the acceptable and lawful manner in which to provide alcohol and the repercussions which occur when they act against the law. Berkeley would not be the first city to institute a mandatory RBS training program. Poway, San Buenaventura and Newport Beach have already set such precedents thereby making a commitment to their city’s welfare. Responsible beverage sales and service training is cited as a U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Best Practice. The course is officially supported by the California Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control and Mothers Against Drunk Driving. For all of these reasons I see it as essential that on April 25 the Berkeley City Council vote to consider the Alcoholic Beverage Sales Commercial Activities Regulations to improve the quality of life in our city. 

 

Emer Cunningham is a member of Students for a Safer Southside, a division of the Alameda County State Incentive Grant.›


Commentary: An Oligarchic Cesspool of Radical Lunacy

By John Gertz
Tuesday April 25, 2006

Graham called me a hypocrite for urging Berkeley’s City Council and Peace and Justice Commission (P&J) to pass anti-Palestinian resolutions, when I derided the same bodies for passing a pro-Palestinian resolution. I never said, nor did mean, any such thing. I do not believe that Berkeley city government has any constructive role to play in the locally divisive issue of the Palestine/Israel conflict. I merely said that Berkeley’s Palestinian supporters like Graham, should have a good heart-to-heart with their Palestinian friends and let them know that their election of Hamas won’t wash even here in Berkeley. If Graham and her buddies want to stand by Hamas, fine. At least I tried to talk some sense into them. 

After Graham willfully misrepresents my position, she goes on to libel. In her paranoid worldview, I am a Jewish godfather, the Elder of Zion dispatched to Berkeley with a fist full of money to brutalize Israel’s critics into silence. She believes that I personally orchestrated a takeover of Berkeley’s P&J. This charge, which first surfaced in the Daily Planet, has been thoroughly discredited. Not one past or sitting member of P&J owes his or her seat to me in any way. All I ever did was loudly voice the not uncommon opinion that the old P&J was an oligarchic cesspool of radical lunacy. People listened because I was right, and things have now changed somewhat for the better, but not because anyone is on my payroll. 

Graham goes on to fume that, with all my money, I intend to buy the next mayoral election. Rubbish. Graham has no way of knowing my net worth, but, more importantly, Bill Gates, himself, could not buy a Berkeley election. Doesn’t Graham know that there is, as there should be, a strict limit to individual contributions in Berkeley? If I am not mistaken, that limit is currently set at $250, hardly enough to buy an election. Moreover, if she would care to go down to City Hall and check the public records, she will discover that in the more than 20 years that I have lived in Berkeley, I have contributed in total less than $1,000 to Berkeley politicians.  

The only person I know of in this town who has used her own money to significantly alter the Berkeley political landscape is Becky O’Malley. She did this when she bought the Daily Planet in order to use it as her personal mouthpiece. Though I often disagree with O’Malley, I do want to say with sincerity that I applaud her for publishing, and not suppressing, the responses of her many critics. That’s why I do not support a boycott of the Daily Planet, and, probably why the Daily Planet has not, at least yet, heeded Graham’s call for a boycott of my property, Zorro. Boycotting people in America for their beliefs smells of fascism, Ms. Graham. And here I really think you may be in a minority. The pro-Palestinian Daily Planet gave Berkeley Rep’s Zorro in Hell (which I co-commissioned, and in which I do admit having a financial interest) a very good review, and the pro-Palestinian nonprofit, MECA, actually sold tickets to Zorro in Hell as a fundraiser. I will be donating my profits from MECA’s efforts to the local non-profit, Bridges to Israel, which funnels money to Israeli victims of Palestinian terror. 

Graham goes on to contend that I have threatened local politicians, like Linda Maio or Kriss Worthington, into silence with the prospect of a smear campaign for passing a pro-Palestinian resolution. I readily admit that I have said that I will work hard to make sure that anyone who believes that Berkeley needs a pro-Palestinian foreign policy should not be mayor of this city. I will oppose them by all legal and ethical means. And, indeed, I will give $250 to their more moderate opponent. I will not smear Maio or Worthington, but to the extent anyone will listen to me, I will help make their misguided foreign policy a central issue of the campaign. That’s not nefarious, Ms. Graham, that’s democracy. And Graham intends to exercise her democratic rights as well. For in her words, if councilmembers do not pass more anti-Israel resolutions, then “we can express our disagreement with them at the polls.” You do that, Ms. Graham. You exercise your rights, and leave me to exercise mine. 

 

Berkeley resident John Gertz owns the Zorro trademark. ›


Columns

Column: Dispatches From the Edge: Rummy Shelled, Silvio Falls, Iran Strikes

By Conn Hallinan
Friday April 28, 2006

There are any number of reasons why half a dozen retired generals have turned on Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, but a major one was a disastrous week in the spring of 2002 when several battalions of the 101 Airborne Division attacked insurgents in the Shahikot Valley of Afghanistan.  

Called “Operation Anaconda,” it was a test for Rumsfeld’s New Model Army, a lightly armed, high tech, slice and dice military that relies on spy planes and satellites to map the terrain and identify the enemy. On March 2, about 2,000 airborne troops were airlifted into the valley, where satellites indicated there were some 200 Taliban holed up in villages. 

The troops were sent in without artillery, because under Rumsfeld’s “transformation army” that job was left to “precision bombing” by the Air Force. But there weren’t 200 Taliban, there were at least 1,000. And they weren’t in the villages, but in the mountains overlooking the valley. Unlike the airborne, the Afghans had plenty of artillery, which they proceeded to rain down on the 101st. It also turned out that the satellites didn’t do a very good job of preparing the troops for the terrain, which was far rougher and nastier than they expected. And when the “precision air strikes” came in, the enemy had either moved or gone to ground, a tactic they learned during their long war with the Soviets. 

In short, the whole operation was bungled from start to finish, largely because Rummy’s “transformation” military has more to do with winning elections here at home than fighting battles abroad. Anaconda might have been short on personnel and common sense basics like artillery, but it was hardly war on the cheap.  

Every time the United States tried to root out the Afghans with a AGM-84H air to ground missile, Boeing rang up $475,000. For every GBU-24 Paveway laser-guided bomb (lots of those used), Raytheon banked $55,600. Alliant Techsystems, with its GBU-87 cluster bombs at $14,000 a bang, also did well. The battle was a little rough on the 101st and the Afghans, but it was clover for Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, and the arms corporations that supplied the aircraft, the satellites, and the communication equipment (which didn’t work very well). 

Grateful for the silver that “transformation’ has rained down on them, the companies respond by pouring hundreds of millions of dollars into elections, 65 percent of which goes to Republicans. Between lobbying and direct contributions, it’s pure “shock and awe” come election time. 

The Army and the Marines don’t think much of the “transformation” military because both rely more on manpower than on high tech firepower (for the Navy and the Air Force, Rummy’s military is pure gravy). The Army is falling apart and hemorrhaging officers at an unprecedented rate. More than one-third of its West Point graduates are refusing to re-enlist, as are reserve officers trained at university programs, another reason the generals have gone after Rumsfeld.  

As investigative journalist Greg Palast points out in The Guardian, however, their fire is off target. Rumsfeld might be an arrogant thug (Nixon called him a “mean little bastard”), but he doesn’t make decisions like restructuring the military or invading Iraq. Those decisions are made by the president and the vice president 

“Even the generals’ complaint—that Rumsfeld didn’t give them enough troops—was ultimately a decision by the cowboy from Crawford,” writes Palast. He also dismisses the “not enough boots on the ground” argument: “The problem was not that we lacked troops—the problem was that we lacked the moral authority to occupy this nation. A million troops would not be enough—the insurgents would just have had more targets.” 

Note: Palast will be in Berkeley June 7 as part of his Armed Madhouse Tour. For a full accounting of Operation Anaconda, see Not A Good Day To Die: The Untold Story of Operation Anaconda, by Sean Naylor.  

 

Most mainstream commentators predict the newly elected center-left government of Romano Prodi is not long for the world. Out of almost 40 million ballots cast, the difference between Silvio Berlusconi’s right-wing coalition and the center-left was just over 24,000 votes in the lower house. Election rules will give Prodi 55 percent of the Chamber of Deputies, but in the Senate the center-left has only a two-vote margin. 

But the laid-back, avuncular Prodi is no pussycat. He has now whipped Berlusconi in two national elections, and the math in the senate is better for him than it looks at first glance. The independent seat and the seven senators for life seats tend to lean left, so that Prodi can probably depend on a four or five vote margin. 

Prodi will have to respond to a growing movement in Europe against the so-called “Anglo-Saxon” model of privatizing services and cutting back social support systems. French politicians recently discovered exactly how powerful the sentiment against the dictatorship of the markets can be. 

Italy’s most powerful trade union, the CGI, is demanding a repeal of the Biagi Law, which is similar to the labor law Jacques Chirac’s government was forced to abandon. The new prime minister will also need to respond to the left section of his coalition, which picked up 36 more seats than they held in 2001. 

One immediate problem that will need attention is Italy’s north-south employment gap. Southern Italy has four to five times the national jobless rate of 7.7 percent, and unemployment reaches 40 percent in some areas of the south. 

But Prodi’s natural inclination is toward an economy with a strong social welfare component. During the election he pointed to the U.S. as an example of what he did not want to happen in Italy. “You saw the terrible pictures of New Orleans,” he said, “This was the result of dismantling of social structures…this was the fruit of many years of the breakdown of the social state.” 

He is also strongly opposed to the Iraq war, a stance that has won him no friends in Washington or London. On the other hand, Washington and London have few European friends these days outside of Denmark, Poland, and about one-third of Germany. 

 

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmandinejad ran on a platform of raising living standards for the average Iranian; after almost eight months in office, according to the Iranian Central Bank, more than 50 percent of the population is below the official poverty line. 

Anger over high prices and stubborn unemployment has sparked strikes in the northern city of Rasht. Textile workers, dam workers, and pharmaceutical workers have also walked out, along with coal miners in the province of Gilan. The miners say they have not been paid in 13 months. 

The authorities in Tehran have detained hundreds of striking bus drivers, and strike leader Mansur Hayat-Gheibi is presently on a hunger strike to protest the arrests. 

Angry pensioners, along with a radical youth group, the National Bolsheviks, protested the end of subsidized heating in central Moscow rally. Most pensioners live on fixed incomes and cannot keep up with rising costs.  

A retired army colonel told Agence France Presse that, “We are following the French example,” of taking to the streets to protest the cutbacks. 

Similar demonstrations were held in Zheleznodoroshny near Moscow, the Siberian cities of Krasnoyarsk and Tomsk, and Yushno-Sakhalisk on Sakhalin Island north of Japan. 

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Column: Undercurrents: Public Comment Lies at the Heart of Democracy

By J. Douglas Allen-Taylor
Friday April 28, 2006

Mr. Ignacio De La Fuente, we learn in last week’s Oakland Tribune, is “frustrated” with the present debate format in the Oakland mayoral race which “rarely, if ever,” the Tribune explains, “allows candidates time to rebut their opponents’ remarks.” 

Under the general debate rules that have been taking place across Oakland this mayoral election season, the candidates are asked a series of questions to which each of them must give an answer within a one- or two-minute time period. Even if follow-ups were allowed, which they often aren’t, there would be no time for them. 

Under this debate format “there’s no way to challenge [my opponents] and ask them how they are going to pay for their proposals, like health care, and whether they plan on raising taxes,” the Tribune quotes Mr. De La Fuente as saying, a little plaintively. 

I feel his pain. In one or two minutes, it’s hard to get out much more than “I will” or “I won’t” or “I’ll think about it,” much less state a complicated policy position on a difficult and controversial subject. But as my old Senegullah friends back in the Carolina Lowcountry would probably tell him, “same thing make you laugh, make you cry.” 

As president of the Oakland City Council in the era of Mayor Jerry Brown, after all, it has been Mr. De La Fuente’s job to decide how much time citizens are allowed to state their positions to councilmembers during City Council meetings. On slow nights, with a light agenda, and few people in the council chambers, you can get as much as three minutes to speak your mind. But on days when there is an issue of intense public interest—watch what happens when the Oak To Ninth development comes up, for example—Mr. De La Fuente reduces citizen participation to a minute apiece. The result is that the more important or controversial a topic is, the less an individual citizen is allowed to speak to the council about it at council meetings. Further, under the present Oakland City Council format, while councilmembers are free to comment on things said at the podium by the citizens, the citizens ourselves have no ability to question the councilmembers in return. You might stand at the podium and ask a city councilmember, for example, “how they are going to pay for their proposals, like health care, and whether they plan on raising taxes.” Good luck on getting an answer. 

In fairness, some Oakland city councilmembers do hold regular neighborhood meetings at convenient hours to speak with constituents, hear their concerns, and answer questions. I’ve been to such meetings held by councilmembers Nancy Nadel and Jane Brunner, myself. But others don’t or, if they do, they aren’t well publicized. If At-Large Councilmember Henry Chang or District 7 Councilmember Larry Reid hold regular constituent meetings, for example, I’ve yet to hear of them, and I’m eligible to vote for both of these positions. And so that often leaves the council meetings themselves as the only time for citizens to be able to get up in public and influence our elected officials on matters of city law and public policy. 

If allowing the public to weigh in on issues is the heart of democracy, then the old Board of Trustees of the Oakland Unified School District—during the time when that was an Oakland institution and not a ward of the state—was the most democratic institution in the area. I cannot remember if trustees imposed a time limit on speakers but if they did, it was not rigidly enforced, and on any given OUSD meeting night, a steady stream of parents, teachers, and students used to troop to the podium to voice their opinion on agenda items. On busy agenda nights, this often pushed important decisions late into the night, sometimes after midnight. 

That was not a perfect solution, but democracy is not perfect, and the closer you get to actually involving the people in the decision-making process, the more ragged and messy it gets around the edges. That’s one of the prices you pay. 

One of the best indications Oaklanders should have had that we were moving away from democracy and towards tyranny following the takeover of the Oakland schools by the state was State Administrator Randolph Ward’s actions limiting public input. At one point, during the early debates over school closures, Mr. Ward limited access to the council hearing room chambers to parents and teachers of the affected schools, leaving the rest of the public out and without a voice on the subject, enforcing the rule with a hallway full of Oakland police.  

The really chilling part is that even under the despotism of Randolph Ward, the Oakland public has a larger voice than we do the higher we get up the legislative chain. If you watch congressional or state legislative hearings on the evening news, you get the impression that generally the interested parties are given an extensive period to testify, with a follow-up of questioning by senators, congressmembers, state legislators, and their staff. But that’s not how it generally operates. 

When the Senate Education Committee held a “hearing” in Sacramento in 2003 on state Sen. Don Perata’s $100 million OUSD line-of-credit bill—the legislation that led directly to the state takeover—the Oakland school superintendent, the president of the school board, and one or two other representatives were given a brief period to speak and answer questions, and that was it. When the senators actually began asking questions of the Oakland representatives, the senators were pointedly cut off by the committee chairperson because there “wasn’t enough time for that.” The crowd of Oakland citizens who made the trek to the state capitol were not able to testify before the committee at all, but were only allowed to parade past the microphone in rapid fashion, robot-like, giving their name and a simple “for” or “against” the state bailout, without time to give a reason why. 

Sadly—frighteningly—Oakland was not singled out for special punishment in this process. That’s the way it usually works in Sacramento, with little or no pretense that the public’s voice is being listened to. 

Local experience shows us that when legislative bodies get on top of a difficult problem early, allow the public the chance to weigh in, and actually listen, the results are almost always better. Last year, the Alameda City Council held at least one marathon session on the controversial downtown Alameda Theater and parking lot complex. Critics of the complex—some of whom were architects and businesspersons who had managed movie theaters themselves—presented detailed alternative plans that they said would better fit in with downtown Alameda’s ambiance and architecture. In the end, while the council narrowly voted to move forward with the original complex plan, they made modifications that even many of the critics praised. “I still don’t like the plans and I’m still opposed to the project,” several of the critics said, “but it’s definitely an improvement over what they started with.”  

That seems to be the case with the Alameda County Board of Supervisors over the current issue of use of the Diebold electronic voting machines for county elections. Earlier this year, faced with opposition to the touchscreen voting machines by knowledgeable local voting activists, the supervisors held a special, evening hearing devoted to that issue, then met in regular session the next day to hear further testimony, and make a decision. While the supervisors voted narrowly to move forward with the possible use of electronic voting machines in the November election, they indicated that they had been swayed by many of the voting activists’ arguments in opposition, asked for and welcomed their participation in the process, and promised to work closely with them to work out a solution. We will wait, patiently, to see if that is actually what happens. 

Perhaps there are similar examples from the Oakland City Council. If so, I’m sure someone will let me know. 

Meanwhile, back to Mr. De La Fuente’s original complaint. No, you cannot properly run a democracy in severely-limited time segments, whether it’s in choosing a mayor or deciding on local legislation. While we are in the midst of deciding whether or not to give Mr. De La Fuente or any of his opponents larger powers, we would welcome the council president’s suggestions about how that problem can be solved within the organization he already presides over. 

n


She’s Got Your Goat at Caribbean Cove

By B.J. Calurus Special to the Planet
Friday April 28, 2006

You don’t forget your first curried goat. It was years ago, and I was on the Orange Blossom Trail, Orlando’s answer to San Pablo Avenue, looking for a cheap and non-franchised lunch. I wound up at a hole-in-the-wall run by Trinidadians that served goat and roti, a flatbread with South Asian roots. Really good goat. I’ve been looking for its equal ever since. 

Happily, I believe I’ve found it at the Caribbean Cove, a small Jamaican eatery upstairs in the Village, at Telegraph and Blake. It’s run by Judith O’Loughlin, who comes from the small island of Nevis (also the birthplace of Alexander Hamilton). O’Loughlin’s curried goat is rich and tender, hot but not painfully so. She uses an imported Jamaican curry powder, less incendiary than South Asian blends.  

The Cove has a short menu, but it touches most of the bases of Jamaican cuisine—a palimpsest of cultural influences. The curries (chicken is also available) came in with South Asian contract laborers in the 19th century. Another entrée, “es-cove-ich” fish, either dates back to the earlier Spanish occupation of Jamaica or was borrowed from neighboring Spanish Caribbean islands. Escovitch evolved from the Spanish (originally Catalan) escabeche—a quick-pickling technique. O’Loughlin’s version involves a snapper filet, fried and served with onions and bell peppers in a vinaigrette. 

She also does jerk chicken, the one Jamaican dish Americans are familiar with, and it’s a nice rendition—juicy breast meat redolent with the classic allspice-thyme-hot chili mixture. The traditional chili would be Scotch Bonnet, the Jamaican form of the deadly Habanero (up to 300,000 Scoville Heat Units). Like the curried goat, O’Loughlin’s jerk chicken doesn’t blast you out of your chair, but it does leave your lips tingling. 

“Jerk” may derive from the Peruvian-Spanish charqui, also the origin of “jerky.” An alternate etymology explains it in terms of the meat being jerked about and poked with a stick as it cooks. Traditional jerking requires a fire of pimento wood, from the tree that bears the allspice berries (Pimenta dioica). 

I’ve seen the method ascribed to the Arawak Indians, who got there first; to the Maroons, who escaped from plantation slavery and holed up in the rugged Cockpit Country; to European pirates. Whatever its origin, it’s good stuff. (I was surprised not to find jerk chicken, or jerk anything, in Caroline Sullivan’s 1893 Classic Jamaican Cooking; the jerk tradition must have existed under the culinary radar of the cookbook compilers). 

But jerk chicken is not considered the Jamaican national dish. That honor goes to O’Loughlin’s most unusual offering, ackee and salt fish, available only on Saturday nights. Salt cod—Sullivan called it “the despised salt fish”—has been popular in the Caribbean since colonial times. I read somewhere that its entrenchment in island cuisine has to do with the danger of eating your fish fresh. 

West Indian reef fish like snappers, groupers, and triggerfish may be a source of ciguatera, a type of food poisoning resulting from toxins in microscopic dinoflagellates. Salt fish, which some of us find tasty in its own right, would have been a lot safer. 

As for the ackee, there’s a long story: it’s the fruit of a tree whose botanical name is Blighia sapida, after Captain Bligh of HMS Bounty infamy—“a foul-mouthed bully,” according to Patrick O’Brian. Bligh introduced the plant from its native West Africa to Jamaica, where it was adopted with much more enthusiasm than his breadfruit. The tree is in the family Sapindaceae, related to lychee, longan, and rambutan. 

Ackee fruit has a red rind, white flesh, and shiny black seeds, and everything except the flesh is poisonous—the literary critic Edmund Wilson apparently suffered a bout of ackee poisoning in Jamaica in the 1960s. The fruit, which O’Loughlin’s menu describes as avocado-like in texture, is also called “vegetable brains.” 

So put the fish and ackee together with onions and tomatoes, and you get something that I liked a lot more than Wilson did (“highly esteemed by the natives but less by other people,” he groused). The texture of the ackee is reminiscent of scrambled eggs; it pretty much absorbs the flavor of the fish. I suspect this dish alone draws a lot of homesick Jamaicans to the Caribbean Cove. 

Plate meals come with a green salad. The lunch’s, early in the season, was iceberg lettuce with pale tomatoes, nothing special, but the dinner salad a couple of weeks later was much improved, though still simple: romaine and tasty cherry tomatoes, a spark of grated carrot. Both had dousings of a tasty vinaigrette.  

There are other entrees we haven’t sampled yet, like stewed oxtail and a couple of vegetarian options. All are in the $6 to $8 range on the lunch menu, higher at dinner. They come in generous portions with sides of rice and peas (our “peas” were actually kidney beans, cooked with the rice in coconut milk) and fried plantains. 

The rice absorbs the sauces very nicely. We also didn’t get to the classic Jamaican patties, available as an appetizer stuffed with beef, chicken, or vegetables, or the salt fish fritters. 

O’Loughlin also offers a splendid housemade ginger beer and handcrafted sorrel, the hibiscus-based drink that’s called jamaica in Spanish-speaking territories. Red Stripe beer—“Hooray Beer!” says the ad card on your table—also goes well with the spicy stuff. You can try the Jamaican grapefruit soda called Ting, or the two-item wine list: house red, house white. 

The Caribbean Cove has a cheerful yellow-with-blue-trim interior, with island beachscapes on the wall. There’s free wi-fi and a UC student discount. Business was slow at lunchtime on a rainy Friday, but when we came back on Saturday night for the ackee and salt fish, there was more activity—a lot of takeout orders—and a reggae D.J. was setting up; I suspect the Cove gets livelier as the evening goes on.  

 

Photograph by Stephan Babuljak 

Kelly Hyde serves up a meal for Gina Johnson at the Caribbean Cove on Wednesday. 

ª


About the House: Neatness Saves Time, Even on a Job Site

By Matt Cantor
Friday April 28, 2006

I have slovenly tendencies. I know this about myself. I’m not proud of it, but let’s face facts: I like neatness, but it is, on most days, beyond my grasp. I also like to complain about those around me who do not keep things neat. Of course I never complain about my wife or kids and their messes, and if you think you’ve ever heard me shouting from next door, it must have been someone else or perhaps it was the game on TV. 

So when I say that neatness counts, you will take it as a “do as I say, not as I do” moment. If we can agree on the terms then I can probably offer a healthy dose of advice on the subject without going straight to hell. 

Neatness in construction is actually something I care a lot about and there are several reasons for my concern. Let’s start with speed. I have a friend who I’ve known for many years. His name is David and he worked with me on my house almost 20 years ago when we remodeled our place. 

David never seemed to be moving very fast. He would do things very methodically and carefully. He never came to a complete stop, although sometimes it appeared so. He would just move steadily through the entire day and at the end of that day there would be this enormous amount of work that he had done. 

Mostly, it just looked like a series of slow motion movements but the thing is that he never wasted any excessive movement and he was never tripping over himself. He also kept his work area very neat and well organized. 

He would stop and sweep up his area periodically so that he could see what he was doing. He would stack things not being used, off to one side. He would take a moment to close the tool box before he began to run the saw so that it wouldn’t become filled with sawdust and thus avoided another cleanup job that would later become necessary. That was Dave’s method. 

Steve used to work for me and he would often appear to be moving too fast for the eye to see, like some sort of magic act. But Steve was far less efficient than Dave. 

I recall an afternoon when Steve spent no less than a half hour looking for his hammer. I don’t think he found his hammer during the period but eventually took someone else’s and only found his later. He had a different style. 

When people take the time to set up their work area, to lay out the tools and to continually clean and re-organize, the work moves smoothly and comfortably. I have often said to myself in the course of a job that all I’m really doing is cleaning up and at the end of it, there’s a shelving unit or a set of kitchen cabinets. 

The installation is just a series of cleaning operations with a very small number of construction operations in between. In other words, if the focus remains on organization and continual cleaning of the area, the installation of a lamp housing or the building of a formwork becomes very much simplified and incidentally, much quicker. 

Looking for things takes a lot of time. So does physically negotiating a space that has become an obstacle course. Sawdust is slippery and piles of objects can make moving back and forth through the workspace a burdensome task for the already overloaded brain. 

We brilliant humans tend to think that we can do forty-seven things at once. While this may be true, none of us are able to do so at the efficiency level that we can when we attempt a much smaller number. 

Aside from speed, there is the issue of safety. I know for certain that if anyone ever did a quantitative scientific study of this phenomenon, that they would find that the worker in the messy jobsite incurs 73 percent more cuts and scrapes than his or her counterpart in the nice neat site. 

I’ve seen it and I’ve been there. It is much easier to trip over cords, piles of sawdust and sawn off blocks than it is to trip when walking across a freshly swept floor. It is also very hard to see where you are or what’s missing when there are 178 things in front of you. I find it much easier to note a problem with the work in a clean space than in a disorganized one where there’s so much visual “noise” that I can’t pick out the things that I need to be looking at. 

Also, when you stop and sweep the floor, you find the hammer (“Hey Steve, we found your hammer!”). You find the drill bit you dropped. You find a screw on the nice wooden floor before you grind it in. You can also find the nails, the wood and the other things that you need. There’s also something about breathing and slowing down and re-framing the project that occurs when you’re cleaning up. 

Lastly, if you’re working for Mrs. Jones, she might like it. I know for a fact that Mrs. Jones loves it when you clean up after yourself. She might not mind the coiled up cords, the table-saw or the compressor if the floor is nicely swept and the wood had been stacked in the corner. Also, Mrs. Jones is a little blind in her left eye and she might not trip and tear a ligament in her one good knee if the floor is nicely cleared when she drops by with brownies and decaf in the middle of the afternoon (She is so nice).  

Another tip I’d like to offer involves protecting surfaces (and then I’ll give it a rest). Before starting a job, my friend Tim the tiler starts by covering everything in the greater Bay Area with heavy paper. Painter’s tape is used to tape things together so that when it’s time to remove the paper, it won’t pull the paint off. 

This is the blue paper masking tape so often seen left on the windows of recent paint jobs. Tim neatly cuts this stuff around corners and toilets and then can proceed to make a mess and when the job is done, he just tears the tape away, rolls the stuff up and stuffs it in the garbage. Voila, it’s a thing of beauty. 

Many builders contain their work areas with plastic sheeting and can even put zippers into these barriers in the middle of rooms to contain dust. It take a few minutes and adds on some dollars but when this is done your DVD player isn’t filled with sheetrock dust. 

Neatness seems like it takes time and, well, yes it does, but it also saves time, prevents accidents and shows consideration for those with whom we work. So next time you’re working on the job for yourself or for Mrs. Jones, try to be 4 percent neater and see how if feels. 

 

 

Got a question about home repairs and inspections? Send them to Matt Cantor, in care of East Bay Real Estate, at realestate@berkeleydailyplanet.com..


Garden Variety: Recycling For Garden Decor at Omega Too

By Ron Sullivan
Friday April 28, 2006

So I dropped by Omega Too on San Pablo Avenue to see what Jana had for gardens. The answer was: Not quite so much as she used to, but what’s there is nifty. Of course; her sensibility is one I’ve always liked.  

I met Jana Olsen years ago, when I took her garden-construction class at Merritt. She’s a good teacher, relaxed but focused—an apt combination when you’re learning to enjoy the mighty power of the Sawzall without losing any body parts or mutilating any classmates. I liked that. I wonder how many of the problems I have right now could be solved by buying a Sawzall.  

Probably not enough to justify the purchase. Just wait till I get into politics. Might’ve been handy to have one outside the City Council meeting the other night when I was being gut-thwacked by a bunch of eager young jocks whose handlers had for some reason thought it a good idea for everybody to bring his big clunky gym duffel to the crowded lobby. 

Somebody almost went home with a bag of used dinner for a souvenir. Manners, kids, manners! Some of us old coots are not only grouchy; we’re unpredictably leaky when prodded. And we vote.  

Might tools aside, I doubtless got much of my own garden sensibility from Jana, because her approach appeals to me. I remember seeing a photo of a garden she’s collaborated on, with a retaining wall that was a sort of geological cartoon, including one layer of winebottles no doubt from the early Vinaceous Age. 

She’s smart and funny and shows it in her own garden, which I got a long look at before the Park Day School Tour a couple of years ago. That work actually has a recognizable and relevant narrative structure, without being all pedantic. Great fun.  

So what you can buy from her for your own garden is, on one hand, mostly salvage or faux-salvage items. The little space behind the store had a couple of fountains and birdbaths whose aesthetics run to the Gothic and older—one’s labeled “Green Man Ruin” and features faces of that archetype. 

There’s a ceramic tortoise I covet myself, and assorted things to hang on walls and/or get plumbed for fountains, and several wreaths and crossed festooned with painted terra-cotta flowers that made me think of old Italian cemeteries back East.  

Actual salvage items I saw included a length of distressed, painted iron fencing or gate material, maybe head-tall, and a pair of the wrought-iron brackets that supported those old-fashioned school desks—the seats attached to the table part behind, so if you wiggled enough you could screw up your annoying neighbor’s handwriting. Yes, I am an old coot.  

Garden and porch lights, door or gate hardware, doormats, doorknockers including a trowel and a woodpecker, and stained glass and craft tiles for use in sheltered places are mostly inside the store. 

It’s an interesting succession, from old house-parts to things made to mimic old house-parts to handmade items that carry the same art traditions forward, always more interestingly than mass-produced imitations. Makes you think that apprenticeship has more than private effects.  

 

Omega Too 

2204 San Pablo Ave., Berkeley 

843-3636 

Monday-Saturday 10 a.m–6 p.m. 

Sunday noon–5 p.m.  

http://www.omegatoo.com/ 

 

 

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.


Column: Flying JetBlue with The Blues Brothers

By Susan Parker
Tuesday April 25, 2006

I take JetBlue when I fly back East because it offers multiple, non-stop flights from Oakland to JFK at a price I can almost afford. I like flying from Oakland Airport because I can walk out my front door and get to the departure gate fast and easily by public transportation.  

JetBlue seems to be the airline of choice among my friends and acquaintances. I almost always see someone I know on a flight. Last year I ran into my friend Gloria returning to the Bay Area with her family from a weeklong vacation in Manhattan. I saw my former next-door neighbor Kamika on a Christmastime flight into JFK.  

I chatted with my friend Wendy while suspended above Denver on Flight 91 bound for Oakland. I once stood at a JetBlue gate behind a young man I had worked with in an Emeryville climbing gym. He complained to me that his sex toys had been confiscated while going through security. 

I like JetBlue because they serve very little food, and so I calculate flight time and miles flown as hours spent fasting and calories not consumed. But best of all, I like JetBlue because I get to watch satellite TV for five hours non-stop on Eastbound flights, and six hours non-stop when heading west. 

Instead of viewing one really bad movie, I peruse a multitude of bad and semi-bad shows. I catch up on news and sporting events, Dr. Phil and Oprah. I watch MTV, BET, A&E, and The Comedy Network. I pause on VH1 and sing along silently to old rock videos, or new rock videos featuring oddly decrepit old rock stars.  

On my most recent flight I watched an episode of “All in the Family” and another from “Sanford and Son.” I came across an ancient clip of the Rolling Stones mugging at the camera, dressed in sailor suits and drowning in a sea of gigantic bubbles. I surfed through the channels, checking out “Judge Judy,” “Animal Planet,” “This Old House,” and “Yan Can Cook.” Miraculously I landed on a rerun of the classic 1980 flick, The Blues Brothers. 

Remember that movie? Of course you do. It starred Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi and featured cameo appearances by James Brown, John Candy, Aretha Franklin, Ray Charles, John Lee Hooker, and Cab Calloway. Twiggy had a small role as did Stephen Speilberg, Steve Lawrence, Henry Gibson, Chaka Khan, Joe Walsh, and Carrie Fisher.  

I can’t recall a cross-country trip that passed by so quickly. “Hold On I’m Coming” echoed through my earphones somewhere over Nebraska. The theme song from Peter Gunn played while flying above Minnesota. “Let the Good Times Roll” rang out as we passed Chicago. John Lee Hooker mumbled “Boom Boom” when the plane began its descent near Pittsburgh. 

Aretha sang to her movie husband “think ‘bout what you’re tryin’ to do to me” as the wheels touched down on the runway. Elwood and Jake crooned a bluesy interpretation of “Stand By Your Man” while we rolled toward the arrival gate. I saw and heard the crack of the whip from Rawhide just as the overhead lights came on, the little TV screen in front of me went blank, and the stewardess welcomed us to John F. Kennedy International Airport.  

The music from The Blues Brothers can make you forget you haven’t eaten in five hours, that your legs are cramped, your butt is sore, and that security took away your sex toys. It can make you wanna sing and dance, and as in the words of Elmore James from one of the earlier scenes, “shake your money maker.” 

That’s the power of good music. That’s the power of the blues.  

 

 

 

 

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Breakfast Off the Beaten Path

By Marta Yamamoto Special to the Planet
Tuesday April 25, 2006

Hunger calls as the sun rises or, in some cases, long after it’s crossed the sky. Hundreds of cafes are ready to entice your taste buds. From the happy trio of eggs, potatoes and breakfast meat to sweeter yummies like pancakes, waffles, French toast or crepes. Steaming hot lattes, fresh orange juice. Smells and flavors reminding us of home or favorite friends. 

When hunger combines with a sense of adventure and you’re ready for something different, think global. Many ethnic eateries would love to share their morning specialties with a willing audience. While some flavors and textures may shift your biological clock, consider it a travel across time zones to a new location. 

Picante Cocina Mexicana is no stranger to dining enthusiasts who know good food at great values. While evenings can be a contest in making yourself heard, mornings offer a mellower ambiance. Mexican tiles decorate bright yellow walls and roomy red leather booths circle the perimeter. Lamenting lyrics accompanied by the beat of bass and guitarron provide background. Outside, the secluded garden patio escapes breezes off the bay and retains the warmth of the sun. 

On offer are the classic Huevos Rancheros with egg-topped tortillas beneath a spicy red sauce. Huevos con Rajas contains mild chilies while Huevos a la Mexicana wakes up your palate with onion, tomato and hot jalapeños. All are served with beans of your choice and corn tortillas you never want to stop eating, Picante-made with a fresh chewy texture. Finish up with Mexican hot chocolate or coffee spiced with cinnamon, brown sugar and slivers of orange peel. You’re set for the day. 

Only on Sunday is the slogan at the Thai Buddhist Temple where your dollars are traded for tokens. Exchange these tokens for an abundance of Thai food, simple, hearty and esoteric. Devouring Pad Thai and Green Curry Chicken may seem odd at 9:30 a.m. but the tastes will soon take over your sense of timing. 

Dissipate the morning chill with a steaming bowl of Tom Yum soup. Watch the ingredients come together—a ladle of savory broth, a jumble of thin rice noodles, fish balls and ground pork piping hot mixed with fresh bean sprouts, cilantro and basil. On warm mornings refresh your palette with “made-to-order” Green Papaya Salad. The delicious dressing of chilies, peanuts and fish sauce sweetened with sugar and ground with mortar and pestle will awaken your taste buds.  

Relax at tables beneath awnings or in rows down alleyways in a bazaar-like setting. Mingle with the masses watching cars and vans arrive with new temptations from area restaurants. Digest, then get ready to sample Khanom Krok. Prepared in a cast iron skillet over hot coals, these tiny coconut pudding-pancakes will have you counting the days until the next Sunday. 

Travel to Ethiopia for a breakfast of harmonious flavors at Café Colucci. Cozy and artfully decorated with African art, the two dining areas and outside patio are perfect settings to experience a new cuisine. Walls of warm earth tones and split bamboo, unique grass-skirt lampshades, tent-like cloth-panels, ethnic background music and the striking faces of the staff and diners combine for an experience worth repeating. 

My choice, as a first-time patron, was the Ethiopian Breakfast, a sampler of four, accompanied by a basket of injera. Injera serves a dual purpose, both bread and utensil. A staple of every home, injera is made using teff, a very small grain high in protein, iron and calcium. Resembling a slightly chewy pancake, this flatbread has a tangy flavor from naturally fermented butter. 

Injera in hand, I devoured cubed potatoes cooked with bell peppers, red onion and tomato; steaming bulgur, eggs cooked with chilies and banatu. The spiciest component of my breakfast, banatu is a stew of beef and pieces of injera simmered in Berbere sauce. Eating with injera-clad hands offered the perfect excuse to lick this red pepper-laden sauce off my fingers.  

Trade injera for chopsticks and an authentic Oakland Chinatown experience at Shan Dong where one section of the extensive, five-page menu reads Breakfast. Thirteen lucky choices, as well as selections from Dumplings, Noodles or Egg Fu Yung will set you up for the rest of your day. 

Inside, the décor is limited. Miniature lights reflect along one mirrored wall. Bright red signs printed in bold black Chinese characters announce specials. Warm yellow-topped tables and chrome chairs provide cozy seating for various-sized groups. Classical music softly serenades. Here the food is the main attraction. 

Come with friends in order to sample several dishes. Several are variations of ample yeast steamed buns filled with a ground pork mixture, a sweet red bean puree or a vegetarian combination of cabbage, mushrooms, carrots, onions and rice noodles. The Special Twisted Bun is a large twist of this yeasty dough while the Chinese Donut is deep-fried. Both are popular fast-food breakfasts dipped in bowls of sweet or salty warmed soybean milk and are quite filling. 

Sliced beef seasoned with hoisin sauce and cilantro and enclosed in a sesame-encrusted piecrust satisfy both sweet and salty taste buds. The House Special Pancake is filled with sautéed leeks and egg, griddle-crispy and chewy at the same time. 

Prices are so reasonable that your table will soon be overcrowded without much damage to your wallet. 

One non-breakfast enthusiast ordered noodle soup. The rich broth was dark with the essence of beef, chicken and duck. Most impressive were the fresh-looking vegetables—bright green squash, broccoli and bok choy along with carrots and mushrooms, crisp and savory.  

When desire for a traditional breakfast refuses to be tamped down, give it a new spin. Search your memories for the smell of bacon, onions and coffee in the open air. Search the garage for your old camp stove or bag of charcoal. Search the cupboards for that cast-iron skillet or griddle. 

Head to Tilden Park. Spread the red and white plastic cloth across that broad wood table. Fire up the stove and warm up the skillet. Sauté onions and potatoes, throw in eggs and fry up some bacon. The smell alone will make you wonder why you don’t do this more often. If you’re going to break a fast, you might as well do it in style!  

 

 

 

Picante Cocina Mexicana  

1328 Sixth St., Berkeley. 

525-6876. www.picantecocina.citysearch.com. 

 

Thai Buddhist Temple 

1911 Russell St., Berkeley. 

849-3419. 

 

Café Colucci 

6427 Telegraph Ave., Oakland. 

601-7999. www.cafecolucci.com. 

 

Shan Dong Mandarin Restaurant 

328 10th St., Oakland. 

839-2299. www.222.to/sd.  




Introducing Berkeley’s New City Bird: The Barn Owl

By Joe Eaton Special to the Planet
Tuesday April 25, 2006

It’s official! Last Tuesday night the Berkeley City Council approved a resolution sponsored by councilmembers Betty Olds and Dona Spring, designating the barn owl as our city bird. I was at Old City Hall for the event but did not make it into the council chamber, which was packed with young jocks lobbying for the Derby Street baseball field.  

So Berkeley joins the company of San Francisco (whose almost-extirpated city bird is the California quail), Portland and Seattle (the great blue heron, in both cases), and Chicago (the peregrine falcon). The only other North American civic bird I was able to locate via Google is the beautiful and outlandish roseate spoonbill, adopted by Port Aransas, Texas. 

But the city-bird thing seems to be widespread in East Asia. Seoul, South Korea has the magpie; Xiamen, China, the egret; Keelung, Taiwan, the (unspecified) eagle. And there are a bunch of Japanese cities with avian mascots: Hamamatsu’s swallow, Morioka’s wagtail, Chiba’s little tern, and more. 

Why the barn owl? Well, it’s both esthetically appealing—the artist George M. Sutton thought it was one of the most beautiful of American birds—and handy to have around. As the Planet has reported, Berkeley has a rodent problem, and it’s not confined to Willard Park. I’ve already written about the barn owl’s efficacy as a rodent-killer, so I won’t belabor that point.  

I should mention, though, that this bird specializes almost exclusively on rodents. The larger and more powerful great horned owl may go after cats (as well as wild mammals of similar size: skunks, raccoons, opossums, even porcupines), but not the barn owl. A few barn owls have been known to hunt birds, mostly mass-roosting species like starlings—which wouldn’t be missed—and blackbirds, and some eat Jerusalem crickets. Otherwise it’s all mice, rats, gophers, and the occasional shrew. 

Besides, the barn owl seems like a good fit for this town. Berkeley likes to think of itself as the Athens of the West: well, in classical Greece the owl was the bird of Athena. 

Its image graced Athenian coins, and it was associated with victory and prosperity. Although owls have often had a sinister reputation, some peoples, including the Ainu and the Cherokee, revered them or at least saw admirable qualities in them. 

The Cherokee used to bathe their children’s eyes in an owl-feather infusion to give them the ability to stay awake all night. I’m not sure why this would have been a good thing.  

The barn owl, fittingly, is among the world’s most cosmopolitan bird species. It’s found on every continent except Antarctica, and many oceanic islands. Flexible in its nesting requirements, all it needs is a supply of rodents and it’s in business. I guess it would be too much of a stretch to associate the owl with Berkeley’s vibrant night life, but we can hope. 

It has occurred to the barn owl’s advocates, Lisa Owens Viani and Donna Mickelson of the group Keep Barn Owls in Berkeley, that a lot of the Planet’s readers may have had their own owl encounters. 

Maybe you’ve watched the owlets on California Street being fed by their hardworking parents, or monitored nests elsewhere in Berkeley. 

Maybe you’ve put up your own owl box (see the Hungry Owl Project’s web site, www.hungryowl.org, for particulars) or teased apart an owl pellet to see what the birds had been eating. Whatever your experience, we’d like you to share it. If you’re a photographer, you may also have owl images as appealing as the Portland youngsters captured by Mike Houck. 

So, in the interest of getting to know our new civic bird a bit better, we’re asking you to send in your owl stories, poems, and pictures. I’ll be the point of contact for email: joe_eaton@speakeasy.net. Or you can mail hard copies to the Planet.  

The best submissions will be published, and the winner will receive a copy of a wonderful video, “Backyard Barn Owls”, produced by Bert Kersey, documenting the home life of a family of southern California owls in a homemade nest box.  

And you’ll be helping Keep Barn Owls in Berkeley assemble a database of barn owl nest and roost sites to provide a clearer picture of our city bird’s status and distribution—citizen science at its best.  

Will the barn owls benefit from their new status? It couldn’t hurt. Having a civic bird creates a certain obligation to keep it around. It was, after all, highly embarrassing some years back when Louisiana, the Pelican State, ran out of pelicans.  

 

Photograph by Mike Houck, Urban Naturalist, Audubon Society of Portland, Ore.  

The Berkeley City Council last week named the barn owl the official city bird. 

 

 




Arts & Events

Arts Calendar

Friday April 28, 2006

FRIDAY, APRIL 28 

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 

Aurora Theatre “Small Tragedy” Wed.-Sat at 8 p.m., Sun. at 2 and 7 p.m. at 2081 Addison St., through May 14. Tickets are $38. 843-4822. www.auroratheatre.org 

BareStage “The Fantasticks” Fri. and Sat. at 8 p.m., Sun. April 23 and 30 at 2 p.m., through April 30, at the basement of Cesar Chavez Student Center, UC Campus. Tickets are $8-$12. 642-3880. barestage.berkeley.edu 

Berkeley Rep “The Glass Menagerie” at 8 p.m. at the Thrust Stage, 2025 Addison St. Tickets are $59. Runs through May 31. 647-2949. www.berkeleyrep.org 

Contra Costa Civic Theater “Animal Crackers” at 8 p.m. Fri and Sat., and Sun. at 2 p.m. at Contra Costa Civic Theater, 951 Pomona Ave., El Cerrito, through May 20. Tickets are $12-$20. 524-9132. www.ccct.org 

Impact Theater “Money & Run Episode 4: Go Straight, No Chaser,” Thurs.-Sat. at 8 p.m. at La Val’s Subterranean, 1834 Euclid Ave. Cost is $10-$15. Runs through May 27. 464-4468. www.impacttheater.com 

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 

Subterranean Shakespeare “Richard III” Thurs.-Sat. at 8 p.m. at Berkeley Art Center, 1275 Walnut St. at Rose in Live Oak Park, through May. 20. Tickets are $12-$17. 276-3871. 

EXHIBITIONS 

“Unfinished Story” Art exhibit on the interplay between traditional and modern Vietnamese culture by Chau Huynh. Reception at 6 p.m. at Worth Ryder Art Gallery, 116 Kroeber Hall, UC Campus. 961-1682. 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Strictly Speaking: Michael Feldman’s Whad’Ya Know? at 8 p.m. at Zellerbach Hall, UC Campus. Tickets are $22-$42. 642-9988. www.calperfs.berkeley.edu 

Michael Pollan describes “The Omnivore’s Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals” at 7 p.m. at Cody’s Books on Fourth St. 559-9500. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Berkeley Opera “Chrysalis” by Clark Suprynowicz and John O’Keefe at 8 p.m. at Julia Morgan Theater, 2640 College Ave. Tickets are $15-$40. 925-798-1300. www.berkeleyopera.org 

Berkeley Dance Project 2006 Works by Margaret Jenkins, Reggie Wilson and Ellis Wood Fri. and Sat. at 8 p.m., Sun. at 2 p.m. at Zellerbach Playhouse, UC Campus. Tickets are $8-$14. 642-9925. 

Paufve Dance “The Big Squeeze” at 8 p.m. at Shawl-Anderson Dance Center, 2704 Alcatraz at College. Tickets are $10-$15. Reservations required. 428-9713. www.paufvedance.org 

Tito y Su Son, traditional Cuban dance music at 9 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. Cost is $12. 849-2568.  

Full on Fly Head, Quadraped, The Ghost Next Door at 9 p.m. at Blakes on Telegraph. Cost is $8-$10. 848-0886.  

E.W. Wainright’s African Roots of Jazz at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. Cost is $7. 841-JAZZ.  

Vismaya Lhi, soprano, Cara Bradbury, piano, at 8 p.m. at Giorgi Gallery, 2911 Claremont Ave. Cost is $12. 848-1228.  

Zazen with guitarist Joaquin Lievano and bassist Andy West, at 7:30 p.m. at Wheeler Hall, UC Campus. Tickets are $5-$15. www.zazentour.com  

Sambadá, Brazilian, at 9:30 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $11-$13. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

Listen, meditative sound recordings at 8 p.m. at Studio Rasa, 933 Parker St. Cost is $10-$18. 843-2787. www.studiorasa.org 

Ron Thompson, blues, at 8 p.m. at Caffe Trieste, 2500 San Pablo Ave., at Dwight. 548-5198.  

Kathy Larisch & Carol McComb at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $18.50-$19.50. 548-1761.  

Bob Dalpe Quartet at 9 p.m. at Downtown. 649-3810.  

Kenny Dinkin and Lemon Juju at 7:30 p.m. at Nomad Cafe, 6500 Shattuck Ave. 595-5344. www.nomadcafe.net 

Rube Waddell, Acoustic Virgin, Vermillion Lies at 9:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $6. 841-2082. www.starryploughpub.com 

Monster Squad, Action, Peligro Social at 8 p.m. at 924 Gilman St., an all-ages, member-run, no alcohol, no drugs, no violence club. Cost is $6. 525-9926. 

Tanya Pluth “Saving Graces” at 8:30 p.m. at Epic Arts, 1923 Ashby Ave. Cost is $3-$10. 644-2204.  

Brazuca Brown at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 848-8277. 

Rachelle Ferrell at 8 and 10 p.m. at Yoshi’s at Jack London Square, through Sun. Cost is $15-$30. 238-9200.  

SATURDAY, APRIL 29 

EXHIBITIONS 

“Celebrating North Richmond History” with art and culture exhibits, speakers, music and community resources, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Shields-Reid Community Center, 1416 Kelsey St., Richmond. Sponsored by Contra Costa Health Services. 925-313-6862. 

Paintings by Keeyla Meadows Reception at 4:30 p.m. at Bucci’s, 6121 Hollis, Emeryville. 

“Four Faces of the Figure” Works by Carol Aust, Seth Wachtel, Laura Van Duren and Biliana Stremska at Addison St. Windows through June 19. 981-7546. 

“Images of Colorful California” Photographs, opening reception at 5 p.m. at the YWCA, 2600 Bancroft Way 232-5131. http://colorfulcalifornia.com 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

6th Berkeley Poetry Festival from noon to 6 p.m. at the North Berkeley Senior Center, 1901 Hearst St. Lifetime Achievement Award will be presented to poet Maggi H. Meyer. Free. 981-5190. 

“Chinese American Voices: From the Gold Rush to the Present” A panel discussion with Judy Yung, Him Mark Lai, Ling-chi Wang and others at 2 p.m. at Heller Lounge, MLK Student Union, UC Campus. Sponsored by Eastwind Books of Berkeley. 548-2350.  

Sebastian Junger looks at race and justice in “A Death in Belmont” at 7:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books. 845-7852.  

Celebration of the Life & Work of Octavia Butler at 3 p.m. at Cody’s Books on Fourth St. 559-9500. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Berkeley Dance Project 2006 Works by Margaret Jenkins, Reggie Wilson and Ellis Wood at 8 p.m., Sun. at 2 p.m. at Zellerbach Playhouse, UC Campus. Tickets are $8-$14. 642-9925. 

Paufve Dance “The Big Squeeze” at 8 p.m. at Shawl-Anderson Dance Center, 2704 Alcatraz at College. Tickets are $10-$15. Reservations required. 428-9713.  

“Migrating Woman with Bird” dance performance by Patricia Bulitt at 3 p.m. at Lakeview Public Library, 550 El Embarcadero, Oakland. 238-7344. 

Zakir Hussain, tabla, presents Masters of Percussion at 8 p.m. at Zellerbach Hall, UC Campus. Tickets are $24-$46. 642-9988. twww.calperfs.berkeley.edu  

World Dance Salon performances by KaUaTuahine Polynesian Dance Company, Chhandam School of Kathak North Indian Classical Dance and Bharata Natyam of South India at 8 p.m. at the Mahea Uchiyama Center for International Dance, 729 Heinz Ave. Free. 845-2605. 

The 15th Annual Opera Scenes at 8 p.m. at Valley Center of the Performing Arts, Holy Names University, 3500 Mountain Blvd. Oakland. Tickets are $5-$15. 436-1330. 

¡La Gran Noche de la Nueva Canción! Grupo Raiz’s 2006 reunion concert, a benefit for the La Peña Community Chorus at 8 p.m. at La Peña. Tickets are $22-$24. 849-2568.  

Slammin’ at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. Cost is $10. 841-JAZZ.  

Kotoja at 9:30 p.m. at Ashkenaz. African dance lesson at 9 p.m. Cost is $11-$13. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com  

Cutty Ranks at 9 p.m. at Shattuck Down Low, 2284 Shattuck Ave. Cost is $15-$20. 548-1159.  

Ira Marlowe and Megan McLaughlin at 7:30 p.m. at Nomad Cafe, 6500 Shattuck Ave. 595-5344. www.nomadcafe.net 

House Jacks at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $18.50-$19.50. 548-1761. www.freightandsalvage.org 

The Room, The Hills, Breakpoint at 9 p.m. at Blakes on Telegraph. Cost is $8-$10. 848-0886. www.blakesontelegraph.com 

Mark Levine Trio at 8 p.m. at the Jazzschool. Cost is $12-$15. 845-5373. www.jazzschool.com 

Rhonda Benin & Soulful Strut at 9 p.m. at Downtown. 649-3810.  

Nathaniel Cooper at 8 p.m. at Spuds Pizza, 3290 Adeline St. Cost is $7. 558-0881. 

Cast of Thousands, The Plus Ones, Mike Park at 9:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough. All ages show. Cost is $8. 841-2082. www.starryploughpub.com 

Fourtet with Chase Michaels at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 848-8277. 

Go It Alone, Paint It Black, The Loved Ones at 8 p.m. at 924 Gilman St., an all-ages, member-run, no alcohol, no drugs, no violence club. Cost is $6. 525-9926. 

Rachelle Ferrell at 8 and 10 p.m. at Yoshi’s at Jack London Square, through Sun. Cost is $15-$30. 238-9200. www.yoshis.com 

SUNDAY, APRIL 30 

EXHIBITIONS 

“Full Circle: Mandala” Paintings by Margaret Lindsey and Susan St. Thomas and pine needle and clay vessels by Melissa Woodburn. Reception at 4 p.m. at the Community Art Gallery, Alta Bates Summit Medical Center, 2450 Ashby Ave. Exhibit runs through May 12. 204-1667. 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

“Iraq: The Logic of Withdrawal” Reception and book-signing with author Anthony Arnove at 2 p.m. at Middle East Children’s Alliance, 901 Parker St. 548-0542 . 

“Jewish Women’s Voices in Prose and Poetry” with Chana Bloch and Elizabeth Rosner at 10:30 a.m. at the BRJCC, 1414 Walnut St. Cost is $5, reservations required. 848-0237. 

Poetry Flash with Luis Garcia, David Gitin, and Belle Randall at 7:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books. Donation $2. 845-7852. www.codysbooks.com 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Berkeley Opera “Chrysalis” by Clark Suprynowicz and John O’Keefe at 2 p.m. at Julia Morgan Theater, 2640 College Ave. Tickets are $15-$40. 925-798-1300. www.berkeleyopera.org 

Berkeley Community Chorus and Orchestra presents the Beethoven Mass in C Major, Faure Pavane for Chorus and other musical highlights at 4:30 p.m. at Saint Joseph The Worker Church, 1640 Addison St. Free admission, donations always welcome. www.bcco.org  

Octangle Wind Quintet presents a benefit concert for Healing Muses, with music by Beethoven, Haydn, Mozart and Jacob at 7:30 p.m. at Berkeley Art Center, 1275 Walnut St. 644-6893.  

American Recorder Orchestra of the West “Musical Traditions of Eastern Europe” at 3 p.m. at All Souls Episcopal Church, 2220 Cedar St. richgeis@jps.net 

The Pacific Collegium presents works for double-choir by J. S. Bach and Antonio Vivaldi at 3 p.m. at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, 114 Montecito Ave., Oakland. Tickets are $8-$12.  

“Festival of Spirituals” with Kalil Wilson, tenor and Jeannine Anderson, soprano at 3:30 p.m. at Beth Eden Baptist Church, 1183 Tenth St., at Adeline, Oakland. Tickets are $8-$10. 414-0599. 

College of Alameda Jazz Band performs a free jazz concert from 2 to 6 p.m at the Oakland Conservatory of Music, 1616 Franklin St., Oakland. Families welcome. 748-2213. 748-2312. 

Holy Names University Chorus and Chamber Singers at 4 p.m. in McLean Chapel, 500 Mountain Blvd., Oakland. Cost is $5-$15. 

Berkeley Dance Project 2006 Works by Margaret Jenkins, Reggie Wilson and Ellis Wood at 2 p.m. at Zellerbach Playhouse, UC Campus. Tickets are $8-$14. 642-9925. 

Afro-Cuban Folkoric Dance Benefit for the Diaz Dance Foundation at 6 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. Cost is $15. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

Paufve Dance “The Big Squeeze” at 8 p.m. at Shawl-Anderson Dance Center, 2704 Alcatraz at College. Tickets are $10-$15. Reservations required. 428-9713.  

Ballet Folklorica “Quetzalli” de Veracruz at 3 p.m. at Zellerbach Hall, UC Campus. Tickets are $22-$40. 642-9988. www.calperfs.berkeley.edu 

Charlie King and Karen Brandow at 3 p.m. at Redwood Gardens, 2951 Derby St. Donation $10-$20. 

Save Our Steinway Benefit Concert, to restore the 1909 Steinway at Berkeley Fellowship at 2:30 p.m. at 1924 Cedar at Bonita. Donation $5. 841-4824. 

Ronny Cox at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $17.50-$18.50. 548-1761.  

Brazilian Soul at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. Cost is $10. 841-JAZZ.  

Maria Marquez Quartet at 4:30 at the Jazzschool. Cost is $12-$15. 845-5373.  

Flamenco Open Stage with Yaelisa & Her Students at 8 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $10. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

Adrian West at 11 a.m. at Nomad Cafe, 6500 Shattuck Ave. 595-5344.  

Saros, Ocean, Embers, The Makai at 5 p.m. at 924 Gilman St. Cost is $6. 525-9926. 

Rachelle Ferrell at 2 and 8 p.m. at Yoshi’s at Jack London Square. Cost is $15-$30. 238-9200.  

MONDAY, MAY 1 

FILM 

Queer to Eternity Film Festival May 1-3 and 5 at 7 p.m. and May 6 at 2 p.m. at Pacific School of Religion, 1798 Scenic Ave. 849-8206. www.clgs.org 

EXHIBITIONS 

“Connection” Works by artists from NIAD, Bonita House’s Creative Living Center, and Berkeley Mental Health opens at The National Institute of Art and Disabilities (NIAD), 551 23rd St., and runs through June 9. www.niadart.org 

“Dreamsites” Color photographs by Len Blau at the French Hotel Cafe, 1538 Shattuck Ave. 548-9930. 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Eric Schlosser discusses the fast-food industry in “Chew on This” at 7 p.m. at King Middle School Auditorium, 1781 Rose St. Benefit for The School Lunch Initiative. 845-7852.  

Actors Reading Writers “Straight from the Artist’s Mouth” excerpts from the biographies of Marc Chagall, Marie Dressler, Isadora Duncan and Groucho Marx at 7:30 p.m. at the Berkeley City Club, 2315 Durant Ave. between Telegraph and Ellsworth.  

Tony Hendra introduces his new novel “The Messiah of Morris Avenue” at 7:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books. 845-7852.  

Keith Abbott and George Mattingly read at 7:30 p.m. at Moe’s Books, 2476 Telegraph Ave. 849-2087. 

Aurora Theatre “Monkey Sun” a reading of the play by Dominic Orlando at 7:30 p.m. at 2081 Addison St. Free. 843-4822. www.auroratheatre.org 

The Last Word Poetry Series with Horehound Stillpoint and M.K. Chavez at 7 p.m. at Pegasus Bookstore, 2349 Shattuck Ave. 649-1320. 

Poetry Express with Alice Templeton at 7 p.m. at Priya Restaurant, 2072 San Pablo Ave. berkeleypoetryexpress@yahoo.com 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Zilberella Quartet at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. Cost is $7. 841-JAZZ. www.AnnasJazzIsland.com 

Trovatore, traditional Italian music, at 7 p.m. at Caffe Trieste, 2500 San Pablo Ave., at Dwight. 548-5198.  

TUESDAY, MAY 2 

CHILDREN 

“The Riddle of Ridley Acres” by First Stage Children’s Theater at 7:30 p.m. at Julia Morgan Center for the Arts, 2640 College Ave. Tickets are $5 at the door. www.juliamorgan.org 

Japanese Carp Day Celebration from 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Habitot Children’s Museum, 2065 Kittredge St. Children can make carp kites and listen to Japanese stories. Free. 647-1111. www.habitot.org 

EXHIBITIONS 

“Drawings and Prints” by Georgianna Greenwood at North Berkeley Frame and Gallery, 1744 Shattuck Ave. 595-8137. 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Rose Castillo Guibault reads from her memoir, “Farmworker’s Daughter: Growing Up Mexican in America” at 6 :30 p.m. at the César Chávez Branch of the Oakland Public Library, 3301 East 12th St. 535-5620. 

Freight and Salvage Open Mic at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $4.50-$5.50. 548-1761.  

Karen Finley reads from her new comic novel “George & Martha” at 7:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books. 845-7852.  

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Brass Menagerie at 8:30 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Balkan dance lesson at 7:30 p.m. Cost is $10. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

Ellen Hoffman and Singers’ Open Mic at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. Cost is $5. 841-JAZZ.  

Barbara Linn at 7 p.m. at Caffe Trieste, 2500 San Pablo Ave., at Dwight. 548-5198.  

WEDNESDAY, MAY 3 

EXHIBITIONS 

“The Flaming Sword of Truth” UCB Master of Fine Arts Graduate Exhibition opens at Berkeley Art Museum, 2626 Bancroft Way. 642-0808. 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Kamran Nazeer discusses, “Send in the Idiots: Stories from the Other Side of Autism” at 7:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books. 845-7852. www.codysbooks.com  

Molly O’Neill describes “Mostly True: A Memoir of Family, Food, and Baseball” at 7:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books on Fourth St. 559-9500. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

George Ryder and The Joy of Music “The Show to Remember” at 1:15 p.m. at the North Berkeley Senior Center, 1901 Hearst. 981-5190. 

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.  

Wild Catahoulas at 8:30 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cajun dance lesson at 8 p.m. Cost is $9. 525-5054.  

Ben Adams Trio at 8:30 p.m. at the Uptown Nightclub, 1928 Telegraph, Oakland. Cost is $5. 451-8100. www.uptownnightclub.com 

3 Strikes at 9 p.m. at Blakes on Telegraph. Cost is $8-$10. 848-0886.  

Universal at 9:30 p.m. at Shattuck Down Low, 2284 Shattuck Ave. Salsa lessons at 8 p.m. Cost is $5-$10. 548-1159.


Aurora Theatre Presents a ‘Small Tragedy’

By Ken Bullock Special to the Planet
Friday April 28, 2006

“I still couldn’t say whose tragedy this was ... is ... or if it even is a tragedy ... does it belong to the people suffering, or those watching them suffer?” 

So Jen (Carrie Paff) muses in a single shaft of light in the darkness of the Aurora Theatre, prefacing—or looking back on?—the theatrical events of auditioning for, rehearsing and performing Oedipus Rex in Cambridge, Mass., and the extratheatrical dialogues and dramas that swirl around the production, in Craig Lucas’ Small Tragedy. 

The cast of characters assembled as the cast of characters for Oedipus get into it almost immediately and every which way with each other, engaging with their own subtexts as much as their classic text. 

Nate’s (Mark Anderson Phillips) the kind of director who answers a question with a question, though he seems to eschew the psychological, lashing out at young, slangy Fanny (Rebecca Schweitzer), playing a Theban Elder chorine, when she says she had a similar problem with AA as she does with Sophocles, not believing in god or a higher power. 

Many of the questions Nate parries with yet another come from his acerbic wife Paola (Amy Resnick), Fanny’s fellow Elder. The couple’s marital woes add to the jerky progress of rehearsal, as do fay Christmas’ (Greg Ayers) jagged, dyslexic line readings as androgynous prophet Teiresias (rehearsing with a blindfold on “just to see what it’s like”) and a drama queen messenger of doom. 

Jen, Fanny’s uneasy roommate, is returning to the stage after putting her now-ex-husband through medical school, has scored the role of Jocasta, and is reduced to tears by Nate, not only directing, but playing Creon, her brother. 

In the title role is the mysterious Bosnian, Hakiya (Matteo Troncone), attractive and/or repulsive to the rest of the cast, deadpan (either brooding or baiting, it’s unclear which) offstage, when asked about his past in the troubles back home, and hotter than a pistol onstage as the proud tragic hero.  

Kent Nicholson directs his excellent ensemble well, as they use every inch of the stage and the hall’s entrances, rehearsing or socializing at the bar, with simultaneous and overlapping dialogue that’s been compared to a Welles or an Altman film soundtrack, but at times is even denser and loopier. 

It’s Lucas’ wit that gives the audience the opportunity to pick out little ambiguities and ironies across the board, which spans chit-chat, trash talk, unsolicited advice, put-downs, line readings, monologues, and stories. Lucas seems to be parodying Greek stichomythia, the dialogue of classical Tragedy that revealed the truth through the irony of interstices, by putting American smalltalk into a dramatic mixmaster. 

The play is finally—and impressively—staged in snippets for us; the lines and fragments of scenes now only slightly oblique commentary on the ambiguous (or just sloppy) relationships we’ve seen develop in rehearsal. 

“What would it take for your own story to change, to be tragic?” a driven Nate has asked his actors and a good deal starts to change, or at least come apart with an at first exhuberant cast party playing a party game, Yes or No. 

Just as there was a brief prologue, there’s a rather lengthy epilogue, set in a NYC apartment. Just as the switch to onstage action from rehearsal was finely contrasted by both stage direction and the lights (Christopher Studley) and costumery (Cassandra Carpenter), so the move to real life for thespians in the Big Apple is adroitly represented by a change in costumes and a filling out of the previously stark set of rehearsal hall, bar and stage with all the comforts of urbanness (Melpomene Katakalos’ set). 

But there’s a misstep here that very deliberately throws all the rest of the play not so much into question, as into triviality. 

Gone are the witty parodies of small talk, the lower-case ironies and ambiguities emerging from chatter. After constantly turning tables, shoes dropping with regular and comic effect as though from a footloose centipede, the playwright solemnly turns a final coffeetable on the audience, lets the biggest workboot of all fall, and reveals to us what it all means, kinda. 

“Many hands committed the murder ... I will bring light to this darkness,” says Creon/Nate the Director, but it’s really the playwright, trading many little ironies for the big, non-tragic, academic brand, which insinuates the audience’s morose approval. 

“This shame—it is my own!” says Oedipus at the awful moment of self-knowledge. But in globally castigating the false naivete of the masses of individual Americans, Lucas takes the nontragic fall into melodrama, becoming a haplessly conflicted faux-naif himself.  

Euripides burlesqued deus-ex-machina endings to reach a metatragic irony of audience complicity, as more modern artists turn parodies of spectacle back on themselves to realize a kind of epiphany that goes beyond the pathetic, overturning sentimentalism. It’s really too bad; if he’d just said, in effect, “here’s what a half-baked rehearsal process, where everybody’s trying to read their own thoughts into each other’s life, looks like,” Lucas would’ve had one of the best social comedies onstage in years. 

Instead, he tries for the big post-9/11 rabbit-punch of a statement and becomes another writer of soap masquerading as moral commentator. 

The transactional analyst-style director of this Oedipus-within-a-play had the best advice for his creator’s prophetic pose when he tells his clueless Theban seer, “You are by far the cutest Teiresias in theater history. I’d concentrate on that.” 

 

 

Small Tragedy 

Shows at 8 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday and at 2 and 7 p.m. Sunday through May 14. $28-$45. Aurora Theatre, 2081 Addison St. For more information, call 843-4822 or see www.auroratheatre.org. 

 

Photograph by David Allen 

Director Nate (Mark Anderson Phillips) gives Chris (Greg Ayers) advice as Jen (Carrie Paff), Fanny (Rebecca Schweitzer) and Paola (Amy Resnick) look on.›


Moving Pictures: The Not-So-Discreet Charms of the Bourgeoisie

By Justin DeFreitas
Friday April 28, 2006

The name Luis Buñuel is familiar to even those with only a passing interest in movies, largely due to the success of his satiric films of the 1960s and ’70s. But when the great director made his seamless transition from experimental Surrealist filmmaking to commercial narrative work, he did so with the help of a slightly lesser-known talent: screenwriter Jean-Claude Carriere. 

Carriere was instrumental in helping Buñuel to shape his cynical satires, working closely with the director in the writing of screenplays both original and adapted. The result was a lasting partnership, one that generated six films and even extended to the writing of Buñuel’s autobiography, My Last Sigh, published just before his death in 1983. 

The San Francisco International Film Festival presented Carriere with its Kanbar Award for screenwriting this year for a distinguished career in which he worked with some of the world’s greatest directors, including Buñuel, Jean-Luc Godard and Louis Malle.  

Pacific Film Archive will show Be lle du jour (1967), a Carriere-Buñuel collaboration, as part of a series of movies from the International Film Festival at 5 p.m. Sunday, April 30, with Carriere making an in-person appearance. PFA will then follow up with four more Carriere-Buñuel collab orations on May 5 and 6, beginning with Diary of a Chambermaid (1964). Other films in the series include The Milky Way (1968), Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie (1972), and Phantom of Liberty (1974). 

Diary of a Chambermaid was the first film in which Car riere and Buñuel worked together, adapting the novel by Octave Mirbeau. The story had been brought to the screen once before, by Jean Renoir in 1946, but Buñuel refused to see it for fear that it might color his perceptions of his own work. Carriere and B uñuel took certain liberties with the novel, shifting the time period to the 1930s and altering several plot points. 

The result would serve as a sort of template for future Carriere-Buñuel collaborations: The film examines and satirizes the dark underbel ly of bourgeoisie society and features a wide-ranging assortment of fetishes, vices, hypocrisies and subterfuge. As with their later fims, Buñuel and Carriere do not judge these characters. They are presented from a certain distance; we watch them, we gain a certain understanding of them, but we are not made to either identify with them or be repulsed by them. Buñuel and Carriere merely present them as they are and allow the audience to come to their own conclusions.  

Jeanne Moreau plays the role of the chambermaid as an inscrutable blank slate. The other characters, as well as the audience, are left to project onto her their own interpretations of her motives and emotions. When she first comes to work at the Monteil estate, she is somewhat defiant towar d these decadent aristocrats, flouting her mistress’ rules and looking upon the family with condescension. Yet gradually her behavior starts to change, and it is difficult to understand why. When she eagerly goes to bed with a suspected child-murderer, we wonder whether her lust for him is genuine or just a device by which she hopes to frame him. Or perhaps it is both; perhaps she is seeking justice while conveniently satisfying her own particular fetish. 

Only at the end does it become clear that somehow, for reasons unexplained, the chambermaid has decided to become one of them; that, whether due to opportunism or some darker motivation, she has managed to ensconce herself in a throne-like bed in her own castle-like mansion, safely and blithely indiffer ent to the rising forces of fascism in which her new husband plays a significant role. In the end she is as bored, stagnant and self-indulgent as the family she once mocked.  

The Carriere-Buñuel themes take a darker and more personal tone with Belle du j our, starring Catherine Deneuve as the frigid wife of a young surgeon. They are happy together, but they keep separate beds even a year after their marriage. Gradually we learn that the young bride, Severine, is anything but frigid and in fact has an acti ve fantasy life. It’s just that conventional lovemaking within a marriage is not sufficient to arouse her libido.  

And this is where the familiar themes come in.  

Belle du jour is about fetishes, appearances, fantasy and restraint. Severine is overwhelmed by fantasies of being taken by force, of being humiliated, abused and denigrated in strange rituals. Flashbacks suggest that these desires stem from incidents in her childhood, but the fetishes themselves are wisely never explained, for nothing robs a fetish of its allure than an attempt to explain it. 

Severine’s fetishes, which are often subtly infused into the fantasy sequences, seem to bring her to a frenzy like a Pavlovian dog: the ringing of bells, the mewing of cats. In her dreams she is objectified and treated cruelly to a soundtrack of primal sounds. 

Her desires lead her to take a job as a prostitute, arriving at the whorehouse each day dressed in black, as though in mourning for the life she is leaving behind, and returning home each day by 5 to her unsuspecting husband.  

One scene involves a man entering the whorehouse with a little black box. We do not see what is in it, but it is enough to cause one prostitute to refuse to do his bidding. Severine accepts, however, enticed by whatever fe tish he carries in the box. And his excited ringing of a tiny bell only seals the deal, coaxing an excited smile from her. 

Deneuve is often discussed as simply a great beauty, but she is far more than that. Her acting in Belle du jour is subtle and effec tive. She is able to consistently demonstrate the duality of Severine’s existence: the trepidation, shame and fear combined with passion and desire, as well as the bliss of masochistic fantasies fulfilled.  

The film’s conclusion is ambiguous and probably has a number of valid interpretations. At first glance the final 20 minutes seem like a 1930s American film under the Production Code, with a wild woman bringing ruin to herself and to those she loves because of her lurid behavior. But another interpreta tion takes the film in quite another direction. Severine has her fetish: to be defiled, abused and humiliated. Hussan, a friend of Severine’s husband, has his fetish: to defile his friend’s seemingly virtuous young bride. The gangster Severine becomes ent angled with has his fetish: to live the life and die the death of an outlaw, disrupting the social order and going out in a hail of gunfire. And the husband can be said to have a fetish as well: a virtuous wife by day, a sexual animal by night.  

The endi ng, with Hussan revealing Severine’s secret to her paralyzed and unresponsive husband, provides a bit of satisfaction for everyone, for Hussan gets the chance to expose Severine’s tawdry dark side, thereby defiling her in the eyes of her husband; the gang ster gets his tragic, romantic death in the streets; and Severine ends up sitting quietly under the mysterious gaze of her husband, exposed and vulnerable, just as in her fantasies—a “slut,” a “whore,” waiting for the “firm hand” to administer her punishm ent. And the husband now has his virtuous and apologetic wife, but an all-new and improved version, for this one just might share his bed.  

A final dream sequence concludes the film, with the husband forgiving his wife for her actions. Is this a vision o f the future, or is it a new kind of fantasy for Severine, one in which her husband finally grants her the forgiveness and understanding her guilty conscience craves? Or perhaps it’s simply a new twist on the old fantasies, with Buñuel and Carriere taking one last swipe at the bourgeoisie as they infuse the dream once again with the ringing of bells and the meowing of cats—everything a good society girl needs to keep her happy. 

 

 

The Films of Jean-Claude Carriere and Luis Buñuel 

 

Belle du jour (1967) 

5 p.m. Sunday, April 30 

 

Diary of a Chambermaid (1964) 

7 p.m. Friday, May 5 

 

The Milky Way (1968) 

9 p.m. Friday, May 5 

 

Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie (1972) 

6:30 p.m. Saturday, May 6 

 

Phantom of Liberty (1974) 

8:30 p.m. Saturday, May 6 

 

Pacific Film Archi ve 

2626 Bancroft Way 

www.bampfa.berkeley.edu9 

 

 

Photograph: Directors Luis Buñuel directs the coachman on the proper technique for ravishing Catherine Deneuve in Belle du jour.›


The International Reach of the Arts and Crafts Movement

By Marta Yamamoto Special to the Planet
Friday April 28, 2006

The Arts and Crafts Movement is no secret in Bay Area architecture and furnishings. The Berkeley hills are dotted with homes designed by Bernard Maybeck, Julia Morgan and others while the California bungalow dots neighborhoods from north to south. 

Imagine dwelling within one of these simple yet aesthetically beautiful homes: upswept gable peak with window flanked by ventilation louvers, pergola-style entry porch of massive timbers set in river rock, all redwood interiors, beamed ceiling hung with hammered copper light fixtures, tile-faced fireplace, Stickley chairs, Weller Coppertone vase, wallpaper friezes and tailored canvas Roman shades. Sound appealing? Much more is on hand across the bay. 

At the de Young Museum is “International Arts and Crafts: William Morris to Frank Lloyd Wright,” organized by England’s Victoria and Albert Museum, where the movement began. 

If you think you already know a lot, think again. The unique feature of the 300 multi-media pieces in this exhibit is their international scope. While admiring the exquisitely preserved museum-quality works I came to understand the diffusion of this movement, from England to America, continental Europe and as distant as Japan. Far beyond architecture and design, the social implications of Arts and Crafts remain strong today. Revolutionary changes were made to both aesthetics and lifestyle with new mind-sets toward ornamentation, simplicity and craftsmanship. 

The mere collection of a vast array of artifacts is a Herculean task. Arranging such artifacts into pleasing combinations requires another set of skills. Teaching the viewer to observe artifacts within their historical context sets the icing on a fantastic cake. International Arts and Crafts overachieves in all respects. 

I left with a true sense of the artisans involved and the philosophies behind their work. Not only architects and designers lead this movement. Craftsmen working in textiles, books, stained glass, ceramics, metalwork, jewelry, photography, furniture and fine arts all contributed to the total picture. 

In 1887, reaction against Victorian mass-production and overt ornamentation resulted in England’s first Arts and Crafts Exhibition Society, whose goal was to raise the status of decorative arts. George Watson’s gracefully curved iron and copper candlesticks and William Benson’s simple, yet striking, pansy-shaped copper and brass fire screen exemplify this goal. 

Furniture with clean lines, subtly enhanced with marquetry in contrasting hues, allows the quality of the woods to speak for themselves. Simplicity carried over to textiles as well. Charles Voysey’s bedcover in block print silk with intertwined orange and blue tulip-like blooms the perfect compliment to a chestnut dresser adorned with hooks. 

William Morris designed to protest “soulless goods” amid the decline of craftsmen and society; John Ruskin provided the words. Their ideas reached the populace through design firms and print. The proof sheet from a 1920s edition of Don Quixote displays distinctive lettering and illustration. 

Many believed that the proper place for Arts and Crafts was in the country, where man was closest to nature. This nostalgia for local traditions is evident in Stanhope Forbes almost photographic painting, “A Fish on a Cornish Coast,” and George Sumner’s “Four Seasons,” panels that clearly display reverence for a changing landscape. These ideals made their way into English gardens where harmony and a looser design by color revolutionized horticultural schemes. 

The movement and exhibit next move to Europe where the need for national identity within an industrialized society was just as strong. In Germany, artisans from the Darmstadt Artists’ Colony created furniture using exotic wood inlays like the handsome cabinet by Joseph Olbrich. In Vienna, Joseph Hoffman used classic fluted silver fitted with ebony and braid to create a Tea and Coffee Service fit for a Queen. Historic Viking traditions are evident in Scandinavian Arts and Crafts work, in both a drinking vessel and an armchair designed by Lars Kinsaruik in painted wood. 

In America, the Movement turned to the native landscape, climate and a romanticized Native American heritage for inspiration. I saw vases painted with the image of a Navaho chief and designs taken from Indian basketry. 

Unique to this exhibit are four domestic settings, each illustrating the importance of the home. One room, appearing to have been pulled from a California bungalow, features the work of Gustav Stickley, who labeled the living room the heart of a home, the perfect sanctuary for the workingman. My long contemplation lovingly took in the sturdy hexagonal table fronting a fireplace fitted with simple wood mantle and green tiles. I could easily picture the family at the end of the day, lit from above by ceiling lanterns of copper with hammered glass. A handsome, uncluttered room in greens and browns reflecting nature’s colors. 

Instant name recognition came with the Prairie School of Frank Lloyd Wright, who viewed both the inside and outside of a home as a complete work of art. He opened interior spaces, eliminated excess ornamentation and brought in nature with wood and rocks. The exhibit’s dining room attests to Wright’s beliefs. Simple, yet imposing dining table and high backed chairs require a great space. Motifs from native plants appear in his Tree of Life window and carpet. 

Bernard Maybeck and the Greene brothers provide name recognition to those familiar with Berkeley architecture. I admired rough-hewn redwood gates, appearing Gothic, from Maybeck’s masterwork, the First Church of Christ Scientist. Designers and craftsmen, Charles and Henry Greene created specific furniture, room by room. Exotic koa wood, along with mahogany, ebony and oak blend into a handsome Library Table while rich amber glass panels used in four-meter wide Entry Doors subtly shift patterns of light. 

My biggest surprise came in the final exhibit rooms displaying the movement’s influence in Japan. Here too, Westernization and industrialization alarmed artisans concerned with retaining Japanese national identity. Again, craftsmen returned to traditions and the simple beauty of folk crafts as their muses. A utilitarian woven Back Protector worn by a farmer carrying heavy loads is anything but. Intricate straw work in patterns of black and white elevate this to the category of art. The powerful stoneware bowls of Bernard Leach, who studied in Japan, and Hamada Shoji, resonate with power and traditional line designs. Leach’s Tree of Life bowl represents his ties to the nature themes of Wright’s Prairie School.  

Reaching the end of this masterful exhibit, I was ready to give it a second round. I’ve always loved this style and felt affirmed to realize that the philosophy mirrored my own. Belief in a simpler way of life, allowing the beauty of natural materials to shine, nature’s inclusion in everyday life, the value of tradition and fine craftsmanship—all ideals close to my own. In truth, I’m just an Arts and Crafts groupie. Spend time in this exhibit and you may be one too.  

 

De Young Museum 

Arts and Crafts exhibit runs through June 18. Adults $15; seniors, $12; youths 13-17 years old, $11. Audio and docent tours available. Open 9:30 a.m.–5 p.m., Tuesday through Sunday.  

Golden Gate Park, 50 Higawara Tea Garden Drive. (415) 863-3330. www.deyoungmuseum.org. 

 

Photograph by Christine Smith 

A re-creation of rooms from the Mikuniso, a Pavilion built for a Tokyo exhibition in 1928.


She’s Got Your Goat at Caribbean Cove

By B.J. Calurus Special to the Planet
Friday April 28, 2006

You don’t forget your first curried goat. It was years ago, and I was on the Orange Blossom Trail, Orlando’s answer to San Pablo Avenue, looking for a cheap and non-franchised lunch. I wound up at a hole-in-the-wall run by Trinidadians that served goat and roti, a flatbread with South Asian roots. Really good goat. I’ve been looking for its equal ever since. 

Happily, I believe I’ve found it at the Caribbean Cove, a small Jamaican eatery upstairs in the Village, at Telegraph and Blake. It’s run by Judith O’Loughlin, who comes from the small island of Nevis (also the birthplace of Alexander Hamilton). O’Loughlin’s curried goat is rich and tender, hot but not painfully so. She uses an imported Jamaican curry powder, less incendiary than South Asian blends.  

The Cove has a short menu, but it touches most of the bases of Jamaican cuisine—a palimpsest of cultural influences. The curries (chicken is also available) came in with South Asian contract laborers in the 19th century. Another entrée, “es-cove-ich” fish, either dates back to the earlier Spanish occupation of Jamaica or was borrowed from neighboring Spanish Caribbean islands. Escovitch evolved from the Spanish (originally Catalan) escabeche—a quick-pickling technique. O’Loughlin’s version involves a snapper filet, fried and served with onions and bell peppers in a vinaigrette. 

She also does jerk chicken, the one Jamaican dish Americans are familiar with, and it’s a nice rendition—juicy breast meat redolent with the classic allspice-thyme-hot chili mixture. The traditional chili would be Scotch Bonnet, the Jamaican form of the deadly Habanero (up to 300,000 Scoville Heat Units). Like the curried goat, O’Loughlin’s jerk chicken doesn’t blast you out of your chair, but it does leave your lips tingling. 

“Jerk” may derive from the Peruvian-Spanish charqui, also the origin of “jerky.” An alternate etymology explains it in terms of the meat being jerked about and poked with a stick as it cooks. Traditional jerking requires a fire of pimento wood, from the tree that bears the allspice berries (Pimenta dioica). 

I’ve seen the method ascribed to the Arawak Indians, who got there first; to the Maroons, who escaped from plantation slavery and holed up in the rugged Cockpit Country; to European pirates. Whatever its origin, it’s good stuff. (I was surprised not to find jerk chicken, or jerk anything, in Caroline Sullivan’s 1893 Classic Jamaican Cooking; the jerk tradition must have existed under the culinary radar of the cookbook compilers). 

But jerk chicken is not considered the Jamaican national dish. That honor goes to O’Loughlin’s most unusual offering, ackee and salt fish, available only on Saturday nights. Salt cod—Sullivan called it “the despised salt fish”—has been popular in the Caribbean since colonial times. I read somewhere that its entrenchment in island cuisine has to do with the danger of eating your fish fresh. 

West Indian reef fish like snappers, groupers, and triggerfish may be a source of ciguatera, a type of food poisoning resulting from toxins in microscopic dinoflagellates. Salt fish, which some of us find tasty in its own right, would have been a lot safer. 

As for the ackee, there’s a long story: it’s the fruit of a tree whose botanical name is Blighia sapida, after Captain Bligh of HMS Bounty infamy—“a foul-mouthed bully,” according to Patrick O’Brian. Bligh introduced the plant from its native West Africa to Jamaica, where it was adopted with much more enthusiasm than his breadfruit. The tree is in the family Sapindaceae, related to lychee, longan, and rambutan. 

Ackee fruit has a red rind, white flesh, and shiny black seeds, and everything except the flesh is poisonous—the literary critic Edmund Wilson apparently suffered a bout of ackee poisoning in Jamaica in the 1960s. The fruit, which O’Loughlin’s menu describes as avocado-like in texture, is also called “vegetable brains.” 

So put the fish and ackee together with onions and tomatoes, and you get something that I liked a lot more than Wilson did (“highly esteemed by the natives but less by other people,” he groused). The texture of the ackee is reminiscent of scrambled eggs; it pretty much absorbs the flavor of the fish. I suspect this dish alone draws a lot of homesick Jamaicans to the Caribbean Cove. 

Plate meals come with a green salad. The lunch’s, early in the season, was iceberg lettuce with pale tomatoes, nothing special, but the dinner salad a couple of weeks later was much improved, though still simple: romaine and tasty cherry tomatoes, a spark of grated carrot. Both had dousings of a tasty vinaigrette.  

There are other entrees we haven’t sampled yet, like stewed oxtail and a couple of vegetarian options. All are in the $6 to $8 range on the lunch menu, higher at dinner. They come in generous portions with sides of rice and peas (our “peas” were actually kidney beans, cooked with the rice in coconut milk) and fried plantains. 

The rice absorbs the sauces very nicely. We also didn’t get to the classic Jamaican patties, available as an appetizer stuffed with beef, chicken, or vegetables, or the salt fish fritters. 

O’Loughlin also offers a splendid housemade ginger beer and handcrafted sorrel, the hibiscus-based drink that’s called jamaica in Spanish-speaking territories. Red Stripe beer—“Hooray Beer!” says the ad card on your table—also goes well with the spicy stuff. You can try the Jamaican grapefruit soda called Ting, or the two-item wine list: house red, house white. 

The Caribbean Cove has a cheerful yellow-with-blue-trim interior, with island beachscapes on the wall. There’s free wi-fi and a UC student discount. Business was slow at lunchtime on a rainy Friday, but when we came back on Saturday night for the ackee and salt fish, there was more activity—a lot of takeout orders—and a reggae D.J. was setting up; I suspect the Cove gets livelier as the evening goes on.  

 

Photograph by Stephan Babuljak 

Kelly Hyde serves up a meal for Gina Johnson at the Caribbean Cove on Wednesday. 

ª


About the House: Neatness Saves Time, Even on a Job Site

By Matt Cantor
Friday April 28, 2006

I have slovenly tendencies. I know this about myself. I’m not proud of it, but let’s face facts: I like neatness, but it is, on most days, beyond my grasp. I also like to complain about those around me who do not keep things neat. Of course I never complain about my wife or kids and their messes, and if you think you’ve ever heard me shouting from next door, it must have been someone else or perhaps it was the game on TV. 

So when I say that neatness counts, you will take it as a “do as I say, not as I do” moment. If we can agree on the terms then I can probably offer a healthy dose of advice on the subject without going straight to hell. 

Neatness in construction is actually something I care a lot about and there are several reasons for my concern. Let’s start with speed. I have a friend who I’ve known for many years. His name is David and he worked with me on my house almost 20 years ago when we remodeled our place. 

David never seemed to be moving very fast. He would do things very methodically and carefully. He never came to a complete stop, although sometimes it appeared so. He would just move steadily through the entire day and at the end of that day there would be this enormous amount of work that he had done. 

Mostly, it just looked like a series of slow motion movements but the thing is that he never wasted any excessive movement and he was never tripping over himself. He also kept his work area very neat and well organized. 

He would stop and sweep up his area periodically so that he could see what he was doing. He would stack things not being used, off to one side. He would take a moment to close the tool box before he began to run the saw so that it wouldn’t become filled with sawdust and thus avoided another cleanup job that would later become necessary. That was Dave’s method. 

Steve used to work for me and he would often appear to be moving too fast for the eye to see, like some sort of magic act. But Steve was far less efficient than Dave. 

I recall an afternoon when Steve spent no less than a half hour looking for his hammer. I don’t think he found his hammer during the period but eventually took someone else’s and only found his later. He had a different style. 

When people take the time to set up their work area, to lay out the tools and to continually clean and re-organize, the work moves smoothly and comfortably. I have often said to myself in the course of a job that all I’m really doing is cleaning up and at the end of it, there’s a shelving unit or a set of kitchen cabinets. 

The installation is just a series of cleaning operations with a very small number of construction operations in between. In other words, if the focus remains on organization and continual cleaning of the area, the installation of a lamp housing or the building of a formwork becomes very much simplified and incidentally, much quicker. 

Looking for things takes a lot of time. So does physically negotiating a space that has become an obstacle course. Sawdust is slippery and piles of objects can make moving back and forth through the workspace a burdensome task for the already overloaded brain. 

We brilliant humans tend to think that we can do forty-seven things at once. While this may be true, none of us are able to do so at the efficiency level that we can when we attempt a much smaller number. 

Aside from speed, there is the issue of safety. I know for certain that if anyone ever did a quantitative scientific study of this phenomenon, that they would find that the worker in the messy jobsite incurs 73 percent more cuts and scrapes than his or her counterpart in the nice neat site. 

I’ve seen it and I’ve been there. It is much easier to trip over cords, piles of sawdust and sawn off blocks than it is to trip when walking across a freshly swept floor. It is also very hard to see where you are or what’s missing when there are 178 things in front of you. I find it much easier to note a problem with the work in a clean space than in a disorganized one where there’s so much visual “noise” that I can’t pick out the things that I need to be looking at. 

Also, when you stop and sweep the floor, you find the hammer (“Hey Steve, we found your hammer!”). You find the drill bit you dropped. You find a screw on the nice wooden floor before you grind it in. You can also find the nails, the wood and the other things that you need. There’s also something about breathing and slowing down and re-framing the project that occurs when you’re cleaning up. 

Lastly, if you’re working for Mrs. Jones, she might like it. I know for a fact that Mrs. Jones loves it when you clean up after yourself. She might not mind the coiled up cords, the table-saw or the compressor if the floor is nicely swept and the wood had been stacked in the corner. Also, Mrs. Jones is a little blind in her left eye and she might not trip and tear a ligament in her one good knee if the floor is nicely cleared when she drops by with brownies and decaf in the middle of the afternoon (She is so nice).  

Another tip I’d like to offer involves protecting surfaces (and then I’ll give it a rest). Before starting a job, my friend Tim the tiler starts by covering everything in the greater Bay Area with heavy paper. Painter’s tape is used to tape things together so that when it’s time to remove the paper, it won’t pull the paint off. 

This is the blue paper masking tape so often seen left on the windows of recent paint jobs. Tim neatly cuts this stuff around corners and toilets and then can proceed to make a mess and when the job is done, he just tears the tape away, rolls the stuff up and stuffs it in the garbage. Voila, it’s a thing of beauty. 

Many builders contain their work areas with plastic sheeting and can even put zippers into these barriers in the middle of rooms to contain dust. It take a few minutes and adds on some dollars but when this is done your DVD player isn’t filled with sheetrock dust. 

Neatness seems like it takes time and, well, yes it does, but it also saves time, prevents accidents and shows consideration for those with whom we work. So next time you’re working on the job for yourself or for Mrs. Jones, try to be 4 percent neater and see how if feels. 

 

 

Got a question about home repairs and inspections? Send them to Matt Cantor, in care of East Bay Real Estate, at realestate@berkeleydailyplanet.com..


Garden Variety: Recycling For Garden Decor at Omega Too

By Ron Sullivan
Friday April 28, 2006

So I dropped by Omega Too on San Pablo Avenue to see what Jana had for gardens. The answer was: Not quite so much as she used to, but what’s there is nifty. Of course; her sensibility is one I’ve always liked.  

I met Jana Olsen years ago, when I took her garden-construction class at Merritt. She’s a good teacher, relaxed but focused—an apt combination when you’re learning to enjoy the mighty power of the Sawzall without losing any body parts or mutilating any classmates. I liked that. I wonder how many of the problems I have right now could be solved by buying a Sawzall.  

Probably not enough to justify the purchase. Just wait till I get into politics. Might’ve been handy to have one outside the City Council meeting the other night when I was being gut-thwacked by a bunch of eager young jocks whose handlers had for some reason thought it a good idea for everybody to bring his big clunky gym duffel to the crowded lobby. 

Somebody almost went home with a bag of used dinner for a souvenir. Manners, kids, manners! Some of us old coots are not only grouchy; we’re unpredictably leaky when prodded. And we vote.  

Might tools aside, I doubtless got much of my own garden sensibility from Jana, because her approach appeals to me. I remember seeing a photo of a garden she’s collaborated on, with a retaining wall that was a sort of geological cartoon, including one layer of winebottles no doubt from the early Vinaceous Age. 

She’s smart and funny and shows it in her own garden, which I got a long look at before the Park Day School Tour a couple of years ago. That work actually has a recognizable and relevant narrative structure, without being all pedantic. Great fun.  

So what you can buy from her for your own garden is, on one hand, mostly salvage or faux-salvage items. The little space behind the store had a couple of fountains and birdbaths whose aesthetics run to the Gothic and older—one’s labeled “Green Man Ruin” and features faces of that archetype. 

There’s a ceramic tortoise I covet myself, and assorted things to hang on walls and/or get plumbed for fountains, and several wreaths and crossed festooned with painted terra-cotta flowers that made me think of old Italian cemeteries back East.  

Actual salvage items I saw included a length of distressed, painted iron fencing or gate material, maybe head-tall, and a pair of the wrought-iron brackets that supported those old-fashioned school desks—the seats attached to the table part behind, so if you wiggled enough you could screw up your annoying neighbor’s handwriting. Yes, I am an old coot.  

Garden and porch lights, door or gate hardware, doormats, doorknockers including a trowel and a woodpecker, and stained glass and craft tiles for use in sheltered places are mostly inside the store. 

It’s an interesting succession, from old house-parts to things made to mimic old house-parts to handmade items that carry the same art traditions forward, always more interestingly than mass-produced imitations. Makes you think that apprenticeship has more than private effects.  

 

Omega Too 

2204 San Pablo Ave., Berkeley 

843-3636 

Monday-Saturday 10 a.m–6 p.m. 

Sunday noon–5 p.m.  

http://www.omegatoo.com/ 

 

 

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.


Berkeley This Week

Friday April 28, 2006

FRIDAY, APRIL 28 

Reduced City Services Today Call ahead to ensure programs or services you desire will be available. 981-CITY. www.cityofberkeley.info 

City Commons Club Noon Luncheon with David Bain, space scientist on “Mars” Luncheon at 11:45 a.m. for $13.50, speech at 12:30 p.m., at the Berkeley City Club, 2315 Durant St. For information and reservations call 526-2925 or 665-9020.  

How Did You Become an Activist? with Paul Larudee, co-founder International Solidarity Movement and Barbara Bechnel, journalist, at 7 p.m. at Berkeley Unitarian Universalist Hall, 1924 Cedar at Bonita. Donation $10. 528-5403. 

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. 

Early Childhood Safety: Earthquake Safety at 3 p.m. at Habitot, 2065 Kittredge St. Cost is $5-$6. 647-1111. 

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. 

SATURDAY, APRIL 29 

Open the Farm Join us to greet the animals in the morning, help feed them, collect eggs and do a few chores. Dress to get dirty. From 9 to 10:30 a.m. at the Little Farm in Tilden Park. 525-2233. 

3rd Annual Green Home EXPO from noon to 5 p.m. at Civic Center Park, next to Farmer’s Market. Trade in your old incandescent light bulbs, learn about energy savings and lead safe painting. Panel discussion on Energy Independence at 1 p.m. www.GrennhomeEXPO.org 

Free Universal Waste Drop-Off from noon to 5 p.m. at Civic Center Park for batteries, computers and other electronic equipment. Also Safe Medicine Disposal Event: Safely dispose of your old expired or unused medicines, including over-the-counter medicines. www.GreenHomeEXPO.org  

El Cerrito Earth Day Join the city in planting trees along San Pablo Ave. from 9 a.m. to 11:30 p.m., follwed by a barbeque for volunteers at noon. Call for specific locations. 215-4353. www.el-cerrito.org 

United Nations Association Open House from 2 to 5 p.m. 1403 Addison St., in Andronico’s University Ave. parking lot. 

“Celebrating North Richmond History” with art and culture exhibits, speakers, music and community resources, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Shields-Reid Community Center, 1416 Kelsey St., Richmond. Sponsored by Contra Costa Health Services. 925-313-6862. 

Mt. Wanda Wildflower Walk in the hills where John Muir took his daughters. Meet at 9 a.m. in the Park and Ride lot at the corner of Alhambra Ave. and Franklin Canyon Rd., Martinez. Wear walking shoes and bring water. 925-228-8860. 

Redesign of the Downtown Berkeley BART Station and Transit Zone The public is invited to an open house to view four different design options from 1 to 4 p.m. at the Berkeley Public Library, third floor community room, 2090 Kittredge St. 981-7065. 

Berkeley Poetry Festival with featured poets and open mic. Jack Hirschman, Poet Laureate of San Francisco, will read his latest haikus. From noon to 6 p.m. at the North Berkeley Senior Center, 1901 Hearst Ave. 549-3345. 

Crowden Community Music Day with concerts, instrument petting zoo, instrument workshop and more, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. at 1475 Rose St. 559-2941. 

Sports Medicine for Young Athletes with Michelle Cappello, Director of the Sport Medicine Center for Young Athletes at Children’s Hospital, Oakland at 6 p.m. Coaches, parents, players, trainers, and interested others all welcome. Refreshments will be served. For ticket and event location information call 528-9026.  

Benefit Gala for the Oakland Museum of California with dinner and entertainment. TIckets are $300-$600. 239-2919. 

International Family Fair and Raffle with games and activities for children and an incredible variety of live entertainment from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. at New School of Berkeley, Bonita Street at Cedar. 548-9165. 

UC Botanical Garden Annual Plant Sale with cacti and succulents, ferns, new perrennials, and rare trees and shrubs from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at 200 Centennail Drive. 643-2755. http://botanicalgarden.berkeley.edu 

Annual Junktique Sale from 8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. in a benefit for the First United Methodist Church, 201 Martina, corner W. Richmond Ave., Pt. Richmond 236-0527. www.pointrichmond.com/methodist 

“The Five Secrets to Permanent Weight Loss” with Dr. Jay Sordean, at 12:30 p.m. at South Berkeley Curves, 2855 Telegraph Ave. Sponsored by the Doctors Speakers Bureau. RSVP to 849-1176. 

Free Garden Tours at Regional Parks Botanic Garden Sat. and Sun. at 2 pm. Regional Parks Botanic Garden, Tilden Park. Call to confirm. 841-8732. www.nativeplants.org 

Around the World Tour of Plants at 1:30 p.m., Thurs., Sat. and Sun. at UC Botanical Garden, 200 Centennial Drive. 643-2755. http://botanicalgarden.berkeley.edu 

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. 

SUNDAY, APRIL 30 

Berkeley International Food Festival from noon until 5 p.m. at the intersection of University and San Pablo Aves. The Festival will showcase restaurants and markets, and will feature related cultural activities. www.berkeleyinternationalfoodfestival.com 

Berkeley Citizen Action Economic Development Forum from 4 to 6 p.m. at the North Berkeley Senior Center, 1901 Hearst Ave. 549-0816. 

Children’s Book Day from 2 to 4 p.m. at the Children’s Library, 4th floor, Berkeley Public Library, 2090 Kittredge St. Musician, clown and refreshements. 981-6107.  

Wonderous Wildflowers An easy stroll through the Tilden Nature Are to see what is blooming. Meet at 2 p.m. at the Tilden Nature Center. 525-2233. 

“Get Inspired to Green Your Garden” Bay-Friendly Garden Tour from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. A free and self-guided tour throughout Alameda County. Registration required to receive the guide book and garden directions. www.BayFriendly.org 

Secret Gardens of the East Bay A tour with marketplace and opportunity to visit with professional garden designers from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Cost is $45. Benefits Park Day School. 653-0317, ext. 103. www.SecretGardenTour.org 

SF South Bay Restoration Project Tours of the salt pond project from 2 to 4 p.m. Please meet at Menlo Park’s Bayfront Park, at the corner of Marsh Road and Bayshore Expressway. From 101, exit Marsh Road, and head west into Bayfront Park. Tour will repeat on May 6 and May 21. Reservations required. 792-0222, ext. 43. 

“Darwin’s Nightmare” A documentary on the importation of the Nile Perch to Lake Victoria, which decimated the native fish population and impoverished local villagers, at 2 p.m. at the Parkway Theater, 1834 Park Blvd., Oakland. Proceeds benefit Priority Africa Network. 527-3917. 

“Making Connections: Israeli-Palestinian Peace and U.S. Middle East Policy: Where do we go from here?” Discussion presented by the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom, East Bay Branch, at 1 p.m. at Redwood Gardens, 2951 Derby St. 665-5459. 

Using Art to Teach Science Biological Illustration as a Way of Seeing. A workshop with biological illustrator Vicki Jennings, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Oakland Museum of California, 10th and Oak Sts. Cost is $50-$60. 238-3818. 

Save Our Steinway Benefit Concert, to restore the 1909 Steinway at Berkeley Fellowship of Unitarian-Universalists at 2:30 p.m. at 1924 Cedar at Bonita. Donation $5. 841-4824. 

“Come Spot, Come” A recall workshop for your dog from 3 to 4 p.m. at Grace North Church, 2128 Cedar St. Cost is $35. To register call 849-9323.  

Tour of the Flora Lamson Hewlett Library, rare books and a comprehensive theological collection, at 4 p.m. at 2400 Ridge Rd. Reservations required 649-2420. 

Hands-On Bicycle Clinic on bicycle safety inspections from 10 to 11 a.m. at REI, 1338 San Pablo Ave. Free. 527-4140. 

“Fledglings and Fly In” Bird walk accompanied by a dance performance by Patricia Bulitt at 4 p.m. on the patio behind the Lakeview Public Library, 550 El Embarcadero, Oakland. 238-7344. 

“Houses and Housings: Portability in Jewish Faith and Culture” Panel discussion at 2 p.m. at the Judah Magnes Museum, 2911 Russell St. Cost is $10-$12. 549-6950. 

“Iraq: The Logic of Withdrawal” Reception and book signing with author Anthony Arnove at 2 p.m. at Middle East Children’s Alliance, 901 Parker St. 548-0542. 

Tibetan Buddhism with Rosalyn White on “Is Tibet Forgotten?” at 6 p.m. at the Tibetan Nyingma Institute, 1815 Highland Pl. 843-6812.  

MONDAY, MAY 1 

Immigrant Rights Rally at noon on Upper Sproul Plaza, UC Campus. Join us to demand Human Rights and dignity for immigrants. Speakers to include immigrants and workers at UC Berkeley. 452-7790. 

National Organization for Women Oakland/East Bay Chapter, with Stephanie Simpson, Resource Developer for the International Rescue Committee at 6 p.m. at the Oakland YWCA, 1515 Webster St.  

“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. 

May Day Event at AK Press Warehouse, celebrating the workers’ holiday with speakers, musical guests, food, and general merriment. At 6:30 p.m. at 674-A 23rd St., Oakland. Suggested donation $5. All proceeds benefit the Kate Sharpley Library. 

May Day Open House at Revolution Books at 6 p.m. at 2425 Channing Way, under Sather Gate Garage. 848-1196. 

World Affairs/Politics Discussion Group for people 60+ years old meets at 10:15 a.m. at the Albany Senior Center, 846 Masonic Ave. Cost is $2.50. 524-9122. 

“How to Expand Your Mind- Body Connection with Yoga, Pilates and Tai Chi” at 5:30 pm. in the Rose Room at Mercy Retirement Center, 3431 Foothill Blvd., Oakland. Cost is $30 or $120 for the entire series. 534-8547, ext. 666. 

Beginning Bridge Lessons at 11:10 a.m. at the Albany Senior Center, 846 Masonic Ave. Cost is $1. 524-9122. 

“The Castoffs” Kensington Library’s Knitting Club meets at 7 p.m. at the Kensington Library, 61 Arlington Ave.  

McGee Avenue Toastmasters meets at 7:30 p.m. at McGee Ave Baptist Church, 1640 Stuart St. 501-7005. 

Berkeley CopWatch organizational meeting at 8 p.m. at 2022 Blake St.548-0425. 

TUESDAY, MAY 2 

“Loose Change 911” Documentary on the myth of 9/11 followed by a discussion with the filmmakers Dylan Avery and Korey Rowe at 7 p.m. at the Grand Lake Theater, 3200 Grand Ave., Oakland. Donation of $10, benefits Guns-n-Butter. 704-0268.  

Climate Change class meets Tues. from 1 to 3 p.m. at the North Berkeley Senior Center. Topics include science, projected impacts, individual behavior, and policy. 981-5190. 

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. 

Discussion Salon on “What Do You Do For Fun?” at 7 p.m. at the BRJCC, 1414 Walnut St. at Rose. Please bring snacks to share, no peanuts please. 

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, MAY 3 

Walking Tour of Old Oakland around the restored 1870s business district. Meet at 10 a.m. in front of G.B. Ratto’s at 827 Washington St. Tour lasts 90 minutes. Reservations can be made by calling 238-3234. 

“The Secret Way to War: The Downing Street Memo and the Iraq War’s Buried History” with Mark Danner in conversation with Pratap Chatterjee at 7:30 p.m. at the Berkeley Richmond Jewish Community Center, 1414 Walnut St. Tickets are $10-$12 available at local independent bookstores. Benefits Global Exchange. 967-4495. 

“Is the Bush Administration Guilty of Torture and War Crimes?” Panel with Brig. General Janis Karpinski, former UK ambassador Craig Murray, and Larry Everest at 7 p.m. at 2050 Valley Life Sciences Building, UC Campus. Admission $5-$10 sliding scale, no one turned away for lack of funds. 355- 6915.  

“Vote Rigging 101” A documentary film at 7:30 p.m. at Humanist Hall, 390 27th St., Oakland. Donations of $5 accepted. 

Lonely Planet Travel Series with Emily Wolman and Heather Dickson on Women Solo Travels at 6 p.m. at Oakland Public Library, 124 14th St. 238-3136. 

Classes in English and Citizenship offered by the Oakland Adult Education program Mon.-Fri. from 6 to 9 p.m. Free. Register at Lincoln Elementary School, 225 11th St., room 205. 879-8131. 

Red Cross Blood Services Volunteer Orientation from 10 a.m. to noon in Oakland. We need your help to support the more than 40 blood drives held each month all over the East Bay.For more information, phone Anne at 594-5165.  

Red Cross Blood Drive from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. East Pauley Ballroom, MLK Student Union, 3rd floor, UC Campus. To make an appointment call 1-800-GIVE-LIFE. www.BeADonor.com  

Weight Management Learn the best way to eat to maintain a healthy weight at 7:30 p.m. at Elephant Pharmacy, 1607 Shattuck Ave. 549-9200. 

The Berkeley Lawn Bowling Club provides free instruction every Wed. and Sat. at 10:30 a.m. at 2270 Acton St. 841-2174.  

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. 562-9431.  

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. 

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, MAY 4 

Chabot Space & Science Center Open House for Educators from 3 to 7 p.m. Learn about education programs, lesson plans, activities and community resources from other organizations. Free but pre-registration required www.chabotspace.org 

“Dog’s and Children: Can’t We All Just Get Along?” A lecture on on how to raise a well-behaved pet, at 7:30 p.m. at Borders Books in Emeryville. 644-0729. www.openpaw.org 

Red Cross Blood Drive from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. East Pauley Ballroom, MLK Student Union, 3rd floor, UC Campus. To make an appointment call 1-800-GIVE-LIFE. www.BeADonor.com  

“Be the Stars You Are” Personal stories from scholarship recipients at 7:30 p.m. at Arlington Community Church, 52 Arlington Ave. Cost is $5-$10. www.peointernational.org 

Bone Yoga Learn how yoga can increase bone density at 7:30 p.m. at Elephant Pharmacy, 1607 Shattuck Ave. 549-9200. 

Spring Cleaning for your Body A 21 day guided detoxification and allergy elimination diet, free introductory lecture at 6:15 p.m. at Acupuncture and Integrative Medicine College, 2550 Shattuck Ave. Registration required. 415-513-7270.  

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 

Poll Workers Needed in Alameda County for June 6 Primary Election. Poll workers must be eligible to register to vote in California, have basic clerical skills. Training classes begin in May. 272-6971. 

Berkeley Youth Alternatives Youth Sports Classes NFL Flag Football for boys and girls ages 9 to 12 begins May 9, 4:30 to 6 p.m. Cost is $10-$15 for 5 weeks, and Pee Wee Basketball for boys and girls ages 6 to 8 begins May 13, 10 a.m. to noon. Cost is $25-$35 for 6 weeks. For more information contact BYA Sports & Fitness Department 845-9066. sports@byaonline.org 

CITY MEETINGS 

Peace and Justice Commission meets Mon., May 1, at 7 p.m., at the North Berkeley Senior Center. Manuel Hector, 981-5510. www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/ 

commissions/peaceandjustice 

Commission on the Status of Women meets Wed., May 3, at 7:30 p.m., at the North Berkeley Senior Center. Tasha Tervelon, 981-5190. www.ci.berkel 

ey.ca.us/commissions/women 

Public Works Commission meets Thurs., May 4, at 7 p.m., at the North Berkeley Senior Center. Jeff Egeberg, 981-6406. www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/commissions/publicworks 

Housing Advisory Commission meets Thurs., May 4, 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. May 4, at 7:30 p.m., at the North Berkeley Senior Center. Gisele Sorensen, 981-7419. www.ci. 

berkeley.ca.us/commissions/landmarks 

 

 

 

 

 

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Arts Calendar

Tuesday April 25, 2006

TUESDAY, APRIL 25 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Tell It On Tuesday Original storytelling at 7 p.m. at the Julia Morgan Center for the Arts, 2640 College Ave. Cost is $8-$12 at the door. www.juliamorgan.org 

Joel Beinin introduces “The Struggle for Sovereignty: Palestine and Israel, 1993-2005” edited by Joel Beinin and Rebecca L. Stein at 5:30 p.m. at Unversity Press Books, 2430 Bancroft Way. 548-0585. 

Morris Bermanon introduces “Dark Ages America...” at 7:30 p.m. at Black Oak Books. 486-0698. www.blackoakbooks.com 

David Mitchell reads from his new novel “Black Swan Green” at 7:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books. 845-7852.  

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Tom Rigney & Flambeau at 8:30 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cajun dance lesson at 8 p.m. Cost is $9. 525-5054.  

Larry Vuckovich, jazz piano, at 8 p.m. at Downtown. 649-3810. 

Ellen Hoffman Trio and Singers’ Open Mic at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. Cost is $5. 841-JAZZ.  

Dave Douglas Quintet at 8 and 10 p.m. Yoshi’s at Jack London Square. Cost is $10-$18. 238-9200. www.yoshis.com 

Randy Craig Trio at 7:30 p.m. at Caffe Trieste, 2500 San Pablo Ave., at Dwight. 548-5198.  

Jazzschool Tuesdays at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 848-8277. 

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 26 

THEATER 

The Marsh Berkeley “Faulty Intelligence”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 “Wings of Desire” at 3 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4-$8. 642-0808.  

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Berkeley Treasures “A Conversation with Karl Kasten,” painter and printmaker, at 7 p.m. at Berkeley Art Center, 1275 Walnut St. in Live Oak Park. 644-6893. 

Jonathan Safran Foer introduces his novel “Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close” at 7:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books. 845-7852.  

Elisa Southard, author of “Break Through the Noise: 9 Tools to Propel Your Marketing Message” at 7:30 p.m. at Black Oak Books. 486-0698.  

Cynthia Taylor on her new book “A. Philip Randolph: The Religious Journey of an African American Labor Leader” at 5:30 p.m. at Unversity Press Books, 2430 Bancroft Way. 548-0585. 

Writing Teachers Write, monthly reading, at 5 p.m. at Nomad Cafe, 6500 Shattuck Ave. 595-5344.  

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, “Javanese Gamelan” at Hertz Hall, UC Campus. Free. 642-4864. http://music.berkeley.edu 

Berkeley Opera “Chrysalis” by Clark Suprynowicz and John O’Keefe at 7:30 p.m. at Julia Morgan Theater, 2640 College Ave. Tickets are $15-$40. 925-798-1300. www.berkeleyopera.org 

UC 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.  

Helsinki Skylight, with bassist Sam Beven, at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 848-8277. 

Track Fighter, The Main Event, The Great Divorce at 9 p.m. at Blakes on Telegraph. Cost is $8-$10. 848-0886.  

Dave Douglas Quintet at 8 and 10 p.m. Yoshi’s at Jack London Square. Cost is $10-$18. 238-9200. www.yoshis.com 

THURSDAY, APRIL 27 

EXHIBITIONS 

“100 Families Oakland: Art & Social Change” artwork created by individuals and families from the neighborhood of West Oakland. Opening and family celebration at 6 p.m. at the African-American Museum & Library, 659 14th St., Oakland. 594-3763. 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Nomad Spoken Word Night at 7 p.m. at Nomad Cafe, 6500 Shattuck Ave. 595-5344. www.nomadcafe.net 

Louis Uchitelle discusses “The Disposable American: Layoffs and Their Consequences” at 7:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books. 845-7852.  

Daniel Alarcón discusses his collection of short stories “War by Candlelight” at 6 p.m. at the Oakland Public Library, 125 14th St. 238-3134. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

“I’m A Performer” Concert with Malcolm X and LeConte students at 8:30 a.m. at Malcolm X School, 1731 Prince St. 841-2800. 

Kitka “Spirit Voices” with Bulgarian folk singer Tzvetanka Varimezova at 8 p.m. at First Unitarian Church, 685 14th St., at Castro, Oakland. Tickets are $20-$22. 444-0323. www.kitka.org 

New Century Chamber Orchestra performs Puccini, Beethoven, Bermel and Rhode at 8 p.m. at St. John’s Presbyterian Church, 2727 College Ave. Tickets are $28-$42. 415-357-1111. www.ncco.org 

Girl Talk at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. Cost is $5. 841-JAZZ. www.AnnasJazzIsland.com 

Tom Huebner, Steven Pile, Powell St. John at 9:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $6. 841-2082 www.starryploughpub.com 

Eric Muhler Duo at 8 p.m. at Downtown. 649-3810.  

Showtime @ 11 Hip Hop at 10 p.m. at the Ivy Room, 585 San Pablo Ave. at Solano. 524-9220. www.ivyroom.com  

John Jorgenson Quartet, American gypsy jazz, at 8 and 10 p.m. at Yoshi’s at Jack London Square. Cost is $14-$20. 238-9200. www.yoshis.com 

Selector: Project Pimento at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 848-8277. 

FRIDAY, APRIL 28 

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 

Aurora Theatre “Small Tragedy” Wed.-Sat at 8 p.m., Sun. at 2 and 7 p.m. at 2081 Addison St., through May 14. Tickets are $38. 843-4822. www.auroratheatre.org 

BareStage “The Fantasticks” Fri. and Sat. at 8 p.m., Sun. April 23 and 30 at 2 p.m., through April 30, at the basement of Cesar Chavez Student Center, UC Campus. Tickets are $8-$12. 642-3880. barestage.berkeley.edu 

Berkeley Rep “The Glass Menagerie” at 8 p.m. at the Thrust Stage, 2025 Addison St. Tickets are $59. Runs through May 31. 647-2949. www.berkeleyrep.org 

Contra Costa Civic Theater “Animal Crackers” at 8 p.m. Fri and Sat., and Sun. at 2 p.m. at Contra Costa Civic Theater, 951 Pomona Ave., El Cerrito, through May 20. Tickets are $12-$20. 524-9132. www.ccct.org 

Impact Theater “Money & Run Episode 4: Go Straight, No Chaser,” Thurs.-Sat. at 8 p.m. at La Val’s Subterranean, 1834 Euclid Ave. Cost is $10-$15. Runs through May 27. 464-4468. www.impacttheater.com 

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 

Subterranean Shakespeare “Richard III” Thurs.-Sat. at 8 p.m. at Berkeley Art Center, 1275 Walnut St. at Rose in Live Oak Park, through May. 20. Tickets are $12-$17. 276-3871. 

EXHIBITIONS 

“Unfinished Story” Art exhibit on the interplay between traditional and modern Vietnamese culture by Chau Huynh. Reception at 6 p.m. at Worth Ryder Art Gallery, 116 Kroeber Hall, UC Campus. 961-1682. 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Strictly Speaking: Michael Feldman’s Whad’Ya Know? at 8 p.m. at Zellerbach Hall, UC Campus. Tickets are $22-$42. 642-9988. www.calperfs.berkeley.edu 

Michael Pollan describes “The Omnivore’s Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals” at 7 p.m. at Cody’s Books on Fourth St. 559-9500. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Berkeley Opera “Chrysalis” by Clark Suprynowicz and John O’Keefe at 8 p.m. at Julia Morgan Theater, 2640 College Ave. Tickets are $15-$40. 925-798-1300. www.berkeleyopera.org 

Berkeley Dance Project 2006 Works by Margaret Jenkins, Reggie Wilson and Ellis Wood Fri. and Sat. at 8 p.m., Sun. at 2 p.m. at Zellerbach Playhouse, UC Campus. Tickets are $8-$14. 642-9925. 

Paufve Dance “The Big Squeeze” at 8 p.m. at Shawl-Anderson Dance Center, 2704 Alcatraz at College. Tickets are $10-$15. Reservations required. 428-9713. www.paufvedance.org 

Tito y Su Son, traditional Cuban dance music at 9 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. Cost is $12. 849-2568.  

Full on Fly Head, Quadraped, The Ghost Next Door at 9 p.m. at Blakes on Telegraph. Cost is $8-$10. 848-0886.  

E.W. Wainright’s African Roots of Jazz at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. Cost is $7. 841-JAZZ.  

Vismaya Lhi, soprano, Cara Bradbury, piano, at 8 p.m. at Giorgi Gallery, 2911 Claremont Ave. Cost is $12. 848-1228.  

Zazen with guitarist Joaquin Lievano and bassist Andy West, at 7:30 p.m. at Wheeler Hall, UC Campus. Tickets are $5-$15. www.zazentour.com  

Sambadá, Brazilian, at 9:30 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $11-$13. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

Listen, meditative sound recordings at 8 p.m. at Studio Rasa, 933 Parker St. Cost is $10-$18. 843-2787. www.studiorasa.org 

Ron Thompson, blues, at 8 p.m. at Caffe Trieste, 2500 San Pablo Ave., at Dwight. 548-5198.  

Kathy Larisch & Carol McComb at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $18.50-$19.50. 548-1761.  

Bob Dalpe Quartet at 9 p.m. at Downtown. 649-3810.  

Kenny Dinkin and Lemon Juju at 7:30 p.m. at Nomad Cafe, 6500 Shattuck Ave. 595-5344. www.nomadcafe.net 

Rube Waddell, Acoustic Virgin, Vermillion Lies at 9:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $6. 841-2082. www.starryploughpub.com 

Monster Squad, Action, Peligro Social at 8 p.m. at 924 Gilman St., an all-ages, member-run, no alcohol, no drugs, no violence club. Cost is $6. 525-9926. 

Brazuca Brown at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 848-8277. 

Rachelle Ferrell at 8 and 10 p.m. at Yoshi’s at Jack London Square, through Sun. Cost is $15-$30. 238-9200. www.yoshis.com 

SATURDAY, APRIL 29 

EXHIBITIONS 

“Celebrating North Richmond History” with art and culture exhibits, speakers, music and community resources, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Shields-Reid Community Center, 1416 Kelsey St., Richmond. Sponsored by Contra Costa Health Services. 925-313-6862. 

Paintings by Keeyla Meadows Reception at 4:30 p.m. at Bucci’s, 6121 Hollis, Emeryville. 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

6th Berkeley Poetry Festival from noon to 6 p.m. at the North Berkeley Senior Center, 1901 Hearst St. Lifetime Achievement Award will be presented to poet Maggi H. Meyer. Free. 981-5190. 

“Chinese American Voices: From the Gold Rush to the Present” A panel discussion with Judy Yung, Him Mark Lai, Ling-chi Wang and others at 2 p.m. at Heller Lounge, MLK Student Union, UC Campus. Sponsored by Eastwind Books of Berkeley. 548-2350.  

Sebastian Junger looks at race and justice in “A Death in Belmont” at 7:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books. 845-7852.  

Celebration of the Life & Work of Octavia Butler at 3 p.m. at Cody’s Books on Fourth St. 559-9500. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Berkeley Dance Project 2006 Works by Margaret Jenkins, Reggie Wilson and Ellis Wood at 8 p.m., Sun. at 2 p.m. at Zellerbach Playhouse, UC Campus. Tickets are $8-$14. 642-9925. 

Paufve Dance “The Big Squeeze” at 8 p.m. at Shawl-Anderson Dance Center, 2704 Alcatraz at College. Tickets are $10-$15. Reservations required. 428-9713.  

“Migrating Woman with Bird” dance performance by Patricia Bulitt at 3 p.m. at Lakeview Public Library, 550 El Embarcadero, Oakland. 238-7344. 

Zakir Hussain, tabla, presents Masters of Percussion at 8 p.m. at Zellerbach Hall, UC Campus. Tickets are $24-$46. 642-9988. twww.calperfs.berkeley.edu  

World Dance Salon performances by KaUaTuahine Polynesian Dance Company, Chhandam School of Kathak North Indian Classical Dance and Bharata Natyam of South India at 8 p.m. at the Mahea Uchiyama Center for International Dance, 729 Heinz Ave. Free. 845-2605. 

The 15th Annual Opera Scenes at 8 p.m. at Valley Center of the Performing Arts, Holy Names University, 3500 Mountain Blvd. Oakland. Tickets are$5-$15. 436-1330. 

¡La Gran Noche de la Nueva Canción! Grupo Raiz’s 2006 reunion concert, a benefit for the La Peña Community Chorus at 8 p.m. at La Peña. Tickets are $22-$24. 849-2568.  

Slammin’ at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. Cost is $10. 841-JAZZ.  

Kotoja at 9:30 p.m. at Ashkenaz. African dance lesson at 9 p.m. Cost is $11-$13. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com  

Cutty Ranks at 9 p.m. at Shattuck Down Low, 2284 Shattuck Ave. Cost is $15-$20. 548-1159.  

Ira Marlowe and Megan McLaughlin at 7:30 p.m. at Nomad Cafe, 6500 Shattuck Ave. 595-5344. www.nomadcafe.net 

House Jacks at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $18.50-$19.50. 548-1761. www.freightandsalvage.org 

The Room, The Hills, Breakpoint at 9 p.m. at Blakes on Telegraph. Cost is $8-$10. 848-0886. www.blakesontelegraph.com 

Mark Levine Trio at 8 p.m. at the Jazzschool. Cost is $12-$15. 845-5373. www.jazzschool.com 

Rhonda Benin & Soulful Strut at 9 p.m. at Downtown. 649-3810.  

Nathaniel Cooper at 8 p.m. at Spuds Pizza, 3290 Adeline St. Cost is $7. 558-0881. 

Cast of Thousands, The Plus Ones, Mike Park at 9:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough. All ages show. Cost is $8. 841-2082. www.starryploughpub.com 

Fourtet with Chase Michaels at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 848-8277. 

Go It Alone, Paint It Black, The Loved Ones at 8 p.m. at 924 Gilman St., an all-ages, member-run, no alcohol, no drugs, no violence club. Cost is $6. 525-9926. 

Rachelle Ferrell at 8 and 10 p.m. at Yoshi’s at Jack London Square, through Sun. Cost is $15-$30. 238-9200. www.yoshis.com 

SUNDAY, APRIL 30 

EXHIBITIONS 

“Full Circle: Mandala” Paintings by Margaret Lindsey and Susan St. Thomas and pine needle and clay vessels by Melissa Woodburn. Reception at 4 p.m. at the Community Art Gallery, Alta Bates Summit Medical Center, 2450 Ashby Ave. Exhibit runs through May 12. 204-1667. 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

“Iraq: The Logic of Withdrawal” Reception and book-signing with author Anthony Arnove at 2 p.m. at Middle East Children’s Alliance, 901 Parker St. 548-0542 . 

“Jewish Women’s Voices in Prose and Poetry” with Chana Bloch and Elizabeth Rosner at 10:30 a.m. at the BRJCC, 1414 Walnut St. Cost is $5, reservations required. 848-0237. 

Poetry Flash with Luis Garcia, David Gitin, and Belle Randall at 7:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books. Donation $2. 845-7852. www.codysbooks.com 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Berkeley Opera “Chrysalis” by Clark Suprynowicz and John O’Keefe at 2 p.m. at Julia Morgan Theater, 2640 College Ave. Tickets are $15-$40. 925-798-1300. www.berkeleyopera.org 

Berkeley Community Chorus and Orchestra presents the Beethoven Mass in C Major, Faure Pavane for Chorus and other musical highlights at 4:30 p.m. at Saint Joseph The Worker Church, 1640 Addison St. Free admission, donations always welcome. www.bcco.org  

Octangle Wind Quintet presents a benefit concert for Healing Muses, with music by Beethoven, Haydn, Mozart and Jacob at 7:30 p.m. at Berkeley Art Center, 1275 Walnut St. 644-6893.  

American Recorder Orchestra of the West “Musical Traditions of Eastern Europe” at 3 p.m. at All Souls Episcopal Church, 2220 Cedar St. richgeis@jps.net 

The Pacific Collegium presents works for double-choir by J. S. Bach and Antonio Vivaldi at 3 p.m. at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, 114 Montecito Ave., Oakland. Tickets are $8-$12.  

“Festival of Spirituals” with Kalil Wilson, tenor and Jeannine Anderson, soprano at 3:30 p.m. at Beth Eden Baptist Church, 1183 Tenth St., at Adeline, Oakland. Tickets are $8-$10. 414-0599. 

College of Alameda Jazz Band performs a free jazz concert from 2 to 6 p.m at the Oakland Conservatory of Music, 1616 Franklin St., Oakland. Families welcome. 748-2213. 748-2312. 

Berkeley Dance Project 2006 Works by Margaret Jenkins, Reggie Wilson and Ellis Wood at 2 p.m. at Zellerbach Playhouse, UC Campus. Tickets are $8-$14. 642-9925. 

Afro-Cuban Folkoric Dance Benefit for the Diaz Dance Foundation at 6 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. Cost is $15. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

Paufve Dance “The Big Squeeze” at 8 p.m. at Shawl-Anderson Dance Center, 2704 Alcatraz at College. Tickets are $10-$15. Reservations required. 428-9713.  

Ballet Folklorica “Quetzalli” de Veracruz at 3 p.m. at Zellerbach Hall, UC Campus. Tickets are $22-$40. 642-9988. www.calperfs.berkeley.edu 

Charlie King and Karen Brandow at 3 p.m. at Redwood Gardens, 2951 Derby St. Donation $10-$20. 

Save Our Steinway Benefit Concert, to restore the 1909 Steinway at Berkeley Fellowship of Unitarian-Universalists at 2:30 p.m. at 1924 Cedar at Bonita. Donation $5. 841-4824. 

Ronny Cox at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $17.50-$18.50. 548-1761.  

Brazilian Soul at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. Cost is $10. 841-JAZZ.  

Maria Marquez Quartet at 4:30 at the Jazzschool. Cost is $12-$15. 845-5373.  

Flamenco Open Stage with Yaelisa & Her Students at 8 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $10. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

Adrian West at 11 a.m. at Nomad Cafe, 6500 Shattuck Ave. 595-5344.  

Saros, Ocean, Embers, The Makai at 5 p.m. at 924 Gilman St., an all-ages, member-run, no alcohol, no drugs, no violence club. Cost is $6. 525-9926. 

Rachelle Ferrell at 2 and 8 p.m. at Yoshi’s at Jack London Square. Cost is $15-$30. 238-9200.


Books: Threads of the Life of a Singer, Anthropologist, Author

By Dorothy Bryant
Tuesday April 25, 2006

It’s hard not to seem rude and inattentive while talking with Margot Schevill in her home in Berkeley. Hard to keep your gaze from wandering over the walls, tables, and chairs, decorated with colorful paintings and textiles, many from Central America. 

I have known Margot Schevill for about twenty years, but I knew of her—as Margot Blum—more than half a century ago, when we were both students at the old San Francisco State College. I was an unimpressive music major; Margot was an already well-known and rising singer, enrolled in a couple of courses outside the music department, her very presence there a source of pride for my professors. 

When did she start singing? “Oh, I always sang. As a child, when I was Margot Helmuth, I sat out on the front steps of our house on Green Street (in SF, where her widowed mother had moved from Stockton) singing, I hoped, like Deanna Durbin.” 

We laugh, both of us old enough to remember the perennially teenaged, round-faced movie star who sang well enough to do the light classics sometimes inserted into the movies of the 1940s. 

“My mother loved all kinds of music, used to bring home jazz musicians. My brother played stride piano and made records, classical and jazz, in his own studio.  

I started piano lessons at seven. But it wasn’t until I was at Lowell High that a friend talked me into taking singing lessons.” 

A year later she had progressed far enough to sing an aria from Samson and Delilah at her graduation. 

Margot was accepted to Stanford, but her mother suggested that she take a year off to devote herself to music, and find out if a singing career was possible. 

“That meant full time studies in voice, solfeggio, piano, dramatic technique, French.” 

She reels off the names of music teachers who epitomized the best in the San Francisco of the 1950s. 

“Plus ushering at opera, concerts—total immersion,” followed by studies at UC Berkeley in harmony and counterpoint, then at the Music Academy of the West in Santa Barbara, studying with John Charles Thomas and Lotte Lehman. 

In 1951 she began singing on high holy days at Temple Emanuel. Soon she was hired to sing at services on all Friday evenings and Saturday mornings. At about the same time she married and became Margot Blum. The next five or six years became the classic juggling act of the woman artist—she had two children, and sang with ensembles of all kinds, including the Civic Light Opera’s 1957 production of South Pacific. 

It was Mary Martin who stopped her after a rehearsal and said, “Why are you wasting your time here?!” She gave Margot the courage to audition for the Merola Program, which grooms promising young soloists for the San Francisco Opera. She was one of the chosen few accepted into the intensive program, which includes free coaching in languages and stage deportment. “You know, like, how to fall and die gracefully.” 

Margot had almost arrived. Almost. 

“There was one problem I already knew about: my voice wasn’t big enough for the San Francisco Opera House. My best chance in opera was to build a career in Europe, where there were many companies and many fine smaller houses.” 

Margot shakes her head. “Impossible.” 

In those days, barely a decade past the Holocaust, the idea of an American Jewish couple raising their children in Europe was unacceptable.  

“It was time to give up my ‘golden ambition’ to do opera.” 

But not to give up singing. Margot hired an agent who kept her busy during the early 1960s, singing at concerts and on radio, performing with numerous ensembles, large and small. 

One high point was Berlioz’s Requiem with the San Francisco Symphony, conducted by the legendary Pierre Monteux. Another was a series of four performances (two Bay Area, two in New York) of Hugo Wolf’s Italian Lieder Book. Margot and James Schwabacher sang (in German) as James Schevill recited his new English translation of the lyrics. 

Around that time her marriage was unraveling, as was Jim’s. They fell in love and  

were married in 1966. By 1968 they were settled in Providence, Rhode Island, where, for the next twenty years, Jim Schevill was to teach and write poetry and plays at Brown University. 

At that point Margot’s story could have become that of the faculty wife with a few music pupils, an occasional singing gig, and—like the vast majority of our best practitioners of all the arts—occasional twinges of regret for the fame and fortune bestowed on the lucky few. Instead, she made a surprisingly smooth turn in a new direction. 

As a faculty wife, she could take classes, gratis, and there was still that B.A. she’d never finished. 

“A friend mentioned Anthropology. I had started weaving. Suddenly or gradually—I don’t know, it all seemed so natural—these two things came together.” 

In 1977 Margot visited Guatamala, her first trip to Central America, and, “I was stunned! The textiles, the colors, the story in every pattern.” 

For the next few years (along with performing and teaching music) Margot studied anthropology at Brown and studied weaving from indigenous masters in Guatamala. Her M.A. thesis: The Persistence of Backstrap Weaving in the Highlands of Guatamla.  

“Everything I’ve done ever since has followed from that.” 

She hasn’t slowed down since she and Jim returned to Berkeley in 1991. She  

has written and co-written many books, most recently The Maya Textile  

Tradition and Maya Textiles of Guatemala: The Gustavus A. Eisen collection,  

1902. 

For several years, whenever you walked through the San Francisco Airport you might see (in those glass cases) Margot’s influence. She was on the team of artists, art historians, and researchers who selected the art displays for the Airport Art Museums. She has curated numerous exhibits, most recently the Southwest Native American Textiles from the collection of Ruth K. Belikov, displayed on the walls of the Mills Building Foyer in downtown San Francisco in 2005. 

Her latest title is advisor to Endangered Threads Documentaries, a project of documentary filmmakers Paul G. and Kathleen M. Vitale, aimed at increasing awareness of indigenous art forms threatened by global economies.  

Check out their beautiful website at www.endangeredthreads.com where you’ll learn how to get Splendor in the Highlands, a DVD narrated by Margot. 

Plans for the future? Margot has been named curator for “Maya Textile Tradition,”  

a major exhibit at the Phoebe A. Hearst Anthropology (Lowie) Museum at the  

University of California, scheduled to open in January 2009. 

Mention music, and Margot will give an informed recommendation for the best  

performances in the Bay Area, most of which she attends. No more singing?  

She shakes her head. “My grandchildren keep nagging me to sing for them, so  

I’ve hit on a compromise. I’ve pulled out all my old tapes and I’ll make a CD for them. That’s like curating too—I have to sort through and select what they might like. Their tastes are so different from ours.” 

 

 

 


Arts: Berkeley Opera Debuts Suprynowicz’s ‘Chrysalis’

Tuesday April 25, 2006

By Ken Bullock 

 

All of us to be replaced 

By a smiling china face ... 

 

A screen of translucent panels parts reveals a bed with a blonde woman (Marnie Breckenridge as Nelle) in profile, her hand poised above the bed. Running her fingers along the covers, she brings about a curious, profane resurrection that is touched on throughout Berkeley Opera’s Chrysalis. 

Cosmetics magnate Ellen Ermaine (Buffy Baggott) is gently lifted from sleep, while her double, Nelle, crouches behind the bed, watching her impishly, intently, as Ellen fields cellphone calls, regards herself with care in a hand mirror (Nelle always on the other side of the glass), dresses and on to her Big Day, announcing her new beauty line, named after “Hathor The Golden One, Mistress Of Heaven.” 

So the present-day romance of transformation by John O’Keefe unfolds to Clark Suprynowicz’s score in the world premiere of Chrysalis at the Julia Morgan Theatre, an event no aficionado of the performing arts will want to miss.  

Suprynowicz has used other euphemisms for Chrysalis besides opera, but it accomplishes very much what an opera is supposed to: a compounding of the arts through performance, the result of a brilliant collaboration. All at once, it’s splendid orchestral music (by the 20-piece San Francisco Chamber Orchestra, conducted by Berkeley Opera’s Jonathan Khuner, alternating with Sara Jobin), singing, theater and expertly designed spectacle (stage direction and design by Mark Streshinsky). 

John O’Keefe’s libretto is wonderfully operatic, a modern Gothic tale of frantic industry and repressed passion, that reaches back to the Baroque allegories that proliferated as masques and what Monteverdi and Purcell scored. 

The tale is satiric—with a truly satyric chorus—and compels much knowing laughter from the audience. But it’s not Opera Buffa nor Comique, having an air of the fantastic, perhaps distantly reminiscent of The Tales of Hoffmann in tone. 

And the music’s no fantasia. Firmly grounded in the evolution of modern orchestration through the composer’s integral use of the full ensemble, the score touches on various points in that history, from chromaticism to contemporary developments without quoting or becoming a showcase of “hommages.” 

It’s supple enough as a whole piece to move quickly and effortlessly from the shimmer of bright, ascending chords and shimmering allusiveness, but not Impressionistic atmospherics, to wonderful melodic intervals and tunes that are every bit the refreshing airs of true opera, not academic echoing of famous arias. There are excellent passages of flute and percussion, including cymbal and xylophone, and a recurrent mysterious throbbing hum, arrived at by different means (including Rachel Erickson’s electric keyboard) that resembles the sound of a bullroarer, epop—or archaic throat-singing. 

The singers’ excellence extends to their acting, Baggott driven yet more and more haunted as executive Ellen, and Breckenridge pert and insouciant, more kid sister than evil twin. 

Her escape from the mirror and assuming of Ellen’s identity draws universal comment that the metamorphosis is an improvement. 

Igor Vieira as Ellen’s paramour, Timothy—dismissed by rampaging Nelle—inverts his romantic persona in a triumphant display of his own personal cosmetic branding in one of the more outrageously amusing theatrical coups. And John Minagro plays psychiatrist Dr. Zehn with a humorous deadpan, as he glides in and out of the action, seated in his office behind fetishes and statuettes, like the illustrious founder of his profession. 

Mark Streshinsky’s stage design and direction shows the deft, light touch that characterizes Chrysalis throughout. His use of the mobile screen flexibly defines space, from bedroom to psychiatrist’s office to corporate headquarters to the bar where chorus and principals meet and gossip, silently gliding in and out and across stage, clapping shut only once, when the screen seems to swallow the figures it framed. 

Mary Gallahue’s costumes mirror the simple, effective color scheme, from black for the principals and clinical white for chorus and psychiatrist, that allows for the sudden burst of color at the end when Nelle “comes out,” trailed by now-sidelined Ellen. 

“Beauty isn’t skin deep any more.” 

Perfect timing and staging throughout broke down only for a moment as the collaborators appeared together for a happily ragged curtain call. 

 

Clark Suprynowicz is an occasional contributor to the Berkeley Daily Planet. 

 

Berkeley Opera presents Clark Suprynowicz’s Chrysalis at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday;  

8 p.m. Friday; and 2 p.m. Sunday.  

Julia Morgan Theatre, 2640 College Ave. For more information or tickets, call (925) 798-1300 or see www.berkeleyopera.org. 

 

 

Contributed photo  

Plastic surgery is the topic of the new opera Chrysalis at the Julia Morgan Theatre


Breakfast Off the Beaten Path

By Marta Yamamoto Special to the Planet
Tuesday April 25, 2006

Hunger calls as the sun rises or, in some cases, long after it’s crossed the sky. Hundreds of cafes are ready to entice your taste buds. From the happy trio of eggs, potatoes and breakfast meat to sweeter yummies like pancakes, waffles, French toast or crepes. Steaming hot lattes, fresh orange juice. Smells and flavors reminding us of home or favorite friends. 

When hunger combines with a sense of adventure and you’re ready for something different, think global. Many ethnic eateries would love to share their morning specialties with a willing audience. While some flavors and textures may shift your biological clock, consider it a travel across time zones to a new location. 

Picante Cocina Mexicana is no stranger to dining enthusiasts who know good food at great values. While evenings can be a contest in making yourself heard, mornings offer a mellower ambiance. Mexican tiles decorate bright yellow walls and roomy red leather booths circle the perimeter. Lamenting lyrics accompanied by the beat of bass and guitarron provide background. Outside, the secluded garden patio escapes breezes off the bay and retains the warmth of the sun. 

On offer are the classic Huevos Rancheros with egg-topped tortillas beneath a spicy red sauce. Huevos con Rajas contains mild chilies while Huevos a la Mexicana wakes up your palate with onion, tomato and hot jalapeños. All are served with beans of your choice and corn tortillas you never want to stop eating, Picante-made with a fresh chewy texture. Finish up with Mexican hot chocolate or coffee spiced with cinnamon, brown sugar and slivers of orange peel. You’re set for the day. 

Only on Sunday is the slogan at the Thai Buddhist Temple where your dollars are traded for tokens. Exchange these tokens for an abundance of Thai food, simple, hearty and esoteric. Devouring Pad Thai and Green Curry Chicken may seem odd at 9:30 a.m. but the tastes will soon take over your sense of timing. 

Dissipate the morning chill with a steaming bowl of Tom Yum soup. Watch the ingredients come together—a ladle of savory broth, a jumble of thin rice noodles, fish balls and ground pork piping hot mixed with fresh bean sprouts, cilantro and basil. On warm mornings refresh your palette with “made-to-order” Green Papaya Salad. The delicious dressing of chilies, peanuts and fish sauce sweetened with sugar and ground with mortar and pestle will awaken your taste buds.  

Relax at tables beneath awnings or in rows down alleyways in a bazaar-like setting. Mingle with the masses watching cars and vans arrive with new temptations from area restaurants. Digest, then get ready to sample Khanom Krok. Prepared in a cast iron skillet over hot coals, these tiny coconut pudding-pancakes will have you counting the days until the next Sunday. 

Travel to Ethiopia for a breakfast of harmonious flavors at Café Colucci. Cozy and artfully decorated with African art, the two dining areas and outside patio are perfect settings to experience a new cuisine. Walls of warm earth tones and split bamboo, unique grass-skirt lampshades, tent-like cloth-panels, ethnic background music and the striking faces of the staff and diners combine for an experience worth repeating. 

My choice, as a first-time patron, was the Ethiopian Breakfast, a sampler of four, accompanied by a basket of injera. Injera serves a dual purpose, both bread and utensil. A staple of every home, injera is made using teff, a very small grain high in protein, iron and calcium. Resembling a slightly chewy pancake, this flatbread has a tangy flavor from naturally fermented butter. 

Injera in hand, I devoured cubed potatoes cooked with bell peppers, red onion and tomato; steaming bulgur, eggs cooked with chilies and banatu. The spiciest component of my breakfast, banatu is a stew of beef and pieces of injera simmered in Berbere sauce. Eating with injera-clad hands offered the perfect excuse to lick this red pepper-laden sauce off my fingers.  

Trade injera for chopsticks and an authentic Oakland Chinatown experience at Shan Dong where one section of the extensive, five-page menu reads Breakfast. Thirteen lucky choices, as well as selections from Dumplings, Noodles or Egg Fu Yung will set you up for the rest of your day. 

Inside, the décor is limited. Miniature lights reflect along one mirrored wall. Bright red signs printed in bold black Chinese characters announce specials. Warm yellow-topped tables and chrome chairs provide cozy seating for various-sized groups. Classical music softly serenades. Here the food is the main attraction. 

Come with friends in order to sample several dishes. Several are variations of ample yeast steamed buns filled with a ground pork mixture, a sweet red bean puree or a vegetarian combination of cabbage, mushrooms, carrots, onions and rice noodles. The Special Twisted Bun is a large twist of this yeasty dough while the Chinese Donut is deep-fried. Both are popular fast-food breakfasts dipped in bowls of sweet or salty warmed soybean milk and are quite filling. 

Sliced beef seasoned with hoisin sauce and cilantro and enclosed in a sesame-encrusted piecrust satisfy both sweet and salty taste buds. The House Special Pancake is filled with sautéed leeks and egg, griddle-crispy and chewy at the same time. 

Prices are so reasonable that your table will soon be overcrowded without much damage to your wallet. 

One non-breakfast enthusiast ordered noodle soup. The rich broth was dark with the essence of beef, chicken and duck. Most impressive were the fresh-looking vegetables—bright green squash, broccoli and bok choy along with carrots and mushrooms, crisp and savory.  

When desire for a traditional breakfast refuses to be tamped down, give it a new spin. Search your memories for the smell of bacon, onions and coffee in the open air. Search the garage for your old camp stove or bag of charcoal. Search the cupboards for that cast-iron skillet or griddle. 

Head to Tilden Park. Spread the red and white plastic cloth across that broad wood table. Fire up the stove and warm up the skillet. Sauté onions and potatoes, throw in eggs and fry up some bacon. The smell alone will make you wonder why you don’t do this more often. If you’re going to break a fast, you might as well do it in style!  

 

 

 

Picante Cocina Mexicana  

1328 Sixth St., Berkeley. 

525-6876. www.picantecocina.citysearch.com. 

 

Thai Buddhist Temple 

1911 Russell St., Berkeley. 

849-3419. 

 

Café Colucci 

6427 Telegraph Ave., Oakland. 

601-7999. www.cafecolucci.com. 

 

Shan Dong Mandarin Restaurant 

328 10th St., Oakland. 

839-2299. www.222.to/sd.  




Introducing Berkeley’s New City Bird: The Barn Owl

By Joe Eaton Special to the Planet
Tuesday April 25, 2006

It’s official! Last Tuesday night the Berkeley City Council approved a resolution sponsored by councilmembers Betty Olds and Dona Spring, designating the barn owl as our city bird. I was at Old City Hall for the event but did not make it into the council chamber, which was packed with young jocks lobbying for the Derby Street baseball field.  

So Berkeley joins the company of San Francisco (whose almost-extirpated city bird is the California quail), Portland and Seattle (the great blue heron, in both cases), and Chicago (the peregrine falcon). The only other North American civic bird I was able to locate via Google is the beautiful and outlandish roseate spoonbill, adopted by Port Aransas, Texas. 

But the city-bird thing seems to be widespread in East Asia. Seoul, South Korea has the magpie; Xiamen, China, the egret; Keelung, Taiwan, the (unspecified) eagle. And there are a bunch of Japanese cities with avian mascots: Hamamatsu’s swallow, Morioka’s wagtail, Chiba’s little tern, and more. 

Why the barn owl? Well, it’s both esthetically appealing—the artist George M. Sutton thought it was one of the most beautiful of American birds—and handy to have around. As the Planet has reported, Berkeley has a rodent problem, and it’s not confined to Willard Park. I’ve already written about the barn owl’s efficacy as a rodent-killer, so I won’t belabor that point.  

I should mention, though, that this bird specializes almost exclusively on rodents. The larger and more powerful great horned owl may go after cats (as well as wild mammals of similar size: skunks, raccoons, opossums, even porcupines), but not the barn owl. A few barn owls have been known to hunt birds, mostly mass-roosting species like starlings—which wouldn’t be missed—and blackbirds, and some eat Jerusalem crickets. Otherwise it’s all mice, rats, gophers, and the occasional shrew. 

Besides, the barn owl seems like a good fit for this town. Berkeley likes to think of itself as the Athens of the West: well, in classical Greece the owl was the bird of Athena. 

Its image graced Athenian coins, and it was associated with victory and prosperity. Although owls have often had a sinister reputation, some peoples, including the Ainu and the Cherokee, revered them or at least saw admirable qualities in them. 

The Cherokee used to bathe their children’s eyes in an owl-feather infusion to give them the ability to stay awake all night. I’m not sure why this would have been a good thing.  

The barn owl, fittingly, is among the world’s most cosmopolitan bird species. It’s found on every continent except Antarctica, and many oceanic islands. Flexible in its nesting requirements, all it needs is a supply of rodents and it’s in business. I guess it would be too much of a stretch to associate the owl with Berkeley’s vibrant night life, but we can hope. 

It has occurred to the barn owl’s advocates, Lisa Owens Viani and Donna Mickelson of the group Keep Barn Owls in Berkeley, that a lot of the Planet’s readers may have had their own owl encounters. 

Maybe you’ve watched the owlets on California Street being fed by their hardworking parents, or monitored nests elsewhere in Berkeley. 

Maybe you’ve put up your own owl box (see the Hungry Owl Project’s web site, www.hungryowl.org, for particulars) or teased apart an owl pellet to see what the birds had been eating. Whatever your experience, we’d like you to share it. If you’re a photographer, you may also have owl images as appealing as the Portland youngsters captured by Mike Houck. 

So, in the interest of getting to know our new civic bird a bit better, we’re asking you to send in your owl stories, poems, and pictures. I’ll be the point of contact for email: joe_eaton@speakeasy.net. Or you can mail hard copies to the Planet.  

The best submissions will be published, and the winner will receive a copy of a wonderful video, “Backyard Barn Owls”, produced by Bert Kersey, documenting the home life of a family of southern California owls in a homemade nest box.  

And you’ll be helping Keep Barn Owls in Berkeley assemble a database of barn owl nest and roost sites to provide a clearer picture of our city bird’s status and distribution—citizen science at its best.  

Will the barn owls benefit from their new status? It couldn’t hurt. Having a civic bird creates a certain obligation to keep it around. It was, after all, highly embarrassing some years back when Louisiana, the Pelican State, ran out of pelicans.  

 

Photograph by Mike Houck, Urban Naturalist, Audubon Society of Portland, Ore.  

The Berkeley City Council last week named the barn owl the official city bird. 

 

 




Berkeley This Week

Tuesday April 25, 2006

TUESDAY, APRIL 25 

Shakespeare’s Birthday Celebration with actors, scholars and musicians on “Shakespeare and his religion, from Agnosticism to Zen” at 7 p.m. at the Northbrae Church, 741 The Alameda. 843-6798. 

Return of the Over-the-Hills Gang For hikers 55 years and older who are interested in nature study, history, fitness, and fun. This month we’ll enjoy spring wildflowers and mining history at the Black Diamond Mines Regional Preserve on a 3-mile hike. To register call 525-2233.  

The BHS Site Council meets at 4:30 p.m. at Berkeley High Conference Room B. On the agenda are a vote on a proposal for a Site Council bylaw change, First Semester Grade Reports, Small Schools Data, Algebra Project Update, Student Coordination Update. 

Cancer Prevention and Survival Cooking Course begins at 6:30 p.m. at Keller Williams, 4341 Piedmont Avenue, 2nd Floor, Oakland, and runs to June 13. Sponsored by The Cancer Projec. To register, call 531-2665. 

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 and have fun at Berkeley Gray Panthers office, 1403 Addison St., in Andronico’s mall. 548-9696. 

Earthquake Retrofitting and Home Safety Seminar at 1:15 p.m. at the North Berkeley Senior Center, 1901 Hearst Ave. 981-5190. 

Green Health Care at 7 p.m. at the Teleosis Institute, 1521B 5th St. To register call 558-7285. 

Berkeley PC User Group meets at 7 p.m. at 25 Dartmouth, in the Hiller Highland area. For questions and directions email rhs@surfbest.net  

Trance Drumming Workshop with Auntie Matter from 7 to 9 p.m. at Change Makers, 6536 Telegraph Ave. at 66th, Oakland. Cost is $40. www. 

changemakersforwomen.com  

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. In case of questionable weather, call around 8 a.m. 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. 

“Jewish Insights on Transformation” at 7:30 p.m. at Berkeley Buddhist Monastery, 2304 McKinley St. at Bancroft. 527-2935. 

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 26  

Tilden Explorers An after-school nature adventure program for 5-7 year olds, who may be accompanied by an adult. We will learn about the seasons from 3:15 to 4:45 p.m. at Tilden Nature Center, Tilden Park. Cost is $6-$8, registration required. 636-1684. 

Public Workshop on Community Choice Aggregation at 7 p.m. at the North Berkeley Senior Center, Classroom A. The cities of Berkeley, Oakland and Emeryville are exploring the creation of a public agency that would purchase power and build power plants to serve customers in Berkeley. 981-5434.  

“Iraq: Strategies to Get Out” with Andy Lichterman at 1:30 p.m. at the North Berkeley Senior Center, 1901 Hearst St. Sponsored by the Berkeley-East Bay Gray Panthers. 548-9696. 

Bayswater Book Club meets to discuss becomming a Democratic Central Committee Chartered Club of Alameda County, and to discuss “Sell Now! The End of the Housing Bubble” by John R. Talbott at 6:30 p.m. at Barnes and Noble, El Cerrito. 433-2911. 

Lonely Planet Travel Series with Morgan Konn on Thailand at 6 p.m. at Oakland Public Library, 124 14th St. 238-3136. 

Free Prostate Screening for men ages 35-70 at Alta Bates Summit Medical Center, Herrick Campus, 2001 Dwight Way. Free, but appointments required. 869-8833. 

Early Childhood Safety: Choke Saving Skills at 11 a.m. at Habitot, 2065 Kittredge St. Cost is $5-$6. 647-1111. 

Repetitive Stress Injury Learn how to take care of yourself before you get carpal tunnel syndrome at 7:30 p.m. at Elephant Pharmacy, 1607 Shattuck Ave. 549-9200. 

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. 

The Berkeley Lawn Bowling Club provides free instruction every Wed. and Sat. at 10:30 a.m. at 2270 Acton St. 841-2174.  

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.  

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. 

Prose Writer’s Workshop An ongoing group made up of friendly writers who are serious about our craft. All levels welcome. At 7 p.m. at BRJCC, 1414 Walnut St. 848-0237. georgeporter@earthlink.net 

Berkeley Peace Walk and Vigil at 6:30 p.m. at the Berkeley BART Station. www.geocities.com/vigil4peace/vigil 

“Kabbalah of Creation: The Mysticism of Isaac Luria” with Rabbi Eliyahu Klein at 7:30 p.m. at the BRJCC, 1414 Walnut St. Donation $10-$20. 848-0237. 

THURSDAY, APRIL 27 

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 

Introduction to BASIL Bay Area Seed Interchange Library Learn about what we do and volunteer opportunities at 5:30 p.m. at the Ecology Center, 2530 San Pablo Ave. 658-9178. 

Workplace Bullying A special workshop with Gary Namie, Workplace Bullying & Trauma Institute, at 5:30 p.m. at the North Berkeley Senior Center, 1901 Hearst. Sponsored byt the Commission on Labor. 981-6903.  

Easy Does It Disability Assistance Board of Directors’ Meeting at 6:30 p.m. at the North Berkeley Senior Center, 1901 Hearst St. Public is welcome. 845-5513. 

Berkeley School Volunteers Training workshop for volunteers interested in helping the public schools, from 4:30 to 6 p.m. at 1835 Allston Way. 644-8833. 

Dining Out for Life Over 60 restaurants will donate a portion of their proceeds to Vital Life Services. For a list of participating restaurants, see www.diningoutforlife.com 

Ask a Union Mechanic from 4:30 to 6 p.m. at Parker & Shattuck, until the strike is settled. They will offer advice on all makes of car. 

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 

“Dancing with Wonder: Self Discovery Through Stories” with Nancy King and Susan Felix at 7:30 p.m. at the BRJCC, 1414 Walnut St. Cost is $5, reservations required. 848-0237. 

FRIDAY, APRIL 28 

Reduced City Services Today Call ahead to ensure programs or services you desire will be available. 981-CITY. www.cityofberkeley.info 

City Commons Club Noon Luncheon with David Bain, space scientist on “Mars” Luncheon at 11:45 a.m. for $13.50, speech at 12:30 p.m., at the Berkeley City Club, 2315 Durant St. For information and reservations call 526-2925 or 665-9020.  

How Did You Become an Activist? with Paul Larudee, co-founder International Solidarity Movement and Barbara Bechnel, journalist, at 7 p.m. at Berkeley Unitarian Universalist Hall, 1924 Cedar at Bonita. Donation $10. 528-5403. 

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. 

Early Childhood Safety: Earthquake Safety at 3 p.m. at Habitot, 2065 Kittredge St. Cost is $5-$6. 647-1111. 

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. 

SATURDAY, APRIL 29 

Open the Farm Join us to greet the animals in the morning, help feed them, collect eggs and do a few chores. Dress to get dirty. From 9 to 10:30 a.m. at the Little Farm in Tilden Park. 525-2233. 

3rd Annual Green Home EXPO from noon to 5 p.m. at Civic Center Park, next to Farmer’s Market. Trade in your old incandescent light bulbs, learn about energy savings and lead safe painting. Panel discussion on Energy Independence at 1 p.m. www.GrennhomeEXPO.org 

Free Universal Waste Drop-Off from noon to 5 p.m. at Civic Center Park for batteries, computers and other electronic equipment. Also Safe Medicine Disposal Event: Safely dispose of your old expired or unused medicines, including over-the-counter medicines. www.GreenHomeEXPO.org  

El Cerrito Earth Day Join the city in planting trees along San Pablo Ave. from 9 a.m. to 11:30 p.m., follwed by a barbeque for volunteers at noon. Call for specific locations. 215-4353. www.el-cerrito.org 

“Celebrating North Richmond History” with art and culture exhibits, speakers, music and community resources, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Shields-Reid Community Center, 1416 Kelsey St., Richmond. Sponsored by Contra Costa Health Services. 925-313-6862. 

Mt. Wanda Wildflower Walk in the hills where John Muir took his daughters. Meet at 9 a.m. in the Park and RIde lot at the corner of Alhambra Ave. and Franklin Canyon Rd., Martinez. Wear walking shoes and bring water. 925-228-8860. 

Redesign of the Downtown Berkeley BART Station and Transit Zone The public is invited to an open house to view four different design options from 1 to 4 p.m. at the Berkeley Public Library, third floor community room, 2090 Kittredge St. 981-7065. 

Berkeley Poetry Festival with featured poets and open mikes. Jack Hirschman, Poet Laureate of San Francisco, will read his latest haikus. From noon to 6 p.m. at the North Berkeley Senior Center, 1901 Hearst Ave. 549-3345. 

Crowden Community Music Day with concerts, instrument petting zoo, instrument workshop and more, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. at 1475 Rose St. 559-2941. 

Sports Medicine for Young Athletes with Michelle Cappello, Director of the Sport Medicine Center for Young Athletes at Children’s Hospital, Oakland at 6 p.m. Coaches, parents, players, trainers, and interested others all welcome. Refreshments will be served. For ticket and event location information call 528-9026.  

Benefit Gala for the Oakland Museum of California with dinner and entertainment. TIckets are $300-$600. 239-2919. 

UC Botanical Garden Annual Plant Sale with cacti and succulents, ferns, new perrennials, and rare trees and shrubs from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at 200 Centennail Drive. 643-2755. http://botanicalgarden.berkeley.edu 

Annual Junktique Sale from 8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. in a benefit for the First United Methodist Church, 201 Martina, corner W. Richmond Ave., Pt. Richmond 236-0527. www.pointrichmond.com/methodist 

“The Five Secrets to Permanent Weight Loss” with Dr. Jay Sordean, at 12:30 p.m. at South Berkeley Curves, 2855 Telegraph Ave. Sponsored by the Doctors Speakers Bureau. RSVP to 849-1176. 

Free Garden Tours at Regional Parks Botanic Garden Sat. and Sun. at 2 pm. Regional Parks Botanic Garden, Tilden Park. Call to confirm. 841-8732. www.nativeplants.org 

Around the World Tour of Plants at 1:30 p.m., Thurs., Sat. and Sun. at UC Botanical Garden, 200 Centennial Drive. 643-2755. http://botanicalgarden.berkeley.edu 

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. 

SUNDAY, APRIL 30 

Berkeley International Food Festival from noon until 5 p.m. at the intersection of University and San Pablo Aves. The Festival will showcase restaurants and markets, and will feature related cultural activities. www.berkeleyinternationalfoodfestival.com 

Berkeley Citizen Action Economic Development Forum from 4 to 6 p.m. at the North Berkeley Senior Center, 1901 Hearst Ave. 549-0816. 

Children’s Book Day from 2 to 4 p.m. at the Children’s Library, 4th floor, Berkeley Public Library, 2090 Kittredge St. Musician, clown and refreshements. 981-6107.  

Wonderous Wildflowers An easy stroll through the Tilden Nature Are to see what is blooming. Meet at 2 p.m. at the Tilden Nature Center. 525-2233. 

“Get Inspired to Green Your Garden” Bay-Friendly Garden Tour from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. A free and self-guided tour throughout Alameda County. Registration required to receive the guide book and garden directions. www.BayFriendly.org 

Secret Gardens of the East Bay A tour with marketplace and opportunity to visit with professional garden designers from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Cost is $45. Benefits Park Day School. 653-0317, ext. 103. www.SecretGardenTour.org 

SF South Bay Restoration Project Tours of the salt pond project from 2 to 4 p.m. Please meet at Menlo Park’s Bayfront Park, at the corner of Marsh Road and Bayshore Expressway. From 101, exit Marsh Road, and head west into Bayfront Park. Tour will repeat on May 6 and May 21. Reservations required. 792-0222, ext. 43. 

“Darwin’s Nightmare” A documentary on the importation of the Nile Perch to Lake Victoria, which decimated the native fish population and impoverished local villagers, at 2 p.m. at the Parkway Theater, 1834 Park Blvd., Oakland. Proceeds benefit Priority Africa Network. 527-3917. 

“Making Connections: Israeli-Palestinian Peace and U.S. Middle East Policy: Where do we go from here?” Discussion presented by the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom, East Bay Branch, at 1 p.m. at Redwood Gardens, 2951 Derby St. 665-5459. 

Using Art to Teach Science Biological Illustration as a Way of Seeing. A workshop with biological illustrator Vicki Jennings,m from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Oakland Museum of California, 10th and Oak Sts. Cost is $50-$60. 238-3818. 

Save Our Steinway Benefit Concert, to restore the 1909 Steinway at Berkeley Fellowship of Unitarian-Universalists at 2:30 p.m. at 1924 Cedar at Bonita. Donation $5. 841-4824. 

“Come Spot, Come” A recall workshop for your dog from 3 to 4 p.m. at Grace North Church, 2128 Cedar St. Cost is $35. To register call 849-9323. companyofdogs.com 

Tour of the Flora Lamson Hewlett Library, rare books and a comprehensive theological collection, at 4 p.m. at 2400 Ridge Rd. Reservations required 649-2420. 

Hands-On Bicycle Clinic on bicycle safety inspections from 10 to 11 a.m. at REI, 1338 San Pablo Ave. Free. 527-4140. 

“Fledglings and Fly In” Bird walk accompanied by a dance performance by Patricia Bulitt at 4 p.m. on the patio behind the Lakeview Public Library, 550 El Embarcadero, Oakland. 238-7344. 

“Iraq: The Logic of Withdrawal” Reception and book signing with author Anthony Arnove at 2 p.m. at Middle East Children’s Alliance, 901 Parker St. 548-0542. 

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 

Tibetan Buddhism with Rosalyn White on “Is Tibet Forgotten?” at 6 p.m. at the Tibetan Nyingma Institute, 1815 Highland Pl. 843-6812. www.nyingmainstitute.com 

ONGOING 

Poll Workers Needed in Alameda County for June 6 Primary Election. Poll workers must be eligible to register to vote in California, have basic clerical skills. Training classes begin in May. To sign up call 272-6971. 

CITY MEETINGS 

City Council meets Tues., April 25, at 7 p.m in City Council Chambers. 981-6900. www.ci. 

berkeley.ca.us/citycouncil 

Civic Arts Commission meets Wed., April 26, at 6:30 p.m. at the North Berkeley Senior Center. Mary Ann Merker, 981-7533. www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/commissions/civicarts 

Disaster and Fire Safety Commission meets Wed., April 26, at 7 p.m., at the Emergency Operations Center, 997 Cedar St. Gil Dong, 981-5502. www.ci.berkeley.ca. us/commissions/disaster 

Energy Commission meets Wed., April 26, at 6:30 p.m., at the North Berkeley Senior Center. Neal De Snoo, 981-5434. www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/commissions/energy 

Planning Commission meets Wed., April 26, at 7 p.m., at the North Berkeley Senior Center. Janet Homrighausen, 981-7484. www.ci.berkeley. ca.us/commissions/planning 

School Board meets Wed. April 26, at 7:30 p.m., in the City Council Chambers. Mark Coplan 644-6320. 

Commission on Labor Special Meeting on Workplace Bullying on Wed., April 27, at 5:30 p.m., at the North Berkeley Senior Center. Delfina M. Geiken, 981-7550. www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/commissions/labor 

Zoning Adjustments Board meets Thurs., April 27, at 7 p.m., in City Council Chambers. Mark Rhoades, 981-7410. www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/commissions/zoning