The Week

Richard Brenneman: Markos Moulitsas—Kos to his hordes of readers—enjoys a moment in the sun outside a South Berkeley coffee shop, before heading to his newly bought nearby home, where he runs the world’s most popular political blog—dailykos.com—from his bedroom.
Richard Brenneman: Markos Moulitsas—Kos to his hordes of readers—enjoys a moment in the sun outside a South Berkeley coffee shop, before heading to his newly bought nearby home, where he runs the world’s most popular political blog—dailykos.com—from his bedroom.
 

News

Markos Speaks: Berkeley Blogger’s Daily Kos Makes National Waves

By Richard Brenneman
Friday May 19, 2006

For political cognoscenti, a day just isn’t complete without a Daily Kos fix. -more-


Brower Center Project Clears Key City Vote

By Richard Brenneman
Friday May 19, 2006

City councilmbers Tuesday approved transferring the Oxford Plaza parking lot to developers Tuesday night, but their vote—the first of two—left as many questions as answers. -more-


Progressive Convention GIves BCA Competition

By J. Douglas Allen-Taylor
Friday May 19, 2006

Depending on whom you talk to and how you read between the lines, this Saturday’s Berkeley Progressive Coalition Convention will pull together a coalition of old and new progressive organizations in the city—including members of the longtime Berkeley Citizens Alliance and the year-old Berkeley Progressive Alliance—strengthening all of them. Or else it is a movement by the BPA to supplant the BCA that could potentially lead to a split in Berkeley’s progressive movement and establish competing progressive candidate endorsements for the fall elections. -more-


Council Calls Black-and-White Public Nuisance

By Judith Scherr
Friday May 19, 2006

South Berkeley neighbors sparred verbally at Tuesday’s City Council meeting, most supporting Black and White Liquor store owner Sucha Banger in his quest to overturn the Zoning Adjustments Board vote to designate his store a “public nuisance” and impose restrictions, such as hours of operation, on the establishment. -more-


Neighbors Oppose El Cerrito Hills Land Sale

By Suzanne La Barre
Friday May 19, 2006

A nascent plan to develop open space in the El Cerrito Hills is eliciting protests from neighbors who say the city’s natural land must be preserved. -more-


Pacific Steel Faces New Lawsuit From Environmental Group

By Suzanne La Barre
Friday May 19, 2006

An Oakland-based environmental nonprofit is threatening to sue Pacific Steel Casting in federal court. -more-


Gore, Newsom Pass on UC Commencement

By Riya Bhattacharjee
Friday May 19, 2006

The latest Democrats to cancel speaking events at a UC Berkeley event are Al Gore and San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom. -more-


Golden Gate Fields Mall Opponents Turn in November Vote Petitions

By Richard Brenneman
Friday May 19, 2006

Foes of the proposed upscale mall planned for Albany’s Golden Gate Fields turned in nearly three times the signatures needed to qualify a November ballot initiative measure that would stop the proposal. -more-


103 Woolsey Street Residents Kicked Off Berkeley Voter Rolls

By Judith Scherr
Friday May 19, 2006

Peter Sussman, noted journalist and editor, often described as a 35-year Berkeley resident, was shocked when he looked at his sample ballot and discovered he was slated to vote across the border in Oakland. -more-


School Board Votes to Create Berkeley Technology Academy

By Suzanne La Barre
Friday May 19, 2006

When classes commence this fall, students at 2701 Martin Luther King Jr. Way will be the first to navigate the multiple pathways of Berkeley Technology Academy. -more-


Council Looks at Condos, Budget, Cops on Telegraph

By Judith Scherr
Friday May 19, 2006

The question of condominium conversion, one of some 50 items on the City Council agenda Tuesday night, was significant, not so much for the council vote, but for what modifications the ordinance might face in the future. -more-


Beier Challenges Worthington Again for District 7 Seat

By Judith Scherr
Friday May 19, 2006

Supported by councilmembers Betty Olds, Laurie Capitelli and Gordon Wozniak, George Beier, 42, has jumped into the proverbial ring, challenging incumbent, nine-year Councilmember Kriss Worthington, 51, for the second time. -more-


Remembering the Spirit of Wayne S. Dismuke 1941-2006

Friday May 19, 2006

Wayne S. Dismuke was born Oct. 17, 1941, in El Dorado, Ark., through the union of Horace K. and Doris J. Dismuke. Wayne was the first child of Horace and Doris. He graduated from Berkeley High School in 1959. -more-


CHP Officer Is Injured in Crash

By Richard Brenneman
Friday May 19, 2006

A California Highway Patrol officer was injured Thursday afternoon when his motorcycle was struck by a car on westbound Interstate 80 near Ashby Avenue. -more-


Bateman Mall to be Restored

By Riya Bhattacharjee
Friday May 19, 2006

Neighbors of Alta Bates-Summit Medical Center who gathered for the Bateman Mall Restoration meeting at Alta Bates on Wednesday night welcomed the city’s announcement that the grassy area that has lately been the site of the temporary road during construction at the hospital would be restored. -more-


Police Blotter

By Richard Brenneman
Friday May 19, 2006

There is no Police Blotter again because the city’s new Community Crime View software has caught a bug. -more-


Flash: Albany Mall Opponents Deliver November Ballot Signatures

By: Richard Brenneman
Tuesday May 16, 2006

Foes of the proposed upscale mall planned at Albany’s Golden Gate Fields handed in nearly three times the needed signatures needed to qualify a November ballot initiative measure that would stop the proposal. -more-


ZAB Gives Green Light to West Berkeley Bowl Plan

By Richard Brenneman
Tuesday May 16, 2006

The largest new commercial project in Berkeley in decades won city approval Thursday—though Zoning Adjustment Board (ZAB) members fear West Berkeley will be bowled over by the traffic. -more-


Berkeley Teachers to Pay For May Day Absences

By Suzanne La Barre
Tuesday May 16, 2006

The Berkeley Unified School District (BUSD) is refusing to excuse the absences of teachers who joined nationwide rallies May 1, and is subsequently docking pay. -more-


Flash: Pacific Steel Faces Lawsuit by Environmental Group

By Suzanne LaBarre
Tuesday May 16, 2006

An Oakland-based environmental nonprofit is threatening to sue Pacific Steel Casting in federal court. -more-


Missed Signs In Case of Cop Who Stole Drugs

By Judith Scherr
Tuesday May 16, 2006

Although former Berkeley Police Sgt. Cary Kent, who pleaded guilty in April to felony charges of grand theft and possession of heroin and methamphetamine was sentenced Friday to one year in county jail, he’ll do no time behind bars. -more-


Oakland School District Property Up For Sale?

By J. Douglas Allen-Taylor
Tuesday May 16, 2006

The California Superintendent for Public Instruction is close to a decision concerning the disposal of 9.47 acres of midtown properties owned by the Oakland Unified School District. -more-


Introducing the Daily Planet News Flash

Tuesday May 16, 2006

The Berkeley Daily Planet is going daily again! Yes, you read that right. After three years, readers will now be able to get news flashes every day, as they happen—on the Internet at www.berkeleydailyplanet.com. The Tuesday and Friday print issues will remain the same—“All The News That Fits, We’ll Print” as one wag around here puts it. But we’ll be able to fit even more intriguing information into the Internet edition. -more-


ZAB Approves Pacific Steel Casting Air Filter, Says No to Quiznos

By Richard Brenneman
Tuesday May 16, 2006

Zoning Adjustments Board members said no to Quiznos Thursday, and yes to a $2 million air filtering system designed to halt the obnoxious odors emanating from Pacific Steel Casting. -more-


Organizer Leaves Suit Against Pacific Steel

By Suzanne La Barre
Tuesday May 16, 2006

The founder of the environmental organization that spearheaded legal threats against Pacific Steel Casting is stepping away from the lawsuit due to infighting with the mediation service, Neighborhood Solutions, though other plaintiffs are still moving forward. -more-


City Council to Look at Condo Conversion Law

By Judith Scherr
Tuesday May 16, 2006

Today’s (Tuesday) City Council meeting includes a budget update at 5 p.m., a Redevelopment Agency meeting at 6:30 p.m. and a regular council meeting at 7 p.m. -more-


Downtown Plan Committee to Hear Environmental Concerns

By Suzanne La Barre
Tuesday May 16, 2006

The Downtown Area Plan Advisory Committee (DAPAC) will hear presentations from 10 departments and organizations on environmental issues germane to the Downtown Area Plan. -more-


‘Opt-Out’ Bill Faces Uncertain Fate

By J. Douglas Allen-Taylor
Tuesday May 16, 2006

A high school military recruitment notification bill sponsored by two Bay Area Assemblymembers continued to sail through committee last week, with a 5-3 vote in the Assembly Veterans Affairs Committee. -more-


Derby Field EIR Funding On BUSD Board Agenda

by Suzanne La Barre
Tuesday May 16, 2006

The Berkeley Board of Education is set to decide whether to ratchet up funding for an environmental analysis of the East Campus Field project Wednesday. -more-


Effort to Capture Sea Lion at Berkeley Marina Called Off

By Riya Bhattacharjee
Tuesday May 16, 2006

After Thursday’s futile attempts to capture the sea lion that attacked three people at the Berkeley Marina last week, the Marine Mammal Center along with the Office of Enforcement of the Marine Mammal Protection Act decided against any more capture attempts for the time being. -more-


Fire Department Log

By Richard Brenneman
Tuesday May 16, 2006

Another arson -more-


50th Anniversary of the Great UC Panty Raid

By Steven Finacom, Special to the Planet
Tuesday May 16, 2006

A mass panty raid variously described as a “hell raising mob,” an “insurrection,” or a manifestation of “spring fever” swept through the streets around the UC Berkeley campus 50 years ago this week, leaving damage and embarrassment in its wake. -more-


Opinion

Editorials

Editorial: Taking Jane Jacobs’ Name in Vain

By Becky O’Malley
Friday May 19, 2006

The recent death of Jane Jacobs has prompted the usual spate of hagiographic reminiscences from professional planners and their critics who hope that they are candidates to assume the Jacobs mantle. For those of you who aren’t familiar with the word, hagiographies are Lives of the Saints, and Jane Jacobs was one of those unlucky or lucky people who are canonized before they die. -more-


Editorial: Don’t Blame Telly for Cody’s Woes

By Becky O’Malley
Tuesday May 16, 2006

Few recent events have prompted more letters to the Planet than last week’s announcement by Andy Ross that he plans to close the Telegraph Avenue Cody’s bookstore. Many of them can be found in this issue. Correspondents have a wide variety of reactions and theories about why this decision was made, and there’s probably some truth in all of them. -more-


Public Comment

Letters to the Editor

Friday May 19, 2006

TELEGRAPH AVENUE -more-


Commentary: Zoning Board Ignored PSC Health Hazards

By Chris Kroll, Janice Schroeder and Davis Schroed
Friday May 19, 2006

The May 11 Zoning Adjustments Board (ZAB) meeting offered a peek into how things get done here in Berkeley; as in most other places, who you know trumps everything. We are members of the West Berkeley Alliance for Clean Air and Safe Jobs and attended the ZAB meeting. While the Alliance favors cleaning the air and preserving union jobs at Pacific Steel Casting (PSC), the Alliance opposes the staff’s finding that PSC’s request for a use permit to construct a carbon adsorption system for Plant 3 is categorically exempt from review under the California Environmental Quality Act. PSC and its regulator —the Bay Area Air Quality Management District—claim the carbon system will resolve odor problems. However, the community has not just been asking for odor nuisance complaints to be resolved. For a quarter century, the West Berkeley community has been trying to get PSC to clean up its act by ridding operations of toxic pollution, mitigating nuisance emissions, and providing full transparency to prove the air is clean. At the ZAB meeting, community members of the Alliance had many unanswered questions that the city staff report skirted by finding the project exempt. -more-


Commentary: Baseball at San Pablo Park

By Tim Moellering
Friday May 19, 2006

Although I enjoyed reading, and laughing at, Neil Cook’s satirical commentary on Berkeley High Baseball and San Pablo Park, it contains some denigrating comments about our team and the fine young men who comprise it. Unfortunately, some people take these comments seriously, so I feel obligated to respond. -more-


Commentary: Verbal Violence is Not the Same as Actual Violence

By Michelle J. Kinnucan
Friday May 19, 2006

boona cheema writes about “the peace movement’s hostility towards Vietnam soldiers.” I’m not sure what she’s talking about. I was not yet a teenager when that war ended; still, I have some memory of it and the protest movement it inspired. In the midwestern industrial town I grew up in, one way I opposed the war was by joining kids across the country and wearing a black arm band to school. I had it repeatedly ripped off my arm by other kids; mostly, I suppose, as punishment for being different rather than as an expression of support for the war. However, I don’t remember anyone being hostile to Vietnam vets; after all they were our fathers, uncles, and cousins and, less often, our mothers and aunts. MIA bracelets were popular in school then, too. -more-


Commentary: West Berkeley Bowl is Out of Scale with Neighborhood

By Bernard Marszalek
Friday May 19, 2006

My workplace is located one block from the proposed West Berkeley Bowl. It’s a unionized enterprise and an Alameda County-certified Green Business. -more-


Commentary: In Favor of Berkeley Bowl West

By Claudia Kawczynska
Friday May 19, 2006

I am a long-time and enthusiastic supporter of the West Berkeley Bowl project, and have attended every meeting on this issue for the past three years. I live a block away from the site, on one of those “alternative” route streets that could experience an increase in traffic. But I am more than willing to accommodate this in order to have such a wonderful and worthwhile project in my neighborhood. -more-


Commentary: Is There a Better Way?

By Vincent Casalaina
Friday May 19, 2006

Berkeley has a real problem with property crime and no part of Berkeley has been untouched by this rising tide of crime. Our City needs to make a clear statement that the rate of property crimes must be reduced and that there are concrete steps that will be taken to achieve that goal. -more-


Letters to the Editor

Tuesday May 16, 2006

PAVING BERKELEY -more-


Commentary: Condo Conversions Fee Bad for Landlords

By John Blankenship
Tuesday May 16, 2006

There is 12.5 percent tax proposed on the sale price of duplexes and triplexes for those owners who convert their owner-occupied buildings to condominiums. (The city has rationalized this as a “fee” through something called a “nexus study”—the newest tax strategy, so that the city does not have to take the issue to the voters.) This tax is in addition to the 1.5 percent transfer tax and the 6 percent real estate commissions, and the costs charged by the planning department for the conversions. -more-


Commentary: Berkeley Progressive

By Laurence Schechtman, Bill Hamilton, Bonnie Boru
Tuesday May 16, 2006

You are invited to a platform convention for Berkeley progressives to prepare for next November’s election. The convention will be held at 2 p.m. Saturday, May 20 at Unitarian Universalist Hall and Cedar and Bonita streets. -more-


Commentary: Behavior Modification Facilities Are Not Safe

By Robert Reynolds
Tuesday May 16, 2006

The nation was recently shocked by the beating death of 14-year-old Martin Lee Anderson in a Florida boot camp. Sadly, this is not the first case of a death occurring in a “behavior modification” facility; in fact, there have been three deaths in such facilities throughout the country since December 2005. Although the camp that Anderson attended has recently been shut down, many similar ones are still in operation throughout the country. -more-


Commentary: Thoughts on Capitalism

By Marc Sapir
Tuesday May 16, 2006

EDITOR’S NOTE: The following commentary appears only on our website. -more-


Commentary: True Political Love Truly Jilted

By Alan Swain
Tuesday May 16, 2006

EDITOR’S NOTE: The following commentary appears only on our website. -more-


Commentary: Hotel Ashby

By George Katechis
Tuesday May 16, 2006

EDITOR’S NOTE: The following commentary appears only on our website. -more-


Commntary: CIA Director General Hayden

By Kenneth J. Theisen
Tuesday May 16, 2006

EDITOR’S NOTE: The following commentary appears only on our website. -more-


Columns

Column: The Public Eye: Could 2006 Be Another Year of the Woman?

By Bob Burnett
Friday May 19, 2006

It’s been 14 years since four Democratic women were elected to the Senate in the so-called “year of the woman.” 2006 is shaping up as another historic year for women, as Democrats are poised to take back the House of Representatives and make Nancy Pelosi the first-ever female speaker of the House. At least, that was the prevailing opinion at the annual Emily’s List gathering May 11 and 12 (www.emilyslist.org.) -more-


Column: Undercurrents: Why Oakland School Lands Are Being Sold Off

By J. Douglas Allen-Taylor
Friday May 19, 2006

The seizure of the Oakland Unified School District by the State of California stands as one of the greatest public scandals in Oakland’s history, perhaps surpassed, only by the waterfront land-grab scheme through which the City of Oakland came into being. It is certainly greater, by far, than the Oakland Raiders scandal that has assumed so much of our attention in the past decades. The Raider deal, after all, only took our money. The OUSD seizure took our schools, and in its wake of confusion, has severely jeopardized the future of our children. -more-


Travel Through Time at Black Diamond Mines

By Marta Yamamoto
Friday May 19, 2006

Atop Rose Hill Cemetery, I gaze out at the undulant hillsides and narrow canyon of Black Diamond Mines Regional Preserve. I share this peak with two hundred former 19th century residents—coal miners, their wives and children. Little remains as testament to their settlement, but their voices stir the trees. Sojourn at Black Diamond Mines to revisit past glories and relish present verdant splendor. -more-


East Bay Then and Now: Peralta Park Grew in the Shade of Giants

By Daniella Thompson
Friday May 19, 2006

Lying northwest of Hopkins Street between Gilman and Colusa, the Peralta Park tract straddles Berkeley and Albany across Codornices Creek. Built up in the 1920s, the neighborhood presents to the eye a sea of low stucco bungalows among which one can pick out a handful of Victorians. -more-


About the House: On The Mortality of Water Heaters and Furnaces

By Matt Cantor
Friday May 19, 2006

Everything ages and everything dies. It’s sad but it’s certainly true and no less for water heaters than for people, cats and presidential administrations. The funny thing about water heaters and electrical panels is that we don’t tend to think of them as getting old in the same way that we think about Aunt Martha. We see her getting older and increasingly forgetful, despite her being so adorable, even as she searches for her car keys (should she still be driving?) -more-


Garden Variety: Necessary Gardening Gagets: A Felco and a Hori-Hori

By Ron Sullivan
Friday May 19, 2006

Gardening is like fishing in some ways. You can do it for dinner, or just for the halibut; you can do it for purely recreational or aesthetic reasons, or both. It can give you peace and relaxation, or vein-popping frustration. It helps a lot to know the natural history of the place and of your target. You can do it for very little money, or you can go broke buying fascinating tools and gadgets. -more-


Column: The View From Here: Reflections on Motherhood, Loss and Love

By P.M. Price
Tuesday May 16, 2006

It is Mother’s Day and I am motherless. I am a mother. I have been childless as well. -more-


Column: When You Come to a Fork in the Road

By Susan Parker
Tuesday May 16, 2006

“Do you think you are a nymphomaniac?” is the question that begins A Round-Heeled Woman, My Late-Life Adventures in Sex and Romance, by Elmwood resident Jane Juska. -more-


Bananas in Berkeley? Yes, We Have Some

By Ron Sullivan, Special to the Planet
Tuesday May 16, 2006

Lemons aren’t the only fruit trees growing in Berkeley’s streetside strips. Yes, we have some bananas. -more-


Arts & Events

Arts Calendar

Friday May 19, 2006

FRIDAY, MAY 19 -more-


Moving Pictures: ‘Afghanistan’s Fatal Flower'

By Justin De Freitas
Friday May 19, 2006

Berkeley filmmakers Cliff Orloff and Olga Shalygin return to the public airwaves this weekend with their latest documentary about Afghanistan after the fall of the Taliban. -more-


Moving Pictures: Bello Makes ‘The Sisters’ Worth Watching

By Justin DeFreitas
Friday May 19, 2006

The Sisters, opening today (Friday) at Shattuck Cinemas, is an adaptation of a play by Richard Alfieri, which was in turn derived from Anton Chekhov’s play The Three Sisters. Alfieri himself wrote the screenplay, and that fact may be largely responsible for the film’s undoing. -more-


Arts: Fourth Street Swings With Jazz on Sunday

By Ira Steingroot
Friday May 19, 2006

If ticket shock is the only thing stopping you from going to live jazz in clubs and concerts, you will not want to miss hearing the top-rated artists who will be performing al fresco and for free at the Jazz on 4th Street Festival this Sunday. -more-


At the Theater: ‘The Miser’ Comes to the Rep

By Ken Bullock
Friday May 19, 2006

“I’ll spare no-one ... I’ll break with the whole human race.” In the darkness before curtain at the Berkeley Rep, the audience hears these ominous words. The lights go up on the set of a ruined drawing room, the salon of some great old house “before the Revolution” in France, walls stained with neglect and the ceiling drooping down. -more-


Travel Through Time at Black Diamond Mines

By Marta Yamamoto
Friday May 19, 2006

Atop Rose Hill Cemetery, I gaze out at the undulant hillsides and narrow canyon of Black Diamond Mines Regional Preserve. I share this peak with two hundred former 19th century residents—coal miners, their wives and children. Little remains as testament to their settlement, but their voices stir the trees. Sojourn at Black Diamond Mines to revisit past glories and relish present verdant splendor. -more-


East Bay Then and Now: Peralta Park Grew in the Shade of Giants

By Daniella Thompson
Friday May 19, 2006

Lying northwest of Hopkins Street between Gilman and Colusa, the Peralta Park tract straddles Berkeley and Albany across Codornices Creek. Built up in the 1920s, the neighborhood presents to the eye a sea of low stucco bungalows among which one can pick out a handful of Victorians. -more-


About the House: On The Mortality of Water Heaters and Furnaces

By Matt Cantor
Friday May 19, 2006

Everything ages and everything dies. It’s sad but it’s certainly true and no less for water heaters than for people, cats and presidential administrations. The funny thing about water heaters and electrical panels is that we don’t tend to think of them as getting old in the same way that we think about Aunt Martha. We see her getting older and increasingly forgetful, despite her being so adorable, even as she searches for her car keys (should she still be driving?) -more-


Garden Variety: Necessary Gardening Gagets: A Felco and a Hori-Hori

By Ron Sullivan
Friday May 19, 2006

Gardening is like fishing in some ways. You can do it for dinner, or just for the halibut; you can do it for purely recreational or aesthetic reasons, or both. It can give you peace and relaxation, or vein-popping frustration. It helps a lot to know the natural history of the place and of your target. You can do it for very little money, or you can go broke buying fascinating tools and gadgets. -more-


Berkeley This Week

Friday May 19, 2006

FRIDAY, MAY 19 -more-


Arts Calendar

Tuesday May 16, 2006

TUESDAY, MAY 16 -more-


Arts: ‘Fresh Voices’ Series Aims to Make Opera Accessible

By Ken Bullock, Special to the Planet
Tuesday May 16, 2006

“Our definition of opera is that it has music more interesting and complex than musical theater,” said Harriet March Page, artistic director of Goat Hall Productions, which will be staging Fresh Voices VI with 10 short operas—as well as bookending their NOW Festival of new compositions and a program of art songs—Thursday through Sunday for the next two weeks at Thick House on Potrero Hill in San Francisco. -more-


Bananas in Berkeley? Yes, We Have Some

By Ron Sullivan, Special to the Planet
Tuesday May 16, 2006

Lemons aren’t the only fruit trees growing in Berkeley’s streetside strips. Yes, we have some bananas. -more-


Berkeley This Week

Tuesday May 16, 2006

TUESDAY, MAY 16 -more-