Photograph by Riya Bhattacharjee. Ruby Harmon, in her Berkeley home, said working on her jigsaw puzzle is her favorite activity.
Photograph by Riya Bhattacharjee. Ruby Harmon, in her Berkeley home, said working on her jigsaw puzzle is her favorite activity.

Page One

Ruby Harmon Celebrates Her Centennial Birthday

By Riya Bhattacharjee
Tuesday May 23, 2006

At 99, Ruby Harmon still insists on a slice of crispy bacon, grits, and coffee for breakfast everyday. Her face breaks into a smile—a million tiny creases—when I ask her why. -more-



BAM Curator Quits Over Exhibit Dispute

By Riya Bhattacharjee
Tuesday May 23, 2006

After serving as a curator at the Berkeley Art Museum since September 2005, Chris Gilbert abruptly resigned because of rising conflicts with museum administrators over his controversial project “Now Time: Media Along the Path of the Bolivarian Process,” part two of which is currently showing at the UC Berkeley museum. -more-



BUSD Eyes West Campus For New Headquarters

By Suzanne La Barre
Tuesday May 23, 2006

With a lease set to expire on a seismically unsound building, Berkeley Unified School District (BUSD) officials are pushing to relocate district headquarters. -more-



Jury Rejects Claims of Former Vista Head in Reverse Discrimination Suit

By J. Douglas Allen-Taylor
Tuesday May 23, 2006

A federal civil jury in Oakland has rejected claims that the Peralta Community College District practiced reverse discrimination, gender discrimination, and retaliation when it failed to renew the contract of John Garmon, the former president of Vista Community College in Berkeley. -more-



Andrew Martinez, ‘The Naked Guy,’ Dies in Jail

By Riya Bhattacharjee
Tuesday May 23, 2006

Andrew Martinez, who as a 19-year-old UC Berkeley undergraduate created national news in November 1992 for getting suspended from the university for attending class in little more than a pair of sandals and a backback, was found unconscious in his Santa Clara County jail cell at 11:19 p.m. on Wednesday and declared dead early Thursday. -more-



Features

Progressive Convention Hammers Out A Platfom

By Judith Scherr
Tuesday May 23, 2006

Some 60 self-identified political progressives got together on Saturday at the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship Hall to try to turn an 18-page draft document into a progressive platform. It was a tightly run meeting, but only half of the draft was covered, so the convention will reconvene June 3. -more-


Hancock Bill Would Stop Berkeley Projects, Local Developers Say

By Richard Brenneman
Tuesday May 23, 2006

A bill now pending in the state Legislature would end the bonuses that enable larger apartment buildings and condominium complexes to get even larger—but developers say it would end infill development in cities like Berkeley. -more-


Council to Look at Condo Conversion, Telegraph Ave.

By Judith Scherr
Tuesday May 23, 2006

Converting rented apartments to condominiums is on the agenda again today (Tuesday). Last week the council reinstated a lapsed condominium conversion ordinance, which caps allowable conversion at 100 units each year and sets a conversion fee at 12.5 percent of the selling price. -more-


New Telecom Antennae Installations Before ZAB

By Suzanne La Barre
Tuesday May 23, 2006

A Catholic church and a moving and storage warehouse could be the latest recipients of wireless telecommunications facilities in Berkeley. -more-


Berkeley Landmarks Ordinance Proposals Debated

By Richard Brenneman
Tuesday May 23, 2006

Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) members will meet Thursday to discuss a revised ordinance proposed by Mayor Tom Bates and Councilmember Laurie Capitelli. -more-


Greenway Project Breaks Ground in Richmond

By Richard Brenneman
Tuesday May 23, 2006

An abandoned three-mile stretch of railroad right-of-way in Richmond will begin its conversion into a community walking and biking trail Thursday. -more-


Berkeley Honda Is Back in Business

By Suzanne La Barre
Tuesday May 23, 2006

Councilmember Linda Maio dropped her ’94 Honda EX station wagon off at Berkeley Honda for a routine checkup Friday, signaling the end of the council’s longstanding boycott against the dealership. -more-


Police Blotter

By Richard Brenneman
Tuesday May 23, 2006

Student robbed -more-


Fire Department Log

By Richard Brenneman
Tuesday May 23, 2006

Expensive butt -more-


Public Comment

Letters to the Editor

Tuesday May 23, 2006

IRAQ WITHDRAWAL -more-


Commentary: Berkeley Public Library is Still a Vibrant Institution

By Susan G. Kupfer
Tuesday May 23, 2006

Several articles in the press over the past year, most recently in the May 9 Daily Planet, have called continuing attention to the “mismanagement” of the Berkeley Public Library. I write, as chair of the Board of Library Trustees (BOLT), to inform the community that the library remains a vital, vibrant community institution with a dedicated staff and a focus on serving the needs of the public. The library is on sound fiscal footing, within the limits of our budget. Comprehensive planning for the next several years has been instituted and community feedback is being sought on a variety of proposed initiatives. -more-


Commentary: Library Service, Prestige Has Deteriorated

Tuesday May 23, 2006

Four years ago, thanks to the generosity of the Berkeley community, the beautifully renovated Central Library opened its doors to great celebration. The local and national press praised the project and library workers were justifiably proud of our involvement. -more-


Commentary: Connecting the Dots: Cheap Labor, Goods And Moral Values

By Ken Norwood
Tuesday May 23, 2006

The so called “problem” with illegal immigration from southern countries, Mexico the source of most pressure, is so much larger than that Mexican workers make less and are under employed and want jobs and better pay in the United States. Sure, the simple minded among us clamor for unworkable punitive measures, police state enforcement and punishment, and solid walls at the borders. This is not merely a border state issue or their responsibility to resolve. The news article, “Cheaper China taking business away from Mexico” (San Francisco Chronicle, April 2006), tells of the larger picture from the view of Mexican workers and factory operators in relation to Chinese competition. -more-


Commentary: Immigrant Crisis is Election Issue

By Margot Smith
Tuesday May 23, 2006

I am the child of immigrants who came to the United States in 1910, at the height of the great European immigration. During World War II, my mother aided illegal Jewish immigrants who were escaping Hitler’s Germany. I as a child remember these traumatized people who were smuggled over the border from Mexico. One six-foot-tall woman was curled up in half a gas tank to get across the border, while others described their experiences under the Nazis--sterilization, and I saw the fingers with pulled out finger nails. These Jewish refugees in dire need were denied visas to the United States. -more-


Editorial

Editorial: Penny Wise, Pound Foolish, Failed Levees

By Becky O'Malley
Tuesday May 23, 2006

On Monday two UC Berkeley professors, Raymond Seed and Robert Bea, professors of civil and environmental engineering, presented the findings of an independent investigation team of 36 engineers and scientists from around the nation which they led in studying why the levees in New Orleans failed after Hurricane Katrina. Previous reports, including one from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, seemed to indicate that the failure of the levees was more or less inevitable, given the severity of the storm. But this independent team, whose members (except for a few graduate students) were working pro bono, free in the public interest, had a different take on what went wrong. Which turned out to be almost everything…. -more-


Columns

Column: Summer Reading Suggestions

By Susan Parker
Tuesday May 23, 2006

I read in the paper a review of a new book entitled My Mother’s Wedding Dress: The Life and Afterlife of Clothes. Justine Picardie, former features editor of British Vogue, has penned a memoir on “how clothes express our personality and style, and also provide a view of how we live and what has passed.” -more-


Commentary: English-Only Laws Don’t Work, and Bush Knows It

By Earl Ofari Hutchinson, New America Media
Tuesday May 23, 2006

In September 1999, then-Texas Gov. George Bush told an audience during the New Hampshire presidential primary, “English-only would mean to people, ‘Me, not you.’” The few times during his White House tenure Bush has seen moves to restrict the use of non-English languages by government agencies, the president didn’t budge from that position. -more-


The Sometimes-Mellower Gopher Snake: A Great Pretender?

By Joe Eaton, Special to the Planet
Tuesday May 23, 2006

Although I’m a Southerner by birth and upbringing, I’ve never handled a snake in a religious context. Our church didn’t even use tambourines. All I know of the spiritual side of snake-handling comes from books like Dennis Covington’s memoir Salvation on Sand Mountain and Weston LaBarre’s more scholarly They Shall Take up Serpents. -more-


Arts Listings

Arts Calendar

Tuesday May 23, 2006

At the Theater: Golden Thread Brings ‘Island of Animals’ to Fremont

By Ken Bullock Special to the Planet
Tuesday May 23, 2006

Events Listings

Berkeley This Week

Tuesday May 23, 2006

Back Stories

Opinion

Editorials

Editorial: Penny Wise, Pound Foolish, Failed Levees 05-23-2006

Editorial: Taking Jane Jacobs’ Name in Vain 05-19-2006

Public Comment

Letters to the Editor 05-23-2006

Commentary: Berkeley Public Library is Still a Vibrant Institution By Susan G. Kupfer 05-23-2006

Commentary: Library Service, Prestige Has Deteriorated 05-23-2006

Commentary: Connecting the Dots: Cheap Labor, Goods And Moral Values By Ken Norwood 05-23-2006

Commentary: Immigrant Crisis is Election Issue By Margot Smith 05-23-2006

Letters to the Editor 05-19-2006

Commentary: Zoning Board Ignored PSC Health Hazards By Chris Kroll, Janice Schroeder and Davis Schroed 05-19-2006

Commentary: Baseball at San Pablo Park By Tim Moellering 05-19-2006

Commentary: Verbal Violence is Not the Same as Actual Violence By Michelle J. Kinnucan 05-19-2006

Commentary: West Berkeley Bowl is Out of Scale with Neighborhood By Bernard Marszalek 05-19-2006

Commentary: In Favor of Berkeley Bowl West By Claudia Kawczynska 05-19-2006

Commentary: Is There a Better Way? By Vincent Casalaina 05-19-2006

News

Ruby Harmon Celebrates Her Centennial Birthday By Riya Bhattacharjee 05-23-2006

BAM Curator Quits Over Exhibit Dispute By Riya Bhattacharjee 05-23-2006

BUSD Eyes West Campus For New Headquarters By Suzanne La Barre 05-23-2006

Jury Rejects Claims of Former Vista Head in Reverse Discrimination Suit By J. Douglas Allen-Taylor 05-23-2006

Andrew Martinez, ‘The Naked Guy,’ Dies in Jail By Riya Bhattacharjee 05-23-2006

Progressive Convention Hammers Out A Platfom By Judith Scherr 05-23-2006

Hancock Bill Would Stop Berkeley Projects, Local Developers Say By Richard Brenneman 05-23-2006

Council to Look at Condo Conversion, Telegraph Ave. By Judith Scherr 05-23-2006

New Telecom Antennae Installations Before ZAB By Suzanne La Barre 05-23-2006

Berkeley Landmarks Ordinance Proposals Debated By Richard Brenneman 05-23-2006

Greenway Project Breaks Ground in Richmond By Richard Brenneman 05-23-2006

Berkeley Honda Is Back in Business By Suzanne La Barre 05-23-2006

Police Blotter By Richard Brenneman 05-23-2006

Fire Department Log By Richard Brenneman 05-23-2006

Markos Speaks: Berkeley Blogger’s Daily Kos Makes National Waves By Richard Brenneman 05-19-2006

Brower Center Project Clears Key City Vote By Richard Brenneman 05-19-2006

Progressive Convention GIves BCA Competition By J. Douglas Allen-Taylor 05-19-2006

Council Calls Black-and-White Public Nuisance By Judith Scherr 05-19-2006

Neighbors Oppose El Cerrito Hills Land Sale By Suzanne La Barre 05-19-2006

Pacific Steel Faces New Lawsuit From Environmental Group By Suzanne La Barre 05-19-2006

Gore, Newsom Pass on UC Commencement By Riya Bhattacharjee 05-19-2006

Golden Gate Fields Mall Opponents Turn in November Vote Petitions By Richard Brenneman 05-19-2006

103 Woolsey Street Residents Kicked Off Berkeley Voter Rolls By Judith Scherr 05-19-2006

School Board Votes to Create Berkeley Technology Academy By Suzanne La Barre 05-19-2006

Council Looks at Condos, Budget, Cops on Telegraph By Judith Scherr 05-19-2006

Beier Challenges Worthington Again for District 7 Seat By Judith Scherr 05-19-2006

Remembering the Spirit of Wayne S. Dismuke 1941-2006 05-19-2006

CHP Officer Is Injured in Crash By Richard Brenneman 05-19-2006

Bateman Mall to be Restored By Riya Bhattacharjee 05-19-2006

Police Blotter By Richard Brenneman 05-19-2006

Columns

Column: Summer Reading Suggestions By Susan Parker 05-23-2006

Commentary: English-Only Laws Don’t Work, and Bush Knows It By Earl Ofari Hutchinson, New America Media 05-23-2006

The Sometimes-Mellower Gopher Snake: A Great Pretender? By Joe Eaton, Special to the Planet 05-23-2006

Column: The Public Eye: Could 2006 Be Another Year of the Woman? By Bob Burnett 05-19-2006

Column: Undercurrents: Why Oakland School Lands Are Being Sold Off By J. Douglas Allen-Taylor 05-19-2006

Travel Through Time at Black Diamond Mines By Marta Yamamoto 05-19-2006

East Bay Then and Now: Peralta Park Grew in the Shade of Giants By Daniella Thompson 05-19-2006

About the House: On The Mortality of Water Heaters and Furnaces By Matt Cantor 05-19-2006

Garden Variety: Necessary Gardening Gagets: A Felco and a Hori-Hori By Ron Sullivan 05-19-2006

Arts & Events

Arts Calendar 05-23-2006

At the Theater: Golden Thread Brings ‘Island of Animals’ to Fremont By Ken Bullock Special to the Planet 05-23-2006

The Sometimes-Mellower Gopher Snake: A Great Pretender? By Joe Eaton, Special to the Planet 05-23-2006

Berkeley This Week 05-23-2006

Arts Calendar 05-19-2006

Moving Pictures: ‘Afghanistan’s Fatal Flower' By Justin De Freitas 05-19-2006

Moving Pictures: Bello Makes ‘The Sisters’ Worth Watching By Justin DeFreitas 05-19-2006

Arts: Fourth Street Swings With Jazz on Sunday By Ira Steingroot 05-19-2006

At the Theater: ‘The Miser’ Comes to the Rep By Ken Bullock 05-19-2006

Travel Through Time at Black Diamond Mines By Marta Yamamoto 05-19-2006

East Bay Then and Now: Peralta Park Grew in the Shade of Giants By Daniella Thompson 05-19-2006

About the House: On The Mortality of Water Heaters and Furnaces By Matt Cantor 05-19-2006

Garden Variety: Necessary Gardening Gagets: A Felco and a Hori-Hori By Ron Sullivan 05-19-2006

Berkeley This Week 05-19-2006