Save Cody's Books
              Berkeley Councilmember Kriss Worthington took the stage at Sunday’s World Music Weekend in front of Cody’s Books on Telegraph Avenue to urge people to attend the June 8 townhall meeting to save the bookstore from closing. Thursday’s meeting will be at 7 p.m. at Trinity United Methodist Church, 2362 Bancroft Way. Photograph by Harold Adler
Save Cody's Books Berkeley Councilmember Kriss Worthington took the stage at Sunday’s World Music Weekend in front of Cody’s Books on Telegraph Avenue to urge people to attend the June 8 townhall meeting to save the bookstore from closing. Thursday’s meeting will be at 7 p.m. at Trinity United Methodist Church, 2362 Bancroft Way. Photograph by Harold Adler

Page One

Joint Berkeley City Council and Board of Library Trustees Special Meeting June 7

Tuesday June 06, 2006

The Berkeley City Council and Board of Library Trustees will meet in a special closed session on Wednesday, June 7, to consider threatened litigation by attorney Jonathan Siegel on behalf of Library Director Jackie Griffin. This announcement was received by the Planet at 5:41 a.m. on June 6, too late to include in our Tuesday edition. The meeting will be held at 5 p.m. in the sixth floor Conference Room, 2180 Milvia St. The meeting will begin with a Public Comment Session. -more-



Time’s Up for Clean Money in November

By Judith Scherr
Tuesday June 06, 2006

The Berkeley City Council last month asked for the city’s Fair Campaign Practices Commission to analyze a proposal to place public financing for the mayor’s office on the November ballot. But the council directive has been stalled by City Attorney Manuela Albuquerque, who says her office has insufficient time to prepare the ballot measure. -more-



Free Tutoring Becomes Big Business in Public Schools

By Suzanne La Barre
Tuesday June 06, 2006

Christina Paniagua’s daughter, a fifth-grader at Jefferson Elementary School in Oakland, needed extra help with reading, so Paniagua attended a school fair to find out about free private tutoring services available on-campus. -more-



Landmarks, Condo Conversion Likely to Make Ballot

By Richard Brenneman and Judith Scherr
Tuesday June 06, 2006

A small revision of the city’s Landmarks Preservation Ordinance (LPO) appears headed to the November ballot: supporters turned in 3,200 signatures on Monday. -more-



Clerk: Berkeley Won’t Get IRV This Year

By Judith Scherr
Tuesday June 06, 2006

Although Berkeley voters called for Instant Runoff Voting when they passed Measure I in March 2004 by 72 percent, IRV will not happen in 2006, according to City Clerk Sara Cox. -more-



Features

Streaking Seniors Find Doors Locked at BHS

By Suzanne La Barre
Tuesday June 06, 2006

The annual senior streaking tradition at Berkeley High School nearly went awry Monday when students descended upon the school ready to flaunt skin, only to find out the doors were locked. -more-


UC Downtown Hotel Project Moves Closer to Reality

By Richard Brenneman
Tuesday June 06, 2006

UC Berkeley’s plans for a high-rise hotel and conference center in downtown Berkeley are moving closer to reality, a university official said Monday. -more-


BUSD Board to Finalize Tax Measure Wednesday

By Suzanne La Barre
Tuesday June 06, 2006

The Berkeley Board of Education is expected to finalize language Wednesday for a renewed parcel tax measure that would supply Berkeley schools with an estimated $19.6 million a year. -more-


ZAB Considers Berkeley Toyota For Former Berkeley Tire Site

By Suzanne La Barre
Tuesday June 06, 2006

The Zoning Adjustments Board (ZAB) is slated to reconsider a use permit for a vacant site on University Avenue that allows Toyota of Berkeley to operate an automobile sales and service facility. -more-


Downtown Planners, Transportation Committee to Hold Joint Meeting

By Richard Brenneman
Tuesday June 06, 2006

The committee helping formulate the new downtown plan will hold a joint meeting with the city Transportation Commission Wednesday. -more-


People’s Park Activist Arrested

By Riya Bhattacharjee
Tuesday June 06, 2006

Disabled People Outside Project activist Dan McMullen was informed last week that he could either pay $10,000 in bail money or face arrest for violating an earlier probation by getting arrested at People’s Park on April 30. -more-


Shoddy Reconstruction Angers Afghans

By Fariba Nawa, New America Media
Tuesday June 06, 2006

KABUL, Afghanistan—I am writing this in my apartment in one of the “posh” new buildings constructed in 2004 near downtown Kabul. The shiny structure is five stories tall with tinted windows. My roommate and I pay $300 a month in rent, the going price in such buildings. Few locals can afford such relative luxury—a civil servant's salary is just $50 a month. And this is no Trump Towers. -more-


Not on List? Request Provisional Ballot

By Judith Scherr
Tuesday June 06, 2006

Berkeley City Clerk Sara Cox said that if voters’ names do not appear on the voters’ list at the polling place where they believe they are registered, they have the right to ask for a provisional ballot. -more-


Candidates Can Substitute Signatures for Fee

By Judith Scherr
Tuesday June 06, 2006

Candidates for office in Berkeley are required to pay a $150 filing fee when they take out nomination papers. However, in lieu of paying the fee, they can collect signatures. -more-


Police Blotter

By Richard Brenneman
Tuesday June 06, 2006

Rape suspect arrested -more-


Public Comment

Letters to the Editor

Tuesday June 06, 2006

BEARING -more-


Commentary: Ballot Language for Parcel Tax Should Be Clear to Pass

By Stevie Corcos
Tuesday June 06, 2006

Last Wednesday night, I went to the school board’s public hearing to express my concern about how the superintendent’s proposed new parcel tax of over $19 million would be spent. -more-


Commentary: Bus Riders Need Equal Access to Funds

By Keith Carson
Tuesday June 06, 2006

Fifty years ago, Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat on a bus in Montgomery, Alabama, and public transportation, more specifically buses, became the stage from which the civil-rights movement was launched. The paradox is that today discrimination is alive and well in mass-transit bus service. In the Bay Area, for instance, a federal civil-rights lawsuit is pending in the U.S. District Court in San Francisco, charging that the Bay Area’s Metropolitan Transportation Commission (which plans and allocates the majority of funding for the area’s transit needs) supports a “separate and unequal transit system” that discriminates against poor transit riders of color. -more-


Commentary: A Traditional Neighborhood at Ashby BART

By Charles Siegel
Tuesday June 06, 2006

It is possible to build housing at Ashby BART to create a sizable neighborhood park, and to make the neighborhood more livable. Let me describe what could be done in a sketchy way, using approximate numbers. -more-


Editorial

Commission Landmarks UC Memorial Stadium

By Richard Brenneman
Tuesday June 06, 2006

UC Berkeley’s Memorial Stadium joined the ranks of Berkeley’s landmarks Thursday by a unanimous vote of the Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC). -more-


Columns

The Public Eye: Telegraph Avenue’s Hope: Buzz, Not Busway

By Michael Katz
Tuesday June 06, 2006

The good news is that Telegraph Avenue and the Southside commercial district are doing just fine. -more-


Understanding The Shoes of North Oakland

By Susan Parker
Tuesday June 06, 2006

Three quarters of the miseries and misunderstandings in the world would finish if people were to put on the shoes of their adversaries and understood their point of view. -more-


The Bluebird of Hostility: Getting an Evolutionary Edge

By Joe Eaton, Special to the Planet
Tuesday June 06, 2006

Unless you’ve been living in a cave since 1979, you have undoubtedly seen the Mad Bluebird. It was captured by aspiring wildlife photographer Michael L. Smith on a cold February day in Maryland. The subject, a male eastern bluebird, feathers fluffed out, sits on a fence post glowering at the camera. The Mad Bluebird has been very good to Smith, enabling him to quit his day job as an electrician. Over 100,000 signed prints have been sold, and the image appears on calendars, coffee mugs, and all kinds of tchatchkes. The royalties by now must be considerable. -more-


Arts Listings

Arts Calendar

Tuesday June 06, 2006

Arts: Malcolm X the Opera at Oakland Metro

By Ken Bullock
Tuesday June 06, 2006

Book Review: Author Examines African-American Language

By J. Douglas Allen-Taylor
Tuesday June 06, 2006

Events Listings

Berkeley This Week

Tuesday June 06, 2006

Back Stories

Opinion

Editorials

Commission Landmarks UC Memorial Stadium 06-06-2006

Editorial: Making the Best of a Hard Choice 06-02-2006

Public Comment

Letters to the Editor 06-06-2006

Commentary: Ballot Language for Parcel Tax Should Be Clear to Pass By Stevie Corcos 06-06-2006

Commentary: Bus Riders Need Equal Access to Funds By Keith Carson 06-06-2006

Commentary: A Traditional Neighborhood at Ashby BART By Charles Siegel 06-06-2006

Letters to the Editor 06-02-2006

Commentary: Saving Telegraph: Three Plans Leave Neighbors Outside the Loop By Sharon Hudson 06-02-2006

Commentary: Notes on What Telegraph Needs from An Avenue Merchant By Al Geyer 06-02-2006

Commentary: Ron Dellums: The Practical Visionary By Paul Rockwell 06-02-2006

News

Joint Berkeley City Council and Board of Library Trustees Special Meeting June 7 06-06-2006

Time’s Up for Clean Money in November By Judith Scherr 06-06-2006

Free Tutoring Becomes Big Business in Public Schools By Suzanne La Barre 06-06-2006

Landmarks, Condo Conversion Likely to Make Ballot By Richard Brenneman and Judith Scherr 06-06-2006

Clerk: Berkeley Won’t Get IRV This Year By Judith Scherr 06-06-2006

Streaking Seniors Find Doors Locked at BHS By Suzanne La Barre 06-06-2006

UC Downtown Hotel Project Moves Closer to Reality By Richard Brenneman 06-06-2006

BUSD Board to Finalize Tax Measure Wednesday By Suzanne La Barre 06-06-2006

ZAB Considers Berkeley Toyota For Former Berkeley Tire Site By Suzanne La Barre 06-06-2006

Downtown Planners, Transportation Committee to Hold Joint Meeting By Richard Brenneman 06-06-2006

People’s Park Activist Arrested By Riya Bhattacharjee 06-06-2006

Shoddy Reconstruction Angers Afghans By Fariba Nawa, New America Media 06-06-2006

Not on List? Request Provisional Ballot By Judith Scherr 06-06-2006

Candidates Can Substitute Signatures for Fee By Judith Scherr 06-06-2006

Police Blotter By Richard Brenneman 06-06-2006

Grant Denied, Ashby BART Plan On Hold By Richard Brenneman 06-02-2006

Developer Challenges Albany Shore Petition By Richard Brenneman 06-02-2006

Council OKs Creek Task Force Recommendations By Judith Scherr 06-02-2006

Many Fail Exit Exam As Graduation Nears By Suzanne La Barre 06-02-2006

Standoff at Nexus Institute Continues, Artists Staying Put By Richard Brenneman 06-02-2006

Judge Orders DOD to Expedite ACLU Records Request By Judith Scherr 06-02-2006

DAPAC-LPC Discuss Downtown Architecture By Suzanne La Barre 06-02-2006

Appeal Filed Against Pacific Steel Odor Reduction Permit By Suzanne La Barre 06-02-2006

Hancock’s Opt-Out Recruitment Bill Moves to State Senate By J. Douglas Allen-Taylor 06-02-2006

Two Men Injured in South Berkeley Drive-by Shooting By Richard Brenneman 06-02-2006

Supervisors to Vote on Voting Machine Contract By J. Douglas Allen-Taylor 06-02-2006

Green Albany Project Celebrates Program’s First Anniversary By Riya Bhattacharjee 06-02-2006

Summer Activities for Teens By Elizabeth Hopper 06-02-2006

BOCA Helps Immigrants, Others Find a Voice By Judith Scherr 06-02-2006

Cell Phone Towers Rejected in Residential Area By Suzanne La Barre 06-02-2006

Police Blotter By Richard Brenneman 06-02-2006

Columns

The Public Eye: Telegraph Avenue’s Hope: Buzz, Not Busway By Michael Katz 06-06-2006

Understanding The Shoes of North Oakland By Susan Parker 06-06-2006

The Bluebird of Hostility: Getting an Evolutionary Edge By Joe Eaton, Special to the Planet 06-06-2006

Column: The View From Here: The Roots of a Problem: Looking at Oregon Street By P.M. Price 06-02-2006

Column: Undercurrents: Two More Innocent Bystanders Die in High Speed Chase By J. Douglas Allen-Taylor 06-02-2006

Column: The Public Eye: Enemy of the People: Al Gore or George Bush? By Bob Burnett 06-02-2006

About the House: On the Case of House Mold By Matt Cantor 06-02-2006

Garden Variety: The Place to Look for Unusual Garden Tools By Ron Sullivan 06-02-2006

Arts & Events

Arts Calendar 06-06-2006

Arts: Malcolm X the Opera at Oakland Metro By Ken Bullock 06-06-2006

Book Review: Author Examines African-American Language By J. Douglas Allen-Taylor 06-06-2006

The Bluebird of Hostility: Getting an Evolutionary Edge By Joe Eaton, Special to the Planet 06-06-2006

Berkeley This Week 06-06-2006

Arts Calendar 06-02-2006

World Music Festival This Weekend Along Telegraph By Ken Bullock, Special to the Planet 06-02-2006

Looking Inside Barbara Cushman’s World of Collage By Robert McDonald, Special to the Planet 06-02-2006

About the House: On the Case of House Mold By Matt Cantor 06-02-2006

Garden Variety: The Place to Look for Unusual Garden Tools By Ron Sullivan 06-02-2006

Berkeley This Week 06-02-2006