Councilmember Max Anderson, left, and a Berkeley Flea Market stalwart who calls himself “Buffalo Soldier 92 and 93” listen as Mayor Tom Bates responded to a critic of the city’s handling of development on the main Ashby BART parking lot. Photograph by Richard Brenneman.
Councilmember Max Anderson, left, and a Berkeley Flea Market stalwart who calls himself “Buffalo Soldier 92 and 93” listen as Mayor Tom Bates responded to a critic of the city’s handling of development on the main Ashby BART parking lot. Photograph by Richard Brenneman.

Page One

Plans for Ashby BART Project Continues After Grant Denial

By Richard Brenneman
Friday June 09, 2006

Despite rumors to the contrary, the Ashby BART Task Force is very much alive—though in what form and to what ends remain open questions. -more-



Radstons Quits After 98 Years in Berkeley

By Riya Bhattacharjee
Friday June 09, 2006

It’s the end of an era for yet another independent Berkeley retailer. -more-



West Berkeley Bowl Faces Mounting Challenges

By Richard Brenneman
Friday June 09, 2006

Will there be a new Berkeley Bowl market in West Berkeley or not? -more-



Trustees Dismiss Library Head Griffin

By Judith Scherr
Friday June 09, 2006

After almost two years of staff-management strife, a page has turned at the Berkeley Public Library: Wednesday evening the Board of Trustees announced the departure of the embattled library director and the appointment of an interim replacement. -more-



Public School Tutoring Industy Lacks Accountability, Students

By Suzanne La Barre
Friday June 09, 2006

This is Part Two of a two-part series on tutoring. Part One ran in the June 6 issue. -more-



Features

Downtown Planners Tackle Transportation, UC Polices

By Richard Brenneman
Friday June 09, 2006

Berkeley Transportation Commissioner Rob Wrenn charged Wednesday night that “UC Berkeley uses the programs least likely to succeed” to reduce car use by students, faculty and staff. -more-


Voters to Decide Fate of BUSD Parcel Tax in November

By Suzanne La Barre
Friday June 09, 2006

It’s official: a renewed parcel tax to support Berkeley’s public schools will go before voters this November. -more-


Berkeley Health Clinics Awarded State Grants

By Riya Bhattacharjee
Friday June 09, 2006

The California Health Facilities Financing Authority announced last week that Berkeley’s LifeLong Medical Care clinics will receive a $408,374 grant and the Berkeley Free Clinic will receive $35,264 out of the $40 million grant money issued statewide. -more-


Berkeley Art Center Hopes For More City Support

By Judith Scherr
Friday June 09, 2006

When Berkeley Art Center Director Robbin Henderson came to the City Council, beret in hand, asking councilmembers to restore funding slashed three years ago, the unanimous body moved the question to the growing list of projects to be considered when the council puts together its final budget this month or next. -more-


Storm Drain Tax Off City Council Agenda for Now

By Judith Scherr
Friday June 09, 2006

A plan to put a $50-per-homeowner levy on the November ballot to upgrade the Berkeley’s 100-year-old storm drain system is water under the bridge, at least for now, says Councilmember Linda Maio. -more-


Libraries Lament Prop. 81 Defeat

By Judith Scherr
Friday June 09, 2006

With the defeat of the library bond measure on Tuesday’s ballot, there will be no expansion at the West Berkeley Library. There will be no new space for computers or for kids to sit and read, no new room for the literacy program and its tutors, according to library officials. -more-


Public Comment

Letters to the Editor

Friday June 09, 2006

-more-


Commentary: Sources of African-American Culture a Conundrum

By Jean Damu
Friday June 09, 2006

Thank you for Mr. Allen-Taylor’s stimulating review of Charles DeBose’s The Sociology of African-American Language. Not long ago I submitted a book review to a left leaning, youth oriented newspaper in San Francisco but was informed they don’t print book reviews. So thank you for encouraging us all to put our thinking caps on. -more-


Commentary: Art Center Needs More Money to Stay Open for 40th Anniversary

By Kathleen Kahn
Friday June 09, 2006

Next year, the Berkeley Art Center hopes to celebrate its 40th anniversary. The Center, housed in a small gem of a Ratcliff building beside the creek in Live Oak Park, has been displaying the work of Berkeley artists since 1967. But the prospects for a 2007 celebration are far from certain. The more likely scenario is that Berkeley’s municipal art gallery will be forced to close down before its anniversary date arrives. Its budget has been shrinking every year and if the city cannot restore the grant for the coming year to the 2001 level, the Center will not be able to keep its doors open. -more-


Commentary: Eviction Threat Imperils Nexus Building

By Robert Brokl
Friday June 09, 2006

A unhappy milestone has just passed. On May 31, our latest 15-year lease on Nexus from the Berkeley-East Bay Humane Society expired. Although Nexus is attempting to negotiate with the Humane Society to purchase the property, the Humane Society had indicated they intended to place a metal fence around the vacated building on June 1. That fence did not go up on that date, but who knows about tomorrow? -more-


Editorial

County Supes Approve Sequoia Voting Contract

By J. Douglas Allen-Taylor
Friday June 09, 2006

A divided Alameda County Board of Supervisors voted 3-2 Thursday to approve a $13.25 million, three-year voting machine contract with Sequoia Voting Systems of Oakland, ending, for the present, the county’s relationship with controversial Diebold Election Systems. -more-


Columns

Column: Dispatches From the Edge: Afghanistan and the Ghost of Kipling’s ‘Kim’

By Conn Hallinan
Friday June 09, 2006

“He sat, in defiance of municipal orders, astride the gun Zam-Zammah on her brick platform opposite the old Ajaib-Gher—the Wonder House as the natives called the Lahore Museum. Who hold Zam-Zammah, that ‘fire-breathing dragon,’ hold the Punjab; for the great green bronze piece is always first of the conqueror’s loot.” -more-


Column: Undercurrents: Reporting on Alameda County’s Election ‘Delay’

By J. Douglas Allen-Taylor
Friday June 09, 2006

The job of the news media is supposed to be to report on the news as we find it. -more-


Film Details the World of Wild Butterflies

By Steven Finacom
Friday June 09, 2006

It’s a tough world for the seemingly fragile butterfly. -more-


East Bay Then and Now: Maurice Curtis Brought Brief Splendor to Berkeley

By Daniella Thompson
Friday June 09, 2006

In 1881, Irish-born playwright George H. Jessop wrote a minor comedy-drama titled Sam’l of Posen, the Commercial Drummer whose lead character, a shrewd Jewish peddler with a heart of gold, attains bourgeois respectability by means of little wiles interleaved with honesty. -more-


About the House: Global Warming Begins (and Ends) at Home

By Matt Cantor
Friday June 09, 2006

Although I am generally sympathetic with the varied plights of the home buyer, I have to admit, in all my curmugeonitude that I have no tears to shed for anyone in Berkeley that has to meet the requirement of our RECO ordinance. -more-


Garden Variety: The Jewel Box Dazzle of Broadway Terrace Nursery

By Ron Sullivan
Friday June 09, 2006

Broadway Terrace Nursery is a tad off my regular circuit, and it had been too long since I’d dropped in when I dashed there last Saturday. It was just before closing time—a good time to watch the staff get its collective mettle tested. I was as impressed as I’d been on the regrettably few occasions I’d visited before. -more-


Quake Tip of the Week: Will Your Home Survive?

By Larry Guillot
Friday June 09, 2006

Area governments say that 150,000 homes in the Bay Area are going to be uninhabitable after the Hayward Fault ruptures, the fault about which USGS seismologist Tom Brocher says, “It’s locked and loaded and ready to fire.” -more-


Arts Listings

Arts Calendar

Friday June 09, 2006

Savion Glover, D’Rivera at SF Jazz Festival This Weekend

By Ira Steingroot
Friday June 09, 2006

CalShake’s Presents ‘The Merry Wives of Windsor’

By Ken Bullock
Friday June 09, 2006

Events Listings

Berkeley This Week

Friday June 09, 2006

Back Stories

Opinion

Editorials

County Supes Approve Sequoia Voting Contract 06-09-2006

Commission Landmarks UC Memorial Stadium 06-06-2006

Public Comment

Letters to the Editor 06-09-2006

Commentary: Sources of African-American Culture a Conundrum By Jean Damu 06-09-2006

Commentary: Art Center Needs More Money to Stay Open for 40th Anniversary By Kathleen Kahn 06-09-2006

Commentary: Eviction Threat Imperils Nexus Building By Robert Brokl 06-09-2006

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

News

Plans for Ashby BART Project Continues After Grant Denial By Richard Brenneman 06-09-2006

Radstons Quits After 98 Years in Berkeley By Riya Bhattacharjee 06-09-2006

West Berkeley Bowl Faces Mounting Challenges By Richard Brenneman 06-09-2006

Trustees Dismiss Library Head Griffin By Judith Scherr 06-09-2006

Public School Tutoring Industy Lacks Accountability, Students By Suzanne La Barre 06-09-2006

Downtown Planners Tackle Transportation, UC Polices By Richard Brenneman 06-09-2006

Voters to Decide Fate of BUSD Parcel Tax in November By Suzanne La Barre 06-09-2006

Berkeley Health Clinics Awarded State Grants By Riya Bhattacharjee 06-09-2006

Berkeley Art Center Hopes For More City Support By Judith Scherr 06-09-2006

Storm Drain Tax Off City Council Agenda for Now By Judith Scherr 06-09-2006

Libraries Lament Prop. 81 Defeat By Judith Scherr 06-09-2006

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

Columns

Column: Dispatches From the Edge: Afghanistan and the Ghost of Kipling’s ‘Kim’ By Conn Hallinan 06-09-2006

Column: Undercurrents: Reporting on Alameda County’s Election ‘Delay’ By J. Douglas Allen-Taylor 06-09-2006

Film Details the World of Wild Butterflies By Steven Finacom 06-09-2006

East Bay Then and Now: Maurice Curtis Brought Brief Splendor to Berkeley By Daniella Thompson 06-09-2006

About the House: Global Warming Begins (and Ends) at Home By Matt Cantor 06-09-2006

Garden Variety: The Jewel Box Dazzle of Broadway Terrace Nursery By Ron Sullivan 06-09-2006

Quake Tip of the Week: Will Your Home Survive? By Larry Guillot 06-09-2006

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

Arts & Events

Arts Calendar 06-09-2006

Savion Glover, D’Rivera at SF Jazz Festival This Weekend By Ira Steingroot 06-09-2006

CalShake’s Presents ‘The Merry Wives of Windsor’ By Ken Bullock 06-09-2006

Film Details the World of Wild Butterflies By Steven Finacom 06-09-2006

East Bay Then and Now: Maurice Curtis Brought Brief Splendor to Berkeley By Daniella Thompson 06-09-2006

About the House: Global Warming Begins (and Ends) at Home By Matt Cantor 06-09-2006

Garden Variety: The Jewel Box Dazzle of Broadway Terrace Nursery By Ron Sullivan 06-09-2006

Quake Tip of the Week: Will Your Home Survive? By Larry Guillot 06-09-2006

Berkeley This Week 06-09-2006

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