The Week

Teacher Maria Carriedo helps Yarik Munguia write letters at the summer bridge preschool program at Rosa Parks Elementary School Wednesday. Sitting next to them, Madison Milan practices her writing. Photograph by Michael Howerton
Teacher Maria Carriedo helps Yarik Munguia write letters at the summer bridge preschool program at Rosa Parks Elementary School Wednesday. Sitting next to them, Madison Milan practices her writing. Photograph by Michael Howerton
 

News

Parents and Kids Prepare for Kindergarten

By Suzanne La Barre
Friday June 30, 2006

The first foray into kindergarten can feel overwhelming for many children who have not previously attended preschool. From socializing with others to learning to hold a writing implement, youngsters with no prior schooling may struggle where their peers forge ahead. -more-


Council Faces City Housing Authority’s Failures

By Suzanne La Barre
Friday June 30, 2006

The Housing Authority Board convened for an extended meeting Tuesday to face the bitter reality that the Berkeley Housing Authority (BHA) is a troubled agency. -more-


Ward Quits OUSD, Takes District Post In San Diego

By J. Douglas Allen-Taylor
Friday June 30, 2006

The future of the administration of the Oakland Unified School District—as well as the future of OUSD’s downtown administrative properties—fell into considerable confusion this week with the decision by the San Diego County Board of Education to hire state administrator Randy Ward as their administrator. -more-


Convicted Drug Officer Not Yet Serving Sentence

By Judith Scherr
Friday June 30, 2006

The former Berkeley police sergeant convicted of grand theft and felony possession of heroin and methamphetamine was not formally sentenced to home detention Tuesday, as was expected, due to a paperwork snafu. -more-


Presidential Impeachment Measure on November Ballot

By Judith Scherr
Friday June 30, 2006

Excoriating George W. Bush and Richard B. Cheney for defiling the constitution, the Berkeley City Council spoke out with one voice Tuesday night, voting unanimously to place a referendum on the November ballot to poll Berkeley citizens on the question of impeaching the president and vice president. -more-


Council Rejects ‘Clean Money’ Measure, Adopts New Budget

By Judith Scherr
Friday June 30, 2006

Ignoring commission advice, the Berkeley City Council voted Tuesday not to place public financing of local elections before the voters in November. The Fair Campaign Practices Commission had voted 7-1 last week to support putting “clean money” on the local ballot. -more-


Planning Commission OKs In-Lieu Condo Fees, Library Gardens’ Condo Map

By Richard Brenneman
Friday June 30, 2006

Berkeley planning commissioners Tuesday voted to urge the City Council to adopt a new in-lieu fee for condo developers designed to create more affordable housing for the city’s poorer residents. -more-


Federal Deadline Arrives for BUSD Paraprofessionals

By Suzanne La Barre
Friday June 30, 2006

The union representing about 370 paraprofessionals and other classified employees is accusing the Berkeley Unified School District (BUSD) of failing to avert layoffs in the face of newly effective No Child Left Behind mandates. -more-


Alternative High Students Protest Exclusion from Graduation Event

By Suzanne La Barre
Friday June 30, 2006

A handful of students from the Berkeley Alternative High School claim they were denied participation in unofficial graduation festivities earlier this month. -more-


Police Blotter

By Richard Brenneman
Friday June 30, 2006

Berkeley experienced an unusual rash of drive-by assaults during a four-day period from June 13-19, starting with paintballs, escalating to a lemon and culminating in a drive-by shooting that left a Brentwood man with a leg wound. Another shooting, this one with no injuries, followed. -more-


Fire Department Log

By Richard Brenneman
Friday June 30, 2006

Watery rescue -more-


Condos Dominate Planning Agenda

By Richard Brenneman
Tuesday June 27, 2006

Planning commissioners will be juggling political hot potatoes Wednesday night, ranging from condos to landmarks and Telegraph Avenue. -more-


Housing Authority Faces Friday Federal Deadline

By Suzanne La Barre
Tuesday June 27, 2006

The deadline for the embattled Berkeley Housing Authority (BHA) to correct a laundry list of managerial deficiencies is fast approaching. -more-


Trader Joe’s Project Moves to Design Review

By Suzanne La Barre
Tuesday June 27, 2006

A Trader Joe’s in downtown Berkeley is one step closer to reality, following a vote by the Zoning Adjustments Board (ZAB) Thursday. -more-


Landmark Commissioners Find Flaws in Mayor’s Plan

By Richard Brenneman
Tuesday June 27, 2006

“I have heard again and again that the Landmarks Preservation Ordinance (LPO) is being used to stop development, though it was never meant to,” said Patti Dacey Thursday. “That’s not true.” -more-


Public Financing of Elections Clears Hurdle

By Judith Scherr
Tuesday June 27, 2006

Despite the city attorney’s reluctance, the Fair Campaign Practices Commission voted 7-1 Thursday to ask the Berkeley City Council to put a measure before the voters in November that would support public financing for council and mayoral elections. -more-


‘Opt Out’ Military Recruitment Bill Heads to State Senate

By J. Douglas Allen-Taylor
Tuesday June 27, 2006

A California bill designed to inform high school students and their parents of their right to withhold contact information from military recruiters won Republican support in the state legislature last week but not nearly enough to survive a possible gubernatorial veto. -more-


Council to Debate Budget, Gaia Building, Public Comment

By Judith Scherr
Tuesday June 27, 2006

While City Manager Phil Kamlarz has detailed a $220,000 six-month Telegraph Avenue area improvement plan as part of his $300 million mostly fixed-cost budget that goes before the Berkeley City Council tonight (Tuesday), Councilmember Kriss Worthington will ask his colleagues to approve the funds but hold off on the plan specifics. -more-


Seagate/Arpeggio High-Rise Condo Project Set to Rise

By Richard Brenneman
Tuesday June 27, 2006

In Monday morning’s bright sunlight, a front-end loader busily growled through the dwindling piles of rubble that are the last remnants of three Center Street buildings. -more-


Supervisors Give $8 Million Bailout to Medical Center, Avert Layoffs

By J. Douglas Allen-Taylor
Tuesday June 27, 2006

Representatives of the hospital workers union which successfully lobbied county supervisors to provide an $8 million budget bailout for the Alameda County Medical Center say they will continue to monitor the situation to make sure that the center incurs no new round of layoffs. -more-


Opinion

Editorials

Editorial: Dreams for Everyone to Share

By Becky O'Malley
Friday June 30, 2006

Over the weekend I got an e-mail petition asking me to add my name to this letter and pass it on: -more-


News of Doubletree Sale Worries Hotel Workers

By Judith Scherr
Tuesday June 27, 2006

The Doubletree Hotel at the Marina, in the process of being sold to Canadian buyers, has raised hotel workers’ concern. -more-


Public Comment

Letters to the Editor

Friday June 30, 2006

POLITICAL CORRECTNESS -more-


Commentary: Neglect Threatens Hillside School

By Mary Lee Noonan
Friday June 30, 2006

As a neighbor of the Hillside School since 1968, as a parent of children who attended Hillside and as a school volunteer, I knew the school as a jewel in the crown of the Berkeley Unified School District. And then in 1983, sadly it was closed. For almost a quarter century, like all the neighbors, like the endless parade of tenants, like the weekend basketball players and the recreation programs, like the children swinging on the play structures or learning to ride their bikes, I have watched the surfaces of this gracious Tudor building quietly rot. -more-


Commentary: Comedy: Cliches or Contradictions

By R.G. Davis
Friday June 30, 2006

Sitting in a local theater a few weeks ago and watching the audience listen to a political comedy I wondered why some people were laughing at things I thought were rehashed slaps at the Bushites. A giggling older man I watched was bouncing up and down on his chair. I thought that must be fun—the jiggling, not the giggling. There is after all, an important function to jiggling while giggling or just jiggling the body. More oxygen, the blood flows and the body is alert—all to the good. The problem is that current political comedy theater is not capable of digging deep enough into the malaise to face a number of reactionary factors. -more-


Commentary: A Pro-Business, Pro-Berkeley Agenda

By Zelda Bronstein
Friday June 30, 2006

“It was a shock,” Tom Bates told the New York Times, “that an institution like Cody’s was closing.” What’s really shocking is the mayor’s surprise at this turn of events. Since Mr. Bates took office in December 2002, the precarious state of independent bookstores and the deterioration of Telegraph Avenue have been obvious to anyone who cared to look. Tom Bates simply hasn’t paid attention. It’s a safe bet that if Andy Ross hadn’t announced in May that Cody’s flagship would close in July, and if the mayor weren’t up for re-election in four and a half months, Mr. Bates would still be ignoring both Telly and its struggling merchants, just as he’s ignored the city’s other neighborhood shopping districts and small businesses—when he hasn’t actually harmed them. -more-


Commentary: Oakland Should Consider ‘Municipalizing’ the Oakland Athletics

By Jean Damu
Friday June 30, 2006

There’s a new sheriff in town and he has called for new ideas to help make Oakland a better city. -more-


Commentary: Don’t Lose the Benefits Of Our Only Warm Pool

By Daniel Rudman
Friday June 30, 2006

On Tuesday evening, June 20, I went to the City Council meeting to offer my support for the Berkeley Warm Pool. I arrived at the old City Hall building at 6:30 and left after midnight, depressed after what I’d witnessed. The members of the council sat in a semi-circle, each leafing through stacks of paper as speakers took their two-minute turns at the microphone. I asked the guy next to me how come they weren’t paying attention. “It’s called “multi-tasking,” he said. -more-


Commentary: Educational Bonds vs. Economic Justice

By Jacqueline Sokolinsky
Friday June 30, 2006

Saturday afternoon after a quiet sabbath at home, I found myself talking about the spate of educational bond measures, now defeated in the polls. One was what I considered a “construction boondoggle”—for Vista, Berkeley’s community college, to build brand-new facilities with state-of-the-art new equipment. Why shouldn’t the community college continue its already established relationship with UC Berkeley, sharing the facilities and equipment of the UC Berkeley campus? -more-


Commentary: No Public Policy by Fiat

By Sam Herbert
Friday June 30, 2006

Before the 2004 election for City Council representative for District 3 I knew little about Max Anderson. I knew he had powerful friends among the city’s leadership. I had heard he was into development for South Berkeley. I asked friends of mine whose opinions I valued, if they thought Anderson could be trusted to represent all the voices in South Berkeley, equably and honestly. The comments and observations of these friends were discouraging. -more-


Commentary: Correcting the Record on Urban Development

By Doug Fielding
Friday June 30, 2006

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


Commentary: Toward a Sweat-Free Ordinance

By Nicholas E. Smith
Friday June 30, 2006

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


The Usual Suspects Sound Off on the Middle East

Friday June 30, 2006

EDITOR’S NOTE: The following letters appear only on our website. -more-


Letters to the Editor

Tuesday June 27, 2006

HYPOCRITICAL -more-


Commentary: Defining Artisans Out of Existence

By John Curl
Tuesday June 27, 2006

The Berkeley City Council has just asked the Arts Commission to “review and update the definition of ‘arts and crafts’ as referred to in the West Berkeley zoning, which will enable an inventory of such space to go forward and ensure that the space is protected, as stipulated in the West Berkeley Plan and the zoning.” So far, great: protecting arts/crafts space is essential. But if you read on, another agenda appears: “The commission will no doubt struggle with what constitutes arts and crafts as their practice has been modified by the advent of computers and advanced technology.” -more-


Commentary: A No-Sweat Method To Make Berkeley Sweat-Free

By Igor Tregub
Tuesday June 27, 2006

The City of Berkeley spends $89,000 annually to purchase goods that facilitate an efficient infrastructure and continued service. Police uniforms, computers for city offices, and accounting supplies are generally ordered from private vendors, who contract companies from across the world to manufacture the starting materials. -more-


Commentary: John Galen Howard Was Right

By Helen Burke
Tuesday June 27, 2006

Regarding UCB’s draft enviornmental impact report (DEIR) for the Southeast Campus Integrated Projects (SCIP), which include retrofitting Memorial stadium, a new Student Athlete High Performance Center (SAHPC), new parking garage, and other improvements, John Galen Howard was right. -more-


Commentary: A Note of Thanks to Karen Grassle

By Maureen McAlorum
Tuesday June 27, 2006

As she prepares to take to the stage at the Rubicon Theatre in Ventura for the world premiere of Open Secrets, I thought your readers may be interested to learn how Berkeley’s famous daughter Karen Grassle saved my life almost 30 years ago when she was at the height of her fame, playing Caroline Ingalls in “Little House on the Prairie.” -more-


Columns

Column: The View From Here: Out of Berkeley . . . and on to Africa

By P.M. Price
Friday June 30, 2006

My daughter beat me to Africa. On Monday morning, “Liana” (her pseudonym in this sometimes embarrassing column), along with 10 other students and two teachers from Berkeley High School, arrived in Shirati, a small village in the East African country of Tanzania. -more-


Column: Undercurrents: Pressing Mayor-Elect Dellums on Press Access

By J. Douglas Allen-Taylor
Friday June 30, 2006

One afternoon, some years after the election of Jerry Brown to succeed Elihu Harris as mayor of Oakland, I saw Mr. Harris walking with some friends and former aides along “government street” between City Hall and the federal and state office buildings that were the centerpiece of the Harris administration’s downtown revival after the devastation of Loma Prieta. I had once described the Harris administration as “dismal” and “drifting” in a column for the old Urban View newspaper, and I had to stop and confess to him that the more I saw of his replacement, Mr. Brown, the better Mr. Harris had come to look. -more-


To Vegas Through the Back Door

By Carole Terwilliger Meyers, Special to the Planet
Friday June 30, 2006

Last September, on a spectacularly scenic car trip to Las Vegas, I spent a night by Mono Lake, another by June Lake, and another in Death Valley. We drove through the Tioga Pass in Yosemite, which is open only a few months each year—usually May through September (it is closed in winter due to heavy snowfall). -more-


About the House: Some Advice on Avoiding Floods

By Matt Cantor
Friday June 30, 2006

Your washing machine is following you. O.K., so I’m being a bit dramatic but it’s true. Your washing machine is trying to get into your bedroom. -more-


Garden Variety: How to Plant a Plant to Ensure It Will Survive

By Ron Sullivan
Friday June 30, 2006

You buy a tree or shrub and dig a hole and put the plant into it and fill it up and that’s pretty much it, right? Well, not exactly. It’s usually not a technical challenge, but there are right ways and wrong ways to plant a plant. -more-


Quake Tip of the Week

By Larry Guillot
Friday June 30, 2006

Visited Your Shut-offs Lately? -more-


Column: The Public Eye: Campaign 2006: Top 10 Senate Races

By Bob Burnett
Tuesday June 27, 2006

Voters will determine 33 Senate seats in 2006. According to veteran D.C. prognosticator Charlie Cook, 16 incumbent senators are all but guaranteed reelection. In order to regain control of the Senate, Democrats will have to win at least six of the eight Republican seats that are in play and retain all nine of the contested Democratic seats. Here are the ten most interesting senatorial races: -more-


Douglas-Fir Builds and Graces Towns, Creates Splendid Forests

By Ron Sullivan, Special to the Planet
Tuesday June 27, 2006

Joe and I spent a couple of days up in Humboldt County among the really big trees last week. We stayed in a motel on the Avenue of the Giants among the old redwoods, where we could sit on the front porch in the evening and listen to the Mozartian aria of hermit thrush and the haunting, minimalist song of varied thrush, a bird has perfected wabi-sabi. -more-


Arts & Events

Arts Calendar

Friday June 30, 2006

FRIDAY, JUNE 30 -more-


Theater: ‘Permanent Collection’ Examines the Art of Race

By Ken Bullock, Special to the Planet
Friday June 30, 2006

“Put yourself in my place,” says the well-dressed African American man (L. Peter Callendar as Sterling North), surrounded by canvases of early Modern art that are punctuated by an occasional African mask—as he delivers a careful, frank but controlled account of how he was pulled over by a suburban cop for “no apparent reason” and asked for the registration for his new Jaguar, the first morning he drove to his new job as director of the prestigious (if eccentric) galleries of the Morris Foundation. -more-


Moving Pictures: Deja Vu and Despair: Revisiting ‘Punishment Park’

By Justin DeFreitas
Friday June 30, 2006

If you’ve seen or intend to see The Road to Guantanamo, reviewed in this space last week, it might be a good time to revisit Peter Watkins’ 1971 Punishment Park. The two films, 35 years apart, provide perspectives on the abuse of power that are both complementary and contradictory. -more-


To Vegas Through the Back Door

By Carole Terwilliger Meyers, Special to the Planet
Friday June 30, 2006

Last September, on a spectacularly scenic car trip to Las Vegas, I spent a night by Mono Lake, another by June Lake, and another in Death Valley. We drove through the Tioga Pass in Yosemite, which is open only a few months each year—usually May through September (it is closed in winter due to heavy snowfall). -more-


About the House: Some Advice on Avoiding Floods

By Matt Cantor
Friday June 30, 2006

Your washing machine is following you. O.K., so I’m being a bit dramatic but it’s true. Your washing machine is trying to get into your bedroom. -more-


Garden Variety: How to Plant a Plant to Ensure It Will Survive

By Ron Sullivan
Friday June 30, 2006

You buy a tree or shrub and dig a hole and put the plant into it and fill it up and that’s pretty much it, right? Well, not exactly. It’s usually not a technical challenge, but there are right ways and wrong ways to plant a plant. -more-


Quake Tip of the Week

By Larry Guillot
Friday June 30, 2006

Visited Your Shut-offs Lately? -more-


Berkeley This Week

Friday June 30, 2006

FRIDAY, JUNE 30 -more-


Arts Calendar

Tuesday June 27, 2006

TUESDAY, JUNE 27 -more-


‘Inspector General’ at the Berkeley City Club

By Ken Bullock, Special to the Planet
Tuesday June 27, 2006

Clad in his mayoral uniform of velour sweats, Anton (Christopher Herold), CEO of gated Safe Harbor on the Mendocino coast, gazes out the window through binoculars, “looking out for people—my job.” To the tune of “The Very Model Of A Modern Major General,” he practices his putting, humming along and wincing extravagantly at each miss. He greets his bubbly wife, Anna (Deborah Fink), and they prepare to celebrate another property sold, with squeals, glib cliches and funny poses. -more-


Books: Czeslaw Milosz: The Poet in His Times

By Phil McArdle, Special to the Planet
Tuesday June 27, 2006

On the day in 1980 when Czeslaw Milosz (1911-2004) received the Nobel Prize for literature most people in Berkeley had never heard of him. When we went to the bookstores looking for his work, we were disappointed. What little there was sold out before noon. But when the stores restocked and newly published books by him became available, we discovered he was a prolific writer. And one of extraordinary stature. -more-


Douglas-Fir Builds and Graces Towns, Creates Splendid Forests

By Ron Sullivan, Special to the Planet
Tuesday June 27, 2006

Joe and I spent a couple of days up in Humboldt County among the really big trees last week. We stayed in a motel on the Avenue of the Giants among the old redwoods, where we could sit on the front porch in the evening and listen to the Mozartian aria of hermit thrush and the haunting, minimalist song of varied thrush, a bird has perfected wabi-sabi. -more-


Berkeley This Week

Tuesday June 27, 2006

TUESDAY, JUNE 27 -more-