Gary Brown, face down, works out with Joe, his attendant, at the warm water pool Thursday. Photograh by Judith Scherr.
Gary Brown, face down, works out with Joe, his attendant, at the warm water pool Thursday. Photograh by Judith Scherr.

Page One

Spring Defends Need For Warm Water Pool

By Judith Scherr
Tuesday July 11, 2006

When Councilmember Dona Spring proposed that the Berkeley City Council ask voters to complete bond financing for a new warm pool two weeks ago, the issue died for lack of a second. -more-



Citizens Press to Save Control of Housing Authority

By Suzanne La Barre
Tuesday July 11, 2006

Hoping to maintain affordable housing for the city’s most vulnerable citizens, local activists are rallying to save the beleaguered Berkeley Housing Authority. -more-



Peet’s Makes Pitch to Open on Telegraph

By Suzanne La Barre
Tuesday July 11, 2006

A proposal to perk up Telegraph Avenue with a new Peet’s Coffee and Tea is in the works. -more-



Council Takes Another Look at ‘Clean Money’

By Judith Scherr
Tuesday July 11, 2006

“Clean money” supporters failed to get the Berkeley City Council to place public financing on the November ballot two weeks ago, so they are calling out the troops to convince the body to approve the referendum at tonight’s (Tuesday) meeting. -more-



LPC Blasts UC Stadium-Area EIR, Adds Two Landmarks

By Richard Brenneman
Tuesday July 11, 2006

Berkeley gained a pair of new landmarks Thursday during a meeting of the Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) dominated by projects planned on the UC Berkeley campus. -more-



Features

Drive to Return Oakland Schools to Local Control Gains Steam

By J. Douglas Allen-Taylor
Tuesday July 11, 2006

Outgoing state administrator Randolph Ward is moving forward this week with the first of three public hearings to discuss the sale of the downtown Oakland Unified School District (OUSD) properties as education and political leaders and activists are escalating their challenge to both the proposed property sale and the continued state management of the district. -more-


Group Takes Pacific Steel To Court Over Emissions

By Suzanne La Barre
Tuesday July 11, 2006

Pacific Steel Casting, the subject of noxious odor complaints in West Berkeley for more than two decades, is headed to court. -more-


B-Tech Awarded $50,000 State Grant to Raise Scores

By Suzanne La Barre
Tuesday July 11, 2006

B-Tech Academy (formerly Berkeley Alternative High School) has secured a major grant from State Superintendent Jack O’Connell to help raise student achievement. -more-


Fire Department Log

By Richard Brenneman
Tuesday July 11, 2006

Woman Dies in House Blaze -more-


Police Blotter

By Richard Brenneman
Tuesday July 11, 2006

Drive-by shooting -more-


Public Comment

Letters to the Editor

Tuesday July 11, 2006

BUILDING AN ARTS COMMUNITY -more-


Commentary: Town and Gown: Great Things Are Happening...Elsewhere

By Doug Buckwald and Anne Wagley
Tuesday July 11, 2006

Want to know how Gainesville, Florida, protects neighborhood residents during college football games? How Columbus, Ohio handles the problem of trash in neighborhoods near the Ohio State campus? How Colorado State University in Fort Collins responds to calls about off-campus student behavior problems? Or how police in Boulder, Colorado and Corvallis, Oregon handle disruptive student parties? So did we. That’s why we went to the conference on “Best Practices in Building University/City Relations” last month in Colorado. What we learned there kept our eyes wide open and our pens scratching notes as fast as we could write. We learned that cities across the United States and Canada handle these problems effectively and efficiently every day—in contrast to the typical inaction of our own city officials and UC Berkeley. -more-


Commentary: Bates’ LPO Serves Developers, Not Citizens

By Neal Blumenfeld
Tuesday July 11, 2006

Because you can easily see 10-story buildings, large condo projects and several giant transit villages in the pipeline, it hardly seems that large-scale real estate development in Berkeley needs a boost. Yet the Planning Department, along with the mayor and his followers on the City Council, has drafted a new landmark ordinance that will be presented to the City Council. The bureaucratic language crafted by our local Machiavellis in the city attorney’s office—likely still spinning the regs as I write—will make you run up to Tilden for a breath of clean air, vowing you will never come within earshot of City Hall again. -more-


Editorial

Editorial: Nurses Hold the Health Care System Together

By Becky O’Malley
Tuesday July 11, 2006

In my voicemail this Monday morning: a message from one of my many red-diaper-baby chums, born again to political activism after a brief mid-life flirtation with Republicanism. “Schwarzenegger is trying to bust the nurses’ union! Come to a rally on Tuesday! If you don’t we’ll soon see 100 patients to every nurse!” Well, she might exaggerate a bit, but she’s oh, so right in principle. Things are bad in hospitals now, and if the medical industry has its way they’ll be getting worse. -more-


Columns

Column: The Public Eye: Attempting to Derail a Presidental Dictatorship

By Bob Burnett
Tuesday July 11, 2006

Many progressives view the November mid-term elections as a referendum on the presidency of George Bush and the ineptitude of his rubber-stamp Republican Congress. -more-


Column: Intuitive Leaps Through Ordinary But Striking Occurrences

By Susan Parker
Tuesday July 11, 2006

In last week’s column I mentioned that I had been out of the country and that I wouldn’t bore readers with the details of my fabulous vacation. I said I had endured no pathos, problems, or porn, and that I had no epiphanies while abroad. This, of course, was not true. I experienced plenty of the above-mentioned items. I suffered sorrow. I encountered difficulties. I saw several dirty pictures. I had a few insights. -more-


A Garden on Codornices Creek Welcomes Wildlife

By Joe Eaton, Special to the Planet
Tuesday July 11, 2006

“We’ve had people say they’d like to come back as our cats,” says Juliet Lamont. -more-


Arts Listings

Arts Calendar

Tuesday July 11, 2006

Arts: The Fake Real of ‘Future Tense’ at Kala Art

By Peter Selz, Special to the Planet
Tuesday July 11, 2006

Arts: ‘Restoration Comedy’In Fashion at CalShakes

By Jaime Robles, Special to the Planet
Tuesday July 11, 2006

Moving Pictures: Festival Honors the Beauty of the Silents

By Justin DeFreitas
Tuesday July 11, 2006

Events Listings

Berkeley This Week

Tuesday July 11, 2006

Back Stories

Opinion

Editorials

Editorial: Nurses Hold the Health Care System Together 07-11-2006

Dones Made Failed Bid For OUSD Property Sale 07-07-2006

Public Comment

Letters to the Editor 07-11-2006

Commentary: Town and Gown: Great Things Are Happening...Elsewhere By Doug Buckwald and Anne Wagley 07-11-2006

Commentary: Bates’ LPO Serves Developers, Not Citizens By Neal Blumenfeld 07-11-2006

Letters to the Editor 07-07-2006

Commentary: The Pursuit of Happiness: Jefferson, I Think We’re Lost By Michael Katz 07-07-2006

Commentary: City Council Puts Public Safety on Back Burner By Marie Bowman 07-07-2006

News

Spring Defends Need For Warm Water Pool By Judith Scherr 07-11-2006

Citizens Press to Save Control of Housing Authority By Suzanne La Barre 07-11-2006

Peet’s Makes Pitch to Open on Telegraph By Suzanne La Barre 07-11-2006

Council Takes Another Look at ‘Clean Money’ By Judith Scherr 07-11-2006

LPC Blasts UC Stadium-Area EIR, Adds Two Landmarks By Richard Brenneman 07-11-2006

Drive to Return Oakland Schools to Local Control Gains Steam By J. Douglas Allen-Taylor 07-11-2006

Group Takes Pacific Steel To Court Over Emissions By Suzanne La Barre 07-11-2006

B-Tech Awarded $50,000 State Grant to Raise Scores By Suzanne La Barre 07-11-2006

Fire Department Log By Richard Brenneman 07-11-2006

Police Blotter By Richard Brenneman 07-11-2006

Programs Aim to Bring Healthy Food to All By Judith Scherr 07-07-2006

Allston House Tenants Object To Foul Living Conditions By Suzanne La Barre 07-07-2006

Council Turns Sights to Resolve War Over Gaia Building By Richard Brenneman 07-07-2006

Students Get On Point With Alvin Ailey Summer Camp By Suzanne La Barre 07-07-2006

ASUC Elections Awash in Controversy, Placing Results in Doubt By Suzanne La Barre 07-07-2006

City Outlines Schedule for Bateman Mall Restoration By Riya Bhattacharjee 07-07-2006

News Analysis: Mid-Life Crisis Hits San Jose—And Its Mayor By Raj Jayadev New America Media 07-07-2006

Police Blotter By Richard Brenneman 07-07-2006

Last Poetry Reading at Cody’s Books By Judy Wells 07-07-2006

The True Color of Money By Sandip Roy, New America Media 07-07-2006

Columns

Column: The Public Eye: Attempting to Derail a Presidental Dictatorship By Bob Burnett 07-11-2006

Column: Intuitive Leaps Through Ordinary But Striking Occurrences By Susan Parker 07-11-2006

A Garden on Codornices Creek Welcomes Wildlife By Joe Eaton, Special to the Planet 07-11-2006

Column: Dispatches From the Edge: The United States and Pakistan: Whacking Musharraf? By Conn Hallinan 07-07-2006

Column: Undercurrents: Has the OUSD Board of Trustees Been Left in the Dark? By J. Douglas Allen-Taylor 07-07-2006

Discover the Many Wonders At Oakland’s Lake Merritt By Marta Yamamoto, Special to the Planet 07-07-2006

About The House: LED Down the Road to Cheaper Lighting By Matt Cantor 07-07-2006

Garden Variety: Stake Your Young Tree Carefully After Planting By Ron Sullivan 07-07-2006

Quake Tip of the Week By Larry Guillot 07-07-2006

Arts & Events

Arts Calendar 07-11-2006

Arts: The Fake Real of ‘Future Tense’ at Kala Art By Peter Selz, Special to the Planet 07-11-2006

Arts: ‘Restoration Comedy’In Fashion at CalShakes By Jaime Robles, Special to the Planet 07-11-2006

Moving Pictures: Festival Honors the Beauty of the Silents By Justin DeFreitas 07-11-2006

A Garden on Codornices Creek Welcomes Wildlife By Joe Eaton, Special to the Planet 07-11-2006

Berkeley This Week 07-11-2006

Arts Calendar 07-07-2006

Moving Pictures: Documentary Puts Modern Gay Cinema in Context By Justin DeFreitas 07-07-2006

Discover the Many Wonders At Oakland’s Lake Merritt By Marta Yamamoto, Special to the Planet 07-07-2006

About The House: LED Down the Road to Cheaper Lighting By Matt Cantor 07-07-2006

Garden Variety: Stake Your Young Tree Carefully After Planting By Ron Sullivan 07-07-2006

Quake Tip of the Week By Larry Guillot 07-07-2006

Berkeley This Week 07-07-2006