News

A rally to save Berkeley’s troubled Housing Authority drew about two-dozen supporters Tuesday. -more-

By a 6-3 vote, the Berkeley City Council passed the mayor’s controversial new Landmarks Preservation Ordinance (LPO) Tuesday, setting the stage for a November confrontation at the ballot box. -more-

The Oakland Unified School District held the first of three public hearings Wednesday night on the proposed sale of 8.25 acres of OUSD Lake Merritt-area properties, but a key component of the proposal was only available to those who later followed a trustee’s suggestion to look up the actual development proposal on the district website. -more-

While Berkeley’s Elmwood district gained one landmark last week, it may be about to lose another community mainstay—it’s post office at 2705 Webster St. at College Avenue. -more-

Warm-water pool users cheered as the Berkeley City Council, its chambers packed wheelchair to walker, voted 6-3 to place a referendum before the voters asking for approval of a $4.5 million bond to complete funding for a new warm pool. -more-

Warm-pool users, already reeling from the fear that their only source of exercise will be demolished without a replacement—the school district plans to remove the pool and the city may not come up with funds to build a new one—discovered Wednesday the pool had been vandalized. -more-

The Pacific Legal Foundation filed an appeal with the U.S. Supreme Court this week aimed at reversing the California Supreme Court’s unanimous March decision that upheld Berkeley’s refusal to subsidize the Sea Scout’s fees at the Berkeley Marina because of the group’s affiliation with the Boy Scouts of America (BSA), which denies membership to gays and atheists. -more-

Claiming there was no time, no local need and insufficient public interest, the City Council killed a proposal Tuesday to put public financing of city elections on the November ballot. -more-

Berkeley’s African-American students earned the second lowest standardized test scores in the county, whereas Berkeley’s white students laid claim to some of the highest, according to United In Action, a local minority student advocacy group. -more-

The recent strategy laid out by the Bush Administration to prepare for a possible bird flu pandemic in the United States is one which the administration hopes it will never need. -more-

In May of 2005, TerraMark proposed a development on the OUSD Lake Merritt properties which it called “The Trophy.” -more-

Short blotter -more-

Mexican presidential candidate Andrés Manuel López Obrador might have had a better showing if the polls in the Mexican cities of Saltillo and Durango were moved to the California cities of Stockton, Sacramento, and Fresno. -more-

Politicians and observers in Taiwan and the Chinese community are using the unsuccessful recall motion to unseat Taiwan President Chen Shui Bian as an opportunity to discuss democracy, according to the Chinese-language press. -more-

The July 2 elections in Mexico saw the Partido Revolucionario Democratico (PRD) poll 35.31 percent of the announced presidential votes, a rise for this moderately left “BCA del Sur” from 17 percent in the 2000 contest. -more-

Stupid is not a nice word. When applied to others it’s neither kind nor p.c., even when deserved. When applied to oneself, stupid is often the only term that fits. Sadly, I use this term in personal reference more often than I’d like, sometimes several times a week. In fact, after a stellar stupid, I might greet the day with “Okay, what stupid thing are you going to do today?” -more-

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-

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

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

“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-

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-

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-

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

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-

Woman Dies in House Blaze -more-

Drive-by shooting -more-