News

Evictions for Condo Conversion Targeted

By Judith Scherr
Friday July 21, 2006

Marcia Levenson treasures her Williard neighborhood and the apartment she has rented for two decades in the area. Because she’s living with a chronic disease, Levenson’s only income is disability payments. Her Section 8 voucher allows her to stay in the neighborhood and limits her share of the rent to 30 percent of her income. -more-


News Analysis: Winning OUSD Proposal Failed to Meet Goals

By J. Douglas Allen-Taylor
Friday July 21, 2006

While two rejected proposals for the Oakland Unified School District administrative properties substantially meet several district “baseline expectations and intentions,” the winning proposal by TerraMark/UrbanAmerica does not, an analysis by the Daily Planet has found. -more-


Developer Declares Albany Mall Plan Dead

By Richard Brenneman
Friday July 21, 2006

Though an angry Rick Caruso said early Tuesday that he’s pulled the plug on his plans for a $300 million Albany waterfront mall, project foes say they expect him back. -more-


UC’s Plans to Remove Trees from People’s Park Raise Concerns

By Riya Bhattacharjee
Friday July 21, 2006

Users of People’s Park met with UC Berkeley officials on Thursday for a park walk-through and discussion of some upcoming projects. -more-


Council Hears Project Appeal, In-Lieu Fees, New LPO

By Judith Scherr
Friday July 21, 2006

The Berkeley City Council dealt with three development issues Tuesday: a citizen appeal of housing-retail project at 1201 San Pablo Ave., a proposal to charge developers in-lieu fees rather than requiring inclusionary units and the second reading of the Landmarks Preservation Ordinance. -more-


Warm Pool Replacement Will Not Make November Ballot

By Judith Scherr
Friday July 21, 2006

Not many disabled people chose to stand up in public and talk about their handicaps. But that’s what Ben Rivers did at the City Council meeting Tuesday. -more-


Berkeley Man Wins Honor For Penning Awful Prose

By Suzanne La Barre
Friday July 21, 2006

In describing a tear’s journey from a cheek to the Long Beach Harbor, one Berkeley man sealed his fate as an inductee into the hall of literary infamy. -more-


PRC Begins Investigating Case of Cop Stealing Drugs

By Judith Scherr
Friday July 21, 2006

The sergeant in charge of Berkeley’s drug evidence room copped a plea earlier this year, admitting he stole drug evidence in his charge. -more-


UC Berkeley Unions Plan Rally Against Transportation Fee Hikes

By Rio Bauce, Special to the Planet
Friday July 21, 2006

On Wednesday, UC Berkeley unions plan to rally against what they call “drastic changes” in the parking fees for disabled employees, carpool permits, and Bear passes that the university has unilaterally imposed upon their employees. -more-


Suit Served Against Pacific Steel

By Suzanne La Barre
Friday July 21, 2006

Communities for a Better Environment (CBE), an Oakland-based environmental health and justice non-profit, has served Pacific Steel Casting with a federal lawsuit, the organization announced Wednesday. -more-


HUD Renews Redwood Garden Senior Housing Subsidy

By Rio Bauce, Special to the Planet
Friday July 21, 2006

Denise Fore, maintenance director of Redwood Gardens, a senior housing complex near Clark Kerr Campus that is home to around 200 senior citizens, said this week that the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) will renew their subsidies for the Redwood Gardens complex. -more-


Phantom Paintball Attacks Continue for Second Month

By Richard Brenneman
Friday July 21, 2006

Berkeley’s phantom paintballer is at it again, and police are asking for the public’s help in nailing the serial splatterer. -more-


Stolen Car Chase Ends in Hills With Possibly Another Stolen Car

By Richard Brenneman
Friday July 21, 2006

A Richmond police pursuit ended near the Claremont Hotel Tuesday night but not before a helicopter search and prowling patrol cars alarmed nearby residents. -more-


Harrison Announces Intention To Run For School Board Seat

By Suzanne La Barre
Friday July 21, 2006

Norma Harrison, a communist and active member of the Peace and Freedom Party, has announced a bid for school board. -more-


Berkeley Housing Authority Names New Acting Manager

By Suzanne La Barre
Friday July 21, 2006

The embattled Berkeley Housing Authority (BHA) has a new acting manager, Housing Department Director Stephen Barton announced Thursday. -more-


Mall Foes Face Legal Battle with Initiative

By Richard Brenneman
Friday July 21, 2006

While foes of the upscale mall planned for the Albany shoreline have apparently won one battle before the City Council, there’s another struggle in the courts. -more-


Fire Department Log

By Richard Brenneman
Friday July 21, 2006

Porch arson -more-


Telegraph Peet’s Wins Approval at ZAB

By Suzanne La Barre
Tuesday July 18, 2006

Three days after one Berkeley institution closed its doors on Telegraph Avenue another won overwhelming approval to open. -more-


Office Depot Beats Out Local Vendors for City Contract

By Suzanne La Barre
Tuesday July 18, 2006

A multi-year, $1.65-million contract for city office supplies will go to Office Depot, pending approval by the City Council tonight (Tuesday). -more-


Ward Leaves OUSD with Far-Reaching Changes

By J. Douglas Allen-Taylor
Tuesday July 18, 2006

With Oakland education leaders traveling to Sacramento this week to lobby for a return to local control of the Oakland Unified School District, OUSD documents reveal that the real power over the future direction of Oakland’s public schools may lie with private foundations. -more-


Youth Program Ordered Off Toxic Site

By Richard Brenneman
Tuesday July 18, 2006

State officials have ordered a popular after-school tutoring program to leave Richmond’s contaminated Campus Bay after officials and citizens spotted children playing in a toxic off-limits area. -more-


Council Looks at Condo Issues, Alcohol Problems

By Judith Scherr
Tuesday July 18, 2006

Berkeley Councilmembers Kriss Worthington and Max Anderson are proposing amendments to the city’s condominium conversion ordinance that would prevent condo conversion for 20 years from the date a landlord has quit the rental business for that particular property and would prevent condo conversion for 10 years from the time the owner has enacted an owner move-in eviction. -more-


Developer Fee Would Replace Inclusionary Unit Requirement

By Judith Scherr
Tuesday July 18, 2006

In an effort to keep people with a variety of income levels in Berkeley, the city instituted its “inclusionary” housing ordinance in 1986, which mandates that developers reserve one-fifth of new housing units for people earning 80 percent of area median income. -more-


Overman Tapped to Challenge Wozniak for District 8 Seat

By Rio Bauce, Special to the Planet
Tuesday July 18, 2006

Following a Sunday afternoon town hall meeting at Redwood Gardens that attracted 61 Berkeley residents in search of a “progressive” candidate to take on District 8 incumbent Gordon Wozniak in November, a vote of attendees supported Jason Overman, a city rent board commissioner and UC Berkeley student. -more-


Residents Appeal Mixed-Use Development on San Pablo

By Suzanne La Barre
Tuesday July 18, 2006

A dozen residents have appealed plans for a five-story, mixed-use building on San Pablo Avenue, a project once described by a neighbor as “bursting at the seams.” -more-


New Planning Process for South and West Berkeley

By Richard Brenneman
Tuesday July 18, 2006

As the city prepares to fund one planning process in South Berkeley, the county and the Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC) are launching another on Thursday night. -more-