In an abrupt reversal, the City Council voted unanimously Tuesday to table the revised Landmarks Preservation Ordinance (LPO) it had passed on first reading July 11. -more-

Former Mayor Shirley Dean didn’t ask anyone to take out election papers in her name. -more-

In a sign of the growing opposition in Oakland to the proposed sale of the Oakland Unified School District Administration Building and five adjacent downtown school sites, the Oakland City Councilmembers have called on State Superintendent Jack O’Connell to delay the sale until the terms can be renegotiated and the deal receives school board approval. -more-

A construction estimate for new Berkeley Unified School District (BUSD) offices has come in at more than double the budget, forcing district officials to head back to the drawing board. -more-

The Berkeley City Council asked the Ashby BART Station Task Force Tuesday evening to reach out to the South Berkeley community and broaden the vision of what the vast, paved parking lot west of the station might become. -more-

There ought to be a name for that pervasive feature of modern life, wherein whatever something’s called tells you what it’s not. Case in point: “Drug-Free Zone.” What that actually tells you is “we still have a drug problem around here, although we’re working on it.” Naming developments is a well-known example: the Gaia Building has no Gaia bookstore; “Library Gardens” looks to be arid square blocks of wall-to-wall condos, though a small garden might eventually materialize. Congresswoman Barbara Lee is trying with very little help to keep the “Nuclear Non-Proliferation Act” meaning what its name says, in view of Bush and the Congressionals (both D and R) singing a different song as they bestow more nukes on India. And of course there’s the now-classic “Healthy Forests” law, aimed at getting rid of more trees. -more-