Three-Alarm Blaze Breaks Out In Willard Park Neighborhood
Fire’s Damage Estimated at $1 Million -more-
Fire’s Damage Estimated at $1 Million -more-
A week after Nestle USA-owned PowerBar announced its move from Berkeley to Glendale, Calif., rival company ClifBar confirmed on Wednesday that it will be moving its Berkeley headquarters to Alameda, when the company’s current lease expires in July 2008. -more-
A Berkeley police patrol officer was suspended Wednesday, reportedly after a sting operation focusing on theft of evidence, the Daily Planet has learned. -more-
There seems to have been some confusion over the facts of the Condo Conversion Initiative, which will be before Berkeley voters on the Nov. 7 ballot. As a result, the city may be forced to hire outside attorneys to sue itself to correct possible errors. -more-
Broken Santa Rosa lights at the corner of Parker and Telegraph have been causing difficulties for blind people and other pedestrians. These lights, which are embedded in the roadway and activated by a push button, flash to notify drivers that pedestrians are coming and that they need to stop. On Tuesday morning, the Berkeley Office of Transportation was notified that the light at Parker and Telegraph streets wasn’t working. -more-
By Richard Brenneman -more-
As plans for development at the Ashby BART station continue under a city-designated task force, alternative groups are sprouting up in South Berkeley. -more-
The City of Berkeley’s future plans to re-negotiate its contract with Comcast Corporation, the current provider of cable video services in Berkeley, stand to be threatened if a state-level legislative bill demanding the elimination of the role of local government in the franchise process is passed as early as Monday -more-
Shattuck Cinema workers and union representatives met with management on Wednesday to negotiate pay raises, and other basic demands including uniforms and grievance procedures. -more-
Starting in May, Alameda County will have a new program to handle substance abusers, fulfilling the long-time dreams of Berkeley activists and city officials. -more-
A group of Oakland education and political leaders and activists have given state Sen. Don Perata until Aug. 16 to either meet with them directly or issue a statement opposing the pending sale of the Oakland Unified School District administration building and property and several adjacent schools. -more-
SB39, the bill that authorized the state takeover of the Oakland Unified School District, was introduced in abbreviated form in January 2003 by state Sen. Don Perata, with no details included. -more-
NACOZARI, Sonora, Mexico—Just days after conservative candidate Felipe Calderon declared himself the winner of Mexico’s July 2 presidential election, the Mexican federal labor board lowered the boom on striking miners. At Nacozari, one of the world’s largest copper mines, just a few miles south of Arizona, 1,400 miners have been on strike since March 24. On July 12 the board said they’d abandoned their jobs, and gave the mine’s owner, Grupo Mexico, permission to close down operations. -more-
DETROIT—It’s been said before that the debate in Congress over immigration has needlessly gone beyond fixing the core problems within our immigration system. -more-
The irony of “progressive” politics is nowhere more apparent than in the housing policies of the City of Berkeley. -more-
The Aug. 8 edition of the Daily Planet featured two appallingly ludicrous commentaries about the Lebanon war. One was an exercise in the most indulgent of national mythologies: “We are morally superior to Them.” -more-
This week we got a phone call from a polite but persistent guy who asked to speak to the editor—that’s me. When I called him back, he identified himself as the owner of a restaurant which has been advertising once a week in our restaurant guide section, and he said he was so unhappy with the paper’s coverage of the Middle East that he was thinking of canceling his ad. Now, 60 bucks a week one way or the other (those little color ads are almost loss-leader cheap for the advertisers) won’t make or break the budget, so we really don’t have a strong financial interest in arguing with the guy, but I did make an effort to explain two principles to him. First, respectable newspapers don’t let advertisers dictate policy for the editorial section and second, we firmly believe that airing all opinions, even those we find extremely distasteful, is the best way to solve problems in the long run. I pointed out that the Planet didn’t “cover” the Middle East, but just allowed opinions on the news from that area to be printed as letters or commentary signed by the authors. I asked the restaurant owner if he ever read the European press on the Internet, or Ha’aretz, the Israeli paper, or even the New York Times on a regular basis. He said he didn’t. We had a civil discussion, but it was apparent he wasn’t persuaded. -more-
Most urban NIMBYs in Berkeley who oppose new developments are not part of an insulated class trying to hang onto their privileges. They are part of a sacrificial class that already lives in or next to high-density areas or transit corridors. They mostly do all the “right” things: walk a lot, drive little, consume little, live in little spaces, have little gardens (if any), and tolerate being a little too crowded. High-income people consume much more, utilize many more resources, and contribute much more to global warming than low-income people. Yet all the detriments of man’s environmental abuse and atonement are borne by the poor and funneled into high-density areas. -more-
In their 1948 American classic book about growing up in Oakland in the early part of the last century, Frank Gilbreth Jr. and Ernestine Gilbreth Carey wrote in Cheaper By The Dozen that their father once discovered one of the more fascinating elements of the human mind—people could pass by a black typewriter every day without stopping or even thinking about it, but a typewriter painted white simply could not be resisted. “For some reason, anyone who sees a white typewriter wants to type on it,” Frank Gilbreth told his children on the day he brought one home and set it on the dining room table. “Don’t ask me why. It’s psychology.” (For those born in the 80’s and beyond and so didn’t live in those times, typewriters—which preceded computers as the thing on which we did our writing—used to come in one color, black. Same with telephones.) -more-
“Bring your own” is a good motto to remember when visiting the neighborhoods of the Berkeley hills. With no shopping district or quaint cafes, there’s little to tempt your dollars. Unless you’re in the market for a home. Then you’re in trouble, big trouble, because what the hills area does offer is hard to resist: a showcase for architectural excellence, eye-filling views, rock outcropping parks, hidden pathways and an appealing sense of space within nature. -more-
Architect Harris Allen had no cookie cutters in his professional tool box. No two of his buildings looked alike—each was designed for its particular site and stamped with the owner’s individuality. -more-
I’m often amazed at the lack of attention paid to places where people can fall, slip or trip around the house (not to mention commercial or municipal buildings). Maybe other people aren’t as clumsy as I am. It is a plus, though, that in my job I seem to be admirably suited to finding any obstacle that might ultimately cause any other person at any future date to slip, trip or fall. No divination required; I’m just the poster boy for smacking your cranium. -more-
One of the hardest things for new gardeners here—both experienced gardeners who move here and long-time locals who get inspired by the goddess Flora—is our dirt. Most of us have to garden on clay soil here, and those of us in the flatlands generally have the heaviest, the historically most stomped-on and sometimes most-contaminated clay. -more-
Editorial: The Importance of Protecting Free Speech 08-11-2006
Editorial: Two Fine Days on the Oakland Scene 08-08-2006
Letters to the Editor 08-11-2006
Commentary: Immigration Bill’s Provisions Hidden in Plain Sight By Rashida Tlaib, New America Media 08-11-2006
Readers Respond to Middle East Commentaries 08-11-2006
Commentary: ‘Progressives’ Oversimplify Housing, Growth Issues By John Koenigshofer 08-11-2006
Commentary: Both Mideast Commentaries Were Wrong By Ehud Appel 08-11-2006
Letters to the Editor 08-08-2006
Commentary: In Defense of Library Administration Criticism By Ben Reitman 08-08-2006
Commentary: Criticizing Israel = Anti-Semitism By Howard Glickman 08-08-2006
Commentary: Zionist Crimes in Lebanon By Kurosh Arianpour 08-08-2006
Commentary: Religious Texts vs. Faith By Jacqueline Sokolinsky 08-08-2006
Three-Alarm Blaze Breaks Out In Willard Park Neighborhood By Rio Bauce and Riya Bhattacharjee 08-11-2006
Clif Bar Announces Move to Alameda By Riya Bhattacharjee 08-11-2006
Second Berkeley Cop Suspected of Evidence Theft By Richard Brenneman 08-11-2006
Major Discrepancies in Condo Conversion Initiative By Rio Bauce 08-11-2006
Broken Crosswalk Lights Hazardous for Disabled By Rio Bauce 08-11-2006
Telegraph Area Association Revival Under Consideration By Richard Brenneman 08-11-2006
Ashby BART Project Spurs Rise of Community Groups By Richard Brenneman 08-11-2006
Assembly Bill Puts Comcast Cable Contract in Doubt By Riya Bhattacharjee 08-11-2006
Cinema Workers, Management Discuss Grievances By Riya Bhattacharjee 08-11-2006
Detox Center Emerges From Telegraph Group’s Work By Richard Brenneman 08-11-2006
Activists Give Perata Deadline on Oakland School District Property Sale By J. Douglas Allen-Taylor 08-11-2006
The Curious History of the OUSD Land Sale As Told in the Legislative Record By J. Douglas Allen-Taylor 08-11-2006
Police Blotter By Richard Brenneman 08-11-2006
News Analysis: Hundreds of Mexican Miners Fired for Striking By David Bacon, New America Media 08-11-2006
City Landmarks Bevatron Site, Not Bevatron Building By Richard Brenneman 08-08-2006
PowerBar Moves To Southern Cal By Riya Bhattacharjee 08-08-2006
Opposition to Oakland School District Property Sale Grows By J. Douglas Allen-Taylor 08-08-2006
City Studies Internet Access for All Residents By Riya Bhattacharjee 08-08-2006
Candidates Chosen for Rent Stabilization Board By Rio Bauce, Special to the Planet 08-08-2006
Library Board Considers Moving South Berkeley Branch By Riya Bhattacharjee 08-08-2006
Race May Become an Issue In Peralta Trustee Campaign By J. Douglas Allen-Taylor 08-08-2006
Neighbors Blast Plans for Garr Building Site By Richard Brenneman 08-08-2006
National Youth Rights Meeting Discusses Ageism, Promotes Youth Voting By Rio Bauce 08-08-2006
State’s Heat Wave Takes Toll On South Asian Farmers By Viji Sundaram, New American Media 08-08-2006
Activists Stage Hunger Strike, Call for Troops to Come Home By Riya Bhattacharjee 08-08-2006
Police Blotter By Richard Brenneman 08-08-2006
The Public Eye: Notes on NIMBYism Part II: Density, Equity, And the Urban NIMBY By Sharon Hudson 08-11-2006
Undercurrents: Jerry Brown Adds Zeros to Justify Operation By J. Douglas Allen-Taylor 08-11-2006
Head for the Berkeley Hills By Marta Yamamoto, Special to the Planet 08-11-2006
East Bay Then and Now: Harris Allen: The Spirit of Individuality By Daniella Thompson 08-11-2006
Tripping, Slipping and Falling Around Your House By Matt Cantor 08-11-2006
The Dirty Lowdown on Working With Our Lowdown Dirt By Ron Sullivan 08-11-2006
Quake Tip of the Week By Larry Guillot 08-11-2006
The Public Eye: Notes on NIMBYism By Sharon Hudson 08-08-2006
Column: The Public Eye: The Liberal Response to the Failure of Conservatism By Bob Burnett 08-08-2006
Column: Fleas, Chiggers, Greenheads And Sunbathing in the Nude By Susan Parker 08-08-2006
A Little Respect for the Red-Breasted Sapsucker By Joe Eaton, Special to the Planet 08-08-2006
Arts Calendar 08-11-2006
Great Works from New York on Display at Magnes By Peter Selz, Special to the Planet 08-11-2006
SF Mime Troupe Brings ‘Godfellas’ to Berkeley By Ken Bullock, Special to the Planet 08-11-2006
Moving Pictures: Pacific Film Archive Takes a Look at One of Japan’s Greatest Directors By Justin DeFreitas 08-11-2006
Head for the Berkeley Hills By Marta Yamamoto, Special to the Planet 08-11-2006
East Bay Then and Now: Harris Allen: The Spirit of Individuality By Daniella Thompson 08-11-2006
Tripping, Slipping and Falling Around Your House By Matt Cantor 08-11-2006
The Dirty Lowdown on Working With Our Lowdown Dirt By Ron Sullivan 08-11-2006
Quake Tip of the Week By Larry Guillot 08-11-2006
Berkeley This Week 08-11-2006
Correction 08-11-2006
Arts Calendar 08-08-2006
The Theater: ‘Typographer’s Dream’ a Fruitful Collaboration By Ken Bullock, Special to the Planet 08-08-2006
A Little Respect for the Red-Breasted Sapsucker By Joe Eaton, Special to the Planet 08-08-2006
Berkeley This Week 08-08-2006