News

Reorganization of the Nutrition Services Department, a progress report from the B-Tech, and a presentation by the Life Academy at Berkeley High School were highlights of the BUSD Board meeting on Wednesday. -more-

Since 1973, the Berkeley community has been able to air complaints in public against its police officers and compel them to respond. But a recent California Supreme Court decision may have knocked the teeth out of the ordinance that created Berkeley’s Police Review Commission. -more-

Prakash Stephen Pinto wants the deserted glass-strewn lot at San Pablo Avenue and Harrison Street near his Stannage Avenue home replaced by shops and new housing, but he told the City Council Tuesday night that the project before them “is a serious detriment to the neighborhood.” -more-

With the specter of Proposition 90 lurking in the wings, Berkeley’s City Council Tuesday passed a conditional new law governing the sizes of apartment and condominium buildings. It attempts to reconcile conflicts between size bonuses offered by the state of California and the City of Berkeley as a reward for the provision of affordable housing. -more-

In an effort to bring public awareness to the issues involved in critical contract talks between the City of Oakland and the powerful Oakland Police Officers Association, members of the Black Elected Officials of the East Bay sponsored a public forum Wednesday night on the contract negotiations. -more-

Berkeley should be ready to boost downtown parking prices for a host of reasons, declared members of the panel charged with developing a new plan for downtown Berkeley Wednesday night. -more-

Some library activists have been watching the search process for a new library head and say they don’t like what they see. -more-

A Federal Court in San Francisco denied a request by Oakland-based environmental nonprofit Communities for a Better Environment (CBE) on Wednesday for a preliminary injunction against Berkeley-based Pacific Steel Casting (PSC) citing insufficient evidence that CBE would prevail on the merits of its arguments. -more-

Opponents of Oakland’s massive Oak to Ninth development project have amended their California Superior Court complaint against the project, asking that the court invalidate the City Council’s approval of the project because the final version of the project agreement was never available to the council or the public at the time of the council vote. -more-

A 15-year-old Berkeley High School student was assaulted Tuesday afternoon near Planet Juice in downtown Berkeley. -more-

Berkeley police are offering a $15,000 reward for information leading to the conviction of the killer of a 23-year-old Oakland man who was shot in Berkeley Sept. 4. -more-

The plight of artists seeking to live and work in West Berkeley is the subject of a special meeting to be held this afternoon (Friday). -more-

Upside the head -more-

UC Berkeley police are investigating the death of a graduate student whose body was discovered Friday evening in the same residential co-op where 16 residents were treated at local hospitals a week earlier after consuming cannabis-laced cookies. -more-

After the City Council and mayoral candidates fielded questions on workers rights, affordable housing, a closed-door city-university lawsuit settlement, the city’s (convicted and alleged) criminal police, the use of city resources to fight terrorism and more, some 60 Berkeley residents participated in the Berkeley Progressive Coalition Endorsement Convention Saturday, choosing to endorse Zelda Bronstein for mayor and Dona Spring, Kriss Worthington and Jason Overman for City Council. -more-

Supporters of the Milo Foundation urged the Zoning Adjustments Board last week to authorize the animal adoption agency’s continued use and plans for 1575 Solano Ave. and 1572 Capistrano Ave., as other neighbors called the business a nuisance. -more-

The appearance of State Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O’Connell in Oakland on Friday morning to announce the selection of a new state administrator for the Oakland Unified School District shows how far OUSD School Board members are being kept out of the loop in the running of Oakland’s schools. -more-

With growing community concerns over what some local media outlets are calling the “shocking escalation” in Oakland’s murder rates, Oakland officials are trying to settle a simmering dispute between the city’s two major citizen law enforcement advisory groups and its police department over the allocation of scarce police resources. -more-

Berkeley Police Chief Douglas Hambleton announced Monday that he has suspended two of his officers pending the outcome of internal investigations. -more-

Fresh from summer break, the Berkeley City Council will jump into the fray with a public hearing tonight (Tuesday) on a controversial five-story project proposed for the corner parcel at Harrison Street and San Pablo Avenue. -more-