News

Berkeley will challenge a four-year-old police union suit against the city, said City Attorney Manuela Albuquerque at Tuesday night’s City Council meeting. -more-

New plans for some of Berkeley’s more notable landmarks were presented to the Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) Thursday, with two receiving qualified but unofficial endorsements. -more-

The proverbial playing field on which the Berkeley mayoral and City Council races are being played—at least as far as campaign cash is concerned—is far from level, according to the most recent financial filing statements released Oct. 5. -more-

Berkeley City Council candidate and UC Berkeley student Jason Overman believes in affordable housing and wants to restore funding for the city’s police and fire departments if he gets elected this year. He also spends a lot of time making friends on Facebook.com. -more-

Ten minutes before opening time at the Milo Foundation’s Solano Avenue pet adoption store on Wednesday morning, volunteers are busy taking care of Petey, the 1-year-old yorkshire terrier diagnosed with canine flu. -more-

Today’s (Tuesday) Berkeley City Council meeting will meet in closed session for a continued discussion of the lawsuits that caused the city attorney to suspend all Police Review Commission hearings on complaints against Berkeley police officers. -more-

Discovery of radium in the soil at Richmond’s Booker T. Anderson Park and the results of other radiation testing along the city’s southeastern shoreline will lead off a Thursday night meeting at the Richmond Civic Center. -more-

UC Berkeley’s choice of an architect for a new downtown museum and film center complex won only big thumbs up from those who commented on it at last week’s meeting of the Downtown Area Plan Advisory Committee (DAPAC). -more-

What looks like a light agenda for Wednesday night’s Planning Commission meeting—only two action items are listed—may prove anything but. -more-

As anticipated, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger vetoed a bill last week that would have given increased notification to California high school students and parents of their right to block their contact information from going to military recruiters. -more-

Punched for cell -more-

The Alameda County Registrar of Voters office acted quickly this week to try to convince the public that voting in next month’s elections will be secure, inviting reporters on Monday to tour the county’s downtown vote-counting facilities and releasing an independent contractor’s “vulnerability assessment” of the county’s new voting system. -more-

Berkeley residents have taxed themselves to buy good schools for the kids of the community. We have talented teachers, good physical facilities, and a population that is world famous for its love of peace and ideas. So why are many classes overcrowded? Why are there cutbacks in academic curriculum, continuous incidents of violence and why do a third the students fail to gain a minimal education? I believe that with the many accomplishments of Berkeley’s schools there are also a string of failures and that these are understandable results of policies that have created a sub-culture of failure. We need policies that turn that around to promote new accomplishments. -more-

School boards are always dealing with maintenance issues—essential to maintaining and expanding the status quo; teaching to retain the present structures, as though those, if done right, could serve us all, evidence to the contrary ... extensive evidence to the contrary. -more-

I am a candidate for the School Board because as a parent of two sons in Berkeley schools, I see the promise of what the BUSD can be—a model urban district that uses our vast community resources to provide our children with the opportunity and support to bring out their personal best and prepare them for the challenges of our 21st century world—academically strong and ready to thrive. And, as a long time volunteer in the school district and as a senior manager in local government, I have the proven leadership, skills and experience necessary to bring about this vision. -more-

I am running as an incumbent for a third term on the Board of Education. My husband and I raised our two children in Berkeley, and they are graduates of Berkeley public schools. I have also provided clinical social work services to Bay Area families for over 35 years. These experiences have given me a good appreciation for the real needs of children and families as well as a deep understanding of the change process and what is needed to promote healthy growth and development—in individuals and organizations. I seek re-election because I believe my continued leadership is needed to insure that we maintain the progress we have made and push forward on critically needed improvements in teaching and learning. -more-

Thank you Berkeley Daily Planet for this opportunity! My Name is Nancy Riddle and I am running for re-election to the Berkeley School Board. -more-

Some pedestrians using the crosswalk at Ashby and Piedmont avenues said they feel endangered crossing the street during busy traffic hours, because the Santa Rosa lights at that intersection have been dismantled. -more-

Two days after the Pacific Legal Foundation (PLF) sued Berkeley Unified School District, charging it with violating California’s Proposition 209 by racially discriminating among students during placements at elementary schools and at programs at Berkeley High, school district officials said they will not change their policies. -more-

While incumbent Mayor Tom Bates, with 20 years in state office and four years as mayor, has accumulated the lion’s share of endorsements and buckets of cash—about $74,000 according to his Oct. 5 filing—challenger Zelda Bronstein is running a relentless community campaign, while raising about one-third—$24,000—the amount Bates raised. -more-

After 21 years of organizing, planning, cajoling and fund-raising, Eastshore State Park became a reality Wednesday, fulfilling the dreams of a coalition of environmentalists, politicians and organizations. -more-

While Berkeley may have been known as the free speech capital of the world, the city now lags behind seven other jurisdictions that operate under “sunshine” laws that expand California’s open government statutes. -more-

Concerns about the city attorney’s abrupt mid-September shutdown of the public process addressing complaints against police drew about a dozen people to the open portion of the joint City Council-Police Review Commission closed session Tuesday. -more-

Berkeley voters will have the chance to settle the fate of Berkeley’s Landmarks Preservation Ordinance (LPO) when they vote on Measure J. -more-

A “Wanted—Jack O’Connell” flyer was posted to the Oakland Public School Parents email list this week, taking the State Superintendent to task for what it called “crimes against democracy.” -more-

The City of Oakland has three local measures on the November ballot, all them placed by a vote of the Oakland City Council. Two of them—Measures M and O—are amendments to Oakland’s city charter. One of them—Measure N—is a bond measure. -more-

With the cities of Berkeley and San Leandro already approving the use of instant runoff voting (IRV) whenever the Alameda County voting system can accommodate it—and Oakland voters scheduled to decide on an IRV ballot measure next month—the Alameda County registrar’s office has set up tentative plans for an IRV conference later this month with representatives of the county’s municipalities and other interested parties. -more-

Police seeks suspects in two sexual assaults -more-

The U.S. government’s Gulfstream jets are back in the news. -more-