After Berkeley firefighters rescued her from her burning home Monday night, a Berkeley woman took out a cigarette lighter and tried to set herself ablaze. -more-

While the Berkeley Chamber of Commerce is raking in thousands of dollars to battle for candidates and oppose ballot measures, there’s no record on file anywhere to show who’s giving or getting the money—and there probably won’t be until right before or after the Nov. 7 election. -more-

During the past legislative session, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and Democratic legislative leaders (primarily Sen. Don Perata and Assembly Speaker Fabian Nuñez) reached an agreement to put four bond measures on the ballot to fund various projects in California. -more-

A law intended to increase construction of affordable housing units was invoked at Tuesday’s Berkeley City Council meeting by attorney Rena Rickles, in an attempt to push the council to approve a controversial mixed-use housing and commercial development at San Pablo Avenue and Harrison Street. -more-

In this internet-dependent age, when less than a month before a runoff election an incumbent officeholder’s website [www.roland4auditor.com/] has no photo, no qualifications, no campaign platform, no endorsement information, no contact number, and reads only “Site under construction—check back for more information”—well, then, you know that incumbent is in some political trouble. -more-

What started off as a discussion differentiating creeks and culverts at the Planning Commission meeting on Wednesday went on to become a heated debate about the ambiguities and inaccuracies of the proposed amendments to the Creeks Ordinance. -more-

After years of grappling, construction on the long-awaited multi-use playing field at Derby Street and Martin Luther King finally started on Oct. 1. -more-

Last Friday, Ivery McKnight-Johnson left behind her legacy as Berkeley High School’s (BHS) Student Activities Director to go work as a middle school counselor in the Central Valley. -more-

A hearing on a four-year-old police union suit against the city is slated for Nov. 14 at 9 a.m. in Alameda County Superior Court Dept. 31. -more-

Gas fire -more-

This is part one of a two-part series -more-

FAILING OUR STUDENTS -more-

My name is George Beier and I am running for City Council for Berkeley’s District 7, the district that includes Telegraph Avenue. I am grateful to the Planet for this opportunity to tell you about myself, why I am running and what I hope to do for this city. -more-

Diversity, creativity, and a commitment to promoting new ideas are what make Berkeley such a wonderful place to live and work. For the past ten years on the City Council I’ve been a progressive leader on a wide range of issues. I’ve had to walk a thin line between maintaining my sense of where Berkeley should be going while pragmatically getting things done in the here and now. Here are the areas I’ve focused on: -more-

The name of my campaign committee is Dona Spring for City Council. Residing in Berkeley for the past 34 years, I graduated from UC Berkeley with honors with a B.A. in Anthropology and Psychology. -more-

My name is Raudel Wilson and I am running for City Council in District 4. I am proud to say I have been married to my wife, Grace, for the past nine years and I am the proud father of two young boys. My oldest son “Little” Raudel started Kindergarten this month at Washington Elementary School. My youngest son, Albert, is 2-years-old. He spends his day with my wife enjoying Habitot Children’s Museum and a wealth of local parks. My family and I live in the neighborhood just west of the Downtown. Each morning I have the privilege of walking my son to school on my way to work. -more-

I write regarding Robert Cheasty’s Sept. 26 commentary, which is so riddled with untrue statements and outright falsehoods that I feel compelled to respond. -more-

The Daily Planet recently published a commentary from Mary Hurlbert, an employee of the Berkeley Unified School District’s downtown staff, supporting the school district’s proposed parcel tax on the November ballot. However, what’s wrong with the new measure A are its very troubling consequences for our children’s’ future, namely no guarantees that the money will be spent to benefit children’s education, while giving administrators a free hand to spend the money for “all costs,” including hefty salary increases for administrators. -more-

At a recent campaign appearance, mayoral candidate Zelda Bronstein said that the people of Berkeley should oppose “government by fiat” and instead encourage more “community-based decision-making.” That’s a great idea—and all who agree with it will vote against Measure J, the anti-democratic landmark preservation initiative. -more-

Like many who read the just-mailed North East Berkeley Association newsletter, I had to check twice to see if this was really a mailing from the old and respected neighborhood organization, or just a Republican hit piece. -more-

The coup in Thailand was treated by most of the U.S. media with profound confusion over what was at stake, coupled with a certain admiration at its bloodless efficiency. Photos of soldiers being handed roses and children posing in front of tanks were all the rage on front pages and the six o’clock news. But if the Sept. 19 putsch turns out to be the coup de grace for Thailand’s young democracy, a major culprit in the whole sordid business will be the International Monetary Fund (IMF). -more-

The recently-released Assessment and Recovery Plan Fourth Progress Report on the Oakland Unified School District by the Fiscal Crisis and Management Assessment Team (FCMAT) takes us into Alice-In-Wonderland/Bizarro world territory, friends. Concluding that the office of the State Superintendent’s office has messed up the Oakland schools for three years and counting without Oakland’s input, our friends at FCMAT continue to assert that this proves Oakland is not ready to run Oakland’s schools. The logic of that assertion escapes me, but it’s all perfectly legal and all built into SB39, the Don Perata-authored legislation that authorized the Oakland school takeover in 2003. -more-

In Ayn Rand’s The Fountainhead, the only architect worth his salt is the individualist who tosses all historic precedents onto the trash heap. Published in 1943, the novel was a battle cry for the revolution of modernism, which was expected to take hold from then to eternity. -more-

Pete Veilleux wrote something to the California native-plant mavens’ mailing list the other day: “It’s October! Time for squirrel stomach pie—my memere’s specialty. She called it poor man’s toot cake.” -more-

The anniversary of the Loma Prieta is upon us once again and still so little has been done to prepare for our earthquake. That’s right. Loma Prieta wasn’t ours. It was in the mountains of Watsonville nearly 100 miles to the south. -more-