News

Kali Grosberg of Berkeley lay down on the sidewalk in front of the Oakland Federal Building on Tuesday. Two friends wrapped her in a shroud and placed green rosemary springs on her still body. -more-

UC Berkeley officials are pushing ahead with plans to transform Bowles Hall into a corporate executive education center with a new call for a seismic consultant. -more-

It’s not often that Berkeley Technology Academy students get a chance to fly, but last week was different. -more-

While a new governance structure for the Berkeley Housing Authority may buy federally subsidized renters more time in their Berkeley homes, subsidy cuts could force them out. -more-

The man who was the lead drafter of the Instant Runoff Vote language that eventually became Oakland’s Measure O says that the chance that differences in vote-counting procedures in various forms of IRV could affect the outcome of an election are “incredibly small,” and the example cited in a recent Daily Planet article would not affect an election outcome at all. -more-

The incident involving 23-year-old UCLA student Mostafa Tabatabainejad, who was shot with a taser by campus police officers last week, has sparked off debate in the national media and led to protests at the UC Berkeley. -more-

Jim Slaten’s sewing machine service shop has been on Solano Avenue for more than four decades. Slaten says he doesn’t need an organization to help keep his sidewalks clean and certainly doesn’t need a new planter in front of his store. -more-

Two men—and possibly a third—were shot Tuesday night as gunfire shattered the evening on Sacramento Street. -more-

The Berkeley City Council and Police Review Commission will meet behind closed doors on Monday to discuss a Berkeley Police Association lawsuit against the city, although the requirement for a closed session meeting is disputed by a least one councilmember. -more-

San Francisco Opera singers and fourth-graders at Malcolm X Elementary School joined forces in a one-hour production of Rossini's Barber of Seville at Malcolm X last week. -more-

Fowl delivery -more-

New station opens -more-

UC Berkeley’s controversial plans to convert its historic six-acre Laguna Street extension campus in San Francisco into a private development featuring condominiums and a shopping center are moving forward. -more-

The Berkeley Chamber of Commerce PAC broke local campaign laws when it left its name and identification number off of a political mailer, but the omission was inadvertent, the city’s Fair Political Practices Commission ruled 6-0-1 on Thursday. -more-

With Oakland’s proposed new condominium conversion law set for a return to the Oakland City Council’s Community and Economic Development Committee on Nov. 28, and then to the full council on Dec. 5, the issue is heating up among politicians and tenant groups in the city. -more-

Anyone attending the panel charged with producing a new downtown Berkeley plan on Wednesday night would have heard a lot of words and paper flying over a very short statement. -more-

Vacant office space in Berkeley is growing scarce, says commercial real estate broker John Gordon. -more-

The Library Board of Trustees huddled in closed session Saturday afternoon and evening to interview finalists for the director position. -more-

Users of People’s Park met Sunday to discuss the future of the berms which UC wants to remove on both ends of the Community Garden in the park. -more-

Nine people were elected to the KPFA Local Station Board using ranked choice voting, where voters rank candidates according to their preferences. -more-

Berkeley’s first and most nationally honored landmark, the First Church of Christ Scientist, is $118,000 richer this week, thanks to Internet voters. -more-

Drive-by slaying -more-

Jane Micallef’s name was spelled incorrectly in the Nov. 14 article “One-Stop Homeless Shelter Opens in Oakland.” -more-

LOS ANGELES—A couple of years ago Fox News duked it out with NBC to see which one would be the first to land and air a Simpson interview on the 10th anniversary of the murder case. So Fox’s latest Simpson media dance was not merely a cheap stunt by a network to cash in on the notoriety of a disgraced superstar turned double-murder defendant. The case punched and continues to punch every hot button in the book: race, class, celebrity and sports idolatry, domestic violence and especially tabloid sensationalism. -more-

When it’s past time for rising, cold wet noses find their way under the covers. They know all the drills, days set aside for work and non-work, time of day for meals, snacks and play. You’re always their best friend; warm eyes and wagging tail hold nothing back. Dogs can be loving, stubborn, a comfort and a trial and are usually all four. -more-

Trent Lott, the new Senate minority whip! At first glance it seemed the Republicans had gone completely cuckoo when they narrowly voted to elevate the once-disgraced senator from Mississippi to Republican second-in-command in the Senate. -more-