Campus tree-sitter Zachary Running Wolf makes an unsuccesful plea to UC Regents—by means of the cell phone Doug Buckwald is holding—urging them not to approve a high tech gym that will require decimation of the grove along Memorial Stadium’s western wall. Photograph by Richard Brenneman.
Campus tree-sitter Zachary Running Wolf makes an unsuccesful plea to UC Regents—by means of the cell phone Doug Buckwald is holding—urging them not to approve a high tech gym that will require decimation of the grove along Memorial Stadium’s western wall. Photograph by Richard Brenneman.

Page One

UC Regents Approve Controversial Projects

By Richard Brenneman
Friday December 08, 2006

Tree-sitting protesters, impassioned comments by neighbors and environmental activists, a poem, a bit of guerilla theater and the allotted 90 seconds of reasoned argument from Berkeley’s chief planner failed to sway UC Regents Tuesday. -more-



Council Passes New Landmarks Ordinance

By Judith Scherr
Friday December 08, 2006

The Berkeley City Council approved (6-3) Tuesday night an ordinance preservationists say will make landmarking historic sites and structures more difficult and ease the way for developers to demolish older buildings. -more-



Oakland’s Condo Conversion Bill Comes To Quick End

By J. Douglas Allen-Taylor
Friday December 08, 2006

In a dramatic and rapid end to one of Oakland’s more swiftly rising development controversies, Oakland 6th District Council-member Desley Brooks withdrew her proposal to rewrite Oakland’s condominium conversion law shortly after midnight Wednesday morning, sending the issue to the same “blue-ribbon” citizens’ panel that has been charged with studying the city’s proposed inclusionary zoning law. -more-



Hills Opposition Doomed Measure J

By Rob Wrenn, Spcial to the Planet
Friday December 08, 2006

Voters in the hills and more affluent neighborhoods of Berkeley provided the strongest opposition to Measure J, the landmarks preservation measure on November’s ballot, assuring its defeat. -more-



Corbeil Named New Library Director

By Judith Scherr
Friday December 08, 2006

Donna Corbeil, Solano County Library deputy director, was named Berkeley’s new library director Wednesday night. -more-



Features

Rosie Lee Tomkins (Effie Mae Howard), 1936-2006

By Eli Leon, Special to the Planet
Friday December 08, 2006

African-American quiltmaker Effie Mae Howard who, under the name of Rosie Lee Tompkins, produced astonishing works of patchwork art, died at the age of 70, Thursday or Friday, of unknown causes. New York Times art critic Roberta Smith wrote that Tompkins’s textile art works “demolish the category.” -more-


Committee Looks at People’s Park’s Future

By Judith Scherr
Friday December 08, 2006

“The university has no plans to bulldoze the berms or anything else at People’s Park,” said People’s Park Advisory Committee Chair John Selawsky, reading from a UC Berkeley memo to the 35 or so park supporters crowded into the advisory committee meeting at Trinity United Methodist Church Monday evening. -more-


Police Blotter

Berkeley Woman Stabbed
Friday December 08, 2006

Berkeley Woman Stabbed While Confronting Burglar -more-


UC Berkeley Readies for Durant Hall Renovation

By Richard Brenneman
Friday December 08, 2006

UC Berkeley’s latest building project isn’t a new structure but renovations to an old one—Campbell Hall, now called Durant Hall—recognized as a landmark by city and state and listed on the National Register of Historic Places. -more-


Council to Look at Commission Term Limits

By Judith Scherr
Friday December 08, 2006

Councilmember Laurie Capitelli said he wants to pass around Berkeley commission posts more equitably, which is why he has written an ordinance that will come before the City Council on Tuesday and that would limit a person’s service to eight years on a particular commission during any 10-year period and limit one person’s service to one commission. -more-


New BUSD Board Tackles District Healthy Food Program

By Sindya N. Bhanoo, Special to the Planet
Friday December 08, 2006

With two recently reelected board members and a new one, Wednesday’s meeting of the school board was both festive and deliberative as it swore in the winners and voted unanimously to elect Joaquin Rivera as president and John Selawsky as vice president of the board. -more-


First Person: KALX’s ‘The Sunday Morning Show’ Will Be Missed

By Jonathan Wafer
Friday December 08, 2006

I'm bummed. “The Sunday Morning Show” on UC Berkeley's radio station, KALX (90.7 FM), has been canceled. On Sept. 10 General Manager Sandra Wasson and management decided to pull the plug on the 20-something-year-old show for what they call a lack of direction. -more-


DAPAC Discussion Highlights Tensions Over Downtown

By Richard Brenneman
Friday December 08, 2006

Tensions within the panel helping to draft the new downtown plan emerged more clearly Tuesday night during a fast-paced meeting. -more-


Swanson Bill Seeks to Return Some Local Control to OUSD

By J. Douglas Allen-Taylor
Friday December 08, 2006

16th District Assemblymember Sandré Swanson (D-Oakland) quickly delivered on a promise made several times during the months since he won the June Democratic primary, introducing a bill on his first day as a state legislator to immediately return some measure of local control to the Oakland Unified School District. -more-


Richmond’s Activist Librarian Honored By Colleagues

By Richard Brenneman
Friday December 08, 2006

Tarnel Abbott isn’t just a staunch defender of free speech: she’s also a dedicated practitioner. -more-


Public Comment

Letters to the Editor

Friday December 08, 2006

TRAFFIC COURT MOVE -more-


Commentary: Berkeley’s Charm At Risk

By Fred Dodsworth
Friday December 08, 2006

Thank you for the excellent Dec. 5 article regarding the push to increase housing in the downtown Berkeley corridor. I especially liked that you paired ABAG’s demands with UC’s building boom on the front page. -more-


Commentary: Breathable Air Is a Human Right, Too

By Rita Maran
Friday December 08, 2006

Human Rights Day comes but once a year, on Dec. 10. It’s the same date in every country around the world no matter what the local religion or culture or nationality. On that date, people around the globe—not just here in the Bay Area—commemorate the adoption by the United Nations of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Back in 1948, people first got to hear this quietly revolutionary declaration by the United Nations, that had the full support of the United States. All the governments that were and are part of the UN agreed that every human being’s rights are automatically entitled to protection, thanks to the brand-new operating principle called “human rights.” -more-


Commentary: Better Places for TJ’s in Downtown Berkeley

By Stephen Wollmer
Friday December 08, 2006

On Thursday Dec. 14 Hudson McDonald’s Trader Joe’s project at 1885 University Ave. will come before the Zoning Adjustments Board for use permits. So far, the public controversy swirling about this project has missed the real issue: Hudson McDonald’s use of Trader Joe’s popularity as a wedge issue to extort “extra-legal” zoning concessions from our city. -more-


Commentary: Conflict of Interest, Cronyism, Secrecy and Profit Motive

By Peter Warfield and Gene Bernardi
Friday December 08, 2006

A triple dose of conflict of interest, secrecy, and outsourcing of most of the library director selection process to a private search firm, Dubberly Garcia Associates (DGA), and to an advisory committee of outside library directors, raises very serious questions. -more-


Commentary: Gibson’s ‘Apocalypto’ Far From a Tribute to the Maya

By Gabriela Erandi Rico
Friday December 08, 2006

During the past week or so, tickets were distributed to UC Berkeley’s students in order to attract Mexican-Americans to view Mel Gibson’s new film, Apocalypto. When I first heard about the film, I was struck by Gibson’s investment in a project “reviving” an ancient Mesoamerican civilization not only because as a Mexican Indian (P’urhepecha/matlatzinca), I have great respect for the Maya but also because I’ve been fortunate to visit Catemaco, the wondrous place where the film was shot and was thus interested in how the site was used to capture the plot of the film. Curiosity got the best of me although I was a bit apprehensive about Gibson’s ability to accurately portray a Native American society or to present Native people in a positive light. I was right. -more-


Editorial

Editorial: More Attacks on Citizen Participation Rumored

By Becky O’Malley
Friday December 08, 2006

Back in the olden days when I was a kid, we traveled a lot by streetcar, and sometimes by train. One interesting feature of rail travel is that long before you can see your streetcar or train coming, you can tell that it’s getting near by leaning over and putting your ear next to the rails (which was a lot easier when I was closer to the ground). This phenomenon came to mind last week as I heard rumbles about new moves in the City Council’s agenda committee to limit the power of citizen-based commissions. I’ll leave the exact details to the news reporters to document when they actually come into view, but the rumblings from the rails threw up two possible strategies: further term-limiting commissioners and limiting individuals to service on one commission at a time. -more-


Columns

Column: Dispatches From the Edge: Madness and Insanity: Deciphering Words in the Desert

By Conn Hallinan
Friday December 08, 2006

Somewhere between 465 and 406 BC, the Greek tragic poet and playwright Euripides coined a phrase which still captures the particular toxic combination of hubris and illusion that seizes many of those in power: “Whom the Gods would destroy, they first make mad.” -more-


Column: Undercurrents: Brown Leaves Oakland With Legacy of Improper Planning

By J. Douglas Allen-Taylo
Friday December 08, 2006

Folks generally think about city planning in the same way that we think about central plumbing. It’s noticed only when it fails, and even then our attention is mostly on how to clean up the resultant mess, not on fixing the internal structures that originally caused the problem. -more-


About the House: Taking Action With Photovoltaic Solar Power

By Matt Cantor
Friday December 08, 2006

The death toll in Iraq this last month was the highest so far in a war that shows no end in sight. There is little doubt that the oil in the region has played a significant role in our willingness to participate in a “War on Terror” some sources now believe has resulted in nearly 700,000 deaths in Iraq, not to mention an outright civil war. -more-


Garden Variety: Mrs. Dalloway’s is Not Just A Garden Bookstore

By Ron Sullivan
Friday December 08, 2006

I can’t resist Mrs. Dalloway’s—well, I can rarely resist any bookstore, though lately I know I’m guaranteed a headache when I venture into one without my reading specs. Since I rarely remember to carry those around with me and so end up craning and squinting my way through the shelves, browsing bookstores has become a bit of an S&M exercise. No matter. Mrs. D’s pulls me in just by the lovely (and amazingly persistent) vegetal scent of its woven-grass carpet. So I’m already biased in the place’s favor; let me get that disclaimer out right here at the start. -more-


You Write the Daily Planet

Friday December 08, 2006

It’s time to submit your essays, poems, stories and photographs for the Planet’s annual holiday reader contribution issue, which will be published on Dec. 29. Send your submissions, up to 1,000 words, to holiday@berkeleydailyplanet.com. Deadline is 5 p.m. on Dec. 20. -more-


Quake Tip: The Valves Are Coming! The Valves Are Coming!

By Larry Guillot
Friday December 08, 2006

You may have noticed that Contra Costa County has passed an ordinance requiring houses that are being sold to have an automatic gas shut-off valve. This will apply to all areas that are unincorporated, which means a lot of homes. -more-


Arts Listings

Arts Calendar

Friday December 08, 2006


Moving Pictures: PFA Screens Two Italian Art House Classics

By Justin DeFreitas
Friday December 08, 2006

The Theater: Ten Red Hen Takes on ‘365 Plays’ Project

By Ken Bullock, Special to the Planet
Friday December 08, 2006

Events Listings

Berkeley This Week

Friday December 08, 2006

Back Stories

Opinion

Editorials

Editorial: More Attacks on Citizen Participation Rumored 12-08-2006

Council to Look at Telegraph, BIDs, Nanoparticles 12-05-2006

Public Comment

Letters to the Editor 12-08-2006

Commentary: Berkeley’s Charm At Risk By Fred Dodsworth 12-08-2006

Commentary: Breathable Air Is a Human Right, Too By Rita Maran 12-08-2006

Commentary: Better Places for TJ’s in Downtown Berkeley By Stephen Wollmer 12-08-2006

Commentary: Conflict of Interest, Cronyism, Secrecy and Profit Motive By Peter Warfield and Gene Bernardi 12-08-2006

Commentary: Gibson’s ‘Apocalypto’ Far From a Tribute to the Maya By Gabriela Erandi Rico 12-08-2006

Letters to the Editor 12-05-2006

Commentary:The Full Story on Derby Field Discussions By Mark Coplan 12-05-2006

Commentary: Urban Realities Ever Present on Oakland-Berkeley Border By Christopher Cherney 12-05-2006

Commentary: Parking Tickets: A Hidden Agenda? By Steve Tabor 12-05-2006

News

UC Regents Approve Controversial Projects By Richard Brenneman 12-08-2006

Council Passes New Landmarks Ordinance By Judith Scherr 12-08-2006

Oakland’s Condo Conversion Bill Comes To Quick End By J. Douglas Allen-Taylor 12-08-2006

Hills Opposition Doomed Measure J By Rob Wrenn, Spcial to the Planet 12-08-2006

Corbeil Named New Library Director By Judith Scherr 12-08-2006

Rosie Lee Tomkins (Effie Mae Howard), 1936-2006 By Eli Leon, Special to the Planet 12-08-2006

Committee Looks at People’s Park’s Future By Judith Scherr 12-08-2006

Police Blotter Berkeley Woman Stabbed 12-08-2006

UC Berkeley Readies for Durant Hall Renovation By Richard Brenneman 12-08-2006

Council to Look at Commission Term Limits By Judith Scherr 12-08-2006

New BUSD Board Tackles District Healthy Food Program By Sindya N. Bhanoo, Special to the Planet 12-08-2006

First Person: KALX’s ‘The Sunday Morning Show’ Will Be Missed By Jonathan Wafer 12-08-2006

DAPAC Discussion Highlights Tensions Over Downtown By Richard Brenneman 12-08-2006

Swanson Bill Seeks to Return Some Local Control to OUSD By J. Douglas Allen-Taylor 12-08-2006

Richmond’s Activist Librarian Honored By Colleagues By Richard Brenneman 12-08-2006

Flash: Council Approves First Reading of LPO Revision By Judith Scherr 12-05-2006

Protesters Take to the Trees to Save Threatened Live Oaks By Richard Brenneman 12-05-2006

ABAG: Berkeley Must Double New Housing By Richard Brenneman 12-05-2006

UC Berkeley’s Billion Dollar Building Boom Surges Ahead By Richard Brenneman 12-05-2006

Brown Withdraws Nomination That Drew Fire By J. Douglas Allen-Taylor 12-05-2006

Revised Landmark Ordinance Back Before Council By Judith Scherr 12-05-2006

DAPAC, Landmarks Commissions Meet By Richard Brenneman 12-05-2006

UC Regents Set to Vote on Massive Southeast Campus Development By Richard Brenneman 12-05-2006

Columns

Column: Dispatches From the Edge: Madness and Insanity: Deciphering Words in the Desert By Conn Hallinan 12-08-2006

Column: Undercurrents: Brown Leaves Oakland With Legacy of Improper Planning By J. Douglas Allen-Taylo 12-08-2006

About the House: Taking Action With Photovoltaic Solar Power By Matt Cantor 12-08-2006

Garden Variety: Mrs. Dalloway’s is Not Just A Garden Bookstore By Ron Sullivan 12-08-2006

You Write the Daily Planet 12-08-2006

Quake Tip: The Valves Are Coming! The Valves Are Coming! By Larry Guillot 12-08-2006

Barn Owls: House Hunting in Berkeley By Penny Bartlett, Special to the Planet 12-05-2006

Arts & Events

Arts Calendar 12-08-2006

Arts and Entertainment Around the East Bay 12-08-2006

Moving Pictures: PFA Screens Two Italian Art House Classics By Justin DeFreitas 12-08-2006

The Theater: Ten Red Hen Takes on ‘365 Plays’ Project By Ken Bullock, Special to the Planet 12-08-2006

About the House: Taking Action With Photovoltaic Solar Power By Matt Cantor 12-08-2006

Garden Variety: Mrs. Dalloway’s is Not Just A Garden Bookstore By Ron Sullivan 12-08-2006

You Write the Daily Planet 12-08-2006

Quake Tip: The Valves Are Coming! The Valves Are Coming! By Larry Guillot 12-08-2006

Berkeley This Week 12-08-2006

Arts Calendar 12-05-2006

Arts and Entertainment Around the East Bay 12-05-2006

Wallace Berman and His Circle at BAM By Peter Selz, Special to the Planet 12-05-2006

Revels Mark Holiday Season By Ken Bullock, Special to the Planet 12-05-2006

Other Minds Festival Begins This Weekend By Ken Bullock, Special to the Planet 12-05-2006

Barn Owls: House Hunting in Berkeley By Penny Bartlett, Special to the Planet 12-05-2006

Berkeley This Week 12-05-2006