News

Cheerful Crowd Celebrates Stadium Grove Tree-Sitters

By Richard Brenneman
Tuesday December 19, 2006
Though the thermometer hovered in the upper 40s and seemed even cooler beneath a mantle of oak leaves and an overcast sky, the crowd that gathered near Memorial Stadium Saturday was anything but cold. -more-

Zoning Board Approves Trader Joe’s Building, Project Foes Planning Lawsuit

By Richard Brenneman
Tuesday December 19, 2006
Rejecting the pleas of angry neighbors and threats of a lawsuit, the Zoning Adjustments Board (ZAB) voted 5-3 early Friday to approve the “Trader Joe’s Building.” -more-

Drayage Demolition Moves Forward; ZAB OKs Bus Yard, Condos

By Richard Brenneman
Tuesday December 19, 2006
A marathon Zoning Adjustments Board (ZAB) session Thursday ended with approvals for two major housing projects, new bus yard, a new home for Freight & Salvage and demolition of the Drayage. -more-

Oakland School Takeover Investigation Gets Key Support

By J. Douglas Allen-Taylor
Tuesday December 19, 2006
Oakland’s newly elected state assemblymember, Sandré Swanson, has proposed setting up a Select Assembly Committee to investigate state takeovers of California schools, and the idea has already gotten support from key legislators from the affected districts. -more-

Army Subpoenas Oakland Journalist in Watada Court Marshal

By Judith Scherr
Tuesday December 19, 2006
Freelance journalist Sarah Olson does not want to testify at First Lt. Ehren Watada’s court marshal in February. At around 8:45 a.m. on Thursday, she received a subpoena from the U.S. Army telling her to do so. -more-

Woodfin Workers Protest Pre-Christmas Suspension

By Judith Scherr
Tuesday December 19, 2006

Problems With Measure A, Says Former Peralta Counsel

By J. Douglas Allen-Taylor
Tuesday December 19, 2006

Curt Flood: 10 Years Later and No Closer To the Hall of Fame

By Bill Fletcher, Jr., New America Media
Tuesday December 19, 2006

Law Students Help Score Win for Immigrants in Supreme Court

By Rene P. Ciria-Cruz, New America Media
Tuesday December 19, 2006

Country Joe McDonald led celebrants in a chorus of the “Hokey Oaky” Saturday, his own version of the venerable children’s song with the words tweaked to support the tree-sitters protesting the removal of coast live oaks from a campus grove. Photograph by Richard Brenneman.
Country Joe McDonald led celebrants in a chorus of the “Hokey Oaky” Saturday, his own version of the venerable children’s song with the words tweaked to support the tree-sitters protesting the removal of coast live oaks from a campus grove. Photograph by Richard Brenneman.

Editorials

Editorial: PC or Not, Trader Joe’s is Coming

By Becky O’Malley
Tuesday December 19, 2006
Over the weekend, talk at parties was how the project now known as Trader Joe’s got the green light from Berkeley’s Zoning Adjustments Board to set up shop on University Avenue, accompanied by several stories of market-rate condos-in-waiting and a big parking garage. One Berkeley-reared guest at Saturday night’s event thought Trader Joe’s was a nice addition to Berkeley because it’s owned by a southern California family, and expands by bootstrapping, one store at a time. Well, no, we said. Since 1979 it’s been part of a German billion-dollar conglomerate, though the whole empire is indeed owned by two German brothers in a family trust. She seemed shocked, almost disbelieving, so cleverly has TJ’s (as it’s called by its devotees) marketed its downhome image. Founder Joe is long gone. But it treats its employees very well, she said. Well, yes, as long as they don’t try to organize a union, we said. That also seemed to surprise her. -more-

Reader Commentaries

Letters to the Editor

Tuesday December 19, 2006

Commentary: Examining the Opposition to the New LPO

By Alan Tobey
Tuesday December 19, 2006


Commentary: Who’s Being Served?

By Erin Wolfe
Tuesday December 19, 2006

Columnists

Column: Christmas in Las Vegas, Part One

By Susan Parker
Tuesday December 19, 2006

Crow Talk and Chickadee Alarms: What Birds Are Saying

By Joe Eaton, Special to the Planet
Tuesday December 19, 2006

Arts & Entertainment

Arts Calendar

Tuesday December 19, 2006


Arts: Hits and Rarities From the Cole Porter Songbook

By Ken Bullock, Special to the Planet
Tuesday December 19, 2006

Arts: Mussorgsky’s ‘Khovanchina’ at First Congregational Church

By Ken Bullock, Special to the Planet
Tuesday December 19, 2006

Events Calendar

Berkeley This Week

Tuesday December 19, 2006