Less than a day after an Oakland judge refused to order the eviction of protesters at the Memorial Stadium tree-in, UC Berkeley police staged a pre-dawn raid Friday, evicting supporters of the tree-dwellers and leveling their encampment. -more-
“No UC campus has paid its fair share for identified off-campus mitigation measures,” concludes a just-released report by the state Legislative Analyst’s Office (LAO). -more-
The Berkeley Chamber of Commerce took a stand endorsing various candidates and measures on the November 2006 ballot. City Councilmember Dona Spring says it’s fine for the organization to support candidates of its choice—but she objects to the city paying dues to the chamber and other organizations that make endorsements. -more-
With members of the Oakland Unified School District’s powerless advisory board of trustees renewing their call for an immediate return to local control of the Oakland schools, incoming Oakland Mayor Ron Dellums used the platform of the joint city-school inauguration at the Paramount Theater last week to issue his strongest statement to date on the subject. -more-
Carrying posters, placards and “No to Cell Phone Antennas” signs to the Zoning Adjustments Board meeting on Thursday, a group of South Berkeley residents questioned the need to construct a new wireless telecommunications facility that will host 18 cell phone antennas and related equipment atop the UC Storage Building at 2721 Shattuck Ave. -more-
Supporters of the warm water pool are getting ready to assert the importance of saving the pool, now located in Berkeley High School’s old gymnasium building, at the School Board meeting on Wednesday. -more-
The demand for new Berkeley housing embodied in tentative plans of regional government “boggles even the most ardent smart-growther’s mind,” Mark Rhoades warned last week. -more-
Today (Tuesday) at 5 p.m. a Police Review Commission subcommittee will take its first look at recommendations from the California Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training, the organization that reviewed how Berkeley Police deal with their drug evidence. -more-
Members of two city panels will gather Wednesday to discuss the fate of downtown Berkeley’s historic buildings. -more-
The newly reconstituted Peralta Board of Trustees faces an old controversy—facilities bond money spending—when it meets for the first time in the new year tonight (Tuesday) in the library of the College of Alameda. But one of the trustees who helped delay close to $15 million in Measure A material and equipment requests during a contentious December board meeting believes that the matter will now go more smoothly this time around. -more-
A second community meeting about the East Campus playing fields was held Thursday to give residents another chance to comment on the plan to possibly close Derby Street for the installation of a regulation-size high school baseball field and the proposal to keep the street open with the “curvy Derby plan,” which would bend the street to accomodate the field. -more-
Oakland’s original designation as the “Athens of the Pacific”—favorably comparing the city’s education system to that of the legendary Mediterranean civilization—was clearly somewhat different from Oakland Councilmember Jean Quan’s stated vision for a quality public school system. -more-
Less than a day after an Oakland judge refused to order the eviction of protesters at the Memorial Stadium tree-in, UC Berkeley police staged a pre-dawn raid Friday, evicting supporters of the tree-dwellers and leveling their encampment. -more-
The battle between developers and Berkeley preservationists appears to be headed back to the ballot box. -more-
Black Oak Books is up for sale and could close as soon as this summer if no buyer is found. -more-
After months of conflict with Berkeley’s Zoning Ordinance and some neighbors, the Milo Foundation has decided to close the doors at its 1575 Solano Ave. pet adoption store on June 1 and move to another location. -more-
With a tentative date for a hearing on an injunction to impose a freeze on UC Berkeley construction plans at Memorial Stadium set for Jan. 23, attorneys were negotiating Thursday to define terms for an interim agreement. -more-
The war over Berkeley’s architectural legacy, waged at the polls in November and in the current referendum effort, continues on another front in the struggle to create a new downtown plan. -more-
Acting Alameda County Registrar of Voters Dave Macdonald, who led the county through the June and November elections that included the implementation of the new scanned paper-ballot voting system, has been named the county’s permanent registrar by the county board of supervisors. -more-
A leading California hotelier will unveil plans Feb. 1 to transform the ailing Shattuck Hotel into a“three or four star” accommodation, reports city Planning Manager Mark Rhoades. -more-
The Live Oak Coordinices Creek Neighborhood Association will be holding a community meeting on Wednesday, Jan. 17, at the Live Oak Park Recreation Center to develop a neighborhood alternative to the North Shattuck Plaza plan. -more-
More than four years after Oakland voters overwhelmingly passed the $198 million Measure DD water and recreation bond, Oakland city officials are learning a truism: Spending city money can sometimes be far more difficult than obtaining it. -more-
Mayor Tom Bates said Friday he has no intention of calling a special election on the referendum that threatens to block implementation of the Landmarks Preservation Ordinance (LPO) approved by the City Council last month. -more-
The consultant who will help improve People’s Park in the coming months will be selected from a list of three finalists at a closed panel interview session on Friday (today). -more-
Yesterday, Jan. 12, 2007, will long be remembered as one of the most ignominious days in the history of UC Berkeley politics. The day after the county court refused to immediately allow the university to send in the chain saws, exactly 40 days after the tree sitters began their protest, and on one of the coldest days of the year with freeze warnings and weather forecast for record or near record cold lows in the 20s and 30s for the coming night, the UCB administration sent in their own police force to remove the ground support for the Memorial Oak Grove tree sitters. -more-
The Warm Pool Committee has received a copy of the final environmental impact report (EIR) commissioned by the Berkeley Unified School District. It consists of the EIR issued in September, copies of responses to that EIR, and the School District’s answer to those responses. Needless to say, their position regarding the warm pool is literally beyond belief. Their attitude is expressed in the following quote: -more-
Kathleen Cha’s brief explanation of ABAG’s (Association of Bay Area Governments) proposal to Bay Area cities, that they must develop new multilevel and multifamily housing (for 634,000 new residents regionally, 4,200 in Berkeley by 2015) [BDP, 1/5/07], is responding to concerns in the pages of the Planet initiated by an earlier article on that subject [12/5/06]. Cha’s growth estimates remain unattributed; she does not suggest what plans for the future they represent. Indeed, ABAG’s webpage projects population increases of a million in the next 20 years, and a Chronicle article [12/15/06] puts it at 2 million. The Chronicle advises us to simply reconcile ourselves to becoming “high density cities.” -more-
Councilmember Wozniak recently removed his appointee, Dean Metzger, from the Zoning Adjustments Board (ZAB). Since Mr. Wozniak has not publicly thanked Mr. Metzger for his ZAB service, I would like to do so—on behalf of many. In addition, Mr. Metzger has served his community on the Transportation Commission and through his neighborhood association (CENA), Berkeley Alliance of Neighborhood Associations (BANA), and Berkeleyans for a Livable University Environment (BLUE), among others. All these organizations and the city have profited greatly from his intelligence, integrity, and hard work. -more-
When the Democrats obtained a congressional majority in November’s midterm elections, it sent a message to the White House, and to all of America, that people are ready for change. Change in Iraq, change in the power of the presidency, change in foreign policy, and change in the way citizens are treated at home. But, in the throws of such a heated election, at least one important issue was left largely unaddressed—what America’s role should be in quelling the genocide in Darfur. -more-
As I move toward the conclusion of my first year as president of the Downtown Berkeley Association Board, I can look back with satisfaction on a number of partnerships we have formed in recent months which I think have made DBA increasingly influential as a molder of public policy in the downtown. One of the most important, I believe, has been the relationship we have crafted between the DBA and the group known as Business Alliance for Local Living Economies (BALLE)—an innovative economic development organization.” -more-
After recently going through my first election cycle as chair of government affairs, I wanted to offer a few thoughts on the Great ’06 Berkeley Political Struggle. I recently finished reading 1776 and John Adams by David McCullough and Founding Brother’s: The Revolutionary Generation by Joseph Ellis, and so was able to experience this election cycle in the context of political history. Then, as now, the political bickering and posturing began before and lasted long after the actual votes were counted. There is a major difference however, the bullhorns are much larger today. -more-
I’ve gotten many kind and thoughtful letters since Ralph’s death, but none more poignant than the missive I recently received from Tim Murray, who once lived in the East Bay and was active in South Berkeley politics. -more-
Among other signs of impending geezerhood, I keep noticing that some birds that used to be common are harder and harder to find. I can remember winters when the bay seemed to be paved with surf scoters. -more-
Walking around my old neighborhood—it is also my current neighborhood, as well, having returned to the place where I grew up—used to be a pleasure, but in recent years it has become something of an obstacle course, with most blocks having at least one car pulled up on the sidewalk, lengthways or crossways, blocking the way. -more-
Fundraising for the modern university is increasingly dependent on skyboxes and suchlike mammoth public structures where the golden deal can be clinched amid resplendent surroundings. But it wasn’t always so. There used to be a time when personal magnetism was enough to accomplish the goal. -more-
It has come to my attention that the hard freeze predicted (as I write this) for late this week is the first some of my fellow Berkeley denizens have experienced here. If it happened on time, you’re reading this in the Retrospectroscope, that scientific instrument that gives us 20-20 hindsight. Still, this might be useful. -more-
I am something of a purist when it comes to our older housing stock. Well actually, let me revise that. What I really am is a lover of old houses and all the bits of antiquity that inhabit our cities. Buildings, signage, concrete sidewalk stamps and vintage cars. -more-
“What led me to a life of piracy on the high seas? ... It wasn’t a woman; it was a book!” -more-
Among other signs of impending geezerhood, I keep noticing that some birds that used to be common are harder and harder to find. I can remember winters when the bay seemed to be paved with surf scoters. -more-
ARIAS ABOUT MALCOLM IN HONOR OF RON -more-
Though Eve A. Ma traveled the world, she spends much of her time trying to bring that world back home to the rest of us. Ma is the entrepreneurial force behind Palomino Productions, a Berkeley-based company producing DVDs and television programs on the art of dance. -more-
Berkeley composer and retired UC Berkeley professor Olly Wilson’s Symphony No. 3, Hold On, which sets and responds to the old African-American spiritual of that name, celebrating its sense of spiritual tenacity and persistence, will be featured as George Thomson returns to the podium of the Berkeley Symphony, 8 p.m. this Sat. at Zellerbach Auditorium, with an eclectic program including Stravinsky’s Concertino for Twelve Instruments, Sibelius’ Violin Concerto and Matthew Locke’s Restoration era theater music for The Tempest. -more-
Silent film star Mary Pickford famously described director Ernst Lubitsch as a “director of doors,” a man more at home working with the choreography of entrances and exits than with actors and emotions. This acerbic remark, uttered in the awake of an ill-fated collaboration with the director on Rosita, his first American production, has a grain of truth but should be taken with a grain of salt as well. -more-
Fundraising for the modern university is increasingly dependent on skyboxes and suchlike mammoth public structures where the golden deal can be clinched amid resplendent surroundings. But it wasn’t always so. There used to be a time when personal magnetism was enough to accomplish the goal. -more-
It has come to my attention that the hard freeze predicted (as I write this) for late this week is the first some of my fellow Berkeley denizens have experienced here. If it happened on time, you’re reading this in the Retrospectroscope, that scientific instrument that gives us 20-20 hindsight. Still, this might be useful. -more-
I am something of a purist when it comes to our older housing stock. Well actually, let me revise that. What I really am is a lover of old houses and all the bits of antiquity that inhabit our cities. Buildings, signage, concrete sidewalk stamps and vintage cars. -more-
