News

Three of the most prominent names in Berkeley politics ascended to an oak-borne platform Monday to put their bodies on the line in defense of a campus grove. -more-

Councilmember Dona Spring called a Fair Campaign Practices Commission decision not to pursue a complaint against those responsible for a July opinion poll “a whitewash of a blatantly political” survey. -more-

Despite a city attorney’s finding that a secret pre-election poll on Berkeley landmarks law didn’t violate city election codes, supporters of Berkeley’s defeated Measure J remain skeptical. -more-

A group of Berkeley community members and Bay Area skaters have come together to explore actions which could save the 67-year-old Berkeley Iceland from closing down in March. -more-

The 17-member Oversight Committee for Alameda County’s 2004 Measure A health services sales tax presented its first year of findings to the Board of Supervisors Health Committee this week, concluding that while funds were spent in compliance with the measure’s purposes during the ’04-’05 fiscal year, there were “inconsistencies” in expenditure reporting from organizations receiving Measure A “which did not allow consistent scrutiny of all fund recipients.” -more-

Marcia Freedman went to Israel in 1967 when her then-husband landed a temporary job as guest lecturer at Haifa University. She stayed for decades, becoming an Israeli citizen, a member of the Knesset (1973-77), an author, an out lesbian and a self-defined peace activist. -more-

Stores on economically ailing Telegraph Avenue will be allowed to keep longer hours and many new businesses there will find permits easier to get under new zoning ordinances to be considered by the Planning Commission Wednesday. -more-

The Zoning Adjustments Board on Thursday will once again hear a request by Verizon Wireless and Nextel Communications for a use permit to construct a new wireless telecommunications facility for 18 cell phone antennas and related equipment atop the UC Storage building at 2721 Shattuck Ave. -more-

A 76-year-old man died early Thursday as flames did more than $1 million in damage to his North Berkeley home. -more-

In two dramatic votes Wednesday, members of Berkeley’s Downtown Area Plan Advisory Committee (DAPAC) adopted a preservation-oriented platform and called for transforming a block of Center Street into a pedestrian plaza. -more-

As the Berkeley Landmarks War heads for a second showdown at the ballot box, preservationists opened a second front in the courts Tuesday. -more-

Those who may have thought that Ron Dellums would alter his political positions before the business community now that he has entered Oakland’s City Hall, or that the business community would be less than favorable to Dellums’ previously announced positions, got a sense they may be wrong at the San Francisco Business Times’ Annual Mayors’ Economic Forecast breakfast at the San Francisco Hilton on Wednesday morning. -more-

The Berkeley school board voted unanimously on Wednesday to accept the Berkeley High School environmental impact report on the Berkeley High School South of Bancroft Master Plan and to approve the Master Plan project. -more-

Some called proposals the Berkeley City Council debated Tuesday evening on commission restrictions “good government,” but others said imposing limits on the number of years commissioners can serve on one commission and on the number of commissions they can serve on at one time was a political move aimed at squelching the voices of commissioners who question large development projects. -more-

Membership in the Berkeley Chamber of Commerce underscores the city’s desire to promote business, Chamber Executive Director Rachel Rupert told the council Tuesday, arguing against a resolution that would have the city cancel memberships in organizations that participate in electoral politics. -more-

While legislative term limits prematurely ended the assembly career of Oakland area representative Wilma Chan, it has helped to immediately boost her successor, Sandré Swanson, up the leadership ladder. -more-

One week after George W. Bush told the nation he would commit 20,000 additional troops to fight on the ground in Iraq, the Bay Area peace community got the bold response it wanted to hear. -more-

Over the years, anxious parents taking the first step toward admitting their children to school have found a guiding light in the Berkeley Unified School District’s Kindergarten Fair. -more-

A planned Saturday afternoon protest and celebration of the Memorial Stadium tree-in aims at recruiting returning UC Berkeley students to the cause of the six branch-sitters and their allies. -more-

As the Global Exchange tour bus makes its way out of Caracas, our Venezuelan guide explains that what we are passing—an extensive array of makeshift dwellings on both sides of the highway—is the largest shantytown in Latin America, rivaled only by the slums of Rio De Janeiro. -more-

More than 15,000 customers of Amazon.com have signed my online petition threatening to close their accounts and take their business elsewhere if the Internet shopping site continues to present a new book by former U.S. President Jimmy Carter in an unusually negative light. -more-