News

In a speech that touched on topics both local and global during his campaign stop at the Berkeley YWCA Sunday, Democratic presidential contender John Edwards sent a message to UC Berkeley. -more-

Critics of the proposed agreement between UC Berkeley and BP — the rebranded British Petroleum — should take their best shots now, because once the deal is signed not only Big Oil, but Big Academy and Big Government Lab will mobilize their own PR folks to fire back. -more-

Next week, Mayor Tom Bates will introduce the “Public Commons for Everyone Initiative,” a proposal some say could provide the needed muscle to displace those who sit endlessly in the city’s public spaces adjacent to businesses. Others contend the mayor’s plan would erode the civil rights of those targeted, especially the homeless and mentally ill. -more-

On a 5-0-2 vote, Berkeley’s Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) raised a challenge to expansion plans for Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory Thursday night. Commissioners Miriam Ng and Fran Packard abstained on the vote. -more-

Supporters of a new multi-school education center for Oakland Unified School District’s Second Avenue properties moved quickly to capitalize on the momentum gained from the collapse of the deal to sell that property, winning key commitments from local political and agency leaders for their project at an overflow mass meeting of more than 300 parents and students at Laney College last Thursday night. -more-

Topical folksinger, hero, revolutionary, teacher, social worker, ex-political prisoner, Annette Auguste—best known as So An—is celebrated among Haiti’s poor majority for her commitment to the tiny nation’s struggle for sovereignty and democracy, according to members of the Berkeley-based Haiti Action Committee, which is bringing So An to the Bay Area this week. -more-

The membership of the City of Oakland Blue Ribbon Affordable Housing Commission that appeared in the Feb. 20 Planet story “Oakland’s Inclusionary Housing Commission Under Fire” had a number of errors. -more-

“I’m free at last,” said Zachary Running Wolf, after his release from jail last Wednesday following his Feb. 23 arrest by UC Berkeley Police on a charge of threatening a peace officer. -more-

The property housing Cody’s Books at 2 Stockton St. in San Francisco is being marketed to new tenants, raising speculation on whether Cody’s will be moving from the location as well, according to a recent story by Sarah Duxbury in the San Francisco Business Times . -more-

Only hours before they were to become public record as part of Oakland City Council’s Blue Ribbon Commission on Affordable Housing, Oakland Mayor Ron Dellums released its second set of task force policy recommendations last week, calling for several proposals for a “coherent and responsive public policy to address affordable housing needs in Oakland.” -more-

Matthew F. Stolz, retired professor of political science at San Francisco State University, died of cancer at his Berkeley home Feb. 20. -more-

The Bay Area Air Quality Management District reviewed Pacific Steel Castings’s (PSC) final emissions inventory report and released it to the City of Berkeley and the public on Feb. 23. -more-

DAPAC to Mull Report by Town/Gown Panel -more-

The firestorm of controversy over the $500 million pact tying UC Berkeley to one of the world biggest and most criticized oil giants intensified this week, with a teach-in, a demonstration, a pointed exchange between students and a key administrator and at least one arrest. -more-

The proposed agreement between a British oil company and UC Berkeley won't be discussed Monday during a presentation at the Berkeley Repertory Theater, as had been reported in Friday's paper. -more-

More than four dozen writers, independent filmmakers, radio producers and technicians who tenant the seven-story tower at 10th and Parker streets are facing hefty rent hikes that could squeeze them out of Berkeley, said screenwriter Karen Folger Jacobs, an 18-year tenant at the Saul Zaentz Media Center, the only renter among several contacted by the Daily Planet willing to allow her name to be used for this story. -more-

With little dissent, the joint town/gown subcommittee charged with finding ways the city can capitalize on UC Berkeley’s massive downtown expansion adopted guidelines Tuesday that members hope will become part of the new downtown plan. -more-

A small but spirited group of AC Transit bus riders brought their case against the contract for new Van Hool buses to the Metropolitan Transit Commission this week, and got what they called a “surprisingly” more attentive and favorable hearing than they expected. -more-

Two problem cops, apparently friends, have left the Berkeley Police Department. -more-

Among the decisions the Berkeley City Council made Tuesday night was to spend a $3.3 million windfall from unexpected revenues from investments and parking fines. -more-

City councilmembers voted themselves out of the job of running the Berkeley Housing Authority on Tuesday when they approved a new governance structure expected to be in place by July. -more-

Despite protests and pleas from students, teachers, and parents who marched eight miles from the East Oakland Community High School in the Oakland hills to the Oakland Unified School District Administrative headquarters Wednesday afternoon, OUSD State Administrator Kimberly Statham ruled Wednesday night that she was following her staff’s recommendation to close the school. -more-

The Berkeley Unified School District (BUSD) was sued by Friends Protecting Berkeley's Resources (FPBR) Friday for an inadequate environmental impact report (EIR) on the demolition of the gymnasium and warm water pool within its Berkeley High School South of Bancroft Master Plan. -more-

The Barnes & Noble bookstore located in downtown Berkeley will close May 31, a piece of news that has left local independent booksellers ecstatic. -more-

The Berkeley Planning Commission voted unanimously Wednesday to increase the hours of operation to 2 a.m. Friday and Saturday and midnight Sunday through Thursday for businesses on Telegraph Avenue that do not involve alcohol sales. These hours may be exceeded with a city administrative use permit. -more-