News

The Berkeley Unified School District (BUSD) emerged victorious when an Alameda County Superior Court judge ruled in favor of the school district Monday in a suit, American Civil Rights Foundation vs. Berkeley Unified School District, brought by Sacramento based Pacific Legal Foundation (PCL). PCL had sued BUSD in October, charging the district with violating California’s Proposition 209 by racially discriminating among students during placements at elementary schools and at programs at Berkeley High. -more-

Often when we’re in the locker room at the pool, my mother will say to me, ‘Do you hear the singing?’ And I’ll ask, “What singing?” “Don’t you hear the music?” she’ll say. And I’ll listen, and I’ll hear sounds bouncing off the walls and different voices, and as I focus in on them they get increasingly melodic... -more-

Former City Councilmember, attorney, neighborhood preservationist and humanitarian John Denton died peacefully in his sleep Sunday night at the age of 93. -more-

Iceland became an official Berkeley historical structure Thursday when a divided Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) voted its highest level of recognition to the threatened building. -more-

A major goof has temporarily stalled the approval process for one Richmond-area casino, while signs of movement have been detected for the second. -more-

Developers can buy property in West Berkeley, jack up the rents and force out long-time tenants and nobody can stop them. -more-

The Emeryville City Council is scheduled to discuss explosive charges of racial discrimination and retaliation against city employees in its May 1 council meeting, but the councilmember who put the item on the agenda does not hold out much hope that the discussion will lead to changes in Emeryville city government. -more-

The controversy over what may be the largest corporate/academic research pact in the history of American universities is headed back to UC Berkeley’s Academic Senate. -more-

“To this day, I believe, we are here on this planet earth to live, grow up and do what we can to make this world a better place for all people to enjoy freedom.” -more-

Tree-sitter and one-time Berkeley mayoral candidate Zachary Running Wolf headed back to jail Friday, busted yet again by UC Berkeley police. -more-

Suzanne Wilson will replace former Zoning Adjustments Board (ZAB) commissioner Dave Blake at the ZAB meeting Thursday. Wilson was appointed to the position by District 1 Councilmember Linda Maio. -more-

The Berkeley Board of Education will discuss sending an application to the Office of Public School Construction (OPSC) for funding and approval of the Berkeley Unified School District’s (BUSD) funds to complete a solar project at Washington Elementary School. -more-

How I long to grow bananas. If I moved a few blocks away I could, for sheltered by fencing from our reliable afternoon wind grows a magnificent specimen bearing several hands of green fruits. Bananas are usually harvested green, so ripening will not be a problem for this lucky owner. -more-

Patrick Kennedy and David Teece—Berkeley’s biggest private landlords—are selling their seven signature apartment buildings to a Chicago-based corporation. -more-

Berkeley is not invulnerable to virulent racist, anti-immigrant and anti-Semitic hate campaigns. -more-

After declaring Hillside School to be surplus property, the Berkeley Unified School District (BUSD) is getting ready to give the same designation to the Berkeley High School tennis courts and property at West Campus and on Sixth Street. -more-

While Woodfin Suite Hotel workers are beefing up union and local support to get the hotel to comply with Measure C, Emeryville’s Living Wage Ordinance for hotel workers, the hotel is flexing its muscle in its own way. Last week the Woodfin filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court—for the second time—claiming the 2005 law passed by the city’s voters is unconstitu-tional. -more-

Berkeley High became the scene of a virtual battleground over spring break when the Berkeley Police Department SWAT team—known as the Barricaded Subject Hostage Negotiation Team (BSHNT)—descended on the campus Thursday. -more-

California Assemblymember Sandré Swanson (D-Oakland) brought his Oakland Unified School District restoration of local control bill to the OUSD Board of Trustees Wednesday night, and, not surprisingly, trustees voted unanimously for a resolution in support. -more-

The ongoing battle between tree-sitter Zachary Running Wolf and UC Berkeley police took a new turn Friday when legendary Bay Area attorney Tony Serra agreed to represent the protester. -more-

Manager Scott Doddington and many of his fellow workers at the San Francisco Cody’s store will be out of their jobs effective April 20. -more-

That baker’s dozen plus one of 16-story “point towers” sprouting like mushrooms after a spring rain in downtown Berkeley? Forget about it. -more-

The AC Transit District continued with its sudden premature replacement of its NABI bus fleet, with directors approving, on Wednesday afternoon, the request of General Manger Rick Fernandez to sell 10 more of the popular 40-foot buses five years before their scheduled retirement date and to replace them with buses from the Van Hool company. -more-

The People’s Park Advisory Committee will be announcing the names of Gianna Ranuzzi and Christine Dixon as its newest board members during a meeting Monday. -more-

The use of radio frequency identification (RFID) technology at the Berkeley Public library has been a flashpoint since its inception more than two years ago, enraging some patrons, who say the identifiers allow “Big Brother” to track what people read and where they are if they’re carrying library books, and upsetting some library workers who say the system doesn’t work as it is supposed to and is devouring library funds better spent elsewhere. -more-

In many ways the Reference Department, as the disseminator of information about the world, is the heart of a library. At the downtown Central Library, reference librarians, sitting behind the green-topped counters, field questions both on the phone, on the computer and from the patrons who come into the library. -more-

After graduating from UCLA, I went to Library School at UC Berkeley known then as “Danton’s Inferno,” for J. Perian Danton who was the head of the Library School at that time. -more-

With a crowd of TV cameras and adults with microphones towering over them, Adrian, Yadira and Adriana Ramirez—6, 10 and 12 years old—sat on a bench outside of First United Methodist Church in Palo Alto yesterday, and shyly told the news crews that though they wanted to stay at their home in Palo Alto, they would go to Mexico to be with their father, who was deported an hour after his arrest by Immigration Customs and Enforcement officers. -more-

In the backyard of President George Bush’s home state of Texas, a racist legacy continues. But Shaquanda Cotton, the 14-year-old black student who was convicted of shoving a hall monitor at a Paris high school in a dispute over entering the building before the school day had officially begun, was released by the Texas Youth Commission (TYC) on Saturday, March 31. She was detained at the Brownwood facility, where she was mandated to serve a seven-year prison term. -more-