News

As Anuradha Biswa Karma waits for her grade-four textbooks in an obscure part of the Himalayan Kingdom of Nepal, little does she know that there is someone working in Berkeley to send her the money to buy them. -more-

Single-payer universal health care advocates in California begin their second try in two years to make their cause state law when the state Senate Health Committee holds a hearing in Sacramento this Wednesday afternoon on state Sen. Shirley Kuehl’s (D-Santa Monica) SB 840. -more-

UC Berkeley faculty will cast their ballots Thursday on competing resolutions triggered by the largest corporate grant in the history of the American university. -more-

To Alan P. Rudy, the furor surrounding the developing half-billion-dollar research pact between BP and UC Berkeley is deja vu writ large. -more-

Assemblymember Loni Hancock sponsored her second major public gathering in her assembly district in two months, holding a town hall meeting on global warming at Berkeley City College that attracted several hundred participants and presentations from several local and state agencies. -more-

The Downtown Area Plan Advisory Committee (DAPAC) will make a second try Wednesday at revising a report on city policies regarding UC Berkeley’s plans for the city center. -more-

Helios in Greek myth was the sun god who drove a chariot daily from east to west across the sky and sailed across the ocean each night in a huge cup. -more-

The Berkeley Zoning Adjustments Board (ZAB) set the appeal of an application for an administrative use permit for 933 Keeler Ave. for public hearing at the board meeting Thursday. -more-

Somebody should ask Attorney General Alberto Gonzales (or whoever takes his job) about Petrona Tomas. -more-

How strong is your commitment to the environment? Is it strong enough to make you alter your lifestyle, switch from favored products or seek out and support environmentally conscious businesses? -more-

In 1943 Robert Oppenheimer left the University of California at Berkeley to become director of the Los Alamos Laboratory in New Mexico, where the first atom bomb was built. He maintained a connection with the university for several more years but never really returned. Instead, he became director of Princeton’s Center for Advanced Study and a consultant to the government on issues raised by atomic weapons. After his political “disgrace” for supposed disloyalty in 1954, he devoted himself to writing, producing essays and books, notably Science and the Common Understanding. President Kennedy cleared his name and “rehabilitated” him in 1963. -more-

It’s the school bus from Neverland. And yet it sends a message to the powers-that-be in a way that could never have been imagined. -more-

In a decision that will mean public access to in excess of 15,000 pages of documents from Wal-Mart corporation, a California Appeals Court has ruled that an Alameda County Superior Court judge erred in sealing thousands of pages of documents in an employment lawsuit against the retail giant. -more-

The Berkeley Unified School District (BUSD) emerged victorious in the American Civil Rights Foundation vs. Berkeley Unified School District lawsuit when Judge Winifred Y. Smith of the Alameda County Superior Court ruled in favor of the school district Monday. -more-

Members of the Homeless Commission slammed Mayor Tom Bates’ Public Commons for Everyone initiative as “mean spirited,” “punitive,” “vindictive,” and too vague to address effectively. -more-

The City of Berkeley scored a first-round legal victory when a judge dismissed a lawsuit challenging the City Council’s agreement with UC Berkeley that paved the way for the new downtown plan. -more-

The Berkeley Board of Education refrained from approving a resolution that would have allowed staff to move forward with the Solar Project at Washington Elementary School at the school board meeting Wednesday. -more-

The tree sitters at the Memorial Stadium Oak Grove got a visit from the UC Berkeley Police Department once again Wednesday. -more-

The upbeat voice that greets callers to Longfellow Middle School belongs to Barret Donahue, school secretary with the Berkeley schools for 10 years—and with San Diego Unified for 10 years before that. -more-

Berkeley’s Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) meets Monday night to finish up work they weren’t able to finish by the mandatory midnight closing time last week. -more-

In the wake of a multi-million dollar employment discrimination lawsuit settlement by the City of Emeryville and charges of further, widespread racial discrimination in City of Emeryville employment, the Mayor of Emeryville is defending her city’s minority hiring policies, and is rejecting a proposal that one councilmember hopes will solve employee disputes before they go to court. -more-

If oil and water don’t mix, what about oil and academic freedom? -more-

Joy Holland—artist, poet, scholar, actor, fashion designer, neighborhood activist—died peacefully in her sleep April 3. She always declined to disclose her age, but she was a grandmother and great-grandmother. -more-

Contributed photo -more-

The recent passing of former Berkeley City Council Member John Denton, who served on the Council from 1975 through 1986, calls for remembering his enormous contribution to civic life. John Denton was an informal leader of the many Berkeley residents who cared about preserving Berkeley’s unique character and livability, and who did not strictly identify with either the Berkeley Citizens Action—BCA/left/progressive—or Berkeley Democratic Club—BDC/moderate/conservative—political factions. John was never politically correct enough to please many on the left, while the moderate/conservative faction tended to view him as a pro-tenant radical. But to his many supporters in the community, John was the conscience of the City Council. -more-

The digging of a vegetable bed of all gardening activities seems to elicit a passion like no other in the bosom of the horticultural writer. -more-

Editor’s Note: In early April, a South Korean cab driver set himself on fire in protest of the new free trade agreement between the United States and South Korea. The trade agreement, opposed by most Koreans according to a recent poll, would have a negative impact on working class Americans as well argues Christine Ahn, a policy analyst with the Korea Policy Institute and the national coordinator of Korean Americans for Fair Trade. -more-