A celebration of smiles will be held at Emerson and Jefferson Elementary Schools this weekend. -more-

A weary mayor and seven councilmembers—with Councilmember Betty Olds having gone home—and more than two dozen members of the public waited in the council chambers past midnight Tuesday to address the mayor’s controversial Public Commons for Everyone initia-tive, a proposal aimed at curbing inappropriate behavior in shopping areas by intensifying law enforcement in an initial phase and adding social services later as funding will allow. -more-

With the release last week by Oakland Mayor Ron Dellums of a budget that proposes to spend $1.1 billion per year over the next two fiscal years, the focus of Oakland’s budget discussion now shifts to the Oakland City Council. -more-

Two operations and five days after he was beaten outside a Berkeley student co-op, a San Francisco State student remains under medical care at Summit Alta Bates Hospital. -more-

Nextel and Verizon representatives at Tuesday’s council meeting squared off with irate neighbors of UC Storage at 2721 Shattuck Ave., with the communications companies getting what they wanted—the promise of a public hearing to review a zoning board decision which denied the powerful companies permits to install their antennas atop the Shattuck Avenue building. -more-

The Berkeley City Council got a first look at the draft two-year 2008-2009 $614,050 budget at a workshop before its regular meeting on Tuesday. Final budget decisions will not be made until the June 26 council meeting. -more-

If a Burger King wants to set up shop on Telegraph Avenue, the Berkeley Planning Commission decided Wednesday night that they’re not inclined to block it, though they don’t expect the fast food chain to open up on Berkeley’s emblematic commercial street. -more-

The Berkeley Board of Education delayed its vote on a controversial proposal to establish a Community Day School on the B-Tech campus Wednesday. -more-

Tuskegee police have charged Quentin Motez Davis, 18, of Macon County, and Romanita Michelle Cloud, 18, of Tuskegee, Ala., with the murder of Berkeley High Graduate Canon Jones, who was shot after he left his dorm to buy food on April 29. -more-

POWERBAR SIGN -more-

Here in Alameda we recently marked that 10th anniversary of the closure of Naval Air Station Alameda, on the West end of the Alameda. The former base is heavily contaminated and is a federal Superfund site, and clean-up has been in progress for years. The land that comprised the base is now known as Alameda Point and is slated for housing development, and the City of Alameda has recently selected two developers - Catellus and Lennar - as co-developers for Alameda Point. Enacted in 1973, Alameda City Charter Amendment XXVI (known colloquially as “Measure A") restricts housing density for new construction within Alameda. -more-

The City of Berkeley is approaching the point when the long-held vision of a spectacular urban plaza featuring a daylighted Strawberry Creek can at last become a reality. Since the early 1980s, hundreds of Berkeley citizens have come forward to express their hope that the City would unearth Strawberry Creek which currently flows under several downtown buildings and streets. This long-buried waterway could become the centerpiece of a world class destination, the first example of environmental restoration in such a highly urbanized location. -more-

Below is an excerpt from “A failure in generalship”by Army Lt. Col. Paul Yingling, deputy commander, 3rd Armored Calvary Regiment, as published in the Armed Forces Journal, followed by a response by Karl Davis, a Berkeley High graduate currently on active duty as colonel in the National Guard. -more-

Dealing with serious social problems by creating laws which only protect certain individuals is a method for avoiding root causes by making small changes in their effects. Thus we have new legislation applied to old problems which exist, in part, because old legislation was never fairly enforced. The new laws make some people feel better, especially if they’re in the legal business. But the public is usually divided along familiar for or against lines, remaining in the mindset they had before the new laws were applied to the old problems. -more-

Sooner or later, we will be taking care of a parent or a loved one who is aging. According to the National Family Caregivers Association, “More than 50 million people provide care for a chronically ill, disabled or aged family member or friend during any given year.” Our State’s elderly population is expected to reach 12.5 million by 2040, an increase of 232 percent from 1990. Beginning in 2010, 1 in 5 Californians will be 60 years of age or older. As the average age of the population becomes older, the importance of a care giver becomes increasingly significant, both functionally and economically. -more-

The current brouhaha over a U.S. plan to deploy anti-ballistic missiles (ABM) in Poland has nothing to do with a fear that Iran will attack Europe or the United States with nuclear tipped Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles (ICBM), but a great deal to do with the Bush Administration’s efforts to neutralize Russia’s and China’s nuclear deterrents and edge both countries out of Central Asia. -more-

How should East Bay progressives handle criticism of Mayor Ron Dellums and his administration, their own criticism, and that of others? It’s a complicated question without a quick and easy answer. -more-

Ploughshares Nursery is a unique operation. Located off Main Street on the former Alameda Naval Air Station, across from the Rosenblum Winery and the ferry terminal, it’s owned by the Alameda Point Collaborative. The Collaborative describes itself as a “supportive housing community,” with 500 formerly homeless people—veterans, domestic violence survivors, children and adults with disabilities—living in converted Navy housing. It offers counseling, life skills coaching, and job training, through the nursery and otherwise. Proceeds from the plants you buy at Ploughshares go to the Collaborative. -more-

There are few things in life as embarrassing as having to ask your hostess what’s in the casserole. I know. I’ve been doing this for the last 15 years or so since having finally figured out after many distressing years that I’m not good friends with bovine products. -more-