Two years ago, Derby Street resident Martha Jones had a sofa sitting on the sidewalk of her block for an entire week. -more-
More than 50 complaints lodged with the Police Review Commission against various Berkeley police officers sit awaiting action at the city’s Police Review Commission offices. -more-
In an effort to bring more transparency to library governance, the Board of Library Trustees held its first public hearing last week on the budget, giving the public a chance to comment on how the institution spends the $13 million it receives through the city’s library tax. -more-
A Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) plan to build a 25,000-square-foot, 60-bedroom, four-story guest house at the lab poses no significant negative environmental impacts, lab officials contend. -more-
When Augustin Aguayo joined the military the young man thought it would open doors for him, but soon realized that he had been mistaken. -more-
With some predictions that Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger’s new budget proposals could have severe effects on the East Bay’s public transit system, East Bay transit officials and its powerful trio of state legislators are indicating that a fight is in the works. -more-
The long-running battle of Casino San Pablo is at an end, with both sides claiming victory. -more-
Berkeley’s Transportation and Planning commissions and the Downtown Area Plan Advisory Committee (DAPAC) will meet with representatives of AC Transit next Thursday night, May 24, to talk about Bus Rapid Transit (BRT). -more-
At a contentious meeting of the Point Richmond Neighborhood Council (PRNC) on Monday dues-paying members voted 60-7 against supporting a local committee’s proposal to tear down the Richmond library’s Westside branch in Point Richmond and move the branch’s operations to a nearby rental facility. -more-
The eclectic assembly of artists who have made The Shipyard a hub of creativity for the past six years was packing up over the weekend, evicted—they say—by the city. -more-
A few weeks ago members of the southeast Berkeley community found newspapers and hate-filled flyers on their sidewalks and front porches targeting Jews, blacks, Hispanics and immigrants. -more-
One of the city’s most valuable services is the NewsScan, the free, online daily compilation of media references to Berkeley. You find things there that you wouldn’t know about otherwise. Last Friday, I happened across just such an item, an article pulled down from the website of GlobeSt.com that reported the upcoming auction of two parcels totaling 5.8 acres at Fourth and Gilman, a.k.a. the former site of Flint Ink. -more-
Chaos broke loose at the intersection of The Alameda and Monterey Avenue during an otherwise peaceful Berkeley Critical Mass bicycle demonstration late Friday. -more-
Developing earthquake standards for cities is hard enough, but writing rules to strengthen homes to withstand serious temblors—rules that apply to a large number of homes, including those built on hillsides, and are flexible enough to use a variety of materials and building techniques—is a challenge. -more-
On May 8, the Department of Energy announced the new management team for the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL): the University of California, Bechtel National, BWX Technologies and others. -more-
Canon Christian Jones II came home a week too soon from school in Alabama. The 18-year-old Berkeley High School graduate had planned to spend the summer with his family in Pinole starting May 14. -more-
The Berkeley Zoning Adjustments Board (ZAB) approved a use permit to establish a 24-Seven fitness center of approximately 2,000 sq. ft. in an existing commercial building at 1775 Solano Ave., but decided to discuss its parking provisions as an informational item at the next ZAB meeting. -more-
MKThink—the San Francisco-based consultants hired by UC Berkeley to develop a community-based needs assessment plan to improve People’s Park—met with the park’s Advisory Committee members and park users for their first public meeting last Monday, May 7. -more-
Members of the two city bodies looking at the future of the Berkeley’s historic buildings are nearing completion of a key element of the new downtown plan. -more-
A few years ago the publisher and I were tourists in London, and we stopped to look at a lovely old churchyard in Hampstead or somewhere. The kindly grey-haired old vicar saw us looking at his tombstones, and came over to tell us a few interesting stories about local history. Then, with no apparent segue, he launched into a tirade about what savages the Irish were, how they were making England uninhabitable and worse. Now, to be fair, this was during the time when some IRA members were planting bombs in British cities, so his annoyance was not unjustifiable, but he went way over the top with accusations of superstition and illiteracy against the whole Irish nation. We went on our way quickly at that point, terrified that he would introduce himself and we would have to cop to our shared Irish surname. -more-
The words “academic freedom” have been tossed around a lot lately. They seem to mean different things in different contexts, and as a result they seem to be losing meaning altogether. Chancellor Birgeneau invoked them sanctimoniously in defense of his university’s god-given right to sell off a good bit of Strawberry Canyon, complete with associated faculty members, to British Petroleum, to aid in BP’s search for new and more lucrative ways to allow the rich nations to prolong their excessive energy consumption. A self-selected percentage of UC Berkeley’s faculty senate endorsed his position, which was possibly enhanced by the $500 million payoff, as did the Bates/Hancock apparatus and other local politicos. Now academic freedom seems to be expanding to protect UC’s right to add a 60-room hotel to the environmentally impacted canyon site, presumably so that BP’s visiting scholars won’t have to endure the horrors of the Hilton. -more-
Following two months of community pressure, the Berkeley City Council is considering strengthening Berkeley’s 1986 status as a City of Refuge for immigrants. Two competing measures, both of which would direct city staff to expend no funds nor staff time in aiding Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), will be on the City Council agenda Tuesday, May 22. Last week, the Peace and Justice Commission passed a proposal for a San Francisco-style ordinance that would also require the city manager to notify the public whenever ICE asks for assistance. City Council members Kriss Worthington and Dona Spring will be introducing this ordinance. And Mayor Tom Bates is weighing in with a resolution offering language similar to San Francisco’s ordinance, minus the enforcement provisions and durability, since unlike the other proposal, it would not be adopted as part of the city’s municipal code. -more-
Your May 15 front-page story, “Critical Mass Cyclists Confront Driver in Melee,” was an eye-opener. It seems that bicycling bullies-on-wheels, otherwise known as Critical Mass (or Critical Mob), has spread from San Francisco across the bay to Berkeley. This is not progress. There is a propensity of East Bay bicyclists to consider themselves as above the rules of the road and then ride through both stop signs and red lights. Now we have bullies-on-bicycles in group rides openly flaunting the rules of the road (for everyone else) and daring the local police or anyone else to stop them. They have the false courage of a mob. These folks seem to have a very large chip on their shoulder. Actually, bicycling bullies seem to have the same mind-set as the Bush crime family: ordinary rules and laws don’t apply to us: it’s our way on the highway… -more-
I have taught the Community Partnerships Academy (CPA) Class of 2007 every year since they were freshmen. Never in my 18-year career have I taught the same group of students over a four-year period and never before has teaching a group of students make me feel sincerely that they are my family. -more-
Among other things, the timing was wrong. The Dellums’ taskforce recommendations were turned over to the Oakland Chamber of Commerce before they were finished. They were released before they were merged into a coherent plan and before there was sufficient indication of agreement from the mayor on the individual recommendations or priority order of implementation. The Oakland Chamber took these raw recommendations, used the pro bono services of a consultant with particular biases (McKinsey), and presented the framework they had already been working on as Oakland’s economic future at the mayor’s Economic Summit. Unlike McKinsey’s spokesperson, the taskforce presenters were literally chosen at the last minute. Was this the mayor’s timing or the chamber’s timing? The chamber wants to get out in front of an economic development process that it is not in control of for the first time in the history of Oakland? -more-
At the age of 20, being a mother of a 3- and 5-year-old was not easy. Being a single mom on welfare living in a cockroach-infested apartment was not living. I thought I needed to learn discipline, so I walked into the army recruitment office. I spent my 21st birthday in boot camp on a five-mile road march. Many a mom has gone through boot camp. I was no exception. -more-
Figuring out the motives and actions of a wartime President while those actions are taking place is always difficult because, after all, one of the key elements of the successful prosecution of a war is deceiving the enemy, and you cannot very well do that while honestly explaining your true plans and intentions to your own people. Wish it weren’t so, friends, but that seems to be a fact. And for democracies, which bill themselves as being based on an informed public, it is a contradiction that will never be fully resolved. -more-
Not every house in Berkeley can boast of an illustrious resident. Fewer can boast of two. Fewer yet can demonstrate a connection between the two notables. The house at 1335 Shattuck Avenue is one of the latter. -more-
One might be forgiven for thinking otherwise, but there are things to buy at The Gardener that actually have something to do with gardens. -more-
Hi Matt: Enjoyed your excellent article on foundation capping.One thing that I sometimes mention to my clients is that the faulty grade problem may sometimes be solved by simply digging away the dirt and debris that has accumulated against the foundation. This of course is the most economical solution when a complete foundation replacement isn’t needed for structural reasons! Do you think this is an okay observation to make? -more-
In Berkeley, it’s difficult to travel more than a few blocks without seeing an “Impeach Bush” bumper sticker. And whenever I write a column about the 43rd president, I receive e-mails suggesting that the simplest solution to America’s problems is his impeachment. Nonetheless, I’d never taken the possibility of impeachment seriously until this week when I realized I’ve had enough: I want Dubya to go down. -more-
Two weeks ago I wrote a column in which I described my adventures at Fairyland with a hyperactive kindergartener. I mentioned tagging along with him as he climbed up and over the Pirate Ship. I explained that I pursued him as he rushed from Hey Diddle Diddle to the Crooked House, past the Three Little Pigs and Little Miss Muffet on his way to the Jolly Trolly, Pinocchio’s Castle, and the Owl and the Pussycat. I reluctantly followed him down Alice’s Rabbit Hole. I stated that I popped up safely within the Maze of Cards. -more-
Cal Day at the Museum of Vertebrate Zoology (MVZ) is a reliable venue for stories. Last year it was a conversation with a maybe eight-year-old naturalist about gopher snakes at the Berkeley Marina. This year I wound up talking to a young woman who was presiding over a tabletop display of dead bats. One in particularly caught my eye, a larger-than-average bat with a striking two-tone wing pattern: a hoary bat (Lasiurus cinereus). -more-
BERKELEY ART CENTER CELEBRATES 40 YEARS -more-
In the prologue to his 1945 novel Cannery Row, John Steinbeck articulated the difficulties inherent in capturing a real time and place in a work of artistic fiction, likening the process to that of a marine biologist attempting to capture the most delicate of specimens. Ultimately, Steinbeck concluded, it is easier to simply open the jar and let the little creatures ooze in of their own accord, and this is the approach he took to his novel—“to open the page and to let the stories crawl in by themselves.” -more-
“Alas, alas, that so bright a moon should be hidden by the clouds.” From this first translation of Rumi into a European language, circa 1780, by Sir William Jones in his Grammar of the Persian Language, through Ralph Waldo Emerson’s solitary version of a Rumi poem, to today’s outpouring of interpretations, the great mystic poet of Islam has become the bestselling poet in English today. -more-
Berkeley’s Himalayan Fair celebrates its 24th year in Live Oak Park this weekend. It might be its last as the city of Berkeley has increased restrictions on the event which may force it to move next year or shut down, according to fair organizers. -more-
Not every house in Berkeley can boast of an illustrious resident. Fewer can boast of two. Fewer yet can demonstrate a connection between the two notables. The house at 1335 Shattuck Avenue is one of the latter. -more-
One might be forgiven for thinking otherwise, but there are things to buy at The Gardener that actually have something to do with gardens. -more-
Hi Matt: Enjoyed your excellent article on foundation capping.One thing that I sometimes mention to my clients is that the faulty grade problem may sometimes be solved by simply digging away the dirt and debris that has accumulated against the foundation. This of course is the most economical solution when a complete foundation replacement isn’t needed for structural reasons! Do you think this is an okay observation to make? -more-
Photograph: Wayne Wallace will be appearing at the Jazz on Fourth Street Festival this weekend. -more-
Before the opening scene of the Eastenders’ production of Bertolt Brecht’s Fear and Misery of the Third Reich—which opens Thursday, May 17, at the Jewish Community Center for a four-show run, after four days last week at San Francisco’s Traveling Jewish Theatre—there are projections of National Socialist posters of happy comrades, of mother and child, the cheerful false face of Nazi propaganda for the German public and the world. -more-
Cal Day at the Museum of Vertebrate Zoology (MVZ) is a reliable venue for stories. Last year it was a conversation with a maybe eight-year-old naturalist about gopher snakes at the Berkeley Marina. This year I wound up talking to a young woman who was presiding over a tabletop display of dead bats. One in particularly caught my eye, a larger-than-average bat with a striking two-tone wing pattern: a hoary bat (Lasiurus cinereus). -more-
