Steve Barton Out as Housing Director
“Today, Housing Director Stephen Barton stepped down from his post,” Berkeley City Manager Phil Kamlarz wrote in an email to the mayor and City Council Tuesday. -more-
“Today, Housing Director Stephen Barton stepped down from his post,” Berkeley City Manager Phil Kamlarz wrote in an email to the mayor and City Council Tuesday. -more-
Rounds of applause punctuated occasionally by bouts of “boos”—enough to prompt a scolding from City Councilmember Laurie Capitelli—greeted varied proposals for Safeway’s planned North Shattuck Avenue makeover at a meeting Thursday evening at the Jewish Community Center. -more-
A retired Berkeley police officer was jailed Sunday night on suspicion of vehicular manslaughter and drunk driving after he allegedly struck and killed an elderly Berkeley woman on Solano Avenue. -more-
A Berkeley jazz school that has profited from tens of thousands of city dollars is remiss in hiring an almost all-white faculty, serves mostly white students and has engaged only a handful of African Americans for the Downtown Berkeley Jazz Festival, say local African American musicians and supporters. -more-
A revived and newly energized movement to restore local control to the Oakland public schools held several hours of testimony from Oakland residents on Friday evening calling for an end to the state school takeover of Oakland Unified School District and a moratorium on school closures in the district until that time. -more-
A group of about 10 civic-minded residents turned out for a lightly publicized public hearing on the budget at the North Berkeley Senior Center Tuesday evening, hoping city staff would listen to their ideas. -more-
Berkeley was in the national headlines for weeks after the City Council approved a policy in December 2006 that requires local businesses to report to the city on their use of nanotechnology materials as well as guidelines for safety procedures and disposal of the substances. -more-
Everything was purple at LeConte Elementary School Friday. -more-
A group of about 10 College Republican counterprotesters came out Saturday to support the Woodfin Suite Hotel in Emeryville, as some 50 demonstrators—separated from the Republicans by a handful of Emeryville Police—condemned the hotel for what they said is the unjust firing of 12 employees and refusal to comply with the city’s Measure C. -more-
The former site of Flint Ink in West Berkeley went on the auction block Friday, but just who won remains a mystery. -more-
The Berkeley Board of Education will review the proposed solar project at Washington Elementary School for the third time Wednesday and vote on whether to approve $750,000 in funds from the Office of Public School Construction (OPSC) and $305,000 in PG&E funds. -more-
Two DAPAC meetings—both centering on Bus Rapid Transit (BRT)—and a session of the Landmarks Preservation Commission mark the week’s major events in land use. -more-
SB1019 Peace Officer Records (Sen. Gloria Romero) -more-
The Berkeley Unified School District’s plans to demolish the original gymnasium building are wrongheaded, wasteful and contrary to the values held dear by Berkeley’s residents. The building, with its beautiful hardwood floors, classrooms, historic murals, and swimming pools, dates back to the beginnings of Berkeley High School and is worth preserving as a contribution to the school’s future. Many residents who use its warm water pool would not be able to function without the physical therapy it provides. -more-
From time to time we read news stories about nuclear non-proliferation but seldom does the media attend to the general risk involving the existence of these “doomsday weapons.” The reason the media avoids this angle may be similar to the reason New Orleaneans avoid talk about hurricanes yet to come and Californians don’t talk much about earthquakes. Precisely because it is inevitable, forecasting regional destruction is uncertain and media reports arouse unnecessary un-ease. A more likely reason is cowardice: analyzing the possibility of total extinction exposes the absolute futility of everything else. -more-
Personal attacks will not help make a point; rather, they dilute from the intention of making a larger point speak loudly. While Carmel Hara’s letter to the editor may be an isolated instance of a personal attack on Joanna Graham, sadly the pages of the Daily Planet continue to be used as a forum for assault on character rather than a place for intelligent discourse. I find a great opportunity within his letter to make a larger point. -more-
Money woes are forcing developers of the high-rise hotel and condo tower planned for the corner of Center Street and Shattuck Avenue to take another look at their project. -more-
Elderberry is a bit more a tree than last column’s rose is, but we usually see it as a shrub: multi-trunked, relatively small. But the wonderful natural history writer Donald Culross Peattie called it a tree, and I’ve seen western pewee and other tree-nesting birds make themselves homes in tall specimens; that’s good enough for me. -more-
Financial Woes Plague UC Hotel Developers 06-05-2007
Editorial: The New East Bay Express: Who’s in Charge? 06-01-2007
Letters to the Editor 06-05-2007
Commentary: Irreplaceable Asset Slated for Wrecking Ball By Marie Bowman 06-05-2007
Commentary: Nuclear Weapons By Marvin Chachere 06-05-2007
Commentary: Accurate Information Important for Intelligent Discussion By Tracie de Angelis Salim 06-05-2007
Letters to the Editor 06-01-2007
Commentary; When Dog Attacks Become Personal Attacks By Jill Posener 06-01-2007
Commentary: Berkeley’s Retrofit Mess By Larry Guillot 06-01-2007
Commentary: In Remembrance of Fallen Walkers By Wendy Alfsen 06-01-2007
Steve Barton Out as Housing Director By Judith Scherr 06-05-2007
Safeway to Rebuild Shattuck Store By Richard Brenneman 06-05-2007
Retired Police Officer Arrested in Fatal Crash By Richard Brenneman 06-05-2007
Questions of Bias at Jazz Festival, School By Judith Scherr 06-05-2007
Oakland Activists Call for School Closure Moratorium By J. Douglas Allen-Taylor 06-05-2007
Berkeley Residents Speak Out About City Budget By Judith Scherr 06-05-2007
UC, Lab Opt Out of Nanoparticle Report By Judith Scherr 06-05-2007
LeConte Community Honors Denise Brown By Riya Bhattacharjee 06-05-2007
College Republicans Support Woodfin By Judith Scherr 06-05-2007
Landmark Flint Site On the Auction Block By Richard Brenneman 06-05-2007
School Board Meeting Preview By Riya Bhattacharjee 06-05-2007
DAPAC, Landmarks Meetings Crowd Calendar By Richard Brenneman 06-05-2007
Oakland Bills Makes Their Way Through State Legislature By J. Douglas Allen-Taylor 06-05-2007
Pool Community Protests Demotion Of Popular Water Aerobics Instructor By Judith Scherr 06-01-2007
UC: No Fault Under New Gym Location By Richard Brenneman 06-01-2007
Perspective: SF Opera Cast Change Stuns Fans of Local Singer By Becky O’Malley 06-01-2007
Shipyard, City Struggle to Reach Compromise By Richard Brenneman 06-01-2007
Downtown Panel Wonders How High By Richard Brenneman 06-01-2007
DAPAC Endorses Priority Development Declaration By Richard Brenneman 06-01-2007
OUSD Board Looks at Moratorium on School Closures By J. Douglas Allen-Taylor 06-01-2007
AC Transit Bus Route Changes Postponed Until June 24 By J. Douglas Allen-Taylor 06-01-2007
UC Student End-of-Year Clean-Up Gets Mixed Reviews By Riya Bhattacharjee 06-01-2007
Library Board Selection Process Leaves Out Committee By Judith Scherr 06-01-2007
Peace and Justice Committee Looks At Its Own ‘Racist Propaganda’ By Judith Scherr 06-01-2007
Swanson to Host Oakland’s State of Black California Event By J. Douglas Allen-Taylor 06-01-2007
Green Neighbors: Elderberry Tree Stands in the Margins By Ron Sullivan 06-05-2007
Column: The Public Eye: On a Collision Course Over Iraq By Bob Burnett 06-01-2007
Column: Undercurrents: The Deepening Crisis of the Iraq War By J. Douglas Allen-Taylor 06-01-2007
East Bay Then and Now: The Slater-Irving Connection Was Sealed in Paraffine By Daniella Thompson 06-01-2007
Garden Variety: Getting to Know Your Neighbor’s Garden By Ron Sullivan 06-01-2007
About the House: The Trouble with Damp Basements By Matt Cantor 06-01-2007
Quake Tip of the Week By Larry Guillot 06-01-2007
Arts Calendar 06-05-2007
The Theater: A True New York ‘Death of a Salesman’ By Ken Bullock, Special to the Planet 06-05-2007
The Theater: Theater Groups Stage 3 Weeks of ‘365’ By Ken Bullock, Special to the Planet 06-05-2007
Daily Planet Wins 6 Peninsula Press Club Awards 06-05-2007
Green Neighbors: Elderberry Tree Stands in the Margins By Ron Sullivan 06-05-2007
Berkeley This Week 06-05-2007
Open Call for Essays 06-05-2007
Arts Calendar 06-01-2007
Moving Pictures: Gaia Arts Center Hosts Disability Film Festival By Justin DeFreitas 06-01-2007
Benefit Rounds Up West Coast Jazz Talent By Ken Bullock, Special to the Planet 06-01-2007
Berkeley World Music Festival Hits Telegraph By Ken Bullock, Special to the Planet 06-01-2007
East Bay Then and Now: The Slater-Irving Connection Was Sealed in Paraffine By Daniella Thompson 06-01-2007
Garden Variety: Getting to Know Your Neighbor’s Garden By Ron Sullivan 06-01-2007
About the House: The Trouble with Damp Basements By Matt Cantor 06-01-2007
Quake Tip of the Week By Larry Guillot 06-01-2007
Berkeley This Week 06-01-2007