Berkeley’s bid to become the biofuel research capital of academic and corporate America scored another major advance Tuesday, winning funds to start a second lab major lab. 

U.S. Secretary of Energy Samuel Bodman announced that a coalition headed by UC's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) will receive $125 million to create one of three national bioenergy research centers. 

Bodman made the formal announcement to reporters gathered at the National Press Club. LBNL biochemical engineer Jay Keasling stood alongside as one of three winning project directors. 

All three centers will focus on genetic engineering as a way to create new crops along with new microbes and newly discovered enzymes to create a more efficient process for converting plants into fuels for cars, trucks and airplanes. 

Keasling say he hoped that the Joint BioEnergy Institute—or JBEI, “jay-bay as we call it”—would trigger the start of a new way of green biotechnological industry in the Bay area and across the country. 

The Berkeley scientist will head a partnership comprised of Lawrence Berkeley, Sandia and Lawrence Livermore national laboratories along with UC Davis and Stanford. 

While Bodman said he was barred from saying just how many applications he had received for the three slots, applicants were narrowed to a list numbering “in the teens,” with the winners picked by an international panel of scientists, technologists and figures form the corporate and non-profit realms. 

The Bioenergy Science Center is the name for the winning project for a lab to be led by Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee. Other partners are Georgia Institute of Technology; University of Georgia, Athens; University of Tennessee, Knoxville, and the DOE’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Golden, Colo. 

The third winner, the Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center, is headed by the University of Wisconsin in Madison. Other partners are: the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory in Richland, Wash.; University of Florida, Gainesville; Illinois State University, Normal; Iowa State University, Ames, and the only corporate partner among the winners, Lucigen Corporation of MIddleton, Wisc. 

Each lab will receive up to $25 million a year for five years, and all three labs are focusing on the transformation of cellulose into fuel. 

Keasling, who holds dual appointments at UC Berkeley and the lab, is also heading the $500 million Energy Biosciences Institute, a program that will combine academic research with proprietary efforts by program funder BP, the oil company formerly know as British Petroleum. 

That program will be located in a $125 million lab building planned for the LBNL campus in Strawberry Canyon.

From Maudelle Shirek’s roots in the soil of Jefferson, Ark., to the former vice mayor’s seat on the city hall dais, the legacy of the 96-year-old “conscience of the council” and radical civil rights and human rights activist will live in a mural commissioned by the city and created by local artists Daniel Galvez and Mildred Howard. 

The unveiling will be Wednesday at 1 p.m. outside the council chambers, where the mural will be installed. A reception and program honoring Shirek will follow in the council chambers, located in the building that bears her name: the Maudelle Shirek Building, 2134 Martin Luther King Jr. Way. 

While the mural depicts Shirek’s many facial expressions—contemplative, in the council chambers, determined, while making an anti-war speech in San Francisco, humble, while cooking for seniors, grinning as she poses with Ron Dellums, former congressman and Berkeley city councilmember, now Mayor of Oakland—the art work is not simply portraiture.  

“I was trying to create the essence of all the activities she was involved in,” said Galvez, on Friday in his East Oakland studio, as he put final touches on the creation. Galvez pointed to scenes he had painted showing Shirek’s work creating the New Light Senior Center, her activism getting justice for people living with AIDS and her work at the Cooperative Center Federal Credit Union, where she was the first African American employee.  

“The mural is about who we are. This is Berkeley. It’s not just Maudelle,” said Mike Berkowitz, former aide and longtime friend to Shirek. “It’s what we all stand for. That’s why people love Maudelle. She stands for something—that’s us.” 

The 6-by-11-and-a-half-foot mural has the look of a collage, and is in part a study in the recent history of Bay Area ties through Shirek to a world outside Berkeley. One sees Shirek breaking bread with Fidel Castro and former Mayor Gus Newport and conversing with Rep. Barbara Lee, former South African political prisoner and President Nelson Mandela, activist singer Harry Belafonte and the late civil rights champion Fr. Bill O’Donnell. 

The mural also includes at least three politicos with whom Shirek, a councilmember from 1984 to 2004, often did battle during her tenure on the council—former mayors Shirley Dean and Loni Hancock, and current Mayor Tom Bates. 

Unique to the design of the mural, “the architecture of City Hall [where the mural is to be installed] is integrated into it,” Galvez said. 

Galvez, who will be present at the unveiling, studied painting at the California College of Arts and Crafts and San Francisco State University. His large-scale murals spanning several decades can be found on the exterior and interior spaces throughout the U.S. One of his best-known works is the 63-foot Homage to Malcolm X (1997) at the Audubon Ballroom in New York City, where Malcolm was killed. 

Howard, who did much of the artistry on the backdrop of the mural, is out of the country and will not be at the Wednesday event. She received numerous awards including the Anonymous Was a Woman Fellowship; an NEA grant in sculpture; the Eureka Fellowship; a Rockefeller Artists Fellowship to Bellagio, Italy; and a Lila Wallace Reader’s Digest Traveling Fellowship to Oaxaca, Mexico. Her work is included in the collections of the Oakland Museum, the San Jose Museum of Art and more. 

While Berkowitz said he is pleased that the mural highlights much of Shirek’s life, he said the only regret he has is that the work does not include more of Shirek’s many supporters who pounded the pavement in her two decades of campaigning for office. A committee of friends advised the artist on whom to include in the mural, Berkowitz said. 

The ongoing tensions among factions in the struggle over the Berkeley’s evolving landscape surfaced again last week in a joint meeting of two city panels, but the meeting ended in a lopsided 17-2 vote supporting a proposed chapter spelling out the role to be played by historic preservation in Berkeley’s future downtown for the new plan. It had been drafted by a joint subcommitee composed of members of Berkeley’s Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) and of the Downtown Area Plan Commission (DAPAC). Members of the full DAPAC then met with the full LPC to discuss the proposal.  

At issue was the role Berkeley’s historic buildings will play in a city center coveted by developers, city staff and Mayor Tom Bates as a site for intensified development of apartments and transfer-tax-generating condos. 

Chaired by the LPC’s Jill Korte, the joint subcommittee has prepared a 14-page draft Historic Preservation and Urban Design chapter for the new Downtown Area Plan which DAPAC has been crafting for the last 19 months. 

While the chapter has been approved unanimously by the joint subcommittee, it faced tougher scrutiny before the full DAPAC, which has a fast-approaching deadline of completing its mandate by the end of November. 

LPC Chair Robert Johnson said he had been impressed by the collaborative process that led to the plan, with members of the public able to make comments throughout their meetings rather than solely in the public comments session at the start of meetings. 

“We now have the foundation to move into land use policy,” said Jim Novosel, an architect and DAPAC member who served on the subcommittee. 

Land use policies remain the most complex and potentially controversial subject still to be addressed by DAPAC. 

“It actually ended up being fun despite the enormous amount of work,” said Patti Dacey, a DAPAC member who had also served on the LPC. “We all collaborated to make a document” that will set the stage for the future of downtown. 

Among the DAPAC members at last week’s meeting, retired UC Berkeley Assistant Vice Chancellor for Property Development Dorothy Walker and architect and Planning Commission Chair James Samuels quickly emerged as the document’s two resolute critics. 

Walker, who had chaired the subcommittee that prepared the policy draft that set out the city’s wish list for items it wants the university to include in the 800,000 square feet of development it plans in downtown Berkeley, opened the criticism of the proposed chapter. 

Though she said she had found “the report generally very useful,” Walker said “all urban design issues, goals and policies should be in a separate chapter” that addresses all design issues downtown. All references to the university should also be relocated to other chapters, she said. 

Korte said the university had been included because of their large land holdings downtown, and because their extensive plans for the city center could benefit from ideas developed in the chapter. 

While the proposal called for acknowledgment of historic districts characterized by clusters of older buildings to preserve the city center’s character as one of the area’s last remaining prototypical early 20th-century downtowns, Walker said the chapter “should add descriptions of possible development districts where new buildings should be encouraged.” 

A former LPC member who often voted against the preservationist majority during his tenure on the LPC prior to moving to the Planning Commission, Samuels said “some of us may have big problems” with the subcommittee’s draft. 

“I really can’t support this as written,” he said, insisting with Walker that urban design be removed from the chapter, and faulting the group for “proposing things involving the university that are quite outside” their mandate. 

Former City Councilmember Mim Hawley also called for separation of urban design from the preservation chapter, a call echoed by others, including Jenny Wenk. 

Wenk, chair of the Downtown Berkeley YMCA board of managers, also challenged inclusion of design in the preservation chapter, and read off a list of questions and proposed changes. 

But Juliet Lamont, like DAPAC Chair Will Travis a Bates appointee, emerged as the chapter’s strongest defender among DAPAC members who didn’t sit on the joint subcommittee. 

Though Travis had announced that the committee wasn’t “scheduled to adopt anything tonight,” and said the information would be collated by city planning staff, then handed over to a new DAPAC drafting subcommittee for preparation of a final draft, Lamont said the existing subcommittee should instead continue in existence to prepare the final draft of the chapter. 

That triggered a prolonged debate and two votes. 

Helen Burke, a planning commissioner and environmentalist, praised the chapter as drafted, and moved that DAPAC vote to support the concepts of the document, and to send written comments to the existing joint subcommittee to shape a final draft. 

After Samuels objected, she withdrew the motion, and more discussion followed. 

Then Lamont moved that DAPAC vote to support, but not formally adopt, the principal strategies and goals included in the chapter, with the joint subcommittee to continue in existence to draft a final version. 

After Lisa Stephens seconded that motion, Walker announced that she had several objections. “Urban design needs to come from people not from that perspective,” she said, urging that the final draft be assigned to a new committee, though members of the current group could participate. 

When Lamont said she had used the word “support” rather than “adopt,” Walker said, “I would have a problem supporting some of these policies.” 

“Later on we will be taking up the drafting subcommittee,” Travis said, adding that city staff wanted to choose the new members for the new drafting committee for the “Historic Preservation and New Construction” section of the final downtown plan. 

Walker then offered a substitute motion to that effect: to accept the “overall principles” of the chapter but to transfer it to a new subcommittee with additional members for a final draft. This got a fast second from Hawley. 

Matt Taecker, the city planner hired to work on the new downtown plan, proposed a joint meeting of the existing joint subcommittee and the proposed new drafting committee, “effectively a group of 10, say.”  

Walker then offered another motion: to support the already-drafted chapter in principle, while taking up the matter of what to do with it separately. 

Her second motion failed on an 8-10-1 vote, with Travis in support. 

Finally Lamont’s motion passed by a 17-2 vote, with Walker and Samuels casting the only dissenting votes. Travis was among those who switched sides. 

Travis also praised the subcommittee for its openness..

Federal officials will announce today whether or not a coalition of UC Berkeley-affiliated labs will capture a $125 million grant to fund a new biofuel lab. 

That project would be in addition to the half-billion-dollar biofuel lab funded by a British oil giant, with would-be contractors for that project scheduled to gather Thursday afternoon to hone their bids. 

Word that the regents had already voted to fund the lab building for the Energy Biosciences Institute (EBI) lab building stunned critics of the $500 million grant from the former British Petroleum. 

While dissenting faculty and students were still marshaling their opposition to the controversial biofuel program funded by BP plc (the initials stand for “public liability corporation, the British equivalent of “inc.”), UC Regents had already approved plans for the project’s building. 

University officials are now seeking a contractor to build the structure, a $125 million, 160,000-square-foot building planned for a steep hillside site in Strawberry Canyon at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL). 

Meanwhile, LBNL scientists will learn this morning (Tuesday) if they’ve won the $125 million Department of Energy grant to fund the second biofuel lab—a program headed by the same scientists who will direct the BP program. 

That project would be housed in yet another building, possibly at a South Berkeley site that includes property near the Berkeley, Emeryville and Oakland city limits. 

Both projects have won the strong endorsements of Berkeley Mayor Tom Bates and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, and would make Berkeley a leading researcher in the rush to replace vanishing petroleum reserves with fuels refined from living plants. 

BP-funded EBI 

In a little-noticed action March 15, the UC Regents approved construction of the building that will house the EBI. 

Their action came one week after Berkeley’s Academic Senate held its first forum on the project, where critics charged that the university was rushing to embrace untried technologies that could wreak havoc on Third World farmers and devastate the world’s last remaining rain forests. 

Even before the forum, the Committee on Grounds and Building (CGB) of the Board of Regents had received a proposal to approve a radical expansion of a building at LBNL they had already approved on a smaller scale in November. 

Schwarzenegger announced in December his intention to provide $40 million in state bond funds to help build the EBI lab if BP awarded the project to one of the two UC campuses it had picked to be among the five university applicants for the funds. 

UC San Diego was also in the running, along with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge University and the Imperial College, London. 

On Nov. 16, CGB had approved $60 million for a building for the Helios Project, the lab’s biofuel project that was already under way before BP announced the $500 million bonanza on Feb. 1. 

Construction had not commenced, so after Berkeley was declared the winner, the proposal was reconfigured, raising the projected size from 90,000 square feet and the project cost to $159.4 million. 

In the months since, the university hired its architect—the Smith Group, a national architecture firm with a staff of 800 and a local office in San Francisco—to design the lab building. 

Both civil and structural engineering firms have also been hired, and the university is looking for a general contractor and a geotechnical engineer to ensure that the structure is isolated from vibrations that might interfere with experiments. 

Two days before the regents’ March 15 vote, the GBC approved the budget for the reconfigured lab building. 

There was no mention of the highly controversial BP-funded program, though a link in the announcement does lead to a document on the regents’ website that cites EBI’s inclusion in the project. 

The next morning, LBNL’s “Today at Berkeley Lab” website announced only that the committee had approved “the 160,000-square-foot Helios Energy Research Facility.”  

One day later, the regents gave their final approval in an action that escaped the notice of the public and press. 

Building details 

The building, which will feature two underground levels and up to four more above them, will be constructed on the steep Strawberry Canyon site near the southern end of the lab complex. 

Of the total building area, only 88,000 square feet would be “assignable” space, specifically allocated to labs. And of that total, 16 percent—or about 14,100 square feet—would be reserved exclusively for corporate-only research by scientists from the British oil giant. 

Of the building’s total useable area, EBI would grab the lion’s share—46,000 square feet—with the Helios Project occupying 32,000, and 10,000 assigned for shared use, including a food service area and a 250-seat auditorium. 

While biofuel research had been included in the original program for the Helios project, lab documents indicate that the program’s emphasis will shift more to photovoltaics and other alternative energy technologies, with the EBI assuming the biofuel role. 

BP would lease space from the university, paying $1.48 million in 2011 and about $2 million a year thereafter, according to a report prepared for the regents prior to the March votes. 

Of the total funds, $70 million would come from state lease revenue bonds (including the $40 million pledged by Schwarzenegger for the EBI), $15 million from gifts, and $74.4 million would be borrowed at interest from the university’s education funds. 

None of the gift money had been raised at the time the regents approved the project in March. 

The lines between Helios and EBI are murky, given that the only “Helios in the News” stories listed on the Helios Project website are newspaper accounts of the BP grant to fund EBI (see www.lbl.gov/msd/helios_site/helios_news.html). 

The two programs share many of the same staff members, as would the Department of Energy lab to be announced this morning. 

News of the building’s approval came as a surprise to several critics of the BP proposal, and though the vote of the Grounds and Building committee to approve the building came just one day after the first academic senate forum on the EBI proposal, neither LBNL Director Steve Chu nor UC Berkeley Chancellor Robert Birgeneau mentioned it during their presentations. 

Neither lab nor university officials mentioned the building’s approval in two subsequent forums, including a second academic senate gathering where faculty voted on competing resolutions calling for oversight of negotiations of the contract between the university and the oil company. 

Concerns 

BP is a controversial firm, with a history of funding and backing covert military and intelligence operations, including a coup that overthrew the democratic government of Iran in 1953 and the alleged sponsorship of murderous paramilitaries in Colombia as recently as last year. 

Campus critics of the BP project have said they are concerned about their university’s involvement in a project which focuses on the development of genetically modified plants and microbes as a means of keeping American cars and SUVs rolling. 

A major concern of researchers like Miguel Altieri and Ignacio Chapela of the UCB College of Natural Resources is the potential of biofuel crops forcing out food crops in Third World nations, as well as the loss of small farms to incorporate biofuel plantations. 

Berkeley’s Academic Senate rejected a call for a strict oversight regime on April 19, opting instead for an advisory-only role for a committee composed primarily of project supporters. 

No mention was made during that meeting that construction of the lab building had already been approved. 

In addition to joining the academic efforts of one of the world’s leading universities to a leading oil giant with a checkered history, the university has also pledged to join its own public relations staff with the oil company’s in what the grant proposal described as an effort “to ensure that the EBI maintains national and international visibility as the world’s premier energy research institute.” 

The proposal approved by the regents in March is available online at www.universityofcalifornia.edu/regents/regmeet/mar07/gb4.pdf. 

A detailed description of the building and its uses may be found at the lab’s wesite: http://fac.lbl.gov/DandC/bidinfo/docs/Helios.Facility.Project.Plan_April.2007.pdf. 

Second lab 

Meanwhile, university and lab officials will know today if a coalition of three university-affiliated labs will receive a $125 million DOE grant for a second biofuel project. 

The $125 million Joint BioEnergy Institute (JBEI) would be one of three federally funded centers, each receiving up to $25 million a year over the course of five years. 

Lawrence Berkeley, Lawrence Livermore and Sandia national laboratories made a joint application. 

All three labs are operated under the aegis of UC Berkeley and the regents in partnership with the Department of Energy. 

If the Berkeley affiliates win, one possible site for the new lab would be the Marchant Building at 6701 San Pablo Ave. Recently sold by the university to private developers, the property drew the attention of the lab and the Economic Development Alliance for Business, a partnership of local governments and business organizations which has helped in preparing the application. 

DOE officials announced Monday that the winners would be announced during a press conference at 8:15 a.m. today (Tuesday) Berkeley time at the National Press Club in Washington.  

Both the EBI and the JBEI would be headed by Jay Keasling, a chemical engineering professor with dual appointments at the university and as director of LBNL’s Physical Biosciences Division. Working closely with Keasling is the lab’s Chris Somerville, who also holds appointments at the Carnegie Institution and Stanford. 

Both are GMO entrepreneurs with their own companies.

To protect the community, Berkeley police officers carry guns, drive vehicles at high speeds, arrest suspects and take control of their property, including money and illicit drugs. 

Because a police officer abusing drugs might be a danger to the community, the city’s Human Resources Department wants the right to drug-test city employees, including police.  

This question will be before the council tonight (Tuesday). 

On the agenda 

The city meetings will kick off at 6 p.m. with a meeting of the Housing Authority—the old board consisting of the City Council and two tenants, rather than the new one sworn in two weeks ago. The old board will be cleaning up unfinished business, discussing the lease of office space and adding a staff position. 

Among the issues on the council agenda in addition to drug testing of employees are:  

• Voting on the final budget draft offered by the city staff and the mayor. 

• Addressing two appeals of zoning board decisions, one allowing construction of a single-family house at 161 Panoramic Way and the other, permitting the demolition of Brennan’s and Celia’s restaurants on Fourth Street, re-using the train depot for a new Brennan’s and building a commercial-residential complex on the site that will include 210 apartments.  

• A public hearing on streetlight assessments. 

• Rules on public comment at meetings. 

• A continued appeal of the proposed commercial development at Ashby and College avenues. 

The City Council meeting begins at 7 p.m.  

Last week the meeting ended at 11 p.m. sharp, leaving the issue on public comment still to be discussed and public speakers on non-agenda items without a platform to speak—speakers on non-agenda items will be permitted to speak, even if other council business ends at 11 p.m., according to the mayor’s Chief of Staff Cisco DeVries. 

The absence of notice for speakers on non-agenda items on tonight’s council agenda is an oversight, according to City Clerk Pamyla Means. 

Mayor Tom Bates says he is “experimenting” with various council formats. The prompt end of last week’s meeting was among the newer ideas he has introduced. DeVries said on Monday that the 11 p.m. cut-off rule will likely continue at Tuesday’s meeting. 

Drug testing cops 

The Human Resources staff has placed a measure on the agenda asking the council to rescind the city prohibition against drug and alcohol testing of employees.  

This would give city contract negotiators the ability to go to the council in closed session and get direction on what to do when there is “reasonable suspicion” of drug use, when there has been an “accident causing serious bodily injury,” or when there has been a “use of force causing serious bodily injury,” according to the item that will come before the council.  

Human Resources Director David Hodgkins told the Daily Planet on Monday that once the part of the law prohibiting the city from drug-testing employees has been removed by a vote of the council, he will be able to negotiate with the labor unions on questions of testing. The fire and police contracts are currently in negotiation. 

If the council removes the prohibition, however, he will have to discuss the matter with the councilmembers behind closed doors. The question to be decided in closed session would be the impact a positive drug test would have on the discipline of an officer—for example, there could be counseling, suspension or termination.  

The case of the police officer who pled guilty last year to stealing drugs from the evidence room was among the issues that triggered the call to institute a drug-testing policy, Hodgkins said. 

Currently, if a manager or supervisor “observes behavior or appearance in an employee that is characteristic of drug use or alcohol misuse, the supervisor or manager cannot send the employee for a mandatory drug or alcohol test,” with the exception of operators of certain large equipment that come under federal regulation. 

Andrea Pritchett of Berkeley Copwatch said she welcomes a drug-testing policy for police, but cautions that the critical question in the case of Cary Kent, the former police sergeant who pled guilty to stealing drugs from the evidence room, was that his job performance, according to colleagues and supervisors interviewed in the criminal investigation, had been in decline for perhaps two years and supervisors and colleagues did not formally report it. 

Pritchett also said she fears that “by lifting the prohibition, all city employees could be tested. It could be an intrusion.” 

Many other police departments do drug testing under various circumstances, including Oakland, Boston, Los Angeles and New York.  

New York and Los Angeles dismiss officers after a first positive drug test, according to a July 30, 2006 Boston Globe story. Boston officers who test positive for drugs get a 45-day suspension during which they must get treatment. When they return to work, they are subject to random testing, as well as the annual test officers must take within 30 days of their birthdays. 

The Oakland Police Department spokesperson was unable to give the Daily Planet details of the city’s testing policy. 

Budget vote expected 

Responding to community pressure and the requests of council colleagues, Mayor Tom Bates, in a budget proposal released on Friday, has added several items to the list of social service spending that he had released last week. They include: 

• $25,000 in start-up funding for Young Aspirations Young Artists (YA YA) California. 

• $15,000 in funding to Berkeley Youth Living with Disabilities to fund a budget gap. 

• $10,000 to the Malcolm X Neighborhood Arts Collaborative for a five-year strategic plan. 

• $3,000 for Berkeley Boosters to develop a corporate sponsorship plan. 

• $13,000 to restore the reduction in the Berkeley Drop-in Center contract. 

• $12,000 to restore the reduction in the Lifelong Acupuncture Detox program. 

• $15,000 for case management services at University Avenue Homes, the site of low income housing where there was a recent homicide. 

• $10,000 to enhance the Lifelong Medical Care Social Worker program service for chronically homeless individuals. 

Funds will come from taking $100,000 in additional funds from those available through transfer taxes (slated to be spent on infrastructure), which will total $1.5 million in Bates’ budget additions. He is also freeing up funds by recommending that the Civic Arts Coordinator position that was to be cut to half-time in 2009 be restored with funds from the mid-year budget in February 2008.  

Bates’ budget continues to recommend $377,000 for engineering/planning needs, $225,00 for a transportation planner, $85,000 to increase the West Berkeley Planner to full time, $50,000 for a person to write laws for his Public Commons for Everyone Initiative and other social service needs as previously recommended.  

Rules for public comment 

Councilmember Kriss Worthington introduced an item last week to regulate public comment, something that the mayor has been experimenting with for much of the year, in response to a lawsuit threatened by Berkeleyans Organizing for Library Defense (SuperBOLD). The item was introduced, but not discussed, when the meeting abruptly ended at 11 p.m. The item is also scheduled toward the end of the council meeting Tuesday and, if the meeting ends at 11 p.m., may once again remain unaddressed.  

Bates is planning to introduce his own finalized rules for public comment July 17, the last meeting of the council year, according to DeVries. 

Wright’s Garage 

An appeal of the proposed development at Ashby and College avenues, turned down by the council two weeks ago, remains on the agenda for a month, allowing councilmembers to change their votes. This item is the last scheduled item on the agenda. 

The Berkeley Chamber of Commerce’s political action arm, Business for Better Government, files its campaign statements with the County of Alameda rather than the city. 

Deputy City Attorney Kristy van Herick wants to know why. 

“Based on an examination of the available Form 460 statements on file with Alameda County, it appears that the Berkeley Chamber PAC should be filing with the city of Berkeley instead of the county and therefore complying with the Berkeley Election Reform Act, including its more rigorous filing and disclosure requirements,” wrote van Herick in a May 30 request for advice to Scott Hallabrin, general council for the state Fair Political Practices Commission. 

Within a five-year period, the PAC contributed uniquely to Berkeley candidates and measures, with the exception of a $500 contribution to the Sandre Swanson for 16th District Assembly campaign.  

In 2006, the PAC spent around $100,000 to oppose council candidates Kriss Worthington and Dona Spring, to oppose the landmarks’ Measure J and to support Mayor Tom Bates. 

In 2004, it spent money opposing Berkeley’s Measure O (fair trade coffee) and in 2003-2004 spent funds on behalf of the Berkeley Committee for Fair Representation. In 2002, it contributed to the Berkeley Democratic Club and the local No on P campaign. 

“From my reading of the Political Reform Act, Government Code sections 81009.5 … and 84215 … the Berkeley Chamber PAC is legally required to file in Berkeley and comply with our local ordinance, the Berkeley Election Reform Act, if it is a general purpose committee ‘active’ only in Berkeley,” van Herick wrote, adding that she understands a committee to be active in Berkeley if it contributes only minimally to candidates in other jurisdictions. 

In her request for advice, van Herick asks the FPPC attorney whether the PAC should file in Berkeley and if so, asks: “If the Berkeley Chamber PAC should be a city general purpose committee [filing with the city], who has the authority to direct the committee to file an amended 410 and begin filing with the Berkeley City Clerk?” 

Councilmember Kriss Worthington, whose opponent in the 2006 race was supported with thousands of Chamber PAC dollars, said he would like to know if the county reporting “was done to evade the stringent reporting requirements in Berkeley.” 

Berkeley’s local election ordinance limits contributions to candidates to $250. If developer Patrick Kennedy, for example, gave $250 directly to Bates’ mayoral campaign, then gives $5,000 to the PAC, if even $1 of his PAC money goes to Bates, he might be said to be subverting the law that limits contributions to $250 per candidate.  

By filing with the county and following its election laws, the Chamber PAC did not have to follow the $250 limit rule.  

Furthermore, individual contributions to committees that file with the county are not published in a local newspaper, as is required by the local election law. And they are published on the Internet only when the committee chooses to file in an electronic format, which the Chamber PAC does not do. In Berkeley, all contributions are posted on the Internet, generally the same day or the day after a candidate files the required campaign statement. 

The full Chamber PAC contribution information is available at the country registrar’s office. 

Furthermore, Berkeley does not allow corporate contributions, but by filing with the county, such donors as Wareham Development of San Rafael are permitted to give contributions. (Wareham, owner of the Fantasy Building at 10th and Parker streets and numerous other sites in West Berkeley, gave $10,000 to the PAC.) 

Miriam Ng, chair of the Chamber of Commerce PAC did not return calls seeking comment. Van Herick did not return calls to discuss the letter.

More than a year after local voters approved the Peralta Community College District’s Facilities Bond Measure A, authorizing the four-college district to issue some $390 million in bonds, a citizens’ oversight committee required by that measure has yet to organize itself, has yet to meet, and has not yet been fully formed. 

The Peralta Board of Trustees recently approved Chancellor Elihu Harris’ appointment of former Assemblymember and current State Senate candidate Wilma Chan to serve on the committee, leaving the committee one member short of its full seven membership complement. 

Peralta Vice Chancellor Tom Smith says the oversight committee has not yet met because “there is nothing for them to do.” 

Smith said the district has been offering “informational” tours of its facilities and construction sites, but noted that “those are not mandatory,” and the committee “is not making any decisions.” 

It is unclear whether such “informational” tours by the committee fall under the California Brown Act, which requires notification to the public and the ability of the public to be present “for any gathering of a quorum of a ... body [covered by the act] to discuss or transact business under the body’s jurisdiction.” 

Peralta General Counsel Thuy Twi Nguyen did not return a voicemail requesting her opinion on the matter. Jeffrey Heyman, Peralta Executive Director for Marketing, Public Relations and Communications, called in her place, saying that any questions to Nguyen for this story should be submitted to his office in writing by e-mail and he would have them answered. 

Measure A required the organization of the oversight committee within 60 days of the district’s authorization of voter approval of the bond measure, an authorization that took place in July of last year. 

Meanwhile, the district continues to authorize and spend millions of dollars in Measure A facilities bond money without the oversight committee. 

At its last meeting alone, on June 12, the Peralta Board of Trustees approved four separate projects involving the expenditure of approximately $2.5 million. An exact amount is not available because funding for one of the projects, the renovation of the district headquarters, is listed on the minutes as coming from both Measure A and the district’s previous construction bond, Measure E.  

Independent performance and financial audits called for in the bond measure have yet to be completed, according to Vice Chancellor Smith, because the district’s fiscal ’06-’07 books have yet to be closed. Smith said the two areas will be part of the report of Peralta’s outside auditors, Vavrinek, Trine, and Day, and should be available in October or November. 

Besides Chan, one of two community-at-large representatives on the committee, oversight committee members, with their interest areas in parentheses, now include Bay Area World Trade Center President and CEO Jose Dueñas (business), League of Women Voters Berkeley Albany Emeryville Community College Chair Helene LeCar (community-at-large), Laney College student Scott Folosade (students), Peralta Foundation President and EBMUD Board Member Bill Patterson (representing a group supporting the community college), and Polly Amrein (senior citizens). 

A seventh committee member, San Francisco accountant Hyacinth Ahuruonye, who once served as campaign treasurer for former Oakland City Councilmember Moses Mayne, was appointed last November to represent taxpayers associations, but Vice Chancellor Smith said that Ahuruonye has since been dropped from the committee. 

“He’s not a local property taxpayer,” Smith said, “and I believe that’s an important criteria for committee membership. We are currently looking for someone to represent a taxpayers group.” 

Another unstated reason for Ahuruonye’s removal, however, may have been a lack of affiliation with a recognized taxpayers’ association. Ahuruonye’s name was not familiar to local or state taxpayers’ associations which are represented on other bond measure committees, and last year, Ahuruonye failed to respond to telephone calls requesting information on what taxpayers’ association he represented. 

The purpose, duties, and makeup of the Measure A oversight committee are set out in California Education Code Sections 15278 through 15282, which is referenced in the Measure A text. 

The oversight committee purpose, according to the Education Code, is to “inform the public concerning the expenditure of bond revenues.” 

To do so, the code lists several activities that the oversight committee “may” engage in, including reviewing both the performance and financial audits, inspecting school facilities and grounds “to ensure that bond expenditures are [properly] expended,” and “reviewing efforts by the school district or community college to maximize bond revenues by implementing cost-saving measures.”

A new class of 15 students began the semester at the Bread Project at the Berkeley Adult School (BAS) Monday. In the first hour, this group of future bakers learned to differentiate between ounces and pounds, a few new vocabulary words for use in the kitchen, and, most importantly, they learned about Lucie Buchbinder. 

Buchbinder, co-founder of the Bread Project, a cooking training program for low-income adults, was killed in a train accident at Oakland's Jack London Square Tuesday. 

The Amtrak train that had hit Buchbinder had been traveling south from Sacramento. Buchbinder, 83, had been distracted by her cellphone and apparently did not see the train approaching. 

“I saw it on the news,” said Bread Project student Latoya Davis, a 30-year-old single parent of two. “I am sad that we won’t see her around here ever again.” 

“Anybody who has the motivation to create a program like this has to have a big heart,” said Coral Gardener, 24, who enrolled in the Bread Project after hearing about it at the Women’s Daytime Drop-in Center in Berkeley. 

Both Davis and Gardener have dreams of becoming pastry chefs. Instructor Nel Dias-DeSilva said the program has placed many students in professional kitchens. 

“Lucie’s vision was to provide hands-on training in cooking and training to low-income groups,” he said while introducing the class to scales and measurements Monday. “Our aim is to get every student an entry-level job in the food business. We can’t promise them a job as a pastry chef, but it’s possible.” 

As the BAS community mourned within the school Monday, Lily Divito, executive director of the Bread Project, spoke to the Planet about Buchbinder. 

“She was just so genuine,” Divito said, glancing at pictures of a silver-haired Bucbinder talking to her students. “She was so healthy and had an immense amount of energy. When she started the Bread Project, she was 75, but never stopped working. Since it was a start-up, there was no staff, nothing. I was hired in June 2002 as the assistant director.” 

The Bread Project was born in 2000 when Buchbinder met Susan Phillips, a social worker in San Francisco. 

“We were both working in affordable housing in the Tenderloin,” Phillips said. 

“When our low-income tenants approached us to help them find a job, I had an idea about the bread project. Research showed that baking as a trade paid significantly above the minimum wage and that it was a job that had a career ladder. Neither of us had any training in baking, but Lucie, with her experience in starting three nonprofit organizations, had the know-how.” 

Phillips and Buchbinder approached Michael Suas of the San Francisco Baking Institute who agreed to train students and provide space and equipment for classes at cost. 

Since its inception in 2001, the program has worked with organizations such as the Oakland Private Industry Council, the San Mateo County Human Services and the Berkeley Adult School. 

“It was Lucie who brought the Bread Project to us,” said BAS principal Margaret Kirkpatrick, who has been with the institution for over a decade. “She showed us how the program kept with the main goal of our school, that is serving adults. It fit exactly with our mission. We had a kitchen that wasn’t being used and they had a need. It was a collaboration waiting to happen.” 

When the adult school moved from the old campus to 1701 San Pablo Ave., Buchbinder insisted on planning the new kitchen herself. 

“She planned everything from where the new sinks would go in to where the oven would fit,” said Kirkpatrick. “Her energy was simply amazing.” 

A lifelong advocate of the economically disadvantaged, Buchbinder was born in Vienna, Austria, and fled to Amsterdam through Kindertransport after the Nazi’s occupied her country. 

After living in England for a while, Buchbinder moved to New York with her family. She finally ended up in Sacramento and attended UCLA and UC Berkeley. 

After a short stint teaching English at UC Berkeley, Buchbinder worked with HUD in San Francisco for a long time in low-cost housing. 

“She was politically very active and was a member of the Electoral College,” said Phillips. “She showed me that in order to accomplish something you had to work very hard. She had the energy of a 18-year-old. Even at 76, she was working 50 to 60 hours every week. The last time I met her she told me that she was tying up loose ends in her life to prepare for possible death, but I don’t think she had expected to die so violently.” 

Both Phillips and Buchbinder retired in 2005. Today the Bread Project has five sessions at BAS and two at the Oakland Adult School. 

It has served more than 500 people from diverse ethnic, social and economic backgrounds since its inception. About 75 percent of the program’s graduates go on to find work and 84 percent of those who find work stay employed after a year. 

As Monday’s class came to an end, Henry Boatwright, a new student, said he was sorry to miss the chance to meet Buchbinder. 

“I have heard so much about her,” he said. “I am glad she started something like this for folks like us. I want to thank her for that. I have done lots of things in my life. Roofing, painting, landscaping. But what I really want to do is learn how to bake. Soups and sandwiches and stuff, that’s what I really want to do. And now I can finally do that.” 

The Oakland Unified School District state administrator’s office is reporting this week that political intervention by State Senator Don Perata and State Superintendent Jack O’Connell with the state architect’s office has speeded up approval of construction plans for the partially burned Peralta Elementary School in North Oakland. 

Last week, OUSD State Administrator Kim Stathan announced that construction has begun on the Peralta campus, with completion scheduled within 60 days. 

But with construction always subject to possible delays, that may not be fast enough to stave off a possible joint habitation of North Oakland’s Carter Middle School by Peralta and the newly formed Oakland International High School in the fall, an arrangement that some Peralta parents have said will cause them to pull their children out of the Oakland school district completely. 

If there is such a joint school arrangement at Carter “the result will be that a handful of the parents will be there . . . to make it work,” said Peralta parent activist Christopher Waters by telephone, “but the district will also lose several families. That’s not a threat. That’s just a reality.”  

Waters said that Peralta administrators have already been notified by Oakland International High School officials that Oakland International will begin moving into portions of the Carter Middle School space within two weeks. 

Several Peralta parents told Stathan at an OUSD administrator board meeting earlier this month that housing high school and elementary school students together was “inappropriate,” and they would pull their children out of Peralta if that occurred. 

In an emotional address, one parent said, “Can you imagine what these high school boys would be saying to some of these 6th grade girls? Can you imagine the effect on them?” 

A portion of Peralta’s 63rd Street and Telegraph Avenue campus was destroyed in an arson fire last March, and since that time the school has been occupying space at the site formerly housing the defunct Carter Middle School at 45th Street and Webster. Oakland International is a newly formed school in the district affiliated with the Internationals Network for Public Schools. 

According to the network’s website, the Internationals Network for Public Schools is “a non-profit organization dedicated to the development and support of the network of International High Schools that serve late-entry immigrant English Language Learners.” 

“If it’s just not possible to move back into the Peralta site by the beginning of the fall school term, we’ll just have to figure out how to share the Carter campus with the high school,” OUSD spokesperson Alex Katz said by telephone last week. 

However that admission—that the joint Peralta/Oakland International occupation of Carter in the fall is still on the table—is contrary to what Waters says district officials said immediately after the fire and have been saying in recent days.  

Waters said that at a meeting between Peralta parents and Stathan a week after the March fire, “she told us under no circumstances would we have to share the Carter site with International High School.” 

But after district officials indicated that they were, in fact, contemplating a cohabitation arrangement after approval of the Peralta construction stalled over the spring and threatened a possible fall reopening, Waters said that parents met with several local political leaders about the situation at the school, including Alameda County School Superintendent Sheila Jordan, Assemblymember Sandré Swanson, Oakland City Councilmember Jane Brunner (who represents the district in which Peralta is located), and representatives of the office of Oakland Mayor Ron Dellums. He said that following those meetings, Jordan contacted him last week and said that OUSD state administrator Kim Stathan had “promised me that there would be no co-location at Carter.”  

Peralta parents pressed their case personally to State Superintendent O’Connell when O’Connell visited Carter Middle School earlier this month (“He slipped out the side door without telling us anything,” according to Waters), and have been coordinating efforts to speed up construction with the office of State Senator Perata. 

Meanwhile, a letter sent out this week to “Peralta Elementary Families & Staff” by Stathan updating the construction project did not mention the possible relocation controversy. Stathan only wrote that she was “very pleased that our plans were approved in record time and that we were able to start a 60-day reconstruction project a few days ahead of schedule. With work now underway, I am optimistic that we will be able to bring Peralta home before the first day of school on August 27. Throughout this project, I have promised that OUSD would do everything in its power to make the 63rd Street campus ready for students by the end of August—even if that means moving before offices and other repairs outside of classrooms are completely finalized. We will continue to direct all available resources to rebuilding Peralta. However, school construction is a complex business, and we must make sure that work meets the highest standards for teaching, learning and safety.” 

Katz said that construction at Peralta would begin with the damaged classrooms and then move to non-classroom space, with the idea that if possible, students might be able to occupy the classrooms at the beginning of the fall term while construction on other parts of the building were still ongoing. One scenario might have some administrative and non-classroom activity housed in temporary buildings on the site. 

Besides the classrooms, the damaged portions of the school include the front office, the library, and the teacher’s lunchroom. 

Waters said by telephone that he believes that the district is doing its best to complete the construction before the beginning of the fall term. Waters also said that the parents have no complaints about International High School itself, but only with the idea of housing elementary students with high school students. 

“We love International High School,” Waters said. “We’re excited about it. But it’s inappropriate for us to share the site with them. This is not the time for us to embrace a new challenge or foist a big change on us. We’re tired and we’re overwhelmed.” 

A man’s decomposing body was retrieved from the bay near the pier at the Berkeley Marina at 9:30 a.m. Sunday, the Alameda County coroner’s office reported. 

A boat passing by the Berkeley Pier, three and a half miles into the San Francisco Bay near the end of University Avenue, reported the body to the U.S. Coast Guard. 

The Coast Guard retrieved the body and brought it to the Alameda County coroner’s office. 

“The body looked like it was in there (the water) for a while, at least a few days,” said Petty Officer Cole. 

The county coroner’s office estimated the death, which occurred from drowning, took place sometime around June 18.

Verizon Wireless and Nextel Communication staff will be back at the Berkeley Zoning Adjustments Board (ZAB) meeting Thursday to request a use permit for 11 cell phone antennas atop the UC Storage building at 2721 Shattuck Ave. following a second remand from the Berkeley City Council. 

A public hearing is also scheduled to be held at the meeting at Old City Hall, 1234 Martin Luther King Jr. Way, at 7 p.m. 

At the Jan. 30 ZAB meeting, board members voted 6-3 to deny the request of Verizon and Nextel for a permit to construct a new wireless telecommunications facility to host eighteen cell phone antennas and related equipment atop the building. 

The six ZAB members who voted against the permit cited insufficient third-party engineering review as grounds for denial. 

The item, which had been first remanded to ZAB by the City Council on Sept. 26, 2006, had brought forth health concerns from neighbors. 

But the City Council had asked ZAB to look primarily at the third-party engineering review, parking concerns and whether any illegal construction was taking place at the site, and had asked ZAB not to reject the cell phone antennas on grounds of health concerns. 

The Telecommunications Act of 1996 prohibits local governments from rejecting wireless facilities based on health concerns as long as the stations conform to Federal Communication standards. 

Neighbors said the denial was a breakthrough in terms of communities having a voice in planning their urban environments. 

Both Verizon and Nextel appealed ZAB’s decision to the City Council. 

At the May 11 council meeting, Paul Albritton, an attorney for Verizon, told councilmembers that more antennas were required for better cellphone coverage. 

“Data use has tripled in Berkeley,” he said and added that Berkeley’s use of cell phones had increased 94 percent between 2005 and 2006. 

Area residents who had turned up at the meeting to vociferously protest the antennas argued that the council had significant evidence that there was no need for additional coverage. 

Planning staff is recommending that ZAB approves the permit. 

2100 San Pablo U-Haul project 

The City of Berkeley Code Enforcement Division will request ZAB to hold a public hearing to consider recommending to the City Council that the U-Haul business at 2100 San Pablo Ave. is in violation of its use permit. 

If the business is in violation, the Code Enforcement Division has asked the council to determine with the appropriate remedy. 

According to the staff report, U-Haul was granted a use permit in 1975 to operate a truck and trailer rental business which allowed it to store 20 trucks and 30 trailers on the lot.  

The report says that U-Haul has consistently violated its use permit by storing more than 20 trucks on its lot and has also used on street parking spaces to store its trucks. 

U-Haul argues that the use permit does not limit it to storing 20 trucks on the site or prohibit it from using the public right of way to store the excess trucks.

Bus Rapid Transit (BRT), the hottest ticket on the Berkeley transportation horizon, is up for discussion again tonight (Tuesday). 

This time it’s the Downtown Area Plan Advisory Committee’s transportation subcommittee that is taking up the $400 million project that could change the streetscapes of downtown and Telegraph Avenue. 

The committee will be working on a collection of statements of concern to be submitted to AC Transit in time for consideration in the agency’s environmental impact report on the project. 

To be considered in the final report, all issues have to be raised before the week is out. 

The subcommittee, composed of members of DAPAC and the city’s Transportation Commission, is currently working on a draft chapter on access and transportation for inclusion in the new downtown plan. 

DAPAC has until the end of November to prepare statements for inclusion in a new downtown plan being created as one of the conditions of a settlement of a city lawsuit challenging UC Berkeley’s adoption of development plans through 2020. 

The meeting begins at 7 p.m. in the North Berkeley Senior Center, 1901 Hearst Ave. at Martin Luther King Jr. Way. 

The Berkeley Board of Education will be meeting at the Old City Hall at 2134 Martin Luther King Jr. Way, 7:30 p.m. Wednesday to renew contracts and agreements before they break for summer this year. 

School site safety plans 

The board will vote on whether to approve the School Site Safety Plans, which utilize various community, agency and school resources to ensure proper response to any emergency. 

Every public school in the state is required to have a school site plan which includes a school site safety plan, said Berkeley Unified School District spokesperson Mark Coplan. 

The safety plans deal with day-to-day scenarios as well as drastic incidents. 

“It could range from dealing with a potential bomb threat and violent intruders on campus to simple things like child injury in the playground,” Coplan said. 

The district’s resources for its safety plans includes the city, UC Berkeley and Alta Bates Hospital. 

Berkeley school volunteers, special education transportation 

The board will also vote on whether to approve a revised agreement with the Berkeley Public Education Foundation to support Berkeley School Volunteers. 

The Berkeley Public Education Foundation is a nonprofit organization that brings up to $500,000 a year in grants and donations as well as volunteer programs to the district 

The board will also review information with respect to special education transportation services for the 2007-2008 fiscal year. 

Sunday’s second Berkeley International Food Festival Sunday will celebrate the story of how a West Berkeley neighborhood overcame ethnic, racial and economic boundaries through food. 

Faiza Ayyad, Shahid Salimi, Luis Arango and Jesus Mendes all came to West Berkeley in the 1980s and set up food shops there in search of a better life. Theirs is a story of survival; one of pride, but not prejudice. And it will be shared with festival goers on Sunday. 

“West Berkeley is an undiscovered and underappreciated gem,” said Sally Douglas Arce, event coordinator. “It has been called the International Marketplace District and has banners touting this designation. Yet, many of us drive through to other Berkeley destinations, seldom, if ever, stopping to appreciate the wonderful specialty stores and restaurants.” 

“It would definitely help if we got more foot traffic,” said Faiza’s son, Ramzy, who manages Halal Foods on San Pablo Ave. with his mother and two brothers, Sammy and Amir. “Some more housing would also bring in a diverse crowd. If you look around, it’s really just businesses down here.” 

Long known for its smokestack industries, West Berkeley has gradually transformed into a gateway for new immigrants as more and more foreigners have begun to settle here. 

Faiza, who is half Palestinian and half Moroccan, came to Berkeley from Palestine to join her husband 27 years ago. “I was 18 when I came here,” she said. “I didn’t like the idea of selling beer and wine. So we set up a halal meat shop.” 

Today Halal Foods claims to sell the best lamb sausages in town. Spices, perfumes and dates from Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Turkey, Syria and Palestine neatly line its shelves.  

During the festival Faiza will be handing out homemade falafel and setting up a barbecue pit outside the door. She also promises Middle Eastern music. 

It was the late Esther Bernal, former boardmember of the West Berkeley Development Corporation (WBNDC), who came up with the idea of an international food festival. 

“Esther grew up in Mexico, where there were a lot of open mercados or markets,” said Bruce Williams, chair of WBNDC. “That’s where we got the concept of an open-air market. The festival strives to spread the word about the uniqueness of this West Berkeley neighborhood with many of its stores being family owned and operated.” 

Next door to Halal, Shahid Salimi of Indus Foods is busy inspecting the range-free certified meat that his store is so famous for. A graduate of UC Berkeley, Salimi took over his dad’s business. 

“When we came down from Pakistan, in 1984, it was hard to get goat meat,” he said. “This prompted my dad to set up a small butcher store at the bottom of the UC Hotel at University Ave. I grew up taking the fat off the halal chicken, goat and lamb meat.” 

Salimi said that business in the West Berkeley neighborhood has improved since 1985. 

“Lots of prostitution and drug dealing. It was a no-good area,” he said. “Now the biggest problem is parking. Eighty percent of our clients come from outside Berkeley and they can’t find a place to park. The city also needs to give a tax break to people who are working hard to bring in profit to the city. They need to stop haggling with you for permits.” 

Lynn Berling-Manuel, president of the West Berkeley Foundation, the sponsor of the festival, said that parking was an challenge in every community. 

“The festival will give us an opportunity to spotlight the different needs of this neighborhood. We want to encourage people to shop there,” she said. 

The West Berkeley Foundation, which works with at-risk youth and women in the neighborhood, has so far given out $1.3 million in grants to nonprofit organizations that serve West Berkeley children, seniors and disabled families. 

Michael Caplan, Berkeley’s economic development director, said, “The city came up with a San Pablo Public Improvement Plan that envisions better crosswalks and lights in the district. The MTC and AC Transit are also working to upgrade the Rapid Bus Transit system on San Pablo Ave. There is a budget and funds for it. I just don’t know why it’s taking so long to implement.” 

Luis Arango, owner of the brand new Shaan’s Deli at San Pablo, wants better lights and better crosswalks. He also wants the city to take care of the paper and the garbage bags flying around.  

Arango, who came to California from Calexico 16 years ago, is busy practicing his grilling skills for Sunday. “I want to clear the misconception people have about Mexican food. We don’t even have burritos in Mexico. It’s an American thing.” 

Chef Mike C will be on the Kitchens of Fire cooking stage Sunday to clear up confusion about different cuisines. Samosas from India top his list. 

“This festival is absolutely necessary for the area,” he said while picking up organic cheese and peppers from Mi Tierra Foods on Wednesday. “California is full of people like Jesus, who worked hard to establish Mi Tierra. They bring so much cultural diversity to a place. I will be using a lot of ingredients from this store, simply because the nicer specialty chains don’t carry even half of them.” 

Event 

Berkeley International Food Festival 

June 24 from noon to 5 p.m. 

Venue  

Several blocks in each direction from the intersection of University and San Pablo Avenues 

Highlights 

• The Kitchen on Fire cooking stage 

• Mi Tierra Foods' Kiosko (San Pablo and Addison) with Aztec dancers, Ballet Folklorico and live music (salsa and cumbia) 

• Karma Korner (Ninth and University) with Indian food, belly dancing, Indian films, cardamom ice cream 

• The Spanish Table (San Pablo between Hearst and Delaware) with paella demonstrations and samples all day

A popular Albany physician and her two daughters were shot to death by her distraught husband in a secluded Tilden Park parking lot Monday night. He then turned the gun on himself. 

Kevin Morrissey, who told acquaintances he had been a Central Intelligence Agency officer, used a recently purchased .357 magnum pistol to kill 40-year-old Dr. Mamiko Kawai and their two daughters, Nikki and Kim, ages 8 and 6, before turning the gun on himself. 

In the days since the shootings, questions have surfaced about Morrissey’s past, including possible CIA ties and connections with a little-known doctors aid group, headed by a physician who was found dead of unknown causes in his Oakland home earlier this year. 

East Bay Regional Park Police were called to the Mineral Springs parking lot near Inspira-tion Point about 7 p.m. Monday by a park visitor who reported hearing the sounds of possible fireworks in the area. 

The bodies of the two children were found in the back seat of the family car, and the bodies of their parents were on the ground nearby. Police found a suicide note written by Morrissey at the scene. 

The family lived in a modest frame home in the 1300 block of Northside Ave. in northern Berkeley. 

A 1992 graduate of Jefferson Medical College of Thomas Jefferson University in Philadel-phia, Kawai received her California medical license the following year. 

For many years a family practitioner, at the time of her death Kawai practiced dermatology out of Aura Laser Skin Care Center, located in a suite at 500 San Pablo Ave. in Albany. 

Morrissey served as office manager and bookkeeper. 

Albany resident James Carter said he had known the couple since Kawai became the physician for his family soon after she began practicing medicine. 

“We were supposed to get together for a barbecue in two weeks,” said Carter. “We’d been talking about it for a couple of years.” 

Carter said he saw the couple a week ago, where they made plans. 

“Kevin looked out of it,” he said, “like he’d had too many cups of coffee. The last couple of times I saw him he looked very stressed out.” 

While Morrissey’s suicide note listed financial problems as the motive for his action, Carter said he doesn’t believe that was the real cause. 

The couple had recently refinanced their Berkeley home and taken out an additional loan. 

An enigma? 

Morrissey told Carter he had been an officer for the CIA and had been stationed in the Middle East. According to his resume, Morrissey had served as a foreign service office for the U.S. diplomatic corps from 1983 to 1991, conducting an analysis for “the Department of State and related agencies.” 

“He told me some intricate stories about what he’d done,” said Carter. “He said he was very frustrated with the CIA, and he complained about the bureaucracy. He told me he spoke three different Middle Eastern languages,” including Arabic and Farsi. 

Morrissey’s resume also states that he served as a member of an army Special Forces “A Team” from 1974 to 1976, followed by a year at the United States Military Preparatory School, Ft. Monmouth, N.J. 

Though most graduates of the prep school typically go on to West Point and careers as army officers, Morrissey attended the University of Texas in Austin, where, according to his resume, he graduated with an honors degree in Middle Eastern Studies in 1982. 

“He was a real smart guy in many ways,” Carter said, “but he was always very hyper.” 

After graduation, he worked for a year as a systems developer for IBM. A five-year gap in his resume follows, then his stint as a diplomat—or spook—followed by a variety of jobs, including a year as an information system specialist at Childrens’ Hospital of Oakland, 2000-1, after which he listed his occupation as a health care information technology consultant. 

Morrissey also served as chief information officer and administrator of Medicine International, a physician’s group which sent doctors to war zones around the world and which, according to its website, trained mujahideen fighters in Afghanistan in emergency medical care and which also provided surgery for injured Sandinistas during the Nicaraguan civil war, as well as treating firefighters in New York after the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center. 

Mark Edward Stinson, who served as executive director of Medicine International, was found dead in his Oakland home on March 3. According to the Albany County Coroner’s office, an autopsy was unable to determine the cause of death because the body was discovered “in an advanced state of decomposition.” 

At the time of his death, the 49-year-old Stinson was a highly popular physician with the Contra Costa Regional Medical Center, where he had served for more than two decades, most recently in the emergency department. 

Like Morrissey, he had attended the University of Texas in Austin for his undergraduate years, receiving his bachelor’s degree in 1983, one year after Morrissey. 

According to the record of listings with the California Secretary of State, Medicine International is not incorporated in California nor did it file papers as a corporation doing business in the state, nor is it listed among the charities compiled by GuideStar, which compiles information on 1.5 million American non-profits. 

According to Bay City News, Morrissey bought the murder weapon on April 19 at the Old West Gun Room in El Cerrito, a Carlson Boulevard shop not far from Kawai’s office. 

He picked up the weapon May 1, after the mandatory waiting period imposed by state law. 

Compassionate doctor 

Carter said Kawai was an affectionate, caring physician. “You’d see her in the supermarket, and she come up and give you a hug,” he said. “When the kids were sick and you called because the medicines didn’t seem to be working, she’d call you back even it was during the night. 

“When you came into the office, she didn’t rush you, and she didn’t act like she knew everything. She was attentive, and you knew she really cared about you.” 

Kawai had given up her family practice and opened the laser skin-care practice because of problems in dealing with her previous group practice with Summit Alta Bates Medical Center, said a family friend. 

During her years as a family physician, Kawai won praise from patients who posted their recommendations on the Berkeley Parents Network website. One patient described her as “AMAZING! Super smart, kind, caring, thoughtful, scientific.” 

“I feel I am getting much personal attention,” wrote another. While two patients depicted her as somewhat aloof—“not a touchy-feely type,” wrote one; “not incredibly warm” wrote another—most patients described an engaging and open personality, as did the patient who described her as “energetic and extremely personable.” 

Carter said he found her an excellent physician, sensitive and caring. 

Photograph by Richard Brenneman  

A police officer closes off the crime scene early Tuesday morning.

If anything, the week got worse. On Tuesday, I wrote a blog about the internet abuse of children, our disassociation from what happens right in front of our faces. I didn't know when I wrote it that I had witnessed the scene of an unimaginable horror the evening before. 

On Monday evening, my friend Tory and I loaded my pack of dogs in my car and headed off to walk along a trail in Tilden Park. 

Tilden is one of a series of gorgeous open-space parks running the length of the East Bay. There are magnificent vistas, lakes, streams, forests, nature trails. It is one of my special places to be—alone or with friends and my dogs, my beloved, precious dogs. We headed to the eastern part of the hill, hoping to rise above the fog, sweeping in blankets across the bay and brushing past us in wisps, as we headed upwards, towards a place called Inspiration Point.  

I looked to the left towards one of the trailheads.  

A car sat, in the mists, lonely and seeming somehow out of place, in the small dirt parking lot by the beginning of the trail. On a clear day, this is a beautiful spot, and one which leads steeply and quickly down to Lake Anza, along a trail known as Mineral Springs. It was sometime before 7 p.m. There was a cool foggy breeze swirling and a lone police car sat nearby, lights blazing. The scene seemed wrong. But I didn't see anything. Tory and I decided to drive just a few feet further to Quarry Trail, and we could see patches of blue searching for a way to punch a hole in the fog. Our walk was beautiful. Tilden is a place of peace and wild beauty. 

On the walk I heard a commotion from a short distance—I now know this was the arrival of emergency vehicles. And I also know that Kevin Morrissey, aged 51, had just minutes before our arrival shot his two beautiful girls and his wife to death before killing himself. Many who knew the Berkeley family said the man was a loving devoted dad.  

I can only think of one thing. That he drove his family to a beautiful place on a cold evening, and pulled out a .357 magnum and shot one girl and then the other in front of their mother. Perhaps he had practised this action for weeks in his garage, or at the firing range, so that the kids’ suffering would be brief, so that the daughter shot after the other would barely know before the bullet entered her head. And their mom. How does anyone look in the eyes of those he loves, and destroy them? 

He wasn’t angry with them. He loved them. 

There is already an industry to examine and debate how a man like Morrissey reaches this point. Radio talk shows are inundated with armchair detectives and angry, outraged people who still cannot imagine a tragedy like this emerging from their root ball. The man himself left a note blaming financial woes. I don’t really care why. I care that a man could reach this point. I care that Kevin Morrissey was a man who legally owned a weapon, and that he kept it in his home in Berkeley. I care that he was a military veteran, and I do wonder whether the skill to murder in sanctioned killing zones can ever fully be unlearned. I care that he had reached the conclusion that his problems were so great that his family, not just he himself, but his sweet young kids also, could not survive them. I care that he felt, even in his undoubted distress, that as the head of this family he had the power and the right to snuff out laughter, tears and futures. I also care that the police car we saw contained an officer who was the first to see this slaughter. How does he cope with what he had to see? 

I will walk down the trail at Mineral Springs with Roxy, Frank, Roo, Calvin and Oscar, to the lake, so near to Inspiration Point, and remind myself that life is beautiful.

A packed council budget hearing at the Tuesday evening City Council meeting brought out people with requests ranging from homeless services to arts to emergency road access. 

“I’m really amazed that you want to cut funds that support me and my sister,” said 9-year-old Xavier Wilson, one of a dozen or so children and adults who called on the council to restore cuts for services to families and individuals at Harrison House in West Berkeley. 

On the council agenda was a public hearing on the city budget and continued discussion of commercial development at Ashby and College avenues. The council approved designation of transit corridors as “planned development areas” and a pilot project designating one side of the street as residential parking in the south-of-campus area. 

Council considers budget 

While there are about $230,000 in proposed social-service cuts, the mayor pointed out that some programs are being funded at a higher level than in previous years.  

In a memo released Friday, Bates proposed his own $1.4 million supplementary budget, which was, with some minor changes, an addition to the city manager’s budget released in May. Most of that $350 million budget is already committed to personnel and projects. 

After the hearing and council comments on Tuesday, Bates said he would take funding requests into consideration as he rewrites his budget proposal for June 26, when the council is slated to vote on the budget. 

While horse-trading between the mayor and council is likely to take place during the week, Bates’ Chief of Staff Cisco DeVries said Bates would not violate public meeting laws by speaking about the budget with more than three of the councilmembers. 

“We are wandering out of the budgetary wilderness,” said Coucilmember Max Anderson at the Tuesday meeting. “The social safety net that we took so much pride in has become quite tattered. We need to begin to repair it.” 

“Isn’t it possible to make none of these homeless service cuts?” Councilmember Kriss Worthington, who had prepared a request asking for restoration of all social service cuts, asked his colleagues. The budget reduction for social services “doesn’t make sense.” 

With the city manager’s help, Bates identified about $1.4 million that had not been expended in the manager’s budget or that was new money.  

The additional revenue includes $700,000 in funds the city manager had set aside to leverage new funds; $200,000 from correcting misidentified business license tax categories; $60,000 from the school district payments to the general fund for city services; $300,000 from the city manager’s budget, set aside for street repairs from windfall transfer taxes; $190,000 realized from beginning street sweeping in mid 2008, while it was budgeted for the entire year, and $200,000 from the public works budget. 

Bates’ memo proposes spending the funds in a number of ways. He would hire a number of consultants, who would: study West Berkeley zoning, plan transportation, study gaps in services provided by agencies for youth employment; study gaps in health and development services to children 0 to 3; fund a second year for the already-funded greenhouse gas emission reduction consultant, and fund a consultant to write the laws for Bates’ Public Commons for Everyone initiative.  

The council did not discuss any of these proposals, some of which were before the body for the first time. 

The mayor is also recommending expenditures to plan/engineer a Center Street plaza, University Avenue lighting, streetscape on San Pablo Avenue and Piedmont Avenue landscape rehabilitation.  

The mayor also includes direct services to people in need in his proposals: youth jobs, drug and alcohol recovery and various food and shelter programs for homeless people. 

After hearing from dozens of people explaining their needs or the needs of their clients or neighborhoods, councilmembers addressed their funding priorities. They had, over the last few months, created a list of projects that grew to an $8 million price tag. (Many of Bates’ proposals are in addition to that package.) 

Councilmembers chose from their lengthy wish lists to highlight some of their choices. 

Anderson called for funding for the Berkeley Drop-in Center, a peer counseling and respite center for individuals with mental health needs, and a youth arts program, YaYa California. 

Councilmember Dona Spring called for funding for a program for disabled youth in west Berkeley and restoration of funds for a detox acupuncture clinic. 

In addition to calling for funds for nonprofit housing developer Resources for Community Development and the drop-in center, Councilmember Linda Maio asked for UN Run For Peace funding. 

Councilmember Betty Olds spoke out for Piedmont Avenue landscape rehabilitation, something also on the mayor’s list and, along with other councilmembers and the mayor, called for funding for Options for Recovery. Councilmember Laurie Capitalli said he wants to see beat police on Adeline Street and Shattuck and Telegraph avenues. 

Councilmember Gordon Wozniak called for matching money (the university may fund half) to plan an emergency road in the Panoramic Hills neighborhood, where there is currently only one way in and out; he also asked for a Berkeley Booster intern. 

The council will vote on the budget June 26. 

Priority Development Areas designated 

The Priority Development Areas approved by council 6-0-2 on Tuesday are not truly designated for development, planning staff told the council. Councilmembers Kriss Worthington and Dona Spring abstained and Councilmember Darryl Moore was absent. 

Approving specific projects will come later. 

The purpose of the designation is simply to make the areas—Telegraph, University, South Shattuck avenues and Adeline Street and downtown—eligible for bond funding, which may or may not become available, Planning Director Dan Marks said.  

A quick designation is critical so that the city can submit an application for the funds by June 26, Marks noted. 

Opponents commenting from the public argued that the designation lacks specifics and the streets cited have not gone through a public process regarding future development. State legislation implementing the designation and its funding has not been passed and the city doesn’t know precisely what the law will say, if it is passed.  

“I wanted to be sure we’re not committing ourselves,” said Councilmember Maio, adding she understood “we’re not committing ourselves to anything.” 

“It makes perfect sense for me,” Anderson said. “It creates options.” 

But Worthington said the legislation could require, for example, less affordable housing than Berkeley requires.  

In a letter distributed to the City Council, the Berkeley Architectural Heritage Association (BAHA) called on the council to commit to a public process on the issue. 

“It is premature to apply for funds, which may force Berkeley to comply with conditions that we, as citizenry, do not accept or agree to,” said the letter, signed by BAHA President Carrie Olson. 

But Maio argued, “We have an opportunity. We don’t know exactly what it is.” 

City attorney in China 

Sitting in the city attorney’s chair during the council meeting was Betsy Strauss, introduced by City Manager Phil Kamlarz as “a very experienced” city attorney who would be taking the place of the vacationing City Attorney Manuela Albuquerque.  

Documents obtained from the city manager’s office show Strauss is paid $200 per hour. The council meeting took four hours. Preparation time would likely have cost the city several more hours. 

Citing the heavy end-of-the-council-year workload and the transition in governance in the housing authority, the Daily Planet asked City Manager Phil Kamlarz on Thursday why the city would have approved this particular time for a vacation. 

But Kamlarz said the city encourages staff to use their vacation time and that “this is not a critical time in the city attorney’s office.” 

Asked about the expense to the city, Kamlarz sidestepped the question, saying the city encourages staff to take vacation leave. There are seven attorneys in the City Attorney’s office in addition to Albuquerque. 

An email from Human Resources Director David Hodgkins notes: “The maximum accrual [for vacation hours] is 320 hours and all top management employees must be at or below that level by the end of the second payroll period in February in each calendar year. Vacation leave is a vested right and is liquidated to cash when any employee leaves the city.” 

In a memo to the council, Albuquerque—under heavy criticism from some quarters (no staff has agreed to speak on the record) for her apparent role precipitating the forced resignation of former Housing Director Steve Barton—wrote:  

“I will be out of the office from June 15 through June 26, on a trip with officers of the National League of Cities and League of California Cities to visit China and confer with its officials. (I will be going at my own expense and accompanying my husband who some of you know is the Executive Director of the League of California Cities but will be included in all discussions because of the fact that I am also a local official.)” 

Strauss, who has an open-ended contract (up to $20,000) with the city, is, according to the Albuquerque memo, “a very experienced city attorney who is special counsel to the League of California Cities and an expert in municipal finance and has been city attorney of several different cities.”

When Mayor Tom Bates saw the crowd that had assembled at Tuesday’s Berkeley City Council meeting to address the question of development at the former site of Wright’s Garage—a commercial complex proposed by realtor John Gordon near the intersection of College and Ashby avenues and approved March 8 by the Zoning Adjustments Board (ZAB)—he asked why it was on the agenda at all. 

Last week, the City Council had turned down an appeal of the project by the Elmwood Neighborhood and Elmwood Merchants associations that argue that the project will attract too much traffic to the already heavily-trafficked area with inadequate parking. 

But the item stays on the agenda, according to past council practice, until the council either changes its vote—calling for a public hearing on the project, affirming the ZAB decision, or sending it back to the zoning board—or lets the 30 days expire, at which time the project gains formal approval. 

The vote last week was 4-3 in favor of the appeal, with Councilmembers Linda Maio, Kriss Worthington, Dona Spring and Max Anderson voting in favor of the public hearing. Councilmembers Laurie Capitelli and Gordon Wozniak recused themselves, Capitelli because he owns an interest in a business within 500 feet of the proposed project and Wozniak because he supported the project publicly several months ago. The vote needs a council majority of five to take an action, not a majority of those present and voting. 

Bates, who had allowed the two sides of the issue five minutes each the previous week, allowed time this week for everyone to speak who wished to do so. 

Mary Oram, of the Elmwood Merchants’ Association, called on the council to remand the project to the zoning board. A restaurant-bar has been sketched out as part of the project, but since the developer has no tenant for the restaurant, “we don’t know what has been approved,” she said, “Send this back to ZAB so we know what they’re talking about.” 

Elmwood merchant Claudia Maudry of Your Basic Bird said ZAB never should have never allowed the project to go over the quotas that limit the number of restaurants. “That should be only when the neighbors and merchants support a project,” she said. 

Bates reminded the some three dozen supporters of the appeal in the audience that they had lost the vote the previous week and that nothing would change when the council voted again. “In essence, you’ve had the public hearing—a one-sided hearing,” he said, noting that 14 people had spoken. No one representing the developer was present to speak. 

Maio reiterated her support for the appeal, noting “the restaurant will definitely compete in the Elmwood for the small number of parking spaces.”  

But Councilmember Betty Olds said she supports the developer. “I think John Gordon does an excellent job,” she said, adding that no permits will be issued unless the parking problem is addressed. 

Councilmembers asked Planning Director Dan Marks for clarification on the ZAB ruling about parking. “The parking issue must be addressed,” before final approvals, he said. 

Councilmembers pointed out that addressing the issue is not the same as resolving it. 

“Failure to address the [parking] issue will be the worst anti-small-business decision the council has made,” Worthington said. 

With Councilmember Darryl Moore absent due to a family illness, the vote on holding the public hearing was 4-2, with Olds and Bates opposing. Because they need a fifth vote, supporters said they hope Moore will change his position at the next meeting, where the item, once again, will be on the agenda.

City Commissioners Jesse Arreguin and Steve Wollmer had been sent to address the Tuesday City Council meeting by the Rent Board and Housing Advisory Commission. 

The duo stuck around the council chambers waiting for what they thought would be the last matter of council business—addressing city officials on matters not on the agenda. Both speakers represented boards asking the council to initiate an independent investigation into the forced resignation of former Housing Director Stephen Barton, a matter not addressed on the agenda. 

But Mayor Tom Bates ended the meeting abruptly at 11 p.m., leaving at bay those waiting to address the council on non-agenda items. 

Bates has been experimenting since last year with varying the council rules to allow the public to comment on every item on the agenda and also on non-agenda items, something attorneys for SuperBOLD (Berkeleyans Organizing for Library Defense) said was missing. SuperBOLD had threatened to sue the city over the restrictions on public comment. 

Assistant City Clerk Deanna Despain told the Daily Planet that the clerk’s office tries to update the rules and make them available to the public but “if [the mayor] changes something, it’s up to him,” she said. 

Unaware that there had been people in the audience ready to speak on non-agenda items, Councilmember Gordon Wozniak, in a phone interview Wednesday, supported shutting down the meeting on time. “It’s not good to make decisions after 11 [p.m.],” he said, adding however, “We could manage our time better. Four hours should be enough.” 

While the last public speakers were not given voice at the meeting, the first half hour or so of the meeting, which began at 7 p.m., was devoted to “ceremonial items,” during which time the mayor and council usually honor various citizens. Councilmembers speak, and the honorees’ responses are not on the clock. Mayor Tom Bates at Tuesday’s meeting even encouraged people accompanying honorees to add their voices to the mix. 

“Tom Bates has stated emphatically that we’re going to end our meetings at 11,” Councilmember Kriss Worthington said on Wednesday. “In theory it’s a good idea, but there were several people in the audience who waited to speak on non-agenda items—they waited for four hours.”  

On the agenda was a resolution from Worthington, not addressed by the council on Tuesday, codifying rules for public comment. 

Councilmember Linda Maio, also interviewed Wednesday, said, “Anyone could have made a motion to extend [the meeting]. We were honoring Tom’s determination to end at 11.” 

“If the clock hits 11, the meeting just ends,” Bates’ Chief of Staff Cisco DeVries told the Planet. 

One set of rules, noted on a city clerk’s handout dated June 6, says, “Note: meetings will adjourn at 11 p.m. Any items outstanding at 11 p.m. will be carried over to a date certain.” The same memo relegates public comment on non-agenda items to the last item of business. 

“Tom’s been experimenting with different forms [of the agenda],” Maio said. “He agreed to try different approaches.”  

The mayor currently allows people to speak before every item on the agenda, which SuperBOLD attorneys from the First Amendment Project said was appropriate.  

In earlier iterations of the mayor’s rules, speakers on non-agenda items weighed in early in the meeting. 

Speaking to the Planet on Wednesday, Jane Welford of SuperBOLD acknowledged that the mayor has made progress in allowing public comment, but said that the public does not know what the rules are.  

“Getting the rules in writing would allow the public to know what the rules are ahead of time,” she said. 

Similarly Maio said: “They should be written clearly so that everyone knows what to expect.”  

“A lot of it is experimental. We have to settle it at some point,” said Councilmember Max Anderson. 

That’s what Councilmember Kriss Worthington had hoped to do with his resolution on Public Comment. The resolution, however, came up just minutes before 11 p.m. After speakers addressed the issue hurriedly, Councilmember Gordon Wozniak moved to table the item, but councilmembers declined to vote, saying the meeting had automatically expired at 11. 

Worthington’s draft rules for public comment will appear again on next week’s council agenda. 

And the public speakers on non-agenda items will possibly try their luck again. 

“This highlights a serious problem of putting public comment [on non agenda items] at the end of the agenda,” Arreguin said.

In response to criticism that his administration has been relatively inactive in its first days, the office of Oakland Mayor Ron Dellums has released a report outlining its accomplishments and activities since the January inauguration. 

The document, a June 20 memo from Dellums to “the Citizens of Oakland” entitled “Six-Month Recap of Activities In The Mayor’s Office,” outlines initiatives in the areas of public safety, health, and economic development. It is posted on Dellums’ website at www.mayorrondellums.org/ home/. 

Most of the information in the report had been released earlier in announcements at the District 6 Town hall meeting in late April and the Marriott economic summit in May. 

In the area of public safety, for example, the report notes that 55 new officers have been added to the police force (including 15 recently transferred from Oakland Airport work in a trade with the Alameda County Sheriff’s Department), and hiring has begun for latent fingerprint examiner positions at the Oakland crime lab after criticism over the closing of fingerprint processing in Oakland under former Mayor Jerry Brown. The report also notes the agreement with the Alameda County District Attorney to deputize “several” Oakland city attorneys for the purpose of prosecuting misdemeanor “quality of life” crimes in the criminal courts. 

The report also details a partnership with the Oakland Unified School District to provide school-based health centers in city schools. 

In economic development, the report notes the creation of the Oakland Partnership, “a public-private collaborative effort to shape a workplan for creating a vibrant economy” in Oakland, the PG&E $3 million “Green Initiative” partnership with the City of Oakland to bring jobs and job training to Oakland, and the Mayor’s Summer Jobs Program committed to identifying 200 public, 500 nonprofit, and 300 private-sector jobs for Oakland youth over the summer. The report also mentions the administration’s ongoing work to clean up the city’s zoning ordinance, which had been suspended during the Jerry Brown years. 

In the area of appointments to boards and commissions, the report notes that “when [the Dellums Administration] took office in January, the Board and Commissions’ process was in total disarray. It was difficult to determine who was appointed and what their terms were. … Within three months we had the beginnings of a clean set of records and were able to commence making appointments,” including new board members to the Citizen Police Review Board, the Civil Service Board, the Public Ethics Commission and the Planning Commission. 

Meanwhile, the Dellums Administration has begun posting reports of the 41 mayoral task forces convened between September and December of last year. Two of those reports, in the areas of Economic Development and Health Care, have already been posted online, with seven others—City Government, Education & Community Learning, Housing, Public Safety, City’s Diversity, Neighborhood Organizing & Civic Participation, and Transportation—expected to be completed and posted by the end of the month. 

Allegations of a lack of activity by the Dellums Administration began surfacing in early April, when the mayor refused to answer questions raised in reporters’ stories about his accomplishments in his first 100 days of office. 

“He’s not committing himself to an arbitrary timeline,” Dellums spokesperson Karen Stevenson was quoted as saying in the San Francisco Chronicle. 

Following that article, the Chronicle published a blog that included comments from a number of Oakland citizens rating Dellums’ early performance, starting out with Nachele Jackson who wrote “Who? I haven't seen hide nor hair of the man. Jerry Brown was more visible than Mr. Dellums,” and Leslie Pahl, who added “Dellums seems to be keeping a low profile, with little or no presence to speak of. He was a very effective representative back in the day, and I voted for him every time, but he doesn’t seem to have found any traction with his new role. But maybe I just live in the wrong neighborhood.” 

The mayor’s office has remained relatively quiet in the face of the criticism. But after the Montclarion published an article by Oakland resident Amanda Acheson earlier this month that began “So, Mayor Ron Dellums, you’ve been mayor for quite a few months and I have seen NOTHING, and I mean NOTHING that you have done or proposed or even discussed that benefits Oakland,” Dellums decided to respond. In a letter entitled “Oakland Is Moving Forward” and published in the Montclarion on June 15, the mayor answered specific concerns addressed in Acheson’s letter about his salary raise, his proposed staff increase, and problems of crime in the Rockridge community where Acheson lives. 

“That was the genesis of the six-month report,” Dellums spokesperson Stevenson said. “We had wanted to do something shortly after the 100 days were completed, but we haven’t had the time. We wanted something that could be reported to Oakland citizens, as well as to be placed on the mayor’s website so that potential visitors, investors and developers could get an idea of what is happening in the city. So we expanded and rearranged the Acheson reply so that it didn’t focus so much on Rockridge, and it didn’t emphasize Oakland’s problems so much as what we are doing to try to solve them.” 

Chiori Santiago passed away on April 14, 2007 from kidney cancer. She will be missed dearly by her family and extended community of friends and colleagues. Chiori’s life was about sharing her great joy, love and wisdom of the many cultures, people and plants that make up our world.  

As a writer Chiori Santiago covered visual art, performance and music in the San Francisco Bay Area since 1986. Her articles and essays appeared in the San Francisco Chronicle, the San Jose Mercury News, Smithsonian, Latina, Parenting, World Art, American Craft, Pulse and many other fine publications. She worked as associate editor of the Oakland Museum of California’s publication; and was editor of Nikkei Heritage, the magazine of the National Japanese American Historical Society. 

In 1998, Chiori published a children’s book, Home to Medicine Mountain, with artist Judith Lowry. The book earned an American Book Award and recognition from Stepping Stones magazine and the American Library Association.  

Chiori won the “Maggie” Award for Best Column from the Western States Publishers Association for her writing in Diablo magazine, among numerous other awards. Chiori was a contributor to the book The Spirit of Oakland: An Anthology, and editor of the book Voices Of Latin Rock: Music From The Streets, an oral history of San Francisco’s Latin rock scene. 

Chiori appeared as an arts commentator on KQED-TV’s This Week in Northern California, a news-in-review program hosted by Belva Davis. She also served as co-host of The Greenroom, a live radio program on the arts produced at KPFA. 

In addition to journalism, Chiori Santiago was recognized for her work with the San Francisco Arts Commission, the Mexican Museum, the National Japanese American Historical Society, the University of California, Berkeley, the Puente Project, the City of Berkeley, the Oakland Museum of California’s Asian Pacific Advisory Council, and Sustainable Agriculture Education. She also participated in creating the San Francisco Japantown History Walk, and a series of interpretive markers along the Bay Trail for Richmond’s Rosie the Riveter/WWII Home Front National Historical Park.  

Chiori’s photograph and self-description was included in Kip Fulbeck’s book Part Asian, 100 Percent Happa (2006), which has been turned into a traveling exhibition.  

After attending horticulture classes at Merritt College, she began a landscape gardening business and worked in many gardens in the Bay Area the last five years of her life.  

Chiori is survived by her sons Roberto Santiago and Ignacio Palmieri, sister Reiko Roberts, brother Terri Tajiki, her mother Yoshiko Tajiki, and many uncles, aunts, cousins, nieces and nephews.  

Please join family and friends for a memorial to celebrate Chiori’s life on July 14, 3-8 p.m. in the garden of the Oakland Museum of California, Oak Street at 10th Street. (One block from the Lake Merritt BART station.) Please bring food and drink to share, as well as any pictures or objects you would like to contribute to the making of an altar.

Only days before major changes in its lines and schedules are scheduled to take place, the AC Transit District has failed to put information signs on its bus stops up along stretches of one of the major streets being affected by the change. 

The neglected street is International Boulevard, where the heavily-used 82 and 82L lines are scheduled to be replaced by the new 1 and 1R lines on June 24. 

An AC Transit spokesperson blamed the problem on a “delay in printing,” but that does not appear to be the case. 

In Oakland and Berkeley alone, changes are scheduled to affect some 23 existing or new lines, with some line routes being altered, some lines being discontinued altogether, and some new lines being created. 

Sometime in early May, AC Transit began putting white, printed information bags over bus stops advertising the changes along Shattuck Avenue in Berkeley and Oakland, where the 43 line is being discontinued and a new 18 line is taking its place. 

The information bags originally contained the June 3 changeover date, but when that date was put back to June 24, AC Transit workers came back and pasted stickers on the bags with the new date. Similar bags were observed in May on other lines throughout the two cities. 

But informational bags were absent on International Boulevard, at least between High Street and 98th Avenue, until last Tuesday. On that date, informational bags announcing the changes from 82 and 82L to 1 and 1R were placed on bus stops in the 80s. At least as late as Wednesday, however, informational bags were not observed between 73rd Avenue and 82nd Avenue. 

AC Transit Media Affairs Manager Clarence Johnson blamed the problem on printing and the fact that the district had some 8,000 bus stops to cover. 

“The plan was to get them all up at once, but obviously we didn’t do that,” Johnson said by telephone. Johnson said that “there was some conversation at headquarters about how soon you should get the bags up before the changes go into effect. Some staff members felt that if you put them up too soon, they would lose their effectiveness. We feel like a week is enough time.” 

But Johnson’s explanation did not explain why the district made a difference between announcements along Shattuck Avenue, two months in advance of the change, and on International Boulevard, where announcements are still absent from some bus stops three days before the change is scheduled to go through. 

The explanation that there was a delay in the printing of the bags did not explain the discrepancy in the timeline of announcements for individual lines, either, because the informational bags did not have individual line numbers printed on them. 

Instead, the bags were printed with generic notations of “Current Lines At This Stop,” the effective date of the transfer, and spaces for lines that “Will Begin Stopping Here” and lines that “Will Not Stop Here.” Beside each notation, the bags have printed lines on which district staff members hand-wrote the individual line numbers after the bags were printed.

Pursuit of a pair of Oakland robbery suspects ended Wednesday in a Berkeley neighborhood with a bullet-punctuated car and foot chase of one man and the arrest of his woman companion, clad only in her birthday suit. 

Berkeley police spokesperson Sgt. Mary Kusmiss said the incident began with the robbery of an Oakland woman Tuesday. 

“She was astute enough to write down the license plate, and Oakland police entered it into their computer system as ‘wanted in connection with an armed robbery’,” said Sgt. Kusmiss. 

Shortly after 11 a.m. Wednesday, Oakland officers spotted the car near the intersection of MacArthur Boulevard and Market Street. 

When the officers attempted to pull the car over, the driver hit the gas and the chase was on. The car, a silver Toyota, headed north toward Berkeley. 

“Oakland and Berkeley use different radios,” said Sgt. Kusmiss, but the Berkeley department has installed Oakland equipment on some of its units assigned to the border area. One of those officers picked up the radio traffic and notified the Berkeley dispatchers, who put the feed out to all Berkeley units. 

“They came into Berkeley on San Pablo Avenue,” said the sergeant, where Berkeley officers joined in the pursuit. 

The vehicular part of the chase ended in the 1600 block of Oregon Street when the Toyota pulled into a private driveway and the two occupants, a man and a woman, headed off in different directions. 

An Oakland officer chased the man, “and he fired at least one round, which did not hit the suspect,” said Sgt. Kusmiss. The runner surrendered moments later. 

The woman headed in a different direction, and managed to make her way into a house in the 2700 block of McGee Ave., where she dashed into the bathroom and took off her clothes, pretending to bathe. 

The alarmed occupant of the house, noting the flurry of police activity through his window, went outside and told police that an intruder occupied his bathroom. 

Police took the woman into custody, clad only in a hastily wrapped towel. 

Under California law, shootings by a police officer are investigated by the jurisdiction in which the shots were fired, so Berkeley investigators were charged with investigating the Oakland officer who fired at the fleeing suspect. 

“Berkeley detectives finished their investigation,” Sgt. Kusmiss said, while Oakland officers took the pair into custody. “It is believed they are responsible for a series of robberies in Oakland.” 

“It was quite something,” said one neighbor. “I was taking out my laundry when I was shooed back into the house by an Oakland officer. There was a helicopter and an Oakland canine unit—just another day in South Berkeley.”

Alameda County prosecutors have charged a member of UC Berkeley’s national championship 2007 rugby team for a May 5 beating that left another student with a broken jaw and brain injuries. 

James Sehr, a six-foot, 190-pound flanker, is charged with assault with great bodily injury for his alleged attack on San Francisco State student Charles Rochon outside the Berkeley co-op where Rochon was living. 

Berkeley Police were called to the Andres Castro Arms at 2310 Prospect St. at 9:48 p.m., where they found Rochon. 

Residents of the cooperative residence told police the incident began after someone threw an object through a Prospect Street window of the residence. 

Rochon went outside to investigate, where he told police he found several members of the rugby team. A confrontation ensued, and Sehr reportedly attacked Rochon after he tried to use his cell phone to call police, said Berkeley Police Lt. Wes Hester. 

When police arrived, Rochon declined their offer of medical attention. 

“He said he wanted no medical attention. We thought it was not anything major,” said then-Berkeley Police spokes-person Officer Ed Galvan. 

But the next day, Rochon spoke to a housemate’s father, a UC Irvine surgeon who insisted he received treatment. At the hospital, doctors discovered he had a broken jaw and a skull fracture. Two surgeries followed in the next five days. 

The attack occurred just hours after Cal rugby players cinched their 16th consecutive national title in a 37-7 victory over Brigham Young University at Steuber Rugby Stadium on the Stanford University campus.

In addition to the free Universal Breakfasts that Berkeley Unified will be serving children in the city all summer, the city will be treating them to free lunches. 

The city will be providing one free meal a day to kids in South and West Berkeley at three public schools and community centers. Rosa Parks Elementary School, Washington Elementary School and Longfellow Middle School will be providing lunch along with the Francis Albrier Recreation Center, the Black Repertory Theater and Berkeley Youth Alternatives at Strawberry Creek. 

Berkeley Technology Academy (B-Tech) and Berkeley High School students will go to Washington for lunch. 

“Like the Universal Breakfast that feeds Berkeley students during the school year, all children are served, and families do not have to qualify for the Free and Reduced program,” said BUSD spokesperson Mark Coplan. 

“No child has to be enrolled in our program or our schools to participate.” 

The three schools that will be serving breakfast are: Thousand Oaks Elementary School, Cragmont Elementary School and Willard Middle School. King Middle School canceled its breakfast program because they will not have a summer school this year. 

The city program is already serving lunch every day Monday through Friday (except holidays) until August 10 when their summer program ends.  

The BUSD breakfast program will be held throughout summer school, June 20 to July 18.  

Contact person for the city for information or to volunteer for their summer program: Ginsi Bryant (981-5147).

Using language that expressed reluctance, the Berkeley Board of Education unanimously approved a policy reversal to release student information to the military for recruitment to be eligible for federal education grants. 

The third paragraph of the new policy reads: “Unfortunately, according to Federal law, military recruiters shall have access to a student’s name, address, and telephone number, unless the eleventh or twelfth grade student or parent/guardian has specified that the information not be released in accordance with law and administrative regulation.” 

“This is not a policy anyone is jumping up and down for,” said board president Joaquin Rivera. “We fought as hard as we could and in the end we were threatened to do it.” 

“Maybe we should put ‘unfortunately’ in front of the sentence,” said district superintendent Michele Lawrence, to which board members unanimously agreed. 

Berkeley High informed its juniors and seniors in May about a change in policy which requires them to sign an “opt out” form if they don’t want their information released to the U.S. military.  

Until now, students who wished to be contacted by military recruiters had to sign an “opt-in” form. 

According to the federal No Child Left Behind Act, school districts must provide the military with the names and addresses of all juniors and seniors for recruiting purposes unless there is a signed letter from the parents or the student indicating that they are opting out and do not want information released. 

Berkeley High School was the last school in the country to adopt the “opt-out” policy after being threatened with losing millions of dollars in federal funds. 

“We were essentially blackmailed into doing this by saying that if you don’t release student information you will not have access to funds,” said board member Karen Hemphill. “It’s all right when students voluntarily join the army, but in this case we are being forced to make available information of students.” 

Solar project approved 

After debating the solar project at Washington Elementary School at the last three meetings, the school board voted unanimously to allow the district to enter into a legal agreement with Kyoto USA to carry out the design work for the proposed project. 

Estimated to cost $1.25 million, the HELiOS project—which proposes to put photovoltaic cells on the roof of Washington—is expected to cover 100 percent of the main building’s electricity needs. 

If the proposed plan works, Washington will become the first school in the district to turn solar. The board had asked Kyoto USA for a more comprehensive report on the financial aspects of the proposed project in its earlier meetings. 

Tom Kelly, director, Kyoto USA, said the organization had secured a 10-year financial municipal lease in the amount of $232,000 from Saulsbury Hill Financial to avoid bond funds. 

The Office of Public School Construction (OPSC) and PG&E are slated to contribute $750,000 and $305,000 for the project, respectively. 

Kelly told board members that additional funds could be requested from the city since it is now designated as a “Solar American City.” 

Berkeley won the U.S. Energy Department’s “Solar America City” competition this week which comes with a reward of $200,000 to help residences and other commercial properties turn solar. 

“If there’s an opportunity to get dollars from a source other than the Office of Public School Construction, then we should definitely jump on it,” said Lawrence. 

Parents of children at LeConte’s Extended Day Care (EDC) came to the school board meeting Wednesday to protest the program’s move from a bungalow outside the school to a basement inside the building at 2241 Russell St. 

Six parents spoke at the meeting, citing concerns including safety, health and overall development of their children. 

“We believe that the basement is really unsafe,” said Betty Hayes, whose granddaughter Deja attends the school. “There is only one way out and one way in. What’s going to happen to these 60 children when there’s an earthquake?” 

Hayes said she was proud of the program and wanted it supported by the district. 

“It teaches kids important things such as the anatomy of the human structure,” she said. “These are kids from low-income families of color. We want to return to the bungalow. That building might not look good to anybody else but that building has a lot of love.” 

District spokesperson Mark Coplan said the old bungalow was dilapidated. 

“There is no reason for concern for being moved into the basement,” he said. “We are always running out of space and the basement is completely safe.” 

LeConte’s EDC, which provides before- and after-school child care, is one of seven such programs in Berkeley. The program is open year-round for K-3 grade students, including winter and summer vacation. Children receive homework assistance, nutrition and computer education, and other forms of instruction. 

The program was housed in the basement once before, in 1994 for three years, after which it was moved to the bungalow. 

“I thank you for being concerned about the health and safety of your students by moving them into the basement,” said Rose Luckett, another parent. 

“Who will pay for our children when they fall sick from the damp environment? What will happen when the basement floods? I am disappointed that parents were not involved in the process.” 

Parents were first told about the proposed move in April. They started class in the basement Monday. 

“There are 60 students and only one restroom,” said Nahid Vafadari, an EDC parent. “The other building had two restrooms. There are also no fire sprinklers. When school opens after summer, the children will have to share the playground with the (older) school kids.” 

Shaliya Fields, 10, who attends LeConte EDC, told the Planet Wednesday that there was no room to play in the basement. 

“It’s cold, it’s dusty and there is no place to rest,” said Deja Walker, a second-grader. “What if there’s a flood? Sometimes it’s so hot it feels we are under the earth.” 

Ms. Demissie, parent of Marisol and Roteal, urged the board to go and visit the site. 

“I have three children who will be going into that basement everyday,” she said. “I want to know how long the bungalow has been unsafe. If it was unsafe, why weren’t we notified about it? Why weren’t we notified about the decision to move? Have you guys gone and inspected the place? There’s high voltage electricity down there. There are no fire detectors. There is only one exit. Do you want to send your children to the basement?” 

District superintendent Michele Lawrence told the group that she has not been into the basement yet but plans to visit it soon. She added that the bungalow was in a deplorable condition and would have to be knocked down. 

“But I don’t want that program to be hurt,” she said. “I am mostly surprised to hear from parents today that they were not informed about the move. The decision was made six months ago.” 

In the last few days we’ve heard about a lot of crime in the area near our South Berkeley office. Our neighborhood association has reported at least three nearby hold-ups in broad daylight, and a frequent correspondent in the adjacent Temescal area has sent us a letter (in this issue) about a frightening unprovoked assault on a pedestrian by a gang of young teens who didn’t even appear to be looking to rob the victim.  

At the same time people have been shocked and saddened by the murder of an Albany doctor and her little girls by their husband and father. An El Cerrito reader wrote in to urge some sort of public action to close the Old West Gun Shop in his area, where the murder weapon was purchased, completely legally. Another reader’s response to his letter, printed in this issue, is that everyone should carry guns, and that would deter murders. This is patent nonsense. Does anyone seriously believe that if the murdered mother had been carrying her own weapon she could have stopped the killings? And what about the kids?  

One gun nut (yes, there’s a reason they’re called that) on a website promotes “man’s primal instinct to protect himself and his family through whatever means necessary.” Does this also describe the guys who kill their families with these all-too-available guns? Another man in St. Charles, Missouri, which used to be a peaceful bucolic river town, killed his whole family last week, though he spared himself.  

And in San Francisco, young gang members in the Western Addition with easy access to guns on both sides have recently been killing each other and innocent bystanders in terrible numbers. Just this weekend in Union City a recent high school graduate attending a supervised private party at the home of a school principal was shot dead as a result of an argument that it seems he wasn’t even part of. Then there are the all-too-frequent episodes like the recent mass killings in Virginia, where deranged suicidal people manage to take a lot of other innocent people out with them because they have the use of a powerful repeating weapon.  

Murder is as old as the human race, in biblical terms as old as Cain and Abel. But the amplification of the murderous instinct with modern weapons is a recent and frightening change. Even the gunslingers of the old west armed with six-shooters, nostalgically evoked by the El Cerrito gun dealer, lacked the deadly efficiency of present-day killers armed with easily purchased modern weapons.  

The idea of deterring street crime by arming all potential victims is fraught with peril. I’ll admit that I was a bit scared last week as I walked from my dentist’s office on Telegraph to my own office on Shattuck by way of the network of barriered back streets in the Halcyon Neighborhood, after hearing about the recent holdups there. But neither I nor anyone else in the area, especially innocent bystanders, would have been safer if I’d been packing. A workman at a house I passed greeted me in a polite, friendly way, but what if I’d been someone with her hand on a trigger ready with a rapid response to a perceived assault by someone carrying what looked like a weapon?  

There are less dangerous ways of dealing with this kind of situation. Community police patrols are an obvious deterrent, and in fact the police did arrest perpetrators in two of the recent robberies. Cell phones with an auto-dial setting for the local police number are effective, though 911 from cell phones is not as good because it just reaches the state highway patrol. 

It might be Berkeley heresy to say this, but it’s possible that the combination of a nearby BART station and car-free back streets could be part of the problem: easy entrance and egress by roving bad guys who can quickly disappear into the station, and not so many eyes on the streets when drivers are diverted elsewhere. People walking alone might be safer taking the big streets, though I must say the beautiful neighborhood gardens on my chosen route were much more attractive than the bumper-to-bumper Ashby traffic.  

It’s most unlikely that street criminals would be stopped in their tracks by believing that potential victims might be carrying guns—if they relied on logical thought processes they’d be in a different business altogether. In gang wars everyone’s reckless and they’ve all got guns, but that doesn’t stop them from killing each other.  

Survey after survey shows that the voting public all over the country would like to limit access to firearms, but the wealthy gun lobby manages to buy enough legislators to thwart meaningful legislation at the state and national levels. Some cities have enacted bans on gun sales, but then the traffic just moves to the suburbs. Over the weekend Jesse Jackson and a local parish priest were arrested in a protest at a gun shop in suburban Riverdale, Illinois, which they charged had been supplying Chicago gun wars since guns were banned in that city. 

East Bay activists should take a leaf from Jackson’s book and go after suburban dealers like El Cerrito’s Old West with on-site protests. Even though killings up and down the urban East Bay are often committed with illegal guns, the tragic slaughter of the Morrissey-Kawai family should be motivation enough for the El Cerrito city council and Contra Costa County supervisors to view continuing legal gun sales as a blight on their communities, and to pursue all available avenues to restrict or end the practice.  

Just a bit of weeping and gnashing of teeth accompanied the interrupted consummation of the apparent deal between local politicians and the Berkeley Chamber of Commerce last week. Mayor Bates and some council allies made a vigorous show of enacting new laws aimed at getting untidy people out of shopping districts, seemingly in return for the Chamber Political Action Commitee’s cash contributions to their re-election campaigns, but in the end nothing was enacted except concept statements, and everyone knows the devil’s in the details.  

At least one locally-owned business (this one) decided that renewing Chamber membership for another year to the tune of a few hundred bucks was a waste of money, though not because poor and even disreputable beggars are still amongst us as we shop. Shopping time has become a bit of a luxury for us, given the demands of small businesses, but in the last week or so we’ve found a few moments in which to sample the current offerings of two neighborhood-serving commercial areas within easy walking distance of home. We can report enthusiastically that there’s a lot of good stuff going on here in Berkeley. As we’ve said before and will say again, we have trouble understanding why certain representatives of business organizations and business improvement districts devote so much time to knocking their product, when there are so many good things to say about Berkeley businesses. 

On Thursday night, looking for a quick and healthy meal after closing the Friday issue, preferably outdoors to enjoy the end of a long summer twilight, we stopped by Bongo Burgers on Dwight, right next to (quel horreur!) People’s Park. We’ve had a soft spot in our hearts for the place since we were in business on Telegraph 25 years ago. The proprietors at that time (and perhaps still) were expatriate Iranian intellectuals, fed up with all of the governments they’d seen back home. At the merchants’ meeting in those days, it was the guys from Bongo Burger who regularly spoke up for tolerance and humanity when dealing with the street population. Yes, folks, this discussion has been going on for a long time—it never really changes. 

We ordered the Persian Plate, well-seasoned ground lamb with sides of pungent tabouli and Persian rice, delicious and only $6.50. We sat outside at a sidewalk table, catching the last few rays.  

Were we affronted by unruly street behavior? Well, one man did stop by our table and ask what we were eating, but he looked like an ordinary middle-aged middle-class kind of guy, and was very polite. He said our dinner looked good, so he’d order the same thing next time he went to the restaurant.  

Saturday was Bloomsday, June 16, the day celebrated in Ulysses for Leopold Bloom’s travels around Dublin. Keeping up an old Berkeley tradition (the old free-wheeling KPFA gave it 24 hours on the air) Moe’s Bookstore on Telegraph hosted a public participatory reading of Joyce’s huge novel, complete with complimentary Gorgonzola, though not whiskey. There were so many enthusiasts present that we didn’t get a chance to read in the hour we spent there, but listening to the splendid words wash over us was satisfying enough. Moe’s is still one of the world’s great bookstores. 

Then we walked down to the annual garden party hosted by an intellectual friend in a quintessential south campus backyard cottage on Blake Street, noting as we went the number of amazing Edwardian frame houses still standing in the neighborhood. With regret, we passed the Blake street site of the lovely house where we first lived in Berkeley, demolished in the sixties to build a soft-story “cash-register multiple” now looking dreadfully seedy amidst the remaining attractive survivors saved by the Neighborhood Preservation Initiative of the seventies. Whether they will survive the current building frenzy and a city government dominated by developers is problematic—it might take another initiative to save them.  

On Monday another after-work dinner, this time at Le Bateau Ivre on Telegraph, where the owners, who have been there for 35 years, are now inviting musicians to perform for the customers on Monday nights. I asked the propietor if street behavior was a problem on their charming streetside patio. He seemed puzzled by the question, but did mention his major worry: the Bus Rapid Transit scheme currently being pitched by AC Transit for his block. He thinks that if he loses his street parking it will sink his business, and he could be right. Doris Moskowitz at Moe’s is worried about it too. 

There’s an arrogance in the way people who are young and/or fit expect everybody to go everywhere by bus or bicycle as they are able to do themselves. One correspondent said “I’m healthy because I ride my bicycle,” a classic example of the “post hoc, ergo propter hoc” logical fallacy. What he really meant is “I ride my bicycle because I’m healthy,” and he doesn’t appreciate how lucky he is to be able-bodied enough to do so! We took my parents to the Bateau for my father’s 90th birthday, and despite excellent genes and years of healthy living there was no way they could have ridden bikes or taken buses for that outing. Lots of people are now, or will eventually be, physically unable to go very far without automobiles, and businesses will have trouble surviving without their patronage. 

On the other hand, neighborhood-serving businesses also need a measure of protection from exclusively auto-oriented interlopers from distant places for their survival. On Wednesday I did my Elmwood errands on foot, and talked to merchants there as I did so. Tad at Elmwood Hardware expressed his concern about the huge development rumored to be going into the former Wright’s Garage site, especially the rumor that the developer would be allowed to take over the Elmwood’s small now-metered parking lot to provide valet parking for out-of-town patrons for a big bar/restaurant. “Rumored” is the operative word, because the Zoning Board has essentially written the developer a blank check, and the council is in the process of rubber-stamping it, so no one really knows what to expect, but everyone’s worried.  

I was asked why the Planet hadn’t come out four-square against the proposed project. We’ve been reluctant to do so (“we” in this space usually means the publisher and I) because we appreciate the several fine building restorations that John Gordon, the developer, has accomplished. But he now runs the risk of blowing all the goodwill he’s accumulated from his previous projects by over-reaching on this one. When most of the immediate neighbors and the merchants’ association are against what you’re proposing, it’s time to sit down at the table and work things out, to preserve your credibility and options for future projects. The way the city mothers and fathers have punted on this one is disgraceful, but there’s still time for private compromise. Perhaps the Chamber of Commerce would like to help?  

And now I’ve left myself no room to talk about how pleasant it is to walk around the Elmwood on a summer’s day doing errands. I just want to report that both Tad and the nice people at Bill’s Trading Post made a great effort to fix an old but beloved piece of costume jewelry for me without charging a cent, and Bill’s succeeding in fixing the bent clasp on another one. That’s the kind of personal service you couldn’t get at Wal-mart, and we should celebrate it every day by shopping in our neighborhoods, on foot if we’re lucky enough to be able to do so. 

PRO-MASS TRANSIT,  

ANTI-GLOBAL WARMING 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

What is it that Daily Planet letter and op-ed writers don’t get about the Inconvenient Truth of polar ice cap melting and planetary destruction, and how this might somehow be eased by the inconvenience of using mass transit, bicycling and walking, plus the concept of transit-friendly development? Perhaps Berkeley needs to enforce existing laws, such as citing bad drivers for speeding, neglecting turn signals and not yielding to pedestrians, in order to make driving less convenient. And, perhaps Berkeley can deputize more traffic enforcement staff, incent them with “commissions” on the citations, and use the revenues to pay for more city services. 

Mitch Cohen 

• 

QUOTATION MARKS 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Can someone help me understand the rhetorical use of quotation marks in some of your correspondents’ letters ? 

Just recently, for instance, Ms. June Brott referred to British academics exercised by the “moral implications” (her punctuation) of Israeli treatment of Palestinians. Why this term deserves or requires problematization by enclosure in quotation marks is a mystery to me. A reasonable person might feel that imprisoning over 1 million people in Gaza without adequate food or water, no means of earning a living and no way to escape, has moral implications. Incessant sonic booms, lack of access to their own tax money, tanks and bulldozers on the prowl at any time of the day. The majority of their elected representatives thrown in prison along with many thousands of others, where they are not treated kindly. Readers of HaAretz will recall how one detainee was paralyzed for life by a vicious kick to the chest. 

Ms. Brott’s inability to detect a genuine moral issue here says a great deal about her own moral tone-deafness. Unless we’re talking about a victim of the Palestinians, such as the journalist who was kidnapped, she simply cannot see any moral implications, and this with the benefit of a religious tradition spanning thousands of years. Perhaps Ms. Brott could spell out when something rises to the level of having genuine moral implications (without ironic quotation marks). If there were 1 million Jews being starved and shot in Gaza, would that qualify ? Please, Ms. Brott, share with us your vision of “morality” and explain why it has no room for anyone in Gaza. 

Edward Strauss 

Oakland 

• 

REAL NEWS 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I know that the general American public no longer appreciates “real” news, we are in love with Paris, Britney, and Lindsay, and so the media in turn continues to feed us that. If not Paris, it’s the soap opera-style drama of the political front, or the “war” that no one is truly comfortable with. There are a few items that I think should be highlighted in your papers: Though news reports of Sudan’s latest agreement to allow a United Nations-African Union hybrid peacekeeping force into Darfur seem like a positive development, there is considerable reason to be skeptical. 

Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir has failed to live up to his past commitments to the international community, including stonewalling after agreeing to this same hybrid peacekeeping force in 2006. 

Any regime that would bomb its own villages and kill as many as 400,000 of its own people does not deserve the benefit of the doubt. 

The violence is far from over. Sudan’s air force continues to bomb villages and the government-sponsored Janjaweed militia have not relented in their horrific attacks. 

Just as this “positive” news came out of Sudan last week, one of the largest humanitarian aid groups in the world announced it was permanently leaving Darfur—due to continued attacks and concern for aid workers’ safety. 

World leaders, and especially the United States, China and France—each which have unique influence over Sudan—must increase their pressure on Sudan to make sure that this latest “promise” is fulfilled. 

Kasey Ellison 

Oakland 

• 

MY ENEMY’S ENEMY 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

The Bush network’s catastrophic invasion of Iraq crossed the border into desperation territory late last year when Rumsfeld’s successor undertook supervision of a newly minted surge tactic. Last week we found out exactly how deep our military is stuck in the terrain of desperation; it has turned to Sunni clansmen, former enemies, and given them weapons in return for a promise to use them against al Qaeda, their enemy and ours.  

Lt. General Odierno proudly declared, “Engaging with the tribal entities and others has made a huge difference.” Leave aside questions regarding the nature of “entities,” the identity of “others,” and the specifics of “a huge difference,” I see no reason for optimism.  

I taught math for over three decades and never told my students that two negatives make a positive—they do if you multiply, they don’t if you add. 

I claim no experience with foreign policy, but I think that to be our friend, the enemy of our enemy, i.e. Sunni clansmen, should bring something more positive to the enterprise. Don’t you? 

Marvin Chachere 

San Pablo 

• 

ABSURD 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Andrew Ritchie’s letter is an example of the liberal mind taken to its reductio ad absurdum. 

If a drunk driver kills a loved one then we should sue General Motors or maybe even the state for maintaining highways. Extend this to every product or service under the sun. 

Lardasses can sue Kraft Foods and McDonald’s for their failure to control themselves. 

The fact is that guns are used in self-defense millions of times every year in the United States. 

The “progressive” assumption that only state officials are qualified to own weapons is a deeply totalitarian premise.  

But, Andy, keep those manic letters coming, it’s always great sport to see a statist shoot himself in the nuts (pun intended.) 

Michael P. Hardesty 

Oakland 

• 

TILDEN PARK MAYHEM 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

In my discussions with many friends in the last few days, there is almost universal agreement that this gun shop (Old West Gun Room) should be removed from the community. It sits right next to the El Cerrito Plaza between the new Peets and Tulip Hardwood Floors. What the hell is a gun shop doing in this respectable middle-class community? 

But where is the expression of resistance, where are the picketers demonstrating outside the shop, where is the will to resist this obscene commerce in weapons of death? Who will organize resistance to them, and drive them out of business? I know they have a Second Amendment legal right to be there, but we, the citizens, also have the right to organize against them, to petition the City of El Cerrito to deny them their license. We have the right to take a moral stand against gun violence. 

I see that in Chicago Jesse Jackson was just arrested on a trespass charge after demonstrating in front of a suburban gunshop. But gun shops are banned in the actual City of Chicago. Unless the citizens step forward and make their wishes and their views felt, there will be no change, and it will be the business of death and murder as usual. 

Of course, the nature of these killings as a masculinist act perpetrated on females should also not be ignored - an indication of deeper, more widespread issues in American society. But whereas we cannot change these deeply ingrained attitudes except in ourselves, we can change the manifestation of unacceptable aggressive commerce right on our doorsteps. 

Andrew Ritchie 

• 

OAKLAND VIOLENCE 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Last night (Saturday, June 23) at about 10 p.m., our neighbor was attacked by a gang of five youths, knocked from his bike, and hit in the face with a metal object. He was returning from work, and close to his house. He had noticed a rowdy group of black youths (12-14 years of age) as he headed up 59th from Dover. He thought nothing of it as they followed him up the street. Unexpectedly, without warning or words, and before he could call out or defend himself, they’d hit him in the face (he believes with a metal object like a pipe) and knocked him down. At that point, an unknown “middle-aged, heavy-set” black man interrupted the beating and chased the youths off. He also left, without the neighbor being able to thank him. The neighbors called the police, and Officer Alaura arrived on the scene a short time later. He was a calming presence and quickly checked out other close-by neighbors and the street for witnesses or culprits. He didn’t come up with anything. 

The officer suggested that the attack was probably not an interrupted mugging, but a random act of violence. Our neighbor was in the wrong place at the wrong time. 

This is a very worrying development. We’ve lived on this block for some 36 years. It’s been a relatively quiet place, despite the presence of three empty houses. But the drug dealers own the corner of 59th and Shattuck and are a near-constant presence. The house on the corner of 59th and Shattuck has been vacant for years and its driveway serves as a toilet—at best—or drug-dealing haven and whatnot at worst. I do not want to exploit my neighbor’s trauma. His face is quite swollen today. He credits the Good Samaritan with saving him from a perhaps severe beating, and grapples with the bleak “what-if?” alternative scenario to the episode. 

But as the city approves one massive North Oakland condo project after another with inadequate off-street parking, we are lectured by the Planning Commissioners (most of whom drive in from their single-family homes high in the hills) that cars are so retro and we live in the flats on “transit corridors” close to not one but two BART stations from where residents can easily walk or bike. 

Our neighbor was returning from his job in the City from the BART station on his bike when he was attacked. It was even a warm night, not that late, with windows open and people still up and about, when he was so brazenly set-upon. 

While we are encouraged by the prompt police response and the officer’s professionalism, essential urban “amenities” like safe neighborhoods do not necessarily follow in the wake of market-rate condo projects that don’t pay their fair share toward police services or improvements to the schools to point these kids, now a menace to themselves and others, in a better direction for their lives. This could be a long, hot summer. 

Bob Brokl 

Oakland 

• 

BUS RAPID TRANSIT 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Michael Katz’s critical letter about AC Transit’s proposed Bus Rapid Transit project states that only a few minutes will be saved riding the bus from Berkeley to San Leandro, implying that the project will duplicate BART. He misses the reason for the project. 

Very few would use the BRT over its total length. BRT is for local trips such as from Berkeley to Oakland where existing buses carry 6,000 riders a day. The BRT draft environmental impact report (DEIR) estimates the ridership will increase to around 10,000 riders. Why? 

With BRT this trip will be faster, more frequent, reliable and will conveniently serve the corridor with more stations than BART. The current buses take 40 minutes, whereas the BRT will take only 19 minutes, saving 21 minutes. Moreover, BRT will have up to 37 stations, almost five times the number of stations as BART from Berkeley to San Leandro The DEIR indicates very little change of total energy consumed by both autos and BRT. However, American Public Transit Association says Transit produces nearly 50 percent less carbon dioxide and nitrogen oxide per passenger mile as private vehicles today. By 2020 AC Transit should have a new fleet that are much more fuel-efficient and with additional passenger loads per bus and better fuel efficiency, the emissions of BRT will clearly be less than half that of autos. 

Katz says that the LA Orange Line BRT has experienced frequent collisions with cars. This was true only in the beginning months of operation. After over a year of operation, the accident rate has fallen to levels similar to light rail. 

BRT passes through one of the most developed areas in the East Bay containing a great percentage of the region’s jobs, schools, churches, cultural and community faculties. BRT will be much more accessible to far more people than BART throughout this high-density corridor. Over the years traffic congestion has increased even with relatively little development. The I-80 has been the most congested freeway and it is known many drivers use local arterials like San Pablo Avenue to bypass it. The fourth bore of the Caldecott Tunnel will increase local traffic as well. So, we will have congestion whether we build BRT or not. BRT may not eliminate congestion, but is a necessary and desirable alternative to congestion. BRT is the best and most cost-effective alternative we have to counter gridlock, increased pollution and Global Warming by reducing CO2 emissions.. 

Roy Nakadegawa 

• 

SELF-DEFENSE 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I read a letter by Andrew Ritchie arguing that selling guns is anti-social and should be stopped immediately. I want to argue the opposite. The recent incident of the man killing his wife, daughters and then himself is a terrible tragedy. However, an incident of a woman being grabbed by a man who jumps out of the bushes and rapes her, as has happened countless times in Oakland and Berkeley, is also tragic, especially when she, like most Californians, is forbidden to carry a gun with her when she walks the streets at night. It infuriates me that our lawmakers forbid us to carry with us the most effective means for self-defense as we walk our streets. In tony Rockridge a couple of years ago, on Ocean View Drive, a young woman was raped by a man wielding a wooden baton of some sort as a weapon. She has to live with the psychological trauma of that incident every day for the rest of her life. If she’d been able to carry a gun, she might have been able to shoot that scumbag dead and save herself from this trauma. I think it is reprehensible that we have denied her that possibility. I think it is outrageous that our state deprives us of the right to effectively defend ourselves from grievous bodily injury.  

I demand that all Californians who are legally able to own guns be allowed to carry guns for self-defense: this is the only thing that can equalize a small, weak woman against a large, strong man. Every municipality that has prohibited guns has seen a rise, not a drop, in violent crime, for instance, Washington, D.C. “It is estimated that 20 percent of American homicides are concentrated in the four cities that have some of the most restrictive gun-control laws, New York, Chicago, Washington D.C. and Detroit.” (from Armed and Female, by Paxton Quigley). In municipalities where criminals have good reason to believe they might face an armed citizen, violent crime rates are lower. The state of Nevada allows its citizens to carry guns nearly everywhere: their rate of violent crime is much lower than ours. In my south Berkeley neighborhood there have been many armed robberies lately. I can guarantee that if these criminals had any expectation that those they accosted were likely to be armed, the rates of armed robbery would drastically plummet. Criminals fear armed citizens much more than they fear the police. Police will arrest them: busy courts will toss them about and very likely free them all too soon. Armed citizens will kill them. Most criminals have anti-social personality disorder and are not deterred when treated with compassion, which they view as weakness. Fear of being shot dead is a very effective deterrent to crime.  

Deborah Cloudwalker 

Oakland 

• 

KYOTOUSA 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

KyotoUSA and its supporters express their thanks to the Berkeley Unified School District (BUSD) Board for its unanimous decision to proceed with the installation of a photovoltaic (PV) system on Washington Elementary. After suggested energy efficiency measures are implemented, the PV system will provide 100 percent of the electricity requirements for the school’s main building. 

The HELiOS Project (Helios Energy Lights Our Schools)—now some fourteen months in the making—brought together individuals and organizations from throughout the City and beyond. It has been a community inspired project involving the School District, the Washington School PTA, City of Berkeley staff, the Berkeley City Council, the Sierra Club, the university, board members of organizations such as the Ecology Center and the Chamber of Commerce, and hundreds of community members who expressed their agreement with letters of support, expertise, and financial contributions. One of the most inspiring contributions came from an eleven-year old girl who asked her parents, relatives and friends to donate to the project instead of buying her birthday presents. 

In April 2006, KyotoUSA assembled a team of local experts to evaluate the feasibility of installing a photovoltaic system on a Berkeley public school in a way that would not add any additional costs to the district. The team included financial and technical experts from two of Berkeley’s solar companies and energy experts from the city. Over time we were able to demonstrate to the district that such an approach was feasible with the financial support of Berkeley residents. Once the district expressed its backing and we had identified Washington Elementary as the likely first school, we presented the project to the Washington Elementary school community to seek their support and input. 

Washington parents pointed out that energy efficiency was an important first step in any renewable energy project. In fact, energy efficiency has been a keystone of the project since its inception. In August 2006, KyotoUSA, together with the City of Berkeley and BUSD applied for a grant from UC Berkeley to conduct energy audits at Willard Middle School and at Washington Elementary. The grant was approved and the audit at Washington Elementary was completed in mid-May 2007. The full report is now available and shows that modest energy efficiency improvements can reduce the school’s electricity needs by about 20%. KyotoUSA donors will gift $12,000 to the district to help implement those energy saving measures. 

This project also provides a number of co-benefits, not the least of which is that it is a tangible way of showing our children that we care about their future and that we are taking steps to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions and combat the dire threat of climate change. 

Thank you, Berkeley, for all your support!  

Tom and Jane Kelly 

Co-Founders KyotoUSA  

• 

ENVIRONMENTAL SABBATH DAY 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

In our efforts to reduce greenhouse gases we often overlook the cultural dimensions. These days, we love the idea of “24/7” —that production and services run 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Certainly this makes for higher production of goods and services, as well as greenhouse gases! What ever happened to the “the Lord’s Day” or the Sabbath? It was Saturday for the Jews and Sunday for the Christians. One day in every seven set aside as a Holy Day; on that day, no work. Yes, things shut down; instead, we talk with family and neighbors, and walk around the neighborhood. That once included not using machines, such as automobiles and aircraft. With a weekly “Environmental Sabbath Day” we would save upwards of 14 percent of energy use! Plus, get back the time to slow down, relax and have more humane lives. Good for the environment, good for us. 

Americ Azevedo 

• 

NET NEUTRALITY 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I have been very interested in the internet. All kinds of people have presented their issues, and I have been able to support some organizations that I care about. 

Now I hear that some large cable and telephone corporations are working together to get the FCC to agree that only people with money will be able to put information on the Internet. What we have now is called “Net Neutrality.” I can look at anything I want to on the Internet. I can e-mail organizations that interest me. I can learn from them. 

This will no longer be possible if a bill passes which will let corporations which can pay put their messages on the Internet, and everyone else will be left behind. I hope that people reading this letter will want to keep the Internet the way it is. If you want to keep the Internet, look at SavetheInternet.com. 

Julia Craig 

• 

TELEGRAPH AVENUE 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

In my view, the large vacant lot at Telegraph and Haste Street more or less symbolizes the decay—or should I say “decline”—of Telegraph Avenue. Once the site of The Berkeley Inn, this corner lot has stood vacant for at least a dozen of years. There’s something almost sinister and forbidding about the tall black fence with its pointed “spears” encasing the lot, which is littered with trash and beer cans. 

I find it ludicrous that this valuable piece of property, almost within stone’s throw of one of the country’s most illustrious universities, remains a disgrace and an eyesore for residents and visitors passing by. Can not the City of Berkeley or the University itself take steps to rectify this long standing blight on our community? 

Dorothy Snodgrass

Parking in the Elmwood hangs by a tenuous thread. The proposed retail complex to be housed at the old Wright’s Garage near Ashby and College will have no on-site parking, and the only requirement owner John Gordon must meet is to try to provide parking. He doesn’t even have to try very hard!  

In order to be given a building permit for his restaurant, bar, and lounge, (not a use permit as Mayor Bates has stated), Mr. Gordon only has to satisfy the following vacuous condition imposed by ZAB: “The property owner shall cooperate to the extent practical with the Elmwood Merchants Association and City of Berkeley Transportation Planning Department, on opportunities and strategies to improve parking supply in the district.” These strategies include employing valet parking in the Elmwood public lot throughout the day and at the merchant lot at night, arranging for paid parking at the Huntmont Garage near Alta Bates on evenings and weekends, acquiring the property to the building’s north, extending Residential Permit Parking hours in zones B and D to 9 p.m. and extending the hours of operation of parking meters on College Avenue. Before receiving his building permit, Mr. Gordon only has to demonstrate to ZAB that he has gained access to additional parking using these or other options, or failing that, he may present a study showing that parking needs generated by the restaurant could be “accommodated within the neighborhood.”  

It should be noted that Mr. Gordon is not required to provide adequate parking for his 200-seat restaurant, only “additional parking,” and he may choose to provide a parking study, in lieu of providing any parking at all. This study need not be of any minimal professional quality, nor is it required to satisfy any specific standards. A poorly conducted study with the right conclusions would suffice. Furthermore, ZAB would not address any of the other heartfelt concerns raised by neighbors and merchants in the appeal process, because those concerns would be permanently dismissed when the City Council finishes with Wright’s Garage. 

Only the City Council can address these issues and in doing so, deny the use permit already granted to Mr. Gordon by ZAB; that opportunity will vanish if the Council fails to act in either its June 26 or July 10 meeting. In the past few weeks, the council has received well over 100 letters in opposition to this project, in addition to hearing multiple testimonies about potential impacts at least as important as parking. How could Mayor Bates, Councilmember Moore, and Councilmember Olds have failed to acknowledge the most important issues raised by neighbors and merchants? These issues include: 

• Increased traffic and traffic congestion, danger to pedestrians and neighbors, drunk driving, and additional exhaust pollution, as a result of the patrons of the restaurant, lounge, exercise studio, and other unspecified businesses. 

• Public drunkenness and its associated behavior, including noise, vandalism, crimes against women, and drunk driving from allowing a late-night bar and lounge to be established in a family neighborhood. 

• The harm to small businesses, including the Elmwood Theater, as a restaurant and bar the size of Spenger’s usurps customer parking and drives up its costs. 

• The irregularities of granting a developer a use permit for unspecified businesses, whose impact on the neighborhood and local businesses cannot be evaluated in any realistic way. 

It is difficult to understand how Mayor Bates with his ambitions for re-election and Councilmember Moore with his ambitions to run for the Assembly could be so casually dismissive of the well-being of the many people who would be impacted by inebriated lounge patrons and the traffic generated by the customers and employees (probably well over 300 in all), who could occupy this complex at a single time. Indeed, Mayor Bates expressed far more interest in trying to remove this item from future Council agendas than addressing the issues neighbors and merchants raised. It is incomprehensible that a project that violates multiple provisions of the Elmwood Zoning Ordinance could be so strongly embraced by public officials who have sworn to uphold the law. 

On Tuesday, June 26, the seven members of the City Council, who have not recused themselves from voting on this agenda item, will again attempt to find five members who can agree on how to proceed. Because so little is known about the businesses that might operate in this complex and so many negative impacts have been left unmitigated by ZAB, the only logical and legal choice is to remand this project back to ZAB. It should never have been approved in the first place. 

Judith Epstein writes on behalf of the Elmwood Neighborhood Association.

Our community, in particular, South Berkeley, is experiencing a gnawing anxiety about the apparently unstoppable will of Verizon/Nextel to install throughout South Berkeley a cell phone antenna net. This is an expression used in the cell phone industry and now also part of the accepted and incorporated lingo of our city planning department staff.  

Most recently these companies’ corporate reps, attorneys and sub-contractors have focused their energies on forcing upon the city yet another multiple antenna site in our neighborhood As many readers now know full well, South Berkeley has 14 cell phone antenna locations, North Berkeley only has two, and the Berkeley hills currently have none. Thus, for obvious reasons, South Berkeley gets Verizon/Nextel’s top ratings for excellent cell phone service and coverage. The result is a very inequitable distribution of antenna sites in the city.  

Verizon/Nextel’s latest potential future big money-maker (from anticipated, ever-increasing cell phone usage, video/photo transmittal and internet accessing “needs”) is the UC Storage Building at Shattuck Avenue and Ward Streets. Here Verizon/Nextel intend to install multiple antennas high up on the north and east-facing walls. These antennas, once installed, open the door for future multiple antennas from multiple cell phone companies at the same site. Before you know it, we might be the fortunate recipients of a virtual cell phone antenna heaven at 2721 Shattuck Ave., right in our own backyard.  

To protect public safety on the north side, Verizon/Nextel foresees the construction of a tall wall to separate their proposed antenna installation from a proposed five-story condominium development due north of UC Storage. Verizon/Nextel engineers predict that such a wall would reduce, ten-fold, the amount of RF radiation exposure to neighbors near the north side of the building. However these companies have no plans to reduce the amount of RF radiation exposure to the residents living near the east wall, nor any ideas for protecting residents to the northeast of UC Storage.  

RF radiation exposure for the many residences who share the block with UC Storage can now quite accurately be scientifically calculated, in advance of the proposed installation. This task can be accomplished by using know calculation formulas or by measuring the current amount of radiation coming from already installed antennas throughout south Berkeley. Engineers conduct these measurements all the time.  

Many of us believe that we, close neighbors, as potential “guinea pigs,” deserve to review this data before the city agrees to allow the antennas to be installed. We who live close to the intended antennas would, in fact, feel greatly relieved to know that our radiation exposure would be minimal, and nothing to worry about.  

So far, Verizon/Nextel installation application has been stymied through the determined effort of the Berkeley Neighborhood Antenna-Free Union (BNAFU). In fact, our City Council was clear at its meetings on both May 8 and May 22, that it wished to schedule a September public hearing on the matter of the Verizon/Nextel application.  

While the city appears to want to make a well-considered decision on the matter by hearing from all sides and experts on this issue, Verizon/Nextel has threatened the Berkeley City Council that it is prepared to slap a very expensive lawsuit on the city if the city causes any further delay in processing the Verizon/Nextel application. These companies, as a standard intimidation tactic, routinely and effectively threaten to sue both large and small cities all across the country.  

Verizon, alone, claims to have 60 million customers. The income generated by this customer base pays for an army of attorneys on call to do battle for Verizon and its legal “rights” all over the world. The last thing Verizon/Nextel will allow is for the City of Berkeley to prevail in this matter. After all, as many of us know, the telecommunications industry paid Congress for the 1996 Federal Telecommunications Act, which, among many other odious restrictions, made it illegal for any municipalities to use concerns about RF radiation as a reason for denying use permit applications.  

On both May 8 and 22, the City withstood the challenge from Verizon/Nextel and ended up sending the matter back to the Zoning Adjustments Board (ZAB). But now there is pressure being applied to ZAB members to reverse their 6-3 vote to deny the Verizon/Nextel application.  

Please consider attending the ZAB meeting this Thursday evening at Old City Hall, 2134 Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd. Find out if the ZAB will have the courage to uphold BNAFU’s position that this installation intrudes upon the neighborhood, is not needed, and restrains the rights of free speech of our council members. For more information, e-mail BNAFU at: JLLIB2@aol.com. 

Michael Barglow is a South Berkeley resident. 

The supporters of closed borders and deportations are not a fringe minority. Millions—including a majority of “liberal” elected officials like our California senators—favor the policy of walling off the United States at the Southern border. I visited the border last month. I talked with a few of the people deported from the Sonora desert of Arizona. I saw the bottoms of their feet torn to shreds after walking day and night in the desert sun and sand, and heard of beatings and humiliation at the hands of the private militarized Wackenhut company under contract with Homeland Security. Eight people were known to have died in the desert during four days I was there. One of the men we talked with was a San Francisco chef who had had to return home to the Yucatan for family affairs. Another was a peasant woman from Morelos the soles of whose feet I had to cut off because they were just dead separated skin. She cannot survive in Mexico because U.S. imports have financially ruined Mexico’s peasant agricultural base. Is this the kind of investment that letter writer Robert Gable believes will help get the Mexican economy back on its feet—the dumping of subsidized surplus US corn and other commodities on the Mexican market under NAFTA?  

Too many in our country either support—or are indifferent to—the immigration raids, deportations and the proposed legislation that, even with amnesty for some group of workers, would create a new control apparatus (an even larger bureaucracy) for potentially segregating and monitoring a huge segment of the U.S. population. Labeling people “illegal” or “legal” and subjecting them to daily controls because they cross a border into land that the United States seized from Mexico legitimizes discrimination—allows them to be spat out as some “alien” scourge. Support for such policy is a human stain. Despite our technological prowess and scientific progress, we seem incapable of overcoming a provincial narrow-mindedness that is not rational.  

There is little historical doubt that modern nations were formed by the needs of the capitalist market. Borders were drawn by force and to protect various spheres of economic influence for the masters of capital, not for human rights. This is why we see the failure of nation states and world wars in periods of great capitalist crisis. The value of nation states to capital was magnified by the advent of capitalist democracy wherein the general population “learned” that “what is good for General Motors, is good for America.” Thus, as citizens of a powerful “representative democracy” we today accept that we have no public right to health care, housing, jobs or higher education. We accept government that overthrows governments and initiates wars at will, sends jobs overseas and ignores our human needs; we act as if it were “our” government, even though it overtly ignores the plight of its citizens as it did after the Katrina catastrophe or the 9/11 clean-up, when the EPA fraudulently said that that environment posed no danger, knowing otherwise. Sometimes we say “but Democrats are different,” to excuse our passivity.  

The public that supports militarized borders—or opposes amnesty or accepts raids that break up families and leave children homeless and parentless—believes it has a greater stake in “capitalism’s America” than in the fate of humanity or our nation. These are people who feel protected by a government that tortures simply because they may not yet know anyone who has been tortured or violated by that government. We are content to look the other ways on immigration raids so that the mirage of our own security can remain intact. The saddest fact is that those who benefit from dividing us against our brothers and sisters also work to convince those they have consistently oppressed, such as the African American community, that it is the Latinos and other “aliens” come to take their jobs who are responsible for their continuing plight. Elites today even suggest that slavery and racial discrimination (or the Vietnam war for that matter) were oddities and errors of the past, not plans effecting great benefit to their progenitors. They market the absurd idea of one nation, indivisible—currently excepting the undocumented, “illegals who violate the law, take your jobs, overpopulate your cities, and eat up your tax dollars.” These are simply ignorant opinions but they are sold on the free market as fact at a very cheap price, with a promise of homeland security, as if unemployment and lowering wages are not a documented recurring capitalist scourge worldwide.  

Promoting the “Homeland” was a Nazi idea. Nazis elevated the idea of national chauvinism (the ideological basis for war which already existed), to new propaganda heights. Sinclair Lewis wrote that fascism would come to the United States not in the form of storm troopers, but wrapped in the flag and carrying the bible. Lewis was somewhat prescient, yet today fascism arrives heralded first by law—Patriot Act, the appointment of anti-democratic ideologues to the Supreme Court, the massive spying and removal of habeas corpus, the legalized merging of the functions of foreign intelligence with assassination, torture, detention and the disruption of domestic dissent, the disregard of Constitutional law and precedents, corporate money and power behind almost every major government move, and overt self-censorship by media. Nevertheless, pressure builds to reverse these losses and none of these attacks have been sufficient to move the public to support domestic terror in the way the Ku Klux Klan (a paramilitary group) did after reconstruction. The attack on the “other,” particularly those who cross the border, advances that end. This hysteria forms the ideological basis for a new fascist movement, even as that movement is rejected by good liberals, like Robert Gable, who just oppose “illegals.” But the singling out assures that many Americans will not resist the targeting of those who are powerless and poor. And our passivity will be our downfall. We live under a government whose two parties—controlled by big money—consistently operate in behalf of finance capital, not public interest. Neither calling ourselves free and democratic nor blaming the undocumented can change that. At this point immigration reform is a threat to our liberty because its main function is as an ideological tool to divide people and gain support for domestic militarization of the United States. We ought resist with all our energies.  

Marc Sapir is executive director of Retro Poll. 

IMMIGRATION 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

A recent letter in the Daily Planet claimed that those of us who oppose legalization of undocumented immigrants engage in “self-serving intransigence.” Another letter asserted that we are “a fringe minority of law and order types...who barely disguise their discrimination and contempt for Mexicans and Latinos.” But there might be other motives and reasons. I certainly did not legally adopt my immigrant Hispanic son because I had a contempt for Latinos. My reason for opposing illegal immigration is primarily the burden that overpopulation puts on regional infrastructure such as transportation, housing, water resources, medical services, air quality, educational systems, and so forth. According to a study by David Hayes-Bautista, professor of medicine at UCLA, almost 50 per cent of the children now born in California are Latino. Unfortunately, we North Americans have exploited the cheap labor of our hard-working southern neighbors for our short-term benefit without considering the long-term cost. We should stop the exploitation. The Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 was a failure, in part, because it did not require the payment of a fair living wage, nor did it apply strong employer sanctions. Equally important in the long-term will be capital investment and ecologically-sensitive economic development in Latin America.  

Robert Gable 

• 

JAZZSCHOOL 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

It’s amusing to read the discussion about the Jazzschool and its place in music education/race relations. Anyone who has met and spoken with the director of the school must realize that she is not a racist, an elitist, a sexist, or anything else other than a great musician who had a vision that was designed to keep alive the tradition of jazz. To blame her, or Yoshi’s, or any other institution for the lack of equal representation seems to be a rather narrow perspective. 

The Jazzschool is a business. You pay the money and you can take the classes. Without the student tuitions to help pay the overhead, there would be no school. Having been an instructor there for nine years, my observation was that the largest percentage of students, at least in the vocal department, were adults—with jobs. People with money get to do the fun stuff, no matter what color they are. Is that a revelation? The color of money is green.  

One of the realities inherent in this pay-to-learn environment is that if you pay, you’re in, regardless of whether or not you have any musical talent, motivation, discipline, or even a love of jazz. I met many wonderful and talented singers in my classes there, but an amazing number of them regard their experience at the school as yet another thing that money can buy. The motivation is primarily recreational: pay the dough and take the “jazz singer” ride. If the theme park experience doesn’t live up to the fantasy, then it’s the teacher’s fault, or the fault of the school. Currently there now exists a sizable population of vocalists who have taken the short cut route to the stage, many of whom have little or no curiosity about the study of music as long as there is a spotlight nearby. There is nothing wrong with that choice if it’s seen with some perspective, but this is not music education. 

Musicians of any race, age, or gender, if they have anything interesting to say, are musicians in their hearts and souls. Without the Jazzschool they would be no less inspired or accomplished. It doesn’t matter what color you are, you still have to practice to become skilled. You can practice your butt off and still suck. The singers and instrumentalists who were there at the inception of this musical tradition were not taking classes at the Jazzschool. They were inventing this music and participating in its evolution by listening, playing, practicing, and following the inner voice that moved them forward in the expression of their art. There was no pedagogy, no Jamey Aebersold, no singers’ open mic. There was a fervor that ignited the motivation to work hard and learn to really play. A musician’s success or failure in the world of performance is a result of the talent, desire, and hard work they bring to the music. 

Stephanie Bruce 

• 

TIDAL ENERGY 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I have been researching tidal energy mechanisms that can be used universally, are of very low cost, and can be created in a short time period. A small amount of money could cover the necessary research, development, and implementation of this new mechanism. My own research or that of our able scientists at UC Berkeley should make it possible to achieve our clean energy goals very quickly. 

All along the coasts of the Pacific, Atlantic, Indian Oceans and the Mediterranean Sea we can establish stations to generate electricity. One tide could lift a vessel, ocean liner, or any floating weight. One tide could turn hundreds of generators.  

This is an opportunity for Berkeley to lead the way to clean energy—even before San Francisco—by investing in a simple, low-cost solution. 

Yahya R. Mayeri 

• 

STEVE BARTON 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I was profoundly disappointed to learn that Housing Department Director Steve Barton summarily resigned with out notice recently after eight years leading one of the city’s most important departments. 

As one of the most respected and skilled affordable housing proponents in the nation, and the financial architect for scores of affordable, mixed-use housing developments across Berkeley, Mr. Barton’s housing record is unprecedented in city’s history. 

Under Mr. Barton’s tenure, hundreds of affordable housing units were built in the city along with hundreds of rehabilitated/reconstructed units also. No other city in the country comparable to Berkeley’s size can match this record of achievement. Mr. Barton deserves commendation and a debt of gratitude for his service to the city. 

Mr. Barton’s call for an independent investigation of the Berkeley Housing Authority and the role of the City of Berkeley should be acted upon by the City Council as soon as possible. Such an investigation must be allowed to follow whatever course it may lead to. 

Briefly, to respond to John Parman’s June 18 letter to the editor (“Reform Housing Policy”): Mr. Parman claims that the Berkeley Rent Stabilization Agency’s activities and services have been “diminish[ing].” In fact, the agency receives over 10,000 inquiries/contacts each year in addition to providing a formal mediating process to resolve renter/landlord disagreements.  

At another point, Mr. Parman states that there are “about 40,000” rental units city-wide. Actually, there are roughly 24,000 units total of which nearly 19,000 are regulated under the city’s voter-approved Rent Stabilization Ordinance. The non-regulated units include UC or student-operated housing and other forms of institutional or non-traditional housing.  

Also, unlike Oakland or San Francisco, Berkeley’s rent control program monitors and documents the rent level for each of the city’s 19,000 regulated units, In other words, rather than an “honor system”—as exists in Oakland and San Francisco—both Berkeley renters and property owners know exactly what the rent level is for each regulated unit. The agency’s computerized data system prevents confusion, misunderstandings, misrepresentations, etc. between renters and owners. 

Chris Kavanagh 

• 

RACISM 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I’m responding to David Schroeder’s outstanding analysis of racism and how it continues to affect the lives of black Americans here in Berkeley and elsewhere. This is the first time I’ve read an article by a white male who has a depth of understanding of racism. I commend you Mr. Schroeder and wish your thinking could be cloned. 

All black people have stories to share about racism and the cumulative rage and pain it has caused them. I’m just going to describe a couple of my experiences ranging from high school to graduate school. Although I received an A on my four-year French Regents in New York City, everyone in my accelerated French class received honors at graduation, except “moi.” I was only 17. Then, as an adult in graduate school I was part of a group team of five submitting a group paper. I stayed up all night putting the final touches on my section of the paper along with a team member who wound up spending the night. Well, once again what I term “educational racism” reared its ugly head. All others on my team received an A, and guess what? I got the B+ (“black plus”).  

Racism is rampant, and yes, it is right here in Berkeley covertly hidden beneath a fortress of liberalism. I frankly don’t have the time or energy to deal with “BERacism” in this letter. It hurts too much.  

I highly recommend the following reading: Black Robes, White Justice; Gordon Allport’s The Nature of Prejudice (especially the section on “competition”); and Toni Cade Bambara’s “The Children Who Get Cheated” in Redbook Magazine (1970.) 

Thanks again Mr. Schroeder. Your letter gave me hope and inspiration. I know there’s got to be other like-minded people somewhere out there in space. In the meantime, here’s to the hope for a peaceful, anti-racist future Planet. 

Carole Ann Brown 

• 

BUS RAPID TRANSIT 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Being in favor of the bus rapid transit (BRT), I was dismayed to see those letters opposing BRT. I hope those people don’t think the BRT is being built for bus riders like me. I don’t want to be blamed for taking away their car lanes. I think the BRT is a great idea, but I personally don’t need it. I can get around just fine on the 40L/1R and the other buses which serve Berkeley. 

Personally, I don’t need the bus-only lanes—and I don’t need the guilt trip. No, the BRT was never proposed for people like me who already ride the bus. It’s for the car drivers. The whole purpose of the BRT is to liberate people from cars, by providing drivers with an alternative which is fast, safe, convenient and comfortable. I like these things too, but the 51, 40L, 72R already provide me with good enough service. 

A lot of BRT opposition seems to come from people who won’t consider any other transportation option than a car. The pollution, asthma, carbon dioxide, oil consumption, traffic congestion, anger, frustration and cost associated with owning and operating a car are evidently well worth it to these drivers. Not to me. I’d rather ride the bus and not be part of those pollution problems. 

But don’t build the BRT for me. Build it for the car drivers who want to be liberated. 

Steve Geller 

• 

DISASTER MEASURES 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

The City Council recently approved three low-cost but possibly life-saving measures which our commission, the Disaster and Fire Safety Commission, has been pushing—and we are very thankful that they were able to do this. Those were the Seismic Retrofit Measure written in large part by Councilmember Capitelli and myself, an updated survey of a second road from Panoramic Hill to Dwight Way, and the final approval to buy the Mobile Disaster Fire Protection System (the portable water pump system which will run from the bay up to the hills). The latter is paid for from pre-existing bonds (I think Measure G?), while the two other items only cost about $15,000 each. Only the first item was mentioned in our annual commission report, which was delivered to the City Council at the May 8 meeting. 

Now the real decisions have to be made to protect ourselves and our families. Our report outlined six items which, if funded, will exponentially increase our community’s preparedness. The report, along with the city manager’s cover letter, has been referred to the budget process.  

Please strongly consider funding all of the following items which have fiscal impacts as identified by the city manager. They’re all priorities in our eyes but we’re not sure which ones have secured funding or not. I’ve marked them as “one-time” or “recurring.” 

1. Add two FTEs to Office of Emergency Services. This is the major one. Current budgeting is penny-wise and pound-foolish with just 1.7 FTE in OES. Even adding just one FTE would mean a large expansion of planning/preparation! ($260,000 for two FTE, $130,000 for one FTE, recurring)  

These next two are unfunded parts of the city’s official Disaster Plan curated by David Wee/Health and Human Services: 

2. Stock city shelter supplies (I believe it’s in the HHS budget request). ($53,000, one-time.) 

3. Map critical structure systems in existing city shelters. ($50,000, one-time.) 

4. Study rearranging bottleneck at southeast corner of Memorial Stadium, work towards a city/UC joint project to complete work in future. Regardless of whether or not the stadium’s used for football in the future, the choke point endangers emergency access to the surrounding neighborhoods and wilderness. ($15,000 one-time.) 

5. Provide emergency caches to more neighborhoods in exchange for those neighborhoods taking CERT classes. This is an incredibly effective tool to train us laypeople to take care of ourselves post-earthquake/pandemic. ($27,000 recurring.) 

Jesse Townley 

Chair, Disaster and Fire Safety Commission 

• 

DOWNTOWN PLANNING  

ARTICLES 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I have two minor quibbles with Richard Brenneman’s otherwise illuminating pair of articles in the June 19 Daily Planet on last Saturday’s downtown planning workshop and the lawsuits concerning UC Berkeley’s Memorial Stadium oak grove. In the first piece Mr. Brenneman writes: “DAPAC members aren’t drafting the final plan—that will be the work of city staff, the Planning Commission and the City Council—but they are drafting the policy statements city officials say will constitute the basis of the plan.” Actually, as per Section II of the infamous Settlement Agreement of May 25, 2005, between the City of Berkeley and the UC Regents, the Downtown Area Plan (DAP) is a joint plan to be prepared by “at least one FTE dedicated city planner and one FTE dedicated UC Berkeley planner.” Further, “...because the DAP is a joint plan, there shall be no release of draft or final DAP or EIR without concurrence of both parties.” Moreover, “UC Berkeley reserves the right to determine if the DAP or EIR meets the Regents’ needs.” In the second piece Mr. Brenneman refers to the coalition of plaintiffs who had challenged “the adoption of the of the university’s Long Range Development Plan (LRDP) 2020, which includes the SCIP projects.” Actually, the Southeast Campus Integrated Projects were omitted from the LRDP settlement—partly why there are now four lawsuits pending over SCIP. My thanks to Mr. Brenneman and Planet staff for their continuing reportage on legacies (unsavory and otherwise) stemming from the Berkeley City Council’s “clandestine capitulation” in May 2005.  

Jim Sharp 

• 

GUNS 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

The Old West Gun Shop, just around the block from where I have lived for seven years, is unarguably complicit in the killings of Kevin Morrissey, his wife and two daughters. The shop is especially implicated in the deaths of the two completely innocent young girls. How can there be any other logical conclusion!!?? The shop should be sued out of existence in the courts. 

What tragic idiocy that a depressed man can buy a gun so easily, and legally! It’s all so familiar, and so unintelligent, that in the U.S.A. lethal weapons are so easily available! 

Old West Gun Shop should be permanently closed and removed from our community. Where are the civic and social leaders who will step forward to state and organize what every sensible citizen can see—that legally selling guns into the community in the 21st century is dangerous and anti-social and should be stopped immediately? 

Andrew Ritchie 

El Cerrito 

A giant backyard redwood tree is felled on the summer solstice. Former California Gov. Ronald Reagan once was quoted as saying, “If you’ve seen one redwood tree, you’ve seen them all.” This was back in the 1960s, I believe, when there was a strong environmental movement to save many of the remaining pristine groves of the Coast redwood tree (Sequoia sempervirens) in Northern California from impending cutting. Thousands of acres of prime native habitat dominated by these towering giant trees were eventually saved. Several weeks ago one of my neighbors told me that a landowner several properties down the street had applied for a permit to cut down our local landmark redwood tree, which dominates our block. It is probably over one hundred feet high and is possibly one hundred years old. I called the telephone contact number on the public notice that was posted on the telephone pole and after leaving a couple of messages and waiting a couple of days (this is in Oakland, the city that seemingly has much trouble doing much of anything right and/or in a timely fashion…), and was told that, yes, the owner had applied for a tree-cutting permit because its roots were beginning to affect his duplex’s foundation. 

After doing a quick read on redwood tree ecology and having a short list of birds that either nest in them or use them for nighttime roosts, I called back to the City of Oakland and gave my little ecology song-and-dance. I even suggested that severing the intrusive roots on the duplex side of the tree and inserting metal places into the ground would be a very inexpensive solution to the problem. 

Yesterday, I saw a long row of orange traffic cones that blocked off several parking places in the street near the property that held the redwood tree, and I knew that this magnificent specimen was doomed. This morning several workers armed with ropes and chain saws showed up and in a few short hours all the branches and greenery of this tree had been removed and fed into a noisy chipping machine. It is truly frightening the power that modern man has over other living things, especially trees. This ancient redwood had two main trunks that separated about 20 feet above the ground, in the manner of the El Palo Alto, the originally twin-branched redwood tree that grows along the San Francisquito Creek and the railroad tracks at the northern boundary of Palo Alto. The City of Palo Alto was originally named for this redwood tree; the Spanish name loosely translates to “tall tree.” Of course, this particular redwood tree, being the living symbol of a wealthy town, receives the best of care and protection. 

In the early evening, I walked down the street and took a picture of the still intact massive base of the tree. I gathered up a couple of small leftover redwood branches and put them in water, so now my kitchen has a slight Christmasy smell. Tonight in the dimming sunshine of dusk, I took a couple of final pictures of what was left of this magnificent redwood. Several small birds, possibly House Finches, fluttered up to perches on the rough bark, and then gave up in disgust and flew off to a large chestnut tree in the next yard over as their new night roosting spot. The cut-down log sections of this redwood tree were not saved to be turned into fine lumber, they were merely cut into large chunks that the workers could carry to the waiting truck. I suppose that these chunks of wood will be added to some local landfill. This tall tree shaded part of my garden for a couple of hours each day in the wintertime, but I will miss its stately presence as a neighborhood landmark. In the fog-free evenings that we had actual sunsets, this redwood used to glow radiantly in the fading sunset. 

James K. Sayre is an Oakland resident.

In this, the “Year of Health Care Reform” in California, it’s ironic that the governor in his May Revise would fail to fund a reimbursement rate increase for providers of some of the most cost-effective preventive health care in the state. The cost of such an increase—$24 million—is just a speck of the overall $104 billion state budget—especially compared to the cost of doing nothing. 

Planned Parenthood clinics throughout California are in crisis. We are turning away more than 10,000 patients per month statewide because the reimbursement rates currently paid for services to our Medi-Cal patients have not increased in 20 years while our costs have skyrocketed 300 percent! Twenty years ago we could hire a clinician for $12 an hour. Today, the market rate for a clinician in the Bay Area is $50 an hour—add that to significant increases in prescription drugs, tests, medical supplies and clinic necessities like rent and utilities. 

Of course, we haven’t been sitting idly by. We’ve redoubled our efforts at private fundraising, pursued public and private grants, tried to use more volunteers and cut costs everywhere. But these efforts alone cannot close the gap between revenue and expenditures and the result leaves clinician positions vacant, forces reductions in services and cuts to prevention programs, and leaves our patients with no where else to turn. The safety net is tearing and it’s time for the state to step up to the plate and put a Medi-Cal reimbursement rate increase for family planning visits in the budget this year.  

Without an increase more patients will be turned away, years of advances in pregnancy and STI prevention will be rolled back, and the toll on taxpayers and the most underserved members of our community will be hefty. At Planned Parenthood Golden Gate, we have six clinics in Alameda, Marin, San Francisco, San Mateo, and Sonoma counties and serve 55,000 women, men, and teens each year. Since the last real rate increase back in the 1980’s, we have had to close multiple clinics, discontinue our pre-natal care services, and eliminate programs because we can no longer sustain them with current rates. We’re turning away more than 400 patients every month in our Oakland clinics alone which is particularly alarming considering the growing epidemic of chlamydia and ghonnorea rates in the city, particularly among young women 15-34, Planned Parenthood’s patient population. When we have to turn away thousands of patients who need access to time sensitive services like STI detection and treatment, family planning, breast and cervical cancer screening, that’s not just a reproductive health care crisis: it’s a public health crisis. 

Not only is a rate increase good public health policy, it’s sound fiscal policy as well. Family planning is one of the most cost-effective services in the state. For every $1 California spends on family planning, the federal government matches it with $9 in federal funds. And studies show that for every dollar the state spends on family planning and prevention, taxpayers save an additional $5.33 in future medical and social service costs. 

When the “Year of Health Care Reform” began, the Governor, Legislature and the State Department of Public Health all agreed that Medi-Cal reimbursement rates must be part of any final health care fix. But safety net providers like Planned Parenthood can’t wait. We need a reimbursement rate increase now.  

Thousands of women are counting on their legislators to put money in the State Budget for a rate increase and for the governor to sign that budget. As we told our lawmakers during Capitol Day this month, they can jump-start health care reform today by putting prevention first and granting safety-net providers like Planned Parenthood increases in Medi-Cal reimbursement rates.  

To take action on this issue, Berkeley residents can contact Senate Pro Tem Don Perata at (510) 286-1333 to urge him to take the lead and invest in family planning with a Medi-Cal reimbursement rate increase this year. It’s the right thing to do … and it makes a lot of cent$.  

Dian J. Harrison is president and CEO of Planned Parenthood Golden Gate.  

Although I sent an e-mail to all the Berkeley City Council members and the mayor, opposing the planned bar/restaurant at Ashby and College, it took your June 19 editorial dated to alert me to the stealth disregard of the Neighborhood Commercial Preservation Ordinance that citizens of the Elmwood worked tirelessly to get passed. The variance granted by the Zoning Adjustments Board, specifically so a watering hole can dispense hard liquor in a neighborhood that clearly opposes it, is more of the same that we are getting from the mayor and those who support his vision of asphalting all open spaces and denying the needs for parks and playgrounds in districts that need them.  

I feel that the Kitchen Democracy (KD) survey I filled out some time ago, initiated by Councilmember Wozniak, did not give my approval for the project at Wright’s Garage. I, for one, feel misrepresented by our councilmember’s proclamation that 80 percent of his constituents support that project. I believe that other district residents, who filled out the same survey, have also been misrepresented. The survey did not specify exactly what was in the developer’s proposal and for our District 8 councilmember to surmise/assume that we support it is way out of line. I could not imagine the approval of a bar/restaurant that will depend on 50 percent of its sales on liquor, opening in our neighborhood. My car was broken into the night before last, on Prince Street, and I learned that crime has increased in our area, including strong arm assaults. The proposal will not only attract a fair percentage of drinkers whose sole purpose will be to get drunk, it would conceivably also attract gangs inside and outside our area. Crime will multiply: break-ins of cars, houses and apartments, and for anyone who has lived in an apartment house with a bar on the ground floor, as I have, drunken sops usually get very loud and belligerent, terrorizing neighbors living in the vicinity.  

I and my next door neighbor have lived here since 1971 and are very upset at the direction our reps are taking us in. The matter of parking is a very serious one. Currently, people from outside the district park on my street, especially in the evenings and all day, each day over the weekends. They park because my street, between College and Claremont, is only one short block to the Elmwood stores and restaurants. It is becoming a real problem for us who live on the street and depend on parking. The project for Wright’s garage will only increase the drivers looking for parking spots very near College and Ashby, and since my street does not have a barrier at the Claremont entrance (while there is one on Webster, the next street over toward Ashby), the parking situation will become impossible. This project will be a monumental disservice to our rights as Berkeley residents. We will be prisoners once it is instituted. 

Increasingly, the traffic on Ashby and College is a major headache for all of us who live in the district. This project would increase the traffic. I challenge any one to stand the corner of Ashby and College during the day and early evening. He will find that the pollution from the endless stream of cars is a violence on the senses. Why, in God’s name, would men and women who represent us in city government assault us further with increased carcinogens?  

These actions, raping an ordinance that maintains an even balance of shopping needs for the citizens of the Elmwood, and attempting to impose an inappropriate project that will make our lives increasingly difficult, informs us that democracy in our city is slowly but surely dying. It is puzzling that the city attorney picked the figure “five” as a pre-requisite for opening the project to public debate, when under bizarre circumstances it was clear that five could not be had. I also question the mayor’s adamant position that a public debate by the citizens is a waste of time. I almost smell the proverbial rat and wonder what those who are opposed to public comment have to hide. Clearly, the Zoning Adjustments Board appears to have acted illegally, without a sign from the city attorney. Difficult to believe that a Berkeley mayor and members of the City Council would oppose public debate. Would they be satisfied if we all walked around with tape over our mouths? What has happened to the democratic forum in our city of cities? 

R.J. Schwendinger is a Berkeley resident.

Just outside the City Council chamber in the Maudelle Shirek Building (formerly Old City Hall) stands a large table. When the council is meeting, that’s where you can find copies of its agenda. Last Tuesday evening, you could find something else there as well: copies of a two-sided sheet entitled “City of Berkeley/Welcome to Your Council Meeting.” 

Dated June 6 and signed by the city attorney and the city clerk, “Welcome” details the council’s latest experiment in procedures for public comment other than at a public hearing. Some of its features are far more welcoming than others. But as the June 19 council meeting all too amply demonstrated, no procedure, however hospitable, can compensate for the offensiveness of a peremptory chair.  

A little background: The era of procedural experimentation began last year after the library watchdog group, Berkelyans Organizing for Library Defense (SuperBOLD), threatened to sue the city for violating California’s sunshine ordinance, the Brown Act. Specifically, SuperBOLD objected to the city’s long-time practice of limiting public comment to three minutes apiece for 10 people whose names had been drawn out of a hopper at the start of each council meeting. That, said the group, conflicted with the Brown Act’s guarantees for public testimony. 

In response, the council started trying out different formats for oral communications. Now members of the public can address items on the consent calendar (items that are scheduled to be approved without discussion, unless they are “pulled” to the action agenda by a councilmember), which is always high up on the agenda; items on the action agenda, which takes up the bulk of a meeting; and, at the end of the meeting, matters not listed on the agenda.  

These new arrangements are an improvement, as SuperBOLD member Gene Bernardi noted in a letter to the June 15 Daily Planet. But as Bernardi also noted, big problems remain, almost all stemming from the arbitrary authority of the mayor, who chairs the council’s meetings.  

Some of that arbitrary mayoral authority is written into the new rules. “Welcome to Your Council Meeting” stipulates that “[t]he mayor retains the authority to limit the total public comment time allocated to an item or to persons representing a particular side of an issue” on the action calendar. Bernardi observed that “allowing the mayor to select who will speak for or against an item is more egregious than selecting speakers at random by lottery, and therefore certainly as illegal.” In the interest of fairness, speakers need to be chosen according to a fixed formula that precludes discretion. 

But setting formal limits on paper won’t eliminate mayoral arbitrariness, because Tom Bates plays fast and loose with council procedures even when he has no authority to do so. So, for example, at the end of council meetings, Bernardi noted, the mayor “has failed to call, without reminder” for comment on items that have been pulled from the consent calendar. On June 19, he not only failed to call for such comments; he resisted doing so and instead tried to adjourn the meeting. He allowed the meeting to continue only after a handful of would-be speakers, including myself, protested that they had waited four hours—until nearly 11 p.m.—to address the council. After we each got to say our two minutes, the mayor failed to ask for public comment on non-agenda items and ended the meeting, ignoring two other individuals, who, in accordance with procedures outlined in “Welcome,” had waited until the very end of the meeting to speak on such items.  

But when it came to high-handedness, Tom Bates’ late-night efforts to squelch public comment paled next to his disposition of the controversial Wright’s Garage project earlier in the evening. The council was considering whether to grant requests from the Elmwood Neighborhood Association and the Elmwood Merchants Association to schedule a public hearing on the project. About 30 neighbors and merchants showed up; 14 of them were allowed to speak for up to two minutes apiece.  

It takes five votes to schedule a public hearing. With two councilmembers recused (Capitelli, who owns a business in the area, and Wozniak, who had publicly lobbied for the project), and one absent (Moore, who was tending to his sick mother), the council deadlocked 4-2 in favor of Councilmember Maio’s motion to schedule a public hearing. When the council deadlocks over an appeal of a Zoning Adjustments Board decision, the matter is customarily continued for 30 days from the date the item first appeared on a council agenda. If by then the council has not mustered the five votes required to take action, the ZAB decision holds.  

With this precedent in mind and still hoping to find five votes, the Elmwood appellants were counting on the matter to be continued to the council’s June 26 meeting. Thanks to Councilmember Worthington’s spirited defense of due process, the item was continued. But first the public was treated to a flagrant show of mayoral arrogance, as Tom Bates tried to get the item permanently removed from the council’s agenda. Astonishingly, he declared that since he had allowed 14 speakers to address the council, there was no difference between the evening’s proceedings and a public hearing.  

If the appellants end up suing the city, I hope they include the mayor’s assertion in the material they provide to the court. For that statement exemplifies Tom Bates’ attitude toward law and governance: I make the rules around here, and if I say this is as good as a public hearing, it’s so. Never mind that a real public hearing has legal standing that regular public comment lacks. Never mind that on June 19 neither the project applicant, John Gordon, nor his lawyer, Harry Pollack, was there to present their side of the case, as they surely would do in a hearing. None of this matters to Berkeley’s mayor. L’état, c’est lui. 

He brings to mind Animal Farm’s Napoleon, the barnyard despot who lords it over the other creatures and keeps unilaterally changing the rules. Like Orwell’s beastly autocrat, Mayor Bates doesn’t act alone. His imperious ways are expedited and legitimated by a compliant council majority, a fawning city attorney and other unctuous bureaucratic managers who do little to conceal their own disdain for public process. (On June 19 Planning Director Dan Marks didn’t bother to bring a copy of the staff report on the Wright’s Garage project into the council chamber and was consequently unable to answer councilmembers’ questions about conditions attached to the use permit). 

What ultimately doomed the denizens of Animal Farm, however, was their own gullibility, exacerbated by the fact that most of them couldn’t read. Their Berkeley counterparts can’t plead illiteracy. I assume that everyone in town believes in a government of laws, not persons, and deplores the Bush administration’s blatant disregard of that principle. How, then, to explain the greater Berkeley public’s seeming indifference to the blatant disregard of that principle in city hall? 

The text of “Welcome to your Council Meeting” can be found on the council’s website under the heading “General Information” and the subheading “Public Comment.”  

Zelda Bronstein is former member of the Planning Commission as well as a former candidate for mayor.

In the sixth month of the campaign for the 2008 Democratic presidential nomination, the race has narrowed to New York Senator Hillary Clinton and Illinois Senator Barack Obama. The latest Gallup Poll shows Obama and Clinton in a statistical dead heat, with John Edwards a distant fourth, behind Al Gore—an undeclared candidate. Public perception of Clinton and Obama is strikingly different: Hillary has much higher unfavorable ratings than does Barack. Obama and Clinton are very different people; which one of them carries the day, at the Denver Democratic convention in August of 2008, will hinge on which campaign is best able to utilize the unique strengths of their candidate. 

Obama has a broader appeal than does Clinton. Recent polls indicate that the Illinois senator fares better against potential GOP candidates than does his New York counterpart. Larissa MacFarquhar dissected Barack’s attraction in her fascinating May 7 New Yorker article, describing him as “serene,” “centered,” and “congenial.” She observed that he appeals to many Republicans because he’s non-judgmental, willing to listen to their point of view. MacFarquhar concluded: “Obama has staked his candidacy on union—on bringing together two halves of America that are profoundly divided, and by associating himself with Lincoln.” 

There are two schools of thought about how Obama should position himself to win the Democratic nomination. One argues that Barack needs to adapt his style to what voters have come to expect: he needs to be more political. This opinion contends that while Obama has well-thought-out positions on most issues, he needs to present them more forcefully: be less of an academic and more of a gladiator. At least, that’s the opinion of New York Times contributor Maureen Dowd in her June 6 column. Referring to the candidate as “Obambi,” Dowd harrumphed that the junior senator often disappoints his constituents by being too professorial and observed: “He skitters away from the subtext of political contests, the need to use your force to slay your opponents.” She noted that in the most recent debate among the Democratic candidates, “When Hillary admitted that she had not read the National Intelligence Estimate before voting to authorize the president to go to war, Sen. Obama had a clear shot…[but] Mr. Obama let the opportunity for a sharp comment pass.”  

The other school of thought about Obama campaign strategy argues that Barack should stay the way he is; that America is ready for a president who doesn’t represent politics as usual. Writing in the June 3 New York Times Frank Rich observed, “Americans are exhausted by anger itself and are praying for the mood pendulum to swing … Edgy is out; easy listening is in; style, not content, can be king … [that accounts for] The Democratic boomlet for Barack Obama … his views don’t differ radically from those of most of his rivals, but his conciliatory personality is the essence of calm, the antithesis of anger.”  

Of course, what stands between Obama and the Democratic nomination is Hillary Clinton: the first serious female candidate for president. Ms. Clinton is smart, experienced, and tough. And she’s very political. Hillary has assembled a top-flight campaign team that includes her husband, the former president, who’s one of the most remarkable politicians in modern American history. During the next 14 months, Sen. Clinton will battle Barack Obama for each vote in every primary. This contest won’t be conducted in the world of ideas or on the tranquil fields of democratic process. Instead it will take place in TV studios and carefully scripted public appearances; consist of sound bites and bon mots. 

If Maureen Dowd is right then Obama may not be political enough to wrest the 2008 presidential nomination away from Hillary Clinton. Perhaps, Barack’s temperament isn’t cut out for the superficial nature of American presidential politics: the emphasis on form over substance. But, if Frank Rich is right and it’s true that voters are exhausted by the knock-down, bare-knuckles, take-no-prisoners political style of the Dubya years, then America may be ready for a different sort of president: even if that person happens to be a black guy from Chicago with the unlikely name of Barack Hussein Obama. 

Either way, Democrats seem poised to nominate a presidential candidate who is not a white male. According to the Feb. 20 Gallup Poll Americans say they ready to vote for an African American or a woman candidate. While racism and sexism will play a role in the final vote, what’s likely to be the dominant factor is familiarity. Ninety-eight percent of Americans are familiar with Hillary Clinton and 80 percent have strong feelings about her. Obama is less well known: only 80 percent have heard of him and only 56 percent have strong feelings. So, the contest is likely to be decided by the impression Barack makes on voters when he shows up on their TV screens or at their local political event. Here the long-term trend is in Barack’s favor, as his favorability ratings have stayed high since he’s become a candidate. If that trend continues then he’s likely to win the Democratic nomination in 2008. 

Bob Burnett is a Berkeley writer. He can be reached at bobburnett@comcast.net 

It began with a phone call: Jean Moss, a Berkeley reader, had an odd nest that had fallen from a Cecile Bruner rosebush. She suspected it was some kind of hummingbird nest, because she had seen a female hummer hanging around it acting territorial. But what she described sounded more like a bushtit nest, bag-shaped with a small entrance hole near the top. Curious, I arranged to stop by and take a look at it. 

Bushtit is what it was, all right, very much like the one I discovered last year in the Lady Banks rose outside the kitchen window. It was a remarkable object, tightly felted from plant matter and spiderweb and decorated with moss and lichen. According to Hal Harrison’s Field Guide to Western Bird Nests, bushtits may also use leaves, grasses, and cocoons for the basic construction and plant down, wool, hair, and feathers for the lining. 

Mrs. Moss was adamant that she hadn’t seen any bushtits—chubby long-tailed grayish birds—in the neighborhood, and I am convinced she knows a bushtit from a hummingbird. So what about the hummer? I have a theory about that, and I’ll get to it later. 

Bushtits are interesting little birds, though. (I don’t know who saddled them with that name.) Once thought to be close relatives of the chickadees and titmice, the last taxonomic reshuffle put them in a separate family along with the Eurasian long-tailed tits, and recent studies suggest they may be close to the Old World warblers. They got here some 10 to 12 million years ago, via the Bering land bridge, and have spread as far south as Guatemala. 

They’re even more social than chickadees. You hardly even see a lone bushtit. Except for the nesting season, flocks stick together year-round, and pairs rejoin the flock as soon as their nestlings fledge. Flock members roost together, huddling close for warmth on chilly nights. They forage as a group, bridging the gaps between trees one bird at a time. 

In some parts of their range, bushtit sociality goes even farther: two or more females may lay their eggs in the same nest, and supernumerary helpers—maybe last year’s offspring—help the parents rear the brood. But this seems more common in southern Arizona than in coastal California. 

There seem to be two basic nest-building techniques. In heavy vegetation, the pair attaches spiderweb and plant material to a couple of support points and stretches the incipient nest into a loose sack. Alternatively, they start with a platform bridging a fork in a branch. One or both of the builders stretches the platform into a cup by sitting in it. Eventually the cup becomes a sack. I couldn’t track it down, but I recall reading somewhere about some northern people—the Saami, or some Siberian tribe—using the nests of long-tailed tits as children’s footwear. 

Like many Bay Area resident birds, bushtits start their nesting season early; eggs have been confirmed in California nests as early as February 26. Some coastal California populations raise two broods a year.  

So it’s reasonable that a bushtit nest should be active in May. But how to account for the hummingbird? Some birds do reuse the nests of other species; the piratic flycatcher of the New World tropics boots the original owners out and takes their nest over. But I could find no account of our local hummers using another bird’s nest. Their own open-faced cup-shaped nests are completely different in size and shape; all they have in common is the decorative lichen. 

Huh. Lichen. Instead of nesting in the bushtits’ construction, maybe Mrs. Moss’s hummer was recycling it—using its components to build her own nest. That wouldn’t be unheard-of. Bushtits are known to steal nest material from each other, and in the Chiracahua Mountains of Arizona warblers and vireos dismantle bushtit nests for material. As for the hummer’s behavior, she might have seen the nest as a resource to be defended, like a patch of nectar-bearing flowers. 

Who knows? Birds do go to extremes to get their nesting material. I’ve seen lichen-covered hummingbird nests a long way from the nearest lichen. The grand prize would have to go to the South American fork-tailed palm swift, which lines its nest with feathers. It was assumed for a long time that it just picked up feathers that were lying around. But no. Recent observations indicate it plucks the feathers from the backs of other birds, in flight. Victims range in size from thrush to turkey vulture, but the swifts seem to have a preference for pigeon and parrot feathers. Must be an unsettling experience for the donors. 

Photograph by Joe Eaton. The mystery nest, with a pair of binoculars for scale. 

Joe Eaton’s “Wild Neighbors” column appears every other Tuesday in the Berkeley Daily Planet, alternating with Ron Sullivan’s “Green Neighbors” column on East Bay trees.

There are few areas in the world more entangled in historical deceit and betrayal than northern Iraq, where the British, the Ottomans, and the Americans have played a deadly game of political chess at the expense of the local Kurds. And now, because of a volatile brew of internal Iraqi and Turkish politics, coupled with the Bush administration’s clandestine war to destabilize and overthrow the Iranian government, the region threatens to explode into a full-scale regional war. 

A series of bombings and attacks over the past year in Turkey touched off the current crisis. The Turks attribute the violence to the Iraq-based Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) The PKK fought a bitter war against the Turks from 1984 through the 1990s. Ankara’s campaign to repress its Kurdish population during that period ended up killing some 35,000 people, destroying 3,000 villages, and forcibly relocating between 500,000 and 2 million Kurds. 

The Kurds make up about 20 percent of Turkey and Iraq and have a significant presence in Syria and Iran. There are between 25 to 30 million of them, and they represent one of the world’s largest ethnic groups without a country, a status that has long aggrieved them. 

The current crisis began late last month when the Turks declared martial law in three provinces that border Iraq, massing troops, armor, and artillery, and threatening to invade if the United States and the Iraqi government of Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki did not suppress the PKK.  

But things are never quite what they appear in northern Iraq: 

• While the Turks are indeed concerned about the activities of the PKK, Ankara’s real agenda is to block any possibility of an independent Kurdish nation on their border. The Turkish Army is also whipping up nationalism in an effort to influence the outcome of the July 22 Turkish elections.  

• The United States considers the PKK a terrorist organization, but the Bush Administration is also using the organization to launch attacks into Iran and stir up ethnic animosities among Iranians.  

• The Islamicist Maliki government, with its ties to extremist Shiite militias and Iran, is no friend of the secular and socialist-minded PKK. But Maliki needs Kurdish support in his battle with former Iraqi Prime Minister Ayad Allawi, whose coalition of former Baathists, Sunnis, secular Shiites, and disgruntled Kurds has designs on bringing down Maliki’s government. 

• And while the current Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG)—a coalition of the formerly warring Patriotic Union of Kurdistan and the Kurdistan Democratic Party—has no great love for the PKK, the organization is tough and battle-hardened and has become an invaluable ally against a rising tide of Islamicism in the Kurdish region.  

Turkey is deeply worried that an upcoming plebiscite in Kirkuk could make the oil-rich city the Kurds claim as their capital a part of Kurdistan. The Turks charge that the Kurds are trying to influence the outcome of the vote by driving 200,000 Turkomen and Arabs out of the city, and moving in 600,000 Kurds, reversing the 1980s population shift when Saddam Hussein forced many Kurds out of Kirkuk, moving in Arab families to take their place.  

In order to keep the KRG as an ally, the Maliki government is backing the plebiscite and supporting a plan to remove 12,000 Arab families from Kirkuk and send them back to their original homes in central and southern Iraq.  

The Turks fear that if Kirkuk joins Kurdistan it will give the Kurds the economic base they need to build a Kurdish state, which will in turn stir up Turkey’s restive Kurds to demand independence or autonomy. Ankara blames the United States for ignoring the issue of Kirkuk and turning a blind eye to the PKK.  

“It is widely acknowledged,” says Syrian historian and journalist Sami Moubayed, “that the PKK cannot operate out of northern Iraq without the full blessing of Maliki, [Iraqi] President Jalal Talabani (a Kurd) and the United States.”  

Rather than suppressing the PKK, the United States is using its offshoot, the Party for a Free Life in Kurdistan (PEJAK), to attack Iran. According to a Financial Times investigation last year, U.S. Marines are working with Iranian minorities to see if “Iran would be prone to violent fragmentation along the same kind of fault lines that are splitting Iraq.” (Financial Times, 2/24/06) 

Farsi speakers dominate Iran, but they only make up a slim majority of the country. The rest of the population consists of Kurds, Arabs, Azeris and Baluchs. The United States is also supporting a violent Baluch group, the Jundallah, which killed 11 Revolutionary Guard this past February in southern Iran. (ABC News, 3/3/07) 

“I think everybody in the region knows that there is a proxy war already afoot, with the United States supporting anti-Iranian elements in the region as well as opposition groups in Iran,” says Vali Nasr of the Council on Foreign Relations. (ABC News, 5/22/07) 

Investigative journalist Seymour Hersh says that PRJAK is also receiving help from Israel. 

From Ankara’s point of view, Turkey is paying the price for both the White House’s crusade against Iran and the weakness of the current Maliki government. 

Maliki is beset by a Sunni insurgency and growing American impatience with his failure to rein in sectarian violence and to pass proposed hydrocarbon legislation that would open Iraq to western oil companies.  

But Maliki is allied with the Shiite militias who are waging that sectarian war, including Muqtada al-Sadr and his Mahdi Army. And Maliki’s Kurdish allies are opposed to the proposed oil legislation because it would block the Kurds from cutting their own deals with oil companies. The law is also deeply unpopular with the average Iraqi. Oil workers recently struck in an effort to derail it. 

The U.S. is hoping the KRG will rein in the PKK. One anonymous Iraqi official told The Sun, “The Americans want the Kurds to make their life easier. They need the Kurdish government to show they are willing to tackle terrorism in the north… maybe alert Turkey of a threat, act on intelligence, arrest some people, make an effort.” 

However, the KRG has a problem with a growing wave of Islamicism in Kurdistan. The PKK is strongly secular—it was formerly the Kurdish Communist Party—and, in a fight with Islamic extremists it would be an invaluable ally. On top of which, the PKK is widely respected for its long struggle against the Turks, and if the KRG were to turn against the PKK it might not go down well with the average Kurd. 

Even if the KRG reins in the PKK, it might not be enough for Ankara, because Turkey wants to roll back any movement that would create an independent Kurdistan.  

But that genie is already out of the lamp. The well-ordered and relatively peaceful Kurdish region has a working parliament, several universities, and Kurdish language radio and television. It has essentially been a functioning country since 1992 when the Americans and British established a “no fly” zone over the area following the end of Gulf War I. Whatever the Turks want, Kurdistan is already a reality. 

Part of the current crisis is a reflection of Turkey’s internal politics. Beating the anti-Kurdish drum is part of the Turkish Army’s strategy to whip up nationalism in order to weaken the religious government of Prime Minster Recep Tayyip Erdogan before the July elections. 

The major danger is that the tension between Turks and Kurds could quickly get out of hand. For the past few weeks the Turkish Army has been shelling Kurdish villages in Iraq and sending small units across the border. A miscalculation by either side could quickly escalate, which is exactly what the United States fears.  

“Fighting between Turks and Kurds in Iraq could spread to Turkey itself,” says Henri J. Barkey, chair of International Relations at Lehigh University and widely considered to be the top U.S.-Turkish scholar. This, he said, could lead to “a severe rupture in U.S.-Turkish relations,” and “deal a fatal blow” to U.S. efforts in Iraq. 

Northern Iraq has always been a complicated place, but the U.S. war has sharpened the tensions which have plagued it for over a century. Now those tensions have pushed the region to the brink of chaos. 

My grandfather, Ellis Allen, Sr. I am told, spoke with a musical French accent, as did his sister, Aunt Isobel, who migrated with other Allen family members to Oakland at the end of the 19th century. I barely remember my grandfather and his accent, not at all, but that information does not now surprise me. My father’s people were from the Louisiana bayou country, St. James Parish, near New Orleans, where French was the predominant settler language for years until “the Americans came” and supplanted it with English. 

Betty Reid Soskin, my first cousin, who is a generation ahead of me, remembers our mutual great-grandmother, Leontine Breaux Allen, who spoke French as her first language, as well as Creole, which in Louisiana is a jazz-blend language combining French and African words and grammar. Betty remembers from her childhood aunts who used to throw out nicknames and phrases which were just family words to her, then, but which she now knows to have been French or Creole. 

Betty does not speak French. Neither did my father, who was her contemporary, nor, to my knowledge, did any of the other family members of their generation. That continued down into my generation, as well. The only one in my immediate family who speaks French is my brother, who learned it not at home, but at school. 

French (and, sadly, Creole as well) died out in my family a generation before I came on this earth. What worlds, I wonder, would have opened up for me if they had not, and I had learned the two languages easily, naturally, at the breakfast table, as I did English. I will never know, because that door is forever closed. 

And that is what worries me about the recent, well-publicized suggestion to the National Association of Hispanic Journalists, by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, that in order to quicker learn English, Latinos should "turn off the Spanish television set”—in effect, should abandon Spanish. 

This is not knee-jerk Arnold-bashing from the left. Mr. Schwarzenegger has his faults, but he should not be quickly dismissed when it comes to discussion about the best and quickest way to pick up the native language in a new country. Obviously, he knows what he is talking about, from experience. 

“When I came to this country, I did not, or very rarely, spoke German to anyone,” the governor told the journalists. “Not that I didn’t like Austria, my heart was always in Austria, but I wanted to as quickly as possible learn the English language. And I felt that through immersion, and just really sitting in front of the television set—and I remember I watched all the comedies and the news programs. I couldn’t understand a word they were saying, but nevertheless I watched it, and eventually I got with it, and I learned. And I remember that the teachers at Santa Monica College also told me the same thing. They said, ‘Read the L.A. Times, even though you don’t understand it. Look at your dictionary and learn, and look at books that are English, look at comic books that are English, watch television, listen to radio that is English.’ And it really helped me, that within a year and a half or two years, I really got my act together so I could read the paper and I could understand the news and really get with it also in school.”  

That seems to be excellent advice, if your goal is only to convert to a new language. But what if you want to preserve the old language, by picking up the new? 

Historically, America has not had much success with that. 

Given our history, we ought to be one of the most linguistically-diverse nations on earth. While the Jamestown, Virginia colonists spoke English, themselves, they and their fellow British settlers were immediately exposed to a vast polyglot of Native American languages and language groups: Wampanoag, Lenape, Susquehannock, Catawba, Muskogee, Mohican, Powhatan…and that was on the east coast alone. It is estimated that at the time of the original English settlement in North America, there were some 250 Native American languages spoken in the territory now covered by the United States. 

Just as there was no “one” Native American language, there was no “one” African language, either. European slave catchers ranged up and down the west and east coasts of Africa, and the captives brought across the Atlantic in the 18th and 19th centuries to work on North American plantations reflected that rich linguistic diversity. Linguist Lorenzo D. Turner’s 1949 “Africanisms In The Gullah Dialect,” still the defining work on African language in America, lists some 32 separate African languages represented in the personal names of African-Americans he found as late as the 1940’s in the coastal areas of South Carolina, Georgia, and north Florida: Yoruba, Twi, Wolof, Kongo, Mende, Fon, Umbundu. And unlike the middle-Georgia drawl you hear by Black actors in such slavery-era movies as “Gone With The Wind,” the Slave Quarters were actually a rich brew of multiple blended languages and accents, so diverse it is hard to imagine, today, how it must have sounded. 

African spoken language in America directly descended from the slaverytime days has all but disappeared—there is only a pale, plaintive echo in the Gullah dialect spoken on the South Carolina and Georgia sea islands, along with a multitude of African words hidden, like Orishas amongst the Catholic saints, in modern American speech. Jazz (probably from the Bantu word jaja), dig (as in “I can dig that” from deg, the Wolof word for understanding) goober (a popular nickname among white Southerners that is from the Kimbundu word guba for peanut), and yam (Mende for, of course, sweet potato).  

In a similar way, Native American language lies largely unacknowledged among many American place names: Hiyaleyah (Seminole), Mississippi (Algonquin), Michigan (Ottawa), Malibu (Ventureño), Manhattan (Delaware). Unlike African language, a significant number of Native American language speakers remain in this country, though until such movies as “Dances With Wolves” and the Daniel Day-Lewis version of “The Last Of The Mohicans,” most Americans never had any exposure to them. 

So it is with the European languages that came to America. Successive waves of European immigrants have come to this country: French, Italian, Portuguese, Russian, German, Polish, Greek, Dutch, Lithuanian… Many established newspapers in their native languages, and for a generation, their communities hummed with a foreign tongue. But most of those languages have since all but disappeared from our shores, as the first generation of American born children provided a bridge between the two languages (think of Michael Corleone conversing in Italian with the “Turk” in “The Godfather”), but the second generation felt little need to speak anything but English. The Bay Area, for example, once had large Italian- and Portuguese-speaking communities, but those two languages have now all but disappeared from our streets and shops. 

I freely confess my ignorance as to the trends that are happening in the communities of non-European immigrants. In the Chinatown commercial sections of San Francisco and Oakland, you can often hear conversations in Mandarin or Cantonese, and nothing else. So it is with the Southeast Asian immigrant communities—Vietnamese, Cambodian, and Thai—and in the shops and stores run by various Arab entrepreneurs. But as an outsider not familiar with those communities, it is impossible to tell whether folks there are holding onto their native language in a way that was different from earlier groups, or if the old languages are holding on because those communities are still in the midst of immigrating. Perhaps it is a little of both. 

But outside of the smaller Chinese and South Vietnamese and Arab or East Indian pockets—where the trend may not yet have been established—and outside of the larger, and spreading, Latino community—which sits on the border of a Spanish-speaking country and whose Spanish is being constantly enriched and strengthened by continuing new waves of incoming Spanish speakers—the clear trend in America has been to drop the old languages in our wake. 

I struggle to understand why that is a good thing. 

With the rise of American world power following the Second World War into what is almost always described today as “the world’s only superpower”—“superpower” being a largely undefined phenomenon—Americans have used a sort of sledgehammer approach to linguistic dominance, using our considerable economic and military power to force the world to do its business in our tongue, and our tongue only. That is great for the national ego, perhaps, but in that direction, much is lost. To speak more than one language is like having both a car and a boat in your garage. It allows you to travel on two different mediums, in two different ways, in two different directions. Why would anyone voluntarily give that up? 

And that is why, in the end, I believe Mr. Schwarzenegger’s advice to the Latino journalists and their followers to be ill-advised. Those among us who come to this country speaking Spanish only ought to do as much as they can to learn English. It will be both to their benefit and ours, and we ought to figure out ways to help and advance that process any way we can. 

But at the same time, I cannot see why they should ever put away their Spanish. Or Mandarin. Or Vietnamese. Or Arabic. Or Tagalog. Or Hindi. Or Afrikaans. Or Italian. Or German. Or anything else. 

Instead, we ought to figure out a way that they can teach their languages to the rest of us. The American Experience ought not to run on a one-way street. And it ought to be an expanding one. Not contracting. That seems such a waste of such a valuable, valuable national resource. 

One of Berkeley’s most important and historic brown shingle homes—with Maybeck connections, too—is currently for sale at 2601 Derby Street. An Open House is scheduled from 2-4:30 p.m. this Sunday, June 24.  

The residence—the five-bedroom, three-story Gifford McGrew House—embodies both a remarkable design history and character, and more than a century of Berkeley history. Prominently situated on the corner of Derby and Hillegass, across from Willard Park, it is on the market for $1,595,000.  

The house was “designed by Maybeck and the owner with ideas contributed by their common friend, Charles Keeler” Maybeck’s biographer, Kenneth Cardwell, writes in Bernard Maybeck: Artisan, Architect, Artist.  

And Leslie Freudenheim in Building with Nature characterizes the house as “designed by Bernard Maybeck, possibly executed by Charles Keeler, with advice from McGrew’s friend (Reverend) Joseph Worcester.”  

There you have connections to three of the most important apostles of the architectural and cultural movement that brought Berkeley a distinctive brown shingle aesthetic.  

The contractor is said to have been A.H. Broad, who was one of Berkeley’s first elected town trustees, an artist, and a busy builder who left distinctive homes and early school buildings all over town, some of them now City Landmarks.  

Cardwell writes that “The McGrew house and its predecessors became the examples of a ‘movement towards a simpler, a truer, a more vital art expression’ when, a few years later, Charles Keeler assumed the spokesman’s role for the modest house and ‘the simple life.’ ”  

In 1895 Maybeck had designed the Keeler family home on Highland Place in a steep-roofed style very similar to the McGrew House. Keeler would publish his influential treatise The Simple Home in 1904, thus placing the McGrew house midway in time between Maybeck’s first brown shingle commissions in Berkeley and the popularization of his design philosophy in Keeler’s book.  

The house was built for Gifford McGrew but he wasn’t, as the real estate listing implies, “University Librarian.” A 1978 obituary for McGrew’s daughter, Mary Edith McGrew, refers to her father as becoming “assistant librarian” at UC when the family arrived from Massachusetts in 1899.  

Joseph C. Rowell reigned then as University Librarian, and would not retire until 1916. The McGrews were Unitarians, so their social lives intersected at Berkeley’s First Unitarian Church—itself a Craftsman masterpiece still standing at Dana and Bancroft—with a number of other local families, including the Keelers, involved in the “building with nature” movement.  

Mary Edith attended Cal and, upon graduation in 1903, won the University Medal, awarded to the most distinguished graduate of the year. For 36 years she was principal of Berkeley’s then-prominent private, college prep, A-to-Zed School. She died at 96.  

There have been several owners and some remodeling and structural upgrades at the house since then. The house was last on the market in 2004 with an asking price of $1.3 million. The front door is off Derby, midway on the side of the long ground floor and indented beneath a substantial overhang. The spacious entry hall, frames a wonderful, gleaming, staircase that ascends to a landing, then doubles back and up to the second floor. To the left is the long, rectangular, living room. 

Turn in the other direction and there’s an ample dining room with a brick fireplace and built in cabinetry. The kitchen, at the rear of the ground floor beyond the stairwell, is the one major disappointment in the house. The floor is covered with big, square, terra cotta pavers more suitable to a suburban hacienda, and the cabinets and counters have a Home Depotish air completely at odds with the rest of the house. Anyone with $1.6 million to buy the house will presumably have something left over to remodel the kitchen, and one hopes a new kitchen is closer to the original character of the home. Off the kitchen in one direction there’s a narrow room for laundry. 

On the other side a little, generously-windowed, breakfast nook opens to the garden, and a passage leads to what the realtor describes as a cottage, but is more of a single, rustic, room connected to the house and adjoined by a full bath. French doors open from the “cottage” to a secluded patio. 

The eastern yard is not that large, but a little more extensive than it seems from the street. Fence, trees, and a clambering red trumpet vine wall the garden off from the Derby Street sidewalk. The west yard used to be the front garden extending out to the Hillegass sidewalk. Years ago the house was complimented by a gem-like, perfectly tended, lawn on this side. Later, however, the space was fenced in along Hillegass. There’s a gate for cars and the garden is part graveled parking area. 

Back inside, the main stairs pause at a wide, windowed, landing where a side door conceals a tiny, handsome, half bath. A short side stair leads up to the only full bath on the second floor, which also communicates with one of the four bedrooms on that level. The staircase debouches into an ample second floor hall, surrounded by bedrooms: one big but narrow; two spacious; one—at the west end—extremely large with a corner fireplace and a door that opens onto a wide west facing deck with massive ornamental railing and balusters, all of it supported on the extended end of the living room below. From the second floor hall a smaller staircase ascends to the attic which is almost a full residence in itself.  

The steep roofs allow for high, vaulted, ceilings, the structure of two roof gables perpendicular to each other subdivides the space into separate volumes, and an interesting, partially open, bathroom is tucked away in one corner. Skylights, a freestanding stove on a brick hearth, and a huge west-facing window and small balcony complete this impressive level.  

The segmented window was added in the 1980s if I remember correctly and is, from the outside, the most visible change to the house. Although it altered a primary façade it was done quite contextually and helps create a wonderful space inside. From top to bottom—in most areas save the kitchen and laundry room—the house is a treasury of unpainted and original woodwork—polished floors, and old growth redwood paneling, exposed beams, and trim. Wide, vertical, boards with narrow battens cover most of the interior walls, the structure of the ceiling is creatively exposed, and there are several clever built-ins at various levels. 

It’s possible to honestly mourn the ancient trees felled over a century ago to supply this much clear-heart redwood while still admiring the house as a wonderful human artifact. Most of the windows are finely crafted, there are three intentionally simple red brick fireplaces, and period light fixtures—or at least good facsimiles—in most key locations. This is a magnificent, complex, beautiful house and a Berkeley treasure. 

It also, sadly, has no landmark protection. Some modifications will probably be made. For instance, it’s hard to imagine a new owner paying $1.6 million and not wanting more than one bathroom on the second floor. But a new owner insensitive to character and history could also drastically alter this house, as was recently done to another corner brown shingle a few blocks away on Regent Street. That would be a national architectural loss and a severe visual and cultural tragedy for Berkeley. Some dedicated volunteer should come forward—and soon—to research and write a city landmark application for this remarkable piece of local heritage. 

Meanwhile, take advantage of the rare opportunity this Sunday to see the interior of the house. The listing agent for 2601 Derby is Tricia Swift, Broker Associate at The Grubb Company. Office telephone (510) 339-0400/333, e-mail tswift@grubbco.com, website at Grubbco.com or 2601Derby.com An interesting sampling of older interior and exterior photos of the house, taken years ago by Kenneth Cardwell, can be found by searching for “McGrew House” at www.mip.berkeley.edu/spiro. 

Photograph by Steven Finacom. 

The shingled exterior of the McGrew House with its distinctive steep-roofed gable. 

We’ve driven past the place dozens of times on the way to the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge, and it’s become a private landmark rather like San Quentin. But last week was the first time we’ve ever managed to get off I-580 and get our feet on the ground at Golden Gate Palms in Richmond. 

My goodness. The place is vast, and it has more than just palms. 

“Just palms” on the other hand includes such an assortment that it kept my attention quite well, while Joe wandered off among the succulents. Gary Gragg, the owner, says he sells some palm species and varieties never before on sale in California, or even the world.  

I’m not equipped to say Aye or Nay to that proposition, but I do know there was stuff there I’d had no idea even existed. Yet another blue palm, for example, a European variety. Trachycarpus wagnerianus, cousin to the familiar T. fortunei “windmill” palm—the one with the brown fiber netting growing in rags around the trunk—but with a sort of silvered underside on each leaf.  

There was one huge specimen in the ground that looked like a Jubaea chilensis, Chilean date palm, but it wasn’t labeled. Sure enough, though it is what it looks like, and over a century old.  

It, like some others in Golden Gate’s inventory, was a rescue from a site where it no longer fit, or where something was going to be built. Gragg specializes in such rescues; he’s not alone, as palms are more easily transplanted with a smaller rootball than other trees. That’s why you see them with their foliage done up in topknots along new boulevards or shopping centers.  

Gragg does seem to take on the big jobs even in that area, though: that wine palm, and what he says is the biggest Canary Island date palm (Phoenix canariensis) ever moved, and some of the tallest fan palms I’ve ever laid eyes on, a couple of matched pairs sporting his banners.  

Aside from all that, Gragg has succulents in a dazzling (even for succulents) variety of shapes, and tropical oddities and stalwarts like cannas and gunneras (“dinosaur chow”). He’s got ocotillos! They’re under a huge palm, more or less in the ground, on a big shale mound.  

The open site is windy and can be dusty, so bring a jacket and your shades. You’ll thrill to the crash of industry and harbor noises. Or maybe you’ll just wince and jump occasionally, as I did. Impressive place to be raising so many supposedly tricky plants.  

Gragg told us he’s making a series for HGTV, to be aired starting this fall or winter; the working title so far is “Full Throttle Gardening” and evidently it will include some examples of Gragg’s own design-build work in the Bay Area. He did seem to be having a good time charging around on a front-end loader, and there was a serious crane along with his various trucks and machinery on the site.  

Go see the place. Great fun! 

Golden Gare Palms & Exotics 

420 South Third Street, Point Richmond 

Just off I-580; Look west for the palms and banner. 

Monday-Friday: 8 a.m.-4:30 p.m. 

Saturday: 9 a.m.-4 p.m. 

Sunday: Closed 

(925) 325-PALM 

www.goldengatepalms.com

Ihate code books. Not code as in dot-dash-dot or SLWBT means I love you. I mean the building codes.  

I’ve never had a good relationship with that sort of thinking. Yes, I’m very much aware of the need for codes but the frustrating contradictions that one faces when the code is invoked makes me want to pull my hair out. Clearly, I’m not the only one. Codes have load of exceptions and don’t address each case with real clarity. They vary by year, by city ( as well as county, state and region), by building department and ultimately by the site inspector that enforced or ignores the edict. That said, I’m slowly getting used to them. 

Given this relationship, how, many have asked me, did I learn about buildings? How did I learn how wiring was supposed to be done, how joists were selected, how many nails were needed in a particular connection. Well, the answer to this is also complex and, like many others and those who came before, I’ve learned from other builders and specialists, from city inspectors and really good lumber clerks. I’ve learned from how-to book, books on architecture and trade manuals. I’ve actually learned a lot from installation manuals for furnaces, vent fans and disposers. By the time you’ve seen enough of this stuff and cross references it all in your head, you have a fair idea of what’s in the code book (Well, not really).  

However, there IS one very important source of data at the source my own personal education that is not codified, published or preached by those on the city dole and that is the knowledge I’ve gained from dead contractors. 

In the years in which I did remodeling, I feel as though I had a series of relationships with a host of dead (or at least long absent) builders. Every time I looked under a building or inside an attic or took apart a wall, there they were, showing me how they nailed things together.  

I feel as though I have a strong sense of the men (sadly, these were all men) who soldered knob and tube wiring connections together. Each wire was bent just so, torched white hot, drenched in molten metal and then taped ever-so carefully to make sure that the little girl who lived in the house two generations beyond would be able to sleep safely at night within these plastered walls. 

The carpenter called out to the man on the handsaw to cut the next one five-foot-six and five-sixteenths, just a hair fat and angle one end just a smidge. You can see the way the hidden roof supports fit just right and, by no accident, compensated for a slope here or a knot there. The longer you look, the more you can see the great expertise in a simple thing like a roof framing. 

Some would sheath a wall with one-inch thick lumber on a 45 degree angle, just to make things a little stronger. Today, it turns out that this has tremendous “shear value” and may substantially decrease the need for additional “shear-wall sheathing.” 

The shimming of a window was also a real art. Quick, to-the-point, strong and virtually permanent. But you’d never get this one from a book. You have to open a wall and look. Now, you may not be able to use this same method today and that often the case. You cannot solder knob and tube any longer, but knowing how this was done helps enormously in working with the stuff and making upgrades. It also helps in evaluating the safety of the existing work. 

While I may have had books to reference, there’s never been any better teacher for me than the well nailed floor framing that I had to kill myself pulling apart. These men who drove 20d (we say 20 penny) nails though framing members with but a few blows clearly learned over a course of many years just where to place the nail and how to drive it. An amateur might easily split the same stud, bend the nail or fail to make a firm connection. 

The plumber clearly took enormous pains to support the pipes at the best possible incline and installed those deadly liquid lead joints with the intention of making the system run smoothly for as long as the material might survive.  

Taking apart those lead joints (which I have done), carving through the lath and plaster (yes that too) and drilling through the concrete has shown me precisely how these workman did what they did. Now, if you look at 30 or 40 of a particular detail, you’ll see something interesting. You’ll see aberrations for better and for worse. You’ll be able to tell how most careful workers did things (surmising the common protocol).  

You’ll then be able to discern, through a simple comparison of each case and by thinking through the advantages and disadvantages of each maneuver how certain builders would do things a little better and how some had failed to learn from their peers. 

So, doing this for a while, it’s not too hard to see how and why each thing was done. If you cross-check with old code books or old how-to books you can take it a bit further. 

The same is true of living builders. Everyone has a technique and if you look at enough electrical panels you can see how the really clever (and magnificently obsessive-compulsive) electrician wires a panel. Some mistakes may not be apparent without a trip to the code or instruction book but as a general rule, I would say that, given the way my mind works, I’ll learn more from looking at the work.  

I also learn from the idiot who leaves me scratching my head at the stupid or lazy thing. This gives me the chance to run the worst-case scenario ending in a death by fire or collapse. Even the worst builder makes a contribution, I guess, when you look at it this way. 

I was describing this way of looking at houses to my friend Gillian and she what I was doing was a sort of Reverse Engineered Inspecting. Hmmm. I like that. 

One thing history has taught us about major earthquakes: houses that are correctly retrofitted survive intact. 

Houses that are not retrofitted correctly fall off their foundations. It’s very expensive to repair these homes and to get them back on their foundations.  

If you want to know more about retrofits and how they work, there is a free Earthquake Retrofit Seminar Saturday morning, June 23, from 10 a.m.-noon at the El Cerrito Senior Center, 6500 Stockton St.  

This seminar, sponsored by the Association of Bay Area Governments, describes a good retrofit, tells how to evaluate an existing retrofit (the majority, sadly, are inadequate), and describes retrofitting hillside homes. 

It will cover the basics and make you knowledgeable about choosing a retrofit contractor.  

Larry Guillot is the owner of QuakePrepare, an earthquake consulting, securing and kit supply service. Contact him at 558-3299 or see www.quakeprepare.com to receive semi-monthly e-mails and safety reports.  

TUESDAY, JUNE 26 

EXHIBITIONS 

“Moshi Moshi! Bridging Cultures through Art” Japanese and American art inspired by cross cultural influences at the Richmond Art Center, 2540 Barrett Ave., Richmond, though Aug. 10. 620-6772. www.therac.org 

THEATER 

Tell It On Tuesday Solo Performances at 7:30 p.m. at Julia Morgan Center for the Arts, 2640 College Ave. Tickets are $8-$12 sliding scale.  

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Erica Rische-Baird reads from “This Is For A World Gone Mad” at 7:30 p.m. at Spectator Books, 4163 Piedmont Ave., Oakland. 653-7300. www.spectatorbooks.com  

Ales Debeljak and Rusty Morrison, poets, at 7:30 p.m. at Pegasus Books Downtown, 2349 Shattuck Ave. 649-1320. 

Katherine Taylor reads from “Rules for Saying Goodbye” at 7 p.m. at Cody’s Books on Fourth St. 559-9500. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Adam Miller, folksinger and storyteller, at 7 p.m. at the Albany Library, 1247 Marin Ave. 

Tee Fee Swamp Boogie at 8:30 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cajun dance lesson at 8 p.m. Cost is $10. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

Singers’ Open Mic with Ellen Hoffman at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. 841-JAZZ. www.AnnasJazzIsland.com 

David Bromberg & the Angel Band at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $34.50-$35.50. 548-1761. www.freightandsalvage.org 

Randy Craig Trio at 7:30 p.m. at Caffe Trieste, 2500 San Pablo Ave., at Dwight. 548-5198.  

Bob City Pacific, hip hop, fink, at 9 p.m. at the Uptown Nightclub, 1928 Telegraph, Oakland. Cost is $12-$15. 451-8100. www.uptownnightclub.com 

John Calloway at 8 and 10 p.m. at Yoshi’s at Jack London Square. Cost is $10. 238-9200. www.yoshis.com 

Jazzschool Tuesdays, a weekly showcase of up-and-coming ensembles from Berkeley Jazzschool at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 848-8277. 

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 27 

EXHIBITIONS 

“Suddenly Summer” A group show by East Bay women artists opens at Royal Ground Gallery, 2058 Mountain Blvd., Montclair, Oakland.  

FILM 

International Latino Film Festival “Un Franco, 14 Pestas” at 7 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. Cost is $5-$6. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

“Oh My God! It’s Harrod Blank!” A film on the art-car artist at 7:30 p.m. at the Hillside Club, 2286 Cedar St. Donation $5.  

READINGS AND LECTURES 

“Writing Teachers Write” monthly student and teacher reading series, at 5 p.m. at Nomad Cafe, 6500 Shattuck Ave. 595-5344.  

Berkeley Poetry Slam with host Charles Ellik and Three Blind Mice, at 8:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $5-$7. 841-2082  

MUSIC AND DANCE 

David Bromberg & the Angel Band at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $34.50-$35.50. 548-1761.  

Terrence Brewer Quintet at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. Cost is $10. 841-JAZZ. www.AnnasJazzIsland.com 

Fishtank Ensemble at 8:30 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Eastern European dance lesson at 8 p.m. Cost is $12. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

Mazacote at 9:30 p.m. at Shattuck Down Low, 2284 Shattuck Ave. Salsa dance lessons at 8 p.m. Cost is $5-$10. 548-1159.  

Dave Stein Bubhub at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 848-8277. 

Poncho Sanchez at 8 and 10 p.m. at Yoshi’s at Jack London Square., through Sun. Cost is $20-$24. 238-9200.  

THURSDAY, JUNE 28 

CHILDREN 

Jon Agee author of “Milo’s Hat Trick” and “Jon Agee’s Palindromania” will show and tell how he makes his fun books, at 7 p.m. at North Branch Library, 1180 The Alameda. 981-6250.  

EXHIBITIONS 

“Subcutaneous Portraiture” Works by Amber Stucke and Brian Sweet. Reception at 6:30 p.m. at Transmissions Gallery, 1177 San Pablo Ave. Exhibit runs to July 28. 558-4084. www.trasmissions-gallery.com 

FILM 

“The Mind is a Liar and a Whore” by Antero Alli at 8 p.m. at 21 Grand, 416 25th St., Oakland. Tickets are $6-$10. 444-7263. 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Poetry Flash with Camille T. Dungy and Sandra Lim at 7:30 p.m. at Berkeley City College Auditorium, 2050 Center St. 525-5476. www.poetryflash.org 

Julia Flynn Siler describes “The House of Mondavi: The Rise and Fall of an American Wine Dynasty” at 7 p.m. at Cody’s Books on Fourth St. 559-9500. 

Josie Iselin shows her portraits of “Seashells” at 7:30 p.m. at Mrs. Dalloways, 2904 College Ave. 704-8222. 

Rhoda Curtis will read from “Rhoda: Her First Ninety Years” at 7:30 p.m. at the Jewish Community Center, 1414 Walnut St. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Delta Love, Band of Brotherz at 9 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $10. 525-5054.  

Dave Alvin at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $25.50-$26.50. 548-1761.  

Latitude Zero at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. Cost is $8. 841-JAZZ.  

Zej at 7 p.m. at Caffe Trieste, 2500 San Pablo Ave. 548-5198.  

San Pablo Project, Ross Hammond’s Teakayo, at 9:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $6. 841-2082. 

FRIDAY, JUNE 29 

THEATER 

Aurora Theatre “Bosoms and Neglect” Wed.-Sat. at 8 p.m., SUn. at 2 and 7 p.m. at 2081 Addison St., through July 22. Tickets are $38. 843-4822. www.auroratheatre.org 

Berkeley Rep “Great Men of Genius” with Mike Daisey in four different monologues at 2025 Addison St. through June 30. Tickets are $30-$75. 647-2949. 

Black Repertory Group “Love Don’t Cost A Thang” written and directed by Danesha Simon Fri. and Sat. at 7 p.m. at 3201 Adeline St. Tickets are $25. 652-2120. 

Central Works “Bird in the Hand” Thurs.-Sat. at 8 p.m., Sun. at 5 p.m. at the Berkeley City Club, 2315 Durant Ave., through July 29. Tickets are $9-$25. 558-1381. 

Contra Costa Civic Theater “Meet Me in St. Louis” Fri. and Sat. at 8 p.m., Sun. at 2 p.m. in July at 951 Pomona Ave., at Moeser, El Cerrito, through Aug. 4. 524-9132. 

Impact Theatre “Impact Briefs 8: Sinfully Delicious” Thurs.-Sat. through July 21 at La Val’s Subterranean, 1834 Euclid Ave. Tickets are $10-$15. 464-4468. 

Masquers Playhouse “Ring Round the Moon” Fri. and Sat. at 8 p.m. at 105 Park Place, Point Richmond, through July 14. Tickets are $15. 232-4031. www.masquers.org 

“Prisons” by Shanique Scott Fri. and Sat. at 8 p.m. at La Peña. Tickets are $15-$18. 849-2568. 

Virago Theatre Comapny “The Death of Ayn Rand” and “A Bed of My Own” Fri. and Sat. at 8 p.m. at Rhythmix Cultural Works, 2513 Blanding Ave., Alameda to July 7. Tickets are $10-$17. 865-6237.  

EXHIBITIONS 

“Fairytales and Other Stories” Series of 21 photographs based on fairytales, classical paintings and film stills by Diania Elliott. Opens at 6 p.m. at ASUC Art Gallery, Lower Sproul Plaza, UC Campus. 642-3065. www.asucartstudio.org 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Julia Glass reads from “The Whole World Over” at 12:30 p.m. at Mrs. Dalloways, 2904 College Ave. 704-8222. 

Jeremey Adam Smith & Loren Rhoads, Benjamin Perez & Matt Rohrer read at 7:30 p.m. at Pegasus Books Downtown, 2349 Shattuck Ave. 649-1320. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Bay Area Classical Harmonies “Some Enchanted Evening” Opera arias and art songs with Andrew Chung and Kate Howell at 7:30 p.m. at Pro Arts Gallery, 550 Second St., Oakland. Tickets are $10-$15. 868-0695. 

Natasha Miller & her Trio at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. Cost is $14. 841-JAZZ. www.AnnasJazzIsland.com 

The Vowel Movement, beat box, at 9:30 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $10. 525-5054.  

Free Peoples, jazz, at 8 p.m. at Caffe Trieste, 2500 San Pablo Ave., at Dwight. 548-5198.  

House Jacks at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $18.50-$19.50. 548-1761.  

Fred Odell and James Moore at 7:30 p.m. at Nomad Cafe, 6500 Shattuck Ave. 595-5344.  

That Man Fantastic, Suburban Slow Death at 9:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $7. 841-2082.  

Terezodu, Sad Boy Sinister at 8 p.m. at 924 Gilman St., an all-ages, member-run, no alcohol, no drugs, no violence club. Cost is $5. 525-9926. 

Raya Nova at 9:30 p.m. at Beckett’s Irish Pub, 2271 Shattuck Ave. 647-1790. www.beckettsirishpub.com 

Slydini at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 848-8277. 

SATURDAY, JUNE 30 

CHILDREN  

Animal Weekend with puppet shows and activities from 11 a.m. on at Children’s Fairyland, at 699 Bellvue Ave., Oakland. 452-2259. 

THEATER 

Actors Ensemble of Berkeley “A Dream Play” Sat. and Sun. at 3 p.m. on the lawn in front of Berkeley Art Center, 1275 Walnut St. at Berryman, through July 1. 841-5580.  

EXHIBITIONS 

“Unicorns Puke Rainbows and the Packing Foam Swimming Pool” works by Michael Deane at 9 p.m. at the Living Room Gallery, 3230 Adeline St. www. 

myspace.com/livingroomcollective 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Margaret Ahnert discusses “The Knock at the Door: A Journey Through the Darkness of the Armenian Genocide” at 7 p.m. at Cody’s Books on Fourth St. 559-9500. 

Naomi Guttman and Robert Lipton read their poetry at 7:30 at Pegasus Bookstore, 2349 Shattuck Ave. 649-1320.  

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Abhinaya Dance Company of San Jose “Poetic Splendor in Bharatanatyam” at 5 p.m. at Julia Morgan Center for the Arts, 2640 College Ave. Tickets are $10-$15. 408-983-0491. www.sulekha.com/bayarea  

Yancie Taylor Jazztet at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. Cost is $12. 841-JAZZ. www.AnnasJazzIsland.com 

Rankin Scroo, reggae, at 9:30 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $TBA. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com  

Zion-I, Pigeon John at 9:30 p.m. at Shattuck Down Low, 2284 Shattuck Ave. Cost is $12-$15. 548-1159. 

Emily Kurn and Marianne Barlow at 7:30 p.m. at Nomad Cafe, 6500 Shattuck Ave. 595-5344. www.nomadcafe.net 

Married Couple at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 848-8277. 

House Jacks at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $18.50-$19.50. 548-1761.  

Kurt Ribak Jazz Group at 9:30 p.m. at Albatross, 1822 San Pablo Ave. Cost is $5. 843-2473. www.albatrosspub.com 

The Steve Deutsch Ensemble at 8 p.m. at Spuds Pizza, 3290 Adeline St. Cost is $7. 558-0881. 

Mirthkon, Three Piece Combo, Inner Ear Bridge at 9:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $7. 841-2082. www.starryploughpub.com 

The Freeze at 8 p.m. at Oakland Metro, 201 Broadway. Cost is $10. 763-1146. www.oaklandmetro.org 

Giant Squid, The River Runs Black, heavy metal, at 9 p.m. at the Uptown Nightclub, 1928 Telegraph, Oakland. Cost is $7. 451-8100.  

SUNDAY, JULY 1 

CHILDREN 

Abby & The Pipsqueaks at Ashkenaz at 3 p.m. Cost is $4-$6. 525-5054.  

THEATER 

The Herstories Project “Tapestries” at 6 p.m. at the JCC, 1414 Walnut St. Tickets are $10-$25. 207-6623. 

EXHIBITIONS 

“Viewpoints” plein-air landscapes by Barbara Ward, many of Tilden Park, on display at the Tilden Nature Center, Tilden Park, Tues.-Sun. from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. to Aug. 26. 525-2233. 

“Point Pinole: A Place Apart” An exhibition on the explosive and peaceful past of the Point Pinole Shoreline, at Contra Costa County Historical Society, 610 Main St., Martinez. Exhibit runs to Aug. 23. 925-229-1042. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Barbara Siesel “Flute Music from Around the World” at 2 p.m. at the Albany Library, 1247 Marin Ave. 526-3720 ext 17.  

The Lovell Sisters at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $18.50-$19.50. 548-1761.  

Falso Baiano Brasil at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island. Cost is $10. 841-JAZZ.  

Rebecca Mauleon, Jimmy Branly and Gary Brown “Piano y Ritmo” Clinic from 4 to 6 p.m., concert at 8 p.m. at La Peña. Cost is $15-$25. 849-2568.  

Salvador Santana, Antioquia, new world grooves, at 9 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $8. 525-5054. 

MONDAY, JULY 2 

EXHIBITIONS 

“Tsunami Affected Lives: Moving Beyond Disaster” Photographs by Adrienne Miller at La Peña, through Aug. 31. 849-2568. 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Actors Reading Writers “It’s a Mystery,” stories by Lee Child, Agatha Christie and Donald Westlake at 7:30 p.m. at Berkeley City Club, 2315 Durant Ave. 932-0214. ricaisabella@yahoo.com 

Readings from the Bootstrap Book of Poetic Journals at 7:30 p.m. at Moe’s Books, 2476 Telegraph Ave. 849-2087. 

Poetry Express with Marvin Ray at 7 p.m. at Priya Restaurant, 2072 San Pablo Ave. berkeleypoetryexpress@yahoo.com 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

The Itals, Malika Madremana & The Greensphere Band, reggae, at 9:30 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $15-$18. 525-5054.  

Fito Reinoso at 8 p.m. at Yoshi’s. Cost is $10. 238-9200.  

O’KEEFE’S TAKE ON WALT WHITMAN’S ‘SONG OF MYSELF’ 

There have been plays about poets, and poetry readings that are just as much performances, but John O’Keefe’s one-man show of Whitman’s 1855 edition of “Song of Myself” is something else again, a recitation of that epic of American life, both lyric and epic, panoramic and internal, taken to the audience in the way the poet seemed to wish his screed taken to heart by his fellow countrymen. 

O’Keefe, cofounder of Berkeley’s Blake St. Hawkeyes, playwright, opera librettist, works the room as himself combined with the professedly genial Walt, after speaking with élan about the effect the poem has had on him. A bravura chamber performance, a bright way of making the audience—and each spectator—aware of being the silent partner in the unfolding of a living exhortation to be human beings. At the Marsh at 1062 Valencia St, in San Francisco through this weekend. For more information, call (415) 641-0235 or visit www.themarsh.org.

“If a working man can’t kill himself on a Sunday morning, we may as well have the Revolution at once!” Witty, barbed lines like these are almost thrown away in Jean Anouilh’s Ring Round the Moon, as brilliantly translated by Christopher Fry, and charmingly produced at the Masquers Playhouse in Point Richmond. 

But beneath the sparkling veneer is a streak of melancholy, almost Shakespearean, at the passing strange guises of rich and poor, beautiful and plain, in this modern romance of High Society tricked by its own credulity, and love mistaken for duplicity—and vice versa. 

It’s particularly like those Shakespeare comedies that rely on doubling, taken from the allegories and fantastic romances of Antiquity. Here it’s rich, handsome twin brothers, amiable Frederic and clever, cynical Hugo (both deftly played by Cin Seperi), and the very different pair of girls who love them—each loving the wrong one. Mistaken identity and indiscriminate taste—the stock-in-trade of old romance, whatever end it’s put to.  

Frederic is in love with the daughter of cunning financier Messerschmann (David L. Lee), Diana (a pouting Rachel Garcia), and spends his nights beneath her window. “The maid finds his bed uncrumpled and the rhododendron bush crumpled,” remarks Hugo to the agitated, hand-wringing butler Joshua (piquant Norman MacLeod). Yet Diana’s stuck on Hugo, and believes he’s kissed her in the park. The two brothers are identical, except in character. “Why haven’t you a heart?” Hugo is asked. “Because my brother has too much,” he answers, “I love nobody; that is why I can organize this evening’s little comedy.”  

For a ball, Hugo hires Isabelle, an itinerant dancer (Jillian O’Malior, a splendid ingenue), traveling with her semi-bohemian stage mother (madcap Dory Ehrlich), to pose as a pretty girl of quality, and woo Frederic away from Diana. Hugo is to be her Svengali, her Pygmalion—except in this case, the creation falls for the creator. Hugo, absorbed in his ruse, doesn’t notice.  

“So according to you, the truth means nothing,” Hugo’s asked. “Nothing, if no one believes it!” There’s an echo of magic in the wings, as the brothers switch off, and the snare for Frederic is played out. But there are complications. 

Madame Desmermortes (a very charming Loralee Windsor), the wheelchair-bound matriarch, might catch wind of the intended ruse, and tweak it with her considerable wit, which she reels off like a Lady Bracknell. (Berating her companion, Capulet (Sandra Bond), for leaving her alone: “I’ve gone over all my shortcomings—twice! And if you’d been longer, I’d begun to regret them!”) 

There’s also that affected, archly flamboyant Dorothy, Lady India (Anne Collins, striking pose after pose), Meserschmann’s mistress, entangled too with the clockwork doll-of-a-beau, Patrice Bombelles (Ted V. Bigornia). Their deadpan tango-with-scheming dialogue is a showstopper (choreographed by Kris Bell). And there’s Messerschmann himself, threatening Romainville (fluttery lepidopterist C. Conrad Cady) with failure of his pig-iron interests if the ruse, in which he plays Isabelle’s uncle, isn’t stopped.  

“You’re young and handsome and rich—what could make you sad?” Isabelle asks Frederic. “To be young and handsome and rich, as you call it—with nothing to be gained by it,” replies the young man—but it’s a rehearsal for the ruse, with Hugo taking his twin’s part. 

Somehow, as in true romances, true love, in this game of true-and-false, wins out, but not before a catfight of ingenues, a ripping-up of banknotes, and angry rejoinders about the rich and their social games versus the poor: “Your nurses were right to tell you not to play with the common children in the park. They don’t know how to play.” 

With John Hull’s direction and Tammy Berlin’s costuming, Ring Round the Moon comes off with appropriately gay festivity, a touch of the bizarre, and a healthy dose of world-weary wisdom: “It’s all there’s time for, before we laugh on the other side of our graves,” says Hugo. 

The Masquers, a proud community troupe, bring it off handsomely. It’s a good time to catch it, in the last two weeks of their run. 

RING ROUND THE MOON 

8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays through July 14 at the Masquers Playhouse,  

105 Park Place, Point Richmond.  

$15. 232-4031. www.masquers.org.

There’s a row of owls glaring down at the audience in the theater at the Berkeley City Club. And the program for Bird in the Hand, Anne Galjour’s new play, directed by Ellen Sebastian Chang for Central Works, lists the various parts played by the four players (including Ms. Galjour), as well as the bird calls they perform during the course of the action. 

Bird in the Hand is a wry milieu play, cutting back and forth, in and out of the lives of a bunch of San Franciscans touched by the fervor for birding. The various couples and stray, uncoupled characters, as well-performed by the author, Terry Lamb (with an impressive sense of characterization), Joel Mullenix and Central Works’ co-director, Jan Zvaifler, are an eccentric, even extravagant lot, as they come together and break apart in rhythms reminiscent of bird-song, hopping or skittering. 

But Galjour has another purpose as well, one that came to the fore since the original “little experiment” of the piece as “a convergence of monologues and playwriting in the form of duets” in 2001. 

After Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast, Galjour notes, “It affected my writing process. Where I grew up in southeastern Louisiana the culture and landscape is literally disappearing. It has heightened my concern for what is disappearing from the urban landscape in the Bay Area.” 

The play was developed as a collaborative process  

“I’ll never forget my first quail. I got hit in the head with a golfball! When I came to, I heard it,”one character says—and the appropriate calls often follow such lines, though the dramatis personae tend to express themselves more in dialogue, with an occasional monologue to another, listening character.  

“The mockingbird goes through its repertoire, sounds like a car alarm sometimes,” says another. All the alarums and diversions of existences enriched—or distorted—by the love of—the obsession for—birds, make up the comedy, which can turn simply poignant. A man alone in a house full of empty birdcages and photographs of wildlife talks about the death of his partner, an avid birder, to the neighbor whose husband deserted her and went on the road for the migratory tour. And the bereaved survivor isn’t a bird lover himself. 

After his partner’s death, he says he “opened the cages of finches and opened the windows ... [and] heard them try to get back in, crashing against the windows.” 

Another couple is fighting to stay in their place, the neighborhood association objecting to his pigeon-keeping. Yet another acts out a tale of near-captivity, with an exercise-minded boyfriend controlling his live-in displaced Louisianan woman-friend with rewards for her not eating ... all those dresses do more than feather the nest. 

Birders and their codependencies, the unglimpsed avian lives around us in the urban scheme of things, the mating and survival rituals of humans in their own endangered habitats ... unusual stuff to make a play of, but Galjour’s humorous and perceptive lines knit together the two worlds into a contemporary Bay Area version of The Bluebird of Happiness, Maeterlinck’s fin-de-siecle fantasy play about the search for the fowl that will make all fair. 

As in her narratives and solo performances, Galjour brings something different, a touch of sensibility, to the very bones of her dramaturgy, fleshed out in the Central Works style. It’s reflected in charming ways—like the most romantic (and therefore hopeful) line spoken, “Would you like to go owling in Glen Canyon?” 

BIRD IN THE HAND 

Presented by Central Works at 8 p.m. Thursday-Saturday and at 5 p.m. Sundays through July 29 at Berkeley City Club, 2315 Durant Ave. $9-$25. 

558-1381. www.centralworks.org.

Hildegarde Flanner’s Wildfire: Berkeley, 1923 is a clear-eyed description of a natural disaster seen at close quarters; and, for Berkeleyans, an unforgettable picture of nature’s fury turned against us in our own homes. After reading it, even the greenest greenhorns will understand the dreadful power of wildfire and how rapidly it can consume a neighborhood.  

On Sept. 17, 1923, Flanner and her mother were living on Euclid Avenue in North Berkeley, just above Buena Vista Way. She wrote that it “was a hot, dry day. At mid-morning the wind blew heavily from inland ... while the big tea-colored hills of Berkeley appeared to rise and float ... It was between noon and one o’clock that we became aware of the scent of smoke coming from the eucalyptus trees on the hills above us.” To the reader it seems as though she and her mother took an agonizingly long time to shake themselves free from the rhythm of their ordinary, daily routine.  

When they finally fled downhill to the relative safety of Shattuck Avenue they looked back in a state of shock at the unbelievable: “... the increasing smoke. Only smoke. No flames could as yet be seen. Up there, hidden in turmoil and destruction, our home was burning. Up there, deep in smoke and terrible heat, our home was being consumed, and only just now we had walked out the front door and in no time at all the house was burning and all our possessions were burning and the smoke rose thickly in huge malign puffs.” 

As she tells of the fire she also gives us a memorable portrait of her mother. Mary Flanner, her daughter says, was an actress, “a religious woman whose true vocation was the theater.” On stage she gave “touching and poetic performances of Deirdre and Kathleen ni Houlihan” and other heroines in the repertory of the day. But in her daughter’s eyes, none of these equalled her display of conscience-stricken grief when she was seized by the obsessive thought that she might somehow have started the fire: “It was drama, but the drama of truth uncontrived, and in it life and art met and no one could have told the difference.” 

Hildegarde Flanner’s account of the fire is self-effacing but she is firmly present in it. She says next to nothing about herself. She seems to be a young woman, twenty something, who arrived in Berkeley some time before the fire and vanished afterward. Not a word suggests she was already a well-known poet, with two books to her credit, publishing regularly in The Nation, The New Republic and Poetry. In 1923 her expatriate sister wrote that she was known in Paris “as Hildegarde Flanner’s sister.”  

Early life 

June Hildegarde Flanner Monhoff, to give her full name, was born in Indianapolis, Indiana, in 1899, the youngest child in a prosperous upper middle-class family. At the time of her birth, her sister Janet was 7 and her sister Marie was 12. Frank Flanner, her father, was a successful businessman, and her mother gave recitals of poetry and dramatic readings at women’s clubs throughout the Midwest and the South. 

“We were not rich, and we were not poor,” Hilldegarde told Brenda Wineapple, her sister’s biographer, “and we did not lead dull lives.” The Flanners appeared to be happy and deeply rooted in their community. 

All this changed in 1912, when Frank Flanner committed suicide. The circumstances remain unexplained to this day, but he seems to have been suffering from a deep, pathological depression, a condition not understood or even recognized then. He left his mystified, desolated widow and children a fortune of more than $100,000. 

Within a few years Marie went to live in New York, where she became a piano teacher. Janet made her way to Paris and became famous writing for The New Yorker under the pseudonym “Genet.” Paris Was Yesterday: 1925-1939 is a captivating selection from her journalism. Janet’s literary fame eventually surpassed Hildegarde’s. 

As the youngest child, Hildegarde was expected to look after her mother. In 1915 they explored California together, visiting Pasadena, San Francisco and Berkeley. They liked what they saw, and Hildegarde enrolled at the University in Berkeley, studying poetry with Witter Bynner. And she met Frederick Monhoff.  

Southern California  

After the fire, she and her mother moved to Altadena, a suburb of Pasadena, in the Sierra Madre mountains. Frederick Monhoff also came south, and Hildegarde married him in 1926. An artist and an architect, he taught for more than twenty years at the Otis Art Institute, became the Principal Architect for Design for Los Angeles County, and illustrated her books. Like Berkeley, Altadena was subject to wildfires, and she has recalled how, “More than once, when wind brought the fire into the outskirts of our community and we were less than a mile from flying embers, my husband spent the night packing two cars with what he decided was most valuable among his collection of architectural designs, books, Chinese scrolls, Japanese prints and Navajo rugs. Onto this pile I always added his own etchings and paintings, which he characteristically delayed in gathering...” 

After a life-time of witnessisng wildfires Hildegarde Flanner concluded that, “People who come to California to live with the exhilarating joys of scenery and climate must learn to pay for the privilege, faithfully and painfullly.” 

During these years, according to Dana Goioa, she “became the central poet in Pasadena’s thriving artistic community, writing as a dismayed witness to urban sprawl and environmental threats.” In 1962, when her husband retired, they moved north to the Napa Valley. Part of their motivation was shared anger at the pillaging of Southern Callifornia by developers.  

Northern California 

In Napa Valley, where she lived for the next 25 years, she and her husband continued their environmental activism and she continued to write. In all, she published twelve volumes of poetry and four collections of essays. Poems: Collected and Selected is a selection of her work she made near the end of her life. The essays in Brief Cherishing tell the story of her life with Frederick Monhoff. He died in 1975, and she passed away in 1987, at 87 years of age.  

Poetry  

Hildegarde Flanner is one of the outstanding poets of the California landscape. (No doubt more than one developer called her “a tree hugger.”) Her evident love of the land has, however, promoted a narrow view of her work. She was a deeply humanistic writer who thought and felt seriously about issues of concern to all of us. Her language—always the measure of a poet—is as euphonious as Ina Coolbrith’s, but she writes with wit and humor foreign to the older poet. Flanner’s talent is fully on display in “One Dark Night” (see below). 

Prose  

Her essays provide use with wonderful pieces about the people and places she loved, as well as the ones she didn’t. “The Place of a Sequin” gives us a glimpse of her childhood in Indianapolis. “Wildfire” and “Roots and Hedges” share the early years of her life in California. 

Of “A Brief Cherishing,” Janet Lewis wrote, “It is a vivid evocation of some of the best years of a long and deeply happy marriage, the story of a great love, and a great experience of living on the loved earth ... a clear and tender and witty vision of life perceived, fortunately remembered and recalled for us.” 

Her years of widowhood are evoked unsentimentally in “The Chronicle of Zoe,” the story of a young friend of hers and their efforts to protect land in the Napa Valley.  

ONE DARK NIGHT 

Jess Dooley’s dog and Ralph’s old Duchess 

Have booed the hoodlums off our vineyard hill. 

Oppossums and raccoons and skunks have slid away 

And two fine dogs lie down upon tranquility, 

Full of the best ill-will... 

On a dark night perhaps like this 

There was a dingy shed made beautiful 

By a smack of radiance  

And silver of fresh fallen clover hay, 

But here at home, dear one, we say 

To Jess’s dog and Ralph’s old Duchess, Dogs, alas, 

The times are gnawed clean out of chance 

For a second savior to be born... 

And as we hear the tread of turmoil toward us 

We can only try to do 

Whatever it is that we do best, 

And in a dark night of the soul’s inconsequence 

Humbly to make love, 

Boldly to make sense. 

Dogs, amen.

It began with a phone call: Jean Moss, a Berkeley reader, had an odd nest that had fallen from a Cecile Bruner rosebush. She suspected it was some kind of hummingbird nest, because she had seen a female hummer hanging around it acting territorial. But what she described sounded more like a bushtit nest, bag-shaped with a small entrance hole near the top. Curious, I arranged to stop by and take a look at it. 

Bushtit is what it was, all right, very much like the one I discovered last year in the Lady Banks rose outside the kitchen window. It was a remarkable object, tightly felted from plant matter and spiderweb and decorated with moss and lichen. According to Hal Harrison’s Field Guide to Western Bird Nests, bushtits may also use leaves, grasses, and cocoons for the basic construction and plant down, wool, hair, and feathers for the lining. 

Mrs. Moss was adamant that she hadn’t seen any bushtits—chubby long-tailed grayish birds—in the neighborhood, and I am convinced she knows a bushtit from a hummingbird. So what about the hummer? I have a theory about that, and I’ll get to it later. 

Bushtits are interesting little birds, though. (I don’t know who saddled them with that name.) Once thought to be close relatives of the chickadees and titmice, the last taxonomic reshuffle put them in a separate family along with the Eurasian long-tailed tits, and recent studies suggest they may be close to the Old World warblers. They got here some 10 to 12 million years ago, via the Bering land bridge, and have spread as far south as Guatemala. 

They’re even more social than chickadees. You hardly even see a lone bushtit. Except for the nesting season, flocks stick together year-round, and pairs rejoin the flock as soon as their nestlings fledge. Flock members roost together, huddling close for warmth on chilly nights. They forage as a group, bridging the gaps between trees one bird at a time. 

In some parts of their range, bushtit sociality goes even farther: two or more females may lay their eggs in the same nest, and supernumerary helpers—maybe last year’s offspring—help the parents rear the brood. But this seems more common in southern Arizona than in coastal California. 

There seem to be two basic nest-building techniques. In heavy vegetation, the pair attaches spiderweb and plant material to a couple of support points and stretches the incipient nest into a loose sack. Alternatively, they start with a platform bridging a fork in a branch. One or both of the builders stretches the platform into a cup by sitting in it. Eventually the cup becomes a sack. I couldn’t track it down, but I recall reading somewhere about some northern people—the Saami, or some Siberian tribe—using the nests of long-tailed tits as children’s footwear. 

Like many Bay Area resident birds, bushtits start their nesting season early; eggs have been confirmed in California nests as early as February 26. Some coastal California populations raise two broods a year.  

So it’s reasonable that a bushtit nest should be active in May. But how to account for the hummingbird? Some birds do reuse the nests of other species; the piratic flycatcher of the New World tropics boots the original owners out and takes their nest over. But I could find no account of our local hummers using another bird’s nest. Their own open-faced cup-shaped nests are completely different in size and shape; all they have in common is the decorative lichen. 

Huh. Lichen. Instead of nesting in the bushtits’ construction, maybe Mrs. Moss’s hummer was recycling it—using its components to build her own nest. That wouldn’t be unheard-of. Bushtits are known to steal nest material from each other, and in the Chiracahua Mountains of Arizona warblers and vireos dismantle bushtit nests for material. As for the hummer’s behavior, she might have seen the nest as a resource to be defended, like a patch of nectar-bearing flowers. 

Who knows? Birds do go to extremes to get their nesting material. I’ve seen lichen-covered hummingbird nests a long way from the nearest lichen. The grand prize would have to go to the South American fork-tailed palm swift, which lines its nest with feathers. It was assumed for a long time that it just picked up feathers that were lying around. But no. Recent observations indicate it plucks the feathers from the backs of other birds, in flight. Victims range in size from thrush to turkey vulture, but the swifts seem to have a preference for pigeon and parrot feathers. Must be an unsettling experience for the donors. 

Photograph by Joe Eaton. The mystery nest, with a pair of binoculars for scale. 

Joe Eaton’s “Wild Neighbors” column appears every other Tuesday in the Berkeley Daily Planet, alternating with Ron Sullivan’s “Green Neighbors” column on East Bay trees.

TUESDAY, JUNE 26 

Tuesdays for the Birds Tranquil bird walks in local parklands, led by Bethany Facendini, from 7 to 9:30 a.m. Today we will visit the Eastshore State Park. Call for meeting place and if you need to borrow binoculars. 525-2233. 

Tilden Tots Join a nature adventure program for 3 and 4 year olds, each accompanied by an adult (grandparents welcome)! We’ll look for insects from 10 to 11:30 a.m. at Tilden Nature Center, Tilden Park. Cost is $6-$8. Registration required. 636-1684. 

Community Sing-a-Long every Tues, at 2 p.m. at the Albany Senior Center, 1247 Marin Ave. 524-9122.  

Family Storytime for preschoolers and up at 7 p.m. at the Kensington Library, 61 Arlington Ave. 524-3043. 

Tuesday Documentaries at 7 p.m. at the Gaia Arts Center, 2140 Dwight Way. Donation of $5 benefits the Berkeley Food and Housing Project. 665-0305. 

Berkeley PC Users Group meets at 7 p.m. at 25 Dartmouth Dr . near Claremont Hotel. Call for directions. 841-4411. 2rhs07@comcast.net 

Fresh Produce Stand at San Pablo Park from 3 to 6 p.m. in the Frances Albrier Community Center. Sponsored by the Ecology Center’s Farm Fresh Choice. 848-1704.  

Berkeley Camera Club meets at 7:30 p.m., at the Northbrae Community Church, 941 The Alameda. Share your digital images, slides and prints and learn what other photographers are doing. 548-3991. www.berkeleycameraclub.org 

St. John’s Prime Timers meets at 9:30 a.m. at St. John’s Presbyterian Church, 2727 College Ave. We always welcome new members over 50. 845-6830. 

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 27 

The Unveiling of A Mural In Tribute to Maudelle Shirek from 1 to 3 p.m. at the Maudelle Shirek Building, Outside City Council Chambers, 2134 Martin Luther King Way. 

Tilden Tots Join a nature adventure program for 3 and 4 year olds, each accompanied by an adult (grandparents welcome)! We’ll look for insects from 10 to 11:30 a.m. at Tilden Nature Center, Tilden Park. Cost is $6-$8. Registration required. 636-1684. 

Walking Tour of Old Oakland around the restored 1870s business district. Meet at 10 a.m. in front of G.B. Ratto’s at 827 Washington St. Tour lasts 90 minutes. Reservations can be made by calling 238-3234. 

Green Chamber of Commerce Mixer at 5:30 p.m. at Sam’s Log Cabin, 945 San Pablo Ave., Albany. Cost is $5, members free. 219-7211. www.greenchamberofcommerce.net 

“Increasing Energy Efficiency and Renewables in our Homes and Businesses” from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. at the North Berkeley Senior Center, 1901 Hearst Ave. Sponsored by the Energy Commission. 981-7081. 

“The Threat to Civil Rights and Habeas Corpus” with Ann Fagan Ginger at the Berkeley Gray Panthers meeting at 1:30 p.m. at the North Berkeley Senior Center, 1901 Hearst. 548-9696. 

“The Global Gardener” With Bill Mollison on his film on sustainable agriculture around the world at 7:30 p.m. at Humanist Hall, 390 27th St., between Telegraph and Broadway, Oakland. Donation $5. www.HumanistHall.net 

“Berkeley-Ukraine Partnership for the Environment” A roundtable discussion on ways to address the globe’s most pressing environmental challenges at 7 p.m. at Ecology Center, 2530 San Pablo Ave. 548-2220, ext. 233. 

”Punishment Park” A pseudo-documentary about controlling mass protests set during the Vietnam War at 8 p.m. at Long Haul Infoship, 3124 Shattuck Ave. www.thelonghaul.org 

Project BUILD Kickoff Berkeley United in Literacy Development summer reading program at 11 a.m. at James Kenney Recreation Center, 1718 8th St. www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/recreation/jameskenney.html 

East Bay Traveling Travel Writers Salon at 6:30 p.m. at 515 Pomona Ave, Albany. 524-2459. 

Walk Berkeley for Seniors meets every Wednesday at 9:30 a.m. at the Sea Breeze Market, just west of the I-80 overpass. Everyone is welcome. 548-9840. 

Berkeley Peace Walk and Vigil at the Berkeley BART Station, corner of Shattuck and Center. Sing for Peace at 6:30 p.m. followed by Peace Walk at 7 p.m. www. 

geocities.com/vigil4peace/vigil 

THURSDAY, JUNE 28 

Community Workshop on East Touchdown Plaza at Aquatic Park, including bicycle and pedestrian access improvements, seating, signage and landscaping, at 7 p.m. at the North Berkeley Senior Center, 1901 Hearst. 981-6715. 

Walkin’ Pride An LGBT nature walk for the whole family at 6:30 p.m. at Tilden’s Inspiration Point. Bring layered clothing and water. 525-2233. 

CSI at Your Library A hands-on crime-solving program for children 10 and older, at 2 p.m. at West Branch Library, 1125 University. Registration required. 981-6270. 

Easy Does It Board of Directors’ Meeting at 6:30 p.m. at 1636 University Ave. 845-5513. edi@easyland.org  

“Postcards from Italia: Food, Land and Culture” and the parallels and inspiration for California farms and gardens at 7 p.m. at the Ecology Center, 2530 San Pablo Ave. 548-2220, ext. 233. 

Quit Smoking Class from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m., with optional accupuncture, at the South Berkeley Senior Center, 2939 Ellis St. For more information call 981-5330. 

Storytime for Babies and Toddlers at 10:30 a.m. at the Kensington Library, 61 Arlington Ave. 524-3043. 

Red Cross Mobile Blood Drive from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Oakland State Building, Training Room 1, 1515 Clay St., Oakland. To schedule an appointment call 622-3200. 

Free Skin Cancer Screening at Alta Bates Summit, Oakland. Appointments required. 869-8833, ext. 2. 

World of Plants Tours Thurs., Sat. and Sun. at 1:30 p.m. at the UC Botanical Garden, 200 Centennial Drive. Cost is $5. 643-2755. 

FRIDAY, JUNE 29 

Impeachment Banner Fridays at 6:45 to 8 a.m. on the Berkeley Pedestrian bridge between Seabreeze Market and the Berkeley Aquatic Park, ongoing on Fridays until impeachment is realized. www. Impeachbush-cheney.com 

City Commons Club Noon Luncheon with Mayor Tom Bates on “State of the City” Luncheon at 11:45 a.m. for $14, speech at 12:30 p.m., at the Berkeley City Club, 2315 Durant St. For information and reservations call 526-2925.  

“Indigenous Permaculture Progam in El Salvador” A slide show on rural community development and sustainable communities, and a Mayan cultural presentation, at 7 p.m. at the Ecology Center, 2530 San Pablo Ave. Donation $10-$35. 548-2220, ext. 233. 

Free Compost for Berkeley Residents Self-serve for the general public from 11:45 a.m. to 2:45 p.m. at Berkeley Marina Maintenance Yard, 201 University Ave., next to Adventure Playground, Berkeley. 644-6566. 

Berkeley Women in Black weekly vigil from noon to 1 p.m. at Bancroft and Telegraph. Our focus is human rights in Palestine. 548-6310. 

Free Diabetes Screening Come find out if you might have diabetes with our free screening test and make sure not to eat or drink anything for 8 hours beforehand, from 9 to 11 a.m. at the South Berkeley Senior Center, 2939 Ellis St. at Ashby. 981-5332. 

Circle Dancing, simple folk dancing with instruction. Potluck supper at 7 p.m., dancing at 8 p.m. at Hillside Community Church, 1422 Navellier St., El Cerrito. Donation of $5 requested. 528-4253.  

0 to 100 Watts in 4 Days A workshop to build an FM broadcast transmitter, sponsored by Free Radio Berkeley. With an emphasis on hands-on learning, you will learn how to solder, identify electronic components, assemble a 40 watt transmitter from a kit of parts, build and tune an antenna, properly setup and test broadcast equipment, and more. From 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. each day, at 2311 Adeline, Unit P, Oakland. Cost is $200-$250 sliding scale. 625-0314. www.freeradio.org 

SATURDAY, JUNE 30 

Drip Irrigation A workshop on landscape watering that utilizes low-flow and conservation principles from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Sponsored by the Alameda County Cleanwater Program and EBMUD. Call to register and for location. 548-2220, ext. 233. 

“Restore Wetlands in Oakland” A volunteer opportunity with Save the Bay on a wetland restoration project near the Oakland Airport. From 9 a.m. to noon. RSVP to 452-9261 ext. 109. 

Walking Tour of Oakland Chinatown Meet at 10 a.m. at the courtyard fountain in the Pacific Renaissance Plaza at 388 Ninth St. Tour lasts 90 minutes. For reservations call 238-3234.  

Full Moon Walk at John Muir National Historic Site Join a Park Ranger for a walk under a full moon to see noctunal animal life. Reservations required. Call for details. 925-228-8860. 

Canned Food Donation for the Alameda County Community Food Bank at the film showing of "Ratatouille" at Berkeley 7 Theater, 2274 Shattuck Ave. Bring 2-8 canned food from 1 to 5 p.m. 635-3663, ext. 358. 

Origami for All Ages Learn to fold five different origami shapes from 2 to 4 p.m. at 1247 Marin Ave. 526-3720 ext 17. 

Hopalong Animal Rescue Come meet your furry new best cat friend from noon to 3 p.m. at 2940 College Ave. 267-1915, ext. 500.  

Preschool Storytime for 3 to 5-year-olds at 11 a.m. at the Albany Library, 1247 Marin Ave. 526-3720 ext. 17. 

The Berkeley Lawn Bowling Club provides free instruction at 10:30 a.m. at 2270 Acton St. 841-2174.  

SUNDAY, JULY 1 

Habitat Hunters A hike for the whole family to discover what makes a habitat, at 10:30 a.m. at Tilden Nature Area, Tilden Park. 525-2233.  

“Open Garden” Join the Little Farm gardener for composting, planting, watering and reaping the rewards of our work, from 2 to 4 p.m. at Tilden Nature Area, Tilden Park. 525-2233. www.ebparks.org 

EcoHouse Tour Visit the the Ecology Center’s environmentally friendly demonstration home and garden from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at 1305 Hopkins St., entrance on Peralta. Cost $10, sliding scale. 548-2220 ext. 242. 

Insect Hunt A capture and release program for the whole family at 2 p.m. at Tilden Nature Area, Tilden Park. 525-2233. www.ebparks.org 

Social Action Forum with Eric Mills on animal rights at 9:30 a.m. at Unitarian Universalist Church of Berkeley, One Lawson Rd., Kensington. 525-0302. 

Peach Tasting from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Kensington Farmers’ Market, 303 Arlington, behind ACE Hardware, Kensington.  

Free Garden Tours at Regional Parks Botanic Garden in Tilden Park Sat. and Sun. at 2 p.m. Call to confirm. 841-8732.  

Lake Merritt Neighbors Organized for Peace Peace walk around the lake every Sun. Meet at 3 p.m. at the colonnade at the NE end of the lake. 763-8712. lmno4p.org 

Tibetan Buddhism with Jack Petranker on “Learning to Be” at 6 p.m. at the Tibetan Nyingma Institute, 1815 Highland Pl. 843-6812.  

MONDAY, JULY 2 

Berkeley CopWatch organizational meeting at 8 p.m. at 2022 Blake St. Join us to work on current issues around police misconduct. Volunteers needed. For information call 548-0425. 

Drop in Knitting Class at the Albany Library Work on your own project or make pet blankets and children’s hats to be donated to charity organizations. Yarn and needles provided for donated items. At 3:30 p.m. at 1247 Marin Ave. 526-3720, ext. 17. 

CITY MEETINGS 

Civic Arts Commission meets Wed., June 27, at 6:30 p.m. at the North Berkeley Senior Center. 981-7533.  

Energy Commission meets Wed., June 27, at 6:30 p.m., at the North Berkeley Senior Center. 981-5434.  

Planning Commission meets Wed., June 27 at 7 p.m., at the North Berkeley Senior Center. 981-7484.  

Police Review Commission meets Wed., June 27, at 7:30 p.m. at the North Berkeley Senior Center. 981-4950.  

Mental Health Commission meets Wed., June 28, at 5 p.m. at 2640 MLK Jr. Way, at Derby. 981-5213.  

Zoning Adjustments Board meets Thurs., June 28, at 7 p.m., in City Council Chambers. Mark Rhoades, 981-7410.

Healthy Living 

As part of an ongoing effort to print stories by East Bay residents, the Daily Planet invites readers to write about their experiences and perspectives on living healthy. Please e-mail your essays, no more than 800 words, to firstperson@berkeleydailyplanet.com. We will publish the best essays in upcoming issues. 

East Bay Guide 

The Daily Planet invites readers to contribute to a guide for newcomers to the area. Please e-mail your essays, no more than 800 words, describing a favorite or little-known aspect of East Bay life, to firstperson@berkeleydailyplanet.com. We will publish the best essays in upcoming issues.

FRIDAY, JUNE 22 

THEATER 

Aurora Theatre “Bosoms and Neglect” Wed.-Sat. at 8 p.m., SUn. at 2 and 7 p.m. at 2081 Addison St., through July 22. Tickets are $38. 843-4822. www.auroratheatre.org 

Berkeley Rep “Oliver Twist” at 8 p.m. at the Roda Theater, 2015 Addison St. through June 24. Tickets are $45-$61. 647-2949. www.berkeleyrep.org  

Berkeley Rep “Great Men of Genius” with Mike Daisey in four different monologues at 2025 Addison St. through June 30. Tickets are $30-$75. 647-2949. 

California Shakespeare Theater “Richard III” at the Bruns Ampitheater, 100 Gateway Blvd., Orinda, through June 24. Tickets are $15-$60. 548-9666. www.calshakes.org 

Impact Theatre “Impact Briefs 8: Sinfully Delicious” Thurs.-Sat. through July 21 at La Val’s Subterranean, 1834 Euclid Ave. Tickets are $10-$15. 464-4468. 

Masquers Playhouse “Ring Round the Moon” Fri. and Sat. at 8 p.m. at 105 Park Place, Point Richmond, through July 14. Tickets are $15. 232-4031. www.masquers.org 

“Tea N' Crisp” with Quentin Crisp in tribute to national gay pride week at 8 p.m. at The Ashby Stage, 1901 Ashby Ave.Tickets are $25, reservations advised. 841-6500. www.shotgunplayers.org 

Virago Theatre Comapny “The Death of Ayn Rand” and “A Bed of My Own” Fri. and Sat. at 8 p.m. at Rhythmix Cultural Works, 2513 Blanding Ave., Alameda to July 7. Tickets are $10-$17. 865-6237. www.ViragoTheatre.org 

EXHIBITIONS 

“Summer Solos” Works by Yvette Molina, Chelsea Pegram and Amanda Williams. Artist reception at 6 p.m. at Pro Arts, 550 Second St., Oakland. 763-9425. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Country Joe McDonald “Tribute to Woody Guthrie” in a fundraiser for Save the Oaks at 8 p.m. at Berkeley Fellowship of Unitarian Universalists, 1924 Cedar St.Donation $10-$50. 841-3493. 

Edmund Wells and The Bass Clarinet Quartet at 8 p.m. at the Hillside Club, 2286 Cedar St. Tickets are $10-$15. 845-1350. 

Company of Prophets, Kiwi & DJ Patrick, Abyssinian Creole at 9 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. Cost is $8-$10. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

Miss Faye Carol & her Trio at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. Cost is $14. 841-JAZZ.  

Vicki Virk & Dholrhythms, Fabio Moura and other world dancers at 8 and 10 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Free. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

Jill Knight, singer/songwriter, at 8 p.m. at Caffe Trieste, 2500 San Pablo Ave. 548-5198.  

Iris Dement at 8 p.m. at the Roda Theater, 2015 Addison St. Cost is $26.50-$27.50. 548-1761. www.freightandsalvage.org 

David Gans, Joe Rut and Mario DeSio at 7:30 p.m. at Nomad Cafe, 6500 Shattuck Ave. 595-5344.  

Stiff Dead Cat, Joe Rut con Queso, at 9:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $7. 841-2082. www.starryploughpub.com 

Attack Disarm Takeover, Worhouse, Arise at 8 p.m. at 924 Gilman St., an all-ages, member-run, no alcohol, no drugs, no violence club. Cost is $6-$10. 525-9926. 

Antioquia at 9:30 p.m. at Beckett’s Irish Pub, 2271 Shattuck Ave. 647-1790. www.beckettsirishpub.com 

Chroma, electro-groove jazz, at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 848-8277. 

Jonny Manak & The Depressives, New Earth Creeps, The Sore Thumbs at 9 p.m. at the Uptown Nightclub, 1928 Telegraph, Oakland. Cost is $8. 451-8100. www.uptownnightclub.com 

Helepolis, Belair Academy at 6:30 p.m. at Oakland Metro, 201 Broadway. Cost is $10. 763-1146. www.oaklandmetro.org 

Marcus Miller at 8 and 10 p.m. at Yoshi’s at Jack London Square. Cost is $24-$26. 238-9200. www.yoshis.com 

SATURDAY, JUNE 23 

CHILDREN  

Arts and Crafts Weekend with MOCHA and puppet shows from 12:30 p.m. on at Children’s Fairyland, at 699 Bellvue Ave., Oakland. 452-2259. 

EXHIBITIONS 

“Animals, Sea Creatures and Animation” Paintings, sculpture, digital and fiber art and more, in a benefit for Hopalong Animal Rescue. Narrated art galley tour from noon to 5 p.m. at Expressions Gallery, 2053 Ashby Ave. 644-4930.  

THEATER 

Actors Ensemble of Berkeley “A Dream Play” Sat. and Sun. at 3 p.m. on the lawn in front of Berkeley Art Center, 1275 Walnut St. at Berryman, through July 1. 841-5580. www.aeofberkeley.org  

Central Works “Bird in the Hand” Thurs-Sat. at 8 p.m., Sun. at 5 p.m. at the Berkeley City Club, 2315 Durant Ave., through July 29. Tickets are $9-$25. 558-1381. 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Regan McMahon reads from “Revolution in the Bleachers: How Parents Can Take Back Family in a World Gone Crazy Over Youth Sports” at 4 p.m. at Mrs. Dalloways, 2904 College Ave. 704-8222. 

Open Mic at the Marina at 7 p.m. at the Berkeley Marina. Sponsored by Cal Adventures. 642-4000. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Company C Contemporary Ballet at 8 p.m., Sun. at 2 p.m. at Malonga Casquelourd Center for the Arts, 1428 Alice St., Oakland. Tickets are $20-$25. www.companycballet.org 

Music of Paul Bowles with Frank Johnson, piano; Elisabeth Commanday, soprano; author Michael Paller, commentary, at 8 p.m. at Trinity Chapel, 2320 Dana St. Tickets are $8-$12. 549-3864. www.trinitychamberconcerts.com 

How To Live! II Summer Solstice Benefit Concert for Liza Matlack, world fusion rhythm, from noon to midnight at Tim Witter’s “Compound,” 1561 8th St. West Oakland. Suggested donation $20-$100. 415-939-0145. 

Art Peterson on the Accordion at noon at Cafe Zeste, 1250 Addison St. at Bonar, in the Strawberry Creek Park complex. 704-9378. 

Venezuela: Tambores de San Juan at 8:30 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. Cost is $12-$14. 849-2568.  

Dan Hicks and His Quartet at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. Cost is $14. 841-JAZZ.  

Baba Ken & West African Highlife Band at 9:30 p.m. at Ashkenaz. African dance lesson with Comfort Mensah at 9 p.m. Cost is $15. 525-5054.  

Naomi Adiv and Adrienne Shamszad at 7:30 p.m. at Nomad Cafe, 6500 Shattuck Ave. 595-5344.  

The Mad Maggies at 8 p.m. at Spuds Pizza, 3290 Adeline St. Cost is $7-$10. 558-0881. 

Zindu at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 848-8277. 

The Wailin’ Jennys at 5 and 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $19.50-$20.50. 548-1761. www.freightandsalvage.org 

The Love X Nowhere, Bye Bye Blackbirds, The Trenchermen, at 9:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $6. 841-2082. www.starryploughpub.com 

Eskapo. A.N.F.O., La Grita at 7:30 p.m. at 924 Gilman St., an all-ages, member-run, no alcohol, no drugs, no violence club. Cost is $6. 525-9926. 

Hoods, Life Long Tragedy in a benefit for the Ernie Cortez Family at 8 p.m. at Oakland Metro, 201 Broadway. Cost is $10. 763-1146. www.oaklandmetro.org 

Amel Larrieux at Yoshi’s at Jack London Square, through Sun. Cost is $18-$24. 238-9200. www.yoshis.com 

SUNDAY, JUNE 24 

EXHIBITIONS 

“Moshi Moshi! Bridging Cultures through Art” Japanese and American art inspired by cross cultural influences opens at the Richmond Art Center, 2540 Barrett Ave., Richmond, and runs through Aug. 10. 620-6772. www.therichmondartcenter.org 

THEATER 

“Nature v. Merger” a Sci Fi fairy tale by the Berkeley Pickup Troupe at 2 p.m. at 1631 Bonita Ave. 266-2069. 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Courtney Martin describes “Perfect Girls, Starving Daughters: The Frightening New Normalcy of Hating Your Body” at 4 p.m. at Cody’s Books on Fourth St. 559-9500. 

Conversations on Art: Evolution of a Live/Work Environment, in conjunction with the exhibition “Studio Man Ray” at 2 p.m. at the Magnes Museum, 2911 Russell St. Cost is $10-$12. 549-6950. 

“Something that Matters” edited by Elizabeth Fishel and Terri Hinte at 3 p.m. at Diesel Book Store, 5433 College Ave. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Berkeley International Folk Festival with Nerissa & Katryna Nields, the Aux Cajunals, Cascada de Flores, Austin Willacy, Hali Hammer and others, from 1 to 10 p.m. with p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Free. 548-1761.  

San Francisco Choral Artists “Something Borrowed, Something Blue” at 4 p.m. at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, 114 Montecito Ave., at Bay Place, Oakland. Tickets are $18-$25. 415-979-5779. www.sfca.org 

Ravi Abcarian Quartet at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. Cost is $10. 841-JAZZ. www.AnnasJazzIsland.com 

Tom Huber at 11 a.m. at Nomad Cafe, 6500 Shattuck Ave. 595-5344.  

Americana Unplugged: Jimbo Trout & The Fishpeople at 5 p.m. at Jupiter. 

Flamenco Open Stage at 7:30 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $10. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

Rover City High, Upside, Stop the Malarchy at 6:30 p.m. at Oakland Metro, 201 Broadway. Cost is $10. 763-1146. 

Fleshies, Hey Girl, Bobbie Joe ebola & The Children McNuggets at 5 p.m. at 924 Gilman St., an all-ages, member-run, no alcohol, no drugs, no violence club. Cost is $5. 525-9926. 

MONDAY, JUNE 25 

FILM 

“Jazz on a Monday Afternoon” Films and discussion on Latin Jazz and Jazz as Internatinal Music at 2 p.m. at the Berkeley Public Library, 2090 Kittredge St., 3rd flr. 981-6100.at 7 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $5-$8. 642-0808.  

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Helen Oyeyemi reads from “The Opposite House” at 7 p.m. at Cody’s Books. 559-9500. 

Poetry Express Open mic theme night on “Weddings and Funerals” at 7 p.m., at Priya Restaurant, 2072 San Pablo Ave. 644-3977. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Pickpocket Ensemble at 7 p.m. at Le Bateau Ivre, 2629 Telegraph Ave. 849-1100.  

Musica ha Disconnesso, piano and mandolins, at 7 p.m. at Caffe Trieste, 2500 San Pablo Ave., at Dwight. 548-5198.  

Blue Monday Jam at 7:30 p.m. at the Uptown Nightclub, 1928 Telegraph, Oakland. Cost is $5. 451-8100.  

Geno Delafose at 8 and 10 p.m. at Yoshi’s at Jack London Square. Cost is $10-$16. 238-9200. www.yoshis.com 

TUESDAY, JUNE 26 

EXHIBITIONS 

“Moshi Moshi! Bridging Cultures through Art” Japanese and American art inspired by cross cultural influences at the Richmond Art Center, 2540 Barrett Ave., Richmond, though Aug. 10. 620-6772. www.therac.org 

THEATER 

Tell It On Tuesday Solo Performances at 7:30 p.m. at Julia Morgan Center for the Arts, 2640 College Ave. Tickets are $8-$12 sliding scale.  

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Erica Rische-Baird reads from “This Is For A World Gone Mad” at 7:30 p.m. at Spectator Books, 4163 Piedmont Ave., Oakland. 653-7300. www.spectatorbooks.com  

Ales Debeljak and Rusty Morrison, poets, at 7:30 p.m. at Pegasus Books Downtown, 2349 Shattuck Ave. 649-1320. 

Katherine Taylor reads from “Rules for Saying Goodbye” at 7 p.m. at Cody’s Books on Fourth St. 559-9500. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Adam Miller, folksinger and storyteller, at 7 p.m. at the Albany Library, 1247 Marin Ave. 

Tee Fee Swamp Boogie at 8:30 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cajun dance lesson at 8 p.m. Cost is $10. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

Singers’ Open Mic with Ellen Hoffman at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. 841-JAZZ. www.AnnasJazzIsland.com 

David Bromberg & the Angel Band at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $34.50-$35.50. 548-1761. www.freightandsalvage.org 

Randy Craig Trio at 7:30 p.m. at Caffe Trieste, 2500 San Pablo Ave., at Dwight. 548-5198.  

Bob City Pacific, hip hop, fink, at 9 p.m. at the Uptown Nightclub, 1928 Telegraph, Oakland. Cost is $12-$15. 451-8100. www.uptownnightclub.com 

John Calloway at 8 and 10 p.m. at Yoshi’s at Jack London Square. Cost is $10. 238-9200. www.yoshis.com 

Jazzschool Tuesdays, a weekly showcase of up-and-coming ensembles from Berkeley Jazzschool at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 848-8277. 

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 27 

EXHIBITIONS 

“Suddenly Summer” A group show by East Bay women artists opens at Royal Ground Gallery, 2058 Mountain Blvd., Montclair, Oakland.  

FILM 

International Latino Film Festival “Un Franco, 14 Pestas” at 7 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. Cost is $5-$6. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

“Oh My God! It’s Harrod Blank!” A film on the art-car artist at 7:30 p.m. at the Hillside Club, 2286 Cedar St. Donation $5.  

READINGS AND LECTURES 

“Writing Teachers Write” monthly student and teacher reading series, at 5 p.m. at Nomad Cafe, 6500 Shattuck Ave. 595-5344.  

Berkeley Poetry Slam with host Charles Ellik and Three Blind Mice, at 8:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $5-$7. 841-2082  

MUSIC AND DANCE 

David Bromberg & the Angel Band at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $34.50-$35.50. 548-1761.  

Terrence Brewer Quintet at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. Cost is $10. 841-JAZZ. www.AnnasJazzIsland.com 

Fishtank Ensemble at 8:30 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Eastern European dance lesson at 8 p.m. Cost is $12. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

Mazacote at 9:30 p.m. at Shattuck Down Low, 2284 Shattuck Ave. Salsa dance lessons at 8 p.m. Cost is $5-$10. 548-1159.  

Dave Stein Bubhub at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 848-8277. 

Poncho Sanchez at 8 and 10 p.m. at Yoshi’s at Jack London Square., through Sun. Cost is $20-$24. 238-9200.  

THURSDAY, JUNE 28 

EXHIBITIONS 

“Subcutaneous Portraiture” Works by Amber Stucke and Brian Sweet. Reception at 6:30 p.m. at Transmissions Gallery, 1177 San Pablo Ave. Exhibit runs to July 28. 558-4084. www.trasmissions-gallery.com 

FILM 

“The Mind is a Liar and a Whore” by Antero Alli at 8 p.m. at 21 Grand, 416 25th St., Oakland. Tickets are $6-$10. 444-7263. 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Poetry Flash with Camille T. Dungy and Sandra Lim at 7:30 p.m. at Berkeley City College Auditorium, 2050 Center St. 525-5476. www.poetryflash.org 

Julia Flynn Siler describes “The House of Mondavi: The Rise and Fall of an American Wine Dynasty” at 7 p.m. at Cody’s Books on Fourth St. 559-9500. 

Josie Iselin shows her portraits of “Seashells” at 7:30 p.m. at Mrs. Dalloways, 2904 College Ave. 704-8222. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Delta Love, Band of Brotherz at 9 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $10. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

Dave Alvin at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $25.50-$26.50. 548-1761. www.freightandsalvage.org 

Latitude Zero at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. Cost is $8. 841-JAZZ. www.AnnasJazzIsland.com 

Zej at 7 p.m. at Caffe Trieste, 2500 San Pablo Ave., at Dwight. 548-5198.  

San Pablo Project, Ross Hammond’s Teakayo, at 9:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $6. 841-2082 www.starryploughpub.com 

Michael S. Moore’s acrylic paintings at the Graduate Theological Union are images of landscapes as symbolic order. They are pictures of vast desert landscapes, of large empty spaces along the Nevada-Oregon border as well as of the Colorado plains. It would seem that the canvases are based on watercolors which are shown in display cases below the paintings. 

Many of the watercolors done with vigorous exuberance, showing mountains and swift clouds, were made in Snake Creek Desert and Fox Run in Northwest Nevada near Pyramid Lake. The large horizontal paintings are silent images of vast, almost empty areas, wide expanses with only an edge separating earth from sky. 

The colors are muted, the earth is bleached by the sun and there is no motion in the limit-less, time-less land and sky. No life is visible. These paintings recall the nuanced abstracted landscapes which Gottardo Piazzoni painted a hundred years ago. But they have surely been informed by geometric abstraction. 

In a beautiful polyptych, “Spring into Summer” (2005), the hills of spring on the left are painted in grays, browns and ochres. As the view moves to the rights, as Spring becomes Summer, the sky blends from blue to white and we can feel the great heat of the desert sum. 

The “Guano Valley Triptych (2006), done in the high spacious desert of southern Oregon shows brown cliffs in front of low-sweeping gray mountains. These pictures could not have been done en plein air, but must have been painted by the artist meditating, brush in hand, on his experience of the desert to frame his perception of space and light. 

Freddy Chandra, exhibiting currently at Kala Art Institute, came to the United States from Jakarta, Indonesia in 1995 to study architecture and the art at Berkeley. He too deals with space and light in his art. But, belonging to another generation (he was born in 1979, six years after Michael Moore had his first solo exhibition) he uses very different tools for his art. 

“Three Minutes from Now” (2007) is a time-based installation with nine-channel digital projections built in a wall which the artist created as part of the structure. It is, he wrote in his statement, “An abstract rhythmic composition that evokes experience taking place on the periphery of our consciousness: spatial, visual and aural.” 

Nine DVDs of different size project light into nine separate tinted blocks. As the light is projected it changes intensity and color, barely suggesting gray, blue, green, pink and yellow tints. The viewer, especially after having seen Moore’s desert landscapes, may associate the light images with remembrances of sky and ocean, but this narrative element is not what Chandra had in mind. What we witness is a time-based architecturally integrated composition, which can indeed recapture experiences in a way not so different from music. But, as in Moore’s paintings, it is a visual response to light and space as well as time. 

“Absence Presence,” paintings by Michael S. Moore, at the Flora Lamson Hewlett Library, Graduate Theological Union, 2400 Ridge Rd., through Sept. 5. 649-2500. 

Works by Freddy Chandra as part of “Residency Projects, Part I” at Kala Art Institute, 1060 Heinz Ave., through June 30. 549-2977. 

Image: Freddy Chandra’s “Three Minutes from Now” (2007), is a nine-channel digital projections built in a wall which the artist created as part of the structure.

“Father! Father! I hopped off on a cloud ...”—and the figure in a sari (Sarah Meyerhoff), standing on the lawn at the Berkeley Art Center, seems to be sinking, as the voice of her Father, the god Indra (Thomas West), echoes up from the creek below, reassuring her as she descends to earth, in the first scene of Strindberg’s masterpiece, A Dream Play. 

The play was adapted and directed by David Stein for Actors Ensemble, Berkeley’s oldest theater company (50 this year), played all around and inside the Berkeley Art Center in Live Oak Park, 3 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays for the next two weekends. Admission is free. 

It’s a site-specific play, with the audience following the players around to various locations for scenes—and the scenes follow a dream logic, as the title indicates, with plenty of margin for satire of earthly life, and an acerbic humor special to the author. 

“It’s beautiful!” Agnes, Indra’s daughter, exclaims on seeing the planet. “But still more beautiful long ago,” intones her father’s voice. Then she hears the sounds of humanity: “It sounds joyless!”  

“I know,” responds the god, with a long pause, provoking quiet laughter, “All that spinning sets people dizzy!” 

Agnes will say in a minute, when she hears more of earth’s denizens, “You judge them too harshly, Father!” And the heavenly voice replies, “Really! Go and judge for yourself.” 

The dizziness is explored as Agnes, losing touch with her father’s voice, goes deeper and deeper into human existence, first led (with the audience in tow) into a “growing castle,” where she meets a young man who is prisoner within (Jose Garcia). Asked if he wants to be freed, he says he’s not sure. People pass, and recognize Agnes: “They say she’s the daughter of Indra! Act normal ...” 

These quick, often contradictory vignettes build up into an extraordinary parody—deadpan, but often impish, or almost demonic—of earthly existence, as sped up and stylized in dream language. A stage door Johnny (Garcia, again) waits years for his beloved actress or dancer to appear. Her voice is heard above, but she never shows.  

The doorkeeper (Maureen Coyne), busy quilting with patches of woe, reassures him she’s still there: “she never goes out!” Agnes recognizes the young man of the castle, who swore to love his would-be rescuer—but he’s forgotten her in his starstruck intoxication. 

A fantastic array of characters pass by through the scenes, spread all around and inside the Center: A Lawyer (Thomas West again), whom Agnes marries; a Medical Inspector (John Anthony Nolan); a Poet (Steven Morales) coming from the mud baths (”True love conquers everything—including sulphur and carbolic acid!”); a Bride (Kat Kniesel) and Groom (Anthony Croson) who are so happy they make a pact to die happy; a Maid (Meira Perelstein) who pastes up the holes thewind blows through in the castle, cheerfully; an Officer (Andrew Nolan); the Dean of the Law School (Michael Kelly) as well as his fellow deans, trying to open a locked door that may open onto the universal secret ... 

The scenes string the theme along, but not always in a forward motion. Like Baroque art, it’s literally play, and at times seems to be in a hall of mirrors—carny mirrors, even. 

It’s a perfect match for Actors Ensemble, with the range of stage experience in the cast, from fresh amateurs to old hands at community theater. Like a pageant, it provokes exuberant play-acting, and some poignant moments.  

And it’s a treat for the audience, who leave their seats and the darkness of the auditorium to follow the action around the lovely environs of the art center on a sunny summer day and witness the sprawling scenes of an original masterwork of early modern theater. 

Everyone talks about Harry Lime. He’s one of the most charismatic and cynical of movie villains, a cad who plays the people and police for suckers while justifying his crimes with glib insouciance.  

By the time the racketeer finally makes his appearance in The Third Man, everyone in the film has been talking about him for nearly an hour. And audiences and critics have been talking about him ever since. 

The film has been released on DVD in a new two-disc edition from the Criterion Collection that is rich in supplemental features that illuminate much of the on- and off-screen intrigue of Carol Reed’s 1949 film noir masterpiece. 

Over the years there has been no shortage of commentary on Reed’s brilliant direction and pacing; on Graham Greene’s finely crafted original screenplay; on Robert Krasker’s stunning black and white photography that presents a wet, murky portrait of post-war Vienna; on Anton Karas’ zither score and its effortless transitions from the jauntiness of Lime’s theme to suspense to romance to its wistful conclusion; on Orson Welles’ brief but riveting performance as Lime; on the famous scenes in the Vienna sewers, atop the Prater’s Ferris wheel, and in the shadowy nighttime streets; and on the strong performances of Trevor Howard and Alida Valli, as well as a number of supporting actors in sharply etched character parts. 

But what often gets overlooked in discussions of The Third Man is its leading man, Joseph Cotten.  

Cotten’s portrayal of the naive and blundering Holly Martins isn’t the flashiest role in the film, but it is the most crucial, for it is through his eyes that we see the labyrinthine plot unfold. He plays both the hero and the fool, stumbling about blindly through a foreign city and its web of blackmarket intrigue. He’s a heel, a well-meaning dweeb, a “dumb decoy duck,” as he describes himself in the end, and what a deft delineation of character Cotten achieves. 

Martins is a writer of cheap western novels who sees the world in the simplistic black-and-white, good-vs.-evil terms of his fiction. Martins arrives in Vienna to find that his friend Harry Lime is dead, and when a cop (Trevor Howard’s Major Calloway) speaks ill of Lime over drinks, Martins bristles, attempts to punch the major, and then seizes the opportunity to play the hero by investigating the circumstances surrounding Lime’s death in order to clear his friend’s name and expose the corruption of Calloway.  

Though he sees himself as a swaggering tough in search of justice, Martins is hardly noble, and he knows it. He moons after his best friend’s girl, aimlessly wanders through the rubble-strewn city, and even becomes responsible for the deaths of two innocent men along the way. 

All the while director Reed keeps us just as bewildered as Martins, with off-kilter images, foreign-language dialogue left untranslated, and a breathless pace that keeps us moving from scene to scene before all the implications have set in.  

Writer Graham Greene seems to have taken great pleasure in presenting Martins as the Ugly American—not to mention clumsy, naive and potentially dangerous. Greene himself may have been settling a score with this characterization. In an essay in the disc’s liner notes, Philip Kerr posits that Greene based the character on Robert Buckner, a producer and screenwriter responsible for a botched film adaptation of Greene’s novel The Confidential Agent. Buckner was also a writer of cheap western novels, thus Kerr explains the incessant mockery of Martins’ taste, talent and intellect.  

Whatever the source, Greene and Reed gleefully point up the folly of Holly at every turn. In the opening scenes, Martins cluelessly walks under a ladder, setting up a string of bad luck that will run throughout the picture; other characters damn his novels with faint praise or are completely unaware of them; and Calloway finally chastises Martins with the blistering put-down, “This isn’t Santa Fe, I’m not a sheriff and you’re not a cowboy.” Even in the final sequence amid the sewer, in a shootout situation that would have presumably been one of the staples of his fiction, Martins is oblivious to the danger of the situation, wandering out into the middle of a tunnel where he could easily be caught in the crossfire. He’s a liability and his naiveté eventually proves costly.  

It is in the sewer that Martins finally gets his chance to carry out his delusional fantasy. But when he takes gun in hand and tracks wounded Lime through the damp tunnels, he again botches his chance at heroism by playing not the cowboy but the loyal patsy, short-circuiting the pursuit of justice by taking down his friend in a mercy killing.  

His silly adventure culminates in the elegiac sigh of the film’s closing shot, as the disillusioned Martins, having lost his best friend and his self-respect, finally and with finality loses the girl. The somber fadeout leaves us with a pathetic solitary figure on an empty road, showing up the inadequacy of the cowboy’s simplistic mindset when confronted with foreign cultures and a determined criminal underworld—an all-to-relevant theme in these times.  

The new Criterion edition contains all the features from the company’s previous edition, including footage of the Vienna sewers, an introduction by Peter Bogdanovich, a radio adaptation of the film starring Cotten, and an episode of “The Adventures of Harry Lime,” a weekly British radio series from 1952 starring Orson Welles as Lime, this time recast as a cosmopolitan confidence man and hero. The set also features several new documentaries on the film and its creation and two commentaries: One, by film scholar Dana Polan, is excellent, examining the inherent polarities in the film (noir vs. romance, comedy vs. drama, etc.) with an emphasis on the thematic and structural tensions in the film; the other, by director Steven Soderbergh and screenwriter Tony Gilroy, is less informative, as many of Soderbergh’s facts are contradicted by materials elsewhere in the collection, and the casual, off-the-cuff nature of the discussion comes across as amateurish and ill-prepared. 

THE THIRD MAN (1949) 

Directed by Carol Reed. Written by Graham Greene. Photographed by Robert Krasker. Starring Joseph Cotten, Alida Valli, Trevor Howard and Orson Welles. 104 minutes. $39.95. www.criterion.com. 

Image; Joseph Cotten plays both the hero and the fool in Carol Reed’s The Third Man.

The Laurel Summer Solistice Music Festival, inspired by the Fete de la Musique, a solistice celebration initiated in France 25 years ago to bring people into the streets to hear and make music and now a worldwide phenomenon, celebrates its second anniversary this Saturday, 9 a.m.-10 p.m., in Oakland’s Laurel Village district. 

The festival features an extraordinary array of performers of all types in local venues and on the streets. Among the more than 65 musicians performing are legendary jazz saxophonist Hal Stein, Korean folk singer Miena Yoo, and jazz-pop-funk-fusion duo Gemini Soul. The festival will include an exhibit which will feature artists, photographers, and craftspeople from across the Bay Area. 

The original festival was initiated in France by the Ministry of Culture under Jack Lang. “The response was spontaneous and huge,” said French native Stella Lamb, now an Oakland resident. “It’s now celebrated in 220 countries. It became a wave effect, reaching one place after another. It’s inspired by the old midsummer celebrations and bonfires of St. John’s Day—and before that, pagan festivities—but it’s not a religious celebration, more like a dance party. It must be out in public—and it must be free. Singers and musicians of all levels of skill are encouraged. We have jazz, zydeco, hip-hop ... well-known groups and amateurs—everyone who has the desire to sing or play in that moment.” 

The festival was initiated and is carried out by local volunteers. “We’re enthusiasts,” said Lamb of the volunteer group that puts on the Laurel Village fest. “None of us were experienced in putting on this sort of thing.” Different locations in the neighborhood, “inside and out,” including streets, parking lots, some businesses and the Laurel Elementary School become music venues for the day.  

Mark Baldwin of the Laurel Village Association recalled last year, after the festival, “someone came up to me and said, ‘I’ve lived here for over 25 years, and this is the best thing that’s ever happened to the neighborhood.’ That made us all feel good!”  

Well-known Bay Area jazz figure Hal Stein, who performed last year (with his daughter on vocals) and is up for an all-instrumental gig this year, agrees. 

“Greg Glenn, the owner of the Laurel Lounge, got a special barstool for me and personally made a video documentary,” he said. “Since then, playing there, I can see a difference in turnout. It all comes from a lot of cooperation.” 

The entry point to the festival is a welcoming station alongside the Laurel Lounge at the intersection of 38th Avenue and MacArthur Boulevard in Oakland.

One of Berkeley’s most important and historic brown shingle homes—with Maybeck connections, too—is currently for sale at 2601 Derby Street. An Open House is scheduled from 2-4:30 p.m. this Sunday, June 24.  

The residence—the five-bedroom, three-story Gifford McGrew House—embodies both a remarkable design history and character, and more than a century of Berkeley history. Prominently situated on the corner of Derby and Hillegass, across from Willard Park, it is on the market for $1,595,000.  

The house was “designed by Maybeck and the owner with ideas contributed by their common friend, Charles Keeler” Maybeck’s biographer, Kenneth Cardwell, writes in Bernard Maybeck: Artisan, Architect, Artist.  

And Leslie Freudenheim in Building with Nature characterizes the house as “designed by Bernard Maybeck, possibly executed by Charles Keeler, with advice from McGrew’s friend (Reverend) Joseph Worcester.”  

There you have connections to three of the most important apostles of the architectural and cultural movement that brought Berkeley a distinctive brown shingle aesthetic.  

The contractor is said to have been A.H. Broad, who was one of Berkeley’s first elected town trustees, an artist, and a busy builder who left distinctive homes and early school buildings all over town, some of them now City Landmarks.  

Cardwell writes that “The McGrew house and its predecessors became the examples of a ‘movement towards a simpler, a truer, a more vital art expression’ when, a few years later, Charles Keeler assumed the spokesman’s role for the modest house and ‘the simple life.’ ”  

In 1895 Maybeck had designed the Keeler family home on Highland Place in a steep-roofed style very similar to the McGrew House. Keeler would publish his influential treatise The Simple Home in 1904, thus placing the McGrew house midway in time between Maybeck’s first brown shingle commissions in Berkeley and the popularization of his design philosophy in Keeler’s book.  

The house was built for Gifford McGrew but he wasn’t, as the real estate listing implies, “University Librarian.” A 1978 obituary for McGrew’s daughter, Mary Edith McGrew, refers to her father as becoming “assistant librarian” at UC when the family arrived from Massachusetts in 1899.  

Joseph C. Rowell reigned then as University Librarian, and would not retire until 1916. The McGrews were Unitarians, so their social lives intersected at Berkeley’s First Unitarian Church—itself a Craftsman masterpiece still standing at Dana and Bancroft—with a number of other local families, including the Keelers, involved in the “building with nature” movement.  

Mary Edith attended Cal and, upon graduation in 1903, won the University Medal, awarded to the most distinguished graduate of the year. For 36 years she was principal of Berkeley’s then-prominent private, college prep, A-to-Zed School. She died at 96.  

There have been several owners and some remodeling and structural upgrades at the house since then. The house was last on the market in 2004 with an asking price of $1.3 million. The front door is off Derby, midway on the side of the long ground floor and indented beneath a substantial overhang. The spacious entry hall, frames a wonderful, gleaming, staircase that ascends to a landing, then doubles back and up to the second floor. To the left is the long, rectangular, living room. 

Turn in the other direction and there’s an ample dining room with a brick fireplace and built in cabinetry. The kitchen, at the rear of the ground floor beyond the stairwell, is the one major disappointment in the house. The floor is covered with big, square, terra cotta pavers more suitable to a suburban hacienda, and the cabinets and counters have a Home Depotish air completely at odds with the rest of the house. Anyone with $1.6 million to buy the house will presumably have something left over to remodel the kitchen, and one hopes a new kitchen is closer to the original character of the home. Off the kitchen in one direction there’s a narrow room for laundry. 

On the other side a little, generously-windowed, breakfast nook opens to the garden, and a passage leads to what the realtor describes as a cottage, but is more of a single, rustic, room connected to the house and adjoined by a full bath. French doors open from the “cottage” to a secluded patio. 

The eastern yard is not that large, but a little more extensive than it seems from the street. Fence, trees, and a clambering red trumpet vine wall the garden off from the Derby Street sidewalk. The west yard used to be the front garden extending out to the Hillegass sidewalk. Years ago the house was complimented by a gem-like, perfectly tended, lawn on this side. Later, however, the space was fenced in along Hillegass. There’s a gate for cars and the garden is part graveled parking area. 

Back inside, the main stairs pause at a wide, windowed, landing where a side door conceals a tiny, handsome, half bath. A short side stair leads up to the only full bath on the second floor, which also communicates with one of the four bedrooms on that level. The staircase debouches into an ample second floor hall, surrounded by bedrooms: one big but narrow; two spacious; one—at the west end—extremely large with a corner fireplace and a door that opens onto a wide west facing deck with massive ornamental railing and balusters, all of it supported on the extended end of the living room below. From the second floor hall a smaller staircase ascends to the attic which is almost a full residence in itself.  

The steep roofs allow for high, vaulted, ceilings, the structure of two roof gables perpendicular to each other subdivides the space into separate volumes, and an interesting, partially open, bathroom is tucked away in one corner. Skylights, a freestanding stove on a brick hearth, and a huge west-facing window and small balcony complete this impressive level.  

The segmented window was added in the 1980s if I remember correctly and is, from the outside, the most visible change to the house. Although it altered a primary façade it was done quite contextually and helps create a wonderful space inside. From top to bottom—in most areas save the kitchen and laundry room—the house is a treasury of unpainted and original woodwork—polished floors, and old growth redwood paneling, exposed beams, and trim. Wide, vertical, boards with narrow battens cover most of the interior walls, the structure of the ceiling is creatively exposed, and there are several clever built-ins at various levels. 

It’s possible to honestly mourn the ancient trees felled over a century ago to supply this much clear-heart redwood while still admiring the house as a wonderful human artifact. Most of the windows are finely crafted, there are three intentionally simple red brick fireplaces, and period light fixtures—or at least good facsimiles—in most key locations. This is a magnificent, complex, beautiful house and a Berkeley treasure. 

It also, sadly, has no landmark protection. Some modifications will probably be made. For instance, it’s hard to imagine a new owner paying $1.6 million and not wanting more than one bathroom on the second floor. But a new owner insensitive to character and history could also drastically alter this house, as was recently done to another corner brown shingle a few blocks away on Regent Street. That would be a national architectural loss and a severe visual and cultural tragedy for Berkeley. Some dedicated volunteer should come forward—and soon—to research and write a city landmark application for this remarkable piece of local heritage. 

Meanwhile, take advantage of the rare opportunity this Sunday to see the interior of the house. The listing agent for 2601 Derby is Tricia Swift, Broker Associate at The Grubb Company. Office telephone (510) 339-0400/333, e-mail tswift@grubbco.com, website at Grubbco.com or 2601Derby.com An interesting sampling of older interior and exterior photos of the house, taken years ago by Kenneth Cardwell, can be found by searching for “McGrew House” at www.mip.berkeley.edu/spiro. 

Photograph by Steven Finacom. 

The shingled exterior of the McGrew House with its distinctive steep-roofed gable. 

We’ve driven past the place dozens of times on the way to the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge, and it’s become a private landmark rather like San Quentin. But last week was the first time we’ve ever managed to get off I-580 and get our feet on the ground at Golden Gate Palms in Richmond. 

My goodness. The place is vast, and it has more than just palms. 

“Just palms” on the other hand includes such an assortment that it kept my attention quite well, while Joe wandered off among the succulents. Gary Gragg, the owner, says he sells some palm species and varieties never before on sale in California, or even the world.  

I’m not equipped to say Aye or Nay to that proposition, but I do know there was stuff there I’d had no idea even existed. Yet another blue palm, for example, a European variety. Trachycarpus wagnerianus, cousin to the familiar T. fortunei “windmill” palm—the one with the brown fiber netting growing in rags around the trunk—but with a sort of silvered underside on each leaf.  

There was one huge specimen in the ground that looked like a Jubaea chilensis, Chilean date palm, but it wasn’t labeled. Sure enough, though it is what it looks like, and over a century old.  

It, like some others in Golden Gate’s inventory, was a rescue from a site where it no longer fit, or where something was going to be built. Gragg specializes in such rescues; he’s not alone, as palms are more easily transplanted with a smaller rootball than other trees. That’s why you see them with their foliage done up in topknots along new boulevards or shopping centers.  

Gragg does seem to take on the big jobs even in that area, though: that wine palm, and what he says is the biggest Canary Island date palm (Phoenix canariensis) ever moved, and some of the tallest fan palms I’ve ever laid eyes on, a couple of matched pairs sporting his banners.  

Aside from all that, Gragg has succulents in a dazzling (even for succulents) variety of shapes, and tropical oddities and stalwarts like cannas and gunneras (“dinosaur chow”). He’s got ocotillos! They’re under a huge palm, more or less in the ground, on a big shale mound.  

The open site is windy and can be dusty, so bring a jacket and your shades. You’ll thrill to the crash of industry and harbor noises. Or maybe you’ll just wince and jump occasionally, as I did. Impressive place to be raising so many supposedly tricky plants.  

Gragg told us he’s making a series for HGTV, to be aired starting this fall or winter; the working title so far is “Full Throttle Gardening” and evidently it will include some examples of Gragg’s own design-build work in the Bay Area. He did seem to be having a good time charging around on a front-end loader, and there was a serious crane along with his various trucks and machinery on the site.  

Go see the place. Great fun! 

Golden Gare Palms & Exotics 

420 South Third Street, Point Richmond 

Just off I-580; Look west for the palms and banner. 

Monday-Friday: 8 a.m.-4:30 p.m. 

Saturday: 9 a.m.-4 p.m. 

Sunday: Closed 

(925) 325-PALM 

www.goldengatepalms.com

Ihate code books. Not code as in dot-dash-dot or SLWBT means I love you. I mean the building codes.  

I’ve never had a good relationship with that sort of thinking. Yes, I’m very much aware of the need for codes but the frustrating contradictions that one faces when the code is invoked makes me want to pull my hair out. Clearly, I’m not the only one. Codes have load of exceptions and don’t address each case with real clarity. They vary by year, by city ( as well as county, state and region), by building department and ultimately by the site inspector that enforced or ignores the edict. That said, I’m slowly getting used to them. 

Given this relationship, how, many have asked me, did I learn about buildings? How did I learn how wiring was supposed to be done, how joists were selected, how many nails were needed in a particular connection. Well, the answer to this is also complex and, like many others and those who came before, I’ve learned from other builders and specialists, from city inspectors and really good lumber clerks. I’ve learned from how-to book, books on architecture and trade manuals. I’ve actually learned a lot from installation manuals for furnaces, vent fans and disposers. By the time you’ve seen enough of this stuff and cross references it all in your head, you have a fair idea of what’s in the code book (Well, not really).  

However, there IS one very important source of data at the source my own personal education that is not codified, published or preached by those on the city dole and that is the knowledge I’ve gained from dead contractors. 

In the years in which I did remodeling, I feel as though I had a series of relationships with a host of dead (or at least long absent) builders. Every time I looked under a building or inside an attic or took apart a wall, there they were, showing me how they nailed things together.  

I feel as though I have a strong sense of the men (sadly, these were all men) who soldered knob and tube wiring connections together. Each wire was bent just so, torched white hot, drenched in molten metal and then taped ever-so carefully to make sure that the little girl who lived in the house two generations beyond would be able to sleep safely at night within these plastered walls. 

The carpenter called out to the man on the handsaw to cut the next one five-foot-six and five-sixteenths, just a hair fat and angle one end just a smidge. You can see the way the hidden roof supports fit just right and, by no accident, compensated for a slope here or a knot there. The longer you look, the more you can see the great expertise in a simple thing like a roof framing. 

Some would sheath a wall with one-inch thick lumber on a 45 degree angle, just to make things a little stronger. Today, it turns out that this has tremendous “shear value” and may substantially decrease the need for additional “shear-wall sheathing.” 

The shimming of a window was also a real art. Quick, to-the-point, strong and virtually permanent. But you’d never get this one from a book. You have to open a wall and look. Now, you may not be able to use this same method today and that often the case. You cannot solder knob and tube any longer, but knowing how this was done helps enormously in working with the stuff and making upgrades. It also helps in evaluating the safety of the existing work. 

While I may have had books to reference, there’s never been any better teacher for me than the well nailed floor framing that I had to kill myself pulling apart. These men who drove 20d (we say 20 penny) nails though framing members with but a few blows clearly learned over a course of many years just where to place the nail and how to drive it. An amateur might easily split the same stud, bend the nail or fail to make a firm connection. 

The plumber clearly took enormous pains to support the pipes at the best possible incline and installed those deadly liquid lead joints with the intention of making the system run smoothly for as long as the material might survive.  

Taking apart those lead joints (which I have done), carving through the lath and plaster (yes that too) and drilling through the concrete has shown me precisely how these workman did what they did. Now, if you look at 30 or 40 of a particular detail, you’ll see something interesting. You’ll see aberrations for better and for worse. You’ll be able to tell how most careful workers did things (surmising the common protocol).  

You’ll then be able to discern, through a simple comparison of each case and by thinking through the advantages and disadvantages of each maneuver how certain builders would do things a little better and how some had failed to learn from their peers. 

So, doing this for a while, it’s not too hard to see how and why each thing was done. If you cross-check with old code books or old how-to books you can take it a bit further. 

The same is true of living builders. Everyone has a technique and if you look at enough electrical panels you can see how the really clever (and magnificently obsessive-compulsive) electrician wires a panel. Some mistakes may not be apparent without a trip to the code or instruction book but as a general rule, I would say that, given the way my mind works, I’ll learn more from looking at the work.  

I also learn from the idiot who leaves me scratching my head at the stupid or lazy thing. This gives me the chance to run the worst-case scenario ending in a death by fire or collapse. Even the worst builder makes a contribution, I guess, when you look at it this way. 

I was describing this way of looking at houses to my friend Gillian and she what I was doing was a sort of Reverse Engineered Inspecting. Hmmm. I like that. 

One thing history has taught us about major earthquakes: houses that are correctly retrofitted survive intact. 

Houses that are not retrofitted correctly fall off their foundations. It’s very expensive to repair these homes and to get them back on their foundations.  

If you want to know more about retrofits and how they work, there is a free Earthquake Retrofit Seminar Saturday morning, June 23, from 10 a.m.-noon at the El Cerrito Senior Center, 6500 Stockton St.  

This seminar, sponsored by the Association of Bay Area Governments, describes a good retrofit, tells how to evaluate an existing retrofit (the majority, sadly, are inadequate), and describes retrofitting hillside homes. 

It will cover the basics and make you knowledgeable about choosing a retrofit contractor.  

Larry Guillot is the owner of QuakePrepare, an earthquake consulting, securing and kit supply service. Contact him at 558-3299 or see www.quakeprepare.com to receive semi-monthly e-mails and safety reports.  

FRIDAY, JUNE 22 

Impeachment Banner Fridays at 6:45 to 8 a.m. on the Berkeley Pedestrian bridge between Seabreeze Market and the Berkeley Aquatic Park, ongoing on Fridays until impeachment is realized. www. Impeachbush-cheney.com 

City Commons Club Noon Luncheon with David Wallenstein on “EBMUD Water Conservation Projects” Luncheon at 11:45 a.m. for $14, speech at 12:30 p.m., at the Berkeley City Club, 2315 Durant St. Forreservations call 526-2925.  

“Tribute to Woody Guthrie” with Country Joe McDonald in a fundraiser to save the Memorial Oak Grove at UC Berkeley, at 8 p.m. at the Berkeley Fellowship of Unitarian Universalists, 1924 Cedar St., at Bonita. Donation $10-$50. 841-3493. www.saveoaks.com  

“When the Levees Broke” Parts 1 and 2, will be screened at 2 p.m. at the YWCA Berkeley. 2600 Bancroft Way. Free. 848-6370. 

Tilden Sunset Hike A scenic 8 mile loop through southern Tilden Park with panoramic evening views from the Seaview trail. Meet at 6 p.m. at Inspiration Point on Wildcat Canyon Rd. Bring warm layered clothing, flashlight, optional snack to share. 601-1211. 

Free Diabetes Screening Come find out if you might have diabetes with our free screening test and make sure not to eat or drink anything for 8 hours beforehand, from 9 to 11 a.m. at the South Berkeley Senior Center, 2939 Ellis St. at Ashby. 981-5332. 

Red Cross Mobile Blood Drive from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at East Pauley Ballroom, MLK Student Union, UC Campus. To schedule an appointment call 1-800-GIVE-LIFE. www.BeADonor.com (Code: UCB) 

Berkeley Women in Black weekly vigil from noon to 1 p.m. at Bancroft and Telegraph. Our focus is human rights in Palestine. 548-6310. 

“The Mission” the British film at 7:30 p.m. at The Center of Light, 2944 76th St., Oakland. 635-4286. 

Circle Dancing, simple folk dancing with instruction at 7:30 p.m. at Finnish Brotherhood Hall, 1970 Chestnut St at University. Donation of $5 requested. 528-4253.  

SATURDAY, JUNE 23 

Berkeley Path Wanderers Celebrates Piedmont Centennial with a 1.8 mile hilly walk with staircases. Meet at 10 am. at the monument at the edge of Piedmont Park, near the intersection of Highland and Magnolia, Piedmont. www.berkeleypaths.org 

Oak Grove Tree-Sit Summer Festival with music, food and art, from 2 to 8 p.m. at the Oak Grove on Piedmont Ave., just north of Bancroft Ave. and International House. 938-2109. www.saveoaks.com 

Pet Parade and Art Gallery Tour of “Animals, Sea Creatures and Animation” Paintings, sculpture, digital and fiber art and more, in a benefit for Hopalong Animal Rescue. Narrated art gallery tour from noon to 5 p.m. at Expressions Gallery, 2053 Ashby Ave. 644-4930.  

Dynamite History Walk Explore the explosive and peaceful past of the Point Pinole Regional Shoreline with former Atlas Powder Company employee Norman Monk from 10 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. For meeting place call 525-2233. 

Native Plant Gardening for the East Bay Learn how to use native plants that are naturally adapted to our local climate and that require very little water to thrive, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Sponsored by the Alameda County Cleanwater Program. Cost is $10-$15. Pre-registration required. 548-2220, ext. 233. 

Common Agenda Regional Network meeting on reordering federal priorities from the military to human and environmental needs at 2 p.m. at the Peace Action West office, 2800 Adeline/Stuart, 4 blocks no. of Ashby BART. 527-9584. 

Know Your Rights Berkeley Copwatch presents a training in your rights with the police and how to be an effective police observer, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at 2022 Blake St. 548-0425. www.berkeleycopwatch.org 

Art and Craft Courtyard Sale with origami, beadwork, knitting, and musical entertainment from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at 1901 Hearst St. Benefits Berkeley’s Nikkei seniors. 

Berkeley Pickup Troupe rehearsal for “Nature v. Merger” a Sci Fi fairy tale at 3 p.m. at 1631 Bonita Ave. Performance on Sun. Call to claim a role. 266-2069. 

Great American Backyard Campout from 3 p.m. until Sun. at 10 a.m. at the Jaoquin Miller Park. Fee is $25 per family and includes parking, dinner, continental breakfast, snacks and activities. Register online at www.oakland.net.com/parks.registration or call 238-7275. 

Cork Boat Regatta and Bubble Extravaganza from 1 to 4 p.m. at the Museum of Children’s Art, 528 9th St., Oakland. Admission is $5, plus $5 for workshops. 465-8770. 

Free Seismic Retrofit Seminar from 10 a.m. to noon at Open House Senior Center, 6500 Stockton Ave., El Cerrito. 418-1676. bayarearetrofit@aol.com  

Live Reptiles from the East Bay Vivarium and kick-off of the Summer Reading Program at 2 p.m. at the Kensington Library, 61 Arlington Ave., Kensington. For ages 3 and up. 524-3043. 

Preschool Storytime for 3 to 5-year-olds at 11 a.m. at the Albany Library, 1247 Marin Ave. 526-3720 ext. 17. 

Walking Tour of Old Oakland uptown to the Lake to discover Art Deco landmarks. Meet at 10 a.m. in front of the Paramount Theater at 2025 Broadway. Tour lasts 90 minutes. For reservations call 238-3234. 

Origami Earring Workshop with Nga Trinhat 3 p.m. at the Berkeley Public Library, 2090 Kittredge St. Free. 981-6100. 

East Bay Baby Fair from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. at The Jewish Community Center of the East Bay, 1414 Walnut St. 540-7210. 

Hopalong Animal Rescue Come meet your furry new best cat friend from noon to 3 p.m. at 2940 College Ave. 267-1915, ext. 500. www.hopalong.org  

The Berkeley Lawn Bowling Club provides free instruction at 10:30 a.m. at 2270 Acton St. 841-2174.  

Free Garden Tours at Regional Parks Botanic Garden Sat. and Sun. at 2 pm. Regional Parks Botanic Garden, Tilden Park. Call to confirm. 841-8732.  

Around the World Tour of Plants at 1:30 p.m., Thurs., Sat. and Sun. at UC Botanical Garden, 200 Centennial Drive. 643-2755.  

Car Wash Benefit for Options Recovery Services of Berkeley, held every Sat. from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Lutheran Church, 1744 University Ave. 666-9552. 

SUNDAY, JUNE 24 

Berkeley International Food Festival from noon to 5 p.m. for several blocks on either side of the San Pablo/University Intersection. 845-4106. www.berkeleyinternationalfoodfestival.com 

“Let’s Get Healthy” An educational presentation, diabetes and hypertension screening, resources and other information for 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at St. Joseph the Worker Church, 1640 Addison St. 540-7085. 

Health Care Forum from 2 to 4 p.m. at 1924 Cedar St. For information call 526-8419. 

Chickens and Ducks in Your Garden with chicken rancher Linnea Due who will help you decide which breeds are best for your situation, how to deal with predators, whether your chickens can free-range, and more, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at EcoHouse, 1305 Hopkins St., entrance on Peralta. Cost is $15 sliding scale, no one turned away. 548-2220 ext. 242. cohouse@ecologycenter.org  

Trails Challenge in Briones Regional Park Meet at 10 a.m. on the north side, Old Briones Rd. entrance for a 6.5 mile hike. Bring lunch, liquids, and sturdy walking shoes. 525-2233. 

“US Military Bases in Ecuador? Oil Companies in the Amazon?” A report back from Global Exchange at 6:30 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. Cost is $10-$20. 849-2568.  

50 plus Berkeley Playreading Group reads “Flirtations” by Arthur Schnitzler at 2 p.m. at 1471 Addison St., entrance in rear of 1473 building, off Sacramento. RSVP to 655-7962.  

Berkeley City Club Tour of the “Lilttle Castle” designed by Julia Morgan at 1:15, 2:15 and 3:15 p.m. at 2315 Durant Ave. 883-9710. 

Social Action Forum with Larry Bensky, formerly of KPFA, on the role of the media at 9:30 a.m. at Unitarian Universalist Church of Berkeley, One Lawson Rd., Kensington. 525-0302. 

Tibetan Buddhism with Betty Cook on “The Stupa: Symbol of Enlightenment” at 6 p.m. at the Tibetan Nyingma Institute, 1815 Highland Pl. 843-6812.  

MONDAY, JUNE 25  

Pools for Berkeley meets at 7 p.m. at the North Berkeley Senior Center, 1901 Hearst at MLK. Minutes of prior meetings and presentations available at www.poolsforberkeley.org 

Wills, Trusts and Estate Planning Workshop covering legal end-of-life decisions, elder abuse, revocable living trusts, runs for five mondays at 7 p.m. at Berkeley Adult School, 1701 San Pablo Ave. Cost is $40, pre-registration encouraged. 644-6130. 

TUESDAY, JUNE 26 

Tuesdays for the Birds Tranquil bird walks in local parklands, led by Bethany Facendini, from 7 to 9:30 a.m. Today we will visit the Eastshore State Park. Call for meeting place and if you need to borrow binoculars. 525-2233. 

Tilden Tots Join a nature adventure program for 3 and 4 year olds, each accompanied by an adult (grandparents welcome)! We’ll look for insects from 10 to 11:30 a.m. at Tilden Nature Center, Tilden Park. Cost is $6-$8. Registration required. 636-1684. 

Community Sing-a-Long every Tues, at 2 p.m. at the Albany Senior Center, 1247 Marin Ave. 524-9122.  

Family Storytime for preschoolers and up at 7 p.m. at the Kensington Library, 61 Arlington Ave. 524-3043. 

Tuesday Documentaries at 7 p.m. at the Gaia Arts Center, 2140 Dwight Way. Donation of $5 benefits the Berkeley Food and Housing Project. 665-0305. 

Berkeley PC Users Group meets at 7 p.m. at 25 Dartmouth Dr . near Claremont Hotel. Call for directions. 841-4411. 2rhs07@comcast.net 

Fresh Produce Stand at San Pablo Park from 3 to 6 p.m. in the Frances Albrier Community Center. Sponsored by the Ecology Center’s Farm Fresh Choice. 848-1704.  

Berkeley Camera Club meets at 7:30 p.m., at the Northbrae Community Church, 941 The Alameda. Share your digital images, slides and prints and learn what other photographers are doing. 548-3991. www.berkeleycameraclub.org 

St. John’s Prime Timers meets at 9:30 a.m. at St. John’s Presbyterian Church, 2727 College Ave. We offer ongoing classes in exercise and creative arts, and always welcome new members over 50. 845-6830. 

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 27 

The Unveiling of A Mural In Tribute to Maudelle Shirek from 1 to 3 p.m. at the Maudelle Shirek Building, Outside City Council Chambers, 2134 Martin Luther King Way. 

Tilden Tots Join a nature adventure program for 3 and 4 year olds, each accompanied by an adult (grandparents welcome)! We’ll look for insects from 10 to 11:30 a.m. at Tilden Nature Center, Tilden Park. Cost is $6-$8. Registration required. 636-1684. 

Walking Tour of Old Oakland around the restored 1870s business district. Meet at 10 a.m. in front of G.B. Ratto’s at 827 Washington St. Tour lasts 90 minutes. Reservations can be made by calling 238-3234. 

Green Chamber of Commerce Mixer at 5:30 p.m. at Sam’s Log Cabin, 945 San Pablo Ave., Albany. Cost is $5, members free. 219-7211. www.greenchamberofcommerce.net 

“Increasing Energy Efficiency and Renewables in our Homes and Businesses” from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. at the North Berkeley Senior Center, 1901 Hearst Ave. Sponsored by the Energy Commission. 981-7081. 

“The Threat to Civil Rights and Habeas Corpus” with Ann Fagan Ginger at the Berkeley Gray Panthers meeting at 1:30 p.m. at the North Berkeley Senior Center, 1901 Hearst. 548-9696. 

“The Global Gardener” With Bill Mollison on his film on sustainable agriculture around the world at 7:30 p.m. at Humanist Hall, 390 27th St., between Telegraph and Broadway, Oakland. Donation $5. www.HumanistHall.net 

“Berkeley-Ukraine Partnership for the Environment” A roundtable discussion on ways to address the globe’s most pressing environmental challenges at 7 p.m. at Ecology Center, 2530 San Pablo Ave. 548-2220, ext. 233. 

”Punishment Park” A pseudo-documentary about controlling mass protests set during the Vietnam War at 8 p.m. at Long Haul Infoship, 3124 Shattuck Ave. www.thelonghaul.org 

Project BUILD Kickoff Berkeley United in Literacy Development summer reading program at 11 a.m. at James Kenney Recreation Center, 1718 8th St. www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/recreation/jameskenney.html 

East Bay Traveling Travel Writers Salon at 6:30 p.m. at 515 Pomona Ave, Albany. 524-2459. 

Walk Berkeley for Seniors meets every Wednesday at 9:30 a.m. at the Sea Breeze Market, just west of the I-80 overpass. Everyone is welcome, wear comfortable shoes and a warm hat. 548-9840. 

Berkeley Peace Walk and Vigil at the Berkeley BART Station, corner of Shattuck and Center. Sing for Peace at 6:30 p.m. followed by Peace Walk at 7 p.m. www. 

geocities.com/vigil4peace/vigil 

THURSDAY, JUNE 28 

Community Workshop on East Touchdown Plaza at Aquatic Park, including bicycle and pedestrian access improvements, seating, signage and landscaping, at 7 p.m. at the North berkeley Senior Center, 1901 Hearst. 981-6715. 

Walkin’ Pride An LGBT nature walk for the whole family at 6:30 p.m. at Tilden’s Inspiration Point. Bring layered clothing and water. For information call 525-2233. 

Easy Does It Board of Directors’ Meeting at 6:30 p.m. at 1636 University Ave. 845-5513. edi@easyland.org  

“Postcards from Italia: Food, Land and Culture” and the parallels and inspiration for California farms and gardens at 7 p.m. at the Ecology Center, 2530 San Pablo Ave. 548-2220, ext. 233. 

Quit Smoking Class from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m., with optional accupuncture, at the South Berkeley Senior Center, 2939 Ellis St. For more information call 981-5330. 

Storytime for Babies and Toddlers at 10:30 a.m. at the Kensington Library, 61 Arlington Ave. 524-3043. 

Red Cross Mobile Blood Drive from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Oakland State Building, Training Room 1, 1515 Clay St., Oakland. To schedule an appointment call 622-3200. 

Free Skin Cancer Screening at Alta Bates Summit, Oakland. Appointments required. 869-8833, ext. 2. 

World of Plants Tours Thurs., Sat. and Sun. at 1:30 p.m. at the UC Botanical Garden, 200 Centennial Drive. Cost is $5. 643-2755. http://botanicalgarden.berkeley.edu 

CITY MEETINGS 

Berkeley Housing Authority meets Tues., June 26, at 6 p.m. in City Council Chambers. 981-6900.  

City Council meets Tues., June 26, at 7 p.m in City Council Chambers. 981-6900. www.ci. 

berkeley.ca.us/citycouncil 

Civic Arts Commission meets Wed., June 27, at 6:30 p.m. at the North Berkeley Senior Center. 981-7533.  

Energy Commission meets Wed., June 27, at 6:30 p.m., at the North Berkeley Senior Center. 981-5434.  

Planning Commission meets Wed., June 27 at 7 p.m., at the North Berkeley Senior Center. 981-7484.  

Police Review Commission meets Wed., June 27, at 7:30 p.m. at the North Berkeley Senior Center. 981-4950.  

Mental Health Commission meets Wed., June 28, at 5 p.m. at 2640 MLK Jr. Way, at Derby. 981-5213.  

Zoning Adjustments Board meets Thurs., June 28, at 7 p.m., in City Council Chambers. Mark Rhoades, 981-7410.

Healthy Living 

As part of an ongoing effort to print stories by East Bay residents, The Daily Planet invites readers to write about their experiences and perspectives on living healthy. Please email your essays, no more than 800 words, to firstperson@berkeleydailyplanet.com. We will publish the best essays in upcoming issues. 

East Bay Guide 

The Daily Planet invites readers to contribute to a guide for newcomers to the area. Please email your essays, no more than 800 words, describing a favorite or little known aspect of East Bay life, to firstperson@berkeleydailyplanet.com. We will publish the best essays in upcoming issues.