Controversy is mounting over a proposed use permit and an application to demolish a one-story commercial building in the historic Squires Block in North Berkeley which was submitted for review to the Berkeley Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC). -more-
UC Berkeley and a Swiss multinational must clean up thousands of truckloads of toxic-laden soil illegally buried at the Richmond site of a planned 1,330-unit housing complex, state officials ordered Friday. -more-
While UC Berkeley may have offered to downsize a planned parking structure northwest of Memorial Stadium, opposing lawyers say that’s not enough to derail the lawsuits holding up construction of a new high-tech training gym. -more-
A former Oakland Assembly-member running for outgoing State Senator Don Perata’s District 9 Senate seat says she doesn’t believe that a term limits initiative will pass next February, allowing Perata to run again. -more-
A group of South Berkeley residents won a close victory Thursday when the Zoning Adjustments Board (ZAB) voted 5-4 to reject a use permit application by Verizon Wireless and Nextel Communication for 11 cell phone antennas atop the UC Storage building at 2721 Shattuck Ave., following a second remand from the City Council in May. -more-
A discussion and visioning workshop on the future programs and design of People’s Park will be held next week by MKThink, the San Francisco-based consultants hired by UC Berkeley to develop a plan to improve the park. -more-
You can find a Sutter Hotel in many cities. Go where the last wave of redevelopment has passed through and see what’s left standing. -more-
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. -more-
An Alameda County Grand Jury report released June 26 on a controversial three-year-old automated check-out system has raised questions about the library’s ability to manage its contracts effectively. -more-
Berkeley City College President Judy Walters, who presided over the transition of the downtown community college from its longtime rental quarters to a newly-built Center Street building, has left her position to take up a similar post at Diablo Valley Community College in Pleasant Hill. -more-
Though Safeway’s plans for adding housing to its Albany grocery store on Solano Avenue proved a flop with neighbors, the Pleasanton-based grocery chain is still pursuing its plans for a makeover. -more-
At its meeting Tuesday the Berkeley City Council repealed the ordinance that prohibits the city from drug testing employees, approved a $369,000 budget, adding back some social services that had been cut and heard from both citizens and the developer’s representative on the question of a proposed commercial development at College and Ashby avenues. -more-
Ganna Dharmarajah, a former Berkeley resident whose mother still lives here, was arrested by Swedish authorities on Saturday while vacationing in Sweden. She is now being detained at a center for asylum seekers, even though she says she has never sought asylum and is not now doing so. -more-
In a letter addressed to City Manager Phil Kamlarz and emailed to Kamlarz and the press on June 20, five-plus-year transportation manager Peter Hillier tendered his resignation effective July 8. -more-
The Berkeley Board of Education met for the last time Wednesday before breaking for summer. Board members will be back Aug. 22 for the new school year. -more-
Minutes after the U.S. Supreme Court voted 5-4 Thursday to limit the consideration of race in school integration plans, Berkeley Unified School District superintendent Michele Lawrence said that she hoped Berkeley public schools would stand the test and become a model for other schools. -more-
Residents of Berkeley’s Bateman neighborhood are spending a lot of time looking over their shoulders these days. -more-
As California launches into a dry summer with wildfires raging in both northern and southern California, David Orth wonders if we’re not seeing the start of something far more ominous. -more-
The Board of Trustees of the Alameda County Medical Center approved a $460 million budget on Tuesday, rejecting requests by union members for a no layoff pledge and to set aside $5 million from increased debt payments to Alameda County to fund staff development and training to help staff transition into new positions. -more-
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