A recent wedding party at the Berkeley Rose Garden, one of the many local New Deal projects. Photograph by Gray Brechin.
A recent wedding party at the Berkeley Rose Garden, one of the many local New Deal projects. Photograph by Gray Brechin.

Page One

New Deal Legacy Remains Visible and Vibrant in East Bay

By Gray Brechin, Special to the Planet
Friday July 06, 2007

We live and move daily amidst the remains of a lost civilization that we do not see but that we cannot do without. Nor, I suspect, do those who have loathed Franklin Delano Roosevelt ever since he made good on his promise to deliver a New Deal to Americans 75 years ago want you to see them. To do so would shatter myths beloved of free market fundamentalists whose economic flimflam has—at least until they bring on the next bust—triumphed over what Roosevelt and myriads of Americans accomplished and left us. -more-



Toxic Questions Surround Two Richmond Sites

By Richard Brenneman
Friday July 06, 2007

More questions are swirling around the cleanup efforts at two adjacent contaminated sites in Richmond this week. -more-



New UC-BP Biofuel Lab Opening Set for July 2010

By Richard Brenneman
Friday July 06, 2007

BP—the multinational once known as British Petroleum—will be able to move into its new digs in Berkeley in three years, according to plans given to would-be builders. -more-



State to Return Part of OUSD to Local Control

By J. Douglas Allen-Taylor
Friday July 06, 2007

The president of the School Board for the Oakland Unified School District said late this week that State Superintendent for Public Instruction Jack O’Connell will come to Oakland next Monday to announce his decision to immediately turn over the area of “Community Relations And Governance” from state control to control by the school board. -more-



County’s First Detox Center to Open in San Leandro

By Riya Bhattacharjee
Friday July 06, 2007

Alameda County’s first detox center is scheduled to open in November in San Leandro, although Berkeley and UC Berkeley officials had pushed for a center closer to home. -more-



Features

Arrest Made in Series of Bateman/Halcyon Robberies

By Rio Bauce, Special to the Planet
Friday July 06, 2007

Residents of the Halcyon/Bateman neighborhood are breathing a bit easier since police arrested Marvin M. Johnson last week and charged him with a string of robberies targeting women walking alone during daylight hours in the neighborhood. -more-


South Berkeley Shootings Prompt Increased Patrols

By Richard Brenneman
Friday July 06, 2007

Spurred by calls from anxious South Berkeley residents, Police Chief Douglas Hambleton sent a letter to neighborhood associations promising additional patrols in the area. -more-


Architects to Present New Design of Warm Water Pool

By Riya Bhattacharjee
Friday July 06, 2007

The Warm Water Pool Task Force will deliver a progress report and hold a public hearing on the the relocation of the Berkeley High School warm water pool to the Berkeley Unified School District Milvia tennis courts at the disability commission meeting Wednesday. -more-


Berkeley Police Blotter

By Rio Bauce
Friday July 06, 2007

Robbery -more-


Public Comment

Letters to the Editor

Friday July 06, 2007

CELL PHONE TOWERS -more-


Commentary: What Don’t You Understand About Democracy?

By David Esler
Friday July 06, 2007

The administration swept aside laws it didn’t like or found inconvenient and ignored citizens’ protests as it catered to the commercial interests of its supporters. Sound familiar? No, we’re not talking about the Bush/Cheney administration but, sadly, Berkeley Mayor Tom Bates and some members of the City Council. -more-


Commentary: Accuracy in America’s Gun-Use Statistics

By Robert Clear
Friday July 06, 2007

The writers supporting guns for self-defense don’t seem to be honest, or not very good at numbers. After Richard Hourula questioned the veracity of Michael Hardesty’s claim that guns are used millions of times per year, Hardesty fell back on the claim that there are a great many documented cases of self defense over the years, and it was therefore a reasonable estimate. In short, he made up numbers to make the argument look good. Hawkins adds up violent crimes, property crimes, burglary, larceny and so on to get an estimate of 20 million crimes per year, but according to the FBI website “In the Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program, property crime includes the offenses of burglary, larceny-theft, motor vehicle theft, and arson,” so he has double counted the property crimes. However what is more important is that “The object of the theft-type offenses is the taking of money or property, but there is no force or threat of force against the victims.” There were only about a half million crimes per year where force or a threat of force was involved, and therefore where self-defense may be involved. If there are two million successful cases of self-defense then only 20 percent of the attempted violent acts were successful. It is hard to believe violent crime would be the problem that it is if its success rate was so low. Ms. Cloudwalker claims that 20 percent of homicides are concentrated in four cities with gun control, but provides no evidence that the two facts are related. A strong clue that they are not is that her numbers are old, and that by 2003 the value was about 10 percent. Washington D.C., which is one of the four, has been undergoing gentrification, and its murder rate dropped from first in the nation in 1991 at 81 per 100,000 to a much reduced but still horrible 44 in 2003, with the vast majority of the homicides occurring in those areas which have not yet been gentrified. New York has reduced its murder rate to 7.4, which is substantially below what is expected for a city of its size, its rate of poverty, unemployment, female head of household, and racial makeup. Locally one only need compare Richmond, with a murder rate of 36.7 to Berkeley, with a murder rate of 5.7, to realize that you have to account for all the variables before trying to draw conclusions about gun control and crime rates. -more-


Healthy Living: The Aging Process Beyond Four Score and Ten

By Rose Green
Friday July 06, 2007

For years my definition of a bore was “Someone, who when you ask how they are, they tell you.” It always got a laugh. However, these days the laugh’s on me. For I myself am now that quintessential Bore. When asked how I feel no longer say “Fine!” Instead, I launch into a recital of my aches and pains, completely disregarding the stifled yawns around me. I cannot believe that I’ve turned into such a person—one I don’t like at all. Never in my wildest nightmares did I think that I could bore anyone—and myself as well! -more-


Healthy Living: Lifelong Medical Care Weighs In On Michael Moore’s ‘Sicko’

By Chris Kiefer
Friday July 06, 2007

With the humor, realism, and moving imagery we’ve come to expect from Michael Moore, Sicko is exactly the medicine needed by the public debate around health care. The film has three simple messages: First, the American health care “system” is utterly broken, not just for the 40 million uninsured, but potentially for all of us. Second, this is totally unnecessary; other countries have systems that work quite well. Third, this is far more than an economic issue—the way we treat the sickest among us is a moral disgrace of staggering proportions. -more-


Editorial

Editorial: Keeping Government Out of Sight

By Becky O’Malley
Friday July 06, 2007

Curiouser and curiouser, as Alice used to say in Wonderland. The belief that government is something that should take place outside the view of the governed seems to be growing by leaps and bounds, both nationally and locally. At the national level we have Vice President and Chief Operating Officer Cheney claiming that he’s got a whole new branch of government that doesn’t have to tell anyone what they’re doing, while Nominal President Bush commutes Cheney staffer Scooter Libby’s punishment for perjuring himself before the grand jury investigating Team Cheney misdeeds. And in Berkeley we have the continuing assertion that important city policy decisions can only be made by those who have no opinions on the matters before them. -more-


Columns

Column: Dispatches From The Edge: Australia and the Pacific Wall

By Conn Hallinan
Friday July 06, 2007

Some 230 miles north of Perth, at Geraldton on Australia’s west coast, the Bush administration is building a base. When completed, it will control two geostationary satellites that feed intelligence to U.S. military forces in Asia and the Middle East. -more-


Column: Undercurrents: Putting Band-Aids on Oakland’s Crime Problem

By J. Douglas Allen-Taylor
Friday July 06, 2007

Modern-day African-Americans owe an enormous debt to the American labor movement, which helped provided funding, leadership training, and leadership itself for the African-American Freedom cause during key periods of the civil rights era. -more-


Open Home in Focus: Berkeley Architect Dakin’s Work on View at 2828 Hillegass

By Steven Finacom
Friday July 06, 2007

THE four-bedroom home at 2828 Hillegass Ave., built in 1909 in what is now Berkeley’s Willard neighborhood, is one of the notable residential works of Clarence Casebolt Dakin a little-remembered, but very intriguing, Berkeley architect. -more-


Garden Variety: The Conscience of a Conservator

By Ron Sullivan
Friday July 06, 2007

Who would have known that something as simple and harmless as buying plants for our gardens would turn out to be such a fraught moral choice? Knowledge and scruples can drive you nuts. -more-


About the House: The Amazing Simpson Universal Foundation Plate

By Matt Cantor
Friday July 06, 2007

Now, this has happened to everybody at some point. You think of this cool thing that would make something work better and then one day, you’re walking (or in my case crawling) along and lo and behold, there it is! Well I have to admit that when I saw the one that Simpson company (of our own beloved San Leandro) had come up with, I realized that the one in my mind wasn’t as good. Nevertheless, It’s still amazing when something institutional, large-scale and corporate turns out to be clever and just the right size and price. -more-


Arts Listings

Arts Calendar

Friday July 06, 2007

Moving Pictures: PFA Celebrates a Tough Old Broad’s 100th

By Justin DeFreitas
Friday July 06, 2007

The Theater: Contra Costa Civic Theatre Stages ‘Meet Me in St. Louis’

By Ken Bullock, Special to the Planet
Friday July 06, 2007

Midsummer Mozart Sneak Preview at El Cerrito Benefit

By Ira Steingroot, Special to the Planet
Friday July 06, 2007

Events Listings

Berkeley This Week

Friday July 06, 2007

Back Stories

Opinion

Editorials

Editorial: Keeping Government Out of Sight 07-06-2007

Editorial: Remembering Revolution on the 4th 07-03-2007

Public Comment

Letters to the Editor 07-06-2007

Commentary: What Don’t You Understand About Democracy? By David Esler 07-06-2007

Commentary: Accuracy in America’s Gun-Use Statistics By Robert Clear 07-06-2007

Healthy Living: The Aging Process Beyond Four Score and Ten By Rose Green 07-06-2007

Healthy Living: Lifelong Medical Care Weighs In On Michael Moore’s ‘Sicko’ By Chris Kiefer 07-06-2007

Letters to the Editor 07-03-2007

Commentary: Civilization, Terror, And Real Security By Americ Azevedo 07-03-2007

Commentary: A Better Life for Palestinians and Israelis By Tracie de Angelis Salim 07-03-2007

Commentary: The U.S. Sustain Green Exchange By Willi Paul 07-03-2007

News

New Deal Legacy Remains Visible and Vibrant in East Bay By Gray Brechin, Special to the Planet 07-06-2007

Toxic Questions Surround Two Richmond Sites By Richard Brenneman 07-06-2007

New UC-BP Biofuel Lab Opening Set for July 2010 By Richard Brenneman 07-06-2007

State to Return Part of OUSD to Local Control By J. Douglas Allen-Taylor 07-06-2007

County’s First Detox Center to Open in San Leandro By Riya Bhattacharjee 07-06-2007

Arrest Made in Series of Bateman/Halcyon Robberies By Rio Bauce, Special to the Planet 07-06-2007

South Berkeley Shootings Prompt Increased Patrols By Richard Brenneman 07-06-2007

Architects to Present New Design of Warm Water Pool By Riya Bhattacharjee 07-06-2007

Berkeley Police Blotter By Rio Bauce 07-06-2007

Landmarks Commission Considers Demolishing Squires Block Building By Riya Bhattacharjee 07-03-2007

UC Illegally Buried ‘Thousands Of Truckloads’ of Toxic Soil In Richmond, State Says By Richard Brenneman 07-03-2007

Lawyers Question UC Stadium Settlement Offer By Richard Brenneman 07-03-2007

Out-of-State Groups Fund Term-Limit Opposition By J. Douglas Allen-Taylor 07-03-2007

Zoning Board Rejects South Berkeley Cell Phone Antennas By Riya Bhattacharjee 07-03-2007

The Declaration of Independence 07-03-2007

MKThink to Hold First Community Workshop for People’s Park By Riya Bhattacharjee 07-03-2007

Columns

Column: Dispatches From The Edge: Australia and the Pacific Wall By Conn Hallinan 07-06-2007

Column: Undercurrents: Putting Band-Aids on Oakland’s Crime Problem By J. Douglas Allen-Taylor 07-06-2007

Open Home in Focus: Berkeley Architect Dakin’s Work on View at 2828 Hillegass By Steven Finacom 07-06-2007

Garden Variety: The Conscience of a Conservator By Ron Sullivan 07-06-2007

About the House: The Amazing Simpson Universal Foundation Plate By Matt Cantor 07-06-2007

Wild Neighbors: The Wrong Fox and Other Reversals of Fortune By Joe Eaton 07-03-2007

Arts & Events

Arts Calendar 07-06-2007

Moving Pictures: PFA Celebrates a Tough Old Broad’s 100th By Justin DeFreitas 07-06-2007

The Theater: Contra Costa Civic Theatre Stages ‘Meet Me in St. Louis’ By Ken Bullock, Special to the Planet 07-06-2007

Midsummer Mozart Sneak Preview at El Cerrito Benefit By Ira Steingroot, Special to the Planet 07-06-2007

Open Home in Focus: Berkeley Architect Dakin’s Work on View at 2828 Hillegass By Steven Finacom 07-06-2007

Garden Variety: The Conscience of a Conservator By Ron Sullivan 07-06-2007

About the House: The Amazing Simpson Universal Foundation Plate By Matt Cantor 07-06-2007

Berkeley This Week 07-06-2007

Arts Calendar 07-03-2007

Around the East Bay 07-03-2007

The Theater: Woman’s Will Stages ‘Romeo and Juliet’ By Ken Bullock, Special to the Planet 07-03-2007

Wild Neighbors: The Wrong Fox and Other Reversals of Fortune By Joe Eaton 07-03-2007

Berkeley This Week 07-03-2007

Open Call for Essays 07-03-2007