News

Rep. Barbara Lee (D-Oakland-Berkeley) came to the Berkeley Technical Academy on Martin Luther King, Jr. Way along with a number of other public officials on Friday to announce that a group of nonprofit organizations would receive a $300,000 San Francisco Foundation grant “to promote civic unity and engagement” in West Berkeley. -more-

As Berkeley’s planning commissioners prepare for a public hearing on a plan to rezone two hunks of West Berkeley for car sales, embattled activists have questions. -more-

A residential development company founded by Los Angeles billionaire Eli Broad purchased property owned by the state-operated Vallejo City Unified School District last year, raising questions about the relationship between Broad and his urban public education Broad Foundation as well as about the sale of property of school districts taken over by the State of California. -more-

An IT worker, a former Chamber of Commerce president, an NAACP activist, an advocate for the disabled, a former librarian and a former city councilmember are among the candidates vying for the Board of Library Trustees. -more-

The Berkeley Zoning Adjustments Board (ZAB) will hear the request for a use permit to convert Walter Ratcliff’s landmark Fidelity Bank Building into a mixed use development Thursday. -more-

Peralta Community College District officials released their first comprehensive report last week on how much Measure A facilities bond money the district plans to spend on each of its four campuses, but quickly backtracked when trustees complained that the board had never authorized such an allocation plan. -more-

A 21-year-old Berkeley woman was fatally shot to death Saturday as she rode in a car heading north on Martin Luther King Jr. Way in North Oakland. -more-

A subcommittee of Berkeley’s Transportation Commission will meet with Southside residents tonight (Tuesday) to hear their concerns about Bus Rapid Transit (BRT). -more-

Applause rang out in the City Council Chambers Tuesday as dozens of people, many sporting blue “Save Berkeley Iceland” shirts, cheered the 5-4 council vote to uphold a city commission’s decision to landmark the 67-year-old structure that houses the ice skating rink at Derby and Milvia streets. -more-

After repeated public hearings before the Zoning Adjustments Board (ZAB), the 1885 University Ave. project—which promises to bring Trader Joe’s to Berkeley—won a 5-3 victory at Council Monday night. -more-

The battle over the future of downtown Berkeley’s skyline took a new twist Wednesday when a group of Downtown Area Plan Advisory Committee (DAPAC) members offered their own proposal, sparking heated outbursts and a counterproposal. -more-

The last full City Council meeting before a long summer break ended with an angry exchange between Mayor Tom Bates and Councilmember Dona Spring over what Spring says is the mayor’s habit of cutting her and others off when they speak. -more-

Despite pleas from Berkeley city officials, the UC Regents Thursday voted unanimously to approve Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory’s Long Range Development Plan (LRDP) 2025. -more-

The search for a builder to erect a $90.4 million, 140,000-square-foot, 300-office state-of-the art computing research center at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) is down to the short list. -more-

With a bill making its way through the state legislature that would take the state superintendent’s discretion out of the return to local control of the Oakland Unified School District (OUSD), the granting of limited local control in the nearby Vallejo Unified School District last week raises new questions about how objective the standards are for returning power to a school district once it has been taken over by the state. -more-

SOLANO AVENUE -more-

When I was young and newly minted and released into the world at large, I rented a room, board included, from an elderly woman. Our disparate reading matter at the breakfast table was united under the banner of the Times: the obituaries for her, the engagements for me. -more-

Community members celebrated the 20th anniversary of the Berkeley farmers market at their Tuesday location on the 1900 block of Derby Street with food, speakers and music. -more-

With rumors circulating throughout Frank Ogawa Plaza all day Tuesday that Oakland City Councilmembers were threatening to hold up votes on the Wayans brothers Army Base project to stop at least one of Mayor Ron Dellums’ proposed nominees to the Port Commission, Dellums abruptly withdrew his Port Commission nominees, and the council later unanimously approved a four-month exclusive negotiating agreement with the Wayans. -more-

Lt. Wes Hester, spokesman for the Berkeley Police Department, announced Thursday that bike cops will be out on an intermittent basis in South Berkeley as part of a plan for increased patrol in that area of the city. -more-

While staff at the new Berkeley Housing Authority says board meetings are posted on the city clerk's web site and city clerk staff thinks BHA meetings are posted on the housing authority website, a quick survey and several phone calls by the Daily Planet uncovered the fact that the meeting—scheduled for Monday, July 23 at 6 p.m. at the South Berkeley Senior Center, 2939 Ellis St.—is posted on neither. -more-

1. Where were you born and where did you grow up, and how does that affect how you regard the issues in Berkeley and in your district? -more-