News

San Francisco shimmers in the distance, across from mountainous Marin. Tiny cars crawl across the Bay Bridge, Berkeley’s biggest buildings are toy-sized at the foot of the hills, and on a clear, fogless day there’s sometimes a glimpse of the Farallon Islands through the Golden Gate. -more-

It’s a well-known fact that the city of Berkeley has a worldwide reputation that far outweighs its size. First to settle here were squatters along the bay’s shoreline, attracted by accessible water and farmland. Later, the University of California acted like a magnet, drawing students and staff. -more-

A few things I wish someone had told me when I moved here, and a few things I’ve learned since: -more-

It used to be called the Albany Landfill, now it’s the Albany Waterfront Park. It’s at the end of Buchanan Street just north of Golden Gate Fields. It starts with a level scrub-covered plateau across from the parking lot. From there you walk up to a narrow strip of land jutting out into the water called the Neck. This is the beginning of the Albany Waterfront Trail. -more-

Blink and you will miss it. It’s fast and furious, but not necessarily when you want it to be. And if you aren’t fast enough, it’s sure to leave you standing behind in the dust. -more-

With the consolidation of AC Transit Telegraph Avenue and International Boulevard bus lines into the 1 and the 1R earlier this summer, North Oakland and Berkeley riders are discovering a secret that has been known to East Oakland riders for years. The Van Hool 60-footers are one of the most thrilling rides in California, the $1.75 entrance price a considerable bargain against what you might pay at Great America or Magic Mountain or on the Santa Cruz Boardwalk, with the added bonus that while the amusement park rides are all pre-programmed and therefore can become boring after several repeats, you never know what to expect on the bus. -more-

The East Bay lends itself well to modes of transportation other than driving. Here is a guide to the whys and hows of biking in the East Bay, and Berkeley in particular. -more-

Oy, cheeses of frustration, cheeses of timing, -more-

If you’ve driven around California, you’ll no doubt have seen the ubiquitous signs that grace the entrance to various cities, directing you to the historic district or what’s left of it. Berkeley has no such sign—probably because it’s preserved more of its historic heritage than most cities, and because our landmarks aren’t confined to one area but can be found all over town. -more-

Welcome to the East Bay. You’re just in time for some of the area’s best weather – warm days, long shadows and gentle breezes. They make up the perfect combination to get outdoors, explore and develop a relationship with nature. -more-

We’re never too far from nature here in the East Bay. Sometimes nature builds a nest in the vine outside your window, gets in through the cat door, eats your prize roses, or settles into the crawlspace under your house. Venture a little farther away from home and you can expect less problematic encounters—lots of options for viewing spring wildflowers, watching migrant and resident birds, appreciating butterflies, or meeting newts, horned lizards, and gopher snakes. -more-

Sometimes you feel like a walk in the woods, sometimes you feel like a stroll near the coast. Whatever your pleasure, Tilden Regional Park and the Berkeley Marina form the eastern and western boundaries of the city of Berkeley. Each offers a broad range of outdoor attractions to fill an hour, an afternoon or an entire day. -more-

After the ritual stop at the Lawrence Hall of Science parking lot for the view of the bay, you might want to show your parents around your new home. -more-

Diversity is not just a lofty abstraction: it tastes great, and you can dance to it. With the exception of the wet months, the East Bay calendar is full of street fairs, music festivals, parades, and other events where you can hear everything from mariachi to taiko and sample endless variations on grilled-stuff-on-a-stick. -more-

Sooner or later, well-used cooking knives and sewing scissors get dull. I use a steel to keep my knives sharp, but eventually they need a professional to do the job. At that point, I call California Cutlery’s Mobile Sharpening Service. Based in Richmond, they come to your house or business, take your implements at the door, sharpen them in their van and bring them right back to you. -more-

I owe Herb Caen, the dearly loved and sorely missed San Francisco columnist, a debt of gratitude for having totally changed my life. To put it more precisely, it was his book published back in 1949, Baghdad-By-The-Bay that turned my life around, and all for the better. -more-

You should never lack good food in Berkeley. Although good food is often expensive (commensurate with the price of high-quality ingredients), it doesn’t have to be. Here is a list of cheap Berkeley restaurants that serve great food. -more-

One of my favorite places in the East Bay is Mountain View Cemetery at the end of Piedmont Avenue in Oakland. There you find a great expanse of open space with wide, curving streets and mature trees, beautiful landscapes, a variety of wildlife, and historical artifacts. -more-

In Calcutta I heard a 6-year-old ragamuffin call out, “Baksheesh. Baksheesh. No Mommie. No Daddee, Baksheesh. Baksheesh.” Here the Berkeley street person mumbles, “ Any spare change? Spare change?” whether on North Berkeley Shattuck Avenue or South Berkeley Shattuck, or not surprisingly, on Telegraph Avenue. -more-

Neighborhood residents bought the land for Cragmont Rock Park from the Cragmont Land Company and donated it to the City of Berkeley at purchase price. It was dedicated for park purposes in 1920. Dick Leonard, the “father of technical climbing,” formed the Cragmont Climbing Club, which was absorbed a few months later into the Sierra Club’s Rock Climbing Section. -more-

A few years ago, Michael Pollan moved here and wrote about his new garden for the New York Times Magazine. Clearly conscious of who his purported audience was (and wasn’t), he said those boilerplate things about missing fall color and spring budbreak, and that California’s seasons are “all messed up.” He also had the wit to say this: -more-

Although I’ve been a home-owner for many years, it’s not hard to remember my renting days. I lived communally, like many of us in Berkeley, and shared cooking, food shopping and the lack of attention to property care that says “I’m a renter. Painting the house is someone else’s problem!” -more-

A few of years ago the California College of Arts and Crafts (CCAC) decided to change its name to the California College of Art (CCA). While it may not have been a direct slur against craft, I took it pretty hard (I’m very sensitive). What’s wrong with craft, I thought. We craftspersons need not hang our head in shame. Ceramics are neither lowly or common. Wood working is as valid and rich as painting and weaving, well, just ask any weaver; I’ll say no more. -more-

I didn’t go up to Telegraph Tuesday to find mellow—to watch flowers bursting out in carefully tended gardens at People’s Park, to hear merchants talking happily about businesses growing or to watch the moms and dads with kids in tow join students and graying elders moving in and out of shops. -more-

The hysteria of Cody’s closing having subsided, merchants and city officials have had time to evaluate what’s caused customers to frequent Telegraph Avenue less often. Chain stores going belly up, high rents and city bureaucracy are among the problems cited. -more-

The year 2007 will go down as the year downtown Berkeley’s biggest developments passed into the hands of some of America’s biggest corporations. -more-

Mark Rhoades, Colossus of Berkeley? -more-

There will be no pitter-patter of tiny feet at St. Joseph the Worker School this fall. No giggles or hushed whispers along its long winding corridors. -more-

At first glance, the Berkeley Unified School District (BUSD) showed a point gain over last year in the 2007 Standardized Testing and Reporting (STAR) program released by State Superintendent Jack O’Connell Wednesday. -more-

A California tribunal handed an unqualified defeat this week to Ray Chamberlin and his lawsuit challenging the reconfiguration of Marin Avenue by Berkeley and Albany. -more-

A fight between community activists and real estate developers partnered with a cellular phone carrier is shaping up in Point Richmond. The point of contention is a recently installed high-power cellular phone antenna array on an apartment complex on a hilltop at 260 Water Street in Point Richmond, disguised by an orange-painted flat case which is visible from far away. -more-

UC Berkeley issued a final call for bids today (Friday) on the building designed to house the $500 million alternative fuel project funded by a British oil company. -more-

Armed with trash bags, notepads and pens, thirty teens walked the streets of Southwest Berkeley Wednesday to protest rising violence in the neighborhood and to bridge divisions within the community. -more-

The San Francisco Board of Supervisors voted to landmark three of the buildings at the UC Berkeley Extension Laguna Street Campus at the San Francisco City Hall Tuesday. -more-

With their deadline fast approaching, eight Berkeley citizen-policymakers are setting the stage for an almost certain showdown over the fate of old buildings in the new downtown. -more-

With Oakland Unified school board president David Kakishiba calling his district’s financial situation “precarious,” the newly-empowered OUSD school board issued a sharp criticism last week of the district’s fiscal condition under state receivership, directing state-appointed administrator Dr. Kimberly Statham to adopt a new five-year financial recovery plan to put OUSD’s fiscal house in order. -more-

The attorney for the man accused of murdering journalist Chauncey Bailey two weeks ago claimed today that his client is innocent and was ordered by a Your Black Muslim Bakery associate, in the presence of Oakland police, to take the fall for the shooting incident. -more-

Hatem Bazian of UC Berkeley’s Boalt Hall School of Law, Phyllis Bennis of the Institute of Policy Studies, and Sandy Tolan of UC Berkeley’s Graduate School of Journalism and author of “The Lemon Tree” will highlight a weekend conference entitled “Breaking Down the Wall of Silence: Voices We Need to Hear.” -more-

As federal budget priorities starve urban America, the outcome has been predictable: rising murder rates from Newark, New Jersey to Oakland, California, and virtually no low-income African-American or Latino neighborhood has been spared. Who is to blame for this problem? According to the media, it is the nation’s black mayors. From the New York Times castigating Mayor Booker in Newark to the San Francisco Chronicle’s absurd attack on Oakland’s Ron Dellums, the message is clear: black mayors, not the white elite in Washington D.C., are failing to serve the needs of minority communities. Where is our Martin Luther King, Jr. to speak out against such nonsense? -more-