News

Elmwood Hardware, a fixture-selling fixture of the Berkeley scene for 84 years, will close next month for extensive remodeling, said owner Tad Laird. -more-

Angel Bertha Elzy has been waiting for a house since 1983. -more-

A new kind of battle is brewing on Telegraph Avenue. Those who are leading the fight say it is not against religion, or against freedom of speech, but they contend that some religious speech on the street is just too loud. -more-

San Pablo Park—the West Berkeley recreation center that served as a social and sports mecca for East Bay African Americans in the heavily segregated years before World War II and became the symbol of Berkeley’s legendary ethic of ethnic diversity—turns 100 this month, and local officials and residents are honoring it this Saturday with a centennial celebration. -more-

Berkeley’s oldest tree-sitter, two Panoramic Hill residents, and two Berkeley landmark commissioners—one current, one former—have joined forces to file a legal challenge to expansion plans at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL). -more-

Solemn-faced members of the Oakland Unified School District board gave fellow board member Chris Dobbins the severest possible reprimand on Wednesday night, voting 5-2 to censure him “in the strongest possible terms,” stripping him of committee assignments, and requesting his resignation for what the board called “unethical, unprofessional, and inappropriate conduct” regarding Dobbins’ contact with a 17-year-old district high school student. -more-

On Thursday, the Berkeley Fire Department (BFD) threw the 16 residents of UC Berkeley’s fraternity Kappa Sigma out of their house for violating several fire safety codes, including not replacing a dysfunctional sprinkler system. -more-

After outlining diversity and energy initiatives at his back-to-school press briefing Thursday, UC Berkeley Chancellor Robert J. Birgeneau fended off top UC Regent Richard Blum’s criticism that the UC ten-campus system suffered from a “dysfunctional set of organizational structures, processes and policies.” -more-

The Berkeley Board of Education welcomed Javetta Robinson as the school district’s new deputy superintendent-chief financial officer at their first meeting after summer break Wednesday. -more-

The key document in the battle over the role of historic buildings in shaping the public face of tomorrow’s downtown will take definitive form Monday night. -more-

Battery -more-

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-