Campus police guarded the fence around the oak grove Wednesday as media crews and onlookers watched the fenced-in tree sitters. Photograph by Riya Bhattacharjee.
Campus police guarded the fence around the oak grove Wednesday as media crews and onlookers watched the fenced-in tree sitters. Photograph by Riya Bhattacharjee.

Page One

UC Stadium Oak Grove Fence Prompts Violent Clash

By Riya Bhattacharjee
Friday August 31, 2007

It began with a flimsy yellow ribbon and ended with a riot, two arrests and a courtroom hearing. -more-



Judge Rules Fence Can Stay At Oak Grove

By Riya Bhattacharjee
Friday August 31, 2007

Judge Barbara Miller ruled late Thursday that the chain-link fence at the UC stadium oak grove does not violate the preliminary injunction against any alteration at the site. -more-



First-Day Jitters for Berkeley Students

By Riya Bhattacharjee
Friday August 31, 2007

The first day of the new school year went off without a hitch for Berkeley public schools Wednes-day. -more-



Oakland Schools Announce $3 Million Deficit Increase

By J. Douglas Allen-Taylor
Friday August 31, 2007

Oakland Unified School District board members were informed on Wednesday night that a $1.4 million district deficit in the adopted 2007-08 budget—which district officials had said had been whittled down from a projected $4.3 million deficit last June—was now up to $4.7 million in updated figures recently compiled by the district’s interim chief financial officer. -more-



UC to Present Agenda for City’s New Downtown Plan

By Richard Brenneman
Friday August 31, 2007

The battle lines over just how much and how high new development should rise in downtown Berkeley are growing, with UC Berkeley weighing in on the side of greater density. -more-



Features

DAPAC-Landmarks Move to Finish Downtown Report

By Riya Bhattacharjee
Friday August 31, 2007

The joint subcommitee of the Berkeley Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) and the Downtown Area Planning Advisory Commission (DAPAC) met Monday to develop a final version of the Historic Preservation and Urban Design chapter which DAPAC is scheduled to consider this fall. -more-


Oakland School Bill Passes

By J. Douglas Allen-Taylor
Friday August 31, 2007

Oakland Assemblymember Sandré Swanson’s AB45 Oakland school bill passed the Senate Appropriations Committee on a 10-7 vote on Thursday afternoon, bringing the Oakland Unified School District a step closer to possible return to full local control. -more-


Cal Bears Kick Off Football Season on Saturday

By Steven Finacom, Special to the Planet
Friday August 31, 2007

Each August, fans of many top-ranked college football teams sit down to scrutinize an all-important statistic. -more-


Public Comment

Letters to the Editor

Friday August 31, 2007

MISREPRESENTING THE FACTS -more-


Commentary: Kitchen Democracy: The Great Pretender

By Steve Martinot
Friday August 31, 2007

The question of Kitchen Democracy (KD) has emerged in an important way in Berkeley over the last few months; and we need to understand its potential impact on what we are trying to do. Kitchen Democracy is a website that purports to constitute a connection between citizens and city hall. -more-


Commentary: Berkeley’s Misplaced Planning Priorities

By Paul Glusman
Friday August 31, 2007

I am so thankful to Dan Marks of the Berkeley Planning Department for pointing out how the planners know better than the citizens what is best for everyone. It is so relaxing just to be able to leave all the decisions to the professionals. Why should we criticize them for favoring big developers when only two or three of their 100 or so taxpayer-funded staff spends time on Big Projects? Of course the rest of them are busy handing out forms like the ones I filled out when I moved my law office from one office suite to another, asking how much food I would sell on the new premises and whether I planned to sell alcoholic beverages. One always has to watch for lawyers selling alcoholic beverages to minors in law offices close to the impressionable University of California students. I had, of course, thought that the admissions standards were too strict for the university to be accepting the kind of person who would walk into a law office looking to order a gin and tonic (and as yet, none have), but our city bureaucrats know better than we do about such things, and the best thing is to let them do their jobs (while envying them their health insurance.) -more-


Editorial

Editorial: The People Are Given More Bread, Bigger Circuses

By Becky O’Malley
Friday August 31, 2007

For openers, whining (or whinging, if you’re British). I very seldom try to take a whole week off, and even then I try to fill this space via e-mail if I can. In fact, the last time I tried this, I was in Oxford when the University of California at Berkeley suckered one of its devoted alumni into letting them off the hook on the City of Berkeley’s righteous lawsuit challenging just one of the university’s several mammoth expansion schemes which are proposed over the next 20 years. Planet reporters did a good job of covering the fireworks, but it would have been fun to see them close up. -more-


Columns

Column: Dispatches from the Edge: Indonesia and the United States: A Shameful Record

By Conn Hallinan
Friday August 31, 2007

This is a tale about politics, influence, money and murder. It began more than 40 years ago with a bloodletting so massive no one quite knows how many people died. Half a million? A million? Through four decades the story has left a trail of misery and terror. Last month it claimed four peasants, one of them a 27-year-old mother. -more-


Column: Undercurrents: A Few Words on Republican Senator Larry Craig

By J. Douglas Allen-Taylor
Friday August 31, 2007

If the items on the Crooks and Liars progressive blog are a bellwether of what a good portion of the nation is thinking and talking about, then for a brief period this week, at least, the nation turned its eyes on Sen. Larry Craig of Idaho. -more-


Open House in Focus: Elmwood Townhouse in Cluster on View This Sunday

By Steven Finacom
Friday August 31, 2007

The address 2411-31 Russell St. in southeast Berkeley is a small cluster of mid-century townhouses on the edge of a fashionable neighborhood where stately brown shingle and period revival houses claim most of the curb appeal and attention. -more-


Garden Variety: More Container Planting: Material Differences

By Ron Sullivan
Friday August 31, 2007

Containers for planting are limited only by your imagination—and a few realities, what plants need. -more-


About the House: Time to Consider an On-Demand Water Heater

By Matt Cantor
Friday August 31, 2007

The Europeans have had it all over us for some decades when it comes to energy efficiency. This might have something to do with a political attitude toward wasting energy or sheer economy. In any event, our European brothers and sisters are more inclined to pinch a BTU (that a British Thermal Unit for those of you new to the energy game). -more-


Arts Listings

Arts Calendar

Friday August 31, 2007

The Theater: ‘Viaticum: The Carnal Table’ — A Theatrical Feast

By Ken Bullock, Special to the Planet
Friday August 31, 2007

Action and Exuberance on Display at SFMOMA

By Justin DeFreitas
Monday April 26, 2010 - 02:09:00 PM

Events Listings

Berkeley This Week

Friday August 31, 2007

Back Stories

Opinion

Editorials

Editorial: The People Are Given More Bread, Bigger Circuses 08-31-2007

Editorial: Celebrating the Small Changes 08-28-2007

Public Comment

Letters to the Editor 08-31-2007

Commentary: Kitchen Democracy: The Great Pretender By Steve Martinot 08-31-2007

Commentary: Berkeley’s Misplaced Planning Priorities By Paul Glusman 08-31-2007

Letters to the Editor 08-28-2007

Commentary: West Berkeley Air Quality: Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell By L A Wood 08-28-2007

Smart Growth By Steve Meyers 08-28-2007

News

UC Stadium Oak Grove Fence Prompts Violent Clash By Riya Bhattacharjee 08-31-2007

Judge Rules Fence Can Stay At Oak Grove By Riya Bhattacharjee 08-31-2007

First-Day Jitters for Berkeley Students By Riya Bhattacharjee 08-31-2007

Oakland Schools Announce $3 Million Deficit Increase By J. Douglas Allen-Taylor 08-31-2007

UC to Present Agenda for City’s New Downtown Plan By Richard Brenneman 08-31-2007

DAPAC-Landmarks Move to Finish Downtown Report By Riya Bhattacharjee 08-31-2007

Oakland School Bill Passes By J. Douglas Allen-Taylor 08-31-2007

Cal Bears Kick Off Football Season on Saturday By Steven Finacom, Special to the Planet 08-31-2007

Riot Erupts Over Fencing In of UC Oak Grove By Riya Bhattacharjee 08-28-2007

BHS Officials Hope to Quell Back-to-School Chaos By Riya Bhattacharjee 08-28-2007

Demolition Work Raises Questions in West Berkeley By Riya Bhattacharjee 08-28-2007

Verizon Sues Berkeley Over Cell Phone Towers By Riya Bhattacharjee 08-28-2007

Time Will Tell If Dobbins Can Survive School Board Censure By J. Douglas Allen-Taylor 08-28-2007

Group to Announce Results of West Berkeley Air Quality Testing By Riya Bhattacharjee 08-28-2007

Art Exhibit Stirs Controversy Among Korean Americans By Peter Schurmann, New America Media 08-28-2007

First Person: Six Years into War on Terror, TV Violence Has Skyrocketed By Margot Pepper 08-28-2007

Police Blotter By Rio Bauce 08-28-2007

Columns

Column: Dispatches from the Edge: Indonesia and the United States: A Shameful Record By Conn Hallinan 08-31-2007

Column: Undercurrents: A Few Words on Republican Senator Larry Craig By J. Douglas Allen-Taylor 08-31-2007

Open House in Focus: Elmwood Townhouse in Cluster on View This Sunday By Steven Finacom 08-31-2007

Garden Variety: More Container Planting: Material Differences By Ron Sullivan 08-31-2007

About the House: Time to Consider an On-Demand Water Heater By Matt Cantor 08-31-2007

Green Neighbors: The Survival of the Birch Beer Canoodle By Ron Sullivan 08-28-2007

Arts & Events

Arts Calendar 08-31-2007

The Theater: ‘Viaticum: The Carnal Table’ — A Theatrical Feast By Ken Bullock, Special to the Planet 08-31-2007

Action and Exuberance on Display at SFMOMA By Justin DeFreitas 04-26-2010

Open House in Focus: Elmwood Townhouse in Cluster on View This Sunday By Steven Finacom 08-31-2007

Garden Variety: More Container Planting: Material Differences By Ron Sullivan 08-31-2007

About the House: Time to Consider an On-Demand Water Heater By Matt Cantor 08-31-2007

Berkeley This Week 08-31-2007

Arts Calendar 08-28-2007

Arts and Entertainment Around the East Bay 08-28-2007

Books: Delightful Characters of Bygone Berkeley 08-28-2007

Singer Kim Nalley Wows Downtown Jazz Festival 08-28-2007

Green Neighbors: The Survival of the Birch Beer Canoodle By Ron Sullivan 08-28-2007

Berkeley This Week 08-28-2007

Correction 08-28-2007