News

Saying the university’s “compromise” plan to settle city and community lawsuits over building a new athletic facility next to the football stadium was inadequate, the City Council voted 7-1-1 in closed session Tuesday to turn down a settlement offer and move ahead to trial. -more-

Michele Lawrence’s golf clubs ride along with her in the back of her silver 2004 Volkswagen station wagon wherever she goes. -more-

The Planning Commission on Wednesday voted to drastically scale back a proposal to rezone parts of West Berkeley to allow car dealerships, appeasing critics who said the plan would displace recycling and building businesses by raising property values in the rezoned areas. -more-

A few Southwest Berkeley residents concerned about a proposed Community Benefits District (CBD)—an area where property owners will be taxed for particular services—called a meeting at the end of August to ask their neighbors what they think of the plan. -more-

Pedestrian pathways, high towers and hotels dominated the Downtown Area Plan Advisory Committee (DAPAC) meeting Tuesday as landscape architects, urban planners and UC Berkeley officials fielded questions from city commissioners and community members about their vision for a better downtown. -more-

Parimal “Perry” Patel of Palo Alto-based BPR Properties told DAPAC Monday about a plan to renovate the Shattuck Hotel and expand the building to house 320 rooms, part of which involves the construction of a new tower at the rear end of the historic building. -more-

Christopher Hollis smiled and laughed in court today as prosecutors added another charge in a case in which he faces the prospect of spending the rest of his life in state prison on charges that he murdered his close friend Meleia Willis-Starbuck in Berkeley two years ago. -more-

Officials of Children’s Hospital an-nounced plans this week to rebuild their aging hospital facility in Oakland, but whether the hospital will actually be built inside the city limits, and whether the announcement will settle the hospital’s dispute with the Alameda County Board of Supervisors over a proposed property tax increase ballot initiative, remains to be seen. -more-

Business for Better Government, the Berkeley Chamber of Commerce Political Action Committee, should file its campaign disclosure forms in Berkeley and not with Alameda County as it has done since 2002, an Aug. 15 letter from the state Fair Political Practices Commission says. -more-

Two major pieces of Berkeley property have changed hands, the Hotel Durant at 2600 Durant Ave. and the Berkeley Tower, a seven-story office building at 2015 Shattuck Ave. -more-

Berkeley High senior Rio Bauce was sworn in by Alameda County Superior Court Judge John True as the new student school board representative Wednesday. -more-

A spokesperson for the proposed Wayans Brothers Oakland Army Base project says that despite the impression being given in some local media outlets, the Wayans Brothers are “absolutely committed to Oakland” and their Army Base proposal is not dead but is only being modified. -more-

When the UC Berkeley vs. Tennessee football game concluded Saturday and 72,500 fans poured out of Memorial Stadium, John Brandt of Davis found himself in what he called a “dangerous situation,” with gates on the west side of Memorial Stadium off-limits. -more-

Berkeley High School football practice was noisy and chaotic. The field was shared with the woman’s field hockey team, a jogger circling the perimeter and random groups of children throwing footballs. -more-

By Steven Finacom -more-

The city will pursue its lawsuit against the University of California. -more-

A closed-door Berkeley City Council session set for 5 p.m. today (Tuesday) could freeze the public out of the process and result in a deficient compromise settlement of the December 2006 City of Berkeley v. University of California lawsuit, Councilmembers Dona Spring and Kriss Worthington say. -more-

It was a decidedly mixed message for Oakland and Berkeley schools in the heavily anticipated Academic Performance Index scores released by the California Department of Education at mid-day Friday, with BUSD schools dropping 5 points overall (752 to 747) from 2006 to 2007, and OUSD schools gaining 7 points (651 to 658). -more-

Six new out-of-district students will be able to transfer to the Berkeley public schools this school year since the Alameda County Board of Education overturned the Berkeley Unified School District’s (BUSD) decision to deny them the transfers. -more-

Berkeley Rent Board Member Chris Kavanagh should “step down immediately” if he is not a legal resident of Berkeley, said a statement issued Friday by the Berkeley Green Party. -more-

For nearly six years after he got out of prison in 2000, 40-year-old Ernie Johnson kept coming up empty whenever he applied for a job. Even as he checked the “yes” box on job application forms that asked whether he had ever been convicted of a felony, he knew his chance of landing a job was slim to none. -more-

Volunteer extraordinaire John Stansfield passed away on Aug. 18 at the age of 79 from complications of pneumonia. He was the man to whom visitors and reporters alike would turn for answers at the Berkeley History Center. His enthusiasm about Berkeley’s history was absolutely contagious. -more-

Molly Fraker will join the Berkeley Public Education Foundation today (Tuesday) as its new executive director. -more-

The Berkeley Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) will meet Thursday at a new time and with a new secretary. -more-

With support from two key East Bay representatives, State Senate President Don Perata’s SB67 sideshow 30-day car confiscation legislation easily passed the state assembly on a 74-0 vote last week. -more-