News

Superior Court Judge Richard Keller Wednesday denied UC Berkeley’s request for a court order ending the tree-sit at Memorial Stadium. -more-

Merci is a word that’s thrown around quite a bit at Ecole Bilingue, East Bay’s oldest bilingual school, and it’s not just because its 500-odd students have a lot to thank their teachers for. -more-

Stephen Barton, the former housing director who resigned under pressure from the city manager, will be honored tonight (Tuesday) by the City Council. -more-

If the City Council approves a $396,000 grant on tonight’s (Tuesday) council agenda, someone could come knocking at your door, if you live near Telegraph Avenue or San Pablo Avenue, offering detailed information on public transportation services in your neighborhood and even giving you free BART or bus passes to encourage you to try out the services. -more-

The Berkeley Community Energy Services Corporation is under investigation and its executive director, Nancy Hoeffer, has been terminated. -more-

Negotiations between the Alameda-Contra Costa Transit District and Amalgamated Transit Union Local 192 on a two-year contract that expired last June have been extended on a month-to-month basis. -more-

Terry Blount was introduced as the new secretary of the Berkeley Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) when the board met Thursday. -more-

At around 3:45 p.m. Monday, a Berkeley High student was arrested for attempting to use a knife on a security guard at the school. -more-

Hazardous metals and chemicals at UC Berkeley’s Richmond Field Station pose potential threats to the health of children who play in its marshland and workers who dig in its soil, state scientists have concluded. -more-

City crews have sealed off part of the main meeting and dining room at the North Berkeley Senior Center while they remove mold from a small portion of the facility, City Manager Phil Kamlarz said Monday. -more-

One of America’s richest foundations has promised $113 million to UC Berkeley to endow faculty chairs and recruit top graduate students. -more-

The Blue Ribbon Commission established by Oakland City Council last year to report on Oakland housing issues is recommending that council adopt an inclusionary housing ordinance targeted to households with incomes at or below 100 percent of area median income. -more-

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-