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Making their political point musically outside Saturday’s meeting on the Public Commons for Everyone Initiative (left to right), Jeffrey Carter, Pat Mullen, Carol Denney and Hali Hammer croon, “Brother, Can You Spare a Dime.” Photograph by Judith Scherr.
Making their political point musically outside Saturday’s meeting on the Public Commons for Everyone Initiative (left to right), Jeffrey Carter, Pat Mullen, Carol Denney and Hali Hammer croon, “Brother, Can You Spare a Dime.” Photograph by Judith Scherr.
 

News

Flash: Kavanagh Steps Down

By Judith Scherr
Tuesday October 02, 2007

Accused by the Alameda County District Attorney’s Office of lying about where he lives in order to maintain his seat on the Berkeley Rent Stabilization Board, Rent Board Member Chris Kavanagh stepped down temporarily from his post, while he battles the question in court. 

“He’s voluntarily stepping down,” Rent Board Executive Director Jay Kelekian told the Daily Planet on Tuesday. Kelekian said he had encouraged Kavanagh to do so on a temporary basis. 

In a letter addressed to Rent Board Chair Jesse Arreguin, Kavanagh said that continuing to sit on the board had become “a distraction to the board and to the program and risk[s] impacting the critical work and mission of the Rent Stabilization Board.”  

Kavanagh asked for the leave between Oct. 2 and the end of the year. “I will return to the board if the charges are resolved before the end of the year,” Kavanagh wrote in the letter, further asking for his $500 stipend to be held in escrow. 

Grand theft was among the specific charges leveled by the district attorney, charging Kavanagh with illegally accepting the stipend and benefits accorded by the city.  

Other charges, all felonies, include registering to vote where he is not eligible; voting where he is not eligible to vote; filing false nominating papers and perjury. 

“I continue to believe that when all the facts are presented that I will be cleared of the charges and allowed to continue representing the citizens of Berkeley….,” Kavanagh wrote. 

Kavanagh is scheduled to return to Alameda County Superior Court Oct. 26 to have a preliminary hearing date set.


Community Says Yes to Public Bathrooms for Everyone

By Judith Scherr
Tuesday October 02, 2007

Most everyone attending Saturday’s forum on Mayor Tom Bates’ Public Commons for Everyone Initiative agreed on one part of the proposal: Berkeley needs more public toilets for everyone. 

Attended by more than 70 people, including advocates for the homeless and mentally ill, city commissioners, Gray Panthers, city staff, Chamber of Commerce officials and merchant association representatives—and welcomed as they entered the North Berkeley Senior Center by an ad hoc group singing “Brother, Can You Spare a Dime”—participants were clearly divided around the other elements proposed in the initiative. 

The proposal is designed to improve the experience of shoppers in the city’s commercial districts through a combination of laws and services aimed at people whose behavior on the street is considered problematic.  

The behavior targeted includes lying on sidewalks, urinating in public, tying dogs to parking meters, possessing unauthorized shopping carts and more.  

Proposed laws aimed at these behaviors include eliminating warnings to people lying on sidewalks before ticketing them, enforcing existing laws prohibiting such acts as parking bikes at parking meters and unauthorized possession of milk crates, and making urination or defecation in public an infraction, more easily prosecuted than a misdemeanor.  

Proposed services to curb the unacceptable behaviors include increased availability of public bathrooms, funded by a hike in parking meter fees and increased supportive housing, using existing low-income housing and mental health funds. (Please see sidebar.) 

In June, the City Council approved a broad outline for the initiative, which city staff is now taking to various city commissions and to the community for comment. Saturday’s meeting was part of the process to get feedback, according to Lauren Lempert, a $50,000, six-month contract city employee charged with consolidating the loosely worded plan into a set of laws and proposals for services.  

Credited with authoring the proposal, Bates was out of the country on Saturday. Instead, Councilmember Kriss Worthington, acting mayor while Bates is away, spoke briefly, encouraging “positive solutions to help the poor and homeless.” 

 

Anti-panhandling added 

A number of those who have followed the PCEI process expressed surprise that city staff had added panhandling to the array of behaviors that would be targeted. Panhandling was not specified as a targeted activity in the June 12 council proposal. 

Gray Panther Avis Worthington addressed the community, questioning whether aggressive panhandling is a problem in Berkeley. “I have never been aggressively panhandled,” she said. “The only person who ever hassled me on the street was a jock.” 

Similarly, Pat Mullen, recently retired after 25 years working at the central public library, said she has never been panhandled aggressively downtown. “We have all the protective laws we need already on the books,” she said, adding that city funds should be spent on food and shelter for people who need it, rather than jailing people. 

This view wasn’t unanimous, however. Pointing out that he is a 6’ 5” inch male, Willard Park area resident John Caner shared another perspective: “Walking down Telegraph, I still feel uncomfortable [when panhandled],” he said. 

 

Lying on sidewalks 

Among the most controversial of the proposals is the rewording of an existing ordinance to eliminate warnings police now are required to give before citing people lying on the sidewalk.  

“It has to do with access,” Lempert said. “People need access to the sidewalk.” 

Diana Hembree, a north hills resident, said the reason some people lie down on sidewalks during the day is the danger of the streets at night for people without homes. “Some people walk all night and sleep during the day,” she said. 

A number of people who spoke against the punitive aspects of the ordinance said the concern should be limited to keeping space available on the sidewalk for people walking and using wheelchairs.  

Peace and Justice Commissioner Phoebe Anne Sorgen argued that the laws on the books that include warnings are adequate to keep the sidewalks clear,  

Speaking for the Telegraph Avenue Business Improvement District, Roland Peterson shared a different view. “I ask that you eliminate all warnings. That’s the way the laws are,” he said. “I can’t drive a car at 50 miles an hour on University Avenue, on Telegraph or Shattuck and expect the police to give me a warning. I’m a threat to the safety and well-being of the community. I would say the same thing about any law that’s passed. Do not give warnings.” 

Caner also shared his perspective on lying on the sidewalk and added a “no-sitting” element to it. “Telegraph Avenue needs special treatment. We should address lying and sitting on Telegraph,” he said. (On June 12 the council voted in to delay consideration of an ordinance against prolonged sitting on the sidewalk in favor of assessing the impact of other laws on street behavior.) 

 

Right to poop 

The various factions in the room appeared unified around the question of public bathrooms—more are needed and they should remain open night and day, people said. Moms with young children and adults with bladder problems as well as advocates for the homeless spoke up about the need. 

“We do have a visitor restroom program if you look like me and you desperately need to use a restroom. If you look like me, you can go into a store and they’ll let you use the restroom,” said Judy Nakadegawa, underscoring that commercial restrooms are available to a select group of people. Moreover, maintaining public bathroom facilities would create needed jobs, Nakadegawa said. 

Lempert said the city is exploring extending hours at public restrooms and subsidizing businesses along Telegraph Avenue to open their restrooms to the public.  

She also said she is investigating Seattle’s automated self-cleaning public toilets.  

However, according to a Sept. 15 Seattle Times story by Linda Shen, headlined “Were high-tech toilets worth $6.6 million?”, these toilets have been a disappointment. 

The article cites a report comparing “the $360-per-toilet, per-day cost to lease and maintain them [to] the $16 a day it costs to operate a humble port-a-potty.” The article goes on to say that that the self-cleaning floor was turned off two years ago. “ Dirt tracked in from outside turned into mud, and the most innocent piece of paper in the unit turned to sludge….” A photo accompanying the story shows someone attempting to pry open the stuck mechanical doors. 

While one may have anticipated opposition in the business community to raising meter fees, no one spoke up against it. Downtown Business Association Executive Director Deborah Badhia told the Planet last week that the fee hike was acceptable to her organization. 

The increase of 25-to-50 cents per hour will bring in new city earnings of $1–$2 million.  

The proposed ordinance would change the prohibition against public urination/defecation from a misdemeanor to an infraction, which city officials say will increase the number of citations given. The council specified in its June 12 vote that it would not change the law until adequate public bathrooms were in place. 

Lempert suggested other areas where increased parking meter money could be spent, including reinstating the Quarter Meal program at Trinity Church (among the cutbacks in the 2007-2008 budget), expanding the youth shelter program, which is open only during winter months, and developing peer outreach programs. 

 

Selective enforcement 

While Lempert stated several times that the law would not be selectively enforced, Zachary Running Wolf pointed out that there is now no way Berkeleyans can hold individual officers accountable for their actions when it appears selective enforcement has taken place. 

Following a California Supreme Court decision and a Berkeley Police Association lawsuit, the city is no longer holding police complaint hearings.  

 

Other ideas 

Terry Kalahar, who works with homeless people through the city’s Health and Human Services Department, suggested a way to get people more services without costing the city more money. New hires—psychiatrists, social workers, case managers, peer support personnel—need to agree to work swing shifts if they are hired, he said.  

“Berkeley Mental Health services shut down at 5 p.m.,” he said. “Put [workers] out on the street where people are.” 

One participant suggested the city create an auto park for homeless persons. Another said the city should not approve new restaurants without their bathroom facilities being open to the public. Someone said the city should open up senior centers for the homeless at night, including the bathrooms.  

Hire people to escort those intimidated by the sight of poor people, suggested Commissioner Sorgen, calling such persons “paid public commons guardians.” 

If the idea is to get more people downtown, “the city should stop the fear-mongering,” said Bonnie Hughes, noting that she’s been putting on events in downtown Berkeley for 17 years and has never been afraid of people on the street. 

Noting that the Downtown Berkeley Association represents 900 businesses, Deborah Badhia underscored DBA support for the initiative, including “places to sit and restrooms.” 

Badhia added, “We respect the city for putting together a package of services to try to find the linkages between agencies to make our streets a safer place. We do get complaints from our business owners.”  

While all the proposals remain simply suggestions at this point, Osha Neumann, an attorney who works with many poor and homeless individuals, said that as a result of the June 12 council recommendations, “Police took their marching orders and they have been enforcing, not only ‘strict enforcement’ of laws, but laws that don’t exist. They believe they got their marching orders from council to clear people out of town. They tell people on Telegraph Avenue they can’t sit, they can’t lie.”  

 

Further discussions on the initiative will take place 7 p.m., Oct. 4 at the Housing Advisory Commission, South Berkeley Senior Center, 2939 Ellis St., and at 6:30 p.m., Oct. 11 at the Community Health Commission, at the North Berkeley Senior Center, 1901 Hearst Ave. The City Council will address the proposal Nov. 20. 

 

Public Commons for Everyone Initiative Explained 

 

On June 12 the City Council approved elements of the Public Commons for Everyone Initiative (PCEI) for discussion purposes. They include: 

• Expand prohibitions against smoking in commercial zones. 

• Install signage with directions to public bathrooms.  

• Draft language for an ordinance citing public urination and defecation as an infraction and refer the draft to the Police Review Commission; delay implementation of the ordinance until there is an increase in the number of public toilets and the hours existing public toilets are open. 

• Plan for new public seating and for commercial area economic development; plan how to discourage people from giving money to people on the streets by having them redirect donations to nonprofits. 

• Expand supportive housing opportunities linking the city’s Housing Trust Fund (for affordable and low-income housing) with funding for mental health services; refer this to the Housing Advisory Commission. 

• Solicit feedback and proposals from the Mental Health, Homeless, Community Health, Police Review, Housing Advisory, and the Human Welfare and Community Action commissions and “key community stakeholders” for consideration by the council. 

• Compile information on the number of citations issued, prosecuted and convicted on quality-of-life citations currently happening in Berkeley, as well as adjoining jurisdictions. 

• Delay consideration of any ordinance banning sitting on the sidewalk for one year until the results of other recommendations are evaluated. 

• Implement community-involved policing features such as increasing police beat walking and communication with businesses, residents and the whole community and implementation of a dedicated cell phone or pager when feasible. 

• Write a plan (and take it to the Police Review Commission) to adhere to and enforce existing local and state laws pertaining to street behavior including: 

- Removal of dog feces. 

- Hitching animals to fixed objects. 

- Littering. 

- Lying on the sidewalk. 

- Public consumption of alcohol. 

- Yelling and shouting. 

- Obstructing or restricting use of the sidewalk. 

- Bicycle license and registration required. 

- Riding a bicycle on the sidewalk. 

- Parking a bicycle against a window or on a parking meter. 

- Unauthorized possession of a shopping cart, recycling container or milk crate.  

• Increase the number of parking meters and parking meter fees to generate income for PCEI and allied programs. The action was amended to include directions to staff to explore new ways to raise revenue in addition to parking meters.  

• Hire a six-month full-time employee [this has been done] and ask the city manager to draft program plans for diversion, street outreach teams, and community policing with input from the relevant commissions. 


Judge Hands Legal Setback To Campus Tree-Sitters

By Richard Brenneman and By Riya Bhattacharjee
Tuesday October 02, 2007

Berkeley’s Memorial Stadium oak grove tree-sitters, who first took to the branches last Dec. 2 on Big Game morning, seemed at first to have suffered a legal setback on Monday afternoon when a Fremont judge issued a preliminary injunction. 

But just what the ruling means for the protesters remained in some doubt by this newspaper’s deadline.  

Alameda County Superior Court Judge Richard Keller issued a preliminary injunction that bars only tree-sitter David Galloway from occupying a perch in the grove. 

Asked what effect this may have on his clients, attorney Dennis Cunningham, who represents the tree-sitters, said “It remains to be seen. The only client of mine named [in the injunction] has decamped from the trees. He is subject to the order but not in violation of the order. All my clients have not been brought before the court, so it’s up to the university to make the next move.” 

UC Berkeley Police Capt. Mitch Celaya told the Planet following the ruling Monday that his department was not going to take any action against the tree-sitters that day. 

Galloway, 36, said that the judge had issued an injunction against him because he’d taken a propane stove up in the trees which had raised safety concerns. 

“The injunction against me says I can’t go in the trees, hang any banners or participate in any activities,” he told the Planet from outside the boundaries of the oak grove fence. 

“I have decided not to go up there because of the injunction and because of the injury in my arm,” he said. 

He added that the injury had occurred when the police had chased him up the trees when he was playing a drum inside the grove. 

“I don’t think a stove in the trees is any more dangerous than a stove in the house,” said Loretta, an on-ground support. 

“We usually send fresh food up there. The stove was used as a last resort.” 

Galloway added that the stove had been brought down from the trees a week ago. 

Judge Keller rejected extending the order to a second named defendant, Colin Schehl, because he hadn’t been legally served. The judge also declined to bar “DOES 1 through 50, inclusive”—which would have given the university blanket authority to act against unnamed individuals. 

“They still have the same authority they had before to arrest people for trespass and illegal lodging,” said Doug Buckwald, one of the many supporters of the ongoing protest. 

The judge did say he agreed with the contention of university officials that the protest poses a threat to public health and safety. 

His order barred Galloway from occupying any trees on university property or maintaining a platform, hammock, sleeping equipment, ropes or fire in the branches. 

During a Sept. 12 hearing, Keller had refused the university’s request, stating that he hadn’t heard enough evidence to convince him to grant the motion. His ruling Monday was narrow enough to give some satisfaction to protest supporters. 

But Zachary Running Wolf, the Native American who led off the tree-sit by ascending a redwood in the grove at the start of the protest, said he was afraid that the university will use the ruling to take harsh action against his fellow activists. 

“I’m afraid that they’re going after our ground support,” he said. But Buckwald said the judge’s order specifically excluded supporters. 

The trees became the center of national attention Jan. 23, the day after three venerable women ascended a ladder to stage their own symbolic tree-sit. 

It was on the 23rd that a dramatic photo of platform-perching Save the Bay co-founder Sylvia McLaughlin, Berkeley City Councilmember Betty Olds and former Mayor Shirley Dean—accounting among themselves for 245 years of political acumen—graced the news pages of the New York Times. 

The same venerable trio also appeared in Judge Keller’s court for the first day of session last month, along with Running Wolf. 

Dozens of arrests have occurred at the site, including at least two which led to the deportations of protesters who were foreign nationals. 

Meanwhile, the battle over the grove is continuing this morning, Tuesday, in another forum, the Hayward courtroom of Judge Barbara Miller, where challenges from several plaintiffs are confronting the legality of a collection of projects the university plans at and near the stadium. 

One is the four-story semi-subterranean gym and office complex the university wants to build where the grove now stands. 

The tree-sitters said they planned to be on their best behavior when Judge Miller comes to visit them on Thursday. 

“There’s definitely a kind of uneasy peace right now,” said Loretta. “It depends on the mood of the day. But I am glad the injunction wasn’t targeted against everybody. So it was a good day.”


Campus T.A. Strike Averted; Alta Bates Nurse Action Near

By Richard Brenneman
Tuesday October 02, 2007

Last week, essential workers at two of Berkeley’s largest institutions said they were headed toward walkouts. By Monday afternoon, one strike threat had ended but the other was moving forward. 

Registered nurses at 13 Sutter hospitals, including the Alta Bates Summit Medical Center campuses in Oakland and Berkeley, are still planning a two-day strike for Oct. 10 and 11. 

But teaching assistants at UC Berkeley and the other University of California campuses won a new contract Monday—pending ratification by the full membership of United Auto Workers Local 2865. 

“We feel very good,” said Daraka Larimore-Hall, head of UC Santa Barbara’s bargaining unit who has been in Oakland for marathon bargaining talks that began Wednesday. 

“We are very happy to recommend ratification to our membership,” he said, though declining to offer details of the new accord. 

In addition to pay, negotiations focused on long waits for child care openings, health benefits and fee remissions and a demand for equal treatment of summer session with other terms of the school year. 

Though the current contract expired at midnight Sunday, the union’s bargaining committee extended the pact on an hour-by-hour basis until the bargaining committee voted for acceptance at 9 a.m. 

“We have a full contract with a two-year term,” said Larimore-Hall. “We’ll be presenting it to the membership and we expect ratification in a week to 10 days.” 

The union represents 6,615 members, including teaching assistants, tutors and readers who voted to affiliate with the UAW in 1999 after would-be members demonstrated their potential clout in a strike called during finals week the previous December. 

Local 2865 is now the largest university student union in the country. 

In an instance of perhaps unintentional irony, the main UC Berkeley web page featured a link Monday afternoon entitled “Asking the boss for a raise: A matter of moods.” 

 

Nurses at impasse 

While one strike threat has ended—at least for now—the threat of a major hospital strike, albeit a brief one, looms large. 

In addition to the 13 Sutter hospitals, two hospitals from another chain north of Sacramento are also on walkout list, said Charles Idelson, spokesperson for the California Nurses Association (CNA). 

Another non-Sutter hospital had been slated for the labor action until the end of last week—Oakland’s Children’s Hospital & Research Center—“but they are no longer on the list because there was important progress made during bargaining Friday,” said Idelson. 

CNA officials gave Sutter their 10-day notice that same day, paving the way for what could be another hard-fought confrontation, given the past history of the union and the Sacramento-based health care consortium. 

Three years ago, Sutter locked out its nurses after a one-day walkout—keeping them out an additional four days, their places filled by temporary hires recruited well before the walkout began. 

Often-rancorous bargaining sessions followed, complicated by antagonisms generated by the lock-out. 

Idelson said relations aren’t any better now. “They’ve said they’ve made their last, best and final offer and have no interest in negotiating further,” said the union official. 

The last time around, the CNA was joined in its walkout with Licensed Vocational Nurses and other workers from United Healthcare Workers—West. Asked if that union would join in the action, Idelson referred a reporter to that union. 

Calls to representatives of the second union were not returned by Monday’s deadline. Carolyn Kemp, the spokesperson for Berkeley’s Alta Bates Summit campus also did not respond.  

Efren Garza, a charge nurse at the Herrick Hospital campus in Berkeley, said pay isn’t an issue in current negotiations. “Right now, we’re focused on safe staffing ratios, retiree benefits and pensions,” he said. 

One key concern is to have a dedicated nurse assigned to patient admissions and transfers so that nurses assigned to patients needing acute and critical care don’t have to divert their time from patient care.


Dellums Endorses Clinton for President at Laney College Rally

By J. Douglas Allen-Taylor
Tuesday October 02, 2007

U.S. Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton won the running battle she held over the weekend for the attention of the Oakland electorate with her Democratic Presidential rival, Senator Barack Obama, announcing the endorsement of Oakland Mayor Ron Dellums during a hastily convened Monday afternoon appearance at Laney College.  

Clinton also announced that Dellums has agreed to serve as the national chair of her Urban Policy Committee.  

The intense jockeying by the two top-polling Democratic candidates showed the importance they give to Oakland’s multi-ethnic, mostly Democratic electorate in next February’s California Democratic primary. 

Obama had originally scheduled the opening of his downtown Oakland campaign headquarters for Monday, but moved the event to Sunday morning in the hopes of upstaging a Clinton downtown Oakland speech and rally held Sunday afternoon. 

But on Monday, Clinton stood next to Dellums in an upstairs assembly room above the Laney College Student Center in front of a crowd of about a hundred people to hear the Oakland mayor announce that after carefully studying the platforms and speeches of all of the candidates, he decided to back Clinton “because of substance, not symbolism. She has spoken brilliantly and powerfully to the issues that are of importance to Oakland and all of urban America: crime and violence, affordable housing, global warming, and universal access to health care.”  

The substance-not-symbolism remark by Dellums appeared to be a not-so-veiled reference to speculation that the African-American mayor might be persuaded to endorse Obama solely because the Illinois senator is the first African-American candidate in United States history to have a serious chance of winning a major political party’s nomination. 

Dellums also said that Clinton has embraced the recommendations of last year’s report by the Dellums Commission on the crisis among American’s young men of color. The commission, chaired by Dellums, was organized by the Health Policy Institute (HPI) of the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies. 

Dellums said he believes that as president, Clinton will attack the problems of racial inequality in health care and education, and “too many people of color in our prisons,” adding a quote from the senator in which she said that “to continue down this path is unacceptable, intolerable, and un-American.” 

During her half-hour speech following Dellums’ remarks, Clinton praised the mayor, saying that as an ex-Marine who was at the forefront of the Congressional battles of the 1970s to end the war in Vietnam, “no one ever questioned his patriotism or his support for the troops.” Referring to current attempts to end the war in Iraq in which war opponents have been branded as unpatriotic, Clinton added that “American patriotism combined with speaking out against the war are needed now, more than ever. As president, I am going to draw upon Ron’s wisdom and experience in this area to end the war in Iraq.” 

Clinton said that she was tired of hearing people say “we can’t end global warming, we can’t end the problems of crime and violence in this country, we can’t provide universal health care.” Saying that the late African-American author James Baldwin had once remarked, at the height of the civil rights movement, that “those who say it can’t be done are usually interrupted by those who are busy doing it.” Clinton said “I believe it’s time we begin saying ‘yes, we can,’ and get about showing the world that we will.” 

Both Dellums’ and Clinton’s speeches were well received by the audience, a mixture of college officials and staff members, mayoral staff members, and local politicians, with applause and shouts of encouragement interrupting both speakers several times. But the event was not without controversy. Although a large number of students crowded in front of the student center seeking a chance to get a glimpse of Clinton, only a handful of them were allowed inside and upstairs to the assembly, and those that did were forced to stand along the railing at the side of the meeting room while the dignitaries and staff members took the seats. 

That seemed at odds with Laney President Frank Chong’s opening remarks that said the students were present because Clinton “wanted everyone to have the opportunity to hear her remarks.” 

Reginald James, a student of both Laney and College of Alameda and one of two student members of the Peralta College District Board of Trustees, said in an interview that he “didn’t like” the fact that the students were either left outside or relegated to the sidelines. “Why have the event on campus if you are not going to include the students?” he asked, adding that there were other, larger venues available on the campus that could have accommodated a larger crowd. 

Laney College and Clinton campaign officials were not available following the event to talk about who had made the decision on the accommodations. 


Nicole Sawaya Named National Director for KPFA

By Judith Scherr
Tuesday October 02, 2007

Fired in 1999 when, as KPFA’s general manager, she stood up to national Pacifica management, Nicole Sawaya will take the position of the boss she battled in the bloody KPFA vs. the Pacifica Foundation Board fight.  

Sawaya, who has worked for 13 years in noncommercial radio, was named Pacifica executive director on Saturday. She begins work part time on Nov. 12 and full time Dec. 5. 

“She has the combination of skills it takes—radio, political and broadcast skills,” Oakland attorney Dan Siegel told the Planet. Siegel is counsel for Pacifica and interim Pacifica executive director until Sawaya comes on board. 

The Pacifica Foundation holds the license to five listener-sponsored radio stations across the country, including Berkeley’s KPFA. Other stations are in New York, Houston, Los Angeles and Washington, D.C. 

When the news came to KPFA, “The station went into a huge festive mode,” Lemlem Rijio, acting KPFA director, told the Planet. “She’s someone who understands and is deeply committed to the mission of Pacifica and can actualize it.” 

Sawaya has been station manager at KZYX in Philo, Calif., KPFA and KALW in San Francisco. She has a five-year contract with Pacifica, advertised with a salary scale starting at $80,000 per year.  

Rijio said Sawaya would bring stability to the station. Greg Guma, executive director since early 2006, had told the board that he considered his tenure a transitional one, Siegel said. Guma turned in a letter of resignation several months ago; his last day was Sept. 28. He was not immediately available for comment. 

The non-renewal of Sawaya’s contract in 1999 heated up the crisis at KPFA, a station already in revolt against Pacifica’s heavy-handed management. 

In his book, Easy Listening: Pacifica Radio’s Civil War, historian Matthew Lasar tells of Sawaya’s fight with management over the budget which some believe led to Pacifica’s non-renewal of her contract in March 1999.  

“During a 1998 national board meeting, she outraged the national office and much of the governing board by suggesting that if station budget cuts were necessary, KPFA could tighten its belt by reducing its annual tithe to the Pacifica national office…,” Lasar wrote.  

Lasar said Sawaya wasn’t like the managers before her. “Sawaya seemed to enjoy KPFA for what it was at least as much as what it could be turned into. For that she won the staff’s undying gratitude,” Lasar wrote. 

Retired KPFA programmer Larry Bensky was among those who refused Pacifica management’s gag order at the time and denounced Sawaya’s firing over the air waves, which led to his firing. (He was hired back soon thereafter.) 

In a phone interview Monday, Bensky recalled that Sawaya had been part of a “very exciting era” at the station, where collaboration within the station and between stations was in motion. 

“I think she’ll have a much more difficult job now,” he said, noting that collaboration among the stations on national programming is “almost nonexistent,” with the only two nationally broadcast programs—Democracy Now! and Free Speech Radio News—originating outside of Pacifica. 

With the nation in pre-presidential mode, national broadcasting “is one of the things I hope she’ll focus on,” Bensky said. 

Siegel praised Sawaya. “She has a good sense of what radio is and how to do high-quality news and public affairs,” he said. 

However, Sawaya may be spending much of her time fighting internal personnel fires, Siegel said. There are battles brewing at New York’s WBAI, Los Angeles’ KPFK, where the general manager just quit, and KPFA, where there’s tension between management and unpaid staff and between management and those who have occupied time slots for long periods of time, Siegel noted. 

“Pacifica has to come to grips with losing its listeners and support,” Siegel said. “It has to rebuild, attracting a younger demography and more diversity, racially and ethnically.”  

Lydia Brazon, head of the hiring committee for the national board, said there had been seven people who interviewed for the position, but Sawaya’s experience was unique.  

“She distinguished herself by her broadcast experience,” Brazon said. “In fact, her entire career has been in community radio.” 

Moreover Brazon said Sawaya knows what it means to work with large, changing nonprofit boards of directors. (The national board is made up of members representing locally-elected boards from each of the affiliated stations.) “She understands who we are,” Brazon said. 

In an e-mail that circulated widely on the internet, Lasar shares his enthusiasm for Sawaya’s appointment. “This is Pacifica radio’s second chance, folks. It is time for leadership to take notice.” 

Sawaya did not return calls for comment. 

 


Two Alleged Gang Members Arrested in Berkeley Murder

By Richard Brenneman
Tuesday October 02, 2007

Homicide detectives have arrested a pair of alleged gang members for the May 6 West Berkeley beating death of Agustine [CQ] James Silva Jr., 19, of Antioch. 

The murder was Berkeley’s first for the year. Three more have followed. 

Two 19-year-old suspects—Juan Carlos Cruz of Oakland and Victor Lozano Ramirez of San Pablo—have been charged with the killing based on DNA evidence found at the scene of the crime. 

Police have identified both the suspects and their alleged victim as members of Los Monkeys Trece, a Northern California subgroup of the Surenos gang. 

The crime reportedly occurred after the three stopped in Berkeley looking for a secluded place to party. 

Both suspects were already in custody at the time of their arrests, and in a prepared statement, Berkeley Police Department spokesperson Sgt. Mary Kusmiss said Cruz was being held in Alameda County Jail at Santa Rita as the result of an arrest by Oakland police. Ramirez had been arrested by East Bay Regional Park Police for assault with a deadly weapon. 

Neither crime was related to the Berkeley killing, Sgt. Kusmiss reported. 

Police learned of the crime when they were called to the abandoned railroad tracks between Second and Cedar streets at 6:30 a.m. by a man who had discovered the body on his way to work at a nearby business. 

After paramedics were unable to revive the victim, he was declared dead at the scene. Following an autopsy, the Alameda County coroner’s office ruled the death a homicide caused by multiple blunt force trauma injuries. 

According to the police statement, DNA evidence recovered at the murder scene linked the two men to the killing. 

Los Monkeys Trece (the 13 Monkeys) has been identified as a Northern California subgroup of the Surenos. 

Surenos are one of two broad divisions of Hispanic gangs, drawn from the ranks of new immigrants. The Nortenos, their chief rivals, are born in the United States. 

Both are affiliates of prison gangs drawn along similar divisions, with the Mexican Mafia created by immigrants and Nuestra Familia from U.S.-born inmates. 

Surenos (literally, southerners) incorporate “13” or “XIII” in their graffiti, drawn from the letter M’s 13th place in the alphabet. Nortenos (northerners) use 14 and XIV from N’s alphabetical ranking.


Sex Assault Suspects Still at Large

By Riya Bhattacharjee
Tuesday October 02, 2007

The Berkeley Police Department (BPD) is looking for two men who sexually assaulted a 27-year-old woman early Friday morning. 

The attacked occurred in a private parking lot just east of the Top Dog restaurant on Durant Avenue, said UC Assistant Police Chief Mitch Celaya. 

The assault wasn’t reported for another 12 hours, according to police records. 

Celaya said that although the victim had called UCPD first, the case had been forwarded to BPD since the parking lot fell under their jurisdiction. 

“Berkeley police thought that it happened at a campus parking lot, but that was not the case,” he said.  

Celaya did not specify the nature of the sexual attack nor the gender of the victim, but Berkeley Police Lt. West Hester was able to provide the additional detail. 

According to Celaya, the victim met the suspects at a local bar in the South Campus area.  

After leaving the bar near closing time early Friday morning, the victim was sexually assaulted, after which she was able to flee. 

The victim described one of the suspects as a 22- to 25-year-old light-complected black male, 5’10” to 6’ in height, 160 pounds, with an athletic build, brown eyes, medium length black hair, and wearing a dark top and light-colored pants. 

The second suspect was described as a dark-complected black male, 22 to 25 years old, 140 pounds, with short black hair and brown eyes, and wearing a light-colored shirt and dark pants.  

Both suspects spoke English with distinctive foreign accents, and they were driving a late ’90’s small foreign sedan. 

Anyone with information about this crime is asked to call the Berkeley Police Department at 981-5900. 


Rival Plans, Downtown Skyline Headed for DAPAC Decision

By Richard Brenneman
Tuesday October 02, 2007

Like Superman, Berkeley’s citizen downtown planners will be leaping tall buildings Wednesday night—though they’re already well past the traditional single bound. 

The Downtown Area Plan Advisory Committee (DAPAC) is scheduled to adopt one of the plan’s most critical sections, the land use element, at the meeting which begins at 7 p.m. in the North Berkeley Senior Center, 1901 Hearst Ave. 

At issue will be two competing versions, one written by committee members and one by city staff. 

The city’s professional planners, with the urging of UC Berkeley and Berkeley Mayor Tom Bates, have been pushing for a significantly taller downtown than DAPAC members have recommended in a proposal they have dubbed the “preferred alternative.” 

If staff has its way, 10-story, 120-foot-tall buildings will become the standard maximum height around the BART station, along with five much taller buildings—three 16-story, 180-foot “point towers” plus two 22-story, 225-foot hotels. 

By contrast, committee members have urged a standard maximum of eight floors, and then only as a result of providing a combination of public benefit features, such as green construction and low-income housing residences or funding. 

The committee has already indicated its blessings for one of the two proposed hotels, the so-called UC hotel project being shepherded by the university for the northeast corner of Shattuck Avenue and Center Street. 

The second possible high-rise hotel would be the proposed addition to the landmarked Shattuck Hotel, though no permits have been sought yet for that project. 

 

Point towers 

City staff had pushed hard the idea of building 14 16-story “point towers” downtown as a way of concentrating housing that might run into objections in lower-profile neighborhoods. 

City Planning and Development Director Dan Marks told the committee he was pushing to concentrate new housing downtown to meet regional governments’ quotas because other neighborhoods often mobilized against high-density projects. 

After repeated tries for the full 14 towers ran into strong and ongoing resistance, the staff proposal on Wednesday’s agenda features fewer high-rises—but its overall effect would create a significantly different skyline from the one proposed by the committee itself. 

While cutting down on the number of towers, the staff proposal calls for standard height limits of 100 feet in the urban core —generally from the corner of Hearst Avenue and Oxford Street on the north, dipping down south along University Avenue to just south of Milvia Street, and encompassing the higher BART Plaza zone and extending south along Shattuck to the mid-block between Bancroft Way and Durant Avenue. 

West of the two higher-rise zones, a 65-foot maximum would apply with a 35-foot minimum, stretching down to Martin Luther King Jr. Way. 

The 65-foot zone would extend all the way to Dwight Way, with the exception of the residential neighborhoods to the east and west of Shattuck, where a 45-foot maximum and no minimum would apply. 

Along the southern Shattuck Avenue 65-foot zone, one 120-foot building would be allowed if the developer committed to providing a grocery store with at least 30,000 square feet of space. 

A 45-foot limit would apply in the residential neighborhoods in the southeast and southwest areas. 

The Association of Bay Area Governments (ABAG) has issued increased quotas for housing for member governments which place the greatest demands on communities located on transit lines. With BART, the railroad and AC Transit all providing commuter service to the city, Berkeley has a higher quota than many other communities. 

Because ABAG wants to reduce urban sprawl, the impact on Berkeley is much greater than on more distant suburbs, even those on transit lines. 

Willingness to commit to allowing more housing doesn’t mean the units will be built—only that the city will make the permits available if they are sought. 

DAPAC members have consistently signaled their reluctance to approve the highest density urged by Bates and Marks, and committee Chair Will Travis has generally found himself on the losing side of votes on the density issue. 

Wednesday’s crucial vote comes as DAPAC is rapidly winding down.  

In most other areas, staff and citizenry are more in agreement. 

 

Deadline nears  

DAPAC is fast approaching its deadline, with its City Council mandate expiring Nov. 30. Wednesday’s meeting will be the 42nd of the full committee, not counting the many meetings of subcommittees charged with formulation and drafting individual plan chapters and policies. 

The joint effort to create a new downtown plan resulted from the settlement of a city suit against UC Berkeley over its 2020 Long Range Development Plan, which extends university growth off campus and into the city center. The university can reject the plan even after its adoption by the city’s Planning Commission and City Council. 


Zoning Board Extends Hours for Art House Cafe

By Riya Bhattacharjee
Tuesday October 02, 2007

Two new names were added to Berkeley’s list of late-night dining spots after the Zoning Adjustments Board (ZAB) approved their permits Thursday. 

The board extended the hours of the proposed Muse Art House and Mint Cafe at 2525 Telegraph Ave. to midnight on weekdays and 1 a.m. on weekends but declined to approve granting a hard liquor license. 

At the last meeting, the board had decided that the cafe could remain open until midnight on weekends and 10 p.m. on weekdays, turning down owner Ali Eslami’s request to stay open until 2 a.m. on weekends and midnight on weekdays in response to neighborhood concerns about noise and rowdiness. 

After Eslami said that the hours imposed by the zoning board would kill the project, the board expanded its hours to ensure that it stayed on Telegraph. 

It also asked Eslami to end the music an hour before the restaurant closed every day. 

Modeled on the Red Poppy Art House in San Francisco, the establishment proposed to house an interdisciplinary artist space which will host collaborative exhibitions, classes and small concerts. 

Eslami had told the Planet in an earlier interview that the business wouldn’t be able to make a profit without a permit to sell hard liquor and extended hours. When the cafe opens in January, it will only be able to serve beer and wine. 

 

Bobby G’s 

The board approved extended hours and live entertainment for Bobby G’s Pizzeria at 2072 University Ave.  

The 61-seat restaurant, which is known for its pizza, panini and other gourmet foods, will now serve beer and wine and stay open until 11 p.m. on weekdays and 1 a.m. on weekends. 

The board also approved a permit for live entertainment which includes acoustic blues, jazz and bluegrass music as background music for the restaurant. 

Owner Robert Gaustad told the board that a noise study had confirmed that sound did not travel to the apartments on the second floor unless it was extremely loud. Gaustad himself lives in one of the apartments. 

Gaustad added that there would be no admission charges and that the music would end at 11 p.m. on week nights and midnight on weekends. 

He stressed that he would only sell high-quality beer and wine to keep out troublemakers. 

Currently, restaurants which stay open late downtown include Au Coquelet, Anna’s Jazz Island and Jupiter. 

 

2518 Durant Ave. 

The board unanimously approved a blanket use permit for a combination of commercial uses at the former Tower Records site at 2516 Durant Ave. 

The site, which is located in a predominantly commercial area south of the UC Berkeley campus, has been sitting empty since Tower Records filed for bankruptcy in 2004. 

Representatives from Berkeley developers Ruegg & Ellsworth said that the 11,000 square feet ground floor space would be converted into four commercial spaces and the 3,097 square feet basement storage area would become a karaoke club. 

The use permit is similar to the one approved for the Wright’s Garage project, which attracted controversy because of noise, traffic and parking impacts. 

Board member Jesse Arreguin said he was concerned about the policy of granting blanket approvals without knowing what kind of businesses would go into the property. 

 

2837 Fulton St. 

The board voted 6-2 to continue the request for a use permit to construct a new three-story dwelling unit at the rear of an existing building at 2837 Fulton St. due to neighborhood concerns. 

Parents of students at LeConte Elementary School—which is located adjacent to the property—expressed concerns about shadow impacts from a proposed addition on the school’s playground. 

Board members and former Berkeley public school educators Jesse Anthony and Terry Doran voted against continuing the project and said that the proposed construction would not impact the students adversely. 

Applicant Ken Lowney of Lowney Architecture was asked to work with the neighbors and the LeConte community about the shadow impacts and other aesthetic issues which had kept the board from approving the project. 


Judge Orders Sanctions, New Election in Measure R Case

By J. Douglas Allen-Taylor
Tuesday October 02, 2007

In what would appear to be the most stinging rebuke possible to the conduct of the Alameda County Registrar of Voters Office in the November 2004 Berkeley Measure R Medical Marijuana initiative election, a California Superior Court judge has ordered that a new Measure R election be held in November of next year, and that Measure R proponents be reimbursed for litigation and recount costs. 

“Respondents County of Alameda and [Registrar of Voters] Dave MacDonald have engaged in a pattern of withholding relevant evidence and failing to preserve evidence central to the allegations of this case,” Judge Winifred Y. Smith wrote in her Sept. 25 order. “That evidence has now been determined to be irretrievable due to respondents’ mishandling of the DRE (direct electronic recording) machines.” 

“This case demonstrates the importance of strong judicial oversight of elections,” said Gregory G. Luke of Strumwasser & Woocher, attorneys for the plaintiffs in a prepared statement. “Government has naively embraced electronic voting technology, accepting soothing pronouncements by Diebold and others that their technology is foolproof. As it has been revealed that the technology is dangerously vulnerable, local election officials have been trying to reassure the public that their own oversight will protect the integrity of the ballot. Now we see that not only are the machines vulnerable, but some election officials cannot be counted on to protect the vote.” 

The Measure R sponsoring committee, Americans for Safe Access, was the plaintiff in the case, as well as three Berkeley residents who co-sponsored the measure, James Blair, Michael L. Goodbar, and Donald Tolbert. Defendants included Alameda County, former Registrar of Voters Bradley Clark, and the City of Berkeley.  

Smith’s order grew out of the hotly contested November 2004 election in which a group called Americans for Safe Access put a measure on the Berkeley ballot after the Berkeley City Council voted to impose limits on pot dispensaries in the city. Measure R proposed eliminating limits on the amount of medical marijuana that could be possessed by patients or caregivers. In addition, it would have allowed existing dispensaries to move anywhere within the city’s retail zones. 

In the vote, which was held using Alameda County’s old Diebold touchscreen electronic voting machines, the measure lost by 191 votes, 25,167 to 24,976. 

Measure R proponents requested a recount in December 2004, asking that the new count be done using the internal counting mechanisms and tally logs of the individual Diebold machines used in the elections. Instead, the county registrars office only allowed a recount of the tally printouts. Critics of DRE voting machines have said that if a miscount or improper count is the result of internal problems within the machines, that miscount will be printed out on the tally sheets, and simply recounting the tally sheets themselves will not reveal the internal errors. 

The Superior Court ruled that after the Measure R proponents filed their lawsuit, county election officials should have preserved the Diebold machines in case the court ordered an internal recount. 

However, when Alameda County ceased using the Diebold DRE machines and switched to a different system, county election officials sold the machines used in the 2004 election back to Diebold. According to Smith’s order, county officials “apparently returned the DRE units to … Diebold … without taking any precautions to preserve the data on the machines. The County acknowledged in discovery responses that the individual DRE units had generated and stored audit logs and redundant vote data, and that such data was on the individual DRE units at the time of the recount and thereafter. The County also admitted in discovery that it did not copy, upload or transmit the data from the individual machines to any data storage medium or location before transferring the machines to Diebold.” 

While Judge Smith has ordered the Measure R election be held again, the text of the measure when it appears on the ballot in November of next year may differ from the text of the original November 2004 measure. Because so much time has passed since the original election, and the medical marijuana situation may have changed in Berkeley, the court ordered the City of Berkeley to provide it with any proposed modifications to the measure by October 19. The court noted, pointedly, however, that “substantive changes to the text of the measure are not appropriate and should not be suggested.” 

 

 


LPC to Discuss Japantown, Wood Smoke Ordinance

By Riya Bhattacharjee
Tuesday October 02, 2007

Preserving California’s Japantowns will call upon Berkeley’s Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) Thursday to nominate the city’s pre-World War II Japanese heritage sites to the State Office of Historic Preservation. 

The project—spearheaded by historian Donna Graves and community organizer Jill Shiraki—is the first statewide effort to document historic resources from pre-World War II Japantown. 

Graves is scheduled to give a presentation on Berkeley’s historic Japantown to the commission Thursday and discuss the possibility of the city participating in a funding request to the California historic preservation office for a more intensive survey. 

Although more than a hundred Japanese enclaves existed prior to World War II, the project is committed to researching 43 communities to ensure that the many regions, distinctive economic characteristics and cultural features associated with diverse Japantowns are represented. 

Urban development, closing of old businesses and the loss of the Nisei (second) generation Japanese who rebuilt their communities after World War II have sparked debate about historic preservation in California. 

“During the war, many Japantowns were lost and a lot of businesses were not able to return,” said Shiraki, the organization’s project manager. 

“In terms of Berkeley, we were surprised to find that nearly 60 percent of the buildings that housed Japanese businesses before the war still exist. There are some significant buildings which we are hoping to landmark.” 

The organization is currently working with the Berkeley Architectural Heritage Association (BAHA) to nominate the Chiura Obata Studio at 2525 Telegraph Ave. as a local landmark. 

Opened in 1941 by UC Berkeley professor Chiura Obata, the art studio later housed the Blue Nile Restaurant which closed down in 2005. 

The property is currently being renovated by Ali Eslami who wants to develop it into the Muse Art House and Mint Cafe. 

Other important structures on the list include the former University Laundry on 2530 Shattuck Ave. and the San Pablo Florist Nursery on 1806 San Pablo Ave. which is currently an abandoned auto-repair shop. 

More than a hundred pre-World War II Japanese residences, laundries, florists, groceries and shoe repairing shops are scattered all over Berkeley, Shiraki said. 

A pre-war community directory published by Japanese-American newspapers was pivotal to the survey’s success. 

“You often think that a Japantown will be concentrated in one place but cities established before the war have clusters of the Japanese-American community spread throughout them,” she said. 

“Since it’s over 60 years. the history has often disappeared but we hope our efforts to revive the lost culture will be a model for other communities. We want to inform citizens about preservation and get their support.” 

 

Wood smoken nuisance ordinance 

The commission will also discuss the city’s proposed wood smoke nuisance ordinance at the request of Berkeley’s Planning & Development’s Toxic Management Division. 

The Berkeley City Council amended the Berkeley Municipal Code in January 2003 to ban construction of new open-hearth fireplaces and to require major modifications to existing fireplaces, as well as to require abatement on new commercial wood burning ovens due to a request to all local municipalities from the Bay Area Air Quality Management District (BAAQMD). 

However, according to a report submitted by the Community Environmental Advisory Commission in June, existing open-hearth fireplaces in Berkeley were left unregulated and remained a potential source of unhealthy smoke. 

Additionally, the report stated that wood smoke creates an acute as well as a long-term health problem for the community, including children and people with preexisting respiratory or heart problems. 

The commission’s proposal adds to the existing ordinance by outlining conditions, that, if met, would create a nuisance condition.  

The determination that wood burning device operations were a nuisance would allow a neighbor to file a complaint with the local court.


Roses: A Digression

By Shirley Barker, Special to the Planet
Tuesday October 02, 2007

For many years I resisted the growing of roses. My mother, a passionate rose grower, employed a gardener whose name, extraordinary to recall, was Budd. Mr. Budd was my introduction to the professional horticulturist. I do not remember seeing him busy with spade or hoe. As with my father’s relationship with Peter-who-cleaned-the-car, work seemed to consist of employer and employed standing side by side, gazing at potential problems, in my mother’s case perhaps a grandiflora (of which she later grew an impenetrable 10- foot hedge, not as difficult as it looks) that needed to be shifted, or for my father, an engine requiring carburetor adjustment, my mother’s loquacity occasionally interrupted by a gruff Hampshire “argh” or “um,” my father’s silence only broken by the cough of partial combustion.  

It was I, another of her employees, or willing slaves, who from an early age was bidden to run down to the village shop for what was lacking in her batterie de cuisine, for my mother was a formidable cook in the country style, on friendly terms with the local poacher, so that roast pheasant and jugged hare appeared on the dining table from time to time, and since we lived on the coast, fish, the freshest I have ever tasted, was bought wriggling off local boats. 

We lived in a village called Warblington, which consisted of the above shop, a bus stop called Green Pond because there was a green pond there, and among a sprinkling of houses Budd’s home, a long Elizabethan cottage with age-blackened beams. (I’m not making this up you know. England is quaint. Or was. Today I suppose Budd’s cottage has been snapped up by a chartered accountant or wine broker and turned into a bijou residence.) 

The shop was all of a quarter of a mile from our house, a world away, a journey fraught with the terror that only a very large dog, even one behind a fence, can instill in the heart of a small biped, and made hazardous with ditches between road and sidewalk. Once one had reached Budd’s cottage, one was safe, because even though the sidewalk had petered out, the shop was right there next to it. 

Taking a different lane home to avoid the dog, one encountered flanking the gate of a pretentious mansion two lions couchants that had to be propitiated with tufts of grass stuffed into their maws, a ritual that miraculously turned them to stone. 

My mother would send me off (no money was carried, all households had accounts) with the words, “Now when you get there, say ‘Mummy would like half a pound of currants please.’” This, I realized later, when such instructions went on far beyond the years of necessity, would have been excellent training for someone set on a career on the stage. There was no need to say who mummy was. Everyone in the village knew everyone else. 

Looking back, I see that it was always summertime then. When I moved to Berkeley, I was delighted to find it is always summer here too, even in February, with warm sun and blue sky. People in climates where winters are long and gray are vulnerable to depression. Here, all we have to do to alleviate depressing symptoms, say the experts, is to gaze for thirty seconds or so twice a day, with no intervening glass of window or spectacles, on our own blue heaven. 

There are other remedies of course, one of which is a book on my kitchen shelf. When I’m feeling low, which is rarely, and the sky is overcast, I open this book randomly, and invariably my mood rises. The book, Farmhouse Fare, is of recipes compiled, or so I thought, by members of the Women’s Institute, a daunting body of married ladies which my mother declined to join because its members disapproved of divorce. This reason surprised me since my father showed no inclination to stray from her epicurian standards. Perhaps that is how she kept him in line. 

In fact, my memory has betrayed me. Rather, the recipes are culled from those sent by country wives to a magazine called The Farmer’s Weekly. It makes no difference. Take Savoury Ducks, made from liver and bacon. Or Turnip Brose, where turnips are cooked with oatmeal “until the brose forms little knots.” My favorite is Hatted Kit, in parentheses “A very old Highland dish,” for which milk is rushed to the side of the cow, which apparently puts a hat on it. 

Very soon I’m rolling about with mirth, all gloom forgotten. Still, scoff though one might, at the same time the recipes are a healthy reminder that life lived entirely off the land is hardscrabble rather than romantic, and that women in rural areas band together to compensate for an aloneness that is a function of geographic distance. Home grown is the common denominator. All the recipes, however humble or rich the ingredients (so much cream!), are distinguished by a buoyancy of presentation in itself inspiriting. 

My mother’s cooking, equally rustic in its origins, led me eventually to lift my self-imposed ban on growing roses. After all, she grew what became my own passion, vegetables, just as robustly. Besides, I had fond memories of trips enlivened by my mother’s screeching the car to a halt in order to scoop up horse manure conveniently deposited by the road (a bucket and shovel were permanently kept in the boot, or trunk). 

And contrary to common opinion, roses are not difficult to grow well. As a wonderful gardener from Berkeley Horticultural Nursery once wrote, roses clamor for attention because they love showing off. Attention means regular watering and plenty of it, a constantly replenished nourishing mulch , and lavish amounts of horse manure from our race track or other local stables that do not use toxic sprays. If one wants roses like those in the small garden of a friend, where dozens are crammed far too close and all blooming like mad pictures of health, do as she does and never prune. Cut off dead and crossing branches. Cut plenty of blossoms for the house, just above a five-leaf stem. New growth will emerge from the axil and the shrub will keep its shape. Be sure to dead-head in the same way until fall, when scarlet hips appear. Rich in vitamin C, these are worth collecting where citrus is scarce.  

As in many families, there is one neurotic member of Rosaceae (which includes a diversity of edible fruits, such as apples, plums, and berries), the hybrid tea. Unless its numerous demands are met it is unlikely to perform reliably and even if it does it is sure to come down with black spot, rust, and powdery mildew. Many rosarians rise to the challenge. Others avoid it altogether. 

There is scarcely a lack of alternatives. Give the floribundas, the climbers, the numerous varieties of old roses enough love, and they will adore giving back. Just like mothers and daughters. 

 


Berkeley High’s Brainiest Team

By Al Winslow, Special to the Planet
Tuesday October 02, 2007

Players on the Berkeley High School women’s field hockey team often spend more time riding a bus to their games than playing them. There are few nearby opponents and sometimes they have to ride as far as San Jose. 

So. 

“Usually on the bus we do homework together,” said Eden Maloney, the team goalkeeper. “The seniors help out the younger students.” 

“The ride can get bumpy, so the part of homework that has to be neat, we do that between games,” said Sarah Neuhaus. 

“Sometimes we sing,” said Jenny Miner. 

Coach Heather Zona said the hockey team has one of the highest grade point average of the high school teams. 

Maloney arrived at a recent practice with a pile of schoolbooks—Living in the Environment and, from a Bible-as-literature course, a Bible and a thousand or so page book on the Five Books of Moses and a pocket Latin dictionary. 

You have to be smart to begin with to play field hockey or even understand the rules, for example: “It is legal to raise the ball to make an aerial pass provided that the ball is both raised safely and brought down safely and that the opposition players are farther than five meters from the player raising the ball.” 

The game is 4,000 years old. Drawings of it are on ancient Egyptian tombs. It was played by Greeks, Romans, Persians, Arabs and faraway Aztecs, suggesting it is a creation of the collective unconscious, an inborn human desire to hit a ball with a stick. 

It is played on a basically football-sized field with 11 players on a side. Scores are something like 2-1 or 3-2. The idea is to dislodge the ball from the opponent and for the team to keep possession of it, passing it back and forth for the longest time on the theory that the side with the ball the longest is most likely to score the most goals. Finesse is used rather than force.  

Coach Zona, who still plays field hockey on an adult team, demonstrated a common maneuver for controlling the ball, hitting it from the right with the flat of the stick, and since the stick has only one flat side (no reason to make it easy) twisting the stick to hit back from the left. She did this quickly back and forth while explaining the art of her sport. 

“It’s an opportunistic game. Good players don’t just run up and attack the ball, though they will if they have to. They wait and watch for an opportunity,” she said. “But they’re not just waiting for opportunity to knock. They’re looking out the window and seeing it come up the walk.” 

 

Berkeley High has 60 teams and 1,000 participants, one for every three students, and a sports budget of $220,000 a year. 

Competitive sports build character, said Kristin Glenchur, the school’s athletic director. 

Specifically: “It’s an organized competitive environment that puts kids in flight or fight situations where they make decisions on the spot,” she said. “A classroom doesn’t have that level of urgency and that whole body-mind thing that happens.” 

 

 

Photograph by Michael Howerton 

Two members of the Berkeley High field hockey team (in white) fight for the ball with a player from Marin Catholic during a recent match.


Feds Announce New Funds For Berkeley Biofuels Lab

By Richard Brenneman
Tuesday October 02, 2007

UC Berkeley’s biofuel bonanza—$635 million in expected corporate and federal funding—got off to an early start Monday with word of an unexpected $10 million advance from Washington. 

Each of three national Joint Bioenergy Research Centers, including one headquartered at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, will focus on using genetic technology to extract fuel from cellulose. 

Undersecretary of Energy for Science Raymond L. Orbach said $9.97 million each will go to LBNL and the other centers, which are based at Madison, Wis., and Oak Ridge, Tenn. 

The news comes less than two weeks after the UC Board of Regents gave their approval to lease a lab site in Emeryville for what the lab has dubbed Joint BioEnergy Institute (JBEI, pronounced jay-bay). 

With the additional funds announced Monday, total federal funding for the JBEI will reach $135 million. 

The lab will involve scientists from UC Berkeley and its affiliated Lawrence Berkeley, Lawrence Livermore and Sandia national labs as well as experts from UC Davis and Stanford. 

The original $125 million award was announced in Washington June 26 by Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman, with LBNL’s Jay Keasling standing at his side. 

Keasling is also one of the leading researchers in the Energy Biosciences Institute (EBI), the $500 million research program funded by BP, plc, the former British Petroleum. 

He also runs his own private firm conducting similar research and located in the same Emeryville building which the regents approved for the JBEI lab. 

EBI researchers will be housed temporarily in existing buildings on the UC campus, including the doomed Calvin Lab, which is slated for demolition as part of the university’s stadium area redevelopment program. 

Scientists from the EBI program will move into the Helios Building at the lab, which is now in the planning stages.  

 


Commons Initiative Hearing on Saturday

By Judith Scherr
Friday September 28, 2007

Proposed laws and services aimed at people exhibiting “inappropriate street behavior” make up the Public Commons for Everyone Initiative, to be discussed at a forum Saturday. 

The initiative, credited to Mayor Tom Bates, is lauded by some as a program to make commercial areas more appealing to shoppers, but is condemned by others as criminalization of the poor and homeless. 

Both views will likely be aired at Saturday’s Public Com-mons for Everyone Initiative Forum, 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the North Berkeley Senior Center, 1901 Hearst Ave. 

Those who thought the forum would be an opportunity for dialogue with the mayor may be disappointed, as he is out of the country. Instead, the gathering will be hosted by Lauren Lempert, a consultant hired on a $50,000, six-month contract to seek input from the community on the initiative and to transform the loose set of proposals into laws and services the City Council can address. 

Forum participants will be welcomed by Kriss Worthing-ton, acting mayor while Bates is away, who argues that there are already laws in place to address inappropriate street behavior. 

He told the Daily Planet on Thursday that he likes the aspect of the initiative that proposes service-oriented solutions. “I will say that the No. 1 priority is: how can we help the homeless and poor people,” he said, adding: “If we do a really good job of getting people into safe and affordable housing, there will be less need for punitive measures.” 

Bates’ original proposal included laws prohibiting lengthy sitting on sidewalks, but it’s no longer in the proposal. “We are not touching that,” Lempert said. 

Some of the proposals that may be written into the initiative include: 

• Eliminating the provision in the law that allows the police to give several warnings before citing people for lying on the street.  

• Strictly enforcing laws governing removal of dog feces, hitching animals to fixed objects, littering, public consumption of alcohol, yelling and shouting, restricting use of the sidewalk and parking a bicycle against a window or on a parking meter. 

• Restricting smoking in public areas. 

• Increasing the fines for public urination and defecation. 

Lempert said she hopes to dispel the misconception in the public’s mind that the new laws would target the homeless. “This is not selective enforcement,” she said, noting that she’s “had a lot of conversations with Chief [Doug] Hambleton. He understands the goals,” she said. “We want to uphold everyone’s civil rights, which includes people on the streets and people who want to go shopping or to the Berkeley Rep.” 

While there are punitive aspects to the proposal, supporters point to the services the initiative proposes. 

These services, however, are dependent on funding. Bates has proposed adding parking meters and raising parking meter fees.  

Funds may be used to extend open hours for public bathrooms and add bathroom facilities, Lempert said, underscoring, “We would not do this [ticket people for defecating and urinating] until there were enough public bathrooms in place.”  

Downtown Merchants Association Executive Director Deborah Badhia says her organization supports the proposal and will support the meter fee hike. Compared to neighboring cities, Berkeley’s rates are “very reasonable,” she told the Daily Planet on Thursday. 

She suggested that the new funds could pay for enhanced services by the city’s Mobile Crisis Team, which interacts with people who are misbehaving on the street and works with the police, calling in uniformed officers only when team members believe public safety is at issue. 

The mayor has suggested, as part of the package, that when people are arrested on some of these charges, which are sometimes called “quality of life” offenses, that they be given a choice between paying a fine or taking advantage of an alcohol/drug recovery program.  

Critics, however, have suggested that people who hitch their dogs to parking meters or smoke in the “public commons” may not benefit from a program that targets drug abusers. Others have suggested that 12-step programs might not be appropriate for people who do not believe in a Higher Power. 

Lempert said she’s looking at a number of service providers, noting that in addition to speaking to Davida Cody of Options Recovery Services (popular with many members of the City Council) she’s talked to Bonita House, which serves people diagnosed with mental illness, and Lifelong Medical Care. “We have not selected one provider over another,” she said. 

Other possible services are adding time to when the youth shelter is open. It’s currently funded to stay open only in the winter months.  

And “We’re hoping to have more peer-based outreach teams,” Lempert said. 

Saturday’s meeting will consist of the welcome by Worthington, a short presentation by city staff, then comment by the public. After an initial opportunity to speak before the large group, public comment will be held in small break-out groups, Lempert said. “That eliminates long lines at the microphone,” she said.  

Worthington, however, noted that break-out groups are sometimes used as a “divide and conquer” mechanism, preventing people from hearing directly from others.  

“Cross-fertilization—hearing different opinions—is quite valuable,” he said.


Berkeley Drive-By Murder Victim Suspected in Richmond Deaths

By Richard Brenneman
Friday September 28, 2007

A Berkeley man slain by a fusillade of high-powered automatic rifle shots fired from a passing van early Saturday morning had himself been arrested two years earlier as one of six suspects in a similar slaying in Richmond. 

Meanwhile, police have issued a bulletin naming a suspect in the weekend’s other murder. 

The two killings doubled the city’s homicide toll for the year, with 2007’s four killings matching the total for 2006. 

Police and Berkeley firefighters found the lifeless body of Isaac Castro, 37, on the sidewalk outside his home in the 1800 block of Eighth Street in West Berkeley and pronounced him dead at 4:42 a.m. 

Though the friend who called police said he thought Castro had fallen down the stairs, police have called the crime a homicide, though they have declined to offer any details. 

Berkeley police issued a wanted flyer Wednesday naming Jose Christian Vera Flores as the suspected killer. A day laborer who works throughout the Bay Area, Flores is between 5’6” and 5’10” tall, weighs about 150 pounds and has brown eyes and black hair. 

He was born on April 26 in either 1981 or 1982. 

Berkeley Police Public Information Officer Sgt. Marty Kusmiss has asked that anyone who has information about Flores to call homicide investigators at 981-5741; anyone seeing him should call 911 immediately.  

 

Drive-by retaliation? 

Sgt. Kusmiss said police believe drug dealing may have played a role in the shooting death of 26-year-old Dwayne Murphy, who was gunned down less than 11 hours after firefighters declared Castro dead. 

Neighbors told Berkeley police Saturday that Murphy was standing with friends near the corner of 63rd and King in Berkeley when shots rang out from a passing dark blue minivan. 

He fell, mortally wounded by several slugs that struck his abdomen. He was rushed to Highland Hospital, where he was pronounced dead. 

The Richmond murders for which he had been arrested two years ago were themselves believed by Richmond detectives to have been retaliation for yet another killing a month before just south of the Berkeley/Oakland border—which they in turn linked to a gang war among groups in Berkeley, Oakland and Richmond. 

Murphy was arrested in Berkeley on July 21, 2005, one of six suspects booked on suspicion of killing Sean James McClelland, 26, and LaCorey Rashone Brooks, 22. 

Their bodies were found inside a car shortly after midnight on June 27, 2005, after it had crashed into parked vehicles near the corner of Harbor Way and Ripley Avenue in Richmond. Their bodies were riddled by shots fired from at least three different weapons. 

Richmond Police Sgt. Allwyn Brown said Murphy was on active parole at the time of his arrest. The officer said Murphy was the member of a West Berkeley gang at the time of the Richmond murders. 

Police had been tracking a sometime bloody rivalry between gangs in the two cities. 

The six suspects in the Richmond killings were arrested on Ramey Warrants, issued on the basis of sworn statements made to a judge before formal charges have been filed. 

Sgt. Brown said no charges were filed in the Richmond murders because the deputy district attorney said “there wasn’t quite enough evidence” to issue the complaints. 

No other suspects were ever arrested or charged in those killings. 

At the time of the arrests, Richmond Police Lt. Mark Gagan said the shootings were retaliation for the murder a month earlier of Jamon Monty Williams. 

The 18-year-old Williams, who worked as an auto detailer, was gunned down near the corner of 60th Street and San Pablo Avenue following an argument outside a nearby liquor store. 

He was carrying bindles of crack cocaine in his pocket when he collapsed on the sidewalk outside an auto parts store.  

According to a July 21 Richmond police operation order authorizing search warrants at four Berkeley addresses, “The subsequent criminal investigation revealed that the shooting was a retaliatory act carried out by a group of Berkeley criminals who are linked by association to” Williams. 

“Our investigation has identified a conspiracy involving at least six identified individuals,” according to the document. “These people are validated gang members, and/or associates—four of six are on active parole.” 

Murphy, along with the other five, was released shortly after his arrest. He remained a prime suspect in the killings. 

 

Prior attacks 

Sgt. Kusmiss said that “there is a strong likelihood drugs are involved” in Sunday’s drive-by, “based on the strong correlation between drugs and violence in this city. 

“We are very, very troubled that someone would use a high-powered rifle, an automatic weapon,” said the sergeant, because the weapons are designed to kill. “We are fortunate that no one else was killed or injured,” she said. 

She asked anyone with information on Murphy’s death to call homicide detectives at 981-5741, or the department’s non-emergency all-hours line at 981-5900.


Planners Approve West Berkeley Car Dealerships

By Richard Brenneman
Friday September 28, 2007

Planning Commissioners Wednesday approved a modified plan and rezoning agenda that will open up the northern end of West Berkeley to car dealerships. 

The measures, if approved by the City Council, will allow car dealers into land previously restricted for use by manufacturers, the city’s only M Zone. 

Mayor Tom Bates and the city’s Economic Development staff have pushed for the changes because they say they are needed to keep the city’s remaining car retailers from bolting the city, along with the sales tax dollars they generate. 

A divided commission also defeated a measure that would have exempted from rezoning the long, nine-acre block occupied by the city’s largest concentration of recycling efforts—opting instead for a compromise to ensure new and relocated dealerships wouldn’t interfere with recycling efforts. 

The proposal by Helen Burke to exempt the block between Gilman Street on the south and the city’s Albany border on the north from Second to Third streets from the rezoning failed on 4-4 tie vote, with Chair James Samuels deciding the measure by his abstention. 

Instead, commissioners adopted the compromise proposed by Roia Ferrazares after Principal Planner Debra Sanderson cautioned that the move “would reduce the ability of the city to manage its own property to maximize its options.” 

“We don’t have any authority to prevent the city from selling,” said Commissioner Harry Pollack. “The city has a right to sell its property.” 

Nonetheless, Sanderson said, “I see no evidence the city is interested in undoing the Transfer Station and recycling center.” 

Only Burke voted against the Ferrazares’ motion, which was to include in the rezoning a proviso that the measure “will not materially interfere with the activities” of the transfer station and recycling facilities.” 

Burke left minutes later. 

In the end, commissioners voted 7-0-1 to approve the amendments, with Patti Dacey abstaining. 

 

Passionate pleas 

The meeting began with impassioned pleas from West Berkeley artisans and recyclers. 

John Curl, chair of the West Berkeley Artisans and Industrial Companies (WEBAIC), urged the commission to include mitigations whenever car dealers appeared in the zone. 

When the West Berkeley Plan was adopted, he said, mitigations were required whenever sites in other zones were transformed to other uses. “These are left out of the M zone because there were no other permitted uses,” he said. 

Steven Jensen of the city’s Zero Waste Commission said he was concerned about the potential impacts on recycling businesses, and said he was glad that the site of Urban Ore—the city’s largest private recycling/reuse business—had been removed from the planned rezoning. 

Commissioners earlier this month exempted a second block of property proposed for rezoning at the southern end of West Berkeley along the southern margins of Ashby Avenue west of San Pablo after activists and the owners of Ashby Lumber, which occupies part of the site, along with Urban Ore voiced their concerns. 

Urban Ore co-founder Mary Lou Van De Venter, speaking also on behalf of the Northern California Recycling Association, called for protections for Berkeley’s “green producers.” 

With the City Council official adopting a “zero waste” goal for the community, the city needs manufacturing zoning to handle all the tonnage of recycling for production uses, she said. 

While she urged the commission to restrict the rezoned area to relocating dealerships already in the city, commissioners rejected the notion because Sanderson said it could pose legal problems. 

Nancy Gorrell, who serves on the board of the Community Conservation Center, and spouse Mark Gorrell, an Ecology Center board member, urged the commission to rescind the measure to preserve the city’s growing recycling industry. 

Ecology Center Executive Director Martin Bourque told commissioners that American recycling has overtaken the auto industry in size, in part because of overseas carmakers and in part because of the rapid growth of recycling. 

His own center, he said, employs 10 to 15 union workers, saves millions of gallons of water a year, tons of carbon and hundreds of thousands of trees while saving taxpayers many thousands of dollars. 

He said he was very concerned about the potential impact on the city’s recycling businesses should the city decide to sell the transfer station block, and urged its exemption from the rezoning. 

David Isaac Tam, a member of the Zero Waste Commission and a representative of the Sustainability, Parks Recycling and Wildlife Legal Defense Fund, charged that the city’s environmental impact statement and the accompanying mitigated negative declaration prepared along with the proposal were both legally insufficient. He too urged exemption of the long block from the rezoning. 

“I see no reason that the nine acres should even be considered,” said Rick Auerbach of WEBAIC, who said he was also concerned about existing businesses along the freeway frontage road in the M zone. 

He urged the addition of language that would exempt the properties occupied by Alameda County Computer Recycling Center and a paper-shredding business. 

 

Changes made  

Commissioners did amend the measure they had adopted two weeks earlier, removing used-car lots and truck and motorcycle sales as well as boat and recreational vehicles sales from the district—while adding provisions to allow the sale of restored classic cars that would have otherwise been banned along with other used-car dealerships. 

Pickup trucks, a staple of new-car dealerships, are permitted, along with used-car sales incidental to a new-car dealership’s business. 

While Commissioner Susan Wengraf wanted to include used-car sales “because it’s a form of recycling,” colleague Gene Poschman pointed to the proliferation of used-car lots along San Pablo Avenue. 

The changes still allow new-car dealers to sell used cars as part of their businesses. 

Poschman, who reluctantly voted for the Ferrazares compromise, said he was concerned that city was surrendering to a neo-liberal agenda, “thinking that market conditions are the reference point for decisions in public policy.” 

Commissioners will have one final pass at the measure next month when they will review the redrafted plan and zoning amendments to make certain the changes they approved Wednesday night are clearly expressed..


Top Legal Talent Battle in City-University Confrontation

By Richard Brenneman
Friday September 28, 2007

The courtroom battle over UC Berkeley’s stadium-area building boom pitted the city’s hired legal gun in a Tuesday showdown against the university’s own sharpshooter-for-hire. 

When the smoke cleared, both were still standing, awaiting the next round a week hence. 

The courtroom maneuvers now underway in the Hayward courtroom of Alameda County Superior Court Judge Barbara J. Miller are scheduled to end on Oct. 11 with closing arguments. 

Then it’s up to the judge, who is expected to rule sometime in the following 90 days. 

Harriet A. Steiner represents the city in its battle with the university. A shareholder in the prominent Sacramento law firm of McDonough Holland & Allen, she also serves as city attorney for another UC host community: Davis. 

It was as the legal advocate for Davis that she submitted a friend-of-the-court brief in a landmark case that held California universities need to mitigate the impacts of new development on surrounding communities. 

City of Marina and Fort Ord Reuse Authority v. Board of Trustees of the California State University has been hailed as a major victory for local governments struggling with the impacts of growth by agencies that are literally laws unto themselves. 

In that case, the state Supreme Court held that mitigations were required under the California Environmental Quality Act, one of two laws being used to challenge UC Berkeley’s stadium area projects. 

Her courtroom opponent, Charles R. Olson, is one of the two founding principals of Sanger & Olson, a San Francisco law firm specializing in real estate law. 

In addition to the University of California, the firm’s clients include the elite Starwood Hotels chain, the John Stewart Company, West Bay Builders and Pier 39, as well as the Salvation Army and the National Farm Workers Service Center. 

Olson is also representing the university in other cases challenging its development plans in Berkeley, and served as legal counsel to the university for preparation of its Long Range Development Plan (LRDP) 2020. 

That document and its accompanying environmental impact report (EIR) are playing leading roles in the current dispute over the Southeast Campus Integrated Projects (SCIP). 

 

Disclosure issues 

One of the key legal questions Judge Miller must decide is just what information the university must disclose about its projects and their impacts, and to what level and in what form. 

Olson contends the university met all its obligations in “tiered” environmental impact reports prepared both for the LRDP and the SCIP projects—which include, besides the four-story stadium-side gym and office complex renovations to the stadium, an underground parking lot, and a new office and meeting complex joining the nearby law and business schools. 

While Steiner said there was nothing wrong with including multiple projects in an EIR, “you have to make sure you’re doing a project-level EIR” for each development. 

“This EIR lacks that kind of project-level description.” she said, referring to the document prepared for the SCIP projects. 

As for the Student Athlete High Performance Center, “from the very get-go they stepped forward on the wrong foot” by offering vague descriptions of the project and its impacts and by failing to provide well-reasoned alternatives. 

“They told the public, this is your one shot to address the impacts and mitigations” of all the projects. 

Steiner charged that the stadium projects EIR failed to adequately address the potential impacts of building in an earthquake hazard zone (a definition from the Alquist-Priolo Act, which governs construction in seismic hazard areas) “next to a known fault” which “will most likely” be the source of a major earthquake “within our lifetimes.” 

One issue raised repeatedly by the plaintiffs—who also include City Councilmember Dona Spring, the Panoramic Hill Association and the California Oak Foundation—is whether or not the EIR’s impact findings are valid if, in fact, the university finds it can’t do the major renovations and retrofit plans for Memorial Stadium, which straddles the Hayward Fault. 

While Olson acknowledged that “even with mitigation,” the hazards of bringing people to a fault “cannot be reduced to less than significant and remains significant and unavoidable,” the stadium work would make things safer for the university, stadium users and the surrounding neighbors. 

But the question for the judge is, can the work be done?  

Alquist-Priolo limits new work on buildings within 50 feet of an active fault to half of their value. 

But is “value” the market price of the existing building or the cost of building a new one? And does the 50 percent limitation apply to seismic retrofits?  

And what about work needed to make the stadium compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)?  

Olson, the university’s lawyer, argues that retrofit and ADA costs shouldn’t count and that replacement cost, not market value, should be the governing baseline. 

Not so, say Steiner and the other plaintiffs. And if the stadium work can’t be done, they argue, the threat of collapse would endanger access by emergency workers and escape by residents of Panoramic Hill and other neighborhoods. 

And given the uncertainty of the future of the stadium, why build a gym immediately adjacent to it, one that could be pummeled by debris from a quake-ravaged stadium? 

And is the gym itself a potentially unlawful addition or alteration to the stadium, and thus to be counted toward the 50 percent Alquist-Priolo limit? A judge must come up with answers to this question and more. 

Judge Miller again reminded Olson that the courts are obliged to follow common ordinary definitions in applying the law, which could limit the building’s value to its sale price rather than its replacement cost. 

“I don’t necessarily agree that case law gets us to that point,” Olson said.  

And as for safety, Olson said provisions for moving temporary restroom and concession facilities now sited on game day on a temporarily closed Stadium Rimway along the eastern wall to new permanent spaces beneath the east banks of seating would clear the road for traffic, making the area safer. 

Unlike EIRs for single projects, which are individual documents that stand alone, the university’s projects are “tiered off” more comprehensive EIRs. The SCIP is itself tiered off the EIR for the 2020 LRDP’s EIR—the source of much of the information without which the SCIP’s own EIR can’t be understood.  

Olson acknowledged that the combined project EIRs tiered off from LRDPs were “unusual but not illegal.” 

Twice before, he said, UC Berkeley had adopted a similar tactic—in the case of the Southside projects which include Underhill parking structure and other buildings and with the so-called Nexus bioscience projects on the north side of the campus, tiered off from the 1990 LRDP and its EIR. 

But the plaintiffs are challenging the adequacy of both EIRs, particularly the broader 2020 LRDP document, which covers not only the entire campus area but plans for expansion into downtown Berkeley as well. 

The end result of the complex process is represented by the 17 boxes stacked along the edge of the jury box, filled with 198 “volumes,” some consisting of two of more binders—45,000 pages of documentation. 

In the current battle, Berkeley’s largest developer is also its own regulatory agency—with only the courts offering the hope of recourse. 

Olson said additional review will be undertaken if any substantial changes are made to the projects or if new information surfaces to suggest the environmental impacts may be different from those set forth in the EIR, possibly leading to a supplemental report or an addendum. 

Court will resume Tuesday morning. 

Meanwhile, a day earlier and in a Fremont courtroom not far away, Superior Court Judge Richard Keller will be hearing another case which focuses on the same gym site that has so consumed the legal talent in Judge Miller’s courtroom. 

UC Berkeley will be presenting its case for a court order ending the ongoing tree-sit at the grove along the stadium’s western wall, where protesters took up residence in the branches on Big Game day last December. 

During a hearing Sept. 12, the judge refused the university’s bid for a temporary restraining order that would have given the university the court’s backing to clear the branches. 

That hearing begins at 2:30 p.m. 

Judge Miller herself will pay a visit to the site next Thursday, scheduling her visit from 2 to 6 p.m., so she can see firsthand what all the fuss is about.


James Kenney Park Inclusionary Workers Lose Jobs

By Judith Scherr
Friday September 28, 2007

Fulani Offuti has been an hourly worker in the Parks and Recreation Department for 11 years, working most recently in James Kenney Park’s inclusionary program, where disabled and able-bodied children are integrated into recreation activities.  

After working in the summer program, Offuti anticipated employment as usual in the after-school program, but two weeks before the fall program was to begin, Offuti and six of her co-workers received letters announcing they would be offered no hours in the fall and spring. 

“I was shocked,” Offuti told the Daily Planet outside the Parks and Recreation Commission meeting Monday evening. The week before receiving the “no hours” memo, the six hourly workers in the inclusionary program and one worker in the regular after-school program had been asked by their supervisor to turn in a schedule of their availability, leading all to believe they would be working in the fall after-school program, as many had done for years. 

City administrators argue, however, that these hourly workers are “at will” employees and have no particular right to work. 

The workers and their supporters—some 15 people, including parks department staff, employees from other city departments, Service Employee International Union 1021 officials and parents of children in the program—attended the commission meeting. 

Lisa Hesselgesser, a city library worker and union shop steward, addressed the commission. “It’s a flagrant disregard of people whose children are in the program,” she said. “It’s not just happening to workers—it’s happening to the kids.” 

After hearing speakers during the  

public-comment period, Scott Ferris, commission secretary and youth and recreation services manager in the parks department, responded to Commissioner Joe Gross, who had asked for an explanation: “In large part, it’s a personnel issue and I can’t comment,” Ferris said. “We have done some reorganization at James Kenney. Seven staff members are no longer receiving hours.”  

The city and union interpret their Memorandum of Understanding with the hourly workers differently, with the union arguing that hourly employees have seniority rights, and the city saying they do not. 

Some hourly employees who had worked less time with the city than those who received no hours were rehired for the fall program. “They offered jobs to two people who had just worked for the summer,” SEIU 1021 Field Team Supervisor Andre Spearman told the Daily Planet, in an interview in the hallway outside the commission meeting.  

Spearman argued further that the city ought to have met with the union before denying the workers hours, but city officials say no such meeting is necessary, given the hourly employees’ “at will”  

status. 

In a phone interview Tuesday, Deputy City Manager Lisa Caronna said that only “career” employees—those working 20-to-30 hours during the year and 40 hours during the summer—are protected by seniority requirements. 

“Hourly employees work on call as needed,” Caronna said. After working 520 hours, they get some paid time off. “Hourly employees are hourly employees. They are people who fill in for the needs of the program in recreation, sports, tutoring. They are hourly at will. They do not have seniority rights.”  

Caronna went on to say that picking the people “most effective for the program is at the discretion of management.”  

SEIU officials, however, argue that the agreement between the union and workers does not specifically reference “at will” employment.  

In a Thursday morning e-mail to the Planet, Parks, Recreation and Waterfront Director William Rogers defended the decision not to offer the hours. With new supervisory staff, the adult to child ratio in the inclusionary program is more than one staff member for every two children and “is consistent with the ratio we have had in the past,” he said, noting that in the regular program, attendance has “decreased dramatically,” requiring a smaller staff. 

James Wells, president of the part-time staff union and part time “career” employee at James Kenney, argued to the contrary. In an interview outside the Parks Commission meeting, he told the Planet that he’s found himself in the position of pushing two wheelchairs at once and has not been able to find a second staffer to help move a physically disabled student out of his wheelchair for toileting purposes. 

Rogers characterized Wells’ description as a “misrepresentation.” “At no time do we require one staff member to push two wheelchairs,” he wrote. 

Anthony Jacob attended the Monday night meeting out of concern for the workers and for his 10-year-old autistic son, who attends the inclusionary program. 

“Staff is there with my kid while I’m at people being cut back, I’m concerned for the welfare of my kid.” 

Rogers said in his e-mail that new senior staff enhances the quality of the program. “Instead of just watching the kids, we are providing new opportunities for learning and socialization,” he wrote. 

Responding in a phone call to the Planet, Wells pointed to various activities planned and modified for disabled children by hourly staff, including an Amtrak train trip to Sacramento that gave the disabled children and many of their able-bodied peers an experience none had previously had. 

The workers say the elimination of hours was bad enough, but even worse was the way the long-term workers were advised their services were no longer needed. The two-sentence letter signed August 17 by Scott Ferris said that staffing needs had changed for the 2007-2008 year. “As a result, we do not anticipate scheduling you for hours between September 2007 and June 2008,” the letter said. 

Rogers responded to the criticism, writing: “A letter went to staff who were not going to be scheduled as professional courtesy.”  

Caronna was more conciliatory: “It certainly seems that these people were caught off guard,” she said. “Better communication would not have hurt the situation.”


Trial Starts for Man Accused of Shooting Berkeley Police Officer

Bay City News
Friday September 28, 2007

More than 25 uniformed Berkeley police officers crowded into a courtroom today for opening statements in the trial of a man accused of attempting to murder Berkeley police Officer Darren Kacalek more than two years ago. 

Alameda County Deputy District Attorney Michael Nieto told jurors that Howard Street shot Kacalek, now 31, in the chest with a handgun and fired another shot that grazed Kacalek’s hairline on May 17, 2005, when the officer chased Street as he fled from officers who tried to stop him for speeding with a stolen car. 

Posing and answering a rhetorical question, Nieto said, “Was it divine intervention? I don’t know.” 

Nieto said Street, a 38-year-old Berkeley resident, is charged with six felonies and said that in April and May of 2005 Street was “a one-man crime wave who was out of control.” 

Nieto said that Street is also accused of first-degree residential burglary, carjacking and assault with a firearm in connection with the May 5, 2005, robbery and shooting of 50-year-old Gerald Sims in an Oakland motel room. 

Street also faces two counts of being an ex-felon in possession of a firearm. 

Authorities say that Street previously has been convicted of possession of firearms, robbery and drug sales and escaped police custody in 1990 and 1997.


Superintendent Search Identifies BUSD Problems

By Riya Bhattacharjee
Friday September 28, 2007

At over 25 meetings held during two days this past week, parents, teachers, students and community members showed up to question, comment and prophesy on the role of the new superintendent who will replace current Berkeley Unified School District superintendent Michel Lawrence in February. 

“We want someone who will be a combination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Gandhi and Mother Teresa,” said one parent.  

Tempers flew over the short notice provided to the community for their input, and the dismal turnout at some meetings led to criticism of the Berkeley Board of Education.  

Andy McComb, from Berkeley Organizing Congregations for Action (BOCA), said that the community was not getting enough time to voice their opinion. 

“The board is missing the opportunity to discuss the real issues with the community,” he said. 

“You have to fight to get information about these meetings. The process is far too short. It’s so closed, so tight that it’s very dissatisfying.” 

Berkeley Federation of Teachers president Cathy Campbell said she had grave concerns about the process.  

“It’s really a pity that the board is squandering an opportunity to educate and involve the community,” she said after her meeting with Leadership Associates, the consultants hired to recruit a superintendent, on Monday.  

“They have made it clear that it’s going to be a decision of five people.” 

Some community groups and parents who turned up for the meetings Monday and Tuesday said there had been no general knowledge of the process. 

“You were lucky you got an e-mail,” Campbell said. “Even that looked like a piece of junk mail. The average parent had no knowledge that there was a meeting going on. It’s a sign that the board has chosen to have a very closed process.” 

After Lawrence announced her retirement on Sept. 11, the board hired Leadership Associates and prepared a recruitment timeline in less than a week.  

After boardmembers view the report from the meetings next week, they will be made available to the public, said district spokesperson Mark Coplan. 

“It was definitely short notice and planned within a couple of weeks,” Coplan acknowledged Tuesday, “but we only have a certain amount of time to go through the procedure,” he said. 

“Fifty organizations were sent invitations through a combination of letters and e-mail. It’s impossible to talk to every person in the district in two days.” 

Robert Trigg of Leadership Associates said that although it was a tight timeline it wasn’t an unusual one. 

Coplan added that some people had misunderstood the meetings. 

“A lot of people spoke about the changes they want to see in the district.” he said. “The consultants wanted to know what characteristics the community wants the new superintendent to have. In spite of that we were able to get a lot of great input. Some people came with very specific lists.” 

At Berkeley High School (BHS), the only student leadership group that came forward to talk to the consultants was Youth Together. 

“There were no announcements,” said Jiro Ignacio Palmieri, a BHS senior who was representing the student group. 

Coplan said that letters had been distributed to each of the leadership groups at BHS. 

“The question is how many of them would skip break or stay after school to discuss the new superintendent,” he said. “Not an awful lot of students are thinking about what they want to see in the new superintendent.” 

“I have never seen the superintendent at all,” said Ahmina James, a sophomore who attended the meeting. 

“They need to come and visit the classrooms. A lot of students are accused of having Attention Deficit Disorder, but if kids were encouraged to join groups like Youth Together or go to Youth Court and discuss issues, that would really help.” 

Participants in the different meetings repeatedly stressed the importance of the new superintendent’s closing the achievement gap and promoting diversity. 

Nkauj Iab Yang, site organizer for Youth Together, said that the issue of achievement gap and race went hand in hand. 

“Students from very privileged backgrounds and disadvantaged backgrounds are competing against each other. So what will the superintendent do to reduce the gap?” 

“Lots of people will say I want to do something about the achievement gap,” Trigg, who was coordinating the meeting, said. 

“The question is what will you do to reduce the achievement gap? It takes more than just speaking from the heart.” 

Around 15 people turned up for the meeting with the district’s staff and teachers.  

“We want the new superintendent to solve the most critical problem in the state right now,” said Martin Luther King Jr. elementary school retired music teacher Jesse Anthony. 

“That is, closing the gap between blacks, Latino and white students. No school district I have known so far has solved it. Whichever school district comes up with the tools to do it will be the major school district in the country.” 

Recruiting teachers of color, said Malcolm X teacher Dale Long, was one of the ways of tackling it. 

“It’s really an equity gap,” he said. “Minorities are well represented in early childhood development. The divide starts from K-12. We need a superintendent who changes that immediately.” 

All the teachers in the room pointed out that the majority of students in California would be children of color in a few years. 

“There are zero African American and Latino science teachers at Berkeley High,” said Dorothy Liu, who teaches science at BHS. 

“If you think that doesn’t affect students of color you are wrong.” 

“We need more African American staff, and not just janitors,” said Nina Livingston, a parent. 

“We need teachers and instructors ... The board is hiring teachers who don’t understand our children. Just because our skin is the kind of color it is doesn’t mean we are stupid.” 

Trigg stressed that although achievement gap was one of the important issues in the selection process, it wasn’t the only one. 

“This is an extra sophisticated, complicated and political district,” he said.  

“It’s a challenging job and there are fewer candidates than ever in this field ... The superintendent who comes here has to be thick-skinned. You don’t get praised much, but you get criticized.”  

Campbell stressed that in order to really address the issues of excellence and achievement for all students in Berkeley it was important that the new superintendent have experience working with the classified unions and the teachers. 

“We have built some great buildings, got our finances in order,” she said. “It’s time to focus on kids of color who are not doing so well ... collaborate with teachers to find ways to address that.” 

BOCA highlighted the importance of dual immersion programs. 

“My congregation is vastly Latino,” said Father George Crespin from St. Joseph the Worker Church. 

“The number of dropouts and E’s and F’s has remained the same for a long time now. And the number of personnel who look like the kids is small. The reality is that half of our kids do not do well in the school system and the longer they study in the school district they do worse. Statistics show that their GPA goes down each year in high school. Our children are in a crisis situation.” 

Input about the new superintendent can be sent to 23052-H Alicia Parkway, Mission Viejo, California. More information can be found at www.leadershipassociates.org. 

 

Photograph by Riya Bhattacharjee 

Bob Trigg, former superintendent of the Elk Grove school district and one of the consultants from Leadership Associates, talks to student leaders from Youth Together about the superintendent search process in the Berkeley High School library Monday.


Kavanagh Pleads Not Guilty

Bay City News
Friday September 28, 2007

Berkeley Rent Stabilization Board member Chris Kavanagh pleaded not guilty today to five felony counts stemming from allegations that his real home is in Oakland and that he falsely claims he lives in Berkeley in order to hold office and collect city benefits there. 

Kavanagh, 49, who’s free on $30,000 bail, was arraigned on charges of perjury, grand theft, voting fraud, registration of an ineligible voter and filing false nominating papers. 

Kavanagh, who was dressed in blue jeans and a blue shirt at his brief hearing today, is scheduled to return to Alameda County Superior Court on Oct. 26 to have a preliminary hearing date set. 

He declined to talk to news reporters today. Approached by a television crew outside court before his hearing began, he denied that his name is Chris Kavanagh. 

His attorney, James Giller, said Kavanagh plains to remain on the Rent Stabilization Board and he’s confident he can prove that Kavanagh is a Berkeley resident, even though prosecutors allege that his true residence is a cottage on 63rd Street in Oakland. 

Kavanagh was first elected to the Berkeley Rent Board in 2002 and was re-elected to a second four-year term last November. 

Rent board executive director Jay Kelekian has said he and the board don’t have the authority to remove Kavanagh and could only take such an action if he’s convicted. 

During his campaign last year, Kavanagh signed a disclosure form stating that he lived at an apartment at 2709 Dwight Way in Berkeley. Earlier this year, he told the rent board that his mail should be sent to 2707 Webster St. in Berkeley, which is a post office address. 

Kelekian said he’s heard that Kavanagh has listed a Bancroft Way address as his residence more recently.


Code Pink Protests Marine Recruitment Center

By Riya Bhattacharjee
Friday September 28, 2007

Code Pink took to the streets of Berkeley Wednesday to try to drive the U.S. Marine Recruitment Center out of the city. 

Donning pink hats, T-shirts and badges, a group of 10 braved rush-hour traffic on Shattuck Avenue to protest against the recruitment office located at 64 Shattuck Square. 

“If there are to be no wars, there can be no warriors,” said Dianne Budd, one of the organizers. 

“We found out a few days ago and decided to make their lives miserable,” she said, pinning up “RECRUITERS LIE, CHILDREN DIE” posters on the office windows. “We want people to know that it’s here and we want to shut them down. If people had been in there we were ready to hand out information about GI rights. We just want to speak the truth.” 

Budd said that the group had planned the demonstration after noticing the office on the block, and its proximity to UC Berkeley and Berkeley High School. 

The recruitment office was closed when the Planet reached the site at 5 p.m. Wednesday and no one was available for comment before press time. 

According to Shahin, owner of the Z&S salon located next door, the recruitment center has been there since January. 

“I have seen people coming here during the day five days a week,” she said. “It’s not a lot but they go in and out and some have uniforms.” 

As Budd and her fellow organizers held a pink banner with “No military predators in our town” written on it, hundreds of cars, buses and trucks honked their support and waved. 

“It’s pretty brazen to put it up here,” said disabled people’s activist Dan McMullen as he passed by. 

“I think they are wasting their time. Not too many people are going to sign up.” 

Mental Health commissioner Michael Diehl reminisced about friends who were Vietnam vets. 

“They never came back from the war the same,” he said looking at the posters. “I guess the governement is building up the pressure. A couple of months ago the feds ordered Berkeley High to follow their opt-out policy. They are trying hard to recruit people.” 

Berkeley High was recently threatened with federal-fund cuts unless they followed the federal opt-out policy, which allows the military to access students’ personal information for recruitment purposes unless they deliberately opt out of the process. 

Marge Lasky, a member of Grandmothers Against the War, said she had no idea that the office was there. 

“I am pretty shocked it’s here,” she said. “Why would the marines come into the belly of the beast? Either they are really desperate for recruitment or they think they can get people by being near Berkeley High and the university.” 

Kali Steel from Code Pink said the group would protest in front of the office every Wednesday until it was shut down. 

“This is exactly where our kids hang out,” she said. “We don’t want military recruiters in Berkeley.” 

“Keep it up,” said a lady in a silver Toyota. “We love what you do.” 

No one came to drag the protesters away as they stood waving banners and talking for almost two hours. 

“It’s my first-amendment right,” Budd said smiling. “Who’s going to stop me?” 

 

Photograph by Riya Bhattacharjee, 

Dianne Budd, a Code Pink organizer, pins up a poster in front of the Marine Recruiting Center on Shattuck Avenue Wednesday to protest its existence.


Health Officer Cites Race as Factor in Health Inequalities

By Riya Bhattacharjee
Friday September 28, 2007

Berkeley still has a long way to go before it can eliminate health inequalities, according to city officials who spoke at Tuesday’s Community Action Forum at St. Paul AME Church. 

Numbers came to life as community members spoke about real-life instances and discussed ways to battle existing demographic divides along racial, ethnic and social lines. 

Linda Rudolph, the city’s health officer, highlighted the positives and negatives of the city of Berkeley’s 2007 Health Status Report and outlined the ongoing action taking place to help citizens. 

“There is a large disparity between races,” she said. “African Americans have the highest death rates in all categories. A lot of diseases people are dying from can be prevented by healthy eating and exercise. People really need to focus on their diets.” 

City Manager Phil Kamlarz said that a number of relevant trends hadn’t changed since the last report. 

“The question is how we will continue this discussion,” he said. “Work together to find different answers to different things. The statistics show that Berkeley is healthy, but why don’t African Americans have some of the same numbers as whites? We need to keep developing strategies to deal with blood pressure, hypertension, poverty and diet.” 

The forum—which attracted more than a hundred people—was also attended by Alameda County superintendent Keith Carson, councilmembers Max Anderson, Darryl Moore and Kriss Worthington, who is acting as vice-mayor while Mayor Tom Bates is in England. 

Rudolf said that grave disparities in the 1999 Health Report led to the formation of a Community Action Team in 2000 which had established a lot of good models in Southwest Berkeley. 

“The single most important challenge is health and equity,” she said. “Prenatal care has really improved in Berkeley in the last ten years. The gap between blacks, Latinos and whites in getting prenatal care has gone away completely. ” 

Rudolph added that the Health Department’s first priority was to pay attention to young children. 

“We believe that every child deserves a healthy start,” she told community members.  

“Many low-income children are still obese and in addition to that, a lot of youth in the city are using tobacco, alcohol and marijuana. We know there is a problem with fighting high rates of youth violence ... It’s important to make sure every teen has an opportunity to build a healthy lifestyle.” 

The report stated that about two-thirds of all deaths in the city were from heart and circulatory diseases, cancer and stroke. About a third are caused by tobacco, poor diet and physical disabilities, it said. 

“Overall Berkeley has a low rate of hypertension, but it’s twelve times as high in African Americans as in whites,” she said.  

Heart disease and diabetes are also higher for African Americans and Latinos than for whites, she said. 

“One-hundred-and-fifty deaths of people in poor neighborhoods can be avoided if these people had the same mortality level as whites,” Rudolph said. 

“If we don’t address segregation, if we don’t address the social environment, we cannot influence these risk factors,” she said. 

“You are outlining all the problems and not addressing anything,” said George Pearson, who works as a physician’s assistant in Berkeley.  

“In January 2006 there was a discussion on the same subject ... The studies keep happening, but adverse outcomes are still adverse outcomes.” 

Rudolph replied that it was important to address the different health challenges through data. 

“We hope we can see more progress but we are going to keep working on the data,” she said. 

She also informed the community about the new Hypertension Clinic in South Berkeley which was opened to address high-risk symptoms leading to stroke and diabetes. 

Councilmember Darryl Moore spoke about the Be Fit Berkeley program—a neighborhood competition where residents could earn points by losing weight and exercising regularly—which will be launched in October. 

“The report shows that we have made some progress in dealing with low infancy birth rates and new programs but to see really significant change is long term ... probably decades,” said Julie Sinai, senior aide to the mayor. 

“The more we can get people on the same page and keep them motivated, the better. Incremental changes are important.” 

 

Photograph by Riya Bhattacharjee. 

At Tuesday’s Community Action Forum, teen mother and Berkeley City College student Rocky Smith recounts the story of how she was evicted by her landlord when her baby was three months old. The forum focused on the city’s newly released 2007 Health Report.


Fire Department Log

By Richard Brenneman
Friday September 28, 2007

Flames destroyed most of a large carport behind one of Berkeley’s tenancy-in-common (TIC) buildings last Friday, consuming two cars in the process. 

“We estimate damage to the structure at $100,000 and $25,000 to the contents,” said Deputy Fire Chief David P. Orth. 

Firefighters were called at 1:22 p.m., and arrived at 2415 Russell St. to find the roof of the lengthy structure behind the rear of the main dwelling building in flames. 

“The fire ran all along the covered roof,” said Orth. “We ended up having to chainsaw off about half of the roof.” 

In addition to the roof and the two cars, the flames also consumed a bank of storage lockers and their contents. 

The flames were under control within the first 20 minutes, Orth said, but getting at the remnants inside the open roof structure required the chainsaws. 

“The last unit left about 3:30,” he said. 

Unlike condos, where tenants own the individual dwelling units, TICs are held in common by all the owner-occupants.


Three Medical Emergencies in a Day at Berkeley High School

By Riya Bhattacharjee
Friday September 28, 2007

One of the two students who were injured in a series of unrelated accidents at Berkeley High Wednesday was back in the classroom Thursday, said Berkeley Unified School District spokesperson Mark Coplan. 

The school grounds were abuzz with activity around 11:15 a.m. Wednesday when three medical emergencies occurred within half an hour of each other. 

The Communication Arts & Sciences (CAS) small school was having an organized team-building exercise at Martin Luther King Jr. Civic Center park when two students circling the group miscalculated and ran into each other, bumping heads. 

After one of the students complained of neck pain, vice principal Maggie Heredia-Peltz, who was with the group, called for medical assistance.  

The student was taken to Highland Hospital by paramedics and CAS teacher Phil Halpern and was back at school Thursday. 

Coplan told the Planet that the other two students were also expected to be back at school. 

He said that the paramedics had also found a student in the bushes adjacent to the H buiding across from the park who complained that he had suffered injuries after falling from a second-floor window. 

The student was also taken to Highland Hospital, where doctors found no injuries. 

Coplan said that although there were many speculations that the student had jumped or had been pushed from the window, no witnesses had come forward to confirm it. 

At the same time, another student reported to the health center with chest pains. An ambulance was called to transport the student to Children’s Hospital for further testing and observation. 

 

 


Port Commission Nominee a Test of Dellums’ Strategies

By J. Douglas Allen-Taylor
Friday September 28, 2007

The wisdom of Oakland Mayor Ron Dellums’ policy of keeping his distance from the politics of the Oakland City Council gets its first real test this Tuesday when the council considers Dellums’ appointments to the powerful Port of Oakland Board of Commissioners. 

It will also be a test of the mayor’s ability to fulfill his promise to bring formerly unrepresented sections of the Oakland community into the halls of power of the Oakland government. 

Last fall, while he was still mayor-elect, Dellums resisted calls from some of his supporters to support anti-war activist and Green Party member Aimee Allison in her runoff race against incumbent District 2 Councilmember Pat Kernighan, saying that District 2 voters were qualified to choose their own representative without his help. Following the election, which Kernighan won, Dellums then refused to intervene in attempts to challenge the re-election of District 3 Councilmember Ignacio De La Fuente as president of the Council. 

Now, De La Fuente stands as the reported center of opposition to Dellums’ nomination of West Oakland environmental activist Margaret Gordon to one of two Port Commission seats, while Kernighan is considered one of the key swing votes that could either put Gordon on the commission or keep her off. 

With five votes needed on the eight-member council, Gordon’s confirmation to replace Commissioner David Kramer, now scheduled for the Tuesday, Oct. 2 Council meeting, is considered too close to call. 

Gordon’s nomination was originally scheduled to be voted on by the council just prior to the summer break, but Dellums postponed the vote shortly before the council meeting after determining that he did not have more than four firm votes for confirmation. The mayor also pulled a second Port Commission nominee, IBEW Local 595 Business Manager Victor Uno, but Uno’s confirmation is not considered to be a problem. 

The battle over Gordon’s nomination comes at a time when issues she has long been advocating—improving Oakland’s air quality and the health of its citizens—are at the forefront of Port of Oakland concerns. 

According to Gordon’s bio, the Richmond native, who grew up in San Francisco and later relocated to Oakland, co-founded and co-directs the West Oakland Environmental Indicators  

Project (WOEIP), a state- and federally-funded advocacy group that “works with neighborhood organizations, physicians, researchers, and public officials to ensure West Oakland residents have a clean environment, safe neighborhoods, and access to economic opportunity. In 2006, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency recognized WOEIP for its ‘work to improve local air quality.’” 

This past Wednesday, East Bay Alliance for a Sustainable Economy (EBASE), as part of the Coalition for Clean and Safe Ports, issued a report calling for the elimination of indepen-dent truck contracting at the Port of Oakland in order to “reduce pollution and ensure economic growth.” The report “Taking The Low Road” says that truck pollution at the port and in the surrounding areas is having a devastating health effect on the truck drivers themselves and on West Oakland residents, with Alameda County Department of Public Health Director Dr. Anthony Iton writing in the foreword that “residents living in the shadow of the Port of Oakland can expect to die, on average, more than a decade before residents of the Oakland Hills,” mostly due to asthma-related health conditions. But with independent truckers financially unable to upgrade their vehicles, the report suggests that the port contract with established trucking companies and then require them to meet stricter environmental and work condition standards. 

Port officials are considering the group’s recommendations. 

On Thursday, Gordon and other local business leaders, environmental and community activists and city and port staff members met at the Jack London Aquatic Center on the Oakland estuary to continue work on the port’s Mari-time Air Quality Improvement Plan (MAQIP). Port and local health officials and activists are hoping that, when it is completed, MAQIP will be a roadmap for the port to “reduce the adverse public health impacts of the Port of Oakland’s seaport-related air emissions at the seaport area and in the neighboring communities,” as well as to allow the port to tap into recently passed state infrastructure bond monies to make improvements at the port facilities. 

Gordon, along with Port Executive Director Omar Benjamin and Bay Area Air Quality Management District Director Jack Broadbent, is one of the three-co-chairs for the MAQIP task force, a tribute to how well she is respected in dealing with health-related port issues. 

In between task force sessions on Thursday, Gordon said that she believes that if she is confirmed by Oakland City Council, she will bring a needed new perspective to the Port Commission. 

“I’ll be bringing the experience of a community that other Commissioners don’t see, they don’t smell, they don’t hear,” she said. “I can tell them about the trucks riding up on the sidewalks in West Oakland and cracking the pavement where residents have to walk, or idling under people’s bedroom windows, or the dust and dirt and soot they leave behind them on the sides of houses, or the smoke billowing out of ships that comes over into our neighborhood, or the mothers sitting up with their kids hacking and coughing all night, or the people missing work because of respiratory problems.” 

But Gordon, who has asthma herself and who has five of 11 grandchildren who also suffer from the ailment, says that as well as alerting the port to problems, she can bring with her long-established contacts that can help smooth the way to solutions. 

“There’s no other current commissioner who has the contacts with state and federal and local environmental health officials that I have,” Gordon said, “with the Environmental Protection Agency, with the California Air Resources Board, with the California Department of Health. I’ve been dealing with these agencies for years. I know many of their employees on a first-name basis. I can help the commission understand these agencies’ concerns so that the commission can meet these environmental and health standards, and as a Port Commissioner, I can help the agencies understand the port’s concerns. 

She said that with increasing national consciousness on health and environmental issues, every port will have to meet increasingly stringent standards, adding that facing that challenge and meeting those environmental and health standards early will make the Port of Oakland more competitive, not less. She believes that her presence on the commission would help that process. 

It is difficult to determine the exact nature of the opposition to Gordon’s nomination, aside from the fact that Port Commissioners have traditionally been business-oriented, and that there may be some jockeying by Dellums opponents on the Council who would like to see portions of the mayor’s agenda fail. One of things you hear about Gordon is that she may be too “blunt” to serve on the Commission. 

She is certainly plain-spoken. On Thursday, after some port representatives, including Executive Director Benjamin, expressed concerns that any health and environmental standards should take into account the port’s need to stay competitive with other west coast ports, Gordon said pointedly, “I don’t see the balance. I see the port continuing to grow at the airport and at its maritime facilities, but I don’t see you meeting your responsibilities with regards to the health concerns of the city. I’d like to see a clear financial analysis of how those standards would hurt the growth of the port.” 

But she also added that it was unfair for the port to foot the whole bill for raising environmental and health standards, when area businesses are contributing little or nothing but benefiting from the nearby presence of the port facilities. 

“I’d like to see what our local businesses and industries will commit to this effort,” she said. “Let’s be real. The rubber’s hitting the road, now.” 

 

Contributed photo  

Port Commission nominee Margaret Gordon.


BHA: Today Is Last Day to Mail Housing Applications

By Judith Scherr
Friday September 28, 2007

Today (Friday, September 28) is the last day for eligible persons to put their applications in the mail for the two available units of Berkeley’s public housing, Berkeley Housing Authority Director Tia Ingram reminded the BHA board at its Wednesday evening meeting. 

Noting that 17 people had mistakenly hand-delivered applications to the BHA office, Ingram said these people must resubmit the applications by mail. All applications must be postmarked by today, Sept. 28.  

BHA received three applications postmarked before Sept. 24; they are ineligible. (Those applicants can resubmit the applications as long as they are postmarked by today, Ingram said.) BHA will not be alerting those who have misfiled their applications. 

“The first day [applications were available] we went through 2,000 applications,” Ingram reported, describing a line of people that circled the block at the housing authority. The central library ran out of forms and they were resupplied, she said. 

Most city offices are closed today. However, applications will be available today at the housing authority office at 1901 Fairview St., and at the Center for Independent Living, 2539 Telegraph Ave., the East Bay Community Law Center, 2921 Adeline St., Centro Legal de la Raza, 2501 International Blvd. and the Asian Resource Center, 310 Eighth St. 

There are two available homes, rather than the three originally available, because one family is transferring from one of the 14 state-owned low-income homes, according to Ingram. That home will become available under a different process. 

In other BHA business, Ingram informed the board Wednesday evening that it cannot contract out for janitorial services, as it had planned to do. The city has an agreement that its unionized workers must do the job.  

“I believe it’s significantly less cost” to contract outside the city, Ingram said, noting that BHA would be permitted to contract out after June 2008. Board member Marjorie Cox suggested BHA ask the city to donate custodial services, which amount to about $42,000 annually.  

Ingram announced that a team from the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Inspector General’s Office would be at the Berkeley BHA offices next week to do an investigation relative to charges made by City Attorney Manuela Albuquerque in May 22 and June 6 memos alleging improper allocation of Section 8 vouchers by housing staff and other charges of staff improprieties.  

The board approved Ingram’s appointment of tenants to the Public Housing Resident Advisory Council, a body that must be in place to approve BHA’s Annual Plan, which is in the works. Approval of the plan by a tenant committee is required by HUD.


Autumn Holiday Activities May Sell Out Quickly

By Steven Finacom, Special to the Planet
Friday September 28, 2007

I’m not one for making holiday plans too early. I cringe at Halloween displays in stores on Labor Day, and abhor hearing ho-ho-ho’s anytime before Thanksgiving. 

But there are a few winter holiday activities that do need to be thought about in early fall, since they can sell out well before the holidays actually arrive. 

Here are three suggestions for diverse East Bay entertainments that might be of interest this December, but need to be scheduled soon: a ride on a vintage train, glowing with holiday lights; a musical dinner at UC Berkeley’s Faculty Club; and the Oakland version of the Christmas Revels. 

First, the train. Down in southern Alameda County the historic Niles Canyon Railroad runs through the ravine of the same name. At Christmas the vintage railway cars and engines are draped and festooned, inside and out, with elaborate arrangements of colored lights and festive garlands to form the “Train of Lights.” 

Evening excursionists ride the sparkling train through the Canyon from Sunol to Niles and back, about a 70-minute round trip. On most of the after-dark rides Santa comes along, and hot beverages, juice, and snacks are available for purchase. 

Last year the holiday rides cost $20 for reserved seating in the enclosed cars, or $15 for outside seats. This year’s fares have not yet been posted. 

The railroad volunteers are enthusiastic and cheery, and have accomplished a prodigious amount of work. They keep an entire railroad and its rolling stock in good condition with only volunteer labor, donations, and the proceeds from fundraisers such as the Train of Lights. 

I’ve only been on the daytime train ride. It was well populated with families with young children, and my guess is that the holiday trains have a similar demographic. 

You board and disembark from the train in Sunol, about an hour’s drive from Berkeley. There’s trackside parking at the station, which includes a small train-themed gift shop in the historic wooden depot. 

This is a fun ride, but it’s not a luxury excursion. The trains jounce and rumble a bit along the tracks. The vintage passenger cars have simple padded seats, while the outdoor riding is on benches built on converted flatcars, roofed over, but with open sides. It can probably get chilly. 

The Train of Lights runs on 19 dates this year, Wednesdays, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays, from Nov. 23 to Dec. 23. Each day there’s a 4:30 and a 7 p.m. train. Tickets apparently sell out very quickly. 

The website currently says “Tickets go on sale in October” so keep checking there for a more specific date. 

The route runs through a deep cleft, the outlet to the Bay for Alameda Creek, the East Bay’s biggest natural fresh watercourse. 

Railroad tracks from San Jose were first laid into this steep-sided ravine by 1866, and in 1869 Niles Canyon became the route by which the Transcontinental Railroad threaded through the last barrier of hills and came down to the Pacific tidewater. 

You won’t see much of the winter canyon landscape of steep, green, hillsides and riparian woodland on the night time trips, but if you enjoy the Train of Lights, you can always come back on a spring or summer weekend for a daytime ride. 

Next, the campus party.  

One of the oldest organized holiday events in Berkeley is the Faculty Club Christmas Party on the UC campus. It’s been more than a century since Cal professors first started festively decking their rustic hall designed by Bernard Maybeck. 

This is a popular event, selling out three evenings a year. It’s a private party, members and guests only, but if you know a member of the Faculty Club, you can ask them to invite you. Members aren’t only professors; many are non-academic staff, or alumni. 

The evening starts with light food and drinks in the lounges, and proceeds to a lavish meal served by waiters in the redwood-timbered Great Hall. Adjacent rooms with views into the Hall are opened up for additional diners. A tiny stage and risers, next to a small and capable band, accommodate volunteer entertainers. 

First come the Monks, a venerable group of male club members and friends led for decades by “Prior” Milton Williams. They gather to sing an array of traditional numbers, including a “Boar’s Head’ carol partially in Latin, sung as a mock boar’s head is borne through the banqueting hall. 

The Monks also finish off the evening with a rafter raising Hallelujah Chorus, and members of the audience are invited to come up and join in; many do, to the musical enrichment of the evening. There’s also a bit of Cal singing, including “Hail to California” and the subtly sarcastic “Faculty Hymn”. 

The centerpiece of the evening is a light skit, written and performed by club members. Snippets of song, often from popular musicals, acquire new lyrics to parody the past year on campus. A wall-mounted moose head may come to life and join in the dialogue.  

Foibles of faculty, Regents, administrators as well as sundry politicians are all fair game. The generally good-natured but also wickedly witty jibes also lament such evergreen academic preoccupations as low salaries, campus bureaucracy, and rifts between those in the humanities and hard sciences. Some true eminences, including one retired chancellor, have taken parts as volunteer performers. 

Invitations are mailed to members in October and tickets are sought after and snapped up quickly. For this event the club only accepts reservations in writing; there are no on-line or telephone sign-ups. 

Again, there’s no general public admission to this event; you have to be the guest of a club member. But ask around, you may well know one. Also keep in mind that this is a Christmas party with plenty of singing of traditional carols with religious content, although attendees of all faiths or none are welcome. 

Each year I’ve attended I’ve met people, from on-campus and off, who are there for the first time and are delighted to take part. Many others have been coming for decades.  

Third, the Christmas Revels.  

Scattered around the country are various Revels programs, part of an organization founded in 1971. Oakland fortunately has a vigorous December performance series, produced by California Revels. 

What’s a Christmas Revel? The program describes it as “a joyous production welcoming the return of the light back from the darkness of winter.” Oakland’s event takes place in the ornate Scottish Rite Theater, atop the Scottish Rite (Masonic) Temple on Lake Merritt. 

Each year the Christmas Revels highlight a different holiday cultural tradition. Mid-winter and solstice holiday songs, dances, stories and rituals from that culture are assembled and performed by an appropriately costumed cast mixing professional entertainers with talented local amateurs, recruited in annual auditions. 

Last year the setting was rustic, rural, French-Canada. Other Revels have traveled in theme to Ireland during the great immigration to America, Appalachia, the Italian Renaissance, Russia, Celtic Scotland, the Elizabethan and Middle Ages, and even Meso-America. 

This year the program theme “follows a 19th century ‘Songcatcher’ as he wanders the English countryside, seeking to collect the songs, dances and village traditions that mark the turning of the year.”  

Included are “mumming and Morris dancing, Christmas carols and some of their pub room predecessors, as well as English Country Dancing, children’s street games, storytelling and more” including a haunting Stag Horn Dance that’s a Christmas Revels tradition. 

There are dozens of short songs and performances in each program ranging from sweet solos to energetic mass dances and choruses. At intermission, the cast takes a break while the audience is invited to join in dancing and song through the theater aisles (you can also just watch, not participate).  

The setting itself is a treat, a glorious though worn, oval and oracular, auditorium with high tiers of seating that looks part opera house and part Harry Potter set. 

I’ve only been once, but friends and family members are regulars and swear by it. I’m not sure that all the performances sell out, but certainly many of the better seats get taken early, so you should look into getting tickets when they go on sale to the general public Oct. 15.  

 

 

TRAIN OF LIGHTS 

For details and ticket information, go to www.ncry.org/home.htm and click on the Santa figure and Train of Lights icon on the right. Tickets go on sale on-line in October. 

If you haven’t been on the Niles Canyon Railroad before, sure to read the “Frequently Asked Questions” at the bottom of the Train of Lights page. 

The journey starts and ends in Sunol, about an hour’s drive from Berkeley. 

 

FACULTY CLUB 

The only way to attend is as a member or a guest of a member. Ask around amongst your friends. Tickets last year were $60 per person. The Club newsletter notes that invitations will be “mailed mid-October.” The party is repeated on three consecutive evenings, Wednesday through Friday, Dec. 5, 6, 7. 

 

CHRISTMAS REVELS 

The Christmas Revels stages ten performances, Dec. 7-9, and Dec. 14-16. There are six evening, and four early afternoon shows. All performances are in the Scottish Rite Theater next to Lake Merritt in Oakland. Tickets for the general public go on sale Oct. 15. For further information, see www.calrevels.org. 

 

 

Photograph by Steven Finacom. 

The Monks perform beneath a benevolent and animate moose head in the redwood Great Hall during last year’s Faculty Club Christmas Party.  


Opinion

Editorials

Editorial: Public Bathrooms for Every Body Initiative

By Becky O’Malley
Tuesday October 02, 2007

Here’s a quick and simple suggestion: Let’s just change the name to the “Public Bathrooms for Every Body Initiative.” As we predicted in this very space in the very last issue, that’s all it’s really about in the end (no rude pun intended). On Saturday, a lovely autumn day, tirely too many of the usual suspects were entombed in the North Berkeley Senior Center to talk about the politicians’ latest proposal to curry favor with some elements of what they perceive to be Berkeley by cracking down on undesirable street behavior. All agreed that urination and defecation in all the wrong places is undesirable. 

Acting Mayor Kriss Worthington opened for the electeds. Laurie Capitelli was there—stayed in the audience for almost the whole event, didn’t say anything. Darryl Moore came in late, but stayed to the end. Linda Maio dropped in at the end with a cute kid, presumably a grandchild, in tow. The other councilmembers were noticeably absent, including the mayor, who’s in England, where they have plenty of well-located public conveniences, there called Public Toilets, which would sound vulgar here. 

The meeting wasn’t a public hearing in the usual sense. It was billed as a “town hall meeting,” presumably because it wasn’t held in the town hall like real public hearings are. This is consistent with the Orwellian tone of the whole endeavor. 

Attendees, or should we call them guests, sat in a circle or at tables, as if they were at dinner. Former city employee Taj Johns played Mother, warning them to speak one at a time and not to interrupt each other.  

The featured presenter was Lauren Lempert, the consultant hired with the $50,000 the council has appropriated to discuss the topic. Lempert did her best to frame the issue with pre-composed PowerPoint slides, but was much hampered by the fact that her projector and the screen provided weren’t quite compatible and the words leaked out over the edges. And the guests weren’t much help. A couple of them had the nerve to ask for a copy of the full text of the proposed action instead of just a copy of Lempert’s PowerPoint slides. 

This just in: PowerPoint is the new butcher paper. Contrary to my prediction, butcher paper tablets and markers are OUT. PowerPoint transcription is IN. Or at least I think it’s PowerPoint, but it’s been at least 10 years since I departed the world of high-tech sales pitches so I might not know the lingo any more. I still do recognize a sales pitch when I see one, however. 

Whatever the device was, it allowed Ms. Lempert (JD,MPH) to transcribe the oral remarks of the speakers in real time. They were (mostly) projected on the hard-to-read screen, and are possibly preserved somewhere in cyberspace for future contemplation. Not surprisingly, her typing wasn’t always 100 percent accurate—mine wouldn’t be either under the circumstances. I went through a period of trying to take notes as a reporter on a portable computer, and I discovered that it’s a barrier to intelligent listening.  

And using such a well-educated and presumably well-paid person as a stenographer is foolish. It would have been much better to tape the comments and transcribe them later if desired.  

The whole thing was a colossal waste of public money and everyone’s time. I spotted at least four other people among the 40 or so there that I’d normally see at the Farmers’ Market at that time of a Saturday, and it’s time better spent.  

On the other hand, part of the pleasure of going to the market is socializing, and the gathering functioned as a cheery reunion for many of us who struggled unsuccessfully to prevent the last round of poor laws from being passed. (A federal judge threw them out, thank goodness.) One companera corrected my memory about how long ago it was: It’s been 13 years, not just eight, since Bates and company tried this the first time.  

Many of us are a good bit greyer than we were then, as is Mayor Bates, but we’re still in good voice. I didn’t keep count, but my rough estimate is that there were about 40 speakers. About 35 of them were worried about what mischief they thought might be in the works. Most of these said, as I predicted, that more funding is needed for remedial services for the badly-behaved. 

Two or three tactful representatives of the Downtown Berkeley Association did their best to make nice in an unsympathetic crowd. The new director of the Chamber of Commerce was up-beat. Roland Peterson, who works for some Telegraph business association, said things were better there now.  

Only one person spoke as a private citizen. She said her parents used to go downtown to sit on benches, but now most of the benches had been taken away because street people used them too much. She wanted more benches with fewer street people on them. 

Everyone, without exception, thought more bathrooms were needed. One very brave young mother from the hills admitted that she has a chronic urinary problem, and has occasionally been forced to pee in the bushes when she couldn’t make it to a bathroom. 

Bottom line (again, no rude pun intended): A lot of money and time would be saved if the City Council could see its way clear to providing more public bathrooms in commercial areas in the near future. The $50,000 already spent on the consultant would have paid for quite a few months of PortaPotty rentals. Is there a courageous councilmember who would propose putting a Public Bathrooms For Every Body Initiative on the agenda right now? Once there are enough bathrooms, we can talk about how to persuade everyone to use them.  

 

 


Editorial: Bashing the Poor is Back in Style

By Becky O’Malley
Friday September 28, 2007

On Wednesday I had a rare opportunity to sit in a chair at an undisclosed location in the country for a couple of hours. I took along the New Yorker which had just arrived in my mailbox and my reading glasses, as well as some binoculars in case any birds showed up.  

The birds appeared right on cue, or should I say on queue, taking turns to sip out of a trickling fountain, because it was a hot day. As a very occasional bird watcher, I don’t call most of them by name. Hummingbirds, jays and chickadees, yes, but I haven’t had formal introductions to most of the others, sometimes grouped by the British as “little brown birds.” With the aid of my spyglasses, I discovered that some of the ones that looked brown to my naked aging eyes are a riot of colors and patterns. A particularly assertive crowd at the water source was divided into two groups, probably along gender lines: some bright chrome yellow and some subtle olive green, with a strong black and white pattern on their wings. The Stellar’s jays were hard to miss: bigger, louder, flashier and much pushier than any of the others. I saw one or two specimens of an elegant two-tone gray bird that I don’t remember seeing before. Probably since it’s fall there were travellers in the group hanging around the water cooler, on their way to their own personal undisclosed locations for the winter.  

All in all, the birds were a treat, but the New Yorker was a major disappointment. It turned out to be the “Style” issue, with piece after piece loaded down with expensive brand names. If the brand owners didn’t pay handsomely for product placement, as they now do for movies and television, the Conde Nast corporation, which owns the New Yorker, wuz robbed.  

The best/worst of the lot was a hagiography of the editor of one of the many self-referential Manhattan pop culture mags, described by the New Yorker writer as being somewhat zine-like, but not exactly. Every detail of her (quite pedestrian) daily life was explored in breathless prose, down to the bowl of cherries always on her coffee table. The name of every person now enjoying 15 minutes of fame who hangs out with her was dropped. It was a fascinating piece in a horrifying way, typical of a genre which has been around for many years, and has sometimes spawned whole publications, including the one its subject now manages.  

Reading this story while occasionally glancing up to spot a bird, I was reminded of one of my favorite maxims. (This is a hazard of old age—there’s a strong temptation to reduce anything you might have learned over the years to a few pat phrases repeatedly endlessly to annoy your friends and family.) Maxim: “Styles come and go, but the avant-garde remains the same.”  

And this particular avantgardiste seems to have it all down pat: primary colors, peculiar glasses, funky friends, the whole ball of wax, completely up to code for Manhattan-style then and now, for at least the past 50 years. She is described as having migrated from the Jersey burbs to Wash U in St. Louis to L.A. to downtown NYC, a classic trajectory dating back to the 1920s at least.  

The most interesting information in the piece is that the editor in question (and by extension her division of the avant-garde) seems to have adopted a number of the standard features of late-’50s California Upper Bohemia as markers of what is lauded as her trendy signature style. The writer gushes on and on about her Heath pottery and Marimekko fabrics, obviously unaware that they were the automatic choice of a whole generation of Mrs. Robinsons in Marin and the Berkeley hills. On the plus side of the ledger, the piece publicizes the editor’s support for the East Bay’s beloved Creative Growth organization, the workshop for developmentally disabled artists which has produced marvelous art for at least 30 years, but is hardly a new discovery.  

Which brings us back to the birds. One moral I derived from reading these style pieces while watching the birds (morals: another hazard for grandmothers) is that birds are forever stylish without even trying, while humans work hard at being stylish and often fail. No dress described in the New Yorker was anything like as handsome as the greenish birds with the striped wings or the Stellar’s jays.  

And there’s a political lesson to be learned too. Solutions to perceived problems, come in cycles just as hemlines do. This analysis thrust itself on me as I got back to work on Thursday morning and read the press release about the hearing on Saturday which has been called to discuss the mayor’s latest plans for disappearing the poor folks from downtown Berkeley. It’s been about eight years since the last time he and the then-mayor tried it, but the plans are pretty much the same as they were then.  

The mayor himself seems to have made up his mind long ago. He made it clear in a KPFA interview that he generally tries to avoid Berkeley’s beggars, and he’ll miss the hearing. He’s adding to his carbon footprint with yet another European junket, but the rest of us are invited to the North Berkeley Senior Center to talk about what to do, as if it were an open question. You can be sure that large butcher paper tablets and markers to write on them will be in evidence, along with wastebaskets to put the results in afterwards.  

A few merchants will respond to an invitation from the Downtown Berkeley Association to attend and shake their fists. Civil libertarians will object to proposed restrictions on speech. Those who try to help the homeless and disturbed people who annoy their housed and complacent fellow citizens will talk about how hard their job is, especially since the budget for the remedies they offer has been slashed.  

All speakers will agree that decent public bathrooms would be nice. Parking charges will be raised to pay for them, but the money will be used for something else. The crazy person with the giant stuffed Snoopy who’s been trying to sleep behind my garage since being rousted from Telegraph will move on eventually.  

Nothing will change. In another eight or 10 years, perhaps sooner, we’ll do it all again. That’s fashion, Berkeley-style. 


Public Comment

Letters to the Editor

Tuesday October 02, 2007

MOVEON.ORG 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

What Becky O’Malley says about Move On may or may not be true, but she must admit that if it hadn’t been the “Betray Us” nonsense, the folks who make sure that that sort of thing overwhelms real issues would have just invented another equally meaningless tempest. 

The bottom line for folks who believe the general actually did betray his country is not to blame Move On for stating the truth, but to stand up to the media goons who marginalize it. 

As you correctly stated, the spineless presidential candidates and members of Congress who condemned this particular act of free speech should have instead come out swinging (as did Bill Clinton) right away.  

The more they cave in, the more likely it is they’ll be next on the “swift boat” to election hell. 

Dale Sophiea 

 

• 

OAK GROVE 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Some questions about the Cal tree controversy: 

1) If this stand of oaks is truly the last of its kind within the Berkeley city limits, why is that? 

2) What part, if any, did the city government play in the removal of all those other trees? 

3) What is the city doing to create new groves of oak trees so that this one is not the only one? 

4) If it is really all that dangerous for a building to sit atop the Hayward Fault, is the city condemning as unsafe all those buildings atop the fault and under its jurisdiction? 

5) How many members of the Panoramic Hill Association bought homes that they knew straddled the fault? Why? 

Andy Rodriguez 

 

• 

WHAT THE..? 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

This is with regard to Becky O’Malley’s Sept. 28 editorial, “Bashing the Poor is Back in Style.” 

Becky, you’ll forgive me, but what the hell are you getting at? Let’s break down your column: 

• You watch the birds. Hummingbirds. Chickadees too. Pretty, pretty birds. 

• You read the New Yorker. You’re not pleased with the hoity-toity nature of both writing and subject. 

• You turn back to the Stellar’s jays. 

• You attempt an epiphany: “And there’s a political lesson to be learned too. Solutions to perceived problems, come in cycles just as hemlines do.” 

• You insert some cynical pap about what will and will not be done about the city’s homeless. 

• You conclude with a giant sigh. 

This column was disorganized and cryptic. What is it you’re trying to tell us, and can you just distill it down? If not, please just occupy yourself with watching the birds. 

Allison Landa 

 

• 

SHADY CHARACTERS 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

San Francisco Supervisor Ed Jew was suspended for corruption. The next day, here in Southern California, Lynwood Mayor Louis Byrd and three councilmembers are recalled. We’ve learned recently that Los Angeles County Supervisor Yvonne Burke lives out of a mansion in Brentwood far from her South L.A. district and everybody who is “somebody” around here acts like it’s funny.  

I’ve been following the controversy about Berkeley Rent Commissioner Chris Kavanagh because I used to live in the Bay Area. Let’s be fair. There is no comparison between the Chris Kavanagh’s sins and the crimes committed under the general culture of corruption in California’s “liberal” Democratic cities. Democratic State Senator Don Perata, has forgotten more shady deals than you or I or Chris will ever know. Nevertheless, for some “mysterious” reason, nothing sticks to “Teflon Don.”  

Remember the 2003 election for Mayor of San Francisco? It was a cliff-hanger between Democrat Gavin Newsom and Green Party upstart Matt Gonzales. Democrats spent lots of money and brought in heavy hitters to boost their pretty candidate while pundits screamed it would be “crazy” to elect a Ralph Nader “greenie.”  

From my vantage point it appears every California coastal city could use a few people like that fearless, incorruptible “crazy” Ralph Nader.  

Chauncey Bailey, distinguished African-American editor of the Oakland Post, was assassinated on a downtown street in broad daylight. Links between the accused killer and a black nationalist institution called Your Black Muslim Bakery should prompt soul-searching about Oakland’s legendary Black Power tradition, but most likely won’t change my fellow blacks who are “True Believers” in the unholy alliance between Democratic Party Machines and the worst elements of the civil rights/Black Power movements leading to the promised land.  

I see the same phenomenon in Los Angeles where the Martin Luther King/Harbor Medical Center in Watts closed because of gross incompetence by the Los Angeles Democratic Party Machine. The Los Angeles Unified School District is a never-ending train wreck.  

In the South Bay, San Jose is still recovering from the adventures of disgraced Mayor Ron Gonzales.  

Richmond’s Green Mayor Gayle McLaughlin was elected after inner-city voters finally had enough. Reform will only come from an independent progressive and inclusive party like the Green Party. Republicans are a cruel joke and Democrats are as incapable of reforming themselves as they are of stopping Bush.  

Alex Walker 

Los Angeles 

 

• 

BUS RAPID TRANSIT 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

All this fuss and a potential $400,000 promotion about a rapid bus on Telegraph... What we need to get us out of cars are reliable and quick ways of getting us where we’re going via buses. When we need to wait 15 to 30 minutes for a bus to turn up AND we sometimes need to transfer to a second bus and wait a similar time, the incentive to switch is pretty low. 

After my first year as a daily bus rider I would suggest the following: 1) Greater frequency of buses; 2) A for-real published schedule; 3) A small fleet of jitney buses for those routes and hours where ridership is low and intersperse them with the larger buses for rush hours and/or heavily trafficked routes. We all see those huge Van Hools and sometimes the double ones with six or seven passengers taking up all that space, gas, and air. Not exactly an example of green consciousness. 

Suggestion: The AC Transit’s top decision making executives who probably never ride a bus should spend one week coming and going from their home to work, talking to the passengers about what they like or don’t about the current fleet and the system. And be sure to take a trip that requires at least one transfer. 

My own assessment is that the new Van Hools are very hard to maneuver for older or disabled people with their climb-up seats and lack of any seats at the front end of the bus, plus their jerkiness in stopping and starting. 

If you have a good efficient system people will come and it won’t be necessary to waste $400,000 to make something that is not an alternative to cars into a PR campaign which is bound to fail. 

Joan Levinson 

 

• 

CHEERS TO EDNA 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Cheers to Edna Spector for her Sept. 25 commentary advocating “a massive human population collapse, hopefully leading to the voluntary extinction of the human race.” But I fear even her bold prescription is too little, too late. Even in dire poverty and privation humans stubbornly pursue the urge to breed, and population reduction will be a slow, ugly process of migrations away from submerged coastlines and massive starvation as fertile farmlands dry up. I submit that the best hope for the planet would be the timely arrival of another asteroid to eliminate this murderous, forest-burning, ocean-fouling, sky-polluting cancer on the earth we jokingly call Homo sapiens. Meanwhile, I heartily endorse her proposal that Berkeley should become the model for creating free euthanasia clinics around the world.  

Jerry Landis 

 

• 

JAMES KENNEY STAFFING 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

In your recent article about the Inclusion Program at James Kenney Park, Parks, Recreation and Waterfront Director William Rogers stated, “At no time do we require one staff member to push two wheelchairs,” and characterized James Wells as “misrepresenting” occurrences in the Inclusion Program.  

While it may be true that he does not “require” this, when the fall term of the Inclusion Program began on Sept. 4, the staff member assigned to one of the youth who uses a wheelchair had not returned from medical leave and thus was not available to push his wheelchair. That week, we were also short another staff person who declined to come to work at the last minute, leaving a gap. With two staff out that first week (and no provision made to replace them), all staff had to take responsibility for extra children. While I have not seen Mr. Wells push two wheelchairs. I have seen another staff person pushing two wheelchairs when we were shorthanded—I begged him to stop for fear that he would injure himself or one of the children.  

If I were Mr. Rogers, I would offer Mr. Wells an apology.  

Sharyn Dimmick  

Recreation Activity Leader,  

James Kenney Park  

 

• 

GOOD STUFF AT UCB 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

The building-construction department at UC Berkeley might not meet your approval, but the rest of the university is indisputably a world-class educational institution. And anyone of us can use it everyday for free. On any given weekday there are about 20 or more lectures that are open for anyone to attend. Not infrequently they are presented by world-class figures. I myself have heard talks by Richard Dawkins, Tim White (early bones), Stephen Hawking, Jack Horner (dinosaurs), David Remnick (New Yorker), Molly Ivins, Howard Zinn...you get the idea. 

And, to repeat, all this for free (not counting your tax dollars, of course). It used to be a bit tricky knowing who would be talking about what and when and where. Happily, this is no longer a problem. A meticulous and altruistic local, Lowell Moorcroft, goes through all the available information and posts each week’s talks on his website: www.calendar.yahoo.com/lowellmoorcroft. 

Most lectures are in the afternoon, a few in the evening. In addition to bio-science, astronomy, etc. you will find talks on politics, history, philosophy, and now there are talks on environment/energy research almost daily. All good stuff. 

And my heartfelt thanks go to Mr. Moorcroft. 

Victor Herbert 

 

• 

BRT DEBATE RIGHT ON TARGET 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

The question of whether Berkeley wants to see BRT as it’s currently being proposed by AC Transit disrupt our lives and our city lies at the heart of the debate that has been going on in these pages and throughout the city. Alan Tobey is the one who has it wrong. Why should we spend any more time, energy and, yes, money on BRT if it’s never going to happen in Berkeley? 

I think a much better solution is to look at how we can make public transit better today. Let’s help AC Transit find ways to speed up the buses and get more people to ride them. Let’s not create an environmental and social disaster that will surely follow from making Telegraph Avenue into the same stop and go nightmare that plagues streets like College Avenue. 

Let’s make Rapid Bus a reality today by fully implementing the two things that AC Transit promised us with the new bus service on Telegraph. Let’s make sure that buses have traffic signal priority at every light, slowing the buses as little as possible at the traffic lights all along the route. Then, let’s make sure that every bus stop has real-time bus arrival information.  

Once we’ve done the easy stuff, let’s implement what AC Transit’s Jim Cunradi stated is the key to further improvement in bus speed—proof of payment. The reason the proof of payment system speeds up the travel time is that it greatly decrease the time needed to board and discharge passengers by eliminating the bottleneck at the fare box. This system allows all bus doors to be used for loading and unloading simultaneously. 

The next big step in increasing the ridership of Rapid Bus would be to decrease the time between buses, and decrease the size of each bus, from the 12-minute headway for the 60-foot buses currently on Telegraph to something approaching the projected BRT headway of less than five minutes with much smaller buses. 

All these things can be done without dedicating a lane of traffic to BRT. We can keep cars and buses moving in mixed use lanes while at the same time increasing the speed and frequency of the buses. Its a solution that costs a fraction of BRT and will greatly increase the likelihood of people switching over to a faster and more convenient transit system. 

Vincent Casalaina 

 

• 

DEFENDING YOUR FIRST AMENDMENT RIGHTS 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Your Sept. 28 story, “Code Pink Protests Marine Recruitment Center,” quotes Dianne Budd, one of the protesters, as saying of her actions, “It’s my First Amendment right. Who’s going to stop me?” 

Ms Budd is correct; her actions in protesting the Marine recruiting activity are indeed her right, and no one will try to stop her. But has she no curiosity whatever about the fact that she enjoys that right just by being an American, when so many of the world’s people have no such right? If she ever stopped demonstrating and protesting long enough to ask that question, she might discover that the answer has something to do with the United States Marines. 

Mark Halpern 

 

• 

A TRUE WIN-WIN SOLUTION 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I just read Matthew Shoemaker’s recent letter (“Take a deep breath, Doug”, Sept. 28) written in response to my commentary. While I appreciated the conciliatory words, it is unfortunate that his message was undercut by a persistent condescending tone. Tone really does matter, and it typically serves as a reliable indicator of our sincerity. 

Even so, Mr. Shoemaker did raise some issues that I want to address. First, I am the director of the community-based organization called Save the Oaks at the Stadium (SOS). We have been engaged in education and outreach about the threat to the trees in Memorial Oak Grove for about a year and a half now. The tree sitters, who began living in the trees in December of 2006, are not part of this organization and I do not represent them. They speak for themselves, and make their own decisions about what actions they will take to protect the trees. 

Second, Mr. Shoemaker completely misconstrues my first commentary by characterizing it as an “us vs. them” argument. My criticism was directed at a particular kind of behavior that is disrespectful and destructive, no matter what side of an issue you are on. I hope he will reread it with that idea in mind. 

Third, there is a viable compromise available to the university and the community in this situation, which presents the opportunity for a true win-win solution. The new gym/office complex could be built at an alternate location (for example, Maxwell Field, beside Edwards Field, or at the University Art Museum site) and the irreplaceable urban woodland containing over a hundred beautiful, healthy trees and all the animals and birds that live there would be preserved. 

Finally, while I do appreciate Mr. Shoemaker’s offer of an intoxicating beverage, it is really not necessary. I am quite willing to meet with anyone to discuss these issues—UC administrators, Berkeley city officials, community members, football players, fans, students, alumni. I welcome the opportunity to listen to your views and share my own.  

Doug Buckwald 

 

• 

BRT LOOSE ENDS 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I want to assure Frank Greenspan that I intended no sarcasm in my remark about his idea of putting BRT on the ballot. I’d welcome a vote. I’m quite serious: If a majority of Berkeley really doesn’t want the BRT, then the project should be abandoned and the federal funds given to some town less tied to the automobile. Doug Buckwald claims there are places where BRT destroys retail business. I know of none. Here on these letter pages, I challenged him to name a place where BRT has been the bane of business. He hasn’t replied; perhaps he’s been too distracted by the oaks and the football fans. 

Not all the stores on Telegraph display that nasty “No BRT” sign. I saw none at the new Upper Playground across from the Hat Shop. The Playground sold me a T-shirt with a picture of an AC Transit bus. It wasn’t a BRT, but it did show a headsign “1 Telegraph.” I wore it proudly to How Berkeley Can You Be. 

Steve Geller 

 

• 

POLICE NEEDED 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

In the last issue, David Walsh wrote a letter expressing concern about police hassling black youth in downtown Berkeley. I wasn’t there so I can’t speak to the incident he wrote of, but I can say that on a recent shopping trip to downtown Berkeley I witnessed a group of black youth standing around, one of whom for two hours kept his hand on his crotch underneath his pants. I wish there had been a couple police officers nearby to hassle him, regard him with “menacing looks” and later to lead him off in handcuffs. Likewise when I had to make my way to the door of the Berkeley Main Library amid a group of teens yelling obscenities to each other and glaring aggressively at passers by: a couple menacing police officers would have helped a lot there.  

I once followed an inebriated man who had stolen a ladder in my neighborhood, reporting his whereabouts to police. When they finally stopped him, (after he’d sold the ladder to a passerby) a young white woman, a good Berkeley liberal, stood nearby, expressing to me her consternation that here yet once again the police were harassing a black man who had done nothing! It is important to be aware that when police act to arrest/question someone, not all the facts of the case are necessarily apparent to a casual observer.  

Deborah Cloudwalker 

Oakland 

 

• 

BEACH IMPEACH 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

According to the latest nationwide poll, 76 percent of Democrats want Cheney impeached. I think if you polled Berkeley citizens that number would be through the roof. The Berkeley City Council voted for impeachment last year, so did the San Francisco Board of Supervisors and the voters of San Francisco. Our Representative Barbara Lee, along with 20 other representatives, has done the right thing in cosponsoring House Resolution 333 to impeach Cheney. But Congress, and in particular, Nancy Pelosi and John Conyers, unilaterally took impeachment “off the table,” as if they have the power to eliminate our Constitutional right to impeach criminals in public office. We set the table. We want Cheney impeached now, for his many crimes and before he commits an even bigger one: bombing Iran—which it looks like he’ll do shortly, with or without Congressional approval. How can we be silent in the face of this menace? How can we express our outrage? How can we get Cheney impeached? Well, we’re not going to take this standing up. Instead, about 1,000 people are going to lay down at Cesar Chavez Park in the Marina this Sunday, Oct. 7, at 11 a.m., to spell “IMPEACH” in 100-foot-high letters. Helicopters will be flying overhead to film and photograph this human message to the world. This is the fourth Beach Impeach event and the first in Berkeley. Thousands of people have participated; it’s a glorious way to spend a couple of hours in the sun, with families, kids, neighbors, grandparents, dogs—everyone acting in unison to call for impeaching the vice president—because if we want to save our democracy he’s got to go. Register at www.beachimpeach.org (where you’ll also see film and photos of previous Beach Impeach events.) 

Cynthia Papermaster 

 

• 

GREEN BINS 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I would like to offer some advice to those who are worried about food scraps in the green bins, both large and small. Use Biobags. They are made of cornstarch and are completely biodegradable. We have used them in our home compost system for years, and the 10-litre size works quite well in the small green bins. These are available at Elephant Pharmacy and on the Internet. 

I keep my small green bin on my counter. It’s not esthetically pleasing, but there are many worse things. I am quite happy with the new system. The quantity of our trash has been greatly reduced.  

Jenifer Steele 

 


Commentary: Unfinished Comments from the Town Hall Meeting

By Patricia E. Wall
Tuesday October 02, 2007

The only thing that really changes the problem of homelessness is housing. The rest of these comments are just for your entertainment. 

Here are my top concerns. I will borrow from the best sloganeering of the twelve step programs to outline why the Public Commons for Everyone Initiative (PCEI) is a waste of precious city resources: 

1. “The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result.” There is nothing, nothing new in the PCEI plan, except that it’s been repackaged and given a cynical name. The city already tried Measure O and failed at it, and now that collective memory fades about how stupid that idea was, this new plan is launched. 

2. “If nothing changes, nothing changes.” The city adopted eight principles and a work plan to end chronic homelessness in Berkeley. PCEI is inconsistent with this very constructive plan, and does nothing new under the sun. Increased enforcement doesn’t work. Berkeley Mental Health cannot and does not serve this population of people. Berkeley Mental Health is at full to overflowing capacity at all times. I know homeless people who have been on a waiting list for psychiatry for 6 months. They’re not who works with the homeless. Ask the people who do. 

3. “Being a part of something is more important than being the center of attention.” The administration is going through the heroic motions of saving the businesses and public spaces on and around Telegraph Avenue even though there is already a solution in the works. Look at the plan passed in May of 2006 about how to end chronic homelessness. Follow the eight steps. Do it without involving the police department. It’s about housing. 

4. “Look for a way in, not for a way out.” Stop saying that 75 percent of homeless people are from somewhere else. Some people think that’s thinly veiled racism. Stop running from the people who sell the Street Spirit: They’re the ones who are doing pretty well, all things considered. Talk to people who are homeless, talk to the people who serve them. Study this problem, learn about its causes, and be about peace in solving it. 

5. “Frequently wrong, but rarely in doubt.” The confidence of the administration in moving forward with a half-baked plan that ignores the city’s established priorities for ending chronic homelessness is suspect. I understand pressure from the business community, but the business people deserve a real plan, based on what works, not what will pacify and distract them in the short term. 

6. “Anger is fear in a party dress.” This plan has a retaliatory look and feel, and is based on the frustration and anger of some community members who can’t believe we haven’t solved homelessness yet. You can call this plan any cynical name you like, promise business leaders that they can have the cell phone number of every beat cop in the city, but the fact of the matter is that this plan is based on barely concealed fear of homeless “street behavior.” If people who live outside had housing the behavior that creates this climate of fear would move indoors to the private sphere.  

7. “There is no right way to do the wrong thing.” We could spend another three hours on a Saturday discussing the particulars of this plan, how to allocate scarce resources, who to talk to, how to implement, but would we be one inch closer to solving the problem of people who have no place to live, and no assistance in changing that fact. There aren’t enough places that people who are very low income can afford. This county has just begun a long process to address one small part of the housing for homeless people, and Berkeley needs to focus its energy on adding its promised units of housing—350 over the next 10 years—to solve this problem. Bathrooms are great, smoking prohibitions are probably a new way to ticket homeless people that we haven’t considered before, but the rest of this plan is taking up space in the public discourse that could be used to actually do something useful to end homelessness. 

 

Patricia E. Wall is the executive director of Homeless Action Center. 


Commentary: An International Day of Peace

By Arnie Passman
Tuesday October 02, 2007

On this 138th anniversary of the birth of Mohandas K. Gandhi, and the first International Day of Nonviolence, as declared by the United Nations June 16 (celebrated in Berkeley with Lawrence Ferlinghetti reading at Moe’s), Peace For Keeps is pleased to hopefully propose a worldwide 50th anniversary celebration of the creation of Peace Symbol Feb. 21, 2008. In the wake of Sunday’s second annual Gandhi Statue Birthday Reading at the Gandhi Statue behind the San Francisco Ferry Building, great do’ers of great do’s—Yoko Ono, Kevin Wall, Richard Branscom, Earthdance, Sage Productions, Wavy Gravy, Green Century—are being contacted to make a deep winter of love 2008 (What a year, huh!) planetary do. 

The Peace Symbol was designed by World War II conscientous objector Gerard Holtom for the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament’s march from London to the Aldermarston nuclear facility Easter Weekend, 1958. Ultimately determined by British semaphor for N and D, the Peace Symbol was inspired by the great Francisco Goya painting “The 3rd of May,” of the peasant, arms raised in plea, before a Napoleonic firing squad at the Principe Pio in 1808.  

Considered by critics from Andre Malraux to Kenneth Clark as Goya’s or even Spain’s greatest painting, it is recognized in every way as an imaginative “journalistic” and revolutionary work. “The undiminished and unrivaled prototype of all modern views of war,” wrote Goya biographer Robert Hughes.  

France’s war in Spain (1806-09) produced the definition of guerrilla war—for this was an early war involving the (R.C. plagued) Spanish public, who idiotically wished to have their idiot terrible Emperor, Ferdinand VII, (how about an Oscar nomination for Randy Quaid for his Ferdy in Milos Forman’s Goya’s Ghosts?) returned to power. (The image is on the advertising for this most recent Forman-Saul Zaentz collaboration; producer Paul Zaentz said they were not aware “The 3rd of May” was the inspiration for the Peace Symbol.) 

Following the 50th anniversary (a day for each nation to adopt its Peace Symbol song?), wouldn’t it be nice to have a 71 day peace walk from London to Madrid (not the best time of year, but it would only spring better by the end) culminating in a full mettle 200th anniversary recognition of “The 3rd of May” (the birthday of Pete Seeger and Kris Welch), hopefully with a “Power to the Peaceful” concert in the bullring or the soccer stadium? 

Or another worldwide day TO END VIOLENCE AND WAR.  

And to make the statement that the killing of one is no less horific than nuclear holocaust. Our people are everywhere, no?  

What a year, huh! 

Be my quest! 

 

Arnie Passman is a Berkeley resident.


Commentary: An Open Letter to Code Pink

By Richard Lund
Tuesday October 02, 2007

While the protest that you staged in front of my office on Wednesday, Sept. 26th, was an exercise of your constitutional rights, the messages that you left behind were insulting, untrue, and ultimately misdirected. Additionally, from the comments quoted in the Berkeley Daily Planet article, it is clear that you have no idea what it is that I do here. Given that I was unaware of your planned protest, I was unable to contest your claims in person, so I will therefore address them here. 

First, a little bit about who I am: I am a Marine captain with over eight years of service as a commissioned officer. I flew transport helicopters for most of my time in the Marine Corps before requesting orders to come here. Currently, I am the officer selection officer for the northern Bay Area. My job is to recruit, interview, screen, and evaluate college students and college graduates that show an interest in becoming officers in the Marine Corps. Once they’ve committed to pursuing this program, I help them apply, and if selected, I help them prepare for the rigors of Officer Candidate School and for the challenges of life as a Marine officer. To be eligible for my programs, you have to be either a full-time college student or a college graduate. I don’t pull anyone out of school, and high school students are not eligible. 

I moved my office to Berkeley in December of last year. Previously, it was located in an old federal building in Alameda. That building was due to be torn down and I had to find a new location. I choose our new site because of its proximity to UC Berkeley and to the BART station. Most of the candidates in my program either go to Cal or to one of the schools in San Francisco, the East Bay, or the North Bay. Logistically, the Shattuck Square location was the most convenient for them. 

Next, you claim that I lie. I have never, and will never, lie to any individual that shows an interest in my programs. I am upfront with everything that is involved at every step of the way and I go out of my way to ensure that they know what to expect when they apply. I tell them that this is not an easy path. I tell them that leading Marines requires a great deal of self-sacrifice. I tell them that, should they succeed in their quest to become a Marine officer, they will almost certainly go to Iraq. In the future, if you plan to attack my integrity, please have the courtesy to explain to me specifically the instances in which you think that I lied. 

Next, scrawled across the doorway to my office, you wrote, “Recruiters are Traitors.” Please explain this one. How exactly am I a traitor? Was I a traitor when I joined the Marine Corps all those years ago? Is every Marine, therefore, a traitor? Was I a traitor during my two stints in Iraq? Was I a traitor when I was delivering humanitarian aid to the victims of the tsunami in Sumatra? Or do you only consider me a traitor while I am on this job? The fact is, recruitment is and always has been a part of maintaining any military organization. In fact, recruitment is a necessity of any large organization. Large corporations have employees that recruit full-time. Even you, I’m sure, must expend some effort to recruit for Code Pink. So what, exactly, is it that makes me a traitor?  

The fact is this: any independent nation must maintain a military (or be allied with those who do) to ensure the safety and security of its citizens. Regardless of what your opinions are of the current administration or the current conflict in Iraq, the U.S. military will be needed again in the future. If your counter-recruitment efforts are ultimately successful, who will defend us if we are directly attacked again as we were at Pearl Harbor? Who would respond if a future terrorist attack targets the Golden Gate Bridge, the BART system, or the UC Berkeley clock tower? And, to address the most hypocritical stance that your organization takes on its website, where would the peace keeping force come from that you advocate sending to Darfur? 

Finally, I believe that your efforts in protesting my office are misdirected. I agree that your stated goals of peace and social justice are worthy ones. War is a terrible thing that should only be undertaken in the most dire, extreme, and necessary of circumstances. However, war is made by politicians. The conflict in Iraq was ordered by the president and authorized by Congress. They are the ones who have the power to change the policy in Iraq, not members of the military. We execute policy to the best of our ability and to the best of our human capacity. Protesting in front of my office may be an easy way to get your organization in the headlines of local papers, but it doesn’t further any of your stated goals. 

To conclude, I don’t consider myself a “recruiter.” I am a Marine who happens to be on recruiting duty. As such, I conduct myself in accordance with our core values of honor, courage, and commitment. I will never sacrifice my honor by lying to anyone that walks into my office. I will never forsake the courage that it takes to restrain myself in the face of insulting and libelous labels like liar and traitor. And, most importantly, I will never waver from my commitment to helping individuals who desire to serve their country as officers in the Marine Corps. 

 

Captain Richard Lund is the United States Marine Corps’ officer selection officer for the northern Bay Area. 


Letters to the Editor

Friday September 28, 2007

CHRIS KAVANAGH’S OAKLAND LANDLORD 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I am responding to the letter from Hank Chapot, 

My name is Lynn Tidd and I am Chris Kavanagh’s landlord. This is unfortunate. I never intended to be a landlord. Six months ago I bought a house a block away from my mother-in-law, in which to live with my large blended family of five children ranging in ages 3 to 23. 

Chris Kavanagh and Johnny Spain were served owner move-in evictions. They both wanted to negotiate. Johnny wanted money, Chris wanted to live there another year. I just want my house. 

I am a long-time Green Party member. I am not coached by anyone and am new to the neighborhood after moving here from the suburbs to raise my children in a neighborhood that seems to match our family’s values a bit more. I am not a good government type, or a venal landlord, just a mom who wants to raise her kids in her own house. I don’t want tenants.  

I was thrilled to see Chris in handcuffs. I have lived with his smug, entitled presence in my backyard for six months. A weekend off of his lurking about and the possibility of justice being served was thrilling to me. His infrequent appearances were notable after he had been a constant presence at the house. The explanation? It appears Chris finally found a job. 

I can’t wait until this is over and I can let my children play in my backyard. 

Lynn Tidd 

 

• 

KAVANAGH AND THE RENT BOARD 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Now that Chris Kavanagh, Berkeley Rent Board member, has been arrested and charged with several felonies, one must ask the obvious question: How can it be that his friends and cohorts on the Rent Board were unaware of his deceit? Here is an agency that spends millions of dollars a year keeping track of ‘who lives where’ but they failed to note Mr. Kavanagh’s questionable residency claim? Perhaps it is time for the grand jury to look into this! 

One notes that the owners of the Oakland home where Kavanagh resides have already paid out $10,000 to another tenant for the “privilege of living in their own property.” Such extorted funds are regularly paid to tenants thanks to Bay Area rent and eviction laws that support a virtual industry of extortion.  

When I referred to these payouts as “extortion” to a Berkeley tenant’s attorney he did not object to the characterization but quipped “That’s how things are done in Berkeley.” Of course, he was in line to collect 33 percent of the take from my client, a single mother with a moderate income unable to move into her own home. 

Point is, rent control and eviction laws in Berkeley and Oakland are not about justice and fairness but rather about the blind, wholesale entitlement of tenants at the expense of a falsely demonized group, property owners. It is a tired class delineation based on an erroneous ideology. 

Kavanagh has been a mouthpiece for this uninspected ideology which, unfortunately is regularly disguised in “progressive” rhetoric. But there is nothing progressive about a system that generalizes and demonizes, a system unable or unwilling to ever turn a critical eye upon itself. 

True “progressives” honor the rule of law, fair elections, and open-mindedness. Kavanagh made it clear a long time ago that open-mindedness is not one of his virtues. Apparently he doesn’t think much of the rule of law or fair elections either. 

This is the latest corruption case brought to you by Berkeley’s affordable housing machinery, all good “progressives” with “high ideals” apparently willing to violate the law as often as they violate common sense. Pretty soon we should realize that policy should be built on sound and fair principles not ideologies. Government needs to work to protect the interest of all citizens equally, not pit one group against another. 

Kavanagh will have his day in court. Until then, he is presumed innocent. I only hope, for his sake, that his judges be more open minded and fair than the one-sided, prejudicial rent board he serves on.  

John Koenigshofer 

 

• 

FREEDOM OF ASSEMBLY REPEALED IN BERKELEY 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

4:15 p.m., Wednesday Sept. 12, by the BART entrance at Shattuck and Allston Way: Six or seven black teenagers are socializing on a sunny afternoon after school, leaning on their bikes, laughing. Behind them, two Berkeley police are leaning on their bicycles, staring at the young men in a studied, menacing manner, for what must have been 10 minutes. 

I had to rub my eyes. Suddenly, without any provocation, Officers Jeremiason (Badge 94) and M. Meredith (Badge 102) moved in on the young men, aggressively manhandling them, threatening to issue citations for various offenses including, if you can believe it, “having a bicycle on the sidewalk.”  

There was plenty of cop-drama lip: “You have a problem with your hearing?” etc. Finally, after four or five more police had appeared on the scene, two of the young men were handcuffed and driven away. 

What’s going on here? Since when has it been against the law for youth to congregate on the streets of this town? These are our streets—we have a right to use them.  

The national trend of criminalizing young people, particularly black and Latino youth; the national epidemic of out-of-control police—have these come to roost in Berkeley? We need to come together and take a stand on this important issue. 

David Welsh 

• 

TAKE A DEEP BREATH, DOUG 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

To Doug Buckwald: Doug, I don’t think you are a bad person and I really hope you mean it when you talk about compromise and finding middle ground. But I find it hard to believe that if the university wins in court that the tree sitters will vacate the trees and leave peacefully. If the university loses so be it. I agree life is not black or white but that is how your first commentary came across, us vs. them. Take a deep breath Doug and I will gladly buy you a glass of Zinfandel one of these days.  

Oh, and before every football game a video is played asking all Bear fans to treat our visitors with dignity and respect. Good night and good luck.  

Matthew Shoemaker 

 

• 

HOUSING FOR THE POOR 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

The San Francisco Chronicle recently reported that the real estate market is hot for $65 million mansions in San Francisco, tempting all those discerning billionaires. I can tell you that the market is much hotter for low-income, non-billionaires. Working recently with one stalwart Berkeley resident, a long-time volunteer at our local park, senior and pretty sick, we’re having a heck of a time finding even the tiniest place where she can lay her head each night and have a little meal. Waiting lists for people like her—no family, on a small fixed income, too aged and ill to work—are so long as to be a joke. Her prospects, the street or the city shelter if there is room, will surely do her in. Meanwhile, that discerning billionaire, perhaps one of those who needs to add a 31st house to the 30 he already has, will drop $65 million and come up with an additional $10 million to customize that mansion to an adequate level of comfort and luxury. Where the dickens is Dickens when you need him? 

Linda Maio 

Berkeley City Councilmember, District 1  

 

• 

WALK AND ROLL TO SCHOOL 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

We call the club TOP—why? because they are Thousand Oaks Pedalers, so the acronym works, but also they are kids ages 5 to 10 that start at the bottom of the Berkeley flats and ride up the hill one or two miles to Thousand Oaks Elementary School to arrive in time for a 8 a.m. bell. For them and their families this means leaving at 7:30 a.m. every day, something several parents thought they could not do for a school bus, but now offered true community, health benefits for aging and growing bodies, life lessons, independent transportation options for those who will soon enough be adolescents, and meaningful family time they are rising a little earlier and making the bell. And along they way they are reducing greenhouse gas emissions and roadway congestion—gifts these children can proudly claim to willingly, even joyfully, give their community. Some of the kids drag their parents out to ride—others get dressed a little faster so they can ride, when before they dragged through the morning ritual.  

Why are they doing it? Maybe the national creed of Safe Routes to School rings all too true: “When it is safe, kids should ride or walk, when its not, our community needs to work to make it safe.” These kids cross Gilman, Marin and Solano through morning rush hour commutes. Their mothers watch carefully and hope that you will too, and they hope too you might slow down for the little riders, their wheels are, after all, rather small.  

Wednesday, Oct. 3 is International Walk or Roll to School Day, and TOP is planning to be out in force recruiting new members and taking to the streets with the rest of the Walking School Buses and Bike Trains spanning Berkeley in multiple participating elementary schools. Have kids in school? Walk, bike or carpool with them to school this day it can be the first of many new habits that stall Global Warming and add sanity to your day. Live by a school? Come out and watch over those crazier crossings, it will be safer for you too, if everyone slows down and looks around. Commute by a school? Please slow down, look out for the shortest of riders and walkers and give the kids a break—they are trying to improve our community for all of us.  

Amber Evans  

 

• 

CODE OF SILENCE 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

In response to Laura Menard’s Sept. 18 letter: As a parent of a 19-year-old and a 16-year-old, I would like to say she hit a number of things right on the head, but also missed a few important points. 

Since the death of Juan Ramos last year, the safety parent group at El Cerrito High School has tried to address some of the very issues Ms. Menard brought up. We hosted an alcohol awareness night with guest speakers, and a child safety informational meeting with a judge and lawyer from the juvenile court system who agreed to come as guest speakers to address this and many other issues, and guess what, maybe five parents came to these informational meetings, and I’m being generous. 

In El Cerrito, and WCCUSD, our public figures, school board, ECHS administration, and our superintendent of schools have recognized teen drinking, and teen violence as a major issue. The bigger issue here is why aren’t the parents? My kids have been a victims of the very “code of silence” Ms. Menard refers too, in fact as a parent so have I. The number of parents at our high school that think teen drinking is OK, sending your child off to a party not knowing if it is supervised is OK, or allowing them to roam the streets past curfew is OK, is appalling.  

I wonder if the parents having these parties, or even the ones going out of town while they are occurring, realize that they can be held responsible for anything that happens at their home? Most likely the majority of parents think that these things are OK until something happens to their child. A good question would be how would these same parents feel if it was their house hosting a party while they were gone? If parents are unwilling to work together, to talk to each other, check up on the parties our kids are attending, and discuss reasons why it is not OK to do these things with our kids then this issue will never be completely resolved. We do need to make these things more public and publicly address the issues with each other, our children, and our local government. Your son did the right thing, and I believe my kids would too. Unfortunately they are part of the minority. 

Michele Jawad 

El Ceritto High School  

PTSA Safety Chair 

 

• 

BRT AND DEMOCRACY 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I don’t know Steve Geller, but I certainly see his letters in the Daily Planet often and can figure out he supports Bus Rapid Transit. 

Steve, I am the “somebody” who suggested in a letter to this paper that BRT be placed on the ballot so as to gauge if the good citizens of Berkeley really support BRT. 

We may not agree on BRT but I certainly hope that, your sarcasm notwithstanding, you do believe in democracy and the will of the people. 

Frank K. Greenspan 

 

 

• 

BRT DEBATE IS AHEAD OF THE DECISION PROCESS 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Recent weeks have seen a flurry of public arguments both in favor of and opposed to the Bus Rapid Transit proposal in Berkeley. While such debate is healthy, it is also largely premature. The decision on whether or not to build BRT in Berkeley is not imminent, so the premature focus on that final decision has obscured what the city actually needs to do in the next few months—get all the information and analysis possible for a decision that may still be a year away. 

The current need is simply to help AC Transit complete the final environmental impact report, which will be used as the reference document when we make the actual project decisions. In order for AC Transit to do that, the Berkeley City Council needs to select its “preferred local alternative” (PLA)—the scenario that will receive the most study and attention in the final EIR document. Along with the PLA, the final EIR will also consider alternatives (including a “no build” alternative), as well as describe potential mitigations for any negative impacts which the project might create. 

Thus the task of the council over the next few months is simply to select the Berkeley PLA, not yet vote the project up or down. So the question to ask is, “what is the most helpful PLA at this point?” Since the no build alternative is automatically considered, what’s needed is a choice of the alternatives which would make the most sense IF the BRT project were to be built. 

The point is important: The council will only be choosing what to study most closely, not deciding whether or not to build. Selecting a central “build” alternative will not signify that it will be approved next year. So the council will be setting up a process to best help the PLA selection—once again probably centered in the Transportation Commission. That process will look closely at the alternatives that have been most controversial so far—mainly the different proposed routings and station options for the proposed BRT segments on Telegraph, Bancroft and in the downtown core—and will recommend choices to the council. Again the narrow focus should only be on which of these alternatives would best benefit from intensive study, in the context of other possibilities for those same segments. There will be no recommendation before the council on the overall worthiness of the project at this point. 

The best advice to the City Council is therefore to keep the process narrow and focused rather than open-ended and diffuse. Concerns of council members such as Kriss Worthington about some wider issues—for example, extending improved bus service down University or encouraging bus ridership via subsidized passes—are certainly legitimate and worthy of study. But they are not germane to the decision before us now—which BRT choices make the most sense to study further? It’s therefore time to tone down the hysteria for awhile at least, and to focus on what best helps us make a wise decision next year. For now that’s doing a great job choosing an informative preferred local alternative we can all scrutinize together. The cities of Oakland and San Leandro—also with proposed BRT projects—are making their PLA choices with little controversy. Berkeley should, for once, be able to do the same. 

Alan Tobey 

 

• 

AC TRANSIT 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I absolutely applaud the latest investigative piece by J. Douglas Allen-Taylor on the very controversial AC Transit Van Hool bus purchase. It appears that AC Transit General Manager Rick Fernandez has been a naughty boy indeed. Thank you Mr. Allen-Taylor for using a FOIA document request to uncover how Mr. Fernandez made a statement about this plan to the AC Transit Board that, as Mr. Allen-Taylor graciously put it “...may not be true..,” and got away with it.  

This story is jaw-dropping. It concerns a huge purchase of new busses that we do not need and that riders and drivers dislike intensely (e.g., the seats are tiny and force riders to face each other with knees touching), from a foreign manufacturer at the expense of business and jobs suffered by a local manufacturer. Now, thanks only to the Daily Planet, we have discovered that Mr. Fernandez is frantically back-filling with the FTC and MTA to cover his obfuscating, incomplete and misleading reports to the Board regarding the underlying financial facts of the deal, including that he has no good answer for the source of rebates of millions of dollars of previous grant money that must be repaid now to the federal government, and which are owed only because Mr. Fernandez was hell-bent for leather to close this Van Hool purchase immediately. Except for Board President Greg Harper who last March had the good sense to vote against what now appears to be some kind of caper by Mr. Fernandez, the AC Transit Board of Directors were asleep at the wheel. What happens to an AC Transit driver who does that? 

I sincerely hope Mr. Allen-Taylor will continue his great work, and eventually find out what is at the bottom of this. Who knows, he may sufficiently embarrass the AC Transit Board of Directors into carrying out their duty to discover why Mr. Fernandez schemed and obfuscated the financial facts to push this Van Hool purchase through, especially when the riders hate them.  

Dennis J. White  

 

• 

GREEN FOOD WASTE BINS 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

It will be interesting to see how the green kitchen waste cans the city recently provided to homeowners actually work over time. Despite the positive effect of reducing landfill volume and recycling nutrients as compost, several factors may need further thought:  

1. For as long as the city has provided yard waste collections, some plant residue remains on streets after collection. The collectors are careful and work hard. But inevitably bits and pieces of yard waste are left behind to end up in gutters and storm sewers. With yard waste alone, the nuisance factor is minute. With food wastes now included, such residues may well attract rodents and small animals. Is the city monitoring this effect? If so, how?  

2. Keeping the small green containers clean requires water. More water than used before the cans were distributed will be needed to keep these containers clean. Keeping cans clean and conserving water are contradictory. And water used in these cans should not be used on outdoor plantings as it will contain residues that will attract rodents.  

3. Where are these containers to be stored? Under the sink? No room. On top of break-the-bank-newly-installed marble, granite, and limestone counters? Definitely not aesthetically compatible with such modern amenities. Or, on kitchen decks, vulnerable to raccoon attacks?  

Thoughts, ideas, and experience-to-date all sought. 

Barbara Witte 

 

• 

SPINAL INJURIES 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Thank you, John Smith, for your eloquent commentary on the anniversary of the introduction of the Christopher and Dana Reeve Paralysis Act, a bill that has still not yet been passed, after five-years in Congress (“Searching for a Cure for Spinal Injuries,” Sept. 25). 

I am the president of the Well Spouse Association (http://wellspouse.org), a group that offers support to husbands, wives or partners of people with chronic illness and/or disability. Over ten percent of our members are caring for spouses with disabilities. They, and the WSA support this bill, which potentially could lead to a lot more effective treatment for spinal cord injuries. We also support the work of the Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation, and its Paralysis Resource Center (http://paralysis.org). 

Richard Anderson 

President, Well Spouse Association 

Freehold, NJ 

 

• 

CLIMATE CHANGE  

AND BERKELEY 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

It’s about time we had a good tongue-in-cheek lashing commentary like Edna Spector’s Sept. 25 exposition on Berkeley’s leadership role in the “voluntary extinction of the human race.” Then again, perhaps she is serious? But not to worry. I’m sure Berkeley, in it’s inimitable way, will take credit for either victory or defeat. After all, we’ve been on the cutting edge of so much technological and social change for the last half-century, why not give up the ghost and surrender to failure, rather than admit that “the revolution” has gone amuck....not just in Washington, but in our own backyard, as well. 

Marc Winokur 

 

• 

SLOW NEWS DAY? 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

“No, the time for bolder self-sacrifice has arrived. The only real, long term hope for the eco-sphere is a massive human population collapse, hopefully leading to the voluntary extinction of the human race. Already, a new urgency and groundswell of support is building for the idea that humans are a type of super toxin which the planet cannot sustain or support in the longterm.” 

Methinks that Edna has watched The Matrix too many times. I also think she needs some serious psychological professional help. Also I sincerely hope that Edna is the first to volunteer for self eradication, if she continues down this path. 

I am frightened that the Berkeley Daily Planet would print and by proxy advocate the eradication of the human race. Please tell me that it was a slow news day. 

Hal Grisham 

 

• 

FUZZY LOGIC 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Defense Secretary Robert Gates asked Congress to allocate $190 billion for war next year and President Bush threatens to veto a five-year $35 billion expansion of the State Children’s Health Insurance Program. Is war in a distant land more important than the children of American? Bush and Republicans seem to think so. The insurance bill passed in the House 265-159. Who were the 151 “family values” Republicans that put party ideology ahead of 10 million American children? 

George W. Bush and Republicans live in an upside-down world of fuzzy logic. 

Ron Lowe  

Grass Valley 

 

• 

WORLD ANIMAL WEEK 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

As a pet guardian and Berkeley resident, I am grateful to live in a city that values the well-being of animals. In that regard, I would like to share with my fellow residents that Oct. 4–10 is World Animal Week, a global event uniting the world in celebration of animals and aiming to raise the profile of animal welfare worldwide. This week is your chance to help make the world a safer, more compassionate place for all animals. There is no limit to what you can do for World Animal Week; the important thing is to take part. 

The World Society for the Protection of Animals offers a few simple suggestions of ways people can celebrate this event and make the world a better place for animals:  

1. Help reduce animal overpopulation by adopting your next animal companion from a shelter or rescue group instead of buying from a breeder or pet store—and get your new friend spayed or neutered. 

2. Report animal cruelty to Berkeley Animal Control: www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/ 

animalservices. 

3. Create a haven for wildlife in your backyard by providing appropriate habitat and find ways to control “nuisance” animals humanely. 

4. Make more humane food choices by purchasing organic, free range, pasture raised and humane food labels; make an effort to reduce the amount of meat and other animal products in your diet.  

5. Buy cruelty-free products like cosmetics and household cleaners that haven’t been tested on animals. 

6. Reduce your consumption of non-renewable energy resources and recycle as much packaging and waste products as possible.  

7. Never buy gifts or souvenirs that involve the cruel death of an animal or are made from endangered species. Avoid establishments that keep wild animals in captivity, including roadside zoos or other venues that house captive wild animals for entertainment. 

8. Include arrangements for your companion animals in your disaster planning. 

9. Add your name to the global petition to obtain a Universal Declaration on Animal Welfare from the United Nations at www.AnimalsMatterUSA.org. 

You can learn more about how to take these steps by visiting www.wspa-usa.org. Thanks to everyone in Berkeley who tries to make this a better city for people and animals. 

Mara Guccione 


Commentary: An Analysis of Bus Rapid Transit

By Wolfgang Homburger
Friday September 28, 2007

Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) has been argued and debated ever since AC Transit unveiled a proposal for a BRT project between Berkeley, Oakland and San Leandro. The subject has polarized the community into pro-BRT and anti-BRT factions—and, of course, those who have never heard of it. It is therefore timely to provide some guidance on how to analyze this proposal—and others like it.  

This article consists of two parts: the first defines and describes BRT from the points of view of the passenger, the bus operating agency, and the general public. For more details on BRT generally, look up “Bus Rapid Transit” at Wikipedia.org. The second part considers the AC Transit proposal specifically. For more details about this project see the draft environmental impact statement (DEIS) at www.actransit.org. The DEIS is dated May 2007. 

 

Minimizing Travel Time—That’s What It’s All About 

The passenger: When we travel, the trip is not the purpose; getting to the destination is what matters, and we try to minimize the time it takes. We also often make allowances for being delayed if the highway might be congested, the bus might be late, or other possible events make the trip time estimate unreliable. In urban transit systems, “trip time” consists of: 

• The access time—how long it takes us to get to the bus stop and, at the other end, to walk from the bus stop to our destination.  

• The waiting time at the stop for the bus arrival. 

• The in-vehicle time—the number of minutes we are on the bus.  

Reliability is a measure of how well the bus can keep to its schedule; high reliability means that passengers can arrive at the stop just before the bus gets there; low reliability increases waiting time because the bus may be late. 

BRT can improve both in-vehicle time and reliability by providing the bus some or all of the following: exclusive lanes or roadways, fewer stops, priority at signals, fast boarding and alighting via platforms with a height that is even with the bus floors and/or use of low-floor buses, and fare payment off the vehicle. But BRT is likely to add to passengers’ access times, because the longer spacing between stops imposes longer walking distances to and from them. The result, as we learned from studying trips made on BART with its long station spacing and high speed and reliability, is that persons with long trips are attracted, but those making short trips remain on the local service or in their cars. 

The bus operator: The cost of operating a bus route consists of drivers’ wages and benefits, fuel, maintenance, and insurance. The driver typically accounts for 75 percent of the total. Drivers are paid by the hour, not by the number of miles they drive. The faster a bus can travel, the more productive the driver will be. (It costs somewhere upwards of $100,000 per year to operate, maintain, and insure a bus.) It is therefore in the interest of the bus operator to increase speeds and minimize time spent at stops. The latter can be achieved by allowing passengers to enter and exit through any door, paying their fares—if they do not have monthly passes—at ticket vending machines at the stops. 

If reliability is low, some buses will arrive at the end of the line late. To avoid these vehicles leaving late on the return journey, the operator schedules “recovery time” at the terminal. This will often require extra buses to be assigned and increase operating costs substantially. 

It is therefore in the bus operator’s interest to welcome BRT installations. Even accounting for minor items, such as the costs of maintaining bus stops, ticket vending machines, and electronic next-bus-arrival signs, the operating costs will be reduced. (Modifying and maintaining the new traffic signal hardware—described below—may be paid by the city.) 

But then there are one-time capital costs. BRT infrastructure can range from relatively minor investments (San Pablo Avenue locally, Wilshire Boulevard in Los Angeles) to hundreds of millions of dollars (bus freeways in Pittsburgh, Penn., transitways in Ottawa, exclusive roadways with guide rails in Adelaide). Capital funds will be needed for new buses, and for expansion of maintenance and overnight bus parking facilities. 

The general public: Little needs to be said here; the ongoing debate has already brought many issues to the surface. On the plus side there is the new option of a fast, reliable service that might entice some present motor vehicle drivers to switch to public transit. On the negative side may be an adverse impact on street traffic, on parking, and perhaps on retail establishments that depend on nearby parking. Another negative factor could be the postponement of other transportation improvement projects, if capital funds were diverted from them to BRT.  

 

The Route 1R BRT Project:  

The AC Transit Board of Directors has before it the BRT project draft environmental impact statement (DEIS), which offers four alternatives. The board will select one of these as the locally preferred alternative (LPA) next April. The numerical data quoted here is the range of values over all four alternatives. The BRT project is proposed between downtown and UC Berkeley and San Leandro or Bay Fair and includes: 

• Two center traffic lanes converted for exclusive BRT use on Telegraph Avenue and International Boulevard/East 14th Street. 

• Stops spaced a quarter-mile to a half-mile apart, each furnished with two boarding platforms, a shelter, benches, ticket vending machines, real-time next-bus-arrival signs, and security equipment (cameras?). These stops will be in the center of the street; their width will require the traffic and bike lanes to be brought to the curb, eliminating parking at these locations. 

• Preemption hardware at traffic signals and in the buses to be used in this service. This hardware consists of a radio transmitter in each bus and a receiver at each signal. When a preempt message from a bus is received, the signal either holds the green if it is showing at this moment or switches to green as quickly as possible. 

The new bus rapid route 1R will operate on this facility at headways of 3.6 to five minutes in peak hours and less frequently at other times. Two alternatives also include a local Route 1 that runs in the remaining traffic lanes; the other two do not. 

The DEIS estimates that in 2025 total passengers in the corridor would range from 42,050 to 49,230 per weekday , and that of these from 4,580 to 9,230 would be new passengers after shifts from other routes have been accounted for. 

Capital cost would be from $310 million to $400 million in 2005 dollars. The cost of new buses is included, but the need for, and cost of expanded maintenance and storage facilities is not mentioned. (Only about $100 million had been earmarked for the project by last May.) Operating and maintenance (O&M) costs would range from $35.5 millions to $39.4 millions per year in 2025. Fares would cover from 20 to 28 percent of O&M costs; the rest would have to be subsidized. 

 

Evaluation 

The benefit from this project would be that the better bus service on the Telegraph/International Boulevard route, would attract the new passengers, some of whom would have previously traveled by car. But there are many troubling aspects or disbenefits.. 

• Investment Priorities. Is the selected corridor really in such bad shape that a large investment is urgently needed? BART parallels the BRT route within less than a mile throughout the corridor and, while it has fewer stops, will continue to attract long trips because of its higher speed and reliability. Are there no other corridors where BRT or other urban transit investment would be more valuable? 

• Facility Utilization: The dedicated lanes would be utterly underutilized at 1 bus every 3.6 to five minutes or 12-17 buses per hour per direction. It is highly likely that the empty lanes would soon be opened to carpools and hybrid automobiles, following the precedent that allows these vehicles on what were initially exclusive bus lanes on California freeways. 

• Costs: The capital costs estimated in the DEIS are in 2005 dollars and are certain to inflate by the time construction is started in view of continually escalating construction costs. Only about $100 million had been identified as available in the DEIS six months ago. Subsidies to cover 74-80 percent of the annual O&M costs must also be found.. 

• Patronage Forecasts: The patronage numbers shown in the DEIS are not very impressive. The ratio of passengers to dollars of investment will be the lowest of any BRT system in North America.  

• Traffic forecast. Substantial reduction in motor vehicle traffic is, I believe, wishful thinking. The city of Berkeley has for many years had a policy of encouraging commuters working at the University and downtown to use Telegraph Avenue en route from or to the Route 24 freeway and the Caldecott Tunnel. This was done to relieve congestion on alternate routes, such as College Avenue and Warring/Derby. Route 1R offers nothing to commuters living in Central Contra Costa County, unless they are willing to detour via 40th Street/Telegraph and MacArthur BART. Loss of a pair of lanes on Telegraph will increase congestion and the anger of residents on parallel streets where backups are already formidable. The DEIS identifies 27 intersections (four in Berkeley) where traffic demand will exceed capacity.  

• Traffic Flow and Safety. Restricted to one lane per direction, traffic would flow in a constant stream during peak hours with pedestrians unable to cross except at signalized intersections. Local Route 1 buses (only in two alternatives) would be in this stream and would block its progress every time they stop to discharge or pick up passengers. Left turns would have to be prohibited at most intersections to prevent turning vehicles from blocking the BRT roadway. Vehicles would infiltrate residential streets and make three right turns to go to the left. In sum, traffic would be slow—stop-and-go at times—and exhaust emissions would increase. 

There is also a potential safety problem at each BRT stop, because passengers must cross a traffic lane when walking to or from the loading platform. 

• Parking: The loss of parking spaces along the route is, perhaps, the most contentious issue of all. Merchants always express concern when a single space at the curb is lost. The space needed for the remaining traffic lane and probably the bike lane to pass by each stop platform can only be gained by removing parking. The DEIS shows that from 945 to 1,300 spaces would have to be moved or lost. A proposal to replace them, together with their meters, on side streets, most of which are residential, is understandably unpopular. 

 

Conclusion 

What, then, might be done in this corridor? Modest investment to further improve Route 1R is warranted; the 72R Project on San Pablo Avenue is a good guide to follow. Use low-floor buses exclusively and equip them and traffic signal controllers with preemption hardware. Make such other traffic engineering improvements as will assist buses to pass chronic bottlenecks—this will also benefit local buses. Install next-bus-arrival signs at selected stops. Introduce Proof-of-Payment fares, so that all doors of buses can be used by entering as well as exiting passengers, thus reducing time stopped at each bus station. And delete the exclusive roadway and its center-of-the-road stations from the project. 

If, after this limited BRT program has been fully implemented, the experience with Route 1R is satisfactory, some of the money saved can then be used for other projects; e.g., BRT in the MacArthur Boulevard corridor, an extension of Route 1R to Amtrak at Third Street and University Avenue. Such a program would fit the most cost-effective components of BRT to the demand and geography of the inner East Bay, would cause minimum disruption to commerce and traffic in the corridors that BRT traverses, would be much more likely to be fully funded, and would meet most of the goals that the project addressed at the outset. And—perhaps most important of all—there would be no reason for opposing it.  

 

Wolfgang Homburger was a research engineer at UC Berkeley’s Institute of Transportation Studies from 1955 to 1990, and assistant director from 1984-to 1990. He specialized in traffic engineering and public transportation systems.


Columns

Column: The Public Eye: ‘In the Valley of Elah’ an Honest Look at the Toll of War

By Bob Burnett
Tuesday October 02, 2007

Judging from the small audience at the screening of In the Valley of Elah I attended, and its limited release—326 theaters—Paul Haggis’s masterpiece isn’t going to be around very long. Perhaps Americans are put off by the title—Elah is the valley where David fought Goliath—or maybe we’re not ready for such an unsparing look at the consequences of the Iraq war. But don’t worry, if you don’t get to see In the Valley of Elah before it closes, you’ll probably get another chance early in 2008, after the Academy Award nominations are announced. 

As he did for the Oscar-winning movie, Crash, Haggis wrote and directed In the Valley of Elah. It’s based upon the actual murder of a U.S. soldier, two days after he returned from Iraq. The movie works on three levels. As cinema, it’s as near perfect as any American film we’re likely to see this year. The plot is tight. The cinematography—by Roger Deakins—is flawless. And the acting is superb: Tommy Lee Jones, Charlize Theron, and Susan Sarandon have all won Oscars; in January, they’ll undoubtedly again be nominated for an Academy Award for these performances, with Jones the favorite for best leading actor. 

The movie succeeds as a police-procedural whodunit. Jones’ character, Hank Deerfield, is a retired MP working as a truck driver in Tennessee. He learns his son, Mike, has returned from Iraq, but has gone AWOL from his base at Fort Rudd. The father drives to New Mexico to look into Mike’s disappearance. A few days later, the boy’s burned and dismembered body is discovered. Both the military and the local police dismiss the murder as a drug deal gone bad. Hank enlists the help of local police detective Emily Saunders—Charlize Theron in the best role of an already notable career. Through a combination of skillful interrogation and dogged persistence, the duo eventually uncovers the truth about who killed Mike. (Along the way, Susan Sarandon gives a brief, convincing portrayal of his mother.) 

However, In the Valley of Elah also works as a commentary on the war in Iraq. Not in the heavy-handed way that recent documentaries such as No End in Sight have done; there’s none of the self-righteous tone of “we’re right and they’re wrong.” Haggis’s movie painfully examines the impact of the war on all Americans. It reminded me of Coming Home, the 1978 winner of three Academy Awards, which looked at the psychological impact of the Vietnam War. (That movie was released three years after the war in Vietnam ended; In the Valley of Elah comes to us as the Iraq war continues.) 

Early in the movie, Tommy Lee Jones’ character, Hank, finds his son’s cell phone and remembers Mike used its camera to take pictures of Iraq. Hank hires a technician to reconstruct the videos in the phone’s damaged memory—the Iraq heat had fried the data. In parallel to the police investigation, the videos are reconstructed—a cinematic device first used in Antonioni’s classic Blow-Up. 

As the videos emerge, the audience gets a chilling sense of the chaos in Iraq, amplified by statements of members of Mike’s unit. In one harrowing exchange, a soldier says the best way to deal with Iraq is to “nuke it and turn it into ashes.” 

In the Valley of Elah is an unsparing examination of what the war is doing to America. At the beginning of the film, a woman tells Theron’s character, Emily, that her husband, who has just returned from Iraq, lost his temper and drowned their dog in the bathtub. The terrified wife complains she is afraid of her husband and doesn’t know what to do, as none of the authorities want to help. Emily explains she can’t do anything, because the woman’s husband hasn’t threatened her. Near the end of the movie, Emily is called to a murder scene: the soldier has drowned his wife in their bathtub. 

As Haggis’s epic garners the awards it deserves, the film will be the subject of multiple interpretations. Some will say it depicts the manner in which the reality of the Iraq conflict has gradually emerged: painful images reconstructed over time until the awful truth is revealed. Others will note that the war has made savagery routine, inured the American public to random death and destruction. Many will observe that the death of Mike Deerfield and the grief of his mother and father symbolizes America’s loss. All will agree that In the Valley of Elah is an earnest attempt to portray the war’s consequences. 

Afterward, I kept remembering the scene where the soldier’s wife is found drowned in the bathtub. America was warned about the psychological and moral consequences of invading Iraq. Nonetheless, we ignored wise counsel and proceeded with the war. Now the entire nation has to face the consequences—not just the soldiers and their families. For it’s our national soul that’s slowly drowning as this terrible war drags on. 

 

Bob Burnett is a Berkeley writer. He can be reached at bobburnett@comcast.net. 

 

 

IN THE VALLEY OF ELAH 

Playing at the Albany Twin, AMC Bay Street (Emeryville) and the Grand Lake (Oakland).


Wild Neighbors: Birds in Berkeley: Doves, Hawks, Crows and the Long View

By Joe Eaton
Tuesday October 02, 2007

A few weeks back I got a nice e-mail message from Fran Haselsteiner (and belated thanks to you), which read in part:  

“What I would like to know is: What happened to all the mourning doves? When I moved to Berkeley in the mid-’80s, they were everywhere. Now they seem to have been replaced by crows, which weren’t here in large numbers then. What gives?” 

Good question, or set of questions. I have to admit that I hadn’t been paying close attention to the mourning doves. We used to have them in the yard, and they nested, or attempted to nest, on the block; they weren’t very good at construction or maintenance. But lately? And how long has it been since the last sighting? 

The decline of the doves, if there is a decline, has been a lot more subtle than the rise of the crows. I have a 1971 checklist showing the American crow as an occasional visitor to the Berkeley Hills, defined so as to include the UC campus. Now they’re ubiquitous, hanging out in raucous flocks, gathering silently on wires like a road-show company of The Birds, playing crowball at the new Derby Street athletic field. (Crowball is a leisurely sport that involves a lot of standing around in the grass.) West Nile was supposed to have thinned their ranks, but it doesn’t look like that’s happened.  

The crows inspire a fair amount of alarm in some people, at the least a concern that they’re raiding the nests of other, more desirable species. And they may be for all I know. I don’t know if anyone has been studying them. There might be a causal relationship between crow abundance and dove scarcity. But you have to be careful about such assumptions; multiple variables may be in play.  

Consider the hawks, for example. This town is a more hospitable place for hawks than you might think, at least for Cooper’s hawks. Ralph Pericoli, who helps run the Cooper’s Hawk Intensive Nesting Survey for the Golden Gate Raptor Observatory, says 13 pairs of these mid-sized hawks nested or attempted to nest in Berkeley this year; the average is 11. That’s one of the highest densities recorded in any urban area. 

The hawks seem to have adapted behaviorally to the city setting. “They were once considered a secretive species of the deep forest,” says Pericoli. You couldn’t get anywhere near their wildland nests without setting off the parent hawks. But in Berkeley, they’re unfazed by pedestrians, barking dogs, or traffic noises. 

Pericoli speculates that the Cooper’s hawk density may be related to the life cycle of street trees; enough trees have become mature enough to look like good nest sites. Then, too, people aren’t shooting at them. Our urban chicken farmers are less prone than their rural counterparts to blast any passing hawk out of the sky. 

There’s also abundant hawk chow here. Although Coops, especially young ones, may take rodents (two juveniles that died this summer were found to have lethal doses of brodifacoum, a potent rat poison, in their livers), they’re primarily bird-eaters. A hunting hawk’s beat will include all the local birdfeeders.  

And their favorite prey? According to a 2003 survey of the contents of coughed-up pellets, that would be a near tie between the mourning dove (24.4 percent of 455 prey remains) and the American robin (23.4 per cent.) Rock pigeons, western scrub-jays, and house sparrows accounted for most of the rest of the prey samples. 

So are the hawks responsible for the decline of the doves? Again, I don’t know if there’s any data. So many other things can affect bird populations: changes in habitat (less open space for foraging?), changes in climate, diseases. And sometimes we just don’t have a clue.  

This is a roundabout way of admitting that I have no answers for Fran Haselsteiner. But her letter has gotten me ruminating about changes in Berkeley’s bird fauna over time, and reviewing some old references. And it looks like this may turn into a string of columns. 

Next time out: whatever happened to the yellow warblers? 

If anyone knows of a local nest, or singing males that appeared to be on territory, or any sightings outside the spring and fall migration periods, I’d like to hear about it.  

 

 

Photograph by Ron Sullivan. 

A pair of mourning doves: declining in Berkeley? 

 

Joe Eaton’s “Wild Neighbors” column appears every other Tuesday in the Berkeley Daily Planet, alternating with Ron Sullivan’s “Green Neighbors” column on East Bay trees.


Column: Dispatches from the Edge: Errant Nukes Over America; a Mystery in Syria

By Conn Hallinan
Friday September 28, 2007

Loose nukes sink…” well, just about anything. The official story is that on Aug. 30, the U.S. Air Force (AF) “mistakenly” loaded six nuclear-tipped cruise missiles on a B-52 at Minot, North Dakota and flew them to Barksdale, Louisiana for decommissioning. The mistake was discovered and the munitions officer at Minot was suspended pending an investigation.  

Except the story doesn’t make any sense and it certainly didn’t happen the way the AF says it did. At least according to the hundreds of current and retired military personal and non-commissioned officers (NCOs) with nuclear experience who are writing letters to the Army Times and military websites essentially charging that the AF is lying. 

“Ain’t no way in hell that anybody in the U.S. military could do anything ‘inadvertently’ with a nuke,” writes a retired NCO who worked with nuclear weapons.  

Another veteran with lots of hands-on experience says, “the safeguards involved in nuclear munitions in all the armed forces are incredibly complex,” and when nuclear weapons are involved, “all kinds of red lights go off in everyone’s systems.” The military is so up-tight about nuclear weapons procedures, the writer says, that in one incident an NCO who violated a “no go” area was fatally bayoneted by a guard. 

There are any numbers of things that don’t make sense about the “official” version. For one thing, when nuclear weapons are moved by air, it is in a special C-130s designed to prevent radiation leakage in case of a crash. But in the Aug. 6 event, the missiles were attached to the wings of the B-52, which as one wag commented was like “shipping ammunition in a gun.” 

Secondly, if the nukes were going to be decommissioned, they would have been sent to Kirtland Air Force Base, New Mexico. From there the warheads would have been transferred to the Pantex facility in Amarillo, Texas for dismantling. Barksdale, in contrast, is one the main staging bases for the Middle East. 

Some commentators argue that the only way the operation could have avoided the “red lights” was by leap frogging the normal chain of command. Only the National Security Agency or Vice-President Dick Cheney’s office has that kind of juice. In May 2001, Cheney was placed in charge of “all federal programs dealing with weapons of mass destruction.” 

One theory is that Cheney was trying to ship nukes to the Middle East in preparation for a strike on Iran. But transporting nukes to the Middle East would be like sending coals to Newcastle: U.S. forces in the theater are bristling with nuclear weapons. 

A former officer writes that it might even have been a “cost-cutting” maneuver—albeit a dumb one—to save money by putting the nukes on a regular flight rather than using the expensive, specially designed C-130.  

Some have even suggested that it was a plot by Christian evangelicals trying to bring on the apocalypse. As silly as that might sound, a 2006 study for the U.S. War College by Col. William Millonig concluded that “conservative Christian and Republican values have affected the military’s decision making and policy recommendations,” and warned that “America’s strategic thinkers, both military and civilian, must be aware of this and its potential implications on policy formulation.” 

So the explanations for the errant nukes range from “Grand Conspiracy,” penny pinching, to new Testament crazies. Major incompetence is a strong candidate as well. 

And who blew the whistle? One military source says that if the Army Times ran the story, it was because someone very high up the command chain told them to do it. According to the source, the only way the story could have come out is if “the dime dropper wore at least three stars, if not four.” 

What gets lost in all this is that the Advanced Cruise Missile packs a W-80 warhead with an explosive power of from five to 150 kilotons. The atomic bomb that flattened Hiroshima and killed 220,000 people—100,000 of them in a millisecond—was 13 kilotons. Schelpping these things around by “mistake” is something that Congress, not the Air Force, needs to investigate. Identifying who authorized the operation would go a long way toward finding out how six nuclear weapons went AWOL.  

Maybe the media should drop OJ and start asking some questions?  

 

Loose warplanes…” well, it is not clear exactly what those Israeli jets that violated Syrian airspace Sept. 6 were up to, except that they weren’t there for the reasons the U.S. State Department is claiming. 

The aircraft, according to Syrian Foreign Minister, Walid Muallem, dropped “bombs” in Syria’s arid northern plains and “fuel tanks” in Turkey. The Turks called the incident “unacceptable.” 

The Israelis are mum. 

On Sept. 11, unnamed “officials” in the Bush administration told the New York Times that the Israelis bombed a “weapons cache” that Syria was sending to Hezbollah in Lebanon. But that story had no legs. The bombing—if there was one—took place on the Turkish-Syrian boundary, a long way from Lebanon’s northern border. On top of which, Hezbollah is in south Lebanon. 

Three days later, Andrew Semmel, the acting deputy secretary of state for nuclear nonproliferation policy, trotted out another explanation: Israel bombed a covert nuclear program set up by the North Koreans.  

According to Daniel Levy, a former Israeli peace negotiator and a senior fellow at the New American Foundation, neoconservatives in the Bush Administration are trying to sabotage talks with North Korea and any detente with Syria. “They [neocons] want to torpedo the North Korea deal” and “make sure there is no cooperation in Syria.”  

And right on cue, former UN Ambassador and neocon stalwart John Bolton was writing in the Wall Street Journal that “Iran, Syria, and others might be ‘safe havens’ for North Korea’s nuclear-weapons development, or may already have benefited from it.” He then told the New York Times that continued talks with North Korea over ending its nuclear weapons program “would be a big mistake.” 

Chiming in was U.S. Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, ranking Republican on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, who wrote in the New York Sun, “Damascus has been developing its nuclear facilities,” and warning, “Syria poses a growing threat that the U.S. must confront.”  

But when the international Atomic Energy Agency investigated Syria in 2004, it found no evidence of a nuclear program.  

Joseph Cirincione, director for nuclear policy at the Center for American Progress, says “The story nonsense.” He says the 40-year old Syrian nuclear program “is too basic to support any weapons capability. Universities have larger programs than Syria.” 

Another possibility is that the Israelis are preparing to whack Iran. Northern Syria is one of Israel’s corridors into Iran (the other is through Jordan and Saudi Arabia). According to Time, the Israeli incursion was designed to test Syria’s Russian made Pantsyr air defense system, a mixture of missiles and 30 mm cannons that is supposedly immune to jamming. According to Time, Iran is also deploying the Pantsyr around its nuclear facilities. 

The corridor explanation makes some sense, probing the Pantsyr does not. The latter is a short-range tactical system and any bombing of Iranian targets will be from high altitude using satellite-guided munitions. Even Syria’s new SA-24 missile system can only reach 22,000 feet, not high enough to seriously bother U.S. or Israeli planes. 

So, what were those warplanes up to? Mapping radar sites? Spoiling for a fight? Humiliating the Syrians?  

Dark armies are moving by night, with potential catastrophe at every turn.  


Column: Undercurrents: Tribune Trips Over the Facts in AB45 Analysis

By J. Douglas Allen-Taylor
Friday September 28, 2007

Our friends at the Oakland Tribune published an editorial this week with the opinion that “Oakland Not Ready For Control Over Schools” and urging, therefore, that Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger veto Assemblymember Sandré Swanson’s AB45 bill that might speed up a return to local school control. 

The Tribune—as everyone else—is, of course, entitled to its opinion on this and any subject they choose to discuss, but as the explanation in the unsigned opinion piece of rationale for this particular opinion is based upon “facts” that are so fundamentally, fatally, and flat-out dead wrong, it calls into question whether the people who wrote the editorial are even reading, and analyzing, the information being presented on their own news pages. 

Oh, glory, this is going to take some sorting out, so bear with me, brethren. 

“Back in 2003,” The Tribune editorial begins, “the picture at the Oakland Unified School District was downright scary. ‘Ghost’ employees were collecting fake substitute teacher paychecks. School district officials were hiding tens of millions of dollars in deficits by cooking the books. 

Eventually, the gross fiscal mismanagement came to light. With Oakland Unified on the verge of bankruptcy … the state had no choice but to loan the ailing district $100 million … and Oakland Schools were put under state receivership.” 

Whether or not it is true that the areas of items listed in the Tribune editorial amounted to “gross fiscal mismanagement” is beside the point—that’s a matter of opinion and this, as we said, is an opinion piece. The point is, however, these were not the elements that precipitated the OUSD fiscal crisis of spring, 2003 and the resultant state takeover. The sequence of events that did precipitate the takeover—generally accepted in most quarters except the Tribune editorial room—was 1) OUSD’s student enrollment took a sudden, unpredicted downturn, causing an enormous drop in ADA-based state monies coming into the district; 2) OUSD staff discovered—after it re-ran the numbers on a newly-purchased computer system—that a recently-passed and implemented teacher pay raise, which had seemed to be fiscally sound to all local, county, and state monitoring agencies, was actually going to cost the a significantly larger amount than was projected in the budget; 3) these two fiscal hits meant that OUSD would not have enough cash on hand to meet the final district payroll for the 2002-03 school year; and 4) despite the fact that OUSD’s independent bond attorneys signed off on the district’s internal bailout plan, Alameda County School Superintendent Sheila Jordan and then-California Attorney General Bill Lockyer sabotaged and killed the proposal by the district to loan itself money from construction bonds to meet the payroll, thus forcing the district to ask the state for a fiscal bailout, thus precipitating the state takeover. 

Who should be blamed for this series of events—and whether it amounted to accident, mismanagement, or plot to take over the district—has been a matter of debate and discussion since the state takeover. But failure to even list these events as the precipitate cause of the state takeover is the first fatal flaw of the Tribune editorial. 

Unfortunately, there are more. 

The editorial goes into its main point, that Mr. Schwarzenegger should veto Mr. Swanson’s OUSD local control bill because OUSD officials “have yet to demonstrate that they are capable of handling their finances in a responsible manner.” To back that point, the editorial produces a single line of “proof”: “In fact,” the Tribune editors inform us, “the County Office Fiscal Crisis and Management Assistance Team—a task force that conducts regular audits on the district’s performance—has consistently given Oakland Unified poor marks when it comes to its handling of money.” 

This is just plain, poor writing, and we don’t mean the nitpicking point that there is no “county” FCMAT office; it’s a state-financed, statewide agency. The flaw in this particular formation is that FCMAT began monitoring OUSD’s finances before the state takeover—FCMAT has the dubious distinction, in fact, of having both approved fiscal soundness of the original OUSD pay raise that helped bring down the district’s budget as well as recommended the purchase of the new computer system that allowed the district to discover the fiscal problems with the pay raise. But since the point of including the poor FCMAT marks in the Tribune editorial would seem to be to show that OUSD officials are still unable to manage district finances—and thus unable to take over full management of the district—we have to assume that the editorial’s reference to poor marks on handling district money refer to recent FCMAT reports; that is, reports taken in the past few years, since the state takeover. 

Clever local readers of the Tribune editorial have already seen the problems with that assertion, however. Since local OUSD officials—the elected board—have had no hand whatsoever in the running of OUSD finances since the state takeover, the poor FCMAT marks on recent OUSD financial management only show that the state superintendent’s office has not shown it is capable of handling OUSD’s finances. So how can the FCMAT scores prove—or disprove—whether or not local Oakland officials are “ready” to retake control of the district? They cannot. But, of course, that has always been the Lewis Carroll-type lunacy present in the original 2003 state takeover legislation, so the Tribune editors perhaps, can be excused for getting this confused. 

Now, the Tribune gets into the heart of its particular problem with Mr. Swanson’s AB45, and why they think Mr. Schwarzenegger should apply his veto pen. 

AB45, the editorial explains “aims for a gradual return to local control. It would require State Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O’Connell to return various aspects of school administration to the district in piecemeal fashion. If schools were to meet certain improvement targets, O’Connell would be bound by law to gradually return local control. The problem with AB 45, is that it would leave control of the district’s purse strings in state hands. In our view, it makes no sense to separate the finances from the rest of school administration. How can a local board be in control of community relations, curriculum, personnel, facilities or pupil development, when the state still has the final word over spending?” 

How, indeed? 

The problem with the Tribune’s position on AB45 is that the difficulties in the piecemeal local control return revealed in their editorial paragraph quoted above did not originate in Mr. Swanson’s AB45, but are actually the creature of the original SB39 legislation by State Senator Don Perata that authorized the state takeover of OUSD. That legislation, and the underlying state law to which it is attached, goes into great detail on what circumstances must be in place for a local district to be taken over by the state, but gets decidedly frizzy and fuzzy when it comes to how the locals are to regain control and authority over their local school system. Mr. Swanson’s bill only seeks to bring some clarity and certainty and semblance of standards to the return-to-local-control process. 

In fact, the return to local control in OUSD on the piecemeal basis complained about in the Tribune editorial has already begun, not under AB45, which is not yet law, but under the original SB39 takeover legislation. Under that law, State Superintendent Jack O’Connell earlier this year handed over local control to the OUSD in the area of community relations and governance, leaving the remaining four operational areas listed in SB39, including finances, in state hands. 

As a side note, the piecemeal and seemingly arbitrary division of the local district into portions that cannot reasonably be divided—finances, facilities, personnel management, pupil achievement, and local governance—appear so arbitrary because they actually have nothing to do with determining how “ready” a school district is for restoration of local authority, but are the convenient suckholes originally determined by state legislators and FCMAT in determining where FCMAT could set down its tentacles into a local school district in order to draw out as much consultant contract money from those districts as possible. In most cases, FCMAT’s monitoring teams are called into a local school district—Berkeley Unified School District and Oakland Unified School District, to cite the recent local examples—because the local district exhibited fiscal problems. Once there, however, by virtue of the state law that allows its intervention, FCMAT brings in separate monitoring teams to evaluate the local district in each of the five areas listed above—fiscal management, facilities, personnel management, pupil achievement, and local governance—for which the local districts are required, again by state law, to foot the bill. 

But back to our main point. 

The Tribune editorial concludes that “there is no reason to [return local control to OUSD] hastily. Another year would give local officials a better chance to prove they’re ready to take on such responsibility.” 

Actually, there is a very good reason why local control should be returned to OUSD soon, although one would have difficulty describing such an event after five years of state control as “hasty.” The reason local control should be returned to OUSD soon, however, is that it is the state superintendent’s office which has proven itself incapable of running a local school district, particularly in the area of fiscal management. In the five years of state control, the two state-appointed administrators—the departed Mr. Ward and Ms. Statham—never submitted a balanced budget. And we have only recently learned from reports by OUSD’s state-run finance department that while projecting a $4.7 million deficit for the coming fiscal year, the district is both overrun with unspent cash and closing down critical and necessary educational programs because of an alleged lack of revenue. Mr. O’Connell has now compounded the problem by hiring—this time on an interim basis—the third administrator in a row who lacks the expertise in fiscal management that is specifically called for in the SB39 takeover legislation.  

As OUSD Board President David Kakishiba remarked to me in an interview, a little wryly, if any district under local control had committed such fiscally irresponsible actions, they would be quickly taken over by the state. To their sorrow, as we in Oakland have learned, and to which we will gladly give testimony to any responsible party who will listen. 

Respectfully, therefore, we disagree with our friends at the Tribune. Mr. Schwarzenegger should sign AB45, and quickly. 

 


The Berkeley-Oakland Neighborhood Name Game

By Steven Finacom, Special to the Planet
Friday September 28, 2007

Would a neighborhood by any other name still sell as sweet? An entertaining aspect of reading real estate listings in Berkeley has to do with the identification of neighborhoods. 

Realtors have a fine-tuned sense of what will attract the interest of prospective buyers. Revering “location, location, location” they attach favored neighborhood names to their listings, often stretching geographical and historical credibility in the process. 

Here’s an example. I live in Berkeley’s Le Conte neighborhood. It’s roughly west of Telegraph, south of Dwight, east of Shattuck. No one who lives here, so far as I know, calls it the “Elmwood.” That’s a separate and distinct district centered at Ashby and College blocks to the east. Everyone knows that. 

Everyone but realtors and some buyers, that is. For years I’ve picked up house-for-sale flyers to find I live in the “Greater Elmwood,” “Outer Elmwood,” or “Lower Elmwood.” This designation sometimes seemed to extend to homes within honking distance of south Shattuck. 

More recently, however, the Le Conte district has acquired its own East Berkeley cachet. We’re sometimes described now as the “Berkeley Bowl Neighborhood.” 

But who knows what confusion will ensue when Berkeley Bowl opens their second branch miles west, off Seventh Street, and realtors down there want a piece of the name identification? Will that become “West Berkeley Bowl Neighborhood"? Perhaps “WeBo” for short? 

Still, “Elmwood” lingers in places it really hasn’t put down roots. New condominiums on the west side of Telegraph, at the edge of Le Conte, and just a few blocks south of Dwight, were recently marketed as “in the tree-lined Elmwood District.” 

Rockridge is the Oakland version of Berkeley’s Elmwood, a district of immensely expandable, and often imaginary, proportions sprawling, in the peculiar geography of realtors, for scores of blocks in all directions. I’ve been told over the years that many Oaklanders have been amused to find that they were living in “The Rockridge” when they actually resided a zip code or two away. 

But recently, as gentrification creeps, other North Oakland neighborhoods are reasserting their identity apart from Rockridge. “Temescal” has come into its own and carved out its old zone around the nexus of Telegraph, Claremont, and 51st Street. 

Nearby along Telegraph just north of Highway 24 there’s “Idora Park,” the name of a 19th-century beer garden and amusement resort, later subdivided for homes. And a bit further north Berkeley’s “Halcyon Neighborhood” has self-identified in recent years around a new pocket park. 

I love the possibility that these names may come to everyday usage, just as the long-lost, pre-annexation name of “Lorin” is increasingly used for the area around the Ashby BART Station. “Lorin District” gives renewed and much needed distinction to a great part of town that, for generations, was regarded as just part of “South Berkeley,” as was “Le Conte” for that matter. 

South Berkeley, as you may know, is another name for Where Redevelopment Schemes Go to Revive. Sort of like “North Oakland,” at least the tiny part that’s not “Rockridge.” 

Sometimes a great name can undesirably change a neighborhood. Journalist Hunter Thompson once proposed to roll back gentrification in the Rockies by officially changing the name of Aspen, Colorado. The ski and jet set would abandon the town, he argued, if forced to list “Fat City” as an address. 

Berkeley neighborhoods are not necessarily exactly defined although some are demarcated with stone entrance pillars, tinted sidewalks, and the like. There are areas where names naturally collide and a certain fluidity of identity is appropriate. Both the Willard neighborhood and the Bateman (around Alta Bates Hospital) district overlap what’s also called Elmwood. 

And neighborhood names often evolve. When I moved to Berkeley, many old-timers still called the Telegraph business district and surroundings “Telly.” You rarely hear that now. 

That neighborhood then went through a period as the “South Campus” which didn’t sit well with those fretful about university expansion. For the past two decades or so “Southside” seems to have become respectable, although spinning off a few illegitimate offspring along the way. 

For example, a condo development on Telegraph several blocks south of Ashby and properly near the edge of the Bateman neighborhood was named “Southside Lofts” a few years back, a geographical misplacement of nearly a mile. 

Some neighborhoods never seem to have prominent names. Consider that part of Berkeley north of University Avenue and east of Sacramento Street. It doesn’t seem to have a clear name, as far as I know, although in Realtorese any home there would probably be described as “a few minutes walk from the Gourmet Ghetto.” 

Perhaps it will soon be the “Trader Joe’s” neighborhood; move over, Berkeley Bowl. 

That same area falls into the “Central Berkeley” classification, an uncomfortable appellation since developers, city staff and councilmembers often translate it to “Central City: Build Big Here.” 

Nearby, long-time residents may have found an antidote to upward expansionism by calling their Central Berkeley district, west of old City Hall, “McGee’s Farm” after the homesteader who once owned it. That’s a nomenclatural cow’s kick in the solar plexus to urban density advocates. Build condos in our farm fields, heh? 

On the other hand, maybe the McGee Farmers have doomed themselves, since real estate development traditionally destroys the very things it ostensibly honors. Think of all the “Shady Acres” and the like that designate forests of condo towers or fields of sun-struck tract homes. 

Evocative names like “Elmwood” and “Rockridge” presumably add panache and attract potential buyers, although their origins may be humble. For example, that’s Rockridge as in the ridge of rock that early Oaklanders revered so much they took away quite a lot of it in quarry operations. And isn’t adjacent “Temescal” something like “Sweat Lodge” in the Olde Tongue? 

At least homely East Bay names are still a notch up from San Francisco’s “Cow Hollow” or “Dog Patch.” And we have few, if any, of those colorful East Coast names like “Hell’s Kitchen.” We have to make do with “Gourmet Ghetto” instead, or perhaps “Nut Hill.” 

An old Oakland native once told me that the now very chic cleft valley along Highway 13 south of Lake Temescal was colloquially called “Pneumonia Gulch” because the sun entered late and left early, and the fog and chill lingered. 

I’m not sure anyone ever used that officially, though. “Pneumonia Gulch Liquors,” for instance, would be a bad business naming decision, although those shopping there would have the assurance that if something went wrong, the ambulance trip wouldn’t be too far to what has long been known as Oakland’s “Pill Hill” neighborhood with its phalanx of hospitals and pharmacists. 

No, “Montclair Village” is just fine, especially since residents probably wouldn’t feel comfortable living in “Hayward Fault Heights.” 

Some may remember that after the 1991 hill fire there was a short-lived movement for parts of the Oakland Hills to separate from the city and become a new town named “Tuscany", evoking visions of sun-drenched grapevines rather than rows of charred telephone poles. 

And “Oakland Hills"—there’s a term. Where exactly do the “Oakland Hills” end and the “Berkeley Hills” begin? Similarly, can anyone name an undeniably precise line where “Hills” change to “Flatlands”? 

It’s all enough to make you want to give up and go home to your own neighborhood. Whatever the realtors are calling it now.


Garden Variety: Water, Water Everywhere — Or Not

By Ron Sullivan
Friday September 28, 2007

One of the limitations, frustrations, confusions, and overall learning experiences any gardener encounters here is water. Understand that I use “learning experience” as an expletive.  

Container gardens are infamous for testing a plant’s tolerances and a planter’s luck and skill with regard to water. Houseplants are chronically overwatered except when they’re underwatered. An overwatered plant can look a lot like a thirsty plant when it’s in the process of succumbing to some wet rot or other. Man, you can’t win.  

Outdoor planting here is equally water-weird. A Mediterranean climate like ours has a few salient characteristics, and a prominent one is that it doesn’t rain all summer. This is quite a challenge for a plant trying to make a living: drought during the season when the days are longest and the light to grow by is most abundant.  

Look at plants native here, and to other such places like South Africa, coastal Australia and Chile, and of course the coast of the Mediterranean. Lots of them, counting numbers of species as well as populations, are annuals. They start growing as soon as the soil warms and the sun-time increases in spring, flower and reproduce and scatter their tough seeds by midsummer, and die when water gets too scarce.  

Perennials including trees get seriously stingy about water. They grow silver or succulent or tough-hided foliage, imbue it with (often fragrant) oils to help retain moisture; they drop their leaves and retreat into wood, like buckeye, or underground storage, like most of our gorgeous bulbs, by summer’s end. If they’re holdouts from a wetter era like redwoods, they learn to sieve water from the ocean fogs and drink that all summer, sustaining their understory neighbors too.  

One way to improve your luck is by knowing what your plant is and what its needs and tolerances are. “Tolerance” in plantspeak is some condition—low light, wet or alkaline or heavy soil, wind—a plant doesn’t like but will survive. If you have the plant already, you’ll want to give it what makes it thrive if you can, or at least opt for something it will tolerate. If you have the place and are looking for a plant to put in it, look for one that will like what you have to give. 

It’s getting close to planting time for natives (and other Mediterraneans). If you have decent drainage, which for most of us means some slope or berms or lumps in the yard, you can plant natives like Fremontodendron or those bulbs, Calochortus, Brodiaea and the like, that are not only drought-tolerant but drought-demanding. If they get irrigated in summer, they’re susceptible to fungus rots that multiply in warm, moist soils.  

There’s the rub: Most garden plants, native or no, need help at least through their first summer. That’s a bit of suspense we just have to endure: is this infant dying of too little water or too much? If you’ve put plants with similar needs together, it’ll be easier to cope with this, to guess whether they’re all thirsty or not.  

How? More next week. 

 

Ron Sullivan is a former professional gardener and arborist. Her “Garden Variety” column appears every Friday in East Bay Home & Real Estate. Her column on East Bay trees appears every other Tuesday in the Berkeley Daily Planet.


Quake Tip of the Week

By Larry Guillot
Friday September 28, 2007

How Do I Love Thee? 

If you live with someone you love: spouse, child(ren), partner, “significant other,” relative, or pet(s), what’s a good way to say “I Love You”? Let me count the ways: 

• Help keep them secure: install an automatic gas shut-off valve and have your retrofit checked (the majority of retrofits won’t do the job)  

• Help keep them safe: Get your furniture and wall hangings secured. 

• Help keep them healthy after the quake: assemble or buy emergency kits for home and car(s). 

Don’t just tell them you love them— show them you love them. Make your home secure and your family safe. 

 

Larry Guillot is owner of QuakePrepare, an earthquake consulting, securing, and kit supply service. Call him at 558-3299, or visit www.quakeprepare.com.


About the House: A Small Do-It-Yourself Job You Can Tackle

By Matt Cantor
Friday September 28, 2007

I know you’re out there: you who fear tools. Confirmed abdicators of all things mechanical. Live prey to all members of the Phylum Contractazoa. You who hide in corners until the power is brought back on again by mysterious means. I am here to help but there IS a price. Immersion therapy is not easy but it is simple and you can only change if you really want to change. 

 

The best way to start down the road is to pick one small job and I have just the one. It’s not that complex. You can’t burn down the house and you can’t get shocked. It’s also something that has a good cost savings and a high show-off factor. If all goes moderately well, well have you up and done in less than a Sunday (maybe four hours if you’re a promising student) and ready to call in debts from the husband, wife, significant other or mother-in-law. 

Ready? We’re going to replace a faucet. Here goes: 

First, the best one to pick is one you can do without if things get unfortunate. If you’re lucky enough to have two bathrooms or a bath with two sinks, then pick the faucet you use the least often. If not, you can always fall back to washing your hands at the kitchen sink until help arrives, but let us be positive and advance upon the goal with gusto, fervor and a confirmed sense of false security. 

Next agenda item: Go shopping. This is the fun part and can, if you wish, include partners, children or admiring onlookers. Keep in mind that like quitting smoking, you will be now be forced to follow through or skulk about sheepishly if you abandon your post amidst the spraying of cold water. 

Faucets can be found at the local hardware store (such as our own Berkeley Hardware), the big-box home improvement places (who shall ever remain nameless, except when I get ready to rant) and also at real plumbing suppliers like the fabulous Moran Supply on 40th in Oakland. 

Most faucets fall into two classifications, 4-inch spread and 8-inch spread. The standard for bathrooms is 4 inches and this is the distance between the nipples that project downward from the faucet through the sink-top and then tie onto the water supply tubes that come up from the supply valves. If this all sounds a bit jargony, it is and I’ll try to take something for that. I’ll explain more about this later. 

Some baths also have what are called wide-spread faucets and these are usually on very old pedestal faucets. If the space between the valves (where the handles stick up) is neither 4 inches nor 8 inches, you might want to get some help. These can be done by determined amateurs but it’s a lot more complex putting all the parts together that allow these several parted things to fit together and bridge the longer distances required on very old sinks (up through the 1940s). 

If you’re doing a kitchen sink, it will probably be an 8-inch spread. If you look below the sink, you’ll be able to see the nipples projecting down through the rim of the sink and you can then measure the distance. If you can afford to have the faucet disconnected for a time, the best pre-shopping prep. you can do is to remove the faucet and take it with you. Since you’ll need to do this at some point anyway, let’s look at how that’s done: 

First, turn off the water (don’t laugh. You would not be the first person to start doing this and get sprayed in the face having forgotten this, seemingly obvious, step). There are two “shutoff valves” below the sink in most cases and you may have to work hard to get them to turn all the way off. You can test to see how thoroughly they kill the water supply by turning the faucet on and seeing if the water has stopped dripping.  

If the shutoffs don’t work well and let a lot of water run through, you may end needing to turn the water off at the front of the house or the street. If you don’t know where your main water shutoff is, it’s time to find out. It’s usually on the front face of the house behind the bushes and sometimes in the crawlspace at the front. Every house is different and you’ll need to figure this out. Some folks end up buying a “water key” that turns the stopcock (don’t start) in the sidewalk 90 degrees to an off position (same as your main gas valve). If you have a main shutoff that allows a very small amount of water to leak past, you can do the faucet replacement with a bucket or bowl catching the slow leak. 

The best trip to the store includes taking the shutoff valves, the flexible tubing from them to the faucet and the faucet itself. The best job includes replacement of all of these, since shutoff valves wear out and fill with crud over the years. If you have fairly new shutoffs (ones that shut fully without the strength of our governor), leave them be. The flexible supply lines should be replaced every time and the ones to look for are the “no-burst” type that have a metal weave around the outside. That is, unless you’re looking for that “just flooded” look for your living room (it’s very big this year in certain southern states, I understand).  

Make sure to get some help at the store in matching the spread on the faucet nipples, the length of the supply lines and the pipe size of the shutoff valves. If your shutoff valve is newer, it may have a compression fitting at the rear end (an additional nut where it meets the smooth copper pipe). If this is your first time out, leave those alone. If it’s an old valve meeting a threaded-iron fitting, you’re good to go. It’s both easier and also more important. 

Here’s an important technical detail. Buy an expensive faucet. First, why would you work this hard to put in a piece of junk that doesn’t look that good, might break during installation and will last fewer years. Just spend another 20-30 bucks and get something nicer. Here’s a secret: The better faucets are easier to install. Price Pfister makes the best low price faucets I’ve seen and I’ve put in dozens of them with virtually no problem. They’re not the only good choice but they are one very good choice. 

Oh, yes, back to removing the faucet. This is the hardest nut to crack (sorry). Faucets are mostly held in place with a pair of “basin nuts.” These are under the sink and often in a very hard place to sit and turn a wrench. The nuts are found on the two nipples that descend through the sink holes and are therefore up in this cranny that’s pretty nasty to negotiate. Once you’ve had a look and determined the lay of the land, you may want to start by going to the hardware store and obtaining a “basin wrench.” This odd device has a jaw like a pair of pliers that sits up on the end of a long rod with a handle at the other end. By careful placement, one can put the jawed end on the basin nut and (remember: Lefty Loosey) turn the nut off with one’s hands down well below the sink where turning is viable. This might take holding the tool to figure out but, believe me, it’s a total life-saver. I’ve removed basin nuts with a very small adjustable wrench (often referred to as a Crescent wrench) and tried to make believe I was much smaller than I really am. No fun. 

So, you’ve turned off the water, removed the supply lines with a wrench, taken the basin nuts off with a basin wrench and now have all this stuff in your bag (take everything). The reinstallation is basically the same in reverse, only easier. Be sure to use some plumber’s putty below the faucet unless it comes with a rubber seal that fits the surface of your sink very snugly. It’s a common place to leak. Plumbers putty is like Playdough just not as tasty and stays soft way longer. 

When you buy your flexible connectors check the ends to make sure the seals are in there. Some types have no rubber seal but if you look at three or four in the bin, you’ll figure it out. Sometimes the seals fall and sometimes people liberate them and put the hose back in the bin. This, in my opinion, should be a capital offense but I may be a bit over-reacting. I do that. 

All the water in the house has to be off to replace shutoffs but once they’re installed, you can turn the water in the house back on for the remainder of the procedure. It’s a good idea to flush the valves and piping out into a bucket before installing the faucet. Let’s get the big chunks out.  

I also like to clean the nipples out a little before putting the new shutoffs on. Attaching the new valves should be done with TFE paste (which I prefer) or Teflon tape although there are other compounds that do the same thing. You do not need to use this where the flexible water supply line meets the valve or the faucet. The seals do the job.  

I question the safety of Teflon when ingested and recommend that you wear some vinyl disposable gloves for this. By the way, for plumbing, those new rubberized cloth gloves (rubber on one side and cloth on the back) are perfect. Protects hands. Increases grip. For the less than mighty, remember that longer wrenches make stronger people. Physics wins out over muscle every time. 

Remember how you felt before you learned to drive (I know you don’t drive, Josh). It seemed insurmountable and utterly frightening and now; well now you do it while talking on the phone (bad you). Plumbing is just like that. Go get ‘em tiger. 


Arts & Events

Arts Calendar

Tuesday October 02, 2007

TUESDAY, OCT. 2 

EXHIBITIONS 

Berkeley Public Library Staff Art Show on display to Oct. 28 at the Central Library, 2090 Kittredge St. 981-6100. www.berkeleypubliclibrary.org 

FILM 

“Miss Navajo” reception at 6 p.m., film at 6:30 p.m. followed by discussion, at Oakland Museum of California, Oak at 10th St., Oakland. 238-2022. www.museumca.org 

Vintage Films: “Lawrence of Arabia” at noon and 6:30 p.m. at Piedmont Cinema, 4186 Piedmont Ave., Oakland. 464-5980. 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Lawrence Ferlinghetti reads at 7:30 p.m. at Moe’s Books, 2476 Telegraph Ave. 849-2087. 

“The Road to 9/11: Wealth, Empire, and the Future of America” with author Peter Dale Scott at 5:30 p.m. at University Press Books, 2430 Bancroft Way. 548-0585. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Brass Menazheri/The Greg & Aya Band at 8:30 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Balkan dance lesson at 7:30 p.m. Cost is $10. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

Singers’ Open Mic with Ellen Hoffman at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. Cost is $5. 841-JAZZ. www.AnnasJazzIsland.com 

Tessa Loehwing, jazz, at 7 p.m. at Caffe Trieste, 2500 San Pablo Ave. 548-5198.  

Tessa Loehwing at 7 p.m. at Caffe Trieste, 2500 San Pablo Ave., at Dwight. 548-5198. San Francisco, SoVoSo at 8 p.m. and Paula West, Steve Heckman Quartet at 10 p.m. in at benefit for the Alzheimers Association at Yoshi’s at Jack London Square. Cost is $25-$35. 238-9200. www.yoshis.com 

WEDNESDAY, OCT. 3 

EXHIBITIONS 

“Hand of the Artist” Paintings, photography, sculptural basketry and jewelry. Reception at 6 p.m. at Royal Ground Gallery, 2058 Mountain Blvd., Oakland. 841-0441. 

FILM 

Vintage Films: “The Last Picture Show” at 1 and 7 p.m. at Piedmont Cinema, 4186 Piedmont Ave., Oakland. 464-5980. 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Reese Erlich describes “The Iran Agenda: The Real Story of U.S. Policy and the Middle East Crisis” at 7 p.m. at Cody’s Books on Fourth St. 559-9500. 

Berkeley Poetry Slam with host Charles Ellik and Three Blind Mice, at 8:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $5-$7. 841-2082 www.starryploughpub.com 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Enchante String Quartet at noon at Oakland City Center, 12th and Broadway. www.oaklandcitycenter.com 

Dan Stanton Trio at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. Cost is $9. 841-JAZZ. www.AnnasJazzIsland.com 

Whiskey Brothers, old-time and bluegrass at 9 p.m. at Albatross, 1822 San Pablo Ave. 843-2473. www.albatrosspub.com 

Julio Bravo at 9:30 p.m. at Shattuck Down Low, 2284 Shattuck Ave. Salsa dance lessons at 8 p.m. Cost is $5-$10. 548-1159.  

The Websters & Scott Nygaard at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $19.50-$20.50. 548-1761. www.freightandsalvage.org 

Mikie Lee and Amber at 10 p.m. at Beckett’s Irish Pub, 2271 Shattuck Ave. 647-1790. www.beckettsirishpub.com 

Sakai at 8 and 10 p.m. at Yoshi’s at Jack London Square. Cost is $10-$16. 238-9200. www.yoshis.com 

THURSDAY, OCT. 4 

THEATER 

“Wong Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” written and performed by Amy Wong, Thurs.-Sat. at 8 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. Cost is $7-$15. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

EXHIBITIONS 

Brick & Mortar: Bay Area Sculptural Abstracts Works by Stephen Day, David O. Johnson, Christopher Loomis, and Florian Roeper. Opening reception at 6 p.m. at Pro Arts Gallery, 550 Second St. Oakland. 763-4361.  

FILM 

Into the Labyrinth: The Films of Jan Svankmajer at 5:30 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Free screening. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

“Boarding Gate” with Oliver Assayas and Jean-Michel Frodon in conversation at 7:30 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $5.50-$9.50. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

Vintage Films: “Star Trek IV: THe Voyage Home” at 1 and 7 p.m. at Piedmont Cinema, 4186 Piedmont Ave., Oakland. 464-5980. 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Lunch Poems with John Matthais at 12:10 p.m. at the Morrison Library, inside the Doe Library, UC Campus. 642-0137. 

5 Cave Canem Poets from the African American community at 7 p.m. at the Albany Library, 1247 Marin Ave. 526-3720. 

Artist Talk with Rosalind Nashashibi at 6 p.m. at Berkeley Art Museum Galleries, 2626 Bancroft Way. 642-8734. 

Ann Aurelia Lopez discusses her book “The Farmworkers’ Journey” at 7 p.m. at Revolution Books, 2425-C Channing Way. 848-1196.  

Jeffrey Toobin introduces “The Nine: Inside the Secret World of the Supreme Court” at 7:30 p.m. in Chevron Auditorium, International House, 2299 Piedmont Ave. Tickets are $5 available from Cody’s. 559-9500. 

Gary Braasch describes “Earth Under Fire: How Global Warming is Changing the World” at 7 p.m. at Cody’s Books on Fourth St. 559-9500. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Bayonics, Culver City Dub Collective at 9 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $10. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

Joffrey Ballet at 8 p.m. at Zellerbach Hall, UC Campus. Tickets are $34-$90. 642-9988. www.calperfs.berkeley.edu 

Global Conversations: Kala Ramnath & George Brooks at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $18.50-$19.50. 548-1761.  

Wendy Dewitt, blues, at 7 p.m. at Caffe Trieste, 2500 San Pablo Ave., at Dwight. 548-5198. www.freightandsalvage.org 

Denisa Fraga & Kristan Lynch at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. Cost is $9. 841-JAZZ. 

Pirate Radio, Scotland Barr and the Slow Drags at 9:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $7. 841-2082 w 

Rahsaan Patterson at 8 and 10 p.m., through Sun. at Yoshi’s at Jack London Square. Cost is $24-$28. 238-9200. www.yoshis.com 

FRIDAY, OCT. 5 

THEATER 

California Shakespeare Theater “King Lear” at the Bruns Ampitheater, 100 Gateway Blvd., Orinda, through Oct. 14. Tickets are $15-$60. 548-9666. www.calshakes.org 

Contra Costa Civic Theatre “Rumors” by Neil Simon, Fri. and Sat. at 8 p.m., selected Sundays at 2 p.m. at 951 Pomona Ave. at Moeser, El Cerrito, through Oct. 14. Tickets are $11-$18. 655-8974. www.cct.org 

Impact Theatre “Sleepy” Thurs.-Sat. at 8 p.m. at La Val’s Subterranean, 1834 Euclid Ave., through Oct. 13. Tickets are $10-$15. 464-4468. 

Masquers Playhouse “4 Plays by Peter Levy” Fri. at 8 p.m., Sat. at 2:30 and 8 p.m., and Sun. at 2:30 p.m. at 105 Park Place, Point Richmond. Q&A with the playwright at the Sat. eve. performance. Tickets are $10. 232-3888. www.masquers.org 

Ragged Wing Ensemble “Alice in Wonderland” Fri. and Sat. at 8 p.m. at Envision Academy, 1515 Webster St., Oakland, through Oct. 13. Tickets are $15-$30. 800-838-3006. www.raggedwing.org 

Shotgun Players “Bulrusher” Thurs.-Sun. at 8 p.m. at the Ashby Stage, 1901 Ashby Ave. through Oct. 28. Tickets are $17-$25. For reservations call 841-6500. www.shotgunplayers.org 

“Wong Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” written and performed by Amy Wong, Fri. and Sat. at 8 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. Cost is $12-$15. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

EXHIBITIONS 

“The Quilts of Dorothy Vance” On display Fri. from 5 to 8 p.m., and Sat. from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Hillside Club, 2286 Cedar St. 

Tea Pot Show Works by members of the Potters’ Studio in celebration of their 35th Anniversary. Opening reception at 5:30 p.m. at 637 Cedar St. 528-3286. 

“A Class Act CCA-C” A group art show by students from California College of the Arts. Opening reception at 5:30 p.m. at Joyce Gordon Gallery, 406 14th St. 465-8928. 

“Works by Keira Kotler and Jenn Shifflet” Opening reception at 6 p.m. at Chandra Cerrito Contemporary, 25 Grand Ave., upper level, Oakland. Exhibition runs through Nov. 17. www.chandracerrito.com 

New Works by Peter Honig and Ce Ce Landoli Opening reception at 6 p.m. at Mercury 20 Gallery, 25 Grand Ave. at Broadway, Oakland. 701-4620. 

First Annual Oakland Arts Day Ceremony and Reception at 5 p.m. at Oakland City Hall, 1 Frank H. Ogawa Plaza at 14th St, & Broadway. RSVP to 238-7561. 

FILM 

Berkeley Video & Film Fest Independent cinema from around the world continuous sreenings Fri.-Sun. at California Theater, 2113 Kittredge St. 464-5983. http://berkeleyvideofilmfest.org 

“Irma Vep” with filmmaker Oliver Assayas and film historian Jean-Michel Frodon in conversation at 6:30 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $5.50-$9.50. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

Sunset Cinema: “Piece by Piece” on San Francisco’s graffiti art movement at 6:30 p.m. at Oakland Museum of California, Oak at 10th St., Oakland. 238-2022. www.museumca.org 

Midnight Movies “Office Space” Fri. and Sat. at midnight at Piedmont Cinema, 4186 Piedmont Ave., Oakland. Cost is $8. 464-5980. 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Wendy Tokunaga introduces her novel “Midori by Moonlight” at 7 p.m. at Cody’s Books on Fourth St. 559-9500. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Oakland Opera Theater “Turn of the Screw” Thurs.-Sat. at 8 p.m., Sun. at 2 p.m. at Oakland Metro Operahouse, 630 3rd. St., through Oct. 14. Tickets are $25. 763-1146.  

The Korean Traditional Dance Company at 8 p.m. at Hertz Hall, UC Campus. No ticket required. 642-5674. 

Ric Alexander, jazz fusion, at 5 p.m. at Oakland Museum of California, Oak at 10th St., Oakland. 238-2022. www.museumca.org 

Tin/Bag plus Chris Brown, Phillip Greenlief & Donald Robinson at 8 p.m. at Free-Jazz Fridays at the Jazz House, 1510 8th St., Oakland. Cost is $5-$15. 415-846-9432. 

Yore Folk Dance Ensemble “Semah” Fri. and Sat. at 8 p.m. at Julia Morgan Center for the Arts, 2640 College Ave. tickets are $15-$25. 925-798-1300. 

Joffrey Ballet at 8 p.m. at Zellerbach Hall, UC Campus. Tickets are $34-$90. 642-9988. www.calperfs.berkeley.edu 

Dwele and Melissa Young at 8:30 p.m. at Kimball’s Carnival, 522 2nd St., Jack London Square. Tickets are $30. 444-6979. www.kimballscarnival.com 

Michael Smolens & KRIYA at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. Cost is $15. 841-JAZZ. www.AnnasJazzIsland.com 

Robinson, Brown & Greenlief in Trio at 8 p.m. at Free-Jazz Fridays at the Jazz House, 1510 8th St., Oakland. Cost is $5-$15. 415-846-9432. 

Youssoupha Sideibe and Shimshai, West African kora, at 9 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $12-$15. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

Tamra Engle, rock, folk, at 8 p.m. at Caffe Trieste, 2500 San Pablo Ave., at Dwight. 548-5198.  

Australian Bebop Ragas at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $18.50-$19.50. 548-1761. www.freightandsalvage.org 

The Brothers Goldman at 9 p.m. at Downtown. 649-3810.  

Jeff Rolka and Robert Heiskell at 7:30 p.m. at Nomad Cafe, 6500 Shattuck Ave. 595-5344. www.nomadcafe.net 

Berkeley Django Reinhardt Hot Jazz Festival at 9:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $12. 841-2082. www.starryploughpub.com 

Modern Life is War, Trap Them, Trash Talk at 8 p.m. at 924 Gilman St., an all-ages, member-run, no alcohol, no drugs, no violence club. Cost is $5. 525-9926. 

The Dave Stein Hub-Bub at 10 p.m. at Beckett’s Irish Pub, 2271 Shattuck Ave. 647-1790. www.beckettsirishpub.com 

Ben Adams Quintet at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 843-8277. 

Rahsaan Patterson at 8 and 10 p.m., through Sun. at Yoshi’s at Jack London Square. Cost is $24-$28. 238-9200. www.yoshis.com 

SATURDAY, OCT. 6 

CHILDREN  

Michael Katz, storyteller, at 10:30 a.m. at Berkeley Public Library, 3rd floor, Community Meeting Room, 2090 Kittredge St. 

Los Amiguitos de La Peña with Jerry Kennedy, aka J-Soul at 10:30 a.m. at La Peña. Cost is $5 for adults, $4 for children. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

Active Arts Theatre for Young Audiences “James and the Giant Peach” Sat. and Sun. at 2 p.m., Mon. at 11:30 a.m. at Julia Morgan Center for the Arts, 2640 College Ave. Tickets are $14-$18. 925-798-1300. 

“Short Attention Span Circus” Acrobatics and juggling by Jean Paul Valjean Sat. and Sun. at 1:30 and 2:30 p.m. at Children’s Fairyland, 699 Bellevue Ave. 452-2259. 

EXHIBITIONS 

“The Quilts of Dorothy Vance” On display from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Hillside Club, 2286 Cedar St. 

“One Way or Another: Asian American Art Now” Sign-language interpreted tour at 1:30 p.m.at Berkeley Art Museum, 2626 Bancroft. Cost is $5.50-$9.50. 642-0808. 

“Cross Currents: Artists of Alameda” Opening reception at 1 p.m. at Alameda Museum gallery, 2324 Alameda Ave. 865-0541. 

21st Annual Emeryville Art Exhibition A showcase for more than 90 artists who live or work in Emeryville opens at EmeryStation East, 2nd Floor, 5885 Hollis St., Emeryville, and runs to Oct. 28. 652-6122. www.emeryarts.com  

“Counter Intuitive: Photographs by Susan Tuttle” Opening reception at 3 p.m. at Montclair Gallery, 1986 Mountain Blvd., Oakland. 339-4286. 

FILM 

Berkeley Video & Film Fest Independent cinema from around the world, Sat. and Sun. from 1 to 9:45 p.m. at California Theater, 2113 Kittredge St. 464-5983. http://berkeleyvideofilmfest.org 

“The Big Game” A documentary about Berkeley’s urban tree-sit at 6:55 p.m. at the Landmark California Theater, 2133 Kittredge St. 464-5983. 

“demonlover” with filmmaker Oliver Assayas and film historian Jean-Michel Frodon in conversation at 6:30 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $5.50-$9.50. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

The Third Baby Beat Poetry Festival featuring Judy Wells, Neeli Cherkovski, H.D. Moe & Blake More from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. at The Humanist Fellowship Hall, 390 27th St., Oakland. Free. 528-8713. 

Bay Area Poets Coalition Annual Contest and Poetry Reading from 3 to 5 p.m. at Strawberry Creek Lodge, 1320 Addison St. Park on the street, not in Lodge parking lot. 527-9905.  

Oliver Chin reads from his latest work “Julie Black Belt, The Kungfu Chronicles” at 3 p.m. at Eastwind Books of Berkeley 2066 University Ave. 548-2350. 

Poetry Flash with Tung-Hui Hu and Mari l’Esperance at 7 p.m. at Cody’s Books on Fourth St. 559-9500. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Erica Weber, soprano, performs the works of Mozart, Brahms, Schubert at 8 p.m. at Trinity Chapel, 2320 Dana St. Tickets are $8-$12. 549-3864. www. 

trinitychamberconcerts.com 

Women’s Antique Vocal Ensemble “Transitions: Spanish Influence in the New World” at 8 p.m. at St. Albert Priory Chapel, 6172 Chabot Rd., Oak land. Tickets are $10-$15. www.wavewomen.org  

“Melody of China” Premiering compositions by Gang Situ and Yuanlin Chen at 7:30 p.m. at St. Mark’s Episcopal Church, 2300 Bancroft Way. Tickets are $10-$18. 415-681-8599. www.melodyofchina.org 

Gamelan Sekar Jaya Music and dance of Bali, at 8 p.m. at Oakland Asian Cultural Center, 11th St. between Franklin and Webster in the Pacific Renaissance Plaza in Oakland's Chinatown. Tickets are $6-$12. 237-6849. www.gsj.org 

Joffrey Ballet at 2 and 8 p.m. at Zellerbach Hall, UC Campus. Tickets are $34-$90. 642-9988. www.calperfs.berkeley.edu 

Beep with Michael Coleman jazz, at 9:30 p.m. at Albatross, 1822 San Pablo Ave. Cost is $5. 843-2473.  

Tanaora at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. Cost is $14. 841-JAZZ.  

Melodians, reggae, at 9:30 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $15-$18. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com  

Sotaque Baiano, Brazilian, at 9 p.m. at Shattuck Down Low, 2284 Shattuck Ave. Cost is $10. 548-1159. www.shattuckdownlow.com 

Jessica Rice and Stevie Barsotti at 7:30 p.m. at Nomad Cafe, 6500 Shattuck Ave. 595-5344. www.nomadcafe.net 

Veretski Pass at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $18.50-$19.50. 548-1761. www.freightandsalvage.org 

Faye Carol at 8 p.m. at the Jazzschool. Cost is $18. 845-5373. www.jazzschool.com 

Royal Hawaiian Serenaders at 9 p.m. at Temple Bar Tiki Bar & Grill, 984 University Ave. 548-9888. 

Sugar Shack at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 843-8277. 

Tried and True, Troublemaker, Call to Arms, at 8 p.m. at 924 Gilman St., an all-ages, member-run, no alcohol, no drugs, no violence club. Cost is $5. 525-9926. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

SUNDAY, OCT. 7 

CHILDREN 

Asheba at Ashkenaz at 3 p.m. Cost is $4-$6. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com  

Rosemary Wells reads from her new books including “Mother Gooses’s Little Treasures” at 4 p.m. at Cody’s Books on Fourth St. 559-9500. 

“The Panchatantra: Animal Lessons from India” at 12:30 and 3:30 p.m. at Children’s Fairyland, 699 Bellevue Ave. 452-2259. 

EXHIBITIONS 

Berkeley Treasures: Three Generations of Printmakers Works by Emmanuel Montoya, Miriam Stahl and Carolyn Pennypacker Riggs. Opening reception at 2 p.m. at Berkeley art Center, 1275 Walnut St. www.berkeleyartcenter.org 

“One Way or Another: Asian American Art Now” Guided tour at 2 p.m.at Berkeley Art Museum, 2626 Bancroft. Cost is $5.50-$9.50. 642-0808. 

Michael-Che Swisher “Animals of Tilden” Artist talk at 2 p.m. at Tilden Nature Area, Tilden Park. 525-2233. 

21st Annual Emeryville Art Exhibition featuring more than 90 artists who live or work in Emeryville. Reception at 6 p.m. at EmeryStation East, 2nd Floor, 5885 Hollis Street, Emeryville. 652-6122. www.emeryarts.com  

FILM 

Berkeley Video & Film Fest Independent cinema from around the world, from 1 to 10 p.m. at California Theater, 2113 Kittredge St. 464-5983. http://berkeleyvideofilmfest.org 

“Cold Water” with filmmaker Oliver Assayas and film historian Jean-Michel Frodon in conversation at 3 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $5.50-$9.50. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

“A Celebration of Odd and Hilarious Found Videos” at 5 p.m. at Parkway Theater, 1834 Park Blvd., Oakland. Tickets: $8. 814-2400. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Prometheus Symphony Orchestra at 3 p.m. at St. Luke’s Episcopal Church, Montecito and Grand Ave., Oakland. 415-864-2151. 

Paul Hanson, bassoon, Steve Erquiaga, guitar, perform music of Brazil, Eastern Europe and more at 7:30 p.m. at Berkeley Art Center 1275 Walnut St. Cost is $8-$10. 644-6893. www.berkeleyartcenter.org 

Oakland Opera Theater “Turn of the Screw” Thurs.-Sat. at 8 p.m., Sun. at 2 p.m. at Oakland Metro Operahouse, 630 3rd St., through Oct. 14. Tickets are $25. 763-1146.  

Slammin’ the Infinite & Citta Di Vitti featuring Steve Swell & Sabir Mateen at 8 p.m. at 1510 8th Street Performance Space, Oakland. Cost is $10-$15. 415-846-9432.rob@thejazzhouse.com 

Esteban Bello, Meli Rivera, Ray Cepeda and other, noon to sundown on Edith St. just off Cedar. Look for balloons. Benefits “The Children of Chaguitillo Nicaragua” Cost is $12. 472-3170. 

Benny Watson Trio at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. Cost is $8. 841-JAZZ. www.AnnasJazzIsland.com 

Americana Unplugged: The BAckyard Party Boys at 5 p.m. at Jupiter. 843-8277. 

William Beatty and The Unconditionals at 6:30 p.m. at The Mt. Everest Restaurant 2011 Shattuck Ave. at University. 665-6035. 

Duamuxa and Rafael Manriquez recounting a musical history of the Chilean presence in California, at 7:30 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. Cost is $12. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

John Handy at 4:30 at the Jazzschool. Cost is $20. 845-5373. www.jazzschool.com 

Philips Marine Duo at 11 a.m. at Nomad Cafe, 6500 Shattuck Ave. 595-5344. www.nomadcafe.net 

MONDAY, OCT. 8 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Poetry Express with May Garron and Terry McCarty at 7 p.m., at Priya Restaurant, 2072 San Pablo Ave. 644-3977. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Four Seasons Concerts presents Joyce Yang at 7:30 p.m. at Regents Theatre, Valley Center for Performing Arts at Holy Names University. Tickets are $30-$40. 601-7919. www.fourseasonsconcerts.com 

Ric & Yolanda, at 7 p.m. at Caffe Trieste, 2500 San Pablo Ave., at Dwight. 548-5198.  

Viva Brasil at 8 p.m. at Yoshi’s at Jack London Square. Cost is $10. 238-9200. www.yoshis.com 

 


The Theater: ‘Turn of the Screw’ Set in Louisiana

By Jaime Robles, Special to the Planet
Tuesday October 02, 2007

The Oakland Opera Theater will present Benjamin Britten’s The Turn of the Screw this weekend as the inaugural opera in their new theater space at 630 Third St. Because of the company’s commitment to producing opera that is meaningful to the community, director Tom Dean, in concert with production manager Mia Steadman, has reworked the setting of this ghost story set in Victorian England by placing the opera’s action on a remote plantation in Louisiana. 

Britten and his librettist Myfanwy Piper made substantial changes to the original Henry James’ novella, which is atmospheric, eerie, and full of unresolved innuendo. It’s uncertain in James whether or not the narrator/governess is truly seeing ghosts or if those ghosts are determined to take over the lives of the children as she imagines. In the opera the ghosts exist as real characters, the governess may be a hysteric but what she sees and imagines are true.  

Further, the ghosts are surely evil: their intent is to corrupt the children’s innocence. Peter Quint, the dead valet, sings “I seek a friend—/Obedient to follow where I lead, / Slick as a juggler’s mate to catch my thought, / Proud, curious, agile, he shall feed / My mounting power.” The former governess/ghost is just as unsavory, and the two sing a repeating refrain from Yeats’ Second Coming: “The ceremony of innocence is drowned.” 

As if to emphasize this theme of innocence under threat, Piper has the children sing nursery rhymes, which bear a suggestion of violence or sexuality. The text of the focal song of Miles’ struggle with sexual abjection is taken from schoolboys’ rhyming grammatical rules of Latin, which according to librettist Piper were from a Latin primer that belonged to her aunt: “Malo … I would rather be/ Malo … in an apple tree / Malo … than a naughty boy / Malo … in adversity.” The children’s songs like much of the opera’s music contrasts the charming and ethereal against the dark and obsessive. 

In return, the ghosts Quint and Miss Jessel speak to the children in mythic and fairy tale metaphors: “The little mermaid weeping on the sill / Gerda and Psyche seeking their loves again.” Their melodies rising in lingering runs and ornamentation. 

Britten’s opera is tightly structured in a prologue and 16 scenes that are separated by a theme and 15 short musical variations that sketch out the meaning of the scenes through a musical motif that uses the 12 notes of the chromatic scale ascending and descending. The celestina describes the motif linked to Peter Quint, which falls on the listener’s ear like fairy dust. 

Oakland Opera’s choice to relocate this Victorian haunting was made not only with the desire to Americanize the opera but also because of Louisiana’s rich European history as well as the Southern plantation’s suggestive setting—both spooky and beautiful. Within the company’s new space, which has twice the square footage of the Oakland Metro, the company’s artistic team have built both plantation house and a swamp to replace the lake where the governess and Flora first see the apparition of Miss Jessel. 

Only one major change in the libretto has been made to accommodate the setting: the housekeeper Mrs. Grose, the source of the opera’s kindness and stability, has been transformed to Mama Grose, an African American slave. The ghosts are represented by the aerial team The Starlings Trapese Duo.  

Britten’s score calls for a 13-piece chamber orchestra of winds and strings, with harp, piano and celestina, and a full range of percussion instruments, from glockenspiel to timpani. Unable to find an orchestral reduction, musical director Deirdre McClure opted for the full orchestration, which was now possible given the larger space of the company’s new theater. The orchestration is very compact in the original, with the burden of dynamics placed in the percussion, and strings and woodwinds creating the haunting melodic atmosphere of the ghost story. 

One of the major stumbling blocks to mounting the opera was finding children who could sing the roles of Flora and Miles. After two months of auditions, the role was double cast for two pairs of children: Brooks Fisher and Madelaine Matej, and Nick Kempen and Kelty Morash. All four children have sung the roles before; Nick and Kelty appearing in the 2007 Adler Fellows production at the Lincoln Theater in Napa. 

Soprano Anja Strauss sings the governess and was chosen for her crystal clear and vibrant sound. Lori Willis sings Mama Grose. “Her rich silvery sound blends beautifully with Anja’s,” said Mia Steadman, who added that “this is the best cast we have ever had.”  

Miss Jessel is sung by Marta Johansen, whose lyric soprano “sounds like water” in the role’s lower passages. Tenor Gerald Seminatore, whose engagements have included performances with the Glimmerglass and Santa Fe Opera, sings the complexly evocative role of Peter Quint, which was debuted by Peter Pears in the original 1954 production staged at La Fenice in Venice.  

 

Photograph by Ralph Granich. 

Kelty Morash in The Turn of the Screw.


The Theater: Orinda ‘Lear’ Production Evokes 1920s

By Ken Bullock, Special to the Planet
Tuesday October 02, 2007

The crown, as conceived of in Shakespeare,” Orson Welles said, “bears a very special kind of magic ... [Shakespeare] spent years getting himself a coat of arms. He wrote mostly about kings. We can’t have a great Shakespearean theatre in America anymore, because it’s impossible for today’s American actors to comprehend what Shakespeare meant by ‘king.’ They think a king is just a gentleman who finds himself wearing a crown and sitting on a throne.” 

As far as this goes—and Welles touches on one of the crucial ideas, one in crisis, of Shakespeare’s time—it reflects on how the CalShakes production of King Lear, onstage now in Orinda, has made a virtue out of that incomprehension by adapting the tale (which The Bard himself pieced together from legendary sources) to the America of the 1920s, flush with success (and lucre) from the “adventure” of the First World War—with Lear as a Captain of Industry (or Robber Baron) surrounded by military men and advisors in silk hats and cutaways, on a set of girdered colonnades and oil drums, haunted by the down-and-out. There’s a whiff of the Teapot Dome Scandal hovering in the background, and Lear (in a finely nuanced performance by Jeffrey DeMunn, oft-seen in character on the big screen, TV and the New York stage) expresses himself with the impatience, even impetuosity, of the self-made man, rather than with the regal gesture of those to the manner born. 

There’s great clarity to this production, as directed by Lisa Peterson (with the dramaturgical assistance of Shakespearean scholar Philippa Kelly), a clarity of line running through the complex actions, of gesture in the interaction of characters, and of speech, so crucial, in a performing arts milieu that is often content with “Festivalese” rushes of uninflected verse and hackneyed or tossed off expressions and “body language.” 

There’s been some criticism that an otherwise admirable show has sacrificed the true poetry and drama of the play. What is true is that the CalShakes production isn’t operatic and concentrates on meaning, on the coherence of the wild pitch and yaw of the poetry and the range of characters and situations comprising one vast (and easily overwrought) drama, which it manages to scan briskly, with driving rhythms, never leaving a moment free of absorbing interest. Nearly three hours pass without the weariness of the wait for great moments. And when those great moments come, they’re integrated into the whole, not played up like a wind-lashed, illuminated banner, flapping in the dark and stormy night—but in a very human space that can hold in tableau these diverse and difficult personalities in a world breaking up on the rocks of personal extravagance. 

It’s a little unfair to single out a few in the uniformly hard-working cast of more than 20, but besides DeMunn’s excellent Lear, mention should go to the hot and cool team of daughters who put Lear out on the heath, Delia MacDougall and Julie Eccles; to James Carpenter’s upright—and terribly wrong—Gloucester; Erik Lochtefield as Gloucester’s foppish son feigning mad indigence (one of Lochtefield’s best performances yet); and Anthony Fusco as a Fool half second banana, half racetrack tout. 

The rest of those in name roles—Sarah Nealis, Andy Murray, Andrew Hurteau, L. Peter Callendar—give much to the delineation of their characters, and add to the impressive ensemble’s unity, as Liam Vincent, as Oswald, the least of the named roles, does by showing the smarmy snobbishness that masks cowardice. 

Only Edmund, Gloucester’s bastard son, played (and played very well) by Ravi Kapoor as Al Pacino-doing-Scarface, doesn’t strike the right note. One of Shakespeare’s “incomprehensibly” evil villains, who addresses the audience a fair bit, Edmund in this interpretation falls down (as the title role in the CalShakes’ Richard III did, earlier this summer) seemingly to a cultural phenomenon. After several generations spent trying to make such caricaturish roles “believable,” once directors and actors caught on that Shakespeare was playing with types (right out of the allegorical medieval theater which preceded him by only a generation or two), they took up the concept. But they ran with it a little too far, playing everything over the top, too cartoonish, losing, amid the sound and fury, The Bard’s Manneristic purpose for placing an allegorical type next to—or within the same role as—a flesh and blood character. 

Alexander V. Nichols’ lights, Paul James Prendergast’s sound and original music and Meg Neville’s costumes all add to the overall effect—as Rachel Hauck’s remarkable set especially does. This is one of the rare productions of Lear which catches the whole sweep of this prodigious drama.


Wild Neighbors: Birds in Berkeley: Doves, Hawks, Crows and the Long View

By Joe Eaton
Tuesday October 02, 2007

A few weeks back I got a nice e-mail message from Fran Haselsteiner (and belated thanks to you), which read in part:  

“What I would like to know is: What happened to all the mourning doves? When I moved to Berkeley in the mid-’80s, they were everywhere. Now they seem to have been replaced by crows, which weren’t here in large numbers then. What gives?” 

Good question, or set of questions. I have to admit that I hadn’t been paying close attention to the mourning doves. We used to have them in the yard, and they nested, or attempted to nest, on the block; they weren’t very good at construction or maintenance. But lately? And how long has it been since the last sighting? 

The decline of the doves, if there is a decline, has been a lot more subtle than the rise of the crows. I have a 1971 checklist showing the American crow as an occasional visitor to the Berkeley Hills, defined so as to include the UC campus. Now they’re ubiquitous, hanging out in raucous flocks, gathering silently on wires like a road-show company of The Birds, playing crowball at the new Derby Street athletic field. (Crowball is a leisurely sport that involves a lot of standing around in the grass.) West Nile was supposed to have thinned their ranks, but it doesn’t look like that’s happened.  

The crows inspire a fair amount of alarm in some people, at the least a concern that they’re raiding the nests of other, more desirable species. And they may be for all I know. I don’t know if anyone has been studying them. There might be a causal relationship between crow abundance and dove scarcity. But you have to be careful about such assumptions; multiple variables may be in play.  

Consider the hawks, for example. This town is a more hospitable place for hawks than you might think, at least for Cooper’s hawks. Ralph Pericoli, who helps run the Cooper’s Hawk Intensive Nesting Survey for the Golden Gate Raptor Observatory, says 13 pairs of these mid-sized hawks nested or attempted to nest in Berkeley this year; the average is 11. That’s one of the highest densities recorded in any urban area. 

The hawks seem to have adapted behaviorally to the city setting. “They were once considered a secretive species of the deep forest,” says Pericoli. You couldn’t get anywhere near their wildland nests without setting off the parent hawks. But in Berkeley, they’re unfazed by pedestrians, barking dogs, or traffic noises. 

Pericoli speculates that the Cooper’s hawk density may be related to the life cycle of street trees; enough trees have become mature enough to look like good nest sites. Then, too, people aren’t shooting at them. Our urban chicken farmers are less prone than their rural counterparts to blast any passing hawk out of the sky. 

There’s also abundant hawk chow here. Although Coops, especially young ones, may take rodents (two juveniles that died this summer were found to have lethal doses of brodifacoum, a potent rat poison, in their livers), they’re primarily bird-eaters. A hunting hawk’s beat will include all the local birdfeeders.  

And their favorite prey? According to a 2003 survey of the contents of coughed-up pellets, that would be a near tie between the mourning dove (24.4 percent of 455 prey remains) and the American robin (23.4 per cent.) Rock pigeons, western scrub-jays, and house sparrows accounted for most of the rest of the prey samples. 

So are the hawks responsible for the decline of the doves? Again, I don’t know if there’s any data. So many other things can affect bird populations: changes in habitat (less open space for foraging?), changes in climate, diseases. And sometimes we just don’t have a clue.  

This is a roundabout way of admitting that I have no answers for Fran Haselsteiner. But her letter has gotten me ruminating about changes in Berkeley’s bird fauna over time, and reviewing some old references. And it looks like this may turn into a string of columns. 

Next time out: whatever happened to the yellow warblers? 

If anyone knows of a local nest, or singing males that appeared to be on territory, or any sightings outside the spring and fall migration periods, I’d like to hear about it.  

 

 

Photograph by Ron Sullivan. 

A pair of mourning doves: declining in Berkeley? 

 

Joe Eaton’s “Wild Neighbors” column appears every other Tuesday in the Berkeley Daily Planet, alternating with Ron Sullivan’s “Green Neighbors” column on East Bay trees.


Berkeley This Week

Tuesday October 02, 2007

TUESDAY, OCT. 2 

Tuesdays for the Birds Tranquil bird walks in local parklands, led by Bethany Facendini, from 7 to 9:30 a.m. Today we will visit Tilden. Call for meeting place and if you need to borrow binoculars. 525-2233. 

“What Islam, Whose Islam? The Struggle for Women’s Rights within a Religious Framework & the Experience of Sisters in Islam” with Zainah Anwar, Executive Director, Sisters in Islam, Malaysia, at 4 p.m. in the Home Room, International House, 2299 Piedmont Ave. Co-sponsored by the Center for Middle Eastern Studies and the Center for South Asian Studies. 

“Reese Erlich Day” Benefit Dinner at 7:30 p.m. at Saigon Restaurant, 326 Frank H. Ogawa Plaza. Cost is $50 per person or $80 per couple and includes one copy of the book “The Iran Agenda” and a CD of the new “Making Contact” radio documentary. RSVP to 251-1332, ext. 105. 

“Reincarnation and Buddhism” A series of three talks with Reverend Harry Bridge, Lodi Buddhist Temple, on Oct. 2, 16, and 30 at 7 p.m. at the Jodo Shinshu Center, 2140 Durant Ave. at Fulton St. Cost is $20 for the series. 809-1460. 

Berkeley High School Governance Council meets to discuss proposed changes to the bylaws and the advisory plan, at 4:15 p.m. in the Community Theater Lobby. 644-4803. 

End the Occupation Vigil every Tues. at noon at Oakland Federal Bldg., 1301 Clay St. www.epicalc.org 

Family Storytime at 7 p.m. at Kensington Library. 61 Arlington Ave. 524-3043.  

Community Sing-a-Long every Tues, at 2 p.m. at the Albany Senior Center, 846 Masonic Ave. 524-9122.  

Street Level Cycles Community Bike Program Come use our tools as well as receive help with performing repairs free of charge. Youth classes available. Tues., Thurs., and Sat. from 2 to 6 p.m. at at 84 Bolivar Dr., Aquatic Park. 644-2577. www.watersideworkshops.org 

Tuesday Documentaries at 7 p.m. at the Gaia Arts Center, 2120 Allston Way. Donation of $5 benefits the Berkeley Food and Housing Project. 665-0305. 

Berkeley Camera Club meets at 7:30 p.m., at the Northbrae Community Church, 941 The Alameda. Share your digital images, slides and prints and learn what other photographers are doing. Monthly field trips. 548-3991. www.berkeleycameraclub.org 

St. John’s Prime Timers meets at 9:30 a.m. at St. John’s Presbyterian Church, 2727 College Ave. We offer ongoing classes in exercise and creative arts, and always welcome new members over 50. 845-6830. 

WEDNESDAY, OCT. 3 

Walking Tour of Oakland City Center Meet at 10 a.m. in front Oakland City Hall at Frank Ogawa Plaza. Tour lasts 90 minutes. Reservations can be made by calling 238-3234. 

El Sabor de Fruitvale with a farmers’ market, bilingual storytelling with puppets, face painting, free books for children and information on community services from 3 to 7 p.m. at Fruitvale Village Plaza, 3411 East 12th St., Oakland. 535-6900. www.unitycouncil.org  

“The Revolt Against Consumerism” Author and journalist Tim Holt will speak on the Hillside Movement at 6 p.m. at the North Berkeley Branch Library, 1170 The Alameda at Hopkins. 981-6250. 

“The Darwin Awards” a film comedy, at 7:30 p.m. at the Hillside Club, 2286 Cedar St. Cost is $5. 843-8724. 

Friends of Albany Library Membership Meeting with a celebration of the publication of “Images of America: Albany” by Karen Sorensen at 7:30 p.m. at the Albany Library, 1247 Marin Ave. 526-3720. 

Landscape Architecture and Environmental Planning Colloquium with Clare Cooper-Marcus on “Healing Gardens and Restorative Landscapes: The Links to Physical Health and Psychological Wholeness” at 1 p.m. at Wurster Hall, Room 315A, UC Campus. All welcome. laep.ced. 

berkeley.edu/events/colloquium 

“Responsibilities of Global Citizenship” Dinner and reception for I-House director Martin Brennan, at 5:30 p.m. at Chevron Auditorium, International House, Piedmont Ave. Cost is $15. 642-4128. 

Stagebridge Theater at the monthly birthday party at 1:15 p.m. at the North Berkeley Senior Center, 1901 Hearst. 981-5190. 

Writer Coach Connection Volunteers needed to help Berkeley students improve their writing and critical thinking skills from 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. To register call 524-2319. www.writercoachconnection.org  

Red Cross Blood Services Volunteer Orientation from 10 a.m. to noon at 6230 Claremont Ave., Oakland. Registration required. 594-5165. 

Walk Berkeley for Seniors meets every Wednesday at 9:30 a.m. at the Sea Breeze Market, just west of the I-80 overpass. Everyone is welcome. 548-9840. 

Berkeley Peace Walk and Vigil at 6:30 p.m. at the Berkeley BART Station, corner of Shattuck and Center.www.geocities.com/vigil4peace/vigil 

Stitch ‘n Bitch at 6:30 p.m. at Caffe Trieste, 2500 San Pablo Ave., at Dwight. 548-5198.  

THURSDAY, OCT. 4 

BOSS Graduation Formerly homeless graduates celebrate new homes, jobs and lives at 6 p.m. at First Congregational Church of Berkeley, 2345 Channing Way. Includes entertainment and dinner. 649-1930. 

El Cerrito Conversation on Climate Action, a part of the National Conversation on Climate Action, at 6 p.m. at Cerrito Theater’s It Club Too, 10070 San Pablo Ave., El Cerrito. www.climateconversation.org 

Stop the Proposed BP-UC Berkeley Deal! Gather at the Kroeber Fountain with signs at 11:30 a.m. for a noon rally at a biofuel conference at the Bancroft Hotel, 2680 Bancroft. stopbp-berkeley.org 

Berkeley School Volunteers Orientation from 10 to 11 a.m. at 1835 Allston Way. Come learn about volunteer opportunities. 644-8833. 

“Natural Medicine and Hormone Testing” at 6 p.m. at Pharmaca, 1744 Solano Ave. 527-8929. 

World of Plants Tours Thurs., Sat. and Sun. at 1:30 p.m. at the UC Botanical Garden, 200 Centennial Drive. Cost is $5. 643-2755.  

Avatar Metaphysical Toastmasters Club meets at 6:45 p.m. at Spud’s Pizza, 3290 Adeline at Alcatraz. namaste@ 

avatar.freetoasthost.info  

FRIDAY, OCT. 5 

Impeachment Banner Fridays at 6:45 to 8 a.m. on the Berkeley Pedestrian bridge between Seabreeze Market and the Berkeley Aquatic Park, ongoing on Fridays until impeachment is realized. www. Impeachbush-cheney.com 

City Commons Club Noon Luncheon with Celeste MacLeod on “Immigration in Australia, Past and Present” Luncheon at 11:45 a.m. for $14.50, speech at 12:30 p.m., at the Berkeley City Club, 2315 Durant St. 526-2925.  

Birding with the Golden Gate Audubon Society at Jewel Lake in Tilden Regional Park Meet at 8:30 a.m. at the parking lot at north end of Central Park Dr. for a mile-long stroll through this lush riparian area. 848-9156. philajane6@yahoo.com 

“Ghosts of Abu Ghraib” A documentary by Rory Kennedy at 7 p.m. at St. Joseph the Worker Church, 1640 Addison St. For mature audiences only. Presented by the Bay Area Religious Campaign Against Torture and the Fr. Bill O’Donnell Social Justice Committee. 499-0537. 

“The Thursday Club” A documentary about the Oakland police in the 1960s, followed by discussion with the filmmaker, George Csicsery, at 8 p.m. at the Oakland Museum of California, 10th and Oak Sts. 238-2022. www.museumca.org 

3rd Annual Berkeley Juggling & Unicycling Festival Fri. from 5 to 7 p.m., Sat. 9 a.m. to 10 p.m., Sun. 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at King Middle School, 1781 Rose Ave. For details see www.berkeleyjuggling.org/festival 

“Catching the Wave: Connecting East Asia Through Soft Power” Conference on ways in which culture, product branding, export projection of national cultures, athletic events, and global NGOs serve to create a more unified (or divided) Asia. Fri. and Sat. in the Toll Room, Alumni House, UC Campus. For details see http://ieas.berkeley.edu/events/2007.10.05.html 

Berkeley Women in Black weekly vigil from noon to 1 p.m. at Bancroft and Telegraph. Our focus is human rights in Palestine. 548-6310. 

Circle Dancing, simple folk dancing with instruction at 7:30 p.m. at Finnish Brotherhood Hall, 1970 Chestnut St at University. Donation of $5 requested. 528-4253. www.circledancing.com 

SATURDAY, OCT. 6 

Berkeley Indigenous Peoples’ Day Powwow and Indian Market, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., Grand Entry at noon, at Civic Center Park, on MLK Way between Center St. and Allston Way. 595-5520. 

Berkeley Historical Society Tour of the Maybeck Estates in Kensington from 10 a.m. to noon. Cost is $8-$10. To register and for meeting place call 848-0181. 

Walking Tour of Old Oakland “New Era/New Politics” highlights African-American leaders who have made their mark on Oakland. Meet at 10 a.m. at the African American Museum and Library at 659 14th St. 238-3234.  

Mini-Farmers in Tilden A farm exploration program, from 10 to 11:30 a.m. for ages 4-6 years, accompanied by an adult. We will explore the Little Farm, care for animals, do crafts and farm chores. Wear boots and dress to get dirty! Fee is $6-$8. Registration required. 1-888-EBPARKS 

Swim a Mile for Women with Cancer Fundraiser for the Women’s Cancer Resource Center Sat. and Sun. from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Mills College Pool, 5000 MacArthur Blvd., Oakland. For information call 601-4040, ext. 180. wcrc.org 

Political Affairs Readers Group meets to discuss “High-Tech Capitalism and the Class Struggle” by John Bachtell at 10 a.m. at the Niebyl-Proctor Marxist Library for Social research, 6501 Telegraph Ave. Sponsored by the CPUSA. 595-7417. 

Annual Bonsai Show and Sale Sat. from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Sun. from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Lakeside Garden Center, 666 Bellevue, Oakland near Fairyland. lsolivenster@gmail.com 

Stagebridge Theatre Company’s Open House from 3 to 5 p.m. at Arts First Oakland, 2501 Harrison St., at 27th St., Oakland 444.4577. www.stagebridge.org 

Introduction to Stamp Collecting with the East Bay Collectors Club at 1:30 p.m. in the 3rd flr Community meeting Room, Berkeley Public Library, 2090 Kittredge St. 981-6143. 

Free Digital Fingerprinting for Children and activities for children Sat. from noon to 6 p.m., Sun. from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Hilltop Buick, 3230 Auto Plaza, Richmond. Records are given to parents.1-319-268-4044. 

Albany Tennis Tournament from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Memorial Park to raise money for the new Albany High School Men’s Tennis Team. All ages and levels are welcome to play in a doubles round robin format. Cost is $10-$25, sliding scale. BBQ lunch included. Advance sign up strongly suggested. 527-5775. bbguletz@sbcglobal.net 

Make a Miniature Japanese Kite at 2 p.m. in the Edith Stone Room, Albany Library, 1247 Marin Ave. 526-3720, ext. 17. 

“Destination Studies Class: Hawaii” from 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. at Berkeley City College, 2050 Center St. Cost is $10. 981-2931. 

The Berkeley Lawn Bowling Club provides free instruction every Wed. and Sat. at 10 a.m. at 2270 Acton St. 841-2174.  

Free Garden Tours at Regional Parks Botanic Garden Sat. and Sun. at 2 pm. Regional Parks Botanic Garden, Tilden Park. Call to confirm. 841-8732. www.nativeplants.org 

Around the World Tour of Plants at 1:30 p.m., Thurs., Sat. and Sun. at UC Botanical Garden, 200 Centennial Drive. 643-2755. http://botanicalgarden.berkeley.edu 

SUNDAY, OCT. 7 

Beach Impeach Join 1,500 others to spell out IMPEACH on the lawn of Cesar Chavez Park, Berkeley Marina. Arrive by 11 a.m. To sign up see www.beachimpeach.org 

Autumn Meditation Walk Guided exercises including walking meditation and quiet sitting at 9:30 a.m. at Tilden Nature Center, Tilden Park. 525-2233. 

“The Big Game” A documentary about Berkeley’s urban tree-sit at 6:55 p.m. at the Landmark California Theater, 2133 Kittredge St. 464-5983. 

ACLU B.A.R.K.+ Chapter Annual Meeting “Govenment Surveillance 2007: Where Has Privacy Gone?” with Nicole A. Ozer, Gayle McLAughlin and BArbara Zerbe MacNab from 3 to 5 p.m. at the Doubletree Hotel, Berkeley Marina. 558-0377. 

CodePINK Newcomer Orientation & Activist Training at 10 a.m. at 1248 Solano Ave., Albany . RSVP to 524-2776. 

Friends of People’s Park meeting at 4 p.m. in the park at the stage. Topics include Park updates and work objectives. All are welcome.  

“Lose 5,000 Pounds” Cool the Earth Workshop from 2 to 6 p.m. at Fellowship Hall, 1924 Cedar St. at Bonita. Cost is $25. www.bfuu.org 

EcoHouse Tour of the Ecology Center’s environmentally friendly demonstration home and garden, at 10 a.m. at 1305 Hopkins St., enter via garden entrance on Peralta. Cost is $10, sliding scale, no one turned away. RSVP to 548-2220, ext. 242. ecologycenter.org 

Rockridge Kitchen Tour of nine remodeled kitchens from Arts & Crafts to Contemporary, from 12:30 to 5:30 p.m. Register at 5951 College Ave at Harwood. Tickets are $30-$40. www.rockridge.org 

“Driving Public Policy to Improve End-of-Life Care” with former US Assistant Attorney General Robert Raben, at 2 p.m. at Berkeley Public Library, 2090 Kittredge. 981-6100. www.compassionandchoicesnca.org 

Booksigning: “Yoga as Medicine” with Timothy McCall, M.D. at 1 p.m. at Elephant Pharm Berkeley, 1607 Shattuck Ave. 549-9200. 

Old Time Radio East Bay Fans and collectors meet to listen to classic radio shows at 5 p.m. at a private home in Richmond. Email for details DavidinBerkeley@yahoo.com 

Free Hands-on Bicycle Repair Class Learn how to do a safety inspection. Bring your bicycle and tools. At 10 a.m. at REI, 1338 San Pablo Ave. 527-4140. 

Lake Merritt Neighbors Organized for Peace Meet at 3 p.m. at the colonnade at the NE end of the lake. 763-8712.  

“Poetry and the Spiritual Journey” with Barbara Hamilton-Holway at 10 a.m. at Unitarian Universalist Church of Berkeley, 1 Lawson Rd., Kensington. 525-0302, ext. 306. 

Tibetan Buddhism with Rosalyn White on “From the Roof of the World: Saving Tibet’s Culture” at 6 p.m. at the Tibetan Nyingma Institute, 1815 Highland Pl. 843-6812.  

MONDAY, OCT. 8 

Berkeley Green Monday meets to discuss “ Think Global - Act Local. Go Green at Work, at Home and at the Beach!” with Babak Jacinto Tondre of EcoHouse & Graywater Systems, Ecology Center; Pamela Evans of Green Business Program, Alameda County; Patty Donald of Marina Experience Programs, City of Berkeley, at 7:30 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. Free. 848-4681. 

“Faith, Politics and Passion” with John L. Bell from the Iona community in Scotland at 7:30 p.m. at First Congregational Church of Berkeley, 2345 Channing Way. 848-3696. 

Berkeley CopWatch organizational meeting at 8 p.m. at 2022 Blake St. Join us to work on current issues around police misconduct. Volunteers needed. For information call 548-0425. 

Free Boatbuilding Classes for Youth Mon.-Wed. from 3 to 7 p.m. at Berkeley Boathouse, 84 Bolivar Dr., Aquatic Park. Classes cover woodworking, boatbuilding, and boat repair. 644-2577. www.watersideworkshops.org 

CITY MEETINGS 

Commission on Labor Special Meeting to discuss the Public Commons for Everyone Inititive Wed. Oct. 3 at 6 p.m. at the North Berkeley Senior Center. 981-7550.  

Commission on the Status of Women meets Wed., Oct. 3, at 7:30 p.m., at the North Berkeley Senior Center. 981-5190.  

Landmarks Preservation Commission meets Thurs., Oct. 4, at 7 p.m., at the North Berkeley Senior Center. 981-7419.  

Public Works Commission meets Thurs., Oct. 4, at 7 p.m., at the North Berkeley Senior Center. 981-6406.


Correction

Tuesday October 02, 2007

A Sept. 25 story about an Oakland police shooting (“Protesters Call for Prosecution of Oakland Police Sergeant”) quoted an Oakland police spokesperson as saying that a loaded revolver was found on “Gonzales,” which is the name of the police officer, not of the shooting victim, whose name was King.


Arts Calendar

Friday September 28, 2007

FRIDAY, SEPT. 28 

THEATER 

Altarena Playhouse “Urinetown, The Musical” Fri. and Sat. at 8 p.m., Sun. at 2 p.m. at 1409 High St., Alameda, through Oct. 6. Tickets are $17-$20. 523-1553. www.altarena.org 

Aurora Theatre “Hysteria” Wed.-Sat. at 8 p.m., Sun. at 2 and 7 p.m. at 2081 Addison St., through Sept. 30. Tickets are $40-$42. 843-4822. www.auroratheatre.org 

California Shakespeare Theater “King Lear” at the Bruns Ampitheater, 100 Gateway Blvd., Orinda, through Oct. 14. Tickets are $15-$60. 548-9666. www.calshakes.org 

Contra Costa Civic Theatre “Rumors” by Neil Simon, Fri. and Sat. at 8 p.m., selected Sundays at 2 p.m. at 951 Pomona Ave. at Moeser, El Cerrito, through Oct. 14. Tickets are $11-$18. 655-8974. www.cct.org 

Impact Theatre “Sleepy” Thurs.-Sat. at 8 p.m. at La Val’s Subterranean, 1834 Euclid Ave., through Oct. 13. Tickets are $10-$15. 464-4468. 

Masquers Playhouse “The Shadow Box” Fri. and Sat. at 8 p.m., selected Sun. matinees, at 105 Park Place, Point Richmond. Runs through Sept. 29. This show is not recommended for children. Tickets are $15. 232-4031. www.masquers.org 

Ragged Wing Ensemble “Alice in Wonderland” Fri. and Sat. at 8 p.m. at Envision Academy, 1515 Webster St., Oakland, through Oct. 13. Tickets are $15-$30. 800-838-3006. www.raggedwing.org 

Shotgun Players “Bulrusher” Thurs.-Sun. at 8 p.m. at the Ashby Stage, 1901 Ashby Ave. through Oct. 28. Tickets are $17-$25. For reservations call 841-6500. www.shotgunplayers.org 

EXHIBITIONS 

“Needle Lace: Borne of Thread and Air” featuring needle lace from the 16th through the 20th centuries. Opening reception at 6 p.m. at Lacis Museum of Lace and Textiles, 2982 Adeline St. 843-7290. http://lacismuseum.org 

“Wonderland, A Fairytale of the Soviet Monolith” Black and white photographs by Jason Eskenazion. Reception at 5 p.m., artist talk at 6 p.m. at the Graduate School of Journalism, North Gate Hall, UC Campus. 

FILM 

Girls Will Be Boys “Little Old New York” at 6:30 p.m. and “Queen Christina” at 9 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $5.50-$9.50. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

Vintage Films: “Safety Last!” at 1 and 7 p.m. at Piedmont Cinema, 4186 Piedmont Ave., Oakland. 464-5980. 

Midnight Movies “The Sandlot” Fri. and Sat. at midnight at Piedmont Cinema, 4186 Piedmont Ave., Oakland. Cost is $8. 464-5980. 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Denise Uyehara on “Shedding Light: Performance and Illumination at 7 p.m. at the Berkeley Art Museum, 2626 Bancroft Way, enter on Durant. 642-0808. 

Naomi Klein describes “The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism” at 8 p.m. at First Congregational Church of Oakland, 2701 Harrison St. at 27th. Tickets are $10-$13. 559-9500. www.codysbooks.com  

Parthenon West Review, new issue release party with readings by contributing poets at 7:30 p.m. at Pegasus Books Downtown, 2349 Shattuck Ave. 649-1320. claybanes@gmail.com 

“California Indian Songs and Stories” with Linda Yamane (Rumsien Ohlone), Mike Mirelez (Desert Cahuilla), Ron Goode (North Fork Mono), Clarence Hostler (Hupa/Yurok/Karuk), and Charlie Thom (Karuk) at 7:30 p.m. at Bancroft Hotel, 2680 Bancroft Way. Free, but RSVP requested 549-3564, ext. 316. lillian@heydaybooks.com 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Global Drum Project with Mickey Hart, Zakir Hussain, Siriru Adepoju and Giovanni Hidalgo at 8 p.m. at Zellerbach Hall, UC Campus. Tickets are $24-$52. 642-9988. www.calperfs.berkeley.edu 

University Symphony Orchestra at 8 p.m. at Hertz Hall, UC Campus. Tickets are $4-$12.. 642-4864. http://music.berkeley.edu 

“Exilio: Creating Home Away from Home” Chilean art, music and poetry at 7 p.m. at La Peña. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

Rova Saxophone Quartet at 8 p.m. at The Berkeley Hillside Club, 2286 Cedar St. Cost is $10-$15. 845-1350. 

Joel Dorham Octet at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. Cost is $12. 841-JAZZ. www.AnnasJazzIsland.com 

The Vowel Movement, beatboxing, at 9 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $10. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

April Verch at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $18.50-$19.50. 548-1761. www.freightandsalvage.org 

John Pallowich with the Danny Mertens Trio at 8 p.m. at the Jazzschool. Cost is $10. 845-5373. www.jazzschool.com 

Sleepy Boy Moe and Adam Balbo at 7:30 p.m. at Nomad Cafe, 6500 Shattuck Ave. 595-5344. www.nomadcafe.net 

77 El Dora, Burning Embers, Tom Armstrong at 9:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $7. 841-2082. www.starryploughpub.com 

What It Is at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 843-8277. 

SATURDAY, SEPT. 29 

CHILDREN  

Active Arts Theatre for Young Audiences “James and the Giant Peach” Sat. and Sun. at 2 p.m. at Julia Morgan Center for the Arts, 2640 College Ave. Tickets are $14-$18. 925-798-1300. 

“Pinocchio: The Hip-Hopera” Sat. and Sun. at 1:30 and 2:30 p.m. at Children’s Fairyland, 699 Bellevue Ave. 452-2259 

EXHIBITIONS 

“Tides and Trees” works by Jill Bliss. Artist reception at 7 p.m. at Relish at Home, 2703 7th Street, Ste #112. 981-9400. 

FILM 

Girls Will Be Boys “Little Lord Fauntleroy” at 3 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $5.50-$9.50. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

Vintage Films: “His Girl Friday” at 2 and 7 p.m. at Piedmont Cinema, 4186 Piedmont Ave., Oakland. 464-5980. 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Louise Dunlap describes “Undoing the Silence: Six Tools for Social Change Writing” at 7 p.m. at Cody’s Books on Fourth St. 559-9500. www.codysbooks.com 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Patricia Barber, jazz vocalist and pianist at 8 p.m. at Wheeler Auditorium, UC Campus. Tickets are $20. 642-9988. www.calperfs.berkeley.edu 

University Symphony Orchestra at 8 p.m. at Hertz Hall, UC Campus. Tickets are $4-$12. 642-4864. http://music.berkeley.edu 

Hopkinson Smith, solo lute, “For Pope and King” works of Francesco da Milano and John Dowland at 8 p.m. at St. John’s Presbyterian Church, 2727 College at Garber. Tickets are $10-$25. 528-1725. www.sfems.org 

Mike Glendinning, guitar, at noon at Cafe Zeste, 1250 Addison St. at Bonar, in the Strawberry Creek Park complex. 704-9378. 

Akosua, Ghanaian-American singer-songwriter at 8 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. Cost is $10-$12. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

Jazz Express at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. Cost is $12. 841-JAZZ. www.AnnasJazzIsland.com 

Fiesta Brasileira with Omo Aiye, Mestre Acordeon & Corpo Santo Capoeira Group and others at 9 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $10-$12. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com  

Dave Lionelli and Ronnie Cato at 7:30 p.m. at Nomad Cafe, 6500 Shattuck Ave. 595-5344. www.nomadcafe.net 

Socket at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 843-8277. 

Jami Sieber & Kim Rosen at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $18.50-$19.50. 548-1761. www.freightandsalvage.org 

Happy Hour at 8 p.m. at the Jazzschool. Cost is $15-$18. 845-5373. www.jazzschool.com 

Eliot Randall & Chris Volpe at 8 p.m. at Spuds Pizza, 3290 Adeline St. Cost is $7. 558-0881. 

Royal Hawaiian Serenaders at 9 p.m. at Temple Bar Tiki Bar, 984 University Ave. 548-9888. 

The Bye Bye Blackbirds, Statuesque, The Family Arsenal at 9:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Free. 841-2082. www.starryploughpub.com 

Maya Kronfeld Trio, jazz, at 9 p.m. at Downtown, 2102 Shattuck Ave. 649-3810.  

SUNDAY, SEPT. 30 

CHILDREN 

Farm Stories and Songs with Tara Reinertson at 10:30 a.m. at Tilden Nature Center, Tilden Park. 525-2233. 

Gennifer Choldenko introduces her new book for young readers “If a Tree Falls at Lunch Period” at 4 p.m. at Cody’s Books. 559-9500. www.codysbooks.com  

FILM 

“Shanghai’et!” at 3 p.m. and “Morocco” at 5 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $5.50-$9.50. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

Vintage Films: “Spellbound” at 2 and 7 p.m. at Piedmont Cinema, 4186 Piedmont Ave., Oakland. 464-5980. 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

“One Way or Another: Asian American Art Now” Artist talk with Binh Danh at 2 p.m. at 3 p.m. at the Berkeley Art Museum, 2626 Bancroft Way. Cost is $5.50-$9.50. 642-0808. 

Mark Kramer describes “Telling True Stories: A nonfiction Writers’ Guide from the Neiman Foundation at Harvard University” at 7 p.m. at Cody’s Books on Fourth St. 559-9500. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Kurt Ribak Jazz Trio at 5 p.m. at First United Methodist Church, 201 Martina St., Point Richmond. Suggested donation $10. 236-0527. www.pointrichmond.com/methodist 

Olga Borodina, mezzo-soprano, at 8 p.m. at Zellerbach Hall, UC Campus. Tickets are $36-$68. 642-9988. www.calperfs.berkeley.edu 

Quinda Groove, Andean instuments mixed with folk rock at 7:30 p.m. at La Peña. Cost is $12. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

Aleph Null at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. Cost is $10. 841-JAZZ. www.AnnasJazzIsland.com 

Reggae Showcase with David Morrison, Army, Tuff Lion, Luv Fyah and others at 9 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $12. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

William Beatty and The Unconditionals at 6:30 p.m. at The Mt. Everest Restaurant 2011 Shattuck Ave. at University. 665-6035.  

MONDAY, OCT. 1 

EXHIBITIONS 

“Eden Invaded” Paintings by Judith Wehlau. Opening reception at 6 p.m. at Bucci’s Restaurant, 6121 Hollis St., Emeryville.  

FILM 

Vintage Films: “West Side Story” at 1 and 7 p.m. at Piedmont Cinema, 4186 Piedmont Ave., Oakland. 464-5980. 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Actors Reading Writers: “Beasts,” stories by Angela Carter and Theodore Sturgeon at 7:30 p.m. at Berkeley City Club, 2315 Durant Ave. between Dana and Ellsworth. 932-0214. 

Subterranean Shakespeare “Shakespeare’s Greatest Hits” at 8 p.m. at Unitarian Fellowship Hall, 1924 Cedar at Bonita. Cost is $10. For reservations call 276-3871. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Valerie Bach at 7 p.m. at Le Bateau Ivre, 2629 Telegraph Ave. 849-1100. www.lebateauivre.net 

TUESDAY, OCT. 2 

EXHIBITIONS 

Berkeley Public Library Staff Art Show on display to Oct. 28 at the Central Library, 2090 Kittredge St. 981-6100. www.berkeleypubliclibrary.org 

FILM 

“Miss Navajo” reception at 6 p.m., film at 6:30 p.m. followed by discussion, at Oakland Museum of California, Oak at 10th St., Oakland. 238-2022. www.museumca.org 

Vintage Films: “Lawrence of Arabia” at noon and 6:30 p.m. at Piedmont Cinema, 4186 Piedmont Ave., Oakland. 464-5980. 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Lawrence Ferlinghetti reads at 7:30 p.m. at Moe’s Books, 2476 Telegraph Ave. 849-2087. 

“The Road to 9/11: Wealth, Empire, and the Future of America” with author Peter Dale Scott at 5:30 p.m. at University Press Books, 2430 Bancroft Way. 548-0585. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Brass Menazheri/The Greg & Aya Band at 8:30 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Balkan dance lesson at 7:30 p.m. Cost is $10. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

Singers’ Open Mic with Ellen Hoffman at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. Cost is $5. 841-JAZZ. www.AnnasJazzIsland.com 

Jeremy Cohen and Quartet San Francisco, SoVoSo at 8 p.m. and Paula West, Steve Heckman Quartet at 10 p.m. in at benefit for the Alzheimers Association at Yoshi’s at Jack London Square. Cost is $25-$35. 238-9200. www.yoshis.com 

WEDNESDAY, OCT. 3 

EXHIBITIONS 

“Hand of the Artist” Paintings, photography, sculptural basketry and jewelry. Reception at 6 p.m. at Royal Ground Gallery, 2058 Mountain Blvd., Oakland. 841-0441. 

FILM 

Vintage Films: “The Last Picture Show” at 1 and 7 p.m. at Piedmont Cinema, 4186 Piedmont Ave., Oakland. 464-5980. 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Reese Erlich describes “The Iran Agenda: The Real Story of U.S. Policy and the Middle East Crisis” at 7 p.m. at Cody’s Books on Fourth St. 559-9500. 

Berkeley Poetry Slam with host Charles Ellik and Three Blind Mice, at 8:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $5-$7. 841-2082 www.starryploughpub.com 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Enchante String Quartet at noon at Oakland City Center, 12th and Broadway. www.oaklandcitycenter.com 

Dan Stanton Trio at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. Cost is $9. 841-JAZZ. www.AnnasJazzIsland.com 

Whiskey Brothers, old-time and bluegrass at 9 p.m. at Albatross, 1822 San Pablo Ave. 843-2473. www.albatrosspub.com 

Julio Bravo at 9:30 p.m. at Shattuck Down Low, 2284 Shattuck Ave. Salsa dance lessons at 8 p.m. Cost is $5-$10. 548-1159.  

The Websters & Scott Nygaard at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $19.50-$20.50. 548-1761. www.freightandsalvage.org 

Mikie Lee and Amber at 10 p.m. at Beckett’s Irish Pub, 2271 Shattuck Ave. 647-1790. www.beckettsirishpub.com 

Sakai at 8 and 10 p.m. at Yoshi’s at Jack London Square. Cost is $10-$16. 238-9200. www.yoshis.com 

THURSDAY, OCT. 4 

THEATER 

“Wong Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” written and performed by Amy Wong, Thurs.-Sat. at 8 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. Cost is $7-$15. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

EXHIBITIONS 

Brick & Mortar: Bay Area Sculptural Abstracts Works by Stephen Day, David O. Johnson, Christopher Loomis, and Florian Roeper. Opening reception at 6 p.m. at Pro Arts Gallery, 550 Second St. Oakland. 763-4361.  

FILM 

Into the Labyrinth: The Films of Jan Svankmajer at 5:30 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Free screening. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

“Boarding Gate” with Oliver Assayas and Jean-Michel Frodon in conversation at 7:30 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $5.50-$9.50. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

Vintage Films: “Star Trek IV: THe Voyage Home” at 1 and 7 p.m. at Piedmont Cinema, 4186 Piedmont Ave., Oakland. 464-5980. 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Lunch Poems with John Matthais at 12:10 p.m. at the Morrison Library, inside the Doe Library, UC Campus. 642-0137. 

5 Cave Canem Poets from the African American community at 7 p.m. at the Albany Library, 1247 Marin Ave. 526-3720. 

Artist Talk with Rosalind Nashashibi at 6 p.m. at Berkeley Art Museum Galleries, 2626 Bancroft Way. 642-8734. 

Ann Aurelia Lopez discusses her book “The Farmworkers’ Journey” at 7 p.m. at Revolution Books, 2425-C Channing Way. 848-1196.  

Jeffrey Toobin introduces “The Nine: Inside the Secret World of the Supreme Court” at 7:30 p.m. in Chevron Auditorium, International House, 2299 Piedmont Ave. Tickets are $5 available from Cody’s. 559-9500. 

Gary Braasch describes “Earth Under Fire: How Global Warming is Changing the World” at 7 p.m. at Cody’s Books on Fourth St. 559-9500. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Bayonics, Culver City Dub Collective at 9 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $10. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

Joffrey Ballet at 8 p.m. at Zellerbach Hall, UC Campus. Tickets are $34-$90. 642-9988. www.calperfs.berkeley.edu 

Global Conversations: Kala Ramnath & George Brooks at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $18.50-$19.50. 548-1761. www.freightandsalvage.org 

Denisa Fraga & Kristan Lynch at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. Cost is $9. 841-JAZZ. www.AnnasJazzIsland.com 

Pirate Radio, Scotland Barr and the Slow Drags at 9:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $7. 841-2082 www.starryploughpub.com 

Rahsaan Patterson at 8 and 10 p.m., through Sun. at Yoshi’s at Jack London Square. Cost is $24-$28. 238-9200. www.yoshis.com 

 

 

 

 

 

 


Ragged Wing Stages ‘Alice in Wonderland’

By Ken Bullock, Special to the Planet
Friday September 28, 2007

I think I can’t be Mabel, because I know so many things, and she so little. Besides, I’m I, and she’s she.” Whatever you know—or think you know—about Alice in Wonderland, the Rev. Dodgson’s voyage into the mind of a young girl dropped down a rabbit hole into a dream world of playing cards, mad tea parties and hookah-smoking caterpillars—you’ll be delightfully surprised and newly enlightened by Ragged Wing Ensemble’s completely kinetic staging of Andre Gregory’s (My Dinner with Andre) adaptation (with “the Manhattan Project”—a bid to add Einstein and Oppenheimer to Freud and the Surrealists as Lewis Carroll knock-offs?) at Envision Academy in the Julia Morgan-designed old YWCA building at 1515 Webster in downtown Oakland. It’s going into its last two weekends with a full head of steam, as if the revved-up cast had eaten of the caterpillar’s mushroom and obeyed the tag on the little bottle that reads “Drink Me.” 

Escorted upstairs from the atrium lobby (inscribed under the great skylight: “The heavens declare the glory of God/the firmament showeth his handiwork/Day unto day uttereth speech and night/unto night showeth knowledge”—an apt Biblical homily to usher us into the Victorian mindset Alice’s author deranges), the audience is seated on risers leading up to the auditorium stage. The action takes place on the floor of the orchestra and upstairs in the balcony, swirling around, surging forward and back, racing up and down the aisles. 

And different spectators will laugh and react at different moments in the action. It’s a strange phenomenon remembered from My Dinner with Andre. There is seldom any unanimity of response, which somehow adds to the giddiness of the performance, lending it the air of being not only an ensemble show but a true group experience, a chain reaction of individuals ignited by the little trouvailles Alice stumbles on, or which trip her up. 

Once seated, we hear tango music. A gent (Keith Cory Davis) in a red bow tie, carrying a valise, zips down through the audience from the empty stage behind us to the floor ahead and below to unpack “Alice,” a big rag doll. (Later I heard David Stein, who plays the Red Queen and the frog Footman, among others, refer to the show as “Ragged Alice”). He asks the audience prescriptively to silence cellphones—then, unnerved by echoes of giggling from backstage, begins to manipulate the doll, making Alice herself into a spectator. A chorus (Jacob Basri, Vanessa Godinez, Amalia Korczowski and Hilary Milton) of young interns (Ragged Wing integrates their students into all their shows) bursts into “Jabberwocky,” which quickly syncopates and tersichoreates into hip-hop to stop the clock. 

With the skillful direction of Amy Sass (who also directed The Serpent, Ragged Wing’s initial outing a few years back, and has been featured as a very fine performer in the two other shows since), the ensemble expands and contracts in perpetual motion. It takes in every inch of the theatrical space, upstairs and downstairs together, making it breathe, populating it with Carroll’s crazy creatures, and creatively playing out the mind-boggling changes of shape and size that send Alice shooting up through the treetops (where the birds think her a serpent) or shrinking down to a speck on the floor, washed away in a tiny deluge with bitsy crabs, dodos and water mice.  

With quick-change costumery (Amy Sass’s design), puppets assembled equally fast (Danny Neece’s) and sometimes combined with human bodies (Anna Shneiderman’s fuming Caterpillar), recited poems (“This poem I am going to recite was written entirely for your benefit,” Humpty Dumpty broadly confides—Shneiderman again, sucking a stogie, the only castmember who keeps “smoking” onstage) and meticulous choreography, Ragged Wing plays the space like an accordion (music by Jasper Patterson) until the building itself seems to be respiring. The action multiplies, doubling, with at first a binocular Alice (the role gets passed around, everybody an Alice, sooner or later). Then, towards the end of the crazy dream, the action unfolds into a kaleidoscope of Alices, all curtsying at curtain call, each the seven-and-a-half year-old voice of Victorian reason, amid the wild phantasmagoric flora and fauna of the brain, that can spawn sea serpents in a little girl’s copious tears or a state of terror from a pack of playing cards. 

The script is maybe the best theatrical take on Alice for a contemporary audience, quick and knowing, no preambles or pauses. And Sass’s direction makes it come alive, as each ensemble member pitches in handily, with fine work from Ragged Wing regulars Davis (a truly crazed Mad Hatter and a White Knight beyond the pale), Shneiderman, and Jeffrey Hoffman (who plays a true Dodo and finds the zany core of the White Queen in drag), plus Jennifer Antonacci (a nutty March Hare and scary Duchess), David Stein and Emily Morrison (whose Cheshire Cat brings grins to the audience). 

Leaving the resounding old hall becomes as funny as the play, with real life suddenly looking like the mathematician Dodgson’s supposedly concocted nonsense. Ragged Wing has stirred up Alice into quite a froth, as heady as the original—“and yet it was a very clever pudding to invent!”


‘Shakespeare’s Greatest Hits’

By Ken Bullock, Special to the Planet
Friday September 28, 2007

Subterranean Shakespeare’s CD, Shakespeare’s Greatest Hits (“Two years in the making!”) is something of an instant Berkeley minor classic, what with Michael Rossman (he of the Free Speech Movement) belting out “The Ballad of Tom O’Bedlam” (which Robert Graves and Edith Sitwell both credited to the Bard) or tootling flute on other numbers with The Rude Mechanicals, or funnyman Ed Holmes and poet G. P. Skratz doing up the Scottish Weird Sisters’ “Double, double, toil and trouble” with Andy Dinsmore as World Music. This 17-track wonder features a plethora of local names that have—and haven’t—trod the boards Bardic, in every musical style and sundry. And this coming Monday, Oct. 1, there’ll be a CD release party, 8 p.m. at the Berkeley Unitarian Fellowship Hall, Cedar and Bonita streets. Rossman will croon, Bob Ernst will wail on mouth harp, Tom Waits’ sidekick Mark Growden and his band rave up Will, Michael Peppe do the 129th Sonnet as Wm. Shatner, Ed Holmes get witchy. 

The CD itself has much to recommend it, including bites of Orson Welles, Otis Skinner, Gielgud, Sybil Thorndike and Paul Robeson declaiming, to music, as a holiday gift or party background sound. $10 (276-3871 or brownpapertickets.com). www.myspace.com/subshakes (ex-Punk producer Geoffrey Pond, artistic director).  

 


Visual Syncopation: Paintings by Robert Colescott

By Peter Selz, Special to the Planet
Friday September 28, 2007

Ten years ago Robert Colescott represented the United States at the Venice Biennale. Rarely was there a solo exhibition at the American pavilion and it was even more amazing that this honor was awarded to an African American painter. The show was very well received and after it closed at the Giardini Publici it travelled to museums in this country and was seen at the Berkeley Museum in 1999. 

The current exhibition is a retrospective of the last 10 years. Most of the works have not been shown before. In his painting, George Washington Carver Crossing the Delaware: Page from an American History Textbook (1975), which ridicules the kitschy and overexposed history painting by Emanuel Leutze, it is G.W. Carver, the black peanut farmer in the general’s uniform, who stands up in a boatload full of “darkies,” frolocking in their ride across the river. It was works such as this, which made Colescott into a celebrated artist, who produced expressionist paintings that were simultaneously hilarious and perturbing. 

Over time, his work has become more painterly and gestural while retaining their narrative message. What we see in his late work is a weighty manipulation of pigment, the palpitating vitality of paint which is used to tell his stories—some of them about social justice or the lack thereof. 

Colsecott was born in Oakland and, after having studied in Paris, came to Berkeley as a student and then as a teacher, but his family’s roots are in New Orleans, the birthplace of jazz. There is a large work in the show, called Ponchartrain (1997), produced way before Hurricane Katrina, which is imbued with a visualization of jazz. It consists of four congruent panels and has two revolvers aiming at two paint buckets with SEX and RACE written on them. “Sex and race are my raw materials,” he said, “that’s why they’re in the paint pot.” But there is more. In an interview published in the catalogue of this show he also speaks of the essential ideas in his paintings: “cultural/social criticism along with personal/ individual identity” as well as “shapes, color and surfaces.” Robert Colescott’s late paintings show the world and its problems as a great carnival.  

 

 

Peter Selz is the curator of the Robert Colescott Exhibition.  

 

TROUBLED GOODS:  

ROBERT COLESCOTT,  

A 10-YEAR SURVEY 

Through Oct. 20 at Meridian Gallery, 535 Powell St., San Francisco. (415) 398-7229. www.meridiangallery.org.  

 

Image Courtesy Meridian Gallery. 

April in Paris (1998), by Robert Colescott. Acrylic on canvas, 84” x 72”


The Berkeley-Oakland Neighborhood Name Game

By Steven Finacom, Special to the Planet
Friday September 28, 2007

Would a neighborhood by any other name still sell as sweet? An entertaining aspect of reading real estate listings in Berkeley has to do with the identification of neighborhoods. 

Realtors have a fine-tuned sense of what will attract the interest of prospective buyers. Revering “location, location, location” they attach favored neighborhood names to their listings, often stretching geographical and historical credibility in the process. 

Here’s an example. I live in Berkeley’s Le Conte neighborhood. It’s roughly west of Telegraph, south of Dwight, east of Shattuck. No one who lives here, so far as I know, calls it the “Elmwood.” That’s a separate and distinct district centered at Ashby and College blocks to the east. Everyone knows that. 

Everyone but realtors and some buyers, that is. For years I’ve picked up house-for-sale flyers to find I live in the “Greater Elmwood,” “Outer Elmwood,” or “Lower Elmwood.” This designation sometimes seemed to extend to homes within honking distance of south Shattuck. 

More recently, however, the Le Conte district has acquired its own East Berkeley cachet. We’re sometimes described now as the “Berkeley Bowl Neighborhood.” 

But who knows what confusion will ensue when Berkeley Bowl opens their second branch miles west, off Seventh Street, and realtors down there want a piece of the name identification? Will that become “West Berkeley Bowl Neighborhood"? Perhaps “WeBo” for short? 

Still, “Elmwood” lingers in places it really hasn’t put down roots. New condominiums on the west side of Telegraph, at the edge of Le Conte, and just a few blocks south of Dwight, were recently marketed as “in the tree-lined Elmwood District.” 

Rockridge is the Oakland version of Berkeley’s Elmwood, a district of immensely expandable, and often imaginary, proportions sprawling, in the peculiar geography of realtors, for scores of blocks in all directions. I’ve been told over the years that many Oaklanders have been amused to find that they were living in “The Rockridge” when they actually resided a zip code or two away. 

But recently, as gentrification creeps, other North Oakland neighborhoods are reasserting their identity apart from Rockridge. “Temescal” has come into its own and carved out its old zone around the nexus of Telegraph, Claremont, and 51st Street. 

Nearby along Telegraph just north of Highway 24 there’s “Idora Park,” the name of a 19th-century beer garden and amusement resort, later subdivided for homes. And a bit further north Berkeley’s “Halcyon Neighborhood” has self-identified in recent years around a new pocket park. 

I love the possibility that these names may come to everyday usage, just as the long-lost, pre-annexation name of “Lorin” is increasingly used for the area around the Ashby BART Station. “Lorin District” gives renewed and much needed distinction to a great part of town that, for generations, was regarded as just part of “South Berkeley,” as was “Le Conte” for that matter. 

South Berkeley, as you may know, is another name for Where Redevelopment Schemes Go to Revive. Sort of like “North Oakland,” at least the tiny part that’s not “Rockridge.” 

Sometimes a great name can undesirably change a neighborhood. Journalist Hunter Thompson once proposed to roll back gentrification in the Rockies by officially changing the name of Aspen, Colorado. The ski and jet set would abandon the town, he argued, if forced to list “Fat City” as an address. 

Berkeley neighborhoods are not necessarily exactly defined although some are demarcated with stone entrance pillars, tinted sidewalks, and the like. There are areas where names naturally collide and a certain fluidity of identity is appropriate. Both the Willard neighborhood and the Bateman (around Alta Bates Hospital) district overlap what’s also called Elmwood. 

And neighborhood names often evolve. When I moved to Berkeley, many old-timers still called the Telegraph business district and surroundings “Telly.” You rarely hear that now. 

That neighborhood then went through a period as the “South Campus” which didn’t sit well with those fretful about university expansion. For the past two decades or so “Southside” seems to have become respectable, although spinning off a few illegitimate offspring along the way. 

For example, a condo development on Telegraph several blocks south of Ashby and properly near the edge of the Bateman neighborhood was named “Southside Lofts” a few years back, a geographical misplacement of nearly a mile. 

Some neighborhoods never seem to have prominent names. Consider that part of Berkeley north of University Avenue and east of Sacramento Street. It doesn’t seem to have a clear name, as far as I know, although in Realtorese any home there would probably be described as “a few minutes walk from the Gourmet Ghetto.” 

Perhaps it will soon be the “Trader Joe’s” neighborhood; move over, Berkeley Bowl. 

That same area falls into the “Central Berkeley” classification, an uncomfortable appellation since developers, city staff and councilmembers often translate it to “Central City: Build Big Here.” 

Nearby, long-time residents may have found an antidote to upward expansionism by calling their Central Berkeley district, west of old City Hall, “McGee’s Farm” after the homesteader who once owned it. That’s a nomenclatural cow’s kick in the solar plexus to urban density advocates. Build condos in our farm fields, heh? 

On the other hand, maybe the McGee Farmers have doomed themselves, since real estate development traditionally destroys the very things it ostensibly honors. Think of all the “Shady Acres” and the like that designate forests of condo towers or fields of sun-struck tract homes. 

Evocative names like “Elmwood” and “Rockridge” presumably add panache and attract potential buyers, although their origins may be humble. For example, that’s Rockridge as in the ridge of rock that early Oaklanders revered so much they took away quite a lot of it in quarry operations. And isn’t adjacent “Temescal” something like “Sweat Lodge” in the Olde Tongue? 

At least homely East Bay names are still a notch up from San Francisco’s “Cow Hollow” or “Dog Patch.” And we have few, if any, of those colorful East Coast names like “Hell’s Kitchen.” We have to make do with “Gourmet Ghetto” instead, or perhaps “Nut Hill.” 

An old Oakland native once told me that the now very chic cleft valley along Highway 13 south of Lake Temescal was colloquially called “Pneumonia Gulch” because the sun entered late and left early, and the fog and chill lingered. 

I’m not sure anyone ever used that officially, though. “Pneumonia Gulch Liquors,” for instance, would be a bad business naming decision, although those shopping there would have the assurance that if something went wrong, the ambulance trip wouldn’t be too far to what has long been known as Oakland’s “Pill Hill” neighborhood with its phalanx of hospitals and pharmacists. 

No, “Montclair Village” is just fine, especially since residents probably wouldn’t feel comfortable living in “Hayward Fault Heights.” 

Some may remember that after the 1991 hill fire there was a short-lived movement for parts of the Oakland Hills to separate from the city and become a new town named “Tuscany", evoking visions of sun-drenched grapevines rather than rows of charred telephone poles. 

And “Oakland Hills"—there’s a term. Where exactly do the “Oakland Hills” end and the “Berkeley Hills” begin? Similarly, can anyone name an undeniably precise line where “Hills” change to “Flatlands”? 

It’s all enough to make you want to give up and go home to your own neighborhood. Whatever the realtors are calling it now.


Garden Variety: Water, Water Everywhere — Or Not

By Ron Sullivan
Friday September 28, 2007

One of the limitations, frustrations, confusions, and overall learning experiences any gardener encounters here is water. Understand that I use “learning experience” as an expletive.  

Container gardens are infamous for testing a plant’s tolerances and a planter’s luck and skill with regard to water. Houseplants are chronically overwatered except when they’re underwatered. An overwatered plant can look a lot like a thirsty plant when it’s in the process of succumbing to some wet rot or other. Man, you can’t win.  

Outdoor planting here is equally water-weird. A Mediterranean climate like ours has a few salient characteristics, and a prominent one is that it doesn’t rain all summer. This is quite a challenge for a plant trying to make a living: drought during the season when the days are longest and the light to grow by is most abundant.  

Look at plants native here, and to other such places like South Africa, coastal Australia and Chile, and of course the coast of the Mediterranean. Lots of them, counting numbers of species as well as populations, are annuals. They start growing as soon as the soil warms and the sun-time increases in spring, flower and reproduce and scatter their tough seeds by midsummer, and die when water gets too scarce.  

Perennials including trees get seriously stingy about water. They grow silver or succulent or tough-hided foliage, imbue it with (often fragrant) oils to help retain moisture; they drop their leaves and retreat into wood, like buckeye, or underground storage, like most of our gorgeous bulbs, by summer’s end. If they’re holdouts from a wetter era like redwoods, they learn to sieve water from the ocean fogs and drink that all summer, sustaining their understory neighbors too.  

One way to improve your luck is by knowing what your plant is and what its needs and tolerances are. “Tolerance” in plantspeak is some condition—low light, wet or alkaline or heavy soil, wind—a plant doesn’t like but will survive. If you have the plant already, you’ll want to give it what makes it thrive if you can, or at least opt for something it will tolerate. If you have the place and are looking for a plant to put in it, look for one that will like what you have to give. 

It’s getting close to planting time for natives (and other Mediterraneans). If you have decent drainage, which for most of us means some slope or berms or lumps in the yard, you can plant natives like Fremontodendron or those bulbs, Calochortus, Brodiaea and the like, that are not only drought-tolerant but drought-demanding. If they get irrigated in summer, they’re susceptible to fungus rots that multiply in warm, moist soils.  

There’s the rub: Most garden plants, native or no, need help at least through their first summer. That’s a bit of suspense we just have to endure: is this infant dying of too little water or too much? If you’ve put plants with similar needs together, it’ll be easier to cope with this, to guess whether they’re all thirsty or not.  

How? More next week. 

 

Ron Sullivan is a former professional gardener and arborist. Her “Garden Variety” column appears every Friday in East Bay Home & Real Estate. Her column on East Bay trees appears every other Tuesday in the Berkeley Daily Planet.


Quake Tip of the Week

By Larry Guillot
Friday September 28, 2007

How Do I Love Thee? 

If you live with someone you love: spouse, child(ren), partner, “significant other,” relative, or pet(s), what’s a good way to say “I Love You”? Let me count the ways: 

• Help keep them secure: install an automatic gas shut-off valve and have your retrofit checked (the majority of retrofits won’t do the job)  

• Help keep them safe: Get your furniture and wall hangings secured. 

• Help keep them healthy after the quake: assemble or buy emergency kits for home and car(s). 

Don’t just tell them you love them— show them you love them. Make your home secure and your family safe. 

 

Larry Guillot is owner of QuakePrepare, an earthquake consulting, securing, and kit supply service. Call him at 558-3299, or visit www.quakeprepare.com.


About the House: A Small Do-It-Yourself Job You Can Tackle

By Matt Cantor
Friday September 28, 2007

I know you’re out there: you who fear tools. Confirmed abdicators of all things mechanical. Live prey to all members of the Phylum Contractazoa. You who hide in corners until the power is brought back on again by mysterious means. I am here to help but there IS a price. Immersion therapy is not easy but it is simple and you can only change if you really want to change. 

 

The best way to start down the road is to pick one small job and I have just the one. It’s not that complex. You can’t burn down the house and you can’t get shocked. It’s also something that has a good cost savings and a high show-off factor. If all goes moderately well, well have you up and done in less than a Sunday (maybe four hours if you’re a promising student) and ready to call in debts from the husband, wife, significant other or mother-in-law. 

Ready? We’re going to replace a faucet. Here goes: 

First, the best one to pick is one you can do without if things get unfortunate. If you’re lucky enough to have two bathrooms or a bath with two sinks, then pick the faucet you use the least often. If not, you can always fall back to washing your hands at the kitchen sink until help arrives, but let us be positive and advance upon the goal with gusto, fervor and a confirmed sense of false security. 

Next agenda item: Go shopping. This is the fun part and can, if you wish, include partners, children or admiring onlookers. Keep in mind that like quitting smoking, you will be now be forced to follow through or skulk about sheepishly if you abandon your post amidst the spraying of cold water. 

Faucets can be found at the local hardware store (such as our own Berkeley Hardware), the big-box home improvement places (who shall ever remain nameless, except when I get ready to rant) and also at real plumbing suppliers like the fabulous Moran Supply on 40th in Oakland. 

Most faucets fall into two classifications, 4-inch spread and 8-inch spread. The standard for bathrooms is 4 inches and this is the distance between the nipples that project downward from the faucet through the sink-top and then tie onto the water supply tubes that come up from the supply valves. If this all sounds a bit jargony, it is and I’ll try to take something for that. I’ll explain more about this later. 

Some baths also have what are called wide-spread faucets and these are usually on very old pedestal faucets. If the space between the valves (where the handles stick up) is neither 4 inches nor 8 inches, you might want to get some help. These can be done by determined amateurs but it’s a lot more complex putting all the parts together that allow these several parted things to fit together and bridge the longer distances required on very old sinks (up through the 1940s). 

If you’re doing a kitchen sink, it will probably be an 8-inch spread. If you look below the sink, you’ll be able to see the nipples projecting down through the rim of the sink and you can then measure the distance. If you can afford to have the faucet disconnected for a time, the best pre-shopping prep. you can do is to remove the faucet and take it with you. Since you’ll need to do this at some point anyway, let’s look at how that’s done: 

First, turn off the water (don’t laugh. You would not be the first person to start doing this and get sprayed in the face having forgotten this, seemingly obvious, step). There are two “shutoff valves” below the sink in most cases and you may have to work hard to get them to turn all the way off. You can test to see how thoroughly they kill the water supply by turning the faucet on and seeing if the water has stopped dripping.  

If the shutoffs don’t work well and let a lot of water run through, you may end needing to turn the water off at the front of the house or the street. If you don’t know where your main water shutoff is, it’s time to find out. It’s usually on the front face of the house behind the bushes and sometimes in the crawlspace at the front. Every house is different and you’ll need to figure this out. Some folks end up buying a “water key” that turns the stopcock (don’t start) in the sidewalk 90 degrees to an off position (same as your main gas valve). If you have a main shutoff that allows a very small amount of water to leak past, you can do the faucet replacement with a bucket or bowl catching the slow leak. 

The best trip to the store includes taking the shutoff valves, the flexible tubing from them to the faucet and the faucet itself. The best job includes replacement of all of these, since shutoff valves wear out and fill with crud over the years. If you have fairly new shutoffs (ones that shut fully without the strength of our governor), leave them be. The flexible supply lines should be replaced every time and the ones to look for are the “no-burst” type that have a metal weave around the outside. That is, unless you’re looking for that “just flooded” look for your living room (it’s very big this year in certain southern states, I understand).  

Make sure to get some help at the store in matching the spread on the faucet nipples, the length of the supply lines and the pipe size of the shutoff valves. If your shutoff valve is newer, it may have a compression fitting at the rear end (an additional nut where it meets the smooth copper pipe). If this is your first time out, leave those alone. If it’s an old valve meeting a threaded-iron fitting, you’re good to go. It’s both easier and also more important. 

Here’s an important technical detail. Buy an expensive faucet. First, why would you work this hard to put in a piece of junk that doesn’t look that good, might break during installation and will last fewer years. Just spend another 20-30 bucks and get something nicer. Here’s a secret: The better faucets are easier to install. Price Pfister makes the best low price faucets I’ve seen and I’ve put in dozens of them with virtually no problem. They’re not the only good choice but they are one very good choice. 

Oh, yes, back to removing the faucet. This is the hardest nut to crack (sorry). Faucets are mostly held in place with a pair of “basin nuts.” These are under the sink and often in a very hard place to sit and turn a wrench. The nuts are found on the two nipples that descend through the sink holes and are therefore up in this cranny that’s pretty nasty to negotiate. Once you’ve had a look and determined the lay of the land, you may want to start by going to the hardware store and obtaining a “basin wrench.” This odd device has a jaw like a pair of pliers that sits up on the end of a long rod with a handle at the other end. By careful placement, one can put the jawed end on the basin nut and (remember: Lefty Loosey) turn the nut off with one’s hands down well below the sink where turning is viable. This might take holding the tool to figure out but, believe me, it’s a total life-saver. I’ve removed basin nuts with a very small adjustable wrench (often referred to as a Crescent wrench) and tried to make believe I was much smaller than I really am. No fun. 

So, you’ve turned off the water, removed the supply lines with a wrench, taken the basin nuts off with a basin wrench and now have all this stuff in your bag (take everything). The reinstallation is basically the same in reverse, only easier. Be sure to use some plumber’s putty below the faucet unless it comes with a rubber seal that fits the surface of your sink very snugly. It’s a common place to leak. Plumbers putty is like Playdough just not as tasty and stays soft way longer. 

When you buy your flexible connectors check the ends to make sure the seals are in there. Some types have no rubber seal but if you look at three or four in the bin, you’ll figure it out. Sometimes the seals fall and sometimes people liberate them and put the hose back in the bin. This, in my opinion, should be a capital offense but I may be a bit over-reacting. I do that. 

All the water in the house has to be off to replace shutoffs but once they’re installed, you can turn the water in the house back on for the remainder of the procedure. It’s a good idea to flush the valves and piping out into a bucket before installing the faucet. Let’s get the big chunks out.  

I also like to clean the nipples out a little before putting the new shutoffs on. Attaching the new valves should be done with TFE paste (which I prefer) or Teflon tape although there are other compounds that do the same thing. You do not need to use this where the flexible water supply line meets the valve or the faucet. The seals do the job.  

I question the safety of Teflon when ingested and recommend that you wear some vinyl disposable gloves for this. By the way, for plumbing, those new rubberized cloth gloves (rubber on one side and cloth on the back) are perfect. Protects hands. Increases grip. For the less than mighty, remember that longer wrenches make stronger people. Physics wins out over muscle every time. 

Remember how you felt before you learned to drive (I know you don’t drive, Josh). It seemed insurmountable and utterly frightening and now; well now you do it while talking on the phone (bad you). Plumbing is just like that. Go get ‘em tiger. 


Berkeley This Week

Friday September 28, 2007

FRIDAY, SEPT. 28 

Inauguration of the New Rosie-the-Riveter National Park in Richmond, with events Fri.- Sun. For more information call 232-5050. www.homefrontfestival.com 

Bike Tour of Berkeley Worker Cooperatives Meet at 5:15 p.m. at the Downtown Berkeley BART station for a 1.5 hour tour with guided tours of the Missing Link bike shop, Cheese Board pizza & cheese shop and Nabalom Bakery. The bike ride will also include stops by the Juice Bar, Mayback High School and the Berkeley Free Clinic. For more information see www.nobawc.org/conference 

Hopalong Animal Rescue 3rd Annual Fur Ball benefiting homeless dogs and cats of the Bay Area, from 6 to 9:30 p.m. at the International House, 2299 Piedmont Ave. Tickets are $50, and includes appetizer and desert buffet. 267-1915 ext. 500. www.hopalong.org 

“California Indian Songs and Stories” with Linda Yamane (Rumsien Ohlone), Mike Mirelez (Desert Cahuilla), Ron Goode (North Fork Mono), Clarence Hostler (Hupa/Yurok/Karuk), and Charlie Thom (Karuk) at 7:30 p.m. at Bancroft Hotel, 2680 Bancroft Way. Free, but RSVP requested 549-3564, ext. 316. lillian@heydaybooks.com 

“The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism” with author Naomi Klein at 8 p.m. at First Congregational Church of Oakland, 2701 Harrison St. at 27th. Tickets are $10-$13. 559-9500.  

Red Cross Blood Drive from noon to 6 p.m. at UCB Unit 3, all purpose room, 2400 Durant Ave. To schedule an appointment go to www.BeADonor.com  

City Commons Club Noon Luncheon with Lori Fogarty on the development plans for the Oakland Museum of California. Luncheon at 11:45 a.m. for $14.50, speech at 12:30 p.m., at the Berkeley City Club, 2315 Durant St. 526-2925.  

Chinese Mid-Autumn Festival at 1:15 p.m. at the North Berkeley Senior Center, 1901 Hearst Ave. 981-5190. 

Free Compost for Berkeley Residents from 8:45 a.m. to 2:45 p.m. at Berkeley Marina Maintenance Yard, 201 University Ave. First priority is given to Berkeley Unified School District and Berkeley Community Gardens. Please complete sign-in log before loading compost. 644-6566. 

Berkeley Women in Black weekly vigil from noon to 1 p.m. at Bancroft and Telegraph. Our focus is human rights in Palestine. 548-6310. 

Circle Dancing, simple folk dancing with instruction at 8 p.m., potluck at 7 p.m. at Hillside Community Church, 1422 Navellier St. Donation $5. 528-4253. www.circledancing.com 

Women in Black Vigil, from noon to 1 p.m. at UC Berkeley, Bancroft at Telegraph. wibberkeley@yahoo.com 548-6310, 845-1143. 

SATURDAY, SEPT. 29 

Community Discussion of the Proposed Public Commons for Everyone Initiative from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the North Berkeley Senior Center on the corner of Hearst and MLK. 981-2498.  

Asthma Walk with the American Lung Association Check in at 9 a.m., walk starts at 10 a.m. at Middle Harbor Shoreline Park, 7th St. and Middle Harbor Rd., Oakland. 893-5474. www.snipurl.com/Asthma 

Walk2007 

Walking Tour of Jack London Waterfront Meet at 10 a.m. at the corner of Broadway and Embarcadero. Tour lasts 90 minutes. Reservations can be made by calling 238-3234. www.oaklandnet.com/walkingtours 

Toddler Nature Walk We’ll look for spiders, insects, and other creatures from 2:30 to 3:30 p.m. at Tilden Nature Center, Tilden Park. 525-2233. 

Creating an Ecological House A seminar with author and designer Skip Wenz from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Building Education Center, 812 Page St. Cost is $85. 525-7610.  

Mystery Dinner Theater Fund Raising Event for GRIP Homeless Shelter from 5 to 8 p.m. at the El Cerrito United Methodist Church. Tickets are $35. For details and for registration forms go to www.ecumc.net 525-3500. 

Nyingma Institute 35th Anniversary from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. with activities, tour, lectures and receptions. For details call 809-1000. 

Magicians David Hirata and Kim Silverman at 6:30 p.m. at Kinnel Hall, Lutheran Church of the Cross, 1744 University Ave. Tickets are $15-$25 sliding scale, children under 14 free. Includes dinner. For reservations call 704-7729. 

Benefit Tennis Classic with Monica Seles and Corina Morariu at 11:30 a.m. at Berkeley Tennis Club, 1Tunnel Rd. Benefits Alta Bates Summit Foundation. Tickets are $25, includes box lunch. 204-1667. 

Time for an Oil Change? Learn how the fat you eat affects your health at 10 a.m. at Elephant Pharmacy, 1607 Shattuck Ave. 549-9200. 

Stress Less Seminar for Students at 2 p.m. at Lakeview Branch of the Oakland Public Library. 465-2524. 

Favorite Plants for the Landscape at 10 a.m. at Magic Gardens Nursery, 729 Heinz Ave. off 7th St. 644-2351. 

Fast Pitch Softball for Adults at noon on Saturdays in Oakland. For information call 204-9500. 

Free Garden Tours at Regional Parks Botanic Garden Sat. and Sun. at 2 pm. Regional Parks Botanic Garden, Tilden Park. Call to confirm. 841-8732. www.nativeplants.org 

Around the World Tour of Plants at 1:30 p.m., Thurs., Sat. and Sun. at UC Botanical Garden, 200 Centennial Drive. 643-2755. http://botanicalgarden.berkeley.edu 

The Berkeley Lawn Bowling Club provides free instruction at 10:30 a.m. at 2270 Acton St. 841-2174.  

SUNDAY, SEPT. 30 

How Berkeley Can You Be? Parade up University Ave. at 11 a.m. with ArtCars, community groups and more, followed by a festival in Civic Center Park with live music, food and craft booths to 5 p.m. www.howberkeley.com 

Out and About in Rockridge Live music, craft and community booths and children’s activities from noon to 6 p.m. along College Ave. from Alcatraz to Broadway. 604-3125. www.rockridgedistrict.com 

Farm Stories and Songs with Tara Reinertson at 10:30 a.m. at Tilden Nature Center, Tilden PArk. 525-2233. 

Working with Wool Learn how the spinning wheel turns wool into yarn, try a drop spindle and make a felt ball, from 1 to 2:30 p.m. at Tilden Nature Center, Tilden Park. 525-2233. 

Halcyon Commons Community Potluck with live music at Halcyon Court at Prince St., from 5 to 7:30 p.m. 849-1969.  

“Nightmare Beyond Borders” The Iraqi Displacement Crisis and What Can Be Done To Stop It with Raed Jarrar, an Iraqi political analyst and consultant to AFSC's Iraq Program, at 3 p.m. at Berkeley Friends Church, 1600 Sacramento St. 415-565-0201, ext. 24. www.afsc.org/iraq/tour  

"An Unreasonable Man” The documentary about Ralph Nader at 2 p.m. at the Hillside Community Church, 1422 Navellier St., El Cerrito, between Potrero and Moeser. Tickets are $8. 526-0972. 

“On Language” with Kambiz Sakhai at 10 a.m. at Niebyl-Proctor Marxist Library, 6501 Telegraph Ave., between Alcatraz and 66th, Oakland. 595-7417. 

Victoria Lee “The Rumi Secret” at 10 a.m. and a Rumi 800th Birthday Celebration, at 7 p.m. at Unitarian Universalist Church of Berkeley, 1 Lawson Rd., Kensington. 525-0302, ext. 306. 

Free Garden Tours at Regional Parks Botanic Garden in Tilden Park Sat. and Sun. at 2 p.m. Call to confirm. 841-8732. www.nativeplants.org 

Lake Merritt Neighbors Organized for Peace Peace walk around the lake every Sun. Meet at 3 p.m. at the colonnade at the NE end of the lake. 763-8712. lmno4p.org 

Tibetan Buddhism with Robin Caton on “Meditation for Life” at 6 p.m. at the Tibetan Nyingma Institute, 1815 Highland Pl. 843-6812. www.nyingmainstitute.com 

MONDAY, OCT. 1 

Celebrate Banned Books Week Read aloud from “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone” from 3 to 6 p.m. at Berkeley Public Library, 2090 Kittredge St. 981-6223. 

Red Cross Blood Drive from noon to 6 p.m. at West Pauley Ballroom MLK Student Union, UC Campus. To schedule an appointment go to www.BeADonor.com  

Berkeley CopWatch organizational meeting at 8 p.m. at 2022 Blake St. Join us to work on current issues around police misconduct. 548-0425. 

Dragonboating Year round classes at the Berkeley Marina, Dock M. Meets Mon, Wed., Thurs. at 6 p.m. Sat. at 10:30 a.m. For details see www.dragonmax.org 

Free Boatbuilding Classes for Youth Mon.-Wed. from 3 to 7 p.m. at Berkeley Boathouse, 84 Bolivar Dr., Aquatic Park. Classes cover woodworking, boatbuilding, and boat repair. 644-2577.  

TUESDAY, OCT. 2 

Tuesdays for the Birds Tranquil bird walks in local parklands, led by Bethany Facendini, from 7 to 9:30 a.m. Today we will visit Tilden. Call for meeting place and if you need to borrow binoculars. 525-2233. 

“What Islam, Whose Islam? The Struggle for Women’s Rights within a Religious Framework & the Experience of Sisters in Islam” with Zainah Anwar, Executive Director, Sisters in Islam, Malaysia, at 4 p.m. in the Home Room, International House, 2299 Piedmont Ave. Co-sponsored by the Center for Middle Eastern Studies and the Center for South Asian Studies. 

“Reese Erlich Day” Benefit Dinner at 7:30 p.m. at Saigon Restaurant, 326 Frank H. Ogawa Plaza. Cost is $50 per person or $80 per couple and includes one copy of the book “The Iran Agenda” and a CD of the new “Making Contact” radio documentary. RSVP to 251-1332, ext. 105. 

“Reincarnation and Buddhism” A series of three talks with Reverend Harry Bridge, Lodi Buddhist Temple, on Oct. 2, 16, and 30 at 7 p.m. at the Jodo Shinshu Center, 2140 Durant Ave. at Fulton St. Cost is $20 for the series. 809-1460. 

Berkeley High School Governance Council meets to discuss proposed changes to the bylaws and the advisory plan, at 4:15 p.m. in the Community Theater Lobby. 644-4803. 

End the Occupation Vigil every Tues. at noon at Oakland Federal Bldg., 1301 Clay St. www.epicalc.org 

Family Storytime at 7 p.m. at Kensington Library. 61 Arlington Ave. 524-3043.  

Community Sing-a-Long every Tues, at 2 p.m. at the Albany Senior Center, 846 Masonic Ave. 524-9122.  

Street Level Cycles Community Bike Program Come use our tools as well as receive help with performing repairs free of charge. Youth classes available. Tues., Thurs., and Sat. from 2 to 6 p.m. at at 84 Bolivar Dr., Aquatic Park. 644-2577. www.watersideworkshops.org 

Tuesday Documentaries at 7 p.m. at the Gaia Arts Center, 2120 Allston Way. Donation of $5 benefits the Berkeley Food and Housing Project. 665-0305. 

Berkeley Camera Club meets at 7:30 p.m., at the Northbrae Community Church, 941 The Alameda. Share your digital images, slides and prints and learn what other photographers are doing. Monthly field trips. 548-3991. www.berkeleycameraclub.org 

St. John’s Prime Timers meets at 9:30 a.m. at St. John’s Presbyterian Church, 2727 College Ave. We offer ongoing classes in exercise and creative arts, and always welcome new members over 50. 845-6830. 

WEDNESDAY, OCT. 3 

Walking Tour of Oakland City Center Meet at 10 a.m. in front Oakland City Hall at Frank Ogawa Plaza. Tour lasts 90 minutes. Reservations can be made by calling 238-3234. 

El Sabor de Fruitvale with a farmers’ market, bilingual storytelling with puppets, face painting, free books for children and information on community services from 3 to 7 p.m. at Fruitvale Village Plaza, 3411 East 12th St., Oakland. 535-6900. www.unitycouncil.org  

“The Revolt Against Consumerism” Author and journalist Tim Holt will speak on the Hillside Movement at 6 p.m. at the North Berkeley Branch Library, 1170 The Alameda at Hopkins. 981-6250. 

“The Darwin Awards” a film comedy, at 7:30 p.m. at the Hillside Club, 2286 Cedar St. Cost is $5. 843-8724. 

Friends of Albany Library Membership Meeting with a celebration of the publication of “Images of America: Albany” by Karen Sorensen at 7:30 p.m. at the Albany Library, 1247 Marin Ave. 526-3720. 

Landscape Architecture and Environmental Planning Colloquium with Clare Cooper-Marcus on “Healing Gardens and Restorative Landscapes: The Links to Physical Health and Psychological Wholeness” at 1 p.m. at Wurster Hall, Room 315A, UC Campus. All welcome. laep.ced. 

berkeley.edu/events/colloquium 

“Responsibilities of Global Citizenship” Dinner and reception for I-House director Martin Brennan, at 5:30 p.m. at Chevron Auditorium, International House, Piedmont Ave. Cost is $15. 642-4128. 

Stagebridge Theater at the monthly birthday party at 1:15 p.m. at the North Berkeley Senior Center, 1901 Hearst. 981-5190. 

Writer Coach Connection Volunteers needed to help Berkeley students improve their writing and critical thinking skills from 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. To register call 524-2319. www.writercoachconnection.org  

Red Cross Blood Services Volunteer Orientation from 10 a.m. to noon at 6230 Claremont Ave., Oakland. Registration required. 594-5165. 

Walk Berkeley for Seniors meets every Wednesday at 9:30 a.m. at the Sea Breeze Market, just west of the I-80 overpass. Everyone is welcome. 548-9840. 

Berkeley Peace Walk and Vigil at 6:30 p.m. at the Berkeley BART Station, corner of Shattuck and Center.www.geocities.com/vigil4peace/vigil 

Stitch ‘n Bitch at 6:30 p.m. at Caffe Trieste, 2500 San Pablo Ave., at Dwight. 548-5198.  

THURSDAY, OCT. 4 

BOSS Graduation Formerly homeless graduates celebrate new homes, jobs and lives at 6 p.m. at First Congregational Church of Berkeley, 2345 Channing Way. Includes entertainment and dinner. 649-1930. 

Berkeley School Volunteers Orientation from 10 to 11 a.m. at 1835 Allston Way. Come learn about volunteer opportunities. 644-8833. 

World of Plants Tours Thurs., Sat. and Sun. at 1:30 p.m. at the UC Botanical Garden, 200 Centennial Drive. Cost is $5. 643-2755.  

Avatar Metaphysical Toastmasters Club meets at 6:45 p.m. at Spud’s Pizza, 3290 Adeline at Alcatraz. namaste@ 

avatar.freetoasthost.info  

CITY MEETINGS 

Council Agenda Committee meets Mon. Oct. 1, at 2:30 p.m., at 2180 Milvia St. 981-6900. 

Peace and Justice Commission meets Mon., Oct. 1, at 7 p.m., at the North Berkeley Senior Center. 981-5510.  

Commission on Labor Special Meeting to discuss the Public Commons for Everyone Inititive Wed. Oct. 3 at 6 p.m. at the North Berkeley Senior Center. 981-7550.  

Commission on the Status of Women meets Wed., Oct. 3, at 7:30 p.m., at the North Berkeley Senior Center. 981-5190.  

Landmarks Preservation Commission meets Thurs., Oct. 4, at 7 p.m., at the North Berkeley Senior Center. 981-7419.  

Public Works Commission meets Thurs., Oct. 4, at 7 p.m., at the North Berkeley Senior Center. 981-6406.