Page One

Code Pink Confronts Recruiters

By Judith Scherr
Friday October 05, 2007

Becky Lyman of Code Pink debates Lee Wolf of the San Francisco State Young Republicans in a demonstration / counter-demonstration at the Berkeley Marine Recruitment office, 64 Shattuck Square on Wednesday. -more-



UC vs. City: Stadium Suit Nears Decision

By Richard Brenneman
Friday October 05, 2007

The law barring construction and substantial renovations of existing buildings perched atop active earthquake faults doesn’t apply to the University of California, one of its lawyers said Thursday. -more-



Kavanagh Takes Leave From City Rent Board

By Judith Scherr
Friday October 05, 2007

Accused by the Alameda County District Attorney’s Office of lying about where he lives 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 charges in court. -more-



Albany Bulb Sweep Averted

By Lydia Gans, Special to the Planet
Friday October 05, 2007

There’s a new sign posted at the Albany Waterfront Park announcing an “Albany Bulb Clean-up Project” beginning Monday, Sept. 24, and going on for two weeks. It warns that “heavy equipment” will be used but assures that the “cleanup will not have a permanent impact on the Albany Bulb’s landscape or usability.” That is meant to be reassuring. On past occasions when bulldozers were used they tore up wide swaths of lush vegetation. Robert Barringer, who called the Bulb home for years, recalled how “they took down a lot of trees and shrubs and they laid them out like corpses.” As for impact on “usabilty,” that’s a very big question. -more-



Hodge vs. Brooks Election Brewing

By Jesse Douglas Allen-Taylor
Friday October 05, 2007

As late as a little over a year ago, the name of the rising African-American political family dynasty in East Oakland was Hodge. But what appears on the surface to be a growing family feud in East Oakland politics may mean that might soon change. -more-



16-Story Towers Trigger Heat at DAPAC Session

By Richard Brenneman
Friday October 05, 2007

Point towers and pointed tensions dominated Wednesday’s DAPAC meeting, and by the time the session ended, a resolution for downtown Berkeley’s future skyline remained elusive. -more-



Features

Gordon Confirmed as Port Commissioner with Dellums’ Help

By Jesse Douglas Allen-Taylor
Friday October 05, 2007

The administration of Oakland Mayor Ron Dellums, left for practically politically dead by some local media outlets, rose dramatically from the grave on Tuesday night to win its second major political victory of the year, securing the nearly-unanimous City Council confirmation of its two Port Commission nominees. -more-


Native Americans Demonstrate for Remains Return

By Judith Scherr
Friday October 05, 2007

Representatives of eight Native American tribes say UC Berkeley has failed to provide adequately for the return to their tribes of remains and artifacts it holds at UC Berkeley’s Phoebe Hearst Museum of Anthropology. -more-


Jane Jackson, Rights Activist, 1934–2007

By Libby McMahon
Friday October 05, 2007

Rights activist and devout Episcopalian Jane Jackson passed away peacefully Sept. 26 in her beloved Santiago de Cuba. She is survived in the U.S. by her two daughters and their families, by her daughter and her family in Havana, and by all those whose lives she made better during her lifetime of struggle for the rights of people everywhere. Jane was a brilliant, tenacious, determined champion of justice. It is impossible to list all the world’s, the country’s and her neighborhood’s problems to which Jane gave her time, energy, money and love trying to solve. -more-


Peace Notes: Beach Impeach Project Planned for Weekend

By Judith Scherr
Friday October 05, 2007

I-M-P-E-A-C-H-! will be spelled out at the Berkeley Marina Sunday, thanks to the efforts of Brad Newsham and some 1,500 others. -more-


Exit Exams at Berkeley High

By Riya Bhattacharjee
Friday October 05, 2007

This week Berkeley High School students sat for the first of three sets of the California Exit Exam for the new school year. -more-


Students Use Feet to Get to School

By Riya Bhattacharjee
Friday October 05, 2007

On Wednesday morning, Berkeley parents, teachers and elementary school children walked or rode on bikes to school to make a statement about global warming, obesity and to mark International Walk to School Day. -more-


Reading Recovery Program Shows Results in Berkeley Schools

By Riya Bhattacharjee
Friday October 05, 2007

Alisha, a shy 6-year-old from Nepal, cannot recognize or write her own name. -more-


Public Comment

Letters to the Editor

Friday October 05, 2007

MISQUOTED ON -more-


Commentary: Who’s A(n Alleged) Crook Now?

By Albert Sukoffopini
Friday October 05, 2007

The Berkeley Daily Planet published a political cartoon last week which showed a half-dozen snarling dogs surrounding a hunk of meat. The dogs were labeled as Berkeley property owners and the meat “Kavanagh.” There may indeed be a few local property owners who take some small degree of pleasure in the predicament in which Mr. Kavanagh finds himself. These would most likely include those who have been forced to sit and listen to his smug, self-righteous pontificating at rent board hearings where he has positioned himself on the moral high ground and has routinely treated landlords like lying crooks simply because they operate rental property in Berkeley. Now it appears the criminal justice system is telling Mr. Kavanagh to take a look in the mirror if he wants to know who the lying crook really is. -more-


Commentary: Worst Kind of Demagoguery

By Mark Tarses
Friday October 05, 2007

Commentary: Labor Struggles at KPFA

By Tracy Rosenberg and Ruthanne Shpiner
Friday October 05, 2007

At the risk of sounding banal in the extreme, the existence of independent media and its continued survival is critical. Independent media is invaluable. Particularly in today’s climate of media consolidation it is crucial that institutions such as the Planet are able to continue to thrive and survive. Berkeley is home to the free speech movement. Just as the Planet is a veritable institution in Berkeley, so is KPFA radio. Both have staff that render their services as labors of love whether paid staff at the Planet or unpaid staff at KPFA radio. The dedication and work of the staff at each of these institutions dovetail. For example on Mon. Oct. 1 KPFA interviewed Planet reporter J. Douglas Allen-Taylor on the current state of the city of Oakland and Mayor Ron Dellums. Planet editor Becky O’Malley has engaged in written exchanges with KPFA Sunday host Peter Laufer and has appeared on his show. The Planet covered the 1999 infamous KPFA lock out extensively. -more-


Editorial

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. -more-


Columns

Column: The Public Eye: A Good Meeting (in Another City)

By Zelda Bronstein
Friday October 05, 2007

On the evening of Sept. 19, I had a rare experience: I left a community meeting about a big new project feeling edified and even hopeful. Need I add that the event wasn’t run by the Berkeley Planning Department? Indeed, it wasn’t in Berkeley at all, but at the Albany Veterans Memorial Building. I was there because the project—the renovation and possible demolition and rebuilding of the Safeway at 1500 Solano—is a few blocks from my north Berkeley house. To judge from public comment, most of the hundred-plus people seated in the Memorial Building’s cavernous main hall were Albanians. -more-


Column: Undercurrents: Politics, Not Principle, Will Likely Dictate Fate of AB45

By J. Douglas Allen-Taylor
Friday October 05, 2007

The battle over Assemblymember Sandré Swanson’s AB45 Oakland school local control bill has gone inside, behind the locked doors of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s office in the state capitol building in Sacramento, where all pretense at open government ends, and a polite, uniformed California Highway Patrol officer always guards the hallway entrance, keeping the public away. -more-


East Bay Then and Now: Bennington Apartments Evoke 19th Century Euclid Ave.

By Daniella Thompson
Friday October 05, 2007

In June 1906, the American Mutoscope and Biograph Company released a three-minute film called “A Trip to Berkeley, Cal.” The short was filmed aboard a moving streetcar on the #4 line of the Oakland Traction Consolidated Company, a precursor of the Key Route System. The #4 line ran between downtown Oakland and the intersection of Euclid and Hilgard Avenues, four blocks north of the UC campus. -more-


Quake Tip of the Week

By Larry Guillot
Friday October 05, 2007

Earthquake Tidbits -more-


About the House: Houses in Need of a Cold Compress

By Matt Cantor
Friday October 05, 2007

There’s a house in my neighborhood that’s back on the market again. You know the one. Been on and off the market for years and despite all reason, it’s listing for well over a million dollars. It has big problems: foundation, parking, odd use of space, geological issues and problematic drainage (let’s not even talk about the paint job), but there it is, asking more money than the last time and you know what? They’ll probably do all right. -more-


Arts Listings

Arts Calendar

Friday October 05, 2007


McGoldrick’s ‘Countercoup’ at S.F. Marsh

By Ken Bullock, Special to the Planet
Friday October 05, 2007

Moving Pictures: Festival Brings Out Best in Indie Cinema

By Justin DeFreitas
Friday October 05, 2007

Events Listings

Berkeley This Week

Friday October 05, 2007

Back Stories

Opinion

Editorials

Editorial: Public Bathrooms for Every Body Initiative 10-02-2007

Public Comment

Letters to the Editor 10-05-2007

Commentary: Who’s A(n Alleged) Crook Now? By Albert Sukoffopini 10-05-2007

Commentary: Worst Kind of Demagoguery By Mark Tarses 10-05-2007

Commentary: Labor Struggles at KPFA By Tracy Rosenberg and Ruthanne Shpiner 10-05-2007

Letters to the Editor 10-02-2007

Commentary: Unfinished Comments from the Town Hall Meeting By Patricia E. Wall 10-02-2007

Commentary: An International Day of Peace By Arnie Passman 10-02-2007

Commentary: An Open Letter to Code Pink By Richard Lund 10-02-2007

News

Code Pink Confronts Recruiters By Judith Scherr 10-05-2007

UC vs. City: Stadium Suit Nears Decision By Richard Brenneman 10-05-2007

Kavanagh Takes Leave From City Rent Board By Judith Scherr 10-05-2007

Albany Bulb Sweep Averted By Lydia Gans, Special to the Planet 10-05-2007

Hodge vs. Brooks Election Brewing By Jesse Douglas Allen-Taylor 10-05-2007

16-Story Towers Trigger Heat at DAPAC Session By Richard Brenneman 10-05-2007

Gordon Confirmed as Port Commissioner with Dellums’ Help By Jesse Douglas Allen-Taylor 10-05-2007

Native Americans Demonstrate for Remains Return By Judith Scherr 10-05-2007

Jane Jackson, Rights Activist, 1934–2007 By Libby McMahon 10-05-2007

Peace Notes: Beach Impeach Project Planned for Weekend By Judith Scherr 10-05-2007

Exit Exams at Berkeley High By Riya Bhattacharjee 10-05-2007

Students Use Feet to Get to School By Riya Bhattacharjee 10-05-2007

Reading Recovery Program Shows Results in Berkeley Schools By Riya Bhattacharjee 10-05-2007

Flash: Kavanagh Steps Down By Judith Scherr 10-02-2007

Community Says Yes to Public Bathrooms for Everyone By Judith Scherr 10-02-2007

Judge Hands Legal Setback To Campus Tree-Sitters By Richard Brenneman and By Riya Bhattacharjee 10-02-2007

Campus T.A. Strike Averted; Alta Bates Nurse Action Near By Richard Brenneman 10-02-2007

Dellums Endorses Clinton for President at Laney College Rally By J. Douglas Allen-Taylor 10-02-2007

Nicole Sawaya Named National Director for KPFA By Judith Scherr 10-02-2007

Two Alleged Gang Members Arrested in Berkeley Murder By Richard Brenneman 10-02-2007

Sex Assault Suspects Still at Large By Riya Bhattacharjee 10-02-2007

Rival Plans, Downtown Skyline Headed for DAPAC Decision By Richard Brenneman 10-02-2007

Zoning Board Extends Hours for Art House Cafe By Riya Bhattacharjee 10-02-2007

Judge Orders Sanctions, New Election in Measure R Case By J. Douglas Allen-Taylor 10-02-2007

LPC to Discuss Japantown, Wood Smoke Ordinance By Riya Bhattacharjee 10-02-2007

Roses: A Digression By Shirley Barker, Special to the Planet 10-02-2007

Berkeley High’s Brainiest Team By Al Winslow, Special to the Planet 10-02-2007

Feds Announce New Funds For Berkeley Biofuels Lab By Richard Brenneman 10-02-2007

Columns

Column: The Public Eye: A Good Meeting (in Another City) By Zelda Bronstein 10-05-2007

Column: Undercurrents: Politics, Not Principle, Will Likely Dictate Fate of AB45 By J. Douglas Allen-Taylor 10-05-2007

East Bay Then and Now: Bennington Apartments Evoke 19th Century Euclid Ave. By Daniella Thompson 10-05-2007

Quake Tip of the Week By Larry Guillot 10-05-2007

About the House: Houses in Need of a Cold Compress By Matt Cantor 10-05-2007

Column: The Public Eye: ‘In the Valley of Elah’ an Honest Look at the Toll of War By Bob Burnett 10-02-2007

Wild Neighbors: Birds in Berkeley: Doves, Hawks, Crows and the Long View By Joe Eaton 10-02-2007

Arts & Events

Arts Calendar 10-05-2007

Arts and Entertainment Around the East Bay 10-05-2007

McGoldrick’s ‘Countercoup’ at S.F. Marsh By Ken Bullock, Special to the Planet 10-05-2007

Moving Pictures: Festival Brings Out Best in Indie Cinema By Justin DeFreitas 10-05-2007

East Bay Then and Now: Bennington Apartments Evoke 19th Century Euclid Ave. By Daniella Thompson 10-05-2007

Quake Tip of the Week By Larry Guillot 10-05-2007

About the House: Houses in Need of a Cold Compress By Matt Cantor 10-05-2007

Berkeley This Week 10-05-2007

Arts Calendar 10-02-2007

The Theater: ‘Turn of the Screw’ Set in Louisiana By Jaime Robles, Special to the Planet 10-02-2007

The Theater: Orinda ‘Lear’ Production Evokes 1920s By Ken Bullock, Special to the Planet 10-02-2007

Wild Neighbors: Birds in Berkeley: Doves, Hawks, Crows and the Long View By Joe Eaton 10-02-2007

Berkeley This Week 10-02-2007

Correction 10-02-2007