News

Buying with a Conscience at the International Holiday Crafts Fair

By Judith Scherr
Friday November 30, 2007
The “tap-tap-tap” you hear coming from the shops that line some of the narrow streets in Croix des Bosquets is the sound of artisans pounding nails into metal, crafting the recycled iron mermaids or butterflies that have given the bustling, dusty town, just 15 minutes northeast of Port-au-Prince, Haiti, its reputation for metal sculpture, says Jennifer Pantaléon, whose nonprofit, Zanmi Lakay, brings Haitian arts and crafts to buyers in the U.S. -more-

Council Cleans Up Commons for Shoppers

By Judith Scherr
Friday November 30, 2007

Next Steps for the Public Commons

By Judith Scherr
Friday November 30, 2007
While enforcement for new restrictions against those lying on the sidewalk and smoking in commercial areas will likely begin within six weeks, new services—lauded by supporters as an integral part of the Public Commons for Everyone Initiative passed by the City Council Tuesday—will take more time. -more-

BioFuel Project Clashes with Kandy’s Car Wash at Corner

By Riya Bhattacharjee
Friday November 30, 2007
A vehement burst of community protest compelled the Berkeley Zoning Adjustments Board (ZAB) to postpone permitting BioFuel Oasis to establish a filling station at 1441 Ashby Ave. Thursday. -more-

Council Approves Funds For Ed Roberts Campus Fund

By Judith Scherr
Friday November 30, 2007
For some, council meetings are drudgery. But for Dimitri Belser, president of the Ed Roberts Campus board of directors, and others who came to Tuesday’s meeting to support the ERC, the session proved to be exactly what they had hoped for. -more-

Stadium Grove Tree-Sitters Set for First Anniversary

By Richard Brenneman
Friday November 30, 2007

BUSD Selects BHS Superintendent Finalists

By Riya Bhattacharjee
Friday November 30, 2007

Oakland School Officials Await Decision on Local Control

By J. Douglas Allen-Taylor
Friday November 30, 2007

FCMAT Oakland Schools Report Summary

Friday November 30, 2007

Planners Tackle West Berkeley Density, Housing Rules

By Richard Brenneman
Friday November 30, 2007

Dellums to Break Up Police Department

By J. Douglas Allen-Taylor
Friday November 30, 2007

Berkeley High Beat: Help Needed for BHS Holiday Meal

By Rio Bauce
Friday November 30, 2007

You Write the Planet

Friday November 30, 2007

Police Blotter

By Rio Bauce
Friday November 30, 2007

Fire Log

By Richard Brenneman
Friday November 30, 2007

Metal sculptor Yves Darius of Croix Bosquets, Haiti, shows off one of his pieces. His work will be among the many crafts available at the East Bay Sanctuary Covenant Crafts fair Saturday and Sunday. Photograph by Jennifer Patntaléon.
Metal sculptor Yves Darius of Croix Bosquets, Haiti, shows off one of his pieces. His work will be among the many crafts available at the East Bay Sanctuary Covenant Crafts fair Saturday and Sunday. Photograph by Jennifer Patntaléon.

Editorials

Editorial: Pie in the Sky for the Holiday Table

By Becky O’Malley
Friday November 30, 2007
If you want a good laugh, type “sex on the sidewalk” into Google News. This will give you the opportunity to witness, firsthand, the birth of an urban legend. And where has it been born? Why, in our beloved San Francisco Chronicle, of course. Carolyn Jones reported on Tuesday that: “The new plan cracks down on yelling, littering, camping, drunkenness, smoking, urinating and sex on sidewalks and in parks.” I know she was at the City Council meeting—so was I, and I saw her. But where did she get that sentence? Never mind, it’s been picked up all over the map as the key component of whatever the City Council thinks it passed on Tuesday night. -more-

Reader Commentaries

Letters to the Editor

Friday November 30, 2007

Commentary: Whom Do We Blame?

By Alan Miller
Friday November 30, 2007

Commentary: Schools Are Better Now

By Al Durrette
Friday November 30, 2007

Commentary: Talking Points for the Superintendent Selection Process

By Michael Miller
Friday November 30, 2007

Commentary: Real Solutions Needed for Greenhouse Gases

By James Singmaster
Friday November 30, 2007

Columnists

Column: Undercurrents: A Ride, Or a Walk, In Uptown-Downtown Oakland

By J. Douglas Allen-Taylor
Friday November 30, 2007


Garden Variety: Shopping for the Gardener On Your List, Part 1

By Ron Sullivan
Friday November 30, 2007

About the House: A Resident’s Guide to Our Mushy Landscape

By Matt Cantor
Friday November 30, 2007

Arts & Entertainment

Arts Calendar

Friday November 30, 2007

James Rosen’s ‘Homage’ at GTU Library

By Peter Selz, Special to the Planet
Friday November 30, 2007

Goines Posters on Display at Hillside Club

By Karen Jacobs, Special to the Planet
Friday November 30, 2007

Jazz Drummer Roy Haines at Yoshis

By Ira Steingroot
Friday November 30, 2007

Moving Pictures: Early Cinema’s Grandest Spectacle

By Justin DeFreitas
Friday November 30, 2007

Moving Pictures: 'True Heart Susie' Shows Griffith's Softer Side

By Justin DeFreitas
Friday November 30, 2007

Moving Pictures: The Movie Heard ‘Round the World

By Justin DeFreitas
Friday November 30, 2007

Moving Pictures: The Talkies Learn to Move: Pabst's 'Threepenny Opera'

By Justin DeFreitas
Friday November 30, 2007

Lorna K. to Record First CD Live At San Francisco’s Plush Room

By Ken Bullock, Special to the Planet
Friday November 30, 2007

Events Calendar

Berkeley This Week

Friday November 30, 2007