News

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-

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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-

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-

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-

Berkeley’s tree-sitters and their supporters are getting ready for Sunday’s celebration that will mark the end of the first year of a colorful campus protest. -more-

The Berkeley Board of Education selected the finalists Monday to fill the post of superintendent for the Berkeley Unified School District. -more-

State Schools Superintendent Jack O’Connell appears ready to turn over two more areas of control to the Oakland Unified School District on the recommendation of the Fiscal Crisis & Assistance Management Team (FCMAT), a move that could lead directly to the hiring of a new OUSD superintendent under local control. -more-

FCMAT rates on a 10-point scale, with scores given to several individual standards within each of the five operational areas (community relations and governance, finance, facilities management, personnel management, and pupil achievement), and then the operational area itself is given an average of the individual standards scores. -more-

Planning Commissioners began their trek through one of Berkeley’s most complex and cabalistic arts Wednesday night—deciphering the city’s policies on density bonus and inclusionary housing. -more-

The administration of Oakland Mayor Ron Dellums moved swiftly to consolidate its recent police 12-hour day arbitration victory, announcing that the Oakland Police Department will be broken up into three “geographically accountable” command areas effective Jan. 19. -more-

On Dec. 15, hundreds of people around Berkeley will come to eat a holiday meal at Berkeley High School (BHS) from 1-5 p.m. The BHS Associated Student Body (ASB) is calling on Berkeley residents and businesses to help by volunteering or donating money or food. -more-

It’s time to submit your essays, poems, stories, artwork and photographs for the Planet’s annual holiday reader contribution issue, which will be published on Dec. 21. Send your submissions, preferably no more than 1,000 words, to holiday@berkeleydailyplanet.com. Deadline is 5 p.m. on Dec. 16. -more-

Domestic violence -more-

Cat on a hot thin rug -more-

Once known for tolerance toward the downtrodden, Berkeley turned a corner Tuesday night, advocates for the homeless and mentally ill say, when the City Council voted to give police greater power to cite people lying on city sidewalks. -more-

Oak grove tree-sitters had cause for gratitude on Thanksgiving when over 80 Berkeley community members and students, led by the “Berkeley Grandmothers for the Oaks,” defied UC police orders, risked arrest, and successfully delivered bulging bags of food and jugs of water to the arboreal protestors. -more-

If the Berkeley City Council gives its approval tonight (Tuesday), the city will award a $50,000 sole source contract to the nonprofit corporation Build It Green to prepare the groundwork for a pilot solar project. -more-

Two years of grueling and sometimes acrimonious effort comes to an end Thursday night when the Downtown Area Plan Advisory Committee holds its final meeting. -more-

The Oiled Wildlife Care Network closed down its bird rescue center at the Berkeley Marina Monday and moved operations to the International Bird Rescue and Research Center in Cordelia. -more-

Extensive interviews, discussions and reviews marked the two-day visit to Berkeley High’s International High School by the International Baccalaureate Organization as part of an application to accredit the program within the institution’s International High School last week. -more-

The newcomer visiting the Berkeley Marina for the first time, the long-time local sunbathing on the lawn at Willard Park, the dog walker at Ohlone Park, the sunset viewer at Indian Rock, the softball player at San Pablo, the romantic in the Rose Garden, or the new mother watching the children at Virginia-McGee tot lot—all may be excused in the midst of their enjoyment, for perhaps imagining that such places have been around as long as Berkeley itself. -more-

Betty Inclan has been appointed the new president of Berkeley City College, the Peralta Community College District announced last week. -more-

A proposed deal between the Port of Oakland and CBS Outdoor to put a second 20-by-60-foot billboard near the Bay Bridge Toll Plaza has sparked opposition from at least one local environmental group, but the Oakland city councilmember who opposed the first billboard says she lacks the power to prevent it. -more-

UC Berkeley’s building boom continues to move forward, with calls for bids issued to three companies for the renovation of seven buildings housing 800 students at Clark Kerr Campus. -more-

Berkeley Planning Commissioners will face a light agenda when they meet Wednesday night, with the only action item a decision to set a public hearing. -more-