News

Thursday Morning Crash on College Ave. Injures Three

photo by Doug Buckwald
Friday December 07, 2007

Doug Buckwald -more-


Berkeley Sea Scout Skipper Charged with Sexual Abuse

By Richard Brenneman
Friday December 07, 2007

By Richard Brenneman -more-


Swimmers Irate after City Decides

By Riya Bhattacharjee
Friday December 07, 2007

A group of local swimmers are irked by the City of Berkeley’s hastily announced closure of the King Swim Center, the last working pool in the city. -more-


Seniors Say a Fond Farewell to Ryan

By Riya Bhattacharjee
Friday December 07, 2007

For some, Suzanne Ryan is the North Berkeley Senior Center. -more-


Berkeley’s Rush for Green Sidesteps Citizen Commission

By Judith Scherr
Friday December 07, 2007

In a rush for the green, Berkeley officials and their staffs may be bypassing the city’s Energy Commission, members said at a meeting Wednesday. -more-


Berkeley School District Kindergarten Fair This Saturday

By Riya Bhattacharjee
Friday December 07, 2007

Parents attending Berkeley Unified School District’s annual Kindergarten Fair on Saturday will get to sample classroom life and ask questions about the district’s assignment process. -more-


Missing Berkeley Teen Found Unconscious in Tilden Park

By Riya Bhattacharjee
Friday December 07, 2007

A Berkeley High senior who had been missing since Wednesday morning was found unconscious in Tilden Park Thursday afternoon and taken to the hospital. -more-


City Proposes Meter Hike Will Yield $1 Million per Year

By Judith Scherr
Friday December 07, 2007

In an e-mail to the Planet Thursday, Budget Manager Tracy Vessely shared city staff calculations showing that a 25-cent hourly parking meter fee increase would yield $1 million per year in new funds. These funds are earmarked for programs for chronically homeless persons, in conjunction with the mayor’s “Public Commons” initiative. -more-


Fire Log

By Richard Brenneman
Friday December 07, 2007

Arson suspected -more-


Berkeley Cartoonist Takes Presidential Race to La Peña

By Judith Scherr
Friday December 07, 2007

You won’t have to remove your shoes when you enter Khalil Bendib’s White House. -more-


Legislative Leaders Announce Oil Spill Response

By Riya Bhattacharjee
Friday December 07, 2007

As the City of Berkeley entered its fourth week under a state of emergency, State Assembly Legislative leaders un-veiled a bill package in response to last month’s massive oil spill from the Cosco Busan crash in the San Francisco Bay. -more-


Reverend Gustav Hobart Schultz, Jr., 1935-2007

Friday December 07, 2007

The Rev. Gus Schultz, pastor emeritus of the University Lutheran Chapel in Berkeley, died Monday at his home in Berkeley. He was 72 and had suffered for the past 10 years from Lewy body disease. -more-


Robbery Spree Ends in Arrests

By Richard Brenneman
Friday December 07, 2007

Berkeley police have arrested three men they believe are responsible for a string of armed robberies at Bay Area Radio Shack stores, reports Lt. Wesley Hester, the department’s Public Information Officer. -more-


YEAH Opens Shelter for Homeless Youth in Berkeley

By Lydia Gans
Friday December 07, 2007

For the sixth year in a row YEAH (Youth Emergency Assistance Shelter) has opened their winter shelter for homeless 18- to 24-year-olds—and their pets—at the Lutheran Church of the Cross on University Avenue in Berkeley. -more-


Flash: Berkeley Sea Scout Skipper Charged with Child Abuse

By Richard Brenneman
Tuesday December 04, 2007

Eugene Evans, the scoutmaster who sued the city after it refused a free berth to the Sea Scout ship Farallon because of the organization's anti-gay policies, was arrested Tuesday on six counts of child sexual abuse. -more-


Tree-Sitters Celebrate One-Year Anniversary

By Richard Brenneman
Tuesday December 04, 2007

Berkeley protesters and their supporters gathered Sunday to celebrate the end of the first year of what they hailed as “America’s longest-running urban tree-sit.” -more-


Oak Grove Burial Ground Debate Still Alive

By Richard Brenneman
Tuesday December 04, 2007

Are Native Americans buried beneath the oak grove along the western wall of Memorial Stadium? -more-


Dredging Toxics Report Still Not In

By Riya Bhattacharjee
Tuesday December 04, 2007

The City Council continued the discussion on the Aquatic Park dredging to Dec. 18 because of time constraints at last week’s council meeting. -more-


Committee Adopts Downtown Plan

By Richard Brenneman
Tuesday December 04, 2007

Downtown Area Planning Advisory Committee (DAPAC) members voted 17-4 to adopt their draft of a new downtown plan, but one of the nays came from the head of the Berkeley Planning Commission. -more-


School District Seeks Merit Commissioner

By Riya Bhattacharjee
Tuesday December 04, 2007

A member of the Berkeley Unified School District’s Merit Commission said the Berkeley school board may not have reappointed him because he took an independent position on budget allocations, one out of step with the board’s wishes. -more-


Chamber PAC Fights Filing with City

By Judith Scherr
Tuesday December 04, 2007

Claiming its intent is to support future state and county candidates—though it has scarcely done so in the past—Business for Better Government, the Berkeley Chamber of Commerce Political Action Committee, has hired a San Francisco law firm to go to bat for the Chamber PAC’s right to continue filing campaign finance statements with Alameda County rather than the city of Berkeley. -more-


Alta Bates Nurses Announce Walkout

By Richard Brenneman
Tuesday December 04, 2007

Registered nurses at Alta Bates Summit facilities in Berkeley and Oakland will join colleagues at other Sutter Health facilities for a two-day walkout next week, their union announced. -more-


Lab Sets EIR Hearings on EBI, Computer Labs

By Richard Brenneman
Tuesday December 04, 2007

Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory will hold hearings on draft environmental impact reports (EIR) on two major buildings in coming weeks. -more-


LPC Votes on Shattuck Hotel Face Lift

By Riya Bhattacharjee
Tuesday December 04, 2007

The Berkeley Landmarks Preservation Commission will vote on whether to approve a permit to rehabilitate and make alterations to the exterior of the city-landmarked Shattuck Hotel Thursday. -more-


Amtrak Train Kills Woman In Northwest Berkeley

By Judith Scherr
Tuesday December 04, 2007

Melinda Jane Morales, 59, of Richmond was struck and killed at 7:25 p.m. Saturday by an Amtrak Capital Corridor train heading south toward San Jose at or near the Gilman Street crossing. -more-


University Begins Gill Tract Radiation Decommissioning

By Richard Brenneman
Tuesday December 04, 2007

UC Berkeley needs to clean up any remaining radioactivity at a laboratory in the Gill Tract where biologists combined cancer cells with lymphocytes to produce antibodies a decade ago. -more-


California Tries to Reach Out To Punjabi Farmworkers

By Ketaki Gokhale, India West
Tuesday December 04, 2007

As a result of an investigative report by India-West on alleged safety and labor code violations at several Indian American-owned orchards in the Sacramento River valley, the California Agricultural Labor Relations Board plans to launch an outreach and education effort in the Indian American agricultural labor force. -more-


Caplan Named Economic Development Manager; Cowan Named Acting City Attorney

By Judith Scherr
Tuesday December 04, 2007

Michael Caplan, acting manager of the Office of Economic Development, was named as manager, and Zach Cowan, assistant city attorney, was named acting city attorney, said Phil Kamlarz in a memo Monday to the mayor and City Council. -more-


O’Connell Gives Authority for OUSD To Hire Local Superintendent

By J. Douglas Allen-Taylor
Tuesday December 04, 2007

State School Superintendent Jack O’Connell came to Oakland on Friday to formally announce that he is turning over two more areas of operation to the Oakland Unified School District. -more-


News Analysis: The Battle in Bolivia

By Roger Burbach, New America Media
Tuesday December 04, 2007

While international attention is focusing on President Hugo Chavez and the Sunday referendum on the Venezuelan constitution, a conflict that is just as profound is shaking Bolivia. Evo Morales, the first Indian president of the country, is forcing a showdown with the oligarchy and the right wing political parties that have stymied efforts to draft a new constitution to transform the nation. He declares, “Dead or alive I will have a new constitution for the country by December 14,” the mandated date for the specially elected Constituent Assembly to present a constitution for the country to vote on by popular referendum. -more-