The Week

Thursday Morning Crash on College Ave. Injures Three
Thursday Morning Crash on College Ave. Injures Three
 

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-


Opinion

Editorials

No Conflict: Opposing Military, Supporting Free Speech

By Becky O’Malley
Friday December 07, 2007

“The issue of support for the presence of a USMC Officer Selection Office in Berkeley pits Berkeley’s traditional anti-war stance against its historic commitment to free speech and assembly. -more-


Editorial: Whose Commons Is It, Anyway?

By Becky O’Malley
Tuesday December 04, 2007

Out and about in Berkeley over the weekend, we had a chance to observe numerous examples of the truism that it’s not what you do, it’s who you are that counts. We walked up Ashby to Peet’s on Domingo, one of the oldest locations for Berkeley’s pride and joy, the original leading edge of the gourmet coffee revolution. In the many years we’ve been walking to Peet’s, the shops in the small commercial enclave on that corner have had a lot of turnover. Since we’ve been in the business of selling newspaper advertising, we’ve learned that there are many more people in Berkeley who’d like to run small businesses than there are people who know how to do it. -more-


Public Comment

Letters to

Friday December 07, 2007

CURSE OF THE GROVE -more-


Public Education is Alive and Well

By Cathy Campbell and Cynthia Allman
Friday December 07, 2007

Our experience in public education couldn’t be more different than the cynical and gloomy picture painted by Jonathan Stephens in his recent editorial. (The State of Education, Nov. 23.) As longtime Berkeley teachers (Malcolm X and Willard), as parents of students who have nearly completed their education in Berkeley public schools and as leaders of the Berkeley Federation of Teachers, we have a good perspective from which to view public education in our community. -more-


Open Letter to Stand Up for Berkeley

Friday December 07, 2007

We received a letter from Stand Up for Berkeley requesting donations to support litigation against the university’s plans for Memorial Stadium and the Student-Athlete High Performance Center. As longtime Berkeley residents, we are equally concerned about maintaining our quality of life. But we do not believe these projects will adversely affect our neighborhoods and feel it is time to move on. -more-


Response to Open Letter to Stand Up for Berkeley

By JANICE THOMAS
Friday December 07, 2007

Accusations have been flung far and wide against project opponents. Innuendo, bordering on slander, has substituted for argument and debate which references the legal documents under review. A partial project description summarized in response to the most recent vitriol can be referenced in this newspaper in the prepared table and throughout the text of this commentary. Meanwhile, reflections on this state of affairs are offered as follows: -more-


Letters to the Editor

Tuesday December 04, 2007

AC TRANSIT NEEDS IMPROVEMENT -more-


Commentary: Options Recovery and the Public Commons

By Dan McMullan
Tuesday December 04, 2007

I like Judith Scherr. She puts in long hours trying to get the story right and it’s not too easy in a town that has become as shady as our Berkeley has become of late. So I will forgive her if she has failed to see what the true purpose behind what is known to us as Options Recovery Services. When I went public a few months ago with my opposition to the mayor and City Council giving Options $200,000 at a time when food and housing to the poor was being cut by precisely the same amount, Judith asked me a good question. “How successful does a program have to be before you would support it?” It was busy and loud in the council chambers that night and I didn’t get to answer her. -more-


Commentary: Brain Drain: The Quiet Killer

By Lucy Anderson
Tuesday December 04, 2007

It is devastatingly ironic that the world’s poorest countries are, to some degree, subsidizing the healthcare of the wealthiest nations. For years, rich nations encouraged African countries to invest in infrastructure (education, hospitals, medicine); much aid was given to strengthen these very systems. Although it was unintentional, the donations proved to be quite self-serving. As wealthy countries give aid to struggling nations to improve healthcare outcomes with one hand, they siphon off graduates of medical schools with the other. The developed world benefits from the skills and knowledge of newly arrived doctors and nurses while the countries that produced these professionals suffer from staffing shortages. -more-


Commentary: UC Berkeley vs. the Local Community

By Redwood Mary
Tuesday December 04, 2007

EDITOR’S NOTE: This commentary was submitted to the San Francisco Chronicle but was not published. -more-


Columns

The Algebra of Occupation

By Conn Hallinan
Friday December 07, 2007

In 1805, the French Army out-maneuvered, outsmarted and out-fought the combined armies of Russia and Austria at Austerlitz. Three years later it would founder against a rag-tag collection of Spanish guerrillas. -more-


Moving Forward on Oakland’s Violent Crime Problem

By J. DOUGLAS ALLEN-TAYLOR
Friday December 07, 2007

For some months there has been intense, local speculation asking “what is Dellums doing?” Which is a good thing, all things considered. We ought to be attentive to the people we place in public office, keeping their activities under a constant monitor. It’s how the gears and inner workings of democracy are greased. -more-


Historic Holiday Houses On View Around East Bay

By Steven Finacom
Friday December 07, 2007

Stately older houses can be at their best when festively decorated for the winter holidays. -more-


More Gift Ideas for Your Favorite Gardener

By Ron Sullivan
Friday December 07, 2007

You don’t need an official occasion, you know. If you know a gardener, go ahead and give her a gift just ‘cuz. Call it an Unbirthday Present; I do a certain amount of that with my rellies because after 58 years of living in it I still don’t track time very well. -more-


Our Mushy Landscape, Part Two

By Matt Cantor
Friday December 07, 2007

I was out with a young contractor at the home of a client he wanted me to talk with the other day. The homeowner had a wet basement and garage that never seemed to dry out. We walked around and I looked up the hill to find a line of extraordinarily healthy and prolific trees and shrubs marching to the crest of the hill. They ran in a line from north to south, roughly. “Creek”, I cried, “Well, maybe an aquifer.” -more-


Wild Neighbors: Junco Testosterone and Water Snake Bites

By Joe Eaton
Tuesday December 04, 2007

A couple of odds and ends: Robert Sapolsky, the Stanford neurobiologist, published a collection of his provocative essays a few years back as The Trouble with Testosterone. Where do you begin? Sapolsky was mostly interested in the hormone’s effect on the behavior of East African savannah baboons (see his A Primate’s Memoirs for tales of fieldwork) and on humans. But it’s not just a primate thing, or even a mammalian one. Birds have testosterone too, as do reptiles, amphibians, even fish: a common vertebrate heritage. -more-


Arts & Events

Arts Calendar

Friday December 07, 2007

FRIDAY, DEC. 7 -more-


Around the East Bay

Friday December 07, 2007

AMAHL AND THE NIGHT VISITORS -more-


‘Wild Christmas Binge’ at SF Playhouse

By Ken Bullock , Special to the Planet
Friday December 07, 2007

In Mrs. Bob Cratchit’s Wild Christmas Binge, directed by Berkeley favorite Joy Carlin at the San Francisco Playhouse off Union Square, what at first flush seems to be a loopy burlesque of that seasonal chestnut, Dickens’ A Christmas Carol, proves postmodern. -more-


Revels Open at Oakland Scottish Rite Auditorium

By Ken Bullock, Special to the Planet
Friday December 07, 2007

The California Revels opens tonight (Friday) at the Oakland Scottish Rite Auditorium on Lake Merritt, celebrating its 22nd season in two weekends of music, dance and pageantry. -more-


Moving Pictures: 'I Am Cuba' — A Long-Neglected Masterpiece of Political Filmmaking

By Justin DeFreitas
Friday December 07, 2007

When art dabbles in politics it runs the risk of its politics subsuming its art. No matter how great the artistic achievement, there is always the danger that critical and popular reception may be held hostage to considerations that go far beyond artistic merit. -more-


Historic Holiday Houses On View Around East Bay

By Steven Finacom
Friday December 07, 2007

Stately older houses can be at their best when festively decorated for the winter holidays. -more-


More Gift Ideas for Your Favorite Gardener

By Ron Sullivan
Friday December 07, 2007

You don’t need an official occasion, you know. If you know a gardener, go ahead and give her a gift just ‘cuz. Call it an Unbirthday Present; I do a certain amount of that with my rellies because after 58 years of living in it I still don’t track time very well. -more-


Our Mushy Landscape, Part Two

By Matt Cantor
Friday December 07, 2007

I was out with a young contractor at the home of a client he wanted me to talk with the other day. The homeowner had a wet basement and garage that never seemed to dry out. We walked around and I looked up the hill to find a line of extraordinarily healthy and prolific trees and shrubs marching to the crest of the hill. They ran in a line from north to south, roughly. “Creek”, I cried, “Well, maybe an aquifer.” -more-


Berkeley This Week

Friday December 07, 2007

FRIDAY, DEC. 7 -more-


Arts Calendar

Tuesday December 04, 2007

TUESDAY, DEC. 4 -more-


The Theater: Altarena Stages ‘Man Who Saved Christmas’

By Ken Bullock, Special to the Planet
Tuesday December 04, 2007

Christmas in wartime America—but it’s the First World War, and the administration is set to declare a moratorium on toy sales to encourage families to buy Liberty Bonds. -more-


Around the East Bay

Tuesday December 04, 2007

TAJ MAHAL IN OAKLAND -more-


Wild Neighbors: Junco Testosterone and Water Snake Bites

By Joe Eaton
Tuesday December 04, 2007

A couple of odds and ends: Robert Sapolsky, the Stanford neurobiologist, published a collection of his provocative essays a few years back as The Trouble with Testosterone. Where do you begin? Sapolsky was mostly interested in the hormone’s effect on the behavior of East African savannah baboons (see his A Primate’s Memoirs for tales of fieldwork) and on humans. But it’s not just a primate thing, or even a mammalian one. Birds have testosterone too, as do reptiles, amphibians, even fish: a common vertebrate heritage. -more-


Berkeley This Week

Tuesday December 04, 2007

TUESDAY, DEC. 4 -more-


Correction

Tuesday December 04, 2007

The logo for Berkeley’s Hillside Club was not designed by David Lance Goines as captioned in the last issue. The logo was designed by Hillside Club member Bernard Maybeck. -more-


You Write the Planet

Tuesday December 04, 2007

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-