The Week

Andy Ross, left, and Hiroshi Kagawa announced the sale of Cody’s Books to Yohan, Inc. in September 2006. Last week Ross retired as president of Cody’s. Kagawa will serve as interim president.
Andy Ross, left, and Hiroshi Kagawa announced the sale of Cody’s Books to Yohan, Inc. in September 2006. Last week Ross retired as president of Cody’s. Kagawa will serve as interim president.
 

News

Flash: Judge Issues Key Ruling in UC Stadium Lawsuit

By Richard Brenneman
Tuesday December 11, 2007

Superior Court Judge Barbara J. Miller handed UC Berkeley a legal setback Monday evening, denying its claimed exemption from state law governing buildings on earthquake faults. -more-


Cody’s President Steps Down

By Judith Scherr
Tuesday December 11, 2007

Once again, changes are afoot for Cody’s Books, with president and three-decade former owner Andy Ross announcing his retirement as president last week and Hiroshi Kagawa, former CEO of the corporation that bought Cody’s, stepping in as interim president and head of a new ownership group. -more-


Council Weighs Condo Conversion Changes, W. Berkeley Auto Sales

By Judith Scherr
Tuesday December 11, 2007

Like spinning straw into gold, turning apartment buildings into individually owned condominiums could be a dream come true. But the law, intended to benefit property owners, renters-turned homeowners and the city’s affordable housing fund, has yet to turn into anything but a headache, people on various sides of the issue say. -more-


East Bay Green Corridor: Industrial Berkeley’s Salvation or Road to Ruin?

By ZELDA BRONSTEIN By ZELDA BRONSTEIN, Special to the Planet
Tuesday December 11, 2007

EDITOR’S NOTE: This is part one of a two-part series. -more-


W. Berkeley Zone Change on Commission Agenda

By RICHARD BRENNEMAN
Tuesday December 11, 2007

Berkeley planning commissioners Wednesday will tackle the controversial issue of what the city calls a new policy of “limited flexibility” in West Berkeley zoning. -more-


Sea Scout Leader Makes Bail; Police Ask Public’s Assistance

By RICHARD BRENNEMAN
Tuesday December 11, 2007

Suspended Sea Scoutmaster Eugene Austin Evans, charged with multiple counts of abusing youths under his care, was bailed out of jail Friday, pending his arraignment in January. -more-


Barbara Lee Endorses Obama for President

By Judith Scherr
Tuesday December 11, 2007

Breaking with mentor and former boss Oakland Mayor Ron Dellums, Rep. Barbara Lee announced her endorsement for Sen. Barack Obama for president Monday. -more-


Landmarks Commission Approves Shattuck Hotel Revamp

By Riya Bhattacharjee
Tuesday December 11, 2007

The Berkeley Landmarks Preservation Commission voted unanimously Thursday to approve the rehabilitation and alteration of the exterior of the Shattuck Hotel. -more-


OUSD Considers Moving Forward with New Complex

By J. DOUGLAS ALLEN-TAYLOR
Tuesday December 11, 2007

The Oakland Unified School District interim state administrator and—with one notable exception—the members of Oakland’s Board of Education have agreed to take up consideration of a proposed $75.5 million education complex on the east lake site currently occupied by the district’s aging and earthquake-unsafe administrative headquarters and five district-run education institutions. -more-


Q & A With Oakland Councilmember Wilson Riles

By J. DOUGLAS ALLEN-TAYLOR
Tuesday December 11, 2007

Editors Note: In the months since the inauguration of Ron Dellums as mayor of Oakland, the Dellums administration has been the subject of criticism, most of it from the center and right. Dellums’ most notable criticism from the left—particularly on economic development issues—has come from former Oakland City Councilmember Wilson Riles, charging, for example, that Dellums has turned over his economic policy to the Oakland Chamber of Commerce. -more-


People’s Park: Competition or Cooperation?

By Riya Bhattacharjee
Tuesday December 11, 2007

It’s competition vs. cooperation at People’s Park. -more-


Trees vs. Security at Berkeley High School

By RIO BAUCE, Special to the Planet
Tuesday December 11, 2007

Last week at Berkeley High School (BHS) two of the school’s 209 trees, those in front of the on-campus first-floor entrance to the divide between the G and H buildings, were trimmed to prevent growth that would block security cameras. -more-


YWCA Touches Lives Through the Giving Tree Project

By Riya Bhattacharjee
Tuesday December 11, 2007

In a small backroom of the UC Berkeley YWCA, Santa’s little helpers are hard at work. -more-


Police Blotter

By RIO BAUCE
Tuesday December 11, 2007

Assault with a deadly weapon -more-


Critics Ask for More Time to Consider Lab Projects

By RICHARD BRENNEMAN
Tuesday December 11, 2007

A prominent environmental attorney and a Berkeley neighborhood activist are asking UC Berkeley to extend the review period for two projects at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. -more-


UC Berkeley Laguna Street Extension Nominated for National Register

By Riya Bhattacharjee
Tuesday December 11, 2007

The State Historical Resources Commission unanimously voted to list the UC Berkeley Extension Laguna Street Campus as a historic district in the National Register of Historic Places at its meeting in Palm Springs last month. -more-


Zoning Board Hears Complaints About Alta Bates Parking Violations

By Riya Bhattacharjee
Tuesday December 11, 2007

Neighbors of the Alta Bates Medical Center at 2450 Ashby Ave. are planning to complain about the hospital staff’s parking violations at the Zoning Adjustments Board meeting Thursday. -more-


In Memoriam: Andrew Imbrie

By Robert P. Commanday, San Francisco Classical Voice
Tuesday December 11, 2007

Andrew Imbrie, distinguished composer and senior in the Bay Area’s community of composers and teachers of composition, died Wednesday at his home in Berkeley after a long illness. He was 86. -more-


Governor Comes to Oakland to Boost Foreclosure Project

By J. DOUGLAS ALLEN-TAYLOR
Tuesday December 11, 2007

In a renewal of the growing political alliance between moderate Republican California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and progressive Democratic Oakland Mayor Ron Dellums, Schwarzenegger came to Oakland last week to announce the launching of a pilot project to help Oakland homeowners hit hard by the nation's subprime lending and home foreclosure crisis. -more-


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-


Opinion

Editorials

Why Some Kids Go Bad

By Becky O’Malley
Tuesday December 11, 2007

Possibly a weekend front page editor with a sense of irony laid out the big metro daily I saw on Sunday. At the top of the page was an all-to-familiar story about young black men destroyed by absentee parenting and the allure of street life. It featured the obligatory map of Oakland. “OAKLAND: A PLAGUE OF KILLING” was the overline. And the subhead: “Trapped in a bleak world where drugs and violence offer a chance for money and respect, many young black men quickly resort to murder.” -more-


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-


Public Comment

Letters to the Editor

Tuesday December 11, 2007

IRAQ OCCUPATION -more-


Who Owns The Commons?

By Thomas Lord
Tuesday December 11, 2007

Who “owns” the commons is, indeed, the right question but we must ask it clearly. There are two, relevant meanings of “own” in modern English: Ownership in rights, and ownership in disposition. Children use the latter sense when, for example, one might say “A-ha—I owned you in that videogame,” meaning that the speaker’s skills were so fabulous the competitor couldn’t do much. -more-


Options Recovery Services — Fighting the Good Fight

By George Beier
Tuesday December 11, 2007

Dan McMullan’s charges against Options Recovery (see last Tuesday’s Commentary) are simply baseless and cannot go unchallenged. -more-


Who Benefits From the Surge?

By Kenneth Thiesen
Tuesday December 11, 2007

Ever since the Bush regime began its escalation of the war in Iraq by sending tens of thousands of more troops this year, media pundits and politicians have been debating whether the “surge” is working. In the last couple months, the administration and it apologists are claiming that the escalation has been working and that more time should be allowed to give the Bush regime the chance to prove that the “new strategy” will be successful. But the debate has been waged entirely on the wrong terms. -more-


A 2020 Vision for Berkeley Education

By Santiago Casal and Michael Miller
Tuesday December 11, 2007

We are blessed to live in a community with international renown for having one of the most prestigious universities in the world. We are also blessed in that we nurture some students in our own K-12 schools who are sought after by some of the most elite universities in the country. -more-


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-


Columns

2007: The War in Iraq

Tuesday December 11, 2007

During 2007, the major news item continued to be the war in Iraq. On Jan. 4, the 110th Congress convened—the first time during the Bush administration Democrats had controlled both the House of Representatives and the Senate. Many of us expected this changing of the guard would produce a shift in Iraq policy, a real plan for withdrawal of U.S. troops. Sadly, this didn’t happen; the war not only continued, but President Bush upped the number of troops with his “surge” initiative. At year’s end, many Berkeley residents wondered whether it was possible to change anything while Bush was still in office. -more-


Arboreal Estate and a Yule Tradition: Mistletoe

By Ron Sullivan
Tuesday December 11, 2007

One of the several “pagan” plants that appear all over in the midwinter holiday season is one that lives in trees: mistletoe. It’s Frazer’s eponymous Golden Bough. -more-


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-


Arts & Events

Arts Calendar

Tuesday December 11, 2007

TUESDAY, DEC. 11 -more-


Classical Music Shop Celebrates Busoni

By Ken Bullock, Special to the Planet
Tuesday December 11, 2007

The premiere recording of Ferruccio Busoni’s Complete Two Piano Works (EMI/Angel) will be celebrated by the Musical Offering (Bancroft Avenue below Telegraph), this Wednesday 5-7 p.m., with a reception for and signing by pianists Daniell Revenaugh of Berkeley and Lawrence Leighton Smith, currently musical director of the Colorado Springs Philharmonic. -more-


Shift Theatre, BHS Present ‘Noises Off’

By Ken Bullock, Special to the Planet
Tuesday December 11, 2007

“I’m going to do something wrong here ...” Those ominous words, emblazoned on the cover of the program to the Shift Theatre/Berkeley High School Drama production of Michael Frayn’s backstage bungler, Noises Off, telegraph the message of this non-message play clearly. And a great deal is going to be done wrong. Repeatedly. That’s the whole show. -more-


The Life and Music of a Legendary Singer-Songwriter

By Art Goldberg, Special to the Planet
Tuesday December 11, 2007

One of the most enjoyable and inspiring films I’ve seen in a long time comes to Berkeley for one day only, this Thursday, Dec. 13 at the California Theater, a benefit for the local Gray Panther chapter. Screenings are at 2 p.m. and 7:15 p.m. Tickets are $10. -more-


Nuclear Power in the Wake of Chernobyl

Tuesday December 11, 2007

Living With Chernobyl: The Future of Nuclear Power, a new documentary by Berkeley filmmakers and journalists Cliff Orloff and Olga Shalygin, will air at 11 p.m. Thursday on KQED Channel 9. -more-


Arboreal Estate and a Yule Tradition: Mistletoe

By Ron Sullivan
Tuesday December 11, 2007

One of the several “pagan” plants that appear all over in the midwinter holiday season is one that lives in trees: mistletoe. It’s Frazer’s eponymous Golden Bough. -more-


Berkeley This Week

Tuesday December 11, 2007

TUESDAY, DEC. 11 -more-


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-