Pacific Steel Casting General Manager Joe Emmerichs defended the company against charges the foundry was polluting West Berkeley with toxins.
              
              photo by Richard Brenneman
Pacific Steel Casting General Manager Joe Emmerichs defended the company against charges the foundry was polluting West Berkeley with toxins. photo by Richard Brenneman

Page One

Pacific Steel Health Hearing Packs Center

By Richard Brenneman
Friday January 11, 2008

Berkeley Mayor Tom Bates and City Councilmember Linda Maio vowed Wednesday night to reopen Pacific Steel Casting’s use permit to force action on odors emanating from the company’s West Berkeley plant. -more-



Crucial State Propositions Fill February Ballot

By J. Douglas Allen-Taylor
Friday January 11, 2008

The Democratic and Repub-lican Presidential primaries will dominate media coverage for the Feb. 5 California elections, now less than a month away, but several important state propositions are on the ballot as well. -more-



Four Ballot Issues Comprise Referendum On Native American Gaming Expansion

By J. Douglas Allen-Taylor
Friday January 11, 2008

Four propositions on the Feb. 5 California Presidential Primary ballot—Propositions 94, 95, 96, 97—all deal with identical issues, attempts by citizen groups to overturn recent amendments to gambling compacts between the administration of Governor Ar-nold Schwarzenegger and four individual Native American tribes. -more-



Compromise May Arise in Oakland Affordable Housing Debate

By J. Douglas Allen-Taylor
Friday January 11, 2008

For the first time since the issuance of the Blue Ribbon Affordable Housing Commis-sion’s report last year on inclusionary zoning and condominium conversion, Oakland City Coun-cil’s Community & Economic Development Committee met this week to try to resolve the year-long deadlock over the two issues. -more-



Berkeley This Week

Friday January 11, 2008

FRIDAY, JAN. 11 -more-



Rebecca’s Books Opens on Adeline St.

By KEN BULLOCK Special to the Planet
Friday January 11, 2008

When Rebecca’s Books, specializing in poetry, opened Oct. 27 at 3268 Adeline Ave. in South Berkeley, the Morning Star Choir came up from the Holy Name of Jesus Catholic Church in Los Angeles to sing. -more-



Features

Worker, Customers Capture Suspect in Bank Rampage

By Richard Brenneman
Friday January 11, 2008

Customers and bank employees, aided by a passerby, captured a Berkeley man after he ransacked a San Pablo Avenue bank Monday, attacked two employees with a knife and beat an assistant manager with a telephone. -more-


Man Gets 56 Years for Attempted Murder of Police Officer

Bay City News
Friday January 11, 2008

A Berkeley man with a long criminal record was sentenced Thursday to 56 years in state prison for attempting to murder Berkeley police Officer Darren Kacalek nearly three years ago by shooting at him at least five times. -more-


Court Hears Arguments UC Suit

By Richard Brenneman
Friday January 11, 2008

The courtroom battle over UC Berkeley’s stadium area projects has taken a new twist—arguments over whether or not a judge should gather critical new evidence. -more-


Fire Department Log

Friday January 11, 2008

Fire Chars Grocery, Smog Shop -more-


Solutions to Oakland’s Crime and Violence

By J. Douglas Allen-Taylor
Friday January 11, 2008

It is perfectly understandable why many citizens in Oakland have not waited to see if the pending Oakland police reorganization makes any changes in the problems of violence and crime in the city. Instead--almost as if the city’s police arbitration victory never happened and Chief Tucker’s reorganization plans were never announced--there have been continued loud cries from many neighborhoods that something must be done about the crime problem, including hiring more police. -more-


Letters to the Editor

Friday January 11, 2008

PERILS -more-


Commentary: KPFA Election Violated Rules and Bylaws

By THE COMMITTEE ON FAIR ELECTIONS
Friday January 11, 2008

EDITOR'S NOTE: The Daily Planet extended an invitation to the Concerned Listeners' group to submit a commentary regarding the KPFA Local Station Board election which would have run alongside this one, with both sides then invited to comment on the other in a later edition. Concerned Listeners did not respond. -more-


Commentary: Tales of Two School Districts’ Approaches to New Fields

By Ann Lehman
Friday January 11, 2008

Albany Unified School District and San Jose Unified School District have both recently gone through a lengthy process to redesign their high school fields. Albany, a small school district with one high school, attempted to develop its high school field, located in neighboring El Cerrito, also a different county. San Jose developed five high school fields all located in San Jose. Both districts planned on putting lights in fields that had previously been unlit at night, causing neighbors to be concerned about increased disruptions to their lives and homes. Each district needed to go through a legal process, producing an environmental impact report for the project. Albany’s process ended up in a very contentious neighborhood battle, which is currently in litigation with neighbors and the nearby City of El Cerrito; no one is happy, not the school board, not the students, not their families, nor the neighbors or the community. San Jose ended up with a relatively smooth process where most folks seemed satisfied with the process and can accept the results. Why this difference? -more-


Veterans Writing Group Fundraiser Sunday

By Ken Bullock
Friday January 11, 2008

Author Maxine Hong Kingston, an Oakland resident and UC Berkeley teacher, will appear with members of the Veterans Writing Group she helped found in 1993 on Sunday at the Berkeley Fellowship of Unitarian Universalists as a benefit reading for the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom. -more-


‘Running with Arnold’

Friday January 11, 2008

Say what you will about the quality of his achievements, from the silver screen to the governor’s mansion, there’s no doubting the ambition of Arnold Schwarzenegger. -more-


Arts Calendar

Friday January 11, 2008

FRIDAY, JAN. 11 -more-


Grocer-Politician Fred Koerber Left a Double Legacy

By Daniella Thompson
Friday January 11, 2008

The grocery business used to be a very lucrative one in the early days of the 20th century. Some East Bay retail grocers amassed considerable wealth, not to mention social prestige. Stephen J. Sill was one of them (his store building, designed by James Plachek, still stands at 2145 University Ave., now occupied by Berkeley Ace Hardware). Another was Frederick Charles Koerber (1876–1953), who owned several grocery stores in Oakland and Berkeley before branching into real-estate development, mortgage banking, and municipal politics. -more-


More than a Walk in the Woods: Woodland Gardening

By Ron Sullivan
Friday January 11, 2008

On Boxing Day we took a stroll with friends through the Blake Estate gardens. Allen had had the very good idea to go there; the place was devoid of humans except for brief walk-ons—one groundskeeper with a wheelbarrow, one woman with a dog—and the four of us. -more-


Being Your Own General Contractor

By Matt Cantor
Friday January 11, 2008

A woman I’ve been working with is toying with the notion of being her own general contractor on a rather large remodel she doing here in the Berkeley Hills. I have to admit that when she first told me this, I blanched a bit. I know what it means to do this job and it’s so much more than most people think that it was hard not to start shaking my finger at her right there and then. -more-


Editorial

Handicapping the Front-Runners

By Becky O’Malley
Friday January 11, 2008

Comments based on the meager amount of hard data emerging from the Iowa and New Hampshire Democratic primaries have offered a lot of speculation but few facts. This is primarily because the commentators, as they themselves will tell you, prefer to report the horse race (“as they come around the bend, Obama is gaining on the left...”) rather than the track statistics which experienced bettors actually use. Or at least that’s the theory. -more-


Back Stories

Opinion

Editorials

Handicapping the Front-Runners 01-11-2008

Editorial: All Change Is Not Progress 01-08-2008

Public Comment

Letters to the Editor 01-08-2008

Commentary: Recall Berkeley Mayor Tom Bates By Julie Dickinson 01-08-2008

Commentary: Jane Brunner—The Teflon Incumbent By Robert Brokl 01-08-2008

First Person: Living in the Last Days of the American Republic By Marvin Chachere 01-08-2008

News

Pacific Steel Health Hearing Packs Center By Richard Brenneman 01-11-2008

Crucial State Propositions Fill February Ballot By J. Douglas Allen-Taylor 01-11-2008

Four Ballot Issues Comprise Referendum On Native American Gaming Expansion By J. Douglas Allen-Taylor 01-11-2008

Compromise May Arise in Oakland Affordable Housing Debate By J. Douglas Allen-Taylor 01-11-2008

Berkeley This Week 01-11-2008

Rebecca’s Books Opens on Adeline St. By KEN BULLOCK Special to the Planet 01-11-2008

Worker, Customers Capture Suspect in Bank Rampage By Richard Brenneman 01-11-2008

Man Gets 56 Years for Attempted Murder of Police Officer Bay City News 01-11-2008

Court Hears Arguments UC Suit By Richard Brenneman 01-11-2008

Fire Department Log 01-11-2008

Solutions to Oakland’s Crime and Violence By J. Douglas Allen-Taylor 01-11-2008

Letters to the Editor 01-11-2008

Commentary: KPFA Election Violated Rules and Bylaws By THE COMMITTEE ON FAIR ELECTIONS 01-11-2008

Commentary: Tales of Two School Districts’ Approaches to New Fields By Ann Lehman 01-11-2008

Veterans Writing Group Fundraiser Sunday By Ken Bullock 01-11-2008

‘Running with Arnold’ 01-11-2008

Arts Calendar 01-11-2008

Grocer-Politician Fred Koerber Left a Double Legacy By Daniella Thompson 01-11-2008

More than a Walk in the Woods: Woodland Gardening By Ron Sullivan 01-11-2008

Being Your Own General Contractor By Matt Cantor 01-11-2008

Storm Leads to Fatal Fire, Flooded Streets By Richard Brenneman 01-08-2008

Oakland Development Issues Continue Into 2008 By J. Douglas Allen Taylor 01-08-2008

Stabbing Victim Berkeley’s First Murder of Year By Richard Brenneman 01-08-2008

Bayer Leasing Agreement Worries West Berkeley’s Alliance Graphics By Richard Brenneman 01-08-2008

Locals Stump for Iowa Caucus Campaigns By Judith Scherr 01-08-2008

Remembering Louis Flynn, Pillar of East Bay Theater 01-08-2008

Open House for Middle-Eastern Studies Series at Berkeley City Club 01-08-2008

Columns

Column: The Public Eye: Steroid America By Bob Burnett 01-08-2008

Green Neighbors: Going Medieval on the Streets of Berkeley By Ron Sullivan 01-08-2008

Arts & Events

Arts Calendar 01-08-2008

The Sculpture of Louise Nevelson at the de Young By Peter Selz, Special to the Planet 01-08-2008

Benny Green Brings Monterey Jazz All-Stars to Zellerbach Hall By Ken Bullock, Special to the Planet 01-08-2008

Green Neighbors: Going Medieval on the Streets of Berkeley By Ron Sullivan 01-08-2008

Berkeley This Week 01-08-2008