Local News and Opinion from The Berkeley Daily Planet

News Updates

Berkeley High Teachers Press BUSD For More Space By Fall

By Riya Bhattacharjee

Tuesday January 15, 2008

Posted 1/17—Brandishing posters, placards and signs at the Berkeley Board of Education meeting Wednesday, more than 30 Berkeley High School teachers urged board members to construct the new classrooms approved for the high school by August. -more-

Sunset San Francisco “Idea House” Opens to the Public This Month

By Steven Finacom

Tuesday January 15, 2008

Posted 1/16/08—For many years the Bay Area-based Sunset Magazine, self-described “magazine of Western living,” has been sponsoring “idea houses” in partnership with builders and manufacturers. -more-

Council Heads Back To Drawing Board for Alcohol Inspection Fees

By Judith Scherr

Tuesday January 15, 2008

Posted 1/16/08—Faced with some two dozen upset small business owners, the Berkeley City Council reversed itself Tuesday, backing away from a December decision to charge bars, restaurants and liquor stores $467 each year to inspect for substandard conditions such as graffiti, sidewalk drinking, sales to minors and the like. -more-

News

For the Love of the Dog

By Jill Posener, Special to the Planet

Tuesday January 15, 2008

Between November and April each year, as California newts migrate in large numbers across South Park Drive in Tilden Park, the road is closed to motor vehicles. As if on cue, these small brown and orange amphibians emerge from their summer homes and strut clumsily along the roadway. -more-

Green Corridor Goes to Council

By Judith Scherr

Tuesday January 15, 2008

The corridor that stretches from Oakland to Richmond could become a vibrant, green version of Silicon Valley, attracting venture capital and federal dollars to support green industry and green jobs. -more-

Liquor Inspection Program Worries Business Owners

By Richard Brenneman

Tuesday January 15, 2008

Is Berkeley going dry? Dorothee Mitrani-Bell said there’s cause for concern in light of rising city regulatory and financial pressures. -more-

Threatened Lawsuit Targets Lab Runoff Contaminants

By Richard Brenneman

Tuesday January 15, 2008

Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) pollutes San Francisco Bay with illegal levels of metals and nitrogen compounds, charge environmentalists who have filed notice of their intention to sue. -more-

Oakland Hosts Workshop on Mortgage Crisis

By J. Douglas Allen-Taylor

Tuesday January 15, 2008

Troubled Oakland homeowners packed the floor and gallery of the Oakland City Council chambers Saturday morning to gather information from city, state, and national officials and private home counseling organizations on how to keep their dwellings from going into foreclosure. -more-

Berkeley Man Slain at San Rafael Club

By Richard Brenneman

Tuesday January 15, 2008

AC Transit Contract Still in Negotiation, Union Members To Hold Strike Vote

By J. Douglas Allen-Taylor

Tuesday January 15, 2008

The Pleasures of Berkeley’s Fourth Street

By Dorothy Snodgrass, Special to the Planet

Tuesday January 15, 2008

The Wonders of Oakland’s Lake Merritt

By Marta Yamamoto, Special to the Planet

Tuesday January 15, 2008

Walking Every Street in Berkeley

By Jennifer English, Special to the Planet

Tuesday January 15, 2008

Path Wanderers Leave No Carbon Footprint

By Sandra Friedland, Dale Miller and Susan Schwartz, Special to the Planet

Tuesday January 15, 2008

Enjoy a Day of Fun at Alameda’s Crown Memorial Beach

By Marta Yamamoto, Special to the Planet

Tuesday January 15, 2008

The Joys of Piedmont Avenue

By Joe Kempkes, Special to the Planet

Tuesday January 15, 2008

Dogs and their caretakers at the Albany Bulb. Photograph by Jill Posener.

Editorials

Editorial: So You’d Like to Hear More About BRT?

By Becky O’Malley

Tuesday January 15, 2008

“Last fall, Wolfgang Homburger wrote an opinion piece in the Berkeley Daily Planet attacking Bus Rapid Transit. Friends of BRT researched his claims and found that many of them were inaccurate. Unfortunately, the Berkeley Daily Planet failed to publish our response to Wolfgang Homburger, though it was much better researched than most of their opinion pieces—perhaps as a result of their bias against BRT.” -more-