Local News and Opinion from The Berkeley Daily Planet

News Updates

Council to Evaluate Kamlarz, Discuss ‘Wright’s Garage Project’ at Closed Session Tonight

By Judith Scherr

Friday February 01, 2008

Posted Mon., Feb. 4—Berkeley city manager for five years, Phil Kamlarz will get his first City Council evaluation tonight (Monday) in a special closed-door council session. -more-

Trees Show Their Bones and History in Winter

By Ron Sullivan

Friday February 01, 2008

Posted Sun., Feb. 3—Most of the public and literary appreciation for bare trees seems to come from wintry places like New England, but bonsai artists and fans and the landscape pruners who think along similar lines make a big deal of the “winter silhouette.” It’s one of the most refined criteria for judging a deciduous tree. -more-

Richmond Design Board GivesQualified ‘Yes’ to Chevron Plans

By Richard Brenneman

Friday February 01, 2008

Posted Sat., Feb. 2—Richmond’s Design Review Board (DRB) voted Thursday to approve Chevron’s plans to upgrade its refinery, but before the vote was taken, few folks had anything nice to say about the world’s seventh largest corporation. -more-

Three Chain Themselves to Marine Recruiting Center Doors

By Judith Scherr

Friday February 01, 2008

Posted Fri., Feb. 1—The World Can’t Wait ratcheted up the protests at the downtown Berkeley Marine Recruiting Center today (Friday), when three members, dressed in orange jump suits to symbolize the garb worn by the prisoners at Guantanamo Bay, chained themselves to the recruiting center doors at 64 Shattuck Ave. -more-

News

Council Addresses Police Theft Case

By Judith Scherr

Friday February 01, 2008

It took more than two years for questions surrounding criminal activities in the Berkeley Police Department to reach the City Council, but when the Police Review Commission report on Evidence Theft was before them Tuesday evening, councilmember reactions were heated. -more-

Police Launch Pedestrian Safety Decoy Operation

By Riya Bhattacharjee

Friday February 01, 2008

Berkeley’s Traffic Bureau came across a few snarls on the city’s streets this week. Not all were caused by clogged lanes and reckless driving. -more-

City Lets Protesters Have Their Own (Parking) Space

By Judith Scherr

Friday February 01, 2008

The question of dedicating space—a parking space—for Code Pink’s weekly demonstrations in front of the downtown Berkeley Marine Recruiting Center (MRC) raised hackles at Tuesday night’s City Council meeting, when Councilmember Gordon Wozniak likened the demonstrations there to protests at abortion clinics. -more-

Rally Launches Petition to Limit Military Recruiters

By Judith Scherr

Friday February 01, 2008

At a rally that attracted some 50 supporters outside the Marine Recruiting Center in downtown Berkeley on Wednesday, the Regulating Military Recruiting Coalition launched a drive to collect 5,000 signatures for a ballot initiative aimed at regulating where public and private military recruiters can locate offices in Berkeley. -more-

News Analysis: Bush Sub-Prime Collapse Echoes Reagan Disaster

By Richard Brenneman

Friday February 01, 2008

When 60 Minutes tackled the FBI investigation of the mortgage implosion Sunday night, producers looked to Stockton, “ground zero for the current financial crisis and a microcosm of everything that went wrong.” -more-

Demolished Preschool Awaits New Building

By Riya Bhattacharjee

Friday February 01, 2008

Clinton, Lee, Kerry, Craig Newmark, Ted Kennedy Here Friday and Saturday

By Judith Scherr

Friday February 01, 2008

Legal Threat, Ignorance Cloud City Council Liaison Law

By Richard Brenneman

Friday February 01, 2008

OUSD Contract Talks Begin on Tense Note

By J. Douglas Allen-Taylor

Friday February 01, 2008

OUSD Outlines Possible Harm of Proposed State Budget Cuts

By J. Douglas Allen-Taylor

Friday February 01, 2008

UC Haas Planner Sought, Law School Bidders Announced

By Richard Brenneman

Friday February 01, 2008

Former Councilmember Carole Kennerly speaks outside the Marine Recruiting Center at 64 Shattuck Square in a rally kicking off an initiative to make future military recruiter offices go through a zoning process that will include public comment. Photograph by Judith Scherr.

Editorials

Editorial: Hurry Up, Please, It’s Time to Vote

By Becky O’Malley

Friday February 01, 2008

It’s down-to-the-wire time now. On Wednesday a substantial number of my California relatives and friends told me that they’d finally filled out their absentee ballots and sent them in. What were they waiting for? Well, like all the rest of us, they were still trying to decide who to vote for in the Democratic presidential primary. Here’s the refrain: “I’d like to vote for Edwards, but if Obama and Clinton are very close I’ll probably have to choose Obama instead.” Some—a few—mentioned Kucinich instead of Edwards. -more-