Local News and Opinion from The Berkeley Daily Planet

News Updates

Police Officer Kills Berkeley Woman

From Bay City News and news reports

Friday February 15, 2008

Posted Mon. Feb 18, 2008--An officer responding to reports of a domestic disturbance at a south Berkeley apartment building Saturday night used deadly force on a woman who allegedly confronted the officer with a knife, according to the Berkeley Police Department. -more-

Children's Hospital Representatives Meet with North Oakland Neighbors; No Resolution in Sight

By J. Douglas Allen-Taylor

Friday February 15, 2008

Posted Sun., Feb. 17—Representatives of Oakland’s Children’s Hospital and many of the hospital's North Oakland neighbors danced around each other at a North Oakland Senior Center community meeting for two hours last Wednesday night, with neither side seeming to be sure what music was being played, or even if the band had stopped altogether. -more-

Council Begins November Ballot Tax Measure Discussions

By Judith Scherr

Friday February 15, 2008

Posted Sat., Feb. 16—Pools, police, pipes, fire prevention, youth services: fulfilling city needs will take new funding—perhaps $30 million. And that greatly surpasses the dollars flowing into Berkeley’s coffers. -more-

News

Facing Cheers, Jeers, Council Softens Anti-Marine Stance

By Judith Scherr

Friday February 15, 2008

A Move America Forward supporter with an American flag and a veterans cap has a heated exchange with a vet from Veteran’s for Peace early Tuesday morning in Civic Center Park at the beginning of a day of debate over the war and the downtown Marine Recruiting Center in Berkeley.

After being called “idiots,” thanked profusely, having their manners upbraided, told alternatively during a three-hour public hearing that they were unpatriotic and true patriots, the Berkeley City Council softened rhetoric of a Jan. 29 council item that would have had staff write the Marines, saying their recruiters are “uninvited and unwelcome intruders” in Berkeley. -more-

Heavy Police Presence Felt At City Hall Marine Protests

By Riya Bhattacharjee

Friday February 15, 2008

Police in riot gear stand in the middle of Martin Luther King Jr. Way, dividing the opposing protesters.

For a brief moment Tuesday, the warpaint and angry threats outside Maudelle Shirek Old City Hall gave way to sporadic bursts of festivity. -more-

Pacific Steel Workers Urge City to Defend Plant’s Presence in Berkeley

By Riya Bhattacharjee

Friday February 15, 2008

The angry cries of several hundred Pacific Steel workers eclipsed the sound of bullhorns and jeers from the pro- and anti-war demonstrators outside the Old City Hall Tuesday to hear the Berkeley City Council rescind their resolution on the Marine Recruiting Center. -more-

Council Drops ‘Insensitive’ Language, Refuses Apology

By Judith Scherr

Friday February 15, 2008

At around 1:15 a.m. Wednesday, a weary council passed a motion 7-2 which effectively reversed the council’s vote to tell the Marines they are “unwelcome intruders.” They refused, however, to issue an apology to the Marines. -more-

Oakland May Deadlock On Affordable Housing

By J. Douglas Allen-Taylor

Friday February 15, 2008

One of the councilmembers most associated with the drive to increase affordable housing in Oakland believes that after more than a year, the council may be deadlocked on the issue and unable to make any changes. -more-

Density Bonus Fracas Flares at Planning Commission

By Richard Brenneman

Friday February 15, 2008

A sharp schism between city staff and veterans of the panel charged with formulating policies for a new city density bonus law revealed itself at the Planning Commission Wednesday night. -more-

BRT, Parks, Southside Evoke Heated Response

By Richard Brenneman

Friday February 15, 2008

Hamill Talks About Rumors of Running for Oakland Council

By J. Douglas Allen-Taylor

Friday February 15, 2008

Council Nixes Preserving Property for Industrial Use

By Judith Scherr

Friday February 15, 2008

Fire Log

By Richard Brenneman

Friday February 15, 2008

By Mike O'Malley

A shrine has been set up on the Ward Street porch where Anita Gay was shot and killed by a Berkeley police officer.

Editorials

Editorial: Much Ado About Not Much In the End

By Becky O'Malley

Friday February 15, 2008

One benefit of being a woman of (or even over) a certain age is that you can be invisible when you want to be. Women sometimes complain that after they pass 55 no one notices them, which is often true, but the good news is that this phenomenon allows you to assume a “cloak of invisibility” worth of a Harry-Potterish heroine when you’d like to know what people are up to. Wearing nondescript clothes and not too stylish glasses, you can go anywhere and overhear anyone. -more-