News

Posted Mon., Feb. 25—Paul Robeson was something of a Renaissance man. A singer, actor, lawyer, writer, civil rights advocate, all-American athlete and political activist, Robeson was a powerful and eloquent spokesman for racial justice well before Martin Luther King, Jr., or Malcolm X, yet these successors have eclipsed him in the annals of history. -more-

Posted Sat., Feb. 23—Tears, sobs, angry words, whispered remembrances and promises of action punctuated Thursday night’s gathering in a South Berkeley church to honor the memory of a grandmother fatally shot by police on the night of Feb. 16. -more-

The battle of attrition between UC Berkeley and the Memorial Stadium tree-sitters flared again Tuesday morning. -more-

Flowers, small stuffed animals and a tight cluster of votive candles offered a silent tribute to the life of a Berkeley woman killed Saturday night in a controversial police shooting. -more-

Berkeley’s Police Review Commission and Copwatch are among the groups demanding answers to why five-year Berkeley Police Officer Rashawn Cummings used deadly force on Anita Gay, a 51-year-old South Berkeley grandmother. -more-

Despite public outcry, the state agriculture department is determined to use a controversial aerial spray to eradicate the Light Brown Apple Moth (LBAM). -more-

Berkeley police arrested two men they say killed 23-year-old Wayne Drummond Jr. of Oakland in 2006 following a fight outside a Telegraph Avenue bar. -more-

Cody’s is leaving Fourth Street for downtown Berkeley. -more-

The Oakland City Council appeared tantalizingly close to a possible compromise on the city’s divisive affordable housing issues Tuesday night, but while the outlines for such a compromise have begun to take shape, it was unclear who would be brokering a possible agreement, or the logistics of how it would take place. -more-

Longtime Berkeley resident and business woman Mabel Bolton has left Thousand Oaks Elementary School $150,000 as part of her will. -more-

The expected and the unexpected have joined the Oakland City Council and Oakland Unified School District Board of Directors party, adding to what is looking like an increasingly crowded slate for the June 3 elections. -more-

Posted Wed., Feb. 21—Cody’s is leaving Fourth Street for downtown Berkeley. -more-

Posted Tue., Feb. 19—The 444-day-old battle of attrition between UC Berkeley and the Memorial Stadium tree-sitters flared again Tuesday morning, with the university claiming the victory. -more-

www.youtube.com/watch?v=TyfxiVCVSEM -more-

For Rev. Andre Shumake Sr., head of a faith-based community alliance in the East Bay’s most troubled city, Richmond’s Green Party mayor has proved a strong ally. -more-

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-

The Berkeley Board of Education is investigating Willard Middle School Vice Principal Margaret Lowry for allegedly giving a student money to buy marijuana from another student, the Planet has learned. -more-

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-

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-

A broken red heart with a band-aid taped on it peeked out of Westlake Middle School student Jabari Valentine’s pocket. -more-

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenneger’s proposed $4.8 million budget cuts from state education funds dominated the conversation during a reception held for Berkeley’s new superintendent of schools Bill Huyett at the City Council chambers Wednesday. -more-

Since the Marine Recruiting Center in downtown Berkeley was locked Friday morning when the World Can’t Wait protesters arrived around 7:30 a.m. aiming to shut it down and risk arrest, the group and its allies from Code Pink and ANSWER (Act Now to Stop War and Racism) went to Plan B. -more-

With the presidential primary over, Alameda County voters will now have to turn their attention to several hotly contested local legislative races in the June 3 first-round voting, as well as a rare, contested Superior Court judge seat. -more-

Planning Commissioners and interested citizens will tour West Berkeley March 1 as the commission prepares to ease new zoning rules in the city’s core industrial area. -more-