Local News and Opinion from The Berkeley Daily Planet

News Updates

Flash: Bay Guardian Wins $15.6 Million Verdict In Predatory Pricing Suit Against SF Weekly

By Tim Redmond Special to The Planet

Tuesday, March 04

Posted Wed., March 5—A San Francisco jury this afternoon found the San Francisco Weekly and its corporate parent guilty of illegal predatory pricing and awarded us $6.39 million. -more-

Man Fatally Shot Outside Russell Street Apartment

By Richard Brenneman

Tuesday, March 04

Posted Wed., March 5—A San Leandro man was fatally shot Monday night on California Street, just seven blocks north from the scene of another murder eight days earlier. -more-

Oakland Weighs Legal Options to Stop State Plans to Spray Moths

By Judith Scherr

Tuesday, March 04

Posted Wed., March 5—On Tuesday, Oakland joined a growing movement to force the state, through political and legal means, to back off from plans for the aerial spraying of a pesticide over parts of Northern California intended to eradicate the Light Brown Apple Moth (LBAM). -more-

News

West Berkeley Zoning Tour Reveals Land-Use Tensions

By Richard Brenneman

Tuesday, March 04

Crammed into two standing-room-only buses, planning commissioners, city staff, business owners and interested citizens set out for a five-hour tour of West Berkeley Saturday. -more-

School Board Removes Willard Vice Principal

By Riya Bhattacharjee

Tuesday, March 04

Willard Middle School Vice Principal Margaret Lowry—under investigation by the Berkeley Board of Education for improper conduct involving two special education students—has been removed from her position and will be replaced by Thomas Orput, vice principal of the Berkeley Adult School. -more-

Chief Wants Better Policing, New Taxes

By Judith Scherr

Tuesday, March 04

Berkeley’s facing neither layoffs nor program cuts in the next fiscal year, but without taxpayers ponying up to pay for them, there will be no new services, City Manager Phil Kamlarz told the City Council last week. -more-

Maneuvering Over Dellums’ Police Plan Continues

By J. Douglas Allen-Taylor

Tuesday, March 04

With the full Oakland City Council scheduled to vote on Mayor Ron Dellums’ police recruitment augmentation plan at its regular 7 p.m. meeting today (Tuesday), maneuvering over the final shape of the plan continued through the weekend. -more-

Oakland Council Asked to Reconsider Zoning Changes

By J. Douglas Allen-Taylor

Tuesday, March 04

A diverse representation of Oakland interests came out Monday morning in support of Mayor Ron Dellums’ industrial zoning plan, asking that the City Council make no changes in the proposal. -more-

Option Contract Signed for Iceland

By Riya Bhattacharjee

Tuesday, March 04

Chamber PAC Must File Retroactively

By Judith Scherr

Tuesday, March 04

Oakland Schools Face a Rough Road Back to Local Control

By J. Douglas Allen-Taylor

Tuesday, March 04

Council Postpones Several Items, Approves Blood House Move

By Judith Scherr

Tuesday, March 04

Protesters Shine Light on U.S. Marines in Haiti

By Judith Scherr

Tuesday, March 04

BHS Girls Basketball Takes Title Again

Tuesday, March 04

Planning Commission to Hear Climate Plan

By Richard Brenneman

Tuesday, March 04

By Richard Brenneman

John Curl, a West Berkeley woodworker and land use activist (right), leads planning commissioners on a tour of the Sawtooth Building during Saturday’s “West Berkeley Zoning Flexibility” tour.