The Week

Portola Middle School Music Director Tiffany Carrico (right) leads the school jazz band at the El Cerrito BART Station in preparation for its upcoming concert. Left to right: Aidan Brorsen, trumpet; Caroline Umali, tenor sax; Roschelle Hood, baritone sax; Dan Marsh, tenor sax; Freeman Schlesinger, percussion.
Zelda Bronstein
Portola Middle School Music Director Tiffany Carrico (right) leads the school jazz band at the El Cerrito BART Station in preparation for its upcoming concert. Left to right: Aidan Brorsen, trumpet; Caroline Umali, tenor sax; Roschelle Hood, baritone sax; Dan Marsh, tenor sax; Freeman Schlesinger, percussion.
 

News

Alta Bates Registered Nurses Stage Walkout

By Richard Brenneman
Tuesday March 18, 2008

Posted Thurs., March 20—Registered nurses at Berkeley’s Alta Bates Summit and Herrick Hospitals are walking out Friday for a 10-day strike against the Sutter hospital chain. -more-


Peaceful Protests in Berkeley Mark Five Years of War

By Judith Scherr
Tuesday March 18, 2008

Posted Thurs., March 20—Calling for immediate withdrawal of troops from Iraq, participants in daylong events in Berkeley marked the fifth anniversary of the Iraq War on Wednesday with protests at the downtown Marine Recruiting Center and a rally in Civic Center Park. -more-


UC Students Arrested at Regents Rally

By Riya Bhattacharjee
Tuesday March 18, 2008

Posted Wed., March 19—San Francisco police arrested 10 UC students who chained themselves to the doors of the UCSF Mission Bay community center this morning (Wednesday) in an attempt to prevent the UC Board of Regents from meeting. -more-


Mayor Speaks Against War at Chamber Lunch

By Judith Scherr
Tuesday March 18, 2008

Posted Wed., March 19—Flying in the face of his hosts' concerns regarding demonstrations at the Marine Recruiting Center, Mayor Tom Bates spoke out about his opposition to the War in Iraq and support for peaceful demonstrations. The speech was delivered Tuesday at a Chamber of Commerce luncheon where the mayor was the featured speaker. -more-


Greg Hodge Fails to Qualify for Oakland Council Race

By J. Douglas Allen-Taylor
Tuesday March 18, 2008

Posted Wed., March 19—One of the most highly anticipated Oakland election battles in years may have been knocked off the ballot when veteran District 3 Oakland School Board member Greg Hodge came up one signature short of qualifying to run in the June 3 race for the Oakland City Council. -more-


AC Transit Sets Hearing for Fare Increase

By J. Douglas Allen-Taylor
Tuesday March 18, 2008

Posted Tue., March 18—The embattled AC Transit District is considering its fifth fare change in the last 13 years, with a possible increase in adult fares of as much as 25 cents and increases to the youth and senior passes coming as early as this summer. -more-


School District Sends Out 55 Layoff Notices

By Riya Bhattacharjee
Tuesday March 18, 2008

Fifty-five teachers and counselors in the Berkeley Unified School District received pink slips over the weekend notifying them of anticipated layoffs in face of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s proposal to slash state education funds by $4.6 billion. -more-


Thurmond Leads Fundraising In Race for Assembly 14 Seat

By J. Douglas Allen-Taylor
Tuesday March 18, 2008

Candidates in the hotly contested Democratic primary race to succeed Loni Hancock as District 14 Assemblymember are relying upon distinctly different fund-raising strategies, with a Richmond City councilmember dividing his contributions almost evenly between individual and business or labor group donors and Berkeley City Councilmember Kriss Worthington and Berkeley physician Phil Polakoff taking 98 percent of their donations from individuals, but with the majority of Worthington’s donations coming from inside District 14 and the majority of Polakoff’s coming from outside. -more-


Police Review Commission Plans Crowd Control Review

By Judith Scherr
Tuesday March 18, 2008
World War II vet Selwyn Jones, 86, speaks at the hearing on police response to demonstrations. Jones said police pushed him to the ground.

World War II veteran Selwyn Jones, 86, told the Police Review Commission at Thursday’s public hearing on the Berkeley Police Department’s response to recent demonstrations that he’d been pushed to the ground by police during a recent protest at the Marine Recruiting Station. -more-


Tree-Sitter Arrested Upon Descending

By Riya Bhattacharjee
Tuesday March 18, 2008
Fresh led away by campus police after ending his tree-sit.

UC Berkeley’s local tree-sitter Michael Schuck—who calls himself Fresh—climbed down from his leafy perch outside Wheeler Hall Friday and was promptly arrested by university police for trespassing. He was issued a citation and released later that day. -more-


Two Code Pink Members Arrested For Trespassing

By Riya Bhattacharjee
Tuesday March 18, 2008

Two Code Pink members who entered the Marine Recruiting Center at 64 Shattuck Square Friday and asked its officers to leave were arrested by Berkeley police for trespassing on private property. -more-


Council Considers Questions of Peace and Justice

By Judith Scherr
Tuesday March 18, 2008

The question of how to approach matters of peace and justice took center stage at the March 11 Berkeley City Council meeting. At the meeting the council also looked at a new report on pedestrian safety, asked staff to write a graywater permit process and more. -more-


Peace Notes: Bay Area Marks Iraq War’s Fifth Anniversary

By Judith Scherr
Tuesday March 18, 2008

A number of events were held last weekend leading up to the five-year anniversary of the Iraq War—among them a demonstration at the Richmond Chevron refinery, where two dozen protesters were arrested, a rally in Walnut Creek and a town meeting with Rep. Barbara Lee in Oakland. -more-


Neighbors Nix Plan to Paint John Muir School Blue and Green; BHS Gets International Program

By Riya Bhattacharjee
Tuesday March 18, 2008

Objections from the Berkeley Landmarks Commission and the Elmwood-Claremont Neighborhood Association over the Berkeley Unified School District’s proposal to paint John Muir Elementary School blue and green forced the Berkeley Board of Education to reject the proposed colors and stick to its original scheme instead. -more-


Pacific Legal Foundation Appeals BUSD Diversity Ruling

By Riya Bhattacharjee
Tuesday March 18, 2008

The Berkeley Unified School District’s student assignment system was once again challenged by Pacific Legal Foundation (PLF) Monday when the Sacramento-based right-wing public interest litigation firm appealed an April 2007 court decision which had ruled in favor of the district. -more-


Berkeley Ladies Take Second Place— Again

Tuesday March 18, 2008

Berkeley High Lady Jackets were soundly defeated by Long Beach Poly 55-31 Saturday in the state CIF Basketball Championship Div. I game at Arco Stadium in Sacramento. -more-


Hearings This Week in Stadium, Trader Joe’s Cases

By Richard Brenneman
Tuesday March 18, 2008

Court hearings are slated this week in two major Berkeley land disputes, one involving the university and the other the so-called Trader Joe’s building. -more-


BUSD to Send Out 50 Lay Off Notices

By Riya Bhattacharjee
Friday March 14, 2008

Posted Fri., March 14—The Berkeley Board of Education approved possible lay-off notices for 50 certificated employees Wednesday to prepare for Governor Arnold Schwarzenneger’s proposed $4.6 billion state education budget cuts. -more-


SEIU Hosts Spirited Kickoff for Wage Negotiation

By Judith Scherr
Friday March 14, 2008
Berkeley City Manager Phil Kamlarz, in black shirt, and Human Resources Director David Hodgkins, with tie, stand at the top of the City Hall steps to watch Wednesday’s SEIU rally prior to beginning negotiations.

Several hundred city workers converged on the steps of the city administration building Wednes-day. Some brought the tools of their trade: garbage trucks, pick-ups and code enforcement vehicles, the latter of which came in handy for blocking off the street for the noontime party. -more-


Police Hold Gun On Teacher Aboard Bus Full of Students

By Riya Bhattacharjee
Friday March 14, 2008

Several Berkeley police officers jumped on a public bus full of elementary students last week and held a gun on their after-school teacher, misidentified as a robbery suspect, while he was taking students to a basketball game. -more-


Saudi University Joins UC in Controversial Partnership

By Riya Bhattacharjee
Friday March 14, 2008

King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) in Saudi Arabia—which entered into a $28 million partnership with UC Berkeley last week to collaborate on research, curriculum and hiring of faculty—announced Thursday an $8 million grant to Paul Monteiro, professor of civil and environmental engineering at UC Berkeley. -more-


Hancock and Chan Vie for Funding

By J. Douglas Allen-Taylor
Friday March 14, 2008

In the race for money to finance their campaigns to replace Don Perata as State Senator for District 9, Assembly-member Loni Hancock is drawing heavily on businesses, labor organizations, and associations from around the state, as well as on individual contributions from inside District 9, while former Assemblymember Wilma Chan’s main source is Asian-Americans living outside the district lines. -more-


Iraq Veteran Speaks Out Against War

By Judith Scherr
Friday March 14, 2008
Sean O’Neill, who served in Iraq with the U.S. Marines, now opposes the war.

These days, Iraq War veteran Sean O’Neill speaks out against the war. -more-


Willard Vice Principal Under Investigation Resigns

By Riya Bhattacharjee
Friday March 14, 2008

Margaret Lowry, removed from her position as Willard Middle School vice principal last week and reassigned to a staff administrative position, has resigned and will leave the Berkeley Unified School District at the end of the school year. -more-


Code Pink Clashes with City Code Enforcement

By Judith Scherr
Friday March 14, 2008

A five-day anti-war camp-out at the downtown Marine Recruiting Station (MRS) aboard a Code Pink truck, designed to draw attention to the March 19 five-year anniversary of the Iraq War, turned nasty Tuesday afternoon: An attorney says the city may be using code enforcement to selectively stifle free speech at the Code Pink protest, and a Code Pink activist says she was assaulted by a city of Berkeley code enforcement supervisor. -more-


UC Berkeley Scientists Remain Bullish on Nuclear Power

By Richard Brenneman
Friday March 14, 2008

After Three Mile Island and Chernobyl, nobody’s thinking of nuclear power in the U.S. these days, right? -more-


UC’s Ethanol Partner Delays Annual Report Release

By Richard Brenneman
Friday March 14, 2008

Could UC Berkeley’s first commercial ethanol partnership be headed for rough waters? -more-


Density Bonus Debate Faces Proposition 98 June Threat

By Richard Brenneman
Friday March 14, 2008

The struggle to draft a Berkeley density bonus law ground forward Wednesday night, shadowed by the uncertain but foreboding impacts of a June ballot measure. -more-


Monday Meeting Focuses on BRT

By Richard Brenneman
Friday March 14, 2008

Fans, foes and the simply undecided can hear the pros and cons of Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) Monday night, thanks to the efforts of the Claremont Elmwood Neighborhood Association. -more-


Hamill Files Papers for Oakland Council Seat

By J. Douglas Allen-Taylor
Friday March 14, 2008

District One Oakland School Board member Kerry Hamill ended one part of the suspense in the June 3 Oakland election, filing her papers late Wednesday afternoon for the at-large Oakland City Council seat being vacated by incumbent Henry Chang. -more-


First Person: A Memoir of Herrick Mental Hospital

By Jack Bragen
Friday March 14, 2008

To begin with, my father brought me to Herrick in 1990 when I was having a full-blown psychotic episode and my behavior was out of hand because I was quite delusional. It wasn’t my first or last psychotic episode. There would be one more in 1996 before I would swear to permanently stay medicated and cooperative with treatment. -more-


Fire Department Log

By Richard Brenneman
Friday March 14, 2008

Warm pool rescue -more-


Opinion

Editorials

Editorial: Bubbles Come and Go, But Builders Thrive Regardless

By Becky O'Malley
Tuesday March 18, 2008

On Oxford Street these days a massive pile of concrete and steel is starting to take shape. It’s already impossible to look past it to see the hills above to the east or a slice of ocean to the west. It comes right up to the sidewalk on the corner, leaving no room for a patch of green to refresh pedestrians. When the two buildings on the site are completed to the planned heights, that stretch of Oxford will become a canyon. -more-


Editorial: How Much Do Race and Gender Matter?

By Becky O'Malley
Friday March 14, 2008

Is it too late to apply a little logic to poor old Gerry Ferraro’s comments about the effect of race and gender on the presidential race? Let’s approach it from the other direction. -more-


Public Comment

Letters to the Editor

Tuesday March 18, 2008

Commentary: The 20/20 Vision: How Good is Our Garden?

By Santiago Casal and Michael Miller
Tuesday March 18, 2008

The 20/20 Vision is a public declaration that sets a goal for the elimination of the “achievement gap” by the year 2020. 2020 is the year when our children who entered kindergarten in September 2007 are scheduled to graduate from Berkeley High School. United In Action (UIA), a multiethnic community coalition in Berkeley, conceived the declaration. It poses a challenging question: “On that graduation day in 2020, will we be able to beam with pride at our success?” -more-


Commentary: The Nature of Cesar Chavez

By Rafael Casal
Tuesday March 18, 2008

Since my childhood, the Berkeley Marina has been a place of sanctuary and reflection for my wandering mind and feet. As a child I went to birthday parties there, flew kites on windy days, and rolled down the big hills with my hermana. It was a place of infinite beauty, with a panoramic view of the bay area and a sunset that no words could be tailored for. Before we’d leave, my father would always calm us to take a moment and appreciate our place in the universe. We would breathe in deep, feel the setting sun against our faces, and stare at the horizon with a humbling appreciation for the world we often forget is bigger than ourselves. To this day, I still frequent the Berkeley Marina and César Chávez Park, and am always met with the same feelings of reflection and awe during my peaceful visits. -more-


Commentary: Blame Bipartisan Collusion, Not Nader, for Hard Times Ahead

By Harry S. Pariser
Tuesday March 18, 2008

Becky O’Malley’s savaging of Ralph Nader and Matt Gonzalez (Editorial, March 10) is singularly unfair. Pollit’s editorial hit piece, which O’Malley cites, explicitly states that “Ralph Nader has a perfect right to run for president.” -more-


Commentary: Hillary Clinton’s Shameful Vote on Cluster Bombs

By Paul Rockwell
Tuesday March 18, 2008

In her autobiography, Living History, Senator Hillary Clinton portrays herself as an advocate for children, a defender of women and human rights. In fact, the Clintons have a long history of sacrificing the rights, even the lives of children, for political expediency. It is time to set the record straight. -more-


Commentary: Dangerous Mind Virus Strikes the East Bay!

By Bob Marsh
Tuesday March 18, 2008

Daily Planet Executive Editor O’Malley and many of the readers of this newspaper have been affected with a dangerous infection of the mind recently identified as the “anti-Nader” virus. This virus was created by leaders of the Demopublican Party after the narrow victory of their candidate Al Gore in the 2000 presidential selection. When Republican Party apparatchiks and Cuban-American thugs barged into the Dade County elections office and forced a stop to a recount, when winning candidate Gore refused to call for a full recount, when tens of thousands of Floridians and New Mexicans of color were deliberately prevented from voting, when the Supreme Court unconstitutionally intervened to steal the election in a bloodless coup d’etat, these so-called “leaders” did nothing to defend the constitution or the right to vote. -more-


Letters to the Editor

Friday March 14, 2008

Commentary: West Berkeley Plan and Sustainability Forum

By Rick Auerbach
Friday March 14, 2008

The future of West Berkeley’s 320 industrial production, distribution, and repair (PDR) businesses, their approximately 7,000 living wage jobs, and the 800 artisans and artists working in West Berkeley’s 225 studios is now being decided. The city’s Planning Department is proposing fundamental changes to the West Berkeley Plan, the area’s guiding zoning document, that would likely lead to the ultimate loss of many of these enterprises. -more-


Commentary: Why the Nader-as-Spoiler Argument Carries Little Weight

By Ruthanne Shpiner
Friday March 14, 2008

I will say that, contra Michael Hardesty (Letters, March 11), I usually agree with and appreciate the positions Becky O’Malley takes in her editorials. Yet I found I disagreed strongly with her position on third party voting. -more-


Commentary: Students Deserve A Real College Town

By Scott Silver
Friday March 14, 2008

As a second year business student at UC Berkeley, I have become particularly interested in the issues surrounding extension of business hours in the immediate vicinity of the UC Berkeley campus. Having enrolled in two city planning courses the last two consecutive semesters, I have been interested to learn how land use and stakeholders in the area are integral parts of an equation that I had previously felt was limited to issues of supply, demand, and business models. I urge the City Council to continue pushing for extended business hours for several reasons: there is a mutual benefit for both store owners and students, a more vibrant night life will also mean a safer Telegraph commons as well as increased sales tax revenues for the city of Berkeley. -more-


Commentary: Freedom of Information — A Sham in Berkeley?

By Laurie Baumgarten
Friday March 14, 2008

On Jan. 7, a neighbor and I requested the city of Berkeley to provide us a copy of all communications regarding the eleven cell antennas scheduled to be installed at 2721 Shattuck Ave. Access to these communications is our right and in accordance with the California Government Code 6251, the Public Records Act. According to this act, we have the right to receive this information within a 10-day period. Instead, I received a letter from City Manager Phil Kamlarz, stating he would need more time because of the inter-departmental nature of the communications. A month later, on Feb.7, I received a second e-mail from him stating that we could finally make an appointment to review the communications. -more-


Commentary: Some Practical Questions About Bus Rapid Transit

By Steven Finacom
Friday March 14, 2008

Berkeley’s very limited debate over Bus Rapid Transit so far has concentrated on sexily symbolic aspects of the proposal, such as the contributions BRT might or might not make to more “liveable” cities or to reducing global warming. And these “big” questions don’t always produce the expected answers. -more-


Columns

The Public Eye: Campaign 2008: Act III

By Bob Burnett
Tuesday March 18, 2008

The March 11 Mississippi primaries signaled the end of the second of four acts in the competition for the 2008 Democratic presidential nomination. Act I began on Jan. 5 with the Iowa caucuses and ended on Jan. 26 with the South Carolina primary, where the race was winnowed down to Sens. Clinton and Obama. Act II began on Feb. 5, Super Tuesday, and plodded on for five weeks. Act III begins with the Pennsylvania primary on April 22 and ends on June 3 or possibly later if Florida and Michigan have to revote. Act IV will be the convention beginning Aug. 25, where the nominee will be selected. -more-


Green Neighbors: The Brave Little Quince

By Ron Sullivan
Tuesday March 18, 2008
Fruit, flowers, and lots of thorns on the Brave Little Quince under the BART tracks on Martin Luther King, Jr. Way.

On the median strip under the BART tracks along Martin Luther King Jr. Way, just a few blocks past the city line and into Oakland, there lives a flowering quince I’ve always thought of as The Brave Little Toaster. Aside from the fact that it’s nothing like a toaster at all, I find the name apt. -more-


Column: Dispatches From the Edge: The Story Behind Colombia’s Attack

By Conn Hallinan
Friday March 14, 2008

Colombia’s March 1 attack on an insurgent camp in Ecuador appears to have been an effort by the right-wing government of Alvaro Uribe to derail efforts by Venezuela and France to free hostages held by the group, intimidate a growing movement against Bogotá’s close ties to rightwing death squads, and put the squeeze on the U.S. Congress to pass a joint trade agreement. -more-


Column: Undercurrents: Democratic Presidential Contest Turns Nasty

By J. Douglas Allen-Taylor
Friday March 14, 2008

One ought to avoid writing political commentary when angry. It doesn’t make for coherent thought. But it is difficult not to get angry about recent events in the Democratic Presidential race between Democrats Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama. It’s even more difficult to try to ignore it, and write about something else. So let’s give it a shot. -more-


Garden Variety: Plants That Turn the Tables

By Ron Sullivan
Friday March 14, 2008
A nepenthes trap-a leaf part, not a flower-welcomes little bugses in with gently smiling jaws.

Coming up on 35 years, our relationship gets ever more harmonious. I have a stapelia—a starfish flower that attracts flies to pollinate it—on the office windowsill, and Joe has a collection of carnivorous plants on the front porch. When my stapelia blooms, I cope with its decidedly rank fragrance by putting it on the porch with the Venus’ flytrap and the sundews and the various sarracenias and they all have a party. -more-


About the House: Don’t Let Your Plumber or Electrician Be a Cut-Up

By Matt Cantor
Friday March 14, 2008
Avoid cutting up your walls such as this if you want them to stay standing.

I’m a Sci-Fi buff from way back and one of my favorite writers was always Robert Heinlein. Robert said the following: -more-


Arts & Events

Arts Calendar

Tuesday March 18, 2008

TUESDAY, MARCH 18 -more-


‘Jazz Explosion VII’ Spotlights Young Musicians

By Zelda Bronstein, Special to the Planet
Tuesday March 18, 2008

Coming down the escalator at El Cerrito BART last Wednesday afternoon, I heard jazz. It sounded live, but musicians were nowhere in sight. Had BART started piping music into its stations along with its public safety and elevator messages? Out in front of the station, the surprising source of the music appeared: Five young people—three saxophonists, a trumpeter and a drummer—were swinging away. -more-


Remembering Malvina Reynolds

By Michael Rossman, Special to the Planet
Tuesday March 18, 2008

Since she died in 1978, if people now know of Malvina Reynolds at all it’s mostly as the writer of “Little Boxes” and “What Have They Done to the Rain,” among many memorable progressive and children’s songs. Even here, during her lifetime, she was known mainly from afar as The Singing Grandmother of Berkeley, a screechy fountain of song for noble, poorly funded causes. Few looked beneath this action-costume of a quirky, homegrown Superhero to recognize the astute sociologist and cornucopia of life-affirming spirit at work within. -more-


Green Neighbors: The Brave Little Quince

By Ron Sullivan
Tuesday March 18, 2008
Fruit, flowers, and lots of thorns on the Brave Little Quince under the BART tracks on Martin Luther King, Jr. Way.

On the median strip under the BART tracks along Martin Luther King Jr. Way, just a few blocks past the city line and into Oakland, there lives a flowering quince I’ve always thought of as The Brave Little Toaster. Aside from the fact that it’s nothing like a toaster at all, I find the name apt. -more-


Berkeley This Week

Tuesday March 18, 2008

TUESDAY, MARCH 18 -more-


Arts Calendar

Friday March 14, 2008

FRIDAY, MARCH 14 -more-


The Theater: Fisher’s ‘Wishful Drinking’ is Spectacle, if Not Exactly Theater

By Ken Bullock, Special to The Planet
Friday March 14, 2008

“The pure products of America go crazy,” intoned poet William Carlos Williams, and Carrie Fisher, a pure product of the American dream factory, who jests about the craziness of her life and icon status in her solo extravaganza, Wishful Drinking, is being held over at Berkeley Rep through April 12. -more-


Oakland East Bay Symphony Celebrates Persian New Year

By Ken Bullock, Special to the Planet
Friday March 14, 2008

The Oakland East Bay Symphony, conducted by director Michael Morgan, will present a unique collaborative program, Notes from Persia, at 8 p.m. tonight (Friday) at the Paramount Theatre. -more-


Garden Variety: Plants That Turn the Tables

By Ron Sullivan
Friday March 14, 2008
A nepenthes trap-a leaf part, not a flower-welcomes little bugses in with gently smiling jaws.

Coming up on 35 years, our relationship gets ever more harmonious. I have a stapelia—a starfish flower that attracts flies to pollinate it—on the office windowsill, and Joe has a collection of carnivorous plants on the front porch. When my stapelia blooms, I cope with its decidedly rank fragrance by putting it on the porch with the Venus’ flytrap and the sundews and the various sarracenias and they all have a party. -more-


About the House: Don’t Let Your Plumber or Electrician Be a Cut-Up

By Matt Cantor
Friday March 14, 2008
Avoid cutting up your walls such as this if you want them to stay standing.

I’m a Sci-Fi buff from way back and one of my favorite writers was always Robert Heinlein. Robert said the following: -more-


Berkeley This Week

Friday March 14, 2008

FRIDAY, MARCH 14 -more-