Local News and Opinion from The Berkeley Daily Planet

News Updates

Pools Won’t Be on Berkeley’s November Ballot

By Judith Scherr

Wednesday June 11, 2008

A ballot measure to fund a new warm pool and rehab neighborhood pools was taken off the table at the Berkeley City Council’s Tuesday night meeting. -more-

Berkeley’s Juneteenth Festival Called Off This Year

By Riya Bhattacharjee

Tuesday June 10, 2008

It will be a Juneteenthless June for Berkeley residents this year, in the face of what some event organizers said was a myriad of restrictions city officials imposed on the 22-year-old tradition just months before the big weekend. -more-

Let People Decide on Bus Lanes, Proposed Ballot Measure Says

By Judith Scherr

Tuesday June 10, 2008

Who will decide if buses get their own lanes on Telegraph Avenue? If Bruce Kaplan and Dean Metzger get their way, the people will. On May 28, Kaplan and Metzger submitted a petition to the City Clerk with 3,240 signatures of Berkeley voters in order to place on the Nov. 4 ballot an initiative “to require voter approval before dedicating Berkeley streets or lanes for transit-only or HOV/Bus-only use.” -more-

Early Candidates Take Out Papers for November Elections

By Judith Scherr

Monday June 09, 2008

With hard-fought but largely ignored June primaries behind them, voters will be setting their sights on the Nov. 4 presidential election and, locally, on races for the Berkeley City Council, school board and Rent Stabilization Board. -more-

Planning, Transportation Panels To Consider BRT Alternatives

By Richard Brenneman

Monday June 09, 2008

Berkeley's planning and transportation commissioners will meet jointly Wednesday night for the first of two sessions devoted to Bus Rapid Transit (BRT). -more-

Grand Promises, Fast-Track Approval May Speed Point Molate Casino Resort

By Richard Brenneman

Monday June 09, 2008

Reports of its death having been greatly exaggerated, Richmond’s Point Molate casino is not only alive—it’s being fast-tracked by state and federal agencies. -more-

B-Tech Grads Look Toward Future

By Riya Bhattacharjee

Saturday June 07, 2008

Berkeley Technology Academy Principal Victor Diaz summed up the school year at the 2008 graduation ceremony at UC Berkeley’s Alumni Hall Thursday: “It was a year of extreme highs and extreme lows—a crazy crazy year.” -more-

U-Haul Berkeley Defies Council and Judge’s Order to Stop Renting Trucks, City Attorney Says

By Judith Scherr

Friday June 06, 2008

U-Haul Berkeley was doing a brisk business late Thursday afternoon, with customers maneuvering trucks in and out of the lot at Addison Street and San Pablo Avenue, workers cleaning up the vehicles and people queuing up five deep at the indoor customer service counter. -more-

Registrar Responds: Peace and Freedom Party Members Get Non Partisan Ballots

By Judith Scherr

Friday June 06, 2008

A number of Peace and Freedom Party members were given “non partisan” rather than Peace and Freedom Party ballots on Tuesday in Alameda County, registrar Dave Macdonald acknowledged Thursday in an interview with the Daily Planet. -more-

Council to Discuss Cell Phone Moratorium Tuesday

By Judith Scherr

Friday June 06, 2008

Wireless companies and opponents of wireless telecommunications antennas are likely to be out in force at Tuesday’s Berkeley City Council meeting, taking opposite sides on the question of whether the city should adopt a moratorium on wireless communications. -more-

Special Olympics Returns to Berkeley

By Riya Bhattacharjee

Friday June 06, 2008

It’s time for bocce ball once again. And some volleyball, swimming and tennis as well. -more-

Bill Gates Dumps His Stock in Berkeley Biofuel Partner

By Richard Brenneman

Thursday June 05, 2008

Bill Gates, the money man behind the company that has formed the first corporate/ UC Berkeley ethanol partnership, is dumping his shares. -more-

News

Big Wins for Skinner, Hancock in State Elections

By Judith Scherr

Thursday June 05, 2008

The champagne was flowing last night at victory parties for Nancy Skinner, who won the Democratic primary for the State Assembly with 46.8 percent of the vote and Assemblymember Loni Hancock, who won the Democratic primary for State Senate with 56.5 percent of the vote. -more-

Challenges to Oakland Council Incumbents Fizzle

By J. Douglas Allen-Taylor

Thursday June 05, 2008

A campaign season that began with the possibility of a major overhaul of the Oakland City Council’s old guard ended quietly in the status quo early Wednesday morning, as two incumbent councilmembers avoided run-offs against what had been expected to be stiff opposition, and two others easily swamped their opponents. -more-

Plea Delayed in Durant Avenue Shooting

By Riya Bhattacharjee

Thursday June 05, 2008

Berkeley resident Nathaniel Curtis Freeman, 19, who was charged with murdering Maceo Smith on Durant Avenue on May 13, did not enter a plea at the Alameda County Superior Court Monday. -more-

South Berkeley Homicide City’s 8th of the Year

By Richard Brenneman

Thursday June 05, 2008

Berkeley Police are offering a $15,000 reward for information that leads to conviction of the shooter who gunned down a 29-year-old Berkeley man on May 28. -more-

Oakland Port Rail Proposal’s Impacts May Hit Berkeley Landscape, Traffic

By Richard Brenneman

Thursday June 05, 2008

Is Berkeley being railroaded? That’s the question that was raised at the last Planning Commission meeting by both supporters and potential foes of a plan to upgrade and increase rail service through West Berkeley. -more-

Code Pink Organizer Accused of Police Officer Battery

By Judith Scherr

Thursday June 05, 2008

A model of the planned Berkeley Art Museum/Pacific Film Archive building as seen from campus, with University Avenue on the right and the proposed high rise hotel, condo tower and conference center to the rear.

University Museum Plans Slash Downtown Parking

By Richard Brenneman

Thursday June 05, 2008

Planners Approve Condos

By Richard Brenneman

Thursday June 05, 2008

UC, Workers Return to Table, Two-Day Strike Called Off

By Judith Scherr

Thursday June 05, 2008

Governor: Budget Deficit Due to Health, Schools Overspending

By Judith Scherr

Thursday June 05, 2008

Community Views BCM Studio Conversion to Classroom

By Riya Bhattacharjee

Thursday June 05, 2008

Scams Use Berkeley High Athletics in Oakland, Kensington

By Riya Bhattacharjee

Thursday June 05, 2008

Superintendent Points Out Discrepancies in District Ranking

By Riya Bhattacharjee

Thursday June 05, 2008

BUSD to Consider Rehabilitating West Campus

By Riya Bhattacharjee

Thursday June 05, 2008

A sign mounted on the fence enclosing an abandoned stretch of rail line in the 1400 block of Derby Street warns of elevated arsenic levels in the soil.

City: Derby Street Arsenic Signs On Closed Lot Are Precautionary

By Richard Brenneman

Thursday June 05, 2008

Reedley Says OK to Aerial Spray Plan for Bay Area

By Judith Scherr

Thursday June 05, 2008

Union Vote Set for Bay Area Newspapers

By Richard Brenneman

Thursday June 05, 2008

Dellums Proposes 12-Day City Shutdown to Help Close Budget Gap

By J. Douglas Allen-Taylor

Thursday June 05, 2008

Ten Questions for Oakland Councilmember Patricia Kernighan

By Jonathan Wafer Special to the Planet

Thursday June 05, 2008

By Judith Scherr

Nancy Skinner celebrates her solid win with supporters at the Downtown on Shattuck Avenue Tuesday night.

Editorials

On Election Day, It All Adds Up

By Becky O’Malley

Thursday June 05, 2008

It’s all about the numbers today. Barack Obama—perhaps the first Democratic candidate in recent memory who can count—has finally put together the magic number of delegates, both elected and super, and he’s The Man of the Hour. -more-

The Editor's Back Fence

By Becky O'Malley

Monday June 09, 2008

June is a month of final acts: graduations, performances, recitals. We’ve gone to several recitals in the last two weeks and enjoyed every one. Nothing beats the sight of a bunch of fresh-faced kids polished until they shine and on their best behavior, enjoying themselves—albeit with a bit of tension—making music or dancing. And if the music sounds good, or if the dancing delights, that’s a plus, but it isn’t really about the product, it’s about the process. -more-