The Berkeley fire fighters union has not publicly supported the disaster and emergency preparedness ballot measure proposed for the November ballot. 

But now that the city has prioritized the elimination of rotating fire station closures—except if the city were to face a fiscal emergency—the union has come on board, according to David Sprague, president of the Berkeley Fire Fighters Association. 

The emergency response and preparedness tax measure will be discussed at the council’s 7 p.m. meeting Tuesday. 

Also on the agenda, the council will be asked to approve a library tax measure, consider an advisory measure on the warm pool, approve the city’s budget, review a Police Review Commission report on evidence theft, and look at an auditor’s report on improving emergency medical call response and more. 

Before the regular 7 p.m. meeting, there will be a 5:30 p.m. closed session in the Council Chambers at 2134 Martin Luther King Jr. Way on the city of Berkeley v. UC Berkeley Regents lawsuit and labor negotiations. The public can address the council before the closed session. 

The question of placing an emergency response tax measure on the Nov. 4 ballot has been before the council for several weeks, but council has repeatedly noted that the firefighters union was not completely behind it. The measure before the council on Tuesday makes the prioritization of keeping all fire stations open “more explicit,” Deputy City Manager Lisa Caronna told the Planet Monday. 

The measure will include three funding components:  

• to prevent rotating fire station closures 

• to ensure paramedics and their equipment would be at every station  

• to create a disaster preparedness coordinator and fund community preparedness efforts and a radio system for emergency personnel that is compatible with either Oakland or Contra Costa County. 

Addressing the question of rotating closures, Sprague told the Planet the question “affects our [firefighter] safety and the safety of citizens.”  

The union also supports the addition of paramedics at every fire station.  

Berkeley Fire gets “a supermajority” of calls for health emergencies rather than for structure fires, Sprague said. Paramedics staff Berkeley’s three ambulances, but firefighters cross trained as paramedics do not act as paramedics when they are acting as firefighters.  

Paramedic certification takes two years, Sprague said. “A lot of Berkeley firefighters are certified” but don’t act as paramedics, he said, noting, “The majority of cities have paramedics on every engine.”  

The medical procedures paramedics are able to do include starting IVs, inserting tubes into the trachea when breathing is obstructed and administer narcotics, Sprague said.  

Paramedics receive a pay differential of 12.5 percent, according to the Human Resources Department Director David Hodgkins. 

The tax may not find favor with some citizens who pay close attention to the city budget. 

In a recent letter to the Daily Planet, Barbara Gilbert wrote about the “shockingly high” number of Berkeley public employees earning more than $100,000. 

Gilbert cites statistics found on the SF Gate website: About 25 percent of city employees (371) earned more than $100,000, she wrote. 

“Most of these high earners (75 percent or 282 employees) are in the police or fire departments. Considering that these two departments combined have about 450 employees, this means that almost 65 percent of public safety employees are in the top earner category,” Gilbert wrote. 

Sprague said the fire fighters will have to educate residents on the reasons for the high salaries. Overtime accounts for some of it. But, he said, it often costs less for the city to pay overtime than to pay the salary and benefits of additional firefighters. He said city staff is studying the question now, trying to determine the optimal number of new hires that would allow lower costs. 

And, as to the high cost of firefighters, Sprague said, “What we do is a dangerous profession. What we do takes a certain amount of money to take risks.” There is also the daily stress of being constantly woken up to work, he said.  

Sprague added that Berkeley firefighters earn the median of firefighters in other nearby cities. If the pay were less, the department would have to “scrape the bottom of the barrel” for its personnel. 

The measure presented to council Tuesday evening is intended to raise $3.6 million annually. It would cost homeowners about 4 cents per square foot of their houses and non-residential property owners about 6 cents per square foot.

A spokesperson for Oakland Mayor Ron Dellums today (Monday) confirmed that an ongoing investigation is being conducted into allegations that Oakland Administrator Deborah Edgerly interfered with a police operation, but refused to comment on published reports that the mayor has given Edgerly an ultimatum to resign or be fired. 

“These are very serious allegations and the mayor is looking into them,” Dellums Public Information Officer Paul Rose said by telephone today. “Beyond that, I can’t make any further comment because this is a personnel matter.” 

The mayor’s action stemmed from a June 7 West Oakland incident in which Edgerly is alleged to have intervened with Oakland police officers while the officers were towing a car which had been driven by the city administrator’s nephew, 27-year-old William Lovan. 

Police later recovered a pistol from the car. Lovan was one of 34 people arrested 10 days later in a police raid on West Oakland’s Acorn gang. A police spokesperson said he was charged with a weapons violation “possibly” stemming from the pistol found in car involved in the June 7 towing. 

On Friday afternoon, after stories on the June 7 incident were published in the Oakland Tribune and the San Francisco Chronicle, Dellums sent a terse e-mail to all Oakland City staff members saying that “effective immediately, all departments and agencies are to report directly to me regarding city matters.”  

Although the Dellums administration would not elaborate further, the e-mail was widely interpreted to mean that Edgerly had been suspended pending the mayor’s investigation. 

Also on Friday, Edgerly issued a statement calling the “rumors and press stories” surrounding the June 7 incident were “shocking” and “untrue and unfounded. … I am being tried in the court of public opinion by rumor, innuendo and presumption of guilt. There is obviously much more to this story than can be revealed at this time or in this setting, given that an investigation is now underway. I welcome this investigation and am cooperating fully with the appropriate authorities so that the truth will emerge. I am confident that when it does, you will see a very different picture.” 

Edgerly added that she has “not been fired or asked to resign. I have had many gracious and warm conversations with Mayor Dellums over the past three days, as recently as this afternoon. No ultimatums were issued and no decisions have been made. The mayor has given me several days to assess the situation and we will regroup next week.” 

The stories of the Dellums ultimatum first appeared in a Friday morning Chip Johnson column in the Chronicle entitled “Edgerly Out As Oakland Administrator” in which Johnson wrote, “The mayor issued an ultimatum at a meeting Wednesday with Edgerly and Police Chief Wayne Tucker, three high-ranking city officials confirmed: She has until Monday to resign, retire or be fired.”  

On Saturday, the Tribune said the Dellums ultimatum had been “reconfirmed” by “high ranking officials” familiar with the discussions that took place at the Wednesday meeting. Neither Johnson or the Tribune gave the names of the officials who confirmed the ultimatum. 

But while the Johnson column said that Oakland police had alleged that Edgerly had made “attempts to protect an alleged member of the gang” and the Tribune reported that Edgerly was under fire for possibly interfering with a Police Department investigation of a suspected gang member, the original Oakland Police Department report on the incident shows no indication that at the time Edgerly intervened to try to find out why her nephew’s car was being towed, she knew that her nephew was under investigation in the Acorn gang operation. 

In the report, written by an OPD officer identified only as N. Miller, the officer said that while he and his partner were in the vicinity of 12th and Market streets as part of the Acorn bust project known as “Operation Nutcracker,” he received information through a confidential informant that Lovan’s car was outside a local liquor store at 12th and Market with the motor running and the keys inside, and that the informant had overheard Lovan telling another individual about “a firearm being inside of the vehicle.”  

In the report, Miller said that he initiated a tow of the vehicle. Miller reported that Edgerly appeared on the scene sometime before the auto was towed, telling Miller that “Lovan was her nephew, and she wanted to know why … the vehicle was getting towed and that she was on the phone calling Chief Jordan and will contact Internal Affairs regarding this matter. I informed her that I could not tell her the reason [for the tow], but that I would let her speak with my Sergeant K. Coleman. Mrs. Edgerly said all right.” 

There is no indication in Miller’s suspect report of what Sgt. Coleman later told Edgerly in their conversation, or what the city administrator did afterwards. 

In the suspect report, Miller says that even Lovan himself was not told the real reason why the car was being towed.  

“Sgt. Coleman advised me to have the vehicle towed away from the area to avoid recovering a firearm in the presence of Lovan and possibly jeopardizing [blank] the future of the operation,” Miller wrote. The [blank] word or words are blacked out in the released report, and appear to be the name of the informant who originally reported the Lovan conversation and the presence of the weapon in the car. 

Miller said the weapon was later found in the vehicle after a search was done after the car was towed to East Oakland. 

Judge Barbara Miller has given cause for celebration in both the university proponents of the stadium-with-athletic-center project, and the litigants and other community members opposed to the present proposal. Each side could rightfully claim on release of the opinion that they were victorious. But neither side can rightfully deny the other side’s success. 

In the immediate term the opponents won three points: that the university is bound by the terms of the Alquist-Priolo legislation prohibiting certain new construction in earthquake fault zones, that the university must calculate to what degree the athletic-center portion of the project constitutes an “alteration” of the stadium, and that the university must explain why it “needs” to double the number of events at the stadium. 

Strategically, the opponents also scored by being deemed the prevailing party in the court’s direction that the university must take further action to comply with law. As prevailing party the plaintiffs will be relieved of an obligation to pay for production of the 40,000-page record, and will now be eligible for a colorable claim to substantial attorneys’ fee award, enabling them to press their case in subsequent proceedings. And unless the court decides to allow part of the project to proceed in the wake of judgment against the university, the opponents have succeeded in maintaining the physical status-quo. 

In the long term, however, the university would likely prevail in its ambitions under Judge Miller’s decision. That is because the court exhibited throughout its opinion remarkable deference to the University’s factual assertions and prerogatives to define its own means of complying with Alquist-Priolo and the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). Except for the need to explain why it must expand off-season stadium use, the university emerged with a complete victory in favor of its EIR. Consistently with its performance to date, the university will likely have little difficulty revising its calculations and conclusions to its advantage, with the court likely showing those determinations the same deference given to the overwhelming remainder of environmental conclusions in the case. 

The question then becomes: is there merit in an appeal to change this decision? If the opponents can mount a meritorious appeal, they find themselves in an extremely advantageous position: under Judge Miller’s ruling the proponents cannot proceed until she discharges the writ of mandate to come, but by appealing the judgment partially in their favor the opponents will take jurisdiction of the case to the court of appeal and beyond Judge Miller’s ability to discharge the writ while that appeal is pending. Assuming that an appeal is filed, and neither Judge Miller nor the court of appeal take the extraordinary action of allowing the project to begin, we can anticipate a further stay of one to two years’ duration. 

Before assessing the potential merit in an appeal, a brief tutorial in administrative law will be helpful. In reviewing the university’s actions under the essentially-procedural CEQA, courts are supposed to apply two tests: did the regents proceed as required by law, and if so, is their decision supported by substantial evidence? Successful project opponents litigate their cases on the premise that the agency’s environmental work-up committed errors of law; successful proponents defend on the premise that the court need only find substantial evidence supporting the agency’s final conclusion. Judge Miller’s decision largely adheres to the “substantial-evidence” approach; while the court recites the correct dual-ground legal standard (36), the Judge slides over the “proceed in the manner required by law” criterion and then proceeds to adjudicate only the presence or absence of substantial evidence.  

If “substantial evidence” were the only test, the university would be assured of a victory on appeal as broad as its success before Judge Miller. The analysis of appellate success (under both the Alquist-Priolo and CEQA claims) must then address to what extent the University, and consequently the superior court, failed to proceed as required by law.  

While the superior court adopted the substantial evidence test to measure the Alquist-Priolo claims (19), its ultimate treatment of those claims becomes more complicated. Under the classical model of administrative law, when a reviewing court determines the record is incomplete, ambiguous, or fails to resolve a relevant issue, the judge is to set aside the flawed decision and remand the matter to the agency to correct. That model assures that the court does not substitute for the agency’s first responsibility to arrive at its own decision correctly, nor substitute its substantive view for the agency’s.  

Judge Miller did not follow this model in her adjudication to date, and it remains open to see if she will not follow it before she enters final judgment against the University on the two points of its shortcoming. Unsure about the university’s evaluation of the Alquist-Priolo parameters of “addition” to or “alteration” of the stadium, and the value of the university’s late-prepared “Geomatrix” fault-line assessment that was not part of the EIR, after reviewing the university’s record leading up to its decision the court took written “expert testimony” and held further argument on that testimony (8-9). Some press accounts speculate that the judge will repeat this process next week with respect to the university’s failure to determine the value of the athletic center’s “alteration” of the stadium, compared to the value of the stadium in existing condition, and failure to date to explain why it must expand the number of stadium events.  

One potential ground of appeal, then, will be the court’s decision to conduct further hearings to solicit post-decisional “cures” from the university, rather than to have adjudicated only from the record built before project approval. Lest that error, if asserted, be considered technical, sound legal and political factors emphasize its significance: not just the duty of the university to get it right, but also the right of the public to participate in the university’s subsequent proceedings attempting to get it right. In the case of the Alquist-Priolo seismicity factors, reopening that matter (and the Geomatrix report) to the public in a supplemental EIR process will give all interested parties, including public agencies such as the U.S. Geologic Survey, an opportunity and duty to critique it, which they did not hold under the court’s procedure to date. 

Related to that point is the superior court’s ruling that after the final EIR’s completion, significant new information did not come forward to merit a renewed period of public EIR comment before the regents approved the project (54-57). Judge Miller reasoned that because substantial evidence supported the university’s assertion that the new information (principally the Geometrix report) was not “significant,” she had to defer to the university. But that reasoning is inconsistent with the court’s own treatment of the same information: it was “significant” enough for her to find the need for further briefing, hearing, and argument on it. An appellate court might well conclude, to restore internal consistency to the entire administrative and judicial proceeding, that as a matter of law the superior court had to require recirculation to the public of evidence and assertions the court itself found worthy of its own consideration based on new post-approval testimony. 

On the substance of the Alquist-Priolo prohibition of substantial “additions” or “alterations” to the stadium structure, the superior court engaged in a thorough analysis of the meanings of those two words, recognizing that prior case law had not defined them (25-29.) Judge Miller’s reasoning here can be praised for its precise adherence to standard building-code practice. But to apply another metaphor in this stadium-athletic-center dispute, did the court miss the forest for the trees? A substantial case can be presented on appeal that because the university insists that for CEQA purposes the stadium and center form an integrated project (68-70), they should be treated the same for Alquist-Priolo – indeed before it became aware of the Alquist-Priolo implications, the university in its draft EIR defined the athletic center as an addition to the stadium. The court of appeal might apply the same common-sense reality to the regents’ Alquist-Priolo compliance, further confining the university’s discretion to do more than restore the stadium. (Should the plaintiffs appeal, the regents would be expected to cross appeal on Judge Miller’s well-reasoned conclusion that Alquist-Priolo applies to the university.) 

The university’s shifting definition of the project forms another subject worthy of appellate attention. Judge Miller refuted the plaintiffs’ assertion of this claim, ruling that here the inconsistent project definition (is it the stadium with athletic center, is it just the athletic center, is it just the athletic center with only part of the stadium retrofit, can it be just the stadium itself?) “contrasts starkly with the facts” (75) of the leading CEQA case on project stability, County of Inyo v. City of Los Angeles (Cal. App. 1977). But as the attorney for Inyo County in that case, I am not so sure the differences are that great. In both matters the project proponent asserted differing and inconsistent project descriptions that met its litigation, not functional, needs. And in both cases the unstable project definition led to failure to explore meaningful alternatives, another of the plaintiffs’ claims that Judge Miller rejected (93-112), but which may merit reversal to require the university to “proceed in the manner required by law.”  

CEQA law has added much in the three decades since Inyo was decided. In general, the courts have vigorously enforced the need for a genuine examination of alternatives that pose real, not false, choices, the leading California Supreme Court case being that of Laurel Heights Improvement Assn. v. Regents (I) (1988) (yes, our regents). Judge Miller’s alternatives analysis did not apply that case. But just earlier this month, the California Supreme Court legitimated the EIR for the CALFED Bay-Delta program, ruling that CALFED did not need to consider an alternative that reduced rather than increased water exports from the Delta – a decision made more remarkable by the fact that federal court decisions have now required that reduced-export reality. (In re Bay-Delta Programmatic EIR, (Cal. June 5, 2008).) Suffice it to contemplate at this time the stadium decision, if taken to the court of appeal, will provide worthy “project definition” and “alternatives” material for that tribunal. 

Finally, in a less-prominent procedural dispute between the stadium parties, Judge Miller sustained the ability of the regents to delegate their final approval authority to a committee of the regents (37). The superior court reached this result by distinguishing this case from those that prohibit delegation from an elected city council to an unelected planning commission. But while the plaintiffs’ assignment of error here could obviously be cured easily, with the regents just placing the matter before their full body, the point of law merits appellate review. That is particularly so with the unique board of regents, who are appointed for multi-year terms by a succession of California Governors, and which therefore usually embrace a diversity of environmental values. Allowing less than the full board to approve both the EIR and ultimate project (or projects?) at issue here allows for a small majority to eliminate all opposing views in the record by selecting a committee that excludes the minority.  

(A note about citations and conventions. Numbers refer to page numbers in the decision as posted here. “stadium” means California Memorial Stadium. “athletic center” means the entitled Student Athlete High Performance Center, on the premise that readers would not expect Cal to approve a low-performance one. “regents” or “the regents” means The Regents, an honorific style that most manuals reserve for royalty and The Times.)  

Antonio Rossmann practices land use and water law and teaches those subjects at the University of California, Berkeley (Boalt Hall). In the 1970s he represented citizens challenging UCLA’s LRDP. In the 1980s he defended Stanford’s 20-year master plan. More recently he has represented the County of Merced in coordinating its land use plans with those of the new UC campus there. Past chair of the California State Bar Committee on the Environment, Mr. Rossmann is not affiliated with any of the parties to the stadium-athletic-center dispute.  

Cody’s Books, founded on Euclid Avenue in Berkeley in 1956, moved to Telegraph Avenue, expanded to Fourth Street in 1998 and San Francisco in 2005, closed on Telegraph in 2006, closed in San Francisco the following year, moved to Shattuck Avenue in March, and then, on June 19, 2008, went out of business. 

Shoppers and passersby at the 2201 Shattuck store Friday found a locked store and a sign taped on the glass doors reading: “Cody’s Books is Closed-Thank You.” Above the windows a recently hung temporary banner proclaimed: “Now Open-Cody’s Books.” 

An employee greeted a few people who knocked on the locked doors Friday afternoon, informing them that Cody’s was indeed closed for good. 

Melissa Mytinger, Cody’s last manager, said that staff was told of the store’s closing during an all-staff meeting Friday morning. She had no forewarning of the move, she said. 

“We were all shocked,” she said. “It was a great team.” 

She said an official statement was expected to be issued from Japan, but as of Friday late afternoon, it was not available. 

Cody’s Books, founded by Fred and Pat Cody 52 years ago, was for many years Berkeley’s most famous and most beloved book store in a town that loves books. The Codys were renowned for treating street people and protesters with kindness and generosity, especially during the time of the Free Speech Movement. 

The business was sold to Andy Ross in 1977. He was responsible for the Fourth Street and San Francisco expansions and presided over closing the Telegraph store, after a business downturn that many observers thought was caused by problems with the expansion financing.  

Soon after closing the Telegraph store in mid-2006, Ross sold Cody’s to Yohan, a Japanese book distributor whose owner-CEO was Hiroshi Kagawa. Yohan kept only the Fourth Street shop open. In December, Ross, who had stayed on as Cody’s president under the new owner, stepped down, and at the same time Kagawa left Yohan and took Cody’s with him to the IBC Publishing Group, the current owner. 

From Japan, Kagawa issued this statement on Friday: "[It] is a heartbreaking moment; in the spring of 2005 when I learned about the financial crisis facing Cody's, I was excited to save the store from bankruptcy. Unfortunately, my current business is not strong enough or rich enough to support Cody's. Of course, the store has been suffering from low sales and the deficit exceeds our ability to service it." 

"When I met Cody's 25 years ago, I was a freelance journalist, enraptured by its books and atmosphere. It means so much to me and I apologize to the people who have supported Cody's for not being able to keep this landmark independent bookstore open. Cody's is my treasure and more than that, Cody's is a real friend of Berkeley community and will be missed." 

After only 11 months in Berkeley, Down Home Music is moving out of its Fourth Street store. 

The move is not reflective of the economic health on Fourth Street, where a second Crate and Barrel store is about to set up shop. It has more to do with the business of selling new CDs in a brick and mortar location rather than downloading them or buying them on the Internet, according to Dave Fogarty, economic development manager with the city of Berkeley’s  

John McCord, who manages the 32-year-old El Cerrito Down Home store, which will remain open, said they had expected that the Fourth Street store would do at least as well as Hear, the Starbucks-owned CD store that was previously located in the same space.  

“We had a good holiday season,” McCord said, adding that too many people come to browse rather than buy.  

“The economy has a lot to do with it—CD sales are down everywhere,” McCord said. “It’s hard to compete with the Internet.” 

And, Fogarty said, stores like Down Home have to compete with giants such as Wal Mart that do special deals with the record companies—and sometimes exclusive deals—and undercut the smaller stores. 

McCord said Down Home tried a slightly different mix of music on Fourth Street. “We tried to tailor it to the clientele down there,” he said, making available more Latin, jazz, and pop CDs and less country music than at the El Cerrito store. 

The move “has left us with debts,” McCord said. However, Down Home founder and owner Chris Strachwitz, also proprietor of the folk record label Arhoolie Records, is dedicated to keeping the El Cerrito store open, McCord said. 

“There’s a lot of good music out there,” he said. 

Fogarty told the Planet that Fourth Street is “trucking along,” with sales tax indicating growth every quarter, with the exception of the fourth quarter of 2007 (the last quarter the city has records for), which he attributes to the difficulties experienced by Cody’s, which left Fourth Street and relocated downtown in March. 

A second Crate and Barrel, known as CB2 will move into the old Cody’s on Fourth Street location, with offerings such as furniture. The Crate and Barrel outlet will continue at its location across the street, Fogarty said. 

Safeway had few supporters among the 300 people who turned up at the Peralta Elementary School Thursday to listen to the supermarket giant's new plans to remodel its College Avenue store. 

The two-hour standing-room-only meeting was about converting the less than 25,000 square feet 1960s-era grocery store to more than three times its current size. Speakers expressed fear that the “big box” development will ruin Claremont Avenue's quiet ambiance. 

Some Claremont and College residents view the expansion as a threat to existing businesses, and said that a “lifestyle store” with a bakery, pharmacy and a bigger meat and produce section, would destroy the essence of the neighborhood, where College Avenue shops sell gourmet bread, meat and seafood. The block has had a small independent pharmacy for the last two decades. 

According to Safeway's real estate developer Todd Paradis, the existing Safeway lacks a number of important departments, including a full-service meat counter, an extensive organic produce section and a flower shop. 

“We already have a flower shop right across the street,” hissed a neighbor, referring to The Meadows, a locally-owned independent business, which shares a half-mile long stretch with Yasai Market, VerBrugge Meats, La Farine bakery and other local favorites. 

The supermarket's remodeling plans mimic those of its sister stores on Shattuck and Solano Avenues, including lower-level parking, pedestrian-friendly access to retail stores, lower-level parking and a Safeway on the second level, enclosed within a glass facade. 

“It's awful,” murmured a couple in the third row when Paradis showed a slide of a two-storied building in Safeway's signature yellow tones. 

“It's a bastard design, if you pardon my French,” Claremont resident Susan Shawl, who is spearheading efforts to protest the development, told the Planet. “They say it was inspired by Julia Morgan, but it's clumsy, overbearing, cheap, and looks like it belongs in a commercial mall. It's appropriate in downtown Oakland.” 

More than 60 people spoke against the project, but the five or so who did speak in support of it, said a bigger store would serve students from UC Berkeley, and less affluent residents, who were unable to afford smaller independent stores. 

Some said they wanted Safeway to remodel the store and improve the parking lot, but maintain the same size. 

Paradis said the expansion would primarily increase the number of aisles, which would offer more choices to customers. 

“We don't want the aisle full of packaged meat, but meat that can be packaged for you,” he said. 

A long-term Claremont resident, who has lived in the neighborhood for 44 years, pointed out that Safeway had originally offered a service meat counter, which was abruptly stopped. 

“The way I see it, we don't even need any remodeling,” said Pat McCullough, a neighbor. “It [the store] provides a good opportunity to exercise and meet our neighbors.” 

Safeway plans to submit an application for the proposed project to the Oakland Planning Department by the end of July, and it estimates an environmental impact report and other permit application approvals will take over a year. 

Shawl, who spoke with Nancy McKay on behalf of the neighborhood group Concerned Neighbors, also addressed traffic concerns related to the project. 

She complained that in spite of having had several meetings with neighbors, Safeway had ignored their comments and suggestions about the expansion.  

“Safeway is not listening to the neighborhood,” Shawl and McKay, wearing “It's too B-I-G” buttons, chanted in unison several times. “Safeway has already implemented a reduced sized 'lifestyle' approach with the remodel of the Grand Avenue Safeway and the Fruitvale Avenue store in the Diamond district-both are less than 30,000 square feet,” said Shawl. 

“Safeway also has built a 15,000-square-foot store in Long Beach called 'The Market by Vons.' The Grand Avenue satellite store is 1.4 miles from the Broadway at Pleasant Valley Store. The College Ave. Safeway location is 1.1 miles from Broadway at Pleasant Valley store. We want our satellite store to remain about the size it currently is ... In the overall scheme of things, Safeway, with over 1,700 retails stores, does not have much to lose. We have everything to lose.” 

Some neighbors said they were worried Safeway would lease out retail space to national chains instead of supporting local businesses. 

Stu Flashman, who spoke on behalf of the Rockridge Community Planning Council, said his organization had not yet taken a stand on the project. 

“However, based on what we have seen, we have concerns about the zoning, which is what makes Claremont Avenue what it is,” he said. 

“We are going to be listening to the community and see the traffic study.” 

Berkeley resident Dean Metzger, who spoke on behalf of the Claremont Elmwood Neighborhood Association, said the group was against the project. 

“Berkeley doesn't have a say in the property but we believe it will affect our neighborhood just as much,” he said. 

The College Avenue Safeway store straddles the border between Berkeley and Oakland. 

“What we want here is a remodeled store, but one that fits in with the neighborhood,” Metzger said. 

“We will put as much pressure possible on the City of Berkeley to get involved with the City of Oakland on this project.” 

For more information on the Claremont and College Safeway visit: www.safewayoncollege.com  

For more information on the 1500 Solano Ave. Safeway expansion plans visit: www.safewayonsolano.com  

Study session at the Albany Planning Commission meeting Tuesday, June 24, 2008, at 7:30 p.m., at 1249 Marin Ave.  

For information on the 1444 Shattuck Ave. Safeway expansion plans visit: www.safewayonshattuck.com  

Public meeting on Wednesday, June 25, 2008, at 6:30 p.m., at the Hillside Club, 2286 Cedar St.  

No sooner had Judge Barbara J. Miller ruled on the California Memorial Stadium projects lawsuit than all sides were spinning her ruling faster than a pool hustler's cue ball. 

Victory, declared campus officials. We're ecstatic, said opposing counsel Stephan Volker. The plaintiffs prevailed, announced supporters of the ongoing tree-sit. 

Meanwhile, UC Berkeley police escalated their ongoing war with the tree-sitters Thursday evening, renouncing their previous official policy of not grabbing them from the branches. 

The change came less than two hours after campus spokesperson Dan Mogulof had told a press conference police wouldn't be going after protesters in the trees because the university didn't want to endanger them. 

“If we can remove them safely, we will,” he said after the first of two tree-sitters was snatched from the branches Thursday evening. “The change happened because there is a sense here that the fight is going out of some of them.”  

The first aerial snatch happened Tuesday, soon after another Mogulof press conference where he had reiterated the no-snatch policy.  

But that capture was made by the university's contract arborists, employees of a Watsonville company which has covered all their logos and the license plates of their trucks—a violation of the state Vehicle Code if the trucks are driven on public streets. 

Mogulof refused to name the company during Thursday afternoon's press conference, but a local arborist was quickly able to identify the company and even obtained the phone number of one of its employees and spoke to him as he was working in the grove west of Memorial Stadium. 

The university official said the name was being kept confidential because firms engaged in similar operations had been the targets of threats and vandalism. 

Mogulof and the protesters differ sharply on the conduct of the arborists. While activists L A Wood and Matthew Taylor said the tree-sitters had been threatened-and in the case of the first snatch, possibly endangered-by the arborists, Mogulof said their restraint had been “truly admirable.” 

A reporter had observed a tree-sitter apparently endangered when one of the cranes repeatedly struck the line she was suspended from, but Mogulof said the arborists themselves had been assaulted with urine and human feces. 

Whose victory? 

While all sides have called Alameda County Superior Court Judge Miller's decision a victory for their respective camps, the reality, of course, is something murkier and more complex. 

There's no doubt that UC Berkeley will have to amend their design for the high tech gym and office building they want to build next to the landmarked stadium, and nothing in the ruling blocks either its eventual constructionor the axing of the oak trees that protesters are struggling to save. 

But, as Berkeley Planning and Development Director Dan Marks told city planning commissioners Wednesday night, her ruling warns of major obstacles to the university's plan for refurbishing the Cal Bears' home playing field. 

From the university's perspective, the most troubling element of the 129-page decision by the Alameda County Superior Court jurist may lie in her finding that the university must determine the stadium's value before building the gym as it's currently designed. 

Judge Miller also declared that the UC Board of Regents erred in declaring that some of the impacts—earthquake risks as well as noise and traffic impacts of an increased slate of capacity events at the stadium—were unavoidable. 

Finally, she dismissed the university's contention that it wasn't bound by the Alquist-Priolo Act, which governs construction on or near active earthquake faults: “[T]he Court's careful reading of Alquist-Priolo leads it to conclude the statute does apply to state agencies.” 

She found that the Student Athlete High Performance Center (SAHPC)—the official title of the semi-subterranean gym—doesn't lie within the earthquake law's danger zone, which includes everything with 50 feet of an active fault. 

But Alquist-Priolo's restrictions on new construction also apply to additions and alterations to existing structures that fall within the zone where new construction would be banned. 

While Judge Miller ruled that “substantial evidence supports” the university's claim that the gym isn't an addition to the stadium nor is it an alteration to the stadium as such, “several parts of the SAHPC project do constitute alterations to” the stadium. 

The specific features she pointed to were: 

• Changes to stadium stairways to accommodate the gym. 

• So-called “ground slab floor penetrations” that allow the gym's telecommunications system to connection with the stadium. 

• A “grade beam” along the stadium's western wall” which the university's attorneys said is needed to prevent possible collapse during excavation for the SAHPC. Charles Olson, the university's lead counsel, told Miller that the beam's cost is trivial compared to the stadium's value. 

Olson said Thursday that the proposed changes leading to the first two objections have been eliminated. While the grade beam could also be eliminated, he said, installation is “something the structural engineers think is prudent.” 

In invoking the term “value,” Olson had attempted to confront a key argument of the university's challengers that focused on Alquist-Priolo's cost limitations on alterations and additions to existing structures within the 50-foot zone. 

The university argued that the stadium's value should be set at the price of what it would cost to build a comparable new building today, while the challengers argued that the cost should be set at current market value—arguably somewhat tarnished by the building's age, its rundown condition and the fact that the Hayward Fault slices through its walls, in the words of Harriet Steiner, the Sacramento attorney hired to represent the City of Berkeley, “from goal post to goal post.” 

While not reaching a final conclusion, Judge Miller was clear that she was skeptical of the university's claim, looking instead to section 820 of the California Evidence Code, which sets value at “the cost of replacing existing improvements minus whatever depreciation or obsolescence the improvements have suffered.” 

Applying that section would severely hamper the university's massive renovation plans, which include gutting and refitting the stadium's interior, installing new seating, raising the eastern side of stadium seating, installing permanent night lighting and building an elevated two-level press box and luxury private boxes above the western wall. 

Judge Miller said that using replacement value as a cost basis “may be contrary to the spirit of Alquist-Priolo,” but without a clear indication of what valuation basis the university intends to use, “the court declines to prescribe any particular method at this time.” 

Olson on Thursday dismissed the judge's contention, and said replacement value—rather than current market value—is the standard used in the state Building Code, the code the judge had cited in other parts of her decision not relating to value. 

Olson said the university accepts a figure of $590 million as the building's worth, though Mogulof said the structure's status as a recognized and treasured landmark should raise the value even higher. 

But the city of Berkeley's planning director said the thrust of Miller's argument could spell bad news for the university's plans to renovate the stadium should her standard be the determinant—given its current the dilapidated, seismically unsafe condition. 

The judge also ruled that the university properly followed most of the procedures spelled out in the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), which mandates that major construction projects be analyzed for their impacts on the physical, natural and human environments. 

When the plaintiffs' lawyers charged that CEQA had been violated in multiple instances, Judge Miller rejected their claims except in the case of the seven new major public events the university said it plans to add to its schedule at the stadium. 

Because the university's environmental impact report does not offer an explanation for why the additional events were needed, “It cannot point to any evidence that would support a finding that the earthquake related risks, additional noise and traffic impacts associated with the additional events are unavoidable,” she wrote. 

But Olson said Thursday no additional benefits are planned until the stadium itself undergoes a retrofit, and only then will the university decide if it needs to amend the EIR to add the additional events. 

Law and order 

It was UC Berkeley Police Chief Victoria L. Harrison who announced the more aggressive enforcement policies Thursday night, and the chief even took to the air in one of the cherry-pickers the Watsonville firm is maintaining at the site. 

Reporters attending the press conference got a taste of what was to come when Matthew Taylor, a student and writer who had attended the meeting, was confronted by a police sergeant as he left. 

The officer thrust a stay-away order at him, and another officer with a video camera recorded the event as he refused to accept the paper. Other protesters were also served. 

Ayr, one of the leading spokespeople for the protesters, was arrested Friday. 

Meanwhile, the lawyers for the plaintiffs who sued the university are busy preparing an order they will submit to Judge Miller by Tuesday. 

That document will spell out the terms of her decision in an enforceable form, and could include a continuance of her current order barring any effort to demolish the grove or begin construction until the case is finally resolved. It does not bar the University from evicting trespassers, however. 

Olson said that an appeal could take from 12 to 18 months, and construction would begin almost immediately afterward, subject to the conditions of the ruling. 

6 p.m. Thursday--UC police, using a cherry-picker, have removed one tree-sitter this evening, and have pushed back all supporters and the public from the area surrounding the Memorial Stadium oak grove.  

They have extended the barriers around the grove by placing additional barricades to the median of Piedmont Avenue. 

UC has cut all food and water supply lines to the tree-sitters, and UC police chief Victoria Harrison went up in a crane to try to talk a protester down. 

There will be no Bay Area aerial spraying for the light brown apple moth, A.J. Kawamura, California agriculture secretary, announced Thursday afternoon in a conference call to the media. 

Instead the department will release hundreds of thousands of sterile moths to mate with the LBAM in the wild to eradicate the population.  

“There is no reproduction and the population collapses,” Kawamura explained. “This greatly reduces the need for aerial spraying.”  

The program is planned to begin in a pilot phase at the end of fall or beginning of winter, then continue with a larger program. Kawamura was unable to say where the program would begin. 

Aerial spraying could still take place outside urban areas, where the moth release was difficult, he said.  

Kawamura sidestepped questions about whether the outcry from individuals, organizations and cities and the lawsuits and legislation targeting the spray had put pressure on the department, but instead apologized for not effectively getting the message for the need for aerial spraying out to the public. 

“I want to do a better job of outreach,” he said. 

He said the reason for the sterile moth program was that the colonies being bred in a laboratory in Albany had successfully ramped up production of the sterile moths, which he had thought would take years.  

“That allows us to make the replacement” of the aerial spray program, he said. 

Activists opposing the spray welcomed the announcement.  

“It's a good step,” said Tom Kelly, a Berkeley resident with Stop the Spray East Bay. “I'm certainly anxious to see the full extent of the proposal.” 

Kelly credited not only the core group that had been working for months to stop the aerial spray but the involvement of a growing number of “average people.”  

“The governor wants us to push harder to use this tool,” Kawamura said. 

Kawamura said the department would use also use twist ties with a synthetic pheromone-a scent which confuses male moths so that they cannot find females-in areas where the LBAM infestation is heavy. 

Asked if there are any downsides to the program, Kawamura said the department has been using the technology for decades. “It's the safest tool we've been able to use,” he said. 

Despite the intention to release sterile moths, Kawamura said the department is continuing its appeal of decisions in the Santa Cruz and Monterey lawsuits, both of which require an environmental impact report before aerial spraying takes place in those counties. The department is continuing to prepare an EIR for aerial spraying, he said. 

Charles Faison, 39, described by neighbors as a private security guard and a father, was fatally gunned down in his home Thursday morning. 

The shooting, which took place in the 2000 block of Emerson Street between Adeline Street and Shattuck Avenue, was phoned in to the Berkeley Fire Department at 12:18 p.m. as an injured man inside his house, said Berkeley Police spokesperson Officer Andrew Frankel. 

When firefighters arrived at the home, they found Faison on the floor with at least one gunshot wound to the head, according to a neighbor who asked not to be identified. 

A next door neighbor said the victim had worked as a security guard, taking jobs at nightclubs and private parties. 

Minutes after police arrived, a man staggered up to the scene, distraught and crying out, “That’s my family in there. Please, let me see them. Oh Jesus, oh no! I’ve got to see them now.” 

He recovered briefly, then cried out, “Where’s my niece and nephews? Where’s my niece and nephews?” He collapsed seconds later, falling to his hand and knees as a police officer tried to comfort him. 

One of Faison's sons also arrived minutes later. His father and the mother of his children were also on hand. 

“He was a good man,” said a neighbor. “All he did was go to work and take care of his family.” 

Frankel’s formal announcement of the shooting death described the homicide as the year’s eighth, a figure that doesn’t include a fatal shooting by a Berkeley police officer of a knife-wielding woman that investigators have declared a justifiable homicide. 

In all of 2007, the city recorded only five slayings. If the rate in the first six months of 2008 continues through the rest of the year, this year's total will be more than double last year. 

While Mayor Tom Bates declared victory Thursday morning after a judge’s ruling on Berkeley’s lawsuit over UC Berkeley’s proposed construction of a sports facility adjacent to Memorial Stadium, City Councilmember Gordon Wozniak called the ruling a loss for the city. 

Addressing the media at a City Hall press conference, Bates said the city won its two principal points: one was “to make sure Alquist Priolo applies”—the Alquist Priolo Act governs construction on or near earthquake faults—and the second was to ensure that the university conduct further environmental review before construction, Bates said. 

“This is the first time it has been clarified. The judge agreed with the city and that the university will have to abide by Alquist-Priolo,” Bates said. 

While Bates underscored that the city would have preferred a negotiated settlement, he said the approximate $250,000 spent on the case was justified. “We felt it was an important principle,” he said. “The ruling proves [the expenditure] was justified. These are not easy issues to resolve.”  

Councilmember Gordon Wozniak, a retired UC employeewho sat in on the press conference but didn’t speak publicly, had another take on the situation: “We spent a quarter of a million dollars to get our butts kicked,” he said, arguing that the city could have negotiated a settlement.  

Wozniak contradicted Bates, contending the ruling was not significant. “The university always said they would follow Alquist Priolo,” he said. 

Wozniak added, however, that the ruling is a “big win” for people living on Panoramic Hill, adjacent to Memorial Stadium. The Panoramic Hill Neighborhood Association was one of three related lawsuits consolidated by the court. A suit brought by the California Oaks Foundation was the third. 

Wozniak said he thought as a result of the lawsuit that Memorial Stadium would be retrofitted and that football practice would take place at the stadium, but said he believed that regular football games would not be played there, something the neighbors would celebrate. 

Bates told the press that the city’s interest in the lawsuit was not in protecting the trees or in the tree sitters; saving the oaks is a separate issue, he said. (Councilmembers Betty Olds and Dona Spring are among those who have joined protests to save the trees in the Memorial Stadium oak grove.) 

He said Berkeley police have not been involved in recent actions to remove tree sitters and their equipment from the grove and would only assist UC police if a judge clearly stated that construction was permitted. 

The city will go back to court Tuesday to clarify its interpretation of the judge’s order. The university will respond to the city. 

The City Council will meet in closed session Tuesday at 5:30 p.m. in closed session to discuss further legal actions including a possible appeal, Bates said. 

An Alameda County Superior Court judge’s ruling has forced a halt to the planned construction of a gymnasium complex next to UC Berkeley’s California Memorial Stadium. 

While the ruling upheld most of the university’s plans for their Memorial Stadium gym, it also held that key parts of the decision approved by the UC Board of Regents need revision. 

Stephan Volker, one of the attorneys suing the university, hailed the judge’s ruling as a victory. 

Judge Barbara J. Miller decided that three key features of the planned stadium gym violate the Alquist-Priolo Act governing construction on or near earthquake faults. She rejected the university’s contention that the law doesn’t apply to them. 

The judge also said that the approval by the regents failed to adequately consider earthquake risks and noise and traffic from special events planned at the university. 

Though she upheld most of the university’s contentions, the judge’s decision halts the uiniversity’s plans to move forward on the project pending further environmental review. 

“We are ecstatic,” Volker said. 

The ruling late Wednesday comes at the end of two turbulent days at the site of an ongoing protest next to the western wall of Memorial Stadium. 

Arborists, backed by UC Berkeley campus police, armed with pistols, batons and at least two cherry-pickers, raided the ongoing tree-sit at Memorial Stadium Tuesday morning, cutting lines and threatening arrests. 

Then, soon after a press conference where UC Berkeley spokesperson Dan Mogulof announced police weren’t going to seize tree-sitters from the branches, the civilian crews snatched one tree-sitter from her support line. 

By Wednesday morning at least five cranes and “cherry-picker” lifts were in place, including a massive new crane that towered over the oak grove as arborists with chain saws took down at least two branches while a reporter watched. 

UC Berkeley officials have tightly managed public perceptions of the event, closing off Memorial Stadium, the only place with a clear view of events on the ground,to public access. The university has plans to cut down the grove to build a four-level high tech gym and office complex dubbed the Student Athlete High Performance Center. 

The tree-sit, which began in December 2006 on Big Game day, has led to a steadily escalating conflict between protesters—who want to preserve the grove and a site that some claim may hold Native American burials—and a university eager to improve its aging athletic facilities to better accommodate alumni fans who are a major source of donations. 

Critics also question the university’s decision to build next to a stadium that sits directly atop the earthquake fault that federal geologists predict will cause the Bay Area’s next major earthquake. 

University officials have steadily escalated pressure on the activists occupying the grove, adding first one and then another barbed wire-topped fence to keep out the protest supporters who keep tree-sitters supplied with food and water and haul away their bodily wastes. 

Campus police tried Tuesday to keep supporters and the press off the sidewalk on Gayley Road. 

“It’s a crime scene,” said one officer. 

As members of the crowd yelled at the officers, the police in turn videotaped the protesters. 

This Berkeley Daily Planet reporter was threatened with arrest after he questioned an officer’s order to leave the rim of the stadium, the only place where activities of the officers could be monitored. 

As the reporter was leaving, he was shoved in the back by a university officer and would have fallen down the concrete stairs had not he been grabbed by Doug Buckwald, one of the long-time supporters of the tree-sit. 

Officer C. Chichester, badge 36, told this reporter, who was carrying valuable camera gear, that if he were arrested, “Who knows what would happen to your camera equipment when you’re in jail?” 

The stadium rim was the only place from which a journalist could have a view of the events unfolding in the grove below. It was from the rim that the reporter saw one of the cranes brush a support line, from which a tree-sitter was suspended between two evergreens at least 50 feet apart. 

Millipede, the treesitters suspended from the line, screamed in terror. She was the same tree-sitter arrested hours later. University spokesperson Dan Mogulof said she had bitten one of the workers. 

Zachary Running Wolf, the first of the tree-sitters, said she and other protesters had been terrified when the arborists placed a saw next to the lines from which the tree-sitters were suspended between the trees. 

Had the line snapped, the protesters would have been hurled to the ground in a potentially fatal fall, and for that reason the reporter objected to the forced move. 

Asked why the reporter and spectators were being moved, Chichester said, “Well, there are people down below and perhaps they feel threatened.” 

The stadium rim was blocked by police crime scene tape during the encounter. 

Asked the grounds for a potential arrest, Chichester said simply, “You’re trespassing.” He declined to cite a statute, and said, “You’ll be informed of that when you’re being booked at the jail.” 

License plates and all identifying signs were covered on almost all the contract equipment brought to the site to aid in the university’s operations at the grove. 

In addition to the cranes and cherry pickers, the university was bringing in new portable lights, and a communications van and a diesel fuel truck were also on hand. 

The fuel truck, from Pacific States Petroleum, was the only vehicle with visible license plates and corporate name and logo. 

Meanwhile, Judge Miller issued her decision late Wednesday in the lawsuit filed jointly by City Councilmember Dona Spring, the city itself and a group of environmental and neighborhood organizations challenging the stadium project itself. 

That ruling targets the decision of the UC Board of Regents to approve the gym, a stadium seismic retrofit and other projects in the southeast campus area. 

At least 40 uniformed officers participated in Tuesday’s raid, as well as at least five arborists in civilian garb. 

By Wednesday, police were also circulating among the throng who had gathered on scene to support the tree-sitters or simply watch the unfolding spectacle. Previously officers had largely remained behind the portable barriers that have blocked off the sidewalk along the eastern edge of Piedmont Avene/Gayley Road adjacent to the stadium. 

Officers Tuesday had also closed off the northbound lane of Piedmont between Bancroft Avenue and Stadium Rim Way and the roadway remained closed Wednesday, with the roadblock staffed by Berkeley city police. 

The most visible symbol of the protest Wednesday was Muffin, a blonde woman standing in her box-like perch atop an evergreen at least 50 feet above the ground. She stood, facing the massive crane that had been brought in hours before, as a crew of arborists in a basket suspended from the crane carried on work largely invisible to spectators below. 

The day before a judge was to rule on the university’s right to build a sports training facility adjacent to Memorial Stadium, the City Council voted 8-1 to temporarily halt all new development in the Panoramic Hill neighborhood, just south of the stadium. 

The 45-day moratorium, which can be extended for two years, got the supermajority council vote it needed, with Councilmember Betty Olds the lone dissenter.  

During a two-year period without development, city planners hope to kick-start a planning process aimed at upgrading the area’s substandard sewers, inadequate water for fire fighting, crumbling, narrow roads and more. 

Jerry Wachtel, president of the Panoramic Hill Neighborhood Association, told the council that the community has been searching for solutions to the area problems for 50 years. “This is the first concrete step,” he said. 

Olds agreed with area residents that the upgrades are critical, noting that road she took 55 years ago to visit friends has not been upgraded since. She opposed the moratorium, however, saying that it would take the council’s will and not a moratorium to get the upgrades put in place. 

Planning Director Dan Marks, who initiated the moratorium, said it would buy time for planners to write an initial ordinance that would restrict building on the most substandard sites, lots on which developers can now build legally. 

A more thorough document that would change zoning laws and require formal environmental review “will be a three-to-five year planning process,” Marks said. The two-year moratorium will allow the city to develop “interim regulations to protect the area,” he said. 

While the group of about a dozen people from the Panoramic Hill Neighborhood Association who had come to the City Council supported the moratorium, some expressed fear that the city could run away with the process. 

“There’s a huge development potential,” Panoramic Hill resident Janice Thomas told the council. “The city’s interest may be at odds with the neighbors.” 

While Marks responded that his department would meet with residents, his other remarks underscored the development potential some neighbors said they fear. 

“How do you pay for the sewers and roads?” Marks asked. “I’m not proposing to do that with city funds at this time.” The alternative may be to sell existing lots, he said. That could bring in tax money and developer fees to fund the projects. 

“I don’t like that approach at all,” Councilmember Dona Spring responded. 

Olds said she feared that the university, which owns undeveloped property nearby, could take advantage of upgrades in the neighborhood. 

“The university is the elephant in the bedroom—or living room—waiting for us to do the sewers, then put in 200 houses,” she said. 

Panoramic Hill area resident Suzanne Scotchmer told the council that, in addition to her home, she owns one of those substandard lots in the area and was happy to keep it undeveloped.  

“It would be irresponsible to build on it—safety trumps greed,” she said.

Safeway representatives unveiled plans to upgrade their Solano Avenue store at the Northbrae Community Church Tuesday, and they got an earful from Berkeley and Albany neighbors, who voiced concerns about aesthetics, parking and the size of the proposed project. 

The plan proposes to convert 29,000 square feet of space into 58,000 square feet, with an additional 9,447 square feet of retail space. 

The $35 million project is part of the supermarket’s nationwide capital improvement campaign to “lifestyle” all their stores by 2010, and provide a more exciting upscale shopping experience for its customers, including a bigger organic produce selection and a bakery. 

Safeway Stores Inc. planner Todd Paradis promised neighbors the upgrade would outshine Andronico’s on Solano, but some of the 40 or so people at the meeting said they were unwilling to risk losing their privacy, parking and small-town neighborhood feel for the sake of change. 

Paradis said a lot of Solano residents had asked for an urban store with easy pedestrian access. 

The proposed project will be three stories tall, with subterranean parking, street level retail, outdoor seating and pedestrian-friendly sidewalks, Paradis said. 

Safeway will be on the second floor. 

The overall development, including parking and retail, will be 160,312 square feet—almost eight times the size of the current store size. Safeway is also asking Albany for a variance to allow them to exceed the permissible height limit (35 feet) to 49 feet. 

“The new store will give you a much different product,” Paradis said. 

According to Paradis, the new store will have a more comfortable layout, with a bakery, deli and seafood section and a bigger aisle for organic produce.  

A few people laughed when Paradis showed pictures of the current seafood section, acknowledging that it was in desperate need of an upgrade. 

Safeway’s preliminary proposal will be discussed at the Albany Planning Commission at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday. 

Safeway also plans to expand its College Avenue store—which has met with stiff opposition from College and Claremont Avenue neighbors—and its store on Shattuck Avenue. 

Adam Duhan, who has practiced internal medicine on Solano since 1985, and owns three buildings right next to Safeway, said he was ambivalent toward the project. 

“I can see the moon rise above the hills from where I am now, but all that will be entirely eliminated by that structure,” he said. “It’s an imposing monolith. But ultimately I am a New Yorker and I am used to big buildings. I am not opposed to development if it’s an improvement to the area. I think people are concerned about privacy and whether it will be an attractive project.” 

Duhan said he was concerned about the underground parking lot and whether Safeway would allow the community to park there if they shopped or dined elsewhere. 

“The issue for a lot of people is underground parking,” he said. “There is a notion of suspicion related to underground parking.” 

Paradis said video cameras would be provided in the parking lot, and in the case of a security breach, the company would even hire security guards. 

“If we can’t make that parking lot safe for you, our retail and sales will suffer,” he said. “People will want to go somewhere else for their groceries and we don’t want that to happen.” 

A total of 205 parking spots will be available, with 80 at the street level, and 125 at the lower level. 

“My hunch is, that with 205 parking spaces, people will be able to park there even if they are not shopping at Safeway,” Paradis said. 

In an e-mail to Solano Avenue neighbors, Curtis Street residents John and Bettina Fox expressed concern about impacts on traffic from increased delivery vehicles and customer trips. 

Paradis said an increase in store sales would not impact deliveries. 

Zelda Bronstein, who shops regularly at the Solano Safeway, said she was concerned that the proposed project would remove the parking lot from the front of the store. 

“The parking lot needs to be reconfigured, but they are talking about removing the parking, not reconfiguring it,” she said, adding that she was against an underground parking lot. 

Bronstein said Safeway had met with neighbors in 2005, but had refused to address their concerns. 

“It’s like this giant cooperation trying to squeeze every penny out of the site,” she said. “Why are we having community meetings when no one is listening to our concerns? It’s like window dressing.” 

Paradis said Safeway would continue to tweak its plans after getting feedback from its neighbors. 

“These are preliminary plans people can throw their darts at,” he said. “It’s a work in progress.” 

For more information on the 1500 Solano Ave. Safeway expansion plans visit: www.safewayonsolano.com 

Study session at the Albany Planning Commission meeting Tuesday, June 24, 2008, at 7:30 p.m., at 1249 Marin Ave. 

For information on the 1444 Shattuck Ave. Safeway expansion plans visit: www.safewayonshattuck.com 

Public meeting on Wednesday, June 25, 2008, at 6:30 p.m., at the Hillside Club, 2286 Cedar St. 

For more information on the Claremont and College Safeway visit: www.safewayoncollege.com 

Public meeting on Thursday, June 19, 2008 at 7 p.m., Peralta Elementary School Gym, 460 63rd St., Oakland. 

Forget flexibility: It’s now the “West Berkeley Project.” 

City staff has renamed the zoning modification effort now under way before the Planning Commission, in part because the phrase “West Berkeley Flexibility” evoked fears in the hearts of artists and craftsfolk who worry about being priced out of their last remaining refuge in the city. 

The City Council has directed commissioners to come up with a plan for easing some of West Berkeley’s zoning restrictions, and even supporters of the current system say they’d like to see some changes—but not radical revisions that could force them out of the city they love. 

No one denies that West Berkeley zoning regulations, created to complement the West Berkeley Plan, contains flaws that could use some legal tweaking. But critics feared that the “flexibility” approach could lead to sweeping changes that violated the spirit of a plan which sought to achieve accommodation between artists, crafts shops and major industrial tenants. 

West Berkeley’s MU-LI zone—for manufacturing and light industrial—is the city’s last bastion for artists and craftworkers priced out of Berkeley’s commercial zones. 

And even in West Berkeley, arts and crafts space has dwindled with the closing and demolition of the Drayage and the eviction of the Nexus collective. 

At the same time, biotech labs are claiming ever more space, and the Green Corridor initiative of East Bay city and county governments is working to bring in more corporate facilities that would complement and commercialize agrofuel and other high-tech research now under way at UC Berkeley and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. 

“We are calling it the West Berkeley Project because the ‘flexibility’ word was scary and didn’t necessarily suggest all we’re trying to do,” said planner Alex Amoroso. 

As part of the redefinition process, the city has hired Rick Auerbach, an activist with West Berkeley Artisans and Industrial Companies (WEBAIC), to survey the MU-LI zone to find out what companies and studios are actually there, both on ground floor street frontages and on the floors above, said city Economic Development Director Michael Caplan. 

Dave Fogarty of the city’s economic development staff said that while the 1992 West Berkeley Plan anticipated 1.54 million square feet of new construction by 2005, only 475,000 square feet was actually built by 2005, most by Bayer HealthCare Pharmaceuticals on its 43-acre campus. 

Still, the total of 10.8 million square feet of total space in West Berkeley reported last year was close to what the plan has projected, “but the distribution was very different from what had been expected,” Fogarty said.  

“The main difference was the addition of a relatively large amount of manufacturing space,” developed at a time when, nationally, manufacturing “was not doing all that well,” he said. 

And while jobs had been expected to increase 20 percent from the baseline of 15,809, the actual growth was only 4 percent, to 16,454, he said. 

Caplan said the greatest job growth was at two industrial facilities, Bayer and Pacific Steel Casting. 

The area also lost three of its largest businesses: Flint Ink, McAuley Foundry and Peerless Lighting, though plans for a major mixed-use research and live/work development at the Peerless site have been proposed by owner Douglas Herst. 

Unexpected growth 

Where West Berkeley did see growth was in areas not anticipated when the plan was developed, Caplan said, in part due to the advent of Internet retailing—which has allowed, for example, the opening of a wine retailer which does on-line business from a West Berkeley warehouse. 

But some critics question the numbers cited by planning staff, including Auerbach, whose hiring as a temporary consultant may help clarify a contentious issue. 

When commissioner Susan Wengraf asked Caplan for data on the number of self-employed artists and artisans who work in the area, Caplan said, “We’ll be able to show you in coming months,” citing Auerbach’s project, which is now under way. 

Auerbach said his work had shown that at least 787 individuals are working in at least 210 studios. 

“The main attraction is affordability,” he said. “West Berkeley used to be affordable.” 

Fogarty said the only numbers the city maintains have been derived from the business licenses all self-employed arts and crafts workers are legally required to obtain—though compliance may be less than universal. 

“Rick was able to get about 90 percent of them to say where they are located,” Caplan said. One challenge for the future will be figuring out “how to preserve these clusters and enhance them,” he said. 

Commissioner Roia Ferrazares said she was concerned that the city find a way to keep those jobs in West Berkeley that offer a path to a decent income and benefits for workers without college degrees and advanced training. 

Caplan said Green Corridor governments have been talking to community colleges and organizations to develop procedures for training a workforce for growing economic sectors—“a vocational education model that looks at energy technologies.” 

“Lab tech jobs are a good example,” he said. “You need training, but not a whole lot. Bayer is the model. For 15 years they have interacted with the school system to create training programs for lab technicians, and on their own initiative.”  

In that same period, he said, jobs have nearly doubled, from 600 to 1,775 today, “and a lot of the new employees are lab technicians, recruited locally, and many are high school graduates.” The result, he said, “is the only large-scale success in West Berkeley.” 

Wengraf noted that as part of the conditions for Bayer’s use permit, planning commissioners had negotiated a Bayer-backed biotech training program at Berkeley High School. But, she said, “there were only 16 or 17 slots, and my concern was that we could have negotiated a lot more.” 

Still, she said, “it’s a great model to use in any future development agreements.” 

More questions 

Commissioner Harry Pollack said he wanted more information on the changes in the category of uses. “We need to understand that a little better ... because we have certain categories in our zoning ordinance that don’t seem to match up with 21st century realities.” 

Mary Lou Van Deventer of Urban Ore told commissioners that some of the sites listed for potential development had already been used, and said that her recycling business had almost doubled in sales and added seven new employees in recent years and was planning on further expansion. 

She and others have noted that recycling is as much a “green” form of business as the high-tech ventures targeted by the Green Corridor partnership. 

John Curl, a woodworker and WEBAIC activist, said the statistics cited by the city staff “are very questionable and need to be adjusted,” especially given the two different sets of classifications used.  

Auerbach agreed that existing datea are “kind of questionable.” 

“It all comes down to the question, Is West Berkeley a successful area in terms of jobs, equity and other issues?” he said. And many of the apparently vacant spaces are being land-banked, he said, kept from development now by owners who are hoping for an increase in land prices.” 

By the end of the meeting, commissioners had few firm answers but lots more questions for city staff to answer when they next take up the issue on July 23. 

The Planning Department’s page on the project—still labeled “West Berkeley Flexibility”—may be found at www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/ContentDisplay.aspx?id=10764. 

The ongoing battle over bus rapid transit (BRT) smoldered anew when Berkeley’s planning and transportation commissions took their second joint look at the concept last week. 

Ultimately it will be up to city councilmembers to choose the locally preferred alternative (LPA) for the city’s portion of a bus corridor that will run from downtown Berkeley to the San Leandro BART station. 

AC Transit’s proposals to halve the number of traffic lanes along Telegraph Avenue, eliminate on-avenue parking spots and severely restrict options for left turns from side streets onto the heavily traveled avenue have generated the greatest heat. 

But supporters like Charles Siegel say the concerns of neighbors and merchants—“Their fears are fantasies”—would be resolved by mitigations offered by the transit agency in the project’s environmental impact report. 

Berkeleyans for Better Transportation Options (BBTOP) has presented its own alternative to BRT, which the group has dubbed Rapid Bus Plus, and city transportation planner Karen Vuicich said at the June 11 meeting that their proposal would be considered by city staff as it develops a local alternative proposal. 

Also to be considered in addition to AC Transit’s BRT proposal will be a “no-build alternative,” she said. 

“Our overall goal is to provide the best information to the City Council so that they can decide on an LPA,” Vuicich said.  

Meanwhile, AC Transit officials will study the BBTOP proposal, and staff will report back to the commission July 9 “with a clear description” of the Rapid Bus Plus proposal. 

Commissioners will hear and discuss a staff presentation focusing on the effects of all the alternatives in September, and the following month will discuss which alternative would be the best option for consideration by the council, but no vote will be taken, Vuicich said. 

Questioned by commissioner Harry Pollack about which proposal offered shorter times between buses, Vuicich and colleague Matt Nichols said the dedicated lane proposed as part of the BRT plan offered the shortest wait times, allowing for 12 buses per hour compared to a maximum of six without the bus-only lane. 

The most pointed questions came from the Planning Commission, while the transportation panel has more specialized familiarity with the subject at hand. 

Gene Poschman said he was unhappy that little attention seemed to have been given to the larger impacts of the BRT proposal. 

“One problem I’ve got is that underneath the economic development criteria are the two words ‘land use,’ which really could take several pages,” he said. 

And one term included in the staff glossary of bus-related terms particularly piqued his interest: Transit Village, a term which, if invoked under state law, can lead to taller buildings and greater densities than would otherwise be allowed under local ordinances. 

“Is Telegraph Avenue with or without BRT” eligible for the height and density bonuses?” he mused. “This is just one kind of impact. The neighborhood and land use impacts have to be fleshed out.” 

BRT booster Sarah Syed of the Transportation Commission said she wanted to see more detailed figures and background information, and asked for a discussion of reported ridership increases that have followed in the ongoing gasoline price escalation. 

Public comments came down on both sides of the issue. 

Michael Katz, a member of BBTOP, faulted AC Transit’s advocates for campaigning for BRT by adopting a policy of “conversion by ideal” to transform people from car to bus riders because of the sumption that some kind of moral benefit results. 

“We offer the community more bang for the buck,” he said, with shorter buses and shorter waits between buses. Gas prices were already prompting an increase in bus ridership, “and we think we can get optimal results without the detriment of dedicated lanes. The shift is already happening.” 

Martha Jones, a member of the Claremont Elmwood Neighborhood Association board, said she was concerned both about the aesthetics of the proposed stations and by problems she said had been experienced by the Los Angeles Orange Line BRT system 

“They’ve had so many collisions with left-turning vehicles that buses have been slowed to 10 miles per hour before all intersections,” she said. Jones said she was also concerned about construction impacts on Telegraph and in downtown Berkeley. 

Steve Geller, a BRT booster, urged the commissions to get moving, declaring that “each BRT bus takes 60 cars off the road,” adding that UC Berkeley had promised to scale back on building new campus parking facilities if BRT is approved. 

Skip BRT and go straight to an ecopass system that would help everyone ride the existing system, urged Merilee Mitchell. 

Describing the BRT proposal as the biggest infrastructure transformation in the city since the construction of the Bay Area Rapid Transit system, Bruce Wicinas said the current proposal offers only crude choices for the downtown routes and asked for more detailed descriptions of their alternatives and the tradeoffs involved. 

Joel Ramos of the Transformation and Land Use Coalition—which has endorsed the BRT concept—said he would leave design of the Berkeley part of the program “to the professionals.” 

“We encourage the commissions to move it along and not let this window of opportunity pass us by,” he said. 

Steve Finacom, a Telegraph area resident, ran through a list of concerns starting with the loss of street trees entailed by the construction process, the impacts of adding traffic lights to every intersection along the route and blocking of left turns onto Telegraph at most intersections and potential public safety impacts. 

“Another key issue is what is the legal mechanism that AC Transit proposes to guarantee they deliver on what they propose and which would allow the city to enforce that,” he said. 

The commissioners also heard from another BRT supporter, Helen Burke, an environmental activist who had just stepped down from her seat on the Planning Commission. 

“I’m not going away mad,” she said. “I’m just going away,” adding with a smile, “I always wanted to be on this side of the microphone.”  

BRT offers the city the biggest bang for the buck for reducing carbon emissions as called for in the city’s Climate Action Plan, Burke said, adding “there’s a way to listen to the concerns” of Telegraph Avenue merchants “and still move forward.” 

With the AC Transit district working on an ambitious proposal to run dedicated, bus rapid transit-only lanes from San Leandro and across the city of Oakland to the UC Berkeley campus, the president of the AC Transit board of directors says he is “surprised” that more Oakland residents and politicians have not weighed in on the idea. 

“In Berkeley it’s a big deal,” At-Large Director Chris Peeples said by telephone this week, noting that the debate in Berkeley has now included a planned citizen referendum on the project proposed for the November ballot. “But Berkeley has a tradition of citizen activism. There are a lot of people in the city who have expertise, people who know what they’re talking about and are speaking up. Berkeley’s pretty well-informed. I wish it were that way in Oakland. I don’t think most Oakland residents have a clue about how major a project this is.” 

In fact, other than a lively discussion by residents and businessowners along the North Oakland Telegraph Avenue corridor that runs directly into the proposed Berkeley route of the BRT project, Oakland has been virtually silent on the issue. A staff report released at the last AC Transit Board meeting revealed that while AC Transit staff met in December of last year with “every Oakland City Council member whose District is on the BRT corridor” that proposes to run down Telegraph to downtown Oakland, down 14th Street and around the 14th Street-12th Street Lake Merritt exchange, then down International to the San Leandro border (Councilmembers Jane Brunner, Pat Kernighan, Nancy Nadel, Desley Brooks, and Larry Reid), only De La Fuente and Kernighan have since submitted statements for inclusion in the Draft Environmental Impact Statement. 

AC Transit expects each of the three cities in the proposed BRT route—San Leandro, Oakland, and Berkeley—to provide the district with what they call a “local preferred alternative” (LPA) to the transit district’s proposal if city officials disagree with elements of AC Transit’s plans. 

While the AC Transit board will eventually have the last say on what the final form of the BRT project will be, that decision can only be made after a series of complicated and delicate negotiations and discussions with the respective city governments involved. 

“The cities own the streets,” Peeples said, “so if we want to do something as simple as putting in a bus stop, the cities have to give their permission. That’s true in spades and diamonds with something as major as proposing to put in two dedicated bus lanes. We have to work closely with the three cities, and the cities have to sign off on whatever we eventually propose.” 

Peeples said that once the three cities come back with LPAs, “my guess is that we can make [the cities’ proposed alternative plans] work so long as it’s reasonable.”  

While there has been some public discussion in Oakland about accommodating BRT to the city’s proposed Measure DD alterations to the roadway between the western end of Lake Merritt and the old Kaiser Convention Center, there has been virtual silence on the effect to the east, where AC Transit wants to appropriate the two center lanes of the entire length of International Boulevard. That would include the already-congested commercial area of the Fruitvale business district, as well as create the necessity of removing left-turn lanes and landscaped center divides from High Street to the San Leandro border. Such changes would have a major impact on traffic along International Boulevard, for good or bad. 

According to the AC Transit staff report, “once [AC Transit] staff has finalized district responses to Oakland staff and councilmember comment letters, and addressed other issues, a resolution on the LPA will be put before the Oakland City Council,” anticipated to be in August or September of this year.  

The same report said that Berkeley was working on its “local proposed alternative” at the staff level, and that “council action approving the LPA could take place as early as September.” 

That timetable is more ambitious than the one presented to last week’s AC Transit Board by BRT Project Manager Jim Cunradi, who said that he “hopes the cities will submit recommendations to AC Transit” by the fall and winter.  

Both Peeples and AC Transit Board Vice President Rebecca Kaplan have asked that the board take up what they call a “substantive discussion” on BRT once the cities’ recommendations are received. Peeples said that such a discussion would include “the board giving final approval of whether or not we want this program,” a comment that suggested that BRT itself might be in some jeopardy within the district itself. Asked about that directly in this week’s telephone interview, Peeples called that a “mis-impression,” and that his comments were intended only to mean that the planned “substantive discussions” by the board could mean a modification or even abandonment of some sections of the BRT proposal, as well as the addition of some elements not yet included. 

Meanwhile, the San Leandro City Council has already gone on record opposing the operation of the BRT dedicated lanes through its downtown. Instead, according to Assistant City Manager Steve Hollister, the council wants BRT to terminate at the Downtown San Leandro BART station instead of at the proposed BayFair BART station, ending just short of the downtown area. The San Leandro City Council is proposing that from Davis Street south, the downtown border, BRT would run down East 14th Street to BayFair BART without dedicated lanes, as the type of rapid bus system AC Transit currently operates along several lines. 

“The downtown area is just too narrow to accommodate dedicated bus lanes,” Hollister said by telephone. 

He said the city expects to hold a series of neighborhood and community meetings throughout the summer, with the City Council expected to discuss the project again in late September or early October. 

Trying to strike a balance between budgetary necessities and political realities, the AC Transit Board of Directors put off consideration of a proposed across-the-board fare increase until after the November general election, opting instead to begin the process of putting a parcel tax increase measure on the fall ballot. 

The board unanimously directed staff on June 11 to come back with ballot measure language—including the exact amount of the proposed parcel tax increase—to be considered at the district’s June 25 board meeting. 

The proposed increase, which could range from $24 to $48 per year per parcel, would come on top of the $48-per-year parcel tax already being paid in the transit district. Voters in Alameda and Contra Costa counties last approved that amount in Measure BB in November of 2004. 

Any parcel tax increase would require a two-thirds voter majority for approval. 

With yearly operating expenses rising at four times the rate of revenue in the past three years, the district had been considering fare increases this year of 25 cents for adults and 15 cents for youth, seniors and the disabled, as well as several proposals to raise the prices of the district’s various passes and monthly tickets. 

But at a packed public hearing on the proposed fare increases held last month in the Council Chambers at Oakland City Hall, board members and transit district staff heard speaker after speaker urge the district to find some other source of revenue to balance its books. 

“That was the number one comment we heard at the fare hearing, and that’s something I agree with,” AC Transit Board Vice President Rebecca Kaplan said at Wednesday night’s meeting. “Public transit needs to be treated as a public good in the same way that we treat our road system. Most of the cost of maintaining our public roads comes out of the general tax funds which are paid by everyone, even by people who don’t own cars.”  

Saying that the general public benefits from having a public transit system in many ways, even if they are not riding on the buses, Kaplan said that the burden of operating that system should be shared by the general public through a parcel tax increase rather than shouldered only by transit riders through a fare increase. 

While the proposed fare hike was clearly unpopular with AC Transit riders, board members were presented with a recently conducted study by Gene Bregman & Associates, a San Francisco public opinion and marketing research firm, showing 64 percent voter support for a $48 per year parcel tax increase ranging up to 75 percent voter support for a $24 per year increase. 

Saying that much support for a new increase was similar to support expressed at the same stage four years ago, before local voters eventually passed Measure BB, Bregman told transit board directors he was “very encouraged by the results.” 

AC Transit General Manager Rick Fernandez cautioned that even if a parcel tax increase is put on the November ballot and passed, a hike in bus fares next year might still be necessary because of rising fuel prices and cuts in state transit subsidies. 

“We know that we are going to be losing state revenue, we just don’t know how much,” Fernandez said. He added that the proposed parcel tax increase was “crucial to help stabilize our funding source.” 

While board members did not directly say that political considerations played a part in their decision to put off consideration of a fare increase, politics was clearly on their minds Wednesday night. In a preliminary discussion over how high a parcel tax increase the district should go for—$24, $36, or $48 per year, with lower polling approval percentages as the tax amount increased—Board President Chris Peeples noted that three board members (himself, Ward 1 Director Joe Wallace of Richmond and Ward 2 Director Greg Harper of Emeryville) will be up for re-election in November and a fourth board member, Kaplan, is in a runoff for the at-large Oakland City Council seat. 

Both Peeples and Harper said that opponents in those races would be expected to mount concerted political attacks against those board members, highlighting recent bad publicity AC Transit has received in the media and possibly driving down support for the proposed parcel tax. 

The February shooting death of Anita Gay, 51, by Officer Rashawn Cummings was justified, Berkeley police say.  

“My conclusion is that he acted appropriately,” Police Chief Doug Hambleton told the Planet on Friday, the day after a three-inch Berkeley Police report was released to the public.  

The Alameda County district attorney has received the Berkeley Police Department report and is conducting its own investigation, Hambleton said, adding that the district attorney has not yet issued findings on the case.  

After the Feb. 16 incident Cummings was placed on two weeks paid administrative leave, then returned to full duty. Cummings has been with the department since December 2002.  

The entire Police Review Commission will sit as a Board of Inquiry to look into the incident, according to PRC Officer Victoria Urbi, who staffs the commission. Urbi said she is taking the lead in the investigation.  

Following the commission’s hearing on the incident, which will likely be in July, a subcomittee will review policies to see if different procedures are needed to avoid such an incident in the future.  

Andrea Prichett of Copwatch said she welcomes the PRC investigation. “They need to ask the question, ‘Did this woman need to die?’” she said.  

Prichett also wants the PRC to look at why the officer responded alone to a domestic violence call.  

“I’m sorry the chief doesn’t see anything wrong,” Prichett added.  

The incident began with a call from neighbors concerning a smashed window.  

Gay was interviewed at the time, but not detained. “We suspected that she was involved somehow. We had no witnesses to corroborate it,” Cummings told the investigator when interviewed soon after the incident.  

The police report describes a second call to the same address. “Officer Cummings was the first to arrive,” the report says.  

The call was “a report of a 415 family [disturbance] between mother and daughter,” Cummings told investigators.  

The officer went on to say that he witnessed a woman at a window above, yelling down to a woman on the ground whom he recognized from the earlier call as Gay, “‘Don’t hide the knife now.’” According to Cummings, he told investigators he shined his flashlight on Gay and saw her put the knife into her waistband.  

“So as I approached, I kind of kept my distance because at the time I was by myself. I didn’t have any cover,” he told investigators.  

He said he then told Gay to put her hands on a wall near the foot of the staircase. She complied after being told twice. The officer was six-to-eight feet behind Gay at the time.  

“I didn’t want to go hands-on with her yet because I hadn’t had cover with me and I wasn’t trying to fight with someone who had a knife in their waistband without cover,” he told investigators.  

At that point Laniece Lomack came outside and exchanged curses with Gay, Cummings said.  

“After they yelled at each other for a minute, Anita just spontaneously, within less than a second, grabs the knife from her waistband real fast, raised it above ... her head and ran up the stairs as if she was gonna stab the woman on the porch,” he said. “At that point I tried to holler at her, but it happened so fast, I couldn’t get two words out. I drew my gun and I fired twice.”  

“Do you have any doubt in your mind whatsoever had you not been able to get your gun out that she would have stabbed her?” the investigator asked Cummings, who responded, “I’m positive she would have got stabbed.”  

Cummings told investigators his goal in shooting Gay was to try to incapacitate her.  

Asked why he didn’t use pepper spray, Cummings responded that it isn’t effective on everyone.  

Both of Gay’s daughters, Sherrie and Laniece Lomack, witnessed the incident and corroborated the officer’s testimony, according to transcripts of testimony. (Sherrie Lomack said she saw the knife in her mother’s hand; Laniece Lomack said she thought her mother had a knife, but didn’t see it.) 

Sherrie Lomack told officers her mother was an alcoholic and a “crackhead” and would become violent when she drank. She said she was drunk the day of the incident.  

Questioned as to why she and her sister came out of the apartment after they had initially locked themselves in for fear that their mother would hurt them, Sherrie Lomack said they came out because they felt safe with police there. 

“We didn’t go down until the police was there,” Sherrie Lomack told investigators.  

The 590-page police report reviewed by the Planet does not indicate that police told the sisters to stay inside the apartment.  

The investigator asked Sherrie Lomack, “He saved your sister’s life?”  

“Yes he did,” she responded.  

“And saved your life?” the investigator continued.  

“Yes, he did. Yes, he did,” Sherrie Lomack answered.

Monday evening, on the five-month anniversary of the death of South Berkeley resident Anita Gay, killed by Berkeley Police Officer Rashawn Cummings on Feb. 16, some 40 people demonstrated at Martin Luther King Jr. Way and Ashby Avenue, calling for a thorough inquiry into Gay’s death.  

Chanting, “Justice for Anita, justice for all,” demonstrators also condemned the killings by Oakland police of Gary King, Jose Luis Buenrostro and Casper Banjo. 

“We’re here to give visibility to police violence in our community and to honor the life of Anita Gay,” Alex Fischer of Copwatch told the Planet, adding that the community should rely less on the police since they might kill the person who called for their help, as was the case with Anita Gay. 

Police Review Commissioner Jonathan Huang, who will participate in the commission’s formal inquiry into the officer-involved shooting, said in addition to uncovering exactly how Gay was killed—and what might have prevented her death—he wanted to know what kind of help the families and children received who witnessed the incident and the bloody aftermath.  

“I’m here to raise awareness of the issues,” Huang said. 

Bato Luis Talamantez with the Act Now to Stop War and End Racism Coalition (ANSWER) said he came to the demonstration to be sure those killed recently by Oakland police were not forgotten: that includes 71-year-old artist Banjo, killed March 14, Buenrostro, 15, killed March 19 and King, 20, killed Sept. 20, 2007. 

“More people need to get involved,” Talamantez said. The question that needs to be answered, he said, is “how law enforcement responds to a society in crisis.”  

It should not be with guns, he said. 

There was no visible police presence at the protest, other than an occasional police car that drove by the demonstration along Ashby Avenue or Martin Luther King Jr. Way. 

Berkeley police have concluded that the officer’s actions prevented Anita Gay from stabbing her daughter and were therefore justified. The Alameda County district attorney has yet to issue its report, which will determine whether the officer is to be charged with a crime.

City Manager Phil Kamlarz has told a number of councilmembers, including Mayor Tom Bates and Councilmember Dona Spring, that he is planning a nationwide search for a permanent replacement for former City Attorney Manuela Albuquerque after the budget has been put to rest.  

The matter hasn’t been discussed publicly, but it doesn’t have to be unless the manager talks to five members of the council about it. And he says he hasn’t.  

If, how and when a search is conducted and who is nominated to fill an opening is entirely up to the manager under Berkeley’s charter. The council’s role is to vote on whether to affirm or reject the manager’s nomination.  

It’s also up to the city manager to decide whether to keep an individual as “acting” department head or to open the position to new applicants.  

In October 2007, after Albuquerque’s resignation, the manager named Assistant City Attorney Zach Cowan to the position of acting city attorney.  

City procedures now make it is impossible to apply for a position—even to leave a resume—when there is an “acting” department head.  

Human Resources Manager Dave Abel agrees that this situation is problematic, but says new software is on the way so that in the fall a person who wants to apply for a position, for example to be city attorney, will be able to leave an e-mail address to be notified as soon as the position is open.  

All department heads, except the auditor, who is elected, serve at the manager’s behest.  

Berkeley is one among only a handful of California cities where the manager nominates the city attorney. City councils appoint them in 464 of 478 incorporated California cities, according to 2004 statistics from the League of California Cities. Eleven of the city attorneys are elected, according to the league’s 2006 statistics.  

In February, Mayor Tom Bates asked the city manager, as part of a session on possible ballot measures, to research information on the way other cities appoint their attorneys.  

The mayor told the Planet that he had an interest in the question because, at the time, he thought a council-appointed city attorney might be a good move. The individual “would be directly accountable to the council,” he said.  

On the other hand, he said, “I worry about political whims and political motivation.”  

He said he reasoned further that the city attorney is accountable to the council indirectly. “The city attorney is not directly accountable to the council, but the city manager is ... The city manager is accountable to the city councilmembers.”  

He said he concluded, “Our system works well.”  

Nonetheless, Bates said he’s been talking to the city manager about allowing the City Council to choose between the manager’s top two candidates.  

Currently Kamlarz is faced with naming two of the most important administrators in the city, both the city attorney and the city clerk.  

After a medical-related leave, City Clerk Pamyla Means resigned in May. Last week Kamlarz named former Deputy City Clerk Deanna Despain as acting city clerk.  

In Berkeley, the city manager appoints the city clerk. In some cities the city council appoints the clerk, and 154 cities in California elect their city clerks.

Tucked inside every diploma of the Berkeley High School graduating class of 2008 is a voter registration card, something principal Jim Slemp didn’t forget to point out amidst all the exhortation, advice and pranks at the Greek Theater on Friday. 

More than 7,000 people were on hand to cheer the Berkeley High graduates, who in their red and yellow academic regalia were like kings and queens for a day.  

After congratulating the graduates, Slemp went a step further than the other commencement day speakers to remind his students about their role in civic participation. 

“This day will stay in your memory for a long time as a reminder of the power you have had over your own lives,” he said. “I urge you to do two things. You take great pride in saying you are from Berkeley High, now go make your lives extraordinary, and, vote in the presidential election in November. You give me hope for the future.” 

The bowels of the Greek Theater resounded with the deafening roar of shouts, screams and cries as the graduates threw their caps in the air and clapped, and then ascended the stage to receive their diplomas. 

Former Washington Elementary School teacher Andrew Galpern clicked away from his front-row seat, trying his best to capture every minute of the three-hour extravaganza, which featured music, dance and poetry by Berkeley High students, faculty and alumni. 

“My first-grade class is graduating today,” Galpern said excitedly. “I have around 60 kids out there, and I am rooting for all of them. They were my first class 12 years ago and they are all so grown up today. Take this girl right here, she’s grown so tall I couldn’t recognize her at first. It’s nice to know that wherever they go and whatever they do, I will always play an important part in it.” 

Inside the threater, 814 graduates lined up at 5 p.m., carrying everything from orchids to balloons to hastily purchased hot dogs as they took their seats inside the pit. 

“I am delighted that they inserted voter registration cards into our diplomas,” said Rio Bauce, the student representative on the school board this year and the Planet’s Berkeley High correspondent, who is off to Pitzer College in Claremont this fall. “I think a lot of people will take advantage of that. Berkeley High is a very political place, but not a lot of students are registered to vote.” 

Berkeley High student newspaper The Jacket columnist Will Kruse looked on with wonder as his peers danced to rapper M.I.A’s “Paper Planes.” Kruse, who was also in the school’s orchestra band, will be attending Boston University in August to pursue journalism. 

“It’s magical, it’s so high energy,” seniors Ian Horton and Chris Fish murmured from their seats. 

UC Santa Cruz will see the most Berkeley High graduates this year (26), followed by UCLA (18) and UC Davis (17).  

Berkeley High senior Nadav Kariv was selected to play for a professional Israeli soccer team earlier this year, and others like Emmanuele Allamani and Jessica Tong are off to Florence, Italy, and Vancouver, B.C. respectively, for their undergraduate studies. 

A few graduates reminisced about the last four year years at Berkeley High, and others gave their peers friendly advice. 

“As we become the movers and shakers and cookie makers, we will remember the liars, the cheaters and the pumpkin eaters,” said senior Lize Veale, who described Berkeley High as “the place that giveth and the place that taketh away.” 

“Be not the slave of your own past,” senior Jasper Hitchins told his classmates. “Don’t be the nerd who remembers only how he was picked on in fifth grade or the rebel who thinks how much of a waste school was. The world is waiting for us, so change.” 

The total cost of renting the Greek Theatre from UC Berkeley came with a $17,000 price tag, including $9,000 for the space alone, district spokesperson Mark Coplan said. The rest was spent on security, which included 15 to 20 UC Berkeley and Berkeley Police Department officers and 18 Berkeley High safety officers who controlled the traffic, and patrolled different areas of the theatre, Coplan said. 

Berkeley High’s total budget for the graduation ceremony was $30,000, which comes from the district’s General Fund. The sound system cost $6,000, Coplan said. 

Vice principal Pasquale Scuderi confiscated inflated rubber balls on at least eight occasions, much to the dismay of the graduates, who were having their own little celebration inside the pit bouncing them around. 

All eyes were turned on the stage when Robert McKnight, chair of the African American Studies Department at Berkeley High, appeared to make a speech. 

“What a marvelous privilege it is to have been invited to share in this joyous moment of your life,” McKnight, who will be retiring this year, told students. “I want to share with you that I am also a graduate of the class of 2008. In a span of four short years you have arrived at the end of a journey that has taken me 34 years to complete.” 

McKnight gave practical advice to students and quoted from Martin Luther King Jr. 

“There will be days when there will be more days in the month than there are dollars in your pocket, but I want you to tell the world ‘I am teachable,’” he said to a standing ovation. 

McKnight was preceded by his successor Paul Griffin, who called students the descendants of the Mayans, the Incans and great African Americans and Asians. 

“I challenge you to accept that diploma and no longer stand for racism and sexism,” he said. “I challenge you to be that generation that will light up the sky. Take that diploma and understand that you will radiate greatness. Class of 2008, this is for you.”

The Berkeley Unified School District announced last week that was all teachers who received lay-off notices as a result of proposed education budget cuts will be able to keep their jobs. 

All certificated staff have been brought back, Deputy Superintendent of Human Resources Lisa Udell said, and only two Berkeley High School counselors remain on the potential lay-off list. 

The school board on Wednesday unanimously approved district superintendent Bill Huyett’s budget reduction proposal, which anticipated a loss of $2.9 million in general fund revenue and program reductions to cover increased costs for 2008-2009. 

The district administrator recommended a $2.4 million cut from the unrestricted general fund budget and programs. 

The superintendent’s budget reduction proposal was based on recommendations from district staff and his Budget Advisory Committee, which was formed in March to provide feedback on budget cuts. 

The superintendent’s proposed list of budget reductions include cutting $700,000 from the special education program, including transportation.  

Strategies suggested to meet these cuts include reducing non-public school placements by providing a greater continuum of services in the district, reducing the number of instructional aides at specific schools and reducing transportation costs by slashing the number of non-public school placements. 

“Despite the cuts we are making, we are not touching music and arts and libraries, thanks to local parcel taxes,” said School Board President John Selawsky. 

A number of classified employees are still on the potential lay-off list. Udell said she would be able to comment on their status after June 30. The board is scheduled to approve the 2008-2009 budget on June 25. 

The Berkeley Board of Education, looking for ways to close the achievement gap in the city’s public schools, approved a resolution last week to affirm the 2020 Vision for Berkeley’s Children and Youth, which aims to remove barriers to educational equity for African Americans and Latinos by 2020. 

More than 30 community activists, educators and community members joined school board members, Berkeley Unified Superintendent Bill Huyett and Mayor Tom Bates to embark upon a “total community approach” to eliminate racial and ethnic inequalities in educational achievement. 

It takes more than schools to close the achievement gap, the mayor said, and he urged the community to support the resolution which binds the district, the city, the multi-cultural coalition United in Action, and other community members into a partnership for the effort. 

During the district’s search for a new superintendent last year, the community pressed the school board to select someone dedicated to the cause of closing the achievement gap. 

“When I interviewed, this was what the board grilled me on,” Huyett told the crowd. “As a newcomer to this district, I have never felt more support for children anywhere else. As an educator for 34 years, I have never seen a community that loved its children so much. I believe that many communities will look back at this resolution and say this is a model not only for Berkeley, but for other cities as well.” 

According to a January report by the recently established Office of Assessment, Evaluation and Research, African American and Latino students continued to lag behind their white and Asian counterparts. African American and Latino students also scored significantly lower than white and Asian students on multiple assessment measures, a gap that widens with each year at school, the report said. 

Berkeley Unified attempted to address the achievement gap under former Superintendent Michele Lawrence, the report stated, but while this has met with some success, the absence of a system-wide strategy that makes raising the achievement level of all students its top priority has been a persistent weakness. 

Thus, under the board’s direction, the district staff developed a comprehensive strategic plan, which included the 2020 Vision.The plan will be implemented once the City Council approves it, paving the way for the formation of an “all-city equity taskforce.” 

The resolution is scheduled to go before the City Council on June 25. 

The taskforce will advise the superintendent, school board, city manager, City Council and community members on goals and strategies for the 2020 Vision and monitor and review its progress. 

“Vision 2020 has a double meaning,” United in Action member Santiago Casal told the Planet. “A clear-sighted vision of the future, and that is the year when students who began kindergarten in 2007-2008 will graduate from Berkeley’s three high school programs.” 

Casal said mobilizing resources such as UC Berkeley, Berkeley City College, the Berkeley Federation of Teachers, the business and philanthropic community, parents, teachers and students was the key to achievement. 

“It’s a big step, but it’s the morally right thing to do,” he said. 

“We can’t have some students going to Harvard and others not graduating from high school,” said school board member Karen Hemphill. “This is not the Berkeley I came to live in.” 

“It’s time to take a deep breath and get to work,” school board president John Selawsky said. 

United in Action member Michael Miller spoke to a visual presentation which included pictures of smiling Berkeley public school kindergartners. 

“These are some of the young people who represent the 2020 Vision,” Miller said. “For years Berkeley Unified has seen a significant gap in achievement. If we work collaboratively, we can eliminate educational disparities by 2020. This is aggressive work we are talking about doing, we need our collective arms around each child in Berkeley.” 

The city spends $8 million on youth services and leverages another $12 million from federal, state and philanthropic funds, the mayor said. 

“We are spending millions of dollars in youth services but are we helping those who are struggling at school?” the mayor’s chief of staff Julie Sinai asked. “I hate to say it, but we are not San Francisco with 65,000 students in the school district. We are Berkeley, and we have less than 10,000 students in our district. We should be able to get a handle on this.” 

The 2020 Vision states: “That all children, regardless of race, ethnicity and income, who enter Berkeley public schools beginning in 2007 (and remain in the district) will achieve equitable outcomes with no proficiency differences by the time they graduate in June 2020; and that all children born in Berkeley in 2007 and beyond, receive a healthy start and are equally ready to learn and succeed in the Berkeley public schools.” 

United in Action member Beatrice Leyva Cutler called the plan the result of years of frustration. 

“So many great programs have existed and exist in our district and we are still not doing well,” she said at the meeting. “Everyone has been working far too long in isolation. This is an opportunity not only for African American and Latino students, but for all our children.”

Pam Bennett of Code Pink was arrested Friday, June 13, when she bared her breasts in front of Berkeley’s downtown Marine Recruiting Station.  

“War is indecent—breasts are not,” Bennett told the Planet on Monday. “Four million people displaced, lacking food and water is indecent—breasts are not.”  

Bennett was protesting the war and recruitment for it in front of the recruiting station at 64 Shattuck Square with a group from Code Pink and Breasts not Bombs, a Mendocino-based group that bares breasts publicly as an anti-war statement. 

She was the only one to be arrested.  

According to Officer Andrew Frankel, police department spokesperson, Bennett was arrested for violating Berkeley’s law against nudity.  

Frankel said the other demonstrators put their shirts back on, when asked to do so by police officers, but Bennett took hers off a second time and was arrested.  

Bennett said that a second person took her shirt off twice, but that person was not arrested. Bennett claims she was arrested because she is a leader in the Code Pink actions and that police are trying to intimidate Code Pink leaders.  

She had expected to use Friday’s action to provoke questions among passers-by and to create an opportunity to discuss the obscenity of war. The arrest is “a violation of free speech rights,” she said.  

Frankel said the arrests were not complaint-driven. Police had advance notice of the demonstration and planned the arrests. “They were told we would not tolerate the violations,” Frankel said.  

Asked by the Planet why people are allowed to walk nude in the How Berkeley Can You Be Parade year after year, Frankel responded only that “I’ve never been to a How Berkeley Can You Be Parade.”  

Bennett told the Planet that the breast is a “symbol of survival—many of us were fed at the breast.”  

“I fed my children at the breast,” she said. “The symbol is clearly pro-peace and anti-war.”  

Bennett pointed out that Sherry Glaser, of Breasts not Bombs, has demonstrated in front of recruiting stations 15 times. There was an arrest only once, she said.  

Friday’s arrest “was a totally political arrest. I was a political prisoner,” Bennett said.  

At a demonstration at the downtown Oakland recruiting station two years ago, the Planet witnessed a group of Oakland police officers negotiate with some 15 demonstrators—most of whom kept their shirts off for about an hour. The officers promised that as long as there was no violence or vandalism, there would be no arrests. And there weren’t.  

“Berkeley’s code is pretty clear,” Frankel told the Planet. “The courts will decide.” 

Berkeley City College student Andrew Hoeft-Edenfield—charged with the murder of UC Berkeley nuclear engineering student Chris Wootton—did not enter a plea during an appearance June 12 at the Alameda County Superior Court. 

Judge John True ordered the case to be continued to July 15 to give the district attorney and Deputy Defender Tony Cheng—who is representing Hoeft-Edenfield—time to review the case. 

Nuclear engineering student Wootton, 21, a Sigma Pi fraternity member, was stabbed once in his upper chest, between his ribs, in front of a group of students outside the Chi Omega sorority house on Piedmont Avenue on May 3. Hoeft-Edenfield, 20, was arrested later that day. 

Hoeft-Edenfield’s mother Ellen, who lives in Berkeley, declined to comment on the case Thursday at the courthouse. 

“Our lawyers have told us not to comment,” she said, standing outside the Wiley W. Manuel courtroom in Oakland with friends and family. “I want everything to come out in court.” 

Three of Hoeft-Edenfield’s friends from Berkeley City College also came to court, but they said Hoeft-Edenfield’s lawyers had asked them not to talk about the case. 

Cheng requested that Judge True give both sides time to review documents, tapes and CDs before proceeding with the case. 

He also requested sealed envelopes containing letters from Eden Medical Center in Castro Valley, where Wootton was taken after being stabbed, and asked for letters from MySpace.com to be delivered to the court. 

Wootton’s MySpace page contained an April 16, 2006 entry by Wootton where he recounts taking part in a drunken group beating of someone he accuses of having “disrespected” one of his fraternity members. Some of Wootton’s family and friends have suggested that Wootton may have been trying to break up a fight when he got stabbed.  

Alameda County Deputy District Attorney Greg Dolge, who will be prosecuting Hoeft-Edenfield, said he could not comment on why documents from MySpace.com were requested. 

“No comments on the context of the case,” he said. “We are in the process of preparing the case right now and reviewing all the information.” 

Berkeley police are looking for a man who sexually assaulted a woman near Dwight Way and College Avenue around 7:20 p.m. Sunday, authorities said. 

The woman, who was walking by herself, was able to fend off her attacker by screaming and fighting. She was not injured. 

The woman then called the Berkeley Police Department, but officers were unable to track down the suspect after they arrived at the scene. 

Berkeley Police Department spokesperson Andrew Frankel said police were sharing information about the crime and flashing a sketch of the suspect in the media to request information from the community. 

Frankel described the suspect as a Hispanic man in his 20s, 6-feet-tall, medium complexioned, medium to muscular build, long, dark, wavy hair greased back in a ponytail, “glazed green eyes,” with a mustache and goatee. 

He was last seen wearing a gray T-shirt with a colored emblem. 

Call the BPD Sex Crimes Detail at 981-5735 with any information about this crime. To report suspicious people or activity call 981-5900. 

The Berkeley Police Department is helping Houston police investigate the disappearance of a 21-year-old student who has been missing since Dec. 15 from his off-campus Houston apartment, authorities said Friday. 

Computer science major Matthew J. Wilson, a junior at Rice University in Houston, Texas, was last seen working in his room by his roommate Elliot Harwell on Dec. 14. 

His car and backpack were also missing. 

Berkeley police became involved in Wilson’s case when officers found his 2004 silver Dodge Neon in the 1200 block of Allston Way in West Berkeley on June 10. 

According to Berkeley Police Department spokesperson Officer Andrew Frankel, a West Berkeley resident alerted the Berkeley police about an abandoned auto on May 10. 

“We marked the car and did a follow-up 30 days later and saw that the car was still there,” Officer Frankel said. “We ran a license check and learned that the car belonged to Matthew Wilson of Texas. At that point we learned that Matthew was missing since December.” 

Frankel said detectives had found no sign of foul play in the car to indicate any criminal activity. 

Frankel said the police were not sharing information about the contents found in the car, but that it had been found locked and covered with dust. 

“It looked like it had been parked there for a while,” he said.  

Frankel said police were not ruling out that Wilson took off in his car on his own accord from Texas and drove to Berkeley. 

“We are encouraging anyone who has seen Wilson to let us know,” he said. “We are splashing his pictures in the media and trying to get the word out. It’s possible that he is alive and well, and if that is the case, it’s important that he knows that his family wants to hear from him.” 

According to police reports, although no evidence of foul play has been found so far, Wilson’s family members believe he was unlikely to leave in the middle of his finals without communicating with them. 

Family and friends described him as a diligent student who was valedictorian at his high school in Oklahoma and an honor role student at Rice. 

Wilson reportedly made a $400 cash withdrawal from his bank account on Dec. 14, the day he was last seen 

Wilson’s family, Rice University and Crime Stoppers of Berkeley are offering $25,000 in reward money for information on Wilson’s disappearance or his whereabouts. 

Wilson, who is from Haworth, Okla., was described in police reports as a white male, weighing 135 lbs., 5-feet seven-inches tall, with red hair and green eyes. 

He wears glasses and had a full beard when his roommate last saw him. 

Anyone with information about Wilson’s case can call the Rice University Police Department at (713) 348-6000, Houston Crime Stoppers (713) 222-TIPS or the Berkeley Police Department at 981-5900 or 981-5741. 

On a 4-0 bipartisan vote, the State Senate Agriculture Committee approved a resolution Tuesday calling for a moratorium on aerial spraying for the light brown apple moth until the state can prove that the spray is both safe for humans and the environment and effective against the moth. 

The full Senate could vote on State Concurrent Resolution 87, authored by Sen. Carole Migden, D-San Francisco/North Bay, as early as today (Thursday), according to Migden’s office. 

If the resolution passes the State Senate, it will be heard in the Assembly Agriculture Committee before going to the full body. 

“Bay Area residents ought not to serve as guinea pigs and have their health jeopardized for an ill-conceived program and an unproven approach,” Migden said in a press statement. 

The State Department of Food and Agriculture argues that the product planned to be sprayed in the Bay Area and coastal cities of Monterey and Santa Cruz is safe for humans and necessary to stop the moth that they say could jeopardize California’s billion-dollar agricultural business. 

For more information on the Light Brown Apple Moth—from scientists, politicians, activists and lawyers—there is a Town Hall to Stop the Spray, 7-9 p.m. Monday at Lake Merrit's Lakeside Park Garden Center, 666 Bellevue Ave.  

Speakers include John Russo, Oakland city attorney; Daniel Harder, Ph.D., University of California Santa Cruz Arboretum director; Lawrence Rose, M.D. M.P.H., former senior public medical officer for Cal-OSHA, and a representative from the office of Assemblymember Sandré Swanson, D-Oakland. 

Sponsors are Stop the Spray-East Bay (www.stopthespray.org) and Pesticide Watch (www.pesticidewatch.org). 

By a narrow margin, journalists at East Bay newspapers owned by the Bay Area News Group-East Bay (BANG-EB) voted to unionize Friday. 

The 104-92 vote gave the Northern California Media Workers Guild 53 percent of the ballots, less than the 60 percent of editorial staff who had signed union cards but enough to win. 

The vote reverses the upset handed to union members last August when the BANG-EB President and Publisher John Armstrong unilaterally consolidated the chain’s newsrooms into a single unit. 

By merging the staffs with the non-union Contra Costa Times, recently acquired from the Sacramento-based McClatchy Company, the new non-union staff majority gave Armstrong the power to abolish guild shops at the Oakland Tribune, Fremont Argus, Tri-Valley Herald and Hayward Daily Review. The National Labor Relations Board upheld the move, setting the stage for Friday’s election. 

Backed with $500,000 from the national union, the guild local launched the campaign, meeting with a strong counter-effort by management. 

BANG-EB is part of MediaNews Group, a privately held national chain headed by CEO Dean Singleton, who also chairs the Associated Press, the nation's largest news service and a cooperative. 

Singleton has established near-monopolies on daily news in both the Bay Area and the Los Angeles Basin, where the main competition is from two dominant, chain-owned dailies, the San Francisco Chronicle and the Los Angeles Times. 

While the union vote may have been good news for Singleton’s editorial workers, darker news may be lurking on the horizon, according to a Tuesday report from Bloomberg news service. 

The report lists Singleton’s MediaNews Group as one of four newspaper publishing companies in danger of default on their debt. One of the other companies belongs to L.A. Times owner and Berkeley’s biggest private landlord, Sam Zell, whose Equity Residential bought the apartment buildings built by Patrick Kennedy’s Panoramic Interests. 

Another regional publisher is also facing a financial crisis. 

Gary Pruitt, CEO of Sacramento-based McClatchy Co., announced Tuesday that the chain’s flagship Sacramento Bee is eliminating 86 jobs, including 46 by layoff. Other papers in the chain are making similar cuts. 

For a more detailed account of events leading up to the vote, see www.berkeleydailyplanet.com/issue/2008-06-05/article/30194.

Berkeley firefighters found themselves fighting flames on two fronts on June 12, one at the site of the disastrous 1991 hills fire, the other in West Berkeley. 

The first call came at 11:18 a.m., when callers reported flames rising from the brush near Buckingham Boulevard, Tunnel Road and Hiller Drive on the Berkeley side of the Caldecott Tunnel entrance. 

One engine company and two chief officers from Berkeley joined the firelines as they helped contain the blaze to two acres, aided in part by the lack of the stiff breezes which had fanned the catastrophic fire 17 years earlier. 

Oakland Fire Department Lt. David Brue said the fire “was contained at 1:45 p.m.” when “we started to release some of the crews. 

At its peak, 60 to 70 firefighters from Oakland, Berkeley and the East Bay Regional Parks district were battling the flames, which had threatened townhouses on the slopes above the blaze.  

“Some of the condo buildings were scorched on the outside,” said Berkeley Deputy Fire Chief Gil Dong. 

Two helicopters ran relays to douse the flames, scooping up water from Lake Temescal. By the time the blaze was contained, no structures had been damaged, Brue said. 

“We will maintain crews on the site through the night to make sure it doesn’t flare up,” said the Oakland firefighter. 

He said the cause of the blaze remains under investigation. “We know where it started,” he said, “but not how.” 

Deputy Chief Dong said Berkeley sent two engine companies and two chief officers to Oakland, only to have the two officers recalled an hour later and rushed to the 1900 block of McGee Avenue, where two homes and a van were ablaze. 

“A California Highway Patrol officer saw smoke coming from the rear of one of the houses and pounded on the door. He notified the occupant that the rear of his home was on fire,” said Dong. 

The fire went to two alarms, drawing in 25 firefighters, including three chief officers, five engine companies, two trucks and a pair of ambulances. 

The fire apparently started in the residence at 1933 McGee and spread to the home at 1931. The van, parked in a narrow driveway between the two homes, also fell victim to the flames. 

One resident received minor injuries during an effort to notify other residents of the houses, said the deputy chief. 

The van belonged to a workman who was installing a heater in the home at 1931 McGee, and while several recent fires in Berkeley have resulted from torchwork used in installing pipes, that wasn’t the case with Thursday’s fire, said Deputy Chief Dong. 

The cause of the blaze remains under investigation pending interviews with residents who were unavailable Thursday. 

Three occupants were displaced by the flames. The damage is estimated at $300,000. 

Berkeley firefighters are also busy fighting yet another fire, this one in Butte County, where the Humboldt Fire—named after a ridge and not the town or county—has consumed scores of homes and doubled in size in less than 24 hours. 

“We sent one engine company last night, and altogether, Alameda County has provided 21 engine companies and three chief officers,” said Deputy Chief Dong. 

The Berkeley crew was assigned to save threatened homes in the town of Paradise, he said. 

Warm temperatures and a dry winter have led to an unusually early start of the fire season, and Berkeley’s firefighters—like their colleagues around the state—anticipate a long, hot summer. 

When UC Berkeley hired a new investment-banker-turned-vice-chancellor to help the school negotiate the intricacies of the financial world, they didn’t mention one of his most powerful connections. 

The press release from Marie Felde, the university’s executive director of media relations, mentioned past employers Citigroup, Lehman Brothers and Salomon Smith Barney—names certain to worry Free Speech Movement veterans and those with similar outlooks. 

But she didn’t cite the one employer absolutely certain to set their blood boiling, an outfit that included some of the nation’s leading retired spooks and neocons—the Carlyle Group. 

Dubbed “The ex-presidents’ club” by the British newspaper The Guardian, the company has employed ex-president and CIA chief George Bush, a former British prime minister, ex-World Bank executives and the former deputy director of the Central Intelligence Agency and, until a month after 9/11, numbered among their major investors a certain Saudi Arabian family with a black sheep scion named Osama. 

It was Frank Carlucci, former CIA deputy director and secretary of state, who announced on June 16, 1998, that the Carlyle Group had hired Frank D. Yeary to open its New York office and guide the group’s global and domestic media and telecommunications investments. 

Before his move to the Carlyle group, Yeary had “provided advice in a number of landmark transactions in the industry,” declared the official announcement, including the acquisition of Ameritech by SBC Global, the purchase of CBS by Westinghouse and the merger of Pacific Telesis (formerly Pac Bell) with SBC Global. 

“Frank Yeary is one of the most talented media and telecommunications professionals on Wall Street,” declared Carlucci, then chairman of the company. 

The consolidation of communications companies has long been the subject of criticism by some faculty of the university’s graduate school of journalism and the subject of a book by now-retired Dean Ben Bagdikian. 

Yeary left Carlyle in 2001 to join Citigroup. 

In a prepared statement, UC Berkeley Chancellor Robert Birgeneau said, “The critical purpose for bringing Frank Yeary into this position is to strengthen our position through strategies that blend public and private support and that take advantage of opportunities, partnerships and alliances” in light of the volatility of state funding.  

A California native and a Cal graduate, Yeary will assume his new duties in August after he winds up his affairs as managing director in charge of global mergers and acquisitions at Citigroup Corporate Investment Bank. 

A member of the university’s Berkeley Foundation Board of Trustees, Yeary may also teach some classes at Haas School of Business, Felde reported. 

Yeary has also donated cash to the presidential campaign of another Carlyle alum, George W. Bush, who left the group when he ran for Governor of Texas. The July 14, 1999, $1,000 donation came while he was employed at Carlyle, according to Congressional Quarterly’s online database. 

Four years later Yeary gave John Kerry $2,000. More recently, he has donated to both John McCain and Barrack Obama—$2,300 for McCain early last year and $4,600 to Obama this year. 

Yeary is also making another, larger donation—this one to the university itself. Felde reported that he is giving his entire $200,000 salary back to the campus.

This week, after beating former 16th District Assemblymember Wilma Chan 56.8 percent to 43.2 percent in the June 3 District 9 Democratic primary, current 14th District Assemblymember sent out an e-mail thank-you to supporters. 

“I cannot thank you enough for your support throughout this campaign,” Hancock wrote. “Hundreds of you contributed time, money, and encouragement.” 

She could have emphasized the “money” part. 

Hancock’s win against Chan was fueled in no small part by a massive, well-timed, well-organized fund-raising effort that started out well and then picked up momentum as election day neared. 

That is the conclusion of a Daily Planet analysis of campaign expenditure reports turned in by both candidates to the office of the California Secretary of State. 

Overall, Hancock outraised Chan by three to one, $988,370 to $314,200, in 2007 and 2008. And in the key fund-raising months of March (when campaign finance reports are released to the public, showing the relative strengths of the candidates and helping raise or lower future donations) and May (when the big mass mailings and media buys are done), Hancock swamped Chan $111,161 to $28,965 and $291,749 to $71,175, respectively. 

Hancock’s massive fund-raising lead was helped by a huge infusion from the California Democratic Party. Beginning the first week in May, Hancock received $144,779 in donations from the state party, more than 23 percent of her total contributions from non-individuals during her entire two year fund-raising effort. 

During the campaign, after Hancock won the endorsement of the California Democratic Party, Chan tried unsuccessfully to get Hancock to sign a pledge vowing to refuse any party donations. Because donors can give unlimited amounts to political parties—and because donations from political parties to individual candidates do not indicate who originally gave those donations to the parties—the practice is a loophole through which it is possible for donors and campaigns to sidestep California law that limits the amount that individual donors, businesses, and associations can give to a campaign. 

Hancock relied far more heavily on business, political action committee, labor, and other group donations than did Chan. More than 62 percent of Hancock’s donations came from group donations, while Chan’s contributions were divided almost equally between groups and individual donors. 

Among individual donors, three-fourths of Hancock’s contributions came from contributors living within District 9. Chan, on the other hand, raised a little more than half of her money from individual donors in California cities outside of District 9. Chan raised close to 9 percent of her individual donor total ($14,675) from the city of San Francisco alone. 

Businesses accounted for 31.8 percent ($195,775) of Hancock’s contributions—both small businesses and large corporations—but the rest of her contributions were fairly evenly divided among categories of donors; 9.59 percent ($58,900) came from associations and political action committees that were not associated with health care, labor, or public safety, 10.41 percent ($63,900) came from campaign committees for candidates for other offices (including, oddly, $150 from the Tony Thurmond For Assembly committee, who lost in his bid to succeed Hancock for the 14th District Assemblymember), 16.22 percent ($99,550) from labor-related organizations, 6.68 percent ($41,000) from health care-related groups, and 1.47 percent ($9,000) from law enforcement and firefighting associations. 

With a contribution cap of $3,600 per election ($7,200 if given in at least two separate checks earmarked for the primary and general elections), the top Hancock donors at $4,000 and above were: 

California Federation of Teachers CFT COPE (Burbank) $7,200 

California Nurses Association PAC (Sacramento) $7,200 

California Teachers Association--Association For Better Citizenship (Burlingame) $7,200 

California Dental PAC (Sacramento) $7,200 

Friends Of Anthony Portanio Campaign Committee (Los Angeles) $7,200 

International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Educational Committee (Washington, D.C.) $7,200 

International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local Union No. 302 PAC (Martinez) $7,200 

Northern California Carpenters Regional Council (Oakland) $7,200 

State Building & Construction Trades Council of California PAC (Sacramento) $7,200 

Tony Suh (retiree of Lafayette) $7,200 

Consumer Attorneys’ PAC Action Fund (Sacramento) $6,000 

Louise Harvey Clark (retiree of Lafayette) $6,000 

Political Education Committee of Public Employees Local #1 (Martinez) $5,000 

Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1555 PAC (Oakland) $4,600 

Professional Engineers In California Government PAC (Sacramento) $4,600 

Bayer Corporation (Pittsburgh, CA) $4,000 

California Beer & Beverage Distributors Community Affairs (Sacramento) $4,000 

California Professional Firefighters PAC (Sacramento) $4,000 

Kava Massih Architects (Berkeley) $4,000 

Three candidates for local offices added their names on Friday to the list of those collecting signatures for Berkeley elections on Nov. 4: Beatriz Levya-Cutler for school board and Robert J. Evans and Eleanor Walden for Rent Stabilization Board. 

Each valid signature collected is worth $1 toward the $150 charged candidates who run for office in Berkeley. 

School board  

Beatriz Levya-Cutler is collecting signatures to run for school board. She is the executive director of BAHIA, Inc., described on its website as a full-time private, non-profit, bilingual (Spanish-English) program in Berkeley, addressing the city’s needs by providing a bilingual, culturally diverse child care center for lower-income, working families and student parents. 

John Selawsky, school board president, is also collecting signatures to run for a new term on the school board. 

Rent board 

Robert J. Evans is collecting signatures to run for Rent Stabilization Board commissioner. Evans served a four-year rent board term beginning in 2002 but did not run for a second term in 2006. Rent board commissioners serve a maximum of two terms. Evans was described in his 2002 campaign statement as a housing rights attorney. 

Incumbent Rent Board member Eleanor Walden has also taken out papers to collect signatures to run for a second term on the board, as has Rent Board Chair Jesse Arreguin. Nicole Drake, aide to Councilmember Linda Maio, is also collecting signatures to run for the board. 

City Council 

Among those who have taken out signature-in-lieu papers to run for the Berkeley City Council are incumbent councilmembers Darryl Moore, District 2; Max Anderson, District 3; and Laurie Capitelli, District 5. SusanWengraf, aide to retiring District 6 Councilmember Betty Olds and her appointee to the Planning Commission, has taken out papers for District 6 

Mayor 

No one has taken out papers for the mayor's race, although Zachary Runningwolf, who ran against Mayor Tom Bates in 2006 and is active in the Save the Oaks campaign, has declared himself a candidate. 

OK, political junkies. Now that the Democratic primaries are over, in the lull before the presidential election really picks up steam, it’s time to turn your fervent attention to the last remnants of decision-making which are left for the local voters, at least in Berkeley. Oakland has just about settled its council races, though the at-large councilmember’s slot is still open. But in Berkeley, at least in theory, you might still be able to influence what happens on the home front. 

Why do we, ever cynics, say “in theory”? Well, the chances for a meaningful change in how Berkeley’s run seem to be, as they’ve been for at least 20 years, slim to none. In most of the United States now, it seems, it’s not whether the officeholders are in the pockets of the building industry and its allies, it’s just which pocket who is in.  

The Planet will be reviewing whose campaign contributions went to which successful candidates in the recent state-level democratic primaries, but just as a teaser, we wonder how many voters realized that our anointed State Senator Loni Hancock took money from the developer who’s about to turn the beautiful Point Molate area into a gambling casino? (And yes, we’ll try to remember that she’s just anointed, not yet elected, as if there were a difference.)  

In theory, then, Berkeley voters might be able to choose new city councilmembers and a new mayor in November. In practice, almost all the incumbents are running for re-election, and absent an earthquake, Berkeley voters, most of them small-c conservatives who are smugly satisfied with their lot in life, can be expected to cast their ballots on the side of the status quo.  

There will be a modest change, perhaps, in the most self-satisfied of council districts, high-hills District 6, where Betty Olds is finally retiring, in her eighth decade and after at least 20 years in office, in favor of her long-term aide. No one in District 6 has much to complain about most of the time. A sizeable percentage of householders there, those whose very expensive view homes are built in the urban interface to the East Bay Regional Park lands, are worried about fire and will want even more fire protection, but otherwise everything up there is just fine, thanks.  

Few residents of other parts of Berkeley care very much any more about how the city’s run. Most of the small and dwindling number of people who might be called civic activists live in Berkeley’s urban sacrifice zones. These are the areas which have been designated by official consensus as building sites for the University of California, the new “Downtown Area” which is being replanned with the eager consent of the City Council to accommodate UC’s voracious desire for lebensraum.  

A few more live on or adjacent to the avenues which have already endured 20 or 30 years of the traffic which has been diverted from smaller neighborhood streets. These residents are now being rewarded with the big-box luxury private dorms which dishonest or credulous pols have sold to the public as “affordable infill housing.” Everyone else seems to be more than happy with the status quo, or too busy trying to make the mortgage to complain. 

Incumbent candidates are expected to sail home with ease. By and large, Berkeley has become a gerontocracy. What’s that? According to Wikipedia, it’s “a form of oligarchical rule in which an entity is ruled by leaders who are significantly older than most of the adult population. Often the political structure is such that political power within the ruling class accumulates with age, so that the oldest hold the most power. Those holding the most power may not be in formal leadership positions, but often dominate those who are.” 

When Berkeley officeholders finally age out of the job, which happens even in a gerontocracy, their replacements are usually chosen outside the ballot box. An example is the fancy footwork whereby associates of declining over-ninety councilmember Maudelle Shirek “forgot” to collect the needed signatures to let her file for re-election. This gave a clear shot to now-incumbent councilmember Max Anderson, a fish from the same political pond which produced Shirek. The District 6 transfer of power is slightly more above-board, but the effect is the same.  

The three incumbent councilmembers expected to be in the race have delivered reliable votes for a mayor who’s never met a developer he didn’t like, and who’s running for a third term to cap off a lifetime in elective office, with never a day job to mar his record. It would take a lot of chutzpah to run against any of these four, since the odds of beating an incumbent with big developer bucks in conservative Berkeley are poor at best. 

The same complacent support of the status quo extends to the non-elected officials. The City Manager has been around for decades, and will be in office until he retires with a lavish pension probably equivalent to his top working salary.  

The former City Attorney served 24 years, during which time she made some truly horrendous mistakes without consequences to her job. Her successor: another long-term city employee who’s been enjoying the title and salary of Acting City Attorney since October 2007 without fear of challenge. 

The Planet was reminded of this situation courtesy of an attorney who wants to apply for the City Attorney’s job. She (or he—identity concealed to avoid prejudicing future prospects) called the city’s Human Resources Department to ask where to send her resume. She was told that she couldn’t get an application or send her resume because the job wasn’t open.  

Why? Because there’s an Acting City Attorney, so the job’s taken.  

This story seemed so improbable that the Planet’s Executive Editor, who might even be a plausible candidate for the job by a very long stretch of the imagination, called the HR people and asked the same question, got the same answer. 

It’s Alice Through the Looking Glass: jam yesterday, jam tomorrow, never jam today. Or perhaps Catch 22: if you have to ask, you won’t be allowed to apply. 

When questioned by a Planet reporter, the City Manager claimed that he’s really truly going to do a national search for a new city attorney, just as soon as he gets A proverbial Round Tuit. That could take a while. 

The last round of charter revisions, back in the brief heady days of functioning local democracy in the ’70s, set up a procedure whereby the manager chooses a candidate for the City Attorney’s job who must then be “affirmed” by five votes of the City Council. But the loophole is that if a candidate is never presented, the council’s out of the loop, so to speak. An affirmative action litigator could have major fun with this process, especially since the Acting City Attorney who obviously benefits from it is a white male.  

The only function of Berkeley’s city government which really affects many people in both the flats and the hills is the property tax, specifically the designated specific local additions to the basic rate known as parcel taxes. Few citizens are annoyed enough with how things are done to support reform candidates or even, god forbid, to run for office themselves. But voting no on new taxes is easy, and can be done in private without even leaving home in these days of absentee ballots. It’s a form of protest which shows signs of surfacing again, even in ever-generous Berkeley, come November. It would be better to elect a new city council, but that seems unlikely at this point. And they say we don’t live in La-La Land? 

—Becky O’Malley

Thanks to Judge Barbara Miller's decision in the Oaks v. UC case, Wednesday lasted longer than it should have. The weekly Planet was all ready to send off to the printer at 6, when Redwood Mary called me on my cell phone, saying, "we won, we won!'" Reporter Richard Brenneman had already left, because we all believed that Judge Barbara Miller wasn't going to issue her long-delayed ruling, promised for yesterday, after all.  

But the ruling came out at the very last minute, and plaintiffs were overjoyed to discover that she hadn't conceded everything to the ugly U right off the top, as many of them had secretly feared she would. Dick came back to the office and quickly revised his story, the printers graciously gave us an extra half hour to submit a new front page, and our print issue is on the stands today with as much of the last word on the topic as any paper. But nobody's willing to predict what the ruling's going to add up to a month or two from now. 

Ever curious, the publisher and I decided that we'd just swing by the grove on the way home to see what was happening. A press conference was underway, complete with big cameras and lots of reporters.  

The speaker was Steve Volker, the attorney for some of the plaintiffs, and he was a happy man. His take on the decision was that although the judge had rejected almost all of the main claims that project opponents had put forward, the key victory was her acceptance of their contention that the University of California is bound by the Alquist-Priolo earthquake safety act, and that a key part of the gymnasium as designed was linked to the existing stadium. This, he thinks, will eventually cause the whole project, perhaps even the stadium renovation, to grind to a halt.  

"It's dead," he said. 

His remarks were delivered with a Mr.-Smith-Goes-To-Washington fervor that was contagious. Protesters cheered. Reporters asked a few probing questions, but the mood was festive. 

Someone asked me if I was going to the UC press conference at 8. What press conference? I asked. Since I'm not a reporter in this life, I don't usually go to press conferences, but I was curious about how the university would explain itself. An incredulous protester said she'd heard that the spin would be that UC won, which seemed impossible in the context of what Volker was saying. So I went to the press conference. 

I'd been told that it was in a special conference room in Haas Gymnasium, and that it was only open to the media, not the public. Here I must confess that even though I'm a UC alumna I didn't really know which of the huge and hideous Mussolini Modern athletic buildings next to Zellerbach Hall was Haas. By the time I figured it out I was a bit late for the event.  

In the lobby a security guard tried to stop me from going in, but when I forcefully identified myself he let me pass and directed me down a hall where hastily printed signs pointed to a "media event". After a long series of twists and turns thru a Kafkaesque labyrinth of dark underground corridors, I found the room, passed through another set of screeners and joined the press conference. 

The speaker at the podium was a quintessential Old White Guy, impeccably dressed, with perfectly groomed white hair, obviously a partner in a big law firm . At first I thought he might have been pale from the shock of losing his case, but I realized that he's probably always so pale that you can't tell if he's pale for a reason—one of those really really white White Guys. He was saying that he'd just gotten the opinion at 6:45, so though he was sure it was a victory for UC there were still some points he wasn't quite so sure about. 

What might those be? Reporters asked if the judge's injunction for UC not to make changes at the oak grove still stood, as protesters claimed. He waffled a lot, but ultimately didn't deny it. He said his team would soon be checking with the judge to find out if she really intended that to be the outcome, since her latest decision didn't mention it one way or the other.  

On the podium with The Lawyer were three others. Two, male and female, had the kind of no-neck conformation that identified them as The-Jocks-in-Charge, and from time to time they said enthusiastically that they were raring to go on their building project and expected to be able to start very soon now. One opined that construction could begin as soon as the injunction was lifted, but The Lawyer didn't look so sure of that.  

The female Jock gushed that it was a great day for our student athletes, that there was a clear path ahead now, and that safety was at the top of the UC agenda. No one asked if it might not be safer to build both gym and stadium clear away from the Hayward Fault. It was obvious that few if any of the press in attendance had read the opinion, so most of their questions were tentative and basic. 

The fourth person then took over to talk about what was happening in the oak grove—he was surely The Flack, one of the ubiquitous clan of Public Information Officers whose job it is to convince credulous newsies that his client is firmly on the side of truth, beauty and the American way of life. Most of this crowd seemed persuaded. 

Isn't it dangerous to go after the treesitters like that? Someone asked. So far no one's been hurt yet, the Flack answered. Oh, swell. 

One sharp fellow with a hand-held video camera and a five-o'clock shadow, probably from Indymedia or some other outpost of the real world, did ask what precipitated UC's Tuesday push to clear the treesitters out of the grove on the day before the opinion came down. The Flack pretended that he didn't know what "precipitated" meant, and launched into a defensive spiel about how unhappy UC has been with the situation, cleverly avoiding answering the excellent question of what precipitated the latest crackdown.  

He reminded me, as flacks always do, of the fellow in My Fair Lady: "Oozing charm from every pore, he oiled his way across the floor." But then, that's his job description.  

UC's press conference ended with most of the attendees still looking confused. The headline writers today reflected their confusion. Associated Press: Both sides Claim Victory in Calif. Stadium Ruling. New York Times: Judge Gives a Victory to Tree Sitters in Berkeley Oaks.  

Planet reporter J. Douglas Allen-Taylor emailed three more headlines with this message: "Cal Wins! Cal Loses! Cal Ties! I guess this is called splitting the difference."  

Judge rules in UC Berkeley's favor to build sports facility (Oakland Tribune) 

Judge Halts UC Memorial Stadium Gym Project (Berkeley Daily Planet) 

Cal, tree-sitters both happy after judge rules (San Francisco Chronicle) 

The last shoe hasn't dropped yet.  

Tonight the oak grove is ringed with police and the protesters have had their food, water and support lines cut. One was arrested when he came down willingly. 

The University of California at Berkeley, still the home of Bad Professor JohnYoo, continues its downhill slide. 

Brad Delong, one of its few remaining Good Professors, should start a UC Berkeley Death Spiral Watch like the one he's currently conducting for the Washington Post.

THE MANHATTAN OF BERKELEY 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I love New York—the sprawling cement, the bustle of the non-stop traffic, the throngs of people pushing through the sidewalks, as long shadows are cast on the street below from enormous skyscrapers. I love New York but I love California more—the sun, the trees, the relative quiet of Berkeley in comparison. All of that seems to be changing at a fast clip as every iota of open space is quickly being renovated into a five-story/multi-unit/multi-use complex. Take for example 1500 San Pablo Ave. In the relatively quiet North Berkeley neighborhood a plan is being proposed for a five-story, 170-unit building, complete with a grocery store on the bottom. Just wait until rush hour on San Pablo as the already bustling street tries to accommodate another 340 or so drivers plus shoppers as they try to pull in and out of San Pablo Avenue. What does it matter that this massive building will be out of place as 90 percent of San Pablo is one- and the occasional two-story building? Let’s build something tall to block all views and the sun! Hey, and all the drivers on San Pablo can fan out to all the neighborhood streets to avoid the gridlock, thereby adding more congestion onto the sidestreets like Kains, Cornell, Stannage, and Tenth street. Every California city is concerned about growth, environmental impact, traffic, and the preservation of open space. Why are the City of Berkley, the mayor’s office, and the city planners hell bent on letting developers overdevelop Berkeley? What’s wrong with a little open space, or even a little unused space? Just for fun drive down San Pablo Avenue on a weekday at 5, or even on Saturday at 5 and imagine a lot more cars, you will end up wanting to image a whole lot more open space. 

J. Fisher 

• 

UC STADIUM 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Now that the judge has slowed down the sports center, a win-win alternate would be to build a multi-use sport facility at the Albany G.G. racetrack. There is plenty of parking. UC Berkeley’s housing, Richmond Field Station, and campus are all close by. Horse racing tracks are being abandoned. 

As a long time Berkeley resident, UC Berkeley’s continual expansion has made life unbearable. There’s no quality of life, living in a high-density, limited-area city. 

Ray Quan 

• 

GOURMET GHETTO MEDIAN STRIP 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I am writing about an unsafe condition on the median strip on Shattuck Avenue between Cedar and Vine streets in North Berkeley. I have been surprised the City of Berkeley has allowed this condition to exist. At various times during the day, primarily during meal hours, numbers of people, especially young people, use the median strip to lounge, socialize and eat. They think they are invincible. There are numerous restaurants and food take out businesses on that block. The city should allow them to set up tables and chairs on the sidewalk so the patrons don’t need to congregate on a dangerous median strip. 

It is a dangerous condition that can result in serious injury or death to the users of the median strip. The median strip is approximately three to four feet in width and is not meant as a gathering place. It was designed as and meant to be a landscaped decorative divider strip between north and south bound traffic on Shattuck Avenue. There are no warning signs on the strip and there are no barriers to errant traffic.  

If an inattentive driver of a truck or car jumps the strip (the curb is not that high), there will be serious injury or death to one or several of the users of the strip.  

The City of Berkeley needs to post warning signs on the strip and have the police enforce a no use policy on the strip for the protection of the users of the strip and for protection of the city from liability claims. 

As a personal injury attorney I am very aware of dangerous conditions, especially those allowed to exist by governmental entities. To avoid exposure to liability the City of Berkeley needs to stop the use of the median strip as a gathering place. I don’t believe Shattuck Avenue is a state route. Consequently the State of California would have no liability. 

Recently a car in Santa Monica driven by an elderly gentleman crashed through barriers and plowed into several people on the Santa Monica pedestrian mall. The defendants in the wrongful death and serious injury claims were the City of Santa Monica, the managers of the mall strip and the driver of the car. Judgments and settlements amounted to millions of dollars. Guess which defendants had the deep pockets and paid the majority of the monetary claims to reimburse the victims and family members of this tragedy. 

Our situation is worse. Our strip is not meant for the use which the city is allowing to occur and the City of Berkeley would be the main defendant on claims. Most drivers don’t carry that much insurance coverage, especially in cases of wrongful death and crippling injuries.  

I don’t know how much money the City of Berkeley has in reserve for these types of potential claims. It is time the City protected itself and most importantly the users of this strip.  

Paul M. Schwartz 

• 

EXTEND CLEAN ENERGY TAX CREDITS 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

For the past six months Congress has been squabbling over how to pay for expiring clean energy tax incentives. These incentives are bringing down the cost of installing, building, and manufacturing the renewable energy systems and energy-efficient products our nation so desperately needs. If these incentives expire in December over 116,000 jobs in the wind and solar industries are placed at risk next year. 

The Senate has a chance to get us to end this protracted debate by voting HR 6049 into law. This bill passed the House in late May by a bi-partisan vote. It includes an $18 billion package of renewable energy and energy-efficiency tax credits that would be paid for by postponing an obscure tax break for corporations with foreign operations that was supposed to take effect next year, and by cracking down on hedge-fund managers who are currently able to avoid billions of dollars in taxes by diverting money to offshore havens. 

Thus in exchange for closing wasteful tax loop-holes that would stop an unchecked gravy train for select, wealthy taxpayers, our nation will continue to enjoy clean energy tax incentives that benefits all Americans by creating local jobs in green energy? fields, enhancing our energy security, and helping us fight global warming. That sounds like a trade-off all wise politicians would support. 

I call upon our Senators to think seriously about our energy future and immediately extend these clean energy tax incentives. 

Emma Poelsterl 

Richmond 

• 

THUGS OWN THE STREETS 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

A June 19 Oakland Tribune headline reads, “Search is on for sexual assault suspect.” This brief article describes a crime that occurred in Berkeley on Sunday, June 15 at 7:20 p.m. near Dwight Way and College Avenue. A Latino assailant in his 20s approached a lone woman, exposed his genitals and pushed her up against a parked car. He then tried to pull her into the front entrance of an apartment building. She screamed, pushed him off and he fled on foot. This article quotes police as reminding people not to walk alone or talk on cell phones or listen to iPods as they walk, remaining aware of surroundings. Although this is mostly common sense and known safety practices it is very alarming to be warned by police not to walk alone.  

With the astonishingly high cost of gasoline, costly and time consuming-inconvenient public transportation, and a significantly overweight population suffering from too little exercise and too much of the wrong kinds of food and beverages the prevailing financial advice, professional medical advice and environmental advocates urge people to leave expensive and polluting transportation at home. Few people have a buddy system that allows for companionship to go about their daily business using their feet to get around. It is counterproductive and appalling that the limited resources of law enforcement have deteriorated to the point that the police seem to be capitulating to the grim fact, that even in broad daylight, law abiding people are not safe walking on even some of our busiest streets in neighborhoods perceived as relatively safe. Roving thugs, engaging in random acts of opportunistic crime, now thwart everyone’s basic safety. Hazards of walking normally include very poorly maintained-fall inducing sidewalks as well as ever increasing pedestrian safety concerns due to heavier traffic and less conscious-more distracted, often substance-abusing drivers. Society is degenerating to conditions that soon will require, law-abiding citizens to stay behind locked doors or venture out only in protective packs of armed or mace carrying peers. The social fabric of our society is badly shredded and the near and distant future appears very bleak indeed. 

Carol Gesbeck DeWitt 

• 

ENERGY CREDITS 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

This is getting ridiculous. How many times can Congress continue to miss the opportunity to extend the Renewable Energy Tax Credit? It seems that they’ve missed yet another chance, and every week they fail to renew this legislation, the greater the impact on the planet. The solar industry will fall apart (for most intensive purposes) if this tax credit does not get an extension. The current policy will expire Dec. 31, and the implications of this will likely grind the entire commercial solar market to a halt starting July 1 because very few solar projects will be able to be built out in time to collect the 30 percent tax credit if they’re not begun in July. How can we subsidize oil, beef, agriculture, milk, eggs and so many other industries, but in the time of rising gas prices, failing power plants, projected spikes in the cost of electricity and tremendous public interest in renewable forms of energy (solar, wind, geothermal, hydro, etc.), can this Renewable Energy Tax Credit policy fail to be extended? It boggles my mind! It seems so entirely stupid that our Congress cannot get this one right. It’s not just the fault of Congress of course, because the Bush administration is dead-set on striking down any policy that takes money from their precious oil cronies, and they’ve stated that the renewable energy tax credit will be vetoed if it intends to get funding from oil subsidies. So, with six months left in the current tax credit policy, and the window rapidly closing on commercial entities being able to lower the cost of solar by 30 percent with government support, we see our leadership failing us. 

Climate change issues are the number one national security threat we face as a nation, but our government continues to support/fund foreign wars for oil and ignore the problems we face at home. Our government is failing the people’s demand for clean power, sustainability, and the policies that promote a lifestyle that will keep our country strong. So the answer must be to vote them out of office. Millions of people want solutions to climate change problems, rising energy costs, smart environmental technologies, yet our government is blowing it time and time again to make responsible policy changes. Let’s turn up the volume. Let’s make some noise about the importance of solar, wind, geothermal, and other forms of renewable energy. The oil era is over, and it’s time we started living that way by supporting, funding, and promoting the smart technologies that will make the United States people leaders again. 

Jeremy Pearl 

• 

ENCOURAGING NEWS IN THE MIDDLE EAST 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I have been reading the latest news coming out of Israel with cautious optimism: the ceasefire with Hamas, an offer to begin talks with Lebanon, and the ongoing talks with Syria and the Palestinians. It looks like Israel is heading in the right direction in its quest for security and peace. 

I have been struck, however, by the absence of public expressions of support for these recent peace efforts, most notably from the pro-Israel community that is normally such a vocal advocate for Israel and its policies. 

As an American who believes that the security of Israel, its neighbors and the United States is enhanced by a peaceful Middle East, I strongly support these initiatives and hope that the United States will do more to facilitate their success. I hope that those who consider themselves to be friends of Israel will join me in this strong expression of support. 

Michael Sherman 

• 

MUSIC PROGRAMS 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

While it may only lie in the California past “when most children had at least some exposure to music at school” (June 12 editorial), students in the Berkeley Unified School District today benefit from a rich introduction to that culture. My two daughters, like all Berkeley fourth graders, were offered (and issued) instruments last year and this, and twice played with members of the Berkeley Symphony Orchestra. Last year one daughter sang at school with members of the San Francisco Opera a la Carte. The three of us just returned from three days at Berkeley’s Cazadero Music Camp in the Sonoma redwoods, where the program concluded with the fifth graders’ precise hour-long symphonic concert, and where our children took home warm introductions to the entire Berkeley schools’ music staff from whom they will learn in the middle and high school years ahead. Of course we are indebted to the taxpayers, music institutions, and donors whose generosity has enriched the Berkeley schools, and the foresight of civic leaders to have acquired and resurrected the Cazadero camp site decades ago. 

Antonio Rossmann 

• 

SOME UNSOLITICED COMMENTS 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Way back in 1986 the supposed wise and visionary citizens of the City of Berkeley declared itself a “No Solar Zone.” Oh, wait minute...that was: “Nuclear Free Zone!” 

How ironic my slip...for we might as well have declared ourselves a Solar Free Zone being that, in well over 30 years since the 1973 oil crisis, only a handful of alternative energy installations exist in Berkeley. 

It is not unreasonable to expect auto companies to have been building massive fleets of 50- or 100-mpg vehicles by now. And by the same token, with all of our brain power, wealth, and rooftop acreage, the City of Berkeley should have, by now, become a shining beacon to the region, and to the rest of the world, in the implementation of solar technologies. Sadly, shamefully, this is not the case. 

The City of Berkeley is now entering into another tiresome era of political leadership consisting of the same handful of machine-politicians who have presided over us for decades. Well, yes, we voted them into office, but, dear citizens: Their victory is only half of the bargain. 

It is of the highest moral imperative to demand real accomplishment on issues such as energy policy (not to mention the numerous other problems that have plagued our city for over 30 or 40 years). 

It is time to get off of our high horses, take a break from the redundant celebration of our supposed superiority, and demand results. 

John Herbert 

• 

PUERILE ASPERSIONS 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

We read with interest Becky O’Malley’s recent “Editor’s Back Fence” column no the Daily Planet website regarding the whole Memorial Stadium brouhaha, and several of her colorful phrases caught our eye: 

• UC Berkeley continues to embarrass its graduates. 

• Huge and hideous Mussolini Modern athletic building. 

• Kafkaesque labyrinth of dark underground corridors. 

• Quintessential Old White Guy. 

• No-neck conformation that identified them as The-Jocks-in-Charge. 

• “Oozing charm from every pore, he oiled his way across the floor.” 

We have wondered if all your advertisers would be pleased with your oddly puerile, stereotyped aspersions, and if they really want to spend their advertising dollars on your personal opinion paper. Are any of your advertisers pale white guys, or ex-athletes? We’ll ask them. 

Leo J. Gaspardone, Sr.  

UC ‘57 

Sandy Bails 

UC ‘68 

• 

SCARED SHIRTLESS 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Regarding the June 19 article on the Marines Recruiting Station protest: Will somebody please tell Pam Bennett and Sherry of Code Pink to put their shirts on? 

I’ve spent years of my life trying to effect peace and progressive change and believe we have to keep asking ourselves two questions: What do we want to change? How can we achieve it in a way that works? (And not be dismissed as “those crazy bitches?”) 

All I can say is exposing your breasts ain’t the way. Just what portion of the electorate did Pam imagine she was reaching? 

True, a faction of The Choir applauded, probably those who still long for the romance of the 1960s. Some of Pam’s supporters say, “She got attention for the anti-war cause.” Yeah, like the sexual humiliation inflicted on Abu Graib prisoners made them hand over great intelligence. Is all attention good? Ask any mother of a 3-year-old. 

For that matter, the vast majority of the electorate are already against the war. We could have given them the message to contact elected officials to cut off war funding. But, yawn, that’s so dull. What message did the shirtless ones actually send? 

I suspect what Pam is looking for is a kind of exciting them versus us fight—them, guys filled with testosterone, and us, righteous women. Cops are obviously filled with testosterone and must be bad. Tribal warfare of this sort just increases bitterness and stunts such as Pam’s and Sherry’s are self-indulgent. Besides that, Pam’s description of cops sounds a bit sexist. 

My informants tell me another tactic was considered for the demonstrations—the use of Winter Soldiers testimony. That sounded red hot to me. Did it happen? 

Meanwhile, I’d like to hear of a single person persuaded to resist the militarization of these United States by Pam and Sherry’s action. No, I ain’t new to this cause. My pacifist grandfather came out against flag-waving and militarization in 1918. I suspect he had plenty of testosterone. He also was elected to office and promoted women’s voting. How I wish some of my fellow progressives were as sensible. And that someone would bring this country together without prejudice against women, blacks, gays or even working class men. 

Avis Worthington 

• 

BROTHER’S SAFETY 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

When I was in my first few years of adulthood, I spent too much time reading comic books, playing video games and watching movies, while not spending enough time trying to cause positive change. My younger brother is also a comic book fan, but as a young man entering adulthood, he chose to follow his heart and save some trees. My younger brother climbs and traverses to save a public park, a public memorial, a beautiful slice of nature a short walk away from city life. 

For those who weren’t there, on June 17, a private arborist firm was given orders by UC Berkeley Campus Police Chief Vicky Harrison to cut the traverse line he was suspended on. If they were successful, if they chose to fulfill those orders, I would have lost my brother, my friend. 

He’s stuck in the trees right now, and I miss being able to talk to him, and going on walks with him. But I know he doing what he feels is right, and I support him wholeheartedly. He chose his tree name because of a T-shirt I gave him when he was on the ground once. I miss him, but I expect him to come down after his mission up there in the canopy is successful and over. I expect him to come down safe and not coldly plummeted to the ground by a mercenary tree trimmer from Watsonville. When my brother is back on the ground, I want to buy him a stack of comic books, not a bunch of flowers for his grave. 

I don’t know what is going to happen between the time I type this and the time this gets to print. But I would hope Vicky would not value her $2.1 million scandal, nor a gym, over my brother’s safety. 

Go Sonic, go.  

Name withheld 

• 

CAL STADIUM PROJECT 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

As an alumnus of the University of California at Berkeley, I strongly urge your newspaper to express its support for discontinuing the legal action that the City of Berkeley has initiated to challenge the construction of a new athletic center on the campus. The historically strong partnership between the University and the City has significantly benefited both the citizens and the University, and improvements to the University’s athletic programs can not only benefit both but can also bring substantially increased business and sales tax revenues. The City has made its point in this litigation, but now it is time to cease this expensive and divisive action. 

Bill Russell 

• 

TREATMENT OF BLACK MEN 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Regarding Richard Brenneman’s April 29 story, “Week’s Second Shooting Alarms North Oakland Neighbors”: 

As the mother of the victim of that shooting, I was appalled as I read the story about the shooting in your newspaper. No investigating about this crime was actually done by the newspaper or the police. My son was not a shooter in this incident. He was the victim! He was ambushed while dropping off a friend as a favor to him. He had no gun and was not and never has been involved in that type of gun violence. He does not steal...he has integrity...and, although he is not afraid to defend his self, he doesn’t initiate violence!  

He had been driving the little Hot Wheel-looking yellow Dodge Charger when a man came out of nowhere and shot into his windshield. My son believed it was an attempted robbery. He had attempted to make an blind escape by driving the car off with his head down, which resulted in the crashing of the vehicles described in the article.  

He had a friend with his 3-year old daughter in the back seat. To divert attention from them, he jumped out and ran. The shooter ran after him shooting as he pursued. The only thing that saved him is tore off his gold chain and emptied his pockets of all his money while he was running. The shooter stopped to pick up the goods.  

In the meantime, his friend jumped in the front seat and drove off to safety. And my son jumped the fence into someone’s yard to hide from his assailants. He said he could hear at least two guys looking for him. He waited in fear and pain because he had been shot. He doesn’t know if he had been shot before he ran or while running but by the time he found a place to hide he knew he had been hit.  

He stayed there until he saw a police car ride by and then he came out of hiding. By that time, the police car had left. He walked down the street begging for someone to help him by taking him to the hospital and no one would. Finally, when one young guy was ready to take the risk of his father’s scorn, the police found him. 

The officers questioned him while he lay in pain believing he was dying. But after that, we never saw any more police. There was no interest from anyone in what had happened...what had really happened. There was no investigation...nothing. I guess I shouldn’t be surprised. He is a young black man, age 25. He is considered one of them...the shooter, expendable, deserved of this kind of lack of interest, just not worthy! That is where I became appalled.  

He shouldn’t get the same care and interest as any body else. Don Perata was carjacked in that same area. He is no more worthy than my son! Is that the only time people notice? My son was a victim!  

I have grown very weary of the treatment of young black men as a whole. My son has to deal with stuff no one else should have to. He was picked up last year by the San Leandro police and kept in jail over night because he was suspected of attempting to steal a car which belonged to his friend, he had his permission to drive it, he had gotten locked out of it and the police had talked to the owner. No charges were ever made. And, they kept the key to his car which they said was a shaved off key, so he had to pay to get a new one. 

He is a young man like so many others that is trying to find his way. He is in and out of school and jobs. He is young and a little unstable. But, he does not deserve to be treated like a criminal or worse as if his life is not as important as the next guy...or the Don Peratas.  

Please make attempts to get the stories right! My son was not just a crime victim but also a victim of a perception that when you are a young African-American male you must be at fault. 

Frustrated Mother 

Monique Shaifer 

• 

COAST LIVE OAKS 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I have always looked to California as being the leader in protecting nature. The University of California, Berkeley is giving the entire state of California a horrible image throughout the entire United States. 

It is ironic that I am writing about your namesake, our one and only planet, which the tree-sitters are trying to protect! I was appalled to read in the June 19 New York Times that the University of California, Berkeley wants to kill a necessary part of our planet’s environment. I am so thankful that the city of Berkeley and the Save the Oaks organization have more sense than whoever cooked up this selfish, irresponsible idea. I keep praying that the whole idea will be scrapped. Right now, the coast oaks are not endangered. Why do we have to wait until something is endangered to protect it?  

Annihilating nature is contrary to all the wonderful environmental decisions that California has been making. The tree-sitters and the city of Berkeley are my heroes and are representing the true heart of California! 

Isn’t it a little suspicious that the arborists were hired by the university, and are incognito? If there are so many objections, maybe there is a reason. 

Thank you for your time and for using your vast influence to encourage people to save your namesake.  

Phyllis Hale 

Tipp City 

• 

CITY REVENUE 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

For years now, I’ve witnessed downtown Berkeley lose its vitality and much of its diversity, and the variety of its offerings narrow to the choice of posh restaurants and designer fashions or the growing number of cheap eats and thrift/dollar shops that now segregate our community’s social interactions. At the same time, our city government has been selling out the town’s interests to those of the university and private developers while imposing policies aimed at making life unreasonably difficult for many of its citizens. 

A few years ago, the Planet ran an article about the town’s budget, from which I inferred that a decision had been made to make parking fines a reliable source revenue rather than continue as a punishment to encourage a violator not to offend again. Now I see how that works. A few weeks ago, while helping a disabled person, I pulled over and parked for a short time behind another car on a residential side street. When I returned to my car about 10 minutes later, I found that my act of helpfulness would cost me $36 because of street cleaning. The “disabled” sticker in my car was obviously trumped by the town’s commitment to generating revenue because the street was already clean when I parked there, which the meter-person could have as easily observed as I did (after the fact). This grasping for money from parking violations is further evidenced in that we now have no alternative to paying (such as offering to work it off). And there’s no point in pursuing the matter at a hearing because doing so requires that one send in the amount of the fine at the same time! 

Now that I’m finally seeing a light at the end of the tunnel that will, I hope, extinguish the meanness and avarice that has distinguished our national leadership for so long, I look forward to the day when Berkeley government returns to promoting human rather than economic values again. 

Nicola Bourne 

• 

MONICA PELOSI RIDES AGAIN 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Ever since White House intern Monica Pelosi took impeachment off the table, she’s been looking for new ways to please her man. So, on Friday, June 20, she revealed her latest enticement to George Bush: a FISA reform bill with guaranteed immunity for law-breaking telecoms. From past experience, she was absolutely certain that this craftily negotiated legislation eviscerating the Fourth Amendment and granting unlimited presidential powers to spy on innocent Americans would be more irresistible to the GOP and President Bush than a blue dress. She was equally confident that the attractive young presidential nominee, Barack Obama, and most of the Democratic House caucus with low self-esteem wouldn’t be able to resist her charms. Dazzled by the prospect of a presidency unfettered by Constitutional restrictions, Senator Obama promptly forgot his previous protestations of principled opposition to “immunity before marriage,” and he guiltily endorsed the so-called “compromise” legislation. 

From such seedy beginnings are dictatorships born. 

Taylor Bennett 

• 

IMPEACH NOW OR INDICT LATER 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

It is almost certain that President Bush will leave office before anything is done to hold him responsible for impeachable acts.  

Last week Representative Dennis Kucinich, put impeachment back on the table from which it had been removed by Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, almost two years ago.  

Kucinich caused the details of Bush’s impeachable actions to be read into the Congressional Record. Although it is unlikely that his motion will come to a vote, he deserves the thanks of everyone who cares about our reputation as a nation of laws.  

A few days before the invasion of Iraq in March, 2003, Representative John Conyers hosted a meeting of a few dozen legal scholars and public servants, including former Attorney General Ramsey Clark, to discuss and weigh the prospects for impeachment. 

In January 2006, Elizabeth Holtzman, who voted for the impeachment of President Nixon, examined President Bush’s systematic abuses of powers and his egregious disregard for “the rule of law” and concluded that impeachment was warranted.  

Last Friday, Congressman Conyers chaired a meeting of the House Judiciary Committee in which Scott McClellan gave sworn testimony about the manipulation of facts, the lies and dissembling he witnessed up close as Bush’s press secretary. 

One more example: In a long-awaited report to the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence the acts of deception used to justify an unjust war were made public. 

There is more, much more.  

Thus, if impeachment now is not politically feasible, too late or too distracting then indictment must come later. If it does not then we will forfeit forever our claim to be a nation of laws. 

Marvin Chachere 

San Pablo  

• 

COMMON SENSE 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

As many warned our neighbors and the Berkeley City government initially, the suit against the new UC athletic facilities was frivolous chest-thumping and a waste of the taxpayers’ money. The funds spent on this lawsuit by the city could have been much better spent on other needs of the people of Berkeley. Now that a legal ruling largely favorable to UC has been handed down by Judge Miller, I urge the mayor and the City Council in the strongest terms not to waste any more time, effort, or money on this issue. Further legal appeals will only delay the inevitable outcome. Too much attention and too much money have already been spent on this distraction. The City of Berkeley has everything to gain by allowing these facilities to be built, and truly nothing to lose. 

Jeremy Thorner 

• 

DO NOT APPEAL 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

As a registered Berkeley voter, I am urging the Berkeley City Council and Mayor Bates not to appeal Judge Miller’s recent ruling in the stadium lawsuit. 18 months of legal proceedings and briefs was long enough for someone of her judicial caliber to make an accurate decision. I would be appalled if the city decided to continue to use taxpayer money in a reckless and open-ended way to fight a losing battle against the university that never should have happened.  

The university is a beacon of progressive thought and is a leader in environmental research in the world, and is seeking promote the safety of its students and its staff by constructing the SAHPC. I am appalled that my city is so opposed to the notion that its citizens and representatives at the University should be subject to unsafe conditions when a judge has now clearly stated that its plans for construction of the SAHPC comply with Alquist-Priolo and numerous independent surveyors have deemed the site construction worthy. 

Issuing a city ordinance that granted one group exclusive rights to protest a military recruiting center was embarrassing enough. Please don’t compound the city’s public relations problem by needlessly dragging out a lawsuit with the university at the expense of taxpayers. The university is the main reason Berkeley is such an interesting and diverse place. It brings in people from all over the world who seek out knowledge and competition, and many stay because of the city’s liberal leanings and beautiful surroundings. I 

The stadium isn’t going anywhere, and neither is the university. It is time to accept those facts and reconcile that it’s in both sides’ best interest to promote the safety and competitive advantage that the SAHPC and the overall Memorial Stadium retrofit project will supply to the university, the City of Berkeley, local businesses, and the students. 

Jeff Patmont 

• 

DISTRICT ELECTIONS AT FAULT 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

In last week’s editorial “Another Opening, Another Show,” you blame “self-satisfied…complacent…small-c conservatives” in the hills for maintaining the status quo in Berkeley. 

The class difference between the hills and flatlands is historic, but you are correct in calling the latter our “urban sacrifice zones” where neighbors vainly struggle to protect their historic residential enclaves from oversized development. 

Why do flatlanders feel so powerless? The root cause is not personal but structural: district elections. In 1986 this self-mutilation of the Berkeley body politic was imposed on the urban flatlands by hills voters who wanted a cozy relationship with their councilmember while crushing slate politics. It was CNA VS. BCA, but the neighborhoods only succeeded in shooting themselves in the foot. 

Now, instead of voting for the entire council, we get to vote for one person plus the mayor. If the councilmember fails to support or protect our interests, we only have the mayor. And if s/he fails, then no other elected official is accountable, and the citizen is effectively disenfranchised. 

Thus incumbency becomes the rule, as voters are afraid to alienate their one person in City Hall. Citizens turn instead to unelected staff employees, who are perfectly content in running the city according to what they see as their “professional” inclinations. 

If the district map is superimposed on zoning, it is obvious that the job of the suburban residential hills councilmember is far easier than s/he who represents the complex interests of the many zoned districts, especially West Berkeley. 

Council neglect was shockingly evident in March, when the Planning Commission held an important tour of the manufacturing zones, and Darryl Moore was the only councilmember who showed up to survey the problems of an area that fuels the city’s economic engine and where small business and artisans confront well-heeled developers. 

How can we restore a vibrant, citizen driven democracy in Berkeley? Here are the options: 

1. Overturn district elections and restore the old system of everybody gets to vote the entire council. 

2. Increase the size of the Council by adding flatland districts, generating interest and attention to our urban and economic problems. 

3. Add two-at-large members. 

4. Institute term limits, stimulating greater fresh debate in replacement elections. 

5. Some combination of the above, although prudence would dictate acting on one at a time. 

Toni Mester 

• 

PIEDMONT AVENUE SIDEWALK 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I haven’t read much about the expansion of the perimeter around the UC Berkeley oak grove next to Memorial Stadium. What ordinance allows UC Berkeley police to currently barricade the city sidewalk along the eastern side of Piedmont Avenue, even though no construction is underway? Are the proper approved permits for the current closure of this sidewalk on file at Berkeley City Hall? 

Scott Mace 

• 

McCAIN AND THE ENVIRONMENT 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Republican presidential hopeful John McCain showcases his environmental side in a new commercial while at the same time the GOP stalls a bill that would give renewable energy firms tax credits. Republicans give billions in tax credits to oil giants but a few billion in tax credits for renewable energy and the environment at home, oh no! 

Sen. McCain, in another move, rejected a windfall-profits tax on oil companies. Just whose side is McCain on? 

In an about face Bush has changed his stance on offshore drilling. More of those unsightly drilling rigs are in coastal areas. Will McCain follow the Bush lead? 

It looks like John McCain’s environmental policy is coming out of both sides of his mouth and is an oil lobbyist’s dream. 

Ron Lowe 

Grass Valley 

CONFUSION AMONG LETTER WRITERS 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I see considerable confusion among the Daily Planet’s anti-cell tower and anti-Bus Rapid Transit letter writers. 

Mina Davenport (June 5) asks both for cell towers to be spread evenly over more Berkeley neighborhoods, and for a moratorium on installing new cell towers. It’s hard to see how the cellular companies could install cell towers in more locations as she requests, if the moratorium she requests is enforced. 

Michael Barglow (June 5) succumbs to a different sort of confusion by adding up the transmission wattage from several antennas to come up with a total number of watts of radiation being beamed into neighborhood homes. The antennas involved are directional, and he says they will be mounted on three sides of a building, so we can assume that the signals will be aimed in different directions. Combining them into a total makes no more sense than declaring three streets with 30 mile per hour traffic to have a combined 90-mile per hour traffic speed. 

While quoting wattage numbers, Mr. Barglow might also bolster his credibility by looking at signal decay and determining what the power levels would be where the signals would come into contact with people, instead of at the antenna. The Wikipedia article on radio propagation might be a good place to start. To put the numbers in perspective, the 1,200 watts Mr. Barglow claims as the output of the larger antennas is also the power output of my microwave oven. Nobody would want to be inside a microwave oven when it’s running, but few people scrutinize the shielding of microwave ovens across the street. 

Meanwhile, on the Bus Rapid Transit issue, Joseph Stubbs (June 5) argues that there are no parallel routes to Telegraph Avenue for car traffic to use. Yet, Anne Wagley (June 12) uses the argument that BRT would parallel BART (which runs on Shattuck and Martin Luther King) too closely. Are the anti-BRT people asking us to believe that Telegraph, Shattuck and Martin Luther King are so close together that pedestrians would have no trouble getting from one to a public transit line on another, but too far apart for people to get between by car? 

Please, letter writers: I’d really like my phone and my local public transit to work well. Failing that, can I at least ask that if you re going to be obstructionists, you get your stories straight? 

Steve Gibbard 

• 

BRT BALLOT MEASURE  

SHOULD PROHIBIT  

GLOBAL WARMING, TOO 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Is there any way Berkeley voters can amend the BRT ballot measure? Rather than simply voting yea or nay on making mass transit more convenient, several closely related measures could be part of a more comprehensive measure. 1) Berkeley voters can prohibit Planet Earth from manifesting global warming, such as conditions which may have abetted the recent and inconvenient Oakland Hills fire. 2) How do other populous countries have the chutzpah to think they deserve to emulate the American lifestyle?! Only Americans can waste the Earth’s resources: Americans wear U.S.-flag lapel pins and sing “God Bless America.” Let our ballot measure also prevent other nations from following our examples. 3) While Berkeley carnivores appreciate Sacramento politicians diverting most of California’s fresh water into the heavily subsidized hamburger-export agribusiness industry, our ballot measure should demand EBMUD allow unlimited water use for washing the cars and SUVs we idolize. Freedom of religion: Why deny BRT a dedicated lane if we can’t show off our shiny gas-guzzling idols? 4) And, Berkeley voters can simultaneously repeal the law of supply and demand, which inconveniently abets higher gas prices just because Americans are addicted to gas, other nations emulate our addiction, and the ethanol crop was flooded (possibly by global warming manifestations…what a waste of potential carwash water!). Why not have one rational and comprehensive ballot measure for Berkeley voters? Hurray for the power to vote for our own extinction! 

Mitch Cohen 

• 

PHELPS COMMENTARY 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Another amazing load of crap from Mr. Phelps. 

Greg McVicar 

• 

GRADUATION 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

A man in the last row of the Berkeley Community Theater yesterday played pool on his cell phone, while a few seats down a young boy slept, snoring lightly. It was a long ceremony. The theater was full, the lights were down, the microphones worked most of the time. Thirteen students, mostly girls, spoke—chosen to honor the fact that each of them had gotten straight As, no A-minuses allowed—during their academic careers at the school. The school symphony played and a group sang, with soloists in each showing promise for extraordinary futures in music.  

Behind the seating area half a dozen or more parents and friends who use wheelchairs gathered to try to shoot pictures with their long lenses, since the front of the auditorium was blocked off for the graduates. Balloons and horns marked the granting of each diploma, as an orderly procession of girls in beautiful dresses, and boys—some in suits and some in tee shirts or hoodies, each with a carnation—filed across the stage. Some, due to various disabilities took longer to navigate the route, and they were cheered loudly for this extra effort.  

The diverse audience included people in suits and people in tee shirts, parents, family, friends, social workers, teachers, a juvenile commissioner, women in shorts and women with their heads covered—all there to cheer on the kids. The audience clapped and cheered enthusiastically through out the ceremony—after obediently turning off their cell phones and lowering their balloons so that everyone could see, until the very end, when the roughly three hundred strong eighth grade class chanted “ ‘08, ‘08!” before filing out. They are high school kids now, starting again on the long road that will determine their futures. They are a fine looking bunch. 

Perhaps most impressive, though, in the Martin Luther King Junior Middle School graduation that took place Thursday afternoon, was the initial welcome to the audience in the thirty native languages of the 300 students, only the final one of which was English. For the Spanish greeting the crowd cheered, nearly everyone being able to understand. But there was also Ibo and Finnish, Russian and Czech, not to mention Thai, Chinese, Vietnamese and Hindi, and 22 others. 

So this is us, folks: the Berkeley demographic—unique, diverse, creative, interesting, talented and proud. And these are our kids who, if anything, are even more so. Congratulations to the MLK class of ‘08, and congratulations to us, the Berkeley Demographic. Berkeley is the greatest.  

Kristin Baldwin Seeman 

• 

SKINNER’S CAMPAIGN 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

In her June 12 musings on the recent primary election Becky O’Malley opined that Nancy Skinner’s campaign had been “orchestrated by an expensive San Francisco agency.” While “expensive” is simply inflammatory and conjectural on her part, we are definitely Los Angeles-based.  

Without being too defensive I would like to suggest that Nancy won because she had more volunteers and small donors than her opponents—and the best articulated and most substantive policy proposals. While O’Malley rightly pointed to one of her mailers as having a soft focus (it was an introductory, biographical piece) other mailers laid our detailed and specific proposals for addressing the state budget crisis, reforming schools and improving health care.  

Parke Skelton 

SG&A Campaigns 

Pasadena 

• 

ALIENATED STUDENTS 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I am thinking about how to bring back students who are alienated from public education. I believe that if we offer more useful subjects to them like music, arts, computer science, business management and health sciences, students may get renewed interest in finishing school. Art and music are healing and relaxing subjects. 

These subjects can help them think on immediate and future goals. We have been forcing students to join classes that have no meaning for them. 

Once I had a class where most of the children (ages 5 to 12) came from broken homes. They had anger and unhappiness reflected on their faces. I decided to bring beads, string and scissors to the worktable. I announced that any one who could make something within an hour could take their handiwork home. To my surprise three hours passed without any disturbance or fight among the 30 children. The only time I heard a voice was when some one asked me if I had any more blue beads. The classroom had a CD player. The soothing background music plus the bead work served as a mind and body medicine for that group. 

This example shows that working attentively in a group can bring back lost feelings of togetherness. When students are relaxed naturally, they may be able to decide what to do next. It should not be difficult for the educators to be flexible and change the curriculum for the benefit of the average or low achiever students. This may help us improve the over all learning standard our students. 

Romila Khanna 

Albany 

• 

DEVELOPMENT IN BERKELEY, OAKLAND 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

While I agree with many of the points Sharon Hudson made regarding Bus Rapid Transit, I absolutely choked at her suggestion that the place to concentrate new regional development is in Oakland, particularly in low-income neighborhoods, which she thinks would welcome development dollars more than Berkeley’s “comfortable, middle-class neighborhoods.” Residents of single-family neighborhoods flanking International Boulevard don’t want giant ugly condo boxes going up on International any more than Berkeley residents near San Pablo, Shattuck, or Telegraph. In either case, development dollars do not benefit the residents, nor do condos increase property values. In fact, Oakland’s current condo glut is depressing values as developers resort to auctions to get rid of them. It may be true that lower-income residents can be fooled into supporting development that is not really in their best interests if developers and politicians promise jobs and/or affordable housing, as happened with the huge Oak-to-Ninth development, but then many highly educated middle-class citizens in both cities have drunk the Smart Growth Kool-Aid and really believe that “density near transit” will somehow save us from the coming global climate change catastrophe. 

That Ms. Hudson believes this development could be “intelligently integrated into new planning” shows a lack of knowledge of Oakland’s planning process, which is just as dysfunctional and developer-driven as Berkeley’s. Also, her assertion that Oakland has only one-third the population density of Berkeley is simply untrue—Berkeley has 9,823 persons per square mile, Oakland has 7,162 (about 75 percent). 

I do not see why Oakland OR Berkeley should bear the brunt of dense development. BART goes to Contra Costa County, and AC Transit serves other cities as well. Let’s see some huge condos in Concord. How about some density in Dublin? In any case, Oakland isn’t taking the fall so Berkeley’s middle-class neighborhoods can remain pleasantly uncongested. 

In reality, we cannot build our way out of the climate crisis. Unlimited population growth combined with unlimited economic growth on a finite planet is simply not sustainable, yet the majority of people (and certainly governmental entities like cities and AC Transit) just go on thinking that somehow we have to accommodate increasing population, or that if people just stop driving it will all be OK. It won’t. 

Jane Powell 

Oakland 

• 

IMPEACHMENT 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

As another brave attempt at impeachment by Dennis Kucinich was politely ignored by the alleged “people’s representatives” in the halls of Congress, I sent Speaker of the House Pelosi the following e-mail: 

Dear Congresswoman Pelosi, 

I am again disappointed to hear that the leadership in the House will again table articles of impeachment against the two traitors in the White House. Must they have sex with prostitutes to be accused of wrongdoing? The president has broken laws he swore to uphold. He is a criminal and needs to be prosecuted for the sake of our democracy. 

Perhaps the title “President Pelosi” frightens you. Nevertheless it is your duty to bring Bush to justice or be stamped by history as failing your country when She needed you most. 

Anyone else out there disgusted enough to send her a nudge? Or should we just expect Team Cheney to politely leave the halls of power come January?  

Chuck Heinrichs 

• 

COUNTER-PRODUCTIVE DNC FUNDRAISING 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Yesterday evening a polite and presentable, albeit nervous-seeming, young man rang our doorbell. My partner answered the door, with me just a few feet away in the den, listening to the conversation. 

He introduced himself as representing the Democratic National Committee and launched into a canned speech about the great need for fundraising to keep pace with the Republicans. My partner gently explained that we had already given an amount we felt we could afford directly to the Obama campaign. 

The fundraiser, trained to be persistent, then jumped to the part of his canned presentation which he was trained to say in response to someone having already given funds to Obama. My partner listened patiently (a lot more patiently than I would have) to his whole spiel. When he finished up, she repeated that although the reasons he presented may be correct, we had really given as much as we could at this time. 

The fundraiser then jumped to the response he was taught to give to someone who said they had given as much as they could afford. Though my partner continued to show patience, I was losing mine. I stepped to the front door and tried to gently tell the fundraiser that, while we were on the same political side, I really thought he needed to hear what my partner was saying—we were unable to give more money at this time. 

Instead of realizing that he had best leave because he had been turned down, the fundraiser started one more time to go into his pitch. At that point, hopefully not too meanly because he really seemed a nice young man, I more forcefully told him he needed to stop asking us for money and that he should tell his supervisors that, as a loyal Democrat, I was greatly concerned that this approach of badgering people to give money was counterproductive and could well turn out to lose the Democrats votes. 

His response? He said that if he told his bosses that, he would get yelled at. He had been taught, he explained, to keep asking for a donation until the door was slammed in his face. 

Well, to save this nice young man from having to tell his bosses what they don’t want to hear, I will say it here. Don’t bite the wallet that feeds you. If we say we are supporters and that we’ve given already, perhaps leave a brochure which explains why there is a need to give again. But that’s it. Don’t keep badgering. And certainly don’t wait to have the door slammed in your face. Otherwise, I fear, the voters may slam the door on the Democratic candidates in November. 

Dan Alpert 

• 

THE RIGHT TO BARE BREASTS 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I was at the Breast Not Bombs peace demonstration this past Friday in front of the Marine Recruiters Office at 64 Shattuck Square in Berkeley. I was totally shocked that the Berkeley police would go ahead and arrest a Code Pink member for exercising her First Amendment right to bare her breasts at a public demonstration even after I told the police that a topless peace demonstration, even a totally nude one for that matter, was protected by the First Amendment as declared by U.S. District Judge Donald M. Middlebrooks in a 2003 legal decision that was supported by the ACLU. 

Middlebrooks’ decision barred the State of Florida from trying to block plans by a group of women planning to gather in a state park, strip nude and form a peace symbol with their bodies in protest of a U.S. war on Iraq. In his 11-page order he stated that “nude overtly political speech in the form of a ‘living nude peace symbol’ is expressive conduct well within the ambit of the First Amendment.” 

As a past member of the Peace and Justice Commission in Berkeley I plan to contact the Berkeley major’s office and all members of City Council that it is both ironic and hypocritical that the city most noted for birthing the Free Speech Movement would arrest a woman for exercising her right of free speech. 

If the mayor, city attorney or council do not take action then we can bring this to the attention of the Peace and Justice Commission and get a resolution adopted to present to council. 

I would also like to point out that I have accompanied Sherry Glaser, founder of Breasts Not Bombs, to at least a half-dozen previous Breasts Not Bombs demonstrations, including ones in Santa Rosa, San Francisco, and Sacramento and only in Sacramento were there any arrests. In that one the California Highway Patrol was forced to drop all charges when they realized they would lose their case in court and didn’t want to risk setting a legal precedent that would expose and guarantee the legal right for women to bare their breasts in public or for anyone at all to be totally nude for that matter at a public demonstration. 

I would also like to note that when Berkeley resident Debbie Moore was arrested numerous times for exercising what she considered her right to be totally nude the City of Berkeley could not get a jury to convict her. That is why Berkeley stopped arresting people for being nude in public as a criminal offense and instead made it an infraction of law punishable by a fine only. This way they could avoid having a jury trial that would only lead to an acquittal. 

I totally agree with the group slogans: “Put the Marine Recruiters Under Abreast” and that “The issue is soft tissue.” 

Alan Moore 

Musicians and Fine Artists for World Peace 

• 

STOP THE SPRAY 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Thank you for your frequent coverage of the issue of the planned aerial pesticide spraying of the Bay Area for light brown apple moth (LBAM). Your most recent article “Reedley Says OK to Aerial Spray Plan for Bay Area” (June 5) touched on many aspects of the controversy, including a new study showing even greater health risks from the product that was used over Santa Cruz and Monterey. It is critical to point out that the Bay Area is still on target to be sprayed; lawsuits in Santa Cruz and Monterey that require the state to complete an environmental impact report (EIR) before resuming the aerial pesticide spraying apply only to those counties and not to the Bay Area. The state is required to provide only 72 hours notice before they spray an area, and Aug. 17—just two months from now—is still the date dictated by the governor when spraying can resume in California. 

In response to this impending crisis, Stop the Spray-East Bay and Pesticide Watch are sponsoring a free Town Hall to Stop the Spray on Monday June 23 from 7-9 pm, at Lakeside Park Garden Center at Lake Merritt, 666 Bellevue Ave. (off Grand Avenue), Oakland.  

Concerned East Bay residents will have the chance to learn about the latest legal and legislative strategies to protect our communities from the LBAM spraying program. Experts will present the most up-to-date science and health information. There will be an opportunity to get involved in the local movement to stop the spray. 

Our speakers will include Oakland City Attorney John Russo, providing the most current information on legal strategies to stop the spray in the Bay Area; Douglas MacLean, communications director for Assemblyman Sandré Swanson, reporting on legislative strategies and state politics; Daniel Harder, Ph.D., executive director of the UC Santa Cruz Arboretum, providing scientific evidence the moth is not a threat; and Lawrence Rose, MD, MPH; UCSF Occupational/Environmental Medicine Department, discussing toxicity of the spray and health effects. For more information go to www.stopthespray.org. 

Rachella Grossi 

Albany 

• 

THE MURDER OF ANITA GAY 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I am writing in response to the June 12 article by Kristin Bender in the Oakland Tribune regarding the murder of Anita Gay by officer Rashawn Cummings of the Berkeley Police Department on Feb. 16. I have sent this letter to the Tribune, but I want to share it with Planet readers as well, because the Planet has dutifully and responsibly covered this issue (unlike the Tribune).  

As an active member of the community, I was outraged by this article that was so slanderous towards the family of Anita Gay. The article made it seem OK to shoot this woman in the back in cold blood because of perceived personal problems as she walked up stairs to her apartment. The quotes from Gay’s daughters included in the article were taken from late-night interrogation sessions following their mother’s murder, interrogation sessions that went on for hours without any legal representation present and in which there was blatant room for coercion. The article served as a callous pardon of criminal police behavior, justifying the shoot-to-kill policy and directly implying that this policy was appropriate to enact in the face of no immediate threat to either police or civilian lives. In the last 10 months, we have seen four people murdered by the police in Berkeley and Oakland. In each situation nobody’s life was threatened except those of the innocent people murdered by the cops. What this shows is that the murder of Anita Gay was not an isolated incident but rather an alarming pattern of conduct by the Berkeley and Oakland police departments. The fact that officer Cummings has been cleared of any wrong doing gives a green light for the police policy of shooting first and asking questions later. I will not sit back any longer while police terrorize our community. Perhaps it is naïve, but I believe strongly that the newspaper of record for this community should not either. The article published by the Tribune was not only grossly inaccurate, but unconscionably so. The Tribune owes our community fair and honest reporting about the issues directly affecting us, not some disgusting and ridiculous smokescreen for the police. I write this article to demand accountability from both the Berkeley and Oakland police forces and the Tribune. 

Rachel Reynolds 

Oakland ANSWER Coalition 

• 

FINE ARTS THEATER SPACE 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

To: Equity Residential 

Attn: Cindy O’Hara 

2 North Riverside Plaza 

Chicago, IL 60606 

Dear Ms O’Hara, 

I am writing to inquire about leasing the office space advertised at 2561 Shattuck Ave. in Berkeley, California, for the Pepper Spray Times for use by our editorial and features department and would like some clarification about the site. 

Your project information notice describes 2561 Shattuck Ave. as “...previously approved for theater space.” 

If a zoning variance is required I can testify on your behalf to the need for office space previously approved for theater. Though there is no shortage of office space previously approved for theater in downtown Berkeley, such facilities are highly valued for overcoming the debilitating height restriction challenges driving so much business to other cities. 

By leasing office space previously approved for theater to the Pepper Spray Times, Equity Residential can show how a commitment to theater and the arts can be a wise business investment regardless of its impact on the theater community. The health of downtown 

Berkeley’s business community depends on a plentiful supply of office space previously approved for theater and the office workers served in the inappropriately tall buildings that make it all possible. 

Thank you for providing prime retail commercial and office space previously approved for theater in Berkeley’s downtown arts district. 

Our staff looks forward to moving in to 2561 Shattuck Ave. and “acting out” inappropriately on casual Fridays. That’s the kind of theater we really like. 

Respectfully, 

Grace Underpressure 

Editor, Pepper Spray Times 

P.S.: We would love an autographed picture. 

• 

ALARMIST ‘JOURNALISM’ 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Regardless of one’s opinion of the tree-sitters, the university, the stadium renovation project or the police department, Mr. Brenneman’s article regarding police activity surrounding the stadium tree-sit was unnecessarily alarmist in tone and score. 

Regarding the article: “UC Berkeley Police Raid Tree-sit...”: Mr. Brenneman’s lead mentions that the police were “armed with pistols [and] batons...”. Are we to take special note that police officers were issued weapons? Is this somehow different from normal operations? Is it a complement different from that a beat officer would carry? Are we to be shocked by this? As there is no mention that the officers brandished or used their weapons, this line serves a purpose other than to inflame. 

I am curious as well why there was note of at least five arborists in “civilian garb.” Is there a standard uniform for an arborist, and if so, why were they on an “undercover mission”? 

Jason Eshleman 

• 

PHONY PWOGWESSIVE  

AND AC TRANSIT 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Your columnist J. Douglas-Allen Taylor quotes AC Transit director Rebecca Kaplan, “Most of the cost of maintaining our public roads comes out of the general tax funds which are paid by everyone, even by people who don’t own cars.” We are told Kaplan said the burden of operating AC Transit should be shared by the general public through a parcel tax increase. 

Good principle, illogical application. A parcel tax is not laid upon the general public. It falls on homeowners in particular, and it is regressive. The burden of a parcel tax on a big business like Bank of America is tiny. 

The amounts being discussed for AC Transit might seem small, but the endless nickel and dime taxation of homeowners—and of renters to the degree that such levies are passed on to them—has met increasing resistance. For example, Oakland voters recently rejected an increase in a so-called Landscape and Lighting Assessment (LLAD). It “passed” only because of a rigged vote involving backroom deals by the City with its own Port and with the Oakland Unified School District (see www.orpn.org). Incidentally, Kaplan, now campaigning for a seat on the Oakland city council, supported the LLAD tax hike, too. 

For 30 years Democrats from Perata to Kaplan have done nothing to modify Prop. 13’s benefits for corporate real estate. In the meantime they sigh a bit then demand that working families pay more. They are “progressive” in name only. 

Charles Pine 

• 

ACCESS TO WHAT? 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Access to what? A lighting grid? Once again Berkeley Community Media has succeeded in bad reception and cloudy vision.  

Struggling to keep a portable lighting grid (the public’s lighting grid) in a location that is badly needed by BUSD is a shortsighted effort to maintain a system badly in need of change. Who exactly is served by this compromise? A very small portion of the community, who would undoubtedly benefit from better leadership and vision. 

It does not serve our access producers in any meaningful way. In reality the large studio setting is becoming less and less significant due to new technologies including lighting, cameras, post-production, and most of all distribution. 

Our community deserves better, our producers deserve better and viewers deserve better than a posturing battle cry to hang on to a lighting grid. 

Relying on the activity and nationwide “respect” BCM has accrued is simply misguided. BCM has done little over the years to live up to its potential in the center of one of the most diverse and politically active regions in the world. BCM has in fact been virtually wrestled to the ground by a lack of leadership and management in terms of facility, programming, and production. To characterize a group of hardworking and creative community producers as “a few disgruntled producers” does a disservice to both the past and the present. It reveals a lack of historical background and a revisionist policy that insures future paralysis of BCM, at a time when significant change is needed. 

Our community producers and volunteers have worked tirelessly, and continue to do so, to create programming that will actually live up to BCM’s potential. Chaining them to a lighting grid and paralyzing them by clinging to a worn out path is not leadership... it is just more of the same. 

If you want and need the same results keep walking down the same path. It is time for significant change in the thinking and direction of BCM.  

There is hard work and real planning that needs to be done to serve our community. Perhaps a more comprehensive understanding of the greatly evolved landscape of community programming and production is needed. Why not call on all of the community to set a new path? Why not learn from our history, rather than revise and repeat the history of community programming in Berkeley? Gaining a tenuous compromise to keep a lighting grid hanging above the heads of our children avoids doing that work and planning. 

We deserve better. 

Paul Kealoha Blake 

President, East Bay Media Center 

• 

SUPPLY AND DEMAND 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Settle back now folks and enjoy the new elitist rape we’re getting by way of the old saw, “the law of supply and demand.” Everything is costing way too much. And why is this? It’s because of the false cliche: the law of “supply and demand.” When things, we are told, are scarce, ie the supply, then the demand increases, which then justifies a rise in price. Couldn’t be simpler. And now, the poorer are getting poorer, and the rich are getting richer. But, as we vanishing working and middle classers go to bed each night with our anxieties about the next day, perhaps we should be saying to ourselves: “the supply and demand are BOTH for the few who control our economy.” They control the supply by the so-called free market, and they see to it that they control the demand by making us into a consumer nation.” As to the notion of “control,” we, the less endowed, should be controlling the supply and demand by simply regulating the speculators and regulating the cost of essentials. We did it in the early forties, and we can do it again. Thus, citing the evil old law of supply and demand, we can demand and supply ourselves with a decent life if only we insist on strong regulations and defeat the idiotic notion of a laissez-faire economy.  

Robert Blau  

• 

BRT CLARIFICATION 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

In his news update on the Planning Commission discussion of Bus Rapid Transit, Richard Brenneman writes that I listed issues including “the impacts of adding traffic lights to every intersection along the (BRT) route...” 

I ran quickly through several points during my three minutes of testimony, and my comment on this issue may have been misunderstood.  

AC Transit’s BRT proposal contemplates altering every intersection along the BRT route that does not currently have a traffic signal. Each unsignalized intersection would either receive a new traffic signal, OR be left unsignalized but blocked to most types of cross traffic and turning movements. 

For example, Oregon Street where it crosses Telegraph is currently unsignalized. AC Transit would propose either to install a four way signal there, or prohibit traffic from crossing Telegraph at Oregon, or turning left onto Telegraph from Oregon. Only right turns from Oregon onto Telegraph would be permitted. 

This sets up two unpalatable alternatives at numerous points along the BRT route. Either relatively low traffic streets get signalized—increasing the opportunity for vehicles to cut across Telegraph and through neighborhoods—or traffic is forced to go around the block to reach destinations. 

Consider Oregon Street again. Let’s say Berkeley chooses the “no signal” option, and the Oregon/Telegraph intersection is blocked to cross traffic and left turns onto, or from, Oregon.  

A resident or visitor trying to reach a residence on Oregon would often have to drive a block out of his or her way to either side. This would mean a considerable increase in traffic on the quiet streets paralleling Telegraph such as Ellsworth and Regent. More fuel consumption, more emissions, and more traffic congestion. 

In the case of Oregon Street, much of the extra traffic would spill onto the next signalized intersection south, Russell Street, which is a bicycle boulevard where the city ostensibly discourages additional motor vehicle traffic.  

Berkeley streets affected by this “choice” along the BRT route would include at a minimum Parker, Ward, Carleton, Oregon, Howe, Woolsey, Dowling, Prince, Ellsworth and Dana where those streets cross either Telegraph or Bancroft. If some of the alternative BRT routings are considered the list expands to include unsignalized intersections like Channing and Dana or Oxford and Kittredge. 

And if you live or have to travel to a neighborhood along University Avenue, San Pablo Avenue, Sacramento Street, or other main thoroughfares, keep in mind that BRT supporters have made it clear they want to extend the same system onto main streets like those as well, meaning the same situation would apply at every cross street currently without a signal. 

Steven Finacom 

• 

SAME-SEX MARRIAGE 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

After presiding at same-sex weddings for 21 years, what a joy to celebrate today two of our members’ legal marriage and to witness our great state live up to the constitutional rights of equality and justice. The couple has been saying “I do” to each other for 28 years, but what a thrill to hear them say to each other “I do take you as my lawfully wedded partner.” We did not know how tender and powerful it would feel for us to say, “Now by the power vested in us by the State of California, we pronounce you legally married.” We bless them and all who have persevered in their right to marry. 

Revs. Barbara and Bill Hamilton-Holway 

Co-Ministers, Unitarian Universalist Church of Berkeley 

Kensington 

• 

TREE-SIT DANGER 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I just witnessed a UC-hired worker threaten the lives of two tree-sitters. They were on a traverse line, about 50 feet above the ground, and the worker placed his cutting tool over the line, threatening to cut it, which would have sent the two people to their death. They let out the most frightened, pitiful screams I have ever heard. This action by UC was outrageously violent and provocative, and hopefully illegal. My heart is broken, and I fear the worst. I have never seen lives threatened in this horrible manner, have never heard screams of people thinking they are about to die, and I am now ashamed to be a graduate of the university that uses violence and deceit in this way. 

Dave Abercrombie  

• 

MOST POWERFULMAN  

IN THE WORLD 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I blanched when I read an Associated Press story about President Bush’s recent travels abroad, in which he’s described as “the most powerful man in the world.” Can that really be? 

But, honestly now, doesn’t it do your heart good to know that George W. had the time of his life those five days, traveling around Europe like a senior statesman, meeting with world leaders, guest of honor at lavish dinners? Can’t you just picture him dining in a beautiful old-world baroque castle in Germany, Paris’ elegant presidential Elysee Palace, and 10 Downing Street in London, or walking through the Vatican gardens with Pope Benedict XVI? He even got in a bike ride with German Chancellor Angela Merkel. Then there was a meeting with Queen Elizabeth II at Windsor Castle, though she normally entertains guests at Buckingham Palace. Oh, yes, and there was dinner with Prime Minister Gordon Brown. Recalling Tony Blair’s fall from grace for fawning over Bush, Mr. Brown must surely have felt some apprehension that he might suffer the same disfavor. 

Bush no doubt made a great impression with some of his famously tactful statements (i.e, effusively thanking French President Nicolas Sarkozy for dinner and the opportunity to meet his beautiful new wife, a former model-singer. In his typical suave fashion, he observed “she’s really a smart, capable woman, and I can see why you married her.” Never showing the slightest fatigue from his jam-packed schedule, striding vigorously from one event to another, waving and flashing broad smiles, there was no evidence of anxiety or sleepless nights for the 4,099 dead soldiers in Iraq, the growing violence in Afghanistan and the economic collapse in his country, it was clear that none of these trivial concerns marred President Bush’s super glam trip abroad. 

Dorothy Snodgrass 

• 

TOYS MISSING FROM TOTLAND 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Thursday last week someone came to Totland Playground in North Berkeley and took away many valuable toys from it. People there assumed the men who took the toys away were from the City of Berkeley, but after calling there myself a couple of times, nobody seems to know anything. 

This is very sad, because now the many children with parents and nannies that go there everyday have very few toys to play with. This was one of the most loved playgrounds by children in Berkeley, and since last Thursday it is very sad that the kids are very disappointed when they don’t see many of the toys. We as many parents are very concerned and disappointed about this, and about not seeing any reaction by the city. 

The toys that have disappeared include all the playhouses, water tables, playgrounds to climbing and sliding (including a completely new climb-and-slide castle) and two “little tikes” slides for small children. 

Many of these toys were contributed by the parents themselves. 

Francesc Trillas 

Beatriz Silva 

• 

INFLUENCING OF OUR OWN DESTINY—AND DENSITY 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

On May 13, Tom Bates gave a state of the city address at the Sound Studio in West Berkeley. Although the address was by invitation only, it raises enormously important questions about future development in Berkeley which should be considered by all.  

After reporting his general position on transportation corridor development, the mayor appears to have rather cleverly, but also not unsurprisingly, implicitly “lumped” into his platform for a greener future, a developmental prerogative which can be thought of completely separately from going green. In fact, going high-density brings with it impacts which may be entirely unnecessary. The question then becomes is it really necessary to do this, and I would like to see this debate receive some serious attention.  

Berkeley is already a rather dense city, and has so far successfully managed to keep it’s population relatively static over a long period of time despite fluctuations in the world around us. So it is appropriate to ask with rigorous integrity whether a policy shift towards increasing density in Berkeley is indeed the necessary or right direction for Berkeley to take at this point in time. It is exceedingly easy to confuse an actual need in this regard with a “desire” to do this based on financial calculations and benefits to certain special interests which will herein remain unnamed because in the end who they are doesn’t really matter. What does matter is that “if you build it,” they indeed “may come” and we will be living with a possibly unnecessary higher density situation which will have a range of negative impacts that cannot be avoided or mitigated away.  

As a question of policy, perhaps having some measure of control over our own density is an imperative which all Berkeleyans should seriously consider defending. This notion is indeed being challenged. 

Joseph Stubbs 

• 

OBAMA AND FATHERHOOD 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Barack Obama gives a speech/sermon in a Chicago black church about fathers who are failing to take responsibility for their children. His speech comes a day before Congress is set to take up legislation about deadbeat dads. 

If Obama really stood for change he would declare that the first line of attack on the issue of irresponsible fathers is creation of opportunity to act a parental role. Obama could, for instance, call for legislation that will create in the United States the government-funded support for new parents found in Europe; that is, legislation that allows mother and/or father to be at home with a new born child through the child’s first year. There are many young black fathers in the United States, who by reason of poor education, being on parole, or because of discrimination, are not good prospects for child support-paying jobs, but with societal help they could be loving parents. That they want to be is evident to anyone who strolls the parks on Sunday, where you see the warm bond between black father and child as they enjoy those few hours a week they have together on “daddy’s day.” 

Ted Vincent 

• 

SHAME ON UC 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

UC Berkeley seems to be moving further and further from its ideals of a public institution accessible to all and home of the Free Speech Movement. Its reckless and dangerous actions to attempt to remove tree sitters yesterday is just one of many steps in this direction.  

UC Berkeley has refused to negotiate with the community or work to develop an intelligent alternative to building dressing rooms in an oak grove that is beloved by the community and considered sacred to many. Instead it has used its massive propaganda machine and spent hundreds of thousands of dollars to fence tree-sitters in and police them.  

UC Berkeley, which touts itself as the home of the free speech movement could have responded differently. It could have used the tree sit as an opportunity to demonstrate what free speech and genuine public dialog means. It could have supported the tree-sitters as a way for its student body to actively engage in struggle and dialog around issues that are passionate to them, to learn that education is about actively participating in creating a new world, not just receiving a society in crisis. It could have used the hundreds of thousands of dollars it spent policing the tree sit to host community forums to develop a better solution that cutting the oak grove. More fundamentally, it could have used these forums to discus what the role of a public university should be and why, in a state that spends far more on prisons than it does on higher education, that Berkeley is more and more unable to fill this role.  

Berkeley did not seize the opportunity, but responded just as the university did to the People’s Park demonstrations in the 1960s. It responded with force. Perhaps this does not surprise us as community members. Berkeley more and more does not represent the ideals of a public institution. It has an atrociously low percentage of black, Latino and Native American students and faculty in a state where people of color are a majority. Its tuition has made it far from the publicly accessible university it was created to be. It has been working to negotiate one of the largest corporate-university buyouts in history with British Petroleum—I mean Beyond Petroleum. It provides a safe-haven for Professor John Yoo, who provided legal cover for the Bush administration’s torture regime; it continues to research and help in the development of nuclear weapons; it refused to offer timely tenor to Professor Ruthie Gilmore, a renowned African American scholar, forcing her decision to leave Berkeley, and the list goes on. 

It is time that we as a state speak out for a new type of education system. An education system with adequate funding, that does not need to pimp itself to corporate takeovers; and an education system that encourages dialog and thought, not fed ideas and forced deforestation. The university’s actions against the tree sit should be an awakening to us; a call to action for a new way of learning in a country that is falling behind. It is time for us to build a new UC Berkeley and a new United States. It is time for a fundamental change. 

Jonah Zern 

• 

‘EXPERIENCING  

BLACK AND WHITE’ 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I really don’t know life at all, words sung by Joni Mitchell, were part of what persuaded me to “grab” two Thursday evenings, June 19 and 26 from 7-8:30 p.m., and just have fun with women who wanted to be uplifted from living with cancer or knowing someone who is. Willingly, each reinterprets “Experiencing Black and White” the part 1 and part 2 workshops presented by internationally known Living Artist Tomyé. There is more than just the cut and dry expectations in this drawing class. We’ll have fun with silhouettes that include hand gestures, charcoal mixed with an unusual ingredient, and other untraditional materials, to lighten our time from serious thoughts. The best place for these thoughts and reflection is the very inviting Women’s Cancer Resource Center Library. We’ll also turn their books on end and paint a different story on them. Any woman who wants to join in is welcome to these free sessions. There is no age distinction. The Women’s Cancer Resource Center Library is located at 58th and Telegraph in Oakland. The librarian Margo Rivera Weiss needs to be contacted before each Thursday. Her contact number is 420-7900 ext.111 . 

Tomyé Neal-Madison 

• 

WARM POOL 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

The existing warm pool structure at BHS has monetary value close to five million 2008 US dollars due to its long span roof and steel frame structural system, I estimate. Its value to the community is priceless. To replace the warm pool elsewhere would cost two or three times that, we’ve learned at some expense, to the surprise of some. A reasonable site with parking has yet to be spotted. 

The school district, BUSD, should give the property to the city in exchange for land or property elsewhere; the empty VISTA three-story building of classrooms comes to mind, just north of the BHS campus. 

Bonds are expensive but maybe the three million dollar bond approved by voters to upgrade the warm pool could be upgraded by the voters to compensate for eight years of inflation, with an option to use it to start a new warm pool, with maybe an extra million kicked in, for no charge? This should give us six or seven million just in case the school board refuses to reconsider their deeply flawed south of Bancroft master plan, or refuses to trade properties. 

Destroying valuable buildings and destroying valuable programs should not be and must not be options for the school board. Adding a period to the school day would solve the supposed need for classrooms at BHS. And exactly how many out-of-towners go to BHS as students? 

Terry Cochrell 

• 

WILLIARD SCHOOL 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Regarding your recent article of increased suspensions at Willard Middle School, I have been a secondary school disciplinarian at several schools in a much larger district. 

With several years of experience and having often been called upon for judgment calls, training and professional advice, we must keep in mind that there are many varying factors here. Staff have differing levels of experience and opinions of how the job should be done, although we all adhere to the same district and state guidelines. 

However, what may constitute a school suspension in one person’s opinion, may result in a simple phone call home and/or parent conference for another. 

Through my years of experience in a dean’s position, I have observed co-workers in the same capacity who merely want to “wear the badge” without stepping up and being truly proactive about working on serious campus discipline and avoiding all confrontation. I like to pride myself as a member of the other group, attempting to make positive change, working hands-on for the betterment of the entire campus community. 

Believe me please, I am no conservative, but when I hear from the “bleeding heart society” things like “they’re just kids who need a break and some (tough) love,” I really wonder how this is to truly help them meet any future goals. 

The simple fact remains: While no students (or adults) are perfect, some children learn from home what is acceptable and appropriate school, campus and community behavior and some do not. This is true regardless of color, race, or language. 

M.J. Parker 

• 

SUPREME COURT  

APPOINTMENTS 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Of all the issues concerning this presidential race, none is more important that filling the vacancy of the U.S. Supreme Court if one of these judges retires. All eyes would be on Justice Paul Stevens, who is 88. Conservative groups are hoping for his retirement so they can hope for John McCain winning the presidency in November so that he can pick a judge that they like, which in reality would be a disaster for this country. 

I am talking about the sovereignty of American Indians in which their way of life will be further eroded by the already conservative court. Clean water laws would also be rolled back which can result in pollution in the water, all around the country. Plus women’s reproductive rights will be eroded further by this same Supreme Court who rolled it back last year by upholding the federal ban of so-called partial-birth abortion. 

In conclusion, a conservative Supreme Court has been bad for this country, and people should be aware of it when they go to the polls in November. 

Billy Trice, Jr. 

Oakland  

• 

POT AND KETTLE 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Summer of 2008. Anti-tax Republicans, to the detriment of tens of millions of Americans, blocked a bill that would have taxed windfall profits of oil companies. Big Oil will continue to yank our cord as long as they can get away with it. 

The majority of those locked up in World War II internment camps were Americans who “looked” Japanese. Is the same thing happening again as the Homeland Security Department and law enforcement round up citizens who look Mexican and Hispanic? 

McCain calls Obama bad for business. Now, that’s the pot calling the kettle black. John McCain and Republicans have turned the U.S. economy on its head over the past seven years. 

Gay marriages haven’t affected my marriage or anybody else’s I know. It does seem that the narrow-minded and conditioned folk who are steeped heavily in a particular set of moral and/or religious precepts, have been greatly bothered by the alternative marriages. 

Ron Lowe 

Grass Valley 

• 

TIM RUSSERT 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Back in 1991 I was halfway through graduate school when I started watching “Meet the Press.” I was completing a master’s degree in public administration with the intention of running for Cleveland City Council in 1993. Over the next seventeen years I have never missed a show and have always been awestruck by the method used by Tim Russert to question his guests. My feeling was that if I could ever ask those types of questions (and be able to answer them as well) I would develop into an excellent public servant. Furthermore, the energy he exuded when hosting the show went far beyond any talk-show host. Tim portrayed a level of intensity that never appeared intimidating but yet kept everybody’s attention focused on what was really important. He was businesslike but nice. He cared not just about the issues of the day but those he interviewed as well. “Meet the Press” was never about attacking someone but rather getting to the heart of what they believed based upon what they would say. It was not “gotcha politics” but rather an honest attempt at clarification which is so often lost in these days of sound bites. 

Tim was not only a great father but a great son as well. There are not too many public figures who would write about their relationship with their father and be so candid and honest about it as well. He truly loved his family. He also loved his extended family: the citizens of the United States of America. To all of us he will be remembered as a brother making us adopted sons and daughters of “Big Russ.” Tim set an incredible example for all of us by living his Catholic faith. Here was a man of virtue who always maintained dignity and respect for his fellow citizen. He fought the good fight and has finished the race. We are overwhelmed with sadness at his sudden departure but will never forget what he did while he was among us. Our lives must strive to set similar examples. Today and tomorrow we shall morn him but the next day and the day after we shall miss him. Thank you, Tim. We love you. 

Joe Bialek 

Cleveland, Ohio 

Our children were watching the evening news and saw the tree-sitters with the university police on the ground and the hired arborists up in the trees at the Memorial Stadium oak grove Thursday.  

They want the university fire officials to put up safety nets. It is just common sense, an 11-year-old, who plans to be a fireman, said.  

And why aren't there police negotiators who can best talk people down from harm? We have in the cities of Berkeley and Oakland excellent police negotiators for hostages, barricaded suspects and potential suicide emergencies who could be loaned to UC to persuade some of the sitters to safely come down.  

A 10-year-old asked that now the safety lines have been cut, why haven't the authorities put in place a safety net that fire and rescue workers use when people fall or jump from high-rise buildings during an emergency?  

What do our fire- and rescue-trained workers have to say about this oversight? We require nets and safety lines for circus acts, other sports, and for people threatening suicide.  

We fear for these young people who are tree-sitters. As they lack shade, water and food and restful sleep, they may not think clearly and could easily trip and fall three, four or five stories. Would such fall not be deadly?  

They are young, committed people and we should value their courage for their convictions whether we agree with their vision of the issue or not. We don't know if they have mental health problems or physical problems—we don't know anything about them and their families. They are, in their own way, citizen activists who have parents, brothers and sisters who must be worried for them. Friday will be dreadfully hot...dangerously hot for tree sitters perched in tree tops without shade, without water.  

We passed by there this late afternoon and saw the harsh militarized area—scores of police in black with hard SWAT regalia in the hot sun. Many tree branches have been haphazardly slashed and cut off—the hired arborists have been doing the demolition of the grove despite the no-action order by the court over a year ago. Little shade for heavily dressed police—no shade for tree people.  

So ugly, so negative....so unnecessary.  

It is so cruel to see a screaming woman in a perch frightened by two SWAT-type men in a picker box on a crane coming to get her. We saw this poor thing. And then the children and I saw her again on the television news. Our children asked why weren't the safety nets in place for her yet? Why was she being treated so cruelly? It could make her go crazy. Is this torture?  

Please, someone raise these questions on nets and discuss their use. Please ... UC Police ...bring in crisis-intervention negotiators. Perhaps some of the sitters will be persuaded to come home. Saving their lives is well worth it. 

In the past decade, Berkeley’s Aquatic Park has been undergoing a striking renewal. Dreamland for Kids and the Addison Street bicycle/pedestrian bridge bring new life to the park, as do the community organizations that have established programs in park buildings. Habitat restoration along the bay shoreline has created new shelter for wildlife. However, these biologically rich tidal lagoons are at risk of repeated toxic contamination if the Berkeley City Council approves plans for a $2 million storm drain construction project. 

On Tuesday’s council agenda is the Aquatic Park Improvement Program (APIP) proposal. The proposal details how clean water bonds could be spent. While a stated goal of APIP is to improve wildlife habitat, the bulk of the funds would be used to create new storm water outlets into the park from the storm drains at each end. 

The purpose of this portion of the project is to increase tidal flow through the lagoons, but the expanded storm drain openings at the Potter and Strawberry Creek culverts would also allow the city to direct floodwaters to the park’s wetlands. Such water storage is one strategy to reduce flooding upstream, but not the only one, and the progressive damage to water quality in the park cannot be denied. 

The harm urban runoff causes to the shallow ponds of the park has been well known for decades. As industrial discharges into the park were largely eliminated in the ’60s, it became apparent that the many toxics in storm water runoff—nonpoint source pollution—were a major cause of lagoon contamination. 

In 1970, the State Water Board met in the City Council Chambers and issued an order permanently prohibiting the City of Berkeley from discharging storm water into the park’s lagoons. The order included a mandate that the city construct a storm water diversion pipe to carry runoff from local drainages away from the park and out to the open bay where dilution would minimize its negative impacts. 

The city is not now in compliance with that order. As part of the project planning, the consultants discovered that the diversion pipe does not meet its stated design purpose during times of heavy rain and high tides. Rather than carry local pollutants away from the park, water in the pipe actually flows backwards, carrying toxic runoff from the city’s entire southern watershed and discharging it into the lagoons at multiple locations. The unsealed access covers on the pipe literally explode upwards during major storm events, dumping more storm water into the ponds. Contaminated water also pools in the freshwater wetlands where the remnants of Potter Creek reach the bay and the great egrets of the region gather nightly to sleep. 

Besides the diversion pipe functioning opposite its intended purpose, gates that formerly blocked storm water intrusion were removed a decade ago—without required notification to the Water Board—allowing additional storm flow directly into the lagoons. 

The APIP proposal project calls for creating larger connections between the city’s two major storm drains and the waters of the park. Compliance with the Water Board order demands that all storm water be blocked from entering the lagoons. Clean water and wildlife habitat goals also demand that all storm water be diverted away from the park. 

The proposed discharge valves, however, would be operated by the city’s storm water managers. Their mandate is to limit flooding in commercial and residential districts and the new gates would allow them to shift storm water to the park. Flood control east of the railroad tracks would be the primary operational purpose of the discharge gates, not the protection of birds and their habitat. 

One standard flood control option was not studied, however—the installation of high-pressure pumps to move water from east of the railroad tracks directly out to the open bay. Pumps are used in other cities around the bay, and are able to move high volumes of water, protecting both human and natural environments from flooding. 

Although it is tempting to look at Aquatic Park as a storm water surge basin, a single storm could kill the food base when the highest bird population is present and when plentiful food is most needed. 

Storm water is the primary source of water pollution in the park. The negative impacts of these discharges into the park are already well known, as they were studied in the 1994 Aquatic Park Water Quality Study that first proposed opening storm drains into the park and using the park for storm water treatment. 

Four biotoxins in the runoff are at levels exceeding Water Board water quality objectives. Coliform levels are 10,000 higher than board objectives. Shorelines near discharge pipes are layered in bands of plastic and other trash. 

Even if the storm water were filtered to drinking water standards, the sudden loss of salinity can be toxic to the park’s marine life, the food base for migratory birds. Offshore bird roosts disappear when floodwaters are diverted to the lagoons, depriving birds of protected resting spots. Erosion of the shoreline is exacerbated, speeding the loss of shoreline trees needed by egrets and herons for resting and sleeping. Erosion also accelerates the reduction in water depth, raising summertime water temperatures and driving oxygen from the water. 

The storm drain construction project has the support of no environmental group. Citizens for East Shore Parks (CESP), the Golden Gate Audubon Society, and the Sierra Club have all expressed opposition to using the park’s lagoons for storm water discharge. 

On top of all this, the city is seeking a construction permit from the State Water Board that overturns the permanent prohibition on storm water discharge into the park and replaces it with a new permit allowing such toxic discharges in perpetuity. 

The Sierra Club has written the Water Board pledging to fight any loosening of the 37-year-old discharge prohibition. Other groups will join that fight if the council votes to proceed with any project that allows storm water to reach the park. 

Tell the council you do not want storm water in the enclosed tidal ponds of Aquatic Park. Urge them to uphold the Water Board order prohibiting such discharges and to build projects that increase compliance with that order. Berkeley’s flood control improvements must be environmentally responsible, using pumps to increase pipe capacity, rather than polluting our regionally significant wildlife habitat. 

A one-way outbound gate at the park’s north end into the Strawberry Creek culvert could increase tidal flow in a way that does not change storm water discharges. Ask the City Council to develop such a low-harm project instead. Visit www.egretpark.org to read more. 

Mark Liolios is member of Aquatic Park EGRET.

June 12 marked the one-year anniversary that our friend and comrade Hal Carlstad left us. He was well known and is missed by a great many people in the Bay Area peace, environmental, social justice, anti-death penalty, Unitarian, and anti-nuclear communities. Hal was everywhere. I first met him in the mid-1980s through Earth First! activities. He said he liked Earth First! because it was “less talk, more action.” It is the rare individual who, literally, every time he blinks his eyes he is thinking not of himself, but rather about what he can do next to bring about change, to build a more compassionate and just world. Hal was that rare individual.  

He was at the anti-war actions, he was anti-imperialist, pro-democracy, anti-colonialist, anti-nuke, defending the sacredness of life at San Quentin and in the forest; defending civil rights of activists at the Judi Bari trial and defending free speech at KPFA. He traveled to El Salvador, to Cuba, to Venezuela. With humility, with passion, with strength, with commitment. When he visited El Salvador in the late 80’s to see first hand the impact of U.S. policy, he was so moved by the direct impact and resultant needs of the people that he left behind his truck for people to use. He was also a bee keeper, photographer, potter and teacher. 

He was arrested at least 160 times in civil disobedience action, and probably more. He was singularly, the most unrelenting activist I know and his legacy shines on in new generations of activists ready to put their bodies on the line for what is precious and important. So many of us in the Bay Area miss Hal, but benefit from the fact that he so openly and passionately took principled action and inspired us all to do more. In challenging situations, I find myself asking: What Would Hal Do? 

Many of us paused a moment to remember Hal last Thursday, on the anniversary of his passing. We visited the redwood tree we planted in his memory near Canyon Meadow (Stream Trail) in Redwood Regional Park, and we remembered him at the Berkeley Fellowship of Unitarian-Universalists that evening. 

In these times when there are so many challenges and battles on the environmental, social justice and anti-war fronts, I hold Hal up as a barometer to check myself as to whether I am really doing all I can. Letter writing, lobbying and voting are all important, but Hal always pushed the envelope—but he pushed it with humility, love and compassion. He stopped to smell the flowers and chuckle at the ironies. I’d rather have that kind of barometer to guide my activist work. Thanks for the inspiration, Hal. The light shines on. 

Karen Pickett is a Berkeley resident.

Instant runoff voting (IRV) could be in place for Berkeley’s local November 2008 election. The federal government and California’s secretary of state are expected to test new voting machines for IRV soon. If they pass inspection timely, IRV would be ready for the fall election. 

When will we know for sure? The city clerk says this must be by July 14, when signups to run for local office begin. 

Mayor Bates wants IRV to be in place for the November election and has been preparing for it. But he has not been in a rush to prepare the community for IRV. This gives our mayor and City Council a head start in strategizing for this new voting system. Meanwhile, the later the community learns about this, the better it is for Bates and his team. 

We should all learn how this works now—because otherwise, if it takes an election or two to understand, the IRV game may come and go. This is true because our City Council can implement IRV or eliminate IRV via a short process written in the city charter. 

Meanwhile, this is a critical election. Mayor Bates’ team talks about “green” and “climate action,” but plans massive densification, the kind that leads to “urban heat island” effect as identified in Phoenix. Caused by overly dense development, this is “fed by the city’s growth, trapping heat and making temperatures soar.” (csmonitor.com/2007/08/30/p01/F.Bowers) 

Take a look at the size of the development on the former Oxford parking lot between Allston and Kittridge. You may gasp! And every tall and beautiful street tree was cut down and destroyed releasing its stored carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. Bates is planning much more tall and dense development: two 23-story hotels, many high-rises, transit villages on BART, Amtrak, and Rapid Bus stations, and rezoning for redevelopment. That’s for starters. 

Pause. This is all too much for me, so I would like to digress for a moment to remember John Denton, my favorite Councilmember, who never got co-opted by developers. He was always there for us and helped the community long after he left the City Council. 

And I appreciate former Mayor Shirley Dean. 

I watched Mrs. Dean climb a tree in the oak grove, with Betty Olds and Sylvia McLaughlin (our brave tree-climbing seniors). Mrs. Dean was trying to help save the trees in the grove and to help save our precious Strawberry Canyon. The UC Campus, Lawrence Berkeley Labs, and BP, have unbelievable development plans for Strawberry Canyon. These include building 15 outrageously large laboratories, carved into hillsides, with access roads and huge surface parking lots bulldozed into the fields and forests. And they would destroy our oxygen producing Greenbelt link and wildlife corridor between two Regional Parks while calling all this “Green” and for advanced research regarding global warming. 

Mrs. Dean was a good mayor though she never had a real majority, which the Bates/Hancock/BCA regimes have held for nearly 30 years. Dean wanted to solarize the entire city, unlike Tom Bates who admits his priority is to “get the city developed.” Dean supported and continues to support our neighborhoods, landmarks, trees, schools, parks... 

Now back to IRV for highlights: • We will get the same kind of IRV that San Francisco has (they call it “rank choice voting—RCV—since you rank your choices, and because counting votes is not always instant!). You can research IRV/RCV at sfgov.org-elections. Then click “voting.” Next go to “rank choice voting.” 

• The IRV instructions ask you to rank three choices for each office, in order of preference. 

• They discourage “bullet” voting for same candidate more than once, by saying that if you repeat the name of a candidate for one office, that choice will only be counted once. 

• Ideally you‘ll want to have three good choices for each office on the ballot. Three for mayor; three for your councilmember; three for each school board member; and three for each rent board commissioner. Without good choices—whom will you vote for? 

• So we should encourage all good candidates to consider running in this election and the more the merrier! 

Merrilie Mitchell is a community activist.

For those with an interest in learning more about the Israel-Palestine conflict than the mainstream media deliver, the Berkeley/Oakland area is a great place to live—not only because the Daily Planet often presents impassioned debates on the issue and KPFA delivers daily on-the-scene updates and background, but also because we get to hear directly from so many insightful visitors from the front lines of the struggle.  

In just the next two weeks, for example, notable guests from Israel and Palestine making public appearances in this area include: 

• Juliano Mer Khamis, son of an Israeli Jewish woman and a Palestinian father, a noted actor in Israel, and director of a controversial but critically acclaimed film about his mother and the Palestinian youth who participated in a children’s theatre group she ran; and Dr. Mervat Aiash, a Palestinian professor of fine arts and expert on Islamic archaeology and art, who is working with Mer Khamis on an ambitious revival of the theater program in the battle-scarred West Bank city of Jenin.  

• Jeff Halper, an American-born Israeli Jewish professor of anthropology, author of two compelling books on the conflict, and coordinator of the Israeli Committee Against Home Demolitions (ICAHD), an organization that joins with Palestinians in non-violent direct action to resist the demolition of Palestinian homes and expropriation of Palestinian land by the Israeli authorities. 

‘Arna’s Children’ and the  

Freedom Theatre 

Mer Khamis and Aiash will appear at several Bay Area locations beginning tonight (for details see http://stopaipac.org/calendar.htm), but their main East Bay presentation will be at 7 p.m. next Tuesday, June 24, at the Humanist Hall, 390 27th St., Oakland. 

Sponsored by the International Jewish Solidarity Network, the event will feature a showing of Mer Khamis’ 2003 documentary Arna’s Children. The film is in part a tribute to the director’s mother Arna, who as a teen-ager fought with the Palmach (one of the Jewish military organizations) in the 1948 war, but then married a Palestinian Communist leader and became a prominent activist in the struggle for justice for Palestine. In footage shot in the mid-1990s, as she was dying of cancer, she is seen leading a noisy demonstration at an Israeli checkpoint in the occupied West Bank and, with Juliano’s help, interacting with Palestinian children and their parents at the theatre she created in the refugee camp in Jenin. 

The most gripping parts of the film, however, were shot after Israeli military forces invaded Jenin in April, 2002, destroying the theater and much of the rest of the camp. By then most of the sweet-faced boys who had frolicked on the stage just a few years earlier had become tough resistance fighters; many had already been killed. When Juliano returned after the invasion—apparently for the first time in years—they took him into their confidence, not only bringing him and his camera along on several firefights with Israeli occupation forces, but also sitting down with him to share their feelings about the continuing conflict, their dead comrades, and their own uncertain futures. The worldview they present is mix of true courage and youthful bravado, of deep commitment and—I’d say—manifest disregard of both military and political realities. Many viewers may find these scenes disturbing, but they’re undeniably riveting.  

After the film, the speakers will discuss their new project, the Freedom Theatre. In a newly renovated and well-equipped theatre in the Jenin refugee camp - the only community theatre in northern Palestine—the theater presents regular performances by both Palestinian and international artists, as well as workshops for youth in theater arts, dance, movement, music, and story telling. 

Aiash serves as chair of the two-year-old theater’s governing board, which also includes the celebrated Palestinian poet Mahmoud Darwish, the noted scholar and political leader Hanan Ashrawi, and other Palestinian notables. It’s supported by a Swedish foundation that counts Noam Chomsky and Berkeley’s own Judith Butler among the members of its separate board.  

To help support the theater, a donation of $5 to $10 will be requested at the door of Tuesday’s event. 

“Can Israel Be Redeemed?” 

Jeff Halper of ICAHD will speak at 7:30 p.m. on Monday, June 30, at the Berkeley Fellowship of Unitarian Universalists, 1924 Cedar Street at Bonita Avenue in Berkeley, under the sponsorship of Jewish Voice for Peace and the BFUU Social Justice Committee. The following night—Tuesday, July 1—he’ll appear at 7:30 p.m. at the First Presbyterian Church of San Anselmo, 72 Kensington Road, San Anselmo (map and directions at www.TogetherWeServe.org). 

Halper’s Berkeley presentation carries the provocative title “Can Israel Be Redeemed?” It’s based on his recently published political autobiography, “An Israeli in Palestine: Resisting Dispossession, Redeeming Israel,” in which he traces his personal evolution from middle-class, non-religious Jew growing up in Hibbing, MN, to academic anthropologist whose personal and professional life was, he writes, dominated by his “romance with Israel,” to leader of one of the most prominent of Israeli organizations trying to publicize and resist the depredations of the occupation in East Jerusalem and the West Bank.  

The turning point in his political life came almost exactly a decade ago—in July, 1998 - when he watched Israeli forces level the house of a Palestinian family in a village outside Jerusalem, one of some 18,000 Palestinian homes the Jewish state has now destroyed in the occupied territories since 1967. It was, he writes, “an act so unjust, so brutal, so at odds with the ethos of the benign, democratic, Jewish Israel fighting for its survival I had absorbed on ‘my side’ of the Green Line that it was inexplicable in any terms I could fathom.”  

On the spur of the moment, he chose to throw himself in front of the bulldozer. That led to the first in what’s now a long series of arrests for Halper; more importantly, the shock of what he saw that day spurred him to rethink the liberal Zionist assumptions he had until then accepted. “As the bulldozer pushed through the walls of Salim’s home,” he writes, “it pushed me through all the ideological rationalizations, the pretexts, the lies and the bullshit that my country had erected to prevent us from seeing the truth: that oppression must accompany an attempt to deny the existence and claims of another people in order to establish an ethnically pure state for yourself.” 

Since then Halper and his colleagues in ICAHD, along with their Palestinian allies, have waged a courageous campaign of direct action and civil disobedience against Israeli home demolitions and land seizures in the occupied territories. They’ve also developed an extensive educational campaign around the issue and its implications, including leading tours that have given countless diplomats, dignitaries, journalists, and ordinary Israeli and international visitors at least a taste of the harsh reality of the occupation. And the group has mobilized thousands of Israelis, Palestinians, Americans, and others to join in resistance to the occupation by rebuilding demolished homes. 

For his efforts the American Friends Service Committee nominated Halper for the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize. 

Halper doesn’t push any particular plan for resolving the conflict; he argues that any of several formulae could work—provided that Israelis and their supporters abandon their commitment to ethno-religious exclusivity and instead adopt what he calls a “rights-based reframing of the issue.”  

Unfortunately, that remains a distant dream, but Halper is working hard to bring it closer. Come out to the BFUU on June 30 to support his quest. 

Henry Norr is a Bay Area journalist. 

In pursuing the 2020 plan proposed by United in Action, that is up for adoption by the school board and City Council, the community of Berkeley will be taking on the admirable campaign to stop our schools from failing the majority of black and brown students. Such a campaign, however, requires that we examine the fundamental goals and practices of education before we charge off for a solution. Specifically, we need to be smart about the uses and limits of testing. 

Twenty-five years ago, it was important to use the new capacities of computers to quickly disaggregate data on grades and test scores in order to reveal what everyone knew anecdotally—that our schools were successful for many white kids but were a disaster for many African American and Latino kids. But these assessments are crude measures at best, markers of school failure. 

And the term “achievement gap,” like educational touchstone phrases of previous eras such as “culturally deprived” and “linguistic enrichment,” has come to be a code word for labeling black and brown students as deficits. What began as a rallying cry for equity has become, at the hands of state bureaucracies, another way to blame the poor. We cannot propose to “attack the achievement gap” without examining what is being taught and how it is being taught. The reliance on testing only leaves the deeper questions, about our educational mission, unexamined. 

In recent years, the testing mania has spread throughout the nation and it is common to hear administrators brag that they are “data driven” and they need “measurable standards” to be able to tell if schools are successful. Berkeley is no exception when it comes to talking about the Berkeley Unified School District scoring lower in comparison to similar schools statewide. The reaction is to focus more on test preparation so we can get better rankings in state API scores. 

The problem with this approach is that it can drive us into a true disaster, the dumbing down of our schools with little chance of success in the state goals. For the chase after test scores is simply working on the symptom, not the actual illness. There are so many flaws with standardized testing that it is hard to limit a critique to a short opinion piece, but just to highlight a few: 

• Berkeley students have lower API scores than expected because, being Berkeley kids, huge numbers reject and scorn the test, choosing not to show up or to try, in spite of sincere pleading from teachers and administrators. 

• Standardized test scores are most resistant to teaching, as they don’t measure knowledge gained as much as family privilege and social capital. The greatest predictor of the standardized test score of a student in 12th grade is her score in first grade; and the greatest predictor of that score is family income. Schools that show great leaps in test scores have generally changed their core population. 

• A mania for testing drives staff to drill and kill, to boring review of factoids, and to the abandonment of deep projects, critical thinking, community building, field trips, arts and physical activity, and fun in school. It tests student compliance and endurance more than their minds. 

• Standardized tests value short term memorization over deep structures of understanding, problem solving, and creativity. 

• Testing, correlating so closely to family income, allows our education system to pretend we have a meritocracy, rewarding those who are “smart,” which really masks passed down privilege. 

• School can be mad boring for kids today and the testing bandwagon will only make for twelve years of cruelty to young people. 

For data and details on the failure of testing, check out www.fairtest.org or www.alfiekohn.org. The evidence is overwhelming. But administrators who want numbers simply can’t turn away from testing. If the only tool you have is a hammer, you are likely to go around pounding on things. 

If we actually put kids and their deep education first, and not polishing up our résumés, we would have the courage to change schooling in deep ways, ways that would make Berkeley the vanguard in innovation instead of an “also ran” in this fixed game. A few steps we could take: 

• Create schooling that allows the brilliance, skills, and capacities of all students, from all cultures, to be spotlighted and honored in the classrooms. 

• Develop school programs that foster community and deep buy-in from students —so they are committed to the school and their own educational project. Reject the Social Darwinist approach to individual success and cutthroat competition. 

• Enrich curriculum with cross discipline projects, community involvement, and powerful public performances and exhibitions. 

• Transform assessment to reflect real learning, real academic and personal development, that students demonstrate. Use assessment to drive school planning, not to punish individual students. 

• Talk back to the state testing scolds such as State Superintendent Jack O’Connell by defending the educational goals and vision of Berkeley. 

We will not be able to test our way out of the achievement gap. Nor can we punish our way out of it. The only way to get rid of the achievement gap is to reject the faulty measures, transform our schooling to be engaging and inclusive, and create our own authentic and powerful assessment tools.  

Will the powers that be, the gatekeepers, recognize our assessments and our successes if we go this way? There is no question that they will. College admissions offices all over the country know the strength and insight of Berkeley kids. And if we present them with students who have shown commitment and deep work instead of evidence of endurance, colleges will surely admit them. Right now, admissions folks, and most educators, recognize that the testing game is simply the “emperor’s new clothes.” More and more colleges are rejecting SAT and ACT tests for admissions since they are not good predictors of success in college. Even the UC’s are considering dropping some of the current testing requirements. Will we have the courage to speak the truth, and to get down to the business of actual education? 

Rick Ayers is a PhD candidate in education at UC Berkeley, and adjunct professor of education at University of San Francisco, and a former Berkeley High School and CAS teacher. 

I recently reviewed the site plans and descriptions of the proposed expansion of the Solano Avenue Safeway on the safewayonsolano.com website with great concern and dismay at the oversize scale and boilerplate language about “enlivening and enhancing the area...to promote increased pedestrian activity and community pride. The unique design includes multiple retail spaces on the street level to enhance the flow and energy of the area and encourage shoppers to visit the store via foot or bike.” 

Solano Avenue is already a model of pedestrian activity. The housing prices in this neighborhood clearly reflect the value we place on having the stores and restaurants of Solano Avenue accessible by foot and bike. The character and visual harmony of Solano Avenue relies on its buildings being of a similar size and scale—only a very few buildings are above two stories—with those closest to Safeway being only one or two stories high.  

I have been present at the discussions with Safeway representatives since they first floated this proposal in November 2005, and it was clear at that time the company had no interest in really listening or incorporating community feedback in this proposed expansion. The emphasis in the language above—on increasing “flow” and “energy” makes it clear that we are being referred to the same as every other Safeway location. A review of Safeway’s 2005 Fact Book shows the corporate decision to expand every store in the country—whether or not it meets the needs of any particular store locality. “Safeway’s new store prototype is called the “Lifestyle Store” and is approximately 55,000 square feet. The Lifestyle Store showcases the company’s commitment to quality, particularly in the perishable departments. The Lifestyle Store has an earth-toned décor package, subdued lighting, custom flooring, unique display fixtures and other special features that impart a warm ambiance that the company believes significantly enhances the customer shopping experience. The company is engaged in a process to remodel virtually all of its existing stores to the “Lifestyle” format over the next five years.” Solano Avenue Safeway is just part of a company-wide program. The likelihood of the corporation really evaluating the site based on the unique parameters of the Solano Avenue neighborhood is nil—and that’s reflected in the proposed store design which shows Safeway towering over the existing streetscape.  

Neighbors at every meeting with Safeway have been saying loud and clear for more than two years that what we want and need is an improved Safeway: a store that is clean and tidy—both inside and out—and stocks products that appeal to the customers in the area (a Safeway representative said items stocked on Solano were determined by items sold in its Richmond store).  

Improving the existing store would also avoid a lengthy and disruptive construction period. Many stores and businesses, including the very popular dining spots Sunnyside Cafe and Fonda, would be negatively impacted by dust, noise, and street traffic of heavy construction vehicles. Many of the businesses on Solano are already seeing slowdowns due to the recession. Even if they aren’t directly across from Safeway, the loss of parking in the existing Safeway lot for the restaurants and stores between Peralta and Santa Fe could affect their bottom line and further impact already jam-packed adjacent residential streets. 

Solano Avenue is also severely congested by automotive traffic throughout much of the day. Heavy vehicles going to and from the Safeway job site would create hazards for drivers and danger to pedestrians along the entire length of the street, and side streets, from people trying to avoid backups. I have two very young children and already I find crossing Solano with a stroller to be a little like playing Russian Roulette. We have Marin Elementary only two blocks away from what would be a major construction site, and heavy trucks traveling through the intersection of Santa Fe and Solano could pose significant danger to children going to and from school on foot or by bicycle.  

I appeal to the Albany city planner and the City Council to force Safeway to scale back this project to something that realistically fits within the streetscape and neighborhood of Solano Avenue. We have a singular shopping district which so far has avoided a “big box” takeover. Interested parties can attend a meeting on Tuesday, June 24 at 7:30 p.m. at the Albany Community Center, 1249 Marin (at Masonic), Albany. Comments can be sent to Amber Curl at acurl@albanyca.org before June 24. 

Sarah Baughn is a Berkeley resident.

President Hugo Chavez of Venezuela has been caught,” is how a recent editorial in the New York Times characterized the findings of the International Police Agency (Interpol) on three laptop computers, several USB thumb drives, and two external hard disks seized during Colombia’s March 1 invasion of Ecuador. 

The Colombian government says the computers link the governments of Venezuela and Ecuador to the oldest guerrilla group in Latin America, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC). Based on those claims the Bush Administration is threatening to add Venezuela to its list of “terrorist” states—Syria, Cuba, Iran, North Korea and Sudan—which would trigger economic sanctions. 

Not so fast, say three information technology professors at the University of Ecuador. At a May 20 press conference, the professors, led by Deacon Carlos Montenegro, criticized Interpol head Ronald Noble for his statement that the laptops and hard drives were from FARC. According to Quito-based reporter Daniel Denvir, “the investigation was explicitly limited to determining whether the hard drives had been altered,” not whether the laptops were from FARC. 

The Ecuadorians pointed out that between March 1, when the computers were seized, and March 3, when they were turned over to Interpol, the laptops were in the hands of Colombia’s anti-terrorism unit. This, according to Interpol, “did not follow internationally recognized principles in the handling of electronic evidence,” but the lapse “had no effect on the content of any user file.” 

But, according to the Ecuadorians, Interpol has no way of determining if Colombian officials modified, deleted or created documents over the three-day period. 

On top of which, Colombia gave Interpol the files, not the hard drives. According to Denvir, the professors then demonstrated to the press how easy it was to change the creation and modification dates of documents. The only traces of such changes would be on the hard drives, which remain in the hands of the Colombians. 

The Bogotá government has selectively leaked documents suggesting there were official ties between the Chavez government and FARC. But as the Financial Times reports, the documents do not “provide conclusive evidence that Venezuela is providing money, weapons and logistical support to the FARC.” Indeed, the newspaper points out “None of the communications are from Venezuelan officials,” adding, “The competing leaders of the FARC, fragmented after years of successful counter-insurgency, have cause to exaggerate proximity to Mr. Chavez.” 

The $5 billion in U.S. aid to Colombia—over half of which has gone to the military—has badly hurt FARC. The organization’s use of kidnapping and its association with the cocaine trade has also lost it popularity.  

But most analysts say FARC is hardly finished. “They’re still a force to be reckoned with,” says Jorge Restrepo, director of the Conflict Analysis Resource Center in Bogotá.  

Chavez recently called on FARC to release kidnap victims and end its military struggle. But he also urged Colombia to recognize the guerrilla organization as a legitimate political force rather than simply a terrorist group. Chavez’s position is widely supported throughout Latin America. 

FARC’s persistence has less to do with its politics than the fact that the issues which sparked Colombia’s 40-year old civil war are still the same: 65 to 67 percent of the population are classified as “poor,” and 30 percent of the landowners control 95 percent of the land. 

“The land problem is at the center of the conflict,” says refugee advocate Jorge Rojas.  

But fueled by U.S. military aid, Colombia’s government continues to pursue the chimera of a military victory, even if it means invading neighboring countries or cooking intelligence. 

Sound familiar?  

When is a permanent U.S. base in Iraq not a permanent base? If it has one Iraqi soldier guarding it. That little piece of flim flam is just one of the ways that the Bush Administration is trying to conceal the details of its push to make American occupation of Iraq permanent.  

According to Andrew Cockburn of the Independent, the Bush administration is demanding permanent bases, the right to arrest Iraqi citizens, to engage in military attacks without consulting the Iraqi government, and legal immunity for its soldiers and private contractors. 

Iraqi lawmakers say the United States wants 58 permanent bases and absolute control of Iraqi skies up to 30,000 feet. 

The United States is also demanding the power to determine if Iraq is the victim of aggression, a right that Iraqi lawmakers say could pull Iraq into a U.S.-Iran war. “The points that were put forth by the Americans were more abominable than the occupation,” Jalal as Din al Saghir, a member of parliament from the Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq (ISCI), told Lelia Fadel of the McClatchy newspapers. 

A majority of Iraq’s parliament recently wrote to the U.S. Congress demanding the end to the U.S. occupation, but the White House has an ace in the hole.  

According to Cockburn, the United States is using $20 billion in legal judgments against Iraq to put the squeeze on the Baghdad government. 

The scheme is right out of the Sopranos. 

Iraq is currently under a UN Mandate, which means its reserves are immune from legal judgements.  

But, according to Cockburn, “the U.S. side in the [status force] talks has suggested that if the UN Mandate, under which the money is held, lapses and is not replaced by a new agreement, than Iraqi funds would lose this immunity.” 

That would cause the immediate loss of $20 billion, or 40 percent of Iraqi’s foreign exchange reserves. 

In short, sign the status force agreement or there may be trouble over extending the U.N. Mandate. 

The White House is trying an end run around Congress by claiming that the status force agreement is not a treaty, but an alliance, so it doesn’t have to be submitted to the Senate. 

Many Iraqis are not happy. “We are being asked to sign for our own occupation. That is why we have refused all that we have seen so far,” says ISCI’s Saghir. Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki says his government will reject the proposed agreement. Reports say the Americans have dropped the immunity for contractors demand. 

But the Baghdad government is utterly dependent on the United States, as the recent fighting between the Iraqi Army and Muqtada al-Sadr’s Mahdi Army demonstrated. 

Tony and his boys know how to lean on people. 

The real story behind Defense Secretary Robert Gates’ firing of Secretary of the Air Force (AF) Mike Wynne, and Air Force Chief of Staff Mike “Buzz” Moseley has little to do with “loose nukes” and everything to do with the U.S. military’s war plans for the 21st Century. 

The firing was supposedly over six nuclear-tipped cruise missiles that went AWOL for several hours last year, and several nuclear missile nose cone assemblies that were mistakenly shipped to Taiwan. Gates was also annoyed that the flyboys were dragging their heels about deploying robot killers like the Predator and the Reaper, on which the United States is increasingly relying in Iraq and Afghanistan. 

The AF insists only fully certified pilots can guide the robots. The Army, Marines and Navy use their recruits from the video game playing generation to fly the drones.  

But the robots are a piece of a bigger story. What is really going on is that, while Gates is planning to fight scores of Iraqs and Afghanistans, the AF wants to fight China. 

In a recent Alabama speech, Gates said “Asymmetrical conflict will be the dominant battlefield for decades to come, and procurement and training have to focus on that reality.” Thar means that brushfire wars and counter-insurgency is the future. 

The nail in the coffin for the AF chiefs was an $80 million Air Force ad campaign called “Above All,” which claimed that China had the world’s biggest air force. It does, but only if you count 40-year-old airplanes. The U.S. Air Force is vastly superior to China’s, and the AF chiefs know it.  

The Air Force also refused to accept only 183 F-22 stealth fighters, a very expensive and absolutely useless aircraft originally designed for breaking up massive formations of Soviet fighters invading Europe. This is not such a problem these days. Apparently Wynne and Moseley went over the Pentagon’s head and lobbied Congress to build more F-22s. 

The dangerous part in all of this is the focus on “asymmetrical conflict,” which means a return to the era which produced that ‘60s poster: “Join the Army, visit exotic places, meet interesting people, and kill them.” 

One of the great ironies of these times—something historians in our grandchildren’s time will probably better be able to understand and explain—is that we are experiencing an explosion of information and internet discussion concerning local events while simultaneously seeing a drying up of direct news media reporting on those events.  

The Berkeley Daily Planet, bless our hearts, has two reporters covering Berkeley city government, and another to cover the Berkeley Unified School District and the various dealings of the Berkeley School Board. But that is a rarity. Across the border in Oakland, no media outlet—aside from the East Bay News Service’s Sanjiv Handa—regularly covers Oakland City Council or Oakland city government, no media outlet at all regularly covers the Oakland Unified School District, or the Peralta Community College District, or the Alameda-Contra Contra Costa Transit District, and so on, and so on. Reporters are sent out to these entities only when there is the chance that news is being made. Unfortunately, that gives both a skewed view of the activities of local governmental bodies as well as causes media misinterpretations as reporters and editors—on the fly—try to catch up with the impact and meaning of actions and events, without the context that comes from regular observation. 

One of the problems is that because media outlets rely less and less on direct reporting, they rely more and more on picking up information—or misinformation—from other media outlets who are relying less and less on direct reporting. The results often make their way into the blogsphere as well as into general conversation and the murky area of “general knowledge,” becoming running narratives that everyone seems to know about and accept as fact, but—like the ants found nesting in your kitchen cupboards after a hard rain—can be traced back to their actual source with great difficulty, and seem to have sprung from up out of the very ground itself, parentless. 

Thus, in a June 4 entry in the East Bay Express’ 92510 blog summing up the results of the primary election held the day before, we see an odd description of Oakland City Council At Large runner up Kerry Hamill, who “contributor” Chris Thompson describes as “surprisingly independent.” The description is odd because there is nothing else in the paragraph-long item to explain it, other than, possibly, a notation that Ms. Hamill is a “protégé” of District 9 State Senator Don Perata. Surprisingly independent of whom? Mr. Perata? Mr. Thompson’s blog item fails to explain. 

In fact, the description appears to go back to a May 28 East Bay Express article, written by our good friend, Bob Gammon, which lays out the newspaper’s endorsements for the then-upcoming election. Concerning the At Large Oakland City Council race, Mr. Gammon writes that the Express “likes” Hamill “because she has an independent streak, despite her continued ties to her former boss, Perata. For example, we thought Hamill was right—and courageous—to support the proposed sale of the Oakland school district headquarters for $65 million back in 2006.” 

Regular UnderCurrents readers know of my respect for Mr. Gammon and his reporting, and I have often pointed to his work in uncovering the extensive 2003 phone contacts between FCMAT, Mr. Perata, and former Oakland Mayor Jerry Brown as helping provide our best understanding of how, and why, Oakland’s schools got seized by the state of California. But Mr. Gammon did not regularly cover the Oakland School Board deliberations during the 2006 deliberations over the proposed sale of the downtown properties, and his characterization of Ms. Hamill’s role in those deliberations is simplistic and wrong. Implicit in his description is that the rest of the school board—along with much of the general public and almost every other major elected Oakland official—were against the downtown property sale while Ms. Hamill was for it. Things were far more complicated than that. 

Many have argued—myself being one of them—that Mr. Perata engineered the Oakland school takeover in large part in order to sell, to developers of his choice, the eight acres of prime Lake Merritt Channel lands on which the OUSD headquarters and five schools now stand. But after the state takeover, so the theory goes, California School Superintendent Jack O’Connell double-crossed Mr. Perata, negotiating with developers of his choice rather than the ones Mr. Perata preferred. Thus, while a great and overwhelming coalition developed in Oakland two years ago against the particular deal Mr. O’Connell was brokering with New York developers TerraMark, some joined it not because they didn’t want the property sold to developers, but only because they wanted the deal to go to someone else. 

In the middle of these complications, Ms. Hamill took a very consistent—but understandably complicated—position. She thought that Mr. O’Connell’s proposed deal with TerraMark was a bad deal, and opposed it. But she argued that with the district in ongoing financial trouble, the sale of the administrative building made good economic sense. She felt that the Paul Robeson Building should be stripped away from the adjacent education properties—the five schools--and considered for a separate deal. 

But far from this being a unique position, it was shared in part at the time by several other board members. Gary Yee told me in 2006 that he was opposed to the sale of the administration building at that time primarily because it was being done by the state rather than by the local board and without local citizen input or consideration of the needs of the district, and that no one should rule out the board taking up discussion of the administration building sale once local control was returned. (Mr. Yee’s position has probably changed, now that the board has gone on record in support of the construction of an education complex—including a new administrative building—for the entire Lake Merritt Channel property). And Board President David Kakishiba said repeatedly that even under state control, the district should be considering the sale of surplus administrative property—though not the administrative headquarters—in order to pay down the state debt. 

Did Ms. Hamill take marching orders on the school property sale from Mr. Perata, for whom she once worked as chief of staff? Even though her position on the property sale was identical to the prevailing theory about Mr. Perata’s position, there’s no evidence that Ms. Hamill did anything that was against her own beliefs or political or economic principles. It was a position that was consistent and defensible, and that some might describe as responsible (although that makes it sound as if the people opposing the entire land sale were irresponsible, which would be unfair; there just appears to have been an honest difference of opinion all around, something that is common in the democracy that is Oakland). On the other hand, Ms. Hamill’s stand on the proposed OUSD land sale was hardly a position that was “independent,” remarkably or otherwise, as Mr. Gammon initially described it, or Mr. Thompson later repeated. And given all the surrounding circumstances, it is difficult to see how Ms. Hamill’s position on the OUSD land sale was “courageous.” 

But out of such cloth are urban legends woven. 

Of course, reading Mr. Thompson’s recent offerings to the Express reveal something of a consistency of their own. Some years ago, when he was on the staff of the Express as a reporter, Mr. Thompson did actual reporting, most notably one of the first—if not the first—in-depth exposé’s of Dr. Yusef Bey’s Your Black Muslim Bakery. Immediately after the local buyout of the Express a year or so ago, Mr. Thompson left the paper and moved to New York to work for the Village Voice, the flagship paper of the media corporation that had owned the Express for a bit. After a little while, his name dropped off the list of Village Voice staffmembers, however, and his stories stopped appearing. Instead, he began writing again for the Express, this time in the print paper as the “Seven Days” columnist and daily 92510 blogger, his name appearing on the paper’s contact list as a “contributor” rather than as a “staff writer,” as it had when he previously worked for them. 

But while Mr. Thompson’s past Express writings reflected on-the-scene reporting, his most recent blog postings and column entries do not. Most bloggers pull from mainstream media sources, but intersperse those entries with personal observations and other items showing that they attended events or talked directly to participants. No such information is present in the entries during Mr. Thompson’s newest incarnation as an Express “contributor,” and a review of his postings and print writings appears as if the writer was simply doing a daily web search of East Bay items, selecting the most appropriate ones and then repeating them, in condensed form, with personal witticisms included, but no insights. It’s something that anyone with a reasonable knowledge of East Bay politics could do without ever having to actually set foot in the East Bay to do it, emailing in items from a home in Iowa or, say, New York. Even our other good friend colleague, San Francisco Chronicle columnist Chip Johnson—who sometimes seems to let independent research and reporting take a back seat to other considerations—includes evidence in his columns that he’s holding local conversations. 

Or maybe I’m just being too hard on a journalistic colleague. If so, sorry. I’ll try to do better. If I see Mr. Thompson at a City Council or School Board meeting somewhere, I’ll be sure to apologize to him, directly. And if you see him around and about the area, be sure to let him know. 

I’m a great retrospective investor. Not so good at guessing which stocks to pick today but I’m really good at knowing which company or trend I should have bought last year. I guess we’re all a bit like that. Copper is a wonderful example. Its had quite a wild ride over the last six years or so and one of those years saw close to a tripling in value. Copper started out at about 75 cents a pound in 2002 and is now nearly four dollars a pound. I guess some people feel so bad about missing out on the copper boom that they’re willing to climb under your house and leave with your plumbing. No joke—this is actually happening so much these days that its become common news. 

An article in the Hanford Sentinel (King’s County) last September criticized the fact that California laws regarding the recycling of copper and other metals are lax. A law was proposed that would force recyclers to pay for metals by check sent with a 10-day waiting period and would also require photographing cars and driver’s licenses of those bringing in the metal. One local county supervisor had 10 grand in copper stolen from his farm and fully four hundred thousand in metal had been stolen from other farmers in the county in 2006. I find that astonishing. 

All over the country, farmers, municipal rail systems and large factories are being hit. Sometimes again and again. Police can’t begin to keep up. 

I was inspecting a large facility in Alameda last year, one of the buildings left vacant by the Naval base closure, when I began, slowly at first to notice something very odd. Every room I entered was devoid of plumbing and wiring. This building had housed a thousand-gallon water heater (a holding tank actually; it was fed by a 100-gallon water heater that ran though a loop to keep the big one full). The place had been built to shower a hundred sailors at a time and so the plumbing was really big. The incoming line was a three-inch copper pipe and it had been sawed through just after the main valve, which had been turned off.  

Well, three-inch copper must be about a pound or two a foot, maybe more, and there had been a lot of it before it began to reduce down to the smaller pipes that fed the sinks and showers, the restaurant and the hose spigots. This place was so big it had its own bowling alley and it had been stripped bare of every bit of copper piping. I can only guess, but it must have been about a thousand pounds of pipe. Then there was the wiring. The building had a main panel on the outside and about four or five really big breaker panels inside. The covers had been removed and there was nothing inside. Just the lonely little breakers and miles of conduit that had been pulled bare. Amazing. This must have taken some time but it was probably done at night and, of course, the place was vacant. 

Part of what I found so awful about this was that the cost of replacing all of this plumbing and wiring was going to be several (perhaps many) times whatever it was that these wastrels had made for their malfeasant efforts. It would have been better to just give them a bag of crack and send them on their way than to have to drop fifty or a hundred thousand dollars replumbing and rewiring the building. 

Earlier this year, I saw another one. Again, the main had been cut and, this time, the thieves were less adventurous and had merely cleared the crawlspace of all the copper piping. Nonetheless, a few thousand were going to be spent repairing the damage. In this case, I doubt if the thieves could have recouped more than about forty or fifty bucks, but I guess that’s enough to make a night of it in the thrilling world of drug abuse. 

At least one city building official I met recently had seen enough of this to recommend to a client of mine that she paint the bright new copper ground wire on the front of her house just as soon as she can manage to do so. He’d obviously been privy to more than a few recent cases of copper theft. 

So here are a few things to think about for yourself when it comes to this wonderful new hobby that’s sweeping the nation. First, lock your crawlspace. If you have a property that is not currently occupied, this is triply recommended. These are the really popular sites for thieves. Also, if you ARE doing construction anywhere, lock up the wire and pipe or at least, keep it out of sight. If your contractor isn’t aware of this issue, please inform them for their sake and for yours. 

It may be some small concession to know that thieves periodically fry themselves while stealing electrical wire (this may be apocrypha but its all over the web thanks in part to my friend Wendy Northcutt and her Darwin Awards books) but the bad news is that this is probably going to get worse before it gets better. If I had the prescience to know what copper futures look like, I’d be happy to tell you but what I can guess is that the value of the plumbing and wiring inside your house isn’t going to drop anytime soon.  

Just think of your copper as if it were 14 carat gold—you wouldn’t leave that stuff unguarded, would you? So here’s a sound investment: a hasp, a padlock and an hour of your handyman’s time. And when you’re re-plumbing, perhaps its time to think about using plastic! 

Predation: where would Animal Planet be without it? There’s not nearly as much drama in browsing. 

There’s no question that predators, large and small, are essential players in ecosystems. Kill off the mountain lions and wolves on the Kaibab Plateau and the mule deer multiply like rabbits, eating themselves into a population crash. Remove the coyotes from Californial chaparral, if you can, and smaller predators like foxes and feral cats do in the ground-nesting birds. With the loss of jaguars and harpy eagles, rainforest fragments surrounded by the waters of Venezuela’s Lago Guri are picked clean by herbivores—howler monkeys, rodents, iguanas—run amuck. 

But sometimes you can’t help but be ambivalent about the process: you find yourself feeling for the victims. 

This spring a pair of bushtits built their pendulous felted nest in the Lady Banks rose that covers our kitchen window. As the days got longer, I could watch them at work as I did the dishes. Then one day I noticed that the nest had been ripped apart. The bushtits either abandoned the nesting attempt or moved elsewhere. 

There were no witnesses, but I tended to suspect the neighborhood scrub-jays. That was reinforced a bit later when I noticed an agitated pair of American goldfinches in the back yard scolding a jay.  

The western scrub-jay acquired its hyphen ten years ago when ornithologists divided the former scrub jay taxon into western, Florida, and island (as in Santa Cruz) species. That still leaves a lot of variation in color, size, bill shape, and behavior among westerns, and the splits may not be over yet. 

All three of the scrub-jays are nest-robbers. It’s one of those corvid traits, shared with blue, Steller’s, Mexican, and gray jays, not to mention crows and ravens. Western scrub-jays aren’t obligate carnivores; 73 per cent of their food in one California study was of vegetable origin, heavy on the acorns. But they can’t seem to resist a tasty egg or nestling. 

They’ve even been known to capture and kill adult songbirds. Some years back Paul Ehrlich observed scrub-jays on the Stanford campus taking down starlings and cliff swallows, pinning the birds with their feet and hammering them with their beaks. A friend in Berkeley tells me he watched a scrub-jay in his yard that appeared to be stalking a Bewick’s wren with malicious intent. Just a couple of weeks ago, another friend saw a goldfinch fly into a window near her seed feeder and fall stunned to her deck, where it was snatched up by a jay. 

All this has not made the western scrub-jay, brainy and behaviorally flexible thought it may be, one of my favorite birds. 

I don’t make a practice of feeding or otherwise accommodating them. But I’ve been known to make exceptions. 

Last week Ron and I noticed that a pair of jays were harassing Matt the Cat when he went outside, diving toward him and scrawking at him. Matt just seemed baffled by the hostility. At one point when he had come inside, a jay followed him to the living room window, perched on a utility wire outside, and continued the invective. 

Then our neighbor told us a baby bird was at large in her yard. 

That explained the parental behavior. Ron found the fledgling, which was indeed a scrub-jay, its feathers just beginning to come in. It was giving what sounded like begging calls, thin quavering beeps. The adult jays were still hovering around and had been seen feeding it. We couldn’t determine where the nest was. 

So what do you do? In hindsight, we probably should have taken the kid indoors overnight, secured it from the cat, and tried to feed it. But since the parents were still involved, we decided to let them take care of it. Another neighbor came by with a cottage cheese container padded with paper towels. We put the scrub-jay in it and lashed the container to a relatively concealed spot in the branches of a Japanese maple. I went back to the evening dishes. 

And in the morning we found the bird dead. Exposure? Starvation? Injuries? We’ll never know. The adults seem to have left the neighborhood.  

I’m not sure whether you gain or lose karma points by trying to help a scrub-jay instead of letting nature take its course. But there are times when you just have to violate the prime directive.  

In newspaper obituaries of the early 20th century, anyone who settled in the Bay Area before 1890 was called a pioneer. Few of these early residents could compete with the Moody family for the title of pioneers. 

Originating in Rodman, NY, the Moodys moved to Michigan City, Indiana in 1834. Six years later, they came to Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where they remained until news of the California Gold Rush spread through the land. In early 1849, Ransom Grover Moody (b. 1804) decided to take several wagonloads of dry goods to sell in Salt Lake City, a major hub on the Emigrant Trail. 

On March 28, 1849, Moody, his wife Elmira, their daughter Charlotte, and four sons—George, Charles, Volney, and David-set out with seven wagons pulled by ox teams and loaded with merchandise, from hats to jewelry and shoes. They joined a wagon train that left Mineral Point, WI, crossing the Mississippi River at Dubuque and passing through Iowa City and Des Moines, where they joined the Mormon Trail. 

By the time they left Kanesville (present-day Council Bluffs), Iowa on May 29, their train numbered 40 wagons and had been named Badger Company. They crossed the Missouri the next day. At Fort Laramie, the Moodys and their relatives, the Skinners, separated from the rest of the train. Ransom’s son Volney marked their passage through Wyoming by carving his name and the date, July 24, 1849, on Independence Rock. They arrived in Salt Lake City on August 14. Ransom Moody had accumulated a large cattle herd along the way, and it proved more difficult to sell than he had anticipated, requiring a layover of several months. Not until November 10 did the family join a wagon train out of Salt Lake, taking the grueling Southern Route to Los Angeles. 

The Moodys were one of the first parties to reach Southern California by this route. The Society of California Pioneers, whose members arrived in California before 1850, records the Moodys’ arrival date as Dec. 25, 1849, yet they did not reach Rancho San Bernardino until Feb. 8, 1850. Here they were the guests of the Lugo family, holders of the Mexican land grant, and rested for a while before continuing north to the pueblo of San Jose, where they settled. 

Of Moody’s four sons, the most successful turned out to be Volney Delos Moody (1829-1901). Just 20-years old upon arrival in California, he did not tarry to demonstrate entrepreneurial skills, being among the first to enter the lumber business at Rancho de las Pulgas in San Mateo County. How he acquired logging rights is not clear, but he could very well have been squatting, like many other Forty-niners, on land that rightfully belonged to the family of Don Luís Argüello. 

Within a year, Volney abandoned Las Pulgas and moved his lumbering operations to the San Antonio redwoods of East Oakland, acquiring the first steam sawmill built on the bank of Palo Seco Creek, at the head of Dimond Canyon. Again, he may have been squatting on Peralta lands. By 1860, the magnificent San Antonio redwood forest had been completely logged, but Moody was long out of the picture, having gone on to bigger enterprises. 

Moody’s biography in History of Alameda County, California (1883) relates that in 1853 he “sold out his stock, leased the mill and returned to Milwaukee. There he purchased a band of horses, and driving them before him across the plains he again returned to California.” Apparently Moody chose an easier route to the East than the one he had covered in 1849. A December 1852 ship’s passenger log lists V.D. Moody as a merchant arriving in New York from Nicaragua, indicating that he set out earlier than 1853, traveling by sea from San Francisco to New York on his way to Milwaukee. 

In 1854, Moody was off to the east again, purchasing cattle in Wisconsin and carriages in Newark, NJ, and sending them ahead across the plains. Revisiting his birthplace in upstate New York, he married Adaline (“Addie”) Mary Wright and returned to California by way of the Isthmus of Panama, a sea route much the same as the one he traveled the previous year. 

Volney and Addie settled in San Jose, where Volney’s father and brothers had become leading citizens. The same year, Ransom Moody (who would be elected president of the town’s Board of Trustees in 1857) built a flour mill on the banks of Coyote Creek, propelled by artesian well water. The business expanded rapidly, producing the then-famous “Lily White Flour.” When Ransom retired in the early 1860s, his sons Charles, Volney, and David took over the business. In 1863, Volney—the wealthiest of the three, dealing in lumber and cattle as well as in flour—was assessed $289.60 in federal tax on a valuation of $5,792. 

Volney sold out his share in the mill in 1866, moving to San Francisco with Addie and their three children. Charles and David ran the company until 1887, when it was sold to the Central Milling Company, which in turn was absorbed into the Sperry Flour Company in 1892. 

In San Francisco, Volney turned into a dry-goods merchant. The 1870 census listed Volney and Addie with daughters Nellie, 11, and Jessie, 8. Their 15-year-old son William was living with neighbors of David Moody’s in San Jose, where he was attending school. In 1874, the Moody moved to Oakland, where Volney “conceived the idea of starting a bank […] with a few ‘good men and true’.” 

In May 1875, he and his associates reorganized the Alameda County Savings and Loan Association, founded the previous year, as the First National Gold Bank of Oakland. In March 1880, after the U.S. government resumed payment in greenbacks, the bank became known as the First National Bank of Oakland. Moody was the bank’s president from 1876 to 1891. 

After leaving the First National Bank, Moody was instrumental in organizing the Home Savings Bank, serving as its president for the first four years. The name was later changed to Central Bank. Later in the 1890s, Moody participated in the establishment of the State Savings Bank and was its vice-president at the time of his death. 

But banking was only one of Moody’s many enterprises. In 1880, he joined with a group of worthies including Francis K. Shattuck to form the Oakland Home Insurance Company, of which Moody’s son-in-law, William F. Blood, was secretary and treasurer (Blood had married Nellie Moody in 1877). 

A few years later, with another group of capitalists, Moody founded the California Cotton Mills, with facilities in East Oakland. For a long time this was the only cotton factory in California. It manufactured sewing, seine, and wrapping twines; carpets; horse blankets; sail cloth; rope; cotton batting; and candle wicking. Seamless bags, made of cotton or jute, were its specialty product. 

In 1890, the California Cotton Mills employed 190 workers, including 85 women, 65 men, 20 girls, and 20 boys, who put in 60 hours a week and earned from 50 cents to $3.50 per 10-hour day. These wages were considerably higher, and the work day one to three hours shorter, than in other states. An official state report published in 1891 described the working conditions at the California Cotton Mills: “A visitor to the mill cannot fail to be struck with the order and cleanliness to be seen in every department. There are separate water-closets for the sexes, and commodious, well arranged toilet and cloak rooms for the women. The machinery, belting, etc., are under the floor of the work-rooms, so there is no danger of the employees running risk of loss of life or limb by coming into contact with them. In consequence of the considerate manner in which the employees, especially the women and girls, are treated, a better class of help is obtained than would be the case otherwise. The hoodlum element is happily absent.” 

Along with F.K. Shattuck, Moody was also involved in the establishment of electric street railways in Oakland.  

In December 1887, Moody was elected to a Board of Fifteen Freeholders whose task it was to prepare a city charter for Oakland. In the summer of 1889, when a flood in Johnstown, Pa., killed 2,209 people, he acted as treasurer for the citizens of Oakland, contributing $5,000 to the governor’s relief fund. 

In addition to being a banker, Moody extended private loans to many people, from family members to unrelated businessmen.  

One of these, in the amount of $4,000, was made to John Hinkel, namesake of the north Berkeley park, who before moving to Berkeley and becoming a major property owner here was a building contractor in San Francisco. Hinkel defaulted on his various loans, claiming insolvency. Moody, elected as the assignee of Hinkel’s creditors, filed an objection on grounds of fraud. In 1883, Hinkel sued Moody, charging that as the assignee, the latter waived his rights as creditor. Moody appealed, and the court found for him, concluding that “the Insolvent Statute of 1852 was not intended for the benefit of fraudulent insolvent debtors.” 

Shortly after moving his family to Oakland in 1874, Moody built a house at 564 14th Street at Clay (the site is now surrounded by government high-rises). By 1884, the three Moody children had grown to adulthood, and the marriage with Addie had fallen apart. The reasons for the divorce were never divulged, but about the same time, Moody met Mrs. Mary Robinson, a widowed schoolteacher in Alameda and the mother of two teenaged daughters. 

The divorce settlement took place out of court, and the decree was granted in San Benito Country, far away from prying eyes. In exchange for complete secrecy, Addie was given half of the Moody estate, reputed at that time to be worth about $180,000. Within the year, Volney married Mary Robinson. Knowledge of this marriage was kept within the family. In an age when married women were called by their husband’s name, few of Moody’s friends and associates realized that the Mrs. Moody they met was not the first one to hold that position. 

It was this second marriage that would eventually bring Volney Delos Moody to Berkeley. 

This article will continue next week. 

Daniella Thompson publishes berkeleyheritage.com for the Berkeley Architectural Heritage Association (BAHA). 

CORRECTION: The following sentence has been omitted from the original version of this article: 

Shortly after moving his family to Oakland in 1874, Moody built a house at 564 14th Street at Clay (the site is now occupied by government high-rises). 

It has been replaced with: 

Shortly after moving his family to Oakland in 1874, Moody built a house at 564 14th Street at Clay (the site is now surrounded by government high-rises). 

MONDAY, JUNE 23 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Poetry Express with Julia Vingrad at 7 p.m. at Priya Restaurant, 2072 San Pablo Ave. 644-3977. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Musica ha Disconnesso, traditional Italian music, at 7 p.m. at Caffe Trieste, 2500 San Pablo Ave., at Dwight. 548-5198.  

West Coast Songwriters’ Competition at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage Coffee House. Cost is $5. 548-1761. www.freightandsalvage.org 

Dewayne Pate and Friends at 8 p.m. at Yoshi’s at Jack London Square. Cost is $12. 238-9200. www.yoshis.com 

TUESDAY, JUNE 24 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Dale Pendell describes the “Pharmako” trilogy on psychoactive plants at 7:30 p.m. at Moe's Books, 2476 Telegraph Ave. 849-2087. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Mark St. Mary Lousiana Blues and Zydeco Band at 8:30 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cajun dance lesson at 8 p.m. Cost is $10. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

Singers’ Open Mic at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. Cost is $5. 841-JAZZ. www.AnnasJazzIsland.com 

Randy Craig Trio at 7 p.m. at Caffe Trieste, 2500 San Pablo Ave., at Dwight. 548-5198.  

Steve Tyrell at 8 p.m. at Yoshi’s at Jack London Square, through Wed. Cost is $24. 238-9200. www.yoshis.com 

Jazzschool Tuesdays, a weekly showcase of up-and-coming ensembles from Berkeley Jazzschool at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 843-8277. 

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 25 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Robert Scheer describes “The Pornography of Power: How Defense Hawks Hijacked 9/11 and Weakened America” at 7:30 p.m. at First Congregational Church of Berkeley, 2345 Channing Way. 559-9500. 

“California Israelite: Poetry of Reuven Goldfarb” with the author at 7:30 p.m. at JCC East Bay, 1414 Walnut St. Sponsored by Aquarian Minyan. Donation $10-$20. 528-6725. 

Berkeley Poetry Slam with host Charles Ellik and Three Blind Mice, at 8:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $5-$7. 841-2082 . 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Summer Sounds at Oakland City Center with Sonic Strut at noon at 12th and Broadway, Oakland.  

The Big Trio featuring Wayne de la Cruz at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. Cost is $10. 841-JAZZ. www.AnnasJazzIsland.com 

Taj Weekes and Adowa, reggae, at 9 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $10-$12. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

La Verdad at 9:30 p.m. at Shattuck Down Low, 2284 Shattuck Ave. Salsa dance lessons at 8:30 p.m. Cost is $5-$10. 548-1159.  

Taarka at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 843-8277. 

THURSDAY, JUNE 26 

EXHIBITIONS 

“From Pompei to Marseille” fresco paintings of Francesca Giorgi at Giorgi Gallery, 2911 Claremont Ave. For information on fresco workshops call 848-1228. 

FILM 

Louder, Faster: Punk in Performance “The Decline of Western Civilization” with filmmaker Penelope Spheeris in person at 8:40 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $5.50-$9.50. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Dan White reads from “The Cactus Eaters: How I Lost My Mind and Almost Found Myself on the Pacific Crest Trail” at 7:30 p.m. at Mrs. Dalloways, 2904 College Ave. 704-8222. 

Country Joe McDonald Open Mic Night at 7 p.m. at Cafe de la Paz, 1600 Shattuck Ave. 843-0662.  

Charles Wollenberg on “Berkeley: A City in History” at 5:30 p.m. at Berkeley Assoc. of Realtors, 1553 MLK Jr. Way. Cost is $15-$20. For reservations call 848-4288. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Berkeley Opera “Highlights from Tosca” at 12:15 at Berkeley Public Library, 2090 Kittredtge St. 981-6241. www.berkeleypubliclibrary.org  

Cast of Clowns, rock, funk, jams, at 9 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $15. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

Brian Melvin Trio at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. Cost is $10. 841-JAZZ. www.AnnasJazzIsland.com 

Laura Zucker at 7 p.m. at Caffe Trieste, 2500 San Pablo Ave., at Dwight. 548-5198.  

Bluegrass Session hosted by Jacob Gropman and Ben Bernstein at 9 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $7. 841-2082 www.starryploughpub.com 

Fred O’dell at 10 p.m. at Beckett’s Irish Pub, 2271 Shattuck Ave. 647-1790. www.beckettsirishpub.com 

Lina at 8 and 10 p.m. at Yoshi’s at Jack London Square. Cost is $12-$18. 238-9200. www.yoshis.com 

Selector with DJ Riddm at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 843-8277.  

FRIDAY, JUNE 27 

THEATER 

Aurora Theatre “The Busy World is Hushed” Wed.-Sat. at 8 p.m., Sun. at 2 and 7 p.m. at 2081 Addison St., through July 20. Tickets are $40-$42. 843-4822. www.auroratheatre.org 

Brookside Rep “Franz Kafka’s Love Life, Letters and Hallucinations” Thurs.- Sat. at 8 p.m., Sun. at 5 p.m. at Berkeley City Club, 2315 Durant St., through June 29. Tickets are $16-$34. 800-838-3006.  

Contra Costa Civic Theater “Kiss Me Kate” Fri. and Sat. at 8 p.m., Sun. at 2 p.m. at 951 Pomona Ave., El Cerrito, through Aug. 3. Tickets are $15-$24. 524-9132. www.ccct.org 

Masquers Playhouse “The Full Monty” Fri. and Sat. at 8, selected Sun. matinees at 2:30 p.m. at 105 Park Place, Point Richmond through July 5. Tickets are $20. 232-4031. www.masquers.org 

EXHIBITIONS 

“Variety is the Spice of Peace” A group show of 4th Street Studio artists. Opening reception at 7 p.m. at Gaia Arts Center Mezzanine Gallery, 2120 Allston Way. www.fourthstreetstudio.com  

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Orquesta La Moderna Tradición, classic and modern Cuban dance music, at 9 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. Cost is $12. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

Garrett McLean, violin, Kent Craig, guitar and vocal, Marvin Sanders, flute perform the music of J.S. Bach and the Blues at 8 p.m. at Giorgi Gallery, 2911 Claremont Ave. Cost is $10. 848-1228. www.giorgigallery.com 

“Out to Lunch” Quintet at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. Cost is $8. 841-JAZZ. www.AnnasJazzIsland.com 

Trio Garufa, Argentine tango,at 9:30 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Dance lesson at 8:30 p.m. Cost is $17-$20. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

Yolanda and Ric at 8 p.m. at Caffe Trieste, 2500 San Pablo Ave., at Dwight. 548-5198.  

Rebecca Riots at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $18.50-$19.50. 548-1761. www.freightandsalvage.org 

Pale Fighter and Ka-Chi at 7:30 p.m. at Nomad Cafe, 6500 Shattuck Ave. 595-5344. www.nomadcafe.net 

Johnny Dilks Country Soul Brothers, Dave Gleason, The B-Stars at 9 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $8. 841-2082. www.starryploughpub.com 

Skarp, Population Reduction, Against Empire at 8 p.m. at 924 Gilman St., an all-ages, member-run, no alcohol, no drugs, no violence club. Cost is $5. 525-9926. 

The Strangers at 10 p.m. at Beckett’s Irish Pub, 2271 Shattuck Ave. 647-1790. www.beckettsirishpub.com 

DJ Drunken Monkey at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 843-8277. 

Kenny Neal at 8 and 10 p.m. at Yoshi’s at Jack London Square, through Sun. Cost is $20. 238-9200. www.yoshis.com 

SATURDAY, JUNE 28 

CHILDREN  

“I Sit and Stay” Leah Waarvik introduces her book designed for children and families to learn how to stay safe in the wilderness should they get lost, at 7 p.m. at Laurel Bookstore, 4100 MacArthur Blvd. Oakland. 531-2073. 

EXHIBITIONS 

“Landscapes and Seascapes” works by Richard deTreville, Robert Wee, and Anthony Holdsworth. Reception at 2 p.m. at Alta Galleria, 2980 College Ave Suite 4. 421-1255 www.altagalleria.com  

“Waste Not” Sculpture using materials found in the natural world by Deborah Yaffe opens at Oakopolis, 447 25th St., Oakland. Open Sat. from 2 to 5 p.m. 663-6920. 

THEATER 

Citizen Josh with Josh Kornbluth Thurs.-Sat. at 8 p.m. Sun. at 5 p.m., at The Ashby Stage, 1901 Ashby Ave., through July 20. Tickets are $20-$25. 841-6500, ext. 303. www.shotgunplayers.org 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Lincoln Cushing and Ann Tompkins describe their new book “Chinese Posters: Art from the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution” at 3:30 p.m. at Eastwind Books of Berkeley, 2066 University Ave. www.asiabookcenter.com 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Stephen Cosgrove, in a benefit for Middle Eastern refugee children, will perform Bach and Mozart at 7:30 p.m. at Northbrae Community Center, 941 The Alameda. Suggested donation $10. 684-2470. 

Joel Dorham Latin Jazz Octet at 9 p.m. at Pacific Coast Brewing Co., 906 Washington St., Oakland. 836-2739.  

Sacred Music and Art by Adi Da Samraj at 7:30 p.m. at The Gaia Arts Center, 2120 Allston Way. Cost is $15. For reservations call 415-703-0330. 

The Brew with Aleph Null and Deli Kanlt at 8 p.m. at the JCC of the East Bay, 1414 Walnut St. Tickets are $10-$15. 848-0237. 

La Colectiva at 9 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. Cost is $10. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

Marcy Blackman & the Mighty Fines at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. Cost is $14. 841-JAZZ. www.AnnasJazzIsland.com 

Baba Ken & Kotoja at 9:30 p.m. at Ashkenaz. African dance lesson at 8:30 p.m. Cost is $12-$15. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com  

Mike Zawitkowski and Andy Lane at 7:30 p.m. at Nomad Cafe, 6500 Shattuck Ave. 595-5344. www.nomadcafe.net 

Dawn Drake at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 843-8277. 

Rick Di Dia and Aireene Espiritu at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $18.50-$19.50. 548-1761. www.freightandsalvage.org 

Larry Stefl Jazz Trio at 9:30 p.m. at Albatross, 1822 San Pablo Ave. Cost is $3. 843-2473. www.albatrosspub.com 

Charlie Wilson’s War at 10 p.m. at Beckett’s Irish Pub, 2271 Shattuck Ave. 647-1790. www.beckettsirishpub.com 

Orion’s Joy of Jazz, at 8 p.m. at Spuds Pizza, 3290 Adeline St. Cost is $7. 558-0881. 

The Mother Hips at 9:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $15. 841-2082. www.starryploughpub.com 

Kenny Neal at 8 and 10 p.m. at Yoshi’s at Jack London Square. Cost is $20. 238-9200. www.yoshis.com 

Leftover Crack, Wait in Vain, Crucified at 8 p.m. at 924 Gilman St., an all-ages, member-run, no alcohol, no drugs, no violence club. Cost is $5. 525-9926. 

SUNDAY, JUNE 29 

CHILDREN 

Rafael Manriquez & Ingrid Rubis, Latin American music, at Ashkenaz at 3 p.m. Cost is $4-$6. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

EXHIBITIONS 

“ARTiFACTS” Works by Mary Black, Kirk Crippens and Linda Race. Opening recetpion at 2 p.m. at Berkeley Art Center, 1275 Walnut St. in Live Oak Park. Exhibition runs to Aug. 17. 644-6893. 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

“Birth of the Cool” Curator’s tour with Philip Linhares of the exhibition on California art, design and culture at midcentury at 2 p.m. at Oakland Museum of California, 1000 Oak at 10th St., Oakland. Cost is $5-$8. 238-2022. www.museumca.org 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Annual Stars and Pipes Concert with Ron McKean, organist, and the Pacific Brass Ensemble, at 3 p.m. at First Presbyterian Church of Oakland, 2619 Broadway, Oakland. Lunch follows, suggested donation $10. 444-3555. www.firstchurchoakland.org 

Dance Theatre Arts “Dance Through the Seasons” at 2 p.m. Julia Morgan Center for the Arts, 2640 College Ave. Tickets are $15-$18. 581-4780. DTAHayward@aol.com  

Elio Villafranca/John Santos Quartet at 7 p.m. at La Peña. Cost is $14-$16. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

Rebecca Griffin & her Trio at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. Cost is $10. 841-JAZZ. www.AnnasJazzIsland.com 

Sauce Piquante at 11 a.m. at Nomad Cafe, 6500 Shattuck Ave. 595-5344. www.nomadcafe.net 

Americana Unplugged with .49 Special at 5 p.m. at Jupiter. 843-8277. 

2008 FiddleKids Faculty Concert at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $18.50-$19.50. 548-1761. www.freightandsalvage.org 

James Cotton at 7 and 9 p.m. at Yoshi’s at Jack London Square, through Sun. Cost is $12-$18. 238-9200. www.yoshis.com 

In recent years, thanks to feminism and a renewed interest in Surrealism and in the art of Latin America, Frida Kahlo has moved to the forefront of attention. She has achieved a status unimaginable during her lifetime and we have seen a “Fridamania” cult.  

No longer is she seen as secondary to Los tres grandes—Diego Rivera (her husband), Jose Clemente Orozco and David Alfaro Sequieros—the great muralist, who fused a grasp of modernist art with a celebration of pre-Coumbian culture. Kahlo, a largely self-taught painter, favored small paintings; her subjects were not heroic, but personal and self-reflective.  

Of the 76 paintings on view at the San Francisco Museum of Moder Art through Sept. 28, about 40 are either self-portraits or pictures in which Frida’s presence is central. Many of them deal with her great physical and emotional suffering. She had contracted polio when she was 6 years old and was badly injured in a street car accident at 18 and had to endure innumerable operations in her lifetime.  

One of many pictures that address her painful condition is The Broken Column (1944) which she painted during a five-month period when she had to wear a steel orthopedic corset. We see her as a female San Sebastian with nails, instead of arrows, piercing her flesh. In the painting an open column replaces her broken spine. This is seen against a desert landscape with dark ravines. 

When André Breton, the leader of the Surrealist movement came to Mexico, he described her art as “ribbon around a bomb,” but she rejected the label, saying “I never painted dreams, I painted my own reality.”  

But Breton was instrumental in furthering her career as a professional, rather than as an “outsider” artist, and she showed her work at Julien Levy’s Surrealist gallery in New York in 1938. A small painting in the show, a painting which makes us think of René Magritte, The Suicide of Dorothy Hale (1939), is a retablo, as she called it, in memory of a friend who threw herself out of the window of a New York high-rise. We see the woman’s body falling from the building and simultaneously lying on the ground with the artist’s inscription on the panel. 

The exhibition includes two rooms of photographs—done by famous photographers such as Manuel Bravo, Lucienne Bloch and Tina Modotti, as well as a memorable photo of Breton and Rivera talking to Leon Trotsky in Coyoacan, taken in 1938, two years before the Communist leader and close friend of Diego and Frida was assassinated there. Included also is a photo of the official license issued when they were remarried in San Francisco in 1940. 

Frida Kahlo may not have been a great painter, but she has exerted an enormous influence on later artists, including Americans such as Vito Acconci, Enrique Chagoya, Rupert Garcia, Amalia Mesa-Baines, Bruce Nauman, Carolee Schneemann and Kiki Smith, among others. This exhibition, which started in Minneapolis and went on to Philadelphia before coming here, may well result in further impact.

Ed Reed, the East Bay’s jazz balladeer, will perform in an unusual matinee at Freight & Salvage this Saturday, from 10 a.m.-noon, that will enable listeners to either catch him live on stage—or on West Coast Live, which will broadcast the show live on KALW (91.7) locally, on many national public broadcasting affiliates, or streamed over the web at KALW.org.  

The concert and broadcast come in the midst of much activity and recognition for the lifelong singer who released his first CD, Ed Reed Sings Love Stories, last year. A second CD, The Song Is You (after the Duke Ellington tune Reed sings, one of 13 on the album), was released at the end of May, with a CD release party scheduled at Yoshi’s on Aug. 25.  

Reed’s preparing for his second New York date at the Jazz Standard on July 22; and right before, he’ll appear with Marian McPartland on her acclaimed, long-running public radio program, “Piano Jazz,” on July 16—the height of jazz on the airwaves. 

In October, Reed will teach a class at Berkeley’s JazzSchool, on singers and lyrics: “the material ... and the gift.” 

The Song Is You is filled with classic material (and some lesser-known pieces by great songwriters); his first album featured: Ellington, Hoagie Carmichael, Rodgers and Hart—and Leonard Bernstein with Comden & Green (“Lucky to Be Me”), as well as another Harold Arlen with Truman Capote’s lyrics (“Don’t Like Goodbyes”). And it was produced by the first’s coproducer, Peck Allmond, Berkeley High Jazz Band alumnus, now one of New York’s finest, also leading the band on tenor sax, trumpet, cornet, flute and clarinet. And Gary Fisher, the fine New York pianist from Reed’s first record outing, is again on the keyboards. 

But the album, recorded at the Tony Bennett Studio in Inglewood, New Jersey, isn’t just a recapitulation. Accompanying musicians include Doug Weiss, of the Al Foster Quartet, on bass; Willard Dyson, drums; Russel George on violin—and Jamie Fox on guitar, significant as a favorite of Reed’s to sing with, since his time in a duo with the late Ralph Bravo. “I want to sing more with a guitar; just me and a guitarist.” 

Late last summer, the San Francisco Chronicle ran a story on Reed by jazz writer Lee Hildebrand, accompanied by a color picture he later joked about to a Yoshi’s audience as “the mug shot.” Since that time, “the phone started ringing and hasn’t stopped.”  

Asked if the sudden burst of recognition for the Watts native—who was taught to sing over chord changes by Charles Mingus, cut his teeth on vaudeville-type talent shows and sat in with many of the great Central Ave. scene bop players—has exhilarated or dismayed him, Reed said, “It was overwhelming at first—it freaked me out, drove me away from music. But you get used to it; you got to get used to it. I just want to sing a song, that’s all. The stuff that comes with it, that’s okay. That’s why I’m in it. Because I can’t shut up!” 

ED REED 

10 a.m.-noon Saturday at Freight & Salvage, 1111 Addison St. For reservations: call 664-9500 or go to ticketweb.com. $15 advance, $18 at door.

Oakland, which saw its only remaining resident theater company, TheatreFirst, compelled to leave its Old Town storefront stage a year ago, last week witnessed introductory tours led by the Northern California Land Trust for a dual-purpose project, live-work studios and performing arts venue.  

Designed to address the problem of rapidly shrinking and unaffordable working, rehearsal and performing space for independent artists and artesans in the East Bay, the Oakland Noodle Factory, at 26th Street and Union, on the fringe of the West Oakland industrial district, opened its doorways—or the plastic curtains covering them—to prospective buyers and renters of rehearsal and performing space. 

“We’re trying to create opportunities for artists already living in West Oakland,” said Ingrid Jacobson, the Land Trust’s Housing and Solar project manager, “as well as to enrich an existing neighborhood, rather than just ‘developing’ it. 

“With assistance from the City of Oakland and different layers of financing,” Jacobson continued, “depending on the units, an artist making $27,000 with $10,000 down can afford to buy. And there’s low-priced rehearsal and performance space onsite. Affordable housing is one thing—this opportunity for home ownership for low-income people takes it one step further.” 

“Many of us on the staff and board of the Land Trust are working artists,” said Executive Director Ian Winters, himself a visual and performance artist and cofounder of Oakland’s Milk Bar. “And everybody’s lost lofts at least once, and performance spaces, and known many others who have lost both during a time when an astoundingly high percentage of the Bay Area’s cultural space has gone. We all have a list of friends who have said, ‘It’s almost cheaper to live in New York.’” 

The previous owner of the Noodle Factory, after a number of local property management firms, “was an organizer of the Black Rock Arts Foundation of Burning Man fame, who found the Noodle Factory about 10 years ago,” Winters said. 

He said it was “occupied in a quasi-legal fashion, like many other such properties have been—somebody paying somebody else rent—by someone who had the idea of turning it into a combination of a performance venue and live-work spaces. But she was in a funny position, realizing the technical complexity of upgrading the property, bringing it up to code compliance, retrofit ...  

“Rather than putting it on the open market and having it end up as market-rate lofts, she decided to find an organization willing to take it on as a project.” 

At the time, the Land Trust was working on the acquisition of an old church for a similar project, on the corner of Shattuck and Woolsey, “on the Berkeley-Oakland line, with entitlements to both; there was no way to resolve the parking issues,” Winters said. 

The Land Trust negotiated whether to take on the Noodle Factory, while lining up redevelopment funding. It acquired the property in late 2005, with exploratory demolition in June 2006 and construction beginning in December that year. 

“It was a huge fund-raising process for legalizing the space,” said Winters. “We recycled or reclaimed all the timber and demolition materials. We would have been better advised to tear the building down. Instead, we took it down to bare framing in order to reuse a significant amount. And it’s powered 75 percent P.V. [solar electric].” 

There are 11 live-work units, nine below market rate. Total square footage of the building is 19,600 square feet. 

In the effort to make the Noodle Factory “work for a wide array of artists, and be socially as well as environmentally sustainable,” the Land Trust engaged two directors of Oakland-based theater groups to direct the performing arts venue: Maya Gurantz of Temescal Labs (nee Ten Red Hen) and Norman Gee of Oakland Public Theater. 

Gurantz, executive director of the Noodle Factory Performing Arts Center, spoke of creating programs that encouraged “small companies to do bigger work ... the nomadic theater and dance troupes are where the hot stuff is ... I know what a difference it makes when you build your set—and can leave it where you perform.”  

Gee, the Performing Arts Center’s programming director, said, “We want to take advantage of the flexibilty given to us by the Land Trust, keep costs of rental down and encourage as many small performing arts groups as possible. With the mandate they’ve given us, we’re reaching out to the neighborhood. We’ve linked up with two high schools, are talking about what type of curriculum we can work together on. And through the schools, the young people, to reach their parents and neighbors. I’m planning to stage a piece for the holidays I’ve done before in the schools, a multicultural Wind in the Willows. And when neighborhood people come as our guests, we can also invite them to something they’ve never seen before. Like a butoh show—say, ‘check it out!’” 

The theater is 1,700 square feet, now adorned with Magritte-like signs for the tours: “This stairway won’t be here!” There’s 1,000 square feet of rehearsal space, and an arts cafe as well. 

“The Land Trust is our current fiscal sponsor,” said Gurantz. “We’re working on our own nonprofit status as an autonomous entity. The Trust’s board is trying to create an independent cultural resource, not control it.” 

“The Land Trust owns the land under the building in perpetuity,” Winters commented, “which ground lease ensures the space will always be used by working artists and artesans. If a group falls on hard times, we have the legal standing to step in temporarily, see it’s not lost to foreclosure.” 

As working artists as well as project directors, Gurantz will be directing this fall for Shotgun at Ashby Stage, and Winters and Gee both are working on events: Oakland Public Theater’s Richard Wright Project (his centennial is Sept. 4) and the Milk Bar’s Film Festival, with commissioned works and international experimental films (Sept. 12-14)—both slated for the Noodle Factory.

Growing up in Bristol, Rhode Island, Katrina Browne was steeped in the traditions and lore of her family, the DeWolfs. The DeWolf family was an integral part of the town’s identity, somewhere between founding fathers and royalty. The stained-glass windows in the family church were paid for by her ancestors and bore their names; the town’s signature mansion, now a museum, was built by a DeWolf and the home remained in the family until the late 1980s. 

Growing up, Browne never questioned this legacy, never looked deeper, until her grandmother wrote a small booklet about the family that briefly and vaguely mentioned their ties to the slave trade—a topic so taboo for so long that most living descendants knew nothing about it. Browne began to look into the family’s dark secret and found that the DeWolfs were not only significant players in the trade, but were in fact the largest, most successful slave-trading organization in history. 

Just as startling to Browne was the revelation that the North, contrary to its image as innocent in the slave trade and as a catalyst for abolition, was deeply complicit in slavery, all the way through the Civil War and the Reconstruction era. And tiny Rhode Island saw more African captives pass through its ports than any other state. 

Browne, who holds a master’s degree in theology from Berkeley’s Pacific School of Religion, set out to examine this history and to try to come to grips with her family’s role. She contacted 200 DeWolf descendants across the country and invited them to join her confronting the family legacy by retracing their ancestors’ trade route. The vast majority of them never responded; of the rest, only nine took her up on the offer. The result is Traces of the Trade, a documentary about the excursion that was written, produced and directed by Browne. The film kicks off the 21st season of PBS’ acclaimed independent documentary series P.O.V. Tuesday night, June 24. 

Traces of the Trade follows the group as they travel from Rhode Island to the ports of Ghana, where their ancestors traded rum and scarves for slaves; from Ghana to Cuba, where those slaves helped in the harvesting of sugar and the production of molasses, and where they were held until prices were favorable in the American slave market; and back to Rhode Island, where the slaves were sold for vast profits and the products of their labor were distilled into rum, the cycle beginning anew. 

Along the way, Browne and her cohorts grapple with the myriad issues raised by their family’s legacy. Though none of them inherited money from those ancestors, they are forced to reckon with the vestiges of privilege that the family gained through the slave trade. At times the whole exercise can seem self-indulgent, and they even struggle with that, wondering what good it does for a pack of white folk to travel about and talk among themselves about racial relations. Is this just a method to assuage their guilt? Or can something more beneficial come of this?  

At one point the group, seeking an outside voice, puts their questions to Juanita Brown, the film’s African-American, Berkeley-educated co-producer. Brown had intended to stay out of the family discussions and focus on facilitating the discussions between the DeWolfs and Ghanans, but when put on the spot, she manages to give the DeWolfs the perspective they need to better understand their role in the dialogue. 

In the end, the DeWolfs manage to find a few methods by which they can contribute to the dialogue, by encouraging their ancestral hometown and their church to not only acknowledge their role in the slave trade and the morass of racial relations in the United States, but to start figuring out what to do about it. 

It’s hard to believe, but Joan Blondell never had a starring role. Hard to believe not only because it seems like a gross oversight, but also because she so often provided her films with their most memorable character.  

Pacific Film Archive is screening a retrospective of Blondell’s career through June 29. Titled “The Fizz on the Soda” after Blondell’s own description of her place in the Hollywood hierarchy, the series is just a small sampling of the more than 100 films in which the actress appeared, but it provides a solid portrait of her range and talent.  

Blondell was in many ways the quintessential pre-Code woman: strong, forthright, bold and brassy. In countless films, from the Busby Berkeley musicals to racier fare like Night Nurse and Three on a Match, she provided a durable and witty sidekick and a fantastic foil, bringing out the personalities of the lead actors and lending them much of her charm, humor and earthy nobility. She made the films and the actors around her better.  

Blondell didn’t fit into the studio system’s narrow vision of a lead actress. She was too sensual and knowing to play the innocent waif roles that went to Ruby Keeler; too girl-next-door to take the hard-edged dame roles that went to Barbara Stanwyck or Joan Crawford; too fun to play the villainous vamp; too soulful to play the floozy. What to do with all this personality and versatility? Thus an idiosyncratic niche was created, consisting of substantive and often scene-stealing supporting roles. It was a long, dedicated, worker-like career—one that may not be the stuff of legend, but one more than worthy of a second look. 

July 23: the date looms. It is written on the mirror of Alain Leroy's disheveled room. He has chosen his day, he has chosen his method, and he has decided what he must do in the meantime. It is perhaps the first time he has set a goal for himself, the first time he has followed through on a plan. 

Alain intends to kill himself, but before he does, he will visit his friends throughout Paris one by one. He has just returned from New York, where his marriage dissolved, and each encounter brings surprise and pleasure to his friends, followed quickly by shock and concern over his appearance and state of mind.  

In every instance, there is a great distance between Alain and his friends. And though there are reasons for this on both sides, it is clear that fault lies mostly with Alain himself. He has refused to grow up, refused to develop beyond the imbibing college student he was 10 years ago. He has not made a successful transition into the world of employment, into love and companionship, into citizenship and responsibility. And though he can recognized it and admit it, he cannot deal with it.  

We follow Alain from place to place, from apartment to cafe to bar to home, as he meets old friends. In each world, he is essentially a stranger. He stands out; he is awkward, intrusive and unnerving. His very presence renders each circumstance conspicuous. When he visits a friend who has become a family man, the domestic scene appears hollow and complacent; when he visits a dinner party of intellectuals, their self-satisfied repartee takes on air of hostility, of seething one-upmanship; and when he sits in an outdoor cafe, the life around him appears petty, random and meaningless.  

Louis Malle's direction immerses us in the mind of a deeply troubled man, one who can no longer see joy or pleasure or comfort, but only pain and futility. And Maurice Ronet, looking haggard and distraught but still handsome, is the very portrait of potential squandered, of the promise of youth dissipated, of the bounty of life reduced to disillusionment and despair. 

Criterion's new DVD release features archival interviews with Louis Malle and Maurice Ronet, and a short documentary about the film and the novel on which it was based, Pierre Drieu La Rochelle's Le feu follet. It also includes essays on the film by critic Michel Ciment and film historian Peter Cowie.  

108 minutes. 1963. In French with English subtitles. 

$29.95. www.criterion.com.

I’m a great retrospective investor. Not so good at guessing which stocks to pick today but I’m really good at knowing which company or trend I should have bought last year. I guess we’re all a bit like that. Copper is a wonderful example. Its had quite a wild ride over the last six years or so and one of those years saw close to a tripling in value. Copper started out at about 75 cents a pound in 2002 and is now nearly four dollars a pound. I guess some people feel so bad about missing out on the copper boom that they’re willing to climb under your house and leave with your plumbing. No joke—this is actually happening so much these days that its become common news. 

An article in the Hanford Sentinel (King’s County) last September criticized the fact that California laws regarding the recycling of copper and other metals are lax. A law was proposed that would force recyclers to pay for metals by check sent with a 10-day waiting period and would also require photographing cars and driver’s licenses of those bringing in the metal. One local county supervisor had 10 grand in copper stolen from his farm and fully four hundred thousand in metal had been stolen from other farmers in the county in 2006. I find that astonishing. 

All over the country, farmers, municipal rail systems and large factories are being hit. Sometimes again and again. Police can’t begin to keep up. 

I was inspecting a large facility in Alameda last year, one of the buildings left vacant by the Naval base closure, when I began, slowly at first to notice something very odd. Every room I entered was devoid of plumbing and wiring. This building had housed a thousand-gallon water heater (a holding tank actually; it was fed by a 100-gallon water heater that ran though a loop to keep the big one full). The place had been built to shower a hundred sailors at a time and so the plumbing was really big. The incoming line was a three-inch copper pipe and it had been sawed through just after the main valve, which had been turned off.  

Well, three-inch copper must be about a pound or two a foot, maybe more, and there had been a lot of it before it began to reduce down to the smaller pipes that fed the sinks and showers, the restaurant and the hose spigots. This place was so big it had its own bowling alley and it had been stripped bare of every bit of copper piping. I can only guess, but it must have been about a thousand pounds of pipe. Then there was the wiring. The building had a main panel on the outside and about four or five really big breaker panels inside. The covers had been removed and there was nothing inside. Just the lonely little breakers and miles of conduit that had been pulled bare. Amazing. This must have taken some time but it was probably done at night and, of course, the place was vacant. 

Part of what I found so awful about this was that the cost of replacing all of this plumbing and wiring was going to be several (perhaps many) times whatever it was that these wastrels had made for their malfeasant efforts. It would have been better to just give them a bag of crack and send them on their way than to have to drop fifty or a hundred thousand dollars replumbing and rewiring the building. 

Earlier this year, I saw another one. Again, the main had been cut and, this time, the thieves were less adventurous and had merely cleared the crawlspace of all the copper piping. Nonetheless, a few thousand were going to be spent repairing the damage. In this case, I doubt if the thieves could have recouped more than about forty or fifty bucks, but I guess that’s enough to make a night of it in the thrilling world of drug abuse. 

At least one city building official I met recently had seen enough of this to recommend to a client of mine that she paint the bright new copper ground wire on the front of her house just as soon as she can manage to do so. He’d obviously been privy to more than a few recent cases of copper theft. 

So here are a few things to think about for yourself when it comes to this wonderful new hobby that’s sweeping the nation. First, lock your crawlspace. If you have a property that is not currently occupied, this is triply recommended. These are the really popular sites for thieves. Also, if you ARE doing construction anywhere, lock up the wire and pipe or at least, keep it out of sight. If your contractor isn’t aware of this issue, please inform them for their sake and for yours. 

It may be some small concession to know that thieves periodically fry themselves while stealing electrical wire (this may be apocrypha but its all over the web thanks in part to my friend Wendy Northcutt and her Darwin Awards books) but the bad news is that this is probably going to get worse before it gets better. If I had the prescience to know what copper futures look like, I’d be happy to tell you but what I can guess is that the value of the plumbing and wiring inside your house isn’t going to drop anytime soon.  

Just think of your copper as if it were 14 carat gold—you wouldn’t leave that stuff unguarded, would you? So here’s a sound investment: a hasp, a padlock and an hour of your handyman’s time. And when you’re re-plumbing, perhaps its time to think about using plastic! 

Predation: where would Animal Planet be without it? There’s not nearly as much drama in browsing. 

There’s no question that predators, large and small, are essential players in ecosystems. Kill off the mountain lions and wolves on the Kaibab Plateau and the mule deer multiply like rabbits, eating themselves into a population crash. Remove the coyotes from Californial chaparral, if you can, and smaller predators like foxes and feral cats do in the ground-nesting birds. With the loss of jaguars and harpy eagles, rainforest fragments surrounded by the waters of Venezuela’s Lago Guri are picked clean by herbivores—howler monkeys, rodents, iguanas—run amuck. 

But sometimes you can’t help but be ambivalent about the process: you find yourself feeling for the victims. 

This spring a pair of bushtits built their pendulous felted nest in the Lady Banks rose that covers our kitchen window. As the days got longer, I could watch them at work as I did the dishes. Then one day I noticed that the nest had been ripped apart. The bushtits either abandoned the nesting attempt or moved elsewhere. 

There were no witnesses, but I tended to suspect the neighborhood scrub-jays. That was reinforced a bit later when I noticed an agitated pair of American goldfinches in the back yard scolding a jay.  

The western scrub-jay acquired its hyphen ten years ago when ornithologists divided the former scrub jay taxon into western, Florida, and island (as in Santa Cruz) species. That still leaves a lot of variation in color, size, bill shape, and behavior among westerns, and the splits may not be over yet. 

All three of the scrub-jays are nest-robbers. It’s one of those corvid traits, shared with blue, Steller’s, Mexican, and gray jays, not to mention crows and ravens. Western scrub-jays aren’t obligate carnivores; 73 per cent of their food in one California study was of vegetable origin, heavy on the acorns. But they can’t seem to resist a tasty egg or nestling. 

They’ve even been known to capture and kill adult songbirds. Some years back Paul Ehrlich observed scrub-jays on the Stanford campus taking down starlings and cliff swallows, pinning the birds with their feet and hammering them with their beaks. A friend in Berkeley tells me he watched a scrub-jay in his yard that appeared to be stalking a Bewick’s wren with malicious intent. Just a couple of weeks ago, another friend saw a goldfinch fly into a window near her seed feeder and fall stunned to her deck, where it was snatched up by a jay. 

All this has not made the western scrub-jay, brainy and behaviorally flexible thought it may be, one of my favorite birds. 

I don’t make a practice of feeding or otherwise accommodating them. But I’ve been known to make exceptions. 

Last week Ron and I noticed that a pair of jays were harassing Matt the Cat when he went outside, diving toward him and scrawking at him. Matt just seemed baffled by the hostility. At one point when he had come inside, a jay followed him to the living room window, perched on a utility wire outside, and continued the invective. 

Then our neighbor told us a baby bird was at large in her yard. 

That explained the parental behavior. Ron found the fledgling, which was indeed a scrub-jay, its feathers just beginning to come in. It was giving what sounded like begging calls, thin quavering beeps. The adult jays were still hovering around and had been seen feeding it. We couldn’t determine where the nest was. 

So what do you do? In hindsight, we probably should have taken the kid indoors overnight, secured it from the cat, and tried to feed it. But since the parents were still involved, we decided to let them take care of it. Another neighbor came by with a cottage cheese container padded with paper towels. We put the scrub-jay in it and lashed the container to a relatively concealed spot in the branches of a Japanese maple. I went back to the evening dishes. 

And in the morning we found the bird dead. Exposure? Starvation? Injuries? We’ll never know. The adults seem to have left the neighborhood.  

I’m not sure whether you gain or lose karma points by trying to help a scrub-jay instead of letting nature take its course. But there are times when you just have to violate the prime directive.  

In newspaper obituaries of the early 20th century, anyone who settled in the Bay Area before 1890 was called a pioneer. Few of these early residents could compete with the Moody family for the title of pioneers. 

Originating in Rodman, NY, the Moodys moved to Michigan City, Indiana in 1834. Six years later, they came to Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where they remained until news of the California Gold Rush spread through the land. In early 1849, Ransom Grover Moody (b. 1804) decided to take several wagonloads of dry goods to sell in Salt Lake City, a major hub on the Emigrant Trail. 

On March 28, 1849, Moody, his wife Elmira, their daughter Charlotte, and four sons—George, Charles, Volney, and David-set out with seven wagons pulled by ox teams and loaded with merchandise, from hats to jewelry and shoes. They joined a wagon train that left Mineral Point, WI, crossing the Mississippi River at Dubuque and passing through Iowa City and Des Moines, where they joined the Mormon Trail. 

By the time they left Kanesville (present-day Council Bluffs), Iowa on May 29, their train numbered 40 wagons and had been named Badger Company. They crossed the Missouri the next day. At Fort Laramie, the Moodys and their relatives, the Skinners, separated from the rest of the train. Ransom’s son Volney marked their passage through Wyoming by carving his name and the date, July 24, 1849, on Independence Rock. They arrived in Salt Lake City on August 14. Ransom Moody had accumulated a large cattle herd along the way, and it proved more difficult to sell than he had anticipated, requiring a layover of several months. Not until November 10 did the family join a wagon train out of Salt Lake, taking the grueling Southern Route to Los Angeles. 

The Moodys were one of the first parties to reach Southern California by this route. The Society of California Pioneers, whose members arrived in California before 1850, records the Moodys’ arrival date as Dec. 25, 1849, yet they did not reach Rancho San Bernardino until Feb. 8, 1850. Here they were the guests of the Lugo family, holders of the Mexican land grant, and rested for a while before continuing north to the pueblo of San Jose, where they settled. 

Of Moody’s four sons, the most successful turned out to be Volney Delos Moody (1829-1901). Just 20-years old upon arrival in California, he did not tarry to demonstrate entrepreneurial skills, being among the first to enter the lumber business at Rancho de las Pulgas in San Mateo County. How he acquired logging rights is not clear, but he could very well have been squatting, like many other Forty-niners, on land that rightfully belonged to the family of Don Luís Argüello. 

Within a year, Volney abandoned Las Pulgas and moved his lumbering operations to the San Antonio redwoods of East Oakland, acquiring the first steam sawmill built on the bank of Palo Seco Creek, at the head of Dimond Canyon. Again, he may have been squatting on Peralta lands. By 1860, the magnificent San Antonio redwood forest had been completely logged, but Moody was long out of the picture, having gone on to bigger enterprises. 

Moody’s biography in History of Alameda County, California (1883) relates that in 1853 he “sold out his stock, leased the mill and returned to Milwaukee. There he purchased a band of horses, and driving them before him across the plains he again returned to California.” Apparently Moody chose an easier route to the East than the one he had covered in 1849. A December 1852 ship’s passenger log lists V.D. Moody as a merchant arriving in New York from Nicaragua, indicating that he set out earlier than 1853, traveling by sea from San Francisco to New York on his way to Milwaukee. 

In 1854, Moody was off to the east again, purchasing cattle in Wisconsin and carriages in Newark, NJ, and sending them ahead across the plains. Revisiting his birthplace in upstate New York, he married Adaline (“Addie”) Mary Wright and returned to California by way of the Isthmus of Panama, a sea route much the same as the one he traveled the previous year. 

Volney and Addie settled in San Jose, where Volney’s father and brothers had become leading citizens. The same year, Ransom Moody (who would be elected president of the town’s Board of Trustees in 1857) built a flour mill on the banks of Coyote Creek, propelled by artesian well water. The business expanded rapidly, producing the then-famous “Lily White Flour.” When Ransom retired in the early 1860s, his sons Charles, Volney, and David took over the business. In 1863, Volney—the wealthiest of the three, dealing in lumber and cattle as well as in flour—was assessed $289.60 in federal tax on a valuation of $5,792. 

Volney sold out his share in the mill in 1866, moving to San Francisco with Addie and their three children. Charles and David ran the company until 1887, when it was sold to the Central Milling Company, which in turn was absorbed into the Sperry Flour Company in 1892. 

In San Francisco, Volney turned into a dry-goods merchant. The 1870 census listed Volney and Addie with daughters Nellie, 11, and Jessie, 8. Their 15-year-old son William was living with neighbors of David Moody’s in San Jose, where he was attending school. In 1874, the Moody moved to Oakland, where Volney “conceived the idea of starting a bank […] with a few ‘good men and true’.” 

In May 1875, he and his associates reorganized the Alameda County Savings and Loan Association, founded the previous year, as the First National Gold Bank of Oakland. In March 1880, after the U.S. government resumed payment in greenbacks, the bank became known as the First National Bank of Oakland. Moody was the bank’s president from 1876 to 1891. 

After leaving the First National Bank, Moody was instrumental in organizing the Home Savings Bank, serving as its president for the first four years. The name was later changed to Central Bank. Later in the 1890s, Moody participated in the establishment of the State Savings Bank and was its vice-president at the time of his death. 

But banking was only one of Moody’s many enterprises. In 1880, he joined with a group of worthies including Francis K. Shattuck to form the Oakland Home Insurance Company, of which Moody’s son-in-law, William F. Blood, was secretary and treasurer (Blood had married Nellie Moody in 1877). 

A few years later, with another group of capitalists, Moody founded the California Cotton Mills, with facilities in East Oakland. For a long time this was the only cotton factory in California. It manufactured sewing, seine, and wrapping twines; carpets; horse blankets; sail cloth; rope; cotton batting; and candle wicking. Seamless bags, made of cotton or jute, were its specialty product. 

In 1890, the California Cotton Mills employed 190 workers, including 85 women, 65 men, 20 girls, and 20 boys, who put in 60 hours a week and earned from 50 cents to $3.50 per 10-hour day. These wages were considerably higher, and the work day one to three hours shorter, than in other states. An official state report published in 1891 described the working conditions at the California Cotton Mills: “A visitor to the mill cannot fail to be struck with the order and cleanliness to be seen in every department. There are separate water-closets for the sexes, and commodious, well arranged toilet and cloak rooms for the women. The machinery, belting, etc., are under the floor of the work-rooms, so there is no danger of the employees running risk of loss of life or limb by coming into contact with them. In consequence of the considerate manner in which the employees, especially the women and girls, are treated, a better class of help is obtained than would be the case otherwise. The hoodlum element is happily absent.” 

Along with F.K. Shattuck, Moody was also involved in the establishment of electric street railways in Oakland.  

In December 1887, Moody was elected to a Board of Fifteen Freeholders whose task it was to prepare a city charter for Oakland. In the summer of 1889, when a flood in Johnstown, Pa., killed 2,209 people, he acted as treasurer for the citizens of Oakland, contributing $5,000 to the governor’s relief fund. 

In addition to being a banker, Moody extended private loans to many people, from family members to unrelated businessmen.  

One of these, in the amount of $4,000, was made to John Hinkel, namesake of the north Berkeley park, who before moving to Berkeley and becoming a major property owner here was a building contractor in San Francisco. Hinkel defaulted on his various loans, claiming insolvency. Moody, elected as the assignee of Hinkel’s creditors, filed an objection on grounds of fraud. In 1883, Hinkel sued Moody, charging that as the assignee, the latter waived his rights as creditor. Moody appealed, and the court found for him, concluding that “the Insolvent Statute of 1852 was not intended for the benefit of fraudulent insolvent debtors.” 

Shortly after moving his family to Oakland in 1874, Moody built a house at 564 14th Street at Clay (the site is now surrounded by government high-rises). By 1884, the three Moody children had grown to adulthood, and the marriage with Addie had fallen apart. The reasons for the divorce were never divulged, but about the same time, Moody met Mrs. Mary Robinson, a widowed schoolteacher in Alameda and the mother of two teenaged daughters. 

The divorce settlement took place out of court, and the decree was granted in San Benito Country, far away from prying eyes. In exchange for complete secrecy, Addie was given half of the Moody estate, reputed at that time to be worth about $180,000. Within the year, Volney married Mary Robinson. Knowledge of this marriage was kept within the family. In an age when married women were called by their husband’s name, few of Moody’s friends and associates realized that the Mrs. Moody they met was not the first one to hold that position. 

It was this second marriage that would eventually bring Volney Delos Moody to Berkeley. 

This article will continue next week. 

Daniella Thompson publishes berkeleyheritage.com for the Berkeley Architectural Heritage Association (BAHA). 

CORRECTION: The following sentence has been omitted from the original version of this article: 

Shortly after moving his family to Oakland in 1874, Moody built a house at 564 14th Street at Clay (the site is now occupied by government high-rises). 

It has been replaced with: 

Shortly after moving his family to Oakland in 1874, Moody built a house at 564 14th Street at Clay (the site is now surrounded by government high-rises). 

MONDAY, JUNE 23 

Stop the Spray-East Bay and Pesticide Watch Community Meeting at 7 p.m. at Lakeside Park Garden Center, 666 Bellevue Ave., off Grand, Oakland. Speakers include John Russo, Oakland City Attorney, Douglas MacLean, Communications Director, Assemblyman Sandré Swanson, Daniel Harder, Ph.D., Executive Director, Arboretum UC Santa Cruz, Lawrence Rose, MD, MPH, former Senior Public Medical Officer for Cal-OSHA. www.stopthespray.org  

The Bread Project Classes in cooking, baking, and job readiness run June 23 to July 31. For infomation call 644-4575.  

“Get Tested & Testify!” for National HIV Testing Day. Free testing open to all, Mon.-Fri. from 10 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. at Beebe Memorial Cathedral, 3900 Telegraph Ave., Oakland. 655-6114. www.beebeonline.org  

Kensington Library Book Group meets to discuss “Dancing at the Rascal Fair” by Ivan Doig at 7 p.m. at 61 Arlington Ave., Kensington. 524-3043. 

World Affairs/Politics Discussion Group, for people 60 years and over, meets at 9:45 a.m. at Albany Senior Center, 846 Masonic Ave, Albany. Cost is $3.  

Berkeley CopWatch organizational meeting at 8 p.m. at 2022 Blake St. Join us to work on current issues around police misconduct. Volunteers needed. For information call 548-0425. 

Dragonboating Year round classes at the Berkeley Marina, Dock M. Meets Mon, Wed., Thurs. at 6 p.m. Sat. at 10:30 a.m. For details see www.dragonmax.org 

Free Boatbuilding Classes for Youth Mon.-Wed. from 3 to 7 p.m. at Berkeley Boathouse, 84 Bolivar Dr., Aquatic Park. Classes cover woodworking, boatbuilding, and boat repair. 644-2577. www.watersideworkshops.org 

TUESDAY, JUNE 24 

Tilden Explorers An after-school nature adventure program for 5-7 year olds. We will learn about terrestial insects from 3:15 to 4:15 p.m.. Cost is $6-$8, registration required. 1-888-EBPARKS. 

Summer Birding from 7 to 9 p.m. at the Albany Adult School, 601 San Gabriel Ave., Albany, followed by six Wed. eve. field trips. Sponosred by the Golden Gate Audubon Society. 559-6580.  

“Gardening Under the Oaks” with horticulturist Nathan Smith from 9 a.m. t o noon at UC Botanical Garden, 200 Centennial Drive. Cost is $25-$30. 643-2755. http://botanicalgarden.berkeley.edu 

“The Danger of an Attack on Iran” A discussion with Larry Everest and Gareth Porter at 7 p.m. at Berkeley Fellowship of Unitarian Universalists, Cedar and bonita. Suggested donation $5-$10. 848-1196. 

Tuesday Tilden Walkers Join a few slowpoke seniors at 9:30 a.m. in the parking lot near the Little Farm for an hour or two walk. 215-7672, 524-9992. 

Rethinking Plastics A presentation by Green Sangha on alternative materials at 7 p.m. at the Ecology Center, 2530 San Pablo Ave., near Dwight Way. 548-2220, ext. 233. 

Berkeley PC Users Group meets at 7 p.m. at 25 Dartmouth Dr. Call for directions 841-4411. 2rhs07@comcast.net 

End the Occupation Vigil every Tues. at noon at Oakland Federal Bldg., 1301 Clay St. www.epicalc.org 

Family Storytime at 7 p.m. at Kensington Library, 61 Arlington Ave. 524-3043.  

Street Level Cycles Community Bike Program Come use our tools as well as receive help with performing repairs free of charge. Youth classes available. Tues., Thurs., and Sat. from 2 to 6 p.m. at at 84 Bolivar Dr., Aquatic Park. 644-2577. www.watersideworkshops.org 

Fresh Produce Stand at San Pablo Park from 3 to 6 p.m. in the Frances Albrier Community Center. Sponsored by the Ecology Center’s Farm Fresh Choice. 848-1704. www.ecologycenter.org 

Berkeley Camera Club meets at 7:30 p.m., at the Northbrae Community Church, 941 The Alameda. Share your digital images, slides and prints and learn what other photographers are doing. Monthly field trips. 548-3991. www.berkeleycameraclub.org 

St. John’s Prime Timers meets at 9:30 a.m. at St. John’s Presbyterian Church, 2727 College Ave. We offer ongoing classes in exercise and creative arts, and always welcome new members over 50. 845-6830. 

Sing-A-Long Group from 2 to 3 p.m. at the Albany Senior Center, 846 Masonic Ave., Albany. 524-9122. 

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 25 

Birding with the Golden Gate Audubon Society at Lake Merritt and Lakeside Park. Meet at 9:30 a.m. at the large spherical cage near the Nature Center at Perkins and Bellevie. 834-1066, 528-2093. 

Tilden Explorers An after-school nature adventure program for 5-7 year olds. We will learn about terrestial insects from 3:15 to 4:15 p.m. Cost is $6-$8, registration required. 1-888-EBPARKS. 

Walking Tour of Historic Oakland Churches and Temples Meet at 10 a.m. at the front of the First Presbyterian Church at 2619 Broadway. Tour lasts 90 minutes. Reservations can be made by calling 238-3234. www.oaklandnet. 

com/walkingtours 

“How We Make A Difference!” with Joan Lee, Gray Panther Advocate for legislation in Sacramento at 1:30 p.m. at North Berkeley Senior Center, 1901 Hearst. 548-9696. 

“Grant Seeking Basics for Non-Profits and Community Based Organizations” sponsored by the Richmond Public Library and the Foundation Center, from 2:30 to 5 p.m. at the Madeline F. Whittlesey Commnity Room, 325 Civic Center Plaza. Resevations suggested. 620-6561.  

Safeway on Shattuck Community Meeting to discuss plans for the redevelopment of the Safeway store at 1444 Shattuck Ave., at 6:30 p.m. at the Hillside Club, 2286 Cedar St. www.safewayonshattuck.com 

“Root of All Evil” A documentary with with Richard Dawkins, including the uncut interviews, at 7:30 p.m. at Humanist Hall, 390 27th St., Oakland. Donation $5. www.Humanist Hall.org 

Walk Berkeley for Seniors meets every Wednesday at 9:30 a.m. at the Sea Breeze Market, just west of the I-80 overpass. Everyone is welcome, wear comfortable shoes and a warm hat. 548-9840. 

Theraputic Recreation at the Berkeley Warm Pool, Wed. at 3:30 p.m. and Sat. at 10 a.m. at the Berkeley Warm Pool, 2245 Milvia St. Cost is $4-$5. Bring a towel. 632-9369. 

Berkeley Peace Walk and Vigil at the Berkeley BART Station, corner of Shattuck and Center. Sing for Peace at 6:30 p.m. followed by Peace Walk at 7 p.m. www. 

geocities.com/vigil4peace/vigil 

Teen Chess Club from 3:30 to 5:30 p.m. at the North Branch Library, 1170 The Alameda at Hopkins. 981-6133. 

Morning Meditation Every Mon., Wed., and Fri. at 7:45 a.m. at Rudramandir, 830 Bancroft Way at 6th. 486-8700. 

Berkeley CopWatch Drop-in office hours from 6 to 8 p.m. at 2022 Blake St. 548-0425. 

Stitch ‘n Bitch at 6:30 p.m. at Caffe Trieste, 2500 San Pablo Ave., at Dwight. 548-5198.  

THURSDAY, JUNE 26 

Tilden Tots Join a nature adventure program for 3 and 4 year olds, each accompanied by an adult (grandparents welcome)! We’ll look for insects from 10 to 11:30 a.m. at Tilden Nature Center, Tilden Park. Cost is $6-$8. Registration required. 636-1684. 

Haiti Report Haiti Action Committee members report from recent trip to Port-au-Prince, at 7 p.m. at La Peña, 3105 Shattuck Ave. Suggested donation $7-$10 sliding scale, no one turned away. www.Haitisolidarity.net 

Indigenous Permaculture Benefit with a slideshow, music, and food at 7 p.m. at theEcology Center, 2530 San Pablo Ave. Donation of $10-$35 sliding scale suggested, no one will be turned away for lack of funds. 548-2220, ext. 233. ecologycenter.org. 

National Institute of Art & Disabilities “Fashion Show” with clothes and accessories, at 6 p.m. at NIAD, 551 23rd St., Richmond. 620-0290. www.niadart.org 

“Intellectual Origins of Jewish National Renewal” by Dr. Revital Amiran-Sappir at 7 p.m. at Brit Tzedek V'Shalom at Congregation Netivot Shalom, 1316 University Ave. sf-bayarea@btvshalom.org 

Teen Book Cub with author Peter Beagle at 4 p.m. at the Claremont Branch Library, 2940 Benvenue at Ashby. 981-6107.  

Temescal Street Cinema “Girls Rock” at 8:30 p.m. outdoors at 49th and Telegraph. Bring a chair. www.temescalstreetcolletive.org 

Fitness Class for 55+ at 9:15 a.m. at Jewish Community Center, 1414 Walnut St. 848-0237. 

Easy Does It Board of Directors’ Meeting at 6:30 p.m. at 1636 University Ave. 845-5513. 

World of Plants Tours Thurs., Sat. and Sun. at 1:30 p.m. at the UC Botanical Garden, 200 Centennial Drive. Cost is $5. 643-2755.  

FRIDAY, JUNE 27 

City Commons Club Noon Luncheon with Kyoko Woodhouse on “Art of Japan” Luncheon at 11:45 a.m. for $14.50, speech at 12:30 p.m., at the Berkeley City Club, 2315 Durant St. For information and reservations call 524-7468. www.citycommonsclub.org 

“Peacemaking after Deadly Conflict” with David Zarembka, who saw violence after the recent elections in Kenya at 7:30 p.m. at the Berkeley Friends Church, Sacramento and Cedar. 486-1391. 

“Get Tested & Testify!” for National HIV Testing Day. Free testing open to all from 10 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. at Beebe Memorial Cathedral, 3900 Telegraph Ave., Oakland. 655-6114. www.beebeonline.org  

“Heretical Jews: What Can We Learn from Them” at 6:15 p.m. at JGate, near El Cerrito Plaza. RSVP to 559-8140. 

Circle Dancing, simple folk dancing with instruction at 7:30 p.m. at Finnish Brotherhood Hall, 1970 Chestnut St at University. Donation of $5 requested. 528-4253.  

SATURDAY, JUNE 28 

Plenty: A Potluck of Books and Beats A community exchange of books and CDs, records and tapes from noon to 3 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

Walking Tour of Old Oakland around the 1870s business district. Meet at 10 a.m. in front of G.B. Ratto’s & Co. at 827 Washington St. Tour lasts 90 minutes. Reservations can be made by calling 238-3234. www.oaklandnet.com/walkingtours 

“Walk to Talk” A walkathon to raise awareness and funds for aphasia services, at 9:45 a.m. at Downtown Oakland Senior Center, 200 Grand Ave., at Harrison St. 336-0112. www.aphasiacenter.org  

In Our Own Backyard: A Celebration of the East Bay Regional Parks A virtual tour in photographs at the Oakland Museum of CA, 1000 Oak St., Oakland. Cost is $5-$8. 238-2200. www.museumca.org 

“Travels with Baby: The Ultimate Guide for Planning Trips with Babies, Toddlers, and Preschool-Age Children” with author Shelly Rivoli, at 11 a.m. at El Cerrito Library, 6510 Stockton Ave., El Cerrito. 526-7512. 

Ratapalooza Learn about the care of a pet rat, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. at RabbitEars, 377 Colusa, Kensington. 525-6155. www.rabbitears.org 

Sushi Basics Learn the natural and cultural history of this ancient cuisine and you prepare and taste seven different types of sushi. Parent participation required for children 8-10 years. Cost is $25-$39. Registration required. 1-888-EBPARKS. 

Summer Board Game Days from 1 to 4 p.m. at the Albany Library, 1247 Marin Ave. 526-3720, ext. 17. 

“Squish, Drip and Drool” Acitvities for the family including painting with shaving cream, soap bubbles and more from 1 to 4 p.m. at the Museum of Children’s Art, 538 9th St., Oakland. Cost is $7 per child. 465-8770. 

Free Garden Tours at Regional Parks Botanic Garden Sat. and Sun. at 2 pm. Regional Parks Botanic Garden, Tilden Park. Call to confirm. 841-8732. www.nativeplants.org 

Around the World Tour of Plants at 1:30 p.m., Thurs., Sat. and Sun. at UC Botanical Garden, 200 Centennial Drive. 643-2755. http://botanicalgarden.berkeley.edu 

The Berkeley Lawn Bowling Club provides free instruction every Wed. and Sat. at 10:30 a.m. at 2270 Acton St. 841-2174.  

Oakland Artisans Marketplace Sat. from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Sun. from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Jack London Square. 238-4948. 

Car Wash Benefit for Options Recovery Services of Berkeley, held every Sat. from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Lutheran Church, 1744 University Ave. 666-9552. 

SUNDAY, JUNE 29 

Berkeley International Food Festival from noon to 5 p.m. for several blocks in either direction of the San Pablo and University Avenues intersection, with live music, cultural activities and cooking demonstrations in the Wells Fargo Bank parking lot. Free and open to the public. 845-4106. www.berkeleyinternationalfoodfestival.com 

California Cool A family exploration day with activities for all from 1 to 4 p.m. at Oakland Museum of California, 1000 Oak at 10th St., Oakland. Cost is $5-$8. 238-2022. www.museumca.org 

Six Legs and Crunchy Learn about insects and what it means to have a skelton on the outside, from 10:30 a.m. to noon at Tilden Nature Center, Tilden Park. Cost is $3. 525-2233. 

Ponds of Our Lives Discover the secret underworld of ponds with a dip-net from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m. at Tilden Nature Center, Tilden Park. For all ages. 525-2233. 

Free Hands-on Bicycle Clinic Learn how to repair a flat, from 10 to 11 a.m. at REI, 1338 San Pablo Ave. Bring your bike and tools. 527-4140. 

35th Anniversary of the Tibetan Nyingma Institute with yaga, talks and tours from 1 to 7 p.m. at 1815 Highland Palce. Free and open to all. 809-1000. 

Social Action Forum with Rachel Shigekane on “Preventing Genocide and Other Mass Atrocities” at 10 a.m. at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Berkeley, 1 Lawson Rd., Kensigton. 525-0302, ext. 306 

Free Garden Tours at Regional Parks Botanic Garden in Tilden Park Sat. and Sun. at 2 p.m. Call to confirm. 841-8732. www.nativeplants.org 

Lake Merritt Neighbors Organized for Peace Peace walk around the lake every Sun. Meet at 3 p.m. at the colonnade at the NE end of the lake. 763-8712. lmno4p.org 

Berkeley Chess Club meets every Sun. at 7 p.m. at the Hillside School, 1581 Le Roy Ave. 843-0150. 

Tibetan Buddhism with Syliva Gretchen on “Tibetan Wisdom for the Modern World” at 6 p.m. at the Tibetan Nyingma Institute, 1815 Highland Pl. 809-1000. www.nyingmainstitute.com 

Sew Your Own Open Studio Come learn to use our industrial and domestic machines, or work on your own projects, from 4 to 8 p.m. at 84 Bolivar Dr., Aquatic Park. Also on Fri. from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Cost is $5 per hour. 644-2577. www.watersideworkshops.org 

ONGOING 

Summer Lunch For Kids & Teens from June 16 to August 15 Meal sites are located at various schools and community centers throughout Oakland and Alameda County. For information call 800-870-3663 for a meal site near you or visit www.summerlunch.org To make a donation see www.accfb.org  

CITY MEETINGS 

Design Review Committee meets Thurs., June 19, at 7 p.m., at the North Berkeley Senior Center. 981-7415. 

Fair Campaign Practices Commission meets Thurs., June 19, at 7 p.m., at the North Berkeley Senior Center. 981-6950.  

Transportation Commission meets Thurs., June 19, at 7 p.m., at the North Berkeley Senior Center. 981-7010.  

Zero Waste Commission Mon., June 23, at 7 p.m., at 1201 Second St. 981-6368.  

City Council meets Tues., June 24, at 7 p.m in City Council Chambers. 981-6900. www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/citycouncil 

Civic Arts Commission meets Wed., June 25, at 6:30 p.m. at the North Berkeley Senior Center. 981-7533.  

Energy Commission meets Wed., June 25, at 6:30 p.m., at the North Berkeley Senior Center. 981-5434.  

Planning Commission meets Wed., June 25, at 7 p.m., at the North Berkeley Senior Center. 981-7484. 

Police Review Commission meets Wed., June 25, at the South Berkeley Senior Center. 981-4950.  

Mental Health Commission meets Thurs., June 26, at 6:30 p.m. at 2640 MLK Jr. Way, at Derby. 981-5213.  

Zoning Adjustments Board meets Thurs., June 26, at 7 p.m., in City Council Chambers. 981-7410.