News

Court Rejects Berkeley Appeal, Police Complaint Hearings Must Still Be Closed

By J. Douglas Allen-Taylor
Wednesday October 08, 2008 - 04:56:00 PM

A California Appeals Court has ruled that the City of Berkeley’s Police Review Commission must continue to exclude the public from complaint hearings against Berkeley Police officers, and must continue to bar public access to peace officer personnel records or other records relating to Police Review Commission investigations or findings in such complaints. -more-


Dual Tragedy Shocks Apartment Residents

By Richard Brenneman
Tuesday October 07, 2008 - 05:01:00 PM

The body of a 44-year-old Berkeley man lay decomposing in his studio apartment for at least two weeks, while his aging mother, who suffers from dementia, remained inside, surrounded by an ever-growing mound of garbage bags. -more-


Flash: Suspects Held for June Killing

By Bay City News
Monday October 06, 2008 - 09:53:00 PM

Berkeley police today arrested a 20-year-old man in connection with the killing of his stepfather in June and another suspect turned himself in later in the day. -more-


Richmond Activists Blast Police Union 'Racist' Flyer

By Richard Brenneman
Monday October 06, 2008 - 04:52:00 PM

A rainbow coalition of Richmond activists on Monday demanded that the city’s powerful police union rescind an electoral mailer they described as a racist hit piece. -more-


LPC Approves Mills Acts Contracts, Wareham Tries 'Old Industrial' Look for 740 Heinz

By Riya Bhattacharjee
Monday October 06, 2008 - 04:51:00 PM

The Landmarks Preservation Commission approved Mills Acts contracts Thursday for two historic Berkeley landmarks—the Durant Hotel and the Charles Keeler House. -more-


Three Robberies in an Hour on Tuesday

By Richard Brenneman
Saturday October 04, 2008 - 08:22:00 AM

Berkeley residents were targeted in three armed robberies that took place within 57 minutes of each other Tuesday evening, police report. -more-


Two Environmentalists Vie For Parks District Vacancy

By Richard Brenneman
Friday October 03, 2008 - 04:41:00 PM

Two candidates with strong environmental records are facing off for an open seat on the East Bay Regional Parks District. -more-


Commission Spurns DAPAC Parking, Traffic Proposals

By Richard Brenneman
Thursday October 02, 2008 - 06:26:00 PM

Even planning commissioners who have fought to defend the downtown plan crafted by a citizen committee are backing away from its parking provisions. -more-


Cody’s Workers Charge Store Violated Contract

By Riya Bhattacharjee
Thursday October 02, 2008 - 09:17:00 AM

Two former employees of the now-defunct Cody’s Books have filed a complaint with the state Labor Commission alleging that the bookstore violated its contract with the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) by not paying its workers paid time-off when the store closed down in June. -more-


Was McCain A Key Player In Point Molate Casino?

By Richard Brenneman
Thursday October 02, 2008 - 09:18:00 AM

Is Republican presidential nominee John McCain the key player in the behind-the-scenes maneuvers that may turn the East Bay into California’s first urban gambling resort? -more-


Parents Say Teacher Espoused Creationism

By Riya Bhattacharjee
Thursday October 02, 2008 - 09:17:00 AM

The Berkeley Unified School District is investigating a report that one of its elementary school teachers might have violated the separation of church and state by teaching creationism to her third-grade class, district officials said Tuesday. -more-


Dellums Unveils Proposal to Cut Oakland Budget Deficit

By J. Douglas Allen-Taylor
Thursday October 02, 2008 - 09:18:00 AM

With the nation’s attention focused on the national credit crisis and President George Bush’s proposed $700 billion bailout package, Oakland Mayor Ron Dellums released his proposals to address Oakland’s fiscal crisis, a $37.4 million shortfall in the 2008-09 budget. -more-


City Tells Temple, Neighbors To Find Middle Ground

By Riya Bhattacharjee
Thursday October 02, 2008 - 09:19:00 AM

Fans of authentic Thai cuisine must wait till Nov. 13 to find out if the city will allow Wat Mongkolratanaram to continue to serve Sunday brunch or ban it. -more-


Planning Commission Gets Few Answers Regarding Bus Rapid Transit Proposal

By Richard Brenneman
Thursday October 02, 2008 - 09:19:00 AM

Planning commissioners last week confronted what Chair James Samuels called “a chicken/egg problem”: How to define a Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) route without knowing its full impacts. -more-


School District Gets Ready to Sell Sixth Street Property

By Riya Bhattacharjee
Friday October 03, 2008 - 11:57:00 AM

Berkeley Unified School District’s historic property on Sixth Street—which started out as the Berkeley Day Nursery many decades ago and is now home to West Berkeley’s LifeLong Medical Clinic—will be sold if the district finds a suitable buyer, district officials said. -more-


State Budget Will Have Major Impacts for BUSD

By Riya Bhattacharjee
Thursday October 02, 2008 - 09:20:00 AM

California’s long-overdue state budget, signed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger last week, leaves the Berkeley Unified School District’s budget virtually unchanged from last year, but forces it to grapple with the rising cost of living, district officials said Thursday. -more-


BHS Spanish Teacher Lobbies for Diagnostic Testing

By Riya Bhattacharjee
Thursday October 02, 2008 - 09:25:00 AM

Visitors to Berkeley High School’s annual back-to-school night last Thursday might not remember the eight Latino students quietly handing out flyers to passers-by amid all the excitement of registering for different tutorials and after-school programs. -more-


A Guide to Berkeley’s Library and Disaster Bonds

By J. Douglas Allen-Taylor
Thursday October 02, 2008 - 09:26:00 AM

Measure FF: Berkeley Library Bond -more-


Brazen Dorm Room Robbery At UC’s Clark Kerr Campus

By Richard Brenneman
Thursday October 02, 2008 - 09:27:00 AM

A pair of brazen bandits staged a “hot prowl” heist at UC Berkeley’s Clark Kerr campus early Tuesday morning, climbing in through an open kitchen window to rob a pair of students. -more-


Police Blotter

By Richard Brenneman
Thursday October 02, 2008 - 09:27:00 AM

Hate crime—or not? -more-


Lincoln, a Comet, and the Politics of a Nation Divided

By Steven Finacom Special to the Planet
Thursday October 02, 2008 - 09:29:00 AM
Donati’s Comet as seen over Paris above the Palais du Justice, the Conciergerie and the Seine on Oct. 5, 1858, from a plate in The World of Comets, 1877, Amèdée Guillemin.

The year 1858 was one of turmoil and wonder. One hundred and fifty years ago the world was coming together. The United States signed a commercial treaty with hitherto self-isolated Japan, gold seekers rushed to Pike’s Peak, there was talk of a railroad to California, and the first briefly successful transatlantic telegraph cable was laid. -more-


CORRECTION

Thursday October 02, 2008 - 09:27:00 AM

In a Sept. 25 story on regional measures on the November ballot (“Analysis of Regional Ballot Measures”), we mistakenly reported that the East Bay Regional Park District Measure WW “appears to be one of the few issues that is not generating any opposition.” In fact, Measure WW has generated opposition. Please see our letters page for rebuttal. -more-