The Week

Jesse Arreguin, who will become the Berkeley City Council’s youngest member after winning the election Tuesday, celebrates his victory with his parents Humberto and Cindy Arreguin and Councilmember Kriss Worthington (left) at his campaign headquarters on Uniiversity Avenue around midnight.
by Riya Bhattacharjee
Jesse Arreguin, who will become the Berkeley City Council’s youngest member after winning the election Tuesday, celebrates his victory with his parents Humberto and Cindy Arreguin and Councilmember Kriss Worthington (left) at his campaign headquarters on Uniiversity Avenue around midnight.
 

News

Citizens' Sunshine Ordinance Heads to City Council

By Riya Bhattacharjee
Tuesday November 11, 2008 - 04:40:00 PM

Berkeley Councilmember Kriss Worthington, who for the last seven years has been advocating for a strong sunshine ordinance to give citizens access to government records and meetings, will put the Berkeley Sunshine Committee's draft ordinance-crafted as an alternative to one written by the city attorney-on the agenda for the Dec. 8 City Council meeting. -more-


Berkeley Encourages Greening Historic Buildings

By Riya Bhattacharjee
Tuesday November 11, 2008 - 04:19:00 PM

At the Landmarks Preservation Commission meeting Thursday, preservationists and architects warned against stripping historic buildings off their original windows, explaining that it could take away character-defining features, and advised homeowners to instead invest in sealing problem areas, weather-stripping and making use of natural ventilation. -more-


A Victorious AC Transit President Sets His Sights On The Bus District’s Challenges And Problems

By J. Douglas Allen-Taylor
Tuesday November 11, 2008 - 04:18:00 PM

AC Transit Board President Chris Peeples hit the election trifecta on Tuesday, but by Friday morning, he didn’t sound in the mood for celebration. -more-


City Calls Gaia Arts Center Public Nuisance After Rowdy Frat Party

By Riya Bhattacharjee
Saturday November 08, 2008 - 02:08:00 PM

An out-of-control party at the Gaia Arts Center in downtown Berkeley two weeks ago prompted Berkeley Police to label the venue as a public nuisance, leaving its owners susceptible to a fine from the city if a similar incident occurs there in the next four months, authorities said Thursday. -more-


More Journalists Lose Jobs At BANG’s East Bay Papers

By Richard Brenneman
Saturday November 08, 2008 - 02:07:00 PM

California’s leading newspaper publisher, Dean Singleton’s MediaNews, is shedding eight more jobs in the East Bay. -more-


Angry Neighbors Voice Concerns About Cell Phone Towers

By Richard Brenneman
Saturday November 08, 2008 - 02:05:00 PM

Neighbors worried about cell phone antenna radiation and angry at city officials who have allowed it in their neighborhoods poured out their frustrations at the Berkeley Planning Commission meeting on Wednesday night. -more-


BUSD Threatened By Mid-Year Budget Cuts

By Riya Bhattacharjee
Friday November 07, 2008 - 11:17:00 AM

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's proposal to make additional state education budget cuts to stimulate California's flagging economy set off alarm bells for school districts, many of which had been fearful of mid-year reductions when the governor released a delayed state budget in September. -more-


East Bay Election Results

Friday November 07, 2008 - 11:30:00 AM

Berkeley -more-


Bates Re-Elected, Arreguin Wins District 4, Wengraf Replaces Olds, Capitelli Retains Seat

By Richard Brenneman and Riya Bhattacharjee
Thursday November 06, 2008 - 09:41:00 AM

Mayor Tom Bates handily won a third term, while two new faces will join the Berkeley City Council, Jesse Arreguin and Susan Wengraf. -more-


Preservationists Defeat Council-Backed Landmarks Ordinance

By Richard Brenneman
Thursday November 06, 2008 - 09:45:00 AM

Berkeley’s battle of the buildings took another twist Tuesday, when Berkeley voters spurned the City Council’s changes to the city’s Landmarks Preservation Ordinance (LPO). -more-


Levya-Cutler, Selawsky Win Berkeley School Board Election

By Riya Bhattacharjee
Thursday November 06, 2008 - 09:46:00 AM

Community activist and leader Beatrice Leyva-Cutler led the Berkeley Board of Education elections Tuesday night with 37 percent of the vote, with incumbent and board president John Selawsky coming in second at 30 percent. -more-


Berkeley Celebrates Obama Victory

By Riya Bhattacharjee
Thursday November 06, 2008 - 09:46:00 AM

Berkeley celebrated Barack Obama’s victory as the 44th president of the United States way past midnight on Tuesday, but no one was complaining. -more-


Celebration Erupts in Downtown Oakland

By J. Douglas Allen-Taylor
Thursday November 06, 2008 - 09:47:00 AM

It was a historic night of celebration in Oakland, the like of which we have never seen in our lifetimes. -more-


Artists Charge Censorship at Addison Street Gallery

By Riya Bhattacharjee
Thursday November 06, 2008 - 09:47:00 AM
A poster by Jos Sances, one of the works in “Art of Democracy” banned from the Addison Street Gallery.

Some community members are outraged that the City of Berkeley-run Addison Street Windows Gallery decided not to display posters from a national series of exhibitions called the “Art of Democracy” on the basis of curatorial judgment, and instead replaced them with pottery during election week. -more-


Kaplan Easily Beats Hamill in Oakland Council Race

By J. Douglas Allen-Taylor
Thursday November 06, 2008 - 09:58:00 AM

In the Oakland City Council race, Tuesday’s general election runoff ended with the two candidates in almost the identical position they finished in last June: AC Transit At-Large Board member Rebecca Kaplan at 61.95 percent (61,431) and Oakland School Board member Kerry Hamill at 37.16 percent (36,845). -more-


Voters Weigh-in on Oakland And County Measures

By J. Douglas Allen-Taylor
Thursday November 06, 2008 - 09:59:00 AM

Local voters picked and chose between non-Berkeley measures on Tuesday’s ballot, holding on to their money with one hand, giving out money with the other, and redistributing the money in one city budget with whatever appendage was available. -more-


More Election Results: Area Incumbents Cruise to Victory

By J. Douglas Allen-Taylor
Thursday November 06, 2008 - 09:59:00 AM

Three area races saw incumbents easily beating off challengers. -more-


Campaign Coffers Swelled As Election Day Drew Near

By Richard Brenneman
Thursday November 06, 2008 - 10:02:00 AM

As election day approached, District 4 council candidate Terry Doran finally saw some of the dollars developer Ali Kashani asked his colleagues to give—though most came from one company, Hudson McDonald. -more-


Heavy Turnout, Upbeat Mood Prevail as South Berkeley Votes

By Richard Brenneman
Thursday November 06, 2008 - 10:02:00 AM

Turnout was heavy in South Berkeley Tuesday, with voters lined up outside the Black Repertory Theater on Adeline Street even before polls opened. -more-


East Bay Students Rally Against ICE Raids

By Riya Bhattacharjee
Thursday November 06, 2008 - 10:02:00 AM

Hundreds of students and activists from all over the Bay Area marched from Ferry Park near the Embarcadero to the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) office in downtown San Francisco Friday to protest what they called atrocities committed against undocumented immigrants by code enforcement officials in sanctuary cities. -more-


SEIU Workers Violate Noise Law, Anger Alta Bates Neighbors

By Riya Bhattacharjee
Thursday November 06, 2008 - 10:05:00 AM

A group of neighbors of the Alta Bates Summit Medical Center have always had a good relationship with the hospital’s workers, they say, until early last Wednesday. -more-


Long Slog Through Downtown Plan Provokes Tempers, Occasional Quips

By Richard Brenneman
Thursday November 06, 2008 - 09:57:00 AM

Whatever shape the new downtown plan takes before the City Council signs off on the document next May, it’s certain to be very different from the draft prepared by the citizens the council chose to draft it. -more-


Group Gets Ready to Take Draft Sunshine Ordinance to Council

By Riya Bhattacharjee
Thursday November 06, 2008 - 09:58:00 AM

The citizens’ group working on an alternate version of the Berkeley city attorney’s draft sunshine ordinance has released its final draft and will meet with Councilmember Kriss Worthington Monday to discuss a plan to introduce it in the City Council agenda for December. -more-


Remembering Jerry Thomas

By Jonathan Wafer
Thursday November 06, 2008 - 10:06:00 AM
Jerry Thomas

Jerry Thomas, office administrator at the Berkeley Drop-In Center on Adeline Street died of complications from asthma last month. Jerry worked as a disability check distributor and general office administrator for the past 10 years. She was 54. -more-


First Person: Another Life

By Jade Moss
Thursday November 06, 2008 - 10:18:00 AM

The security guards had broken us up, trying not to hurt us. For five minutes we had swung at each other, landing punch after punch and calling each other names. The Longfellow schoolyard, filled with active students, watched all this. -more-


Opinion

Editorials

Heading for the Freedom Land

By Becky O’Malley
Thursday November 06, 2008 - 10:09:00 AM

“It’s been a long time coming,” said the president-elect on the big screen. From the back of the packed room at Bobby G’s Pizzeria, an earnest youthful voice: “Twenty months!” -more-


Cartoons

We, Not You, Shall Overcome

By Justin DeFreitas
Monday November 10, 2008 - 05:05:00 PM

Obama's Victory

By Justin DeFreitas
Thursday November 06, 2008 - 09:04:00 PM

Proposition 8

By Justin DeFreitas
Thursday November 06, 2008 - 09:04:00 PM

Public Comment

Letters to the Editor

Monday November 10, 2008 - 03:04:00 PM

NO ENDORSEMENT -more-


Letters to the Editor

Thursday November 06, 2008 - 10:10:00 AM

NEXT TIME -more-


Police Misconduct Complaints: The Right Not to Remain Silent

By Terry Francke
Thursday November 06, 2008 - 10:11:00 AM

The legal secrecy surrounding police misconduct and discipline is all but absolute, but not quite as strong as the free speech tradition championed in Berkeley. -more-


Do Police Get Any Cultural Sensitivity Training?

By Ayodele Nzinga
Thursday November 06, 2008 - 10:12:00 AM

I am proceeding with the filing of multiple complaints against officers of the Berkeley Police Department. I don’t think it will help. The Berkeley Police lack cultural sensitivity and by all evidence common courtesy and sense. They are, by and large, an incendiary gang in blue that should be curtailed in Southwest Berkeley. -more-


UC Democracy: After 140 Years, It’s Time for Change

By Matthew Taylor
Thursday November 06, 2008 - 10:14:00 AM

For those who care about the University of California and its relations with our broader world, the catalyzing opportunity for real change is for distinct groups to find common cause and democratize the UC. Collectively, can we reverse the widening chasm between a concerned public and an aloof, unaccountable Board of Regents composed of elite, wealthy businessmen. The Phoenix Project for UC Democracy aims to build a coalition to democratize the UC Regents, and our kickoff event will be Tuesday, Nov. 18, 7 p.m. at the Hillside Club in Berkeley (www.UCdemocracy.org for more info). -more-


Obama Is My Lama ... And also My President

By Boona Cheema
Thursday November 06, 2008 - 10:14:00 AM

It will work, as a certain number of mantra recitations bring a desired outcome, so at 1 million it’s a given….I am getting close. -more-


Mayor Bates: Taking and Giving Nothing Back

By Reya Aimes
Thursday November 06, 2008 - 10:15:00 AM

I grew up in this city and I am so disappointed in it I could just spit. How its citizenry can keep electing someone as mayor who quite obviously doesn’t care about their wants, needs or rights escapes me. -more-


The Devil You Know: Dean Vs. Bates

By Carol Denney
Thursday November 06, 2008 - 10:15:00 AM

By the time this story hits print, either Tom Bates or Shirley Dean will have won the election for mayor in Berkeley. The Berkeley voters will be able to count on one thing for certain; a back burner for civil rights, police accountability, and honestly affordable housing. -more-


Choice Voting Is the Way to Go

By Preston Jordan
Thursday November 06, 2008 - 10:16:00 AM

As a resident of Albany, I have read Sharon Hudson’s series on the problems created with Berkeley’s electoral system with fascination. Her commentaries, published in the Oct. 9, 16 and 30 issues of the Berkeley Daily Planet, present a brief history of Berkeley’s previous “at-large” system of electing the City Council, the current district system of election, and the problems created by each. -more-


Barack Obama and the Great Yearning

By Jean Damu
Thursday November 06, 2008 - 10:16:00 AM

The election of Barack Obama as 44th president of the United States is a benchmark event in African American’s long, long history in this country. However the overwhelming support Obama received from the nation’s black communities, support that saw unprecedented numbers of African Americans marching as one to the polling booths, stemmed from emotions and events far removed the world of modern politics. -more-


Silence on Immigration

By David Bacon
Thursday November 06, 2008 - 10:18:00 AM

The first of the 388 workers arrested in the immigration raid on the Agriprocessors meatpacking plant in Postville, Iowa, were deported in mid-October, having spent five months in federal prison. Their crime? Giving a bad Social Security number to the company to get hired. Among them will be a young man who had his eyes covered with duct tape by a supervisor on the line, who then beat him with a meathook. The supervisor is still on the job. -more-


Measure KK Aftermath: Perish by the Sword

By Alan Tobey
Thursday November 06, 2008 - 10:17:00 AM

As Jesus says in Matthew 26:52, “those that take up the sword shall perish by the sword.” In the case of just-defeated initiative Measure KK, the “sword” its proponents took up was their conviction that the issue would be considered an up or down vote on one specific Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) project—AC Transit’s proposal to run dedicated-lane buses on Telegraph Avenue and on into downtown. As mayoral candidate Shirley Dean said at a neighborhood meeting early in the campaign, “Measure KK is the best way we have to stop the BRT in Berkeley.” -more-


Unlikely Prospect for Peace in the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict

By Ralph Stone
Thursday November 06, 2008 - 10:17:00 AM

In her book, The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism, Naomi Klein posits that Israel’s embrace of disaster capitalism has diminished the need for it to engage in meaningful peace negotiations with the Palestinians and its Arab neighbors. For years, it was conventional wisdom that you needed political stability to have steady economic growth. However, Israel has turned this conventional wisdom on its head. Israeli occupies Gaza and the West Bank, engages in violence with the Palestinians, is experiencing political turmoil, yet the country is experiencing an economic boom. How? -more-


Columns

Dispatches From The Edge: A New Foreign Policy

By Conn Hallinan
Thursday November 06, 2008 - 10:08:00 AM

Over the next four years the U.S. will confront several key foreign policy decisions. While the president and the executive branch—in particular the Departments of State and Defense—will play an important role in this, Congress has abrogated its constitutional responsibilities in the making of foreign policy. Here is Dispatches wish list for the coming administration. -more-


Undercurrents: The Road To Social Change Does Not Pass Through Character Assassination

By J. Douglas Allen-Taylor
Thursday November 06, 2008 - 10:09:00 AM

If one wanted to put a human face on the historical reason African-Americans sometimes seem so, well, ambiguous about our American experience, Nathan Bedford Forrest would be as good a place to start, as any. The Tennessean Forrest was probably the most brilliant and feared cavalry commander in the Confederate Army, a slash-and-burn fighter dubbed the “Wizard of the Saddle” by his contemporaries. -more-


Not Black President Obama, Just President Obama

By Earl Ofari Hutchinson New America Media
Thursday November 06, 2008 - 10:19:00 AM

The instant Barack Obama tossed his hat in the presidential ring nearly two years ago, the twin mantra was that he could be the first black president, and if that happened, America would finally have kicked its race syndrome. -more-


Wild Neighbors: How Brainy Should a Raccoon Be?

By Joe Eaton
Thursday November 06, 2008 - 12:27:00 PM
Raccoon up an oak tree, displaying social skills, Mount Diablo.

Enough with the murderous female arthropods. It’s time for something furry. -more-


About the House: Have a Prioritized Plan for Home Maintenance

By Matt Cantor
Thursday November 06, 2008 - 12:25:00 PM

I have a terrible confession to make. I feel really bad about it, but it’s probably not going to change any time soon. I don’t care if your roof leaks. Okay, I know that I’m supposed to make a big deal about this sort of thing but I’m not going to. There, I said it and I feel a whole lot better. -more-


Arts & Events

Arts Calendar

Thursday November 06, 2008 - 12:23:00 PM

THURSDAY, NOV. 6 -more-


Berkeley Playhouse Stages Children’s Classics

By Ken Bullock Special to the Planet
Thursday November 06, 2008 - 10:19:00 AM

Roald Dahl’s classic story, Big Friendly Giant, is onstage now at the Ashby Stage, produced by Berkeley Playhouse; Fiddler on the Roof opens this weekend, produced by Youth Musical Theater Co. (YMTC) at the Julia Morgan Center. -more-


Merce Cunningham in Residence at Zellerbach

By Ken Bullock Special to the Planet
Thursday November 06, 2008 - 12:24:00 PM

Choreographer Merce Cunningham—whom the New York Times has called “the high priest of the dance avant-garde,” and who, approaching 90, is one of the last great living figures of the postwar generation of American artists—will be making appearances beginning this afternoon (Thursday) in a two-week Berkeley residency. -more-


‘Mrs. Pat’s House at La Peña Cultural Center

By Ken Bullock Special to the Planet
Thursday November 06, 2008 - 12:25:00 PM

Jovelyn Richards of Richmond, a lifelong tale-spinner with her own twist on the traditional style of African-American storytelling, is staging her brand-new narrative with music, Mrs. Pat’s House, the story of a Midwestern Depression-era madam, in an unusual East Bay performance at La Peña Cultural Center, 8 p.m., on Saturday, Nov. 15. -more-


More Japanese Classics on DVD

By Justin DeFreitas
Monday November 10, 2008 - 04:50:00 PM

If your impression of Japanese cinema consists entirely of samurai films, Pacific Film Archive's "Cinema Japan" series, running through Dec. 17, should set you straight. But these 24 films, which embody the breadth and depth of Japanese film in the post-World War II era—great as they are—may only whet the appetite. For viewers interested in delving further, three recent DVD releases from Criterion offer a great place to start. -more-


Japanese Cinema Classics at Pacific Film Archive

Thursday November 06, 2008 - 12:22:00 PM

Pacific Film Archive is presenting “Cinema Japan,” a series of two dozen classic Japanese films as a tribute to Kashiko Kawakita, who along with her husband under the auspices of the Kashiko Film Institute, played a major role in bringing Japanese cinema to the attention of the western world. -more-


East Asian Influences in Contemporary Art

Thursday November 06, 2008 - 12:23:00 PM

A symposium with with Jacqueline Baas, curator and former director of the University Art Museum, William T. Wiley, artist, Fred Martin, artist, writer and Dean Emeritus of the San Francisco Art Institute, Mark Levy, professor and author, and others, from 1 to 5 p.m. at JFK University Arts & Consciousness Gallery, 2956 San Pablo Ave., 2nd Floor. Enter at Ashby Ave. 649-0499. www.jfku.edu/asian -more-


Starry Plough 35th Anniversary Party

Thursday November 06, 2008 - 12:23:00 PM

The Starry Plough, South Berkeley’s Irish pub, celebrates its 35th anniversary this weekend. Festivities begin at 9:30 p.m. Friday with the Buffalo Roam Reunion Show and continue with live music all day Saturday. $10. 841-2082. 3101 Shattuck Ave. -more-


About the House: Have a Prioritized Plan for Home Maintenance

By Matt Cantor
Thursday November 06, 2008 - 12:25:00 PM

I have a terrible confession to make. I feel really bad about it, but it’s probably not going to change any time soon. I don’t care if your roof leaks. Okay, I know that I’m supposed to make a big deal about this sort of thing but I’m not going to. There, I said it and I feel a whole lot better. -more-


Community Calendar

Thursday November 06, 2008 - 10:06:00 AM

THURSDAY, NOV. 6 -more-