News Updates

LBNL Begins Environmental Review of Scaled-down Helios Lab Building

By Richard Brenneman

Wednesday December 10, 2008

Changed designs for the new lab building to house the half-billion-dollar BP-funded Energy Biosciences Institute (EBI) have forced Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory to launch a new environmental impact review. -more-

Planning Commission Looks at Ashes, Ferry, Transit Corridor Development, Helios and Downtown Ban on Fast Food

By Richard Brenneman

Tuesday December 09, 2008

Planning commissioners will take up a proposal to end the ban on new fast food restaurants in downtown Berkeley, and the new downtown city councilmember wants them to hold off. -more-

Newspaper Giant Forced into Bankruptcy; Doesn’t Affect Zell’s Berkeley Apartments

By Richard Brenneman

Tuesday December 09, 2008

Berkeley’s biggest landlord is having trouble with one of his other businesses: the Tribune Company, publisher of the Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune and other media. -more-

BHS Governance Council To Vote on Redesign Proposal Tuesday

By Riya Bhattacharjee

Monday December 08, 2008

The Berkeley High School Governance Council is scheduled to vote on Tuesday on the high school’s proposal to develop a new small school, establish advisory programs and change to block scheduling, after reviewing the plan at an all-day meeting. -more-

Details Bedevil Planners’ West Berkeley ‘Project’

By Richard Brenneman

Monday December 08, 2008

Berkeley Planning Commissioners struggled last Wednesday with the fate of West Berkeley in a session that raised more questions that answers. -more-

Nolo To Stay In Berkeley, Reports Strong Sales Despite Publishing Woes

By Riya Bhattacharjee

Monday December 08, 2008

Nolo Press, which calls itself the nation’s oldest publisher of legal information, will remain at its current location in West Berkeley following a decision by the business’s landlord, the Genn family, not to sell the property. -more-

BUSD Classified Employees Gets Pay Raise But Disagree on Contract

By Riya Bhattacharjee

Thursday December 04, 2008

Members of the Berkeley Council of Classified Employees have finally received a pay hike from the Berkeley Unified School District, but have yet to reach an agreement over their contract, union president Paula Phillips said Wednesday. -more-

News

Berkeley Mourns Mumbai Terrorist Attacks

By Riya Bhattacharjee

Thursday December 04, 2008

The Taj Mahal Hotel in Mumbai used to be a place filled with happy memories for Anil Thakkar and his family. Not anymore. -more-

Feeling Lost in a City Under Siege

By Sritanu Chakrabarti

Thursday December 04, 2008

MUMBAI, India — It’s been a long day at work and you just need to unwind by having a couple of beers with your friend from college who is in town. He wants to go to Leopold’s, the popular pub at Colaba. You think about the beef chili out there for a moment, then refuse to yield to temptation. For some reason you don’t want to travel today. You meet him at a sports bar close to the office and have a great time talking about old times and catching up with each other’s lives. -more-

Winter Shelters Open Despite Grim Economic Outlook

Riya Bhattacharjee

Thursday December 04, 2008

Despite the bleak economic scenario, Berkeley’s winter homeless shelters have reopened for the winter, with a couple of them reporting a slight boost in funding and one witnessing record turnouts. -more-

San Pablo Condo Project Defaults, Forced Sale Scheduled

By Richard Brenneman

Thursday December 04, 2008

The latest chapter in one of Berkeley’s more hotly contested buildings will unfold on the courthouse steps in Oakland at high noon on Dec. 16. -more-

Future Berkeley Cell Phone Expansion Is Uncertain

By J. Douglas Allen-Taylor

Thursday December 04, 2008

With the Berkeley City Council scheduled to look at two cell phone antenna facility applications over the next two weeks, the significance of the Berkeley Planning Commission’s failure to agree on changes to the city’s Wireless Telecommunication Facilities Ordinance may become clear. -more-

UC, City Downtown Settlement Heads to State Supreme Court

By Richard Brenneman

Thursday December 04, 2008

Landmarks Commission Weighs in On Residence’s Historic Status

By Riya Bhattacharjee

Thursday December 04, 2008

Arlene Blum Awarded 2008 Purpose Prize

Thursday December 04, 2008

Golden Gate Fields for Sale as Magna Reorganizes

By Richard Brenneman

Thursday December 04, 2008

Federico Chavez, administrative law judge, swears in Jesse Arreguin as the new councilmember for District 4 at Berkeley City Hall last Wednesday. Arreguin, who took office on Nov. 27, became the city’s first Latino councilmember and the youngest elected official on the City Council.

Arreguin Sworn in as Councilmember

Thursday December 04, 2008

Police Blotter

By ALI WINSTON

Thursday December 04, 2008

Fire Dept. Log

By Richard Brenneman

Thursday December 04, 2008

First Person: A Memoir of My Worst and Briefest Jobs

By Jack Bragen

Thursday December 04, 2008

Great Green Gifts for Good Kids

Thursday December 04, 2008

You Write the Daily Planet

Thursday December 04, 2008

By Riya Bhattacharjee

More than 100 UC Berkeley students gathered on the steps of Sproul Plaza Wednesday evening for a candlelight vigil for the victims of the Mumbai terrorist attacks.

Editorials

The Best-Laid Plans...

By Becky O’Malley

Thursday December 04, 2008

Some have accused this space of being obsessed with city planning, and they’d be right. In a small but urbanized burb like Berkeley, if you’re interested in government at all, it’s hard not to be. Realistically, the only significant power left to cities in California is control of land use. -more-