News

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 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-

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-

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-

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

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-

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-

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

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-

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-

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-

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-

The battle over the legal settlement that ended the city’s lawsuit against UC Berkeley’s plans for massive growth off-campus is headed for a higher venue. -more-

The Berkeley Landmarks Preservation Commission will review a nomination Thursday to place the Donald and Helen Olsen House in Berkeley on the National Register of Historic Places and will prepare a report on whether or not the property meets the standards of the list. -more-

Berkeley resident Arlene Blum, founder of the Green Science Policy Institute and leader of the first American expedition, comprised entirely of women, to climb Annapurna, will receive $100,000 for her work mobilizing scientists, government, industry and consumers to protect health by reducing toxins in our homes and the environment, as one of the 15 winners of the 2008 Purpose Prize, according to Civic Ventures, which awards the prize. -more-

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Golden Gate Fields will be up for sale under terms of a corporate reorganization announced last week by corporate owner Magna Entertainment (stock symbol MECA). -more-

Looney’s burglary -more-

Dies in crash -more-

I worked as a stable cleaner when I was 23 years old, medicated on Prolixin, and underweight. The work was heavier than I was prepared for. It was a joyless and unrewarding job for the brief two weeks that I held it. It ended with me on bad terms with the ranch owner; I had to threaten to sue to get my paycheck. The rancher sent me a $15 check that was dirtied with manure, and a nasty note about how badly I had done. -more-

By Stevanne Auerbach -more-

It’s time to submit your essays, poems, stories, artwork and photographs for the Planet’s annual holiday reader contribution issue, which will be published on Dec. 23 (that’s right—a Tuesday!). Send your submissions, no longer than 1,000 words, to holiday@berkeleydailyplanet.com. Deadline is 5 p.m. on Mon., Dec. 15. -more-