News

The Berkeley Board of Education will vote Wednesday on whether the city should proceed with an environmental review of plans to expand and improve the city’s pools. -more-

The Berkeley Zoning Adjustments Board last week postponed discussion on whether the Gaia Building was adhering to its use permit in order to give its owners, Equity Residential, a month to negotiate leasing terms with the Marsh Theater. The zoning board will resume the discussion May 14. -more-

A Berkeley-based environmental group is suing the Bay Area Air Quality Management District, alleging that the agency violated the California Public Records Act by denying access to Pacific Steel Casting’s Odor Control Plan. -more-

The Berkeley Alliance for Homeless Animals Coalition will receive $474,200 on April 23 for winning the Maddie’s Fund Lifesaving Award. -more-

UC Berkeley announced Tuesday, April 7 that the school had received a record number of applications for the 2009-2010 academic year and has accepted nearly 13,000 students to its fall freshman class. -more-

Berkeley Unified School District is set to receive a healthy chunk of change next month. -more-

Berkeley didn’t make the list of schools selected last week for outdoor air quality monitoring by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and a local environmental group isn’t happy about the omission. -more-

The City of Berkeley is expecting a small amount of budget relief this month—$289,000 in refunds for overcharges on office supplies by Office Depot. In a memo this week from City Manager Phil Kamlarz to Mayor Tom Bates and the Berkeley City Council, Bates said Office Depot had agreed to refund the money by April 17. -more-

The Berkeley Planning Commission sees the Central Berkeley of the future as a thicket of tall buildings covering the maximum possible area, but many of the members of the public who spoke at Monday’s hearing on the commission’s proposed Downtown Area plan found the vision alarming. -more-

On a recent warm spring evening, the streets of downtown Berkeley were sparsely populated—unusual for a Friday night. -more-

Starting next year, Berkeley Unified School District’s food services program will have to pay for itself, but district officials say they won’t let finances undermine quality. -more-

Community leaders, labor rights activists and garment workers from Central America urged Berkeley city officials to pass a sweatshop-free ordinance at a Tuesday press conference at Old City Hall. -more-

Starting April 25, the Berkeley Farmers’ Market will be the first in the nation to eliminate the use of plastic bags and packaging from its three weekly markets. -more-

The sun did not quite cooperate, hiding behind a screen of low clouds and spatters of rain. But a crowd that was alternately enthusiastic, happy and contemplative still greeted the dawn at Berkeley’s Cesar Chavez Park Wednesday, April 8, with sing-ing, prayer and introspection in the local incarnation of Birkat HaChammah, the Blessing of the Sun ceremony that comes every 28 years in Jewish tradition. -more-

Directors of a regional agency voted to build a new pier south of the Berkeley Marina fishing pier to serve as the hub for a new ferry service. -more-

The California Court of Appeal upheld the Berkeley City Council’s decision to revoke U-Haul’s use permit for its San Pablo Avenue location. -more-

Berkeley is standing in a long line of city and state governments for federal stimulus money, but City Manager Phil Kamlarz calls the situation “a mess on the federal side,” and it will probably take some time to sort out exactly how much money the city can apply for or actually receive. -more-

Pacific Ethanol, a partner with Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) in developing a pilot plant to turn plant fiber into fuel, may be heading for bankruptcy court. -more-

Liberian President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf will speak at the University of California at Berkeley tonight. -more-

With creditors clamoring in the wings and unhappy with plans to sell off Golden Gate Fields and other key assets of troubled Magna Entertainment, the company agreed Friday, April 3, to delay a key court hearing until April 20. -more-

An attorney for BART said in an April 3 legal filing that the shooting death of Oscar Grant at the hands of BART police Officer Johannes Mehserle in Oakland on New Year’s Day was “a tragic error” and Grant’s own actions contributed to the tragedy. -more-

The City of Berkeley currently has four department head vacancies, all of which are to be filled by the city manager “effective upon affirmative vote of five members of the [City] Council,” according to the Berkeley City Charter. -more-

Berkeley’s Zoning Adjustments Board will take up the long-standing issue of whether the Gaia Building in downtown Berkeley is conforming to its use permit. -more-