News

State officials announced Saturday, May 9, that the Berkeley Unified School District will receive $2.4 million through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. -more-

Berkeley's Board of Education voted unanimously April 29 to ask the school district to review classroom capacities and attendance zones to address overcrowded elementary schools. -more-

UC Berkeley’s search for a dean for its Graduate School of Journalism came to an end Thursday when it selected interim Dean Neil Henry for the position. -more-

The UC Board of Regents Friday approved a 9.3 percent student fee increase for the 2009-10 school year, despite criticism from students about the high cost of tuition. -more-

UC Berkeley officials announced Friday that Social Security numbers and other identification had been hacked from restricted university health services databases, putting students at risk of identity theft. -more-

The Berkeley Police Department Friday identified the victim who died of gunshot wounds in southwest Berkeley earlier this week as 18-year-old Maurice Robertson. -more-

Planning commissioners are scheduled to hold what may be the final meeting on the downtown plan Wednesday, May 13. -more-

With Bay Area schools starting to reopen this week, the anxiety surrounding swine flu has started to ebb, Alameda County public health officials said Wednesday, May 6. -more-

Malcolm X Elementary School reopened Wednesday after a two-day closure due to swine flu concerns. -more-

There’s no stopping JaQuia Bolden. This B-Tech senior is going to college. -more-

With considerably less rancor than two weeks ago, when it squabbled late into the night without taking a vote, the Berkeley City Council Tuesday night unanimously approved moving forward with its ambitious Climate Action Plan (CAP), designed to serve as a roadmap to significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the city. -more-

If Safeway representatives thought fresh carrots and celery sticks would appease the disgruntled crowd at the Claremont Hotel Wednesday, April 29, they were wrong. -more-

The Berkeley Board of Education voted unanimously Wednesday, April 29, to provide as much as 1,900 additional square feet of land to build a pool that’s comparable in size to the existing Berkeley High School warm water pool, if the need arises. -more-

With their Downtown Area Plan off to the City Council and revisions of West Berkeley zoning already under way, planning commissioners are taking up the long-delayed Southside Plan. -more-

The state Department of Education announced Monday, May 4, that the Berkeley Unified School District will receive more than $1.6 million for 2009-2010 for services related to disabled and poor children. Of this $1 million is regular Title I funding. with the balance coming from stimulus funding . -more-

Berkeley High School’s third Athletic Hall of Fame ceremony honored 24 former athletes Saturday, May 2, through a celebration that honored both the past and the present. -more-

In February of this year, the California Legislature came to a compromise agreement between Democratic and Republican lawmakers in order to balance the state budget. As part of that compromise, several budget-related propositions were put on the May 19 special election ballot for voters to decide. This article concentrates on two of the major propositions: 1A and 1B. -more-

18-year-old murdered in South Berkeley -more-

A couple of years ago I bought this black shirt and pants I’m wearing for $2—my first black outfit. A.O. Sachs, my friend, who always said, “Call me A.O., the Alpha & the Omega,” whose body recently passed from us, commented at our weekly gathering in this North Berkeley Senior Center’s Lunch Room before the Living Philosophers Group which meets upstairs in Room C from 10 a.m. to 12:45 p.m., every Friday, “You’re dressed rather somberly this morning.” “You think so?” I replied. “I don’t see it that way. Black is a compliment of light—you can’t have one without the other.” “Perhaps,” I continued, “wearing black is a joyous celebration of life: guilt free, without a loss of self due to the loss of another, not lurking in the night to take advantage, not pedaling sins, no evil, but to call attention to the dance of shadow and light, an affirmation of the process of living-being in this universe, whatever that is. A point of view thing, I guess.” “Shall we dance?” says I. With a big grin, A.O. comes back, “Yes. ‘Shall we dance, ta da, da, da,’” (to the tune in The King and I) breaking into song along with Henry Bers (the sing-along dude here at the Senior Center). Now, this was not unusual for Henry and A.O. to do those Friday mornings; they both knew the words to quite a few songs, along with a general joining in by the coffee, tea, juice and buns crowd in the early light of the day. -more-