News

Berkeley High Opens Scheduling Committee Meetings to Public

By Riya Bhattacharjee
Tuesday May 26, 2009 - 04:35:00 PM

Berkeley High School will allow the public to participate in meetings held by a committee charged with planning a new schedule for the high school, Berkeley Unified School District Superintendent Bill Huyett said Tuesday. -more-


Protesters Decry Proximity of Fast Food Outlets, Schools

By Rio Bauce Special to the Planet
Tuesday May 26, 2009 - 04:33:00 PM

Ten Berkeley citizens and leaders of Corporate Accountability International (CAI) protested in front of McDonald’s in downtown Berkeley Tuesday to draw attention to the restaurant’s proximity to schools. -more-


Police Arrest 150 in Prop. 8 Protests in San Francisco

By Bay City News
Tuesday May 26, 2009 - 04:30:00 PM

San Francisco police arrested at least 150 protesters this afternoon after a large crowd blocked a major intersection in response to the state Supreme Court’s ruling upholding Proposition 8, the voter-approved ban on same-sex marriage. -more-


Testimony Continues in Mehserle Hearing

By Bay City News
Tuesday May 26, 2009 - 04:31:00 PM

OAKLAND — An Alameda County Superior Court judge said today he won’t allow witnesses to testify that they overheard former BART police Officer Johannes Mehserle mention using his Taser stun gun before he fatally shot Oscar Grant III on New Year’s Day. -more-


State Election Results Impact Higher Education

By Rio Bauce Special to the Planet
Friday May 22, 2009 - 02:04:00 PM

The defeat of five of the May 19 special election ballot initiatives means trouble for the economic future of California’s universities, colleges and community colleges. -more-


Berkeley Police Identify Homicide Suspects

By Bay City News, Special to the Planet
Saturday May 23, 2009 - 05:45:00 PM
Samuel Flowers of Oakland

Two gang members who remain at large following a triple homicide in the East Bay last weekend have been identified, the Berkeley Police Department announced today. -more-


Berkeley City College Graduation

by Rio Bauce, Special to the Planet
Saturday May 23, 2009 - 12:05:00 PM

Zellerbach Auditorium was filled to capacity Thursday, May 21, for Berkeley City College's 2009 graduation ceremony. -more-


Drop in Berkeley’s Immigrant Students Leads to Loss of Federal Funds

By Riya Bhattacharjee
Saturday May 23, 2009 - 12:13:00 PM

A significant drop in the number of immigrant students in the Berkeley Unified School District has resulted in the loss of federal funding for some services and programs meant to help them. -more-


Police Announce Rewards in Two Recent Homicide Cases

By Bay City News Service
Friday May 22, 2009 - 02:02:00 PM

Berkeley police have announced rewards for information leading to -more-


API Scores Show Growth for State, Berkeley Schools

By Riya Bhattacharjee
Thursday May 21, 2009 - 04:30:00 PM

Although the 2008 Base Academic Performance Index (API) report released Thursday shows progress for California’s public schools, state Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O’Connell warned that the mounting budget cuts to education could be a major threat to improving student achievement. -more-


Tentative Deal Gives Teachers A One Percent Pay Increase

By Riya Bhattacharjee
Thursday May 21, 2009 - 09:49:00 AM

Berkeley teachers may have come to terms with the school district over their 2008-09 and 2009-10 contracts. -more-


Plaintiffs Win Pesticide Fight; Feds Withdraw Apple Moth Spray

By Richard Brenneman
Thursday May 21, 2009 - 09:52:00 AM

The federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has ordered a ban on two controversial sprays used to battle the light brown apple moth (LBAM), ending a lawsuit filed by attorney Stephan Volker on behalf of environmental activ-ists and the mayors of Albany and Richmond. -more-


More Pink Slips for District Classified Staff

By Riya Bhattacharjee
Thursday May 21, 2009 - 09:53:00 AM
Ann Butts, an eight-year Berkeley Adult School employee, was one of 10 district classified employees to receive a pink slip in the latest round of layoffs.

Berkeley Unified School District sent pink slips to 10 classified employees Thursday, May 14, informing clerks, custodians and bus drivers that they would be losing their jobs at the end of the school year. -more-


Competing Downtown Plans Promise Lively Council Debate

By J. Douglas Allen-Taylor
Thursday May 21, 2009 - 09:53:00 AM

The Berkeley City Council got its first formal look at its competing Downtown Area plans, with disagreements erupting immediately over the differences, in-cluding a debate on whether or not the two plans were substantially different. -more-


Commissioners Finish With Downtown Plan

By Richard Brenneman
Thursday May 21, 2009 - 09:53:00 AM

Planning commissioners gave the downtown plan a final sendoff last week, passing their approval of the plan’s environmental review on to the City Council. -more-


Council Raises Fees, Sets Timetable for Pools Plan

By J. Douglas Allen-Taylor
Thursday May 21, 2009 - 09:57:00 AM

Even while the votes were being counted on statewide ballot measures whose defeat will hit Berkeley’s budget hard in the near future, the Berkeley City Council was approving a series of fee increases to deal with the budget problems of the immediate present. -more-


School Board Approves New Middle School Grading System

By Riya Bhattacharjee
Thursday May 21, 2009 - 09:57:00 AM

The Berkeley Board of Education approved a new grading system for the city’s public middle schools last week, which will replace the traditional A through F scale on report cards with two grades. -more-


Education Foundation Honors Teachers, Administrators, Volunteers

By Riya Bhattacharjee
Thursday May 21, 2009 - 09:55:00 AM
Cheese Board Collective members Cathy Goldsmith and Carrie Blake receive the Berkeley Public Education Foundation's award for distinguished business partner.

There were many celebrities at the Berkeley Public Education Foundation’s “Seeding the Vision” spring luncheon May 15, but the real stars of the evening were less conspicuous. -more-


Parents Question Arts Magnet Leadership

By Riya Bhattacharjee
Thursday May 21, 2009 - 09:56:00 AM

About 20 angry parents from Berkeley Arts Magnet Elementary School (BAM) rallied in front of Berkeley Unified School District (BUSD) headquarters Tuesday, May 19, to protest what they said was poor leadership at the school. -more-


BART Moves Forward With Oakland Airport Connector

By J. Douglas Allen-Taylor
Thursday May 21, 2009 - 09:58:00 AM

With a heavy majority of the Bay Area Rapid Transit directors now on record in favor of moving forward with its $550 million Oakland Airport Connector (OAC), proponents of an alternative rapid bus route are shifting their fight to a critical funding source for the proposed project: the Port of Oakland. -more-


Problems and One Bright Spot on Biofuels Horizon

By Richard Brenneman
Thursday May 21, 2009 - 09:58:00 AM

Pacific Ethanol, the corporate partner with UC Berkeley scientists in a pilot biofuel plant, filed bankruptcy petitions for its four refineries Monday, May 18. -more-


$1 Million Settlement in Suicide of Berkeley’s ‘Naked Guy’

By Riya Bhattacharjee
Thursday May 21, 2009 - 09:59:00 AM

Santa Clara County will pay $1 million to settle a federal lawsuit filed over the suicide of Andrew Martinez, Berkeley’s “Naked Guy,” three years ago, attorneys representing his mother in the case announced Tuesday, May 19. -more-


Police Blotter

By Ali Winston
Thursday May 21, 2009 - 10:00:00 AM

Child murder -more-


Zoning Board, Landmarks Will Meet to Vote on New Lab

By Riya Bhattacharjee
Thursday May 21, 2009 - 10:00:00 AM

A group of West Berkeley residents expressed concern Thursday regarding traffic, scale and the lack of historic preservation in Wareham Development’s proposed project on the Aquatic Park Campus. -more-


Homicide Suspects Identified

By Bay City News Service
Thursday May 21, 2009 - 10:01:00 AM

Police Monday released the names of two suspects who were arrested Saturday, May 16, after a fatal shooting in Berkeley that led to a vehicle pursuit and crash in Oakland that killed two bystanders. -more-


Obama Mural at King Middle School

Thursday May 21, 2009 - 10:23:00 AM

Mark Coplan -more-