News

A 69-year-old Albany woman died early Friday afternoon when she was struck by an Amtrak passenger train just north of the Berkeley Amtrak station. -more-

Flames gutted most of the interior of two third-floor Berkeley apartments Tuesday as firefighters and neighbors worked to evacuate tenants. -more-

A Richmond man was convicted today of first-degree murder and attempted second-degree robbery for the shooting death of 23-year-old Wayne Drummond of Oakland near the University of California at Berkeley campus three years ago. -more-

Chevron must stop all work on expanding its Richmond refinery until a new project environmental review is completed and approved, a Contra Costa County judge has ruled. -more-

A July 20 hearing has been scheduled in Alameda County Superior Court in Hayward for a prominent Oakland general contractor arrested in an alleged scheme to defraud workers and illegally lower her company’s insurance rates. -more-

A prosecutor told jurors today that a Richmond man should be convicted of murder for shooting an Oakland man during a confrontation and an attempted robbery outside a Berkeley bar three years ago. -more-

Berkeleyans concerned about land issues may have a tough time choosing which city meeting to attend Wednesday night. -more-

Iran is always on the minds of students and teachers at Berkeley’s Golestan Kids, but more so than usual in recent weeks. The adults at this Iranian culture, language and education program—perhaps the only one of its kind in the country—are busy teaching preschoolers about Iranian culture during the day and anxiously monitoring the news from Iran at night. -more-

State budget cuts to education will force more parents to take responsibility for dropping off and picking up their children from Berkeley’s 11 public elementary schools starting in August. -more-

If it’s not easy being green, as Kermit the Frog famously sang, it’s getting easier in the East Bay—at least for businesses spawning clean, green tech and for programs that train workers how to use it. -more-

The Berkeley Board of Education approved a two-year contract between the Berkeley Unified School District and the Berkeley Federation of Teachers at the board’s June 24 meeting. -more-

With California caught in financial turmoil, the University of California wants its employees to share the pain. -more-

AC Transit took its first steps June 24 toward implementing a December districtwide bus service cut. The bus district held a public board workshop to reveal the first details of its plan and set a Sept. 9 date for a formal public hearing. -more-

AC Transit’s Policy Steering Committee has approved the bus district’s plan to consolidate station stops along the route of its prosped Bus Rapid Transit route in principle, but made it plain that any decisions on setting aside dedicated bus lanes must go to the governing bodies of the affected cities. -more-

The Berkeley Board of Education approved the lease and sale of its Sixth Street property to the City of Berkeley at the June 24 School Board meeting in exchange for a two-year lease of Old City Hall. -more-

Development of downtown Berkeley will be much on the minds of Berkeley City Council as they meet Tuesday, July 7, for the next-to-last meeting before the summer break. On the agenda is certification of the environmental impact report and adoption of the Downtown Area Plan. -more-

West Berkeley residents and business owners voiced their concerns to planning commissioners Wednesday, June 24, about proposals to ease development rules on larger parcels in Berkeley’s only industrial area. -more-

Mandated by state law to analyze the city’s Housing Element, a key section of the city’s General Plan, for constraints on building new housing, Berkeley Deputy Planning and Development Director Wendy Cosin couldn’t find any. -more-

The Berkeley Zoning Adjustments Board on Thursday, June 25, approved use permits for two new residential projects that plan to make use of President Barack Obama’s economic stimulus funds to provide affordable housing for homeless youth and low-income seniors. -more-

After months of deliberation, Berkeley’s Zoning Adjustments Board and Landmarks Preservation Commission will meet Thursday, July 2, at the City Hall Chambers to decide the fate of Wareham’s proposed biosciences lab at 740 Heinz St., the site of the landmarked Copra Warehouse. -more-

UC Berkeley has just issued a call for bids from builders for the $190 million “seismic safety improvement” overhaul of Memorial Stadium. -more-

A two-alarm arson fire caused nearly $200,000 in damage to a South Berkeley home early Saturday evening, the first in a series of three arsons on the same street that evening. -more-

A 79-year-old man, recently arrived from Iran, was seriously injured Monday night, June 29, when he stepped into traffic on Gilman Street. -more-

Family and friends of the late Ted Vincent will remember him as a loving family-man, a selfless teacher, a natural entertainer and a devoted egalitarian, but for Berkeley and the rest of the world his legacy will rest in his five published books and the untold history he uncovered. -more-