The Week

An anti-war activist dressed as an Abu Ghraib prison inmate during a protest outside the UC Berkeley School of Law Monday.
Riya Bhattacharjee
An anti-war activist dressed as an Abu Ghraib prison inmate during a protest outside the UC Berkeley School of Law Monday.
 

News

Berkeley Schools May Offer Clinics to Guard Against Swine Flu

By Riya Bhattacharjee
Friday August 21, 2009 - 01:43:00 PM

Even as Berkeley Unified School District officials meet with the city’s public health officials this week to plan for possible in-house immunization camps, Alameda County said Monday that it could be days, even months before the H1N1 vaccine becomes available. -more-


City Clerk Confirms 9,200 Signatures Submitted for Downtown Plan Referendum; Verification Process to Begin

By J. Douglas Allen-Taylor
Thursday August 20, 2009 - 01:48:00 PM
Councilmembers Jesse Arreguín (in both photos) and Kriss Worthington have claimed victory in the petition drive to force a public referendum on the Downtown Area Plan adopted by the City Council a month ago. City Clerk Deanna Despain, lower photo, began their signature count shortly after the petitions were handed in late Thursday afternoon.

The Berkeley city clerk’s office confirmed Thursday evening that approximately 9,200 signatures were submitted to her office on Thursday afternoon on petitions calling for a referendum on Downtown Area Plan. -more-


Police Investigate Suspicious Vehicle Fire Near Home of UC President

Bay City News
Thursday August 20, 2009 - 11:55:00 AM

Authorities are investigating a suspicious vehicle fire in the Oakland hills near the home of University of California President Mark Yudof early this morning, a police spokesman said today. -more-


Bitter Petition Campaign Ends, City Awaits Fate Of Downtown Plan

By J. Douglas Allen-Taylor
Thursday August 20, 2009 - 11:17:00 AM

A contentious campaign to overturn Berkeley’s recently passed Downtown Area Plan comes to an end at 5 p.m. today, Thursday, when opponents face a deadline to turn in petitions decertifying last month’s Berkeley City Council passage of the plan. -more-


UC Theater Approved as Concert Venue

By Riya Bhattacharjee
Thursday August 20, 2009 - 11:19:00 AM

The UC Theater became Berkeley’s latest concert venue last week when the city’s Zoning Adjustments Board unanimously approved a use permit modification at a July 13 public meeting. -more-


Activists, UC Alumni Protest John Yoo at Boalt

By Riya Bhattacharjee
Thursday August 20, 2009 - 11:18:00 AM

Four generations of alumni joined activists, community members and lawyers on the UC Berkeley School of Law steps to protest former Bush administration lawyer John Yoo’s return to campus Monday. -more-


Yeas Outnumber Nays at Point Molate Casino Hearing

By Richard Brenneman
Thursday August 20, 2009 - 11:19:00 AM

One after another, impassioned speakers from Richmond’s African-American community rose Wednesday night to heap praises on a Berkeley developer’s shoreline casino resort plans. -more-


Reza Valiyee, a Man of Perpetual Motion

By Richard Brenneman
Thursday August 20, 2009 - 11:13:00 AM
Reza Valiyee, a landlord with a long history of building without city permits on some of his 22 Berkeley properties, blocks the lens of a reporter’s camera.

Reza Valiyee claims to have invented what physicists have long declared impossible: the perpetual motion machine. -more-


2009 STAR Test Scores Show Increase In English, Slight Fall in Math

By Riya Bhattacharjee
Thursday August 20, 2009 - 11:15:00 AM

The 2009 Standardized Testing and Reporting Program results brought good news for Berkeley public schools Tuesday, with more students performing above the state average in reading and writing and math. -more-


State Launches New Website for Standardized Tests

By Riya Bhattacharjee
Thursday August 20, 2009 - 11:16:00 AM

The California Department of Education Friday launched a new website to help parents and teachers understand the Standardized Testing and Reporting (STAR) Program better. -more-


School Board Recommends Changes to Berkeley High School Governance Council

By Riya Bhattacharjee
Thursday August 20, 2009 - 11:17:00 AM

At its first meeting after summer break, the Berkeley Board of Education Wednesday recommended changes to Berkeley High School’s School Governance Council. -more-


Environmentalists Force New Review of LBNL’s Proposed Computer Lab

By Richard Brenneman
Thursday August 20, 2009 - 11:13:00 AM
A court ruling Aug. 17 has stalled Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and the U.S. Department of Energy from any efforts to move a high-speed computer network to LBNL from its current site in this former bank building in downtown Oakland.

UC Berkeley and its Department of Energy-funded laboratory in the hills overlooking the city lost a major legal battle Monday in federal court. -more-


School District Appoints Special Ed Director

By Riya Bhattacharjee
Thursday August 20, 2009 - 11:11:00 AM

Berkeley Unified School District Superintendent Bill Huyett announced at the Aug. 12 board meeting that the district had hired its first director of special education. -more-


Correction

Thursday August 27, 2009 - 10:32:00 AM

Due to a production error, an Aug. 13 story on the Cuban 5 was incomplete. The full story is available on the Daily Planet’s website at www.berkeleydailyplanet.com. -more-


Police ‘Very Concerned’ About Missing 5-Year-Old Boy

Bay City News
Thursday August 20, 2009 - 11:11:00 AM

Oakland police spokesman Jeff Thomason said today that police are “very concerned” about a 5-year-old boy with cerebral palsy who has now been missing for nine days. -more-


Suspect Charged in 2006 Murder

By Richard Brenneman
Thursday August 20, 2009 - 11:12:00 AM

A state prison inmate serving time for a Berkeley armed robbery spree has been charged with the Feb. 19, 2006, murder of a popular Berkeley High School graduate and youth football coach. -more-


Fire Department Log

By Richard Brenneman
Thursday August 20, 2009 - 11:12:00 AM

Saved [in] the Bay -more-


Police Blotter

By Richard Brenneman
Thursday August 20, 2009 - 11:10:00 AM

Two angry men in search of money attacked victims in the Telegraph Avenue area last week, one armed with a stun gun and the other with a lead-lined glove, according to campus police. -more-


First Person: The Wonderful Twos

By Al Winslow
Thursday August 20, 2009 - 11:10:00 AM

By Al Winslow -more-


Clarification

Thursday August 20, 2009 - 11:13:00 AM

In his Aug. 13 commentary “Crying Wolf at KPFA,” Akio Tanaka passed on a restatement by KPFA Board member Tracy Rosenberg of an e-mail by Daily Planet reporter J. Douglas Allen-Taylor. In the interests of clarification, the text of the original e-mail by Mr. Allen-Taylor to Ms. Rosenberg was as follows: In answer to a query by Ms. Rosenberg of the identity of the individual who first contacted the Planet about the alleged $100,000 transfer of funds from KPFA to Pacifica Foundation, Mr. Allen-Taylor replied “Unfortunately, I cannot answer your question. It is my understanding that the individual who first contacted the Daily Planet has requested that their name not be associated with the story. As a professional journalist, I’m bound to honor that request.” -more-


Opinion

Editorials

Orchestrating Change

By Becky O'Malley
Thursday August 20, 2009 - 11:06:00 AM

Last weekend a nice lady that I know slightly through a shared interest in classical music left a message on my voicemail. She’d taken an unusual route through the Berkeley Hills and come upon the Code Pink demonstration that’s been ongoing at Law School Professor John Yoo’s house on Grizzly Peak for some weeks now. She described feeling “extremely upset.” Not, of course, she said, that she’s a fan of Yoo, but “while I may agree with them, you know, his stance, torture and stuff,” she didn’t like how they went about expressing their opinion. -more-


Public Comment

Letters to the Editor

Thursday August 20, 2009 - 11:05:00 AM

DOWNTOWN PLAN -more-


‘One of Them’: A Look at Race and Class

By Robert Quintana Hopkins
Thursday August 20, 2009 - 11:08:00 AM

Within the United States people of all races are having the same conversation blacks have had in barber shops, beauty salons, on street corners and at kitchen tables for generations—our seemingly imbalanced relationship with the police. The arrest of Henry Louis Gates, Jr., reminds me of the night I spent in jail. While driving from work in downtown Oakland to my home in west Berkeley, a police car stopped me. My tags were expired but I had already paid the renewal fees. I simply awaited the stickers in the mail. I confidently handed the officer my driver’s license, proof of insurance and a receipt showing I had paid my registration. After dispatching my information, he approached my car to inform me there was a warrant for my arrest and he would send me to jail. -more-


Not Laughing

By Neil Doherty
Thursday August 20, 2009 - 11:08:00 AM

In her July 16 letter June Brott states that people will be laughing at those that signed the July 9 advertisement, “We are Jews.” I, for one, am not laughing. The ad condemned Israel’s continued illegal occupation of Gaza and its brutal bombing campaign last December, as well as the thuggish tactics of some of Israel’s supporters attempting to censor our local paper. Ms. Brott states that the Israeli Palestinian conflict is “one of the world’s most complex, difficult conflicts, one that has defied solution for more than 60 years.” I believe her argument that this issue is so complex is used to create apathy—apathy which allows billions of our tax dollars (annually) to go on paying for Israel’s illegal and murderous acts, and creates no motivation on Israel’s part to work towards peace (with all the might, why negotiate?). -more-


Health Care: A Right, Not a Privilege

By Ralph E. Stone
Thursday August 20, 2009 - 11:08:00 AM

Unfortunately, health care in the United States is a privilege, not a right. Opponents of health care insurance reform prefer the status quo,  that is, obscene profits for the health insurance industry while consumers pay more for less coverage. Our present health care system is riddled with inefficiencies, excessive administrative expenses, inflated prices, poor management, and inappropriate care, waste and fraud. And too many Americans do not even have the “privilege” of health care.   -more-


Racial Profiling and Swimming While Black

By Cecil Brown
Thursday August 20, 2009 - 11:07:00 AM

About five years ago, I was swimming in the Strawberry Canyon swimming pool, which is associated with the UC Berkeley faculty and their families. It was a hot, sunny day, and I had been teaching all morning. Taking advantage of the faculty prices, I find swimming a great bargain. As I thrust my right arm over my shoulder and turned my head, I caught a glimpse of two policemen standing at the end of the pool. -more-


From the Occupied Territory: Awaiting the Assassination

By Jean Damu
Thursday August 20, 2009 - 11:07:00 AM

In his run up to the election Barack Obama frequently invoked the legacy of Abraham Lincoln and his theory of bringing powerful but opposing personalities together in order to govern better. -more-


Columns

The Public Eye: Fixing California

By Bob Burnett
Thursday August 20, 2009 - 11:09:00 AM

Now that the dust has settled and Californians can see the drastic consequences of the state budget train wreck, it’s time to consider 10 actions to fix California. -more-


UnderCurrents: Despite Batts Appointment, Dellums Still Has Fences to Mend

By J. Douglas Allen-Taylor
Thursday August 20, 2009 - 11:09:00 AM

Incoming Oakland Police Chief Anthony Batts won over the crowd at his coming-out press conference Monday afternoon with a bit of hometown theatrics. Asking himself the rhetorical question of why he chose to transfer to Oakland from a similar position in Long Beach, Mr. Batts reached down under the table, pulled out a Raiders cap, pulled it on his head, pronounced himself a lifelong Raiders fan, and began to name off all the old-school silver-and-black stars from the glory days, throwing in a couple of ‘7os Oakland Athletics for good measure. The collection of newsfolk and camerapeople and assorted curious and powerfuls and interesteds at Mayor Ron Dellums’ City Hall conference room roared with laughter and approval, and though he got a couple of pointed questions along the way, Mr. Batts had cemented himself then and there as a legitimate Oaktowner, a member of the club. -more-


Chapeau! to Green Neighbors: Congregation Beth Israel

By Ron Sullivan
Thursday August 20, 2009 - 10:53:00 AM

We were strolling under the paperbarks (irresistibly dubbed “fluffula truffula trees” by one Daily Planet reader) on Jefferson Street near Bancroft, and it occurred to me that it’s time for my unofficially annual tree rant. -more-


Architectural Excursions: Yosemite’s Wawona Hotel: ‘A Good Place to Stop’

By Daniella Thompson
Thursday August 20, 2009 - 10:54:00 AM
The main building of the Wawona Hotel opened in April 1879.

Legend has it that in the 1920s, a small plane crashed outside the Wawona Hotel in Yosemite National Park. Taken to Moore Cottage, on the slope behind the main hotel building, the injured pilot is said to have expired before the doctor’s arrival. Hotel employees and guests have reported seeing a ghost descending the stairs in Moore Cottage, dressed in a leather jacket, pilot’s cap, goggles, and a white silk scarf. -more-


About the House: Why I Hate Norm Abrams

By Matt Cantor
Thursday August 20, 2009 - 10:53:00 AM

OK, I don’t actually hate Norm Abrams of “New Yankee Workshop,” “This Old House,” etc.; I sort of like the guy. It’s nice to see someone on TV who would never have made it based on his headshot and a screen-test. Those other folks on “Hometime”—so cute and all-American-looking and blond: them, I hate. (Kachunk, Blam, Kachunk, Blam.) Ah, that’s better. There’s nothing like large caliber gunfire to sooth the chakras. -more-


Arts & Events

Arts Calendar

Thursday August 20, 2009 - 11:05:00 AM

THURSDAY, AUGUST 20 -more-


Lower Bottom Playaz Present ‘Mama at Twilight’

By Ken Bullock Special to the Planet
Thursday August 20, 2009 - 11:03:00 AM

Pappy is shadowboxing by the dining room table with Son, when daughter Tanya says, “You know Mama don’t like no play boxing in her house.” In Mama at Twilight, staged by the Lower Bottom Playaz, everyone refers to Mama—and Mama defers to everyone. -more-


Mime Troupe’s ‘Too Big to Fail’

By Ken Bullock Special to the Planet
Thursday August 20, 2009 - 11:03:00 AM

Fish eat other fish ... and the big fish eat the little fish. It’s the biggest fish who eat last. -more-


Berkeley Symphony Names New Creative Advisor

By Ken Bullock Special to the Planet
Thursday August 20, 2009 - 11:04:00 AM

Berkeley Symphony and its incoming music director, Joana Carneiro, have named a Berkeley native, composer Gabriela Lena Frank, as creative advisor. Frank will help shape the symphony’s programming, assist community outreach programs, and serve as mentor to the emerging composers of the symphony’s Under Construction program for development of new music. The announcement was made last Monday, two weeks after the symphony named the four current Emerging Composers-In-Residence and alternate for the current Under Construction series. -more-


‘Afghan Star’: Afghanistan’s Version of ‘American Idol’

By Gar Smith Special to the Planet
Thursday August 20, 2009 - 11:04:00 AM

If you think Simon Cowell of “American Idol” is a harsh critic, imagine what it would be like to be judged by a Taliban warlord. That’s the fate for contestants vying for the top slot in the television show “Afghan Star.” They not only put their egos on the line, they sometimes put their lives at risk. -more-


Architectural Excursions: Yosemite’s Wawona Hotel: ‘A Good Place to Stop’

By Daniella Thompson
Thursday August 20, 2009 - 10:54:00 AM
The main building of the Wawona Hotel opened in April 1879.

Legend has it that in the 1920s, a small plane crashed outside the Wawona Hotel in Yosemite National Park. Taken to Moore Cottage, on the slope behind the main hotel building, the injured pilot is said to have expired before the doctor’s arrival. Hotel employees and guests have reported seeing a ghost descending the stairs in Moore Cottage, dressed in a leather jacket, pilot’s cap, goggles, and a white silk scarf. -more-


About the House: Why I Hate Norm Abrams

By Matt Cantor
Thursday August 20, 2009 - 10:53:00 AM

OK, I don’t actually hate Norm Abrams of “New Yankee Workshop,” “This Old House,” etc.; I sort of like the guy. It’s nice to see someone on TV who would never have made it based on his headshot and a screen-test. Those other folks on “Hometime”—so cute and all-American-looking and blond: them, I hate. (Kachunk, Blam, Kachunk, Blam.) Ah, that’s better. There’s nothing like large caliber gunfire to sooth the chakras. -more-


Community Calendar

Thursday August 20, 2009 - 10:59:00 AM

THURSDAY, AUGUST 20 -more-