News

Flash: Shots Fired in Berkeley Park; Homeless Man Detained by Police

By Riya Bhattacharjee
Wednesday September 09, 2009 - 10:30:00 PM

Berkeley police have held a homeless person in connection with shots which were fired at Martin Luther King Civic Center Park in downtown Berkeley Wednesday night. -more-


District Attorney Tom Orloff Announces Retirement

Bay City News
Tuesday September 08, 2009 - 03:16:00 PM

Alameda County District Attorney Tom Orloff announced at today’s Board of Supervisors meeting that he has decided to retire, effective as soon as the board can appoint a replacement. -more-


Missing Disabled Berkeley Woman Found

By Riya Bhattacharjee
Tuesday September 08, 2009 - 01:36:00 PM

Less than four hours after Berkeley police asked the community to keep an out for Eva Pena, a developmentally disabled Berkeley woman who was missing since Sept. 2, the department issued a press release saying she had been found. -more-


Hello, Goodbye: Berkeley Chamber of Commerce CEO Resigns

By Riya Bhattacharjee
Friday September 04, 2009 - 06:38:00 PM

The new CEO for the Berkeley Chamber of Commerce has left before he even arrived. -more-


School District Appoints New Director of Nutrition Services

By Riya Bhattacharjee
Friday September 04, 2009 - 04:25:00 PM

Marni Posey replaced Chef Ann Cooper as Berkeley Unified School District’s director of nutrition services Tuesday. -more-


Planners to Consider Housing, Urns, Condos

By Richard Brenneman
Friday September 04, 2009 - 04:26:00 PM

Berkeley planning commissioners face a full agenda when they return from their summer break Wednesday night. -more-


Wednesday September 09, 2009 - 10:57:00 PM

Wednesday September 09, 2009 - 10:55:00 PM

AC Transit Proposes Series of Line Cuts

By J. Douglas Allen-Taylor
Thursday September 03, 2009 - 12:18:00 PM

Faced with falling revenues, AC Transit is proposing a series of cuts and adjustments of service throughout the two-county bus district. -more-


Taking Biofuels From the Lab to the Classroom

By Riya Bhattacharjee
Thursday September 03, 2009 - 12:19:00 PM

Kate Trimlett is bringing biofuels into Berkeley High School’s science curriculum. -more-


Report: Integration Plan a Model for Other Districts

By Riya Bhattacharjee
Thursday September 03, 2009 - 12:20:00 PM

A new report says that Berkeley’s student assignment plan is a model for other districts struggling to maintain diversity in their schools. -more-


School Board Weighs Secondary Redesign

By Riya Bhattacharjee
Thursday September 03, 2009 - 12:20:00 PM

Is a new alternative high school the answer to closing Berkeley’s achievement gap? -more-


UC Cops Describe Events That Led to Garrido’s Arrest in Dugard Kidnapping

By Riya Bhattacharjee
Thursday September 03, 2009 - 12:19:00 PM
UC Berkeley police officers Lisa Campbell and Ally Jacobs describe their meeting with Phillip Garrido, the Antioch man suspected of kidnapping 11-year-old Jaycee Lee Dugard in South Lake Tahoe in 1991.

UC Berkeley police officers Friday gave a detailed account of their encounter with Phillip Garrido, the Antioch man accused of holding 29-year-old Jaycee Lee Dugard captive for 18 years on his property. -more-


California’s High School Exit Exam Results

By Riya Bhattacharjee
Thursday September 03, 2009 - 12:16:00 PM

California’s High School Exit Exam results released today show a higher success rate in English and math for first-time test takers in the Berkeley public high schools compared with the rest of the state, but the achievement gap persists. -more-


News Analysis: Parker Place: Floating Cubes Planned for South Shattuck

By Steven Finacom Special to the Planet
Thursday September 03, 2009 - 11:23:00 AM
The street level photomontage, presented by the developer at the Design Review Committee meeting, shows the proposed development along Shattuck at Parker.

While public policy storm clouds have hovered over downtown Berkeley development in recent months, a large mixed-use commercial and residential project has quietly been in the planning stages further south along more tranquil south Shattuck. -more-


More Students Take SAT, But Achievement Gap Persists

By Riya Bhattacharjee
Thursday September 03, 2009 - 12:17:00 PM

The 2009 SAT college entrance exam results released by the College Board last week showed increased participation but a widening achievement gap for California public school students. -more-


Will California Use Student Test Scores to Evaluate Teachers?

By Raymond Barglow Special to the Planet
Thursday September 03, 2009 - 12:17:00 PM

In decades past, education in California was a top priority for government, and the state’s schools were “the cutting edge of the American Dream.” Today, spending per pupil in the state has fallen to 47th in the country. Due to deep budget cuts, California school districts have been laying off teachers, expanding class sizes, closing some schools, and canceling bus service and summer school programs. -more-


Swanson’s Office Denies Charges of ‘Watering Down’ BART Police Oversight Bill

By J. Douglas Allen-Taylor
Thursday September 03, 2009 - 12:15:00 PM

The attempt to pass state legislation authorizing a civilian oversight of the BART Police Department—which had already featured a political disagreement between BART Board member Lynette Sweet and Assembly Public Safety Committee Chair Tom Ammiano—took another turn this week when Oakland Assemblymember Sandré Swanson came under criticism for “watering down” provisions in the proposed BART police oversight bill at the request of police lobbyists. -more-


Mehserle to Return to Court for Motion to Dismiss Charges

Bay City News
Thursday September 03, 2009 - 12:15:00 PM

Former BART police officer Johannes Mehserle will return to court on Friday for a hearing on his motion asking that the murder charge against him for the shooting death of Oscar Grant III be dismissed on the grounds that the judge at his preliminary hearing made errors. -more-


Battle Over Long Haul Raid Sparks U.S. Court Hearing

By Richard Brenneman
Thursday September 03, 2009 - 12:15:00 PM

The legal battle over a controversial Joint Anti-Terrorism Task Force raid on a South Berkeley countercultural icon heads for a key courtroom battle Friday. -more-


Fire Department Log

By Richard Brenneman
Thursday September 03, 2009 - 12:16:00 PM

Spontaneously combust -more-


Drowned Body Found Near Berkeley Marina

By Richard Brenneman
Thursday September 03, 2009 - 11:22:00 AM

Coast Guard crew members pulled a man’s body from the waters of San Francisco Bay near the Berkeley Marina Wednesday morning, and investigators are trying to confirm if the body is that of a possible suicide reported to Richmond Police Aug. 24. -more-


Police Blotter

By Richard Brenneman
Thursday September 03, 2009 - 11:22:00 AM

Four heists, 20 minutes -more-


Carl C. Wilson, 1915–2009

By Linda Rosen
Thursday September 03, 2009 - 11:25:00 AM
Carl C. Wilson

Carl Wilson, the beloved Berkeley Historical Society docent, archivist and “lone” forest ranger, has ridden into the sunset on his horse named Copper. Born in the small town of Halfway in eastern Oregon, he died Aug. 21 in Oakland at the age of 94. He had been a professional forester for almost four decades and, yes, he did ride a big-toothed horse named Copper (not Silver!) while covering territory as District Forest Ranger of the Angeles National Forest. -more-