News Updates

Flash: 9 p.m.: UC Berkeley Occupation Ends Peacefully

by Riya Bhattacharjee

Friday November 20, 2009

Adam Astan shows reporters his injuries caused by a police baton.

All 40 occupiers were released from Wheeler Hall a little after 9 p.m. to cheers and applause from the crowd which surrounded the building. -more-

UC Berkeley Strike Day 3: Wheeler Hall Takeover

Riya Bhattacharjee

Friday November 20, 2009

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Wheeler Occupiers Speak to the Public

Riya Bhattacharjee

Friday November 20, 2009

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Flash: 6:36 p.m.: UC Berkeley Students To Be Cited and Released

by Riya Bhattacharjee

Friday November 20, 2009

Occupiers cheer the crowd standing outside wheeler

6:36 p.m. : UC Berkeley professor of Sociology Andrew Barlow, who was part of the faculty negotiating team, told the Planet that the occupiers inside Wheeler Hall would be cited and released one by one within an hour. -more-

Flash: 5:30 p.m.: Police Break Into Occupied Space at Wheeler

Friday November 20, 2009

This just in from the occupiers' liaison—the police have broken into the space occupied by the protestors in Wheeler Hall. The protestors are holding their hands up high to indicate that they intend to act non-violently. -more-

Flash: 5:30 p.m.: Standoff Continues at Wheeler Hall

By Riya Bhattacharjee and Raymond Barglow

Friday November 20, 2009

A cold rain did not deter thousands of UC Berkeley students this afternoon as they surrounded the campus’ Wheeler Hall in support of 35 protesters who have occupied the building since this morning in demonstration against the University of California’s 32 percent tuition fee hike. -more-

Flash: 3:30 p.m.: Wheeler Hall Protesters Still Negotiating With Campus Officials

By Riya Bhattacharjee

Friday November 20, 2009

A UC Berkeley faculty member asks students to show their support for the occupiers inside Wheeler Hall

Though UC Berkeley professor George Lakoff announced at 3 p.m. Friday that student protesters occupying Wheeler Hall on the UC Berkeley campus Friday would soon be exiting the building, escorted by UC police, no one has yet left the hall. -more-

Flash: Wheeler Hall Occupation Continues; Sheriff's Dept. Arrives in Riot Gear

By Riya Bhattacharjee and Raymond Barglow

Friday November 20, 2009

Protesters displayed a banner and addressed the crowed from a Wheeler Hall window Friday morning.

Rain did not deter thousands of UC Berkeley students this afternoon as they surrounded the campus’ Wheeler Hall in support of about 50 protesters who have occupied the building since this morning in demonstration against the University of California’s 32 percent tuition fee hike. -more-

Flash: UC Students Take Over Wheeler Hall

By Riya Bhattacharjee

Friday November 20, 2009

Despite the rain, students surrounded Wheeler Hall Friday in support of protesters who occupied the building.

Reports are coming in that UC Berkeley students have taken over Wheeler Hall on campus to protest the 32 percent fee increase approved by the UC Regents at UCLA Thursday. -more-

UC Regents Approve 32 Percent Fee Hike Amid Angry Protests

By Riya Bhattacharjee

Thursday November 19, 2009

Students dumped trash in front of California Hall Thursday to protest University of California leadership.

The UC Regents approved a fee hike at a meeting on the UCLA campus today (Thursday, Nov. 19) to address a $1.2 billion deficit next year, amid angry protests throughout the 10-campus University of California system. -more-

Criminal Profiled in 'America’s Most Wanted' Caught in Berkeley

By Riya Bhattacharjee

Friday November 20, 2009

The Berkeley Police Department announced Tuesday that they have arrested a man suspected of being involved in a Berkeley homicide that took place in May. -more-

Mehserle Case to Be Moved to Los Angeles County

Bay City News

Thursday November 19, 2009

An Alameda County Superior Court judge ruled this afternoon that the case of former BART police Officer Johannes Mehserle will be moved to Los Angeles County. -more-

BART Board Votes Against Awarding Contract to Nedir Bay

Bay City News

Thursday November 19, 2009

The BART board of directors voted today not to give any part of a $2 million lighting improvement project for two stations to a longtime associate of the troubled Your Black Muslim Bakery in Oakland. -more-

News

UC Students, Workers Launch 3-Day Strike

By Riya Bhattacharjee

Thursday November 19, 2009

It was anything but business as usual at UC Berkeley Wednesday as students, faculty members and workers embarked on a three-day strike to protest budget cuts, furloughs and fee hikes. -more-

UC’s California News Services Aims to Fill D.C. Journalism Void

Thursday November 19, 2009

The business of journalism is dying. But the need for journalists is not. -more-

Oakland Man Charged with Aquatic Park Murders

By Riya Bhattacharjee

Thursday November 19, 2009

Body of Child Found in Bay Believed to Be -more-

Council Votes to Support Berkeley Ferry Project

By Riya Bhattacharjee

Thursday November 19, 2009

Is Berkeley ready for a ferry? The Berkeley City Council seems to think so. -more-

Berkeley Balloon Ban?

By Riya Bhattacharjee

Thursday November 19, 2009

Balloon artist Don Daniels, of Paper Plus on San Pablo Avenue, posts a sign on the store window: "Nobody can be uncheered with a balloon ... except the City of Berkeley."

Just as the hullabaloo over Balloon Boy seems to be finally cooling off, Berkeley is getting ready to make some noise about balloons. -more-

Obata Studio Landmarking Revisited

By Riya Bhattacharjee

Thursday November 19, 2009

Japanese artist Chiura Obata’s landmarked Mission Revival–style studio was back before the Berkeley Landmarks Preservation Commission Nov. 5, after a remand from the City Council asked the commission to carefully consider singling out the building’s courtyards for preservation as historic features. -more-

Ann Vu protests her rent increase in front of Sproul Plaza Wednesday, right before students board the bus to go the regent's meeting at UCLA.

Bear’s Lair Food Court Vendors Strike to Protest Rent Increases

By Riya Bhattacharjee

Thursday November 19, 2009

UC Abandons Ito’s Downtown Museum Design

By Riya Bhattacharjee

Thursday November 19, 2009

Elementary Students Get H1N1 Vaccine, Other Schools Must Wait

By Riya Bhattacharjee

Thursday November 19, 2009

Piedmont Resident to Become Ambassador to Australia

By Megan Murphy, California News Service

Thursday November 19, 2009

Remembering Andrea Lewis

By Max Pringle, New America Media

Thursday November 19, 2009

Correction

Thursday November 19, 2009

Riya Bhattacharjee

Protesters rallied on campus and marched throughout downtown Berkeley Wednesday to voice their dissatisfaction with the University of California’s budget priorities.

Editorials

What Shall We Tell the Children?

By Becky O'Malley

Thursday November 19, 2009

The most famous words spoken about the Great Depression, by Franklin Roosevelt in his first inaugural address, were these: “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.” They have become a mantra invoked in many situations where there’s a lot more than fear to fear, where real dangers are confronting people who must nonetheless act unafraid. -more-