The Week

Morgan Siegel, whose father is from Israel, sported a "Another Israeli for Human Rights" sticker at the senate meeting.
          Asked why she was supporting the divestment bill, Siegel said "because wrong is wrong and right is right. You can't escape one Holocaust and create another somewhere else."
Riya Bhattacharjee
Morgan Siegel, whose father is from Israel, sported a "Another Israeli for Human Rights" sticker at the senate meeting. Asked why she was supporting the divestment bill, Siegel said "because wrong is wrong and right is right. You can't escape one Holocaust and create another somewhere else."
 

News

New: Victim of Saturday’s Fatal Shooting Was a 20-Year-Old Berkeley Man

By Bay City News
Sunday April 18, 2010 - 10:27:00 PM

A 20-year-old Berkeley man who was fatally shot in San Francisco's Bayview District on Saturday night has been identified by the San Francisco medical examiner's office as Stephen Powell. -more-


New: Laundromat, BRT, Recycling Fees Head Back to Council

By Riya Bhattacharjee
Sunday April 18, 2010 - 06:18:00 PM
A poacher flees when caught trying to take trash from the recycling bins outside the Planet office last week.

The Berkeley City Council will be holding an 8 p.m. time- specific presentation and discussion on the Bus Rapid Transit Build Option at its first meeting after its spring break on Tuesday. -more-


Reader Tip: Bomb Detonated on MLK in Berkeley?

By Paul Hernandez
Saturday April 17, 2010 - 02:39:00 PM

The bomb squad closed off MLK for a couple of blocks around Mr. Mopps this afternoon. Around 1:00pm in front of Mr. Mopps toy store the Berkeley Police bomb squad investigated a mysterious, unattended package. -more-


150 Years Ago Berkeley Campus Was Dedicated to Learning

By Steven Finacom
Thursday April 15, 2010 - 11:40:00 PM
Founders’ Rock as it appears today at Hearst Avenue and Gayley Road.

April 16, 2010 is a poignant and significant, although now nearly forgotten, anniversary date in the history of higher education in California. Exactly 150 years earlier the campus site of what would become California’s most important educational institution—the University of California, Berkeley—was dedicated. -more-


New: The Berkeley Downtown Plan Gets Shorter

By Riya Bhattacharjee
Thursday April 15, 2010 - 07:58:00 PM

The Berkeley Planning Commission was presented an abbreviated version of the Downtown Area Plan Wednesday. -more-


Updated: No Final Decision on UC Berkeley Israel Divestment Bill after Marathon Meeting

By Riya Bhattacharjee
Thursday April 15, 2010 - 04:08:00 PM
Jews for Justice member Matthew Taylor shows ASUC President Will Smelko the two-page ad his group took out in the Daily Californian Tuesday in support of the divestment bill.
                The bill's opponents also took out a full page ad in the paper the same day.

After almost nine hours of often contentious debate and discussion Wednesday, the fate of the UC Berkeley student senate Israel divestment bill remains undecided as of Thursday morning. -more-


Berkeley High Jacket Wins Columbia Scholastic Award

By Riya Bhattacharjee
Thursday April 15, 2010 - 02:58:00 PM
Berkeley High School Jacket reporters interview State Schools Chief Jack O'Connell at a meeting on campus last year for their newspaper's online video segment.

Berkeley High School’s The Jacket Online is among 10 high school newspaper websites to win the 2010 Columbia Scholastic Press Association’s Gold Crown Award. -more-


Much to See and Do on UC Campus on CAL DAY, 2010

By Steven Finacom
Thursday April 15, 2010 - 04:11:00 PM
Each year a giant inflatable Oski, the Cal spirit mascot, makes an appearance on Memorial Glade pointing out the uglier buildings of the campus such as Evans Hall.

This Saturday, April 17, 2010, is Cal Day at the University of California, Berkeley. The 150-year old campus grounds are filled with activities and opportunities for the general public, most all of them free. -more-


Berkeley High Starts Search for New Principal

By Riya Bhattacharjee
Thursday April 15, 2010 - 12:09:00 PM

It’s going to be a busy summer for Berkeley High School. The school’s principal, Jim Slemp, is set to retire in June, and Berkeley Unified School District kicked off a search for his replacement this week. -more-


UC Student Arrested for Battery after Witnessing Police Car Collision

By Riya Bhattacharjee
Thursday April 15, 2010 - 12:07:00 PM

A UC Berkeley student present at the scene of a collision between a Berkeley police car and a car full of teenagers early Sunday morning was arrested “for challenging an officer for a fight and refusing to leave the crime scene,” a Berkeley Police Department public information officer said Monday. -more-


Sunday April 18, 2010 - 06:52:00 PM

The Rippowam River rushed by at the foot of our dank street, or, depending on the season, gurgled its way to Long Island Sound. I would sit on the stone embankment overlooking the water, ignoring the garter snakes in the crevices. The Ferguson Public Library children’s room was another 1932 shelter. Story hour was held in a separate room with a large picture window. I played stamping books, using a piece of black crayon stuck on the end of a protractor. It slipped off, jamming crayon into my palm, still imbedded there in a tattoo effect. -more-


Thursday April 15, 2010 - 04:00:00 PM

Opinion

Editorials

The Day Our Sixties Started

By Becky O'Malley
Thursday April 15, 2010 - 09:33:00 AM

Somehow I seem to have become an honorary member of the Free Speech Movement, on their mailing list and invited to their reunions. In all honesty, I must admit that when the FSM was making waves in 1964 I was in Ann Arbor making babies. But before that, four years before that, I was present at the creation, so to speak. I was one of the five thousand Bay Area citizens who rose in protest against the House Un-American Activities Committee (commonly known as HUAC), the trailing edge of ugly ‘50s McCarthyism which finally got its deserved comeuppance during the merry month of May in the newly minted 1960s. -more-


The Editor's Back Fence

Updated: Worth a Look

Thursday April 15, 2010 - 08:15:00 PM

A few interesting new links: -more-


Cartoons

Odd Bodkins

By Dan O'Neill
Wednesday April 14, 2010 - 05:53:00 PM

Public Comment

Letters to the Editor

Thursday April 15, 2010 - 12:16:00 PM

Police Call for Boycott -more-


Comments on the Project Proposed for 2707 Rose

By Fred Wyle
Thursday April 15, 2010 - 05:33:00 PM

The Planet has received a copy of a letter which Fred Wyle of Greenwood Commons sent to his neighbors regarding his opposition to the very large structure proposed for 2707 Rose. With his permission, you can read it here. -more-


Climategate Controversy Update

By Ralph E. Stone
Thursday April 15, 2010 - 11:11:00 AM

Last November, 1,000 stolen e-mails from one of the world’s leading climate research centers in Britain seemed to challenge the scientific consensus that global warming is happening and that it is induced by human activity. The e-mails appeared to show researchers scolding skeptics of global warming, discussing ways to hide their data, and discussing ways to keep skeptics' research out of peer-reviewed publications. One e-mail authored by researcher Phil Jones seemed to suggest using a "trick" to "hide the decline" of temperatures. -more-


Happy Tax Day: Are Americans getting our money's worth?

By Steven Hill
Thursday April 15, 2010 - 01:24:00 PM

Most Americans seem to regard April 15 -- the day income tax returns are due to the Internal Revenue Service -- as a recurring tragedy akin to a Biblical plague. Particularly this year, with U.S. government deficits soaring, everyone from the tea baggers to Fox News and Senate Republicans is sounding the alarm about a return to "big government." Recently former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani even stated that President Obama was moving us toward – gasp -- European socialism. -more-


BRT, the Brown Act and the Sunshine Ordinance

By Dean Metzger
Thursday April 15, 2010 - 10:26:00 AM

The city council has said it will hold a special meeting to hear public testimony concerning the staff proposed “Locally Preferred Alternate” (LPA) for BRT in Berkeley. This meeting is to take place on Tuesday, April 20, 2010 at the regular council meeting, with the final vote by the council to be taken on April 27, 2010. -more-


The ‘Party of No’ Takes Aim at Berkeley’s Pools – and at the Truth

By Robert Collier
Thursday April 15, 2010 - 09:51:00 AM

In Washington DC and around the country, conservatives are hoping they can bluff their way into upset victories in this year’s elections. Health care, clean energy, financial regulation and other much-needed reforms are in their gun sights as they fire inflammatory claims and accusations. In Berkeley, the local “Party of No” seems to hope it can use the same tactics to defeat a ballot measure that would save some of our community’s most basic yet best-loved amenities – our four municipal swimming pools. -more-


Cell Phone Sites and the Politics of Cancer

By Harry Brill
Thursday April 15, 2010 - 03:00:00 PM

he French Hotel and Cafe on Shattuck Avenue in Berkeley has agreed to allow the installation of ten cell phone antennas on its roof. Most of those who work there will not in the short run feel any different, and those who do, perhaps by experiencing headaches, fatigue, or poor concentration, are unlikely to attribute it to the electromagnetic emissions. The same applies to the many cafe customers for whom it is a second home. Since these rays are invisible and silent, they can be easily ignored. In the long run, however, the emissions will not ignore them. -more-


KPFA Manager "Resigns:" Pacifica Democracy vs. Reactionary Politics and Contradictions in the Latest Management Transition

By Robert English
Thursday April 15, 2010 - 10:13:00 AM

From 2009 elections the KPFA Local Station Board (LSB) was reconstituted with a majority of independent listener and staff representatives and new officers; the now minority Concerned Listeners (CL) allied representatives are fiercely loyal supporters of the station management and status-quo. In a March 5 commentary from a management and "core staff" viewpoint, KPFA News Directors reported that General Manager (GM) Lemlem Rijio was forced to resign by a "faction" on the Board. When the results of LSB executive sessions are broadcast and slanted, why hold closed sessions with people who feed confidential information to News staff? If not for confidentiality rules protecting employee privacy, it would seem preferable to conduct business publicly so we could assess the accuracy or spin of such reports. -more-


Columns

The Public Eye: BTW, Conservatism is Dead

By Bob Burnett
Wednesday April 14, 2010 - 05:32:00 PM

Recently there’s been a lot of speculation about why the mood on the right has turned so sour. Some observers attribute it to the lack of leadership at the top of the Republican Party, the surreal reality that Glenn Beck and Rush Limbaugh have more influence than do elected Republicans. Others say it’s a poisonous combination of economic angst and racial hatred. But there’s a more obvious explanation: we’re witnessing the death throes of conservatism. The right-wing ideology that ran the US for thirty years has proven to be a total failure and the passage of healthcare reform was the final nail in its coffin. -more-


Dispatches From The Edge:Behind the Afghan Fraud

Conn Hallinan
Wednesday April 14, 2010 - 04:50:00 PM

All frauds have a purpose, mostly to relieve the unwary of their wealth, though occasionally to launch some foreign adventure: the 1965 Tonkin Gulf hoax that escalated the Vietnam War comes to mind. -more-


New: Senior Power: "Old People Don't Read Books"

By Helen Rippier Wheeler
Sunday April 18, 2010 - 06:53:00 PM

The Rippowam River rushed by at the foot of our dank street, or, depending on the season, gurgled its way to Long Island Sound. I would sit on the stone embankment overlooking the water, ignoring the garter snakes in the crevices. The Ferguson Public Library children’s room was another 1932 shelter. Story hour was held in a separate room with a large picture window. I played stamping books, using a piece of black crayon stuck on the end of a protractor. It slipped off, jamming crayon into my palm, still imbedded there in a tattoo effect. -more-


Arts & Events

Arts Calendar

Thursday April 15, 2010 - 04:37:00 PM

For all kinds of arts events this week and in the future, check berkeleyartsfestival.com -more-


San Francisco Symphony Presents Charlie Chaplin's 'Gold Rush' In All its Glory

By Justin DeFreitas
Wednesday April 14, 2010 - 10:33:00 PM

At first glance, the silent slapstick comedy and the epic would appear to be incompatible. The latter requires a grand scale and heroism to match, while the former is essentially a chamber piece, a small, tightly framed story of a ridiculous clown. -more-


Berkeley Arts Festival Will Use the New Magnes Museum Building in May

By Bonnie Hughes
Wednesday April 14, 2010 - 04:31:00 PM

Hooray! The Berkeley Arts Festival finally has a home thanks to the Judah L. Magnes Museum. They are generously letting us use the space at 2121 Allston Way where they will move from their Russell Street location in 2011. We will be there for the entire month of May. With little lead time for scheduling we ask you to check this space regularly for newly scheduled events. We will open with a concert by pianist Sarah Cahill on May 1. Among others taking part in the Festival will be John Schott, Dan Plonsey, Jerry Kuderna, Dean Santomieri, Graham Connagh, Bill Crossman and India Cooke, and many, many more. -more-


Ibsen at the Aurora: John Gabriel Bortman

By Ken Bullock
Wednesday April 14, 2010 - 03:44:00 PM

A man, holed up in a room above the parlor of his home after a financial scandal, once so popular the whole country called him by his first name. Twin sisters who have loved him, one his bitter wife, competing for the loyalty of his gay blade son, himself led in tow by a young widow. The shamed man's last loyal ally, an awkward, would-be poet, the only one who visits him in his upstairs exile ...A man, holed up in a room above the parlor of his home after a financial scandal, once so popular the whole country called him by his first name. Twin sisters who have loved him, one his bitter wife, competing for the loyalty of his gay blade son, himself led in tow by a young widow. The shamed man's last loyal ally, an awkward, would-be poet, the only one who visits him in his upstairs exile ... -more-


The Poor Players at the City Club Next Week

By Ken Bullock
Wednesday April 14, 2010 - 04:52:00 PM

"A comedy about a missing dog ... a delayed dinner ... an elderly teenager ... the young at heart ... domestic chaos ..." -more-


Nordic Mysteries: The Millenium Trilogy

By Ralph Stone
Thursday April 15, 2010 - 11:25:00 AM

I recently saw "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo," based on Swedish mystery writer Stieg Larsson's Millennium Trilogy. The other two books are "The Girl Who Played with Fire" and "The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets' Nest." The movie and the book introduce Lisbeth Salander, played by Swedish actress Noomi Rapace. She is a unique figure in fiction. She is Goth-like in appearance, autistic and bisexual with a distrust of authority, an amazing ability with a computer, a photographic memory and astonishing physical courage, and while not physically attractive, is sexually appealing to both men and women. And yes, she has a large tattoo of a dragon on her back. She is a rare example of a feminist heroine who doesn't hate men, just men who hate women. Throughout the Trilogy, Larsson weaves in her background of childhood abuse and violence. My minor quibble with Ms. Rapace is that she is too pretty. But otherwise, Ms. Rapace and Michael Nyqvist, who plays Mikael Blomkvist, the other main character, are well cast. -more-


Pedro Costa's Fontainhas

By Justin DeFreitas
Thursday April 15, 2010 - 08:17:00 AM

Pedro Costa's Ossos marked a turning point in the his career, the moment when the Portuguese director found his subject matter if not his voice. -more-


Some Upcoming Events

Wednesday April 14, 2010 - 04:30:00 PM