News

A round-up of the day's interesting events as reported in other news media or otherwise. -more-

A roundup of important events in Berkeley, as reported in other media: -more-

A state appeals court in San Francisco on Monday upheld a lower court decision that the environmental report for Chevron's Richmond refinery expansion project is inadequate under state environmental laws. -more-

AC Transit riders should brace for another round of cuts after major service changes and reductions went into effect March 28 to cope with a projected $56 million deficit in the 2010-2011 fiscal year. -more-

On April 20 the Oakland City Council did indeed vote to support the full-build “Locally Preferred Alternative,” i.e., the alternative preferred by AC Transit. But it also directed that “Rapid Bus Plus” be studied as an alternative. The Public Works Committee had decided they wanted to “Study East Bay Bus Rapid Transit Project without the use of a dedicated traffic lane” and which would “Provide Level Boarding.” “Rapid Bus Plus,” unlike the no-build and the full-build alternatives, would split the line at downtown Oakland so you won’t get bunching like on the #51 line, and it, also, retains local service. So there is a lot to say for the “Rapid Bus Plus” but, unfortunately, you can’t get level boarding without bulb-outs (which would make it “Curbside BRT” or “Rapid Bus Plus Plus.”) The entry of the present Van Hool low-aisle buses is 14.56” above the street. (And the standard for American low-floor buses are “no more than 15 ½”.) Sidewalk curbs are about 6” so without bulb-outs one would have to do something really weird, and probably hazardous to pedestrians, in order to provide level boarding from sidewalks. -more-

The Albany community came together for open space and recreation for the Albany Waterfront, allowing only minimal ‘green’ development in its vision for the waterfront. -more-

My wife and I just returned from a visit to New Orleans. While there, we toured some of the areas hardest hit by Hurricane Katrina in August 2005, and Hurricane Rita in September 2005. Rose Scott was our personable and knowledgeable guide for the tours. Rose, born and raised in New Orleans, is a retired high school teacher who now works as a tour guide. Katrina flooding and an oil spill rendered her St. Bernard Parish home uninhabitable. -more-

PHOENIX, AZ - On Thursday, April 29, 2010 at 11:00 a.m. (MST), MALDEF, the American Civil Liberties Union, the ACLU of Arizona and the National Immigration Law Center (NILC) will hold a news conference on the House lawn of the State Capitol Grounds in Phoenix, Arizona to announce that they are preparing to challenge Arizona's extreme new law, which requires law enforcement to question people about their immigration status during everyday police encounters and criminalizes immigrants for failing to carry their "papers." The unconstitutional law, the groups say, encourages racial profiling, endangers public safety and betrays American values. -more-

The massive and shocking Haiti earthquake of January 12, 2010 is still periodically in the news, with much of the current focus on the human suffering and efforts at recovery. It was the fourth most deadly earthquake anywhere since 1900. -more-

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It’s not surprising that Republicans oppose the Obama Administration – they want to suck up to the rich by maintaining the status quo. And it’s not surprising that they lie – this is, after all, the Party that created the fictional Iraqi atomic bomb threat so they would have a winning issue in the 2002 mid-term elections. What is surprising is that they’ve been so successful. Why are Republican supporters so enthusiastic when they’ve been force-fed a diet of BS? -more-

Thousands of protestors, including a group of marchers who had walked through California’s Central Valley, held a rally in front of the state Capitol on Wednesday afternoon, calling for government and a tax system that serves all Californians. The march had lasted 48 days, during which the marchers covered 365 miles, bringing the message to Californians up and down the state that government in Sacramento ought to be reformed. -more-

The Berkeley Daily Planet won three awards in the California Newspaper Publishers Association's 2009 Better Newspapers Contest. -more-

Southside Lofts residents emerged victorious once again Tuesday when the City Council voted to uphold the Zoning Adjustment Board's decision to deny a use permit for a laundromat in the building. -more-

Even as the Oakland City Council voted to support AC Transit's Bus Rapid Transit plan Tuesday evening, Berkeley residents rallied vociferously against it at their council meeting, prompting Berkeley Mayor Tom Bates to say around 10:30 p.m. he would try to glue together the best parts of BRT to address the community's concerns. -more-

The UC Berkeley student senate did not take any action Wednesday on the contentious Israel divestment bill which was vetoed by their president last month. -more-

At 1:00 on Thursday afternoon Officer Jamie Perkins of the Berkeley Police Department announced the arrests of three robbery suspects, all Richmond residents, who were responsible for a series of North Berkeley robberies. -more-

The Humane Commission failed Wednesday night to pass a resolution expressing support for a prohibition against animal testing in the new West Berkeley Plan. Chair Anne Wagley (Arreguin, Dist. 4), who has also been a temporary appointee to the Planning Commission, explained that the rewrite of the West Berkeley Plan now in its last stages is designed to encourage large-scale research and development projects with as few restrictions as possible. She reported that she had introduced the idea of a ban on animal testing and received broad support from other planning commissioners. Wagley suggested that an endorsement of a ban by the Humane Commission would be compelling in the coming weeks as the Planning Commission debates their final recommendations. -more-

Prosecutors in the trial of a man accused of fatally stabbing University of California at Berkeley student Christopher Wootton to death two years ago said in court today the defendant has a history of angry outbursts. -more-

Following a tumultuous time in March and the beginning of April, Berkeley High School’s science lab controversy seems headed toward resolution. -more-

BART has fired a second police officer, Tony Pirone, who was present when Oscar Grant III was shot and killed in Oakland early on New Year's Day 2009, interim Police Chief Daschel Butler said today. -more-

On Tax Day, April 15, the Northern California War Tax Resistance (NCWTR) and People’s Life Fund (PLF) handed out nearly $20,000 in grants to local nonprofit organizations. What made this especially newsworthy is that the prize money came from tax resisters who had chosen to give the taxes claimed by the US Treasury to the PLF instead. For pacifists, the PLF offers a way to “positively protest” one’s unwillingness to write checks to a government that currently spends 54 cents of every dollar on the Pentagon’s current costs and past debts. -more-

A “Director’s Roundtable Discussion” was held on Tuesday morning, April 20, 2010 at the North Berkeley Senior Center (NBSC), corner of MLK and Hearst, in the dining room section of the multipurpose room. NBSC director Larry Taylor spoke for about 35 minutes. -more-

BART today unveiled a new program that will take more than 60 of the agency's police officers out of their cars and place them on bicycles starting this summer. -more-

For twenty years now, Colleen Fawley, the outreach specialist at the Berkeley Public Library, has been packing up her sturdy canvas bags full of books and other library materials taking them to Berkeley residents who can’t get to the library. Laughing, Colleen refers to herself as the library ‘bag lady.’ -more-

The UC Berkeley campus was a busy kaleidoscope of people and activities on Saturday, April 17, 2010. -more-

A Kyle Harty Strang Memorial will be held on Tuesday April 27, 2010 from 5-7pm in the BHS Little Theatre. The public is welcome. -more-

How do we remember a social protest movement? Often by words that have been left behind: founding documents, manifestos, flyers, and the like. But visual artifacts can be powerful too: sometimes a movement’s images reveal its deepest character and commitments. -more-

Finally, there is good news. We just got a call from Noleen Goldstone telling us that the leadership of rabbis of South Africa, previously quite condemning of Richard and suggesting that threatening conditions might exist if he attended his grandson’s bar mitzvah in Johannesburg in early May, have relented. They have told him that he is free to participate in the event and that there will be no demonstrations against him inside or outside the synagogue. -more-