The reality of life today in California's Central Valley
David Bacon
The reality of life today in California's Central Valley

Extra

New: Richmond Activist Involved in Freedom Flotilla Returning Home

By Bay City News Service
Saturday June 12, 2010 - 07:54:00 PM

Another Bay Area activist who was on board a flotilla of ships that were taken over by Israeli troops last month as they approached Gaza with a shipment of humanitarian aid is returning home tonight. -more-


Flash: Convicted Killer of UC Berkeley Student Gets 16 Year Sentence

By Jeff Shuttleworth, BCN
Friday June 11, 2010 - 12:27:00 AM

Former Berkeley City College student Andrew Hoeft-Edenfield was sentenced at an emotional and lengthy hearing today to 16 years to life in state prison for fatally stabbing University of California at Berkeley senior Christopher Wootton near campus two years ago. -more-


New: Alameda County Administrator Proposes $2.4 Billion Budget

By Jeff Shuttleworth, BCN
Friday June 11, 2010 - 12:29:00 AM

Alameda County Administrator Susan Muranishi today presented a proposed $2.44 billion budget for the 2010-2011 fiscal year, beginning July 1, that closes a $150 million budget gap by cutting 33 jobs and reducing services. -more-


Berkeley School District Proposes Ballot Measures, Discusses Budget Shortfall

By Raymond Barglow, www.berkeleytutors.net
Thursday June 10, 2010 - 01:42:00 PM

The Berkeley School District Board voted on Wednesday evening to place two measures before the voters in November. The first is a bond measure for 210 million dollars “to improve school safety and facilities for learning and teaching.” This measure would fund construction of classrooms and science labs, seismic upgrades and technology upgrades, and would renovate playgrounds, restrooms, cafeterias, heating and fire safety systems, and other facilities. -more-


Both Sides React to Measure C Vote in Berkeley

By Jeff Shuttleworth, BCN and BDP
Wednesday June 09, 2010 - 04:31:00 PM

  A Berkeley parcel tax measure that would have floated $22.5 million in bonds to improve the city's pools received 60.4 percent of the vote in Tuesday's election but fell short of the two-thirds majority it needed to pass, according to complete unofficial results.

-more-


Flash: Berkeley Measure C Fails in Final Vote

Wednesday June 09, 2010 - 07:13:00 AM

Berkeley’s Measure C has been defeated, failing to get the 2/3 majority it needed to pass with a low turnout of 17,258 votes overall. By comparison, 41,314 votes were cast in Berkeley's last mayoral election. -more-


Election Results as of Midnight

Wednesday June 09, 2010 - 12:25:00 AM

Here are the election returns at midnight for Berkeley’s Measure C. At the moment, Measure C is losing. -more-



Page One

Out of Work, Sleeping in the Fields

By David Bacon
Tuesday June 08, 2010 - 11:13:00 AM

The People of the Central Valley - 4:
A photodocumentary project on the reality of life today in California's Central Valley -more-



East Bay Activists Returned from Freedom Flotilla Tell Their Story

By Bay City News
Tuesday June 08, 2010 - 09:37:00 AM

Three East Bay activists who were on board a flotilla of ships that were taken over by Israeli troops as they approached Gaza with a shipment of humanitarian aid held a news conference in San Francisco today to tell their story. -more-



Press Release: Police Offer Reward in Berkeley Shooting Death Case

Tuesday June 08, 2010 - 10:04:00 AM

The City of Berkeley is offering a $15,000 reward, and Bay Area Crime Stoppers (BACS) is offering an additional $2,000 reward, for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the suspect or suspects responsible for the shooting death of a Berkeley man. He has been identified as Kenneth Jerome Tims, Jr., 30 years old.

-more-



Boxer Tours Caldecott Tunnel Construction Site

By Caitilin McAdoo, BCN
Thursday June 03, 2010 - 04:55:00 PM

U.S. Sen. Barbara Boxer toured a construction site in Orinda this morning where crews are creating a fourth bore at the Caldecott Tunnel. -more-



Features

UC Chancellor Speaks to Staff Assembly

By Norris C. Lincoln
Saturday June 05, 2010 - 03:58:00 PM

The University had a bad financial year but survived it, is now in a more stable position, but faces continuing challenges, UC Berkeley Chancellor Robert Birgeneau told the annual meeting of the Berkeley Staff Assembly on Wednesday, May 26. He was the principal speaker at the event. -more-


UC Berkeley Professor Randy Hester Receives Retirement Tribute

By Steven Finacom
Tuesday June 08, 2010 - 12:26:00 PM

Music, heartfelt tributes, reminiscences of colleagues, students, and friends and a jovial and appreciative crowd filled the lobby of Wurster Hall on the UC Berkeley campus on May 8, 2010, as Professor Randy Hester was honored. -more-


Berkeley High School Governance Copes With Cuts and other Issues

By Raymond Barglow, www.berkeleytutors.net
Saturday June 05, 2010 - 04:00:00 PM

As the academic year comes to a close, the School Governance Council (SGC) at Berkeley High, which last met on May 25, continues to grapple with major issues, including replacement of the SGC itself by a newly formed “school site council” (SSC). -more-


Public Comment

Letters to the Editor

Thursday June 03, 2010 - 11:01:00 AM

Oil Disaster; Why 'C' Matters to Me; Israel Attack on Gaza Freedom Flotilla ; Tea Party; Oil; Refuse Tax Increase; Yes on Measure C; And The Greatest of These Is Charity -more-


New: More Letters

Thursday June 10, 2010 - 06:26:00 PM

Midwives in Peril; Cost of Doing Business; Mind the Meter Maids (and Men);Alaska Project Danger to Wildlife; Why 2/3 Vote? Scorched Earth policy by Pro-C Proponents Drained the Pool Measure of Life; Birgenau Puff Piece; BP Responsible; Dealing with Hamas; Gates Foundation Grants; BP Should Clean Up What it Messed Up; Why Should Israel Feel Embarrassed?; Leadership -more-


We Have Lost Our Way

By Julia Chaitin, PhD
Tuesday June 08, 2010 - 01:10:00 PM

 I have been trying to get my head around what happened on the Gaza flotilla, with no success.

-more-


AC Transit Has Painted Itself Into A Corner

By Joyce Roy
Tuesday June 08, 2010 - 11:11:00 AM

Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) is on this Wed.’s AC Transit board agenda after having failed to get buy-in from any of the three cities, Berkeley, Oakland and San Leandro, for their preferred alternative that would require dedicating two out of four lanes for bus only and removing most street parking along its Telegraph/International/14th Street route. They have painted themselves into a corner with an EIR that basically has only one other alternative, the old stand-by—no-build. -more-


Three Short Letters of Complaint About Conditions In South Berkeley

By Jerome Wiggins
Monday June 07, 2010 - 09:27:00 PM

We taxpaying property owners in South Berkeley have to be subjected to the Drop In Center and its dope problem, the illegal housing conversion at 3228 Adeline(Carlson bldg), people getting killed on the corner of Harmon and Adeline due to excessive speed in the corridor, continued lack of enforcement by the city of preferential street parking despite the fact those of us with ZERO street parking are fattening the city’s coffers by paying the permits for preferential street parking, and last but not least, the ongoing street trash problem of Domino’s and the other local businesses. Yet if these instances were occurring in any other part of the city of Berkeley, I would not be writing this email because it would not be an issue, now would it? -more-


Which Demonstration?

By R.G. Davis, Ph.D.
Thursday June 03, 2010 - 11:28:00 AM

If it is evident that a crisis weeks ago will be replaced by another crisis this week: Which demonstration should we go to? Is there a demonstration against both crises? Perhaps comparing the similarities between BP’s underwater oil spew and the Israeli assault on 6 humanitarian aid ships, we might be able to decide. -more-


"Pirates of the Mediterranean" Alert

By Jane Stillwater
Thursday June 03, 2010 - 11:22:00 AM

Question: "When the Israel's navy forcibly boarded an international fleet carrying humanitarian goods to Gaza last week, was this a justifiable military action or was it simply a case of hijacking on the high seas?" Answer: "I don't know. I'm not Captain Jack Sparrow. If you want to know about the finer points of piracy, you had better ask him. But to a mere land-lubber such as myself, it does seem to be a bit dicey that Israeli commandos attacked a humanitarian fleet in international waters, killing ten people and injuring a lot more in the process." -more-


Obituaries

Harry Dov Weininger
September 28, 1933 – May 31, 2010

Sunday June 06, 2010 - 10:24:00 PM

Harry Dov Weininger, who was a force in community and civic affairs in the East Bay from the 1960s until quite recently, has died at the age of 76. Harry lived a full life, without complaint, despite significant health issues in recent years, including Parkinson’s Disease and congestive heart failure. He enjoyed Berkeley Akademie and San Francisco Symphony performances in his last days, and on his final evening on the town, dined at a Berkeley bayside restaurant – metaphorically, at sunset. He suffered a cardiac arrest that evening, never regained consciousness, and died four days later. Harry ended life just as remarkably as he lived it: he managed to pass away on Memorial Day, surrounded by family and friends. -more-


Editorial

Last Minute Voting Decisions Stir the Pot

By Becky O'Malley
Tuesday June 08, 2010 - 09:11:00 AM

At about nine o’clock on Monday night, three members of my family tried to call me simultaneously.Thanks to the magic of Call Waiting, I took their calls one at a time, but if I’d known how to work conference calls, it might all have been over in thirty seconds. Why?They were all asking me how I thought they should vote on Tuesday, and my answer was simple. -more-


The Editor's Back Fence

Now Read This

Wednesday June 09, 2010 - 10:11:00 PM

BP in Berkeley; Helen Thomas -more-


Bezerkeley Stories

Monday June 07, 2010 - 03:23:00 PM

These are the stories the metro papers love to write: Funny Stuff Going on in Quirky East Bay Town. Here at the Planet we're pleased that they're doing this so we don't need to bother. Think of these as our soft features. -more-


New: Department of Further Clarification

Saturday June 05, 2010 - 05:44:00 PM

City Manager Kamlarz put out a new memo about Measure C on Friday: -more-


Columns

The Public Eye: Mad Deficit Disease

By Bob Burnett
Monday June 07, 2010 - 11:30:00 PM

As Congress rushed to adjourn, Democrats dithered over a jobs bill and ultimately reduced benefits to the unemployed because of the concerns of “deficit hawks.” It’s another indication of the prevalence of a form of political dementia, mad deficit disease. It’s insanity to worry about the US deficit when we’re struggling to pull out of a recession. -more-


Blogbeat: Does BP Stand for Berkeley Petroleum?

By Thomas Lord
Tuesday June 08, 2010 - 10:40:00 AM

Stuff found on-line about Berkeley and its neighbors... Two topics this week:First, Berkeley’s love/hate relationship with BP is back in the news.Second, at an author’s event you’ll have a chance to learn how the Internet is messing with your head. -more-


Gaza Flotilla: Prelude to a Wider War?

By Conn Hallinan
Tuesday June 08, 2010 - 10:49:00 AM

Looked at from a diplomatic point of view, Israel’s attack on the Gaza aid flotilla was an act of astonishing stupidity: it burned bridges to Israel’s one friend in the Middle East, Turkey; it drew world-wide condemnation for what many call an act of piracy; and it shifted the focus from Hamas to the inhumanity of the blockade.What were Tel Aviv’s decision makers thinking? -more-


Senior Power:... awareness, prevention, and confrontation

By Helen Rippier Wheeler
Tuesday June 08, 2010 - 12:15:00 PM

Elder abuse has not received adequate media exposure, funding from various levels of government, or recognition by the public. Within an institution, staff members are usually the guilty parties; outside, family members are often involved. The U.S. Census Bureau projects 62 million Americans will be age 65 or older by 2025. What’s needed?Awareness, prevention, and confrontation of elder abuse. -more-


Iran, Brazil, Turkey & the Ghost of Lord Palmerston

By Conn Hallinan
Tuesday June 08, 2010 - 11:01:00 AM

Lord Palmerston—twice England’s prime minister during the middle 1800s—once commented, “England has no permanent friends and no permanent enemies, only permanent interests.” Watching the fallout over Brazil’s and Turkey’s recent diplomatic breakthrough on Iran brings Palmerston’s observation to mind: while U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was hailing our “friends” support for tough sanctions aimed at Teheran, much of her supporting cast were busy hedging their bets and deciding that their interests just might lay elsewhere. -more-


Restoration Comedy:Let Them Eat Paperwork

By Jane Powell
Tuesday June 08, 2010 - 11:26:00 AM

If you missed the previous installment, this is part two of the story of attempting to get my mortgage modified under HAMP, the Home Affordable Mortgage Program rolled out last year by the Obama administration. -more-


Wild Neighbors: Western Bluebird Family Values

By Joe Eaton
Tuesday June 08, 2010 - 12:05:00 PM

I was surprised to learn earlier this year that western bluebirds have been nesting in South Berkeley. I suspect this is pretty uncommon; in the 1920’s, Joseph Grinnell and Margaret Wythe reported “rare cases” of nesting in Berkeley (and elsewhere this side of the East Bay Hills.) Local birder Rusty Scalf caught the bluebirds in the act last May, using a tree cavity at San Pablo Park. In January, a city tree maintenance crew removed the dead limb that contained the cavity. After some prodding by Scalf and other local bluebird advocates, a nest box was installed on the tree; the birds adopted it and successfully reared four nestlings. -more-


Obama and Tony Hayward

Marian Kamensky, www.humor-kamensky.sk
Tuesday June 08, 2010 - 08:46:00 AM

The man who wrestled furniture

Odd Bodkins

Dan O'Neill
Monday June 07, 2010 - 11:47:00 PM

Arts & Events

Theatre Review: Bobo Boo-Hoo: Berkeley Rep Boo-Boo

By John A. McMullen II
Tuesday June 08, 2010 - 12:42:00 PM
At Berkeley Rep, Heidi Schreck and Emily Donahoe (right) star in the world-premiere 
                    production of In the Wake.

About a decade ago, an article in the National Geographic described a new social class named “bobos”—a portmanteau of “bourgeois” and “bohemian”—as, “…that subset of thirty- or forty-something -year-olds who don't allow their socialist leanings to interfere with an enjoyment of material pleasures." My immediate reaction to this disturbing definition was two-fold: 1) that doesn’t sound like a group I would have much sympathy for, and, 2) oh, crap! I’m one of them. -more-


Berkeley Arts Festival 2010 (reprise): Dean Santomieri

By Bonnie Hughes
Tuesday June 08, 2010 - 11:35:00 AM

Back by popular demand??? -more-


Around & About--Here and There--in Theater & Opera

By Ken Bullock
Monday June 07, 2010 - 12:49:00 PM

Playing at the Berkeley City Club: Just Theater's terrific '1001,' by Jason Grote, billed as a riff on the Arabian Nights--that and much, much more ... A small cast in an intimate spacedoubles, triples, quadruplesplayingprotean roles that unfoldfrom, and fold back into,the fabled tales of—and about--Sharhar and Scherazade,bawdy yet unsettling, as are the originals, with an unsteady time-warp opening up (silly to call it mere anachronism), out of which pop Flaubert in the Mideast, Jorge Luis Borges and a strange kind of romance set in Gaza and, during 9/11,New York. Hilarious, unpredictable and impossible to pin down.(The genie warned you!) Much more creative, wilder and yet more thoughtful, than the Mary Zimmerman improv on some of the same material at Berkeley Rep a few years back. And at a fraction of the cost--for company and audience as well. Thursdays-Saturdays at 8, Sundays at 5, city Club, 2315 Durant. $15-$20. 488-4116 or www.brownpapertickets.com -more-


Bruce Barthol and Friends at Art House Gallery on Friday

By Harold Adler
Tuesday June 08, 2010 - 12:55:00 PM

Bruce Barthol, original bassist with Country Joe and the Fish and for over 3 decades the resident composer/lyricist with the San Francisco Mime Troupe, brings his eclectic collection of songs, satiric, subversive and occasionally normal, to the Art House on Friday, June 11 at 8:00.

-more-


Events

Don't Miss This

By Dorothy Snodgrass
Tuesday June 08, 2010 - 12:57:00 PM

Since faithful readers of the Berkeley Daily Planet are without question of high intellectual and eclectic tastes, -more-


Arts Listings

Classical Music-East Bay Through June 20

Tuesday June 08, 2010 - 01:38:00 PM

Popmusic-East Bay Through June 20

Tuesday June 08, 2010 - 01:30:00 PM

Classical Music-San Francisco Through June 20

Tuesday June 08, 2010 - 01:38:00 PM

Readings-East Bay Through June 20

Tuesday June 08, 2010 - 01:28:00 PM

Professional Dance- Through June 20

Tuesday June 08, 2010 - 01:28:00 PM

Stage-East Bay Through June 20

Tuesday June 08, 2010 - 01:26:00 PM

Stage-San Francisco Through June 20

Tuesday June 08, 2010 - 11:02:00 AM

Galleries-East Bay Through June 20

Tuesday June 08, 2010 - 01:35:00 PM

Events Listings

Museums-East Bay Through June 20

Tuesday June 08, 2010 - 01:32:00 PM

Dance-East Bay Through June 20

Tuesday June 08, 2010 - 01:37:00 PM

Exhibits-East Bay Through June 20

Tuesday June 08, 2010 - 01:36:00 PM

Highlights-East Bay Through June 20

Tuesday June 08, 2010 - 01:34:00 PM

General-East Bay Through June 20

Tuesday June 08, 2010 - 01:34:00 PM

Museums-San Francisco Through June 20

Tuesday June 08, 2010 - 01:31:00 PM

Kids-East Bay Through June 20

Tuesday June 08, 2010 - 01:33:00 PM

Outdoors-East Bay Through June 20

Tuesday June 08, 2010 - 01:30:00 PM

Back Stories

Opinion

Editorials

Last Minute Voting Decisions Stir the Pot 06-08-2010

The Editor's Back Fence

Now Read This 06-09-2010

Bezerkeley Stories 06-07-2010

New: Department of Further Clarification 06-05-2010

Cartoons

Obama and Tony Hayward Marian Kamensky, www.humor-kamensky.sk 06-08-2010

Odd Bodkins Dan O'Neill 06-07-2010

Public Comment

Letters to the Editor 06-03-2010

New: More Letters 06-10-2010

We Have Lost Our Way By Julia Chaitin, PhD 06-08-2010

AC Transit Has Painted Itself Into A Corner By Joyce Roy 06-08-2010

Three Short Letters of Complaint About Conditions In South Berkeley By Jerome Wiggins 06-07-2010

Which Demonstration? By R.G. Davis, Ph.D. 06-03-2010

"Pirates of the Mediterranean" Alert By Jane Stillwater 06-03-2010

News

New: Richmond Activist Involved in Freedom Flotilla Returning Home By Bay City News Service 06-12-2010

Flash: Convicted Killer of UC Berkeley Student Gets 16 Year Sentence By Jeff Shuttleworth, BCN 06-11-2010

New: Alameda County Administrator Proposes $2.4 Billion Budget By Jeff Shuttleworth, BCN 06-11-2010

Berkeley School District Proposes Ballot Measures, Discusses Budget Shortfall By Raymond Barglow, www.berkeleytutors.net 06-10-2010

Both Sides React to Measure C Vote in Berkeley By Jeff Shuttleworth, BCN and BDP 06-09-2010

Flash: Berkeley Measure C Fails in Final Vote 06-09-2010

Election Results as of Midnight 06-09-2010

Out of Work, Sleeping in the Fields By David Bacon 06-08-2010

East Bay Activists Returned from Freedom Flotilla Tell Their Story By Bay City News 06-08-2010

Press Release: Police Offer Reward in Berkeley Shooting Death Case 06-08-2010

Boxer Tours Caldecott Tunnel Construction Site By Caitilin McAdoo, BCN 06-03-2010

UC Chancellor Speaks to Staff Assembly By Norris C. Lincoln 06-05-2010

UC Berkeley Professor Randy Hester Receives Retirement Tribute By Steven Finacom 06-08-2010

Berkeley High School Governance Copes With Cuts and other Issues By Raymond Barglow, www.berkeleytutors.net 06-05-2010

Harry Dov Weininger
September 28, 1933 – May 31, 2010
06-06-2010

Now Read This 06-11-2010

Now Read This 06-11-2010

Columns

The Public Eye: Mad Deficit Disease By Bob Burnett 06-07-2010

Blogbeat: Does BP Stand for Berkeley Petroleum? By Thomas Lord 06-08-2010

Gaza Flotilla: Prelude to a Wider War? By Conn Hallinan 06-08-2010

Senior Power:... awareness, prevention, and confrontation By Helen Rippier Wheeler 06-08-2010

Iran, Brazil, Turkey & the Ghost of Lord Palmerston By Conn Hallinan 06-08-2010

Restoration Comedy:Let Them Eat Paperwork By Jane Powell 06-08-2010

Wild Neighbors: Western Bluebird Family Values By Joe Eaton 06-08-2010

Arts & Events

Classical Music-East Bay Through June 20 06-08-2010

Popmusic-East Bay Through June 20 06-08-2010

Classical Music-San Francisco Through June 20 06-08-2010

Readings-East Bay Through June 20 06-08-2010

Professional Dance- Through June 20 06-08-2010

Stage-East Bay Through June 20 06-08-2010

Stage-San Francisco Through June 20 06-08-2010

Galleries-East Bay Through June 20 06-08-2010

Theatre Review: Bobo Boo-Hoo: Berkeley Rep Boo-Boo By John A. McMullen II 06-08-2010

Berkeley Arts Festival 2010 (reprise): Dean Santomieri By Bonnie Hughes 06-08-2010

Around & About--Here and There--in Theater & Opera By Ken Bullock 06-07-2010

Bruce Barthol and Friends at Art House Gallery on Friday By Harold Adler 06-08-2010

Restoration Comedy:Let Them Eat Paperwork By Jane Powell 06-08-2010

Wild Neighbors: Western Bluebird Family Values By Joe Eaton 06-08-2010

Museums-East Bay Through June 20 06-08-2010

Dance-East Bay Through June 20 06-08-2010

Exhibits-East Bay Through June 20 06-08-2010

Highlights-East Bay Through June 20 06-08-2010

General-East Bay Through June 20 06-08-2010

Museums-San Francisco Through June 20 06-08-2010

Kids-East Bay Through June 20 06-08-2010

Outdoors-East Bay Through June 20 06-08-2010

Don't Miss This By Dorothy Snodgrass 06-08-2010