News

Two people were hospitalized after a three-alarm fire prompted the evacuation of a student dorm in Berkeley early Saturday morning, a fire battalion chief said. -more-

A swarm of yellowjackets stung four firefighters who were responding to a small vegetation fire in Berkeley's Aquatic Park on Wednesday night, a battalion chief said today. -more-

Arnieville returned to Berkeley on Tuesday, June 22, 2010 with official opening ceremonies at precisely 5 p.m. -more-

A year ago, Richard C. Blum, then the chairman of the regents of the University of California, spoke at the Milken Institute’s Global Conference 2009, held at the Beverly Hilton in Los Angeles. The corporate confab was hosted by Michael Milken, the “junk bond king” who went to prison in the aftermath of the savings and loan fiasco in the 1980s. Milken, who is barred from securities trading for life by federal regulators, has since recreated himself as a proponent of investing in for-profit educational corporations, an industry which regularly comes under government and media scrutiny in response to allegations of fraud made by dis-satisfied students. -more-

The Berkeley Daily Planet won three awards in the San Francisco Peninsula Press Club’s 2009 annual Greater Bay Area Journalism Awards dinner, held June 19 at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Foster City.
Riya Bhattacharjee won first place in the Breaking News category for her March 5, 2009 story about the death of a LeConte Elementary school student (“Investigation Continues into Kindergartner's Death") and second place for Continuing Coverage on the incident. The Daily Planet competed in the non-daily newspaper category. -more-

An election giving workers at the original Berkeley Bowl store on Oregon Street a chance to vote to de-certify their union is scheduled for this Wednesday, June 23. -more-

The promise of Library Measure FF (2008) to “renovate and expand” Berkeley Public Library’s four branch libraries, has instead turned into plans to demolish and replace two of the branches, cut shelving for books and materials, eliminate all reference desks in favor of roving reference librarians – and on June 29 the City Council is expected to vote on zoning legislation that would permanently exempt all existing library buildings from having to obtain variances for any future changes, or demolitions combined with new library construction on the same site. -more-

June 22 marks the second anniversary ofDona Spring's confrontation with UC Police with officer Mitch Celaya who tries to block Dona's access to a city sidewalk only days before she died.

The attached video clip shows Donna leading an impromptu march of supporters to the barricades at the Old Oak Grove on June 22, 2008, in her attempt to resupply the tree sitters with food and water on the 228th day of the occupation to save the trees from destruction by the University of California.

I would call it Dona Spring’s finest hour but she had so many it's difficult to know.

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Anyone who enjoyed the big-screen documentary hit "Please Exit through the Gift Shop" might want to check out a parking lot wall in downtown Berkeley. -more-

The University of California Botanical Garden at Berkeley is usually a sight to behold, but it is noses that might be held there at the end of this month because of the smell from a "corpse plant" that is about to blossom. -more-

OAKLAND-- Hundreds of demonstrators from throughout the San Francisco Bay Area set up early morning picket lines in front of four gates into the SSA terminal in the Port of Oakland, as a ship carrying Israeli cargo was preparing to dock. Demonstrators were protesting the Israeli attack on the flotilla that sought to break the blockade of Gaza, in which Israeli troops killed nine people. In response to the picket line, members of Local 10 of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union decided not to go into the terminal and unload the cargo. In the afternoon, with picket lines again in front of the gate, the stevedoring company decided not to ask for a crew of longshore workers to unload the ship, in the expectation that the crew would again not enter the terminal. -more-

One of the world’s preeminent collections of Jewish life, culture and history will have a new home at the University of California, Berkeley, starting this fall, campus officials and the Judah L. Magnes Museum in Berkeley announced today (Monday, June 21). -more-

University of California at Berkeley administrators and police did a poor job of planning for a protest last November that resulted in the takeover of a building and more than 40 arrests, an investigative panel said today. -more-