News

I came home last night for another brief R&R before returning to ArnieVille in an hour or so...What a difference hot water & shampoo make! -more-

A tent city has sprouted up for the second time in as many months on the median of a Berkeley street in protest of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's proposed budget cuts to in-home support services, an organizer said today. -more-

According to Elizabeth Martinez, the court's designated media contact, the jury has gone home for the day at 4:00 p.m. and will resume deliberations at 8:30 a.m. on July 6th. -more-

AC Transit's board of directors has imposed a new contract on the bus agency's 1,600 union employees after talks on a new contract stalled. -more-

Prosecutor David Stein and defense attorney Michael Rains completed their closing arguments today in the trial of former BART police Officer Johannes Mehserle on a murder charge for the fatal shooting of unarmed passenger Oscar Grant III. -more-

An armed hit-and-run suspect was fatally shot by Berkeley police after he fired a gun at them Monday night, a police spokeswoman said today. -more-

A controversial item on Tuesday’s Berkeley City Council Agenda has the innocuous subject line “ Zoning Ordinance Amendment to Allow Development Flexibility for Existing Public Libraries”.It’s even on the consent calendar, a try for easy passage without discussion.Here’s what it means: “ to allow (1) existing public libraries to be changed, expanded, or demolished and a new public library constructed, and (2) modification of any Zoning Ordinance requirement applicable to such projects with a Use Permit, rather than a Variance.” [emphasis added] The Public Library Users’ Association is up in arms, since the ballot measure to provide funding for what now looks like two brand new libraries said not a word about demolition, and also, they say, plans call for fewer books in the new buildings.Development Flexibility, for sure. -more-

The Berkeley City Council will be presented with three competing versions of what might be a new Downtown Plan Tuesday night, if all goes according to the published agenda: Here’s what they’ll be trying to do. -more-

When UC Berkeley planned the “On the Same Page” project to request first year students provide DNA for analysis and subsequent discussion it is doubtful anyone anticipated the vigor of public reaction. One concern cited was is the accuracy of the genetic testing kits and that the testing technology under scrutiny of the FDA. -more-