Columnists

A couple of days ago, I got word of the passing of another local celebrity. Although never the shot-blocker that Manute Bol was, she had her own dedicated following. She was a beaver, the matriarch of the Alhambra Creek clan in downtown Martinez. -more-

Crazy talk about the Middle East seems to be escalating, backed up by some pretty ominous military deployments. First, the department of scary statements: -more-

Today’s items: South West Berkeley celebrates the 4th; why might rational people riot over the BART shooting verdict?;Berkeley-based law firm wins ADA victory for blind computer users. -more-

Nationwide, 59%-75% of long-term caregivers are women. With an estimated 3.4 million caregivers, California leads. There appear to be at least 2 caregiver species: one is paid and comes via a third party, usually a government or for-profit agency. The other is often a woman family member. A potential problem associated with freelance or independent care-giving is the likelihood of no employer-provided benefits. -more-

Greetings from Indiana, where in some towns you can pick up a pretty nice house for $30,000- not because there have been lots of foreclosures, but because that’s how much they go for. -more-