News

Firefighters battled a residential blaze that broke out near downtown Berkeley this morning, the city's fire chief said. -more-

After a long holiday recess, Berkeley's City Council is preparing for its first meeting in over a month. The agenda for Tuesday's meeting begins with a 5:30 p.m. worksession on dealing with the City's unfunded liabilities, comprised of guaranteed employee benefits that the City does not actually have the money to pay for, including pension funds, worker's compensation, and vacation payouts. The City Manager's report lists the value of these unfunded liabilities to be about $252.81 million. The workshop will be based on a report from City Auditor AnneMarie Hogan. -more-

The University of California at Berkeley will lay off 150 staff members between now and June, officials announced today. -more-

I am deeply saddened and shocked at the shooting in Tucson, and my heart goes out to the families of the victims of it, and to the survivors. In order for a person to commit such a crime, in addition to suffering from Schizophrenia, (which I also suffer from), the perpetrator must have a complete disregard for human life, and must completely lack any shred of conscience, (unlike me). -more-

Berkeley’s Landmarks Preservation Commission opened a public hearing on one new proposed landmark and mulled over issues related to an environmental impact report on the branch Berkeley library renovations and demolitions at its first regular meeting of the new year on January 6, 2011. -more-

The filling in of Willard Pool on Telegraph Avenue was justified by City staff as a public safety and cost-savings measure, according to a mid-December memo sent to City Councilmembers.

But there appears to have been no City announcement that the pool was to be filled—around New Year’s Day, when City offices were officially closed—an event that caught neighbors by surprise. -more-

There can't be many Berkeleyans who've never been to East Bay Depot for Creative Reuse. This unique store was started in Berkeley 30 years ago. It was located on San Pablo near University until recently when it moved to 4695 Telegraph in Oakland - but according to Executive Director Linda Levitsky the staff still think of themselves as a Berkeley institution. The original mission, Levitsky explains, was “to provide low cost materials to teachers and artists”. They soon expanded to serve the general public and a wide diversity of people patronize the store. -more-

U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor is due to visit the University of California at Berkeley next month to preside over a student law competition. -more-

As the one-man tree-sit in a 40 year old Redwood at the northeast corner of People's Park enters its 74th day, its mastermind, Running Wolf, 47, is considering his options as the original demands fail to catch on and the protest struggles for support. -more-