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Richmond Councilmember Tom Butt writes: "The City of Richmond has a tradition of fireworks and the Oakland-East Bay Symphony on July 3 at at the Craneway Pavillion, part of the rehabilitated former Ford Assembly Plant and also part of Rosie the Riveter WWII Home Front National Historical Park. As the fireworks begin, the Symphony breaks into a medley of stirring John Philip Sousa marches. This is the best Independence day celebration in the Bay Area." -more-

ATHENS, Greece - 235 years after the American colonies declared independence from Britain, the passenegers on the U.S. Boat to Gaza call for a new American Declaration of Independence, this time from Israel. -more-

Natural gas pipelines — like the one that erupted in a deadly 2010 blast that killed eight people in San Bruno — run along the margins of West Berkeley, parallel to the Eastshore Freeway. This has been known for some time but earlier this week, PG&E quietly mailed letters to a number of Berkeley businesses and residents warning that they may be located “within 2,000 feet of a natural gas transmission pipeline.” A Planet investigation reveals that several PG&E gas lines lie buried beneath 31 city blocks, with one major pipeline running right through the downtown — alongside the Police Department, City Hall, the Main Post Office, BART and the Shattuck Hotel. -more-

A historic Berkeley building derided by some just last year as vacant and obsolete has been reborn as a handsome renovated structure providing expanded Berkeley quarters for a private cooking and nutrition school as well as a taste of important Berkeley history and distinctive architectural character. -more-

Martin Snapp tells us that "mass uprising" has a new meaning at Berkeley's St Joseph the Worker church where there's a turn to the right in this leftist parish. The first two items in his blog will bring you up to date. http://martinsnapp.blogspot.com/ -more-

Can anyone name all the Berkeley neighborhoods? I've only lived here forty years and still can't, but I think I've discovered one I was overlooking while digging in on sinister Southside.

My discovery is not listed anywhere as a neighborhood but is near the historic Lorin district and is part of South Berkeley. Although in the Berkeley flats, my "discovery" lacks a name.

I'm calling it south of Ashby on Shattuck or SOAS. Darn. We just missed SOUS. I'm still working on it.

I was South-of-Ashby-on-Shattuck recently to check out the smoked barbecue brisket at Smokey J's, opened for less than a month and attracting overflowing crowds from word of mouth and twenty-five ecstatic YELPs, yielding a five of five rating. -more-