Extra

Please Stand Up For Affordable Housing in Berkeley (Commentary)

By Councilmember Jesse Arreguin
Tuesday July 12, 2011 - 09:11:00 AM

For twenty years, Berkeley had an inclusionary law requiring developers who build new apartment buildings of 5 units or more to set aside 20% of the units to be rented to low income households. The purpose of the inclusionary law was to address the critical shortage of affordable housing in Berkeley and to promote economic diversity in neighborhoods. Over the past 20 years our inclusionary policy has resulted in hundreds of new affordable units in new market rate projects throughout Berkeley. -more-


Still Creatively Improvising, Berkeley Arts Festival Turns 20

By Steven Finacom
Tuesday July 12, 2011 - 09:11:00 AM
Paintings by local artists fill the vacant storefront space at 2133 Shattuck.

A quarter century ago Bonnie Hughes was perhaps best known in Berkeley as the proprietor of Augusta’s, a well regarded restaurant on Telegraph Avenue just north of Ashby. -more-


San Francisco Silent Film Festival Screens Rare Gems, Timeless Classics

By Justin DeFreitas
Tuesday July 12, 2011 - 07:20:00 AM
Upstream

This year's San Francisco Silent Film Festival starts off with a premiere of sorts. In 2009 a stash of rare silent films was discovered in the New Zealand Film Archives, among them 75 American films, long thought lost forever, that were repatriated back to the United States last year for restoration and preservation. Upstream, one of the gems of the collection and the first to be restored, will screen Thursday, July 14, as the opening film of the annual festival that takes over the Castro Theater through Sunday night. -more-


Berkeley Police Investigate Shots Fired

By Dan McMenamin (BCN)
Friday July 08, 2011 - 10:08:00 PM

Berkeley police are investigating reports of shots fired in the southern part of the city this afternoon, a police spokeswoman said. -more-


• Planning Commission Definition of Arts & Crafts Studio Before Berkeley City Council Tonight
To Be Discussed & Voted on Sometime after 9 pm (Commentary)

From WEBAIC
Tuesday July 12, 2011 - 09:16:00 AM

The City Council has been scheduled to address two important West Berkeley issues tomorrow, the Master Use Permit (MUP) development standards – height, massing, aggregation, etc., and the definition of Art and Craft Studios. Please attend if you would like to weigh in on the Arts and Crafts Studio definition. -more-


Lawrence Berkeley Lab Revises Schedule for Campus Community Meetings--Next One is July 13 in Alameda

By Zelda Bronstein
Thursday July 07, 2011 - 03:23:00 PM

The Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory has posted a revised schedule of the community meetings about prospective sites for its second campus. Each meeting will deal with one of the six possible venues. The applicant/developer for that venue will present its plan for the site, and then community members will be invited to comment. -more-


Press Release: Berkeley Arts Festival Schedules First Two Concerts Next Week

By Bonnie Hughes
Thursday July 07, 2011 - 04:22:00 PM

The Berkeley Arts Festival Opening Concert, featuring Pianist Sarah Cahill, will take place on Tuesday July 12, at 8 pm at 2133 University Avenue, Berkeley.

The second concert, on Wednesday, July 13, at 8 pm, features Dan Plonsey's “New Monstrosities of Jazz”. -more-


Don't Miss This

By Dorothy Snodgrass
Thursday July 07, 2011 - 03:21:00 PM

A summer musical program always eagerly anticipated is the Annual Berkeley Arts Festival, held in downtown Berkeley at 2133 University Avenue, right next to Ace Hardware, offering a wide range of concerts and artistic events. The opening concert on July 12, 8 p.m. will present Pianist Sarah Cahill, recently called "fiercely gifted" by the New York Times. She will perform again on July 25, 8 p.m. The programs to follow are listed below. -more-



Page One

Updated: Missing Berkeley Bicyclist Spotted in Roseville

By Amaya James (BCN)
Wednesday July 06, 2011 - 02:11:00 PM

Berkeley police have called off the search for a missing bicyclist after a hotel clerk in Roseville reported seeing him on Tuesday night, a police sergeant said. -more-



Fireworks Blamed for Berkeley Apartment Fire

By Sasha Lekach (BCN)
Tuesday July 05, 2011 - 06:00:00 PM

A fire at a vacant Berkeley apartment building on Monday night appears to have been sparked by Fourth of July fireworks on the roof, a fire deputy chief said today. -more-



Updated: Friends Search for Missing Berkeley Cyclist

By Janna Brancolini and Patricia Decker (BCN)
Tuesday July 05, 2011 - 08:51:00 PM

Family and friends of a Berkeley physicist who went missing after a bike ride over the weekend are asking for the public's help in locating him. -more-



Southside Plan Aired, Criticized at Berkeley City Council Workshop

By Steven Finacom
Tuesday July 05, 2011 - 09:01:00 AM
A long delayed new area plan for the Southside neighborhood, centered on the Telegraph Avenue commercial district south of the UC Berkeley campus, was the topic of a City Council workshop on June 14.

The much-delayed, and often criticized, Southside Plan moved a step further to formal action on adoption on June 14, 2011, when the City Council heard a staff presentation and public testimony on the Plan during a special early evening Council workshop. -more-



Press Release: UC Staff Preparing to Recommend Tuition Increase to Regents

From Steve Montiel, U.C. Office of the President
Monday July 04, 2011 - 09:53:00 AM

With cost-cutting and revenue-generating measures in place to fill the bulk of a billion-dollar budget gap resulting from steep cuts in state funding, the University of California staff is preparing to recommend to the Board of Regents that roughly one-quarter of the shortfall be offset with tuition and fee increases, UC Vice President Patrick Lenz said today (Friday, July 1). -more-



Press Release: Missing Cyclist - Anthony Michael Martin of Berkeley

From Sgt. M. Kusmiss, BPD
Tuesday July 05, 2011 - 06:26:00 PM

As of 6:00 p.m. on Tuesday, July 5, 2011, neither [the Berkeley Police Department] or family or friends have had contact with missing cyclist Anthony Michael Martin. -more-



Features

Remembering the Fourth of July 1976 (First Person)

By Gar Smith
Wednesday July 06, 2011 - 02:09:00 PM

(July 4, 2011) -- With the July 4th bombs (at this very moment) bursting in air and the fog basking at bay, I find myself recalling a long-ago, fog-cursed day that I was part of the pyrotechnic gang in charge of the Chronicle-sponsored 1976 Bicentennial Fireworks Show on Alcatraz Island. -more-


Chez Panisse: My secret birthday survival kit

By Jane Stillwater
Monday July 04, 2011 - 09:51:00 AM

I used to REALLY dread it each year when it was time for my birthday to come around. When I was a kid, my big sister Ann used to get all huffy because I was getting all the attention and make my life miserable. And then when I started getting older -- well, that's the point. I got older.

Then one year my former boss Robert Treuhaft took me to dinner at Chez Panisse on my birthday and everything suddenly changed. My birthday suddenly became important and special. Not only was the Chez Panisse dining experience magical for someone like me who could barely afford a night out at Brennan's, but Bob also kept me regaled with stories from his past life when he was an attorney for the Berkeley Free Speech Movement, worked for FDR in Washington DC during World War II, helped write his wife's pivotal book, "The American Way of Death," was knee-deep in the 1960s civil rights movement -- and had a whole bunch of other stories too. He even knew Alice Waters. -more-


Berkeley Daily Planet Reporter Off-Beat in Alameda as July Fourth Takes a Bite Out of Teley Pockets

By Ted Friedman
Wednesday July 06, 2011 - 09:40:00 AM
Telegraph the day before July 4th before so-ass turned sad-ass. "Spirit of '29" provided the music as antique car looks on.

It was a bad business day on Telegraph Avenue, July 4, for most of the hungry businesses that were open and as one native Berkeleyan explained it "historically, Berkeley is a town we leave on the Fourth." -more-


Public Comment

New: Letters to the Editor

Tuesday July 05, 2011 - 09:48:00 AM

Preserve the Bartlett Houses; Gaza Flotilla; Where?Berkeley High and Gas Pipelines; Finding Gas Lines Near You; Women in Combat; Protect Children’s Programs; Israeli Women in Combat -more-


The Audacity of Optimism: A Recount of My Visit with President Obama

By Igor Tregub
Tuesday July 05, 2011 - 09:08:00 AM

One visit to the White House changed my perspective on what is possible for us to achieve today. I hope it might affect yours too.

Last month I was honored to receive an invitation from the White House, asking me if I wished to meet with President Obama and his senior advisers to discuss policies affecting the people I serve. Organized by the White House’s Office of Intergovernmental Affairs and the Young Elected Officials Network, which represents state and local electeds under age thirty-six, the briefing and visit promised me a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to ask questions of those who craft federal policies that affect the Bay Area. I was joined by my colleague on the Berkeley Rent Stabilization Board, Asa Dodsworth, along with Berkeley Councilmember Jesse Arreguin, East Bay Municipal Utilities Director Andy Katz, Alameda County Board of Education Trustee Marlon McWilson, AC Transit Board Member Mark Williams, and about 200 other electeds from across the country. -more-


Editorial

Do We Still Need News? or Opinions?

By Becky O'Malley
Wednesday July 06, 2011 - 01:45:00 PM

Are newspapers still necessary? This question inevitably surfaces during a week in the country, where there’s no home delivery of the two papers we habitually read in Berkeley. -more-


The Editor's Back Fence

A Glorious Third in Richmond

Monday July 04, 2011 - 09:59:00 AM



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-


Columns

The Public Eye: It's the Values, Stupid

By Bob Burnett
Tuesday July 05, 2011 - 10:00:00 AM

President Obama’s April 13th speech about the economy emphasized cornerstone American values. Voters must understand these values to fully comprehend what’s at stake as Democrats battle Republicans over the Federal debt limit and budget for the 14 months prior to the 2012 election.

While acknowledging there’s a streak of “rugged individualism” in the American character, President Obama observed Americans also share the belief that “we are all connected; and that there are some things we can only do together, as a nation.” As a community we build schools and roads. The President noted that Americans also share the belief that “each one of us deserves some basic measure of security,” which is why we have Medicare and Social Security. -more-


My Commonplace Book (a diary of excerpts copied from printed books, with comments added by the reader)

By Dorothy Bryant
Wednesday July 06, 2011 - 02:15:00 PM

“Stupidity is caused, not by brain failure, but by a wicked heart. Insensitiveness, opacity, inability to make connections, often accompanied by low “animal” cunning. One cannot help feeling that this mental oblivion is chosen, by the heart or the moral will—an active preference.” -more-


Wild Neighbors: Matters of Taste

By Joe Eaton
Tuesday July 05, 2011 - 09:04:00 AM
Anise swallowtail: a fennel specialist.

On our way to a Fourth of July block party this afternoon, Ron and I witnessed a mass emergence of gulf fritillaries. Ten or a dozen of them were fluttering around a passionvine-covered fence, getting accustomed to their wings. Some checked out the passionvine flowers, but with minimal interest. One had worked its way a few doors down the street and was filling up at a buddleia. By the time we passed that corner again, a couple of hours later, the butterflies had all dispersed. -more-


Eclectic Rant: Time for a Study of the Effects of Rent Control

By Ralph E. Stone
Saturday July 02, 2011 - 05:15:00 PM

Twelve cities in California have rent control laws, including Berkeley, Oakland, and San Francisco. Berkeley's "Rent Stabilization and Eviction for Good Cause Ordinance" was passed in 1980; Oakland's "Residential Rent Adjustment Program" was passed in 2007; and San Francisco's "Rent Ordinance" was passed in 2007. Enough time has passed to justify an independent empirical study of the effects of rent control, if any, on the quantity and quality of housing stock in these three cities. Why not start with Berkeley, Oakland, or San Francisco? -more-


Senior Power: This Case Management thing

By Helen Rippier Wheeler
Monday July 04, 2011 - 12:06:00 PM

A reader who can’t get a straight answer asks “What is this case management thing? How can I get it and do I want it? Is it true you have to turn over your Medicare or be on SSI and MediCAL? What can “they” do for me that I can’t do myself? And how much does it cost?”
xxxx -more-


On Mental Illness: Meditation and Medication

By Jack Bragen
Monday July 04, 2011 - 12:59:00 PM

Because persons with mental illness seem to get a raw deal in life, Buddhist or other meditative ideas of transcendence are appealing. It seems, despite what one might think, the playing field of meditative practices is more level compared to other areas that could be pursued. I have never believed I couldn’t practice meditation because of having a psychiatric disability. -more-


Pepper Spray Times

Grace Underpressure
Friday July 08, 2011 - 10:08:00 PM

Editor's Note: The latest issue of the Pepper Spray Times is now available. -more-


Cartoon Page: Odd Bodkins, BOUNCE

Tuesday July 05, 2011 - 12:45:00 PM

Arts & Events

Around & About Theater: Mime Troupe in Berkeley Parks; Woodminster opens 'Oliver!', Impact Extends 'Working for the Mouse.'

By Ken Bullock
Tuesday July 05, 2011 - 06:02:00 PM

It's summer, and the Mime Troupe's back on the street--or in the
parks, anyway ... this weekend at Berkeley's Cedar Rose Park with
their new '2012--The Musical,' written by Gene Michael Sullivan with
Ellen Callas, music and lyrics by Bruce Bathol, directed by Wilma
Bonet, live band led by Pat Moran ... about corporate funding for
THEATER BAM! (some little political troupe ... ), particularly wry, as
the Mime Troupe's NEA grants have been blasted by aptly-named
Congressman Jeff Flake (R-Arizona)--Jeff should audition! This
Saturday and Sunday afternoons, band from 1:30, show at 2--for 52
seasons now, FREE! sfmt.org


Woodminster Summer Musicals opens their 45th season with Oliver! this
weekend, with a cast of 42 singing, dancing, playing the characters
right out of the Dickens tale, under the stars in the great old WPA
amphitheater in Joaquin Miller Park in the Oakland Hills, overlooking
the Bay. Preview this Thursday at 8; all tickets $10. Thursday-Sunday
through july 17, $24-$42. woodminster.com


'Working for the Mouse,' Trevor Allen's play (directed by Nancy
Carlin), expanded from his Best of SF Fringe Festival one-act
'Character!', telling what really goes on in Disneyland if you're
costumed as a big cartoon character, has been extended by Impact and
Black Box Theatres through July 16 at LaVal's Subterannean, Impact's
home. Thursdays-Sundays 8 p. m. 1834 Euclid near Hearst. $12-$20.
224-5744; impacttheatre.com -more-


Around & About Music: Dana Stephens Playing at Birdland Jazzista Social Club

By Ken Bullock
Tuesday July 05, 2011 - 06:02:00 PM

Saxophonist Dayna Stephens, a notable alum of the Berkeley High Jazz Band, will play Friday night at 8 at the Birdland Jazzista Social Club, 1733 Sacramento, across from North Berkeley BART. $10 members, $20 non-members (includes annual membership). Free BBQ for members. birdlandjazz.org -more-


Back Stories

Opinion

Editorials

Do We Still Need News? or Opinions? 07-06-2011

The Editor's Back Fence

A Glorious Third in Richmond 07-04-2011

Cartoons

Cartoon Page: Odd Bodkins, BOUNCE 07-05-2011

Public Comment

New: Letters to the Editor 07-05-2011

The Audacity of Optimism: A Recount of My Visit with President Obama By Igor Tregub 07-05-2011

News

Please Stand Up For Affordable Housing in Berkeley (Commentary) By Councilmember Jesse Arreguin 07-12-2011

Still Creatively Improvising, Berkeley Arts Festival Turns 20 By Steven Finacom 07-12-2011

San Francisco Silent Film Festival Screens Rare Gems, Timeless Classics By Justin DeFreitas 07-12-2011

Berkeley Police Investigate Shots Fired By Dan McMenamin (BCN) 07-08-2011

• Planning Commission Definition of Arts & Crafts Studio Before Berkeley City Council Tonight
To Be Discussed & Voted on Sometime after 9 pm (Commentary)
From WEBAIC 07-12-2011

Lawrence Berkeley Lab Revises Schedule for Campus Community Meetings--Next One is July 13 in Alameda By Zelda Bronstein 07-07-2011

Press Release: Berkeley Arts Festival Schedules First Two Concerts Next Week By Bonnie Hughes 07-07-2011

Don't Miss This By Dorothy Snodgrass 07-07-2011

Updated: Missing Berkeley Bicyclist Spotted in Roseville By Amaya James (BCN) 07-06-2011

Fireworks Blamed for Berkeley Apartment Fire By Sasha Lekach (BCN) 07-05-2011

Updated: Friends Search for Missing Berkeley Cyclist By Janna Brancolini and Patricia Decker (BCN) 07-05-2011

Southside Plan Aired, Criticized at Berkeley City Council Workshop By Steven Finacom 07-05-2011

Press Release: UC Staff Preparing to Recommend Tuition Increase to Regents From Steve Montiel, U.C. Office of the President 07-04-2011

Press Release: Missing Cyclist - Anthony Michael Martin of Berkeley From Sgt. M. Kusmiss, BPD 07-05-2011

Remembering the Fourth of July 1976 (First Person) By Gar Smith 07-06-2011

Chez Panisse: My secret birthday survival kit By Jane Stillwater 07-04-2011

Berkeley Daily Planet Reporter Off-Beat in Alameda as July Fourth Takes a Bite Out of Teley Pockets By Ted Friedman 07-06-2011

Columns

The Public Eye: It's the Values, Stupid By Bob Burnett 07-05-2011

My Commonplace Book (a diary of excerpts copied from printed books, with comments added by the reader) By Dorothy Bryant 07-06-2011

Wild Neighbors: Matters of Taste By Joe Eaton 07-05-2011

Eclectic Rant: Time for a Study of the Effects of Rent Control By Ralph E. Stone 07-02-2011

Senior Power: This Case Management thing By Helen Rippier Wheeler 07-04-2011

On Mental Illness: Meditation and Medication By Jack Bragen 07-04-2011

Pepper Spray Times Grace Underpressure 07-08-2011

Arts & Events

Around & About Theater: Mime Troupe in Berkeley Parks; Woodminster opens 'Oliver!', Impact Extends 'Working for the Mouse.' By Ken Bullock 07-05-2011

Around & About Music: Dana Stephens Playing at Birdland Jazzista Social Club By Ken Bullock 07-05-2011