News

Around & About Music: Faye Carol at Yoshi's San Francisco Tonight at 8

By Ken Bullock
Tuesday July 26, 2011 - 11:44:00 AM

Miss Faye Carol, the pride of Berkeley, will be singing and swinging with her quartet--Berkeley High graduate Howard Wiley, saxophone; Marco Casasola, piano; Marcus Shelby, bass; Geechie Taylor, drums--at Yoshi's San Francisco, 1330 Fillmore, today at 8 pm--$10-$20. (415) 655-5600; yoshis.com -more-


Mylar Balloons Spark Two Berkeley Power Outages

By Rachel Purdy (BCN
Monday July 25, 2011 - 10:11:00 AM

Power was restored at about 5:15 a.m. to about 1,000 PG&E customers in Berkeley who have been without power since just before midnight, a PG&E spokeswoman said. -more-


Translating Code: Deciphering the Real Republican Agenda (Commentary)

By The Occasional Curmudgeon
Saturday July 23, 2011 - 10:56:00 AM

First, we are a civilized people. We are, after all, Berkeleyans. We abhor violence and have institutionalized and elevated the pursuit of peace to the level of religion. We led the resistance to Bush’s invasion of Iraq, and our Congressional district’s representative—herself a resident of Our Fair City—was the only one of more than 400 House members to vote against U.S. action in Afghanistan immediately after 9/11. So we would never raise a hand against another human being, not even in self defense. We are, after all, Berkeleyans…. -more-


Hancock and Skinner Are Backing Stealth Pro-Developer Bills (News Analysis)

By Zelda Bronstein
Wednesday July 20, 2011 - 11:38:00 AM

A major casualty of the newspaper industry’s decline is the coverage of local affairs, especially those having to do with governance. Elections and political scandal still get some attention, but most drawn-out legislative processes are at best under-reported, especially when they’re unfolding in Sacramento. Case in point: the local press has ignored two development-oriented bills that have been making their way through the State legislature since mid-February—AB 710, the Infill Development and Sustainable Community Act of 2011, introduced by Assemblywoman Nancy Skinner; and SB 310, the Transit Priority Project Program, introduced by State Senator Loni Hancock. Both bills curtail local democracy; for that reason alone, they merit scrutiny. With the legislature just adjourned for its summer recess, this is an opportune moment to give them a look. -more-


Water Mains Break in Berkeley and Richmond Soon after Quake

By Steven Finacom
Wednesday July 20, 2011 - 12:59:00 PM
EBMUD Water Line Bursts in Point Richmond, Swallows Wig Wag.

Not long after the 3:51 a.m. earthquake on Saturday morning, which was centered in Berkeley, a couple of water mains broke in the urban East Bay. Caused by the earthquake, or coincidence? East Bay Municipal District workers at both sites said it was just old cast iron pipe, but the timing suggested that ground movement might have been a factor in the breaks. -more-


Updated: Berkeley Hit by 3.4 Quake

Wednesday July 20, 2011 - 09:12:00 AM

A 3.4-magnitude earthquake shook Alameda County on Saturday, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

The tremor, at 3:51 a.m, centered on an area described by the USGS as two miles southeast of Berkeley and three miles northeast of Emeryville, which placed it in Berkeley's Southside neighborhood, adjacent to U.C.'s Clark Kerr Campus and close to the Hayward fault, which runs through Memorial Stadium, now under construction.

The quake had a depth of 4 miles, according to the USGS.

View Larger Map -more-


Is Berkeley A Hilton for the Homeless?

By Ted Friedman
Wednesday July 20, 2011 - 12:23:00 PM
The Traveling ART SHOW,  from Santa Monica sets up at Cody's. The artists ducked out of the pic, but not before reporting on the homeless scene in S.M. Their travel-gear can be seen in the hump on the right.

Whether Berkeley continues to be a Hilton to the homeless or, instead, a Roach Motel ("the roaches check in but they do not check out!") may be little affected by a sit-lie ordinance, according to the street kids themselves. -more-


My recent Oakland mini-vacation: Getting back to "There"

By Jane Stillwater
Monday July 18, 2011 - 12:40:00 PM
The Washington Inn is quaint, centrally located and affordable.

I used to be able to travel the world on the cheap by squeezing all my pennies until the eagle screamed, searching for discount airfares and deals, making various work-for-travel arrangements and embedding with the military. But not any more. Not since the economy tanked and the price of gasoline went up. Unless I win the lottery bigtime pretty soon, these former travel options are pretty much out. Now I have to do my traveling much closer to home. -more-