News

Protesters will denounce torture, and the University of California’s continuing connection to torture, outside tomorrow's commencement ceremony at UC Berkeley Law (Boalt Hall). -more-

The Planet has received this report from Occupy the Farm:

"May 9, 7:00 a.m.: Police are staging to raid the Gill Tract Farm. They have locked and barricaded the gates to the property with dozens of people still inside and have threatened to use 'chemical agents.' -more-

University of California at Berkeley officials said yesterday that they will "pursue other remedies" to cope with protesters who have occupied a 10-acre plot of university-owned agricultural land in Albany for 17 days.

However, university spokesman Dan Mogulof declined to specify what actions the university might take against the protesters.

Late last night,according to a release from Occupy the Farm, UC Berkeley Professor Miguel Altieri, who has been a researcher on the Gill Tract for 31 years, will plant his crops tomorrow, demonstrating that research can exist alongside the Farm. He announced his plan at a university community forum, organized by the Gill Tract Farmers Collective, on the UC Berkeley campus Tuesday evening. -more-

The City of BerkeleyPolice Department (BPD) is announcing that the suspect who shot at officers on April 13, 2012 has been charged with a March 2012 Berkeley homicide in addition to the attempted murder of five officers in an April shooting. -more-

A special public hearing before the Berkeley City Council will be held tomorrow night (Tuesday, May 8) at 7 PM in the second floor chambers at 2134 Martin Luther King, Jr. Way (Old City Hall). A single item is on the agenda: zoning changes to the master use permits allowing greater development, including two parcels directly on Bolivar Drive at Aquatic Park. -more-

Editor's Note: Richard Brenneman has been tracking the sinking fortunes of Amyris, a U.C. Berkeley spin-off which is typical of the kind of companies contemplated by the radical amendments proposed for the West Berkeley Plan and its zoning which the Berkeley City Council seems ready to pass in the next couple of weeks. This story first appeared on his blog, Eats, Shoots 'n' Leaves.

UPDATE: Shares just hit another record low as we were posting. They’re now selling for $2.59.

Companies like to drop bad news on Friday. That’s because few people are interested in news on Saturday.

Amyris, the UC-Berkeley spawned genetic engineering company created by Val “bioengineer” Jay Keasling, dropped a bombshell on Friday afternoon: Their biggest mutual find investor, the Fidelity group of funds, is selling off two thirds of their holdings. -more-

A standoff between protesters and the University of California at Berkeley over a 10-acre plot of university-owned agricultural land in Albany continued into its 17th day today. -more-

Jurors today began deliberating the fate of a Berkeley man charged with murder for the shooting death of popular former Berkeley High School student Keith Stephens six years ago. -more-

A 19-year-old Berkeley man pleaded not guilty today to a murder charge stemming from the shooting death of another man outside a Berkeley liquor store in late March. -more-

A second public hearing on the West Berkeley Project (WBP) is scheduled before the City Council on Tuesday May 8 starting at 7 PM, a special meeting with a single item on the agenda: the proposed master use permits allowing increased development. A summary of the first hearing on May 1 can be found on Berkeleyside, and the complete video posted on the City Council web pages. -more-

Eric Angstadt, the City of Berkeley’s new Planning Director, started work this week. His appointment was confirmed by the City Council at their April 3 meeting. -more-

A Saturday deadline for protestors to agree to leave a tract of University of California at Berkeley-owned land voluntarily has passed without a response and university officials now say they are weighing their options. -more-

University of California at Berkeley officials gave protestors occupying a tract of university-owned land in Albany until midnight last night to agree to leave voluntarily. -more-

University of California officials today (May 4) released a report that examines policies and practices related to UC responses to campus protests. -more-

I received the latest Road Scholar program this afternoon -- something that inevitably gets my juices flowing. What truly fabulous programs they offer -- and at remarkably reasonable prices. -more-