Page One

Low Level of Pollution after Chevron Fire

By Bay City News
Tuesday August 07, 2012 - 11:05:00 PM

Despite a thick cloud of smoke covering a good portion of western Contra Costa County from a fire at the Chevron refinery in Richmond on Monday night, the air quality was minimally impacted, according to the Bay Area Air Quality Management District. -more-



Press Release: Chevron Fire Information for Berkeley Residents

From Mary Kay Clunies-Ross, City of Berkeley Information Officer
Monday August 06, 2012 - 11:39:00 PM

There is a fire at the Chevron Refinery in Richmond. There is a shelter-in-place order for Richmond, North Richmond, and San Pablo. -more-



Features

Eye-Witness Comes Forward In People's Park Dog Slaying

By Ted Friedman
Saturday August 04, 2012 - 09:23:00 AM
Give peace a chance. Peace grove, People's Park, where dog-owners are asking. who's dog will be gunned down next.

In the aftermath of the alleged murder of a dog in People's Park last week, the whole doggone incident continues to arouse the passions of park regulars and Medheads at the nearby Cafe Mediterraneum, and an eye-witness has come forward. -more-


Public Comment

Don't Reward Nicole Drake's Bad Behavior

By Patti Dacey
Tuesday August 07, 2012 - 09:37:00 PM

Would you hire a job seeker who had logged months of unexcused absences at her current position? Someone who, when confronted by her peers with her work record, protested that she was being picked on?

The job seeker in this case is Rent Board Commissioner Nicole Drake. She wants you to vote her into another four-year term on the Rent Board, even though: -more-


I Read the News Today, Oh Boy

by The Occasional Curmudgeon
Thursday August 02, 2012 - 04:35:00 PM

Hard on the heels of the gun carnage in Colorado, Tuesday, July 24th, was itself a pissy news day. -more-


August Pepper Spray Times

By Grace Underpressure
Saturday August 04, 2012 - 09:40:00 AM

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

You can view it absolutely free of charge by clicking here . You can print it out to give to your friends.

Grace Underpressure has been producing it for many years now, even before the Berkeley Daily Planet started distributing it, most of the time without being paid, and now we'd like you to show your appreciation by using the button below to send her money. -more-


Editorial

Making Light in Dark Days

By Becky O'Malley
Friday August 03, 2012 - 07:47:00 AM

Well, it’s been a hard month, hasn’t it? In just a few weeks, we’ve lost three of the most satisfyingly snarky writers in the world, people who knew how to use clever, funny words to breathe some fresh air into the murky depths of the socio-political miasma. -more-


Columns

DISPATCHES FROM THE EDGE:
Alexander Cockburn
June 6, 1941-July 20, 2012

By Conn Hallinan
Friday August 03, 2012 - 08:51:00 AM

For Chaos heard his voice: him all his Traine

Follow’d in the bright procession to behold

Creation, and the wonders of his might.

-Paradise Lost, John Milton

It was fitting that writer and critic Alexander Cockburn’s funeral should include a passage from Milton. For more than 50 years, Cockburn combined polished, erudite writing with fierce political insight in the tradition of the great 17th century English polemicist. Cockburn died July 20 in Germany at age 71, following a two-year struggle with cancer. He was buried July 28 in his beloved Petrolia, Ca. -more-


THE PUBLIC EYE: Global Climate Change: Intervention Required

By Bob Burnett
Friday August 03, 2012 - 07:49:00 AM

As an adult I’ve intervened to help family members come to grips with a serious addiction, such as alcoholism. In the face of irrefutable evidence that Global Climate Change is causing irreparable damage to the environment, when are you and I going to do an intervention to wean humanity from its addiction to fossil-fuel? -more-


AGAINST FORGETTING: Who said “We could have it all?”

By Ruth Rosen
Thursday August 02, 2012 - 03:56:00 PM

For over thirty years, the American media have repeatedly pronounced the death of the women’s movement and blamed feminism for women’s failure to “have it all.“ But none of this is true. The movement has spread around the globe and early radical feminists wanted to change the world, not just seek individual self-fulfillment.

The latest media-generated debate exploded when Anne-Marie Slaughter revealed in the July 2012 edition of the /Atlantic Magazine /why she had left her fast-track, high-pressured job for Hilary Clinton at the State Department. Families, she admitted, could not withstand the strain. Even a superwoman like herself— blessed with a helpful husband, enough wealth to buy domestic help and child care, could not do it all. Although she described the insane work policies that made her neglect her family, she implicitly blamed feminism for promising a false dream. It was too hard, the hours too long, the persistent sense of guilt too pervasive. -more-


ECLECTIC RANT: Haiti Today

By Ralph E. Stone
Thursday August 02, 2012 - 04:07:00 PM

On January 12, 2010, a magnitude 7.0 earthquake followed by a number of tsunamis devastated Haiti. Estimated cost of the damage is between $8 billion and $14 billion. The death toll was between 200,000 to 250,000. About 634,000 live in displacement camps. Reconstruction has barely begun. In late 2010, a cholera epidemic killed more than 7,000 and sickened more than 531,000, or 5 percent of the population. Unfortunately, too many have forgotten Haiti. -more-


SENIOR POWER: Bullying

By Helen Rippier Wheeler
Thursday August 02, 2012 - 04:05:00 PM

Candidates for election are invited to email pen136@dslextreme.com news of their accomplishments and plans vis a vis senior citizens, elders, and boomers. Share a statement of your platform regarding senior citizens’ housing, health, transportation. If you are running for re-election, please describe the highlights of your record on issues important to seniors.

xxxx

Senior citizens’ lives are potential hot spots for bullying. Bullying here refers to treatment of seniors in an overbearing or intimidating manner that is aggressive. Browbeating and bulldozing to frighten a human being into submission, compliance, or acquiescence. It is elder abuse by aides, assisted living staff, caregivers, companions, family members, homemakers, nursing home personnel, personal care attendants, even seniors themselves… -more-


ON MENTAL ILLNESS: Dr. Drew, Schizophrenia and Violence

By Jack Bragen
Thursday August 02, 2012 - 04:31:00 PM

Dr. Drew is a television psychiatrist who deals mainly with the issue of addiction, but he also comments on other aspects of psychiatry. On one of his programs, he tried to point out warning signs (of impending trouble) that people should look out for when dealing with persons with mental illness. -more-


Odd Bodkins: Grace of God (Cartoon)

By Dan O'Neill
Saturday August 04, 2012 - 09:09:00 AM

Arts & Events

AROUND AND ABOUT MUSIC: 'Pile of Stones' at the East Bay Media Center; Westbrae Free Concert on Saturday

By Ken Bullock
Thursday August 02, 2012 - 10:33:00 PM

—Ben Hamilton and Bekah Barnett, composer-performers, present original music for cello, voice and piano, rooted in folk music, with multi-media, at the East Bay Media Center, 1939 Addison (between MLK & Milvia) in Berkeley's Downtown Arts District, 8 p. m. Friday-Saturday August 10-11. $5-$10. 843-3699. -more-


AROUND & ABOUT THEATER:Subteranean Shakespeare Has Moved--With a New Series; 'Education of a Rake' at Central Works; Jovelyn Richards' 'Mrs. Pat's House'--latest edition--at La Pena; 'Broke-Ology' reading at the Douglas Morrison Theatre

By Ken Bullock
Thursday August 02, 2012 - 10:29:00 PM

—Subterranean Shakespeare has moved to the Berkeley Art Festival Theater, 2133 University at Shattuck, with a new Monday reading series already underway—next up, Marlowe's masterpiece 'Doctor Faustus,' directed by Heather Robinson on the 13th ... followed by The Bard's 'Julius Caesar' (20th), Ben Jonson's great comedy 'Volpone' (27th)—and on September 3rd, a new play by George Crowe about the plays and their playwrights, 'Shakespeare Night at the Blackfriars,' directed by Robert Estes. $10. 276-3871 -more-


Press Release: Hands across the Sand at Albany Beach Tomorrow

From Stephanie Thomas
Thursday August 02, 2012 - 04:50:00 PM

On Aug 4, 2012, people from over 40 countries will join hands to champion clean energy. The event will begin in New Zealand, move across the world, and end in Hawaii. We are joining hands for clean energy, to keep near and offshore oil drilling out of our waters, and to end our dependence on the fuels that foul our air, water and food. -more-


Back Stories

Opinion

Editorials

Making Light in Dark Days 08-03-2012

Cartoons

Odd Bodkins: Grace of God (Cartoon) By Dan O'Neill 08-04-2012

Public Comment

Don't Reward Nicole Drake's Bad Behavior By Patti Dacey 08-07-2012

I Read the News Today, Oh Boy by The Occasional Curmudgeon 08-02-2012

August Pepper Spray Times By Grace Underpressure 08-04-2012

News

Low Level of Pollution after Chevron Fire By Bay City News 08-07-2012

Press Release: Chevron Fire Information for Berkeley Residents From Mary Kay Clunies-Ross, City of Berkeley Information Officer 08-06-2012

Eye-Witness Comes Forward In People's Park Dog Slaying By Ted Friedman 08-04-2012

Columns

DISPATCHES FROM THE EDGE:
Alexander Cockburn
June 6, 1941-July 20, 2012
By Conn Hallinan 08-03-2012

THE PUBLIC EYE: Global Climate Change: Intervention Required By Bob Burnett 08-03-2012

AGAINST FORGETTING: Who said “We could have it all?” By Ruth Rosen 08-02-2012

ECLECTIC RANT: Haiti Today By Ralph E. Stone 08-02-2012

SENIOR POWER: Bullying By Helen Rippier Wheeler 08-02-2012

ON MENTAL ILLNESS: Dr. Drew, Schizophrenia and Violence By Jack Bragen 08-02-2012

Arts & Events

AROUND AND ABOUT MUSIC: 'Pile of Stones' at the East Bay Media Center; Westbrae Free Concert on Saturday By Ken Bullock 08-02-2012

AROUND & ABOUT THEATER:Subteranean Shakespeare Has Moved--With a New Series; 'Education of a Rake' at Central Works; Jovelyn Richards' 'Mrs. Pat's House'--latest edition--at La Pena; 'Broke-Ology' reading at the Douglas Morrison Theatre By Ken Bullock 08-02-2012

Press Release: Hands across the Sand at Albany Beach Tomorrow From Stephanie Thomas 08-02-2012