Extra

New: Historic Preservation Council Report Expected to Aid Campaign to Save Berkeley's Historic Post Office

Thursday April 17, 2014 - 10:12:00 AM

The national Advisory Council on Historic Preservation today issued a report which finds that “significant improvements to United States Postal Service planning and compliance for its historic preservation and disposal programs are needed.”

This opinion is considered a major victory in Berkeley’s campaign to save its historic downtown post office.

On March 11, the Advisory Council met in Oakland to hear from agencies and organizations about their experiences dealing with the Postal Service on sales of historic post offices. Thanks to a vigorous campaign from Berkeley's Save the Post Office organization, many speakers criticized the way the proposed sales have been handled, and the complaints seem to have influenced the council's decision.

Preservation attorney and Berkeley Law faculty member Antonio Rossmann, whose office is in downtown Berkeley near the post office, commented that it “looks like the Advisory Council heard Berkeley: Protect historic uses and suspend all sales of historic post offices until improvements and protections are in place. " -more-


Press Release: Post Office Advisory Council Tells Congress Better Planning and Compliance Required for Historic Post Offices

From the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation
Thursday April 17, 2014 - 08:49:00 AM

Historic Post Office Disposal Report Issued to Congress

Washington, DC – Responding to a specific requirement placed upon the agency by the 2014 congressional appropriations bill, the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation (ACHP) today issued PRESERVING HISTORIC POST OFFICES: A Report to Congress. The report finds that significant improvements to United States Postal Service (USPS) planning and compliance for its historic preservation and disposal programs are needed.

The report results from congressional concerns that the USPS may not be fully meeting the requirements of Section 106 and other sections of the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA) when closing and disposing of historic post offices. Section 106 requires all federal agencies to consider the effects of their actions or undertakings on historic properties and seek ways to avoid, lessen, or mitigate any potential adverse effects. -more-


Kidnapped Girl Located on Ashby in Berkeley

By Scott Morris (BCN)
Wednesday April 16, 2014 - 10:05:00 PM

Reports that a teenaged girl was kidnapped and robbed in Oakland and dropped off in Berkeley this morning could be connected to human sex trafficking, an Oakland police spokeswoman said today. -more-


New: Berkeley Artisan's Collective Took "Devastating" Losses in Fire

By Scott Morris (BCN)
Wednesday April 16, 2014 - 10:07:00 PM

While Berkeley businesses the Wooden Duck and Import Tile are recouping after a five-alarm warehouse complex fire Saturday night, an artisan's collective also operating in the destroyed complex took "devastating" losses and will be looking into fundraising efforts in the coming months, its proprietor said today. -more-


Berkeley Fire Does Not Appear to Be Arson

By Scott Morris (BCN)
Tuesday April 15, 2014 - 11:16:00 PM

A fire that destroyed a West Berkeley warehouse complex on Saturday night does not appear to have been intentionally set based on the investigation thus far, a deputy fire chief said today. -more-


New: Teenage Girl Found in Berkeley's Elmwood District

By Scott Morris (BCN)
Wednesday April 16, 2014 - 10:12:00 PM

Police are investigating reports that a teenage girl was kidnapped and robbed in Oakland and dropped off in Berkeley's Elmwood neighborhood this morning, an Oakland police spokeswoman said. -more-


Berkeley: Wooden Duck Reopens after Massive Fire

By Scott Morris (BCN)
Monday April 14, 2014 - 08:25:00 PM

Berkeley furniture seller the Wooden Duck reopened this morning after a massive fire destroyed a back warehouse and a good deal of the store's inventory on Saturday, the store's general manager said today.

The store's showroom was mostly unaffected by the fire, which destroyed a warehouse complex used by three businesses in the 1800 block of Second Street on Saturday night, Wooden Duck general manager Jacob Massler said.

The other affected businesses were Joshua Tree Furniture, an artisan woodworking shop, and Import Tile.

Import Tile's main store was unaffected and remains open, but the destroyed building housed some of its stock. Customers who had affected orders will be contacted, according to a post on the company's website today.

-more-



Page One

New: Pay your Taxes, Go to Gitmo? (News Analysis)

By Gar Smith
Monday April 14, 2014 - 08:30:00 PM

With April 15 fast approaching, I have just finished mailing my 1040. This year, I didn't owe taxes and, boy, am I relieved. Not because I can't afford to cut a check, it's just that I don't want to spend the next six years in a federal prison for violating the provisions of US Code Title 18 -- Crimes and Criminal Procedures.

That's exactly what happened to Ahmed Taalil Mohamud, a cab driver in Anaheim, California, who was sentenced to six years in prison for, as the Associated Press put it, "funneling thousands of dollars to a terrorist organization" in Somalia.

Mohamud was one of four Somali immigrants convicted of sending nearly $11,000 to al-Shabab, a militant group linked to Al Qaeda. The other co-conspirators received prison sentences ranging between 10 and 18 years.

The Somalis ran afoul of Title 18 -- specifically Article 2339C, which sets forth "Prohibitions against the financing of terrorism."

This law stipulates that it is a crime to collect funds with the intention or knowledge that such funds might be used to carry out any "act intended to cause death or serious bodily injury to a civilian, or to any other person not taking an active part in the hostilities in a situation of armed combat, when the purpose of such act, by its nature or context, is to intimidate a population, or to compel government or an international organization to do or to abstain from doing any act." -more-



Fire at Wooden Duck Warehouse in Berkeley

By Hannah Albarazi (BCN)
Sunday April 13, 2014 - 04:24:00 PM

Firefighters battled a five-alarm warehouse fire at a woodworking shop in West Berkeley that started on Saturday night, a fire chief said.

The blaze was in the 1800 block of Second Street, near Hearst Avenue and the Eastshore Highway, Berkeley fire Chief Gil Dong said.

The fire was reported at 7:54 p.m. and was under control around 1 a.m., Dong said. -more-



Obama's A-bomb Budget:
At The Hague, Obama Decries the Nuclear Threat;
At Home His New Budget Stokes the Atomic Furnace
(News Analysis)

By Gar Smith
Friday April 11, 2014 - 10:19:00 AM

Returning from a two-day Nuclear Security Summit (NSS) in The Hague, President Barack Obama claimed to have achieved a "fundamental shift" in the global campaign to rein-in the nuclear threat. And what was this prized accomplishment? Had the United States and the world's other eight nuclear powers agreed to accelerate the languishing nuclear disarmament process? Not really. (According to a Ploughshares Fund estimate, the US still maintains around 7,700 nuclear warheads against Russia's 8,500 while Britain, China, France, India, Israel, North Korea and Pakistan account for another 1,095 or so. An estimated 4,650 of Washington's nuclear warheads are assigned to 800 "launch-ready" ballistic missiles: the remainder are "retired" or "stored.") -more-



Press Release: Will It Live or Die? Researchers Develop Biomarkers to Manage Impact of Sudden Oak Death

From Mauricio Espinoza, The Ohio State University
Monday April 14, 2014 - 05:52:00 PM

COLUMBUS, Ohio – Ohio State University researchers have developed a way to predict the resistance or susceptibility of trees to sudden oak death disease, providing forest managers with the first effective method to manage trees in infested natural areas and in adjoining areas where the disease is expected in the future. -more-



Berkeley Police Want Tasers

By Jeff Shuttleworth (BCN)
Friday April 11, 2014 - 09:39:00 AM

The head of the union that represents Berkeley police officers said today that a suspect's alleged attack on an officer on Monday illustrates why officers in Berkeley need to have Tasers. -more-



Beware: Toxic Anchovies, Sardines, Mussels, Scallops, Clams

By Drew Himmelstein (BCN)
Friday April 11, 2014 - 09:36:00 AM

The California Department of Public Health is advising consumers not to eat anchovies or sardines caught in Monterey and Santa Cruz counties due to dangerous levels of domoic acid that have been detected in the fish. -more-



Public Comment

New: A Brief Response to Ralph Stone

By Jack Bragen
Saturday April 12, 2014 - 12:03:00 PM

Dear Mr. Stone, in your article, you concluded with: "It is time for opponents of AOT to look at the facts."

However, the only facts that you have shown are results of a survey by Treatment Advocacy Center. This is an organization with a built-in bias. Those in charge of this organization have already made up their minds that we need forced treatment. Thus, the results of any survey are likely to be skewed in favor of proving your assumptions.

Furthermore, you have said that anyone who opposes "AOT" programs must not be "intellectually honest." You are saying that anyone who disagrees with you is automatically dishonest. Why is that accusation necessary? Could you rephrase your statements to say, "This is what I think"? -more-


New: Money is Buying People's Power

By Romila Khanna
Saturday April 12, 2014 - 10:31:00 AM

More than 200 years after our founding we are still unable to provide poor citizens full rights of participation in our democracy. The voices of rich are heard much more often than the voices of the poor. The rich can fund campaigns with unlimited contributions; the poor cannot possibly match that kind of money to buy TV ads in support of a candidate who knows how life feels at the bottom of the ladder. Because money holds the microphone, the ordinary voices of millions of people are drowned out. Today billionaires can buy the votes they need to support laws that favor them. -more-


What Should Be Happening on Telegraph

By Members of Copwatch
Friday April 11, 2014 - 10:30:00 AM

Telegraph Avenue is in the midst of a clean-up effort by the Telegraph Business Improvement District. Orange-jacketed “Telegraph Ambassadors” are doing routine maintenance and cleanup of the area, such as painting utility poles, painting over graffiti, pulling weeds from the concrete and dealing with “unwanted” and “problematic” behavior on the avenue. -more-


Diego Garcia

By Tejinder Uberoi
Friday April 11, 2014 - 10:29:00 AM

A recent ‘60 Minutes’ broadcast profiled an iconic coral island in the Middle of the Indian Ocean – Diego Garcia. It was inhabited for over two hundred years by indigenous islanders who eked out a living fishing and farming. According to broadcaster, Christiane Amanpour. the peace and tranquility of the people changed when the British were approached by the US government who wanted to establish a base on the island. Under US and British pressure the inhabitants were ordered off the island. -more-


Covert USAID Program Aimed at Cuba

By Jagjit Singh
Friday April 11, 2014 - 10:58:00 AM

Disturbing covert operations of USAID have recently come to light. According to Associated Press reports, the communications network, "ZunZuneo" — slang for a Cuban hummingbird’s tweet, created a fake “Cuban Twitter” with secret shell companies financed through foreign banks. The younger population was inundated with Tweets encouraging them to rebel and undermine the government. The United States planned to use the platform to spread political upheaval that might trigger a Cuban Spring, or, as one USAID document stated, "renegotiate the balance of power between the state and society”. -more-


Editorial

Whatever Became of Interpretative Local Journalism?

By Becky O'Malley
Sunday April 06, 2014 - 02:54:00 PM

A fellow ex-Pasadenan riffed in his column last week about the difficulties attached to covering the news while also trying to make money. I imagine he remembers the Pasadena Star-News from our childhood (I’m just a bit older), a prototypical small-city daily which has been published in one form or another since 1884. By the time I noticed it, it had been acquired by Barney Ridder’s nascent Ridder Publications, which was M&A’d into Knight-Ridder, briefly the largest newspaper chain in the country, or maybe even the world. But throughout the 50s and early 60s it was the voice of a reasonably self-sufficient quasi-urban streetcar suburb not unlike Berkeley in its relationship to its metropolitan area (L.A.). -more-


Columns

ON MENTAL ILLNESS: The Shredded Safety Net

By Jack Bragen
Friday April 11, 2014 - 09:48:00 AM

The mental health treatment system is a part of the safety net for persons with mental illness. However, this safety net has holes in it--gaping holes. If someone is completely disabled and can't take care of himself or herself, services do exist for such a person to be maintained. It is not a good life, but it is a life. -more-


THE PUBLIC EYE: The War on Democracy: SCOTUS Weighs In

By Bob Burnett
Friday April 11, 2014 - 09:55:00 AM

Americans are worried about the economy and economic inequality. Most of us feel the government should do something to reduce inequality. Now the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) has weighed in with its April 2nd decision in McCutcheon v. FEC making it more difficult for the 99 percent to influence government to remedy inequality. -more-


DISPACTCHES FROM THE EDGE: Continental Drift: Europe’s Breakaways

By Conn Hallinan
Friday April 11, 2014 - 09:42:00 AM

“Happy families are all alike: every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.” -more-


ECLECTIC RANT: Results of Research Concerning Assisted Outpatient Treatment in the U.S.

By Ralph E. Stone
Friday April 11, 2014 - 11:03:00 AM

In "Mental Health Commitment Laws: A Survey of the States” (Survey), the Treatment Advocacy Center comprehensively examined the laws each state uses to determine who within its population might qualify to receive involuntary or assisted outpatient treatment (AOT), for what duration, and graded each state on two measures of their response to the treatment needs of this small but high-impact population. -more-


Arts & Events

Albany High School Ensemble to Present Pride and Prejudice

Friday April 11, 2014 - 10:59:00 PM

AHS Theatre Ensemble’s production of Jane Austen’s romantic comedy, “Pride and Prejudice”, adapted for the stage by Jon Jory, opens April 24th at Albany High School’s Little Theatre. The show, directed by Cordy Driussi and Julia Marostica, and starring Zelie Anner and Leo Torrez, will run Thursdays 7pm and Fridays, Saturdays 8pm, from April 24 - May 3. -more-


The Galapagos Affair: Satan Came to Eden Opens April 11 at the Landmark Theater

By Gar Smith/ The Berkeley Daily Planet
Friday April 11, 2014 - 10:22:00 AM

This is the kind of story that cries out for a movie treatment. Mystery! Time travel! Ghosts!

Long ago, in the 1930s, three eccentric tribes were thrown together on an isolated island in the Galapagos. In a mix of Swiss Family Robinson meets Manson Family, The Galapagos Affair recounts how a clash of egos and eros turned a search for Utopia into a bizarre murder mystery. (Or, as the distributor's press kit put it: a case of "Darwin meets Hitchcock.") -more-


Theater Reviews: Two Solo Shows--Denmo Ibrahim in 'Mo;' Jeff Garrett in 'QED' for Indra's Net

By Ken Bullock
Friday April 11, 2014 - 10:01:00 AM

Solo shows are always a dicey proposition ... Sometimes strung midway between Performance Art and, well, monologues of all sorts, including not very theatrical ones, one man, one woman shows often devolve into a kind of live resumé (an in-person "reel") for an actor to be able to show what (s)he can do, between other roles in "real" plays ... -more-


Back Stories

Opinion

Public Comment

New: A Brief Response to Ralph Stone By Jack Bragen 04-12-2014

New: Money is Buying People's Power By Romila Khanna 04-12-2014

What Should Be Happening on Telegraph By Members of Copwatch 04-11-2014

Diego Garcia By Tejinder Uberoi 04-11-2014

Covert USAID Program Aimed at Cuba By Jagjit Singh 04-11-2014

News

New: Historic Preservation Council Report Expected to Aid Campaign to Save Berkeley's Historic Post Office 04-17-2014

Press Release: Post Office Advisory Council Tells Congress Better Planning and Compliance Required for Historic Post Offices From the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation 04-17-2014

Kidnapped Girl Located on Ashby in Berkeley By Scott Morris (BCN) 04-16-2014

New: Berkeley Artisan's Collective Took "Devastating" Losses in Fire By Scott Morris (BCN) 04-16-2014

Berkeley Fire Does Not Appear to Be Arson By Scott Morris (BCN) 04-15-2014

New: Teenage Girl Found in Berkeley's Elmwood District By Scott Morris (BCN) 04-16-2014

Berkeley: Wooden Duck Reopens after Massive Fire By Scott Morris (BCN) 04-14-2014

New: Pay your Taxes, Go to Gitmo? (News Analysis) By Gar Smith 04-14-2014

Fire at Wooden Duck Warehouse in Berkeley By Hannah Albarazi (BCN) 04-13-2014

Obama's A-bomb Budget:
At The Hague, Obama Decries the Nuclear Threat;
At Home His New Budget Stokes the Atomic Furnace
(News Analysis)
By Gar Smith 04-11-2014

Press Release: Will It Live or Die? Researchers Develop Biomarkers to Manage Impact of Sudden Oak Death From Mauricio Espinoza, The Ohio State University 04-14-2014

Berkeley Police Want Tasers By Jeff Shuttleworth (BCN) 04-11-2014

Beware: Toxic Anchovies, Sardines, Mussels, Scallops, Clams By Drew Himmelstein (BCN) 04-11-2014

Columns

ON MENTAL ILLNESS: The Shredded Safety Net By Jack Bragen 04-11-2014

THE PUBLIC EYE: The War on Democracy: SCOTUS Weighs In By Bob Burnett 04-11-2014

DISPACTCHES FROM THE EDGE: Continental Drift: Europe’s Breakaways By Conn Hallinan 04-11-2014

ECLECTIC RANT: Results of Research Concerning Assisted Outpatient Treatment in the U.S. By Ralph E. Stone 04-11-2014

Arts & Events

Albany High School Ensemble to Present Pride and Prejudice 04-11-2014

The Galapagos Affair: Satan Came to Eden Opens April 11 at the Landmark Theater By Gar Smith/ The Berkeley Daily Planet 04-11-2014

Theater Reviews: Two Solo Shows--Denmo Ibrahim in 'Mo;' Jeff Garrett in 'QED' for Indra's Net By Ken Bullock 04-11-2014