The Berkeley Police Department confirms the death of Roger and Valerie Morash was caused by acute carbon monoxide intoxication and believe their deaths was a tragic accident. -more-

Protests against far-right writer and speaker Milo Yiannopoulos on Wednesday caused more than $100,000 in damage to the University of California at Berkeley campus, not counting more than a dozen businesses that were vandalized in the city's downtown area and Telegraph corridor, university officials said today. -more-

The day after a scheduled appearance at UC Berkeley by right-wing provocateur Milo Yiannopoulos erupted in violence and ended before it began, campus officials condemned the actions of agitators who invaded the campus and disrupted nearly 1,500 peaceful protesters. They also praised small groups of Berkeley students who organized themselves to begin cleaning up debris. -more-

A student at the University of California at Berkeley, another at Stanford University and one at a San Diego college filed suit Thursday challenging President Donald Trump's executive order banning travel from seven majority Muslim countries. -more-

The State Bar of California is urging attorneys in the Golden State to volunteer to help people who need a lawyer but can't afford one for immigration issues and other problems. -more-

Holdovers from the Bates administration on the city staff are still running government, accommodating developers, and thwarting the public.

The controversial Berkeley Honda proposal to shoehorn a repair shop/dealership into the old Berkeley Bowl building was approved on September 8 by the old ZAB with the help of an accommodating planning staff, and the votes of 4 new or substitute members. Given the makeup of the old ZAB and the anti-neighborhood bias of the Bates-era staff, no one was surprised by the outcome.

The neighborhood appealed the ZAB decision, as everyone expected. Then an election happened.

The new mayor Jesse Arreguin smartly judged that the public hearing for this controversial issue should be the only agenda item, and so it is. The hearing for the neighborhood appeal is set for Tuesday February 7 at 6:00 p.m.

So far, so good, right? We'll hash the thing out on the merits, and may the best arguments win. Not so fast, folks—what's this? -more-

The Trump administration appears to be renewing the possibility of violent confrontation with Iran using a questionable pretext—Iran’s testing of conventional missiles. -more-

The idea that something wonderful and mythic happens to a plain and ordinary man when he becomes president is magical thinking. When it is finally realized that President Donald Trump is a fraud the entire world economy could collapse. Perhaps California is on the right track in trying to find a better path; to go alone perhaps, or to find a way to limit influence of a federal government out of control, run amok or not to be trusted. -more-

Hardly a week has elapsed since President Trump and Vice-President Vladimir Putin took over the reins of power. Trump seems to have forgotten his criticism of his predecessor’s “unilateral edicts” and “power grabs”. Iowa Senator Charles Grassley was equally critical of Obama once stating: “The president looks more and more like a king that the Constitution was designed to replace.” -more-

Democrats condemn the immigration ban on seven countries as being anti-Muslim, antithetical to our American values. Republicans defend it saying it only bans immigrants from seven of 19 Muslim-majority countries. Democrats point out that nobody from those seven countries has ever caused a terror incident in our country, and that many countries of terrorists' origin just happen to be places where the President has private business dealings. Republicans answer that the list came from the Obama administration.

Nevertheless, Republicans and Democrats do agree that the immigration ban was poorly planned, insufficiently vetted, and incompetently managed. Green-card holders, valid visa recipients, and people with dual citizenship should not have been banned. Given then-candidate-Trump's many statements about excluding Muslims, and the public admission that he commissioned Rudy Giuliani to find a "legal way" to make such a restriction, the appearance of immoral discrimination overwhelms whatever words are on the executive order.

Huge damage is being done, according to hundreds of military and State Department professionals who know what they are talking about. Trump's blunder is weakening the resolve of our allies in the fight against ISIS, and strengthening the veracity of terrorists among their adherents.

Seeking and taking advice from knowledgeable professionals is something the arrogant blowhard bullies in the White House are incapable of, to the detriment of our national security and our moral reputation. How much more danger must we be put in before the Republicans in Congress realize that impeachment is necessary? -more-

ithin hours of Trump’s ban on seven Muslim majority countries, State Department officials crafted a dissenting memo which has gone viral. The memo repudiates Trump’s justification of the ban. Like a chain letter, the memo has been sent to all US embassies around the world in one of the largest protests against presidential policies. Thus far, the memo carries 1,000 signatures but more and more officials wanted to add their names to voice their fierce opposition to Trump’s misguided policies. Many commented that the visa ban would surely “alienate allies” and “hurt America economically.” Our negotiating wizard seems be unaware that foreign travelers inject nearly $250 billion into the American economy and support more than one million jobs. Furthermore, Trump’s stated claim to keep us safer is hogwash. There hasn’t been a single terrorist attack in America by anyone in the targeted seven countries during the past 40 years. According to the Cato Institute, the risk of an American being victim to a terrorist attack by a refugee in a given year is one in 3.6 billion. -more-

In the wake of Donald Trump's abrasive January 27th immigration order, some critics have described a White House in chaos and characterized Trump's policy czar, Steve Bannon, as "in his over his head." Wrong. Trump and Bannon know exactly what they are doing. Trump's immigration orders portend a devastating campaign against immigrants, one that will lead to war in the Middle East. -more-

Human beings in most places of our planet seem to judge people by their position in life. In the U.S., and probably in most countries, that translates to a person’s success level at a career. Many persons with mental illness are deprived of having a good career--and this is a hindrance to self-value as well as to being valued by others. -more-

The Berkeley College Republicans hosted conservative Breitbart News editor Milo Yiannopoulos to speak at UC Berkeley. Known by many as a hate-filled agent provocateur, his scheduled appearance sparked demonstrations. The UC Berkeley administration initially took the high road, saying that it could not discriminate based on a speaker's anticipated speech. -more-

The Senate should confirm Neil Gorsuch to the Supreme Court if he is found to be qualified. I understand the Republicans refused to even consider Merrick Garland, Obama’s Supreme Court nominee, even though Obama had ten months left on his term at the time. I also understand had Hillary Clinton become president, the Republicans indicated no nominee of hers would be confirmed either. -more-

"I'm always drunk in San Francisco/And I don't drink at all." -more-

Wonderful Kalil Wilson, the jazz singer who grew up in North Oakland, will sing next Friday night with his trio Love (Dan Marshak, Sam Adams and young drums prodigy Genius Wesley) at Oakland's great little spot for jazz, the Sound Room on Broadway, two blocks (past the Paramount Theatre, towards Grand) from 19th Street BART. -more-

For more than four decades Jordi Savall and the ensemble Hespèrion XX, now Hespèrion XXI, have explored a rich trove of music composed between the Middle Ages and the Baroque. They have unearthed musical scores long forgotten by composers also long forgotten. In doing so, they have enriched our understanding of the development of European music from the Gothic period to the Baroque. The concert given on Friday, January 27, at Zellerbach Hall by Jordi Savall and Hespèrion XXI provided yet another instance of this ensemble’s unwavering commitment to filling in the gaps, as it were, in our understanding of European music. For this concert, they focused on Venetian influences in musical Europe between 1500 and 1700. -more-

Emmanuel Villaume, Prague Philharmonia’s Music Director and Chief Conductor, brought his orchestra to Davies Hall on Sunday evening, January 29, for a concert of Czech music by Bedřic Smetana and Antonín Dvořák. On the program were Smetana’s Vltava (The Moldau) from Má Vlast (My Country), and Dvořák’s Cello Concerto in B minor and his Symphony No. 8 in G Major. Gautier Capuçon was the exciting young soloist in the Dvořák Cello Concerto. -more-