The Week

 

News

Panoramic Hill Gas Leak Closes Roads

Jeff Shuttleworth (BCN)
Thursday April 05, 2018 - 03:57:00 PM

A gas leak in the area of Panoramic Way and Orchard Lane near the University of California at Berkeley football stadium has caused authorities to shut off gas for residences above nearby Bancroft Way for most of the day today, Berkeley police said. -more-


Three Arrested in Berkeley for Holding Up Students

Jeff Shuttleworth (BCN)
Thursday April 05, 2018 - 10:51:00 AM

Three men have been arrested on suspicion of home invasion robbery and other crimes for allegedly taking items from two University of California at Berkeley students at gunpoint on Tuesday afternoon, police said. -more-


Press Release: Berkeley Robbery Ends in Arrests

Berkeley Police Department
Wednesday April 04, 2018 - 11:32:00 AM

On April 3, 2018 at 12:32pm, two Cal Berkeley students were walking into an apartment building on the 2600 block of Regent Street when they were approached by two men who had been loitering nearby with a group of men. One of the two suspects produced a handgun and demanded the victims’ property. Following the robbery the suspects fled southbound on Regent Street.

Officers flooded the area and within minutes stopped three men who matched the descriptions provided by the victims. One of the three was found in possession of a loaded, semi-automatic handgun with an extended magazine. He was also found in possession of stolen property belonging to one of the victims. -more-


New: SMITHEREENS: Reflections on Bits & Pieces

Gar Smith
Saturday March 03, 2018 - 09:29:00 PM

Trumper Tantrums

Under the March 25 headline "Trump's impulses threaten White House credibility," Pennsylvania Republican Charlie Dent observed how Donald Trump's "lack of impulse control" was proving a problem for politicians "on both sides of the aisle." And then Dent got specific, citing Trump's long history of "disorder, chaos, instability, uncertainty, intemperate statements."

You might say Trump's reputation has been seriously Dented. Which brings us to the appointment of John Bolton. -more-


The Berkeley Activist's Calendar, April 1-8

Kelly Hammargren, Sustainable Berkeley Coalition
Tuesday April 03, 2018 - 06:38:00 PM

The weekly summary is a voluntary civic commitment in the hope that you can be just a little better informed. Local does matter. The summary isn’t just for you, I use it too throughout the week deciding which of the many City meetings need attention. My apologies for the late post. The packets for the coming week are especially thick. -more-


Puma Spotted on UC Berkeley Campus

Keith Burbank (BCN)
Tuesday April 03, 2018 - 12:18:00 PM

A puma (mountain lion) was spotted early Monday morning on the Clark Kerr campus of the University of California at Berkeley, university police said. -more-


Berkeley Woman Killed by Train Identified

Supriya Yelimeli1 (BCN)
Tuesday April 03, 2018 - 12:20:00 PM

A woman who died after being hit by an Amtrak train in Berkeley last week has been identified.

Brianna Combash, 31, was riding a bike when she was struck and killed by a passenger train on Tuesday night, according to Amtrak and the Alameda County coroner's bureau. -more-


Opinion

Editorials

Another Un-Armed Black Man is Senselessly Shot: How Can Killings Be Stopped?

Becky O'Malley
Friday March 30, 2018 - 05:11:00 PM

If you’ve been exposed to the New Testament, either in church or just Bible as Literature class, you might recall that as Jesus was dying on the cross he invited one of the thieves who were being killed at his side to join him in Paradise that day. The lesson we were supposed to learn from that verse (Luke 23:43), at least at my school, is that no one is beyond forgiveness, that it’s never too late to repent. -more-


Public Comment

Battling the Death Penalty with Baldwin

Stephen Cooper
Friday March 30, 2018 - 05:58:00 PM

If you’re thirsting to understand our increasingly cold, jaundiced, at times carcinogenic society, James Baldwin’s singular insight about America and his dizzying, divine command of the English language are as refreshing as an icy elixir on the hottest day in hell. -more-


John Bolton

Tejinder Uberoi
Friday March 30, 2018 - 05:56:00 PM

General H.R. McMaster is resigning as national security adviser to be replaced by the ultra-hawkish, bomb throwing, John Bolton. This spells doom for US foreign policy. Bolton has openly backed war against Iran and North Korea, and was a prominent supporter of the “shock and awe” U.S. invasion of Iraq, to this day – which was the worst foreign policy decision in decades squandering trillions of dollars and sending thousands of Americans and millions of Iraqis’ to their early graves. He has openly backed bombing Iran and North Korea which might spell the early demise of the planet. He and his unstable future boss are a clear and present danger. -more-


Giving priority to those homeless with mental and health conditions

Judi Iranyi
Friday March 30, 2018 - 05:53:00 PM

As a former member of the San Francisco Shelter Monitoring Committee and a former Social Worker at the Homeless Advocacy Project, I have seen first hand the need for more supportive housing for those with mental and physical health conditions. Actually, anyone living on the street for any length of time is bound to develop a mental or physical problem. The mentally ill and those with physical conditions should be a priority in any plan to homelessness in San Francisco. -more-


Columns

ON MENTAL ILLNESS: Environment and Journaling

Jack Bragen
Friday March 30, 2018 - 05:50:00 PM

Most persons who've been hit with a psychiatric diagnosis aren't in a position to dictate the conditions under which we live. This is a hardship, because many environments we may live in aren't favorable to recovery. -more-


THE PUBLIC EYE: Facebook, Trump, And Russia

Bob Burnett
Friday March 30, 2018 - 05:46:00 PM

As the Mueller probe continues, there's new evidence about the interaction between the Trump campaign, a sinister British political consulting firm -- Cambridge Analytica, and Facebook. They collaborated to steal the 2016 election. By the way, there's a Russia connection. -more-


Arts & Events

Mahler’s Brilliant 5th at San Francisco Symphony

Reviewed by James Roy MacBean
Friday March 30, 2018 - 05:43:00 PM

To my mind, Gustav Mahler’s Symphony No. 5 in C-sharp minor, composed in 1902, is without doubt the greatest symphony of the twentieth century, rivaled only by Dmitri Shostakovich’s Fifth Symphony. I might even claim that Mahler’s Fifth is the greatest symphony since Beethoven, rivaled only by the Brahms Fourth. Rankings aside, however, no one, I believe, can hear Mahler’s Fifth Symphony in a live performance by a top-level orchestra and come away unmoved and unimpressed. Surely everyone who heard one of the four performances this week of Mahler’s Fifth by San Francisco Symphony came away with a sense of awe and appreciation for this giant of a symphony. (Due in part to its 75-minute length, but also because of its bold ambitions and enormous wealth of detail, Mahler’s Fifth is often nicknamed the “Giant.”) -more-


Céline Ricci’s Ars Minerva Salutes Women of the Mediterranean

Reviewed by James Roy MacBean
Friday March 30, 2018 - 05:29:00 PM