At least two major properties built by prominent developer Patrick Kennedy are not paying Berkeley special fees and assessments, according to Alameda County property tax records and officials interviewed by the Daily Planet. -more-
FRIDAY, OCT. 24
“As California has become more solidly Democratic, the name [Left Coast]—with its political connotation—is most closely associated with that state. (Oregon and Washington are still up for linguistic grabs.) -more-
Smiling, understanding and patient, Seymour Fromer ambled through the museum he’s been building for the past four decades, explaining the remarkable touchstones to history he’s selected for the show that will mark the reopening of a treasured Berkeley institution. -more-
FRIDAY, OCT. 24
n an occasional series by UC Berkeley journalism students. -more-
The future site for the Berkeley Adult School will have a different look as neighbors had demanded, but some now fear that the additional expenses required could cost them a planned playground. -more-
On this date in 1945, World War II battle-weary nations came together in San Francisco in the War Memorial Building, appropriately enough. They agreed to establish an international organization that could ensure world peace, and they brought the United Nations into existence with the highest of hopes. Today, the Bush administration charges that the UN has become an outmoded debating society lacking the gumption to act. But as the president should know, the UN was not designed to exercise power on its own; rather, it was intentionally set up to be almost entirely dependent on the will and wishes of its member states. Thus, when the Bush administration pulls the rug out from under the UN and then blames the UN for falling down, the administration is deliberately misleading the public on the rules by which the UN operates. -more-
As Casen Maloy leisurely walks down Billie Jean Walk she is following a timetable controlled by a bus. -more-
The Berkeley Rent Board entered a new era Monday, but the results looked a lot like the old as members agonized over a dizzying array of rent hike proposals—with the monthly dollar differences between the lower and higher increases barely enough to cover the cost of a cup of coffee. -more-
Last Tuesday’s Berkeley City Council meeting began with a love fest and ended with a bloody fistfight...literally. -more-
Residents on a South Berkeley block victimized by a rash of car vandalisms are uniting to build a community they hope will be strong enough to stop the culprit from striking again. -more-
Back home—meaning, the back South version of back home—there used to be an older woman who, under certain unusual circumstances, would raise her hands, roll her eyes, and declare, “Oh, my God, it’s scooty-time again.” By “scooty-time,” I think she meant a series of odd, unexplained circumstances that were not especially remarkable or noteworthy in and of themselves, but put together in a long string, they added up to a condition of general looniness. As for me, “scooty-time” always gave me the image of a pack of old men wearing dark shades and riding scooters, running around in circles bumping smack into each other and anything else that got in the way. But maybe it’s the same thing. -more-
EDITOR’S NOTE: For residents of a smoggy black neighborhood in a small Georgia city, federal agencies’ failure to address environmental racism—documented in a scathing new government report—is felt each time they take a breath. -more-
EDITORS NOTE: This is the first article in an occasional series by UC Berkeley journalism students. -more-
As Casen Maloy leisurely walks down Billie Jean Walk she is following a timetable controlled by a bus. -more-
One of Berkeley’s largest nonprofits—its survival threatened by accounting mishaps and mounting debt—has asked city and county officials for a helping hand to solve a looming cash shortfall, which some estimates place at $900,000. -more-
It’s hard to imagine enhancing the inherent beauty of a violin or harpsichord until you see what Berkeley’s Janine Johnson can do with one. -more-
Berkeley City Council, at its 5 p.m. working session tonight (Tuesday, Oct. 21), takes its second look at four proposed ballot measures designed to shore up the city’s projected $15 million budget deficit and change the way elections are held in the city. -more-
Every Berkeley resident should be outraged that people in South Berkeley are living each and every day with violent crime. Just imagine having to cope with the ordinary day-to-day stress of raising children, working to earn a living, driving in today’s traffic and maintaining a household plus having to deal with crime and the threat of crime outside of your door. In the last few months, South Berkeley residents have had to live with gunshots in the night, a body dumped on the street, over 20 rounds fired from guns at high noon near a public school, young boys viciously attacked, kicked and beaten by other youngsters, killings related to a drug war stemming from shared social problems with Oakland, a resurgence of drug dealing, hate crimes that go unrecognized and so have little chance of being stopped, and a canceled high school football game because of the fear of violence. -more-
Berkeley and Oakland Police have apprehended nearly all the suspects connected to a series of violent shootings along the South Berkeley-North Oakland border earlier this year, according to officers interviewed after a regional crime prevention meeting Friday. -more-
Patrons of the Downtown YMCA will soon get a sneak preview of Berkeley’s changed parking picture—which some describe as a crunch and others as a matter of lowered expectations. -more-
Rachel Odes, Michael Smith and Snehal Shingavi—the three UC Berkeley students found responsible Oct. 13 for violating two counts of the UC Berkeley student code of conduct during an anti-war protest—have refused to acknowledge any wrong-doing and have announced plans to run a full-page ad in the Daily Californian protesting their convictions. -more-
The Women’s Sports Foundation Monday named Berkeley’s record-setting swimmer Natalie Coughlin and pro basketball player Lisa Leslie as their 2003 Sportswomen of the Year. The awards honor team and individual sport athletes for their achievements from August 2002 through July 2003 and were presented at a ceremony Monday night at the Waldorf-Astoria in New York City. -more-
EDITOR’S NOTE: President Gonzalo Sanchez de Lozada resigned late Friday—after this article was written—following massive demonstrations in La Paz. His replacement, former Vice-President Carlos Mesa, said he would heed the demands of the Indians, who comprise the largest segment of South America's poorest nation. -more-
The neighborhood kids were begging me to take them somewhere. -more-
The East Bay has gotten a little more dangerous in the past few months. Without fanfare, the city of Oakland closed the fireboat. Not for a day, not for a week, but indefinitely. Shutters down, tanks empty, the Seawolf is destined for drydock. -more-
Elevating a lowly side dish like coleslaw to haute cuisine status is not for the run-of-the-mill cook—precisely what Roxanne Chan of Albany is not. As a recipe “contester” she spends her days dreaming up ways to make everything from chicken to potato salad in new and exciting ways. -more-
A curmudgeon, according Merriam-Webster Online, is a crusty, ill-tempered old man, so I guess I don’t qualify as a full-fledged curmudgeon. But, except for the man part, every year as Halloween approaches I feel more like a curmudgeon than ever. Halloween used to be a nice, low-key, non-sectarian opportunity for the kids to have a little cheap fun. It wasn’t part of any religious group’s traditional calendar, so everyone could participate. -more-
The latest act in the seemingly ceaseless saga which is Mayor Bates’ Task Force on Permitting and Development is now underway. A “Discussion Draft” of a final report has been posted on the web, and the first of two discussions of it took place last Friday, with a second scheduled for next Friday. Participants included original task force members, selected by the mayor with heavy weighting toward developers, and self-selected residents who regularly attend the group’s meetings. -more-
