Claremont Hotel For Sale, Shattuck Hotel in Escrow
A deal has been all but completed to sell the 94-year-old Shattuck Hotel and turn it into short-term student housing for international students, said city officials and hotel employees. -more-
A deal has been all but completed to sell the 94-year-old Shattuck Hotel and turn it into short-term student housing for international students, said city officials and hotel employees. -more-
When word broke last week that the city’s largest free dinner, the Quarter Meal, will be reducing service and possibly closing, many wondered what further hits await Berkeley food programs already facing cuts in both city and private sector funding. -more-
The Claremont Resort and Spa—the East Bay’s premier resort—is up for sale. -more-
What is happening in Berkeley’s downtown core, who is in charge, what is the vision? Despite being a longtime civic activist, I have no coherent idea of what is going on downtown beyond a series of catch-as-catch-can projects of varying degrees of attractiveness and plausibility, and behind the loud noise of a downtown boosterism that evidently masks a lot of confusion. Having checked with other citizen activists and city officials who should be in the know about downtown, I am convinced that no one is minding the downtown shop or has any clear notion of what our downtown will be like in 2020. -more-
KPFA General Manager Gus Newport announced Monday that he’s stepping down after eight short months at the helm of the Bay Area’s best-known alternative radio station. Newport said personal commitments, including the need to be with his 91-year-old mother who lives in New York, contributed to the decision. -more-
Amid a testy debate that unlocked the door on one of the Berkeley Unified School District’s most sensitive issues—white flight—the school board Wednesday approved a plan to further integrate elementary schools despite warnings from one board member that it was picking an unnecessary legal fight. -more-
Carl Freire absolutely, positively has to be in Japan next year. But a botched pick-up by Federal Express has cost the UC Berkeley doctoral candidate and 29 of his colleagues their best shot at a prestigious fellowship allowing them to study abroad. -more-
Ignoring Mayor Tom Bates’ request to “hold off on the formal creation of a [UC Hotel Complex] task force for a month or so until a permit process is negotiated with the university,” a four-member planning commission subcommittee moved forward with the immediate creation of the UC Hotel Complex Task Force this week, including compiling a list of 24 members to be presented to the Berkeley Planning Commission at their Feb. 11 meeting and scheduling a Saturday morning walking tour of the proposed hotel site. -more-
Renewing the question of how much money Berkeley may be missing in so-called “escaped property fees and taxes” because of blind spots in its assessment program, the Berkeley Finance Administration has increased the taxable assessment of Patrick Kennedy’s controversial Gaia Building following a query from a former member of the Berkeley Landmarks Preservation Commission. -more-
The Massachusetts Supreme Court advisory, stating that nothing short of marriage for same-sex couples would satisfy the state constitution, has sent legislators throughout the nation as well as President Bush scrambling to define marriage as between “one man and one woman.” -more-
Back in my other home, in South Carolina, there used to be a neighborhood woman who could predict the weather by the pain in her knee joints. I’ve never been able to do that, but lately I’ve been getting pretty good at predicting when an Oakland City Council election is coming up. When Henry Chang gets in the paper proposing some law about police or violence or something like that, it’s time to get ready to vote. -more-
The Actor’s Ensemble, Berkeley’s oldest theater group (they’ve been around for 47 years) is staging a version of Helen of Troy which thumbs its nose at the story that most of us have heard over the years. You know, that’s the one that claims that the Trojan War’s 10 year’s worth of slaughter exploded into history because King Menelaos’ wife, Helen, run off with the gorgeous Greek Prince, Paris. -more-
It’s been quite a year for voles. The evidence for this is indirect: high numbers of hawks, from the pastures of Point Reyes to the farmlands of Solano County. Word seems to get around that there’s a bumper crop of tasty rodents. -more-
Over the next several days, join EGRET's Park Guides in exploring Aquatic Park. All events last 90 minutes and begin outside the cabin in front of Middle Pond at the park’s southern entrance. -more-
“Look! This wasn’t here last week!” Mark Liolios shows visitors a strong green shoot on a willow trunk. Recent hand-clearing of tangled, sun blocking, ivy and brambles along the eastern edge of Berkeley’s Aquatic Park has encouraged the gnarled tree to vigorously re-sprout. -more-
A national cleaning chain settled a lawsuit last week that charged it with polluting Berkeley’s Strawberry Creek. -more-
Coit Settles Strawberry Creek Pollution Suit 02-06-2004
Editorial: The Extension Business 02-03-2004
Claremont Hotel For Sale, Shattuck Hotel in Escrow By MATTHEW ARTZ 02-06-2004
Berkeley This Week 02-06-2004
Letters to the Editor 02-06-2004
Arts Calendar 02-06-2004
Funding Crisis Confronts Berkeley Food Programs By JAKOB SCHILLER 02-06-2004
BERKELEY FREE FOLK FESTIVAL 02-06-2004
Claremont Sale News Revealed by Leaders Of Boycott Campaign By JAKOB SCHILLER 02-06-2004
Downtown Berkeley: Who’s Minding the Shop? By BARBARA GILBERT 02-06-2004
Newport to Leave KPFA By JAKOB SCHILLER 02-06-2004
Despite Lawsuit, School Board Adopts Racial Criteria By MATTHEW ARTZ 02-06-2004
FedEx Error Foils Fulbright Hopes of UCB Students By MATTHEW ARTZ 02-06-2004
Planners Choose 24 Panelists To Probe UC Hotel Proposal By J. DOUGLAS ALLEN-TAYLOR 02-06-2004
Gaia Building Takes Another Property Tax Hit J Douglas Allen Taylor 02-06-2004
News Analysis: Gender Poses Headaches for Legislators By WILLIAM O. BEEMAN Pacific News Service 02-06-2004
UnderCurrents: Pandas, Flying Squads, and Two Bloody Weeks J. DOUGLAS ALLEN-TAYLOR 02-06-2004
A Daring ‘Helen’ Bogs Down in Second Act By BETSY HUNTON Special to the Planet 02-06-2004
What’s for Dinner? Voles Top the List for Raptors By JOE EATON Special to the Planet 02-06-2004
Upcoming Special Events 02-06-2004
EGRET’s Volunteers Serve People and Wildlife By STEVEN FINACOM Special to the Planet 02-06-2004
Homeless Meal Program Slashed, May End Soonsoon Jakob Schiller 02-03-2004
Berkeley This Week 02-03-2004
Letters to the Editor 02-03-2004
Arts Calendar 02-03-2004
Missed Phone Call Costs Berkeley Man His Home J. Douglas Allen-Taylor 02-03-2004
Does Flawed Stucco Plague New City Buildings? By GALE GARCIA 02-03-2004
Renaming Vote Stirs School Matthew Artz 02-03-2004
FIVE CORRECTIONS Tom Bates 02-03-2004
Pot Clubs Worry City May Impose New Regulations Matthew Artz 02-03-2004
Bed and Breakfast Owners Face New City Regulations Jacob Adelman 02-03-2004
Made In Berkeley: Berkeley's Body Time the Original Body Shop Zelda Bronstein 02-03-2004
Avian Flu Creates Major Asia Travel Disruptions By SANDIP ROY Pacific News Service 02-03-2004
Farmworkers File Suit to Stop Use of Two Pesticides Pesticide Action Network Updates Service 02-03-2004
‘The Fog of War’ Leaves McNamara Unscathed By ANDREW LAM Pacific News Service 02-03-2004
‘I Can’t Help Thinking About ICU Room 335’ From Susan Parker 02-03-2004
Police Blotter By MATTHEW ARTZ 02-03-2004
Mural’s Sad Fate Spotlights Civic Art Program By JAKOB SCHILLER 02-03-2004
Guests Like B&Bs’ Personal Touch By JACOB ADELMAN Special to the Planet 02-03-2004
Greens: Easy to Grow and Cook By SHIRLEY BARKER Special to the Planet 02-03-2004