Neighbors of an alleged Oregon Street drug-dealing two-house complex say they never suspected any illegal activity at the residences, but call it a “problem property” that they now want the owner to sell. -more-
One of Berkeley’s largest affordable housing developers has been stripped of its federal funding amid charges that it has engaged in nepotism and misallocated funds. -more-
In City Council District 5, running for the seat being vacated by Councilmember Miriam Hawley are Jesse Townley, a civic-minded musician who offers youth and a fresh perspective, Laurie Capitelli, a real estate broker, connected to the city’s establishment who hasn’t sought to make waves, and community activist Barbara Gilbert, who thinks that the establishment will tax and spend the city into the ground. -more-
Following complaints by neighbors of a controversial South Richmond development site, the top official of the San Francisco Bay Area Water Quality Control Board promised Thursday to order round-the-clock monitoring of potentially toxic dust and compounds escaping from the Campus Bay project. -more-
Backed by a crowd of some 40 sign-carrying union members, representatives of the Berkeley Unified School District’s custodians, maintenance and food service workers, and bus drivers told BUSD board members Wednesday night the district must change its stand on worker health care and salary needs in contract mediation talks scheduled to begin next week. -more-
At Tuesday’s City Council meeting, Mayor Tom Bates delivered a proposal that could bridge the city’s creek divide. -more-
The first two weeks of October saw political contributions skyrocket for citywide ballot measures and slow down for City Council candidates, according to campaign contribution and expense reports released this week. -more-
On Sept. 29 the Governor signed SB 1818, which City of Berkeley planner Mark Rhoades has called a “bombshell.” Despite strong concerns expressed by the League of California Cities, the bill had sailed through its final votes: no nays at all in the Senate and only four (including Loni Hancock) in the Assembly. It makes many changes to crucial Section 65915 of the state’s density bonus law. -more-
Voters in the city of Albany, one of Alameda County’s smallest cities (18,000 population), will be asked to choose three City Councilmembers out of six candidates. All of the candidates are running at-large. -more-
UC Berkeley officials issued a statement of regret about a computer hacking that may have exposed the names and social security numbers of about 600,000 people. -more-
The talk around town this week is that the sudden decision of Richard Word to resign his job as chief of police of big-city Oakland to take up the same position in little-city Vacaville is a terrible step down for Mr. Word and, therefore, a significant personal defeat. I don’t know. The assumption, here, is that bigger is always better, and that in order to demonstrate career progress, an Oakland executive must necessarily move on to places like Atlanta, Detroit, or Los Angeles, where national reputations can be made. In fact, not knowing the state of either Mr. Word’s mind or his heart, we can’t be sure that he doesn’t consider a transfer of responsibility from the 400,000 citizens of Oakland to the 90,000 citizens of Vacaville as nothing short of a breath of fresh air. -more-
28. Federal Judicial Branch -more-
Editors, Daily Planet: -more-
Retired Chief Dies in Venice -more-
With the friendly assistance of the late Edward Lear: -more-
This November election voters in the Berkeley and neighboring communities have a chance to improve our East Bay Regional Parks by voting Yes on Measure CC. This is a funding measure to raise money to pay for habitat restoration and improvements in the parks. -more-
As a longtime Berkeley resident and employee of a non-profit organization, I support Measures J, K, and L. I believe that front-line services, our libraries and programs that support youth and safety in our communities must be protected. -more-
If Measure Q passes, the Berkeley Police will be told to make the enforcement of existing laws against prostitution their lowest priority. Supporters say that this will help women. -more-
Editors, Daily Planet: -more-
The following small sampling of articles regarding DUI caused deaths from metropolitan newspapers is only the tip of the drunk driving catastrophe that continues unabated just in the Bay Area: “Motorist convicted in teacher’s death” “3 vehicular deaths on Memorial Day” (at least two DUI cases) “Driver slams mailbox, rider killed.” The Sept. 7 SF Chronicle reports “eight dead in Bay Area car accidents over holiday weekend—37 in state.” At least five of the drivers responsible were alleged to be DUI. In the article CHP Sgt. Wayne Ziese said, “Obviously, drinking and driving is still a problem here in the Bay Area.” -more-
Coming off a successful run of Love and Taxes in Seattle and with a film version of his earlier monologue Red Diaper Baby premiering today (Friday) at SF’s Roxie and Marin’s Rafael theaters, solo performer Josh Kornbluth has declared a “Joshtoberfest” wi th the opening of Ben Franklin: Unplugged at SF’s Magic Theatre in Fort Mason in advance of a national tour. -more-
A downtown Berkeley bank robbery ended Friday with the arrest of the dye-smeared suspect aboard a packed AC Transit bus in rush hour traffic. -more-
Berkeley’s Zoning Adjustments Board has greenlighted the most controversial building yet in the downtown area, the nine-story luxury Seagate apartment—or is it condo?—on Center Street. -more-
With its final meeting before Election Day scheduled for Tuesday, city councilmembers insist they won’t duck quite possibly the most controversial issue of the year. -more-
With Berkeley voters set to decide the fate of $8 million in proposed tax increases, Mayor Tom Bates publicized Monday a preliminary report claiming that the city on average offers more services for about the same price than comparable California cities. -more-
Zoning Adjustments Board members voted Thursday to allow an upscale Shattuck Avenue pasta eatery to sell take-out vino along with their penne and linguini. -more-
Berkeley native Ulysses Ellis never imagined that failing to buckle his safety belt could land him in a legal morass. -more-
While the three candidates for the Albany Unified School District agreed that overcoming fiscal challenges is one of the top two priorities in the district, they divided over what they believe is the other most important issue. -more-
The Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory—formerly the Radiation Laboratory—will hold a Wednesday evening public hearing on the proposed 10-year hazardous waste facility permit for the site. -more-
With two of its five members up for re-election in two weeks, the Berkeley Unified School District Board of Education has set a light agenda for Wednesday night, its last scheduled meeting before the Nov. 2 vote. The meeting will begin at 6 p.m. at the Old City Hall on Martin Luther King Jr. Way. -more-
The on-line Berkeley Police Bulletin for Friday, October 15, reported a homicide at 1:54 a.m. Berkeley Homicide Det. Robert Rittenhouse told the Planet on Monday that the death is considered suspicious and is under investigation. Police did not return subsequent calls about the incident. -more-
I have seen firsthand that while the current board is well intentioned—the board has not been able to engage our community in the open, inclusive, and interest-based dialogue necessary to address student achievement from kindergarten through grade 12 in a comprehensive, effective and sustainable way. After more than ten years, the district has yet to develop a district-wide student achievement plan that addresses students at every academic level and need. Over the years, school communities have been forced to develop plans on their own, without clear district guidelines, data-driven research, training on how to develop adequate plans, or set evaluation standards, which has resulted in a piecemeal, hit or miss approach in addressing the success of our schools and students. -more-
I am running for this office because I believe there is too much politics on the Berkeley School Board. Examples include closing Franklin School and the former adult school, and turning school playgrounds into parking lots (at Franklin School and the Berkeley High tennis courts). The Berkeley Citizen Action (BCA) majority is beginning again the same old plan—closing schools to free up land for development—just as they did in 1984. That was disastrous, and it took years for our schools to begin to recover from it. -more-
I believe improving our educational system must be a top priority in our communities. We need good, dedicated School Board members who are committed to the institution of public education, to inspire our children and to build a better future for ALL young people. That is why I am running for re-election to the School Board. -more-
I am Kalima Rose, a parent of two Berkeley school students, and a CAL alum. -more-
I am running for a second term for the Berkeley School Board. It has been a privilege to serve you these last four difficult years; I look forward to serving you another four. I was the only new boardmember when I assumed office in December 2000. I immediately started asking the hard questions. Superintendent McLaughlin would leave by Feb. 1, 2001, and left the district with several administrators in the wrong position or in over their heads, and fiscal, payroll, budget, and personnel systems in complete disarray. We hired an interim superintendent, Steve Goldstone. For several months we conducted a search for a permanent superintendent, eventually hiring Michele Lawrence in July 2001. During the first months of my term we discovered a budget deficit estimated at five to six million; estimated because there was no confidence in the ability of our business office at that time to generate accurate numbers. I am not exaggerating when I say the entire business operations had been neglected, abandoned, and mismanaged for years. -more-
George W. Bush has been good to me. To call him my savior would be overstating the case, but not by much. I was drifting, with little sense of direction or purpose, when he came to me and showed me the way. It will be difficult to vote against a man who has given me so much. -more-
Slogging onward towards Babylon on a diet of fast food politics, I cannot bring myself to wear a Kerry button or put his bumper sticker on my car. I cannot support him, but I would, if I have to, vote for him. -more-
Editors, Daily Planet: -more-
The real debate story was not President Bush’s poor performance or the fact that John Kerry’s skill changed the dynamics of the election. What will be discussed long after the election is over, and these events fade in our memories, is the fact that Bush agreed to the debates at all. -more-
At its Oct. 12, 2004 meeting, the City Council passed the first reading of a recommendation from the Rent Board for an amendment to the Ellis Implementation Ordinance. The three reasons given for the increase of the fixed relocation payment from $4,500 to $7,000 were: 1) what Berkeley has done in the past, 2) what other rent-controlled communities have done, and 3) analogy to the state and federal eminent domain laws, which are designed to protect the constitutional rights of tenants and others. -more-
It’s hard to believe that I was jealous of a man who could not move his arms or legs, or breathe on his own, but I was. You see, in 1995 Christopher Reeve became paralyzed from the neck down, just as my husband Ralph did in a Claremont Avenue bicycling accident in 1994. But Reeve was less fortunate than Ralph. His injury was higher up on his spinal chord, and he was forced to use a ventilator in order to move his lungs. Even so, I was suspicious that because of his celebrity, Christopher Reeve received better treatment from his doctors than Ralph experienced at our HMO. -more-
26. Education for All -more-
G. B. Shaw famously quipped, “Those who can, do, and those who can’t, teach.” He obviously had never met anyone like Jerry Kuderna, for whom the acts of performing, teaching, and learning blend irresistibly, growing from the same root of almost religious devotion. -more-
When Sana Makhoul started studying for her master’s degree in art history at San Jose State University, she noticed that her native Arab culture was either unexamined or misrepresented in all the books she used for class and decided to find out why. -more-
Boas in Berkeley? Unlikely as it seems, we do have a native species of boa. But this isn’t one of the giant constrictors of the tropics, big enough to swallow a deer. Rubber boas max out around 26 inches in length, prey on small vertebrates, and are among the most inoffensive of serpents. -more-
If 2000 was the year of the soccer mom, 2004 is the year for flip-flops: as fashion footwear, waving props (at the Republican convention) and taunting yells (at Bush rallies). This strategy was the brainchild of Karl Rove, Bush’s chief political strategist, who decided that the way for Bush to win was to destroy Kerry’s credibility and to attack his leadership qualities, largely by focusing on his alleged inconsistencies about the war in Iraq. -more-
A friend of ours has been planning to go to Florida in the next couple of weeks to help with the get-out-the-vote effort. As the date approaches, she’s begun to wonder if it would be more effective to donate the cost of the trip to an organization already working in the field. Trying to help her make up her mind, I offered to poll my several politically astute cousins who live in Florida to see if they thought she should go. Their return emails were a good window on what’s going on in their part of the country. -more-
The soft light of autumn. Vibrant color. The sun overhead but the days crisp. The time of year when nature begins to slow down, to begin preparations for the cold and darkness of winter. A perfect time to spend a weekend soaking up the light and beauty around the Sierra Buttes. -more-
