Inspired by the need to pay for the school’s beloved drama program, the Parent Teacher Student Association at Malcolm X Arts and Academics Magnet School has come a long way from bake sales. -more-

A strongly worded audit report released last week charges that Berkeley’s parking enforcement has suffered a decline in production and morale, and officials have failed to safeguard parking meter money. -more-

Former East Bay Democratic Assemblymember Dion Aroner has become a lobbyist for a Canadian racing track firm which has teamed up with powerful Los Angeles developer and Republican Rick Caruso, intensifying their push for a massive “theme” mall on the Albany waterfront. -more-

A week after the Berkeley Unified School District board heard praises for its conversion plans for East Campus, a board director has asked for a new plan with a baseball diamond on the site, reigniting a long-standing controversy over the property and possible Derby Street closure. -more-

For several of her nearly 20 years in Berkeley Sara Holmes didn’t know there was ever a fountain at the Arlington Traffic Circle. But now that it’s back, she can’t take her eyes off of it. -more-

With the West Berkeley Plan up for reconsideration this year, the fate of Berkeley’s industrial core hangs in the balance. -more-

An Oakland education activist was physically removed by a bodyguard from a San Francisco press conference called by State Superintendent of Instruction Jack O’Connell Monday morning when he tried to deliver a letter asking the Superintendent to meet with Oakland residents over the operation of the Oakland Unified School District. -more-

Albany City Councilmember Robert Leiber said that Berkeley Mayor Tom Bates, Dion Aroner’s predecessor in the state Assembly, told him that he wants a hotel built on part of the Golden Gate Fields property within Berkeley city limits, something the mayor denies. -more-

East Bay Assemblymember Loni Hancock’s urban casino legislation is within two weeks of completion, and other, similar measures are nearing introduction into the state Senate. -more-

Berkeley residents got their first official chance to weigh in on the conversion of Berkeley Unified School District’s sprawling West Campus properties last week when developers hired by the district held their first community meeting. -more-

RFID INSTALLATION -more-

Click here to view the latest work by Planet cartoonist Justin DeFreitasÿ -more-

Is the “Coalition of the Willing” unraveling in Iraq? The recent shooting by U.S. troops of kidnapped Italian journalist Giuliana Sgrena and her rescuer Nicola Calipari is raising suspicion that the coalition’s operations in Iraq are slipping into disarray. Moreover, the incident has driven deeper the wedge between Washington and its reluctant European allies. -more-

New Yorker regular Malcolm Gladwell has written a new book about instantaneous decision-making called Blink. The title would provide an apt characterization for the presidency of George W. Bush, whose actions often are based on little more than his gut-feelings. -more-

In the spirit of Susan Orlean’s recent “Lost Dog” piece in The New Yorker, I feel compelled to tell my own lost dog story. Actually I have two, a bonus for the reader, extra credit for me. -more-

Indoor Grass Fire -more-

Being a forensic clinical psychologist who has chosen to work, at Atascadero State Hospital, with “Sexually Violent Predators,” as well as other mentally disordered forensic patients, I have counted on the CalPers retirement to make up the core of my retirement planning. I chose to work with the forensic population for the simple reason that I found it interesting to work with mentally disordered criminal offenders and especially with the “Sexually Violent Predators,” who have been committed. I wanted to work with a group of people for whom many professionals find it difficult to provide treatment. I have found existential meaning in this work because 1) I am helping to assess whether or not these people are safe to return to the community; and, 2) I am helping people who otherwise would be pushed to the absolute margins of society and perhaps re-offend due to their social alienation. Ultimately, I have wanted to provide treatment to these folks so that in some small way I can contribute to the safety of my state. -more-

I spent four hours at the City Council meeting on Tuesday, Jan. 18, enjoying watching democracy in action. The issue was the reconfiguration of Marin Avenue, which I oppose. -more-

They’re back! -more-

The Shotgun Players is running a new translation (Tom Hoover’s) of Albert Camus’ The Just (Les Justes) at the Ashby Stage. The program’s studded with quotations, not only from Camus, but also from Shakespeare, Thoreau, Emerson, emphasizing zeal for justice, such as Emerson’s “Heroism feels and never reasons, and therefore is always right.” The play explores that zeal which gives birth to revolutionaries—and the courage necessary for them to act. -more-

TUESDAY, MARCH 8 -more-

While we’re waiting for the first delicate ash-tree leaves to unfurl, and their later-rising neighbors to follow their example, I’m going to talk about why trees in a city are a good thing, and why we should think long and hard before cutting down a healthy one. -more-

TUESDAY, MARCH 8 -more-