“A Portrait of Mills: Photographs by Imogen Cunningham,” like other significant art exhibitions, instructs while it gives pleasure. Visitors will find in it, to their satisfaction, some of the iconic images for which the artist has long been famous as well as images with which they are unfamiliar. -more-

Berkeley students who don’t pass the high school exit exam may still walk with their peers on graduation day, the school board ruled Wednesday. -more-

The Berkeley Board of Education approved an environmental impact report (EIR) of the East Campus/Derby Street field Wednesday, re-igniting debate over whether a baseball diamond will be built there. -more-

Berkeley’s city councilmembers face an array of business tonight (Tuesday), starting with a workshop on condo ordinance changes, then moving on to a regular meeting that will feature landmarks, a liquor store and ADUs. -more-

Two Richmond quarries are a threat to public safety, a Richmond councilmember and a state agency both say. -more-

UC Berkeley officials will give the public and three city commissions a brief presentation of their plans for development at and around Memorial Stadium on Wednesday evening. -more-

The Peralta Community College District brought out the big guns to the district Board of Trustees meeting last week, with presentations by Chancellor Elihu Harris, two vice chancellors, and the chief financial officer to try to end the continuing controversy over the district’s office of International Affairs. -more-

With a possible teachers strike looming over stalled contract talks, the state-run Oakland Unified School District received a blow this week when the Service Employees International Union backed out of a tentative contract agreement that would have run through 2008. -more-

In the past week, Berkeley High School (BHS) student leadership has made changes to the school’s controversial attendance policy. -more-

Belated report -more-

To view Justin DeFreitas’ latest editorial cartoon, please visit -more-

BLUE MEETING -more-

Since buying my first bungalow in Berkeley 19 years ago, I have restored eleven other houses, consulted on many others, and written six best-selling books about bungalows, including Bungalow Kitchens, Bungalow Bathrooms, and Bungalow: The Ultimate Arts and Crafts Home. -more-

I took the oath to become an American citizen this week. Presidents’ Day is a perfect time to take the monumental step of becoming a citizen of this great country. After all, on Monday Americans celebrate the birthday of two men who helped form the America that made it possible for this to happen. -more-

Have you noticed there is a concerted effort on the part of the city to eliminate public parking? The idea of demolishing one of the best downtown parking lots (Hink’s) in the city, and replacing it with scores of housing units that have half as much parking as they will need for themselves and none for the public. Brilliant! Oh, and while we are at it, let’s eliminate half of the parking lot for the Ashby BART station (does anyone really use BART anyway) and install more housing and businesses, using the same model of no public parking. Is the strategy for downtown revival to provide a captive audience of shoppers within these housing developments only and to heck with shoppers from the rest of the city or other areas of the East Bay? Have you ever tried to find parking downtown on a rainy winter evening to do any shopping? And we wonder why businesses are closing and leaving? -more-

My friend Andrew is back in town for some high-level, covert schmoozing. I last wrote about Andrew Boyd in 2004 when he was in the Bay Area directing a street theater effort against the Bush administration’s economic policies. Andrew is the founder of Billionaires for Bush, a do-it-yourself grassroots media campaign using humor and drama to expose politicians who support big business interests at the expense of everyday Americans. -more-

You’ve probably seen Canary Island pines around Berkeley, though I don’t know of any that are official street trees. They’re spotted in groups around the UC campus—there’s one near the Campanile—and they show up in various civic plantings, on big lawns and open spaces. They’re big trees—the largest pine native to the “Old World”—with a soft look when they’re mature. -more-