Berkeley Fire Chief Reginald Garcia, 56, called it quits Thursday in an e-mail to his fellow firefighters, announcing that on Sept. 17 he’ll leave the office he’s held for the last seven years. -more-

Maudelle Shirek, the 93-year-old matriarch of Berkeley’s left, will face stiff competition from a former protégé this November when she seeks a tenth term on the City Council. -more-

In a 2-1 decision, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Wednesday that the City of Berkeley does have the right to demand businesses at the marina pay their workers a living wage. -more-

Last Saturday, Assemblymember Loni Hancock, in partnership with the Greenbelt Alliance, the East Bay Community Foundation, AC Transit, and Caltrans, kicked off a public campaign/planning process whose goal is to make San Pablo Avenue, in Hancock’s words, “a world-class boulevard.” -more-

Notification is the lifeblood of community participation. On this score, the organizers of last Saturday’s community workshop on San Pablo Avenue revitalization had good intentions. They hoped to involve the community in the early stages of the project rather than, as is too often the case, bringing them in near the end when all the important decisions had already been made. Hence workshop organizers made a serious effort at community outreach, mailing out 510 letters to community-based organizations in or within a mile of San Pablo. -more-

After some discussion and parliamentary confusion, the Berkeley Housing Authority board Tuesday night passed both a budget and a reorganization plan proposed by the city housing director. In addition, the authority learned that it was in better financial shape than previously believed. -more-

The City Council Tuesday formally kicked off a drive to welcome UC Berkeley into its “tax paying family.” -more-

MIAMI—If José Miguel Pizarro has his way, he will recruit 30,000 Chileans as mercenaries to protect American companies under Pentagon contract to rebuild Iraq. And undoubtedly, within those ranks will be former members of death squads that tortured and murdered civilians when dictatorships ruled in Latin America. -more-

Sweeps and detentions of undocumented immigrants far from the Mexican border have sparked “hysteria,” “terror,” and “panic” in Southern California Latino communities, according to recent Spanish-language media headlines. -more-

Sisters Held in 1970 Killing of Berkeley Police Officer -more-

Council to Discuss Hotel Task Force Report -more-

Two of the G Street regulars sat on their plastic milk crates on a summer afternoon, sipped from their cans of Budweiser, and watched an old Buick pass by. The engine sputtered, the car lurched, then died. The driver got out, one of those tiny ball-pene hammers clutched in one fist. He hiked the hood, peered into the engine well for a moment, and then—with a big overhand swing—gave the engine block a mighty lick with the hammer. The driver closed the hood, got back in the car, started the motor, and pulled off. He went about a half a block before the engine sputtered, the car lurched, and then died again. The driver got out, lifted the hood, and gave the engine block another whack with the hammer. As the driver was getting back in the car, one of the streetside observers took a sip of beer, sucked his teeth, and muttered, “Lookit that ass-backwards son-of a bitch. He’ll never get it fixed, that way.” -more-

The funeral ceremony for ex-President Ronald Reagan had all the usual symbolic gestures that are now standard for departed presidents—the flag-draped casket with honor guard, the riderless horse with boots reversed, the later line of mourners underneath the Capitol Rotunda. Most of us have seen the ceremonies on television before. And there have always followed multi-page obituaries in the major newspapers recounting the political career and life story of the departed chief executive. -more-

In Berkeley, the community is hard pressed to make its voice heard on development issues, despite a few recent successes. So I’m sorry to report that on June 10, good process took a baby step backward at the Zoning Adjustments Board (ZAB) Blood House hearing. But the improprieties were more subtle than usual, and perhaps arose as much from an atrophied understanding of public process as from bad intentions. -more-

Local coverage of the city’s budget over the past few months has increasingly targeted city employee salaries as the source of the city’s budget problems. An example of this appeared in the April 20-22 issue of the Daily Planet, where the “Citizens Budget Oversight Committee,” a self appointed committee, authored an article about grossly overpaid and benefited employees. This was presented as fact in a fictionalized account of a “typical” city employee and accounting expert. -more-

RESPONSE FROM AHA -more-

If you don’t have a serious religious ceremony to attend on the Summer Solstice—next Monday, June 21—but would still like to mark the longest day of the year with something special, head over to Oakland’s mortuary row for a unique musical event. Each year, dozens of musicians and singers assemble for the annual “Garden of Memory” concert in the venerable Chapel of the Chimes on Piedmont Avenue. -more-

There’s a storyteller loose on the stage at Berkeley Rep. People who have seen him perform 21 Dog Years: Doing Time @ Amazon.com probably want to call him a comedian. Whatever… maybe it’s most accurate to think of Mike Daisey as something of a walking work-in-progress—a very funny and very polished work-in-progress. -more-

From Celtic fiddling to Brazilian samba, from Congolese song and dance to bluegrass and Cajun, a world of music awaits visitors to Telegraph Avenue Saturday and Sunday. -more-

FRIDAY, JUNE 18 -more-

Finally, we come to tomatoes. We know they will not do well in Berkeley. Tomatoes are simply the breath of summer, inevitable, irreplaceable, and so each year, we plant them like visionaries and reap them like sinners. -more-

FRIDAY, JUNE 18 -more-