Three days after the Berkeley Zoning Adjustments Board approved construction of the Ed Roberts Campus in South Berkeley, the project has been challenged by a state agency, questioning its fit in a historic area. -more-
A nationally renowned expert on statistical research and a team of graduate students at UC Berkeley yesterday sounded another alarm bell about the Nov. 2 elections, releasing a study suggesting that irregularities in electronic voting machines in Florida may have awarded hundreds of thousands of “excess” votes to George W. Bush. -more-
As negotiations continue between two state agencies over the cleanup and supervision of Richmond’s heavily polluted Campus Bay, new questions have arisen about an adjoining UC Berkeley-owned site. -more-
Foes of the nine-story high-rise apartment—or is it condo?—and theater complex planned for Center Street filed a last-minute appeal to the City Council Wednesday afternoon seeking to block the project. -more-
Faced with the possible loss of their all-important accreditation, the Alta Bates Summit Medical Center in Berkeley is confronting the possibility of a one-day walkout early next month by virtually all of its employees. -more-
Residents who live just south of the UC Berkeley campus said Monday that a plan which incorporates new land use guidelines for their neighborhoods included too many concessions to UC Berkeley, and that the initial study of the planned environmental revie w ignored earthquake risks and failed to identify historic buildings. -more-
Student Brutally Beaten, Reward Offered -more-
An item originally placed on the non-controversial consent calendar became the biggest topic of discussion at this week’s Berkeley Unified School District board meeting, as board members sharply questioned student achievement improvement plans for several of the district’s schools. -more-
Right up until Christmas Eve, Berkeley fire stations and the Public Safety Center at Center and Milvia streets will be accepting new, unwrapped toys for distribution to children in need. -more-
Among the hundreds of cable television stations available to Berkeley subscribers, only one has a prime time lineup that includes Jesus Loves His People followed by The Dr. Susan Block Show: Masturbation With The Pope. -more-
With the help of tens of thousands of people like me, the Democrats and 527 Democrat-leaning organizations achieved their goals on Nov. 2: high voter turnout, millions of doorbells rung, a huge and enthusiastic army mobilized to defeat the president. Yet, as an old adage goes, “The operation was a success, but the patient died.” -more-
The City Council chambers could have been mistaken for a flower shop Tuesday as a line of well-wishers—at one point extending nearly the length of the hall—heaped praise and bouquets on retiring councilmembers Maudelle Shirek, Miriam Hawley and Margaret Breland. -more-
The City Council Tuesday voted (7-1, Olds, no) to grant one of the city’s biggest nonprofit developers half of an emergency funding request as it struggles to survive a federal investigation. -more-
As I worked getting out the vote in Boulder, Colo. on Nov. 2, I received early exit poll data showing Kerry ahead in key states. Indeed, when the Colorado polls closed, all indications favored the Democrats. What troubles me about the final results is that they greatly varied from the exit polls. -more-
My good Christian friends used to tell the story about a young colored man from the little community of Pineville, South Carolina, who was drafted into the Army just after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor (“colored” was a progressive term in those days, a giant step up from “nigger”). When he got his notice papers, this colored fellow—a good Baptist—got down on his knees and told God he would not fear going to war so long as Jesus would walk with him, wherever he went. So Jesus agreed to go. -more-
P. Levitt’s Nov. 16 letter lists gripes aplenty. Mr. Levitt “want[s] to own property in Berkeley,” but complains that “new buildings may have filled the need for the rental market but not for the ownership market.” P. blames the city’s Planning Director and “NIMBYs” (presumably, people Not Intimidated By Mad Yelling). -more-
“According to exit polls, Bush supporters tend to be culturally and religiously conservative married rural voters, a large majority with an annual salary of over $150,000.” -more-
Women from a Chiapas weavers cooperative are visiting Berkeley this week, sharing stories about their craft and their struggle to preserve their traditions, and to do so independently. -more-
Impact Theatre has pulled out most of the stops with its current production, Meanwhile, Back at the Super Lair… Granted, a theater company determined to make every Thursday night a “Pay what you can” performance, as well as to keep its most expensive ticket at a pleasant $15 ($10 for students), may not offer an awful lot of dazzling stage effects. But there wouldn’t be much room for such high-falutin’ carryings on in their lair in the black basement at La Val’s Pizza Parlor anyway. -more-
This is the first in a series profiling Berkeley elementary schools. The reports are written by students of the UC Berkeley Journalism School. -more-
It’s Big Game week in Berkeley and Bear backers have never had so much reason to revel in their football team’s success or fear for its future. -more-
Berkeley’s Alta Bates Summit Medical Center faces the potential loss of the accreditation status needed to offer service to Medicare and Medicaid patients, following a scathing report from the Joint Commission of Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO). -more-
Land use, and the development of a long range strategic plan to guide it, will likely be one of the major issues facing the new Peralta Community College District Board of Trustees when it convenes in January. -more-
There will likely be more cake than debate at Tuesday’s City Council meeting. -more-
Teachers, parents, students, and other citizens who think Berkeley classrooms don’t have sufficient textbooks or instructional materials get the chance to put their concerns on the record when the Berkeley Unified School District’s (BUSD) Board of Education holds a public hearing on the matter this week. -more-
A major share in one of Berkeley’s most notable buildings, the Hink’s Building at 2200 Shattuck Ave., has been sold, said John DeClerq, senior vice president of TransAction Financial, which had owned the building until early last week. -more-
Three fires caused significant damage to Berkeley residences over last week, reports David Orth, Berkeley Deputy Fire Chief. -more-
One of California’s best-known Democrats has surfaced in leading roles as an advocate in three high-profile Richmond projects. -more-
In Anne Galjour’s Character Building Workshop at San Francisco State University, we were assigned to read Fences by August Wilson. In preparation for class discussion we researched pop culture, circa 1957, the year in which the play is set. For most of my fellow students, this was like studying ancient history. Even Ms. Gajour, a lively, talented playwright and instructor, doesn’t remember 1957. But I do. I was born in 1952 so I didn’t have to look the decade up on the Internet. I thought I deserved extra credit. -more-
The Daily Planet’s Nov. 5 story on the problem of uncounted ballots (“Thousands of Ballots Still to Be Counted”) didn’t tell the half of it—or probably even a quarter of it. -more-
In 1982, the Oakland Symphony seemed to be going in a promising direction. Under the baton of Calvin Simmons, the orchestra began to look like a world class aggregation, or at the least, a top regional orchestra, especially after it made the newly restored Paramount Theater its home base. -more-
We’re getting some domestic fall color lately from a couple of tree species on the streets of Berkeley. One of the brightest is a relative newcomer here, Chinese pistache, Pistacia chinensis. -more-
Even though the election’s been over for two weeks, we continue to get many letters, commentaries and news analyses about what happened. A famous sociolinguist, Dr. William Labov, used to do his research by asking people to tell stories about times their lives were in danger, which produced a torrent of language which he could then study. The last five years, culminating in the election, are perceived by left-of-center political people as one of those experiences: a time when values they hold as dear as life itself have been endangered. Yes, the word is values. Believe it or not, Democrats have values too, just like evangelical conservatives. A touching report in Thursday’s papers reported that the Democrats are starting a task force on faith and values in politics. A congressman from New Jersey was quoted as saying that the task force would seek to promote such traditional Democratic values as “caring for the poor, the elderly and children and standing for the fiscal discipline embodied in the budget surpluses of the Clinton administration.” He hoped this would spark a Democratic victory in 2006 congressional elections. -more-
Even though the election’s been over for two weeks, we continue to get many letters, commentaries and news analyses about what happened. A famous sociolinguist, Dr. William Labov, used to do his research by asking people to tell stories about times their lives were in danger, which produced a torrent of language which he could then study. The last five years, culminating in the election, are perceived by left-of-center political people as one of those experiences: a time when values they hold as dear as life itself have been endangered. Yes, the word is values. Believe it or not, Democrats have values too, just like evangelical conservatives. A touching report in Thursday’s papers reported that the Democrats are starting a task force on faith and values in politics. A congressman from New Jersey was quoted as saying that the task force would seek to promote such traditional Democratic values as “caring for the poor, the elderly and children and standing for the fiscal discipline embodied in the budget surpluses of the Clinton administration.” He hoped this would spark a Democratic victory in 2006 congressional elections. -more-
Richmond City Councilmember Tom Butt is an avid e-mailer. Every day, often twice a day, he fires off bulletins to his long list of correspondents with his opinions on topics of the day, links to stories in the press about Richmond, and sometimes even major documents like Chevron’s contract proposal for Point Molate. Last week he wondered in print why the Berkeley Daily Planet has taken such an interest in Richmond lately. “I would like to think it’s because there is a lot of news here,” he said. -more-
