They came, they saw, they liked. -more-

Just one week after the City Council approved the tallest building to hit downtown Berkeley in decades, an appellant has charged that Mayor Tom Bates’ meeting with the project’s developers before the crucial vote violated city rules on ex parte contact. -more-

Before the crack of daybreak, a nondescript white van cruises the residential streets of central Berkeley picking up people unknown to neighbors. -more-

The City Council Tuesday is set to approve three affordable housing projects totaling 231 units—nearly double the number developed in Berkeley over the last five years. -more-

The proposed new Berkeley Bowl at Ninth Street and Heinz Avenue comes up for a Planning Commission workshop and hearing Wednesday night at 8:30 p.m. -more-

The union representing 30,000 northern California grocery workers announced Monday that it reached a contract settlement with three large grocery chains. -more-

A delayed district planning proposal is back on the agenda for Peralta Community College Trustees Tuesday night, when trustees will consider authorizing a six-month contract with Scala Design & Development company. -more-

Berkeley Iceland on Monday delivered to city officials a long-awaited plan to bring its 64-year-old skating rink up to code. -more-

A little more than a year after a district-commissioned report called for an overhaul of Berkeley Unified School District’s Special Education program, an internal report has revealed that many of the major problems still remain. -more-

Four and a half months after he came on the job, Berkeley High Vice Principal Mark Wolfe has announced his resignation for what he described as personal and family reasons. The resignation was effective immediately, and Wolfe’s last day was Wednesday of last week. -more-

PUBLIC LIBRARY -more-

One day after Condoleezza Rice’s Senate confirmation hearing I curled up with the book that provides her best claim to seriousness as a scholar: Germany Unified and Europe Transformed. -more-

Click here to view the latest work by Justin DeFreitas-more-

Flying back from Jamaica to New York, in less than three and a half hours I went from nude, waited on and warm, to overdressed, ignored and freezing. It was an effort to put on clothes in Braco. It was equally hard to take them off once I returned to White Plains. From 85 degrees and sunny, to 1 degree with a wind chill factor of minus seven, it began to snow the moment our plane touched down at Kennedy and it didn’t stop until almost 24 hours later. The day before I was lying on the beach under a palm tree. Now I was shoveling snow from a porch in West Chester County. Where before I was sipping Piña Coladas and cooling off with multiple dips in the Caribbean, now I was drinking bad coffee and doing jumping jacks to keep warm. No one was calling me “madam” anymore or asking me if there was anything I wanted. Instead, people I didn’t know were yelling at me to get my ass in gear. -more-

On Jan. 30 there will be national elections in Iraq. Insurgent violence will keep many Iraqis from voting and, as a result, some groups, particularly the Sunnis, will be under-represented in the new Assembly. Nonetheless, Jan. 30 represents a milestone f or the U.S. occupation, and, therefore, an opportunity for Americans to assess our prospects, to question our plan going forward. -more-

Ran, Not Hit -more-

THE CYCLIST AGENDA -more-

Most honorable profession at the point of a blade. -more-

The Howard Wiley Trio will perform a tribute to jazz inspiration John Coltrane this Friday at 9 p.m., presented by The Jazz House at 21 Grand Art Gallery, 449 B 23rd St., Oakland. -more-

Berkeley filmmaker Tom Weidlinger wanted to make a documentary about international aid workers fostering self-sufficiency rather than dependency. In 2003, Weidlinger visited Action Against Hunger amid stifling heat, scorpions and malaria-carrying mosquit oes in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. He decided he had come to the right place and found the right people. -more-

For an afternoon excursion to San Francisco, two galleries offer lively shows this week: -more-

TUESDAY, JAN. 25 -more-

Oh joy, it’s January and the acacias are blooming. -more-

TUESDAY, JAN. 25 -more-