The future of Berkeley’s warm water pool, a popular recreation choice for disabled residents, remains unsettled after a city study released last week found that rebuilding the current facility at Berkeley High School’s Old Gym or constructing a new one would cost between $6.3 and $7.5 milion—roughly twice the amount the city has on hand for the project. -more-
Angry words and heated questions surfaced anew Thursday night when West Campus neighbors confronted Berkeley public school district officials and their consultant on the future of the site on the south side of University Avenue between Bonar and Curtis streets. -more-
After repeated delays, the City Council appears ready to vote today (Tuesday) on whether to allow UC Berkeley to build a bridge 21 feet over Hearst Avenue. -more-
Vista College President Judy Walters gave Peralta Community College District Trustees a power-point view last week of what the college’s new Center Street campus will look like when it opens next fall, in hopes of showing that the six-story downtown structure is worth its $65 million price tag and the years of meetings, litigation, and struggle it took to bring it into the world. -more-
Walking through the cavernous interior of what was once California’s largest winery, Jim Levine bubbles with enthusiasm. -more-
Small groups of political activists across the country have been working for decades to make the United States accountable for a variety of human rights violations and to resist government repression of those who work for political change. -more-
The practice of Islam, like the practice of other religions, responds to the cultural context of the countries where it takes root. Scholars discussed the many faces of Islam and addressed Islam’s intersection with democracy in a day-long conference, “Democracy and Global Islam,” at UC Berkeley on Friday. -more-
Two Laney College development contracts go in opposite directions on this week’s Peralta Community College District Trustee agenda, with the expected appearance of developer Alan Dones’s proposal failing to materialize, and the New Art Building “piggyback” modular contract returning after a two-week delay. -more-
The University Students Cooperative Association board voted last week to shut down Berkeley’s most infamous student co-op, Le Chateau, this summer and eventually transform it into a “graduate-themed” co-op. -more-
In the latest blast against Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s 2005-06 budget proposals, Berkeley parents and students will be joining a statewide caravan to the state capitol in Sacramento Thursday to protest state education cuts. Buses will be leaving from Berkeley at 9:30 a.m. from the West Campus pool at the corner of Browning and Addison streets. -more-
The Library Board of Trustees will meet Wednesday to approve a budget that looks to be far less controversial than it appeared two weeks ago. -more-
The owner of an illegal West Berkeley live-work complex has broken off negotiations to sell the building to a public trust and is moving ahead with evicting tenants, according to his attorney Bill Berland. -more-
The UC Berkeley fraternity accused in a BB-gun hazing incident has been temporarily suspended by the university pending further investigation. -more-
Planning commissioners will tackle the city’s Landmarks Preservation Ordinance Wednesday night, while the Zoning Adjustments Board will handle a controversial pop-up and by-right additions after they get their first look at a major new proposal for University Avenue. -more-
I can’t count the number of times I’ve heard fellow Berkeleyans holding forth on the difficulty of parking downtown. The complaint puzzles me, since I almost always find a space at the city’s Center Street garage. -more-
“Jerry’s apartment is on fire,” shouted Willie as he sprinted out the door. Someone had called and told him that one of the buildings at the Sojourner Truth housing complex for seniors on Martin Luther King was ablaze. Before I could respond, Willie was gone. -more-
There’s no police blotter today because the Berkeley Police Department didn’t post their police bulletins this week or return calls from the Daily Planet. -more-
As a Berkeley homeowner for over 30 years and a life-long Berkeley Public Library user, I have been following the recent controversies surrounding the library and its director very closely. I’ve also been doing some thorough investigation in the matter. -more-
On Thursday, April 28, at 6 p.m., the Zoning Adjustments Board will consider a proposal by Hudson McDonald LLC to demolish the one-story strip mall (Kragen, Pet Food Express) on the west side of Martin Luther King Jr. Way between Berkeley Way and University Avenue and replace it with a massive, boxy two-building complex containing 186 apartments and a few tiny retail spaces. (This project was originally proposed by Patrick Kennedy’s Panoramic Interests. Kennedy’s former affiliates Christopher J. Hudson and Evan McDonald took the project with them when they left to start their own firm: see “Reports Cite Chill Between Developer, UC Prof Backer,” August 6, 2004.) -more-
The staff at the Berkeley Public Library recognizes that the library faces budgetary constraints and must make difficult decisions on staffing and services. Unfortunately, library management has made unilateral decisions on what services are important and what should be cutback without consulting either library staff or the users of library services. These arbitrary decisions have eroded staff morale and aggravated relations with the library user community. As long-time library staff, we want to propose a set of principles that could guide decisions about maintenance of library services and the staffing to ensure them: -more-
Growing up Protestant and Lower Middle Class in a Northern English milltown is not the best preparation for appreciating Rubens. It was about as difficult to warm up to those big fat naked ladies as it was to take seriously Italian Opera. “Well, I only ‘ope YOU can sing while you’re dying!” -more-
Though he talks with a distinctive Chicago accent—a family inheritance—Richard Bermack is finally willing to admit the reality. -more-
Given our intimate relationship with the 800-pound gorilla in our midst, Berkeleyans should be racing to bookstores to buy the new book University Inc. by Jennifer Washburn, subtitled The Corporate Corruption of Higher Education, or, as I like to call it, Universities Behaving Badly. If you are interested in the integrity of higher education, academic freedom, the responsible treatment of employees and students, quality undergraduate education, the continued vitality of the liberal arts and social sciences, unbiased research, and public ownership of the discoveries funded by your tax dollars—this might well be the most important book you will ever read. But be forewarned: this is a tragedy, so keep the Kleenex handy. -more-
I see the city’s planting some podocarps along Dwight Way just east of Shattuck Avenue. I don’t see that often as a street tree; the plant is more likely to be in a lobby or courtyard, or next to some institutional doorway. As it generally gets used, it’s kind of a 1960s Sunset décor plant, with a poolside aura. It looks natural—which is to say, not quite natural at all—next to an Eames chair or one of those round plastic tables that look like exaggerated hourglasses. -more-
The University of California and the union representing its 7,300 low-wage service workers announced Wednesday that they had come to a tentative agreement on a new three-year contract after almost 10 months of negotiations. -more-
Opponents of the proposed casino coastal resort at Richmond’s Point Molate gained a powerful ally this week when the state attorney general’s office intervened on their behalf. -more-
The 19-year-old African-American shooting victim in a sideshow-vicinity East Oakland robbery attempt last weekend has charged that Oakland Police officers failed to search for him while he lay bleeding from two gunshot wounds and hiding from his attackers, and prevented friends from searching for him as well. -more-
Red light runners in Berkeley should prepare to smile as they illegally cross intersections this June when the city implements its new red light camera system. -more-
Berkeley City Councilmembers will meet an hour before their regular Tuesday night meeting to consider the new—and final—five-year-plan for the West Berkeley Redevelopment Area. -more-
º An agreement between the state and the city housing department cleared a major hurdle this week for the Ed Roberts Center, a planned facility serving Berkeley’s disabled community, when a state agency verbally agreed to withdraw its objections. -more-
The fountain at Civic Center Park will stay dry indefinitely after the City Council Tuesday unanimously rejected a proposed $600,000 renovation. -more-
On Sept. 13, 1971, a four-day revolt against abominable prison conditions ended with police and guards storming Attica State Prison, killing 32 inmates and 11 corrections officers. At Abu Ghraib, Guantanamo Bay and elsewhere, U.S. military and private prison guards have tortured prisoners. In Dublin, Calif., and other federal prisons around the country, inmates known for political activism have been convicted for alleged criminal acts. Political prisoners—some charged as criminals, many not charged at all—sit in jails in Palestine, the Philippines, Haiti and elsewhere. -more-
Professor L. Ling-chi Wang’s colleagues across the country tell him he’s lucky to work at UC Berkeley, a bastion of academic freedom. -more-
Driving home close to midnight after an 11-hour workday last August, Carol Harris never expected to become embroiled in a free speech fight. -more-
“Interpreters work best when they’re unnoticed, when you do your job so well no one knows you’re there,” explained Berkeley resident Fred Burks. -more-
Three separate bills inspired by the struggles over the polluted site of a proposed housing complex in Richmond are scheduled for hearings Tuesday in Sacramento. -more-
With little discussion and only minor tweaking, Berkeley Unified School District directors unanimously passed a policy Wednesday night to modify the process of selecting new principals. -more-
I don’t think that this is a column with a point to it, though I may not be the best judge. It’s just some observations about life swimming in the multicultural creek that we call East Oakland. -more-
For the last 35 years, since Earth Day was first celebrated in 1970, we have come together as a global community to celebrate our planet and recognize the importance of a clean and healthy environment. The theme of Earth Day this year, “Protect Our Children and Our Future,” is an important reminder that our responsibility to build a cleaner, healthier and safer world is a long-term commitment to our children and the planet they will inherit. -more-
A recent editorial by a Berkeley teacher confirmed my fears that teachers are not really hearing the truth about most parents’ opinions about the “work-to” rule. Ask any parent if they support higher pay for teachers and the answer is a resounding yes. We are well aware that the vast majority of teachers are dedicated, committed people that have our children’s best interest at heart. Of course we wish for them to receive the highest wages possible. However, ask a parent if they support the current union work action and I believe the majority will answer no. -more-
It’s not true that the vast majority of parents support the work-to-rule situation in the Berkeley Public Schools. Virtually every parent I’ve spoken with has been frustrated at the whole evolution of events and felt like their kid has been put in the middle of a complex conflict over benefits without being notified, fully informed and where their kids education has been held hostage to a settlement. -more-
Call it Being Something. The whole unwieldy title of the production we’re concerned with here is actually Being Something: Living Young and Growing Old in Oakland and it opens this Friday night at the Metro Theater on the corner of Broadway and Second Avenue in Oakland, two blocks short of Jack London Square. -more-
This Monday, at 7:30 p.m., Berkeley’s downtown Pegasus Bookstore at the corner of Shattuck and Durant avenues is sponsoring a free production that should be worth checking out. -more-
All the action of Joe Penhall’s Blue/Orange (now at the Aurora) plays out in the confines of an examining room in a mental hospital in London. It is a place where two people usually meet, one listening to the other. -more-
On Saturday, April 23, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., the Pacific Center for the Book Arts will present the 31st Annual Printers’ Fair at the Fort Mason Conference Center in San Francisco. “The letter, the word and the book, from the romance of calligraphy to the integration of letterpress printing and digital technology” will be the theme of the fair, with some 40 exhibitors. The event is free to the public. -more-
The courtship begins with an exchange of suggestive looks across the trees. Next comes an offering, a choice twig. If reciprocated, the courtship ritual proceeds and the cycle of life begins anew for great egrets and herons. The ballet atop the redwoods has already begun and tickets are available for nest building, rearing and send-off at Audubon Canyon Ranch. -more-
Old-time vaudeville conjurers, before they went Las Vegas, used to rely on a series of clever effects known as “hat tricks.” The magician, elegantly attired in white tie and tails, would produce a series of unexpected objects out of his top hat: playing cards, brightly colored silk scarves, and for the grand finale, a live rabbit. Audience members, particularly small boys, would avidly watch the magician’s hands to see how he did it, but they seldom figured it out. A friend of mine used to do a funny imitation of the patter with which the magicians accompanied hat tricks: “At no time do my hands leave my arms!” It was designed to do what’s called “misdirection” in the trade. The idea is that you keep the watcher’s attention focused one place while the trick is actually being done someplace else. Sleight of hand, as the stage magician’s craft is sometimes called, is also practiced in other places, notably in “the shell game,” where con artists on the street move around peas under walnut shells and lure gullible watchers into betting on where they are. -more-
The estimable San Francisco-based Pesticide Action Network (PANNA) put out a call to its world-wide environmental activist constituency on Thursday, asking them to celebrate Earth Day by telling Bayer, the massive world-wide chemical/pharmaceutical conglomerate, that a ban on the toxic pesticide Lindane is long overdue. -more-
