The 36-year-old Berkeley man accused of shooting a Berkeley police officer Tuesday morning will remain held without bail at Santa Rita Prison, Alameda County Superior Court Judge Winfred Scott ruled Thursday. -more-

Under intense public pressure, the City Council voted unanimously Tuesday to request that UC release it from a confidentiality agreement that has kept settlement talks over a town-gown legal dispute out of the public view. -more-

Facing the loss of 115 jobs and the threat of no raises over the next four years, BART workers Wednesday took to the stations to marshal rider support before they head back to the negotiating table. -more-

While the University of Texas and the University of California arm to fight each other for a $60 million contract to run Los Alamos National Laboratory nuclear weapons research and development facility, peace advocates say the competition is misdirected and the debate should focus instead on the danger of developing weapons of mass destruction. -more-

The fate of Berkeley’s many citizen commissions remains in question after the City Council Tuesday failed to reach a consensus on reducing the number of times city commissions will be able to meet. -more-

A day before ballots went out to the Jefferson Elementary community to decide the fate of the school name, parents and teachers met at the West Berkeley school to discuss the controversial issue. -more-

BERLIN—On a calm spring day in Berlin recently, a horse with a dead-looking soldier on its back clopped across the cobblestones of a leafy neighborhood. The soldier wore a gas mask and slumped forward on the horse’s mane, or wobbled dangerously in the saddle. -more-

NEWSWEEK -more-

Upon discovering that my teenage daughter was writing an essay on William Golding’s seminal novel Lord of the Flies, I had her view the film version with me, a film that absolutely terrified me when I first saw it at about the age of 10. We watched it al ong with my 10-year-old son who couldn’t bear to watch the whole thing. “Why are they being so mean to him?” he cried, tears streaming down his face as he turned away from witnessing boys his own age stone pudgy, philosophical “Piggy” to death. -more-

As was earlier announced, here and elsewhere, Mayor Jerry Brown is proposing shutting down the Kaiser Convention Center as a “cost-saving” venture to “balance Oakland’s budget.” Noting in a “Budget Facts” document on the mayor’s proposed policy budget for fiscal year 2005-07 released by City Administrator Deborah A. Edgerly that we are looking at a $32 million shortfall in those years, we learn that in order to help close that shortfall, Mr. Brown proposed to “shut [the Convention Center’s] doors on Jan. 1, 2006, upon completion of existing contracts with community groups. This closure will eliminate the growing annual city subsidy to the facility of an estimated $0.4 million per year, and result in the elimination of 20 positions, mostly part-time.” -more-

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

Tom got lucky with a waitress 22 years ago, and the baby she had alone came out to California to see him. -more-

Computer Violence -more-

In the debate over President Bush’s appeals court nominees, Democrats are kicking and screaming over the possibility that Republicans may seriously use their congressional majority to their advantage, and in so doing force Democrats to play by the rules and actually vote on the nominees. -more-

On May 2, the City of Berkeley Youth Commission voted 10-1-1 to approve a two-part proposal, recommending that the Berkeley City Council support state legislation to allow local choice in setting a voting age of 16 years or older and send the previously proposed ballot initiative back to the Youth Commission for them to hold a public hearing on the details of an amendment in Berkeley regarding lowering the voting age to 16, if and when the state permits such an action. -more-

Opening with a Puja, a ritual of blessing conducted by lamas, and closing with the sounds of Karma Moffett’s Long Horns, the 22nd annual Himalayan Fair transforms Live Oak Park this weekend into an open-air market for art, antiques and clothing, with foodstalls and traditional performing arts from Tibet, Nepal, India, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Mongolia. -more-

If Michael Moore represents the modern face of documentary filmmaking—in which the filmmaker doubles as star of the show, dominating the onscreen time with questions and commentary—then Smith College Master of Social Work candidate Lindsay Duckles must be the old school, where the filmmaker gets out of the way and lets the subject tell the story. -more-

FRIDAY, MAY 20 -more-

Whenever I travel the first thing I search out is a guided walking tour. It’s my favorite way to get up close and notice the details that lend character and uniqueness to a business district or neighborhood. When the visual is supplemented with interesting stories and pieces of history, the experience is magnified. -more-

FRIDAY, MAY 20 -more-