Regents Give 3 Percent Raise to Top UC Brass -more-

Labor and student activists held a series of on-campus demonstrations at the UC Berkeley this week coinciding with the two-day meeting of the UC Board of Regents on the Clark Kerr campus. -more-

Richmond’s largest employer may soon have more eyes looking over its shoulder after the City Council voted to repeal an ordinance that since 1992 has allowed Chevron to inspect its own projects with little independent oversight. -more-

The City Council this week grappled with the debate over installing electronic identification devices in public library books. -more-

With its roster finally decided Thursday, the advisory group that will work with city and UC Berkeley officials on a new downtown plan is ready for its first session Monday night. -more-

In a repudiation by a majority of its members, the Peralta College District Board of Trustees voted 5-1-1 Tuesday night on a modified resolution to censure board member Marcie Hodge for “behavior that is out of compliance with the laws and regulations governing trustee conduct and the established policies of the Peralta Community College District.” -more-

Many who came to see controversial Boalt Hall law professor John Yoo on a panel Monday night, also came to be seen. -more-

The photographer of the persimmons on the back page of the Nov. 15 issue was misidentified. Joni Diserens took the photograph. -more-

On Wednesday night, the Berkeley school board voted to proclaim Dec. 1 as Rosa Parks Day. During the public comment period, Rosa Parks Elementary School students lined up to speak in favor of the honor. -more-

Soya and her volunteer tutor were getting together recently for one of their regular meetings at the West Branch library on University Avenue. Soya, who has an infant daughter, was born and raised in Nepal and came to the United States in 1998. -more-

Soft story collapse -more-

To view Justin DeFreitas’ latest editorial cartoon, please visit -more-

ENOUGH REDUX -more-

In 1980, Johnny Lee had a crossover hit with “Lookin’ for Love (In All the Wrong Places).” Democrats would do well to remember the first verse, -more-

When a powerful politician voluntarily agrees to give up power, watch your back. When a powerful politician voluntarily agrees to give up power immediately after a smashing political victory, watch your back while keeping your hand firmly on your most important possessions (you decide which possessions you consider the most important). While there are rare instances when politicians voluntarily give up power, they are so rare that one has to treat each such occurrence with extreme skepticism. -more-

Dismissing the alternative of a reduced size store that would reduce the impacts on the neighborhood, the West Bowl EIR currently before the planning commission states that a store smaller than the proposed 91,060-square-foot megastore (54,735 square feet of groceries, 28,805 square feet of storage, 4,120 square feet of office space) would not fulfill the applicant’s intent of “a full service supermarket,” and that the applicant’s original proposal of a 65,815-square-foot development consisting of a 26,625-square-foot marketplace, 5,330-square-foot corner store, 5,050-square-foot office, and 28,810-square-foot warehouse “was not intended to be a full service supermarket” (Page VI-17). By that standard, there are no “full service supermarkets” in Berkeley. The average of all existing Berkeley supermarkets is 30,297 square feet (including storage and office). The Andronico’s on University Avenue is 26,000 square feet; the Safeway on Shattuck and Rose is 28,763 square feet; the Andronico’s on Solano is 23,200 square feet; the Andronico’s on Shattuck and Cedar is 36,200 square feet; Whole Foods on Telegraph and Ashby is 28,000 square feet; the Andronico’s on Telegraph is 27,700 square feet; the existing Berkeley Bowl is 42,150 square feet, the largest supermarket in Berkeley. But the applicant claims that anything less than his proposed megastore is not “a full service supermarket,” and the EIR blithely supports this absurdity. This is but one example of the attitude that infuses every page of the EIR. The distinguished experts seem to think that their job is not to present an impartial analysis, but to spin cherry-picked nuggets of data to reach foregone conclusions in support of a project that is consistent with neither the General Plan nor the West Berkeley Plan. I will leave it for others to detail the numerous inadequacies and tendentious excesses of the document. -more-

Battle lines are being drawn in what may prove to be an epic conflict—one that pits small-town Albany against a wealthy and powerful developer from LA. -more-

I am not sure what the final accounting will be, but I have seen credible reports that the special election that most Californians didn’t want cost upwards of $300 million, about $50 million that the state spent putting on the show and at least $250 million in private money for or against the propositions. Not one child got educated, not one person received health care, not one solar roof was installed—in short, no services were provided by this incredible waste of money. -more-

The conflict in Palestine and Israel is surely one of the best documented in human history. Every twist and turn in the struggle has been recorded and analyzed in scores of books, articles, websites, and films. -more-

Why the hell is Berkeley Citizens Action siding with the drug dealers in my South Berkeley neighborhood? Speaking on behalf of the BCA Steering Committee, Linda Olivenbaum (Commentary, Nov. 11) endorses the charges of racism leveled against me and 13 of my neighbors who are suing a local drug house in small claims court and chastises us for pursing “narrow, short-sighted solutions.” Our problem, BCA suggests, is that “when newer, often white and more affluent residents moved in as gentrification has proceeded” they neglected to notice “what’s going on around them and to acknowledge the dynamics and strengths of the existing community.” -more-

The Prometheus Symphony Orchestra is celebrating its 40th anniversary this year. This remarkable musical institution began as an outgrowth of Randy Hunt’s choral music program at Merritt College—when it was still downtown on “Grove Street” in Oakland. Randy needed instrumentalists to perform with his singers, for scenes from operas, oratorios, and such. He turned the orchestra into a Merritt College class, where he was on the music faculty, and began a rigorous performance schedule. A showman at heart, he not only presented concerts but also involved the orchestra in a number of exciting performance adventures. -more-

FRIDAY, NOV. 18 -more-

FRIDAY, NOV. 18 -more-

During inspections, I often hear people refer to old houses as having “good bones.” This is such a trigger for me that I have to duct tape my mouth shut to keep from launching into a day-long lecture on what’s good AND bad about old houses. Luckily for me, there’s no duct tape on my keyboard so I can rant all day. Or as long as space permits, anyway. -more-

I went down to the East Bay Nursery -more-

People’s Park has a new freebox and this one, say supporters, has been built to last. -more-

Members of the Peralta Community College District Board of Trustees have introduced a resolution censuring fellow trustee Marcie Hodge for what the resolution calls “behavior that is out of compliance with the established Peralta Community College District policies” of “civility and mutual respect” and accusing her of “emotionally ºviolent behavior.” Trustees are prepared to vote on the censure resolution at Tuesday night’s regular trustee meeting. -more-

Safeway plans to tear down its 1500 Solano Ave. store in Albany and replace it with a new store and 40-or-so-units of condominiums—signaling a major shift in the focus of the giant grocery retailer. -more-

Alameda County voters got their first look at life in the paper-trail, electronic voting era when four companies showed off their machines Monday at the Alameda County Conference Center in Oakland. -more-

University of California Regents come to the UC Berkeley campus this week for a series of rare regular meetings, and unions and student activists have planned a traditional Berkeley-type welcome of protest demonstrations. -more-

Minority students blasted UC Berkeley’s administration Thursday for not taking bolder steps to diversify the student body. -more-

Berkeley’s newest addition to the National Register of Historic Places overlooks the first, a small laboratory in the attic of one of the smaller buildings on the UC Berkeley campus. -more-

Evictions, RFIDs, the Drayage, the infamous Downing Street Memo and by-right additions are just a few of the items on Tuesday night’s City Council agenda. -more-

Homeless organizers began sleeping openly in Berkeley’s Martin Luther King Jr. Park Sunday night to protest the lack of space where homeless people are allowed to sleep in the city. -more-

Downtown parking, perhaps Berkeley’s favorite complaint subject after George W. Bush and the Bush administration, tops the agenda for Thursday night’s meeting of the Transportation Commission. -more-

When President Jean Bertrand Aristide was forced out of Haiti Feb. 29, 2004, every township in the nation was touched. -more-

We’re in a seismic season. From the recent South Asian disaster to the approaching Centennial of the 1906 San Francisco earthquake and fire, earthquakes are attracting increasing public attention. -more-

To view Justin DeFreitas’ latest editorial cartoon, please visit -more-

DRUG DEALERS -more-

Berkeley police responded to a call of an argument on 1418 Curtis St. around 7 p.m. Monday. -more-

Bank robber sought -more-

All the elements for the outbreak of youth rebellion are present in Western Europe. Hardly unique to France are the marginalized second or third generation immigrants out of place in their parents’ old countries but not fully accepted by their own. So are unemployment, social discrimination and underclasses packed in dismal neighborhoods of despair. -more-

For two hours last Friday I was home alone. This may not seem remarkable to most people, but for me it was an unexpected miracle. My husband’s attendant and a former attendant decided, on their own initiative, to take Ralph shopping. -more-

The United States Justice Department is reviewing the proposed merger between New Times and Village Voice Media, a deal that would create a 17-paper alternative newspaper chain and do incalculable damage to the alternative press in this country. There’s a chance that the federal regulators will recognize the obvious media-concentration and anti-competitive issues and delay or block the deal. -more-

Are horticultural freedom of expression and Mother Nature both currently outlawed by the vegetation section of the “blight” ordinance of the City of Oakland? This highly intrusive law needs to be severely pruned back to allow a breath of horticultural freedom in Oakland. -more-

If politics is comparable to making sausage, then I was placed in a meat grinder last Tuesday—my first time working as a clerk at the polls. -more-

Berkeley may pass up a golden opportunity to enhance the quality of life for our children by not moving to build the largest possible, multi-purpose field at Derby Street and Martin Luther King Jr. Way. We are not talking about a “Big League” baseball field, but a multi-purpose field to be used by high school soccer, lacrosse, field hockey and baseball players, as well as the neighbors. Money, of course, is the key, but I can’t believe our community cannot come up with a creative means to fund this great project by using already committed school district funds, City of Berkeley funds and money from both public and private organizations. -more-

I have never been to the South. I never went to the Jazz Festival or Mardi Gras. So working with an East Bay city in developing a program to respond to the needs of evacuees is paradoxical. I am grateful to have worked with such a resilient group of people and saddened by the entire tragedy. I cannot capture in writing the experience that these people have endured. I can only imagine, and with certainty fall short of the mark, in terms of understanding their sense of loss, grief, anger and exhaustion. When I try to imagine being there, some specific accounts come to mind: -more-

By a strange coincidence, two of the brightest young stars in jazz are both from Motown, both born in the ’60s and both named Carter: saxophonist James and violinist Regina. Because of their incredible promise and virtuosity, it is painful to admit that both have been known to falter occasionally in the heat of improvisation. Still, it is always worth catching either of them whenever they appear locally. Whatever momentary failures they may experience, they have more than enough personal incandescence to carry the flame of jazz into the future. -more-

Coming into the Ashby Stage for the Shotgun Lab production of Cry, Don’t Cry (running through this Thursday), the audience has to wonder: “What sort of show are we in for?” -more-

TUESDAY, NOV. 15 -more-

Got fruit? -more-

TUESDAY, NOV. 15 -more-

The theme of the week’s news is lying. President Bush and Vice-President Cheney have now shamelessly adopted the Big Lie technique perfected by Nazi propagandists. They have jointly and severally repeated not once but often their latest Big Lie, that they didn’t tell Congress earlier Big Lies in order to coerce a yes vote on going into Iraq. Senator Reid is calling them on it, though I haven’t yet seen Reid quoted as using the L-word, possibly because American politics tends toward genteel euphemisms. The British, who can be seen in parliamentary debate on late-night TV, have no such scruples. Tony Blair has been called a liar by members of his own party, by the British press, and by British bloggers, one of whom branded a particular Blair statement as “utter bollocks.” In fact, a Google search on “bush liar” or “blair liar” produces many charges against each of them. -more-

Patrick Fitzgerald, the special prosecutor for the CIA leak case, makes $140,300 a year in his job with the U.S. attorney’s office, according to Slate.com’s excellent “Explainer” column. Besides his Washington case, he’s also handling the prosecution of a former Illinois governor in Chicago. If he were instead holding on to a lucrative private practice while serving as a special prosecutor, he might be making something like the million dollars reported to have been paid to Kenneth Starr by his tobacco in dustry clients while he was Clinton’s special nemesis. -more-