Although former Berkeley Police Sgt. Cary Kent, who pleaded guilty to felony charges of grand theft and possession of heroin and methamphetamine was sentenced Friday to one year in county jail, he’ll do no time behind bars. Friday, Judge Don Clay offered the now-retired officer an “alternative” to jail. -more-

Zoning Adjustments Board members ruled on three controversial projects Thursday night, approving the environmental impact report and the permit that will enable construction of a new Berkeley Bowl at 920 Heinz Ave., denying a permit for a new Quizno’s sandwich shop and approving installation of a new odor-control system for Pacific Steel Casting, 1421 Second St. -more-

A string of arson and suspicious fires has plagued a normally quiet South Berkeley neighborhood since Monday, causing jitters among residents in the area around Shattuck Avenue and the Ashby BART Station. -more-

In 1956 Pat and Fred Cody borrowed $5,000 and gave birth to the original Cody’s Books in an 18-by-29-foot shop on Euclid Ave. -more-

On Wednesday afternoon a sea lion at the Berkeley Marina did more than just catch a ball on its nose and clap. -more-

It finally happened. -more-

The 91,060-square-foot project that promises to supply residents of West Berkeley with fresh, organic food won a victory Wednesday. -more-

Planning Commissioners voted to recommend changes to the city’s contentious Creeks Ordinance on Wednesday as devised by the ad-hoc Creeks Task Force. Or did they? -more-

“While some mothers will be receiving flowers on Mother’s Day, there will be those who will be in tears.” -more-

High school seniors who have not passed the exit exam could score a reprieve today. -more-

Oakland teachers approved a tentative contract agreement Wednesday, but union officials aren’t celebrating. -more-

Political luminaries are refusing to cross a picket line at UC Berkeley graduation ceremonies this week. -more-

Gay ice skaters Alan Lessik and John Manzon-Santos praised Wednesday’s mediated settlement of a lawsuit in which they charged a Berkeley Iceland employee with discrimination. -more-

The Alameda County Medical Center moved this week to stop the budget bleeding at the county’s financially troubled hospital system, with trustees voting unanimously to approve more than $23 million in immediate budget reductions. -more-

The Peralta Community College District Board of Trustees has joined the list of educational organizations calling for a change in the accreditation process for California community colleges. -more-

GREEN BERKELEY -more-

EDITOR’S NOTE: The Daily Planet has invited all the mayoral candidates to write a regular commentaries. Previous editions included contributions from Zelda Bronstein and Zachary RunningWolf. Of the officially declared candidates, only Richard Berkeley has yet to respond. -more-

The fact that the Berkeley Unified School District’s maintenance department is in disarray and lacks accountability is not new. BUSD’s maintenance department has been functioning poorly state for over two decades. And more money isn’t the cure. And a new department organizational structure isn’t the cure. The problem is the continuing lack of a qualified, skilled head of maintenance, a continuing lack of a competent plan of action, and the continuing lack of a system of accountability to evaluate whether BUSD is getting the job done. -more-

The image of China in the Western press is less the dragon of the Celestial Kingdom than J.R. Tolkin’s Smaug, a beast of enormous strength and cunning, ravaging oil markets in Africa, copper ore in South America, and uranium deposits in Australia. “The world begins to feel the dragon’s breath on its back,” intones the Financial Times. -more-

Sometime in the late 1970s, I drove with a friend to visit her family home in Gramercy, a small Mississippi River town not far from New Orleans. Fate takes odd turns. I knew less about my own family history at the time, but I later learned that Gramercy is in St. James Parish, the Louisiana county that my father’s people stopped in for a time on their way from Senegambia to Oakland. -more-

Ever get that midweek feeling of wanting to escape up the coast? Spend some time near the water in a picturesque town? Walk past quaint cottages and historic buildings? Roam the landscape allowing your eyes and mind to expand across open space? Discover a café, deli or fine restaurant and treat your taste buds to new flavors? Even without the time needed to reach Mendocino, a solution for the midweek blues is close at hand. -more-

Dear Matt, -more-

It’s been way too long since I’ve gone to a meeting of California Rare Fruit Growers. There’s one such meeting tomorrow (Saturday May 13) in Walnut Creek that is weirdly tempting because it will feature Dr. Robert Raabe, whose approach to plant diseases is of the gleeful sort, which can be fun but rarely works well as a bedside manner for humans. -more-