An ‘Inconvenient’ Campaign: BHS Students Promote Al Gore’s Documentary
Al Gore need not advertise his recently released documentary film, An Inconvenient Truth, in Berkeley—a group of high school students are doing it for him. -more-
Al Gore need not advertise his recently released documentary film, An Inconvenient Truth, in Berkeley—a group of high school students are doing it for him. -more-
Two conflicting revisions of the city’s Landmarks Preservation Ordinance (LPO) made significant advances last week—the first an ordinance from Mayor Tom Bates and the second an initiative for the November ballot. -more-
Critics of the city’s handling of proposed development at the Ashby BART station have launched an effort to start their own planning process. -more-
In Berkeley, it seems most everyone wants to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and stop global warming, but few want to stop driving, eating refrigerated food, reading by electric lights and watching TV. -more-
Despite opposition by those who believe lockers for the homeless are a nuisance, Building Opportunities for Self-Sufficiency (BOSS) opened its new locker service for the homeless on Friday. -more-
After 15 years as lead administrator for Berkeley Arts Magnet Elementary School (BAM), longtime educator Lorna Skantze-Niell has retired. -more-
Out of the 124 workers projected to be eliminated at the Alameda County Medical Center in the $419 million budget approved this week by trustees, Service Employees International Union Local 616 representative Brad Cleveland estimates that some 90 positions belong to SEIU bargaining units -more-
With construction winding up on the $65 million Berkeley City College new facility and with $519 million in voter-approved facilities bond money in its pocket, the Peralta Community College District moved quickly last week to plan for its next round of facilities maintenance and construction action. -more-
A 22-year-old Hayward man died late Friday night after he was gunned down in the parking lot of an apartment building in the 1100 block of 62nd Street. -more-
Three men were arrested and 152 marijuana plants seized when a major growing operation was discovered in a remote section of the Berkeley hills. -more-
An Oakland man was critically injured in an I-580 car crash as he tried to evade a gunman firing at his car from a Richmond freeway overpass minutes before midnight Sunday. -more-
Hi, I’m Christian “The Kid” Pecaut. At Stanford University in 2003, I created a class called “The Science of Social Problem Solving.” The main lecturer was Neil Robert Miller, a San Francisco public high school teacher, who passed away early in 2005. In late 1984, he and a team of dedicated student researchers completed the Paradigm from California, www.imaginenine.com, a full-scale scientific understanding that describes why things have gone so badly for 10,000 years, what a world-going-well looks like, and how to put things right, world-wide and forever. Since he died, I have been working tirelessly to share this discovery with the leadership of the Democratic Party, particularly the Clintons, who received exclusive ownership of the copyrights in accord with Neil’s explicit last wishes. -more-
The Planning Commission and City Council will soon be considering recommendations regarding revisions to the Creeks Ordinance. I am writing about what I believe is a core issue, the right to rebuild, affecting everyone in our city, but especially residents of properties with open creeks. -more-
On June 25, the Women’s Employment Resources Corporation (WERC), located at 3356 Adeline St., turned 22 years old. With a very small budget, this agency has consistently and successfully served and placed into jobs, thousands of single parent families, individuals (male and female), and youth from the Berkeley community. With an emphasis on South Berkeley, where it has operated since 1989, it is a beacon of light for the most oppressed members of our beautiful city. -more-
“True power lies not with those who cast the votes, but rather with those who count the vote.” -more-
In August 1999, the Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC) began the Route 24/Caldecott Tunnel Corridor Study, for which I served on the Policy Advisory Committee (PAC) as an alternate representing BART. I attended most of the numerous meetings held. The Final Summary Report was presented on November 2000. It was never accepted by the Policy Advisory Committee, and MTC basically threw up its hands and did not pursue the report’s conclusions. -more-
OK, the basics on the flap: the New York Times discovered that the administration has been trying to figure out how suspected terrorists move their money around, running something called the Terrorist Finance Tracking Program. The title may be just wishful thinking, but the fact is that government snoops have been looking into all kinds of banking transactions, which might include yours and mine, in their attempt to find something fishy. After a reasonable amount of checking facts followed by a large dose of introspection, the Times printed the story. Whammo! The Republicans in Congress, egged on by the right flank of the Blogsville flamers, came down on them like a ton of bricks. On Thursday the House passed a resolution condemning news organizations for outing the program because it had “placed the lives of Americans in danger.” The vote was 227-183, along party lines for the most part. Some Republicans started hollering treason. Clearly, as Nancy Pelosi charged, the Repugs are trying to turn this one into a campaign issue. -more-
Years ago I took a writing class from Adair Lara, a former columnist at the San Francisco Chronicle and the author of several books, including Hold Me Tight, Let Me Go, a memoir about her relationship with her teenage daughter, Morgan. -more-
Last summer, shortly after reviewing the wonderful water-saving gardening book published by EBMUD, Plants and Landscapes for Summer-Dry Climates, I felt a complete hypocrite dragging my garden hose from shrub to shrub, so much so that I decided then and there to stop watering everything except the vegetable plot and the raspberries. -more-
We’re fortunate to have rather a large number of Hawaiians living in the Bay Area. I’ve visited the Islands only a couple of times, but I fall in love fast (if selectively) and it wasn’t just the climate, the heartstopping beauty of the place, or even the beautiful, increasingly elusive native flora and fauna that won my flinty, suspicious old heart. -more-
Celebrating Media Independence 07-04-2006
Editorial: Dreams for Everyone to Share 06-30-2006
Letters to the Editor 07-04-2006
Commentary: Put the Paradigm in Power—Vote for The Kid By Christian Pecaut 07-04-2006
Commentary: Homeowners Should Have Right to Rebuild By Shirley Dean 07-04-2006
Commentary: Women’s Employment Resources Corporation Is a Beacon of Light In South Berkeley By Phil McKinney 07-04-2006
Commentary: County Supervisors Embrace Election Fraud By Allen C. Michaan 07-04-2006
Commentary: More Cars for Berkeley with New Caldecott Tunnel By Roy Nakadegawa 07-04-2006
Letters to the Editor 06-30-2006
Commentary: Neglect Threatens Hillside School By Mary Lee Noonan 06-30-2006
Commentary: Comedy: Cliches or Contradictions By R.G. Davis 06-30-2006
Commentary: A Pro-Business, Pro-Berkeley Agenda By Zelda Bronstein 06-30-2006
Commentary: Oakland Should Consider ‘Municipalizing’ the Oakland Athletics By Jean Damu 06-30-2006
Commentary: Don’t Lose the Benefits Of Our Only Warm Pool By Daniel Rudman 06-30-2006
Commentary: Educational Bonds vs. Economic Justice By Jacqueline Sokolinsky 06-30-2006
Commentary: No Public Policy by Fiat By Sam Herbert 06-30-2006
Commentary: Correcting the Record on Urban Development By Doug Fielding 06-30-2006
Commentary: Toward a Sweat-Free Ordinance By Nicholas E. Smith 06-30-2006
The Usual Suspects Sound Off on the Middle East 06-30-2006
An ‘Inconvenient’ Campaign: BHS Students Promote Al Gore’s Documentary By Suzanne La Barre 07-04-2006
LPC Approves Mayor’s Landmarks Law Changes By Richard Brenneman 07-04-2006
Ashby BART Task Force Foes Seek Own Plan By Richard Brenneman 07-04-2006
Greenhouse Gas Measure Heading Toward Ballot By Judith Scherr 07-04-2006
Locker Program for Homeless Opens By Judith Scherr 07-04-2006
Leadership Change This Fall At Berkeley Arts Magnet By Suzanne La Barre 07-04-2006
Medical Center Jobs on the Line By J. Douglas Allen-Taylor 07-04-2006
Peralta Releases List of Facilities Bond Projects By J. Douglas Allen-Taylor 07-04-2006
Man Murdered in North Oakland Parking Lot By Richard Brenneman 07-04-2006
Pot Growers Busted in Berkeley Hills By Richard Brenneman 07-04-2006
Driver Injured in Richmond Highway Sniper Shooting By Richard Brenneman 07-04-2006
Police Blotter By Richard Brenneman 07-04-2006
Parents and Kids Prepare for Kindergarten By Suzanne La Barre 06-30-2006
Council Faces City Housing Authority’s Failures By Suzanne La Barre 06-30-2006
Ward Quits OUSD, Takes District Post In San Diego By J. Douglas Allen-Taylor 06-30-2006
Convicted Drug Officer Not Yet Serving Sentence By Judith Scherr 06-30-2006
Presidential Impeachment Measure on November Ballot By Judith Scherr 06-30-2006
Council Rejects ‘Clean Money’ Measure, Adopts New Budget By Judith Scherr 06-30-2006
Planning Commission OKs In-Lieu Condo Fees, Library Gardens’ Condo Map By Richard Brenneman 06-30-2006
Federal Deadline Arrives for BUSD Paraprofessionals By Suzanne La Barre 06-30-2006
Alternative High Students Protest Exclusion from Graduation Event By Suzanne La Barre 06-30-2006
Police Blotter By Richard Brenneman 06-30-2006
Fire Department Log By Richard Brenneman 06-30-2006
Column: Why This Column Is About Porn and Not Pompeii By Susan Parker 07-04-2006
First Person: Summertime Brings Awaited Moments of Garden Repose By Shirley Barker Special to the Planet 07-04-2006
South Pacific Trees Extend Their Range to California By Ron Sullivan, Special to the Planet 07-04-2006
Column: The View From Here: Out of Berkeley . . . and on to Africa By P.M. Price 06-30-2006
Column: Undercurrents: Pressing Mayor-Elect Dellums on Press Access By J. Douglas Allen-Taylor 06-30-2006
To Vegas Through the Back Door By Carole Terwilliger Meyers, Special to the Planet 06-30-2006
About the House: Some Advice on Avoiding Floods By Matt Cantor 06-30-2006
Garden Variety: How to Plant a Plant to Ensure It Will Survive By Ron Sullivan 06-30-2006
Quake Tip of the Week By Larry Guillot 06-30-2006
Arts Calendar 07-04-2006
Arts: ‘We Are Not These Hands’ Premieres at Ashby Stage By Ken Bullock 07-04-2006
South Pacific Trees Extend Their Range to California By Ron Sullivan, Special to the Planet 07-04-2006
Berkeley This Week 07-04-2006
Arts Calendar 06-30-2006
Theater: ‘Permanent Collection’ Examines the Art of Race By Ken Bullock, Special to the Planet 06-30-2006
Moving Pictures: Deja Vu and Despair: Revisiting ‘Punishment Park’ By Justin DeFreitas 06-30-2006
To Vegas Through the Back Door By Carole Terwilliger Meyers, Special to the Planet 06-30-2006
About the House: Some Advice on Avoiding Floods By Matt Cantor 06-30-2006
Garden Variety: How to Plant a Plant to Ensure It Will Survive By Ron Sullivan 06-30-2006
Quake Tip of the Week By Larry Guillot 06-30-2006
Berkeley This Week 06-30-2006