In many ways, Rivka Mason is like any other elementary school gardener who likes to teach students how to grow a green thumb. -more-
Health staff and public information officers were upbeat last week when they called out the press to a Tuesday morning briefing in which they emphasized the city’s overall good health. -more-
The only hearts and minds Bus Rapid Transit seemed to have captured during an emotional public meeting in Berkeley Thursday were those it already possessed. -more-
A long delayed study of fairness in purchasing and contracts by the City of Oakland has shown that minority- and women-owned firms are being discriminated against by city agencies, but contractors will now have to wait another few months to find out what, if anything, Oakland City Council will do about it. -more-
Berkeley Planning Commissioners got their first look last week at the university’s plans for a $130 million retrofit of the Clark Kerr Campus, the 500-acre, 20-building Spanish Colonial Revival complex on the corner of Derby and Warring streets. -more-
Twenty-one-year-old Sam Thompson hasn’t stopped walking since he was released from prison a few weeks ago. Born to homeless parents in Berkeley, Thompson was recently arrested for peddling drugs and is out on felony probation. -more-
Though Berkeley planning commissioners last week rejected a proposal to designate the city center a state Priority Development Area as a first step to winning bond funds, the topic is back on the table at the Downtown Area Plan Advisory Committee (DAPAC). -more-
The Berkeley Board of Education delayed a vote Wednesday on a proposal to install solar panels on the roof of Washington Elementary School. -more-
Berkeley Police Friday announced a $15,000 reward for information leading to the conviction of the killer who claimed the life of Berkeley’s first murder victim of 2007. -more-
Rosa Parks Elementary School went solar for a couple of days earlier this month. -more-
Berkeley High School administrators informed students this week about a change in board policy that requires all juniors and seniors who do not want their names and addresses released to the U.S. military for recruitment purposes to sign an “opt-out” form. -more-
Skewered in a city attorney’s report for incompetencies such as housing dead people in low-income apartments and obstructing investigations, Berkeley Housing Authority workers fought back at Tuesday’s BHA meeting, where the City Council approved the city manager’s recommendation to eliminate the positions of all BHA workers except the manager. -more-
A bid to designate downtown Berkeley as a priority development area (PDA) targeted for state-funded high-density development failed by a single vote Wednesday night. -more-
The City Council meeting ended in a complete meltdown just before midnight Tuesday with Councilmember Betty Olds walking out of the meeting followed by Councilmembers Max Anderson and Kriss Worthington. -more-
On Wednesday evening, the Police Review Commission (PRC) approved 3-1 new rules that will govern hearings involving complaints against police officers and set June 7 as its first hearing date since September—an action commissioners say is likely to get the city back in court facing off against the Berkeley Police Association. -more-
UC Berkeley custodians have won their equity raises, the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Local 3299 announced in a press release Tuesday. -more-
A last-minute lawsuit filed this week alleges the Richmond City Council violated state environmental law by signing a $310.4 million contract to provide services for a North Richmond casino. -more-
Tod Mikuriya, M.D., died Sunday at his home in the Berkeley Hills. He was 73. The cause was complications of cancer. In the final days he’d been in the care of his sisters, Beverly, an M.D. from Bucks County, Pennsylvania, and Mary Jane of San Francisco, and his longtime assistant, John Trapp. -more-
Outside my window the scrub jays are engaged in their annual uproar. It might be about sex, it might be about fledglings, it might be about squirrels—who knows, but there’s always a bunch of them, and they’re always raucous. It’s possible even the jays have forgotten by now why they do it, but they do it every spring. -more-
Drivers leaving the freeway at the Fifth street exit in San Francisco often find their cars besieged by several men carrying signs: middle-aged or older, many though not all African-American, disheveled, some with teeth missing. Frequently they wave signs, hand-lettered on cardboard boxes, saying things like “I’m a veteran who needs help.” Or “Will take any kind of job.” It’s easy to keep the windows rolled up and drive on. -more-
How can people live together best? Is it by owning things and working individually, or by sharing things and working together? The 20th century preferred owning, but the 21st century will have to do more sharing—even in a nation blessed with an abundance of space, resources, and wealth. -more-
In event of an emergency or disaster, direct and timely communication among first responders (police, fire and service providers) is the key to successfully responding to and mitigating the impacts to our communities. In the East Bay, we experienced the Loma Prieta earthquake (1989) and the Oakland Hills Firestorm (1991) where communications was identified as a weakness in the response. We also saw the total breakdown that occurred when communications systems failed agencies responding to the Hurricane Katrina disaster. The Alameda Local Agency Formation Commission (LAFCo), representing cities, special districts and the county, supports coordinated radio communication interoperability and urges affected jurisdictions/agencies in both Alameda and Contra Costa counties to complete and implement a common radio network and communications system. -more-
After four successful years of turning a quick, solid victory in the Iraq war from “Mission Accomplished” to “We’re winning” to “We’re not winning” to “Give it a chance to succeed,” President Bush vetoed the war funding bill because it comes with a withdrawal timeline. He continues to insist on his right as the Commander in Chief to direct duty-bound American soldiers into the Middle East’s Killing Fields without a troop withdrawal deadline, benchmark, or any type of Congressional oversight that would restrain his executive power. -more-
I don’t write to newspapers—ever. I can’t remain silent any longer, however. I’m compelled to protest against the implementation of a well-intentioned but poorly though tout law, Prop 83. Let me first say that I have absolutely no sympathy for the class of sex offender that I believe this law was aimed at, the very disturbed molesters of young children. Those who rape, torture and damage these innocent, trusting children and are eventually “cured” and released should never be trusted again ever. -more-
EMPLOYMENT PRACTICES OF BERKELEY DEPARTMENT OF PARKS AND RECREATION -more-
In separate reports, City Manager Phil Kamlarz and City Attorney Manuela Albuquerque have found gross incompetence, if not fraud, in the Berkeley Housing Authority. BHA manages a budget of $25,000,000 per year. This is supposed to provide subsidized housing for nearly 1900 needy families. The truth, as reported in the Daily Planet on May 22, is that in too many cases the money goes to ineligible persons, and even to people who are long dead. Finding “egregious violations” of federal rules, and active employee resistance to reform, Kamlarz and Albuquerque ask the mayor and City Council to replace themselves as directors of BHA with a set of Mayoral appointees, and to terminate the employment of 13 full time staffers. Strangely (given the alleged misconduct), the fired employees are to be offered equal or better positions elsewhere in the city bureaucracy. The city will kick in another $947,000 to help BHA to “transition” to something different (what exactly is not described). -more-
There have been many articles on this subject lately. To generalize, it comes down to two very broad reasons. The first is based on the desire for the Democrats to just let the bastard stew in the mess that he created and in the process take the Republicans down with him. The Dems are dreaming of winning back the presidency without having to work very hard. This is probably correct. It insulates the Dems from having to make a courageous stand on principle, an especially odious enterprise for the other corporate dominated party, but, it also makes them culpable for this endless war. This will be the Republican’s defense come next elections: You were with us on this war until it got hard. They have a point. -more-
Residents of the 2400 block of Seventh Street in Berkeley, be warned. A couple of weeks ago my sister’s little poodle, Floy, got her throat ripped out by a neighbor’s pit bull. A young man was walking past our home with this vicious dog on a leash with no muzzle, while Floy was happily romping in her yard. Being a friendly sort, the poodle ran over to greet this dog, and with no warning the pit bull seized her by the throat. There was a terrible struggle, in which my sister’s hand was somewhat mangled. The young man had no idea what to do, so he just kept beating his fist on the dog’s head until it finally relaxed its jaws enough to pull Floy loose. But, oh it was so awful! Her little jaw was crushed and her throat literally tore out. My God, it could have been the little girl who lives across the street! Why didn’t this animal have a muzzle on?! -more-
Despite the many complaints we have heard about its being “stupid,” we commend the City of Berkeley for erecting the 10-foot high self-locking gates at each entrance of the Ohlone Dog Park to prevent unauthorized persons and/or animals from entering the park during the hours in which it is closed. We have several suggestions for further improvements. -more-
Some people make things happen. Some people watch things happen. Some people say, “What happened?!” -more-
I don’t usually devote this space to book reviews, but I’m making an exception for the latest in UC Press’s California Natural History Guides series: Field Guide to Butterflies of the San Francisco Bay and Sacramento Valley Regions, by Arthur M. Shapiro and Timothy D. Manolis. I know there are a bunch of good butterfly guidebooks out there already: Jeffrey Glassberg’s Butterflies through Binoculars: The West, Jim Brock and Kenn Kaufman’s Butterflies of North America, Paul Opler’s Field Guide to Western Butterflies. Well, make shelf room for the new one. -more-
Deja vu all over again? The longer the United States and NATO stay in Afghanistan, the more the place is looking like Vietnam: -more-
It’s bug time! The plants in the garden are just starting to thrive and get real leaves; the flowers are midway in their annual sequential display; what was mud is starting to look like future meals. -more-
Woody Allen says “When you're forty, half of you belongs to the past—and when you’re seventy, nearly all of you.” -more-
Belefagor, aka “The Devil Takes a Wife,” Machiavelli’s only novella, about an unfortunate devil who returns to earth and is “suffocated by the sheer social force to conform and consume,” adapted to opera by Lisa Scola Prosek; and an aria from Peter Josheff and Jaime Robles’ work-in-progress based on Dante’s Divine Comedy, will be presented this weekend at the Thick House Theater, 1695 18th St. on San Francisco’s Potrero Hill. -more-
Joshua Key had enlisted in the Army and boot camp was in Ft. Leonard Wood, Missouri. His trainers told him that “Muslims were responsible for the September 11, 200l, attacks and that the people of Afghanistan were “pieces of shit that all deserved to die.” At different training camps he learned to take orders or be punished, and he learned to beat up fellow soldiers his superiors had decided to discipline. -more-
I don’t usually devote this space to book reviews, but I’m making an exception for the latest in UC Press’s California Natural History Guides series: Field Guide to Butterflies of the San Francisco Bay and Sacramento Valley Regions, by Arthur M. Shapiro and Timothy D. Manolis. I know there are a bunch of good butterfly guidebooks out there already: Jeffrey Glassberg’s Butterflies through Binoculars: The West, Jim Brock and Kenn Kaufman’s Butterflies of North America, Paul Opler’s Field Guide to Western Butterflies. Well, make shelf room for the new one. -more-
BERKELEY ARTS FESTIVAL PRESENTS ‘LOVE’ -more-
Think of Japanese cinema and one of two things probably comes to mind: either the robust, action-filled, western-influenced samurai movies of Akira Kurosawa, or the more refined, restrained and elegant films of directors such as Yasujiro Ozu, Kenji Mizoguchi, or Mikio Naruse. -more-
The night fears and mania of a boy are juxtaposed with two adults’ uncomfortable discoveries of ambiguity, betrayal, abandonment and the unreliability of memory in the brilliant, tortuously overlapping dialogue that powers David Mamet’s semi-autobiographical Cryptogram at the Ashby Stage in a Shotgun Players production. -more-
It’s bug time! The plants in the garden are just starting to thrive and get real leaves; the flowers are midway in their annual sequential display; what was mud is starting to look like future meals. -more-
Woody Allen says “When you're forty, half of you belongs to the past—and when you’re seventy, nearly all of you.” -more-
Due to an edited error, in the May 22 story “Chronicle Newsroom Slashed, East Bay Express Goes Indie” the new ownership of the East Bay Express was incorrectly reported. -more-
