Page One

Housing Director Barton Resigns Under Pressure

By Judith Scherr
Friday June 08, 2007
For some, Steve Barton’s an idealist who puts his principles into practice, advocating housing policies—rent control, subsidized housing, co-operative housing—aimed at keeping diverse populations in Berkeley. -more-

Cramped South Berkeley Library Considers Proposal to Relocate

By Judith Scherr
Friday June 08, 2007
Walk into the South Berkeley Library and you practically bump into the four computers near the entry way. If you want to browse the history section, you’ve got to move to a narrow hallway to find what you’re looking for. -more-

Policy Change Allows Sales in People’s Park

By Riya Bhattacharjee
Friday June 08, 2007
The People’s Park Community Advisory Board approved a policy Monday to allow a one-year trial for limited commercial activity at the park. -more-

Golden Gate Fields Resurfacing Plan Faces Challenges, Legal Hurdles

By Richard Brenneman
Friday June 08, 2007
The Sierra Club doesn’t object to a new track finish for Albany’s Golden Gate Fields; they just don’t like how it’s being done. -more-

Albany Activist Killed Crosssing Marin Avenue Intersection

By Richard Brenneman
Friday June 08, 2007
Well-known Albany environmentalist Ruth Meniketti died Wednesday night after she was struck by a pickup as she crossed Marin Avenue at Talbot Avenue, police report. -more-

News

BHS Student Arrested at Prom For Carrying Concealed Gun

By Riya Bhattacharjee
Friday June 08, 2007
A Berkeley High School senior and her date were arrested Saturday at the senior prom in San Francisco for possession of a loaded gun. -more-

The State of the Berkeley Housing Authority

By Judith Scherr
Friday June 08, 2007
Today, the Berkeley Housing Authority (BHA) is a division of the housing department that oversees federally-funded low-income housing. A board currently consisting of the mayor and City Council and two tenants oversees the authority. -more-

UC Seeks Architect for Planned Cloyne Court Renovation

By Richard Brenneman
Friday June 08, 2007
UC Berkeley issued notice Thursday that it plans a $3 million to $5 million renovation of Cloyne Court, a venerable shingle-sided landmark that has served both as a hotel and as student housing. -more-

AC Transit Line Changes, No Cuts, Planned for June 24

By J. Douglas Allen-Taylor
Friday June 08, 2007
Changes, adjustments, or complete disbandment affecting some AC Transit 20 route lines are scheduled to go into effect June 24, but district representatives say that riders will be able to catch buses at almost all of the currently existing bus stops, and will be able to get to and from virtually all of the existing travel points. In several cases, however, riders may have to get where they are going on AC Transit a slightly different way than they have been used to. -more-

School Board Approves New ‘Opt-Out’ Military Recruitment Policy

By Riya Bhattacharjee
Friday June 08, 2007
The Berkeley Board of Education accepted the first reading of a policy reversal to release student information to the military for recruitment to be eligible for federal education grants. -more-

Berkeley High Inagurates Sports Hall of Fame

By Riya Bhattacharjee
Friday June 08, 2007
Berkeley High School unveiled its Athletic Hall of Fame last week to recognize former student athletes who have excelled in sports over the last century. -more-

Oakland Youth Violence Testimony Given

By J. Douglas Allen-Taylor
Friday June 08, 2007
Members of the Assembly Select Committee On Youth Violence Prevention brought their third and final hearing to Oakland last week, hearing hours of expert testimony before an overflow crowd at the Port of Oakland boardroom on Friday on strategies that have been used to address and attack one of California’s most pressing problems. -more-

Police Blotter

By Rio Bauce
Friday June 08, 2007
Urban shoplifters -more-

First Person: Why I’m a Racist

By Madeline Smith Moore
Friday June 08, 2007
“When this war is over, there will be one between colored and white!” These were the words of my parents that I listened to in horror from the back seat of our car outside of the A&P in East Providence, R.I. I had seen war in the newsreels on Saturday afternoon. I had seen people shooting at other people from the protection of hedgerows. I pictured myself shooting at my eight-year-old white friends. My only friends of color were my cousin and Anna, and neither lived in my neighborhood. It was the early ‘40s and my parents were referring to the segregation of our armed forces in the Second World War. I got over that. -more-

Editorials

Editorial: Being Color Blind is No Better than Being Tone Deaf

By Becky O'Malley
Friday June 08, 2007
San Francisco Opera General Manager David Gockley himself summed it up best in an interview with Daniel Wakin in Saturday’s New York Times: “Our business doesn’t work that way,” he said in a telephone interview. “It has been nobly color-blind over recent decades, and I certainly haven’t worked that way, and my record bears that out.” -more-

Reader Commentaries

Letters to the Editor

Friday June 08, 2007

Commentary: Blacks Excluded from Yoshi’s And the Jazzschool? No!

By Robert Stewart
Friday June 08, 2007
As one of the most prolific Black saxophonists in the country, born and raised in Oakland, I’m ashamed of the hostility and triviality that has been directed toward SUSAN MUSCARELLA and the Yoshi’s establishment by Black musicians in the Bay Area. -more-

Commentary: Jazzschool Questions Long Overdue

By Esther Green
Friday June 08, 2007
As I see it, the recent public questioning of the hiring and operating practices of the Jazzschool in Berkeley by prominent jazz artists and their supporters living in the San Francisco Bay Area is long overdue. Here is just one local example of how the actions of self-appointed authorities on this cultural art form are marginalizing the musicians who are the direct connection to and inheritors of the legacy. This is being done by trivializing the dedication and level of artistic achievement of our resident musicians who were and are members of the real jazz community here, which existed long before all of these exclusive so-called jazz festivals and schools. -more-

Commentary: Elmwood Doesn’t Need a Big Bar Without Parking

By the Elmwood Neighborhood Association
Friday June 08, 2007
On Tuesday night, the Berkeley City Council will consider a project that could bring a restaurant with a bar and lounge on the scale of Spenger’s to the Elmwood. But there would be one crucial difference—it wouldn’t have any parking. -more-

Commentary: Will Berkeley Become a Company Town?

By Merrilie Mitchell
Friday June 08, 2007
When we consider global warming, most of us know we must change our fuel-guzzling ways, not continue them with the UC-BP (British Petroleum) biofuels project. Here is a protest song about UC-BP recycled from the song “Simple Gifts”: -more-

Commentary: Bus Rapid Transit Plan is Bad Idea

By Peter Allen
Friday June 08, 2007
AC Transit’s proposed bus rapid transit (BRT) is just a bad idea. Here is why: -more-

Commentary: The Role of Transit in Berkeley, Bay Area: Taking a Stand Against Global Warming

By Joe DiStefano
Friday June 08, 2007
I want to weigh in on behalf of the vast majority of Berkeley citizens who voted a resounding yes on Measure G this past election. Voters said we want the city and its businesses and residents to comprehensively and effectively address the issue of climate change and energy policy. That means addressing this extremely important issue in many different ways, from the efficiency of individual buildings, to how we power, heat, and cool our homes, to how we get from place to place within Berkeley and the greater Bay Area. When it comes to transportation, this means viable alternatives to the private automobile, including bikes, walking, and transit. -more-

Columnists

Column: Dispatches from the Edge: Dark Plots in Byzantine Beirut

By Conn Hallinan
Friday June 08, 2007
According to the U.S. mainstream media and the Bush Administration, the fighting in Lebanon between Fatah al-Islam and the Lebanese Army is really a proxy battle between the Lebanese government of Prime Minister Fouad Siniora and Syria over efforts by Damascus to destabilize Lebanon and snuff a UN investigation into the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri in 2005. -more-

Column: Undercurrents: Media Reports on Dellums’ First Months Miss the Mark

By J. Douglas Allen-Taylor
Friday June 08, 2007
Investigative reporter Robert Gammon of the East Bay Express doesn’t reach Gary Webb status—who among us does, after all?—but he’s one of the best the Bay Area now has when it comes to uncovering essential information to the public that others don’t even think about looking for. -more-

About the House: Some Thoughts on Bathroom Remodeling

By Matt Cantor
Friday June 08, 2007
I just love aphorisms. They’re so … so … one-size-fits-all. No bother with versatility or adjustment for circumstances, just “Time and Tides wait for no man” (but they do wait for women as we all know), “Cast not your pearls before swine” (I like the idea of “casting for swine” although it may not be the right season for swine and I think you need a second set of tackle). “Never throw good money after bad” (now which was the bad money? Let me think). Actually, I think I can say something about the last one. -more-

Garden Variety: House and Garden Wares Worth A Look in West Berkeley

By Ron Sullivan
Friday June 08, 2007
When we’re in the Fourth Street shopomania neighborhood we’re usually on the way to buying groceries for Shep the snake, though if we get a parking space we might go see if Cody’s still exists, or stop for lunch at Tacubaya. So it’s no surprise I missed Eastern Classics while the store was nearby, and had go read the little A-frame signboard on the corner to see where the enterprise had gone. -more-

Arts & Entertainment

Arts Calendar

Friday June 08, 2007
FRIDAY, JUNE 8 -more-

Arts and Entertainment Around the East Bay

Friday June 08, 2007
PHOTOS OF MONGOLIA -more-

The Theater: Actors Ensemble Stages ‘A Dream Play’

By Ken Bullock, Special to the Planet
Friday June 08, 2007
Actors Ensemble of Berkeley has taken on an ambitious project—Strindberg’s shape-shifting A Dream Play as a site-specific performance, in and around the Berkeley Art Center in Live Oak Park, played during afternoons over the next few weekends. And admission is free. -more-

The Theater: A New Take on Dickens’ ‘Oliver Twist’

By Ken Bullock, Special to the Planet
Friday June 08, 2007
By KEN BULLOCK -more-

The Theater: Daisey Presents ‘Great Men of Genius’

By Ken Bullock, Special to the Planet
Friday June 08, 2007
“Brecht is a very challenging ‘Jeopardy’ question,” quipped a deadpan Mike Daisey at the start of the first in his series of four monologues, Great Men of Genius, at the Berkeley Rep thrust stage through July 1. -more-

Events

Berkeley This Week

Friday June 08, 2007