For California’s premier public university, 2007 was a year of big trees, big buildings and Big Oil. -more-

Take a look back at Berkeley in 2007. -more-

2007 has been a year of hype and hope about how green Berkeley is and might be. -more-

Berkeley ended the year with the draft of a new downtown plan and a strong push to change the existing plan for West Berkeley. -more-

There is only one phrase to properly describe the first year of the administration of Oakland Mayor Ron Dellums: “mixed results.” -more-

If a high school English class were assigned to write a summary of the Oakland Unified School District for 2007, they would probably borrow and paraphrase from the opening lines of Dickens’ A Tale of Two Cities: The year started out as the worst of times, and though by the end of 2007 it wasn’t the best of times, yet, it had certainly gotten decidedly better. -more-

2007, a year of many good-byes for the Berkeley Unified School District, ended with one notable welcome: the hiring of a new superintendent who is expected to take over the helm in Feburary. -more-

Erica Madrid, a supervising public health nurse in the Berkeley Public Health Department, died Friday, as a result of injuries sustained when she was hit by an automobile Dec. 12 at about 4:25 p.m., while crossing Solano Avenue going south at Fresno Avenue. -more-

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I was pleased to accompany our school board on an excursion on December 18, to visit the Lodi Unified School District to learn about their superintendent, Bill Huyett. It’s a large and diverse school district, with over 31,000 students (36 percent Hispanic, 17 percent Asian, 9 percent African American, 30 percent white) and 51 school sites. By comparison, BUSD has about 9000 students (17 percent Hispanic, 7 percent Asian, 29 percent African American, 30 percent white, 16 percent mixed or decline to state), and 16 school sites. -more-

Regarding Bus Rapid Transit (BRT), it’s time for Charles Siegel to put up or shut up. -more-

Berkeley residents are proud of our well-deserved reputation for being passionate about our beliefs and committed to our causes. Most of us are dedicated to the diverse individuals and opinions that make our community truly unique, and we have the courage in our convictions to defend them to the utmost of our abilities. -more-

“Where the dead are ghosts on the fragile abacus -more-

2007 wasn’t a happy year, as the major political stories were mostly downers. Here are my choices for the big winners and losers. -more-

In the aftermath of the 1906 San Francisco earthquake, the East Bay population ballooned practically overnight, absorbing 200,000 refugees of which three-quarters remained permanently. To accommodate their burgeoning communities, Berkeley and Oakland acquired new housing developments, factories, and transportation routes, as well as a good number of churches. -more-

Hi, My name’s Matt and I’m a recovering general contractor. It’s not easy to talk about, but I know it makes it better to get it out in the open and discuss it. -more-

For her sixth birthday this year, first-grader Casey Lane decided that she didn’t want a “typical” party. She wanted to have fun with her friends AND help homeless kids while she was at it—even if it meant not receiving presents from her friends (pictured with all the gift bags). -more-

In the late 1970s, when we were about 19 years old, my friend Russ and I got jobs as teachers at a before-and-after-school program that was housed in a separate bungalow from the school. Largely left to our own devices, we made up the day’s activities as we went. After several months we had our routine down with circle-time, drawing-time and outside playtime being everyone’s favorites. -more-

[after Basho’s longing for Kyoto] -more-