News

Posted Mon., Feb. 4—Berkeley city manager for five years, Phil Kamlarz will get his first City Council evaluation tonight (Monday) in a special closed-door council session. -more-

Posted Sun., Feb. 3—Most of the public and literary appreciation for bare trees seems to come from wintry places like New England, but bonsai artists and fans and the landscape pruners who think along similar lines make a big deal of the “winter silhouette.” It’s one of the most refined criteria for judging a deciduous tree. -more-

Posted Sat., Feb. 2—Richmond’s Design Review Board (DRB) voted Thursday to approve Chevron’s plans to upgrade its refinery, but before the vote was taken, few folks had anything nice to say about the world’s seventh largest corporation. -more-

Posted Fri., Feb. 1—The World Can’t Wait ratcheted up the protests at the downtown Berkeley Marine Recruiting Center today (Friday), when three members, dressed in orange jump suits to symbolize the garb worn by the prisoners at Guantanamo Bay, chained themselves to the recruiting center doors at 64 Shattuck Ave. -more-

It took more than two years for questions surrounding criminal activities in the Berkeley Police Department to reach the City Council, but when the Police Review Commission report on Evidence Theft was before them Tuesday evening, councilmember reactions were heated. -more-

Berkeley’s Traffic Bureau came across a few snarls on the city’s streets this week. Not all were caused by clogged lanes and reckless driving. -more-

The question of dedicating space—a parking space—for Code Pink’s weekly demonstrations in front of the downtown Berkeley Marine Recruiting Center (MRC) raised hackles at Tuesday night’s City Council meeting, when Councilmember Gordon Wozniak likened the demonstrations there to protests at abortion clinics. -more-

At a rally that attracted some 50 supporters outside the Marine Recruiting Center in downtown Berkeley on Wednesday, the Regulating Military Recruiting Coalition launched a drive to collect 5,000 signatures for a ballot initiative aimed at regulating where public and private military recruiters can locate offices in Berkeley. -more-

When 60 Minutes tackled the FBI investigation of the mortgage implosion Sunday night, producers looked to Stockton, “ground zero for the current financial crisis and a microcosm of everything that went wrong.” -more-

The remnants of a red and yellow toy train mark the spot where the redwood building housing the King Child Development Center at 1939 Ward St. used to be. -more-

Superstars and locals are gearing up for “super-duper” Tuesday, Feb. 5. -more-

Of 20 commissions listed in Title 3 of the Berkeley city code, stipulations that declare the “City Council shall appoint one of its members to act as a liaison representative to the commission” are found in the statutes creating only three commissions: Aging, Planning and Zero Waste. -more-

The potentially volatile Oakland Unified School District teacher contract negotiations—in the midst of a state budget crisis and as the district transitions from state takeover to local control—bubbled to the surface Wednesday night when shouting Oakland teachers forced a brief but tense administrator-board meeting recess while demanding that their contract proposal presentation not be bumped down lower on the agenda. -more-

Saying that “the governor dropped a bombshell on the education community,” Oakland Unified School District interim Chief Financial Officer Leon Glaster painted a gloomy picture Wednesday night of the potential financial effects on OUSD of Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger’s proposed 10 percent across-the-board budget cuts. -more-

UC Berkeley this week revealed the companies picked to bid on a new $56 million law school building and called for an architect to plan major changes to Haas School of Business. -more-

Posted Wed., Jan. 30—The question of dedicating space—a parking space—for Code Pink’s weekly demonstrations in front of the downtown Berkeley Marine Recruiting Center (MRC) raised hackles at Tuesday night’s Berkeley City Council meeting, when Councilmember Gordon Wozniak likened the demonstrations there to protests at abortion clinics. -more-

The Berkeley City Council will be addressing the issue of people lying on sidewalks and will have its first opportunity tonight (Tuesday) to address criminal behavior in its police department following the 2006 conviction of former Sgt. Cary Kent for stealing drugs from the evidence room he supervised and the alleged theft of cash and property belonging to suspects by another officer. -more-

Richmond’s Design Review Board this week will take up major renovation plans for the city’s Chevron Refinery, using an environmental impact report (EIR) one city councilmember calls “really pathetic” and “a piece of shit.” -more-

David J. Teece, the UC Berkeley professor and until recently perhaps Berkeley’s richest private landlord, used illegal tax dodges and owes Uncle Sam millions, says the IRS. -more-

Berkeley’s Peace and Justice Commission is asking the city tonight (Tuesday) to approve a resolution to “cease all purchases from Chevron, to the extent allowable by law.” -more-

When heavy winter rains and cold weather are predicted, even the hardiest of homeless people find themselves desperate for shelter. Thanks to funding from the city of Berkeley, the generosity of the congregation of St. Mark’s Episcopal Church—and some luck and community support—there is a haven from the storms. -more-

At its Jan. 13, 2008 meeting, Berkeley Citizens Action members considered the presidential primary candidates and the propositions and measures on the upcoming Feb. 5, 2008 ballot. -more-

It had been commonly believed—at least by Assembly District 14 candidates Richmond Councilmember Tony Thurmond, Berkeley Councilmember Kriss Worthington, and Berkeley resident Dr. Phil Polakoff—that East Bay Parks District member and former Berkeley City Councilmember Nancy Skinner had decided not to run for the Assembly seat now occupied by Loni Hancock. -more-

In a made-for-TV moment, under blue skies and beside a sparkling bay at Shorebird Park, Mayor Tom Bates rolled out the draft Climate Action Plan aimed at reducing greenhouse gases 80 percent by 2050—fulfilling the goals of Measure G, approved by Berkeley voters in 2004. -more-

Three more challengers, including one in the district of powerful Oakland City Council President Ignacio De La Fuente, have announced for the Oakland City Council in what already was one of the most crowded election years in the city in recent memory. -more-

Berkeley Rent Stabilization Board Member Chris Kavanagh, facing seven felony counts stemming from allegations that his real home is in Oakland and not Berkeley as he has claimed, was back in court on Thursday. -more-

The West Berkeley Community Monitoring Project will release test results today (Tuesday) for air samples taken near the Second Street-based Pacific Steel Casting to check for toxics. -more-

Snow, rain, wind. It’s that time of year when snuggling under an eiderdown, preferably with furry four-pawed friends, seems the only way to keep warm. -more-