Posted Wed., Feb. 27—The state secretary of agriculture failed to convince the Berkeley City Council Tuesday night that aerial spraying of a pesticide to eradicate the Light Brown Apple Moth (LBAM) is either necessary or benign.  

With the support of some five dozen anti-spray constituents packing the meeting room, the council voted not only to join neighboring cities in statements of opposition to the spray, but said it is likely to take its opposition to court to prevent the state from moving forward with its plans. 

The council will meet in closed session March 17 to discuss a range of legal options that could include a multi-city lawsuit against the California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) to halt the spraying planned for August in Alameda, Contra Costa, San Francisco, Marin, Santa Clara and San Mateo counties. 

Councilmember Dona Spring took on CDFA Secretary A.G. Kawamura, who had come to the meeting to tout the spray plan.  

“I suggest, sir, that you don’t protect public health by ramming [the spray] down the throat of the population,” she said, further asking why an environmental impact report was being written after the spraying was to be have begun. The EIR, being written by the CDFA, is expected to be completed in the fall. 

Kawamura, accompanied by two highway patrol officers posted at the back of the Council Chambers, spoke to what he said was an urgent need to confront the threat of the Light Brown Apple Moth. 

“This moth is voracious,” he said, arguing that because the moth is known to feed on some 250 different food crops it is a major concern for the state’s agribusiness. 

The moth has multiplied rapidly over a brief period of time, which is why no actual crop damage has been reported in California, he told the council. “People say, ‘let us see the damage.’ But we’re trying to prevent the damage,” he said.  

If the state sprays before the infestation grows, total eradication is possible; if not, it could spread all over California, the U.S. and beyond, he argued. 

After Kawamura’s presentation, in a brief interview with the secretary, the Planet asked for specifics on who had advocated for the spray. Kawamura responded that officials in 48 states feared an infestation from California. Pressed for documentation, he said he was contacted personally by the officials.  

“There are no letters,” he said. “I see them at meetings.”  

Similarly, Kawamura said there are no written requests from the various county officials who had approached him. He also said that citrus growers had not made the request.  

“The public obligation to our department is to protect human health … and the food supply,” he told the Planet. 

At issue is the spraying of CheckMate, a pesticide made by Suterra LLC, that consists of a synthetic pheromone which causes mating disruption in the LBAM. When sprayed by air, the pheromone is contained in a microcapsule with inert ingredients. 

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has told the Planet through spokespeople that he has faith in the decision of the CDFA to spray. He said that the $144,000 contribution to him by the owner of Suterra, Stewart Resnick, did not influence his view of spray plans. 

The aerial spray was used for the first time in an urban area in September when sprayed over four days in Monterey and Santa Cruz counties.  

After Kawamura and a colleague spoke to the Berkeley council in favor of the spray, opponents were given time to respond. Nan Wishner, chair of the integrated pest management task force in Albany, spoke of the 600 Monterey-Santa Cruz area residents who experienced health problems after the September spray. Albany went on record in January opposing the spray.  

While the state representatives said the microcapsule would not cause harm if ingested, Wishner noted, “There were severe respiratory effects” in Monterey and Santa Cruz after the spraying.  

Panelist Dr. Elisa Song, pediatrician and environmental medicine specialist, added that there have been no long-term studies on the effects of CheckMate. She further explained the effects would be different for different people: Some people can’t eliminate toxins from their bodies, while others can, she said.  

“There can be major health consequences,” she said. 

Tom Kelly, former member of the city’s Health Commission, spoke as the third member of the panel, urging the council not to allow the CDFA to “drown out our voices.”  

He pointed to the possible contamination of Berkeley creeks and reminded the council that the city is bound by the principles of Integrated Pest Management and the precautionary principle, where nontoxic or the least toxic substances are used for pest management when deemed necessary at all. 

Kelly urged the council to oppose the spray, “confronting the power of the state.” 

Some 40 speakers followed, each urging the council to oppose the spray.  

Only state representatives supported the spray. The city’s health officer Dr. Linda Rudolph declined to weigh in on the question when asked at the meeting, saying she would speak publicly only after the City Council made its decision known. The staff report was limited to information from the state. 

Among those who spoke at the council meeting were residents with environmental sensitivities. Pauline Bondonno said she is disabled by multiple chemical sensitivities. If there is repeated spraying she said she would have to leave Berkeley and her job with the Berkeley Unified School District. 

“This is chemical warfare on us,” she said. “It’s an inside job.” 

Also Tuesday evening the Oakland Public Safety Committee voted to oppose the spray and will ask the full council to do the same in two weeks.

Tears, sobs, angry words, whispered remembrances and promises of action punctuated Thursday night’s gathering in a South Berkeley church to honor the memory of a grandmother fatally shot by police on the night of Feb. 16. 

“I don’t think it should have happened,” said Max Anderson, who represents the area on the Berkeley City Council. 

“It is very difficult to understand why a 51-year-old woman was shot this way, and I need answers,” he said, adding that talks with community members “have given me a different version” than the official police account. 

The councilmember spoke after listening to friends and family describe Gay as a woman who cared for friends and young people in the community. 

“Those of us who grew up in the black community know we have people in the community” who care for others, he said. “In the neighborhood I grew up in, there was a woman we called Big Mama. We didn’t need foster care. She raised scores of children,” he said. 

The stories he heard about Gay Thursday evening reminded him of that figure from his youth. 

Anderson said that after meeting with City Manager Phil Kamlarz, he would make certain that another community meeting would be held addressing concerns raised by the shootings. 

He also directed a dig at Berkeley police, who “recently had a problem with narcotics missing” from the department’s evidence locker. In that case, he said, “it seems like the police are sometimes reluctant to snitch,” though they encourage community members to inform on each other. 

Police need to operate within the law, said the councilmember, because only then will the community have confidence in law enforcement and the needed services they provide. 

Other speakers included Andrea Prichett, a B-Tech Academy teacher who is also an activist with Copwatch, a representative of Uhuru House, a speaker from the ANSWER Coalition and Melvin Dixon of the Commemoration Committee of the Black Panther Party. 

Another speaker, Gary King Sr., had a more personal connection with Gay’s family. His son, Gary Jr., was also shot in the back by a police officer five months earlier a few blocks to the south. 

Gary King Jr. was killed on Sept. 20 near the corner of 54th Street and Martin Luther King Jr. Way by a Oakland police sergeant who had been involved in at least two prior shootings, one fatal. 

As with the killing of Gay, police and neighborhood accounts offered contrasting versions of the shooting, and in both cases the people shot were alleged to be in possession of deadly weapons—a knife in Gay’s case, a pistol in the case of the younger King. 

“My son Jerry was also murdered by the police,” said King, who said of Gay, “another queen of the neighborhood has fallen.” 

King’s family has sued the Oakland Police Department, and the young man’s death has sparked demonstrations at the Alameda County District Attorney’s office. 

The DA’s office, Berkeley police homicide detectives and the department’s internal affairs division are all investigating the shooting of Gay. Officer Rashawn Cummings, who fired the fatal shots, is currently on paid administrative leave. 

Berkeley police spokesperson Sgt. Mary Kusmiss said that statements from witnesses, family members and the officer had all indicated that Gay was carrying a knife at the time she was shot. 

Family members and some witnesses have since stated she had put the knife down before the shooting. 

Controversy 

While many of the mourners Thursday night portrayed Berkeley police as violent and the death of Gay as an act of murder, two Berkeley police organizations have challenged one of the most outspoken critics of the shooting. 

Though he didn’t speak at the memorial Thursday night, Allan Jackson, president of the Berkeley chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, has called the shooting “a cowardly act of murder of an African American female by the Berkeley Police Department.” 

In a letter published Friday in the Daily Planet and quoted elsewhere, Jackson said, “It is apparent that the only thing in the mind of a Berkeley Police Officer is to kill any African American that they can.” 

In a joint statement, Henry Wellington, president of the Berkeley Police Association, and Shira Warren, president of the Berkeley Black Police Officers Association, denounced Jackson’s charges. 

The two officers, both African American, said his allegation that Berkeley police target blacks for shooting “has absolutely no basis in fact and is without any credibility whatsoever.” 

In their statement, the officers said Jackson’s remarks are “needlessly inflammatory, and serve no constructive purpose.”

Five assemblymembers introduced a swarm of resolutions Friday aimed at changing state rules that give the agriculture department secretary the authority to order aerial pesticide spraying after declaring an emergency due to the invasion of a pest. 

The pest at issue is the Light Brown Apple Moth, which the state agriculture secretary says has the potential to cause severe damage to California’s agribusiness, although no such damage has been reported. 

State Sen. Carole Migden plans to introduce a resolution in the Senate this week, calling for a moratorium on the spray. 

Resolutions approved by the state Legislature are advisory and do not carry the force of law. 

The California Department of Food and Agriculture plans to spray CheckMate, a pesticide produced by Suterra LLC in Bend, Ore., from planes over Santa Cruz and Monterey counties in June and Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin and San Mateo counties in August. (Specifically, in Alameda County the CDFA says it will spray the cities of Berkeley, Alameda Albany, Emeryville, Oakland and Piedmont, and in Contra Costa, it plans to spray El Cerrito, El Sobrante, Hercules, Kensington, Pinole Richmond and San Pablo.) 

Santa Cruz and Monterey counties were sprayed during four days in September, after which more than 600 persons reported health problems such as difficulty breathing, diarrhea, itchy skin and more.  

Tonight (Tuesday) at the Berkeley City Council meeting, the state will present its rationale for wanting to use the spray; spray opponents will have equal time to speak. Other citizens will have one minute each to weigh in. And Councilmember Dona Spring is asking the council to sign on to a resolution joining the Albany City Council in opposing the spray. 

The meeting begins at 7 p.m. at the Maudelle Shirek Building, 2134 Martin Luther King Jr. Way, is televised on Channel 33 and broadcast on KPFB-FM 89.3. 

The five bills introduced in the Assembly on Friday are: 

• AB 2764, by Assemblymember Loni Hancock, D-Oakland/Berkeley, would prohibit the CDFA secretary from approving the application of a pesticide in an urban area, unless the governor has proclaimed a state of emergency. The secretary currently declares the emergency, which carries the ability to mandate how and where the eradication will take place. 

“We are trying to bring some transparency to a process that seems to favor economic interest over public health,” Hancock said in a prepared statement. “The fact that the Department is now doing an EIR that won't be complete until some time after the spraying has commenced brings into question the openness of this process. We believe that there are significant questions that remain unanswered and we are trying to get answers for our constituents before the spraying occurs.”  

• AB 2763, the Invasive Pest Planning Act of 2008, by Assemblymember John Laird, D-Santa Cruz, would require the CDFA to create a list of invasive animals, plants, and insects likely to enter California, for which an eradication program might be appropriate. The department would be required to prepare an assessment of the most appropriate eradication method for each that would include the chemistry of the pesticide and its impact on public health and the environment. It would coordinate with the Public Health, and Fish and Game departments. 

• AB 2765, by Assemblymember Jared Huffman, D-San Rafael, sets new limits on the CDFA’s emergency powers, requiring a public hearing to receive testimony and examine alternatives to aerial spraying prior to any decision to spray. Aerial spraying of urban areas in emergency situations would be prohibited without full disclosure of all elements in any pesticide product and a certification of its safety by state health officials.  

• AB 2760, by Assemblyman Leno, D-San Francisco, would require that an environmental impact report be completed before the CDFA can apply pesticide in an urban area for the eradication of the light brown apple moth. The current emergency rules permit completion of an EIR after the spraying has taken place. 

“The report will arm us with the information we need to help the state and communities make an informed decision. Too much is at stake to enter into the discussion without all of the facts,” Leno said in a statement. 

• AB 2892 is a bill introduced Friday by Assemblymember Sandré Swanson that will become law if passed by both houses of the legislature. It would require the CDFA secretary to obtain the consent of two-thirds of the registered voters of the affected cities and counties before applying a pesticide from the air in a proclaimed pest eradication zone that includes an urban area. The state would bear the cost of the election. 

• Laird will also be introducing this week a joint resolution—one that goes through the Assembly then to the Senate—about how the LBAM eradication effort should be conducted. It will say that it is the responsibility of the government to demonstrate that its actions are necessary, appropriate, and do not compromise health or the environment, and that the various state departments and agencies involved in the LBAM eradication effort need to address the unresolved health, scientific, and efficacy issues concerning the 2007 eradication effort.  

There will be a hearing on the use of the aerial spray as part of the Environmental Impact Report at the Elihu Harris State Building, 1515 Clay St., Oakland, 6-8:30 p.m. The public can give input at that time. The hearing will be re-broadcast on KPFA-FM 94.1 at 10 a.m. Wednesday. 

Callers flooded the police switchboard moments before midnight Sunday with reports of shots fired in the 1500 block of Harmon Street. 

When police arrived three minutes later, they found a young man lying on the sidewalk, bleeding from multiple gunshot wounds, said Berkeley Police Lt. Andrew Greenwood. 

Rushed to Highland Hospital’s emergency room, he was pronounced dead minutes later. 

The victim has been identified as Brandon Terrell Jones, 29, a South Berkeley resident.  

Greenwood declined to release more details of the shooting late Monday afternoon. 

“Homicide investigators are continuing to work the case, but if more time goes by and we don’t develop any leads, we may release additional information,” he said. 

Jones is the city’s third violent death for the year, all in South Berkeley.  

Kent Evans, 44, died Jan. 3 from stab wounds incurred in a dispute outside an Adeline Street bar 12 days earlier. A suspect has been charged in that case, which apparently began when the suspect made disparaging remarks about Evans’ companion. 

The second death was that of Anita Gay, who was fatally shot by a Berkeley police officer Jan. 16 following a disturbance outside her apartment on Ward Street. That shooting is currently under investigation by Berkeley police and the Alameda County district attorney’s office.

After Move America Forward took aim at a Berkeley City Council item approved Jan. 29 asking the city manager to write the Marines saying their recruiters were “unwelcome intruders” in Berkeley—and council supporters took to the streets to face off with MAF and to ask the council not to back down—the council softened its language, agreeing not to write the letter. Instead, on Feb. 12, it publicly reiterated support for the troops and opposition to the war. 

The original Jan. 29 council item in question was written by the city’s Peace and Justice Commission. Councilmembers Laurie Capitelli and Linda Maio both said they hadn’t thoroughly read the item when they voted to support it. 

To prevent councilmembers from voting on Peace and Justice issues they haven’t read, Councilmember Gordon Wozniak is introducing a change in council rules that would mandate a second reading of all items from the Peace and Justice Commission. “It’s an opportunity to catch problems,” Wozniak said. 

“The council agenda gets posted Thursday night,” Wozniak said, arguing that the council doesn’t have time to review the issues. “It gives little opportunity for the council to hear from the community.” 

Wozniak’s council item will face opposition.  

“It’s a great way to make City Council meetings longer,” quipped Councilmember Laurie Capitelli, arguing that controversial items can originate from various commissions or departments—“even from Public Works,” he said. 

Both Capitelli and Maio told the Planet they would be paying better attention to the wording of council items in the future. 

Capitelli suggested that the Agenda Committee could do a better job of placing controversial items on the action calendar rather than on the consent calendar. Consent items are approved without discussion. 

Asked what she thought of Wozniak’s suggestion, Councilmember Dona Spring said, “It makes no sense. It’s an insult to the commission and the community. Any councilmember can ask for items to be held over.” 

Referring to the original council item, which Wozniak opposed and the replacement item, which he also opposed, Councilmember Max Anderson said he thought Wozniak’s idea to require two readings of Peace and Justice items, was a response to “being on the losing side of two votes.”  

Councilmember Kriss Worthington said it is unfair to single out one commission. “I think this is a drastic overreaction,” he said. 

But Wozniak said the Peace and Justice Commission should be viewed differently because “the scope of the mandate is different.” Much of what the commissioners deal with is primarily outside Berkeley, he said. 

“Many elected officials do not read the thousands of pages they are provided with,” he added. 

Tonight’s council packet is just 571 pages; on Jan. 29 it was 856 pages, with last-minute additions coming in the night of the meeting. 

One solution to the council not reading all the material would be to hold more frequent City Council meetings with fewer items to discuss, Worthington suggested, noting that there are lengthy documents to read, especially on land-use issues.  

“It’s logical to give more time to read these hundreds of pages,” he said.  

(On tonight’s agenda, for example, an appeal on moving the Blood House on Durant Avenue consists of 156 pages in the council packet, with additional material available on the city clerk website.) 

Asked if people who don’t read the items should recuse themselves, Spring said people often abstain when they haven’t read the material.  

Laughing, Worthington said, “It would force people to lie.” 

Wozniak said recusal would be difficult to regulate. “We may have to recuse ourselves a lot,” given the size of the council packet, he said. 

Move America Forward on TV 

Coming from Move America Forward to a small screen near you will be a TV commercial featuring clips from the Berkeley City Council’s stand regarding the Marine Recruiting Center controversy. 

The clips include Mayor Tom Bates standing up for the city’s anti-recruiting stance, saying: “They don’t belong here; they shouldn’t have come here; they should leave,” and others, including Spring and Anderson, saying that they will not apologize for their anti-military-recruiting stands. 

“The purpose is that we want everybody to know what the Berkeley City Council has refused to do—to apologize,” Catherine Moy, executive director of MAF, told the Daily Planet on Monday.  

The ads will run on local TV stations in the Bay Area and Sacramento, where MAF is based, and throughout the country on cable TV, Moy said. 

She said the nonprofit organization is spending $10,000 in the Bay Area alone to run the ads, which direct the public to their website, where they can sign a petition and contribute funds. “People are giving from $25 to $1,500,” Moy said.  

Asked what she thought of the video, Mary Kay Clunies-Ross, the city’s public information officer, said she thought it was a money-making scheme, with a PayPal button right next to the ad on the MAF website. 

“Some people are legitimately concerned about what the council did,” Clunies-Ross said. “However, media consumers have to ask how the ads are being paid for. I see a fund-raising campaign.”  

Clunies-Ross added that while “other communities are losing their uniqueness, we are an amazing community, maintaining our identify.”  

Moy, however, said they were using the funds to push back against what she called “Berkeley’s Anti-American” attitude. “We’re spending every penny on ads,” she said. 

Capitelli’s response to the ad, of which he’d seen clips on a news show, was, “The six of us [depicted in the clip] look like we’re just getting out of Guantanamo.”  

Capitelli said he’s posted his own response on YouTube, a four-minute clip from the Feb. 12 City Council meeting so that people can see councilmembers making “their own statements about who did what.” It can be seen at http://youtube.com/watch?v=nB0wgs8tcPc. 

Oakland Mayor Ron Dellums has run into a City Council delay in fast-tracking an Oakland Police Department enhanced recruitment plan, but it remains to be seen how much that delay is due to political, policy, or fiscal concerns, and how long that delay will last. 

With Oakland police strength consistently hovering at some 75 officers below the authorized 803 strength and with crime and violence a rising concern in Oakland, the mayor and Oakland Police Chief Wayne Tucker two weeks ago unveiled a plan to step up recruitment and retention of police officers with $7.7 million in Measure Y violence prevention money. 

The proposal went directly to the full Oakland City Council last Tuesday, bypassing the Measure Y Oversight Committee and the council's Public Safety Committee. But despite Chief Tucker’s concerns that “each week we delay makes it more difficult” for the proposed May starting date of a regional training class, a key component of the proposal, the council delayed action until both the Measure Y and Public Safety committees could take a closer look at the proposals this week. 

If passed by Public Safety, as expected, the issue would come back before the full council next week. 

The Measure Y Oversight Committee was scheduled to review the police recruitment on Monday night (February 25) after the Daily Planet's deadline for this story, while the council’s Public Safety Committee will take up the issue tonight (Tuesday, February 26) at 7:30 p.m. in Hearing Room One at City Hall. 

“I know the mayor is putting forward a plan that he feels needs to be done today,” Council President Ignacio De La Fuente said, shortly before the council took its vote. “But I know some of my colleagues feel some of these proposals need some refinement.” 

In supporting sending the proposal back to the Public Safety Committee, District 6 Councilmember Desley Brooks added that the plan had “a lot of generalities but not a lot of specifics.” 

In their proposal, Dellums and Tucker are asking for $3.3 million in Measure Y money to run four police academies this year, twice the currently allocated number, with two of them operated for the first time by the Alameda County Sheriff’s Department rather than the Oakland Police Department itself. One and a half million dollars would go to advertising and marketing to attract new recruits, with $1.2 million in administrative support to expedite the police recruit application and selection process. 

The money would be taken from the $17 million Measure Y fund balance that has been accumulating during the years the city has failed to fully staff the violence prevention officer slots authorized by the measure.  

Despite an Oakland aity attorney’s opinion that the use of the Measure Y money was proper for the goals stated in the proposal, the use of that money was severely criticized by Measure Y Oversight Committee Chair Maya Dillard-Smith. 

“The use of Measure Y funds for this purpose is legally impermissible and fiscally irresponsible,” Dillard-Smith told councilmembers at last Tuesday's delibeations. "It feeds into the biggest fear some citizens had about Measure Y: that it would turn into a slush fund for [the Oakland Police Department].” 

And District 3 Councilmember Nancy Nadel had harsh words for Dellums, saying that “I’m in a mode to try to solve the problem, to try to take the politics out of it. But it seems like the mayor wants to place himself separate from the Council and say that this is his proposal. I resent that type of politics coming out of this.” 

None of the other councilmembers went that far in criticizing Dellums or questioning the use of Measure Y funds for the entire police recruitment proposal, but several said that its use was questionable for some of the items. 

Saying that “an overwhelming number of citizens have told us that we need to get to [the authorized police strength of] 803," District 2 Councilmember Pat Kernighan said that the city’s general fund should continue to support the two regular police academies, while Measure Y should pick up the tab for the two additional ones. She also said that because OPD was able to keep new hires even with retirements using two academies a year, the two extra academies should only be supported until the department gets up to fully authorized strength. 

District 4 Councilmember Jean Quan, on the other hand, said that she was “comfortable with the $3 million going to the double academies, but I'm not comfortable with the $1.5 million for advertising” from Measure Y. “We’ll have to find ways from the general fund to pay for some it.” 

And even District 1 Councilmember Jane Brunner, who said she supported voting on the proposal last Tuesday (“I think we're in a crisis; I’m ready to move”) had doubts that seemed to require further discussion. "I have a question about whether some recruited officers will go into non-Measure Y positions or categories," she said. “I don't want to come back in six months and learn we have to repay Measure Y from the general fund.” 

The proposal was originally intended by the mayor’s office to be brought before the Measure Y Oversight Committee before it went to the council, but problems with legal public notice requirements caused the committee to cancel two meetings in which the proposal was to be discussed. There is a dispute over why the proposal was not first discussed in the council's Public Safety Committee, with committee chair Larry Reid saying he recommended passing it on to the full council without discussion because he thought it was an informational item only and he did not know it included the $7.7 million funding request. A Dellums spokesperson said it was clear that the request was an action item.

In a plea agreement Friday, former Rent Stabilization Boardmember Chris Kavanagh pleaded no contest to one felony count of improperly registering to vote in Berkeley, when he actually lived in Oakland.  

In exchange for the plea, District Attorney Trevor White dropped five other felony counts related to serving on Berkeley’s rent board while living in Oakland, lying about it, and collecting a stipend and health benefits from the post. 

Kavanagh will be sentenced April 24, and could receive up to six months at Santa Rita jail. He will be on probation for five years and cannot run for office during that time. He must pay a fine of $10,835 to the city of Berkeley. 

Prosecutors dropped charges of voter fraud, filing false candidacy papers, perjury, fraudulent voting in Berkeley and grand theft for accepting a monthly stipend and health insurance benefits while serving on the rent board.  

In a statement e-mailed to the Daily Planet on Friday, Kavanagh said, “As I indicated in a previous statement, like many Berkeley homeowners who own (or rent) two homes, I rented two living spaces over the last several years: one in Berkeley and another in Oakland. I kept possession of my Oakland space because I did not want to give up its local amenities and rare outdoor garden space. There is nothing unusual about possessing two living spaces.” 

Kavanagh contends that he had a Berkeley residence “with the exception of a period of time during parts of 2006 and 2007 when I involuntarily lost my Berkeley home.” 

Kavanagh, a Green Party member, was first elected to the rent board in 2002. In 2003 questions arose over his residency, and the city attorney asked the district attorney’s office to look at the case, but the district attorney did not pursue the issue. 

Questions about his residency arose again last year when Kavanagh fought an eviction from his Oakland residence, a cottage on 63rd Street. The city attorney again asked the district attorney to intervene, which he did this time. 

At its meeting on Thursday, the Rent Board members discussed how they will choose Kavanagh’s replacement. Candidates should submit a resume and statement to the Rent Board by March 10, according to Jesse Arreguin, Rent Board chair.  

The board will choose a new director at its March 17 meeting. That director will serve until an elected member takes that person’s place. 

Applications should be sent to Jay Kelekian, executive director, 2125 Milvia St., Berkeley, 94704. Applicants must be Berkeley residents. 

An elected director will serve in the place of the appointed director after the November elections. 

“I am grateful to my family, friends and colleagues for their confidence and support. It has been a sincere honor and privilege to have served on Berkeley's Rent Stabilization Board. I also apologize to my constituents for the period of time I was unable to live in Berkeley,” Kavanagh’s statement says. For the full text of the statement, see Page Fourteen. 

Bay City News contributed to this report.

Three Berkeley youths, the youngest a 6-year-old, have been criminally charged with setting the blaze that nearly destroyed a vacant home at 2050 Lincoln St. on Feb. 17. 

Berkeley police spokesperson Sgt. Mary Kusmiss said the fire was reported by a 911 call at 2:25 p.m. that day. When police and firefighters arrived, they found flames and smoke pouring from the small dwelling. 

A bystander told a police officer about hearing two boys and a girl talking about starting the fire, and the trio was quick detained and taken to the Public Safety Building for questioning. 

The 6-year-old said she was a student at Rosa Parks Elementary School. The 11-year-old attended sixth grade at Martin Luther King Jr. Middle School and the third, age 12, was a seventh-grader at Willard Middle School. 

“All three openly spoke with officers,” said Kusmiss, and the following story emerged: 

The three said they had been using the vacant house as “our little clubhouse,” and had played there three times before. The youngsters said they had found cigarette lighters and matches there, which they used to light three candles which they said they had also found in the dwelling. 

“One of the boys said he was holding a candle, and it dropped on a piece of cardboard on the floor, which caught fire,” said Sgt. Kusmiss. “They said it was the first time they had lit anything.” 

As the flames grew, the children said they added to the flames by tossing on what they called “creepy faces that someone drew.” 

One of the boys said he tried to put out the fire, but failed. 

The trio was held on suspicion of violating section 452 of the California Penal Code, “wrongfully or recklessly starting a fire,” said Sgt. Kusmiss. The charge is a lesser offense than arson. 

“The fire chief explained to the Berkeley police officers that, based on the circumstances, the fire department planned to have the children attend a safety course about the dangers of playing with matches,” she said. 

Deputy Fire Chief Gil Dong said the three won’t be formally charged with the crime. “They will go through our juvenile fire-setter program, where they will be shown films about what can happen when they start a fire, and they’ll be evaluated to make sure there are no social or psychological problems. 

“The parents were advised there would be a mandatory meeting with the department,” he said. 

The three were then released to the custody of their parents. 

Deputy Chief Dong said the fire caused an estimated $25,000 in damage. The costs don’t include the value of the structure itself, which had already been targeted for demolition. The value was based on the cost of a demolition permit and for the paint damage to the adjacent row of apartments over commercial buildings on Shattuck Avenue.

In addition to the discussion of the Light Brown Apple Moth and Councilmember Gordon Wozniak’s item to hear resolutions from the Peace and Justice Commission twice (see page one), the council will be looking at a number of other critical issues at its meeting tonight. 

A 5 p.m. workshop will look at the police chief’s quarterly crime report, which covers October through December 2007. The report indicates that an increase in robbery is of particular concern. The report also shows an increase in traffic fatalities for 2007. At the same workshop, the city manager will discuss new taxes for police, fire and youth services. 

At 7 p.m., the council will look at an appeal for the move of the Blood House from its location on Durant Avenue, the Condominium Conversion Ordinance, a proposal to condemn construction of a border wall between the United States and Mexico, a letter to the Canadian prime minister to ask for sanctuary for U.S. military resisters and support for the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory to continue its downtown shuttle. 

Blood House move 

The Zoning Adjustments Board voted to certify the final environmental impact report on the relocation of the Blood House, a city of Berkeley Structure of Merit, currently at 2526 Durant Ave. 

Developers Ruegg & Ellsworth plan to build a five-story development at that location. The approval is being appealed by the Berkeley Architectural Heritage Association, which argues, among other concerns, that the EIR did not take into consideration the “significant cumulative effects upon the historic resources affected in the Durant Avenue area” and that the removal of the Blood House would significantly diminish the historic context of the area.  

Condo conversion 

After hearing from the council, the staff has prepared changes to the condominium conversion ordinance, aimed at facilitating conversion. The changes include: 

• Processing applications on a first-come, first–served basis. 

• Reducing requirements that the unit be brought up to code, requiring only that life safety standards be adhered to. Other violations of code would be disclosed but there would be no mandatory correction. 

• Extending tenant protections to Section 8 voucher holders. 

West Berkeley could soon be home to a child care center for Disney Pixar employees if the city’s Zoning Adjustments Board (ZAB) approves a variance for the proposed project Thursday. 

San Rafael-based Wareham Development proposes to convert 9,961 square feet of existing ground floor space at the Saul Zaentz Media Center—formally known as the Fantasy Records Building—at 2600 Tenth St. to serve the needs of up to 100 children whose parents work on-site or at Pixar. 

Wareham needs a variance for the proposed project since the city’s zoning ordinance specifically prohibits child care centers in the Mixed Use /Light Industrial (MULI) district.  

According to a report submitted to the board by zoning staff at the Feb. 14 ZAB meeting, the MULI district’s prohibition of child care centers conflicts with the West Berkeley Plan, which allows day care centers as a conditional use in the Mixed Use/Light Industrial area, and the General Plan, which encourages improvement of the quality of life and private service availability for residents and workers. 

The applicant could have converted office space to a child care center through an administrative use permit but chose not to. 

Zoning staff was not able to explain the discrepancy between the city’s zoning ordinance and the West Berkeley Plan to the board at the last meeting and said they would try to correct this error through zoning amendments the Planning Commission was working on for West Berkeley. 

Drafted in 1999, almost six years after the West Berkeley Plan was written by the city, MULI prohibits movie theaters, medical practitioners, non-art/craft studios and child care centers. 

Wareham recently received a permit from zoning and the City Council to demolish a building at 1050 Parker St., which is located directly across from the proposed project. 

The Tenth Street site currently consists of two structures built in 1974—a two-story building housing recording studios and a seven-story designed for multi-media uses, including screening rooms and mixing studios—which is spread across a total floor area of 117,316 square feet. 

More than 40 businesses and organizations work in the two buildings. 

Around 30 parking spaces in the northwest corner of the property’s parking lot will be converted to 7,500 square feet of outdoor play area in order to comply with state standards, according to the plan. 

Based in Emeryville, Pixar is an Academy Award-winning computer animation studio best known for animated films such as Toy Story, Cars, and Ratatouille.  

“If West Berkeley is to be a center for media and positive economy, then this project will help it,” said Chris Barlow, spokesperson for Wareham Development. “The Saul Zaentz Media Center is a unique building and a unique space. No new buildings will be created. The child care center is a private facility and will not create competition to existing child care facilities.” 

Since the proposed space was formerly used for storage, structural changes would be limited to the interior, with the exception of a door swing change, he said. 

Arlyce Currie from Bananas Child Care, located in West Berkeley, expressed enthusiasm for the project at the meeting. 

“It’s a very rare thing for employees to have child care,” she said. “Pixar employees are having one and a half babies on average a week. There is a lack of infant care and a significant loss of child care centers in Berkeley.” 

Board member Terry Doran commended Pixar for its efforts. 

“It’s a shame that they have to go through a variance process,” he said, and added that the Planning Commission should take a look at the contradictions between the zoning ordinance and the West Berkeley Plan. 

“Forcing Pixar to wait until this is approved by zoning will delay the project.” 

Board chair Rick Judd called the proposed project the “poster child for something that should not need a variance.” 

Zoning staff is scheduled to present the findings for the variance on Thursday.  

In the past, Wareham has developed a part of the former headquarters of Durkee Famous Foods at 800 and 830 Heinz Ave. to a day care center.

Developer Patrick Kennedy will ask Berkeley’s Zoning Adjustments Board for a blanket use permit Thursday to establish a 13,974-square-foot full-service upscale restaurant and bar at the former location of the Act 1&2 Theatre. 

No tenant has yet been named for the proposed Center Street project, which proposes to remain open from 6 a.m. to 1 a.m. Kennedy had earlier wanted the restaurant to stay open till 2 a.m. but decreased it by an hour after discussions with the Berkeley Police Department (BPD). 

The project proposal does not state clearly whether the establishment plans to serve alcohol independent of purchasing food. 

In the past, ZAB has approved alcohol permits only if alcohol is served with food.  

According to the Berkeley police, the restaurant should serve food throughout its operating hours so that the venue does not develop into a “de facto nightclub or bar rather than a full service restaurant.” 

In a letter to Jeanne Levine, the project planner, Doug Hambleton, Berkeley police chief, expressed concern about the project. 

“The applicant statement provides only a general description of the business that may occupy the space and does not provide any details of a proposed floor plan or space utilization,” he wrote. “There is also a mention of live entertainment and the possibility of serving ‘corporate gatherings, birthdays, and graduations’ without any details of how those events factor into the overall business plan, or where they will take place inside the establishment.” 

Hambleton also addressed noise and supervision issues.  

Located at 2130 Center St., the landmarked building formerly housed Ennor’s Restaurant in the 1920s. It is currently vacant and is going through interior renovations. 

Offices have been proposed for the second and third floors, while the full-service restaurant has been planned for the basement, ground floor and mezzanine level. The restaurant will also have sidewalk seating.  

According to a ZAB staff report, Kennedy prefers a single large, full-service restaurant as the building’s occupant, but is also open to having smaller food establishments, or food and retail at the same time. 

The project site is located close to the Downtown Berkeley BART station and UC Berkeley. 

Kennedy has also requested an administrative use permit for live entertainment at the venue, which would involve “live cultural performances to enhance the experience of users in the downtown Arts District.” 

The staff report states that noise levels would comply with the city’s noise ordinance. ZAB had not received any objections for the project from neighbors at the time the staff report was written.

UC police tried to physically prevent food, water, and supplies from reaching treesitters on Feb. 19, but failed in the face of determined efforts by grandmothers, students, and community members. Officers pushed, shoved, and used pain compliance techniques before giving up, as supporters sent supplies to the treesitters and sang “We shall not be moved.”  

On Feb. 18, UC Police raided the grove and cut down food, water, tarps, sleeping platforms, and climbing ropes, nearly causing one treesitter to fall to his death because two of the traverse lines that had been cut still appeared to be securely attached. In response, the Berkeley Grandmothers for the Oaks organized an “emergency resupply” on Wednesday at 4:30 p.m. to replace the lost supplies. When the grandmothers and their friends arrived, UC police were ready with a long metal barricade on the sidewalk in front of the grove (on city property). Despite UC’s claim that it has no intention to deny food and water to the treesitters, the approximately 15 police on the scene made every effort to physically intimidate community members and stop them from sending up the goods.  

Chanting “We love the oaks,” community members circled up in a tight hug, linked arms, and sent food and water up on supply ropes. The UC police shoved, pushed, and grabbed citizens, but were unable to break up the circle. They gave up in frustration, and the treesitters received their gifts with smiles on their faces.  

I was standing right in the middle of the circle, with my tape recorder rolling, observing the police’s aggressive behavior. I wondered out loud: is there something else the police could do on behalf of “public safety” than try to deny food and water to protesters, and endanger their lives by cutting their ropes?  

As of Thursday morning, the barricade was gone from the sidewalk. The grandmothers vowed to continue supplying the treesitters every Sunday at 2 p.m. 

Berkeley Citizen’s video of the festivities can be viewed at www.youtube.com/ 

watch?v=lz0aVtraT2E.  

Berkeley Unified School District officials and parents will be in Sacramento Wednesday to protest Gov. Arnold Schwarzenneger’s proposal to slash school funding by $4.8 billion over the next 18 months. 

The group of 20 from Berkeley will be joined by other districts at the state capital, and will try to meet with the governor. 

“We put in a request to Sacramento to meet with Gov. Schwarzenneger for a few minutes,” said Berkeley district spokesperson Mark Coplan. “We are hoping to get a few minutes with one of his staff members that day.” 

The proposed budget cuts have dominated discussions at Berkeley school board and PTA meetings over the last two months and pose a big question mark on the future of programs, school staff and classroom sizes statewide. 

The Berkeley public schools could lose up to $3 million, which district officials said would prove damaging for the district. 

The proposed K-12 funding would slash $400 million from the state education funds this year and take away $4.4 billion in the next fiscal year, which means $700 less for each of the approximately 6.3 million public school students in the state.  

District Superintendent Bill Huyett told the Berkeley High School Parent Teacher and Student Association (PTSA) last week that Wednesday’s visit would be the first of many trips to Sacramento.  

He repeatedly emphasized the importance of saving Prop. 98—a voter-approved statute that establishes a minimum level of funding for California schools—which the governor proposes to suspend. 

“It takes a two-thirds vote of the legislature to say we will not support public education,” he told PTSA members. “We only need to secure over one-third to stop him. In California we have highly qualified teachers and great programs, and what we find ourselves in is a state that won’t support public education ... I am very discouraged that Republicans and Democrats are not supporting public education like they should.” 

Huyett said he would be putting together an advisory committee made up of district employees and union members which would advise the school board on the proposed cuts. 

“I really want to go ahead with the achievement gap, but that’s not the work that’s been handed to me at the outset,” said the superintendent, who is in his first month on the job. “We are required to line up our budget with what the governor proposes. The community needs to understand that the superintendent is only human ... We have to go through some tough times.” 

The group will spend Wednesday afternoon meeting with the California School Board Association to get updates on the proposed cuts and statewide action by education coalitions. 

Discussions with the Association of California School Administrators, state Assemblymember Loni Hancock and officials from Senator Don Perata’s office have also been scheduled. 

Hancock, along with Assemblymember Sandré Swanson, was one of the five to vote against the proposed cuts. “It’s simply untenable to cut K-12 funding,” she told the Planet Monday. 

“We cannot make across-the-board 10 percent cuts and expect our schools to provide the quality of programs we want and expect for our students.” 

County Superintendent Sheila Jordan, also a Berkeley High parent, told the Planet that she would lobby legislators to adopt alternatives to the cuts. 

“The governor’s statement that this is not a revenue problem but a spending problem is just rhetorical nonsense,” she said. “In order to run a state of this size you need to spend money on educating our citizens. We don’t need new taxes, we should reinstate existing taxes ... Close some of the loopholes that is letting the wealthy become wealthier and the poor even more poor.” 

Jordan said that if the cuts occur, 15 out of 18 school districts in Alameda County will face negative certification. 

“We are focusing on issues of race and class right now,” she said. “All those strategies and training that help to create a strong curriculum will be jeopardized.” 

Education Week recently gave California a D+ for public school funding efforts. According to county officials, the state—which currently spends $2,000 less per student than the national average and ranks 46th nationally in school funding—ranks behind less prosperous states such as Louisiana and Mississippi.  

“We should be in the top five funded states in education in the country,” said Berkeley High PTSA president Mark van Krieken. “Instead we are languishing in the bottom five. I want to personally sit down with Arnold and tell him to put down something on the ballot that will make us average ... We need a Reach for Mediocrity Campaign. If the state doesn’t do anything to improve public education funding then it’s up to Berkeley to use city taxes to fund our children’s education.” 

District officials said they were also hoping to head to Sacramento for a statewide rally in May.

What a difference a weekend makes in politics. 

On Friday, February 15, the Daily Planet was reporting that retiring Oakland Unified School District Board member Kerry Hamill was denying rumors that he would be a candidate for Henry Chang’s At-Large Oakland City Council race in the June 3 election. “I’m not considering it,” Hamill told the Planet by telephone. 

By the following Monday, Hamill was sending out an e-mail to potential supporters announcing her candidacy for the At-Large Oakland City Council seat, and asking the e-mail’s recipients to join her at a March 6 fundraiser sponsored by State Senator Don Perata. 

In an e-mailed explanation to the Planet, Hamill apologized for not saying in the interview that she was running, adding that she had not talked with her boss at the time and was “just not prepared to talk freely with you about these things.” 

Unless Oakland City Council President Ignacio De La Fuente breaks ranks with Perata, Hamill’s decision to run, with Perata’s support, would appear to leave incumbent Henry Chang out of Oakland’s established political fold in the June election for the first time since he was appointed by the council in 1994 to fill the unexpired term of Councilmember Henry Ogawa. In March of 2000 against four challengers, he was endorsed by then-Oakland mayor Jerry Brown, and by Brown and De La Fuente in his November runoff against Rebecca Kaplan. Four years later, against challenger Melanie Shelby, Chang won the endorsement of the triumvirate of Oakland’s political powers: Brown, De La Fuente, and Perata. 

But that was then. This is now. 

The Oakland at-large council race now has five announced candidates, the best indication that challengers sense a political weakness in Chang. Besides Chang and Hamill, Oakland Residents for Peaceful Neighborhoods co-founder Charles Pine, AC Transit at-large board member Rebecca Kaplan, and former AC Transit Board member and former Oakland Planning Commissioner Clinton Killian have all taken out filing papers with the Oakland City Clerk’s office for the June 3 election. 

Meanwhile, Berkeley and Oakland will see two more hotly contested races in the June election. 

In the 14th State Assembly District, where incumbent Assemblymember Loni Hancock is termed out and cannot run for re-election, four candidates have now taken out filing papers with the Alameda County Registrar of Voters: Richmond City Councilmember Tony Thurmond, former Berkeley City Councilmember and East Bay Regional Parks District Board member Nancy Skinner, Berkeley City Councilmember Kriss Worthington, and Berkeley resident Dr. Phil Polakoff. 

But as powerful as the candidates appear to be in 14th Assembly race, that will probably be overshadowed by the expected barn-burner in the State Senate District 9 race, where current District 14 Assemblymember Loni Hancock will be running against former District 16 Assemblymember Wilma Chan.

Surely the healthiest diet in the world is vegetarian, the one which balances the complementary proteins found in whole grains and legumes, which features a wide variety of brightly colored fruits and vegetables, and which is augmented by judicious amounts of dairy products.  

Gastro-intestinal ailments are rife among carnivores. Vegans are constantly at risk for nutritional deficiencies, often looking less healthy than their household pets. In contrast, this vegetarian cuisine is full of natural, not processed, life. 

We are fortunate in Berkeley to live where Indian, Arabic and Mexican groceries provide all kinds of lentils and beans as well as the chilis and spices to enliven them. Take for instance lentil soup, prosaic standby of many a wintry eve. Add to the brown or green or red lentils a dried reconstituted poblano chili, some tomato paste, chopped onion and parsnip, and lemon zest. Simmer for the time required to soften the lentils and one will enjoy a rich, savory soup that can not be bought in any form. 

Let us not forget to garnish the top with finely chopped parsley, for herbs contribute to the interest and value of vegetarian food. Fresh herbs are best used fresh, as they tend to be overwhelmed by other flavors when cooked. Dried, their pungency increases significantly. 

The following herbs grow readily in the East Bay. But first, a word on their cultivation. 

Culinary herbs are annual, perennial and biennial. Most herbs need their own space separate from the vegetable garden. Most need sharp drainage and lean soil. Many do well in pots, a good solution where space is limited. Provide drainage by placing pebbles in the base of pots to a depth of one inch. For heat and drought lovers, very fine gravel can be mixed with the potting soil and also used as a mulch. 

Although such herbs like a full day of sunlight, a surprising number tolerate some shade, and a few do better in it. 

The following have woody stems: 

Rosemary: Many varieties, from upright to prostrate. Take softwood cuttings after three years to perpetuate a favorite. 

Thyme: Similar to rosemary. Both do best with no fertilizer, little water. 

Origanum: Small flowers attract native bees, important pollinators, so shear after flowers are spent. Completely drought-tolerant here, once established. 

Sage: Similar to above. Many varieties, some quite large and fragrant. Salvia officinalis is garden sage. S. elegans, pineapple sage, is a large rangy shrub with scarlet flowers beloved by hummingbirds. 

All the above need their own space and are easy to dry. 

The following are herbaceous umbels: 

Parsley: The seed has to go to the devil and back before it germinates, so buy plants. A biennial, it sends up a flower stalk in its second year. Cut this off to prolong harvest. Fits in well with the vegetable rotation plan. Best used fresh—and cooked. 

Fennel: Some varieties have a bulbous edible stalk. Leaves and seeds taste of anise. An important food plant for caterpillars of swallowtail butterfly. Take care not to confuse fennel with poison hemlock. 

Cilantro: Small delicate plants quickly flower and set seed, almost before one has time to harvest leaves. Seeds however are valuable in the kitchen, as coriander. 

Dill: Similar to fennel in appearance but not in taste. 

The following are tender-leaved: 

Basil: Sow frequently in a hot spot throughout the summer, in the vegetable bed. Or grow in pots (think Keats). 

Mint: Prefers a shady spot with a little sun and plenty of moisture. Spreads by underground stolons, so can be invasive. 

Borage: Sow seeds in a permanent place. It dislikes being moved. Self-sows readily. 

Nasturtium: Easy to grow from seed, self sows, does not transplant well. Leaves, flowers and young green seeds are edible.  

Herby flowers 

Chamolie: Two kinds, one a ground cover that takes light foot traffic, the other an upright plant grown for its tea leaves. 

Pelargonium: Incorrectly called Geranium. Best in sun. Variously scented leaves perfume desserts and cakes. Easy to propagate from cuttings. Remove a side shoot, let the end dry for a day. Dust with hormone-rooting powder and pot up. Cut back mature leggy plants. If grown in a pot, it likes to be slightly crowded—choose a pot that seems just a little too small for it. 

My parsley will soon send up a flower stalk. At the moment it is going strong. I chose an Italian flat-leaved variety, although I can taste no difference between it and the curly-leaf kind. 

It’s delicious in breakfast patties. Simply cook those lentils again, just the brown or the green ones this time, with as little water as possible. Blend or puree them and if necessary, thicken over heat. Add finely chopped red onion and home-grown parsley. Form into little patties and fry until golden brown on both sides. Sprinkle salt over them if you must. Eaten after the usual cereal or with toast, they nicely contribute to a nutritionally balanced, protein-rich and, above all, easily-digested start to the day. 

Posted Mon., Feb. 25—Paul Robeson was something of a Renaissance man. A singer, actor, lawyer, writer, civil rights advocate, all-American athlete and political activist, Robeson was a powerful and eloquent spokesman for racial justice well before Martin Luther King, Jr., or Malcolm X, yet these successors have eclipsed him in the annals of history. 

Robeson put his fame on the line for the revolutionary causes he believed in—the elimination of international fascism and the eradication of racism at home in the United States. With immense talent and determination, he developed his skills and earned his fame and influence in the institutions of white America, fighting racism all along the way. He proved that a black man could meet any challenge, could pass any test, and then, at the peak of his powers, he set out to tear down once and for all the oppressive system he had conquered. With conservative America and the federal government discrediting his name and his work every step of the way, Robeson entertained, educated, and inspired people to think differently about cultural differences in the United States. 

Twenty-six of Robeson’s inspiring speeches have been collected on a CD, Paul Robeson: Words Like Freedom, the release of which will be celebrated at 6 p.m. Wednesday at La Peña Cultural Center. The CD was produced by the Freedom Archives, a San Francisco-based organization specializing in the preservation of audio and video recordings documenting social justice movements from the 1960s to the present.  

Born in 1898 to an escaped slave, who later became a minister, and a mother who came from one of the oldest African families in the United States, Robeson committed himself to agitating a white supremacist system from early in life. He was one of only two black students at his high school. At 17, he earned an academic scholarship to Rutgers after graduating from high school with honors at a time when lynchings were still common. While his brothers chose all-black colleges, Robeson was the only black student in his class, suffering beatings while trying out for the Rutgers football team, beatings he endured in order to prove his mettle before going on to lead the team as a two-time All-American. 

As Robeson continued to excel in academics (he attended law school first at NYU then later at Columbia) and theater performance (he was offered lead acting roles starting in the 1920s, while performing regularly at the Cotton Club), he also became intimately familiar with the effects of racism, social injustice and oppression. His own experience and family history inspired him to take political action.  

Throughout Words like Freedom, Robeson’s deep, almost throbbing voice commands attention. Its unwavering firmness reflects his grounded stance for justice for African peoples, here and abroad, and his belief that oppressed people should unite. In “Harlem,” a speech given in 1949, Robeson asserts that oppression must be named for what it is, in the name of American responsibility and history. “To fulfill our responsibilities as Americans, we must unite, especially we Negro people. We must know our strengths. We happen to be the decisive force. That’s why they terrorize us, that’s why they fear us! And we must have the courage to shout at the top of our voices, above the injustices and we must lay the blame where it belongs and where it has belonged for over 300 years of slavery and continuous misery—right here on our own doorstep.”  

As the CD progresses, we hear Robeson’s speeches increase in defiance and power under the restrictions imposed upon him by the U.S. government. His passport was revoked in 1950, and a few years later he would be forced to appear before the House Un-American Activities Committee. But this harassment only increased his political activity. “Freedom for the People of Africa” reads almost as a resumé of his activities in support of the liberation of African peoples and leads to an address entitled “To My Friends in the Bay Area,” where he declares, with the kind of hope not always associated with radical activists, “we shall overcome.” 

The 12-minute testimony Robeson gave before the House Un-American Activities Committee in 1956 is the most dynamic track in the collection. He solidly declares, “My name is Paul Robeson and anything I have to say, I have said in public all over the world, and that is why I am here today. The other reason why I am here is that when I am abroad, I speak out against injustices against the Negro in this land...I am being tried for fighting for the rights of my people.”  

In a brilliant performance, Robeson, much to the audible frustration of the committee, employs his formidable rhetorical and locutionary skills to dramatically call attention to the absurdity of the allegations against him. When asked to speak to his relationship with anti-fascist movements and the Communist Party, he launches into a forceful diatribe about his deep roots in the United States, tracing his family’s lineage to the slaves of George Washington. At one point Robeson is questioned about his sympathy toward the Soviet Union, with the committee suggesting that he move there if that nation is truly free from racial prejudice, and Robeson responds by summoning that history: “Because my father was a slave, and my people died to build this country, I’m going to stay here and have a part of it just like you. And no fascist-minded people are going to drive me from it. Is that clear?” 

“You are here because you are promoting the Communist cause!” a committee member says. 

“I am here because I am opposing the neo-fascist cause,” Robeson responds, “which I see arising in these committees. Jefferson could be sitting here!” he says, pounding his spot at the table for emphasis. “And Frederick Douglass could be sitting here! Eugene Debs could be sitting here!” 

A committee member goes on to say that Robeson could not possibly claim to be a victim of racial prejudice, as he graduated from Rutgers, from the University of Pennsylvania, and was a football star.  

“Just a moment,” Robeson interrupts. “This is something I challenge very deeply: that the success of a few Negroes can make up for $700 a year for thousands of Negro families in the South. My father was a slave, and I have cousins who are sharecroppers. I do not see success in terms of myself.” 

Robeson knowingly and willingly paid a price for his activism. His music and films were pulled from distribution, contributing greatly to his eclipse today. Words Like Freedom is an attempt to bring the power of Robeson’s life’s work back into the public consciousness in the hope that it can serve as an inspiration for modern-day resistance movements. 

Deb Schneider is a volunteer and board member at Freedom Archives, a San Francisco-based organization that seeks to help people reconnect with the foundations of social justice work by documenting radical activism and social movements that have been minimized and misconstrued by mainstream history. For more information, see www.freedomarchives.org. 

PAUL ROBESON:  

WORDS LIKE FREEDOM 

CD release party, 7 p.m. Wednesday at La Peña Cultural Center, 3105 Shattuck Ave. 

Posted Sat., Feb. 23—Tears, sobs, angry words, whispered remembrances and promises of action punctuated Thursday night’s gathering in a South Berkeley church to honor the memory of a grandmother fatally shot by police on the night of Feb. 16. 

“I don’t think it should’ve happened,” said Max Anderson, who represents the area on the Berkeley City Council. 

“It is very difficult to understand why a 51-year-old woman was shot this way, and I need answers,” he said, adding that talks with community members “have given me a different version” than the official police account. 

The councilmember spoke after listening to friends and family describe Gay as a woman who cared for friends and young people in the community. 

“Those of us who grew up in the black community know we have people in the community” who care for others, he said. “In the neighborhood I grew up in, there was a woman we called Big Mama. We didn’t need foster care. She raised scores of children,” he said. 

The stories he heard about Gay Thursday evening reminded him of that figure from his youth. 

Anderson said that after meeting with City Manager Phil Kamlarz he would make certain that another community meeting would be held addressing concerns raised by the shootings. 

He also directed a dig at Berkeley police, who “recently had a problem with narcotics missing” from the department’s evidence locker. In that case, he said, “it seems like the police are sometimes reluctant to snitch,” though they encourage community members to inform on each other. 

Police need to operate within the law, said the councilmember, because only then will the community have confidence in law enforcement, and the needed services they provide. 

Other speakers included Andrea Pritchett, a B-Tech Academy teacher who is also an activist with Copwatch, a representative of Uhuru House, a speaker from the ANSWER Coalition and Melvin Dixon of the Commemoration Committee of the Black Panther Party. 

Another speaker, Gary King Sr., had a more personal connection with Gay’s family. His son, Gary Jr., was also shot in the back by a police officer five months earlier a few blocks to the south. 

Gary King Jr. was killed on Sept. 20 near the corner of 54th Street and Martin Luther King Jr. Way by a Oakland police sergeant who had been involved in at least two prior shootings, one fatal. 

As with the killing of Gay, police and neighborhood accounts offered contrasting versions of the shooting, and in both cases the people shot were alleged to be in possession of deadly weapons—a knife in Gay’s case, a pistol in the case of the younger King. 

“My son Jerry was also murdered by the police,” said King, who said of Gay, “another queen of the neighborhood has fallen.” 

King’s family has sued the Oakland Police Department, and the young man’s death has sparked demonstrations at the Alameda County District Attorney’s office. 

The DA’s office, Berkeley police homicide detectives and the department’s internal affairs division are all investigating the shooting of Gay. Officer Rashawn Cummings, who fired the fatal shots, is currently on paid administrative leave. 

Berkeley police spokesperson Sgt. Mary Kusmiss said that statements from witnesses, family members and the officer had all indicated that Gay was carrying a knife at the time she was shot. 

Family members and some witnesses have since stated she had put the knife down before the shooting. 

The battle of attrition between UC Berkeley and the Memorial Stadium tree-sitters flared again Tuesday morning. 

The casualties were limited to one fallen arboreal crash pad and some rope lines that enabled protesters to move from one tree to another high above the ground and the noses of university cleanup crews. 

The branch-borne protest is aimed at protecting the grove, where the university plans to axe a venerable collection of coastal live oaks, a redwood, and other trees to make way for a high tech gym and office complex. 

“We’re taking the opportunity today because there are fewer numbers in the trees to take out the lines and any materials that put people at risk, and also one platform,” said Mitch Celaya, deputy chief of UC Berkeley Police.  

“We are not planning to remove any protesters today.” Performing the work in the branches was an arborist who scaled the oak where tree-sitter Karuna had been residing on a platform beneath a large plastic tarp. Armed with a pair of long-handled branch cutters, he snipped lines and the platform’s support as other tree-sitters and watchers on the sidewalk called out taunts. 

“Don’t mind me. I’m just doing my job,” called out one tree-sitter in a mockery of the bureaucratic mantra. “Shame,” called a voice from the sidewalk. 

On Wednesday campus police set up a temporary barricade in front on the two existing fences minutes before a press conference scheduled by tree supporters at the site. 

According to Kristen Pickett, a tree supporter, the press conference was meant to highlight the dangerous situation created by the university when they sent up the climber to cut the ropes that helped the tree sitters get around from one tree-top to another. 

“We want to point out the gross hypocrisy of the university spokesperson who said that the climber had been set up for safety and sanitary concerns,” she said. “The climber left the cut ropes recklessly hanging from the trees, which is life threatening.” 

Dumpster Muffin, a tree sitter, said that two of the tree sitters had almost died from the dummy ropes that had been left hanging from the trees. 

Pickett said that after the press conference was over, tree supporters tried to send up food supplies to the tree sitters. 

“That’s when the police moved in and got physical with them,” she said. “But we were able to send up food and water anyway. It was a beautiful example of people power.” 

A number of tree supporters opposed the barricade that Celaya said was dismantled Wednesday night. 

“We put it up before the press conference to deter the tree supporters from bringing in building materials,” he told the Planet. “It was in response to them advertising that were going to resupply the tree sitters with things to build platforms and other forms of lodging up there ... Our focus was not to prevent food and water from going up there.” 

Pickett said she objected to the university police building a barricade on City of Berkeley property. 

“I think it’s illegal,” she said. “It’s impeding right of passage on a public thoroughfare.” 

“Yes, the sidewalk is city property, but if we are trying to stop a criminal act we can take the necessary steps required to prevent it from happening,” Celaya said. 

“Everything that was handed up there was food,” said Asa Dodsworth, a neighborhood activist who was present at the site. “It seems pretty apparent that they were trying to starve out the tree sitters and not doing it for health and human safety.” 

Dan Mogulof, executive director of UC Berkeley’s public affairs office, said the raid was done for safety reasons, and wasn’t part of any effort to evict the tree-sitters. 

Doug Buckwald of Save the Oaks and veteran tree-sit supporter said he doubted the university’s rationale for the raid. 

“We don’t know what safety issues were being addressed by removing supplies and safety lines,” he said. “That doesn’t make any sense. And how can they justify the increased police presence at the grove when there has been an increase in violent crime near the campus?” 

On the legal front, the battle of the grove is heading toward a climax, with a March 7 hearing in a Hayward courtroom slated for the final arguments in the lawsuit filed by the City of Berkeley, Councilmember Dona Spring, the California Oak Foundation and city neighbors. 

A final decision in that case should follow within 30 days. 

That suit seeks to overturn the action by UC Regents approving the critical environmental document needed before the university can build the Student Athlete High Performance Center at the site of the grove as well as an underground parking lot and other nearby construction projects. 

The university has already won a restraining order against the tree-sitters, and has made frequent arrests of the sitters and their supporters. 

Campus crews set up barricades on the sidewalk outside the grove Wednesday, where supporters of the tree-sitters were scheduled to resupply the tree-sitters later in the day. 

“That didn’t interfere with the resupply,” said Running Wolf Thursday. “We just kind of went around it.” 

After campus police started arresting individuals as they sent up food and other necessities and took away bodily waste and other trash, tree-sit supporters responded by making the resupply efforts public events, with volunteer grandmothers doing the work. 

Campus police have proved more reluctant about arresting grandmothers from the Berkeley community than they have been about arresting the university’s own students. 

So far, the strategy has worked.

Flowers, small stuffed animals and a tight cluster of votive candles offered a silent tribute to the life of a Berkeley woman killed Saturday night in a controversial police shooting. 

Nearby, on a sidewalk leading up to the three-building apartment complex in the 1700 block of Ward Street, a white dry-erase board was filled with tributes to Anita Lee Gay from friends and family members. 

At its base, beneath the angrily scrawled “MURDERER!” was a photocopied image of Berkeley Police Officer Rashawn Cum-mings. 

Written over the image was a declaration: “Rashan (sic) Cum-mings shot my mother, 51-year-old Anita Lee Gay, three times from behind at her residence in front of her children! Also in front of neighbors and small children. We need justice!” 

The rage reflected in the tributes at the scene of Saturday night’s shooting has boiled over into legal resolve, and the family has retained noted Oakland attorney John Burris to represent them in a lawsuit against police. 

But Berkeley Police spokes-person Sgt. Mary Kusmiss is urging community restraint until her department and the Alameda County District Attorney’s office complete three parallel investigations of the shooting: one by the DA and one each by BPD’s Homicide and Internal Affairs divisions. 

Police were summoned twice to the Ward Street apartment building where Gay lived on Saturday evening. 

According to Berkeley police spokes-person Sgt. Mary Kusmiss, the first call came at 6:40 p.m. from an older neighbor who reported hearing yelling and “people ... breaking out glass over there.” 

The caller didn’t know who or how many people might be involved, Sgt. Kusmiss said. 

Three officers arrived at the scene, the first a minute after the call. Officers found broken windows at 1727 Ward St., Apartment B, which is next to Gay’s Apartment A in a two-unit building. 

Officers knocked on the door of the vandalized unit, but no one answered, so one of the officers left a business card and a note urging the tenants to call back if they wanted to file a report. 

Checking out the neighborhood for potential witnesses, officers found Gay walking down the street and questioned her briefly before leaving, Sgt. Kusmiss said. They found no one who reported witnessing events at the apartment. 

What happened next remains a matter of controversy. 

Police aren’t releasing many details of the second call, pending the completion of the investigations. 

The call came in through the California Highway Patrol, which receives 911 calls made from cell phones whose callers haven’t used BPD’s cellular emergency line at 981-5911. 

Sgt. Kusmiss said the caller asked police to come to 1727 Ward “for some type of domestic dispute.” Three units were dispatched, but Officer Cummings was first to arrive. 

According to the official statement by Sgt. Kusmiss, when the officer arrived, he was confronted by Gay, who was carrying “a large kitchen knife.”  

“The officer challenged her at gunpoint and verbally,” said Sgt. Kusmiss. “Two family members emerged from the apartment door. The woman turned her attention from the officer to the family members. The officer used deadly force as he felt there was an imminent threat to the lives of family members.” 

He then fired at least three shots; at least two struck Gay in the back. 

Shooting someone who is believed to be threatening the lives of family members is specifically allowed in the Berkeley Police deadly force policy, Sgt. Kusmiss said. 

But whether or not Gay was actually carrying the knife at the moment she was shot remains the issue of greatest controversy. 

Sgt. Kusmiss said statements provided by witnesses and family members corroborated Cumming’s account and evidence collected at the scene. But statements neighbors provided to the media have offered a conflicting version in which Gay had dropped the knife before she was shot. 

Sgt. Kusmiss said officers went door-to-door throughout the neighborhood after the shooting in a search for witnesses. The statements of witnesses, family members and others were similar to the officer’s account, she said. 

But Burris—who did not return calls from the Daily Planet—told Bay City News that Gay “certainly did not have a knife and did not present a danger to anyone.” 

Allen Jackson, president of the Berkeley Branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, called Thursday for the dismissal and criminal prosecution of officer Cummings. 

“I think he needs to be removed from his position and tried for murder,” Jackson said. 

In response to the police statement that the officer was acting in defense of Gay’s family, Jackson responded, “One of her daughter’s was grazed by a bullet the officer fired. He almost took out two.” 

The NAACP official said he had not talked to any eyewitnesses to the event, “but I am basing my statement on experience and what I know has happened in the neighborhood. It is the policy of law enforcement to shoot first.” 

Kusmiss said, “We recognize that whenever deadly force is used, there will be community feedback as well as criticism. We also recognize that the community is clamoring for more details so it can really understand what happened.” 

The sergeant said that officer-involved shootings were rare in the city, with the last incident in 2003 and another in 2000. 

She asked anyone who may have witnessed the shooting to call the BPD Homicide Detail at 981-5741. “We would like to obtain their statements and ensure that our investigation is complete,” she said. 

Following the shooting, Officer Cummings was placed on paid administrative leave, a standard practice among law enforcement agencies in officer-involved shootings. 

Meanwhile, friends and other South Berkeley residents have responded to the killing by creating the Justice for Anita! Justice for All! Campaign, and supporters were holding a memorial for Gray as this issue goes to press. 

Meanwhile, the Alameda County District Attorney is conducting its own investigation of the shooting. 

“We have an officer-involved shooting team that is normally involved when there’s a shooting,” said Deputy District Attorney Michael O’Connor. “They do a complete investigation, which is independent of the police investigation.” 

Gay’s family had left the apartment after the shooting. A neighbor, who identified himself as Ralph, said they were “staying somewhere in Oakland.” 

Ralph said he didn’t see the shooting, but only heard the officer’s gunshots from inside his apartment directly opposite Gay’s across the pathway leading into the complex. 

Ralph said Gay had been a good neighbor who sometimes helped as he did yard work and painting at the apartment complex. 

“She was a good person,” he said. “She seemed like a decent person, but I don’t know what went on inside the apartment. I know she drank a bit. I know she would have a few beers. But I never knew about her being violent. No, not to me. In my company, she was a very decent person.” 

Ralph said he was inside his apartment—which is directly across from Gay’s—and heard the gunshots but didn’t see the shooting itself. 

“You can see where it happened,” he said, pointing to the hole where a round from Officer Cummings’ semi-automatic pistol had splintered the door frame just inches from the front doorknob. 

One of Gay’s daughter’s also suffered a facial wound, which friends charge was a grazing wound from one of the shots fired by Officer Cummings. 

Sgt. Kusmiss said two ambulances were called to the apartment after the shooting, and said that the daughter did sustain an injury, though only further investigation would show whether it was from a bullet, debris thrown up by a bullet or from some other source. 

“And we may not know even then,” she said. 

Gay is survived by six children and grandchildren.

Berkeley’s Police Review Commission and Copwatch are among the groups demanding answers to why five-year Berkeley Police Officer Rashawn Cummings used deadly force on Anita Gay, a 51-year-old South Berkeley grandmother. 

The question will be discussed by the Police Review Commis-sion at its meeting Wednesday at 7 p.m. at the South Berkeley Senior Center, 2939 Ellis St. 

Copwatch says it will respond after Thursday evening’s public memorial for Gay. 

“It’s the first item on the commission agenda,” said Police Review Commission (PRC) officer Victoria Urbi, who said she encourages the public to attend the meeting and participate in the public comment portion of the meeting.  

The committee won’t be discussing details of the shooting, but will be making a decision on whether to conduct an investigation, said Urbi, who staffs the commission. 

The PRC, however, will not be able to conduct a public investigation that includes both witnesses and the officer in question.  

As a result of a California Supreme Court decision and a lawsuit brought by the Berkeley Police Association (the city of Berkeley is appealing the ruling), hearings must be closed to the public and complainants may not be present when the officer responds to a complaint. 

“The citizens of Berkeley are foreclosed from that avenue,” Mark Schlosberg, ACLU Police Practices Policy director and a Berkeley resident. “We want to be able to learn the full facts.”  

Moreover, previous PRC rulings on complaints—made earlier than the Supreme Court ruling—are no longer available to the public or to members of the PRC. So the public cannot know whether there have been complaints sustained by the PRC against the officer in question. 

Andrea Prichett of Copwatch said the first order of business was to “deal with the grief of the family.”  

Prichett said she recognizes that everyone suffers, including the officer. 

Still, she said there are questions she would want to see answered: “Why did the officer respond by himself?” she asked. The Berkeley Police Department General Order D-5 issued Oct. 30, 2006 says that, in the case of a domestic dispute, a dispatcher “should, whenever possible, dispatch two officers to the scene.” 

“Domestic violence is one of the most dangerous calls,” Prichett said, underscoring that she questions whether there is adequate supervision and training of Berkeley police.  

Prichett said she also wants to know why the officer didn’t use pepper spray rather than deadly force, which was an option. 

She also said she thought the officer should have been immediately screened for drugs and alcohol. 

Questions have been raised about whether the Berkeley police department ought to invest in Taser guns, devices that emit electro shocks. The BPD currently is not prohibited from purchasing them. 

Councilmember Betty Olds would like the city to investigate their use. 

“We have to have something else,” Olds told the Planet. “Think of how that policeman is going to feel for the rest of his life.” 

Olds said she understands some people have died from the use of Tasers, “But a lot fewer people have died with Tasers than with pistols,” she said. 

“We would caution against suggesting that a Taser may have been a viable option in Saturday night’s officer involved shooting. The incident unfolded very quickly,” said Sgt. Mary Kusmiss in a written statement. 

Urbi said the research on Tasers is mixed. “The PRC would have to do more research,” she said. 

Schlosberg said the ACLU doesn’t have a position against Tasers. “They should be very strictly regulated,” he said, noting that Tasers have been implicated with loss of life when there have been multiple shocks, prolonged shocks and pre-existing medical conditions. 

“They are not risk free,” he said.  

The City Council will not discuss the issue before the district attorney’s investigation has been completed, which will be in about six weeks, City Manager Phil Kamlarz told the Planet.

Despite public outcry, the state agriculture department is determined to use a controversial aerial spray to eradicate the Light Brown Apple Moth (LBAM).  

Spraying began in September and will resume in June in the Monterey-Santa Cruz area; in August, the California Depart-ment of Food and Agriculture plans to begin spraying in the San Francisco Bay Area. 

The program will continue until the moth is eradicated, the CDFA says. 

At this point it looks like the CDFA is holding all the high cards: The law gives the department the power to declare an emergency and then to spray without public input. And the CDFA’s got $75 million from the U.S. Department of Agriculture for the program.  

Given the CDFA’s $500,000 budget for a New York public relations firm to “educate” the populace on spray benefits, and the potential for the influence of political contributions from the heavy spender who owns the company that makes the spray in question, it appears that citizen groups are playing against a stacked deck. 

Nevertheless, that’s what they are attempting: More than 17 organizations are on the record opposing the spray, and a growing number of city councils and legislators are joining a rising public tide, questioning both the need for the spraying and the resultant health impacts. 

“The only way we can stop this aerial spray program is if the people of the Bay Area stand up in a united way,” Nan Wishner, chair of Albany’s Integrated Pest Management Committee, told the Planet.  

Albany passed a resolution opposing the aerial spray last month. Santa Cruz did the same several months ago. 

The California Alliance to Stop the Spraying, Pesticide Watch and others are calling a “Townhall Meeting to Stop Planned Aerial Spraying of Pesticides in Berkeley” for Sunday, Feb. 24, 5-7 p.m. at the Hillside Club, 2286 Cedar St. 

And at Tuesday’s Berkeley City Council meeting, Councilmember Dona Spring will ask her council colleagues to approve a resolution stating their opposition to the spray and seeking a court injunction to stop it. At the same meeting, representatives from the state will speak on the question and a group opposing the spray, organized by the Alameda Green Party, will have equal time to speak against the spray. 

Members of the public will have one minute each to state their opinions. The meeting begins at 7 p.m., at the Maudelle Shirek Building, 2134 Martin Luther King, Jr. Way. There is no exact time scheduled for the spray question. 

Also Tuesday, at the 7:30 p.m. Oakland Public Safety Committee meeting at Oakland City Hall, Councilmembers Jane Brunner and Larry Reid will introduce a resolution opposing the spray, which, if approved in committee, will go before the full Oakland council in two weeks. 

The problem 

At issue is the Light Brown Apple Moth, a pest that feeds on some 2,000 host plants and therefore is able to spread rapidly. The California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) fears the pest will hurt California’s billion dollar agriculture industry, al-though, by the department’s own admission, there is no sign that the infestation has caused significant crop damage. 

There is also fear that other states and countries will refuse exports of California agricultural products, due to the infestation. “We have obligations to our trading partners,” said CDFA Secretary A.G. Kawamura, speaking in a hearing on the question in San Rafael last week. We need “to show we’re moving forward.” 

Kawamura added a warning: “The federal government is saying that California must eradicate or they will,” he said. 

The CDFA responded to the fear of crop damage by declaring an emergency in nine counties, including Monterey, Santa Cruz, Marin, San Francisco, Contra Costa and Alameda. The declaration in each county means that the CDFA is free to conduct an aerial spray program before undertaking an environmental study to assess risks and alternatives. 

Spraying was conducted in Santa Cruz and Monterey counties in September, after which there were more than 600 complaints that included skin rashes, nausea, diarrhea and more. 

This is the first instance in which this product, CheckMate, made by Suterra of North Bend, Oregon, has been sprayed over an urban center.  

The state is just beginning its environmental impact report (EIR) process, which will be completed in six-to-eight months, according to CDFA officials. Feb. 26—the same day the resolutions will be introduced in Berkeley and Oakland—there will be a scoping session at the Elihu Harris State Building, 1515 Clay St., Oakland, 6-8:30 p.m. at which time the public can give input on the question. 

“It’s not unusual to conduct the EIR while doing the eradication,” Kawamura told the Assembly Committee. (A video of the San Rafael hearing is available at http://marin.granicus.com/MediaPlayer.php?view_id=21&clip_id=2856) 

The Planet asked CDFA spokesperson Steve Lyle if it didn’t make more sense to do the environmental study before spraying. It’s allowed in an emergency, Lyle said, noting, “That’s the law.”  

While CDFA materials say: “There is no human or animal health risk from exposure to the pheromones treatment,” testimony in a lawsuit brought by Santa Cruz County says there have been no studies that would lead one to that conclusion.  

“No chronic toxicity study of CheckMate has been conducted,” writes Richard Philp, emeritus professor of pharmacology and toxicology with the University of Western Ontario, in testimony to the court in the lawsuit brought against the CDFA by Santa Cruz County. (The complaint, filed in October, is pending.) 

“One cannot conclude from these studies that CheckMate is a safe product to aerial spray over an urban population, nor can one guarantee that longer-term repeated exposures on humans are without risk,” Philp writes. 

He concludes: “In my opinion, since the decision to use aerial spraying as the method of application appears to have been made entirely on economic grounds, the decision should be revised, given the lack of adequate evidence for its safety in the long term.”  

The product that is sprayed is made up of synthetic pheromones and other chemicals encased in microscopic plastic capsules. A pheromone is a scent emitted by female moths which stimulates males to mate. The synthetic scent is intended to confuse the male moth and eradicate the LBAM by interrupting its reproductive cycle. 

Steve Lyle, spokesperson for the CDFA, says that this method of eradication is what environmentalists want since no moths are directly killed by a toxic substance in the program. 

Spray opponents, however, say that they are concerned that harmful toxins are used along with the pheromones in the CheckMate spray and that the microcapsules are dangerous when inhaled. 

Lyle is getting some help to explain the department’s position. The CDFA has hired New York-based Porter Novelli, a public-relations firm, “to help with outreach … trying to educate people on the safety of the use of pheromones,” Lyle said. The contract is for $497,500. 

The $75 million program is funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. 

It may be instructive to take a look at the company that makes the spray, although one cannot conclude with certainty that the company influenced the CDFA. 

CheckMate is produced by Suterra, LLC, owned by billionaire Stewart Resnick of Beverly Hills.  

With his wife, Lynda Rae, Resnick owns Paramount Farming, which specializes in production of pistachios, almonds and pomegranates and claims to be the world’s largest pistachio processor. Paramount Farming owns Paramount Citrus, “the largest fully integrated grower, picker, shipper and marketer of fresh citrus in North America,” according to the company website. 

Resnick also owns the Del Rey Juice Company, in Del Rey, Calif., which produces frozen juices; he owns Teleflora, a world-wide cut-flower delivery business, Franklin Mint, a company that markets collectibles and Fuji Water. The parent company is Roll International. 

Resnick is known as a “major donor” in campaign finance lingo. In the last governor’s race he contributed $144,000 to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. In the last year he’s contributed between $1,000 and $3,000 to each of the members of the Assembly Agriculture committee.  

Schwarzenegger’s spokesperson Rachel Cameron told the Planet that the “governor has confidence in the CDFA and the science behind the pheromones. He believes it is safe.” 

Asked if the $144,000 contribution would have influenced the governor’s view of the product, Schwarzenegger’s political spokesperson Julie Soderland said, “The governor makes all his policy decisions based on the best interests of the people of California.” 

Lyle told the Daily Planet that political contributions bear no weight on the selection of CheckMate. He said CheckMate was the choice of the USDA and that “the process is driven by sound science.” 

Resnick spokesperson Rob Six told the Planet: “We don’t talk about our political contributions.” 

State legislators weigh in 

State Sen. Carole Migden is introducing a bill for a moratorium on aerial spraying that would be limited to the counties of San Francisco and Marin. 

And Assemblymember Loni Hancock’s spokesperson says she will introduce a package of resolutions aimed not only at declaring a moratorium on spraying in all the affected communities, but also at clarifying who can declare an emergency.  

“The administration can declare an emergency without consultation,” said Hans Hemann, Hancock spokesperson. “Hancock thinks the governor should do this.”  

Hemann underscored that any resolution on a moratorium that is approved by the state legislature would be advisory only; any change in the power to declare an emergency approved by legislators would not take effect until January 2009.

Berkeley police arrested two men they say killed 23-year-old Wayne Drummond Jr. of Oakland in 2006 following a fight outside a Telegraph Avenue bar. 

Brandon Crowder, 20, of Oakland, and Nicholas Beaudreaux, 22, of Richmond were each charged with one count of murder Tuesday by the Alameda County District Attorney’s office. 

What led to the arrests was a threat made during up a pick-up basketball game at the UC Berkeley Recreational Sports Facility, said Berkeley police spokesperson Sgt. Mary Kusmiss. 

Crowder was arrested on Feb. 13 on a $50,000 warrant from campus police stemming from a threat made during an argument with a fellow player. 

“During that exchange, he took out a cell phone and called someone and said, ‘Bring the heat. I need you to take care of someone,’” said Sgt. Kusmiss. 

What caused the threatened player to call police was the advice given him by another player, who told him “‘You’d better take that seriously because the last time Crowder was in a beef with someone, that person ended up dead,’” said Sgt. Kusmiss. 

The campus detective who handled the threat case called Berkeley homicide, where Crowder’s name was prominently featured on a white board on the wall listing victims and suspects in unsolved homicides. 

“Once Crowder was arrested, Berkeley detectives suspected that because making a death threat is a felony, he might potentially speak out about the Drummond case,” said Sgt. Kusmiss. 

Interrogated by Berkeley homicide detectives, Crowder rolled over on Beaudreaux, identifying him as the shooter, apparently believing he wouldn’t be held equally culpable for his role in directing the hit, said the sergeant. 

But under California law, both the shot-caller and the shooter are presumed to be equally guilty, and after Beaudreaux was arrested two days later in San Pablo, the Alameda County District Attorney’s office reviewed the case and both men were charged with one count each of murder on the Tuesday. 

According to the story told by Crowder and witnesses, the fatal shooting happened after another argument, which began outside Larry Blake’s at 2367 Telegraph Ave. near closing time in the early morning of Sept. 4, 2006. 

The argument continued as the three walked east, reaching its climax in the 2500 block of Durant Avenue when Beaudreaux allegedly shot and fatally wounded Drummond, a student from Oakland. Friends of the injured man carried him to the Alpha Omicron Pi sorority house at 2311 Prospect St., where he died at about 2:30 a.m. 

Sgt. Kusmiss said Crowder had been quickly identified as a suspect, and detectives had interviewed him soon afterwards but had not been able to develop enough evidence to prosecute.

Cody’s is leaving Fourth Street for downtown Berkeley. 

“We love Cody’s,” Fourth Street developer Denny Abrams told the Planet through spokesperson Luma Cortez. “We hate to see it go.” 

While the move may hurt the upscale Fourth Street area’s careful mix of home furnishings and restaurants, with its toy, music and specialty shops, it will be a plus for downtown, said Michael Caplan, the city’s economic development director. 

Cody’s plans to remain open on Fourth Street during most the transition, and will re-open March 24 at the corner of Allston Way and Shattuck Avenue, the site of the former Eddie Bauer’s.  

“This isn’t a move that we fully anticipated,” says a Cody’s press release. “Our Fourth Street rent skyrocketed, making it impossible for us to stay after 10 lovely years in West Berkeley.”  

Melissa Mytinger, Cody’s store and marketing manager, told the Planet they started renegotiating a new 10-year lease. The rate asked was “not quite double what we were paying,” Mytinger said. Cody’s made counter offers, but the owner would not relent. 

Still, she said, “What started out as bad news ended really well.” 

While the move will be a loss for Fourth Street, “it will connect (Cody’s) to the arts district development efforts,” with book readings and cultural events in the evening, Caplan said. 

The new space will be smaller than its present location. “Cody’s will be more intimate than our Fourth Street store,” says the press release.  

Cody’s on Fourth Street is just under 10,000 square feet. The new space is about 7,000 square feet. The smaller space “will force us to fine-tune our inventory,” Mytinger said. 

They’ll go back to what Cody’s was best known for—history, politics, current affairs, literature. “We’re not going to do as many baby-toddler board books,” Mytinger said, adding that they will also cut out computer books. 

Cody’s was founded in Berkeley in 1956 by Fred and Pat Cody, then sold to Andy Ross in 1977, who opened the Fourth Street store in 1998 and added a San Francisco store in 2005. 

Ross closed the flagship store on Telegraph Avenue in mid 2006 and soon thereafter sold Cody’s to Yohan, a Japanese book distributor. In April 2007, the new owner closed the San Francisco store, 18 months after its opening. 

In December, Ross, who had stayed on as Cody’s president, stepped down and at the same time Hiroshi Kagawa left Yohan, where he had been CEO, and took Cody’s with him to the IBC Publishing Group, the current owner. 

Last year, Barnes and Noble closed its store in downtown Berkeley. Pegasus Books, Half Price Books, the Other Change of Hobbit and Comic Relief are located downtown. 

Cody’s is taking the unusual step of holding a community meeting—7 p.m., Feb. 27 at the Fourth Street store—to get input from the community. “We don’t pretend to know what downtown customers want,” Mytinger said.

The Oakland City Council appeared tantalizingly close to a possible compromise on the city’s divisive affordable housing issues Tuesday night, but while the outlines for such a compromise have begun to take shape, it was unclear who would be brokering a possible agreement, or the logistics of how it would take place. 

“I don’t think there’s a plan for how we can get together to talk this out,” Councilmember Jane Brunner said by telephone a day after the meeting. “There are conversations going on, and when something comes together, we’ll bring it back.” 

And in a separate interview, Councilmember Desley Brooks said that the issues of inclusionary zoning and affordable housing are linked, and “it is very hard to see that one will be passed without the other; it will probably have to come as a package deal.” 

Council has been divided down the middle on affordable housing since late 2006 when Councilmember Brooks (East Oakland) put together a coalition that delayed passage of an inclusionary zoning ordinance authored by Councilmembers Brunner (North Oakland) and Jean Quan (Glenview-Montclair). Shortly afterwards, Brooks’ own proposal for amending Oakland’s condominum conversion ordinance was blocked.  

Both issues were sent to a newly formed Blue Ribbon Commission on Affordable Housing, which met for a year and ended up recommending a rough compromise on inclusionary zoning that seemed to satisfy neither side, and issuing two minority reports, but no commission agreement, on condominium conversion. 

In an interview last week, Brunner sounded doubtful that there were the necessary five votes to pass any new affordable housing legislation, and she repeated that belief during Tuesday’s debate. But at the end of a special three-hour afternoon Council meeting held to try to break the year-long deadlock, there were suddenly signs that a deal might be possible. 

After Brunner said that Council passed its office development-affordable housing linkage fee during a down period in office construction in Oakland—similar to the current downturn in residential construction—Brooks said she “might support” some form of inclusionary zoning that included a delay in its implementation until a better economic climate, such as the earlier linkage fee had done. 

Brooks also said she “agree[d] with a lot of” a last-minute condominium conversion compromise introduced at Tuesday’s meeting by Councilmember Pat Kernighan (Grand Avenue-Lakeshore), adding that “I think if we continue the dialogue a little bit longer, we have the opportunity to pass something.” 

Other Councilmembers appeared to agree, giving optimistic statements that had been largely absent in earlier affordable housing debates. Both Quan and Councilmember Larry Reid (East Oakland) said that Council was “closer” to putting an affordable housing ordinance together than they’d been before. 

Meanwhile, it is not clear what role the Dellums administration may be playing in the affordable housing discussions. Council delayed deliberations on the affordable housing issue this year while waiting for Mayor Ron Dellums to issue his own recommendations. Dellums released recommendations on inclusionary zoning and condominium conversion earlier this month, but his affordable housing package also included recommendations on the city’s rent adjustment program and other areas Council is not currently prepared to discuss.  

And in his presentation to Council on Tuesday, which he said he was doing “on behalf of the mayor,” Community and Economic Development Agency interim director Dan Lindheim said that “we were reluctant to put inclusionary zoning and condominium conversion in our proposal because we thought it would take away from the other proposals in the package.” 

Deep divisions over inclusionary zoning and condominium conversion remain. 

That was clearly evident when 102 public speakers signed up to present their views at Tuesday afternoon’s special Council meeting, many of them—in the one minute allotted apiece—repeating testimony and public statements that councilmembers and the Blue Ribbon Commission have been hearing many times over the past year’s public debate. 

Gregory McConnell, a member of the Blue Ribbon Commission, said that Oakland faces a budget deficit and a downturn in housing sales. “Do you solve the problem by putting on onerous rent control and onerous inclusionary zoning, or do you incentivize?” he asked. “Do you want to risk cutting off the revenue stream provided by building housing?” 

Bruce Beasley, chair of the South Prescott Neighborhood Association, said that some of the proposed changes to the condominium conversion—he did not have enough time allotted to specify which changes—were “a thinly disguised attempt to prevent this form of ownership.” 

On the opposite side, Tosh Wells, an Oakland resident, said that the city “desperately needs affordable housing. Inclusionary zoning is a big part of that. When housing was booming, we didn’t see developers rush forward with inclusionary zoning proposals. There’s one reason for that: greed.” 

And calling Oakland’s lack of housing opportunities for moderate- to low-income families “a full-blown crisis,” Rev. Phil Lawson of the East Bay Housing Organization said that he knew of 54 family members leaving one church in a 10-month period to move to Stockton because they could not afford to live in Oakland. “We need to increase the ability of people to stay where they now live in Oakland,” he said. 

Many people in the meeting audience held printed signs of the Oakland Peoples Housing Coalition reading “Housing Is A Right” and “If Not Now, When?” 

In her telephone interview, Brunner said that “the biggest thing we are divided on is inclusionary zoning for rental property.” 

Meanwhile, the process for how a possible Council deal would be reached was left pointedly vague. Reid suggested at Tuesday’s meeting that Brunner, Kernighan, and Brooks sit down and try to work out their differences and bring back a compromise proposal, but De La Fuente did not take up the offer to appoint the Councilmembers as a special committee, and Brunner later threw cold water on the idea.  

“That group would not be able to come up with a deal,” she said by telephone. “I don’t see Desley and Pat moving their positions enough to make that possible. That’s why I didn’t jump at that suggestion.” 

Instead, De La Fuente suggested that he talk with Brunner, and that the two of them come back to Council Rules Committee if something develops. 

“Whoever from the Council sits at the bargaining table, they’re not going to be able to make a deal on this by themselves,” Brunner said. “They are going to have to be able to go back to their people and convince them to make a compromise. The developers and the housing coalition, both sides are going to have to give a little bit.”

Longtime Berkeley resident and business woman Mabel Bolton has left Thousand Oaks Elementary School $150,000 as part of her will.  

Bolton, who lived and worked close to the Thousand Oaks neighborhood, included the Berkeley Unified School District as one of the beneficiaries in her will because she wanted to contribute to the success of the school. 

Jesse Ramos, Thousand Oaks principal, and Gwyneth Galbraith, a Thousand Oaks parent and co-chair of the school’s governance council, told the Berkeley Board of Education at a meeting last week that the school wanted to use the funds to install solar panels and improve safety on campus. 

“Both proposals would benefit the community and live up to Bolton’s goal of enhancing Thousand Oaks,” Galbraith told the board. 

“Going solar would make Thousand Oaks an energy-efficient school. The campus is a huge destination for our community. It could use some sprucing up. The school also goes through some low-grade vandalism ... It’s a gathering place for people after school hours and sometimes people are up to mischief. We would like to restrict access after 6 p.m. to prevent people from jumping on the roof and drinking.” 

According to a report submitted to the board by the Thousand Oaks School Governance Council, the use of the campus by hundreds of students during school hours and “scores more after school and on weekends” has resulted in the deterioration of the school grounds. 

The report also states that the school has suffered vandalism in the form of graffiti, overturned trash cans and other minor infractions, which have cost the district money and created a negative impact on the school. 

Proposed improvements to the campus include landscaping, motion-sensor lights and other security measures to discourage vandalism. 

Galbraith told the board that the Thousand Oaks PTA would work with the Thousand Oaks Neighborhood Association to organize regular campus clean-up days. She added that the school’s administration would also collaborate with the Berkeley Police Department to ensure proper use of the campus facilities. 

“It fits well with what the city is trying to do,” said school board president John Selawsky, referring to the city’s plan to cut down on greenhouse-gas emissions in Berkeley. 

“But there needs to be more research.” 

Ramos and Galbraith told the board that they would gather more information about project costs and return to the board for another discussion. 

Washington Elementary School will embark on a project to install solar panels on the roof of the school in June. Estimated to cost $1.25 million, the move will make Washington the first school to go solar in the district.

The expected and the unexpected have joined the Oakland City Council and Oakland Unified School District Board of Directors party, adding to what is looking like an increasingly crowded slate for the June 3 elections. 

The daughter of best-selling author Ishmael Reed has announced plans to enter the race for the Oakland Unified School District 1 seat being vacated by Board member Kerry Hamill, a second challenger has announced plans to run against 5th District Councilmember Ignacio De La Fuente, two candidates will be challenging District 7 Oakland Unified School District Board member Alice Spearman, and longtime At Large Councilmember Henry Chang has ended speculation over his plans by taking out papers for re-election. 

In North Oakland’s District 1 school board race, author Tennessee Reed—Ishmael’s daughter—has taken out papers to join parent-activist Jody London and businessman-philanthropist Brian Rogers. 

In Oakland’s 5th District Fruitvale area, a former administrative assistant to former District 5 Councilmember Wilson Riles, David Wofford, has taken out filing papers for De La Fuente’s seat. Wofford, who says he works in community development, is an Oakland native who has worked with such organizations as Education Not Incarceration, the San Antonio Community Development District Council, and the Fruitvale District Council, and is a member of the Green Party. He joins Fruitvale-area realtor Mario Juarez, who is also challenging De La Fuente. 

In what has already become the most crowded race on the June ballot, Chang will have at least three challengers who have announced their intention to run for the Council At Large seat: attorney Clinton Killian, AC Transit Board member Rebecca Kaplan, and Oakland Residents for Peaceful Neighborhoods co-founder Charles Pine. 

Close behind is OUSD School Board 7th District, where incumbent Spearman has already announced her intention to run. Acts Full Gospel Church Associate Pastor and Acts Christian Academy principal Doris Limbrick and Beverly Williams of East Oakland have both taken out filing papers to run against Spearman. 

Longtime incumbent Noel Gallo has announced plans to run for re-election from his District 5 school board seat, and John Russo has announced plans to run for re-election as Oakland City Attorney. Neither has announced opposition, as yet.

“I am never forget the day I first meet the great Lobachevsky. 

In one word he told me secret of success in mathematics: Plagiarize!” 

Plagiarize, 

Let no one else’s work evade your eyes, 

Remember why the good Lord made your eyes, 

So don’t shade your eyes, 

But plagiarize, plagiarize, plagiarize... 

Only be sure always to call it please, “research.” 

Let’s just say right here up top, to avoid any issues, that these words were first penned (or sung with a heavy Slavic accent) by that brilliant incisive social critic Tom Lehrer, as transcribed for the Internet audience by one Graeme Cree (thank you, Graeme, whoever you are.) 

For anyone too young or socially isolated to be unfamiliar with the oeuvre, Cree’s site includes this thumbnail bio: “Tom Lehrer is a schoolteacher who enjoyed a career during the 1950s and 1960s as a satirical songwriter. If you’ve never heard him, he’s very similar to Mark Russell, except that he’s funny.”  

The unsubstantiated rumor is that Lehrer gave up satire when Henry Kissinger won the Nobel Peace prize. He actually is (or was) a working mathematician, whatever that might mean, and he’s also taught musical theater courses at Santa Cruz from time to time.  

And never forget: He, like Barack Obama, can claim to be “Harvard-trained.” Perhaps this could explain why Hillary went off so oddly on Obama last week: a lingering suspicion on the part of Mrs. Clinton, who trained at a rival institution, that those Harvard guys like Lehrer and Obama don’t take plagiarism seriously enough. But sadly, people just laughed at her, especially after that attempt at a quip in the last debate about “change you can xerox.” 

But seriously: plagiarism. Experts of all stripes have been having a field day making fun of the Clinton campaign’s misuse of a serious word that means taking someone else’s work and passing it off as your own. This is definitely this week’s winner of the “What Were They Thinking” award.  

Plagiarism is a big deal in the academic context, where the basic work product is ideas and the expression of them. Everywhere else, even in intellectual property law, the concept gets vaguer and vaguer. You can’t copyright ideas, and there are strict legal limits on copyrighting particular expressions of ideas.  

In the pop music world it’s called “covering” or “sampling” someone else’s work, and it’s done all the time, with and without permission, and without a second thought. In tonier arts circles, it’s “hommage.” Classical composers often reprise tunes from their own work or the work of predecessors in new pieces—they call it “quoting.” Even (or especially) Shakespeare did it, all the time with no evident embarrassment. 

Words still have meaning, even in politics, and “plagiarism” is the wrong word in the wrong place at the wrong time. The next thing you know, Clinton’s overpaid consultants will be scripting her to say that Obama stole “It’s time for a change” from long-forgotten ’50s Republican candidate Thomas Dewey and the legions who used the slogan after Dewey made it popular, or perhaps that he lifted “let’s look at the record” from 1920s Democrat Al Smith.  

It’s hard to believe, as the financial reports indicate, that she paid these lame consultants something in the neighborhood of $5 million at a point when she would have to drop a similar amount of her own money into her own campaign. (And parenthetically, where exactly did the Clintons get that kind of money to throw around? Why won’t they release their tax returns?) 

It’s getting to be much too easy to dump on Hillary Clinton, a bright woman who would probably be an achiever in any job she tried. But it was her own voice on the tape shrilly castigating the Obama campaign for sending out mailers linking her to support for NAFTA. Yes, yes, I know that only women are accused of being shrill: I’ve faced that problem myself on more than one occasion. Perhaps it was not her tone of voice but her choice of words: “Shame on you, Barack Obama!” Whatever her intention, the whole speech evoked an annoying pharmaceutical commercial of a decade ago: “What’s a mother to do?” 

And the fact is, as many many commentators have pointed out, Bill did push NAFTA through, whether or not Hillary might privately have told him it was a bad idea. She can’t have it both ways, taking credit for experience when she participated in his successes, but trying to duck responsibility for his many long-lasting mistakes. As for her “shocked shocked” characterization of Obama’s healthcare position and his characterization of her position, we’ve all seen the debates. Most of what the two candidates don’t exactly agree on amounts to distinction without difference.  

More and more, this primary campaign is turning into a referendum on the Clinton years, whether that’s good or bad. On my favorite radio program, Left, Right and Center (KALW, Fridays at 5 or whenever you want online) there’s a center guy sandwiched in among Tony Blankley (Right), Bob Scheer (Left) and Arianna Huffington (somewhere out in left field). He’s such a mild-mannered centrist I can never remember his name or who he is. He politely raised the point that a problem with Obama might be that he doesn’t seem to be acknowledging the achievements of Bill Clinton and the New Democrats, like “welfare reform.”  

Well, yes. Guess what, that’s what a lot of real Democrats, the regular old-fashioned kind, like about Obama. He seems to be prepared to jettison the worst failures of the Clinton era, like a welfare reform program that’s left a lot of working families in poverty with—still—no one to look after the kids. That’s a column for another day, but many old-school liberals are openly cheering the sunset of the Democratic Leadership Council’s domination of presidential politics. 

It’s not quite too late for Hillary Clinton to distinguish herself and her own record from that of Bill Clinton, whose place in history is hard to escape at this point. He seems to have stepped out of the spotlight in the last week or so, but she’s still in his shadow. If she could bring herself to offer flat-out criticisms of some of his policy mistakes, it might, just might, salvage what’s left of her chances. 

At the top of the bad news on Monday morning: Vallejo’s about to capture the dubious distinction of being the first California city to declare bankruptcy, mainly because of the huge increases built into its public safety salaries and pensions. And it’s just the tip of the iceberg, with many others likely to follow. Sharp-pencil citizens and Planet reporters have documented Berkeley’s on-going liabilities in this department several times in these pages, and they’ll do it again, particularly as election-time draws near and city administrators’ plans to add more tax increases to the ballot are firmed up. Liberals that we are, Berkeleyans very seldom say no, either to our city or to our schools, but as the recession deepens into what some are already calling a depression, it could happen. 

At the same time Ron Dellums is under fire for not having abolished crime in the streets of Oakland after a whole year in office. The San Francisco paper’s twin bully-boys, the ones with the schoolyard nicknames of Chip and Chuck, are recommending from their safe journalistic perches that more stick and less carrot will solve all problems, whether it’s homeless people begging on the median strip (just gun’em down) or drug wars. 

No one seems to be able to put two and two together and come up with four. Yes, the police budget is bankrupting our cities, but the only solution citizens can suggest is more police. Yes, the prison budget is bankrupting the state, but the only solution the governor can propose is cutting out parks and schools. Is it possible that more of the same might just be throwing good money after bad? 

Two recent Berkeley examples show how to waste money and get little in return. The show of force surrounding the pro-marine turnout at the last City Council meeting cost a cool $100K, including lavish police overtime, and it was almost completely unnecessary. Neither side, with the exception of a few skateboarders, showed any real inclination to make trouble.  

My own encounter with the BPD that day was illustrative. I was trying to cross Martin Luther King Jr. Way from City Hall to talk to the people in the park. I went around to one end of the police line, which at that point was double ranks, not quite but almost corner to corner. At my chosen crossing point, I was stopped by a polite female officer who told me not to walk there. I started to ask where I could safely cross, and she had started to answer, but our conversation was broken up by an overbearing male officer yelling “Move on, move on, obey the order.” Completely chauvinistic, and totally unnecessary to boot. The female officer was doing her job, competently, but the male was overkill on overtime. 

A more serious instance was the weekend shooting of a probably intoxicated woman by an officer responding to a family dispute. There are at least two victims in this story, the woman herself and the policeman who shot her. These are the calls police men and women (my cousin is one) dread most. Why? Because they know that they’re not the right people and don’t have the right tools to do the job. All you can do with a gun is shoot someone, which seldom is the best solution.  

It’s a “bad block,” which must have been a factor in the police response. When we went there at about 10 on the night after the shooting to take pictures of the shrine neighbors had erected on the porch where Anita Gay died, we saw what were obvious drug deals taking place in the street, with no police anywhere in sight. Friends who live not far away report that this is common, and Berkeley police must know it’s going on. 

Officer Rashawn Cummings’ previous assignment was the drug detail. He was probably on edge when he responded to the domestic violence call, which is not an excuse but an explanation of his action.  

The dead woman was well known by neighbors, both her virtues and her problems. She obviously could have benefited from the attention of trained mental-health professionals, both before and during the emergency situation. If the officer had any such help available to him, it hasn’t been reported, and he probably didn’t. Yes, he could have used non-lethal force if he’d been so equipped, but that’s a hard split-second decision. Early intervention by someone who knew the woman and was trained to talk her down would have been much better.  

The literature is full of glowing descriptions of teamwork between armed police officers and unarmed community workers in situations like this one, and many Berkeleyans probably believe that it’s our public policy. At election time politicians in the East Bay cities we know best are wont to speak glowingly of community-involved policing, but it’s largely fantasy. A few of our neighborhoods have beat cops who understand their turf and the people in it, but even there emergency response is often from armed strangers.  

It’s past time for the Berkeley officials who are responsible for public safety to develop a more nuanced and more effective way of handling the broad range of emergency situations such peaceful demonstrations and domestic disputes. Sending out sworn officers with guns strapped to their hips is very expensive, and it’s not an effective solution for many problems. Let’s save the trained cops for when we really need them.  

WHO IS THE LANDLORD? 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Please let your interested readers know which landlord demanded the extraordinary rent increase which effectively ended Cody’s store on Fourth Street in Berkeley. This piece of information is often left out of the stories of businesses’ untimely exits, and would seem crucial to the success of a business district.  

If anchor stores can be booted to the curb without apology, undermining the district’s commercial viability, it would be important to know who is responsible for such a decision and why, especially so that the usual tradition of blaming panhandlers can finally be avoided. 

Carol Denney 

EDITOR’S NOTE: Peter O’Hara is principal of Pacific Property Assets of San Francisco, which owns the Fourth Street building soon to be vacated by Cody’s Books. 

• 

COSTLY PUBLICITY 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

The San Francisco Chronicle reported on Feb. 17 that Berkeley Mayor Tom Bates was comfortable with the $93,000 bill for policing the recent demonstrations because “we got publicity all over the world against the war in Iraq.” What our less-than-brilliant mayor does not grasp is the fact that the rest of the world is not the least bit interested in how Berkeley feels about the war. Further, much of Berkeley does not share the mayor’s antipathy toward the USMC. Of course, the $93,000 is not the mayor’s money, anyway. It belongs (belonged) to the poor downtrodden Berkeley taxpayers!  

Steve Schneider 

• 

SUPPORT OUR VETERANS 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

After reading Kriss Worthington’s comments about the brouhaha surrounding the Marine action/reaction, I thought his idea about turning the phrase “we support our veterans” into action had merit. Letting the vets use the Berkeley Veteran’s Building certainly would help. Perhaps the city could take it a step further and partner with community groups and non-profits on projects which would show our support of the troops while making our objections to the war and the effects of the war clear. For example, the city could help a group like Veterans for Peace open up a coffee shop/bookstore/music club downtown that would give potential recruits the opportunity to hear another point of view and provide entrepreneurial opportunities for veterans. (Could this be considered a cultural use?) Or how about a low income housing project specifically designed for homeless vets? A job training program for those who areunemployed? Since post traumatic stress disorder is common in returning combat vets and suicide in all military branches has risen following the 2001 invasion of Afghanistan (suicide rates in Marines doubled in 2007) some special mental heath programs would also be in order. Or maybe we could do something more academic, like put together a symposium on torture along with some of the folks at UC. I am sure there are a lot more ideas out there we could try. 

After all, it shouldn’t just be about being polite but about doing something real. 

Joanne Kowalski 

• 

MISGUIDED BULLIES 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Those ridiculing the Berkeley City Council’s stance opposing the Marine recruiting Station in downtown Berkeley are not only misguided; they are part of a chorus of scorn that amounts to bullying. I for one applaud those in the City Council that had the revolutionary courage and integrity to stand up to those who would recruit the young and naive into a preemptive war based on lies and greed. In bending over backwards to avoid disrespecting those who defend our rights and freedoms abroad, patriotic dissidents must reemphasize they are opposed to a standing army, not soldiers. These patriots echo a long-gone revolutionary forefather, who declared, 200 years ago: “The Greeks and Romans had no standing armies, yet they defended themselves. The Greeks by their laws, and the Romans by the spirit of their people, took care to put into the hands of their rulers no such engine of oppression as a standing army.” The author of this passage happens to be the patriot who penned the Declaration of Independence, and something tells me he would recognize today the erosion of our laws and the spirit of the people that has given rise to the contemporary protests against this engine of oppression in downtown Berkeley. 

Robert Epstein 

El Cerrito 

• 

PROTECTION FOR WHOM? 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Just as Iraq had no connection to 9-11, the Marines are not protecting my right to free speech or to be as Berkeley as I wish to be. They are protecting the profits of KBR and the manufacturers of WMDs as they have always done. 

However, much as I oppose this war, I’d like to see the recruiting station stay in Berkeley so we can support our dupes before they commit their young lives as possible suicides for the fat cats of empire. 

Our safety would be better protected if we were seen as a peaceful nation, one among many helping humanity and nature. Nobody loves a bully. 

Come to think of it, what right do they have to be in the halls of Montezuma or on the shores of Tripoli or in the town of Faluja? 

Ruth Bird  

• 

THE BERKELEY BASH 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I’m very tired of the Berkeley bashing. To the chap who had a sign saying “.....Berkeley is the laughing stock of the nation” .....How about “Berkeley bashers and their ilk are themselves the laughing stock of the world.” 

Stephen Williams 

• 

ONE-MAN BOYCOTT 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I shall boycott all businesses in your city and will actively support and campaign for others to do the same for as long as the majority of Berkeley residents and its representatives continue to support their despicable approach toward the Marine recruiters. The city has lost the privilege of federal funding. Those of you who hold such radical views have gone too far and do not deserve to benefit from the freedoms that our military has fought to preserve. This includes the freedom of the public to extract a high price from Berkeley’s business community and thereby reduce the city’s coffers. If you do not support their view, I strongly suggest you join like-minded forces to voice opposition and effect change in Berkeley among the radical liberal disorder which seems to run amuck your city. 

Tom Hartje 

Marin County 

• 

RESPONSE 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I must apologize for my slow response to a letter recently published in the Daily Planet, but I rarely write such missives. 

The letter in question was written about the recent protest at the Marine’s recruitment center. This writer, a woman as I recall, believed unalterably that we must support the troops and called for the withdrawal (not of the troops but) of federal funding from related Berkeley-based social and cultural programs. 

The paradox is immediately apparent: In a country that prizes, above most things, the right to speech, to an opinion, this person wants to punish those whose opinions differ and by doing so squelch speech. If this were a fairy tale, her own mouth would vanish in the moment of her wishing someone else’s would. 

But this is a different kind of fairy tale. 

What seems to lie beneath this wish to suppress speech is the mistaken notion that the writer’s own opinion is somehow neutral, not an opinion at all, but more an organic truth. How else could the banishment of someone else’s right to share an opinion not threaten your own right unless your opinion is not an opinion at all. You might call this taking the higher ground, the sanctimonious position, or you might call it an unthinking mimicry of power. In other words, if your opinion simply repeats the ideological status quo its not speech because power in its purest form doesn’t offer itself up for discussion. There’s no two ways about it—power that is. 

In a democracy, speech assumes a process of critical, individualized, and even unpopular thinking. It is the personalized form of speech that promotes change through discourse and rejuvenates our social contract. 

If the writer of the letter succeeds in canceling federal funds and thus suppressing speech what would she accomplish but the lessening of her own freedom and the establishment of a system in which your “opinion” is just an official reflection of authority? Then perhaps she too would be wordless before power. 

As for the Marine recruitment center: I say let them stay, but never for a moment stop questioning the policies that deploy them. 

Steve Seid 

• 

BERKELEY POLICE ASSOCIATION RESPONDS 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I write on behalf of nearly 200 police officers comprising the Berkeley Police Association. The men and women of the Berkeley Police Department are proud to work in this vibrant and diverse community. We applaud the courage of the city’s civic leaders who, as a matter of public policy, routinely illuminate and denounce bigotry wherever it resides. 

Likewise, the Berkeley Police Association denounces the views expressed by Allen Jackson, who claims to represent the Berkeley NAACP. In a letter published in the Feb. 22 edition of the Berkeley Daily Planet, Mr. Jackson is quoted as saying “It is apparent that the only thing in the mind of a Berkeley police officer is to kill any African American that they can.” 

While we respect his rights to an opinion, his statement has absolutely no basis in fact and is without any credibility whatsoever. During this difficult time for the community these remarks are needlessly inflammatory, and serve no constructive purpose.  

We are particularly offended by his use of the NAACP as a platform for his personal attacks. The NAACP has been and continues to be a source of inspiration for generations of Americans of all backgrounds. Mr. Allen’s invectives reflect an indefensible point of view inconsistent with the philosophy of the organization he claims to represent. 

Despite the obvious obstacles of ignorance and prejudice that still exist within some quarters of our community, the members of the Berkeley Police Association are unwavering in our commitment to provide quality police service. 

The Berkeley Police Association calls upon the leaders of our community to join us now in publicly rejecting the divisive views expressed by Mr. Allen Jackson. 

Henry Wellington 

President, Berkeley Police Association 

Shira Warren 

President, Berkeley Black Police Officers Association  

• 

OAKLAND VIOLENCE 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

J. Douglas Allen-Taylor reports that it is felt by many, that new mayor Ron Dellums is soft on crime—that he is “too philosophically addicted to violence prevention to take the tough-on-criminals stance” that Oakland needs. 

It has been reported that Oakland’s criminal families are on their third and fourth generations; that many of these absent fathers are in jail on drug-related charges. Do we really need yet more police enforcement for this endless waste of municipal funds? I was shocked to hear former presidential candidate Ron Paul actually mention the critically-needed change in our “drug war.” Obviously too unmentionable for a response from any of the other candidates, it remains the enormous “invisible elephant.” I suspect that prison and law-enforcement careers are dependent, after all, on keeping some of the billions we spend on this “war,” in the pockets of the “punishers.” 

Drug-related-crime is enforced by our drug-laws, as well as by the mystery of continuous blinders on the majority of our legislators. Will Mayor Dellums consider in his violence-prevention-program that decriminalization of drugs can be the beginning of healing? It would not only allow fathers to be “at home” for these hopeless young persons, but it could transfer these tainted-billions to the much needed education, jobs, and mental and physical health of these families. 

Gerta Farber 

• 

BRONSTEIN AND KIRP 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Fascists are mobilizing on the streets of Berkeley and David Kirp tried in his Feb. 18 Chronicle article, “Semper fi Berkeley,” to lower the tensions by outlining Berkeley’s years of achievements in various social areas. Zelda Bronstein replied in the Feb. 22 Planet with a rebuttal that detailed failure after failure of Berkeley officials on a wide array of problems. 

After a careful read of Bronstein’s piece I have to say that every failure of “government” that she lists appears to have been true. And Kirp’s list of pioneering work in school integration, ecology, disabled rights, housing for poor families and much more is also true. 

Wavy Gravy has written, “In my heart of hearts I know we are all assholes, and we are all Buddhas, yet even Buddha has to take a dump occasionally.” And when he does, Zelda Bronstein will be there to describe it in vivid detail. 

Ted Vincent 

• 

GROUNDED IN UNREALITY 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

The perspective of columnist J. Douglas Allen-Taylor is grounded in unreality (Undercurrents, Feb. 22). The bottom line for Allen-Taylor is that African Americans are being forced out of Oakland by in migration of Latinos and European Americans. He says Oakland should stop this out migration of African Americans. But even if locals could agree on the meaning of the term “affordable housing,” and on plans for providing “affordable housing,” the government could never make it work. Because as the foreclosure crisis begins to affect local government revenues, more and more cities are going to have to tighten their belts (nearby Vallejo is close to bankruptcy). There will be no money to build public housing or to subsidize housing construction. Even up to now, Oakland has done a wretched job maintaining existing stocks of public housing. No, Allen-Taylor should review Oakland history. Since the arrival of the Spanish colonists in the 1700s, Oakland has seen migration after migration as ethnic groups from around the world came and usually moved on. This process obviously continues despite the efforts of idealists who impractically fight the inevitable. 

Nate Hardin 

El Cerrito 

• 

A LAYMAN’S VIEW OF  

POLICE PRACTICES 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Walking home late Friday afternoon, I witnessed the strangest display of force by the Berkeley police in riot gear to clear the sidewalk on Shattuck. It seemed very unnecessary and I could only assume that they wanted to assert their power, like an angry bully. 

As reported by the Daily Planet, other agencies may have been called to handle the situations that occurred this week. The police chief, in his message on the city’s website, writes “We pride ourselves in treating people with dignity and respect.” Perhaps there was miscommunication, somewhere? Otherwise, this city has ample resources within its borders to train the force and its management in non-violent behavior and communication. 

The best thing we can show the rest of the country is how we can live peacefully without resorting to violence. Then perhaps, one day, they will start questioning their wars. 

Guy Tiphane 

• 

A NEW GI BILL 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

This week, a delegation of veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America (IAVA) visited Washington to tell lawmakers one thing: our newest generation of veterans deserves real educational benefits that make college tuition affordable. 

Now is the time for our Congress to take action on this, and pass a 21st-century GI Bill. 

After World War II, attending college gave veterans time to readjust to civilian life, and prepared them for careers as innovators and leaders. For every dollar spent on the Servicemen’s Readjustment Act of 1944, seven went back into the economy in the form of increased productivity, consumer spending, and tax revenue. 

Today’s GI Bill only covers part of the costs of college. Tuition costs have increased faster than inflation, and many veterans must take out student loans or forego education altogether. 

In a time when we are asking so much of our Armed Forces, paying for college is one of the best ways to show our gratitude as a nation. Congress needs to pass a new GI Bill this year. 

Koreyan Calloway 

Union City 

• 

HOMELESS IN SAN FRANCISCO 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Things aren’t going good. I mean, do you realize how many people are left in this nation’s mental hospitals without any or little contact with their friends and family? Let alone the prison system. There are stories of rape and violence inside our institutions that are widely accepted and people are locking away their own wives and kids without even thinking about the consequences. It’s just not right to leave people in a bad situation because our system doesn’t compensate for its own injustices. People fail in life, but when they’re kids they’re told there isn’t any such thing as failure, that we’re all playing on the same team and that success is the same as failure as long as you play by the rules and nobody gets hurt.  

But this isn’t realistic. When everybody’s in a mad dash trying to get famous or make a fortune too many people get tripped. And of course it’s always the same excuse that the winner wasn’t trying to trample on the loser and that that’s just the way it turned out but if you really think about it isn’t that just a dirty lie? If 14,000 homeless don’t have beds and are dying on the streets in San Francisco, doesn’t that make us all murderers? Albeit there are programs like 150 Otis, Providence, Glide Church, and such youth shelters as the Lark Inn for rehabilitation and housing, these places just aren’t enough.  

There are a ton of homeless out there, and if you’re walking down the main boulevards in San Francisco or Berkeley you cannot go two blocks without meeting ten to twenty homeless people without a job or sick or in need of a helping hand. And who is going to do it? The government is often on the side of the cops and that these are all just a bunch of dirty vagrants and criminals that need to be swept up and swept out of the way for the good citizens of our country. But if you talk to any number of these men you’d find out that there’s a lot more to the story of homelessness and what gets people kicked out of their pads and onto the streets. A lot of it has to do with family problems or even mental illness. And everybody can understand that. 

In short, give your brother a helping hand when he needs one. I know it may sound like only so much ranting and raving in this article. But if you’d just slow down for a second and talk to these people you’d find out that there’s a lot of ranting and raving to be done. And sickness and death just plain never make a difference, especially in what is supposed to be a Christian nation. 

David Wood 

Oakland 

• 

ALCOHOL REGULATION 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

It is unfortunate that in her commentary “Does Berkeley Need Better Alcohol Regulation?” Ms. Lott fails to answer her posed question. We are informed that there are neighborhood nuisance issues in South and West Berkeley, and an “out-of-control party scene” in frat row at Cal. This is followed with some scary statistics from the current Surgeon General’s report on underage drinking. But none of this addresses the question, and lumping it all together confuses BAPAC’s goals. 

It seems like BAPAC is trying to cover three issues: nuisance liquor stores, college-age drinking, and underage drinking. 

I lived within two blocks of a North Berkeley liquor store for over five years without issue or complaint—thus I don’t believe a one-size-fits-all approach is reasonable. Positive action has been taken on many nuisance liquor stores: Grove, Black & White, Dwight Way, Brothers. If this is a burden to the complainants, I suggest their councilmember is not effectively serving their needs. 

I was at UC Santa Cruz in the late 1980s when the Drug-Free Schools and Communities Act (DFSCA) went into effect. My anecdotal evidence of the effects on college-age drinking are as follows: The level of drinking remained unchanged but because kegs were banned, we increasingly turned to hard liquor; because all alcohol was banned in public places, we drank before going out; because you could get in trouble, we became furtive; and it fostered an adversarial relationship between students, residential assistants, and the administration. I would argue that the regulations of 1986 set the stage for increased binge drinking—which is after all a (dimly) economically rational reaction to scarcity. 

BAPAC says their goals are about prevention, not prohibition, but with regards to underage drinkers their true goal is abstinence. I am unclear why, when sexual abstinence programs have been widely discredited, alcohol abstinence programs are not similarly questioned. 

At the risk of sounding like Timothy Leary, human beings have been altering their consciousness for the entirety of evolution. Cats jump on catnip, dogs and children run in circles, and humans have been brewing since long before Christ. Will a call for abstinence and increased regulation subvert this urge? Should Berkeley shoppers pick up the tab via increased prices from our local groceries, pubs and restaurants? Do we need “better” alcohol regulation? Will a single city employee charged with policing 309 sales points “reduce the harm and destruction to quality of life that will otherwise occur?” 

I remain unconvinced. 

John Vinopal 

• 

BRT AND VAN HOOL BUSES 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

A few letters and articles have claimed that the Van Hool buses used for AC Transit’s RapidBus service on Telegraph Avenue are an essential part of its planned Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) service on this street. This is not true. 

AC Transit began discussing BRT in the year 2000, before it purchased a single Van Hool bus. The BRT system has not been designed around the Van Hool buses in any way: BRT could use any low-floor articulated bus with three doors. 

Buses typically have a life span of 12 years. The Van Hools that AC Transit now uses for RapidBus will probably continue to be used on that route for the rest of their life span, whether or not BRT is implemented on that route. When these Van Hools reach the end of their lives, AC Transit will have to decide what type of bus to replace them with, and I am sure the debate over the replacement buses will be very similar, whether or not BRT is implemented. 

Bus technology is changing rapidly. Several cities are now using hybrid buses, and I expect that hybrids will soon be used by transit providers all over the country—including AC Transit. I also expect that there will only be one generation of hybrids before they are replaced by some new technology, such as hydrogen fuel cells. The infrastructure for Bus Rapid Transit will last for a long time, and during most of that time, it will undoubtedly use buses powered by hydrogen fuel cells or by some other advanced technology. 

When we decide to build BRT, we are not deciding what buses will be used on it. We are deciding to whether to build an infrastructure that will allow many generations of different buses to provide faster, more convenient, and more reliable service. 

Charles Siegel 

• 

WARM POOL BOND MEASURE AND BHS CLASSROOMS 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

There is a critical classroom and parking shortage at the Berkeley High campus. With up to 3,400 students and over 200 staff on only two city blocks of land, Berkeley High is bursting at the seams. As reported by the facilities director to the BUSD Board (Jan. 9), Berkeley High is lacking at least 15 classrooms to accommodate current and future enrollment. 

How does this affect the daily life at the high school? The teachers union (BFT) reports that over half of the teachers at Berkeley High must share classrooms or move from classroom to classroom. This makes it impossible for students to find teachers easily and disrupts instructional flow. Furthermore, the dearth of staff parking on or near a congested downtown high school campus is a constant issue—Berkeley High does not have adequate parking now, much less if BHS loses the Milvia site.  

Currently Berkeley High students attend classes in substandard classrooms on campus, and the high school has been forced to appropriate four portable classrooms from nearby Washington Elementary School on MLK Way. As a further stopgap measure to the classroom shortage, BUSD will be placing six portable classrooms on the BHS softball field at the corner of Channing and Milvia. Students will lose a field that’s in high demand year-round. 

Supporters of a warm pool to be located on the Milvia Street parking lot/tennis courts appear to be demanding that BUSD declare the site “surplus” or “excess school facilities.” This is a technical designation required before a school district can dispose of unwanted property. If BUSD has made any representations to the City that the Milvia site is “surplus,” such representations are inaccurate, misinformed and illegal. The Milvia site is far from “surplus.”  

The Berkeley City Council should not even begin to consider a $15 million bond measure for a warm pool (“Council Begins Discussions of November Tax Measure,” Feb. 19) until the city has secured a site that does not adversely affect the education of Berkeley High students. The Milvia Street parking lot/tennis courts are owned by BUSD and must be retained by the District to help remedy the desperate classroom and parking shortage at the high school. 

Priscilla Myrick 

• 

CUBA 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

The news of Fidel Castro’s resignation brought back memories of my November 2003 trip to Cuba. The following January, the United States placed further restrictions on travel to Cuba. I have mixed feelings about Castro. Many Cubans would probably agree, albeit covertly, that Castro was a welcome guest for dinner, but overstayed his welcome. The revolutionary became a dictator for life. 

What will happen after Castro dies? Will the United States take advantage of the uncertainty after his death to intervene again in Cuba? (Read Haiti.) I understand the United States is already planning for after-Fidel and Raul interventions. 

It might have been different. In April 1959, shortly after taking power, Castro traveled to the United States. The Eisenhower administration could have embraced Castro, offering him economic assistance. But remember this was during the Cold War and Castro smacked of socialism/communism. Eisenhower snubbed him. He met instead with Vice President Nixon for a few hours. No economic assistance was offered. The next year, Castro turned to Russia for economic assistance and the rest is history. 

Ralph E. Stone 

San Francisco 

• 

DAVID ROCHE 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

For its many diverse and stimulating programs (i.e., lectures, history of jazz, classical guitar, etc., etc.), the Berkeley Public Library is deserving of the highest praise. It outdid itself last Tuesday by featuring an extraordinary speaker—David Roche, a well-known humorist, motivational speaker and performer. 

Because of his severe facial deformity, described as a venous malformation, David’s left cheek is tuberous and misshapen, his bluish purple tongue is twice normal size. As an infant, his lower lip was removed as it resembled a bunch of Concord grapes. He was subsequently treated with extensive radiation, causing the lower part of his face to stop growing. It isn’t surprising, therefore, that seeing this man for the first time, one is tempted to look away. But that temptation passes quickly once you’ve heard him speak, never in self-pity, but with disarming candor and humor. 

As people entered the third floor conference room that afternoon, David greeted each one warmly, asked their names and engaged them in a lively dialogue. He asked to be called by his first name. Then, reading passages from his book, The Church of 80 Percent Sincerity, he gave an account of his early childhood in Indiana, his years as a seminarian at St. Lawrence Seminary in Wisconsin where he contemplated becoming a Catholic priest, and a brief period in the 1970s when he was a Communist, doing political organizing with San Francisco’s Grass Roots Alliance. On a more personal level, he discussed his two marriages, the last of which has brought him continuing happiness in the form of Marlena, of whom he spoke adoringly, and with whom he lives in Mill Valley. 

Throughout the talk, while referring to 60 years of rude stares, insensitive taunts and random acts of cruelty (and the belief that his disfigurement might be contagious!), David contended that what seemed to be his flaw has been revealed as a wonderful source of strength. “My face is unique, but my experiences are universal,” he claims. Because of his wonderful stage presence and the message he imparts, his one-man show, The Church of 80 Percent Sincerity has been seen in the White House, across the United States and in Canada, England, New Zealand, Australia and Russia. As a motivational speaker, it’s not surprising that he’s in demand at universities, organizations and corporations, such as Hewlett Packard and Lockheed Martin. 

In her foreword to his book, writer Anne Lamott sums up David Roche’s appeal far more eloquently than I could: “He lost the great big outward thing, the good-looking packaging, and still the real parts endured. They shine through like crazy, the brilliant mind and humor, the depth of generosity, the intense blue eyes, those beautiful ballet hands.” 

My hope is that the Berkeley Public Library will schedule another appearance by this wonderful man. 

Dorothy Snodgrass 

• 

PESTICIDE SPRAYING 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I have lived in Berkeley with my family for over 18 years and one of the things that attracted me to Berkeley to begin with was the very positive and environmentally healthy attitudes Berkeley showed to the rest of the country. From the Ecology Center to the recycling to the various healthy limits like the no pesticide spraying in Berkeley parks, Berkeley has stood out over and over again as a beacon to the rest of the country who need to learn to treat the Earth we all live on better.  

The proposed pesticide spraying, aerial or any other kind of pesticide applications, is unacceptable and doesn’t follow with any of the previously stated environmental policies or events that Berkeley has sponsored. Our family has serious health problems from painful neurological/migraine problems, fibromyalgia, sleep apnea to asthma, and pesticides could cause severe harmful effects on the health and well being of all of us, much less some of our elderly neighbors. We live near Gilman and Sixth Street and have had to deal with years of problems with some of the local factories as production schedules increased at some places with consequent increases in pollution be it air pollution or unpleasant smells, but have been reassured by the Berkeley government responding to complaints and trying to help get problems resolved.  

But add in pesticide and our day to day struggles to deal with severe pain and trouble breathing and sleeping will only get much worse. Our oldest son has gone through a dozen prescription medicines over the years to help cope with his migraines and nervous system problems which started when he was an infant. His health is fragile and has caused him to have severe learning problems so we have to homeschool him as we deal with operations and many doctor appointments. His younger brother has worsening asthma that interferes at times with him being able to perform in his Aikido classes. Where are we supposed to move to if the pesticide spraying isn’t stopped? My children were born here; they go to a local Berkeley park to meet with a homeschool group which meets in Berkeley specifically because we don’t use pesticide in our parks; my son volunteers at a local game store teaching people to play games; we ran a poetry reading in Berkeley for four years; we shop at local bookstores and other places trying to buy locally first; we helped put on the Berkeley Poetry Festival and have gone to event after event here in Berkeley.  

We need our representatives to stand up for all that Berkeley means to us and all the rest of the citizens who live here, especially for the children who can’t speak for themselves. Say no to any pesticide use of any kind in or above Berkeley. 

Debra Grace Khattab 

• 

McCAIN? WAKE UP! 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

When will media wake up? John McCain has already sold his soul pandering to the social conservatives, and yet, McCain is still heralded as the next coming of moderation. 

Is America going to give another conservative the keys to the White House? Look at the division and polarization Bush has wrought upon the nation with his autocratic rule. 

There is no difference between Republicans’ John McCain and George Bush and the sooner media informs America of this fact the better. 

McCain has so flip-flopped on every major issue that he now looks the part of the religious right of the Republican Party. 

If you are expecting a cessation of war under John “Bush” McCain as president come out from undr your rock. McCain has already declared that Americans should be prepared for another 100 years of war. 

Tha McCain is a further incarnation of the George Bush is as clear as the bright blue sky. Much of the media seems no to have noticed. 

Ron Lowe 

Grass Valley 

BARACK 

You found it was worthy to quote it, 

So then credit the person who wrote it. 

Remember Joe Biden 

Who sank the Poseidon. 

He steered it but just couldn’t float it. 

HILLARY  

A slip can sure dunk what you’re seeking. 

A ship can be sunk just by speaking. 

We share the same boat 

And for now, we’re afloat, 

But I think maybe your side is leaking. 

—O.V. Michaelsen 

I awoke this morning feeling hung over from another evening of verbal mayhem. The venue: another meeting of the public with officials of Children’s Hospital Oakland. I dread these events because they are stressful and worse, seemingly completely unproductive: residents of the neighborhood voices sharp, hands gesticulating, hospital officials trying to look concerned and sincere, nodding and taking notes. 

The back story, for those who have somehow missed it, is that in September of last year the hospital announced it had decided to stay in Oakland. Politicians cheered. It made the newspapers and TV. Soon we in the neighborhood adjacent to the hospital received a letter inviting us to a public meeting to join the hospital in planning its future in Oakland. 

Local residents arrived at the meeting place to find a table and an easel. Seated in front of us were the current president and vice president (Frank Tiedemann and Mary Dean). On the easel was a blow up of a Google map of our neighborhood with a big red polygon straddling the block between 52nd Street, the address of the current hospital, and 53rd Street, and completely covering the cross street (Dover). Also covered: our house. Wow. 

The vice president got up and said that we would have a frank discussion. The hospital would be “completely honest.” As those words faded into the room we all looked around at each other. We knew—statements like that sound an alarm bell. Reality: the opposite of what you hear. And so it proceeded. 

The hospital needed to make earthquake safety deadlines and had made a decision, after long and painstaking deliberation, that they needed to build a new building whose footprint was visible on the Google map before us. It would be a 12-story building (about 200 feet high, as it turned out). To finance this, an initiative had been placed on the ballot to raise $300 million, almost half the total needed. We sat in shock. Curiously, a meeting for public input seemed something else altogether. 

Months later, we’ve organized and fought. The ballot measure failed, not by a bit, but resoundingly, nearly two to one against, when it needed the opposite figures to win. Maybe I’m a bit jaded, but afterwards I felt not elation but mild depression. I knew, correctly it turned out, that they would just come back and proceed as if nothing much had changed. They did. And that’s how we got to last night’s festivities, the first meeting since the election. 

This hospital is well known for its outstanding work, including taking care of a large number of uninsured kids from low income families. It’s a feel-good place. So why are we fighting so hard to thwart their plans? Why did we all move here? We knew there was a hospital at the edge of our neighborhood. What in the world did we expect? If we don’t want a big building next door, we should move, right? Why are we standing in the way of an institution dedicated to helping often extremely sick children? 

I think this is something those who don’t live here have a hard time understanding. The reason is that we are in a sense cornered; for us it’s a life and death struggle. 

There are several different types of people living here. There are those who’ve been here for a very long time. Some moved here in the very early 1950s, some even earlier. Some grew up here, having lived in their houses their entire lives. Extended families live close by, a cousin a block away, a sister next door. This neighborhood represents their entire lives. To move is to lose that and a lot more. Then there are those who represent the gentrification that’s been happening all over the Bay Area. Both house prices and rents have been doubling every few years for decades now. For those who make lots of money, this is no big deal. But for the rest of us life is lived with an underlying tension. You can never be sure you’ve gotten ahead because you can’t depend on any predictable future. If you don’t make enough to buy a house, you rent, and you will never be secure. Yes, incomes go up, but so do rents and you’re never sure which will come first. Industries fade, you lose a job, sometimes you can’t get reestablished at the same level—you know this could happen to you any time, now or in the future. You very well may survive by living with ever more roommates or family members in ever shrinking surroundings. Nothing is guaranteed. But if you could buy… 

If you suddenly find that you can just afford to buy a house, you will quickly discover that your experience is very different from that of people with just slightly more resources. That house is going to consume a scary amount of your income. If you have kids, you will find yourself with another dilemma. Most affordable neighborhoods in this town are pretty rough. Most of the rest are too expensive. Very few areas provide a middle ground. Never mind the schools, or the hospital up the street. And it will take tenacious work to get a house that isn’t falling down or so tiny your arms can span a bedroom. When you shop it quickly hits you—you will be lucky to find anything. You’ll find lots of others competing to get it. If you succeed, an enormous chunk of your personal financial stake in life will be in that house. It is a very exhausting, stressful experience. So, when that hospital down the street invites you to a meeting to get your input on the tower they then tell you they are building next to your house (or on it, in our case), it quickly strikes you that your very life is in danger. The minute the news gets out, you won’t be selling your house for enough to come out whole. If you move, it will be to less of a house, less of a neighborhood, or probably both. And it’s not just the sale and moving that will cost you. Because of the ever ascending home prices, you will likely find yourself paying property taxes double or even more what you were before. Here, that could mean ten thousand extra a year. If you’ve been here for decades, you may live on limited income; you may not make enough to cover you’re your new tax amount. It’s true certain people are exempt, but many others will not be. 

If you don’t move, you will find your really great neighborhood dying. Many who can get out will move, and those who move in will not be happy families with laughing kids. Some houses won’t sell and will sit empty. The area will be in the shadow of a huge towering building that casts an unending shadow day in and day out. Its windows will be lit all night. Helicopters will land and take off at all hours above you. Ambulances will rush up with sirens blazing. When you look up you will see a wall of windows looking down into your home. 

When we sit in the meetings, we look at the hospital officials and we know they are thinking “These selfish people, if they just accept things we could avoid all this turmoil and get on with our project. They could just move if they don’t like being near a tall building.” Hopefully you can understand why we don’t see it that way. 

Bob Schenker is a North Oakland resident.

Every four years we are subjected to a barrage of visual and aural assaults by the mainstream media—abuzz with news about the presidential campaign and the candidates. This time around the primaries have been particularly irritating, considering it started about a year ago, and the actual election is still nine months away! As far as a year or so ago, you started to hear such mundane questions as, if Hillary will run for the office or how Giuliani will fare against Hillary? This at a time, when much more important national issues were at hand regarding war and constitutional dalliances by the current administration? The amount of watered downed, insipid, corporate agenda-laced, shallow coverage of our political process has only been exacerbated by cable news and the new corporate owners. We have only Ted Turner to thank for it. The cable news media’s self professed, expert political talking heads (usually qualified by a caption), spout their biased, non-independent, political drivel as infallible commandments that we are to accept like believers. The worst part of all this is that there isn’t any other single authoritative source available to us as an alternative. 

When Headline News was the only show on cable, it was a good place for low fat news appetizers; afterwards, you could get your main course—although not as substantial as BBC—on any of the major network evening news, and finally you could top off your main course with dessert on Tonight Show with Johnny Carson. Now there are just too many venues for news, and it is easier than ever for any Tom, Dick, and Harry to get a spot on the television to dump their spade full of quasi journalistic rubbish without much scrutiny. 

Prior to cable news, ABC, NBC, CBS, and PBS were the networks for international news, the quality of journalism was held to a much higher standard. You couldn’t just get out of college, do a few minor stints, and then get a national audience. Dan Rather was a CBS news correspondent for nineteen years before he was given the anchor position. Peter Jennings was a foreign correspondent for numerous years before he took the anchor position on ABC. In stark contrast, this current crowd of journalists on cable news is as unseasoned as tapioca at the infirmary. What’s more, the absence of wrinkles and specks of grey in their hair only raise questions about their credentials. There is no sign of weathering on these faces from years of reporting from God forsaken locations. Wearing the latest haute couture from Armani and Prada, this crowd looks more ready—with its salon produced coiffure—to walk the red carpet than report any substantive news. And we are to trust these pseudo-journalists for comments on our national politics, economy, healthcare, and on subject as arcane as geopolitics? It is no surprise we have selected highly incompetent leaders to represent us lately. There should be a minimum years (several) of residency required before giving this crowd its own megaphone. 

This is the same crowd who started to call Paul Bremer a viceroy without ever looking up the word’s real meaning. They stopped uttering that term quickly. This geographically challenged group wouldn’t be able to point out Karkuk from Timbuktu, Sea of Galilee from Sea of Tranquility or locate Kabul on the map within the margin of error of a country next to it. Journalists aside, even the current administration was quite clueless about Iraq’s population composition: certainly this administration is geopolitically just as challenged! This explains why it keeps getting carte blanche by the media on its egregiousness: this media skipped its homework on the U.S. Constitution. This crowd should only be seen (maybe), but not heard. As it is, I have to cross-reference many news organizations, and sift through the morass of mostly dross news to get an iota of information that I consider pure. 

I think the current American news media is harmful, shallow, and it is misinforming its citizens. It should come with a mandatory warning as follows: consume at your own risk, may cause drowsiness, do not consume while driving or using heavy machinery, mix with other news sources to get a marginal effect; overconsumption may cause a loss of political judgment.  

Without the disclaimer above, in the interim, we should avoid this skim milk news before it further thickens our brains. 

Rizwan A. Rahmani is an Oakland resident.

On Feb. 28, the Economic and Technology Advancement Advisory Committee (ETAAC) will make its final report to the California Air Resources Board (CARB), giving its ideas on how California can reduce its greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. As a 21-person committee comprised primarily of academic and business interests, the ETAAC has been charged to be the “big-picture” think tank on what California people, governments, and businesses need to do to stop the threat of global warming. (Climate change is now no longer au courant; GW is straight up; CC is a weasel word.) 

What’s most apparent is that no one has an exact picture of what the future will look like; alternative technologies are gradually coming on-line with little public resistance. Those who have profited from the existing systems (like motor car companies, landfill owners, and investor-owned utilities) are scrambling at least to paint themselves green if they can’t figure out exactly what the consumer wants and how, in fact, to bring innovation on-line. 

A bright spot in the elaborate dance to keep your own ox from getting gored has been recycling. Since the United States became a bigger importer than producer of oil in the mid-1990s, the federal government has softly extolled the benefits of recycling materials and products rather than allowing them to flow into landfills and incinerators. Unfortunately, Washington put an embargo on calculating what the energy costs and now GHG costs of our current wasting practices are and it’s only been in the last few years that, as often happens, a few industrious, number-crunching, mavericks have seen that the 42 million tons of materials now flowing into landfills in California (year 2005 data) including a billion aluminum cans, etc. would, if those materials had been recycled, have saved 16.6 million tons of CO2 emissions, an amount equal to one third of all industrial-claimed emissions for California (42 million tons of CO2 air emissions in the base year of 1990) or, expressed differently, just a little less than taking all the diesel trucks off the road in California. Since a lot of these emissions occur out of state, (California imports most of the paper, metals and plastics it “consumes” and is self-sufficient only probably with glass), in truth, nobody seems to know the figures. When it enacted our AB 32, the Legislature wasn’t looking too closely at any of this; they knew that a lot of California’s electrical power comes from coal-fired power plants in Arizona and New Mexico and wanted them in the calculation but conveniently forgot all that paper rolling in by truck and train from Oregon and Canada, the metals from off-shore or the Midwest, and the plastics from Texas and Louisiana petrochemical plants. In truth, California’s pretty much a suburb except for agriculture, some hi-tech, and the ports. 

But now, with a little dash at the end, the ETAAC has recycling prominently featured as an old but trustworthy technology for reducing GHGs in CA. Whether the Air Board will find the courage to admit that its sister agency, the so-called Integrated Waste Management Board, that so far has done little to stem the tide of wasting-as-usual in California (44 millions tons of garbage in 1990, declining to 34 million tons in 1994 but gradually creeping back up to 42 million tons in 2005; 50 percent recycling be damned) can be in charge remains to be seen. The Waste Board recently adopted a string of “strategic initiatives” to make the future different from the past but appears to lack the leadership to get in the face of the garbage companies and their compliant minions who prefer wasting to looking at wastes as resources. Since the City of Oakland gets 40 percent of what you pay for garbage services to pay for a public bureaucracy and litter pick-up, illegal dumping elimination programs, etc., the city is compromised in wanting less garbage. Unlike the Public Utilities Code which protects PG&E from losing profit if energy conservation works, nobody’s going to do that for the garbage companies which have become our de facto big recycling firms although the independents in the Bay Area actually move a lot more materials than the curbside programs. 

We live in interesting times. Hats off to ETAAC for making a bold statement for recycling; let’s hope CARB doesn’t drop the ball in the face of probable Waste Board pleas to stay out of its turf. 

Arthur R. Boone is the education chair of the Northern California Recycling Association, a 25-year veteran of the recycling industry, and an Oakland resident. 

There is much to praise in Berkeley’s new draft Climate Action Plan. The goal of reducing our climate-warming greenhouse gases by 80 percent before 2050 is a bold and needed one, as 81 percent of voting Berkeleyans agreed via Measure G in 2006. The vision presented is attractive and inspiring: Berkeley as a greener city with a more sustainable economy. A Berkeley less dependent on the private gasoline-powered automobile and more supportive of walkable full-service neighborhoods, housing more of our own workers. A Berkeley using more regionally-produced food and more locally-produced renewable energy, and no longer sending our waste to landfills. And a Berkeley more lively and prosperous as an inspiring urban place. 

Even some of the means proposed are bold and innovative—most notably mayoral aide Cisco DeVries’s plan to accelerate the installation of residential solar power using individual property tax increments rather than ordinary loans. Other more conventional means involve upgrading energy efficiency standards already established by ordinance, “identifying opportunities” for other renewable energy projects, and taking practical steps toward eliminating unrecycled waste. Overall, the plan makes it sound feasible that much of what it proposes can—with an aggressive effort and a cooperative citizenry—be achieved. 

However, there is still one way the Climate Action Plan falls short of what we need. While it’s visionary and bold about the long-term future and crisp about needed revisions to existing ordinances and programs, the CAP seems to lose its courage when addressing policy-level decisions we will make in the next year or two. Instead of strong recommendations based on the principles espoused in the CAP, many upcoming items are expressed only as things to “consider” if they are “appropriate”—even when the items have already been considered to death.  

The CAP that we need should take the opposite tone: It should be most confident and specific on policy and program commitments we know we can make right away, and more tentative on what we can’t yet define in programmatic terms. If the CAP won’t drive our ready-to-go decisions now, why should we have any confidence it will actually help over the next 40 years? 

That failure of political focus makes the key chapter on transportation and land use the weakest in the document. The chapter takes the right direction by generally advocating alternative transportation and more intensive urban in-fill as the most effective reducers of greenhouse gases, but it is unconnected to our current decision agenda and fails to make any actual recommendations on that list. The best in-process policy example is the excellent draft of our new Downtown Plan, crafted by a dedicated citizens’ panel over nearly two years. This DAPAC process has already considered key desirables mentioned in the CAP chapter—such as Bus Rapid Transit and increased density of housing near transportation lines—and made strong recommendations in favor of both. Why would the CAP not support and reinforce the Downtown Plan as a crucial means for implementing its advocated climate actions? Alas, it says we should make important land use and transportation changes only “if appropriate.” Instead of leading as it should, the CAP even fails to follow; the draft Downtown Area Plan is already much more decisive on transportation and land use changes in several important ways. 

Another example will reinforce the same point. Though the CAP generally favors more in-fill housing near transportation, it is silent on the current open issue of the density bonus for new construction. If its goals are to be achieved, I’d expect the CAP to boldly recommend that we not go too far in reducing the density bonuses that have helped create what little affordable housing Berkeley has built in the past few years. 

I’ve confirmed in three private conversations that the draft submitted by Climate Action Plan staff did not demonstrate this deficiency of political courage. Its original language, for example, “flat-out stated” (as a senior Planning Department staffer put it) that “smart growth is the only way we will be able to reach our climate goals.” But senior political minds in the city manager’s office seem to have concluded that ignoring all pending issues with any controversy is the path to success, along with “considering” things till the cows come home. 

The cure for the shortfall is a simple one: eliminate from the CAP almost all the equivocal “consider” and “if appropriate” language and in most cases clearly state what “the City should enact” in the next year or two. If we are as clear on the principles as the plan itself asserts, the CAP should have no trouble recommending how to decide most well-defined upcoming policy and program questions. 

Thus our new Climate Action Plan is inspiringly farsighted, but far from nearsighted enough. It’s crystal-clear on the long-term future, but timid and unfocused about our near-term policy agenda. But if the CAP is to mean anything, it should have the courage to connect its laudable principles and 40-year vision to our specific pending decisions in clear and unambiguous language. It’s now up to the Council to insist we do so. 

Alan Tobey has lived in Berkeley since 1970.

The Feb. 22 plea agreement reached between myself and the Alameda County District Attorney’s Office reflects the reality that since my 2002 election, I complied with the City of Berkeley’s residency requirement to hold public office as a Rent Stabilization Board commissioner—with the exception of a period of time during parts of 2006 and 2007 when I involuntarily lost my Berkeley home. The original and potentially very serious counts and allegations filed against me have been dismissed, and a single, technical violation of the California election code was agreed to. 

I appreciate the District Attorney Office’s sense of fairness and professionalism toward my case. I also appreciate that after one year, my case may be revisited and the count reduced upon completion of the court’s probation conditions. 

As I indicated in a previous statement, like many Berkeley homeowners who own (or rent) two homes, I rented two living spaces over the last several years: one in Berkeley and another in Oakland. I kept possession of my Oakland space because I did not want to give up its local amenities and rare outdoor garden space. There is nothing unusual about possessing two living spaces. 

I am greatful to my family, friends and colleagues for their confidence and support. It has been a sincere honor and privelege to have served on Berkeley’s Rent Stabilization Board. I also apologize to my constituents for the period of time I was unable to live in Berkeley. 

I urge my Rent Board colleagues to continue the critical work of the Rent Stabilization Agency and Ordinance given the Bay Area’s—and Berkeley’s—increasing affordable housing crisis, and the threat to local rent control laws posed by the Howard Jarvis organization-sponsored state Proposition 98 on the June, 2008 ballot. 

The Planet is only printing letters from locals regarding the ruling on the Marine Recruitment Station. Some of these letters were sent prior to the Feb. 12 City Council meeting and thus do not reflect the council’s most recent ruling. 

Signed letters from non-locals and letters addressed to third parties will be published on our website. Unsigned letters will not be published.  

Imagine...Life Without Freedom 

Welcome to My America, Land of the Free and Home of the Brave. Thank you to the recruiters who signed on the service men & women who are protecting this great land. Thank you also to all of the veterans, past, present, & future for defending my freedoms. Thank you Code Pink & Berkeley City Council for drawing world attention to protesting. That is your United States Constitutional right. If only God and our politicians could write PEACE into the United States Constitution with legal binding effect on all nations, then, and only then, will the Price of Freedom be Truly Free. 

When you Berkeley ladies drive, walk or gather in public places without a male escort, imagine looking over your shoulder waiting for the rape posse to attack. Imagine looking out the small hole of your burka knowing that you lost your freedom because you did not support the Military. When you cast your vote for your next politician, imagine looking into the barrel of a rifle waiting to end your short life here in America. And to all you Berkeley men & women, with all the religions here in America, imagine only being able to worship Allah because if you don’t, you will surely be beheaded! Your castles are no longer protected and are now owned by the rulers. You have no privacy, no rights, no money, and no ability to defend yourselves. When that big national disaster hits & your homes are destroyed, who is coming to save you, the Marines, the Army, the National Guard? Oooops, you forgot you ran them out of your city. Thomas Jefferson said “If a nation expects to be ignorant and free, in a state of civilization, it expects what never was and never will be.” Now Berkeley, you can be ignorant all you want, but are you ready to pay the price with the loss of your freedom? 

Now, I don’t care if ya support the War On Terror or any subsequent wars to follow, you better support the Military, or you won’t have any Freedoms at all. The Price of Freedom is Written on The Wall… 

Kathy L. Varner 

Flat Rock, North Carolina 

I have concluded that a large portion of the population of Berkley, California is either irrational or extremely selfish. For those not up on the situation in Berkeley let me state a quick summary. Several groups have taken to having demonstrations in front of the local Marine Recruiting Center. The city’s town council response has been to give demonstrators special parking privileges and passing resolutions against the Recruiting Center. Therefore, this situation has led me to my conclusion. Moreover, these are my arguments for those conclusions. 

Some of the demonstrators claim to be anti-war. I have no problem with that, but if they are anti-war why are they demonstrating in front of a recruiting office. You just as well demonstrate in front of the post office because recruiters have as much to do with policy as do postal people, or for that matter you and I. Even the Joint Chiefs of Staff serve only as advisors. It is Congress and the administration set policy. Therefore, it would make more since to demonstrate in front of Speaker of the House’s, Nancy Pelosi, office. Which I believe is just down the road. 

Other demonstrators appear to be against the recruiters themselves. They state that they lie to prospective recruits but they offer no proof. Further, they generalize that if one recruiter lies then all recruiters lie, which is the same, rational that people use to say all Catholics are drunks, all Jews are greedy, or all Muslims are terrorists. This group also complains that the Marine Corp spends billions of dollars on propaganda, sometimes know as advertising. The tobacco, alcohol, and auto industries also spend billions of dollars in propaganda and any one of these cause far more death, injury, and pain than do the Marines. So why not protest at their local tobacco store, bar, or used car dealer? 

These two groups will claim that they are not anti-military. However, the fact is that their actions are more against the military than they are against the war says different. Being anti-military is probably the most irrational thing of all. Consider there is not a nation in the world, at least to my knowledge, that does not have some sort of military institution. This includes democracies and dictatorships. It includes communist, socialist, and capitalist countries, and everything in between. Even Vatican City has the Swiss Guard. So why shouldn’t we? 

We have looked at three different rationales for the actions in Berkeley but as you can see they actually not rational at all. However, there is a possible fourth reason for the demonstration and it is very rational. It is pure and simple selfishness. 

Both demonstrators and council members when confronted about the situation claim they are not anti-military. Therefore, if they are not anti-military but they do want the recruiting office closed that only leaves one option open. They do not mind if other young men and women sign up but their young people are not to be given that opportunity. That is to say, the youth of New York and Los Angeles can serve. As can the youth of Miami, St. Louis, Houston, Denver and even Gillette, Wyoming. However, the youth of Berkeley, California are above all that. 

John F. Kennedy once said, "my fellow Americans, ask not what your country can do for you -- ask what you can do for your country." Perhaps, the people of Berkley need to reassess their situation and decide whether they are Americans or not. 

Sincerely, 

Rodger L. Solomon 

Gillette, WY 

No need for Comedy Shows, just watch Berkeley toot its tiny horn. Two thousand letters for the Council’s edict on the Marines, twenty-four thousand letters against. That would make Berkeley’s City Council a sickly guppy in the ocean of life. 

L. White 

Pinetop, Arizona 

Political Relevance 

The nationally reported antics in Berkeley over the USMC recruiting station re-enforced the opinion of lots of ordinary Americans that the city is full of a bunch of foolish people. We know better than that. Berkeley has a superb university and is one of the intellectual centers of the nation. I have friends and in-laws who are graduates of that superb university. They certainly are not foolish people. 

I was in Viet Nam. I went there from Travis Air Force base in California. I joined the anti-war movement after coming back. I was in California working for Senator McCarthy's campaign when Bobby Kennedy was murdered. I stood in the Berkeley library and watched student riots in the streets outside. I was in Haight-Ashbury and saw the lives being ruined by the first methamphetamine epidemic. I was in the farm fields of the central valley and saw the exploitation of the farm workers first hand.  

But I also was amazed to see Berkeley women who'd had multiple abortions calling returning soldiers 'baby killers'.  

My son-in-law served in Afghanistan and Iraq. He is now a deputy sheriff in Sacramento County. His family emigrated from Cambodia. That is, the few of them who survived. Most were murdered in Pol Pot's death camps. Just like your recently passed great legislator, Tom Lantos, my son-in-law has a high-voltage heightened sensitivity to the power of evil in this world based on very personal experience. He was profoundly offended by the recent actions of the Berkeley City Council. 

And you know what? Even I, who was against the Viet Nam war and am against the Iraq war, was profoundly offended by the City. Without our military and police forces, what protection do we have from the forces of evil? The Marines didn't start the war in Iraq. That was done by a bunch of inept politicians. Remember that 9/11 did happen, and that we are in a long-term war whether we want to be or not. You should thank God that there are still enough patriotic Americans to be willing to serve in the military. Nobody expects there to be many of them coming from Berkeley. But Berkeley sure as heck expects to be protected by police and military forces. 

To all of the political activists in Berkeley. For God's sake, there are holocausts going on all through Africa at this very minute. Do something really constructive and get involved in some way with that--at the very least do something to help feed the millions of refugees. Or try to help in some way to heal the lives of the hundreds of thousands of rape victims. 

Berkeley activist. Hone your sense of perspective. Get relevant. Get moving.  

James Whitesell 

Cochise County, Arizona 

Retired U.S. federal officer 

SAYING THANKS 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

On Wednesday, Feb. 13 I fell on my face (literally) at the corner of Martin Luther King, Jr. Way. Within seconds there were half a dozen people of every description asking if I was okay and offering to give help. I’d like to say “Thank You!” to them, especially the (female) postal worker and “Paul” who had a handy Band-Aid. 

It’s nice to know that with all the (fill in words of your choice), that there is a bedrock of kindness in Berkeley! 

Nancy Yates 

• 

CONSEQUENCES 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

A serious unintended consequence has been ignored in recent discussion. Well over 100 million citizens will vote in the upcoming election, nearly half of them registered Republicans. Of those, there are many millions who are disenchanted by the Bush years and may consider defecting to the Democratic candidate. But members of the City Council have created a national scandal and focused nationwide ridicule and resentment on the irrationality and irresponsibility of the radical left, and have surely pushed millions of those undecided voters firmly back into the Republican camp. The rash fools who provoked this debacle should be booted off the council. 

Jerry Landis 

• 

CORRECTION 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

In my letter published Feb. 15, a reader pointed out an egregious typo I made in my letter. The proper Article and Section of the Constitution referring to the responsibility of Congress to raise an army is Article I, Section VIII, not Section VII. 

Katherine Brakora 

• 

SWINTON’S INSPIRATION 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Bob Burnett calls this year’s crop of Oscar-nominated movies a collection of downers, with the lone exception of the teen pregnancy epic Juno. However, among the drab tales of oppressors and psychos there is one role which should be a joy to watch for the typical reader of the Daily Planet. 

Tilda Swinton in Michael Clayton was good enough to earn herself an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress. It is her first Oscar nomination in 20 years of movie making. What did Swinton do to distinguish her character this time? She plays a ruthless murderous corporate lawyer, a character so uptight she calculates every breath she takes, every variation on eyebrow position, every well placed hair on her head, and she walks with every step perfectly placed, right up to her utter downfall at movie’s end, and according to an article about Swinton on the Internet, she said she modeled her role after Condoleezza Rice. 

Ted Vincent 

• 

THE FASCIST FACTION 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

That letter by Chuck Heinrichs was excellent—right on! I wasn’t happy about telling the Marines that they are unwelcome, but I sure am glad that Code Pink is making some noise about the war. I’m especially glad that Berkeley is annoying the flag-waving fascist faction. 

Steve Geller 

• 

ACCEPTING RESPONSIBILITY? 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I would like to address an argument made by a number of folks in the media and made last night at the Berkeley City Council Meeting. The argument goes: “Support the troops because it is the government’s responsibility for the unjust war.” I think this denial of troop responsibility is a denial of their conscience, and thus, their dignity. They exercise this conscience when they generate the habits that create the kind of person they become, when they chose to enter the military, and when they continuously chose to sustain their participation in an immoral and unjust war. The troops as persons are responsible. We might say they have less responsibility then government leaders, but they still have a level of responsibility, which is sufficient to be judged for participating in immoral and unjust activity, such as Iraq.  

The devaluing or denial of troop responsibility manifested itself last night at the Berkeley City Council. There was general consensus that the war is unjust and they did a better job articulating the depth of the injustice. Yet, they were unwilling to hold the Marine institution and the individual troops sufficiently responsible. In turn, they buckled somewhat to the “support the troops” mantra and affirmed a right of the Marines to recruit in Berkeley. I respect the troops as persons and acknowledge the kind of courage it takes to risk one’s life, but I think we fail them and ourselves when we insist on “supporting” their immoral and unjust choices. This failure is implied when we insist on “supporting the troops” while they fight an immoral and unjust war.  

I wonder how many of those who deny the personal responsibility of troops tend to simplify poverty and argue the poor are personally responsible for their situation? There’s much more which could be said, but I will leave it here for now.  

Eli S. McCarthy  

• 

DEMONSTRATION REPORT 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Riya Bhattacharjee’s recent report on the demonstration was, as usual, completely one-sided. The cops are bad, the radical left-wingers are good. The event was completely nonviolent until the Berkeley High School students arrived with their colors. But the problem was the cops, right? Horseshit. Beware, the citizens are catching on. 

Peter Bjelda 

• 

BUS RAPID TRANSIT 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Thanks for quoting me about AC Transit’s misnamed Bus “Rapid” Transit proposal (“BRT, Parks, Southside Evoke Heated Response,” Feb. 15). But to clarify one detail: 

I called on Berkeley’s Planning Commission to reject BRT not because BRT isn’t “clean rail” technology. We already have clean rail: it’s called BART. It runs just one to six blocks beside AC Transit’s crazy proposed route. It’s faster, with lower fares for comparable trips. Its capital costs are already paid for. Its operator is more financially solvent. And it has ample excess capacity. 

AC Transit simply should not be allowed to waste $400 million duplicating the BART tracks. Their own consultants predicted that BRT on this route would offer only “negligible” environmental benefits. Light rail beside BART would waste even more money. 

AC Transit could benefit Berkeley by instead routing BRT to extend the BART network. BART-bypassed areas, like the I-680 and I-580/MacArthur corridors, send lots of cars into Berkeley every day. 

AC Transit could benefit the environment by abandoning its Telegraph BRT boondoggle, and instead replacing its conventional diesel buses with a more efficient and cleaner-fueled fleet. 

When I recently visited Toronto, half the buses I saw going by were hybrids. These were genuinely “low-floor” buses: They had low-mounted seats, which mobility-impaired passengers could easily get to and from. (Unlike AC Transit’s despised Van Hools.) 

The nameplates said “Orion,” a Daimler subsidiary with factories near Toronto. Toronto’s transit buyers evidently aren’t joining AC Transit in bankrupting their system through bus-buying sprees in Belgium, on Van Hool-financed junkets. Buy local, dudes. 

Michael Katz 

• 

BERKELEY NAACP PROTESTS MURDER OF ANITA GAY 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

The Berkeley branch of the NAACP is appalled by this senseless act of murder perpetrated against this African American female by the Berkeley Police Department. The citizens of Berkeley are outraged as a result of this cowardly act of murder of an African American female by the Berkeley Police Department. The police are trained at the academy on how to disarm and subdue a person advancing on them without a firearm. It is clear that they cannot think clearly in a crisis. Certainly in the case of this female who was not advancing on the officer with a knife, a non-lethal method of apprehension could have been applied. However, it is apparent that the only thing in the mind of a Berkeley Police Officer is to kill, especially any African American that they can. The baton, a rubber bullet, or mace should have been used instead of a lethal shot in the back to kill. 

It is clear that the Berkeley Police are afraid of the citizenry. Therefore, they should be removed from the force of the Berkeley Police Department. Their armed position and their badges give them the edge and the right to kill at will. We vehemently protest and demand an end to the brutal method of operation by the Berkeley Police Department. They are trigger happy and eager to commit murder in the name of the law and they believe they are above the law. 

We are calling for a federal investigation to determine whether the civil rights of Anita Gay were violated. This latest incident further exacerbates the tensions between the police and the African American community. We have recently witnessed on television how African American law enforcement agents use cruel and unnecessary acts of violence against the disabled. This incident sends a clear message to the neighborhood. Not only will the police kill young African American males and females, but they will also kill your mother and your grandmother. Upon the investigation of the perpetrator we are calling for his immediate removal from the Berkeley Police Department and that he be arrested for the murder of Anita Gay. 

Allen Jackson 

President, Berkeley Branch, NAACP 

• 

GUN BUYBACK A BIG FLOP 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Gun buybacks seem to be a much-touted (recently, by Don Perata) measure that people hope will reduce crime in Oakland. Think so? Let me tell you some of the facts about the recent gun buyback in Oakland on Feb. 9. A lot of guns were being brought to the buyback: so many were being sold that the Oakland Police Department ran out of money, and Oakland Chief of Police Tucker had to leave early and quickly from Jane Brunner’s Feb. 9 advisory meeting on crime in North Oakland to try to get more funds for the guns. But wait and hear more: Who was bringing in the guns? Not the criminals. They don’t sell their guns. Sure, a few elderly people and others who weren’t really using their guns, decided to bring them in. But according to three Oakland police officers I met with in a community meeting recently, very many of those selling guns didn’t live in Oakland. Some came from Livermore. Others came from Nevada. Some people had dozens of guns to sell. What’s up? They were collectors, or junk dealers, who saw the gun buyback as a great way to get a guaranteed $250 each for their $25 or 50 piece of crap guns that they probably couldn’t sell to anyone anywhere. So Oakland gave out a lot of money for a lot of junk that came from out of state or out of county and had zilch to do with crime in Oakland. The big anti-gun crime prevention measure simply became a way for non-Oaklanders to profit off of our foolishness.  

Time to get a new plan to end crime in Oakland.  

Deborah Cloudwalker 

Oakland 

• 

WILLIARD SCHOOL STORY 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

What are we to make of your story about the assistant principal at Willard? This woman seems to have taken action to deal with rampant marijuana abuse at the school. Somebody should. 

Are we to believe that the police would deal with the problem? I doubt the Berkeley Police Department has time or interest in setting up a “sting” to catch these potheads.  

Her methods may have been unconventional, but it’s hard to argue with her intent. Someone give her a medal; everyone else should get off her back. 

Carlos Machina 

• 

CITY-MARINES STORY 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

In Tuesday’s Daily Planet, Judith Scherr reported on the Marine Recruiting Station action Friday by World Can’t Wait, and the horrific overreaction by the Berkeley Police Department. When the police asked us to take signs off the MRS windows at the Marines’ request, CodePink took down their beautiful valentines to the Marines. WCW did not comply, forcing the police to enforce the law. But when the police cordoned off the street and moved in against the group clustered on the sidewalk, they used unnecessary force and hurt people, including young high school students. 

Judith’s article mentioned Robert Young, an army vet, who was holding a sign protesting Berkeley’s decision to ask the recruiters close down their office. I had a wonderful conversation with Robert. The police pushed Robert too, and his sign was knocked to the ground. CodePink Women for Peace has good relationships with authorities: the San Francisco and Berkeley police, Capitol police in D.C., Secret Service guarding Nancy Pelosi, others. We cooperate with them, but don’t give up our civil rights. WCW views the police with suspicion, and expects them to behave badly. Reminds me of the protests in the ’60s, when battles with police eclipsed ending the war. 

In recent memory, I have not seen the Berkeley police act as they did on Friday and at last week’s 24-hour peace-in at Old City Hall. My dealings with the BPD have been respectful and friendly. My opinion of our police force is changing. I filed a complaint with the Police Review Commission because an officer pushed me without even giving me a chance to move first. I hope that the people knocked to the ground and hurt by the police last Friday will file complaints. What’s happening here? When did our police turn into bullies and thugs? Those words are not too strong to describe what I’ve experienced lately. The police arriving at the MRS in huge groups don’t look like Berkeley police to me. Is this change in behavior connected with our new Police Chief? 

I’m sending this letter to the chief of police, Police Review Commission and City Council, hoping they take action to stop this behavior. Nothing going on at the MRS justifies the way the police have behaved. Finally, some officers haven’t participated in these violent actions. I want to thank them for using restraint and respecting our free speech rights and us. They are the true face of the Berkeley police, who have a well-deserved reputation as being true public servants and valued members of our community. 

Cynthia Papermaster 

• 

WHAT IS LIVABLE? 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

In her last column, (“Mary Dean Owes Me Three Bucks,” Feb. 19), Susan Parker describes a recent community meeting with Children’s Hospital Oakland officials who apparently still intend—in spite of the decisive rejection of their plan by the voters—to build a new 12-story tower in a residential neighborhood. Ms. Parker notes that during the meeting, Mary Dean, senior vice-president of Children’s Hospital, chose to don a neighborhood-produced “Livable Oakland” T-shirt and wore it for the remainder of the event. Ms. Parker expresses confusion about Dean’s reasons for doing this, and states that “no one at the meeting understood why she was wearing it.” Does Ms. Parker mean to suggest that 12-story towers in residential neighborhoods somehow detract from their livability? 

Ha! It’s obvious that she has not spent much time in Berkeley lately—because high-rise towers are exactly what our own pro-development lobbying group, Livable Berkeley, would love to see everywhere within a half-mile of any major thoroughfare or transit route. That means they want to put them pretty much all over town—except, of course, within their own protected neighborhoods. To them, as to Children’s Hospital, the privileged few should be able to retain their quality of life, but the less-powerful should be forced to give up all expectations of sunlight, clean air, views of the sky and hills, trees, privacy, parking spaces, and any semblance of peace and quiet for the rest of their lives. 

These “smart growth” zealots are very happy to build things that destroy the lives of others, as long as they do not have to live anywhere near them. If anything like that is ever proposed for their own neighborhoods, you better believe that they are adamant in their desire to protect their quality of life—and how dare anyone suggest that they are being selfish! This breathtaking level of arrogance and hypocrisy has served to discredit the notions of “Livable Berkeley” in the eyes of a growing number of community members in Berkeley. 

Not that I mean to discourage Mary Dean in her choice of attire. In fact, she really should stop by the Livable Berkeley office. I’m sure they would be happy to give her a free T-shirt. 

Doug Buckwald  

• 

DEVELOPMENT — ALL ABOUT EASY LENDING 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Your Feb. 15 coverage of the density bonus discussion at the Planning Commission was most interesting. Developer Chris Hudson of Hudson/McDonald was quoted, regarding future development in Berkeley: “There’s no money, and there is a slowdown in demand” (slowdown would be an understatement). 

When there’s no money and little demand for an activity, it’s time to consider ceasing that activity—the bubble years were very good for developers, but they are over. 

I have been avidly reading about the housing bubble for more than three years, and therefore knew that it was fueled by cheap credit—and that it would end badly. Apparently, whenever lending is cheap and abundant, developers build like crazy regardless of need. Since the projects are owned under limited liability corporations, failed projects are no skin off developer noses—after all, it’s not as though they were using their own money. 

While farmland was paved for McMansions all over California, Berkeley residents were being guilt-tripped into accepting “smart growth.” It was actually exceedingly dumb growth—five-story stucco boxes littering the terrain, for rent or for sale, many of them leaking due to construction flaws. 

More superfluous stucco boxes are in the approval process, at least two planned by Hudson/McDonald. Early in 2006, H/M purchased the Drayage Building, which had been a thriving environment for approximately 30 artists until they were evicted for phony “code violations.” One of the evictees summed it up with sadness, “West Berkeley has lost one of its coolest things.” The plans are for a five-story condo box. 

Upon purchase, H/M demolished the Drayage building, cleansing the property of Special Assessment property taxes, (city taxes based on square footage of the structures). The site is now home to a chain-link fence, vivid graffiti, and three empty H/M sign stands (only one still upright), while lending and demand for condos are virtually dead. It appears that we may have lost 30 artists, an interesting structure, and the city tax revenue it generated—for nothing at all. 

Gale Garcia 

• 

LIQUOR LAWS 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

In his letter in the Jan. 25 edition, John Vinopal asks “why not have concerned citizens call the city to report sidewalk drinking or perceived sales to minors?” Answer: We should and many have and that would be enough if this system worked. It is not working. The city’s nuisance ordinance BMC 23B64 is supposed to allow the city to “solve” any nuisances created by liquor stores or others. This requires that neighbors make complaints to the city, call the police, document times, dates and places the nuisance occurred, and testify at Zoning Adjustments Board (ZAB), City Council meetings and/or other proceedings. This is all very public and makes neighbors a target for retaliation. 

Take the example of Dwight Way Liquors, which was a problem for 15 years. After years of complaining to no avail, neighbors organized large shows of community concern, they would show up at the ZAB and City Council meetings 30 strong. Still, it took years and many of them spent hundreds of hours to get the city to shut it down. At least three families moved away because of the nuisance created by this one store. 

Alcohol is the number one problem drug in the world. The police, medical, and other costs to the public, far exceed that of all other drugs combined. Alcohol requires a special license and land use permit to sell it. The state’s Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control provides monitoring and enforcement, but politics and budget cuts have greatly reduced the ability of the ABC to protect the public. According to the ABC, the Oakland district covers all of Alameda, Contra Costa, San Francisco San Mateo and Solano counties with a total of 10,455 licenses. This district is allocated 13 sworn officers. One is an administrator, two are supervisors, two are still in the academy and three positions are unfilled. 

It is our contention that the ABC cannot effectively enforce all the regulations for us, that the general public does not have the necessary expertise or time to deal with problem alcohol outlets. Nor should they be forced to risk retaliation. Instead of the current adversarial system, what is needed is a small, dedicated, well-trained staff to deal with these problems administratively. If we want any real enforcement of some very reasonable laws the city will have to do it, and it should be paid for by those who make money from the sale of alcohol. 

Ralph Adams 

Berkeley Alcohol Policy Advocacy Coalition (BAPAC) 

• 

PACIFIC STEEL LAYOFFS 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Pacific Steel Casting is misrepresenting the reason for its recent layoffs. The layoffs were caused by market forces. 

The lack of demand for steel in the United States has not translated into a larger available supply, because the demand in Europe and particularly in China and India is very strong. The global demand for steel is blowing up the price of steel inputs in a time when U.S. enterprises are already reluctant to spend. Many steel fabricators have had their stock prices fall 25 percent in the last two months. The ones that are doing well are the ones with operations where the demand is. This is also a time of great consolidation for the steel industry, where small outfits are being snatched up by steel mega-companies, and this indicates that small operations like PSC are having trouble competing with the big ones. 

PACCAR, the heavy truck manufacturer that does not want to do business with PSC any more, saw a 45 percent loss in United States and Canada sales from 2006 to 2007. Demand for goods in the U.S. has slowed, and the high price of fuel is moving the transportation of goods from trucks to trains and ships. 

The possibility of revising PSC’s use permit could result in a loss of jobs. The union’s job is to protect and represent the workers, and they should have been working with the company for the last several years to make sure it never came to this. If the company refuses to work with the community and puts the workers’ jobs at risk, the union should help its workers find employment elsewhere. 

I hope that the company and the union work in good faith to resolve this issue. 

Ken Geis 

• 

VIOLENCE, PEACE, JUSTICE 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

We have too long permitted the thugs to tell our tale. 

Behavior we would universally condemn on any playground has become our national ethic. Our appetites are legendarily voracious: with but a rough tenth of the world’s population, we consume a quarter, a third, a half, or more of one vital resource after another. Were kids on a playground to commandeer such a disproportionate share of the foursquare balls or some other limited resource, they would incur swift, certain reprimand. Yet, on a national scale, our selfish hoarding is defended with lethal brutality. The “few, good men” are sent out, from the halls of Montezuma to the shores of Tripoli, to threaten, maim, kill, lest our unfair advantage be imperiled.  

The litmus test for any political candidate’s viability? The credibility of the candidate’s promise to wage future wars with sufficient temerity, premised on the implicit affirmation that we deserve to defend that which we have stolen.  

Our very presence on these premises reeks of war crime. Absent the self-serving official story, the narrative reads as rape and plunder, Nanking on a continental scale. What we didn’t bloodily occupy outright, we bought or wrested from previous recent conquerors. We deny, however, the wholesale murder of innocents, the repeated torching of cultures, the strong-arm theft of the land itself, substituting instead glorious tales of bravery, honor and justice. 

Inconsistently addicted to the intoxication of violence, we relish shock and awe, when perpetrated on Wounded Knee, Hiroshima, Hanoi, or Baghdad, yet reel from it in Oklahoma City or Manhattan. 

So, we allow the government to seduce our young with its glossily mendacious recruiting ads, permit the armed services to send sexy young uniforms to our high school campuses to flirt our vulnerable, impressionable graduates-to-be into harm’s way. We further allow the national dialogue to fixate on topics of degree rather than insisting on a thorough redefinition of essence. 

The world is not ours. Nor are her resources. Nor is space. Nor the sea.  

It is only through the seduction of self-flattering fictions that we have been able for so long to justify to ourselves the exercise of political, economic and military hegemonies, predicated as they are on our pretended superiority. 

We are not special. 

Peace can only follow the establishment of justice. Justice cannot coexist with unequally constructed paradigms of distribution and consumption, requiring, rather, that we relinquish our over-holding and the false claims of desert on which we base it, that we establish mechanisms of redistribution to eliminate both excess and want. 

It also requires that we heal from our erotic fascination with the military fetish. Melt the weapons. Burn the uniforms. Disband the troops. Lower the flags. Shutter the very museums in which we have too long fostered our fascination with this darkest of dungeons. 

Let us prepare to tell a different story. 

A true one, of how we created justice and waged peace. 

For, if we continue to live by the sword, we shall surely die by it, with the sins of our greedy conquests still on our bloody hands. 

Earl Jon Rivard, Jr. 

Alameda 

My interest was piqued by the editor’s quotation from Carole Norris in a recent editorial about Nancy Skinner: “Nancy ... worked with Berkeley ZAB members to organize support and approvals for a number of infill projects facing opposition including the Berkeley Bowl, several condo projects and the proposed mixed use project that includes Trader Joe’s.” My question is where was Nancy Skinner’s ‘work’ done? 

As one of the many neighbors who worked within Berkeley’s public process for citizen involvement, I find the above statement, if true, extremely disturbing. I searched the transcripts from all of the Zoning Adjustments Board public hearings on Hudson McDonald’s Trader Joe’s project and found no sign of Ms. Skinner’s name in public comment, letter, or ex parte disclosures from ZAB members. On the other hand, hundreds of Berkeley citizens on both sides of the issue engaged in a vigorous and public debate on the merits of the project and the probity of the process. Citizen involvement included energetic public comments and letters to the ZAB, an administrative appeal to the City Council, and perhaps inevitably with a project and process so controversial, a lawsuit. We followed the rules in an effort to stop the city from perverting our General Plan goals, the University Avenue Strategic Plan, our Zoning Ordinance, and state laws that encourage affordable housing and ensure protection for affected neighborhoods from detriment. It is distressing to find that Ms. Skinner now claims to have ‘worked’ the ZAB. 

This type of ‘below the radar’ intervention in our political process makes me fear that Ms. Skinner will continue Berkeley’s recent pattern of backroom dealing outside of the cleansing light of public dialogue and disclosure. The subversion of our political process by our rich and powerful developers has become endemic under the reign of Mayor Bates and Assemblymember Hancock. Ms. Norris’s trolling for $3,600 contributions from developers in exchange for a reliable “bought” vote in the Assembly is nothing less than shameful.  

I note that one of our other Berkeley candidates for Assembly, Kriss Worthington, has made passing a Berkeley sunshine ordinance one of his priorities, and has consistently supported construction of affordable housing and insisted on a scrupulous respect for the rule of law in our city government. In the June Democratic primary we have the opportunity to break the chain of corruption we have suffered under for years once and for all. I urge Berkeley citizens to cast their vote for Councilmember Kriss Worthington for Assembly.  

For the State Senate seat being vacated (under duress) by Don Perata, I urge voters to look at the list of actual accomplishments of Wilma Chan versus the PR puffery of Assemblymember and ex-Mayor Loni Hancock. Consider sending Assembly member Hancock into retirement to spend her gold-plated state- and city-funded retirement income in foreign travel with her family. 

Stephen Wollmer is member of Neighbors for a Livable Berkeley Way. NLBW’s lawsuit against the city to void the permits granted for the Trader Joe’s project will be heard before Judge Roesch in Department 31 of Superior Court at 9 a.m. March 21. For more information on our case or to contribute to our legal defense fund, contact stephenwollmer@gmail.com. 

For the record, I voted against the Berkeley City Council motion authorizing a letter to tell the Marines they were unwelcome and uninvited intruders in Berkeley. I also made the motion to rescind that vote and to apologize for it. Since I am a lifetime activist for peace who has been arrested and beaten up while protesting for peace, some wondered if I was caving in to the right-wing pressure. Instead I would suggest that my position offered the best chance for intelligent effective advocacy for peace. 

When I was little, my foster mother taught me about apologies. She said an apology can’t undo the harm, but it can let people know you didn’t mean to hurt them, and it might even lessen some of the hurt. This was her lesson to me after I accidentally knocked over a “house” built by my foster brother and occupied by our foster sister in the back yard. When I stumbled and bumped into it, I didn’t even know that the collection of sticks and twigs and weeds was a house. But John was screaming and Melody was crying, so I knew something was wrong. Mother quieted us all down, made me apologize to both of them, and got me to help them rebuild their house. With her help we managed to put it back together and even make it bigger and better and harder to knock down. 

So what do childhood memories have to do with Marines and Code Pink and the recent actions of the Berkeley City Council? 

Since I know all the members of the Berkeley City Council, I am certain they did not mean to insult our veterans, or the people risking their lives in the military today, or their friends, families, and supporters. The councilmembers who voted for the original letter that caused the hurt feelings simply thought this was one more way to say no to an unpopular and illegal war. Unfortunately this well-intentioned goal stumbled and bumped into a perception of insulting the reputation of the Marines and all the military. I believe it was an innocent accident, and no one intended this to be taken as an offensive insult to our veterans and our military. But just as my foster mom taught me, no matter what your intentions, apologizing may well be the best course of action. 

Berkeley still has opportunities to let people know we didn’t mean to hurt them and even lessen some of the hurt. Just as I apologized after Mother explained the need to me, there is still time for the City Council to apologize. 

Additionally the City Council has an opportunity to turn the phrase “we support our veterans” into action. Local veterans used to meet in the Berkeley Veterans Building, but in recent years they have been told they cannot use their traditional space for seismic safety reasons. Veterans learned that other people are now meeting in their traditional meeting space, and are currently seeking access for monthly veterans meetings. 

Just as my foster mom turned that childhood accident into a positive lesson and an opportunity to come together and create a better building, perhaps we can turn this trial into a triumph and show our local veterans we really do care and are willing to prove it through our actions. This could be a healing moment for us all. 

City Councilmember Kriss Worthington represents Berkeley’s District 7.

On St. Patrick’s Day 2007 my friend and I participated in a peace march in Charleston, South Carolina; it was billed on the flyer as “Introducing Code Pink Charleston.” Then on Jan. 18 there was J. Douglas Allen-Taylor’s thoughtful and sensitive Undercurrents column, “Ghost of America’s Racial Past Lies Uneasy in South Carolina.” That however was followed by Senator DeMint’s not-so-sensitive response to the action of the Berkeley City Council. The Undercurrents piece should be followed with a more sensitive response to the present turn of affairs. 

My friend, a native of South Carolina, writes the following: 

United States Sen. Jim DeMint has proposed legislation to cut $2.1 million federal dollars to the city of Berkeley—and give it to the U.S. Marine Corps. The lost money would include earmarks for a prospective ferry service, the Berkeley Unified School District nutritional education fund and Chez Panisse Foundation for school lunch program nutritional awareness. 

DeMint’s proposal comes in response to a vote of Berkeley City Council to write a letter of unwelcome to a Marine recruiting station on Shattuck Avenue. Given the history of the Marines, who have served in every American armed conflict since the Revolution, the leathernecks can probably dispense with DeMint’s help to handle a little protest from old ladies sitting on benches holding signs and a few politicians expressing dissent in a resolution, which is not a law but a consensus of opinion. 

The rights of citizens to peacefully assemble and speak out without penalty are already guaranteed in the First Amendment of a Constitution the Marines have sworn to uphold and protect. That oath also applies to the rights of city council to pass a resolution which is superfluous, if not controversy. Sen. Demint is drafting vindictive legislation that is mere retaliation for an ideological disagreement, thus jeopardizing the First Amendment right to free speech and peaceful assembly.  

The hypocrisy of DeMint’s position is rather glaring. None of his biographical information mentions military service, although he was of draft age in the Vietnam era. What does he know of Semper Fi and Oorah, the great Marine codes embraced by (for example) my deceased uncle, a veteran of World War II, Korea and Vietnam? My uncle endured long absences from home and lost his health early because he felt he had a duty to stand against totalitarianism, fascism and suppression of human and civil rights, including those endowed by the First Amendment. 

President Bush may declare this Iraqi conflict “making the world safe for democracy,” while the truth is quite other. There were no weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, and the majority of the World Trade Center suicide bombers were Saudi Arabian, as is Osama bin Laden, mastermind of many so-called “Islamo-fascist” terrorist assaults against American interests at home and abroad. He remains at large. His country is floating on oil deposits. 

Despite shock and awe, determination to remain independent and control its own oil supplies combined with religious differences between Sunnis and Shiites, are fueling Iraqi insurgency and an internecine conflict over who will obtain political ascendancy. So young men and women are being recruited to perpetuate a quagmire funded by cuts to programs for the poor, the disabled and the elderly. DeMint has voted no on: repealing tax subsidy for companies which move U.S. jobs offshore, voted no, on raising CAFE standards incentives for alternative fuels and on reducing oil usage by 40 percent by 2025. For the Bush administration and its supporters, the Iraq war is about oil, not honor.  

The Marines are still performing with courage and esprit de corps in the Iraqi conflict. They are not responsible for misleading administrative policy, although their duty is to carry it out. To resist hypocritical and deceptive policies, citizens must start somewhere, as in Berkeley. For what it’s worth, they are aiming their protests at recruiters following orders and delivering sales pitches handed down from higher echelons inducing young people to jump into a meat grinder and quagmire. 

Citizens have a constitutional right to peacefully protest without their city being punished by a politician 3,000 miles away grandstanding for his neoconservative, evangelical constituents back home in South Carolina. Economic threats from 3,000 miles away are a form of social control. Sen. DeMint is overlooking the fact that a resolution is a consensus of opinion, not a law. When a U.S. senator retaliates by penalizing a city for dissent, everyone’s constitutional rights are threatened. 

So, Semper Fi and Oorah. And furthermore, kudos to the Code Pink ladies who are taking their stand for peace in Berkeley. My uncle and his fellow Marines fought and died so that every group of peaceful protesters should be entitled to free parking permits, whatever their creeds or opinions. That’s real democracy. 

Andrew Phelps is a Berkeley resident. Sue Poole is a resident of North Charleston, South Carolina. 

Five members of the People’s Park Community Advisory Board resigned in January, disgusted with the University of California. In that respect, for a moment, this unrepresentative, chancellor-selected group represented the community well. 

They were impatient, they explained in a public letter. Without public discussion, the group seemed to have simultaneously arrived at identical conclusions: that the university’s unwillingness to “implement” a new design for People’s Park before its 40th anniversary “undermines our credibility as board members.” 

Setting aside the issue of whether a chancellor-appointed group could have credibility with the larger community at all, consider that most of them were relative strangers to People’s Park by virtue of their annoyance with it, unlike those who play there, garden there, give classes there, or play music there. This group of five identified their personal constituency as “those who have encouraged us to initiate positive changes,” despite the fact that there exists no community-wide consensus about re-designing the park. 

It is useful, then, that this group has identified itself as the group that wants to change the park, and quickly, so that the constituency of people dissatisfied with the park’s current status can feel as if something has changed. And since this group strongly recommended a design competition, it is fair to suggest that any number of designs would have sufficed, as long as the park changed radically, thoroughly, and soon. 

For those with a long park history, it is rather like walking up to a tomato plant in April and saying, we know you have this tradition about taking months to ripen, and that there is some custom associated with ripening late in the season, but we’re feeling kind of impatient and we want you to ripen now. 

People’s Park is a desire path, taking its time to become what people want, what the neighborhood wants, what the university will allow, and what nature requires. A desire path is a term in landscape architecture used to describe a path that isn’t designed but rather is created by the natural use of animals and people, who generally find the shortest distance between two points. 

A desire path takes time to discover. The lines of riot-gear clad police have to leave, the scars of false arrests, beatings, and gratuitous legal snares have to heal. The rains have to come and go, so the course of underground streams’ effect on drainage can be understood. Anyone who thinks a design contest can answer nature’s most honest needs assessment over time is dreaming. 

People’s Park is a garden. Its imperfection is the best tribute to its history, as the university continues to rip out any popular improvements the university did not personally authorize. Still people come, people build, people garden, people play, sing, and dance. People build and create spontaneously together in ways that would be entirely different if they were sitting at a desk or attending a meeting, often with joy, with music, and with a sense of connection to the park’s true history, which can’t be found in a book or a museum.  

Let us thank those who want a solution for the park, and want it right away, for their service at seemingly endless, contentious meetings. Let us thank them for so ably representing the impatient people who can’t bear a park without finality, a park that changes in the natural ways that gardens always change. And let us remind them that, if you can’t take the time, please, stay out of the garden. 

Carol Denney is a Berkeley musician  

and activist.

In November 2000, a supermajority of Berkeley voters passed Measure R, a bond measure to “reconstruct, renovate, repair, and improve the warm water pool facilities at Berkeley High School (including restrooms and locker space) in order to prepare the facilities for greater community use by seniors, disabled adults and disabled children, some of whom use the pool for physical therapy” (to quote the description in the voter information pamphlet). 

Instrumental in the passage of the measure was local activist Fred Lupke, who spearheaded the campaign on its behalf, and who continued to nudge the City Council and Board of Education to move ahead with plans for the renovation in following years, up until his tragic death in September 2003, when his wheelchair was hit from behind on Ashby Avenue. As the San Francisco Chronicle described Fred in its year-end tribute to notable citizens of the Bay Area who had died in 2003: “He was, many said, cut from the same cloth as noted activists Ed Roberts and Mario Savio.” But more than that, Fred was someone who worked effectively and graciously with people from all sides of Berkeley’s political factions, winning us over with his great personal warmth and his well-reasoned commitment to ensuring that all members of our community have access to public facilities. 

Along with many Berkeley residents who offered to help following Fred’s death, I got to meet Fred’s sister for the first time when she came here to clear out his apartment and prepare for his funeral. As we pitched in with a community-spirited effort that would have made Fred proud, many of us bonded with Alice, who shares Fred’s piercing gaze and straightforward warmth. I’ve stayed in touch with Alice over the years since Fred’s untimely death, but I have to say I feel embarrassed on Berkeley’s behalf that we haven’t yet fully honored Fred’s memory by bringing to completion the project he worked so hard to realize. She no longer even brings up the subject! 

I especially wish to call upon the elected officials, past and present, who were among the overflowing crowd at Fred’s well-attended memorial held four years ago this leap year, on Feb. 29, 2004. At that emotional event, a number of our city councilmembers, along with our mayor and several school board members, pledged to guide Fred’s project to completion. I’m assuming they remember who they are! (At least it is to be hoped that in Berkeley politicians actually keep track of their very publicly made promises.) 

At this point, what it will take to get the warm water pool project moving again is bringing the matter back before the voters, since the funds passed in 2000 were never spent due to changing plans regarding the facility. I’m confident that the voters who so generously gave their overwhelming support nearly eight years ago to fund this essential service will once again rise to the occasion, presuming the City Council does its part by placing another measure on the ballot. 

I have heard some raise the question concerning whether it’s appropriate for Berkeley voters to foot the entire bill for the warm water pool since those who live outside Berkeley also use it. Well, one of the people who used the pool and happened to live just a couple of blocks over the Oakland border was Fred Lupke himself, a Berkeley citizen in all but zipcode. 

But isn’t that wonderful? Don’t we want to draw people from surrounding areas to downtown Berkeley for something important to their health, which will leave them with positive associations concerning the nearby Arts District, the library, and the wonderful shops and restaurants downtown? Maybe we’ll get lucky and some of them will even give back to us a fraction of what Fred Lupke did, with his activism on behalf of Berkeley’s schools, parks, and libraries as well as his insistence upon accessibility for all. 

With all the negative press Berkeley gets from time to time, wouldn’t we do well to emphasize the incontrovertible positives, such as our commitment to providing resources for seniors, for people with disabilities, and for people rehabilitating from injuries, who could at some point include any one of us? Besides, most of us occasionally enjoy the amenities of cities to the south and north—whose taxpayers foot the bill to provide them—whether in the form of a stroll around Oakland’s Lake Merritt or a bike ride or wheelchair roll through Albany on the Ohlone Greenway and Trail. It would indeed be a sad day if we were to hold back on providing a healthful resource to our own citizens because some of our neighbors from nearby cities may also make use of it! 

The simple solution is to let the voters decide. While there are plenty of controversial issues in Berkeley, there are some things that just about everyone can agree on. In Fred Lupke’s memory, let us at long last fulfill the promise made upon his death to bring an up-to-date, fully accessible warm water pool facility back to Berkeley. 

Nancy Carleton is a longtime community activist who coordinated the joint campaign to successfully pass five measures that funded parks, libraries, and the warm water pool facility in the November 2000 election. 

While contemplating various actions of the City Council it struck me that the council is either hopelessly befuddled or dangerously devious. Either they don’t understand what they are doing or they are destroying this city on purpose. Certainly they cannot represent us, as a letter to this paper noted last week.  

Let’s think. Last week they settled the suit from the Elmwood neighborhood association and paid whatever their share of the homeowners’ $40,000 legal fees were after standing firm against the neighbors testifying at probably three or more meetings against the council’s evisceration of the Elmwood Zoning Ordinance. Plaudits, too, to the Zoning Adjustments Board who badly fumbled this ball trying to help out yet another wired-in developer. I have personally received high handed treatment from these folks favoring yet another Piedmont fat cat in an Elmwood zoning matter. (By another I mean in addition to Patrick Kennedy who built and sold out.) 

How about proposing a bond issue for a $10 million dollar warm pool when the School District already has a warm pool that some equally clueless or duplicitous people on the School Board want to tear down? Cannot they remember what happened to tax increase proposals at the last election? 

How is it that they always get it wrong? Why is the council thinking of adding playing fields to this proposed tax? Sure we like fields but the mayor has been boasting about how he got us fields, and indeed he did. Thanks Mr. Mayor, did you forget the fields you just got us? 

What was all that about tearing down the Iceland and replacing it with housing to protect the nearby tenants against possible future rats in the bushes? Don’t you know how many of the neighborhood kids used that rink to learn and grow? Why didn’t and isn’t the city taking action to raise the $5 million it would take to buy and save this wonderful resource, used by more people than any other civic or other recreational site in the city? No one is thinking. Lose Iceland now and we’ve lost it forever. 

There are lists and lists of stupid actions. For instance, how many bike riders and how many car drivers are on the traffic commission? Why is everyone dancing about the Bus Rapid Transit issue when the mayor and other council people serve on various transit and county boards which are trying to ram these noxious busses and traffic congestion barriers down our throats against citizen wishes and testimony. Folks, we are watching, we know what you are doing. Absolutely incredible. Either they do not know what they are doing or they are purposely destroying a pretty nice town. 

And now I just reviewed the revised condo conversion ordinance and discovered that it is pro-developer and anti-tenant or shall we say pro-big guy and anti-little guy. I even discovered that the clueless Rent Board is studying ways to get tenants to buy TICs. Who in do they think buys them....fat cats? Tenants buy them, maybe tenants who move from other buildings, but first time buyers for sure. TICs are the lowest priced item on the housing ladder. They have a condo conversion fee (penalty) that attaches a perhaps $20,000 to $60,000 fee to any TIC converted to a condo and sold. Haven’t they read the paper? TICs now can have individual unit financing like condos so the owners don’t really need to convert.  

If a TIC owner wishes to convert to a condo she has to pay a huge fee to the Housing Fund, and where does it go? To developers to build more smaller living units than can be rented or sold. Then the developers sell out and get the whole profit which includes the fee paid by someone struggling at the bottom of the housing ladder. Guys and gals, can we have some clear thinking here? Can’t we tax the people making the big bucks and leave the little people alone? Aside from a few big bucks folks I would guess that Berkeley is mostly little people. Many of them vote for you. And Rent Board, please try to find more tenants to buy TICs and help them. Despite what the current and once removed mayor think, they are great deals.  

George Oram is a Berkeley resident. 

It’s the Year of the Rat again‚—but which rat? For most of us “rat” signifies Rattus norwegicus, the Norway, brown, sewer, or wharf rat, progenitor of all those rats in all those labs, whose original homeland was northern China. But a case could be made for a less-well-known relative with roots in Asia: Rattus rattus, the black, roof, house, or ship rat.  

I once interviewed Garland Buckner, an East Bay exterminator (doing business as Rat Patrol), for an article in another venue. He said 80 percent of his clients had roof rats: “They’re more of a problem in newer neighborhoods. Norway rats are more in older neighborhoods, up in the hills or in inner city areas.” 

That makes Berkeley sound like Norway rat territory, but I suspect we have black rats as well. Once, traveling down Haste Street in mid-afternoon, I saw a rodent shape scurrying along a telephone line overhead. Squirrel, was the first reaction, then: no, the tail’s wrong. Black rats are more adept climbers than brown rats, more prone to occur in trees and upper stories of buildings. Conversely, they avoid sewers and other damp places. 

Behavior is not an infallible clue, though. “A sewer rat will climb trees and a roof rat will go underneath houses,” Buckner told me. “A rat is a rat.” Be that as it may, there are ways to distinguish black rats from brown. Many black rats are in fact black-furred, with or without lighter bellies, although white, gray, and agouti variants exist. The clinching detail seems to be the shape of the upper first molar, if you’re that close.  

When the two species meet, brown rats dominate black rats and have been known to kill them. Although they’re not really from Norway, brown rats are also more cold-tolerant than their relatives. 

Socially, black rats live in hierarchical groups with a semi-dominant male. Home range is typically about 120 square yards. Females are said to be more aggressive than males. The species is omnivorous, but prefers vegetable matter if available.  

Despite competition from the brown rat, the black rat has done well for itself. It started out in South Asia. Archeological evidence indicates that it had reached the Middle East by 3000 years ago, and the western Mediterranean in another 600 years. Ships have been the black rat’s second home, taking it to remote oceanic islands (where it has raised havoc with nesting birds), even the Antarctic. 

Australian geneticists recently used mitochondrial DNA—the stuff we all inherit from our mothers—to trace the black rat’s travels. Ken Aplin of the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization says six different lineages have been identified, originating in India, East Asia, the Himalayas, Thailand, the Mekong Delta, and Indonesia. According to Aplin, it’s the Indian stock that reached the Americas, as well as Africa and Australia, during the Age of Sail. East Asian black rats island-hopped from Taiwan to Japan and the Philippines, then moved out into the South Pacific. The other four lineages haven’t traveled as far. 

The black rat, as a vector of plague and other diseases, has a lot to answer for. But it’s a third species, the Polynesian rat (R. exulans), that’s being blamed for major environmental destruction on some Pacific islands. Among many other things, Polynesian rats eat palm fruit. Excavations on Easter Island found thousands of rat bones and rat-gnawed seeds of the Jubaea palm. Archeologist Terry L. Hunt says fruit-eating rats, not improvident islanders, were responsible for deforesting the island. Ironically, the Polynesian rats of Easter Island were driven to extinction by late-arriving ship rats. 

As for our local rats, black or brown, it’s understandable that no one wants them underfoot, or in the attic, or in the fan palm in the front yard. But—and yes, it’s soapbox time—there are better ways of controlling them than heavy-duty rodenticides. Buckner, the exterminator, doesn’t use poison: “When they eat poison they go out somewhere else to die.” Last summer two juvenile Cooper’s hawks found dead in West Berkeley tested positive for brodifacoum, the lethal ingredient in D-Con, Talon, and Havoc rodent baits. The raptors had likely eaten poisoned rodents.  

Brodifacoum, a second-generation anticoagulant, may take several days to kill a rat. This widens the window of vulnerability for wild rodent-eating predators, as well as household pets. The American Bird Conservancy has compiled hundreds of records of birds of prey—including red-tailed hawks, great horned owls, and golden eagles—poisoned by brodifacoum. Many of these birds are dedicated rodent-eaters, our best natural allies. 

The consensus among environmental agencies, bird advocates, and many pest-control professionals is that rodent problems are best handled preventively, through exclusion and sanitation. Trapping may be necessary if rats breach the barriers. And no, they don’t get a break because it’s their year. 

Joe Eaton’s “Wild Neighbors” column appears every other Tuesday in the Berkeley Daily Planet, alternating with Ron Sullivan’s “Green Neighbors” column on East Bay trees.

One of the many perturbing effects of the Berkeley City Council’s colossally stupid attack on the Marines is the re-emergence of UC professor and San Francisco resident David Kirp as an apologist for Berkeley City Hall. On Feb. 18 Kirk’s provoking tribute to the city’s officialdom, “Semper Fi, Berkeley,” appeared in the San Francisco Chronicle. 

This is the second time Kirp has issued such a testimonial. The first was in July 2003, when the respected liberal monthly The American Prospect ran his equally provoking commentary “Berserkeley Works.” It was there that Kirp first sought to correct “the city’s widely held image” as a hothouse of political kookiness and exhibitionism. 

Kirp didn’t reject the Berserkeley epithet out of hand. On the contrary, he recalled the Naked Guy’s nude-in; the homeless man’s nightly sleepover in a councilmember’s office; and the 2002 ballot initiative that sought to outlaw the local sale of coffee that wasn’t organic, shade-grown or fair-trade certified coffee. 

Thankfully—and this was Kirp’s main point—such excesses were more than compensated for by the unheralded wisdom and restraint of Berkeley City Hall, whose occupants’ enlightened efforts had made the place “a model of how government ought to work.” Seeking to set the record straight, Kirp ticked off “the city’s”—meaning its government’s—pathbreaking achievements: curbside recycling, voluntary public school desegregation, divestiture from apartheid-era South Africa, the disability rights movement. He also noted less familiar successes: the city’s tool-lending library, its summer camps, attended by 1,000 children and subsidized for poor families; its award-winning architectural preservation; the unusually high percentage of its population (about 18 percent) that commute to work by public transit; and advances in public health. 

Kirp seemed unaware that most of these programs and policies originated outside of City Hall—some of them, like architectural preservation, in strenuous opposition to official policy. 

But what he offered as the clincher for his argument was an indisputably official product: Berkeley’s surprisingly well-managed finances. “The city has done all this,” he marveled, “while keeping the books in balance.” Even as Oakland and San Francisco were laying off staff, “smart planning” had enabled Berkeley to “turn a small surplus.” You wouldn’t have guessed it “from the news accounts,” Kirp enthused, but “Moody’s, the bond-rating company, has given Berkeley one of the top ratings in California.” 

Kirp couldn’t have known that a few years later, the credibility of bond-rating companies would itself be steeply downgraded. But as a professor at UC’s Goldman School of Public Policy, he should have realized that what Berkeley’s high credit rating reflected was mainly the willingness of the town’s citizenry to pass some of the highest taxes in California, not the professional expertise of the city’s money managers or for that matter the overall caliber of municipal administration. 

He also should have known that in balancing its budget, the City of Berkeley performed no extraordinary feat but merely complied with state law that required every city in California to do the same. Contrary to Kirp’s account, the budget adopted by the council in June 2003 cut 23 positions, 16 of which were vacant: In other words, instead of asking, in good government style, which services were most essential to the general welfare, the council prioritized the protection of staff jobs. Though a small surplus did materialize at the last minute, the city manager predicted that in 2004 the city would face an estimated $7.6 million deficit. 

All this eluded Professor Kirp, as did the city’s bungling of the biggest item in Berkeley’s finances over which it had some real control: the contracts with staff unions. In 2001 and 2002, the council approved contracts that increased staff compensation (salaries plus benefits) a mind-boggling average 42 percent over six years. So much for smart planning. 

And speaking of planning, the good professor also missed the meltdown of the Berkeley planning department. In the first week of June the planning director left for a job in Texas; she was the department’s third head in five years to resign abruptly. She’d secretly sought and accepted her new position; the deputy city manager had to take over her post on an emergency basis. 

Under the departed director’s tenure, the department had run roughshod over neighborhoods and bent—indeed broken—Berkeley’s zoning laws, giving the rogue developer Patrick Kennedy just about anything he wanted (a lot). Though land use is a major function of municipal government, these abuses and the degradation of the townscape they sanctioned went unremarked in “Berzerkeley Works.” 

Perhaps this silence was not surprising, given Kirp’s characterization of Berkeley laws that allow “anyone” to contest the site of a hot tub “right up to the council” as an example of the city’s “steroidal democracy.” (How would he feel about neighbors’ hot tub parties outside his bedroom window?). 

Kirp had it backwards: It wasn’t Berkeley citizens who were out of control; it was Berkeley City Hall. Reading “Berserkeley works” in 2003, I wondered if someone at 2180 Milvia had asked the author to distract the public from the ineptitude and roguery therein with a celebration of official sagacity? 

That same question came to mind last Monday morning, as I perused Kirp’s latest paean to the denizens of the Civic Center Building. Granted, “Semper Fi, Berkeley” didn’t start out like a paean. It began by calling the council’s “attack on the Marines as ‘unwelcome intruders’ … just the latest example of Berkeley politicians behaving badly.” 

But just when it had whetted the reader’s interest in such bad behavior, the piece did an about-face and spent most of the rest of its 693 words eulogizing the city’s government, in much the same manner as Kirp’s 2003 essay. 

Indeed, reading on, I realized that “Semper fi, Berkeley” was a slightly revised version of “Berserkeley works.” The council’s rude treatment of the Marines had taken the place of the nude-in, the homeless trespasser of City Hall and the coffee initiative. Standard & Poor’s, which recently raised the city’s bond rating, now stood in for Moody’s. And the city’s programs for earthquake preparedness and residental solarization, along with its participation in the new East Bay Green Corridor, had been added to the list of exemplary achievements. 

At the same time, much of the 2003 essay remained. In some places, the language of “Semper Fi, Berkeley” was virtually identical to that of “Berserkeley Works.” But what the heck—a writer is entitled to mine his own work. 

Far more important, even where Kirp’s language was fresh, his overall intent was the same: To give the city’s government its rightful but hitherto untendered recognition. “Not only is Berkeley an unexpected model of fiscal prudence,” Kirp wrote in the Chron. “Equally surprisingly, it’s also a leader when it comes to smart government.” 

I wish I could say that these claims have a greater purchase on reality than they did when their author first advanced them four and half years ago. But if anything, they have even less. The affront to the Marines wasn’t the only grossly irresponsible action that the Bates council took on the night of Jan. 29. At the same meeting, it approved on consent, which is to say without the slightest discussion, a four-year contract giving Berkeley police a 14 percent cost of living raise.  

Last Oct. 23, with virtually no deliberation in public, Bates and his colleagues approved a new, four-year contract that raised city firefighter salaries at least 13 percent. Labor costs make up 77 percent of the city’s operating budget. These new contracts will cost Berkeley an additional $13 million.  

Those millions should be added to the 15-year, $12 million annual subsidy of UC’s use of municipal services that the council secretly imposed on city taxpayers in May 2005 when it settled Berkeley’s first suit of the university behind closed doors. Meanwhile, the council is considering putting a host of new taxes—including public safety taxes—on the November’s ballot. 

I don’t have space to document Berkeley officials’ continuing violation of the city’s land use laws, their insidious assault on the town’s still-vital industrial sector, their neglect of the crumbling municipal infrastructure, their subversion of the city’s historic preservation ordinance (the subject of a November referendum), their years-long failure to produce a creditable sunshine ordinance or their inadequate support for Berkeley’s struggling retailers. 

But in light of even the partial background sketched above, how could anyone characterize Berkeley governance as good, smart or prudent—that is, anyone who isn’t a City Hall flak? 

On Wednesday I called Kirp and asked if someone in City Hall had asked him to write in the City’s behalf. 

His reply was a flat No. He then told me that he was offended by the question, which felt to him “like a character assault ... It’s antithetical to who I am,” he said, which is not only a UC professor but also a former newspaperman who was once an editor at the Sacramento Bee. “The business of being an independent thinker is so important to me,” said Kirp. He explained that in writing these commentaries, he saw himself engaging in just such business, by showing people that stories—in this case, Berkeley’s story—are often more complicated than they appear.  

I believe him. But I find his commitment to independent thought and complicated stories hard to reconcile with his superficial portrait of Berkeley’s government and its citizenry, as well as with something else he said: “I called a number of people in City Hall, and asked them, ‘Is it true that Berkeley is still a well-managed city?’” 

To find out if a city is well-managed, he called the people doing the managing? What did he expect them to say—“We’re doing a lousy job?” I didn’t know whether to be embarrassed for him or simply exasperated at his credulousness. 

My last question to Kirp was whether he read the Daily Planet. He said he didn’t. I told him that if he really wanted to grasp the complexity of Berkeley’s public life, he should start doing so. 

Let’s hope he takes that advice. Otherwise, I fear we're in for a third edition of “Berserkeley Works.”

One of the reasons that three of the most pressing issues currently on Oakland’s city agenda—crime and violence, industrial zoning preservation vs. residential or commercial development, and affordable housing—are so naggingly difficult to settle is that, while there is an underlying current that runs through all of them and ties them all together, there is reluctance to talk about them, to engage that debate in the open. 

More than the question of what Oakland will look like in the next thirty years or what type of conditions will exist in the city is the issue of who will live in Oakland. Some folks think that the city ought to get a do-over to benefit the people who currently live here. Some, on the other hand, believe that the city can only be rebuilt if some percentage of the existing residents let the doorknob hit them in the back. 

Some history. 

Oakland prides itself on its diversity, but rarely do we talk about that fact that this diversity was by no means the result of enlightened city planning. It came about because a good many of our good white friends fled the city in the postwar years after darker folk began moving into the neighborhood. 

Chinese laborers came into California with the building of the transcontinental railroad in the late 19th century. Many of them moved into Oakland at the end of the line, and were confined in the area just off downtown that we continue to identify as Chinatown. A pocket of African-American residents got a foot-hold in West Oakland in the early part of the 20th century, and that became Oakland’s traditional black neighborhood, a middle class/working class community where, my grandmother—in Berkeley—used to say, “the best people lived.” But until World War II, the rest of Oakland was white. 

That all changed with the great black migration to California to fill the jobs in the wartime shipbuilding industries. African-Americans flooded into the Bay Area from Arkansas, Texas and Louis-iana, and while the nation wanted their labor to help defeat the Axis powers, most existing East Bay neighborhoods resisted having these black homeland workers move in next to them. When my newlywed parents—both of whom were born and raised in the East Bay—tried to buy a house in deep East Oakland, some blocks from where my father’s uncle lived, they found that the neighborhood operated on unwritten restrictive covenants, where homeowners had loose agreements that they would never sell to African-Americans. Most of the neighbors—it’s redundant to say “white neighbors” because all of the neighborhood was white—shunned my parents when they finally were able to secure a house. 

Defeated in their efforts to keep African-Americans out, our white neighbors decided to move out themselves. That turnover happened during the years I was growing up, as I watched the families of friends and playmates pack up, one by one, and move across the hills into the eastern Contra Costa cities of Concord and Walnut Creek and beyond. Oakland went from majority white to majority black. Eventually, that opened the door to the following migrations into the city, first Latinos, and then the rest of the world. 

Popular mythology is that the wartime black migration is what “did in” Oakland, turned it from the pleasant, spread-out working class community of the ’40s into the crowded, crime and violence city of today. Like most popular mythology, it has some truth to it, but with some explanations. 

The first black Oakland immigrants of the war years came for the wartime jobs. When the war ended, they took other industrial work, at the canneries—which had previously restricted Black workers—at the auto plant, at the cookie and potato chip factories. Many of them came with the dream of home ownership, and there was a great activity of black homebuying in Oakland—particularly in East Oakland-postwar. 

Had conditions remained the same in Oakland, East Oakland would have retained the same family-friendly, country-town like atmosphere of single family homes and broad front and backyards that you see in many of the East Bay suburbs, with the exception that East Oakland would have been black, while the suburbs were white. But conditions did not remain the same. 

For one thing, City Council interest in maintaining the single-family-home atmosphere of East Oakland waned with the interest of developers and the out-migration of whites, so that it became easier in the ’50s and ’60s to overbuild, leading to the depressed and overcrowded conditions of today. At the same time, it seemed like anyone who wanted to could open up a liquor outlet in the flatlands east of High Street, filling the city’s tax coffers, but depressing and ghetto-izing the neighborhood. The city did little or nothing to counteract the closing down or moving out of the industrial jobs, so that the children of the original black immigrants could find fewer and fewer places to work. Thinking that downtown Oakland would never die, city officials did not cash in on the mall boom of the ’70s, so that when downtown did die, Oakland retail was left out in the cold. Many of the original black homeowner East Oakland immigrants abandoned the neighborhood themselves, first for the East Oakland hills, and then following their white neighbors across the hills into the valley. 

West Oakland suffered a similar fate as the city’s redevelopment actions drove out the black middle class and turned what had been one of Oakland’s best neighborhoods into one of its most dilapidated, neglected and run-down. 

But Oakland is not easily abandoned. 

The city occupies a strategic location—perhaps the strategic location—in the Bay Area, the transportation hub and link between San Francisco’s commerce and Pacific gateway and California’s agriculture valley and the American markets beyond. It is a city of overwhelming beauty with a Mediterranean climate, spectacular views of the bay, and quick access to the eastern hills and woodlands. Within half an hour to forty-five minutes from the heart of the city, you can be in San Francisco, Silicon Valley, or the wine country. No city in Northern California is positioned better. 

But Oakland is a depressed city, floundering while its younger siblings and offshoots are thriving. Major retail is almost nonexistent. Its schools have been in shambles for years, the object of a state takeover. Most of the old-time industrial jobs have long since vanished. Crime and violence seems almost out of control. 

Coming out of the devastation of the Loma Prieta earthquake—which hit Oakland harder than is popularly acknowledged—the city is experiencing a slow and tentative renaissance. But that brings us to the underlying and mostly unspoken question that underlies the major city debates of the day. Should that renaissance go to the benefit of the people currently living in Oakland, who have suffered through its hardest times? Or is that renaissance possible only if some percentage of those residents—small or large—is forced out of the city and others more desirable come in to take their place? 

Whether or not it leads to a renaissance, the latter scenario has already been taking place. The city is being slowly—and sometimes rapidly—drained of its African-American population, so that the East Bay is in danger—in the future—of taking on the atmosphere of South Africa under apartheid, with communities like Pittsburg and Antioch and Modesto and Stockton serving as the Bantustans. 

And some people in Oakland, consciously or unconsciously, are encouraging such a turnover. 

You hear it in the affordable housing discussion, when some imply that rental housing leads to high crime. It can lead to high turnover in neighborhoods, which can, in turn, lead to instability and a lack of investment from many residents in the future of their neighborhood, and that, in turn, can help lead to high crime rates. But the unspoken implication is that rental housing is bad in and of itself, a supposition that would throw many moderate- and lower-income residents out of Oakland and leave it a city of mostly those who can afford to buy their homes. 

You also hear it in some of the direct discussions over crime and violence, where anger against those perpetrating violent crimes is sometimes substituted for something which is called a “culture of crime.” That always worries me, especially when the description of that “culture of crime” begins to morph over into complaints about style of dress, types of cars driven and how they are driven, and types of music listened to. These become code words for attacks on an entire hip- hop generation of dark-skinned youth. 

Oakland cannot be a medieval city with a surrounding wall that keeps outsiders out and insiders in. Like all dynamic cities, we are always going to be in some level of population flux. There is an enormous influx, at the present, of Latino newcomers, coming for the same reason the rest of us came, because they have family here or it seems like a good place to get work and live, and the city is going to have to make accommodations for them. But having more Latino newcomers in—which is to be welcomed—does not mean that others who are currently living here need to be—or should be—pushed out. And that is the same for the grandsons and granddaughters of my old white East Oakland neighbors, who left the city on the heels of the black horde, and now look longingly to come back. It’s good that they’re excited about Oakland again, but only on the condition that “coming back” does not equate to “taking back.” We’ve got to make room for all of us, including those of us who stayed. 

Somewhere in the midst of these debates, we are going to have to talk openly about what is really dividing us in Oakland, and decide what type of city we really want to live in, and which direction we are going to go.

Of all the architects who resided in Berkeley during the first four decades of the 20th century, the one who received the most coverage in the local press was not John Galen Howard or Bernard Maybeck but William Hatch Wharff. And only occasionally was the press coverage related to his profession. 

Neither a classicist nor an innovator, Wharff was a practical builder who incorporated the prevailing idiom of the day into his designs. His four designated Berkeley landmarks—Carlson’s Block (1903) at 3228 Adeline in Lorin Station; the Masonic Temple (1905–06) at Shattuck and Bancroft; the Pfister Knitting Mill (1906) at 8th and Parker; and the F.D. Chase Building (1909) at 2107 Shattuck—blend into their surroundings rather than making individual statements. 

Born in Guilford, Maine, Wharff (1836–1936) did not study at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris. In fact, he doesn’t appear to have attended any architectural school, although in 1932, at the age of 96, he would tell the Gettysburg Times that he “studied architecture in Maine and Massachusetts in his earlier years.” 

Wharff’s obituary in the Berkeley Gazette of January 1, 1936, tells a different story. A farmer’s son, he disliked farming and from the age of 18 spent his summers learning the carpenter’s trade from his maternal uncle, Hiram Hatch. In 1857 he graduated from the Foxcroft Academy and began teaching school during the winters. 

By 1860, Wharff had become a master carpenter and his uncle’s partner. In the spring and summer of that year, they constructed a new building for the Foxcroft Academy. While in Foxcroft, Wharff married Lydia J. Paul (1840–1929), and the following year their first son, Frank, was born. 

In 1864, Wharff enlisted in the Union Army as a private in Company C of the 11th Regiment, Maine Volunteer Infantry. His Civil War engagements included the siege of Petersburg, the battle of Chaffin’s Farm, the siege of Richmond, Hatcher's Run, and Appomattox. 

He saw Lincoln on March 26, 1865, when the President came to rally the troops before the march on Richmond. That night, Private Wharff wrote in his diary, “This day I have seen Lincoln—I can never forget the care-worn face of the noble President as he rode past, while the band played Hail to the Chief.” 

At Appomattox on April 9, Wharff wrote, “Grant and Lee met under an apple tree, later going to the McLane [McLean] house where the terms of surrender were discussed.” Sixty-seven years later, the Portland Press Herald of Portland, Maine, would quote from Wharff’s diary and note, “Filled with many other notations, now of historic value, the yellow diary is Private Wharff’s most prized possession.” 

Mustered out of service on June 12, 1865, Wharff returned to Guilford, eventually settling in Bangor, Maine, where in 1870 the U.S. census listed his occupation as carpenter. The Wharffs’ second son, Frederick, was born in 1867, and eight years later, the family sailed to California, entering San Francisco Bay through the Golden Gate. 

They were not the only Wharffs migrating west. William’s younger brothers—John Fairfield Wharff, a blacksmith and veteran of the First Maine Cavalry, and Joseph Hiram Wharff, a carpenter—also made their home in San Francisco. 

Charting Wharff’s architectural career in San Francisco is not an easy task, since more than 100 buildings he designed there are said to have perished in the 1906 earthquake and fire. While he called himself an architect in the 1880 U.S. census, the San Francisco directory of 1889 listed him as a draftsman with an office at 330 Pine St., room 11. The following year, still in the same office, he was listed as contractor and builder. 

At some point, Wharff joined the American Institute of Architects’ San Francisco chapter. He was present at the chapter’s meeting of May 7, 1904, when famed Chicago architect and city planner Daniel H. Burnham addressed that body on the task of beautifying the city. Among the 20 AIA members gathered to hear Burnham were Seth Babson, Ernest Coxhead, Charles W. Dickey, William Baker Faville, John Galen Howard, William Knowles, and Willis Polk. 

Seven years before the earthquake, William and Lydia Wharff moved to Berkeley, apparently following their son Fred, who had obtained a position as language instructor at the university. At the time, the architect was 63, an age when most other people would be contemplating retirement. Wharff, however, launched into a fruitful period of building activity that would last another decade and a half. When he finally retired at the age of 79, he took up insurance, which he practiced well into his 90s. 

The steady demand for Wharff’s architectural services can be chalked up to his enduring personal popularity and a vast circle of connections. A lifelong Mason, in 1870 he joined the Rising Virtue Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons in Bangor, Maine. In San Francisco he was a member of the King Solomon Lodge, and after coming to Berkeley he joined the local Durant Lodge. It’s no wonder, then, that when the Berkeley Masons wished to build a new temple, they entrusted the design to Wharff, giving him carte blanche. 

Both Wharff and his wife were high-ranking charter members of the Harmony Lodge, Order of the Eastern Star in San Francisco. Wharff was also a prominent member of the Grand Army of the Republic (G.A.R.), a fraternal organization of Union Army veterans who had served in the Civil War. At one time he was commander of Lincoln Post No. 1 in San Francisco, while Mrs. Wharff served as president of the city’s Lincoln Relief Corps (the women’s auxiliary to the G.A.R.). 

On several occasions, the Wharffs were delegates to the G.A.R. national encampment and the concurrent Women’s Relief Corps national convention. In 1904, they traveled to Boston for this purpose. “Having been chosen the official architect of the Masonic Temple Association,” informed the Oakland Tribune on August 8, “Mr. Wharff will visit a number of temples in the East before presenting designs for the new temple that is to be erected in Berkeley.” 

As the temple neared completion in August 1906, the San Francisco Call provided this description: 

It is four stories high, with facings of cream-colored brick and granite trimmings. The lower floor is to be devoted to stores. On the second floor will be found the supper room, ladies hall, banquet hall and armory of the Masonic lodges. 

The main lodgeroom will be on the third floor, 47 by 62 feet, elaborately finished, with Corinthian pilasters and ornamental frieze work extending around the entire room. The ceiling will be 42 feet high. This lodgeroom, with others on the same floor, are to be available Sundays for church purposes or uses of similar character. 

On the fourth floor will be a small lodgeroom, which with the anteroom and hall will be used for smaller lodges and societies requiring moderate accommodations. 

The temple’s most talked-about features were the twin pairs of granite pillars flanking the entrance on Bancroft Way. These were financed by Rosa Shattuck in memory of her late husband, Francis Kittredge Shattuck. A few years later, the pillars were removed and the portico set back when the city enacted an ordinance designed to rid the downtown of overhanging wooden awnings. 

When dealing with the City of Berkeley, Wharff had his share of professional frustrations. In December 1905, the Board of Education adopted his plans for a new school building on Bancroft Way between Milvia and Grove Streets, to replace the Longfellow School and to cost $50,000. The board modified the architect’s plans before instructing the town clerk to advertise for bids. When all the competing bids came in above budget, Wharff offered to build the school himself for $50,000 on condition that his original plans be adopted. This did not sit well with the directors, resulting in a heated argument and the scrapping of the plans. 

Far more pleasant times were had by Wharff in the company of his fellow Maine natives. The State of Maine Association, of which he was a director and officer, held an annual June picnic at Shell Mound Park, where the Downeasters partook of traditional fare such as baked beans, brown bread, and coffee. One of Wharff’s many friends in this society was Frank W. Durgin, head of Durgin & Bleakley Furniture Co. and of Pioneer Funeral Directors and Embalmers, both located on Shattuck Avenue. Durgin would later ally himself with Walter A. Gompertz and eventually move his undertaking business to University Avenue. Later yet, after such enterprises were banned from the avenue, he would establish the Hull & Durgin mortuary on Adeline Street. 

The Wharffs lived in a large Colonial Revival house, built at 2000 Delaware Street shortly after their arrival in Berkeley. Here they frequently entertained their large circle of friends. Their card parties were famous—especially those for the Busy Bees Whist Club. 

Each Wharff wedding anniversary witnessed a gathering of the tribes from near and far. The couple’s 64th anniversary in 1924 even drew in Hiram W. Ricker, owner of the celebrated Poland Spring resort in Maine. 

Toward the end of his life, as the ranks of Civil War veterans dwindled, William Wharff would become a national figure. He was president of the Abraham Lincoln Fellowship, an organization composed of those who knew or saw the Great Emancipator. Newspapers would refer to him as “Berkeley’s Grand Old Man” and mark every birthday and anniversary of his. 

In 1933, at the age of 97, he was feted as the YMCA’s oldest member. On his 99th and final birthday, Wharff was believed to be the nation’s oldest living Mason and Civil War veteran. He died in his 100th year, having seen Berkeley grow sevenfold over the course of 36 years. 

Daniella Thompson publishes berkeleyheritage.com for the Berkeley Architectural Heritage Association (BAHA).

“Music will be an Old Time Music Jam, bring yer fiddle,” is what Terri Compost, the exquisitely named point person of the Bay Area Seed Interchange Library (acronym’ed, equally exquisitely, “BASIL”) replied to my query. I wanted to know who would be playing the music promised for BASIL’s Ninth Annual Seed Swap tomorrow, Saturday February 23, 6:30 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. at the Ecology Center. Dang, I don’t have a fiddle. Guess I’ll just send the cat. 

BASIL’s mission is to preserve and share local and interesting varieties of food-garden seeds. It’s inspired by such organizations as Native Seeds/SEARCH in Arizona and Seed Savers Exchange in Iowa. These got started by people who noticed that unique varieties of corn, chili peppers, beans, or other garden plants were disappearing as gardeners who’d grown them year after year died or lost their gardens, and as buying rather than saving (or swapping!) seeds became the normal thing to do.  

Doubtless there are unnamed and mostly unnoticed heirlooms in Bay Area gardens: some lettuces that hang tough all winter and don’t bolt in May; a fava that produces larger, sweeter beans than most; maybe even a basil with different flavor overtones or that thrives in the fog.  

As agricultural conglomerates consolidate and concentrate on fewer seed varieties—mostly those favored by commercial growers and with the broadest marketing appeal—BASIL’s efforts are becoming more urgent. Big seed companies preserve the qualities that big produce growers prize, like shelf appeal, good appearance, and sturdiness for shipping; more subtle qualities like flavor take second place.  

Just as important, a variety that has a superior ability to thrive in a particular place gets lost when only seeds for plants with nationwide appeal are left in the market. 

BASIL started as just a few people’s seed collections, coordinator Terri Compost says. Sascha DuBrul officially founded the Ecology Center project in 2000. Aside from perpetuating locally adapted and interesting plant varieties, the project concentrates on open-pollinated seeds that will breed true, unlike commercial hybrids that must be bought every year from seed companies.  

She passed along a couple of seed-saving secrets: for one, that it's easiest to start with plants like lettuce, beans, and tomatoes that don’t readily swap pollen with the neighbors’ gardens, which would result in hybrid fruit and seeds. A counterintuitive tip: tomato seeds keep best if you put them, still goopy, on a shelf for a few weeks. Mold will form, which can be rinsed away before drying and storing the seeds. The mold seems to reduce disease and aid germination. 

Compost says the “library” of seeds— a bookcase full of seeds, carefully labeled and preserved in re-used (of course!) jars—kept at the Ecology Center provides “the same exchange we do at the swap meet, but spread out over time.”  

Tomorrow, expect heirlooms from local gardeners and small seed companies. Bring some to share; take only what you can really grow out, and save seed to return; bring a potluck dish and your musical talent too. (Lacking those, bring $10.) Wildheart Nursery plants and other goodies will be raffled off.  

(BASIL) 9th Annual Seed Swap 

Saturday Feb. 23, 6:30 p.m.–9:00 p.m. 

Ecology Center, 2530 San Pablo Avenue, Berkeley. 

(510) 658-9178, terricompost@yahoo.com or 

http://www.ecologycenter.org/basil/

I was inspecting a house out beyond the Naugahyde Curtain the other day (Walnut Creek, if memory serves; landing strip for white flight). The house was unillustrious but amongst the artifacts that brought me sufficient intrigue to set the day aglow was a brand new fireplace.  

Actually, it wasn’t really new, but it may as well have been, because it was clear that it had never been used. The house was at least 30 years old and this fireplace had never once been used. I’m not sure if it was fear of fire, religious prohibition, lack of clarity on local restrictions or a general absence of romantic spirit on the part of the occupants; but there it was, all clean and shiny and boring. 

Actually, this isn’t the first time I’ve seen this. Maybe once every couple of years I find a fireplace that has never been used. After all, we ARE in sunny Cah-li-fah-ne-ah (no matter how many times Ah-nold says it, my glee refuses to evaporate). California does get cold, but fires in fireplaces don’t really do all that much to abate the chill anyway. And although they’re fun, cozy and perfect for gatherings, they’re also time-consuming, expensive and dirty. In short, it’s far easier on the coldest of nights to leave the damper shut (is YOUR damper shut?) turn up the furnace and put on that ugly cable-knit sweater your girlfriend’s parents gave you last year.  

The fact that so few fires get built around here is due to several factors: 

1. Most people don’t know how to build a proper fire. 

2. Most people don’t know how to maintain their chimney. 

3. Most people don’t know when it’s time to call for professional maintenance or repairs, or even how to make that call. 

So let’s take a look at each of these in some detail. 

We don’t build fires to get them over with as soon as possible. We build them to last for a few hours or until we’ve managed to finish reading Rilke’s entire elegy cycle to the object of our affections. Therefore, the way we build a fire is of some importance. Those heavy welded log-holders are better suited to murder than to building a fire. Building our fires up that high allows far too much oxygen to get to the bottom of the wood, causing those hard grained logs to burn hot and fast. This also destroys fireplaces over time. A fire of lower temperature not only lasts longer but preserves the brick firebox. Although fireboxes are built using special firebrick (they’re yellow rather than red and a little larger than regular brick), these, as well as their mortars, become damaged over time as a result of very hot fires. 

To build a fire without a fire-grate or rack, just build it as one would a campfire. Stack logs against one another so that there are small air spaces created in the process. Starting a fire usually requires some tinder or small pieces, newspaper or finely split wood (kindling), but one can also use those newfangled fire starting materials such as Hot-Wood or somesuch. Mostly they’re paraffin-soaked sawdust and they burn quite well. It’s up to you. 

Be sure to open your damper (that little door above the fireplace that leads to the flue) at least 10-20 minutes before building a fire. As my friend Paul Mickiewicz, a master of chimneys and fires, explains, this allows a draft to begin flowing long before there’s any fire. This is a simple function of convection and occurs between any warmer and colder spaces that are put in contact with one another. It’s colder outside on the roof than inside the house (one hopes) so this induces a slow flow upward through the flue. This can be amplified by the use of a lit piece of newspaper (not this piece, please) held upward into the “throat” of the fireplace. This works in the same was as natural convection, only faster. Be sure to avoid burning one’s self.  

Having built a few fires, you’ll end up with a heap of ash in the fireplace. Don’t toss the ash. According to Paul, this makes a great insulating bed that improves the operation of the fireplace. Tamp the ash down in a slightly wedge-shaped plane that is higher at the back. This will force heat to flow backward and continue to warm the rear wall, which, in turn, will drive the plume of smoke and heat up the flue shaft, lessening the propensity for smoke to enter the room. The bed also keeps the fire warm. 

When you clean the excess ash away, take it to the garden. Plants love potassium. “Pot Ash” is so called because they used to hang cooking pots in fireplaces afore y’all were young’ns. 

Although most fireplaces come with ash-pit cleanout doors of metal in the floor of the firebox, these don’t have to be used at all. They often become rodent entry points and you need to be sure that they’re really closed or covered over with a metal surrogate if they’re broken. Sometimes replacements can be found, but often not.  

If you look on the outside of the chimney, you’ll find a matching door that’s also too-often out of commission. I like to think of these silly cleanout doors as elements of a time when servants would service the fireplace and keeping the master’s chamber tidy was imperative so we had a method by which we can remove the soot from the outside; a sort of servant’s chute. I’m not sure how accurate my imagined history is but it works for me! 

Once the fire is going well, you want to continue to push it toward the back wall. Logs tend to roll forward and should be moved back toward the rear-canted wall periodically. Be sure to feed new logs into the fire in the same way. The object is to keep this rear “firewall” as hot as can be, thus maintaining the draft and minimizing smoking. 

Here are a couple of reasons that fireplaces smoke and things you can think about if my recipe for firebuilding still proves insufficient: 

The ratio between the opening of the fireplace and the size of the flue shaft should be roughly 1/10. If your fireplace opening is, say, 30 inches wide and 25 inches high then you have 750 square inches of space. The flue should then be about 75 square inches of space or, roughly eight inches by nine inches. If the fireplace opening (where you load the wood) is much larger than this, the air supply is too large and the flue will not be able to pull air fast enough. In such cases a shield can be installed at the top of the opening to reduce the size. I’ll be you’ve seen at least one. (Aha, you say, that’s what that thing was!) 

Another thing that causes smoking is flue length. If the flue is too short, it won’t create enough draft. Extending the flue upward into the sky can often improve drafting and put that useless fireplace back into happy employment. 

I’ll don my inspector goggles for a few parental admonitions to close with since no day is complete for me without uttering something harsh. 

If you want to use your fireplace, spend the small amount of money necessary to have a good local fireplace inspector come by and check things out. Fireplace flues get dirty and the soot and creosote (a shiny, tar encrustation) can catch fire if there’s enough if it and the fire is hot enough. A chimney fire is too hot to put out and is usually allowed to run its course, after which a chimney may need to be replaced at some serious expense. It can also burn a house down in cases where an old flue has gaps that lead to framing. 

Cleaning a fireplace is cheap and prudent. The inspector will also have the chance to check out the other aspects including dampers, spark arrestors, covers and overall configuration. 

In another 20-30 years, I believe that our fireplaces will have largely gone to the salvage-yard of history. They are, after all, a lapel that we no longer need but continue to wear for their fun and familiarity. For these last days, let’s sit with them, record their beauty for when they’re gone, keeping their important purpose in mind, that being to draw us together around the fire. 

TUESDAY, FEB. 26 

FILM 

Experimental Documentaries “casting a glance” at 7:30 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $5.50-$9.50. 642-0808.  

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Garrett Caples, Susan Gevertz at 7:30 p.m. at Moe's Books, 2476 Telegraph Ave. 849-2087. 

Samantha Power on “Chasing the Flame: Sergio Viera de Mello and the Fight to Save the World” at 7:30 p.m. at the First Congregational Church of Berkeley, 2345 Channing Way. Suggested donation $10. 559-9500. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Sauce Piquante at 8:30 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cajun dance lesson at 8 p.m. Cost is $10. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

Singers’ Open Mic with Kelly Park at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island,. Cost is $5. 841-JAZZ.  

Randy Craig Trio at 7:30 p.m. at Caffe Trieste, 2500 San Pablo Ave., at Dwight. 548-5198.  

CSU East Bay Jazz Ensembles at 8 and 10 p.m. at Yoshi’s at Jack London Square. Cost is $10-25. 238-9200. www.yoshis.com 

WEDNESDAY, FEB. 27 

FILM 

History of Cinema “The Woman in the Window” at 3 p.m. and Terence Davies “The House of Mirth” at 7:30 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $5.50-$9.50. 642-0808.  

READINGS AND LECTURES 

“Scott’s Shadow: The Novel in Romantic Edinburgh” with author Ian Duncan, in coversation with Catherine Gallagher at 5:30 p.m. at University Press Books, 2430 Bancroft Way. 548-0585.  

Jewish Writers in the Bay Area: Readings from Persimmon Tree with Chana Bloch, Martha Boesing, Sandy Boucher, and others at 7 p.m. at JCC of the East Bay, 1414 Walnut St. 655-8530. 

Writing Teachers Write at 5 p.m. at Nomad Cafe, 6500 Shattuck Ave. 595-5344.  

Berkeley Poetry Slam with host Charles Ellik and Three Blind Mice, at 8:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $5-$7. 841-2082  

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Wednesday Noon Concert at Hertz Hall, UC Campus. Free. 642-4864.  

Music for the Spirit Celebrating Black History Month with music by William B. Cooper and Fela Sowande at 12:15 p.m. at First Presbyterian Church of Oakland, 2619 Broadway. 444-3555. 

Samite at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $18.50-$19.50. 548-1761.  

UC Jazz & Dave Brubeck Institute Collaboration at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island. Cost is $8. 841-JAZZ.  

“Paul Robeson: Words Like Freedom” Freedom Archives CD Release Party at 7 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. Cost is $10-$20. 849-2568.  

Fishtank Ensemble, 3 Leg Torso, Bohemian Chamber music, at 8 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $15. 525-5054.  

Annie and Elizabeth’s Gruaranteed to Satisfy SingAlong at 10 p.m. at Beckett’s Irish Pub, 2271 Shattuck Ave. 647-1790.  

Tres Mojo at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 843-8277. 

Jonathan Poretz at 8 and 10 p.m. at Yoshi’s at Jack London Square. Cost is $10. 238-9200.  

THURSDAY, FEB. 28 

THEATER 

Contra Costa College Drama Dept “Rivets” A musical based on Rosie the Riveter and Richmond’s Kaiser Shipyards, Thurs.-Sat. at 8 p.m., Sun. at 3 p.m. at John and Jean Knox Center for Performing Arts, Contra Costa College Campus, San Pablo. Tickets are $10-$15. 235-7800, ext. 4274. 

FILM 

African Film Festival “Juju Factory” at 7:30 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $5.50-$9.50. 642-0808.  

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Paul Hawkin in conversation with Kevin Danaher on “The Green Movement: Hope for the Future of the Earth” at 7:30 p.m. at First Congregational Church of Berkeley, 2345 Channing Way. Tickets are $10-$13. 559-9500. 

Michael Dumanis, Tracy K. Smith, and Rick Barot, poets, read at 7:30 p.m. at Pegasus Books Downtown, 2349 Shattuck Ave. 649-1320. 

Erín Moure with Trang Cao read as part of The Holloway Series in Poetry, at 6:30 p.m. at 315 Wheeler Hall, The Maude Fife Room, UC Campus. 642-3467. http://holloway. 

english.berkeley.edu 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Kitka “Sanctuary” at 8 pm at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, 114 Montecito Ave., Oakland. Tickets are $18-$25. 444-0323. www.kitka.org 

Joshua Redman Trio at 8 p.m. at Zellerbach Hall, UC Campus. Tickets are $26-$48. 642-9988. www.calperformances.net 

The Karan Casey Band at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $19.50-$20.50. 548-1761.  

The Very Hot Club of Berkeley at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. Cost is $10. 841-JAZZ. www.AnnasJazzIsland.com 

Karen Mullally at 7 p.m. at Caffe Trieste, 2500 San Pablo Ave., at Dwight. 548-5198.  

High Country, Dark Hollow Band, bluegrass, at 9:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $6. 841-2082. 

Speak the Music, beatboxing, at 8 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. Cost is $8. 849-2568.  

Chris Waltz at 10 p.m. at Beckett’s Irish Pub, 2271 Shattuck Ave. 647-1790. 

Goapele at 8 and 10 p.m., through Sun. at Yoshi’s at Jack London Square. Cost is $20-$26. 238-9200. 

FRIDAY, FEB. 29 

THEATER 

Aurora Theatre “Satellites” at 8 p.m. at 2081 Addison St. through March 2. Tickets are $40-$42. 843-4822. www.auroratheatre.org 

Berkeley Rep “”Wishful Drinking” with Carrie Fisher, at the Roda Theater, 2015 Addison St., through March 30. Tickets are $33-$69. 647-2949. 

Central Works “Wakefield; or Hello Sophia” Thurs.-Sat. at 8 p.m., Sun. at 5 p.m. at Berkeley City Club, 2315 Durant Ave., through March 23.Tickets are $14-$25. 558-1381. 

Contra Costa Civic Theatre “The Cocoanuts” Fri. and Sat. at 8 p.m., some Sun. matinees at 2 p.m., at 951 Pomona Ave., at Moeser, El Cerrito, through March 2. Tickets are $15-$24. 524-9132. www.ccct.org 

Contra Costa College Drama Dept “Rivets” A musical based on Rosie the Riveter and Richmond’s Kaiser Shipyards, Thurs.-Sat. at 8 p.m., Sun. at 3 p.m. at John and Jean Knox Center for Performing Arts, Contra Costa College Campus, San Pablo. Tickets are $10-$15. 235-7800, ext. 4274. 

Impact Theatre “Jukebox Stories: The Case of the Creamy Foam” Thurs.-Sat. at 8 p.m. at La Val’s Subterranean, 1834 Euclid Ave., through March 22. Tickets are $10-$15. 464-4468. http://impacttheatre.com 

UC Dept. of Theater “The Bacchae” at Fri. and Sat. at 8 p.m., Sun. at 2 p.m., through March 9 at Zellerbach Playhouse, UC Campus. Tickets are $8-$14. theater.berkeley.edu 

Virago Theatre Company “Candide” the comic opera at 8 p.m. Fri and Sat., 7 p.m. Sun. at Rhythmix Cultural Works, 2513 Blanding Ave., Alameda, through Mar. 9. Tickets are $15-$25. 865-6237. www.viragotheatre.org 

Wilde Irish Productions A Centennial Celebration of Ireland’s National Theatre Fri. and Sat. at 7:30 p.m., Sun. at 3 p.m. at The Gaia Arts Center, 2116 Allston Way. Tickets are $12-$15. 644-9940. www.wikdeirish.org 

FILM 

Jean-Pierre Léaud “La vie de Boheme” at 7 p.m. “Irma Vep” at 9 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $5.50-$9.50. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

History and Harmony Black History Concert Series with Derrick Hall & Company, Allen Temple Liturgical Dancers, and others at 7:30 p.m. at Allen Temple Baptist Church, 8501 International Blvd., Oakland. Tickets are $5-$10. 544-8924.at 9 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. Cost is $12. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

In Honor of Pete Escovedo A fiesta featuring Paul Rodriguez, one of the Original Latin Kings of Comedy, and The Pete Escovedo Latin Jazz Orchestra, at 6:30 p.m. at The Oakland Scottish Rite Center, 1547 Lakeside Dr., Oakland. Tickets are $37.50-$77.50. 261-7839. www.ticketweb.com  

Sarah Cahill “Piano Works of Leo Ornstein” at 8 p.m. at Berkeley Arts Festival, 2213 Shattuck Ave. Cost is $5-$10. www.berkeleyartsfestival.com 

Opera Piccola “Mirrors of Mumbai” at 8 p.m. at the Ashby Stage, 1901 Ashby Ave. Tickets are $10-$15. 658-0967. www.opera-piccola.org 

Bay Area Classical Harmonies “An Evening with Saul Kaye” at 7:30 p.m. at The Pro Arts Gallery, 550 Second St., Oakland. Tickets are $12-$18. 868-0695. www.bayareabach.org 

María Volonté “Íntima,” Argentine vocalist at 8 p.m. at La Peña. Cost is $16-$18. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

University Symphony Orchestra at 8 p.m. at Hertz Hall, UC Campus. Tickets are $4-$12. 642-9988.  

Rova Saxophone Quartet at 8 p.m. at the Jazzschool. Cost is $15. 845-5373. www.jazzschool.com 

Angela Wellman Roots Sextet at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. Cost is $14. 841-JAZZ. www.AnnasJazzIsland.com 

Albino, The Flux, afrobeat, revolutionary rock, at 9:30 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $10-$12. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

Houston Jones at 8 p.m. at Caffe Trieste, 2500 San Pablo Ave., at Dwight. 548-5198.  

Jim Kweskin at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $18.50-$19.50. 548-1761. www.freightandsalvage.org 

Dave Matthews Trio at 9 p.m. at Downtown. 649-3810.  

Greg Lamboy, Tim Jenkins, guitar, at 7:30 p.m. at Nomad Cafe, 6500 Shattuck Ave. 595-5344. www.nomadcafe.net 

Workingman’s Ed at 9:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $10. 841-2082. www.starryploughpub.com 

Isul Kim at 10 p.m. at Beckett’s Irish Pub, 2271 Shattuck Ave. 647-1790. www.beckettsirishpub.com 

Sandy Griffith, Netta Brielle, R&B, at 9 p.m. at Maxwell’s Lounge, 341 13th St., Oakland. Cost is $10-$15. 839-6169. 

Wil Blades Quartet at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 843-8277. 

SATURDAY, MARCH 1 

CHILDREN  

Los Amiguitos de La Peña with Los Mapeches at 10:30 a.m. at La Peña. Cost is $5 for adults, $4 for children. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

Andy Z, music concert, at 11 a.m. at Studio Grow, 1235 Tenth St. Cost is $7. 526-9888. 

FILM 

“Colossal Youth” with filmmaker Pedro Costa in person at 6:30 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $5.50-$9.50. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Bay Area Poets Coalition open reading, 3 to 5 p.m., at Strawberry Creek Lodge, 1320 Addison St. Park on the street, not in Lodge parking lot. Free. 527-9905. poetalk@aol.com  

Poetry Flash with Chad Sweeney and Rick Campbell at 7 p.m. at Cody’s on Fourth St. 559-9500. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

American Bach Soloists “Vocal Visionaries” at 8 p.m. at First Congregational Church, 2345 Channing Way. Tickets are $16-$42. 415-621-7900. www.americanabch.org  

Volti “Adventures in Earth, WInd and Fire” a cappella, at 8 P.m. at St. Mark’s Epsicopal Church, 2300 Bancroft Way. Tickets are $8-$20. 415-771-3352. www.voltisf.org 

Jerry Kuderna, piano concert, at 8 p.m. at 2213 Shattuck Ave. Sponsored by the Berkeley Arts Festival. 

Howard Kadis, guitar works of Scarlatti, Ponce, Villa-Lobos and others at 8 p.m. at Trinity Chapel, 2320 Dana St. Tickets are $8-$12. 549-3864. www.trinitychamberconcerts.com 

Kensington Symphony “Soundscapes” with Lisa Houston, mezzo-soprano at 8 p.m. at Northminster Presbyterian Church, 545 Ashbury Ave., El Cerrito. Suggested donation $12-$15, children free. 524-9912. 

Opera Piccola “Mirrors of Mumbai” at 8 p.m. at the Ashby Stage, 1901 Ashby Ave. Tickets are $10-$15. 658-0967. www.opera-piccola.org 

University Symphony Orchestra at 8 p.m. at Hertz Hall, UC Campus. Tickets are $4-$12. 642-9988. http://music.berkeley.edu 

Dawn Upshaw, soprano and Orquestra Los Pelegrinos at 8 p.m. at Zellerbach Hall, UC Campus. Tickets are $36-$68. 642-9988.  

A Rude Awakening, reggae, funk and hip hop with Ancient Mystic, Winstrong, Absoluther at 9:30 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. Cost is $12. 849-2568.  

Zoe & Dave Ellis with Eddie Marshall at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. Cost is $14. 841-JAZZ. www.AnnasJazzIsland.com 

Armenian Shoghaken Ensemble at 9 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Dance lesson at 8 p.m. Cost is $tba. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com  

Sotaque Baiano, Brazilian, at 8 p.m. at Shattuck Down Low, 2284 Shattuck Ave. Cost is $10. 548-1159. www.shattuckdownlow.com 

Land of the Blind, Chris Ahlman at 7:30 p.m. at Nomad Cafe, 6500 Shattuck Ave. 595-5344. www.nomadcafe.net 

Blame Sally, Ashleigh Flynn at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $19.50-$20.50. 548-1761. www.freightandsalvage.org 

Steve Erquiaga & Paul Hanson, new and old world jazz duo, at 8 p.m. at the Jazzschool. Cost is $15-$18. 845-5373. www.jazzschool.com 

Woman at 10 p.m. at Beckett’s Irish Pub, 2271 Shattuck Ave. 647-1790. www.beckettsirishpub.com 

Goapele at 8 and 10 p.m., through Sun. at Yoshi’s at Jack London Square. Cost is $20-$26. 238-9200. www.yoshis.com 

SUNDAY, MARCH 2 

EXHIBITIONS 

“Color/Rhythms” Sculptures by Kati Casida, paintings by Celia Jackson and Harold Zegart. Opening reception at 2 p.m. at Alta Bates Summit Medical Center Community Art Gallery, 2450 Ashby Ave. 

Enrique Chagoya: Borderlandia Guided tour at 2 p.m. at Berkeley Art Museum. Cost is $5.50-$9.50. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

FILM 

“The Blood” with filmmaker Pedro Costa in person at 3 p.m., “Bones” at 5:30 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $5.50-$9.50. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Melanie Kaye/Kantrowitz reads from “The Colors of Jews” at 7 p.m. at Kehilla Community Synagogue, 1300 Grand Ave., Piedmont. Donation $5-$25. 547-2424, ext. 100. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Juan del Gastor, Flamenco guitarist, at 2 p.m. at Down Home Music 1809b Fourth St. 204-9595. www.flamencofestvalsf.com 

Pacific Boychoir and Organist William Ludtke in a benefit concert for the preservation of Maybeck’s First Church at 3 p.m. at First Church of Christ Scientist, 2619 Dwight Way. Tickets are $25-$30. 925-376-3908. www.FriendsOfFirstChurch.org 

Remo, Imerald Bay, hip hop, at 9 p.m. at La Peña. Cost is $8. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

Albany Big Band at 3 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. Cost is $10. 841-JAZZ. www.AnnasJazzIsland.com 

Harvey Wainapel Trio at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. Cost is $10. 841-JAZZ. www.AnnasJazzIsland.com 

Vibrafolk at 11 a.m. at Nomad Cafe, 6500 Shattuck Ave. 595-5344. www.nomadcafe.net 

Flamenco Open Stage with Sara Ayala at 7:30 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $10. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

Gary Johnson Quintet at 4:30 p.m. at the Jazzschool. Cost is $12. 845-5373. www.jazzschool.com 

Dead Prez at 7 p.m. at Shattuck Down Low. Tickets are $20-$25. 548-1159. 

MONDAY, MARCH 3 

EXHIBITIONS 

“Capturing Landscapes through Changing Technology” Photographs by Alasdair McCondochie opens at The LightRoom, 2263 Fifth St. 649-8111. www.lightroom.com 

THEATER 

Woman’s Will 10th Annual 24-Hour Playfest Playwrights, directors and actors write, rehearse and perform seven brand-new plays within 24 hours. Final performance at at 8 p.m. at Julia Morgan Center for the Arts, 2640 College Ave. Tickets are $10-$25 sliding scale. 420-0813. www.womanswill.org 

Dr. Demento Music and comedy for mature audiences at 7 p.m. at Berkeley Rep. Tickets are $25. https://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/28310 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Charlotte Grossman, television director, producer and editor at the Brown Bag Speakers Forum at 12:30 p.m. at the Albany Library, 1247 Marin Ave. 526-3720. 

Cara Black reads from her eighth Soho Crime mystery, “Murder in Rue de Paradis” at 7:30 p.m. at Moe’s Books, 2476 Telegraph Ave. 849-2087. 

Poetry Express with Lucille Lang Day at 7 p.m. at Priya Restaurant, 2072 San Pablo Ave. 644-3977. 

Deepak Chopra describes “ The Third Jesus: The Christ we Cannot Ignore” at 7:30 p.m. at First Congregational church of Berkeley, 2345 Channing Way. Tickets are $30. 559-9500. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Nikolay Kolev, Bulgarian, at 7 p.m. at Le Bateau Ivre, 2629 Telegraph Ave. 849-1100. www.lebateauivre.net 

Trovatore, traditional Italian music, at 7 p.m. at Caffe Trieste, 2500 San Pablo Ave., at Dwight. 548-5198.  

Steffen Kuehn at 8 and 10 p.m. at Yoshi’s at Jack London Square. Cost is $10. 238-9200. www.yoshis.com 

Myra Melford.Ben Goldberg Quartet at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $18.50-$19.50. 548-1761. www.freightandsalvage.org 

In order to keep his favorite bookstore from being turned into a beauty shop, Harvey Dong transformed himself from customer to owner of Eastwind Books in 1996.  

A graduate student in Ethnic Studies at UC Berkeley in the 1990s, he was a frequent visitor to the Asian bookstore, which was then located on Shattuck Avenue next to McDonalds.  

“The store was founded in 1982 by UC Berkeley academics and community people as an Asian resource center,” he explains. “It carried 80 percent Chinese language titles.”  

It changed hands several times, and in 1996 was slated to close and become a beauty shop. As a last ditch effort, the previous owner appealed to Dong and his wife to save Eastwind. Dong recalls, “I was working in construction at the time, so it was an easy transition from wood to paper.” 

In the past 12 years, the Dongs have kept the store going, broadened its scope and made it a cherished part of the local Asian American community, despite bumps along the way: competition from Internet giants, dwindling numbers of independent bookstores and the eternal lack of parking. In 1998, Eastwind moved to its present location on University Avenue. It would be hard to imagine a more perfect spot for an Asian Bookstore than being next to [Japanese] Ramen House, down the block from Plearn Thai and across the street from Anh Hong Vietnamese and Taiwan Chinese restaurants. 

Eastwind occupies a comfortable, well-used storefront and sports a pastiche of posters on the walls: action shots of martial arts moves, a diagram of acupressure points, the Chinese phonetic system and a chart entitled Ken Hom’s Asian vegetables.  

This unique shop also houses a wide-ranging inventory: cookbooks, foreign language instruction, alternative medicine, martial arts, history, philosophy, culture, religion, poetry, classical and contemporary fiction. Most titles are now in English with only 10 percent in Chinese. The cultures represented include: Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Vietnamese, Thai, Cambodian, Hmong, Hawaiian, Indian, Tibetan, Pakistani, Malaysian, Filipino, and Indonesian. With his interest in ethnic studies, Dong also carries books with American Indian, Cuban, Latino and African American themes. Eastwind supplies textbooks for many classes in the Asian American Studies, Ethnic Studies and English departments at UC Berkeley, Berkeley City College, and Laney as well as a local acupuncture school.  

Dong grew up in the Sacramento valley. His father served in the U.S. military; his mother was a war bride from China. As a former student activist at UC Berkeley in the ’60s who humbly admits he helped to establish its Asian Studies department, Dong says he likes to read about the early history of the Asian American community as well as current social issues, race and politics.  

He cites two recent favorites: Little Sister Left Behind by Samantha Le, “an amazing book about the personal struggle of a Vietnamese girl who comes here with her family, goes through conflict and is able to become her own person”; and To Save China, To Save Ourselves: The Chinese Hand Laundry Alliance of New York by Renqui Yu, “which details the fight for civil rights in the 1930s and ’40s when there was a push to close down Chinese laundries in New York City. It had a big impact on me,” Dong said, “as it counters the stereotype that Chinese workers are perpetual foreigners and unorganizable,” 

Dong reports that his customers represent three major groups: students, community members and recent monolingual Chinese immigrants, many of whom work in nearby restaurants. “I am really aware of aging when I see former Chinese-speaking immigrant restaurant workers bringing their children to the store and kids from Berkeley High who came in here when they didn’t know any English and who are now attending college.” 

Dong acknowledges that “those of us who run independent bookstores are not doing it for the money.” Why does he do it? “For a little craziness and to provide literature and information about Asian American countries and peoples” with a strong emphasis on “the second generation, their struggles to deal with the pressure to assimilate and how they eventually redefine themselves.”  

Eastwind also carries an extensive selection of children’s books. 

Frequent book launchings lend support to small independent presses. To celebrate the Lunar New Year earlier this week, Ed Lin read from This Is a Bust, his gritty tale of a Chinese-American cop in New York City, and Lisa Chen read from her debut collection of poetry, Mouth, both by Kaya Publications. On Saturday, April 12, at 4 p.m. Moazzam Sheikh will read from his new book The Idol Lover, about Pakistani American life. Sheikh, a Pakistani writer who is a librarian at the San Francisco Public Library, has written several books and translated works from Urdu, Hindi and Punjabi. 

Dong sees the potential “for bookstores in general to be a resource center and a community focal point. It wouldn’t be a bad idea to have an independent bookstore in every neighborhood,” he says, then pauses. “Maybe that’s too much of a pipe dream.” 

EASTWIND BOOKS 

2066 University Ave. 548-2350. 

www.asiabookcenter.com

Dying embers of a fire on a blustery night; a pensive woman, alone in a room ... when the door opens and a rainsoaked man steps in, greets her by name, and just stands there while she gawks. It’s her husband, who left on a two-day business trip 20 years before. 

Central Works is staging Brian Thorstenson’s adaptation of Hawthorne’s tale, Wakefield, updating it to the present, set in San Francisco, not London.  

And it’s a perfect fit for this unique company and the house it’s resident in, the Julia Morgan-designed Berkeley City Club—an intimate chamber play for two fine actors, Julian Lopez-Morillas and Central Works co-founder Jan Zvaifler, as they worry over their separate memories of a long, unexpected hiatus, with the missing man remaining nearby, vigilant, his eye on his abandoned house and wife, watching the life he left—from outside. 

Wakefield, or Hello Sophia takes Hawthorne’s brief chronicle—a mere 13 paragraphs—and begins where Hawthorne leaves off: “We will not follow our friend across the threshold. He has left us much food for thought ...” 

Much food for thought, indeed. From the lights coming up, following the blackout after Lopez-Morillas enters and speaks his off-the-cuff greeting, the script uses virtually every little detail in Hawthorne’s narrated account, reassembling (and assessing) Wakefield’s strange hiatus within the neighborhood from both perspectives, the deserter and the abandoned. 

But each question, each accusation, every answer and excuse opens up a deeper ambiguity. Wakefield can describe the shifting patterns of feeling, his vague thoughts, but no real motivations or plans—a joke? A test? Joke on, test for whom?  

Thorstenson’s lines of dialogue, so much exposition (like all of Hawthorne’s original), are jagged with interruption, fitting together like pieces of an incomplete jigsaw puzzle, evoking a little bit the irony of stichomythia, the broken, back-and-forth dialogue of Greek tragedy, where the message lurks in what’s not said, in the echo of the banal.  

To provide a little contrast—and humor—there are quick blackout inserts, soap opera scenes that burlesque the moral standoff between husband and wife, exaggerating the most obvious emotions the audience might project the characters as feeling, flaring up into melodrama or dissipating into silliness, both taking the edge off and underlining the tension of a most improbable confrontation and awkward conversation which follows. “Picking up the pieces”? “Comparing notes”? Somehow, in Wakefield’s mind, he was both present and absent, a great change taking place as soon as he saw everything from the outside. And he doesn’t want to go back to his solitude: “Out there, it’s changed.” 

Central Works has a long history of producing plays at the City Club, and of using the space and atmosphere of that lovely room creatively. With Wakefield, co-founder Gary Graves directs a show that’s spare and taut even by his company’s usual standards. The simplicity of set (not credited), costume (Tammy Berlin), light (the director) and sound (Greg Scharpen) design belies the complex and suggestive way the different elements all work together.  

The same is true of the acting. The mood would seem to be a blanket one, but through subtle contrasts and variations—and by working together with sensitive timing—the two performers together open up a world of memories, questions and choices from what seems at first mutual “shock and confusion” over a reappearance more surprising than the original disappearance. Lopez-Morillas is resilient and resourceful; Zvaifler’s performance recalls and distills her very finest of the past. 

Wakefield has been adapted before, but mostly for film. It was used to great comic effect in Three Lives and Only One Death, one of Marcello Mastriani’s last films, written and directed by Raul Ruiz. Thorstenson, the director and the performers are adroit in mostly avoiding too much psychology, too much melodrama—too much explanation. Hawthorne presents his tale as the upbeat moral monologue of a narrator recalling an offbeat incident of melancholy. As Walter Benjamin noted in his essay, “The Storyteller,” the essence of a tale is an absence of explanation. The audience is left with much to ponder.  

“Thought has always its efficacy, and every striking incident its moral,” says Hawthorne, only sketching in the minimum of incident or moral for us. Central Works, too, has left us much food for thought, and the imagination. 

WAKEFIELD, OR HELLO SOPHIA 

Presented by Central Works at 8 p.m.  

Thursday-Saturday and 5 p.m. Sundays through March 23 at Berkeley City Club, 2315 Durant Ave. $14-25. 558-1381.

Paul Robeson was something of a Renaissance man. A singer, actor, lawyer, writer, civil rights advocate, all-American athlete and political activist, Robeson was a powerful and eloquent spokesman for racial justice well before Martin Luther King, Jr., or Malcolm X, yet these successors have eclipsed him in the annals of history. 

Robeson put his fame on the line for the revolutionary causes he believed in—the elimination of international fascism and the eradication of racism at home in the United States. With immense talent and determination, he developed his skills and earned his fame and influence in the institutions of white America, fighting racism all along the way. He proved that a black man could meet any challenge, could pass any test, and then, at the peak of his powers, he set out to tear down once and for all the oppressive system he had conquered. With conservative America and the federal government discrediting his name and his work every step of the way, Robeson entertained, educated, and inspired people to think differently about cultural differences in the United States. 

Twenty-six of Robeson’s inspiring speeches have been collected on a CD, Paul Robeson: Words Like Freedom, the release of which will be celebrated at 6 p.m. Wednesday at La Peña Cultural Center. The CD was produced by the Freedom Archives, a San Francisco-based organization specializing in the preservation of audio and video recordings documenting social justice movements from the 1960s to the present.  

Born in 1898 to an escaped slave, who later became a minister, and a mother who came from one of the oldest African families in the United States, Robeson committed himself to agitating a white supremacist system from early in life. He was one of only two black students at his high school. At 17, he earned an academic scholarship to Rutgers after graduating from high school with honors at a time when lynchings were still common. While his brothers chose all-black colleges, Robeson was the only black student in his class, suffering beatings while trying out for the Rutgers football team, beatings he endured in order to prove his mettle before going on to lead the team as a two-time All-American. 

As Robeson continued to excel in academics (he attended law school first at NYU then later at Columbia) and theater performance (he was offered lead acting roles starting in the 1920s, while performing regularly at the Cotton Club), he also became intimately familiar with the effects of racism, social injustice and oppression. His own experience and family history inspired him to take political action.  

Throughout Words like Freedom, Robeson’s deep, almost throbbing voice commands attention. Its unwavering firmness reflects his grounded stance for justice for African peoples, here and abroad, and his belief that oppressed people should unite. In “Harlem,” a speech given in 1949, Robeson asserts that oppression must be named for what it is, in the name of American responsibility and history. “To fulfill our responsibilities as Americans, we must unite, especially we Negro people. We must know our strengths. We happen to be the decisive force. That’s why they terrorize us, that’s why they fear us! And we must have the courage to shout at the top of our voices, above the injustices and we must lay the blame where it belongs and where it has belonged for over 300 years of slavery and continuous misery—right here on our own doorstep.”  

As the CD progresses, we hear Robeson’s speeches increase in defiance and power under the restrictions imposed upon him by the U.S. government. His passport was revoked in 1950, and a few years later he would be forced to appear before the House Un-American Activities Committee. But this harassment only increased his political activity. “Freedom for the People of Africa” reads almost as a resumé of his activities in support of the liberation of African peoples and leads to an address entitled “To My Friends in the Bay Area,” where he declares, with the kind of hope not always associated with radical activists, “we shall overcome.” 

The 12-minute testimony Robeson gave before the House Un-American Activities Committee in 1956 is the most dynamic track in the collection. He solidly declares, “My name is Paul Robeson and anything I have to say, I have said in public all over the world, and that is why I am here today. The other reason why I am here is that when I am abroad, I speak out against injustices against the Negro in this land...I am being tried for fighting for the rights of my people.”  

In a brilliant performance, Robeson, much to the audible frustration of the committee, employs his formidable rhetorical and locutionary skills to dramatically call attention to the absurdity of the allegations against him. When asked to speak to his relationship with anti-fascist movements and the Communist Party, he launches into a forceful diatribe about his deep roots in the United States, tracing his family’s lineage to the slaves of George Washington. At one point Robeson is questioned about his sympathy toward the Soviet Union, with the committee suggesting that he move there if that nation is truly free from racial prejudice, and Robeson responds by summoning that history: “Because my father was a slave, and my people died to build this country, I’m going to stay here and have a part of it just like you. And no fascist-minded people are going to drive me from it. Is that clear?” 

“You are here because you are promoting the Communist cause!” a committee member says. 

“I am here because I am opposing the neo-fascist cause,” Robeson responds, “which I see arising in these committees. Jefferson could be sitting here!” he says, pounding his spot at the table for emphasis. “And Frederick Douglass could be sitting here! Eugene Debs could be sitting here!” 

A committee member goes on to say that Robeson could not possibly claim to be a victim of racial prejudice, as he graduated from Rutgers, from the University of Pennsylvania, and was a football star.  

“Just a moment,” Robeson interrupts. “This is something I challenge very deeply: that the success of a few Negroes can make up for $700 a year for thousands of Negro families in the South. My father was a slave, and I have cousins who are sharecroppers. I do not see success in terms of myself.” 

Robeson knowingly and willingly paid a price for his activism. His music and films were pulled from distribution, contributing greatly to his eclipse today. Words Like Freedom is an attempt to bring the power of Robeson’s life’s work back into the public consciousness in the hope that it can serve as an inspiration for modern-day resistance movements. 

PAUL ROBESON:  

WORDS LIKE FREEDOM 

CD release party, 7 p.m. Wednesday at La Peña Cultural Center, 3105 Shattuck Ave. 

Deb Schneider is a volunteer and board member at Freedom Archives, a San Francisco-based organization that seeks to help people reconnect with the foundations of social justice work by documenting radical activism and social movements that have been minimized and misconstrued by mainstream history. For more information, see www.freedomarchives.org. 

Wilde Irish, Berkeley’s resident Irish theater company, will stage a centennial celebration for Ireland’s National Theatre this Friday and Saturday at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday afternoon at 3 p.m., with two original Abbey Theatre short comedies: Lady Gregory’s The Workhouse Ward and John Synge’s In the Shadow of the Glen. 

The staged readings will feature live harp music at the Gaia Arts Center, 2116 Allston Way near Shattuck Avenue. 

“One impetus for the celebration was in looking at the centennial books put out by the Abbey Theatre,” said Wilde Irish executive director Breda Courtney. “They actually celebrated in 2004, but the first production of The Workhouse Ward was in April of 2008. Both plays are comedies, and everybody keeps saying we do all the heavy stuff! 

“We try to pick pieces not done by anyone else,” Courtney continued, “and not even the Abbey did a Lady Gregory play for their centennial. [She’s] one of their founders, and she’s been undervalued. What I think these two little one acts do through comedic laughter is give us a glimpse of Irish life at the beginning of the 20th century.” 

Lady Gregory, who founded the Abbey and the Irish National Theatre movement with poet W. B. Yeats and patron of the arts Edward Martyn, chose material for her comedy that could have been heavy going, indeed. 

“Ireland was still smarting from the potato famine,” said Courtney, “and of course were still under English rule. The workhouses was the result of the Poor Laws, what we’re familiar with through Dickens’ depiction of their effects in England. The Workhouse Ward is about two old codgers who are in the workhouse, having nothing, no place to go, though they each once had a little land. They’ve talked the nuns into believing that they’re sick, so they don’t have to work, when the newly widowed sister of one comes to take him home. But, as it turns out, not to rescue him, but to do the work! He finally won’t go, but it’s uncertain whether that’s because his sister looks down on him—‘the penny looking down on the ha’penny,’ as we say—or out of loyalty to his friend, who just argues with him anyway. They spend their time bouncing off each other.” 

About Synge’s early play, Courtney said, “Usually, his more famous play, Riders to the Sea, is staged with The Workhouse Ward, but that’s more of the heavy stuff! I believe it was influenced by Ibsen—there’s another Nora in it, and she leaves, too, but really has nowhere to go. What’s striking about it is how much of the language in it is the same as the type he’ll eventually use in The Playboy of the Western World. I spent a lot of time trying to find ghostly images of a frozen glen in winter—most pictures are all green, bright and sunny—to show, as a projection behind the actors, why they’re scared to go out there.” 

The Irish National Theatre Movement began as an extension of the Irish Literary Renaissance, reputedly the first national theater supported by its government. The staging of plays by the Fay Brothers was influential around the world in its use of amateurs, influencing other national movements (possibly even neo-realist film, from the Italian Resistance) and community theaters. 

Wilde Irish is planning a theater tour of Ireland for next year, after their annual Bloomsday celebration, for James Joyce’s Ulysses, on June 16. This year “Bloomsday is on a Monday,” said Courtney, “not usually the best night for a show.”  

But she has a bit of sleight-of-hand (and time) in mind. “Maybe we’ll do a trick—have Bloomsday Sunday evening, the 15th—and say it’s the 16th, in Irish time, that is!” 

100 YEARS OF THE  

IRISH NATIONAL THEATRE 

7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday and 3 p.m. Sunday at the Gaia Arts Center, 2116 Allston Way.

It’s the Year of the Rat again‚—but which rat? For most of us “rat” signifies Rattus norwegicus, the Norway, brown, sewer, or wharf rat, progenitor of all those rats in all those labs, whose original homeland was northern China. But a case could be made for a less-well-known relative with roots in Asia: Rattus rattus, the black, roof, house, or ship rat.  

I once interviewed Garland Buckner, an East Bay exterminator (doing business as Rat Patrol), for an article in another venue. He said 80 percent of his clients had roof rats: “They’re more of a problem in newer neighborhoods. Norway rats are more in older neighborhoods, up in the hills or in inner city areas.” 

That makes Berkeley sound like Norway rat territory, but I suspect we have black rats as well. Once, traveling down Haste Street in mid-afternoon, I saw a rodent shape scurrying along a telephone line overhead. Squirrel, was the first reaction, then: no, the tail’s wrong. Black rats are more adept climbers than brown rats, more prone to occur in trees and upper stories of buildings. Conversely, they avoid sewers and other damp places. 

Behavior is not an infallible clue, though. “A sewer rat will climb trees and a roof rat will go underneath houses,” Buckner told me. “A rat is a rat.” Be that as it may, there are ways to distinguish black rats from brown. Many black rats are in fact black-furred, with or without lighter bellies, although white, gray, and agouti variants exist. The clinching detail seems to be the shape of the upper first molar, if you’re that close.  

When the two species meet, brown rats dominate black rats and have been known to kill them. Although they’re not really from Norway, brown rats are also more cold-tolerant than their relatives. 

Socially, black rats live in hierarchical groups with a semi-dominant male. Home range is typically about 120 square yards. Females are said to be more aggressive than males. The species is omnivorous, but prefers vegetable matter if available.  

Despite competition from the brown rat, the black rat has done well for itself. It started out in South Asia. Archeological evidence indicates that it had reached the Middle East by 3000 years ago, and the western Mediterranean in another 600 years. Ships have been the black rat’s second home, taking it to remote oceanic islands (where it has raised havoc with nesting birds), even the Antarctic. 

Australian geneticists recently used mitochondrial DNA—the stuff we all inherit from our mothers—to trace the black rat’s travels. Ken Aplin of the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization says six different lineages have been identified, originating in India, East Asia, the Himalayas, Thailand, the Mekong Delta, and Indonesia. According to Aplin, it’s the Indian stock that reached the Americas, as well as Africa and Australia, during the Age of Sail. East Asian black rats island-hopped from Taiwan to Japan and the Philippines, then moved out into the South Pacific. The other four lineages haven’t traveled as far. 

The black rat, as a vector of plague and other diseases, has a lot to answer for. But it’s a third species, the Polynesian rat (R. exulans), that’s being blamed for major environmental destruction on some Pacific islands. Among many other things, Polynesian rats eat palm fruit. Excavations on Easter Island found thousands of rat bones and rat-gnawed seeds of the Jubaea palm. Archeologist Terry L. Hunt says fruit-eating rats, not improvident islanders, were responsible for deforesting the island. Ironically, the Polynesian rats of Easter Island were driven to extinction by late-arriving ship rats. 

As for our local rats, black or brown, it’s understandable that no one wants them underfoot, or in the attic, or in the fan palm in the front yard. But—and yes, it’s soapbox time—there are better ways of controlling them than heavy-duty rodenticides. Buckner, the exterminator, doesn’t use poison: “When they eat poison they go out somewhere else to die.” Last summer two juvenile Cooper’s hawks found dead in West Berkeley tested positive for brodifacoum, the lethal ingredient in D-Con, Talon, and Havoc rodent baits. The raptors had likely eaten poisoned rodents.  

Brodifacoum, a second-generation anticoagulant, may take several days to kill a rat. This widens the window of vulnerability for wild rodent-eating predators, as well as household pets. The American Bird Conservancy has compiled hundreds of records of birds of prey—including red-tailed hawks, great horned owls, and golden eagles—poisoned by brodifacoum. Many of these birds are dedicated rodent-eaters, our best natural allies. 

The consensus among environmental agencies, bird advocates, and many pest-control professionals is that rodent problems are best handled preventively, through exclusion and sanitation. Trapping may be necessary if rats breach the barriers. And no, they don’t get a break because it’s their year. 

Joe Eaton’s “Wild Neighbors” column appears every other Tuesday in the Berkeley Daily Planet, alternating with Ron Sullivan’s “Green Neighbors” column on East Bay trees.

TUESDAY, FEB. 26 

Tuesdays for the Birds Tranquil bird walks in local parklands, led by Bethany Facendini, from 7 to 9:30 a.m. Today we will visitMartin Luther King Regional Shoreline. Call for meeting place and if you need to borrow binoculars. 525-2233. 

Docent Training for Tilden Nature Area Learn to assist the naturalists in providing interpretive programs at the Little Farm and nature area gardens, from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Fee is $35. Application required. For information call 544-3260. 

“The (in)Accessible Wilderness: Mountain Adventures in Patagonia, Utah and British Columbia” with Topher Donahue at 7 p.m. at REI, 1338 San Pablo Ave. 527-4140. 

Community Appreciation Day with Code Pink from noon to 4 p.m. at the Marine Recruiting Station, 64 Shattuck Square. www.codepinkalert.org/ 

berkeleyrecruiting 

History and Future of Berkeley’s Downtown A discussion with Austene Hall and Carrie Olsen at 8 p.m. at Berkeley Arts Festival, 2213 Shattuck Ave. 

Davey D, KPFA Radio personality and news journalist at 7:30 p.m. at Berkeley, Public Library, 3rd floor Community Meeting Room, 2090 Kittredge St. 981-6107. www.berkeleypubliclibrary.org 

“Israel: the worst thing to happen to the Jewish People since the Holocaust” Discussion with Larry Everest at 7 p.m. at Revolution Books 2425 Channing Way, Berkeley. 484-1196. 

Berkeley School Volunteers Orientation from 10 to 11 a.m. at 1835 Allston Way. Come learn about volunteer opportunities. 644-8833. 

Writer Coach Connection Volunteers needed to help Berkeley students improve their writing and critical thinking skills from 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. To register call 524-2319. www.writercoachconnection.org  

Nutrition for a Healthy Heart at 3:30 p.m. at Elephant Pharmacy, 1607 Shattuck Ave. 549-9200. 

Tuesday Tilden Walkers Join a few slowpoke seniors at 9:30 a.m. in the parking lot near the Little Farm for an hour or two walk. 215-7672, 524-9992. 

Parents’ Book Discussion Group meets to discuss “Each Little Bird That Sings” by Deborah Wiles, at 6 p.m. at University Village, 435 Goodling Way, Building 123, Apt. 456, Albany. Sponsored by the Albany Library. 526-3720. 

Teen Playreaders meets to read and discuss Hamlet and related plays at 4:30 p.m. at Claremont Branch Library, 2940 Benvenue. 981-6121. 

End the Occupation Vigil every Tues. at noon at Oakland Federal Bldg., 1301 Clay St. www.epicalc.org 

Family Storytime at 7 p.m. at Kensington Library, 61 Arlington Ave. 524-3043.  

Berkeley Camera Club meets at 7:30 p.m., at the Northbrae Community Church, 941 The Alameda. 548-3991. www.berkeleycameraclub.org 

St. John’s Prime Timers meets at 9:30 a.m. at St. John’s Presbyterian Church, 2727 College Ave. We always welcome new members over 50. 845-6830. 

WEDNESDAY, FEB. 27 

“The Rebirth of the University of California: From Imperial University to People’s University” A teach-in and forum featuring Gray Brechin, author, “Imperial San Francisco” plus speakers from Tuition Relief Now, Berkeley Stop the War, Berkeley NOW, Fiat Pax, Stop BP-Berkeley, and many others at 7 p.m. at 145 Dwinelle, UC Campus. www.freetheuc.org 

Berkeley Libraries Community Discussion on improving buildings and services at 6 p.m. at North Branch Library, 1170 The Alameda at Hopkins. 981-6195. 

Golden Gate Audubon Society Field Trip “Lake Merritt and Lakeside Park” with Hilary Powers. Meet at 9:30 a.m. at the large spherical cage near Nature Center at Perkins and Bellevue to look at wintering birds. 843-2222. 

“Immigration: Facts, Fiction and Action” with Rolando Rodriguez of the East Bay Sanctuary Coalition at the Gray Panther General Meeting, at 1:30 p.m. at North Berkeley Senior Center, 1901 Hearst, corner of MLK. All welcome.  

“Why Can’t We Be Good?” An interfaith lecture with Prof. Jacob Needleman at 7 p.m. at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, 114 Montecito Ave., Oakland. Suggested donation $5. 655-8936. 

Radical Movie Night: “Medium Cool” filmed during the 1968 political conventions, at 8:30 p.m. at the Long Haul, 3124 Shattuck Ave.  

“Empowering Consumers and Transforming Business” at 6:30 p.m. at Green Moters, 1500 San Pablo Ave. www.econowusa.org 

“Natural Selection” A discussion of the book “The Science of Evolution and the Myth of Creationism” at 7 p.m. at Revolution Books, 2425 Channing Way. 848-1196. 

“The Lion’s Roar” a documentary on Rangjung Rigpe Dorje Tibetan Buddhist master, at 7:30 p.m. at Humanist Hall, 390 27th St., Oakland. Donation $5. www.Humanist Hall.org 

Cycling Lecture with Joe Breeze on “Why more of us should ride bicycles” at 7 p.m. at Velo Sport Bicycles, 1615 University Ave., enter at 1989 California St. RSVP to 849-0437. 

Walk Berkeley for Seniors meets every Wednesday at 9:30 a.m. at the Sea Breeze Market, just west of the I-80 overpass. Everyone is welcome, wear comfortable shoes and a warm hat. Heavy rain cancels. 548-9840. 

Theraputic Recreation at the Berkeley Warm Pool, Wed. at 3:30 p.m. and Sat. at 10 a.m. at the Berkeley Warm Pool, 2245 Milvia St. Cost is $4-$5. Bring a towel. 632-9369. 

Berkeley Peace Walk and Vigil at the Berkeley BART Station, corner of Shattuck and Center. Sing for Peace at 6:30 p.m. followed by Peace Walk at 7 p.m. www. 

geocities.com/vigil4peace/vigil 

Teen Chess Club from 3:30 to 5:30 p.m. at the North Branch Library, 1170 The Alameda at Hopkins. 981-6133. 

Morning Meditation Every Mon., Wed., and Fri. at 7:45 a.m. at Rudramandir, 830 Bancroft Way at 6th. 486-8700. 

After-School Program Homework help, drama and music for children ages 8 to 18, every Wed. from 4 to 7:15 p.m. at St. John’s Presbyterian Church, 2727 College Ave. Cost is $5 per week. 845-6830. 

Stitch ‘n Bitch at 6:30 p.m. at Caffe Trieste, 2500 San Pablo Ave., at Dwight. 548-5198.  

THURSDAY, FEB. 28 

“Does TV Persuade Us That Torture is OK?” with Richard Walter, UCLA School of Film, Television, and Digital Media, Spc. (Ret.) Tony Lagouranis, U.S. Army Interrogator, Margaret Stock, Dept of Law, U.S. Military Academy (West Point), David Danzig, Primetime Torture Project Director, Human Rights First at 5 p.m. at Room 110, Boalt Hall School of Law, UC Campus. www.hrcberkeley.org 

“Green Movement: Hope for the Future of the Earth” Paul Hawken in conversation with Kevin Danaher at 7:30 p.m. at First Congregational Church, 2345 Channing Way. Tickets are $10-$13, at independent bookstores. www.globalexchange.org 

“The Color of Fear” A film about the struggle of individuals learning about racism. Screening and panel discussion at 7 p.m. at First Congregational Church, 2501 Harrison St., Oakland. Tickets are $5-$10, available from 1-800-838-3006. 

Teen Book Club meets to discuss urban fantasy titles at 4 p.m. at Claremont Branch Library, 2940 Benvenue. 981-6121. 

Babies & Toddlers Storytime at 10:15 and 11:15 a.m. at Kensington Library, 61 Arlington Ave. 524-3043.  

Fitness Class for 55+ at 9:15 a.m. at Jewish Community Center, 1414 Walnut St. 848-0237. 

World of Plants Tours Thurs., Sat. and Sun. at 1:30 p.m. at the UC Botanical Garden, 200 Centennial Drive. Cost is $5. 643-2755.  

FRIDAY, FEB. 29 

Golden Gate Audubon Society Trip “Aquatic Park” Meet at 9 a.m. at Seabreeze Market, corner of Frontage Rd. and University Ave. to look for ducks, grebes, egrets and passerines. Bring a scope if you have one. Heavy rain cancels. 843-2222. 

City Commons Club Noon Luncheon with Claudine Torfs, PhD., Epidemiology, on “Abortion Around the World.” Luncheon at 11:45 a.m. for $14.50, speech at 12:30 p.m., at the Berkeley City Club, 2315 Durant St. 526-2925. 

“The Insurrectionary Jesus” Rev. George Baldwin, United Methodist clergyman and seminary professor, who lived in Nicaragua from 1984 to 1996 in voluntary poverty, discusses his book “A Political Reading of the Life of Jesus” at 7 p.m. at Berkeley Fellowship of Unitarian Universalists, 1924 Cedar St., at Bonita. Donation requested. 

International Day in Solidarity with the Haitian People Protest against the Marines in Haiti at 7:30 a.m. at the Marine Recruiting Center, 64 Shattuck Sq. 847-8657. www.haitisolidarity.net 

“Citizen King, Part II” An in depth look into Martin Luther King’s peace movement during the Vietnam War, at 7:30 p.m. at Berkeley Friends Church, Sacramento and Cedar.  

Rudramandi Open House Embodied Arts Program from 9 am. to 3 p.m. at 830 Bancroft Way, at 6th. 486-8700. 

SATURDAY, MARCH 1 

Democracy for America Electoral Campaign Training Sat. and Sun. at Berkeley High. All welcome. To register see www.dfalink.com/east_bay_training 

Let Worms Eat Your Garbage A free workshop presented by staff from the Bay-Friendly Gardening program of Alameda County from 10 a.m. to noon at Berkeley Ecology Center, 2530 San Pablo Ave. www.BayFriendly.org 

Oakland’s Roses Need You! Volunteers are needed from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Morcom Rose Garden, 700 Jean St. to assist city gardeners in readying the flower beds for the spring bloom. Wear long pants, long-sleeved shirts, gloves and sturdy boots. For more information or to sign up as a volunteer, please leave a message on the Rose Garden’s voicemail at 597-5039.  

White Elephant Sale, benefitting the Oakland Museum of California, Sat. and Sun. from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at 333 Lancaster St., at Glascock, Oakland. Free shuttle bus from the Fruitvale BART. www.museumca.org 

Association for Women in Science Annual Winter Workshop “The Importance of Precision Questioning for Career Development” with Monica Worline of Vervago, from 8:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Bayer HealthCare Pharmaceuticals, B58 auditorium, 800 Dwight Way. Cost is $25-$50, includes breakfast and lunch. RSVP at www.acteva.com/go/sfawis/ 

“The World in a Teacup” Tracing the global journey of tea, presented by the Phoebe Hearst Museum of Anthropology from 1 to 5 p.m. at The Bancroft Hotel, 2680 Bancroft Way at College. Tickets are $18-$20. 643-7649. 

“Successful Trade Show Planning Techniques” A workshop from 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. on Mar. 1 and 8, at Berkeley City College, 2050 Center St. Cost is $20. To resgister call 981-2931. www.peralta.edu 

The Berkeley Lawn Bowling Club provides free instruction every Wed. and Sat. at 10 a.m. at 2270 Acton St. 841-2174.  

Free Garden Tours at Regional Parks Botanic Garden Sat. and Sun. at 2 pm. Regional Parks Botanic Garden, Tilden Park. Call to confirm. 841-8732. www.nativeplants.org 

Around the World Tour of Plants at 1:30 p.m., Thurs., Sat. and Sun. at UC Botanical Garden, 200 Centennial Drive. 643-2755. http://botanicalgarden.berkeley.edu 

Oakland Artisans Marketplace Sat. from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Sun. from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Jack London Square. 238-4948. 

SUNDAY, MARCH 2 

EcoHouse Tour Learn about a number of improvements that can be made to an urban home including graywater systems, solar panels, on demand water heater, natural and recycled building materials, drought tolerant plants and much more. Tours at 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. in Berkeley. Cost is $10, no one turned away. Registration required. 548-2220, ext. 242. 

Berkeley Rep’s Family Series A monthly theater workshop for the entire family from 11. a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at Berkeley Rep School of Theatre, Nevo Education Center, 2071 Addison St. Free, but bring a book to donate to the library at John Muir Elementary School. 647-2973. 

Benefit for Ungandan AIDS Orphanage at 5, 7 and 9 p.m. at Unicorn Restaurant, 2533 Telegraph Ave. Reservations recommended. 841-8098.  

Free Garden Tours at Regional Parks Botanic Garden in Tilden Park Sat. and Sun. at 2 p.m. Call to confirm. 841-8732. www.nativeplants.org 

Lake Merritt Neighbors Organized for Peace Peace walk around the lake every Sun. Meet at 3 p.m. at the colonnade at the NE end of the lake. 763-8712. lmno4p.org 

Berkeley Chess Club meets every Sun. at 7 p.m. at the Hillside School, 1581 Le Roy Ave. 843-0150. 

Tibetan Buddhism with Donna Morton on “opening the Senses through Tibetan Yoga” at 6 p.m. at the Tibetan Nyingma Institute, 1815 Highland Pl. 809-1000 www.nyingmainstitute.com 

Sew Your Own Open Studio Come learn to use our industrial and domestic machines, or work on your own projects, from 4 to 8 p.m. at 84 Bolivar Dr., Aquatic Park. Cost is $5 per hour. 644-2577. www.watersideworkshops.org 

MONDAY, MARCH 3  

“Caring for the Dying: the Art of Being Present” A film by Dr. Michelle Peticolas at 7 p.m. Kensington Library, 61 Arlington Avenue, Kensington. Free. 524-3043. 

“Chinese, European, and American Universities: Challenges for the 21st Century” with Prof. William C. Kirby, Harvard Univ. at 4 p.m. in the Seaborg Roo, The Faculty Club, UC Campus. 642-2809. 

Free Boatbuilding Classes for Youth Mon.-Wed. from 3 to 7 p.m. at Berkeley Boathouse, 84 Bolivar Dr., Aquatic Park. Classes cover woodworking, boatbuilding, and boat repair. 644-2577. www.watersideworkshops.org 

Berkeley CopWatch organizational meeting at 8 p.m. at 2022 Blake St. 548-0425. 

Dragonboating Year round classes at the Berkeley Marina, Dock M. Meets Mon, Wed., Thurs. at 6 p.m. Sat. at 10:30 a.m. For details see www.dragonmax.org 

CITY MEETINGS 

City Council meets Tues., Feb. 26, at 7 p.m in City Council Chambers. 981-6900. www. 

ci.berkeley.ca.us/citycouncil 

Civic Arts Commission meets Wed., Feb. 27, at 6:30 p.m. at the North Berkeley Senior Center. Mary Ann Merker, 981-7533.  

Disaster and Fire Safety Commission meets Wed., Feb. 27, at 7 p.m., at the Emergency Operations Center, 997 Cedar St. 981-5502.  

Planning Commission meets Wed., Feb. 27, at 7 p.m., at the North Berkeley Senior Center. 981-7484.  

Police Review Commission meets Wed., Feb. 27, at 7:30 p.m. at the South Berkeley Senior Center. 981-4950.  

Fair Campaign Practices Commission meets Thurs., Feb. 28, at 7:30 p.m., at the North Berkeley Senior Center. 981-6950.  

Mental Health Commission meets Thurs., Feb. 28, at 5 p.m. at 2640 MLK Jr. Way, at Derby. 981-5213. 

Zoning Adjustments Board meets Thurs., Feb. 28, at 7 p.m., in City Council Chambers. 981-7410.

FRIDAY, FEB. 22 

THEATER 

Aurora Theatre “Satellites” at 8 p.m. at 2081 Addison St. through March 2. Tickets are $40-$42. 843-4822.  

Berkeley Rep “”Wishful Drinking” with Carrie Fisher, at the Roda Theater, 2015 Addison St., through March 30. Tickets are $33-$69. 647-2949. 

Black Repertory Group Theatre “A Raisin In The Sun” Fri. and Sat. at 8 p.m., Sun. at 2:30 p.m. at 3201 Adeline St. Tickets are $5-$25. 652-2120.  

Central Works “Wakefield; or Hello Sophia” Thurs.-Sat. at 8 p.m., Sun. at 5 p.m. at Berkeley City CLub, 2315 Durant Ave., through March 23.Tickets are $14-$25. 558-1381. 

Contra Costa Civic Theatre “The Cocoanuts” Fri. and Sat. at 8 p.m., some Sun. matinees at 2 p.m., at 951 Pomona Ave., at Moeser, El Cerrito, through March 2. Tickets are $15-$24. 524-9132. www.ccct.org 

Frank Oliver’s “Twisted Cabaret & Pandemonium Vaudeville Show” Fri. and Sat. at 8 p.m., Sun. at 2 p.m. at Julia Morgan Center for the Arts, 2640 College Ave. Tickets are $15-$25. 1-800-838-3006. 

Impact Theatre “Jukebox Stories: The Case of the Creamy Foam” Thurs.-Sat. at 8 p.m. at La Val’s Subterranean, 1834 Euclid Ave., through March 22. Tickets are $10-$15. 464-4468. 

Masquers Playhouse “Angel Street” Fri. and Sat. at 8 p.m., Sun. at 2:30 p.m. through Feb. 23 at 105 Park Place, Point Richmond. Tickets are $18. 232-4031. www.masquers.org 

Virago Theatre Company “Candide” the comic opera at 8 p.m. Fri and Sat., 7 p.m. Sun. at Rhythmix Cultural Works, 2513 Blanding Ave., Alameda, through Mar. 9. Tickets are $15-$25. 865-6237. 

EXHIBITIONS 

Ami Vitale “Photographs of Kashmir” Opening reception at 6 p.m., lecture by the photographer at 7 p.m. at UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism. www.fotovision.org 

“All That Jazz” The Art of Living Black Works by James Gayles, Nanette Harris, Leroy Parker and others. Reception at 7 p.m. at the Women’s Cancer Resource Center, 5741 Telegraph Ave. at 58th St., Oakland. 601-4040, ext. 111. 

FILM 

Terence Davies “The Long Day Closes” at 7 p.m. and “The Neon Bible” at 9:05 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $5.50-$9.50. 642-0808.  

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Charles Baxter reads from his new novel “The Soul Thief” at 7 p.m. at Cody’s Books. 559-9500.  

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Percy Lang, piano, at noon at Hertz Hall, UC Campus. Free. 642-4864.  

Oakland East Bay Symphony Works by Stravisnky, Adams, Tan Dun and Jon Jang at 8 p.m. at Paramount Theater, 2025 Broadway, Oakland. Pre-concert lecture at 7 p.m. 444-0801. www.oebs.org 

Dan Plonsey’s “Daniel Popsicle” at 8 p.m. at Berkeley Arts Festival, 2213 Shattuck Ave. Cost is $5-$10.  

The Dave Matthews BLUES Band in a fundraiser for Berkeley Food and Housing Project, at 7 p.m. at Gaia Arts Center, 2120 Allston Way. 649-4965. 

History and Harmony Black History Concert Series “Slab Town Convention: A Youth Drama” dramatization of the 1960s Baptist Convention at 7:30 p.m. at Allen Temple Baptist Church, 8501 International Blvd., Oakland. Tickets are $5-$10. 544-8924. 

The Mirage Ensemble perform a program of Americana at 8 p.m. at the Hillside CLub, 2286 Cedar St. Tickets are $15. www.hillsideclub.org 

Toshi Reagon at 8 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. Cost is $16-$18. 849-2568.  

Dena DeRose at 8 p.m. at the Jazzschool. Cost is $18. 845-5373. 

Terry Disley Experience at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island. Cost is $14. 841-JAZZ.  

Gamelan X, Gamelan Jegog at 9 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $13. 525-5054.  

Judy Wexler at 8 p.m. at Caffe Trieste, 2500 San Pablo Ave., at Dwight. 548-5198.  

Country Joe McDonald’s “Tribute to Woody Guthrie” at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $18.50-$29.50. 548-1761.  

Ronnie Cto, Dave Lionelli at 7:30 p.m. at Nomad Cafe, 6500 Shattuck Ave. 595-5344.  

Joel Streeter, Brad Brooks, Walty, indie rock, at 9 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $10. 841-2082.  

Green Machine at 10 p.m. at Beckett’s Irish Pub, 2271 Shattuck Ave. 647-1790.  

Patrick Green Quartet at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 843-8277. 

Jennifer Johns, Kevin Choice, reggae, R&B, at 9 p.m. at Maxwell’s Lounge, 341 13th St., Oakland. Cost is $15-$20. 839-6169. 

SATURDAY, FEB. 23 

CHILDREN  

Music with Hanna Banana at 11 a.m. at Studio Grow, 1235 Tenth St. Cost is $7. 526-9888. 

EXHIBITIONS 

“Tilden Odyssey” Textured paintings, collages, and monotypes by Sheila Sondick on display at the Tilden Nature Center, Tilden Park, through Feb. 28. 525-2233. 

“Double Vision: Artist Partners” Opening reception at 6 p.m. at Chandra Cerrito Contemporary, 25 Grand Ave., upper level, Oakland. Exhibition runs to March 15. www.chandracerrito.com 

“Yea We Said It, And No We’re Not Sorry” works by Malik and Milton Bowens for Black History Month. Opening reception at 5:30 p.m. at Joyce Gordon Gallery, 406 14th St., Oakland. Exhibit runs to Feb. 29. 465-8928. 

“Impressions on Paper” Works by six local printmakers opens at the Addison St. Windows Gallery, 2018 Addision St. 981-7546. 

“Storytelling and Paper Dresses” Lecture and art display with Patricia Bulitt at 2 p.m. at North Berkeley Public Library, 1170 The Alameda. 

FILM 

United Nations Assoc. Film Festival with films from Israel/Palestine and Haiti, at 7:30 p.m. at International House, 2299 Piedmont Ave. Free. www.unausaeastbay.org 

Terence Davies “Distant Voices, Still Lives” at 2:30 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $5.50-$9.50. 642-0808.  

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Rhythm & Muse with poet Jeanne Powell at 7 p.m. at Berkeley Art Center, 1275 Walnut St. 527-9753. 

Alan Greene, pediatrician, describes “Raising Baby Green: The Earth-Friendly Guide to Pregnancy, Childbirth and Baby Care” at 4 p.m. at Mrs. Dalloway’s, 2904 College Ave. 704-8222. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Dream Kitchen at 8 p.m. at JCC of the East Bay, 1414 Walnut St. tickets are $10-$12. 848-0237. 

“B-Free” with Bill Crossman, Robin Nzingah Smith, Akinleye Sadiq, Cheryl Schwartz at 8 p.m. at Berkeley Arts Festival, 2213 Shattuck Ave. Cost is $5-$10.  

Artists’ Vocal Ensemble and The Whole Noyse “1508: Music for Renaissance Winds and Voices” at 8 p.m. at St. Mark’s Episcopal Church, 2300 Bancroft Way. Tickets are $10-$25. www.ave-music.org  

Orquesta La Moderna Tradición at 9 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. Cost is $10-$12. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

Lloyd Gregory Quintet at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island. Cost is $14. 841-JAZZ.  

Hot Hot Hot Caribbean Nights at 9:05 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $12-$15. 525-5054. 

Jon Roniger, Jayde Blade at 7:30 p.m. at Nomad Cafe, 6500 Shattuck Ave. 595-5344.  

UpSurge at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $18.50-$19.50. 548-1761.  

Jean Fineberg & Saxophunk at 8 p.m. at the Jazzschool. Cost is $15-$18. 845-5373.  

John Calloway Trio at 9 p.m. at Downtown. 649-3810.  

George Cotsililos, jazz, at 9:30 p.m. at Albatross, 1822 San Pablo Ave. Cost is $3. 843-2473. 

Todd Shipley at 10 p.m. at Beckett’s Irish Pub, 2271 Shattuck Ave. 647-1790.  

Moment’s Notice with Harmony Gates and TraceyJoy Miller at 8 p.m. at Western Sky Studio, 2525 8th St. Tickets are $8-$15. 992-6295. 

Mars Arizona at 9 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $TBA. 841-2082.  

Martin Turkis Afro-Cuban Trio at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 843-8277. 

SUNDAY, FEB. 24 

CHILDREN 

“African-American Rhythms On and Off the Canvas” activities for the whole family from 1 to 4 p.m. at Oakland Museum of California, 10th and Oak, Oakland. Cost is $5-$8. 238-2002. 

EXHIBITIONS 

Capturing the Moment Jazz and photography with James Knox at 1:30 p.m. at the Jazzschool. Cost is $10. 845-5373.  

“2 Days with Allen Ginsberg” Photographs by Harold Adler from 2 to 6 p.m., readings at 3 p.m. at Regent Press Gallery, 4770 Telegraph Ave., Oakland. 845-1196. 

FILM 

United Nations Assoc. Film Festival with films from Kenya/Uganda and Cuba at 2 p.m. at International House, 2299 Piedmont Ave. Free. www.unausaeastbay.org 

Human Rights Film Festival “Lumo” at 2 p.m., “Enemies of Happiness” at 3:45 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $5.50-$9.50. 642-0808.  

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Margo Peller Feeley reads from “Cashing Out and Coming Back” her memoir of leaving Berkeley and returning, at 7:30 p.m. at Mrs. Dalloway’s, 2904 College Ave. 704-8222. 

Egyptology Lecture: “The Satellite Survey of Western Thebes; a Horus-Eye View of the Theban Tombs” with Dr. Peter Piccione, College of Charleston, South Carolina, at 2:30 p.m. in Barrows Hall, Room 20. UC Campus. 650-363-8081. ltbak@sbcglobal.net 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Joshua Bell, violin, and Jeremy Denk, piano, at 3 p.m. at Zellerbach Hall, UC Campus. Tickets are $34-$62. 642-9988.  

John Adams Young Composers Program Faculty Concert with The Ariel String Quartet premiering new works by Alexis Alrich, Molly Axtman, Alan Crossman, Arkadi Serper, Clark Suprynowicz, and Katy Wreede, at 8 p.m. at Crowden Music Center, 1475 Rose St., at Sacramento. Free. 559-2941.  

Berkeley Symphony “Under Construction” at 7 p.m. at First Congregational Church of Berkeley. Tickets are $10-$20. 841-2800. www.berkeleysymphony.org 

“Gospel Roots: A Musical Celebration of African-American History” at 8 p.m. at Hertz Hall, UC Campus. Tickets are $4-$12. 642-9988.  

Pat Wynne at 7:30 p.m. at La Peña. Cost is $12-$25. 849-2568.  

Parlor Tango at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. Cost is $10. 841-JAZZ.  

Howard Wiley “A Tribute to Dexter Gordon” at 4:30 p.m. at the Jazzschool. Cost is $15-$18. 845-5373.  

Steve Gillette & Cindy Mangsen at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $18.50-$19.50. 548-1761.  

MONDAY, FEB. 25 

FILM 

United Nations Assoc. Film Festival with films from Sudan and Nigeria at 7:30 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $5.50-$9.50.  

READINGS AND LECTURES 

The History of African American Women During World War II with Gretchen Lemke-Santangelo at 10:30 a.m. at the Oakland Museum of California, 1000 Oak St. 238-2200. 

“Civil Rights Tales” with Stagebridge, at 6:30 p.m. at Golden Gate Branch Library, 5606 San Pablo Ave., Oakland. 597-5023. 

Ed Lin and Lisa Chen will celebrate Lunar New Year by reading from their works at 7:30 p.m. at Eastwind Books of Berkeley, 2066 University Ave. 548-2350. 

Aurora Theatre “Events with Life’s Leftovers” at 7:30 p.m. at 2081 Addison St. 843-4822.  

Philip Fradkin introduces “Wallace Stegner and the American West” at 7 p.m. at Cody’s Books on Fourth St. 559-9500. 

Art, Technology and Culture Colloquium “Attention Depiction Disorders” with Naut Humon and V. Vale at 7:30 p.m. at 160 Kroeber Hall, UC Campus. 643-9565.  

Frank Portman reads from “King Dork” at 7:30 p.m. at Moe’s Books, 2476 Telegraph Ave. 849-2087. 

Poetry Express Open mic theme night on “rights” at 7 p.m. at Priya Restaurant, 2072 San Pablo Ave. 644-3977. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Berkeley Arts Festival Jerry Kuderna Piano Concert at noon at 2213 Shattuck Ave.  

Valerie Bach Girl Talk Band at 7 p.m. at Le Bateau Ivre, 2629 Telegraph Ave. 849-1100. 

Musica ha Disconnesso, piano and mandolins at 7 p.m. at Caffe Trieste, 2500 San Pablo Ave., at Dwight. 548-5198.  

TUESDAY, FEB. 26 

FILM 

Experimental Documentaries “casting a glance” at 7:30 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $5.50-$9.50. 642-0808.  

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Garrett Caples, Susan Gevertz at 7:30 p.m. at Moe's Books, 2476 Telegraph Ave. 849-2087. 

Samantha Power on “Chasing the Flame: Sergio Viera de Mello and the Fight to Save the World” at 7:30 p.m. at the First Congregational Church of Berkeley, 2345 Channing Way. Suggested donation $10. 559-9500. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Sauce Piquante at 8:30 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cajun dance lesson at 8 p.m. Cost is $10. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

Singers’ Open Mic with Kelly Park at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island,. Cost is $5. 841-JAZZ.  

Randy Craig Trio at 7:30 p.m. at Caffe Trieste, 2500 San Pablo Ave., at Dwight. 548-5198.  

CSU East Bay Jazz Ensembles at 8 and 10 p.m. at Yoshi’s at Jack London Square. Cost is $10-25. 238-9200. www.yoshis.com 

WEDNESDAY, FEB. 27 

FILM 

History of Cinema “The Woman in the Window” at 3 p.m. and Terence Davies “The House of Mirth” at 7:30 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $5.50-$9.50. 642-0808.  

READINGS AND LECTURES 

“Scott’s Shadow: The Novel in Romantic Edinburgh” with author Ian Duncan, in coversation with Catherine Gallagher at 5:30 p.m. at University Press Books, 2430 Bancroft Way. 548-0585.  

Jewish Writers in the Bay Area: Readings from Persimmon Tree with Chana Bloch, Martha Boesing, Sandy Boucher, and others at 7 p.m. at JCC of the East Bay, 1414 Walnut St. 655-8530. 

Writing Teachers Write at 5 p.m. at Nomad Cafe, 6500 Shattuck Ave. 595-5344.  

Berkeley Poetry Slam with host Charles Ellik and Three Blind Mice, at 8:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $5-$7. 841-2082  

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Wednesday Noon Concert, with Schhubert Piano Trio at Hertz Hall, UC Campus. Free. 642-4864.  

Music for the Spirit Celebrating Black History Month with music by William B. Cooper and Fela Sowande at 12:15 p.m. at First Presbyterian Church of Oakland, 2619 Broadway. 444-3555. 

Samite at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $18.50-$19.50. 548-1761.  

UC Jazz & Dave Brubeck Institute Collaboration at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island. Cost is $8. 841-JAZZ.  

“Paul Robeson: Words Like Freedom” Freedom Archives CD Release Party at 7 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. Cost is $10-$20. 849-2568.  

Fishtank Ensemble, 3 Leg Torso, Bohemian Chamber music, at 8 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $15. 525-5054.  

Annie and Elizabeth’s Gruaranteed to Satisfy SingAlong at 10 p.m. at Beckett’s Irish Pub, 2271 Shattuck Ave. 647-1790. www.beckettsirishpub.com 

Tres Mojo at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 843-8277. 

Jonathan Poretz at 8 and 10 p.m. at Yoshi’s at Jack London Square. Cost is $10. 238-9200. www.yoshis.com 

THURSDAY, FEB. 28 

THEATER 

Contra Costa College Drama Dept “Rivets” A musical based on Rosie the Riveter and Richmond’s Kaiser Shipyards, Thurs.-Sat. at 8 p.m., Sun. at 3 p.m. at John and Jean Knox Center for Performing Arts, Contra Costa College Campus, San Pablo. Tickets are $10-$15. 235-7800, ext. 4274. 

FILM 

African Film Festival “Juju Factory” at 7:30 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $5.50-$9.50. 642-0808.  

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Paul Hawkin in conversation with Kevin Danaher on “The Green Movement: Hope for the Future of the Earth” at 7:30 p.m. at First Congregational Church of Berkeley, 2345 Channing Way. Tickets are $10-$13. 559-9500. 

Michael Dumanis, Tracy K. Smith, and Rick Barot, poets, read at 7:30 p.m. at Pegasus Books Downtown, 2349 Shattuck Ave. 649-1320. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Kitka “Sanctuary” at 8 pm at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, 114 Montecito Ave., Oakland. Tickets are $18-$25. 444-0323. www.kitka.org 

Joshua Redman Trio at 8 p.m. at Zellerbach Hall, UC Campus. Tickets are $26-$48. 642-9988. www.calperformances.net 

The Karan Casey Band at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $19.50-$20.50. 548-1761. www.freightandsalvage.org 

The Very Hot Club of Berkeley at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. Cost is $10. 841-JAZZ. www.AnnasJazzIsland.com 

Karen Mullally at 7 p.m. at Caffe Trieste, 2500 San Pablo Ave., at Dwight. 548-5198.  

High Country, Dark Hollow Band, bluegrass, at 9:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $6. 841-2082. 

Speak the Music, beatboxing, at 8 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. Cost is $8. 849-2568.  

Chris Waltz at 10 p.m. at Beckett’s Irish Pub, 2271 Shattuck Ave. 647-1790. 

Goapele at 8 and 10 p.m., through Sun. at Yoshi’s at Jack London Square. Cost is $20-$26. 238-9200. 

Jovelyn Richards of Oakland is a born storyteller. When she was little, her mother would have visitors by for coffee “and I heard things that weren’t said; I put language to their secrets. After they left, I told my mother their story. She knew the truth from them and would say, ‘Where did you get that?’ I was putting language to their secrets. I didn’t know how to decode that for her.” 

This continued on in school. “My mother told me she’d got so tired of coming to the principal’s office to get me. She was exhausted! Then, when she’d be walking in front of me on the way home, the clicking of her high heels, the sound of her dress, her silk stockings ... the stories about her would just come out. She’d stop to lecture me, and I’d tell her a story—and she’d say, ‘I just came to get you for doing the same thing!’” 

Richards’ solo play with live music, Come Home, the story of 26 African-American men leaving a rural Arkansas town to serve in World War II with only 13 returning, is playing at The Marsh in San Francisco through March 8.  

In it she plays the wife of one of the black soldiers, Miss D.  

“Donna Ray at the start, but who has to become Miss D. when he comes back,” she said. “It’s about what she has to give up in order to sustain life, to keep the passion they had for each other—or at least renegotiate what that looks like. It’s about what war does to the community, how the soldiers carry war back home.” 

When her husband returns after “they’ve been away from each other for two years, the very first night, Miss D. decides what he needs—she makes his favorite liquor, prepares a bath for him—and it comes to him as an assault. He’s holding images of dying soldiers in his mind, of seeing the racism ... how do you sit down, make love? Navigate the simple pleasures. A lot of men came back silent from the war. Others had to digest that silence, like Miss D. in the play. And that was given to their children, who gave it to their children ...” 

One of the spurs to go off to war was racism. “Two children were lynched. For many African-Americans, going to the war created a foundation to be seen as Americans. In some ways, it empowered them to go to war, to see what fighting for freedom was. My daddy recently told me his uncles said that’s why they left Arkansas after the war—they couldn’t tolerate that kind of racism anymore. And that’s why I grew up in Milwaukee.” 

In the play, the story of the other soldiers who return is told by Miss D. through the effect they have on their families, the community. And those who don’t return are talked about. “One, specifically, couldn’t read or write, but drew pictures of the war. Not of battles, but the faces of war, like a Polish girl who’d lost everything. And one night, the lost soldiers show up in the room when Miss D. and her husband are making love.” 

The survivors also engage in a courageous act, when there’s an attempted lynching of a 14-year-old young man in the town. “They went off to fight for equality and then have to deal with the fact that one of their own sons is going to be killed.” 

Veterans and members of peace groups have attended the show, “George from Veterans For Peace, people from Rosie The Riveter ... two Vietnam vets came out of the audience and asked me, ‘How did you know?’ Something of what happened to my characters happened to several of their friends.” 

“Storytelling is the oldest form of art,” said Richards, “and it’s been neglected. We neglect our own stories. The characters in stories are templates for what it’s like to be human. And we go on to find the stories within ourselves. What jazz and blues did for the 20th century, the story will do for the 21st century.” 

COME HOME 

8 p.m. Thursday-Saturday through March 8 at The Marsh, 1062 Valencia St., San Francisco. 

(415) 641-0235. www.marsh.org. 

A clerk at a Florida resort hotel during the 1920s property boom leaps out from behind his desk and joins in a lively production number. The villainess in an engagement con on a wealthy mother and daughter leads a line of dancers doing the Charleston. 

And all the while, three zanies—one silent, one humorously challenged in English and the other a loquacious hotel manager on the skids—slice, dice and shred the lovely fabric of a period Irving Berlin musical, their playground to burlesque. 

The Marx Bros. in El Cerrito? Well, it’s not the first time. The musical that became their second Hollywood feature, Animal Crackers, was successfully staged a year ago by Contra Costa Civic Theater, and now, in a backward glance, Animal Crackers’ predecessor from Hollywood, and their second Broadway hit, The Cocoanuts, is up and running at Contra Costa Civic Theatre. 

By the late ’20s or so, the Marx Bros. (originally five, with Gummo and Zeppo), who had started decades before as kids in vaudeville, couldn’t get bookings on the circuit. They decided on a long shot: financing their own musical comedy revue—something they could comically work over with their own brand of improvised mayhem—in Brooklyn, hoping it would attract attention and bring the press—and producers—across the river from Manhattan. 

The ploy worked and the Brothers’ career took off, on Broadway, then in Hollywood. Most people know them through later films, like Night at the Opera, where the Brothers take center stage. But The Cocoanuts is a good way to catch how they made their big breakthrough as the wild comic team getting around and tearing down the mannered edifice of musical comedy. 

And with the directorial hand of Kate Culbertson (who is now in the artistic chair at CCCT as Mark Manske, successor to CCCT’s founder, the late Louis Flynn, is on hiatus), what could easily be an exercise in academia, a mere museum piece—an Irving Berlin period musical, book by the great George Kaufman—flowers on a community stage in El Cerrito, with splendid songs and production numbers, first rate (and often sumptuous) costuming by Helen Slomowitz (whose historical sense is always on the mark) and a perky jazz quartet (piano, Peter Ruszel’s bass, trumpeter Brian Montone and Mary Hickox on violin) swinging away on their elevated bandstand, above the hotel lobby, led by Joe Simiele from the keyboard. 

The cast—about 20 in all, counting the choruses of bellhops and hotel guests—brings their own various talents into the mix, with particularly good performances by R. Martin Newton as desk clerk Jamisen (Zeppo’s role originally) and Nan Ayers in the Margaret Dumont role of Mrs. Potter (amorously scheming Groucho’s society matron foil), as well as first rate romantic ingenues (Benjamin Scott and especially Jillian Seagrave, who do Berlin’s big hit “Always” in front of an enormous travel poster of Florida in Dayglo colors that drops from the flies) and Greg Milholland and (again, the ladies) Jessica Kiely in particular as hissable evil schemers.  

There’s even a well-rendered Feydeau-esque door slamming scene as the action—and laughs—revolve from one hotel room to another, and Alex Shafer makes his mark as stern lawman Hennessey, who loses it in a silly, sung encounter with the Brothers, sadly warbling “I want my shirt!” to the operatic music from Carmen. 

The ne’er-do-well trio of Groucho, Harpo and Chico are played with brio by Timothy Beagley, Amy Nielson (who also did the stellar choreography) and Tom Reardon. It’s almost impossible to render the peculiar improvised anarchy of Marx Bros. “staging” (a famous George Kaufman anecdote has him excusing himself from a chat in the wings during a show with the excuse “I thought I heard one of my lines”), which reputedly was quite tame in the wildest of their films compared to their stage shows. 

Nielson has something of Harpo’s sweet innocence, but none of his ferocity; Reardon tries out some un-Chicoesque shuffles sans rimshots to up the burlesque ante, and Beagley is a bit too sanguine (and tuneful) as Groucho. Dare it be said?—they’re a bit too goy. Stars, not outsiders. More screwballs than maniacs. 

But the final scene, the Spanish costume ball—again, with splendid costuming by Slomowitz and Hennessey’s comic turn to “Toreador,” et al, so different than in the movie—comes about as close as anyone’s likely to get, especially the wild tango number, with crazy lyrics, as Groucho beats up on the long-suffering Mrs. Potter with his ultra-eccentric dancing that seems more like bumper cars. Ayers comes out smelling like a crumpled rose, and Beagley shines with moves more Upper West Side Manhattan, sub-Harlem, than Buenos Aires—unless it’s The Pampas ... Yes; Groucho could’ve said that. 

THE COCOANUTS 

8 p.m. Friday-Saturday and 2 p.m. Sundays through March 2 at the Contra Costa Civic Theatre, 951 Pomona Ave., El Cerrito.  

524-9132. www.ccct.org.

Of all the architects who resided in Berkeley during the first four decades of the 20th century, the one who received the most coverage in the local press was not John Galen Howard or Bernard Maybeck but William Hatch Wharff. And only occasionally was the press coverage related to his profession. 

Neither a classicist nor an innovator, Wharff was a practical builder who incorporated the prevailing idiom of the day into his designs. His four designated Berkeley landmarks—Carlson’s Block (1903) at 3228 Adeline in Lorin Station; the Masonic Temple (1905–06) at Shattuck and Bancroft; the Pfister Knitting Mill (1906) at 8th and Parker; and the F.D. Chase Building (1909) at 2107 Shattuck—blend into their surroundings rather than making individual statements. 

Born in Guilford, Maine, Wharff (1836–1936) did not study at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris. In fact, he doesn’t appear to have attended any architectural school, although in 1932, at the age of 96, he would tell the Gettysburg Times that he “studied architecture in Maine and Massachusetts in his earlier years.” 

Wharff’s obituary in the Berkeley Gazette of January 1, 1936, tells a different story. A farmer’s son, he disliked farming and from the age of 18 spent his summers learning the carpenter’s trade from his maternal uncle, Hiram Hatch. In 1857 he graduated from the Foxcroft Academy and began teaching school during the winters. 

By 1860, Wharff had become a master carpenter and his uncle’s partner. In the spring and summer of that year, they constructed a new building for the Foxcroft Academy. While in Foxcroft, Wharff married Lydia J. Paul (1840–1929), and the following year their first son, Frank, was born. 

In 1864, Wharff enlisted in the Union Army as a private in Company C of the 11th Regiment, Maine Volunteer Infantry. His Civil War engagements included the siege of Petersburg, the battle of Chaffin’s Farm, the siege of Richmond, Hatcher's Run, and Appomattox. 

He saw Lincoln on March 26, 1865, when the President came to rally the troops before the march on Richmond. That night, Private Wharff wrote in his diary, “This day I have seen Lincoln—I can never forget the care-worn face of the noble President as he rode past, while the band played Hail to the Chief.” 

At Appomattox on April 9, Wharff wrote, “Grant and Lee met under an apple tree, later going to the McLane [McLean] house where the terms of surrender were discussed.” Sixty-seven years later, the Portland Press Herald of Portland, Maine, would quote from Wharff’s diary and note, “Filled with many other notations, now of historic value, the yellow diary is Private Wharff’s most prized possession.” 

Mustered out of service on June 12, 1865, Wharff returned to Guilford, eventually settling in Bangor, Maine, where in 1870 the U.S. census listed his occupation as carpenter. The Wharffs’ second son, Frederick, was born in 1867, and eight years later, the family sailed to California, entering San Francisco Bay through the Golden Gate. 

They were not the only Wharffs migrating west. William’s younger brothers—John Fairfield Wharff, a blacksmith and veteran of the First Maine Cavalry, and Joseph Hiram Wharff, a carpenter—also made their home in San Francisco. 

Charting Wharff’s architectural career in San Francisco is not an easy task, since more than 100 buildings he designed there are said to have perished in the 1906 earthquake and fire. While he called himself an architect in the 1880 U.S. census, the San Francisco directory of 1889 listed him as a draftsman with an office at 330 Pine St., room 11. The following year, still in the same office, he was listed as contractor and builder. 

At some point, Wharff joined the American Institute of Architects’ San Francisco chapter. He was present at the chapter’s meeting of May 7, 1904, when famed Chicago architect and city planner Daniel H. Burnham addressed that body on the task of beautifying the city. Among the 20 AIA members gathered to hear Burnham were Seth Babson, Ernest Coxhead, Charles W. Dickey, William Baker Faville, John Galen Howard, William Knowles, and Willis Polk. 

Seven years before the earthquake, William and Lydia Wharff moved to Berkeley, apparently following their son Fred, who had obtained a position as language instructor at the university. At the time, the architect was 63, an age when most other people would be contemplating retirement. Wharff, however, launched into a fruitful period of building activity that would last another decade and a half. When he finally retired at the age of 79, he took up insurance, which he practiced well into his 90s. 

The steady demand for Wharff’s architectural services can be chalked up to his enduring personal popularity and a vast circle of connections. A lifelong Mason, in 1870 he joined the Rising Virtue Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons in Bangor, Maine. In San Francisco he was a member of the King Solomon Lodge, and after coming to Berkeley he joined the local Durant Lodge. It’s no wonder, then, that when the Berkeley Masons wished to build a new temple, they entrusted the design to Wharff, giving him carte blanche. 

Both Wharff and his wife were high-ranking charter members of the Harmony Lodge, Order of the Eastern Star in San Francisco. Wharff was also a prominent member of the Grand Army of the Republic (G.A.R.), a fraternal organization of Union Army veterans who had served in the Civil War. At one time he was commander of Lincoln Post No. 1 in San Francisco, while Mrs. Wharff served as president of the city’s Lincoln Relief Corps (the women’s auxiliary to the G.A.R.). 

On several occasions, the Wharffs were delegates to the G.A.R. national encampment and the concurrent Women’s Relief Corps national convention. In 1904, they traveled to Boston for this purpose. “Having been chosen the official architect of the Masonic Temple Association,” informed the Oakland Tribune on August 8, “Mr. Wharff will visit a number of temples in the East before presenting designs for the new temple that is to be erected in Berkeley.” 

As the temple neared completion in August 1906, the San Francisco Call provided this description: 

It is four stories high, with facings of cream-colored brick and granite trimmings. The lower floor is to be devoted to stores. On the second floor will be found the supper room, ladies hall, banquet hall and armory of the Masonic lodges. 

The main lodgeroom will be on the third floor, 47 by 62 feet, elaborately finished, with Corinthian pilasters and ornamental frieze work extending around the entire room. The ceiling will be 42 feet high. This lodgeroom, with others on the same floor, are to be available Sundays for church purposes or uses of similar character. 

On the fourth floor will be a small lodgeroom, which with the anteroom and hall will be used for smaller lodges and societies requiring moderate accommodations. 

The temple’s most talked-about features were the twin pairs of granite pillars flanking the entrance on Bancroft Way. These were financed by Rosa Shattuck in memory of her late husband, Francis Kittredge Shattuck. A few years later, the pillars were removed and the portico set back when the city enacted an ordinance designed to rid the downtown of overhanging wooden awnings. 

When dealing with the City of Berkeley, Wharff had his share of professional frustrations. In December 1905, the Board of Education adopted his plans for a new school building on Bancroft Way between Milvia and Grove Streets, to replace the Longfellow School and to cost $50,000. The board modified the architect’s plans before instructing the town clerk to advertise for bids. When all the competing bids came in above budget, Wharff offered to build the school himself for $50,000 on condition that his original plans be adopted. This did not sit well with the directors, resulting in a heated argument and the scrapping of the plans. 

Far more pleasant times were had by Wharff in the company of his fellow Maine natives. The State of Maine Association, of which he was a director and officer, held an annual June picnic at Shell Mound Park, where the Downeasters partook of traditional fare such as baked beans, brown bread, and coffee. One of Wharff’s many friends in this society was Frank W. Durgin, head of Durgin & Bleakley Furniture Co. and of Pioneer Funeral Directors and Embalmers, both located on Shattuck Avenue. Durgin would later ally himself with Walter A. Gompertz and eventually move his undertaking business to University Avenue. Later yet, after such enterprises were banned from the avenue, he would establish the Hull & Durgin mortuary on Adeline Street. 

The Wharffs lived in a large Colonial Revival house, built at 2000 Delaware Street shortly after their arrival in Berkeley. Here they frequently entertained their large circle of friends. Their card parties were famous—especially those for the Busy Bees Whist Club. 

Each Wharff wedding anniversary witnessed a gathering of the tribes from near and far. The couple’s 64th anniversary in 1924 even drew in Hiram W. Ricker, owner of the celebrated Poland Spring resort in Maine. 

Toward the end of his life, as the ranks of Civil War veterans dwindled, William Wharff would become a national figure. He was president of the Abraham Lincoln Fellowship, an organization composed of those who knew or saw the Great Emancipator. Newspapers would refer to him as “Berkeley’s Grand Old Man” and mark every birthday and anniversary of his. 

In 1933, at the age of 97, he was feted as the YMCA’s oldest member. On his 99th and final birthday, Wharff was believed to be the nation’s oldest living Mason and Civil War veteran. He died in his 100th year, having seen Berkeley grow sevenfold over the course of 36 years. 

Daniella Thompson publishes berkeleyheritage.com for the Berkeley Architectural Heritage Association (BAHA).

“Music will be an Old Time Music Jam, bring yer fiddle,” is what Terri Compost, the exquisitely named point person of the Bay Area Seed Interchange Library (acronym’ed, equally exquisitely, “BASIL”) replied to my query. I wanted to know who would be playing the music promised for BASIL’s Ninth Annual Seed Swap tomorrow, Saturday February 23, 6:30 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. at the Ecology Center. Dang, I don’t have a fiddle. Guess I’ll just send the cat. 

BASIL’s mission is to preserve and share local and interesting varieties of food-garden seeds. It’s inspired by such organizations as Native Seeds/SEARCH in Arizona and Seed Savers Exchange in Iowa. These got started by people who noticed that unique varieties of corn, chili peppers, beans, or other garden plants were disappearing as gardeners who’d grown them year after year died or lost their gardens, and as buying rather than saving (or swapping!) seeds became the normal thing to do.  

Doubtless there are unnamed and mostly unnoticed heirlooms in Bay Area gardens: some lettuces that hang tough all winter and don’t bolt in May; a fava that produces larger, sweeter beans than most; maybe even a basil with different flavor overtones or that thrives in the fog.  

As agricultural conglomerates consolidate and concentrate on fewer seed varieties—mostly those favored by commercial growers and with the broadest marketing appeal—BASIL’s efforts are becoming more urgent. Big seed companies preserve the qualities that big produce growers prize, like shelf appeal, good appearance, and sturdiness for shipping; more subtle qualities like flavor take second place.  

Just as important, a variety that has a superior ability to thrive in a particular place gets lost when only seeds for plants with nationwide appeal are left in the market. 

BASIL started as just a few people’s seed collections, coordinator Terri Compost says. Sascha DuBrul officially founded the Ecology Center project in 2000. Aside from perpetuating locally adapted and interesting plant varieties, the project concentrates on open-pollinated seeds that will breed true, unlike commercial hybrids that must be bought every year from seed companies.  

She passed along a couple of seed-saving secrets: for one, that it's easiest to start with plants like lettuce, beans, and tomatoes that don’t readily swap pollen with the neighbors’ gardens, which would result in hybrid fruit and seeds. A counterintuitive tip: tomato seeds keep best if you put them, still goopy, on a shelf for a few weeks. Mold will form, which can be rinsed away before drying and storing the seeds. The mold seems to reduce disease and aid germination. 

Compost says the “library” of seeds— a bookcase full of seeds, carefully labeled and preserved in re-used (of course!) jars—kept at the Ecology Center provides “the same exchange we do at the swap meet, but spread out over time.”  

Tomorrow, expect heirlooms from local gardeners and small seed companies. Bring some to share; take only what you can really grow out, and save seed to return; bring a potluck dish and your musical talent too. (Lacking those, bring $10.) Wildheart Nursery plants and other goodies will be raffled off.  

(BASIL) 9th Annual Seed Swap 

Saturday Feb. 23, 6:30 p.m.–9:00 p.m. 

Ecology Center, 2530 San Pablo Avenue, Berkeley. 

(510) 658-9178, terricompost@yahoo.com or 

http://www.ecologycenter.org/basil/

I was inspecting a house out beyond the Naugahyde Curtain the other day (Walnut Creek, if memory serves; landing strip for white flight). The house was unillustrious but amongst the artifacts that brought me sufficient intrigue to set the day aglow was a brand new fireplace.  

Actually, it wasn’t really new, but it may as well have been, because it was clear that it had never been used. The house was at least 30 years old and this fireplace had never once been used. I’m not sure if it was fear of fire, religious prohibition, lack of clarity on local restrictions or a general absence of romantic spirit on the part of the occupants; but there it was, all clean and shiny and boring. 

Actually, this isn’t the first time I’ve seen this. Maybe once every couple of years I find a fireplace that has never been used. After all, we ARE in sunny Cah-li-fah-ne-ah (no matter how many times Ah-nold says it, my glee refuses to evaporate). California does get cold, but fires in fireplaces don’t really do all that much to abate the chill anyway. And although they’re fun, cozy and perfect for gatherings, they’re also time-consuming, expensive and dirty. In short, it’s far easier on the coldest of nights to leave the damper shut (is YOUR damper shut?) turn up the furnace and put on that ugly cable-knit sweater your girlfriend’s parents gave you last year.  

The fact that so few fires get built around here is due to several factors: 

1. Most people don’t know how to build a proper fire. 

2. Most people don’t know how to maintain their chimney. 

3. Most people don’t know when it’s time to call for professional maintenance or repairs, or even how to make that call. 

So let’s take a look at each of these in some detail. 

We don’t build fires to get them over with as soon as possible. We build them to last for a few hours or until we’ve managed to finish reading Rilke’s entire elegy cycle to the object of our affections. Therefore, the way we build a fire is of some importance. Those heavy welded log-holders are better suited to murder than to building a fire. Building our fires up that high allows far too much oxygen to get to the bottom of the wood, causing those hard grained logs to burn hot and fast. This also destroys fireplaces over time. A fire of lower temperature not only lasts longer but preserves the brick firebox. Although fireboxes are built using special firebrick (they’re yellow rather than red and a little larger than regular brick), these, as well as their mortars, become damaged over time as a result of very hot fires. 

To build a fire without a fire-grate or rack, just build it as one would a campfire. Stack logs against one another so that there are small air spaces created in the process. Starting a fire usually requires some tinder or small pieces, newspaper or finely split wood (kindling), but one can also use those newfangled fire starting materials such as Hot-Wood or somesuch. Mostly they’re paraffin-soaked sawdust and they burn quite well. It’s up to you. 

Be sure to open your damper (that little door above the fireplace that leads to the flue) at least 10-20 minutes before building a fire. As my friend Paul Mickiewicz, a master of chimneys and fires, explains, this allows a draft to begin flowing long before there’s any fire. This is a simple function of convection and occurs between any warmer and colder spaces that are put in contact with one another. It’s colder outside on the roof than inside the house (one hopes) so this induces a slow flow upward through the flue. This can be amplified by the use of a lit piece of newspaper (not this piece, please) held upward into the “throat” of the fireplace. This works in the same was as natural convection, only faster. Be sure to avoid burning one’s self.  

Having built a few fires, you’ll end up with a heap of ash in the fireplace. Don’t toss the ash. According to Paul, this makes a great insulating bed that improves the operation of the fireplace. Tamp the ash down in a slightly wedge-shaped plane that is higher at the back. This will force heat to flow backward and continue to warm the rear wall, which, in turn, will drive the plume of smoke and heat up the flue shaft, lessening the propensity for smoke to enter the room. The bed also keeps the fire warm. 

When you clean the excess ash away, take it to the garden. Plants love potassium. “Pot Ash” is so called because they used to hang cooking pots in fireplaces afore y’all were young’ns. 

Although most fireplaces come with ash-pit cleanout doors of metal in the floor of the firebox, these don’t have to be used at all. They often become rodent entry points and you need to be sure that they’re really closed or covered over with a metal surrogate if they’re broken. Sometimes replacements can be found, but often not.  

If you look on the outside of the chimney, you’ll find a matching door that’s also too-often out of commission. I like to think of these silly cleanout doors as elements of a time when servants would service the fireplace and keeping the master’s chamber tidy was imperative so we had a method by which we can remove the soot from the outside; a sort of servant’s chute. I’m not sure how accurate my imagined history is but it works for me! 

Once the fire is going well, you want to continue to push it toward the back wall. Logs tend to roll forward and should be moved back toward the rear-canted wall periodically. Be sure to feed new logs into the fire in the same way. The object is to keep this rear “firewall” as hot as can be, thus maintaining the draft and minimizing smoking. 

Here are a couple of reasons that fireplaces smoke and things you can think about if my recipe for firebuilding still proves insufficient: 

The ratio between the opening of the fireplace and the size of the flue shaft should be roughly 1/10. If your fireplace opening is, say, 30 inches wide and 25 inches high then you have 750 square inches of space. The flue should then be about 75 square inches of space or, roughly eight inches by nine inches. If the fireplace opening (where you load the wood) is much larger than this, the air supply is too large and the flue will not be able to pull air fast enough. In such cases a shield can be installed at the top of the opening to reduce the size. I’ll be you’ve seen at least one. (Aha, you say, that’s what that thing was!) 

Another thing that causes smoking is flue length. If the flue is too short, it won’t create enough draft. Extending the flue upward into the sky can often improve drafting and put that useless fireplace back into happy employment. 

I’ll don my inspector goggles for a few parental admonitions to close with since no day is complete for me without uttering something harsh. 

If you want to use your fireplace, spend the small amount of money necessary to have a good local fireplace inspector come by and check things out. Fireplace flues get dirty and the soot and creosote (a shiny, tar encrustation) can catch fire if there’s enough if it and the fire is hot enough. A chimney fire is too hot to put out and is usually allowed to run its course, after which a chimney may need to be replaced at some serious expense. It can also burn a house down in cases where an old flue has gaps that lead to framing. 

Cleaning a fireplace is cheap and prudent. The inspector will also have the chance to check out the other aspects including dampers, spark arrestors, covers and overall configuration. 

In another 20-30 years, I believe that our fireplaces will have largely gone to the salvage-yard of history. They are, after all, a lapel that we no longer need but continue to wear for their fun and familiarity. For these last days, let’s sit with them, record their beauty for when they’re gone, keeping their important purpose in mind, that being to draw us together around the fire. 

FRIDAY, FEB. 22 

“Como Angeles” A film about six students from Cuba’s Latin American School of Medicine who return to their countries of origin to serve their communities, at 7 p.m. at Berkeley Fellowship Unitarian Universalists Hall, 1924 Cedar St. Event honors long-time solidarity activist for the Cuban democracy, Hal Carlstad, and the 40th Anniversary of IFCO, the Interreligious Foundation for Community Organizing, umbrella organization for Pastors for Peace. 219-0092. 

City Commons Club Noon Luncheon with Mel Lavine, former TV journalist on his new book “A Strange Breed of Folks.” Luncheon at 11:45 a.m. for $14.50, speech at 12:30 p.m., at the Berkeley City Club, 2315 Durant St. For information and reservations call 526-2925.  

Golden Gate Audubon Society with Dr. Rauri Bowie on “The Importance of Habitat Association in the Diversification of African Birds” at 7 p.m. at Northbrae Community Church, 941 The Alameda. 843-2222. 

Benefit for Berkeley Food and Housing, North County Women’s Shelter with dinner at 6:30 and dancing from 7:30 on at the Gaia Arts Center. Tickets are $40-$50. 649-4965, ext. 304. 

Two-Day Photography Workshop with Ami Vitale on “Reaching Across Borders” organized by Fotovision. Information and enrollment at www.fotovision.org 

Easy Does It Board of Directors Meeting at 6:30 p.m. at 1636 University Ave. 845-5513. 

Berkeley Women in Black weekly vigil from noon to 1 p.m. at Bancroft and Telegraph. Our focus is human rights in Palestine. 548-6310. 

Circle Dancing, simple folk dancing with instruction at 8 p.m. at Hillside Community Church, 1422 Navellier St., El Cerrito. Pot luck at 7 p.m. Donation of $5 requested. 528-4253. www.circledancing.com 

SATURDAY, FEB. 23 

Mini-Farmers in Tilden A farm exploration program, from 10 to 11:30 a.m. for ages 4-6 years, accompanied by an adult. We will explore the Little Farm, care for animals, do crafts and farm chores. Wear boots and dress to get dirty! Fee is $6-$8. Registration required. 1-888-EBPARKS. 

Reptile Rendevous Learn about the reptiles that call the Tilden Nature Area home, from 10 to 11:30 a.m. at the Tilden Nature Area, Tilden Park. 525-2233. 

Bay Area Seed Interchange Library Seed Swap and pot luck at 6:30 p.m. at the Ecology Center, 2530 San Pablo Ave. Bring garden seed to share and a potluck dish or $10 for entrance. 658-9178. 

Golden Gate Audubon Society Field Trip “Lake Merritt and Lakeside Park” with Hilary Powers. Meet at 9:30 a.m. at the large spherical cage near Nature Center at Perkins and Bellevue to look at wintering birds. 843-2222. 

Retirement Party for Michele Lawrence Celebrating 35 Years in Public Education. Cocktails and dinner at 6 p.m. at Berkeley City Club, 2315 Durant Ave. 472-3811. party@berkeley.k12.ca.us  

Billabong Ball Fundraiser for Young People’s Symphony Orchestra at 8 p.m. at the Crowden Music Center, 1475 Rose St. Tickets are $10-$75. www.ypsomusic.net 

Community Dialogue “The Collective Experience in the Moment of YouTube” with members of various media collectives, including PTTV, First Voice, Poor News Network, Video Machete & Video Feedback, at 2 p.m. at Berkeley Community Media, 2239 Martin Luther King Jr. Way. www.betv.org 

Castlemont High School Annual General Membership Luncheon at 11 a.m. at Francesco’s Resturant, 8200 Pardee St., corner of Hegenberger Rd., Oakland. Cost is $30. 828-1481. www.castlemontalumni.org 

Vegetarian Cooking Class “The Joy of Vegan Baking” featuring currant scones, apple strudel, peanut butter chocolate bars, oat bran muffins and more, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at First Unitarian Church of Oakland, 685 14th St. at Castro. Cost is $49 plus $5 material fee. to register call 531-COOK. www.compassionatecooks.com 

“60th Annual Festival of the Oaks” International Folk Dancing Workshop from 9:30 a.m. to noon, dancing from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. at Live Oak Park, 1301 Shattuck Ave. No partners needed.Cost is $7-$12. 527-2177. meldancing@aol.com 

Spartacist Black History Month Forum: From Mumia Abu-Jamal to the Jena Six at 2 p.m. at Rockridge Library, 5366 College Ave., Oakland. 839-0851. slbayarea@sbcglobal.net 

Energy Efficient Homes A workshop from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. at 1817 Second St. Sponsored by Truitt & White. Free, but registration required. 649-2674. 

Lead-Safe Painting & Remodeling Free class to learn about lead safe renovations for your older home from 2 to 4 p.m. at Mark’s Paint Mart, 2317 Blanding Ave., Alameda. Presented by Alameda County Lead Poisoning Prevention Program. 567-8280. www.ACLPPP.org 

Kids Go Green Activities centered on ecology and climate change from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Chabot Space and Science Center, 10000 Skyline Blvd., Oakland. Cost is $9-$13. 336-7373.  

“Everybody Eats Lunch” Lunchbox recipes from around the world at 2:30 p.m. at Elephant Pharmacy, 1607 Shattuck Ave. 549-9200. 

“Exposed: The Toxic Chemistry of Everyday Products” with author Mark Schapiro at 4 p.m. at Elephant Pharmacy, 1607 Shattuck Ave. 549-9200. 

Teen Knitting Circle at 3 p.m. in the 4th flr Story Room, Central Library, 2090 Kittredge St. Bring your own knitting needles in size 8, sample yarns provided. 981-6107. 

Preschool Storytime, for ages 3-5, at 11 a.m. at Albany Library, 1247 Marin Ave. 526-3720, ext. 17. 

Free Garden Tours at Regional Parks Botanic Garden Sat. and Sun. at 2 pm. Regional Parks Botanic Garden, Tilden Park. Call to confirm. 841-8732. www.nativeplants.org 

Around the World Tour of Plants at 1:30 p.m., Thurs., Sat. and Sun. at UC Botanical Garden, 200 Centennial Drive. 643-2755. http://botanicalgarden.berkeley.edu 

The Berkeley Lawn Bowling Club provides free instruction every Wed. and Sat. at 10:30 a.m. at 2270 Acton St. 841-2174.  

Oakland Artisans Marketplace Sat. from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Sun. from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Jack London Square. 238-4948. 

SUNDAY, FEB. 24 

Hike in Briones Join a leisurely 4-mile hike out to the Maricich and Sindicich Lagoons to see California newts. Meet at 10 a.m. at the Alhambra Creek Staging Area off of Reliz Valley Rd. Bring lunch and water. To register call 925-862-2601. 

“African-American Rhythms On and Off the Canvas” activities for the whole family from 1 to 4 p.m. at Oakland Museum of California, 10th and Oak, Oakland. Cost is $5-$8. 238-2002. 

“Aerial Pesticide Spraying in the Bay Area for the Apple Moth” A community information meeting at 5 p.m. at the Hillside Club, 2286 Cedar St. 524-5185. www.stopthespray.org 

Films for the Future: The Future of Food at 2 p.m. at the Albany Library, 1247 Marin Ave. 526-3720, ext. 17. 

Berkeley City Club Tour of the “Little Castle” designed by Julia Morgan at 1:15, 2:15 and 3:15 p.m. at 2315 Durant Ave. 883-9710. 

Kensington Farmers’ Market from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at 303 Arlington Ave. at Amherst, Kensington. 525-6155. 

Free Garden Tours at Regional Parks Botanic Garden in Tilden Park Sat. and Sun. at 2 p.m. Call to confirm. 841-8732. www.nativeplants.org 

Lake Merritt Neighbors Organized for Peace Peace walk around the lake every Sun. Meet at 3 p.m. at the colonnade at the NE end of the lake. 763-8712. lmno4p.org 

Berkeley Chess Club meets every Sun. at 7 p.m. at the Hillside School, 1581 Le Roy Ave. 843-0150. 

"beat.sit.asana: urbanYOGA Soul Sunday Jam from from 10 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. at Center for Urban Peace, 2584 Martin Luther King, Jr. Way. Free. 549-3733. ext. 1. 

Tibetan Buddhism with Sylvia Gretchen on “Path of Liberation” at 6 p.m. at the Tibetan Nyingma Institute, 1815 Highland Pl. 809-1000 www.nyingmainstitute.com 

MONDAY, FEB. 25 

“The History of African American Migrant Women During World War II” with Gretchen Lemke-Santangelo, at 10:30 a.m. at Oakland Museum of California, 10th and Oak, Oakland. Cost is $5-$8. 238-2002. 

New Soul Cooking with Tanya Holland of “Melting Pot Soul Kitchen” at 5:30 p.m. at the Elmhurst Branch of the Oakland Public Library, 1427 88th Ave., Oakland. 615-5869. 

Berkeley CopWatch organizational meeting at 8 p.m. at 2022 Blake St. 548-0425. 

Dragonboating Year round classes at the Berkeley Marina, Dock M. Meets Mon, Wed., Thurs. at 6 p.m. Sat. at 10:30 a.m. For details see www.dragonmax.org 

TUESDAY, FEB. 26 

Tuesdays for the Birds Tranquil bird walks in local parklands, led by Bethany Facendini, from 7 to 9:30 a.m. Today we will visitMartin Luther King Regional Shoreline. Call for meeting place and if you need to borrow binoculars. 525-2233. 

Docent Training for Tilden Nature Area Learn to assist the naturalists in providing interpretive programs at the Little Farm and nature area gardens, from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Fee is $35. Application required. For information call 544-3260. 

“The (in)Accessible Wilderness: Mountain Adventures in Patagonia, Utah and British Columbia” with Topher Donahue at 7 p.m. at REI, 1338 San Pablo Ave. 527-4140. 

History and Future of Berkeley’s Downtown A discussion with Austene Hall and Carrie Olsen at 8 p.m. at Berkeley Arts Festival, 2213 Shattuck Ave. 

Davey D, KPFA Radio personality and news journalist at 7:30 p.m. at Berkeley, Public Library, 3rd floor Community Meeting Room, 2090 Kittredge St. 981-6107. www.berkeleypubliclibrary.org 

“Israel: the worst thing to happen to the Jewish People since the Holocaust” Discussion with Larry Everest at 7 p.m. at Revolution Books 2425 Channing Way, Berkeley. 484-1196. 

Berkeley School Volunteers Orientation from 10 to 11 a.m. at 1835 Allston Way. Come learn about volunteer opportunities. 644-8833. 

Writer Coach Connection Volunteers needed to help Berkeley students improve their writing and critical thinking skills from 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. To register call 524-2319. www.writercoachconnection.org  

Nutrition for a Healthy Heart at 3:30 p.m. at Elephant Pharmacy, 1607 Shattuck Ave. 549-9200. 

Tuesday Tilden Walkers Join a few slowpoke seniors at 9:30 a.m. in the parking lot near the Little Farm for an hour or two walk. 215-7672, 524-9992. 

Parents’ Book Discussion Group meets to discuss “Each Little Bird That Sings” by Deborah Wiles, at 6 p.m. at University Village, 435 Goodling Way, Building 123, Apt. 456, Albany. Sponsored by the Albany Library. 526-3720. 

Teen Playreaders meets to read and discuss Hamlet and related plays at 4:30 p.m. at Claremont Branch Library, 2940 Benvenue. 981-6121. 

End the Occupation Vigil every Tues. at noon at Oakland Federal Bldg., 1301 Clay St. www.epicalc.org 

Family Storytime at 7 p.m. at Kensington Library, 61 Arlington Ave. 524-3043.  

Street Level Cycles Community Bike Program Come use our tools as well as receive help with performing repairs free of charge. Youth classes available. Tues., Thurs., and Sat. from 2 to 6 p.m. at at 84 Bolivar Dr., Aquatic Park. 644-2577. www.watersideworkshops.org  

Fresh Produce Stand at San Pablo Park from 3 to 6 p.m. in the Frances Albrier Community Center. Sponsored by the Ecology Center’s Farm Fresh Choice. 848-1704. www.ecologycenter.org 

Berkeley Camera Club meets at 7:30 p.m., at the Northbrae Community Church, 941 The Alameda. 548-3991. www.berkeleycameraclub.org 

St. John’s Prime Timers meets at 9:30 a.m. at St. John’s Presbyterian Church, 2727 College Ave. We always welcome new members over 50. 845-6830. 

WEDNESDAY, FEB. 27 

“The Rebirth of the University of California: From Imperial University to People’s University” A teach-in and forum featuring Gray Brechin, author, “Imperial San Francisco” plus speakers from Tuition Relief Now, Berkeley Stop the War, Berkeley NOW, Fiat Pax, Stop BP-Berkeley, and many others at 7 p.m. at 145 Dwinelle, UC Campus. www.freetheuc.org 

Golden Gate Audubon Society Field Trip “Lake Merritt and Lakeside Park” with Hilary Powers. Meet at 9:30 a.m. at the large spherical cage near Nature Center at Perkins and Bellevue to look at wintering birds. 843-2222. 

“Immigration: Facts, Fiction and Action” with Rolando Rodriguez of the East Bay Sanctuary Coalition at the Gray Panther General Meeting, at 1:30 p.m. at North Berkeley Senior Center, 1901 Hearst, corner of MLK. All welcome.  

“Why Can’t We Be Good?” An interfaith lecture with Prof. Jacob Needleman at 7 p.m. at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, 114 Montecito Ave., Oakland. Suggested donation $5. 655-8936. 

Radical Movie Night: “Medium Cool” filmed during the 1968 political conventions, at 8:30 p.m. at the Long Haul, 3124 Shattuck Ave.  

“Empowering Consumers and Transforming Business” at 6:30 p.m. at Green Moters, 1500 San Pablo Ave. www.econowusa.org 

“Natural Selection” A discussion of the book “The Science of Evolution and the Myth of Creationism” at 7 p.m. at Revolution Books, 2425 Channing Way. 848-1196. 

“The Lion’s Roar” a documentary on Rangjung Rigpe Dorje Tibetan Buddhist master, at 7:30 p.m. at Humanist Hall, 390 27th St., Oakland. Donation $5. www.Humanist Hall.org 

Cycling Lecture with Joe Breeze on “Why more of us should ride bicycles” at 7 p.m. at Velo Sport Bicycles, 1615 University Ave., enter at 1989 California St. RSVP to 849-0437. 

Walk Berkeley for Seniors meets every Wednesday at 9:30 a.m. at the Sea Breeze Market, just west of the I-80 overpass. Everyone is welcome, wear comfortable shoes and a warm hat. Heavy rain cancels. 548-9840. 

Theraputic Recreation at the Berkeley Warm Pool, Wed. at 3:30 p.m. and Sat. at 10 a.m. at the Berkeley Warm Pool, 2245 Milvia St. Cost is $4-$5. Bring a towel. 632-9369. 

Berkeley Peace Walk and Vigil at the Berkeley BART Station, corner of Shattuck and Center. Sing for Peace at 6:30 p.m. followed by Peace Walk at 7 p.m. www. 

geocities.com/vigil4peace/vigil 

Teen Chess Club from 3:30 to 5:30 p.m. at the North Branch Library, 1170 The Alameda at Hopkins. 981-6133. 

Morning Meditation Every Mon., Wed., and Fri. at 7:45 a.m. at Rudramandir, 830 Bancroft Way at 6th. 486-8700. 

After-School Program Homework help, drama and music for children ages 8 to 18, every Wed. from 4 to 7:15 p.m. at St. John’s Presbyterian Church, 2727 College Ave. Cost is $5 per week. 845-6830. 

Stitch ‘n Bitch at 6:30 p.m. at Caffe Trieste, 2500 San Pablo Ave., at Dwight. 548-5198.  

THURSDAY, FEB. 28 

“Does TV Persuade Us That Torture is OK?” with Richard Walter, UCLA School of Film, Television, and Digital Media, Spc. (Ret.) Tony Lagouranis, U.S. Army Interrogator, Margaret Stock, Dept of Law, U.S. Military Academy (West Point), David Danzig, Primetime Torture Project Director, Human Rights First at 5 p.m. at Room 110, Boalt Hall School of Law, UC Campus. www.hrcberkeley.org 

“Green Movement: Hope for the Future of the Earth” Paul Hawken in conversation with Kevin Danaher at 7:30 p.m. at First Congregational Church, 2345 Channing Way. Tickets are $10-$13, at independent bookstores. www.globalexchange.org 

“The Color of Fear” A film about the struggle of individuals learning about racism. Screening and panel discussion at 7 p.m. at First Congregational Church, 2501 Harrison St., Oakland. Tickets are $5-$10, available from 1-800-838-3006. 

Teen Book Club meets to discuss urban fantasy titles at 4 p.m. at Claremont Branch Library, 2940 Benvenue. 981-6121. 

Babies & Toddlers Storytime at 10:15 and 11:15 a.m. at Kensington Library, 61 Arlington Ave. 524-3043.  

Fitness Class for 55+ at 9:15 a.m. at Jewish Community Center, 1414 Walnut St. 848-0237. 

World of Plants Tours Thurs., Sat. and Sun. at 1:30 p.m. at the UC Botanical Garden, 200 Centennial Drive. Cost is $5. 643-2755.  

CITY MEETINGS 

Zero Waste Commission Mon., Feb. 25, at 7 p.m., at 1201 Second St. 981-6368.  

City Council meets Tues., Feb. 26, at 7 p.m in City Council Chambers. 981-6900. www. 

ci.berkeley.ca.us/citycouncil 

Civic Arts Commission meets Wed., Feb. 27, at 6:30 p.m. at the North Berkeley Senior Center. Mary Ann Merker, 981-7533.  

Disaster and Fire Safety Commission meets Wed., Feb. 27, at 7 p.m., at the Emergency Operations Center, 997 Cedar St. 981-5502.  

Planning Commission meets Wed., Feb. 27, at 7 p.m., at the North Berkeley Senior Center. 981-7484.  

Police Review Commission meets Wed., Feb. 27, at 7:30 p.m. at the South Berkeley Senior Center. 981-4950. www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/commissions/policereview 

Mental Health Commission meets Thurs., Feb. 28, at 5 p.m. at 2640 MLK Jr. Way, at Derby. 981-5213. 

Zoning Adjustments Board meets Thurs., Feb. 28, at 7 p.m., in City Council Chambers. 981-7410. www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/commissions/zoning  

ONGOING 

E-Waste Recycling St. Vincent de Paul of Alameda County accepts electronic waste including computers, dvd players, cell phones, fax machines and many other ewaste products for disposal free of charge at many of its locations throughout Alameda County. Free bulk pick-up available. 638-7600.  

Free Tax Help If your 2007 household income was less than $42,000, you are eligible for free tax preparation from United Way's Earn it! Keep It! Save It! Sites are open now through April 15 in Alameda and Contra Costa counties. To find a site near you, call 800-358-8832. www.EarnItKeepItSaveIt.org 

Donate the Excess Fruit from Your Fruit Trees I’ll gladly pick and deliver your fruit to community programs that feed school kids, the elderly, and the hungry. The fruit trees should be located in Berkeley and organic (no pesticides). This is a free volunteer/ 

grassroots thing so join in!! To scehdule and appointment call or email 812-3369. northberkeleyharvest@gmail.com