News Updates

Stimulus Plan Approved, Berkeley Unified to Get $4 Million

By Riya Bhattacharjee

Wednesday January 28, 2009

The $819 billion federal economic recovery package that the House approved Wednesday (today) will inject California’s public school system with nearly $10 billion in federal aid over the next two years, providing funds for scholarships, child-care development, at-risk children, Head Start, school renovations and other programs. -more-

UC Student Murder Suspect to Request Bail Again

By Riya Bhattacharjee

Tuesday January 27, 2009

Alameda County Superior Court Judge Morris Jacobson scheduled a bail motion for former Berkeley City College student Andrew Hoeft-Edenfield—accused of murdering UC Berkeley nuclear engineering student Chris Wootton in May—for Feb. 2. -more-

2020 Vision to Launch Citywide Equity Task Force This Week

By Riya Bhattacharjee

Tuesday January 27, 2009

The 2020 Vision, initiated in June as a collaboration between the City of Berkeley, the Berkeley Unified School District and community organizations to close the achievement gap in the schools, will launch an All City Equity Task Force during a three-day retreat at the Berkeley Yacht Club starting Thursday. -more-

Downtown Plan Draft EIR Now Available for Comment

By Richard Brenneman

Tuesday January 27, 2009

The first draft of the key regulatory document required before the city and UC Berkeley can sign off on a new downtown plan is now available online. -more-

AC Transit to Consider Service Cuts and Fare Increases

By J. Douglas Allen-Taylor

Tuesday January 27, 2009

Two and a half months after local voters passed a $48 million parcel tax increase designed to shore up AC Transit’s financial base, the bus district board is now considering service cuts and fare increases that voters hoped the passage of Measure VV would stave off. -more-

Berkeley Council To Consider Condo Conversion, Sunshine Law and City Manager's Salary Increase

By J. Douglas Allen-Taylor

Monday January 26, 2009

The Berkeley City Council takes up—once more—the complicated issue of modification of its condominium conversion law, raising the salary of the city manager and the progress of a city sunshine ordinance on Tuesday, 7 p.m., at Old City Hall, 2134 Martin Luther King Jr. Way. -more-

Planning Commission Tackles West Berkeley

By Richard Brenneman

Monday January 26, 2009

Planning commissioners have a single topic on Wednesday night’s agenda: their ongoing effort to implement a City Council directive to create more flexibility in West Berkeley’s zoning rules. -more-

Key Chu Ally Named Interin Chief of LBNL

By Richard Brenneman

Monday January 26, 2009

UC President Mark Yudof named a key ally of new U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu to fill the secretary’s former post as head of Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. -more-

City Releases Pools Draft Master Plan, Asks Community to Weigh In

By Riya Bhattacharjee

Friday January 23, 2009

The public will be able to comment on the Berkeley citywide pools master plan—out today (Friday), a week later than it was originally scheduled to be released—starting Saturday at a community workshop at the James Kenney Recreation Center. -more-

Woman Initially Charged in Shooting Has Been Released

By Richard Brenneman

Friday January 23, 2009

While a Berkeley man has been charged with murder following Tuesday’s death of the victim of a Jan. 11 West Berkeley shooting, a 47-year-old woman originally charged with the shooting has been released. -more-

Study Session, Forum Planned for Berkeley High Redesign Plan

By Riya Bhattacharjee

Friday January 23, 2009

The proposal for the Berkeley High School redesign—which has generated controversy so far but has been moving at a brisk pace since it was first unveiled in November—is scheduled for public discussion twice in the next two weeks to give the community and district officials a chance to comment on its strengths and weaknesses. -more-

News

Berkeley, County Face Growing Budget Problems

By J. Douglas Allen-Taylor

Wednesday January 21, 2009

With the national, state, and local economies continuing to tank and the California State Legislature and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger stalled on how -more-

The Public Eye: Mayor Bates: Raise City Manager Salary to $232,020 (And Counting)

By Zelda Bronstein

Wednesday January 21, 2009

In a nod to the country’s economic turmoil, President Barack Obama's first public act in office Wednesday was to freeze the salaries of high-paid White House aides who make over $100,000 a year. -more-

Berkeley Students Celebrate as President Obama Takes Office

By Riya Bhattacharjee

Wednesday January 21, 2009

For the 3,500 Berkeley High School students who watched the presidential inauguration unfold Tuesday morning, the steps of the Community Theater could have very well been those of the U.S. Capitol—their solemn expressions and sporadic bursts of laughter capturing one of the greatest moments in the nation’s history. -more-

Building Heights Trigger Commission Questions

By Richard Brenneman

Wednesday January 21, 2009

Downtown planner Matt Taecker tells planning commissioners about the impacts of proposed new high rises on the city center.

One of Berkeley’s two new planning commissioners last week proposed a move that would scrap outright the key compromise of the downtown plan shaped by a now-disbanded citizen committee. -more-

News Analysis: The Inauguration: Dr. King’s Dream Come True?

By Matthew Taylor

Wednesday January 21, 2009

More than a million people came to the National Mall in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday to witness the inauguration.

“Directly in front of us is a pool that still reflects the dream of a King, and the glory of a people who marched and bled so that their children might be judged by their character’s content,” President-elect Barack Hussein Obama proclaimed from the Lincoln Memorial, two days before his inauguration. Standing amid a shivering yet rapturous sea of countless thousands who clung to the President-elect’s every word like a comforting mug of hot cocoa, I couldn’t help but wonder: Does this moment represent the fulfillment of Martin Luther King Jr.’s dream? -more-

First Person: Inauguration Brings 4.8 Million Partygoers

By Rio Bauce

Wednesday January 21, 2009

As many watched the inauguration of the 44th president of the United States Barack Obama from their homes, I spent the morning and afternoon at the site of the event. Excited as ever to have a seat behind the capitol pool in the “Silver” section, I arrived shortly after the 9 a.m. opening of the gates. Expecting slight amounts of waiting and inconvenience, I rode up the escalator out of the Federal Center Metro Station in downtown Washington D.C. -more-

Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory wants to consolidate lab operations now in West Berkeley with other research in this proposed new General Purpose Laboratory building above Strawberry Canyon.

LBNL: Move West Berkeley Biolabs to New Building on Hill

By Richard Brenneman

Wednesday January 21, 2009

‘Smart Growth’ Proponents Tighten Grip on Commission

By Richard Brenneman

Wednesday January 21, 2009

Zoning Meetings Turn Monthly, Kashani Condos Back on Agenda

By Riya Bhattacharjee

Wednesday January 21, 2009

Demonstrators Jam Oakland Streets In Second Round Of Oscar Grant Protests

By J. Douglas Allen-Taylor

Thursday January 22, 2009

Families March in Honor Of Martin Luther King Jr.

By Riya Bhattacharjee

Wednesday January 21, 2009

High School Performance Data Worry School Board

By Riya Bhattacharjee

Wednesday January 21, 2009

Chef Ann Cooper to Leave Berkeley Unified in June

By Riya Bhattacharjee

Wednesday January 21, 2009

5 New Portables for Berkeley High

By Riya Bhattacharjee

Wednesday January 21, 2009

UC Workers Take Over Regent's Office to Demand Pay Raise

By Riya Bhattacharjee

Wednesday January 21, 2009

John Allen Brown, Jr. 8/3/35 - 12/4/08

Wednesday January 28, 2009

Police Blotter

By Rio Bauce

Wednesday January 21, 2009

Fire Department Log

By Richard Brenneman

Wednesday January 21, 2009

Steven Finacom

Thousands gathered to watch the outdoor broadcast at UC Berkeley’s Sproul Plaza of the inauguration of Barack Obama.

Editorials

Putting On a Top Hat

By Becky O'Malley

Wednesday January 21, 2009

We all compared notes on when we first started to cry during the inauguration. Friends at both of the TV-watching parties I went to on Tuesday morning were well-supplied with Kleenex, luckily, since I’ve never mastered the grandmother trick of carrying a little hankie at all times. For me, it was Aretha’s hat that did it. -more-