City planning staff have dropped a bombshell on anxious West Berkeley activists: a proposal that would double the height of new buildings and potentially open the area to office complexes. -more-

State budget cuts will force the Berkeley Unified School District to cut more than $1 million from its adult education program. -more-

Safeway will unveil the latest design for its College Avenue store April 29 at the Claremont Hotel in Oakland, even as neighbors complain that they are being left out in the cold. -more-

Citing a sudden rise in accidents involving Berkeley Unified School District students, Superintendent Bill Huyett announced at the Berkeley Board of Education meeting Wednesday, March 25, that the district would work with traffic safety groups to educate children about bicycle and pedestrian safety issues. -more-

“Determination” was the word of the day at Malcolm X Elementary School Monday, March 30, the eve of Cesar Chavez’s 82nd birthday. -more-

During my midlife career break, which lasted about 18 years, we ran a small software development group. We started on Telegraph in the late 1970s, upstairs in the brick building which now houses Rasputin’s at the corner of Channing. At that time the building was owned by a southern California cheap- clothing chain which absolutely didn’t get Berkeley. They attached no value to the upstairs offices, so we were able to rent vast spaces with high ceilings, big windows and crown molding for about 30 cents a square foot, with no lease. We bought some used metal desks and a big table, and we were in business. -more-