News

Community leaders, labor rights activists and garment workers from Central America urged Berkeley city officials to pass a sweatshop-free ordinance at a Tuesday press conference at Old City Hall. -more-

Berkeley didn’t make the list of schools selected last week for outdoor air quality monitoring by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and a local environmental group isn’t happy about the omission. -more-

The City of Berkeley is expecting a small amount of budget relief this month—$289,000 in refunds for overcharges on office supplies by Office Depot. In a memo this week from City Manager Phil Kamlarz to Mayor Tom Bates and the Berkeley City Council, Bates said Office Depot had agreed to refund the money by April 17. -more-

The California Court of Appeal upheld last week the Berkeley City Council's decision to revoke U-Haul's use permit for its San Pablo Avenue location. -more-

Starting next year, Berkeley Unified School District’s food services program will have to pay for itself, but district officials say they won’t let finances undermine quality. -more-

Directors of a regional agency voted to build a new pier south of the Berkeley Marina fishing pier to serve as the hub for a new ferry service. -more-

Berkeley Unified School District is set to receive a healthy chunk of change next month. -more-

An attorney for BART said in a legal filing today that the shooting death of Oscar Grant at the hands of BART police Officer Johannes Mehserle in Oakland on New Year’s Day was “a tragic error” and Grant’s own actions contributed to the tragedy. -more-

Pacific Ethanol, a partner with Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) in developing a pilot plant to turn plant fiber into fuel, may be heading for bankruptcy court. -more-

With creditors clamoring in the wings and unhappy with plans to sell off Golden Gate Fields and other key assets of troubled Magna Entertainment, the company agreed Friday, April 3, to delay a key court hearing until April 20. -more-

Friends and foes of the Planning Commission’s rewrite of the Downtown Area Plan can share their views with commissioners during a special hearing Monday night, April 6. -more-

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-

Rather than wait for the government to jump-start a struggling economy, a group of merchants on Solano Avenue have decided to take matters into their own hands. -more-

Is the City of Berkeley moving in the direction of opening up more of its commercial business districts towards street-level office use? That seemed to be the indication during the last two months as the City Council considered, but ultimately rejected, granting a first-floor office space permit for a building on Solano Avenue. -more-

Depending on the outcome of bankruptcy actions in U.S. and Canadian courts, the would-be owners of Albany’s Golden Gate Fields say that once they acquire the property, they intend “to immediately commence seeking all required approvals to develop the property for commercial real estate uses.” -more-

Plans for one new building at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) were soaring this week, just one week after another had received a major cash boost, thanks to the lab’s former boss. -more-

State legislators representing Berkeley and Oakland constituents in Sacramento gave a mixed message on the upcoming May special election to local progressive activists last week, uniting in opposition to a proposition that would impose a permanent cap on state spending, but dividing over a ballot measure that would siphon money from the state lottery. -more-

In 2008, reports Paper Cuts, a weblog that tracks U.S. newspaper closings and staff reductions cost, the country’s papers lost at least 15,859 jobs. -more-

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has announced the appointment of Paul D. Seeman of Berkeley to a judgeship on the Alameda County Superior Court bench. -more-

As the sun rises above the Berkeley Hills on the morning of Wednesday, April 8, some local Jews will gather at the Berkeley Marina to greet it and carry out, atop Berkeley’s newest piece of land, an ancient religious ritual held at 28 year intervals. -more-

El Cerrito police are asking for the public’s assistance in locating a 24-year-old woman who was reported missing March 10. -more-

The last three suspects in a home-invasion robbery and torture case in the Berkeley hills last month have turned themselves in, Berkeley police spokesman Andrew Frankel said today. -more-

Three high school-age couples parked on a romantic spring Saturday night on a Grizzly Peak Boulevard turnout suddenly found themselves in a most unromantic encounter—a stick-up. -more-

Berkeley police are in Tilden Regional Park in the Berkeley hills for a second straight day to look for evidence in an old case in which new information has emerged, police spokesman Officer An-drew Frankel said Wednesday. -more-

At a March 20 hearing, Judge Morris Jacobson of the Alameda County Superior Court ordered a witness to appear for the May 18 preliminary hearing of Berkeley resident Andrew Hoeft-Edenfield. -more-

This year’s annual Berkeley Architectural Heritage Association (BAHA) Spring House Tour takes place Sunday, May 3. The tour extends broadly over the architectural spectrum, with homes from the Maybeck era to the “Mid-Century Modern” period, all concentrated in the North Berkeley hills. -more-