Berkeley High School announced Friday it will not charge for each student’s first two tickets to this year’s graduation ceremony the Greek Theater. -more-
His Holiness the Dalai Lama received a rock star welcome at UC Berkeley’s Greek Theater Saturday, his third visit to the campus since taking over as the head and spiritual leader of the Tibetan people in 1937 at the age of 2. -more-
While Berkeley planning commissioners have scheduled only one decisive action for Wednesday night’s meeting, they’ll be setting a hearing to decide on potentially controversial amendments to city’s zoning code. The package of zoning changes, dubbed “Zoning Amendments to Encourage Economic Development in Downtown,” comes in the wake of the commission’s approval of their own rewrite of the Downtown Area Plan. -more-
Despite budget constraints, Oakland Unified will stick with the school district's tradition of not charging for high school graduation tickets this year, district officials said Thursday. -more-
Safeway will unveil the latest design for its College Avenue store at a public meeting at the Claremont Hotel Wednesday, April 29. -more-
While Berkeley Mayor Tom Bates and City Manager Phil Kamlarz were hitting back swiftly against a recent San Francisco Chronicle article that the officials say mischaracterized the city’s proposed Climate Action Plan (CAP), Councilmember Linda Maio, a veteran Bates ally on the council, was indicating that some of the Chronicle’s concerns may have actually been prompted by suggestive language in the plan itself. -more-
A tired and decidedly testy Berkeley City Council worked into the early morning hours of Earth Day Wednesday morning before abandoning efforts to move forward with the city’s proposed Climate Action Plan (CAP). -more-
There will be no free seats at the Berkeley High School graduation this year. -more-
The Bay Area Air Quality Management District last week released the results of the air monitoring it carried out near West Berkeley's Pacific Steel Casting last year. -more-
Nearly two months after Alameda City Manager Debra Kurita resigned, the island city is still trying to sound the depths of the financial crisis caused by her falsely inflated budgets. -more-
Some Berkeley High School parents are complaining about the lack of information they have received about a new committee charged with planning the second phase of a new organizational design for Berkeley High. -more-
The Berkeley Board of Education voted unanimously on April 15 to ask the city to proceed with an environmental review of the citywide pools master plan. -more-
Berkeley High School officials plan to ramp up safety and security measures as a result of multiple written complaints from members of the school’s Safety Committee earlier this year. -more-
A large number of parents and students from Franklin State Preschool and Parent Nursery showed up at the Berkeley Board of Education meeting April 15 to thank the district for not changing the school’s half-day Spanish bilingual program. -more-
Planning commissioners voted 7-2 Wednesday, April 15, to approve their taller, denser rewrite of the plan that will guide the development of downtown Berkeley for the next 20 years. -more-
The U.S. Department of Education on April 17 approved $4.9 billion in funds for California’s public schools over the next two years, which will help prevent teacher layoffs and improve student achievement. -more-
The Berkeley Unified School District sent out at least 62 pink slips to classified employees on April 16 to offset cuts to state public education funding, district officials said. -more-
Man shatters window, arrested -more-
JUAREZ, Mexico—On Easter Sunday in Juarez, children awoke with the dream of finding Easter eggs. But adults had a different kind of worry. -more-
This space doesn’t usually take requests, but when my 94-year-old mother calls up and insists, it’s hard to say no. What she wanted when she called last week is not hard to come up with, after all: a forthright denunciation of the Obama administration’s apparent plan to let the torturers and their instigators off the hook. Thinking people everywhere (I’m one of them) have rushed to their keyboards to do their best to make sure the current government doesn’t get away with letting their predecessors get off scot free. MoveOn is on their case to make sure they don’t forget. -more-
EDITOR'S NOTE: This is the complete text of the city manager's letter to the City Council regarding the San Francisco Chronicle's article about the Climate Action Plan. -more-
As I read the letters criticizing Russ Tilleman’s alternative idea to BRT, it occurs to me that, whether his idea is good or feasible or not, the notion of making it difficult to drive on Telegraph is precisely what BRT advocates are fighting for. It may be helpful to discuss this from a strategic point of view because this is, in its distilled form, the primary bone of contention. And make no mistake, the operative word here is “hamper,” not “calm” as AC Transit language implies, for there is nothing calm about traffic that is hampered. -more-
EDITOR’S NOTE: These letters were received before the April 22 City Council meeting. City Manager Phil Kamlarz’s response to the San Francisco Chronicle article about the Climate Action Plan is posted on our website, www.berkeleydailyplanet.com. -more-
Measure G is a plan to fail. According to the latest climate science, its goal of an 80 percent greenhouse gas emission (GGE) cut by 2050 will be much too little and far too late. Berkeley City Council and the Energy Commission should act immediately to order a comprehensive reassessment of the targets. -more-
As a recent Berkeley High School graduate and grateful alum of one of Berkeley High’s “small school” programs (CAS), I feel obliged to clarify a few points of recent controversy. -more-
Georgian plot? -more-
Let’s call this one of Oakland’s teaching moments. For many years, both in this column and in its previous incarnation, the Oakland Unwrapped column for the old Urbanview newspaper, I’ve been talking about the more or less systematic minimizing of the presence and effect of African-American culture in Oakland. I don’t believe this is the result of some great conspiracy or secret plan of action written down in detail somewhere, more a confluence of various interests that have come together to push things towards the same end, that of pushing African-American cultural activities out of the city. Or, more correctly, African-American cultural activities that are operated and controlled by African-Americans themselves. -more-
Over the past few years I’ve had the privilege of meeting with some real geeks. -more-
As an inspector, there are certain phrases that catch my ear and cause me to run some little macros that I’ve been cognitively building over these many years looking at houses. One of them is some version of, “The sellers did all this work for themselves and were planning on living here for many years.” -more-
Founded 35 years ago in Paris by artists Archana Horsting, coming from California, and Yuzo Nakano, from Japan, the Kala Art Institute has succeeded beyond their early expectations. Originally a print workshop, it has grown to be a very special place for the production of art in all media, including photography, book arts, video, three-dimensional work and digital processes. By providing professional working facilities in a unique creative environment, it has attracted artists from this country and abroad. Kala provides both established and emerging artists with opportunities to develop and exhibit traditional, as well as cutting-edge artwork and serves as a forum for international dialogue between artists engaged in creative innovation and exploration. -more-
The young steward to Squire Robert de Baudricourt, military commander in Champagne, sloughs off his master’s inferences as to why there are no eggs in the henhouse at the beginning of Bernard Shaw’s Saint Joan, staged by David Bogdonoff with a cast of 17 at El Cerrito’s Contra Costa Civic Theatre. No one would steal the eggs, the steward asserts; the hens won’t lay because the area is under a spell. Then, he mentions, “The Girl from Lorraine is at the door.” -more-
The Pacific Boychoir, Oakland’s only professional all-male youth choir, will perform with the Marcus Shelby Jazz Orchestra in an unusual program of material this weekend. The performance takes place at 7 p.m., Friday, April 24, at San Francisco’s Grace Cathedral, and at 7 p.m., Saturday, April 25, at Berkeley’s First Congregational Church -more-
Lyric Escape, paintings by San Francisco poet Lawrence Ferlinghetti, most of them done over the past decade, are on exhibit at the Berkeley Art Center through May 10 with an opening reception tonight (Thurday) from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. -more-
The rough-hewn art of John Cassavetes -more-
Active Arts for Young Audiences has teamed up with the San Francisco Circus Center for an intriguing and fun circus version of Alice in Wonderland. 2 p.m. Saturday, 2 and 4:30 p.m. Sunday at the Julia Morgan Center for the Arts, 2640 College Ave. 296-4433. activeartstheatre.org. -more-
TheatreFIRST's excellent production of Harold Pinter's OLD TIMES—with Peter Callendar, Julia McNeal and Zehra Berkman—is being held over, running Thursday, Friday and Saturday at the Gaia Arts Center, 2120 Addison. 436-5085. www.theatrefirst.org. -more-
As an inspector, there are certain phrases that catch my ear and cause me to run some little macros that I’ve been cognitively building over these many years looking at houses. One of them is some version of, “The sellers did all this work for themselves and were planning on living here for many years.” -more-
