Two Oakland residents who were part of a flotilla that was raided by Israeli troops as it approached Gaza with a shipment of aid Monday are expected to arrive back in the Bay Area tonight. 

Gene St. Onge and Janet Kobren, members of the Free Palestine Movement, are expected to arrive at San Francisco International Airport tonight and will be greeted at the airport by family, friends and supporters, according to Henry Norr, a representative for the group. 

Israeli troops raided the flotilla early Monday. At least nine people aboard one ship, the Mavi Marmara, were killed and dozens more were injured. 

Daniel Morgan, a spokesman for the Israeli consulate in San Francisco, said earlier this week that the aid supplies on the ship were loaded onto 21 Israeli trucks to be delivered to Gaza, but that the militant group Hamas, considered a terrorist group by the U.S., had blocked the shipment. 

The items include expired medication, clothing, blankets, medical equipment and toys, Morgan said. 

The return of St. Onge and Kobren is one of several Bay Area events during the next few days related to the flotilla incident. 

Paul Larudee, another local activist, is tentatively scheduled to return home Saturday afternoon on a flight to SFO. 

Larudee, a 64-year-old Richmond man, is a former professor and co-founder of the Free Palestine Movement. Richmond Mayor Gail McLaughlin said she had been told Larudee was seriously beaten after he refused to follow Israeli orders. According to the Free Palestine movement, Larudee was also shot with a Taser gun. 

Larudee's wife, Betty, said he was not on the ship on which the other activists were killed. 

A rally condemning the Israeli raid on the flotilla is also scheduled for Saturday at 11 a.m. in San Francisco. It will be held in the city's Civic Center Plaza. 

On Monday, a news conference is scheduled with the flotilla returnees, as well as George Bisharat, a professor at University of California's Hastings College of the Law. That event is scheduled for 2 p.m. in San Francisco at the offices of the American Friends Service Committee, located at 65 Ninth St. 

 

A judge has issued an injunction that makes it illegal for 15 named members of the North Side Oakland gang to associate within a 100-block area in Oakland. 

The order by Alameda County Superior Court Judge Robert Freedman, which was issued on Wednesday, was expected because he said at a hearing last week that the Oakland city attorney's office had presented "clear and convincing evidence" that the gang is a public nuisance and its members should be prohibited from conducting certain specified activities in a "safety zone" in an area in North Oakland that stretches to the city's borders with Berkeley and Emeryville. 

Freedman said he would issue an injunction once its language and restrictions were finalized. 

When he filed suit against the North Side Oakland gang in February, City Attorney John Russo said the city is targeting the gang because of severe and increasing violence associated with its members. He said the gang was involved in 18 serious crimes in 2009, including seven murders. 

But the ACLU of Northern California and the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights of the San Francisco Bay Area filed friend of the court briefs opposing the proposed gang injunction, alleging that it would give the Oakland Police Department wide discretion to label people gang members without having to present any evidence to a judge or even charge them with a crime. 

The city originally named 19 suspected gang members, but four people were removed because they're already in jail for a pending triple murder case and aren't expected to get out of jail anytime soon. 

Among the injunctions restrictions against gang members are not associating with other gang members in public, not confronting or intimidating witnesses, not possessing firearms or other weapons and not participating in drug activity. 

Violating the injunction will be considered contempt of court and be a criminal misdemeanor offense punishable by up to six months in jail and a fine of up to $1,000. 

Russo said in a statement today, "We are grateful that Judge Freedman recognized the immediate threat posed by the members of this criminal enterprise." 

He said, "By itself, an injunction cannot solve all gang-related crime. But it is an opportunity to change a neighborhood and prevent more gang members from destroying their lives - as well as the lives of uninvolved bystanders." 

Russo said police will personally serve the injunction to each of the 15 named gang members, at which point it will become effective. He said his office will report back to the judge within 120 days of the implementation of the injunction.  

Russo said the city intends to file at least two more injunctions against gangs in other parts of Oakland this fall. 

Attorney Jory Steele of the American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California said her organization continues to oppose gang injunctions. 

Steele said, "The injunction the court issued today is far more narrow and limited than what the city attorney originally proposed, due to widespread opposition from the community and civil rights groups." 

She said, "These injunctions have proven ineffective and, in other cities where they have been enacted, have actually harmed the communities they were intended to protect." 

She said the city attorney should conduct a formal evaluation of the injunction after one year to assess its impact on crime and on the community as a whole and such an assessment should occur before the city seeks additional injunctions against other gangs. 

According to Russo, gang injunctions were upheld as constitutional by the California Supreme Court in 1997. 

 

 

A man suspected of attacking bicyclists with a handsaw in the hills above the University of California at Berkeley campus pleaded not guilty to assault and vandalism charges in Alameda County Superior Court today. 

Michael Vandeman, 67, who has a website dedicated to environmental activism with an anti-bicyclist bent, was arrested Friday in connection with an attack about six weeks ago on the Strawberry Canyon Fire Trail near campus, UC Berkeley police Lt. Alex Yao said. 

The Berkeley Daily Planet has published a number of letters on environmental topics from Vandeman. Internet comments suggest that he lives in Berkeley in the Bateman neighborhood, although he has given the Planet an office address in San Ramon. In a 2005 letter, he said: 

"It’s high time that we put a halt to this abuse and sacrifice of our natural areas and of our young people. Mountain biking accelerates erosion, creates V-shaped ruts in trails, kills small animals and plants on and next to the trail, and drives wildlife and oth er trail users off the trails and out of the parks. What’s good about that?" 

Yao said Vandeman approached two male bicyclists who were riding west on the trail and cut one of the victims across the chest with a handsaw. The victim suffered minor injuries. 

The victims asked why he had attacked them, and Vandeman allegedly told them they should not be riding their bicycles on the trail, police said. 

The victims eventually identified Vandeman from a photograph, and he was arrested Friday after admitting to holding a saw in front of bicyclists and touching one of them with it, according to Yao. 

Additional charges may be sought against Vandeman for similar incidents on the trail, including one reported on May 6. 

Yao said Vandeman is not currently affiliated with the university. 

He appeared in court with his attorney this morning and pleaded not guilty to felony assault and misdemeanor vandalism charges, according to the Alameda County District Attorney's Office. 

District attorney's office spokeswoman Teresa Drenick said the assault charge is related to an April 18 incident and the vandalism charge stems from an incident on June 19, 2009. 

Vandeman's bail has been set at $12,500. 

On Vandeman's website, http://home.pacbell.net/mjvande, he describes himself as a computer programmer who got his bachelor's degree in mathematics from UC Berkeley and later received a Ph.D. in psychology from University of California at Los Angeles. 

The website includes letters dating as far back as the 1990s that Vandeman claims he sent to various elected officials, local environmental groups and media outlets in the East Bay that called for the restriction of bikes to paved roads. 

 

One letter, sent to the East Bay Regional Parks District in 2002, complains that it is "very hazardous and unpleasant...to suddenly try to share narrow paths with large, fast-moving pieces of machinery." 

UC Berkeley police are still seeking information about other possible incidents involving Vandeman. Anyone with information is asked to contact the Police Department's criminal investigation bureau at (510) 642-0472 or (510) 642-6760. 

 

A 30-year-old man was fatally shot in Berkeley on Thursday evening, and police are seeking possible witnesses. 

At about 6:30 p.m., officers responded to King Street, just south of 62nd Street, on reports of multiple shots fired. They arrived to find a man suffering from at least one gunshot. 

The man was pronounced dead at the scene. He was identified today by the Alameda County coroner's bureau as Berkeley resident Kenneth Tims Jr. 

No arrests have been made in connection with the shooting, and police Sgt. Mary Kusmiss said investigators are asking for the public's help in solving the case. 

"It was during what's essentially rush hour, so it's possible someone saw something," she said. "Even the smallest thing can make a big difference." 

Investigators are also looking into the possibility of a connection between Thursday's shooting and another one that occurred a block away just two weeks earlier. 

At about 11 a.m. on May 20, a 39-year-old man and a 57-year-old woman were critically injured after being shot while sitting in a car parked near the intersection of King and 63rd streets. 

Police announced last week that Doran Williams, Jr., a 27-year-old Oakland man, was wanted on a no-bail arrest warrant for one count of attempted murder and one count of assault with a deadly weapon. 

He hasn't been arrested, and should be considered armed and dangerous. 

Kusmiss said investigators "are certainly looking into the possibility of a connection (between the two shootings), but there's no confirmation that they're related." 

Thursday's shooting marks the second homicide in the city this year. There were nine homicides in Berkeley in 2009. 

People with information about Thursday's shooting, as well as Williams' whereabouts in connection with the May 20 shooting, are asked to call Berkeley police detectives at (510) 981-5741 or police communications at (510) 981-5900. 

Callers who want to remain anonymous can call the Bay Area Crime Stoppers tip line at (800) 222-8477. 

Dr. Paul Larudee, a passenger on the Freedom Flotilla that was attacked by Israel before it could deliver its cargo of humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip, was badly beaten and tasered during the Memorial Day commando raid, but according to latest reports he was released from detention late Wednesday night and is now in flight to Greece. 

Larudee, a resident of Richmond, CA, participated in the international flotilla as part of a delegation from the Free Palestine Movement (FPM), a California-based non-profit. Two other members of the FPM group - Ambassador Ed Peck of Chevy Chase, MD, a retired US diplomat, and Joe Meadors of Corpus Christi, TX, a USS Liberty veteran (hence now a survivor of two unprovoked Israeli attacks on the high seas) - have returned home safely and are now speaking out about their ordeal. As of Wednesday afternoon California time, two other members of the group - Gene St. Onge and Janet Kobren, both of Oakland, CA - have been held up for the last 12 hours at Israel's international airport near Tel Aviv. but are expected to board a flight to Istanbul soon, before proceeding home to the US. 

Gayle McLaughlin, Mayor of Richmond, said "I have worked with Paul on local housing issues in Richmond, and I know he has a track record of commitment to nonviolence in standing up against the oppression of Palestinians. I condemn the Israeli assault on this humanitarian flotilla and join others in calling for an end to the blockade of Gaza." 

Ambassador Peck this morning described the Israeli commando raid on the Sfendoni, the Freedom Flotilla ship he and other FPM delegates were aboard: "The first thing we knew was the sound of footsteps, and my eyelids flicked open, and there they were, heavily armed. The Israeli government keeps referring to the paint guns, but the paint guns were attached to the automatic weapons and the stun grenades and the pepper spray and the tasers and everything else that these guys carry. ... And it was all over in the inside of the ship, where I was. But up on the upper deck, where some people had been sitting and sleeping, they made an effort to peacefully prevent the Israelis from taking over the wheelhouse, and we had a number of people injured in that. Nothing of a critical nature, but we had people on crutches and people with bandages and peoples with their arms in slings, and the captain had his neck in a brace." 

"I was deported for having violated Israeli law," Peck added. "I asked [the Israeli official processing his deportation], 'What law have I violated?' He said, 'You have illegally entered Israel.' I said, 'Well, now, wait. Our ship was taken over by armed commandos. I was brought here at gunpoint against my will, and you call that illegally entering Israel?'" 

To Navy vet Joe Meadors, “There is no doubt that the Israelis were committing piracy on the high seas against the Freedom Flotilla and used deadly force against unarmed humanitarians whose only crime was defending themselves against a sea and airborne invasion by heavily armed aggressors." 

"As a survivor of the June 8, 1967 Israeli attack on the USS Liberty," Meadors said, "I am fully aware of the tactics the Israelis are capable of and willing to use with impunity and without remorse. That time they fired machine guns, cannon, rockets, napalm, and torpedoes on us, then deliberately machine-gunned life rafts we had dropped over the side in anticipation of abandoning ship. And the only response from the American government was to impose a gag order on the crew of the USS Liberty." 

"This time, too," Meadors continued, "the Israelis have shown no remorse, and I fear that the US government is again granting them impunity." 

As to the other FPM detainees, St. Onge suffered a gash on his head when kicked by an Israeli soldier as he tried to protect a fellow passenger whom the commandos were beating on the deck of the Sfendoni, he told his wife Jan St. Onge. Kobren was allowed to make a brief phone call to the US from a women's prison unit in Beersheba, Israel, yesterday and reported that she is good health, but all the prisoners' belongings had been taken from them. 

Larudee, 64, is a longtime activist in the struggle for justice for Palestine: he and Kobren co-founded the FPM in 2009, and he previously co-founded the Free Gaza Movement, the organization that first broke the Israeli blockade of Gaza from the sea in 2008, and the International Solidarity Movement, a group that has sent hundred of Americans and other internationals to support non-violent Palestinian resistance to the Israeli occupation. Paul holds a Ph.D. in linguistics and makes his living as a piano tuner. 

At least seven other US citizens took part in the Freedom Flotilla under the auspices of other organizations. One, Huwaida Arraf, chair of the Free Gaza Movement, was released Tuesday. The FPM has no confirmed information about the status of the other six: Iara Lee, a filmmaker from San Francisco; Kathy Sheetz, a retired nurse from Richmond, CA, and Woods Hole, MA; Ann Wright, a retired U.S. Army Colonel and a U.S. diplomat until she resigned in opposition to theIraq war; David Schermerhorn, a film producer from Deer Harbor, WA; Fatima Mohammadi, a longtime activist from Chicago; and Khalid Turaani, who was founder and executive director of the former American Muslims forJerusalem and now lives in Dubai. 

For more information about the Free Palestine Movement, see www.freepalestinemovement.org. 

For information on other groups that played major roles in the Freedom Flotilla, see savegaza.eu/eng/ (the European Campaign to End the Siege of Gaza), www.freegaza.org/ (the Free Gaza Movement), and www.ihh.org.tr/filistin/en/ (The Foundation For Human Rights And Freedoms And Humanitarian Relief of Turkey - IHH). 

Supporters of Measure C, including elected officials, representatives of the Berkeley Pools Campaign, the One Warm Pool Campaign, and warm pool users, gathered at the warm pool on Tuesday to dispel myths they believe are harming Measure C’s chances of passing. Measure C is Berkeley’s only measure on the upcoming June 8thballot. Its purpose as stated on the ballot is “to replace the multiuse indoor Warm Pool, renovate Willard and West Campus pools, construct a multipurpose pool at King [and] levy a special tax,” to increase funding for pool operating costs. 

 

Measure C has become controversial because it proposes to authorize the sale of $22.5 million of bonds to fund construction and renovation.It would impose a temporary parcel tax to repay the bonds and also an additional parcel tax of indefinite extent to help pay for running the pools.The City Attorney has estimated the average residential tax burden at about $70 per year, the average commercial property tax burden at about $369.At the same time, supporters view Berkeley’s public pools an essential and highly desirable contribution to Berkeley’s civic life, well worth the price in terms of its benefits for community building and the public health. 

 

 

Myths and Responses

Measure C supporters are concerned that voters have critical misunderstandings.Among these: 

 

Some critics of Measure C suggest that Berkeley has no need to build a new warm pool and that the greener alternative is to rehabilitate the current pool.Supporters are quick to, correctly, point out that the current warm pool is the property of the Berkeley Unified School District (BUSD) and exists in a dilapitated and seismically unsafe building.They say that BUSD has made a firm decision to raze the building and build more classrooms so there is no realistic possibility of saving the current pool. 

 

Some critics have argued that the warm pool serves such a small percentage of Berkeley residents that the expense of replacing it cannot be justified.Users of the pool who attended the meeting, including folks with rather severe mobility difficulties, recorded moving and persuasive comments about the public health benefits of the pool. In conversation, supporters offered their view that more people in Berkeley would use the pool if it were not in such poor condition and were available for a greater number of hours. 

 

Measure C extends beyond simply the warm pool.In January of this year the City Council announced that Willard Pool may face a shut-down due to poor conditions and budget cuts, the implication being that only measure C can save it. Critics assert that Measure C is fiscally irresponsible to which Kriss Worthington posed the question of which is more irresponsible: restoring Willard or “letting it rot”? 

 

Worthington described the campaign against Measure C as “factually incorrect and morally wrong”.Writing in commentary on the blog berkeleyside.com, Robert Collier, who sat on the Berkeley Pools Taskforce, said “it all comes down to values. Do you think we should have good public services and recreational facilities in Berkeley, or not? I plan on raising my kid(s) and living here for the rest of my life. My wife and I hope our two-month-old son will have a pool to swim in with his friends and neighbors. I love Berkeley, and I don’t want to let its pools crumble and disappear, for all neighborhoods, the able-bodied and the disabled. That’s why I’m voting for Measure C.”Councilmember Daryl Moore described opposition assertions as “lies, distortions” saying they were an example of “teabag practices”. 

 

Supporters noted an anti-Measure C postcard that was allegedly widely mailed and promulgated misconceptions about the measure but they did not have a copy on hand and were unable to identify who sent it. 

 

 

Some Issues Not Resolved

Supporters were less well able to answer two areas of concern that have been raised by critics of the measure. First, the question of whether the proposed pool developments are more ambitious than they need to be, and are therefore imprudent in the current economic climate. Second, the question of whether the bond and tax structure of Measure C is well constructed or whether it could be abused to help close the city deficit with borrowed money and a new tax to repay that money. 

 

The proposed bond authorization of $22.5 million dollars is a budget sufficient for the plans developed by the Berkeley Pools Taskforce, city staff, BUSD, and others. These plans include, for example, not merely repairing and restoring Willard to keep it open, but substantial renovations such as the creation of a playpool with an elaborate waterslide and other features. Critics in several forums have asserted that a more basic repair of existing facilities would be far less expensive. 

 

Asked about the seeming excess of the plan Robert Collier, a pools task force member, asserted “Willard will be rehabilitated as is with 0 changes.” He said the same of the West outdoor pool.Asked for assurance that the bond measure contained such limits he asserted that the City Attorney’s analysis in ballot information provided that guarantee.Our examination of the ballot and the Council resolutions behind it do not support his assertion. 

 

Concerning the structure of the bond and whether it can be abused to paper over budget deficits with borrowed money and new taxes, supporters deny this.Collier says “It’s just irresponsible to say that you can just plug the budget holes with this money.” We could not find support for that assertion when examining the Council resolutions that define the substance of Measure C. The City will be free to replace funds currently spent on pools with borrowed Measure C money and, to the best of our understanding, will be free to pay some operating expenses using borrowed money. Measure C does not obligate the City to do so, but to do so would, in fact, help close budget deficits using money borrowed under Measure C and repaid by taxpayers with interest. 

 

Collier asserts that although he objects to the “Big Lies” of the opposition, he does feel that whether this is the right time for Measure C and whether the measure contains the right details is a fair debate. 

 

 

An Entanglement of Issues

Voters are left with a clear understanding that, without Measure C, the Warm Pool will be lost for an indefinite amount of time, along with a likely shutdown of Willard. Measure C offers only a “package deal”: save the Warm Pool but only if not merely repairing existing pools, but investing in significant improvements to them with a fairly open-ended bond issue and tax. 

 

JoAnn Cook of the One Warm Pool Campaign provided some insight into how the issues became entangled. The Warm Pool users have struggled for years to create and maintain City support.As it became clear that the pool would need to be replaced, Warm Pool supporters made the tactical decision to join forces with pool boosters who had better resources for fighting a political battle: the ambitions of improving existing pools, building new pools, and replacing the Warm Pool became entangled. Without the unified effort and political sophistication of other pool boosters, a ballot measure to support the Warm Pool might not have made the ballot, just as it failed to make the ballot in 2009. 

 

 

Plug Your Nose and Jump In?

Nothing in Measure C obligates the City to borrow the full $22.5 million or spend it unwisely or on overly ambitious upgrades. At the same time, nothing in Measure C appears to prevent it. Voters have a difficult choice before them and, as Measure C supporters pointed out on Tuesday, misinformation abounds (and we hope we haven’t added too much more of it here). 

 

On a personal note, please vote with care and please don’t underestimate either the importance of the Warm Pool and Willard to our community or the potential with this measure for the City to go off the rails and waste money.It’s a tough choice. 

 

[Editor's note: Here's the resulting video . There's also a Measure C campaign website.] 

 

 

Two Richmond residents, Paul Larudee and Kathy Sheetz, were among the hundreds of unarmed civilians on the Freedom Flotilla that attempted to bring 10,000 tons of medical supplies and building materials to Gaza by sea, when their boats were forcefully seized three days ago by Israeli commandos in international waters. Varying reports have stated that between 9 and 18 flotilla participants were killed and dozens were injured by Israeli forces. The names and nationalities of those who were killed are still unknown. 

Reports from the Free Palestine Movement and the Free Gaza Movement have confirmed that both Mr. Larudee and Ms. Sheetz are still alive. According to information received from the US consulate in Israel, Mr. Larudee was seriously beaten when he silently refused to follow Israeli orders. 

"I have worked with Paul Larudee on local housing issues in Richmond, and I know his track record of commitment to nonviolence in standing up against the oppression of Palestinians. It is unconscionable that he was brutalized by his captors while he was resisting peacefully following the tradition of Gandhi and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.” stated Richmond Mayor Gayle McLaughlin. 

Mayor McLaughlin contacted Congressman George Miller’s office, which has been in touch with the US State Department concerning the welfare of Mr. Larudee and Ms. Sheetz, both detained along with the other survivors of the assault on the flotilla. According to Congressman Miller’s Washington, DC office, “all the Americans who have been detained in Israel from the flotilla have been taken to the airport and are expected to leave Israel either tonight or early tomorrow morning (Eastern Daylight time).” 

Mayor McLaughlin further stated, “The people of Gaza have suffered collective punishment from the three-year Israeli blockade that has turned the region into a virtual prison, and their suffering was compounded by the relentless military attack of December 2008-January 2009 in which 1,400 civilians in Gaza were killed. I condemn the Israeli assault on the humanitarian Freedom Flotilla and join others in calling for an end to US military aid to Israel as long as the illegal occupation of Palestinian territories, including the blockade of Gaza, continues.” 

 

San Francisco Bay Area resident Paul Larudee, who is instrumental in Berkeley's Free Palestine Movement, was taken and detained by Israeli commando forces on Monday. Official Israeli sources are stating that their peaceful boarding parties were met with violent resistance by passengers on the ships they were boarding and that the boarding parties only used force when necessary to protect themselves. 

However, I have known Paul for many years and his whole credo is one of non-violent resistance. Working with the NorCal branch of the International Solidarity Movement since approximately 1996, Paul is very much a believer in and practitioner of Gandhi's principles of non-violence. 

Given what I myself know about Paul, it seems rather odd that Paul would have been mercilessly beaten by Israeli forces. Yet I and other members of FPM just received the following e-mail stating that he was badly and, according to another e-mail I just received, "brutally" beaten: 

"Hello, my name's Lindsey, I'm living with Betty Larudee while her husband Paul is overseas with the Gaza flotilla. We just got an email from the Israeli Consulate General Andrew Parker in Jerusalem. 

"He said that Paul is alive and seriously beaten. Paul told him to call us so this is the closest contact we've had so far. He asked us to spread the word as much as possible. Betty was the one that talked to Parker but now she is upset and doesn't want to talk to anyone until she gets an email from the consulate tomorrow. 

"Paul silently refused to follow Israeli orders so they beat him. Now he's being held in prison. He's in the same room with the captain of the boat. They have no windows, no telephone, nothing. He refused treatment by Israeli doctors, and only let the ship doctor give him aspirin." 

Furthermore, I am currently receiving several other reports from various European, Greek and Turkish eyewitnesses that the Israeli boarding forces hit the ground running, armed with stun guns, tear gas, metal batons, rubber bullets, etc. and with clearly violent intent.

A group of East Bay citizens have joined the growing international protest against the Israeli Navy’s raid on the Gaza aid flotilla, sending out e-mails condemning the action and planning protests scheduled to start as early as 4 p.m. today. 

At least five Bay Area residents, including three from the East Bay who belong to the Free Palestine Movement based out of Berkeley’s historical Grassroots House on Blake Street, were part of the Gaza relief mission  

Free Palestine Movement activist and writer Henry Norr told the Planet Tuesday that none of the Bay Area activists aboard the international Freedom Flotilla are back in the U.S. yet. 

Norr said Ambassador Edward L. Peck, who served as a paratrooper during two tours of wartime active duty, and Joe Meadors, a signalman who survived Israel’s attack on a U.S. Navy surveillance ship 43 years ago and is now a member of the FPM, were released and returned to the U.S. today. “Both arrived at Newark airport about 4 a.m. and Amb. Peck arrived home safely at 9:45 a.m. this morning and was greeted by TV crews staking out his house,” in Chevy Chase, Md., an e-mail update to FPM members said. “He is in good spirits and raring to go—to speak with the press, which will be ongoing and incessant.”  

The three East Bay residents are Paul Larudee of El Cerrito and Janet Kobren and Gene St. Onge of Oakland. Larudee and Kobren are co-founders of the Free Palestine Movement. Larudee, who is a piano tuner by profession, also co-founded the Free Gaza Movement which broke the first Gaza siege in 2008. Kobren is a retired math teacher and St, Onge is a civil engineer working with Palestinian engineers to rebuild housing destroyed in Israel's 2009 invasion of Gaza. 

According to members of the Free Palestine Movement briefed on the situation, Larudee and Kobren are currently being detained in Israel. 

Larudee’s family reported Tuesday afternoon after receiving a call from the U.S. Consul General in Jerusalem Andrew Perkins that he was badly beaten and remains in detention. An e-mail from Lindsey Baggette, a family friend staying with Larudee’s wife Betty while he is overseas, said that “Paul had told [Perkins] to call us so this is the closest contact we've had so far. He asked us to spread the word as much as possible.Betty was the one that talked to Parker but now she is upset and doesn't want to talk to anyone until she gets an e-mail from the consulate tomorrow … Paul silently refused to follow Israeli orders so they beat him. Now he's being held in prison. He's in the same room with the captain of the boat. They have no windows, no telephone, nothing. He refused treatment by Israeli doctors, and only let the ship doctor give him aspirin." Norr said that the other two Bay Area residents are Kathy Sheetz, a nurse from Marin who is often in Berkeley to take part in protests, and Iara Bell, a filmmaker of Korean-Brazilian descent who lives in San Francisco. 

Norr said details are still emerging about how many people were killed or injured. 

“The big picture in this outrage is that Israel is not releasing any information,” Norr said. “They are not allowing people to communicate with their families.” Norr said that St. Onge’s wife Jan received an e-mail from the State Department which had originated in the U.S. embassy in Tel Aviv that her husband was safe and would be released in 72 hours. 

“So Gene is OK,” Norr said. “A friend of Janet’s who was listed as her contact received a similar e-mail. Kathy Sheetz is on a YouTube video which someone took when some of the passengers from the flotilla were being taken to an Israeli detention facility in Ashdod. So she is apparently unharmed.” 

Sheetz’ husband Steve Greaves told the Planet in an e-mail that Col. Ann Wright, U.S. Army Reserves and a former diplomat, was the white-haired woman just before Kathy Sheetz, who is the last person seen being escorted to detention tents in the video. 

Greaves said that Sheetz was initially on the Challenge-2, renamed the SS Audacity of Hope, but eventually moved onto the Greek-flagged Sfendoni. 

The U.N. Security Council condemned Israel’s attack on the flotilla Tuesday. 

“Speaking for FPM, the whole point of this flotilla was to bring some desperately needed supplies to 1.5 million people in Gaza who have been under strict siege for four years,” Norr said. “That’s the real point—to bring aid and to expose the stupidity and the inhumanity of this blockade. I think the flotilla has accomplished something in reminding the world of this ridiculous situation where Israel thinks it can starve all these people. There is no legal basis for this siege.” 

Berkeley resident Jane Stillwater, who has been monitoring the flotilla journey of her friends Larudee and Kobren said: 

“Paul and Kobren had planned to set to sail from Greece last week, aboard a flotilla loaded with 10,000 tons of humanitarian supplies bound for Gaza,” she said. “All was going well with Paul and Janet and the flotilla by the time that I left for the Berkeley Camp Tuolumne's work weekend last Friday—out of computer range. But when I returned home Monday night and turned my computer back on again, I was completely shocked and horrified to discover that armed Israeli commandos had boarded one of the humanitarian supply ships while it was in international waters. Apparently Paul and Janet are safe (sort of) and in detention in Israel … Still and all, this has not been good news to come home to. Israel has far exceeded its limits of authority here.And as the death toll continues to rise, I continue to be shocked and outraged.” 

At least nine people aboard the flotilla were killed when naval commandos opened fire during the raid, and hundreds of passengers are being detained by Israel for attempting to enter the Ghaza shore which is under a blockade.Haaretz reported that Sunday’s confrontation took place in international waters when the Israeli military intercepted the six-ship flotilla and warned the ships on board that they were entering hostile territory and the Ghaza shore was under a blockade.Israel said that the aid flotilla ignored orders to turn back and that at least seven commandos were injured—two seriously—in the fighting that ensued when they landed on the deck. Both sides have released video footage defending their action. 

“These were unarmed civilians trying to bring aid,” Norr said, “and Israel is trying to blame them for the attack.” 

The casualties happened aboard a Turkish vessel, Mavi Marmara, which was carrying about 600 activists. 

According to an e-mail sent out by Norr, the passengers aboard the international flotilla were scheduled to hold a memorial service at sea on May 30 for the 34 American sailors slain and 173 injured during Israel’s 1967 attack on the U.S.S Liberty.. 

Meadors was going to lead the service to honor his shipmates which was scheduled for noon Gaza time in international waters about 30 miles off the coast of Gaza, where the deadly incident took place years ago. He is one of 54 passengers aboard the Sfendoni, one of the ships on the flotilla.  

Norr said that the ceremony was postponed to coincide with Memorial Day on Monday, but ultimately never happened. 

“Because Israel attacked in the middle of the night between Sunday and Monday they never got to do it,” he said. 

Norr said the fleet had proceeded toward Gaza despite Israeli threats to stop it ‘by any means necessary.” Over the years, Meadors, who is from Texas and a decorated Navy veteran, has been attempting to break over the years what to him “seemed to be a blockade of information surrounding the June 8, 1967 attack by Israeli fighter planes and torpedo boats in the waters off the coast of Egypt,” Norr said. “Joe believes that while the facts of that day in 1967 may never be fully acknowledged, the men who died should not be forgotten. ‘I am sailing again in the Eastern Mediterranean,’he said, ‘to remember the brave heroes from the Liberty and the forgotten 1.5 million people trapped in Gaza.’ 

Norr said that although Meadors was back in the U.S., he was not sure whether he was able to fly back home to Corpus Christi, Tx. 

“The Israelis are only releasing a handful of people with their passports—they are not giving them back their money or credit cards or cell phones,” he said. “I was on the phone last night talking to the duty officer at the U.S. embassy in Tel Aviv and he said that the Israelis had denied them access to their own citizens. That may have changed now, but it just shows something about their attitude.” 

In its 2010 Annual Human Rights Report, Amnesty International said that Israel’s siege on Gaza, which has been under an Israeli-led blockade since 2006, has "deepened the ongoing humanitarian crisis. Mass unemployment, extreme poverty, food insecurity and food price rises caused by shortages have left four out of five Gazans dependent on humanitarian aid. The scope of the blockade and statements made by Israeli officials about its purpose showed that it was being imposed as a form of collective punishment of Gazans, a flagrant violation of international law." 

At an April 15 UC Berkeley student senate debate about whether the university should divest from investing in two American companies providing military weapons to Israel, a UC Berkeley student from Gaza testified how her family was living without basic amenities such as clean water.  

“Can you imagine living in a place where you don’t even have clean water?” the girl asked during a brief emotional speech.  

According to Norr’s email, the Freedom Flotilla was carrying 10,000 tons of relief aid to Gaza, including chocolates, crayons, soccer balls, basket balls as well as medical equipment and building supplies which were to be delivered by the international community directly to the people of Gaza “using only international waters and the coastal waters immediately off of Gaza for passage.“  

In an update Sunday, Norr wrote that the Sfendoni with its passengers had moved through waters near Limassol, Cyprus the day before. He added a comment from Larudee who said that"while passing by we enjoyed a quick swim with some dolphins and then they escorted us on our way. We take this as a very good omen indeed."  

 

Protests planned against the raid on the Gaza aid flotilla: 

Bay Area Emergency Protests: Tuesday, June 1, 4:30 p.m., Israeli Consulate, 456 Montgomery St., San Francisco. Future Actions: Friday, June 4, 12 p.m., interfaith action, San Francisco City Hall; Saturday, June 5, 11 a.m., mass mobilization, San Francisco Civic Center 

World Cant Wait: Tuesday, June 1 at 4:30 p.m., protest at the Israeli Consulate, 456 Montgomery Street, (between California & Sacramento), San Francisco. 

Justice for Palestine: Saturday the 5th of June is being called the Global ‘Break-The-Siege’ Day by organizing protests and demonstrations in front of Israeli embassies and consulates all over the world. http://www.breaksiege.com/call-for-action-global-day-to-break-israeli-siege/ 

 

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Immigration officials have declined to reopen the case of a 22-year-old Mayan refugee who is scheduled to be deported in two weeks based upon what his Bay Area lawyers call a miscommunication from 2002. Mario Mendoza's lawyers say he deserves to be granted political asylum in the U.S. because he crossed the border as a young teen and could be attacked if he returns to Guatemala.East Bay Sanctuary Covenant, a Berkeley-based group, has been helping Mendoza with his case. 

But immigration officials are upholding a 2003 deportation order against Mendoza because he missed an immigration hearing years ago. 

"This individual's immigration case has undergone extensive review by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, and by the immigration courts," ICE spokeswoman Lori Haley said in an e-mail. "At this time, he does not have a legal basis to remain in the United States." 

Mendoza's lawyers, however, feel the review has been inadequate. The deportation decision did not take into consideration his age of contact with immigration officials or his ethnicity, Mendoza's lawyer, Nancy Powell said in an e-mail. 

Mendoza came to the United States in 2002, about six years after Guatemala's 36-year civil war ended. Hundreds of thousands of people were killed in the conflict, and indigenous populations were attacked, according to the CIA fact book. 

Mendoza crossed the border with five other people, none of whom he knew prior to the crossing or planned to have contact with afterward, Powell said. At the time, he only spoke Mam, an indigenous language of Guatemala. 

The agents who picked up Mendoza's group arbitrarily selected one person and named him the "lead respondent," Powell said. That person provided an address for future correspondence. 

After he was detained, Mendoza was released and ordered to appear at an immigration hearing, but he did not understand the instructions, according to Powell. Court officials sent a notice about the hearing to the address that the group member had provided, but the letter never reached Mendoza, Powell said. 

Mendoza missed the hearing, so the judge issued an "in absentia" order of removal, meaning Mendoza was to be deported as a result. Last month, the judge declined to reopen the case because, saying Mendoza had been given sufficient notice of the hearing. 

However, Powell said, "The ICE paperwork that generated the case has numerous errors. It says he was traveling with a cousin; he was alone. But the main problem is slumping people together and calling it 'adequate notice.'" 

Mendoza didn't realize the court had ordered his deportation and spent the next five years supporting himself through odd jobs, Powell said. 

In 2007, he returned to Guatemala for a cousin's funeral, according to a spokeswoman with the East Bay Sanctuary Covenant, 

In Guatemala, members of a local security committee beat Mendoza and his grandfather because Mendoza's father had sided with guerillas during the civil unrest, sister Maureen Duignan of the Sanctuary Covenant said. 

Mendoza returned to the United States, and in 2008, he sought legal asylum through the East Bay Sanctuary Covenant. He had lost track of his family, but the group reunited him with his mother, who had already obtained asylum years earlier with their help, Duignan said. 

It wasn't until he applied for asylum that Mendoza discovered he was supposed to be deported, Duignan said. Officials tagged him with a monitoring bracelet, and he was ordered not to leave California. 

Mendoza was scheduled to be deported Tuesday morning but was granted two more weeks in the United States, Duignan said. He has never been arrested. 

Duignan said the Covenant will do whatever it can over the next two weeks to keep Mendoza in the country, including appealing to Congressional representatives. 

"He should have his day in court," Duignan said. "He got that deportation order when he was a child. He had no idea what to do, no fixed address, no place to go." 

 

 

The Endangered Species Act is the equivalent of a tiny bandage on a gaping wound. Congress passed the ESA in 1973 under intense public pressure to save a growing number of species from extinction. Groups like Greenpeace and the World Wildlife Fund fostered sympathy for the plight of cute or charismatic creatures like pandas and blue whales to raise awareness about the extinction crisis. These campaigns were so effective that the media still portrays the struggle to preserve biodiversity as an altruistic endeavor pressed upon society by tree-hugger environmentalists seeking to rescue creatures on the verge of extinction. 

This perception was fairly accurate back when extinctions seldom topped 100 a year. At that pace, it seemed reasonable for the ESA to list species for protection one at a time. But those days are over. Today, untold thousands face extinction because the ecosystems they inhabit are collapsing under the relentless assault of human encroachment. Many biologists believe we have instigated the 6th great extinction episode in Earth’s history; some estimate the pace of extinction has soared to 100,000 species a year. Renowned paleoanthropologist, Richard Leakey, believes half of the Earth’s species will vanish within 100 years and warns that this die-off could come sooner if greenhouse gases wreak havoc with the Earth’s climate. Preserving biodiversity is no longer an altruistic enterprise—it’s a matter of human survival. 

Without nature, we're toast. We really need this to “sink in” before it’s too late. The mysterious collapse of bee colonies around the world threatens all the crops they pollinate. The alarming die-off of North American bats is wiping out a major insect predator that prevents our harvests from becoming bug food. The acidification and warming of the oceans undermines the survival of the corals and zooplankton that sustain the marine food chain. 

We have to stop thinking of “nature” as something we visit while camping or watch on the Discovery channel. Nature purifies our water, pollinates our crops, regulates our climate, recycles our wastes and provides us with food, clothing, medicine and shelter. We can’t survive without it. Preserving biodiversity isn’t about saving charismatic creatures—it’s about saving ourselves. 

So, has Endangered Species Act reduced the rate of extinction in the United States? The 1,925 species officially listed as threatened or endangered under the ESA are just a small fraction of the creatures facing extinction. The exact size of this fraction is difficult to determine because of the vast number of plants and animals we know little or nothing about. But biologists estimate the law only covers between 1 and 30 percent of all species facing extinction in the US. 

The ESA’s arduous listing process is its most onerous defect. Listing species for protection one-by-one, instead of preserving the integrity of entire ecosystems, is an expensive, rigorous, time consuming ordeal constrained by scientific ignorance, bureaucratic intransigence, political pressure, partisan politics and budgetary shortfalls. Species designated as “candidates for listing” wait on average 20 years to get listed. Meanwhile, many go extinct. But even species lucky enough to be listed have a slim chance of survival. Only 19 of the 1,925 listed species have recovered enough to make it off the endangered list. This abysmal .1 percent recovery rate is the result of pernicious loopholes in the law. 

The ESA requires every endangered species to be assigned a critical habitat and a recovery plan. However, this rarely happens because the agencies in charge of enforcement have been hijacked by powerful mining, timber, oil and gas interests who oppose all restrictions on their exploitation of natural resources. Agency officials misuse minor legal exemptions to deny critical habitat designations to over 80 percent of all listed species and leave 40 percent without recovery plans. Consequently, only 10 percent of all listed species are improving, 30 percent are considered stable and 60 percent continue to slip toward extinction. 

The overriding weakness in the ESA is that no legal barrier can possibly halt the juggernaut of economic escalation at the heart of our extinction crisis. Human intrusions like urban sprawl, deforestation, road and dam building, industrial agriculture, grazing, mining, oil drilling, over-fishing, marine pollution, and harvesting wild species for food, sport and profit all continue to shred the web of life that supports us. 

The ESA’s inability to slow the pace of extinction reflects the fact that we are caught up in a malignant economic system so driven by the demands of consumption and profit that it must devour, expand and pollute at a suicidal pace. Reversing this unfolding calamity is beyond the scope of any law. It requires the transformation of our entire economic system to bring it into balance with the planet. 

Craig Collins, Ph.D. Author of the newly released book, TOXIC LOOPHOLES: Failures and Future prospects of Environmental Law (Cambridge University Press) Teaches environmental law & policy at California State University East Bay (Dept. of Political Science)

What: Condemning the Big Lies against Measure C: Berkeley Mayor Tom Bates,former Mayor Shirley Dean, and other City Council and School Board members will hold a press conference denouncing the Karl Rove-style disinformation tactics of the opponents of Measure C in Berkeley's June 8 election. 

Why: Using a strategy right out of the Karl Rove play book, the anti-everything crowd (NO on schools, libraries, fire protection) now is attacking our pools Measure C with wildly false claims to create doubt and confusion. Their many whoppers include these: 

LIE #1: The warm pool can be repaired in its current location -- False. They know the pool is scheduled for demolition by the School District. 

LIE #2: Measure C will cost $3.5 million annually for maintenance, plus an annual inflation adjustment. False. They have created this totally out of thin air. 

LIE #3: Willard is already a competition-size pool. False. 

LIE #4: UC Berkeley campus has a Warm Pool. False. 

We relish a good debate, but dishonest, right-wing tactics cannot be allowed to stand anywhere, any time. Measure C is about our kids, our seniors, our future. 

Measure C is a $22.5 million bond measure and parcel tax in Berkeley's June 8 election to rebuild and repair the city's four municipal pools. 

Who: Mayor Tom Bates, former Mayor Shirley Dean, and other Council and School Board members. Berkeley Unified School District Superintendent Bill Huyett is invited. Measure C supporters (disabled in wheelchairs, and Barracudas youth team members in goggles) will attend alongside the speakers. 

When: 4:30 pm, Tuesday, June 1. 

Where: Berkeley Warm Pool, 2246 Milvia Street & Durant (inside gate). The press conference will be held indoors on the deck of the Warm Pool, the decrepit and controversial facility that is scheduled for demolition next year -- and that Measure C will rebuild at a separate site. < 

Yes on Measure C campaign
www.berkeleypools.org
www.facebook.com/berkeleypools

In just 24 hours, over 3,000 sign open letter to Abe Foxman, David Harris and Marvin Hier 

[San Francisco, May 28, 2010] National peace group Jewish Voice for Peace is taking its call for equality and freedom for Israelis and Palestinians directly to the leaders of the American Jewish community. Appalled by a dramatic increase in the Israeli government's anti-democratic actions against both Palestinians and Israeli citizens, combined with silence from Jewish leaders, Jewish Voice for Peace urges its supporters to sign an open letter addressed to the heads of leading Jewish human rights organizations: Abe Foxman of the Anti-Defamation League, David Harris of the American Jewish Committee,and Rabbi Marvin Hier of the Simon Wiesenthal Center.  

The action is already JVP's most successful ever with over 3,000 signatures in just 24 hours. 

JVP launched the campaign on May 27 with a letter from Deputy Director Cecilie Surasky saying: 

These Jewish organizations came into existence at a time when my family - and so many others - needed them desperately,and their contributions and achievements on behalf of Jews and non-Jews made me proud.But times have changed, and the missions of these groups have changed. All too often, advocacy for universal human rights has taken a back seat to their belief that they must support the Israeli government unconditionally.

For example, as I write this, it has been22 days since Israeli citizen and human rights activist Ameer Makhoul was brutally taken from his home in the middle of the night,held without charges, denied a lawyer for 12 days, and most certainly tortured.All under cover of an Israeli media gag order.Regardless of the charges against him, which were only announced today, it is hard to imagine these groups remaining silent in the face of such outrageous repression in a modern democracy. Especially against an Israeli citizen.

Yet they say nothing. The pattern is not new.

It is painful for me to say that today these organizations - organizations with such a proud history of civil and human rights - for many of us have come to stand for the exact opposite. Sadly, I now find myself opposed to the American Jewish Committee, the Anti-Defamation League, and the Simon Wiesenthal Center for dismissing criticism of Israel as anti-Semitic, for putting Israeli foreign policy above Armenian genocide recognition, for vilifying Muslims and Arabs, and for building a "Museum of Tolerance" on top of a Muslim cemetery in Jerusalem.  

Jesse Bacon, editor of JVP's blog The Only Democracy? said : 

"Since we started ourblogin March,documenting the struggle for democracy in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories, things have gotten steadily worse. Every day brings news of another midnight raid, torture, and detention without charge of another human rights activist. What's more, often these abuses can't even be reported on in Israel because of media gag orders.We're documenting increased crushing of non-violent protests, attempts to silence NGO's in the Knesset, and even the banning of international visitors simply because of their ideas. And yet American leaders who support Israel remain silent. Their silence in the face of increasing government repression serves no one, least of all Israelis and Jews."  

The campaign will also include call-in days and other attempts to bring the message to leaders until they speak out against these human rights abuses. Because they still have the ear of high level Israeli officials, JVP believes their words could make an impact. 

About JVP: 

Jewish Voice for Peace is the only national Jewish organization that provides a voice for Jews and allies who believe that peace in the Middle East will be achieved through justice and full equality for both Palestinians and Israelis. With offices in New York and California, 100,000 online activists, chapters across the country and an advisory board comprised of numerous prominent Jewish thinkers and artists, JVP supports nonviolent efforts here and in Israel-Palestine to end Israel’s Occupation, expand human and civil rights, and implement a US policy based on international law and democracy. JVP opposes anti-Jewish, anti-Muslim, and anti-Arab bigotry and oppression and seeks an end to the Israeli occupation of the West Bank, Gaza Strip, and East Jerusalem . 

Full Text of the Open Letter  

 

An Open Letter to the leaders of the Anti-Defamation League, the American Jewish Congress, and the Simon Wiesenthal Center.

Dear Abe Foxman, David Harris, and Rabbi Marvin Hier:

As leaders of major Jewish organizations that defend human rights, democratic values and civil rights for all, you have rightly and vigorously condemned repression where it occurs around the world.

That’s why your silence as Israel becomes more and more repressive each day deeply concerns us.

As Israel uses anti-democratic tactics against Palestinians and increasingly, its own citizens, what will you do to stop it?

Will you remain quiet while Israel rounds up its own citizens like Dr. Omar Said and Ameer Makhoul(1), who was arrested in the middle of the night in front of his children, held without charges, denied a lawyer for 12 days, tortured, and then disappeared under a strict media gag order which was partially lifted after widespread protest?

Will you say nothing about the arrests of Palestinian nonviolent leaders like Omar Alaaeddin(2) and Abdallah Abu Rahmah(3); the lethal shooting with tear gas canisters of people like Bassem Abu Rahmah(4); the incarceration of Israeli Jewish nonviolent leaders like Ezra Nawi(5); and harassment of the members of Israeli peace groups like New Profile(6)?

Will you stand by and allow legislation(7) to criminalize the human rights organizations that are the best representatives of Israeli democracy?

We call on you to speak out against the repression of the civil and democratic rights of Palestinians and Israelis. We ask you to call for an end to the crackdown on nonviolent human rights activists and organizations, both in Israel and in the Occupied Territories.

We are Jews and Muslims, Americans and Israelis, Christians and atheists, parents and grandparents. We are united by our belief that all people deserve equality and freedom. And like you, we each have a personal stake in a peaceful future for Israelis and Palestinians.

We ask you to heed the words of Elie Wiesel who said, "We must always take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented."

We are waiting.

(1) Ameer Makhoul is the director of "Ittijah," the network of Arab NGOs in Israel, and a human rights activist. Were a civil society leader representing a minority group in a democratic state to be arrested and tortured by his own government in any other state, we would count on our Jewish organizations to protest.  

(2) Omar Alaaedine's arrest and torture.
(3) Abdallah Abu Rahmah's Letter From Ofer Jail./
(4) Bassem Abu Rahmah's shooting.
(5) Ezra Nawi's Website.  

(6) New Profile's letter about their harrassment. 

(7) Adalah on the proposed legislation to restrict NGO's. 

The city of Oakland won a legal victory today when a judge said he will grant its bid for a preliminary injunction against a gang that it alleges is notorious for violence. 

Alameda County Superior Court Judge Robert Freedman said the city presented "clear and convincing evidence" that the North Side Oakland gang is a public nuisance and its members should be prohibited from conducting certain specified activities in a 100-block "safety zone." 

The injunction won't go into effect immediately because the parties involved in the case must still agree on the final wording. 

But Oakland Deputy City Attorney Rocio Fierro said it will go into effect soon. 

"We're very grateful," she said. 

City Attorney John Russo said the city is targeting the gang because of severe and increasing violence associated with the gang. He said the gang was involved in 18 serious crimes in 2009, including seven murders. 

But the ACLU of Northern California and the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights of the San Francisco Bay Area filed friend of the court briefs opposing the proposed gang injunction, alleging that it would give the Oakland Police Department wide discretion to label people gang members without having to present any evidence to a judge or even charge them with a crime. 

The injunction applies to 15 alleged gang members that are named in the city's suit. 

The city originally named 19 suspected gang members, but four people were removed because they're already in jail for a pending triple murder case and aren't expected to get out of jail anytime soon. 

Among the injunctions restrictions against gang members are not associating with other gang members in public, not confronting or intimidating witnesses, not possessing firearms or other weapons and not participating in drug activity. 

Violating the injunction would be considered contempt of court and be a criminal misdemeanor offense punishable by up to six months in jail and a fine of up to $1,000. 

Russo said gang injunctions were upheld as constitutional by the California Supreme Court in 1997. 

At today's hearing, which was attended by nearly 100 people, Fierro said the case "is one of the most important in the city's history because of the public safety concerns that are involved." 

Fierro said, "We are not asking that the defendants be put in jail but instead are asking that they stop their behavior." 

She said the gang has jeopardized public safety to the extent that sometimes "people go to church with bullets going by their heads." 

Opponents of the injunction have alleged that it might lead to racial profiling, but Fierro said outside court that that's not true. He said police submitted hundreds of pages of documentation against the people named in the suit and its enforcement will be supervised by the court. 

Freedman said he will have another hearing within the next six months to review how the injunction is being implemented. 

Katz said the city is considering seeking similar injunctions against other gangs but hasn't yet filed any other lawsuits.

Newly-formed unincorporated association Berkeley Hillside Preservation filed suit today in the Alameda Superior Court against the City of Berkeley, because it exempted its recent approval of a 10,000 square foot residence and 10-car garage at 2707 Rose Street from mandated environmental review under California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). 

Wide community opposition arose when the City failed to require any environmental study of geotechnical, historic, aesthetic, and traffic impacts, and refused even to erect story poles as required by its published guidelines. 

The City claims ‘categorical exemption’ from environmental review. But the lawsuit points out that exemptions cannot be used when there is any expert opinion that a project may have environmental impacts. 

This project not only proposes an exceptionally large home, but also seeks the demolition of a c.1917 Craftsman bungalow designed by major architect Abraham Appleton. There is also expert evidence of unstudied massive grading and foundations required and potential for seismic lurching of hillside fills. It is not a typical low-impact single-family project that merits an exemption. 

The Preservation group requests issuance of a peremptory writ ordering the City to set aside its approval of the project pending compliance with CEQA. The requested environmental review will consider impacts relating to grading and excavation, demolition, traffic, and aesthetic impacts. 

Co-Petitioner Susan Nunes Fadley said: “We worked arduously on our appeal to the City Council, focussing on issues of process and the unstudied impacts of this project. Now we look to the court to address them.” 

 

[You read about it first in the Planet!] 

 

 

Santa Ana, CA - May 21, 2010 - An Orange County Superior Court judge ruled today that mapping data maintained by Orange County is exempt from the California Public Records Act (PRA). The PRA says that state and local agencies must provide copies of public records in their possession to members of the public requesting them, and they must not charge more than the direct cost of making the copy. Ruling on a suit brought against Orange County by the Sierra Club, Judge James J. DiCesare held that mapping database maintained by the County, which details the location and boundaries of land parcels within the county, is a "computer mapping system" and exempted under the software exemption of the PRA. The PRA law provides that software is not a public record, and the Court decided that parcel mapping data stored in a GIS database is included in that exemption.  

"The County recognized that parcel mapping data is a public record, but was supported by the Court in refusing to provide the data in its normal database format," says Bruce Joffe, GIS consultant and founder of the Open Data Consortium project, who participated in a similar, but successful, suit against Santa Clara County brought by the California First Amendment Coalition (CFAC) in 2007. "Using the PRA software exemption to block distribution of the County's database is as if the Judge ruled that a Microsoft Word file was software because it was part of a word processing system." 

Sierra Club attorney Theresa Labriola, of the firm Venskus & Associates, indicated that the Club was likely to appeal. "CFAC won a virtually identical case in the Court of Appeal. We believe that the Santa Clara decision is binding precedent in this case. Orange County successfully argued that the software exception wasn't addressed by the Santa Clara appeals court, but we think it was. We'll appeal, we will win, and we'll put this argument to rest once and for all." 

Although the PRA says the public has a right to government information in the same electronic format that the government uses, the Court supported the County's claim for the software exemption. The Sierra Club believes that the exemption for "computer mapping systems" in the law pertains only to software and not to the database that holds the County's data. The County convinced the Court that its "Landbase" database is a GIS database and that GIS databases are part of "computer mapping systems" as included in the PRA software exemption. Nowhere in the PRA text is "computer mapping system" actually defined. At the time the exemption was written (1988), "computer mapping system" typically meant a set of software modules used for producing map graphics; the phrase did not mean the underlying data and database. 

According to a study undertaken by Joffe and his colleagues, 48 out of the 57 California counties that maintain their parcel map data in electronic form provide it to the public for the cost of reproduction, as required by the PRA. Of the non PRA-compliant counties, Orange County is by far the most egregious offender, asking $375,000 for its mapping data that includes approximately 640,000 parcels of land. 

The main reason Orange County refuses to provide its parcel mapping data to the public under the terms of the PRA may be that the County would lose revenue from data users that currently pay hefty fees for the data. Documents filed in the case show that Orange County has received an average of $183,530 in annual licensing revenue from its "O.C. Landbase" database over the last five years. "These high fees create two levels of access to public records," says Dean Wallraff, Vice Chair of the Sierra Club Angeles Chapter's Legal Committee. "Title companies, real-estate companies and large developers can buy this data, while non-profit environmental organizations cannot afford the cost. What's galling is that we've already paid for the Landbase through our taxes. The public owns this data. Why should we have to pay again for what is already ours?" 

GIS Consultant Joffe states that the reason for the Public Records Act is to enable any citizen to oversee our government's activities. "Transparency leads to accountability, and transparency is only possible if the public has access to the same data, in the same format, that the County uses." 

The Sierra Club needs parcel data to prepare maps for its conservation campaigns in Orange County. The Club is currently fighting to preserve open space from development at Banning Ranch, Coyote Hills, Orange Hills, and Hobo Aliso. Lore Pekrul, current Chair of the Sierra Club Angeles Chapter GIS Committee states, "we're at a disadvantage relative to the big developers when we prepare maps showing land being targeted for development in Orange County. They can afford parcel data, which lets them accurately depict the various land boundaries, and we can't afford it." Wallraff added, "If we have to use our limited funds to buy data rather than purchase open space, the Sierra Club will not be able to be as effective as our donors expect us to be." 

In 2004 the California voters passed Prop. 59, which created a new civil right by adding language to the California Constitution stating that "The people have the right of access to information concerning the conduct of the people's business," and that statutes should be narrowly construed if they limit the rights of access. "The Court didn't follow the California Constitution," says Sierra Club Attorney Labriola. "The Constitution required it to interpret the PRA's definition of software narrowly, since the definition limits access to information. Both the California Attorney General, in his official 2005 opinion on the subject, and the Santa Clara trial court said that parcel map data wasn't software under the definition in the PRA. But this court opted for a broad interpretation of the definition so that it includes all GIS data." 

According to Wallraff, the most troublesome thing about the Court's reasoning is that it could easily be expanded. He worries that "this rationale could be used to justify withholding all computer data from public scrutiny. Even though the PRA expressly provides that computer data consisting of public-record information must be disclosed, the software definition is an exception that could eat the rule. If this court can decide that GIS data is software, another court could decide that accounting data is software, or that word processing documents are software. We expect that the Court of Appeal will interpret the statute the same way we do: that 'software' means software, not data." 

 

SeeJune 8 issue.

Well, Tuesday is election day, and like many Berkeleyans I still haven’t made up my mind whether or not to vote for Measure C. I’ve never, in my 35 or more years as a Berkeley voter, turned down a request for more funds from our various civic beneficiaries, and I suspect the vast majority of my fellow voters are on the same page. At our house, we’re fortunate that we can afford to pay extra taxes for the benefit of today’s children and tomorrow’s, since we’re past the time of having to support our own. But I have to say that the tone of this particular election campaign has made me rethink the whole concept. It’s hard to vote for a cause whose proponents seem compelled to characterize their opponents as fools, knaves or worse. It doesn’t have to be that way. 

Berkeley has always had a small contingent of what used to be called the “Grumpy Old Men”—retired citizens with business experience and sharp pencils who viewed Berkeley’s civic spending patterns with alarm. As time passed and feminism advanced, some women joined their ranks, so they became just “the Grumpies.” 

Some years ago, a group of disabled citizens decided that a ballot measure was the best way to fund the services of emergency attendants which they needed. Cannily, they went first to the leading Grumpies for support. By making a straight-forward presentation of a clear and compelling business case, they won the Grumpies over, and after that it was smooth sailing. And some fast friendships between members of the two groups were an added bonus. 

Contrast this with the recent campaign for Measure C, which has been marked with unnecessary acrimony on both sides. 

Some opponents have made classic Grumpy economic arguments: using bonds instead of taxes to fund what you need costs more over the years because you pay interest on borrowed bond money. Nothing arcane or complicated here, it’s just a judgment call about whether or not that’s wise. 

Trying to evaluate this, I consulted a friend who formerly reported on business for the New York Times and Fortune and knows his finance. What he said is that it’s been conventional to use this kind of borrowed money financing for civic facilities all over the country for years. He also pointed out that if you’re ever going to borrow money, this is the right time to do it, because interest rates are at a 50-year low. 

It’s true that bond financing has sometimes been used as a way of building unnecessary boondoggles, usually sports-related, notably stadiums, so it’s wise for voters to be sure that what they’re buying with borrowed dollars is actually needed. Here it’s up to each of us to decide if we really “need” the kind of aquatic facilities which Measure C will provide. 

Appeals by the proponents have been excessively emotional, in my opinion. (Do you love your children? Would you throw your aged mother off a bus?) Swimming is good exercise for people of all ages and in all kinds of physical conditions, sure. 

I used the warm pool myself for six months after a knee injury, and I got better. Would I have recovered anyhow? Probably. But while I was using the pool I saw people with much worse problems getting a great deal of benefit from the experience, so I don’t discount their needs. 

The pool in its current condition, warts and all, has been serving these users well. Sadly, it’s been subjected by the Berkeley Unified School District to Demolition by Neglect. 

Architect Henrik Bull and others have pointed out, over and over again, that the environmentally correct decision would be to restore and rehabilitate this facility, instead of demolishing it and rebuilding it elsewhere, but school district people, both bureacrats and electeds, seem to be intransigent. Still, as I’ve followed the triumphant progress of the restoration of the Richmond Municipal Natatorium, in a city with much less money than Berkeley, I’ve been ashamed of Berkeley’s anti-green spendthrift ways. 

Despite Berkeley’s flourishing greenwashing industry, our civic institutions, not just here but everywhere in the United States, are in the grip of a serious Edifice Complex. It’s been proven time and again that the greenest building is the one that already exists, but we can’t seem to resist wanting the brand new ones anyhow, regardless of the cost to the planet. 

It’s just possible that, given the current economic climate, the school district’s expansion plans for the site will never materialize, so the warm pool could be restored after all. You could even make the argument that if you’re going to “Vote No To Teach Them A Lesson” it might be school levies you should be voting against, not Measure C. But I won’t make that argument here. 

Then there’s a corollary set of financial arguments that says that it’s possible to vote for one thing and get something else entirely. That one rings sadly true to Berkeley voters with long memories. Just two cases in point: the previous vote for bonds to fix the warm pool, which the city of Berkeley never bothered to use, and the recent vote to restore the branch libraries, which critics now complain is being used instead to demolish and replace two of them. 

Measure C proponents have been much too quick to accuse those who critique their goals or worry about the law of unforeseen consequences of making “false statements”—even of lying. Them’s fightin’ words, not appropriate to apply to a real difference of opinion, and this kind of thing muddies the waters. Too much of it, and voters tend to stay home, to opt out of the argument altogether. 

It’s no lie to say that Measure C proceeds would free up maintenance funds in Berkeley’s city budget which could then be used elsewhere. The appropriate retort, if you need one, is “And what’s wrong with that?” Attacking the character of those who think it’s a bad idea is foolish. 

And I’m profoundly annoyed by the Measure C backer who has demanded prominent placement as a news story for the link to a promotional video, the one with the fair and balanced title of Big Lies against Measure C: Dirty Pool. 

I’m well aware that Shirley Dean and Kriss Worthington have had their edgy moments in the past, and it’s heartwarming that they’re now singing Kumbaya at poolside, but it’s not exactly hot news, since they’ve both made many statements of support for Measure C before this. Shirley, a good writer and a fair-minded person, submitted a fine commentary on the topic several issues back which we gladly published. 

The video is the purported report of a press conference posted on YouTube, complete with simulated crowd noises in the background of the title. The Planet in fact sent the only reporter who showed up for that “press conference”, and he was a citizen volunteer. Like every other news outlet invited to attend, most of them considerably better endowed that we are, we didn’t think this kind of staged media event warranted sending a paid reporter. 

I’ve never met Tom Lord in person, but I’ve recently asked him to try a “Blogbeat” column because he’s made some intelligent comments on local blogs. His analysis of the pool event, as I’d expected, was excellent, thought-provoking. In my opinion it was impartial, or perhaps tilted a bit to the “Yes on C” column. 

We added the link to Measure C’s YouTube video at the end of his piece when it came out. So the wounded howls from one of the three co-chairs of Yes on C were a surprise, and the drumbeat of accusations which have followed was even more so. The co-chair’s main authority for his assertions about the import of passing the measure seems to be the City Attorney’s opinion which by law is attached to the ballot measure. 

What the co-chair doesn’t seem to grasp is that a city attorney’s opinion is just that, an opinion, not a ruling, not proof of whatever it’s asserted in support of. As a lawyer (with an inactive Bar card) I’d demand case law and legal arguments if I really needed proof. 

Which I don’t. 

There have been many many letters and commentaries on this site and elsewhere which should help me and readers make up our minds. The Measure C co-chair, in this current issue of the Planet, has a long matrix wherein he attempts to answer objections raised to his case. I’ve making a big effort to put up all the last minute new letters as they arrive. 

And I’m trying hard, really hard, not to let the incivility with which some backers of Measure C have made their case influence my decision. But I’m not going to vote until I can do it in person on Tuesday, as is my custom, so I hope everyone behaves himself or herself a bit better between now and then. 

 

[Correction made: The title "chair" was changed to "co-chair" following a complaint from the gentleman in question, Robert Collier, that he was but one of three. ] 

Memorial Day weekend, as it has for many years now, marks the official beginning of summer.In the Midwest, it’s when it becomes prudent to put your tomato plants in the ground, but here in California, they’ve been set out for weeks, and have even set fruit in some Bay Area banana belt hot spots.Around here, it’s the first opportunity to plan neighborhood barbecues with some confidence that they won’t be rained out (though perhaps not this year). With all the opportunities for Fun in the Sun, it’s easy enough to forget why we celebrate this holiday. And though it’s traditionally a mellow, reflective time, some stressful controversies have been in the air this year. 

First, the history: Someone sent me an article from a Cleveland online paper which claimed that it was started by freed slaves in Charleston, South Carolina: 

“According to Professor David Blight of Yale University’s History Department, the very first Memorial Day was observed by former black slaves at the Washington Race Course in Charleston, S.C., at the end of the Civil War.
The race course had been used as a temporary Confederate prison camp in 1865 as well as a mass grave for Union soldiers who died there. Immediately after the cessation of hostilities, the former slaves exhumed the bodies from the mass grave and reinterred them properly with individual graves.
They built a fence around the graveyard with an entry arch and declared it a Union graveyard. The work was completed in only 10 days.
On May 1, 1865, a crowd estimated at 10,000, including many black residents and 2,800 children, proceeded to the location for sermons, singing, and a picnic on the grounds. It was proclaimed the first Decoration Day (and later Memorial Day).” 

We’ll dispense with citations, since the article on further research appears to have been lifted almost verbatim from a Wikipedia article, which in turn was lifted from….but no matter. 

Other claimed Decoration Day (as it used to be called) founding sites per Google are Waterloo, New York and Petersburg, Virginia. This weekend President Obama revived a Mississippi version: 

"A group of women visited a cemetery in Columbus, Mississippi to place flowers by the graves of Confederate soldiers who had fallen at Shiloh," he said. "As they did, they noticed other graves nearby belonging to Union dead. But no one had come to visit those graves, or place a flower there. They decided to lay a few stems for those men too, in recognition not of a fallen Confederate or a fallen Union soldier, but a fallen American." 

Well, yes.Our president does love to try to bring everyone together, doesn’t he? 

Like most mythology, each of these stories probably contains a large kernel of truth.The overarching point is that it’s been considered proper to give thanks and praise to those who died trying to do what they thought was right for their country. 

It’s deeply ironic that this Memorial Day week should mark the final push toward repealing the unsatisfactory “don’t ask, don’t tell” stratagem for dealing with the historical fact that there have always been gay members of the military forces.It’s true that there have been prohibitions against them, but it’s also true that reasonably discrete gay people, both men and women, have always been a sizeable percentage of the military population, just as they are in the rest of society. 

And not just on the battlefields.Walt Whitman, now most often claimed to have been gay, spent many months during the Civil War caring for wounded soldiers in Washington hospitals—he even wrote a book about it.The complete details of his sexual orientation are still the subject of discussion, since in those days it was not as common as it is now to make public pronouncements about sexuality. 

If it wasn’t being used as a subterfuge to keep gays out of the service, “don’t ask, don’t tell” might not be a bad policy, and not just for the military.Endless rehashing of banal sexual encounters, regardless of whom of what gender they were with, can be intensely boring for those forced to hear about them in unwelcome detail. 

On the other hand, the contemporary openness about sexual orientation has had positive effects.Recent polls suggest that three out of four Americans now think that gay people should be allowed to serve in the military on equal terms with their straight brothers and sisters.Chances are that the 75% who think that’s all right have actually worked with gay colleagues, and are aware that they’re fully capable of doing any job, including military service.Most families have acknowledged gay members, even families of politicians, even dreadful families of politicians like Dick Cheney’s, whose gay daughter seems to be every bit as mean as her father.It’s time for the government to catch up with public opinion on this topic. 

This Memorial Day it was veterans of World War II who were most remembered, since they have now almost all faded into history.My cousin and her husband were visiting, as he kept track by telephone of his favorite uncle, who was slowly sinking in another city. The uncle was a decorated veteran of the Battle of the Bulge—his nephew said ruefully that when he told his own grown grandchildren about this, they asked what the Battle of the Bulge was. 

*** 

The preceding paragraphs were written on Sunday morning.And on Sunday night as I went to bed I noticed that the excellent Truthout website had forwarded an early Haaretz story about the Israeli commando attack on the Gaza flotilla.Since several local citizens were participating, I put the story and some links to it up as a news flash. 

When Mike stopped in at the former Planet office on Monday morning, he found that someone had thrown an egg at the front door and plastered the premises with “Fight Islamic Terrorism” bumper stickers. 

In the mailbox were a couple of self-asserted pro-Zionist pamphlets, including one juvenile screed that said “The Gruesome Twosome: Far Leftist and Islamo Fascism Both Love to Hate Western Civilization.” (Evidently the ignorant writer did not know that much of what is now part of “Western Civilization” originated in the Middle East—even “algebra” is an Arabic word.”) We haven’t filed a police report, because there’s no way of knowing which of the small handful of fanatics who are consumed with hatred of the Planet is responsible. 

When some of the same element previously went after the Planet, one of their targets for some inexplicable reason was my late father.As my sister noted in an outraged letter to the New York Times, he fought in World War II to save the sorry of hides of jerks like this (she said it more politely than I.) 

But the sneaky vandals who on Sunday night targeted the building which has been the Planet office for the last seven years should be aware that we’ve largely moved out already. The owners are the family of a California-born Japanese-American who served with distinction in the Pacific theater during World War II in the same cause as my father did.This building, which was his family home for many years, should not be desecrated by know-nothings whose liberties he fought to save. 

And the rest of us should appreciate and celebrate the sacrifices of those who have gone before us by continuing to work for justice for everyone everywhere in the world, including for gays in the military and Palestinians in Israel. 

Abraham Lincoln said about the veterans of another great war, “It is for us, the living, …to be dedicated …to the unfinished work which they have, thus far, so nobly carried on.” Still a good plan. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

City Manager Kamlarz put out a new memo about Measure C on Friday: 

"DATE:June 4, 2010
TO: Honorable Mayor and Members of the City Council
FROM: Phil Kamlarz, City Manager RE: City Budget 

This memo is in response to certain questions raised about the Pool's measure (Measure C) and funds on the June 8, 2010, ballot. 

All funds for Measure C would be dedicated for the Berkeley pools. That includes proceeds from the bonds for construction as well as operating funds. 

The City is managing its long-term debt. Our most recent debt rating from Standard and Poor's placed the City of Berkeley within the top 1% of California cities. 

I hope this clarifies the issues raised ." 

Well, no, not exactly.The point made by the more responsible critics, here and elsewhere, is that the money in the current budget which is now being spent on swimming pools could be spent elsewhere if Measure C passes.That’s true, isn’t it? 

The value of a Standard and Poor’s bond rating is the subject of much current discussion in the world outside the Berkeley Bubble, too much for the time and space available before the election on Tuesday.One can assume that Kamlarz’ statement is true, but what it means as the world of finance turns topsy-turvy is not so clear. 

Still unanswered: Is there any guarantee that the warm pool will ever be rebuilt? If so, when? 

Our citizen reporter said this: 

“Nothing in Measure C obligates the City to borrow the full $22.5 million or spend it unwisely or on overly ambitious upgrades. At the same time, nothing in Measure C appears to prevent it.”  

Can anyone provide official language which contradicts his assessment? 

A local blog offers discussion of these topics in staggering detail.

Stuart Skorman is at it again, trying to save the world through commerce.His enterprises have been very popular in Berkeley.He started the video mecca Reel.com and opened the store on Shattuck after successful negotiation with neighbors, and sold it at the peak of its success.His Elephant Pharmacy was a big hit too. Now he’s trying to take back Reel.com so it can stay open.. 

We met Stuart when Elephant became the anchor advertiser on the front page of the print Berkeley Daily Planet, where it stayed, for years, until the store was closed by the larger corporation that had acquired it.When Stuart no longer owned Elephant, he took at least one and maybe more display ads in the Planet characterizing himself as a supporter of freedom of the press. 

He has a new task now, trying to salvage Reel.com from the demise of its current owner.Here’s how he puts it: 

“I’m writing the Berkeley Community to ask you to help save the Reel.com video store on Shattuck Avenue.  

Hollywood Video/ Movie Gallery, the company that has owned Reel.com for 12 years, is now going bankrupt. Though the store is still profitable, they plan to liquidate the store immediately unless we can find financial backing to keep it open.  

To keep the store open we need $250,000.00 as an investment. The staff at the store is doing such a great job in every way and they will need very little supervision. I am prepared to support them by helping out with Marketing and Business Strategies. It would be ideal to have the support of another Entrepreneur (in addition to myself) involved to help the store continue to serve the community and prosper as the video industry goes through rapid changes. Among many efforts to sustain the longevity of this location, we may be able to start a classic cinema school and host local film festivals.  

If you have any ideas or would like to contribute to keeping the Reel.com store open, please email me @ stuart@stuartskorman.com “  

Is there anyone out there who might want to take part in this noble effort? 

 

 

 

These are the stories the metro papers love to write: Funny Stuff Going on in Quirky East Bay Town. Here at the Planet we're pleased that they're doing this so we don't need to bother. Think of these as our soft features. 

From the brand-spanking new Bay Citizen: 

From the old but still the same San Francisco Chronicle: 

What would they ever do without Berkeley? 

By the way, it's a topic we covered in 2005, but our civic arts commission is always good for a laugh. 

 

 

By now many readers are wondering what’s up with the “Press Release” label. It’s simple: we’re trying a radical experiment. Much of what you read in the press these days is nothing more than re-written press releases with little original reporting involved. We’re just eliminating the disingenuous middle-person and posting the releases cold turkey. In no way do we vouch for the truthfulness of the information contained, we’re just the messenger passing through the statement of the authors. 

 

Let us know whether you think this is all right. 

For a quick look at what they're saying about Berkeley in the media, consult the City of Berkeley News Scan, assembled by a local consultant who checks everything out and posts the best stuff from various sources. Her job is to make sure that those in city government know what's being said about them, but the rest of us want to know too. 

It's even possible to subscribe to the News Scan and have her send you updates as they happen.

In Firefox, Google Chrome and Safari, if you click on this image, it will be magnified. This no longer works in the latest Internet Explorer.

Latest issue of the Pepper Spray Times.

Save Our Pools—Vote No on Measure C; No on C; Measure C: No; Charity; City Employee Pay and Pools; Election Stolen; Loving the Berkeley Rep; No More War! Tea; Afghan Women; Republican Fearmongering; Thanks; Democracy and Education 

Save Our Pools—Vote No on Measure C 

The “Save Our Pools” on blue and white posters dotting the city imply that supporting Measure C, a $22.5 million bond measure on the June 8^th ballot, is the only way.It is not and our well-meaning swim-community has been duped.Berkeley citizens overwhelmingly support pools and swim and learn-to-swim, and senior swim and Barracuda swim programs, and will continue to do so, yet we should all strongly reject the fatally-flawed Measure C. 

Consider these facts: 

(1)$10 million, or nearly ½ of this bond measure is ear-marked to build a new, city-owned therapeutic pool. The current and decrepit warm pool facility is leased from BUSD, not owned by the City.That is fortunate because over the years the drain on our General Fund to maintain these rented premises has been costly, exorbitantly so considering that only about 100 Berkeley residents use it.We should be grateful that BUSD has chosen to take it back.Instead, this measure proposes to spend over $100,000 per current user of taxpayer’s harder-than-ever to-come-by dollars on a white-elephant facility to serve 0.01% of our population. 

(2)There are two therapeutic pools at the YMCA and other possible resources at UCB.Thus warm-pool users can be entirely accommodated without a new pool. In fact, because of council-approved taxpayer-fronted subsidies to the YMCA, all 1,600 + city employees have free membership to the Y.Revoke that “perk” and 1,600+ therapeutic pool users could be accommodated at zero cost or indebtedness to Berkeley taxpayers. 

(3)Measure C also includes a Trojan-horse, a $3.5 million component for “maintenance”, inflated annually.Ordinarily this is a General Fund expenditure.For the city manager and council to foist off these expenditures as a special tax on business and home property owners is unprecedented and devious.Even worse, unlike the ill-conceived construction portions of this measure, this levy on taxpayers does not expire after 30 years, but is an ever-increasing tax in perpetuity. 

Berkeley citizens will vigorously support pool programs and the revitalization of the pools we have, perhaps by a new bond measure presented in November, but the June 8^th Measure C is definitely a NO-NO!  

 

Victoria Peirotes 

 

*** 

 

No on C 

 

On June 8th Berkeley voters will have a chance to vote on Measure C. It proposes a 22.5 million dollar 30 year bond, and a maintenance component in perpetuity in the amount of 3.5 million dollars. 

This latter figure would be part of your "special taxes" forever and indexed for inflation. 

The bond is earmarked for the construction of a new pool and the replacement of three others. 

At the May 26 NEBA membership meeting, where this Measure was being debated, an audience member characterized the "maintenance" component as a Trojan Horse. 

The current pools maintenance budget is almost one million dollars and the Council, when writing the measure, loaded an additional 2.5 million (the Trojan Horse). I suspect the Council wants to use this to partially make up for present and future deficits (four million this year, 16.5 million for 2011). It indicates that our city is not up to the task to reduce the out of control spending and are using kids and the elderly as a front to raise money. They are afraid to confront the powerful unions representing overpaid and overcompensated municipal employees. 

This is the same Council who raised our refuse fee via the "protest" vote. This undemocratic move worked as follows: they sent Berkeley property owners a letter for them to respond on whether the City should raise the refuse fee 30%. Not responding was considered a yes vote. Imagine a ballot where a candidate is running for office and if you stayed home it would be construed as your voting for said candidate. Outrageous. 

I recently helped a friend in Ukiah remove some trash from his property in Ukiah, We drove the laden truck to the transfer station and it cost a mere fourteen dollars. I told my friend that Berkeley would have charged over $60. Given that both cities use the same process of carting refuse to a faraway landfill, what does Berkeley do with the $46 overcharge? 

See the pattern? On June 8th send this council a message and vote no on Measure C. 

 

Robert Cabrera 

 

*** 

 

Measure C: No 

 

Kudos for publishing opinions by Barbara Gilbert and Shirley Dean in the May 20 issue. While at first blush the two pieces seem to clash, they are really two sides of the same coin. 

Gilbert’s far-ranging essay takes us from trash collection to animal shelters and public pensions, uniting these disparate elements in a compelling picture of the self-inflicted wounds bleeding red ink from Berkeley’s budget. 

Dean writes in favor of Measure C (thus far supported by wobbly arguments, the usual politicians, and the cheering special interest group that crafted it). She informs us that the Mayor and School Board are against rehabilitating the current warm water pool. Yet Dean herself says rehabbing would have been better than the expensive new construction proposed by Measure C. And she’s right about that: not only does rehab reduce costs by 2/3, it produces less landfill, uses less energy, and has a smaller carbon footprint. Acclaimed architect Henrik Bull has shown the School Board’s desire for classrooms can be met by rehabbing the landmarked gymnasium building, again saving the environment and the checkbook simultaneously. 

Dean says the wrongheadedness of our public servants must be accepted as a given. If we don’t agree to higher taxes and do what they want, they’ll take away our pools! Some would call this cravenly rewarding bad behavior and encouraging more of the same. Measure C supporters console themselves with self-congratulation: our values are wonderful! Discussion of the actual ballot measure is unworthy by comparison. 

On the one hand, we have public officials doing the wrong thing and not being held accountable. On the other, voters patting themselves on the back in order to avoid dealing with the financial consequences of their votes. Gilbert could hardly have asked for a better illustration of her argument than Dean unwittingly provides. 

 

Robert Baum 

 

*** 

 

Charity 

 

Dorothy Snodgrass, you are either incredibly naive or, God forbid, not very smart. The "forlorn" woman counting her bounty at Starbucks would not be there were it not for you and others who feel pity for her. If she is one of "God's forsaken creatures” , it is because she chooses to be there. Yes, she may be mentally ill, and that is a tragic problem.But there are no lack of food and other services in Berkeley and the greater Bay Area.. Why do you think so many homeless, or people such as this woman are here? Not because they want to take advantage of the cultural diversity and community available here. They come because people such as yourself support them while they shout and scream at people passing by and otherwise behave as malignant growths on downtown Berkeley and other areas. I have been spit on, screamed at and shoved by these people. Pity? I don't think so. They are not hungry. They are beggars, some are sick, many have chosen this lifestyle for reasons incomprehensible to many, myself included. Please don't enable them to continue littering the streets of Berkeley with your "generosity". 

 

Susan Sholin 

 

*** 

 

City Employee Pay and Pools 

 

Going back in time to around 2007, the City of Berkeley had well over 350 employees that made over 100,000 dollars. You know it’s higher now! If you review this site: 

You will be shocked to see the largesse bestowed upon the myriad of workers and it’s amazing that a majority of these non-professionals rake in 120-150 thousand a year. Plus $200,000 for Mayor Tom Bates’ buddy, the City Manager Phillip Kamlarz. Every person in Berkeley pays him $2 dollars for his “wizardry” and today we see the magical results of his handiwork—a 14+million dollar budget HOLE. The excessive pay, pension liabilities and per capita employee-per-resident statistics are enormous. 

It’s remarkable that the Mayor, city workers and machine politico hacks like former mayors Dean and Hancock still try to squeeze the dead middle class taxpayer with over-the-top bonds and parcel taxes like Measure C. They want this measure so badly, they will resort to no end to get the bond money. 

The City is near a 14+ million budget deficit or MORE. 

The Pool Bond would raise 23 million in instant bond money to go to the “pools.” 

If the City builds the pools at a cost similar to Orinda or other cities’ pools, each pool would cost 2 million not the requested 5.5 million. 

There would be leftover money of 3.5 million per pool or $14 million dollars left over if construction is bid at market rates. 

Add in the 3.5 million in parcel taxes to begin paying off the 30 year bond and paying the maintenance (will it really cost that much?) 

The City could have near 17 million in leftover money to “do with it what they may” which is probably plug up the budget gap and keep paying those hefty 150,000 dollar salaries. 

The City can legally get MORE than 3.5 million from the square-footage rate. 

Moral Hazard is abound as the City slews off millions in interest payments to the suckers (homeowners and businesses) and the City kicks the can down the road. 

Mayor Bates jumping in the pool just isn’t enough. If city employees are part of the “team” they should take a salary haircut and donate some of that absurd money to the pool cause and keep the city solvent. Do you believe in miracles or the predictable entitlement greed of the government class? The bond needs to be cut at least in half, the payment period needs to be much shorter and the parcel tax is 50% too expensive as written. 

 

Justin Lee 

 

*** 

 

Election Stolen 

 

After all the anomalous election results—votes shifted from polls and exit polls always in the same direction –one must be in complete denial to think that our elections have not been compromised. The Conyers committee report amply illustrated how the presidential election of 2004 was stolen in Ohio. The circumstances of the 2002 HAVA act should give any legislator some pause. Why did Abramoff's firm (fueled by Diebold's contribution) lobby for this bill which facilitated the takeover of most of our electionsby eminently hackable voting machines? It's all amply documented if we have the courage (or good sense) to open our eyes. If we are to remain a democracy, we must take action. The Holt bill could be a start.We dodged the bullet with the Obama election, but the grave threat of election theft is still there. 

 

Dr. Harold Lecar 

 

*** 

 

Loving the Berkeley Rep 

 

I couldn’t disagree more with Ms. O’Malley’s description of the Berkeley Rep as a “downtown pre-Broadway tryout house with a bridge-and-tunnel audience”. Wow.I *walked* to American Idiot (the Green Day-based rock play) and it was AWESOME.The lush, layered arrangements were really stunning.And yes, it went on to Broadway to rave reviews – and this is a great thing!To dismiss the Rep as a “tryout house” – really, wow. It craps all over one of their greatest achievements which they somehow managed to pull off in budget-cutting, payroll-reducing, nail-biting times.I also recently saw “Girlfriend” -- a gay coming-of-age story and happened to sit next to the choreographer of the show, which was a real treat. Some of my friends said it was short on plot, didn’t have a central conflict, etc., but I also thought this little definitely-not-for-Broadway play was terrific.It captured the hopefulness and hesitancy of teenagers in love and I have to say that it really moved this middle-aged gay guy.To Susie and Tony and all the folks at the Rep – thank you for all you have brought to this city and what you have brought to my heart.May our wonderful, walkable, home-grown theater live on forever. 

 

George Beier 

 

*** 

 

No More War! 

 

We now have one trillion reasons to oppose the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. On May 30, those two wars will have cost $1 trillion for operations alone, not even counting the interest on the debt of that borrowed money or the health care costs for returning vets. It is an amount so incomprehensible that it can only be understood in terms of what it could have bought rather than missiles and destruction. For $1 trillion we could immediately give every one of the 15.4 million unemployed people in the United States a $50,000 job and still have $235 billion left over. We could provide free public university education for the next 24 years to the 2 million of our children who typically enter college annually. And those are what we can quantify. What could $1 trillion do for cancer research or alternative energy discoveries or any of a myriad of problems we would like to solve but cannot because of lack of resources. 

If we are not stable economically, then we are not secure as a nation. 

We are now on our way to the next trillion. This hemorrhaging of our collective resources for war has to stop now. 

 

Mrs. Nasira Abdul-Aleem 

 

*** 

 

Tea 

 

Dorothy Snodgrass (May 25) says she's lived in London "for extended periods of time," and that "..... high tea, if you don't know, is something special, one you might enjoy at Harrod's or Selfridges Department Stores. There you're served from a two-tiered tray with dainty cucumber and watercress sandwiches, scones with clotted cream and jam, and, of course, a large pot of tea." 

Having grown up in England, I can tell you that the words "high tea" aren't going to get you far in either of those great stores.What Ms. Snodgrass refers to is afternoon tea.What we call Main street, the British call High street, and that's the sense in which the term high tea is meant to be used: it's a main sort of (traditionally working class) meal.Here are a couple of web sites (there are scores of them) that help to explain: 

http://whatscookingamerica.net/History/HighTeaHistory.htm 

High Tea is often a misnomer. Most people refer to afternoon tea as high tea because they think it sounds regal and lofty, when in all actuality, high tea, or "meat tea" is dinner. High tea, in Britain, at any rate, tends to be on the heavier side. American hotels and tea rooms, on the other hand, continue to misunderstand and offer tidbits of fancy pastries and cakes on delicate china when they offer a "high tea." 

http://www.londoneats.com/news/afternoontea.asp lists many superb places to get good afternoon tea while in London. Cheers! 

 

Revan Tranter 

 

*** 

 

Afghan Women 

 

Afghan President Karzai’s recent visit to the US has been in the news, but stories about the reality of life for Afghan women have been missing.I recently heard the story of Bebe, a young Afghan woman, through my support of MADRE (www.madre.org), and I will never forget it. 

Bebe was only 12 when her family forced her to marry a member of the Taliban.The abuse started immediately.She was regularly beaten and forced to sleep with the animals. 

Finally, when she was 17, Bebe tried to escape, but her neighbors reported her to the police.She was forcibly returned to her husband. 

Days later, Bebe’s husband cut off her nose and both of her ears.This was her punishment for running away. 

She barely survived the attack.But after receiving treatment, she found a safe haven at a women’s shelter supported in part by MADRE’s Afghan Women’s Survival Fund. 

This is the type of story we must remember, of courageous Afghan women demanding their rights.As Afghan people work to build their future, it will depend on the bravery of women like Bebe and the support we in the US can extend to them. 

 

Sian Taylor Gowan 

 

*** 

 

Republican Fearmongering 

 

Must be an election time again—Republicans are rolling out the old familiar anti-immigration, fearmongering and hatemongering—in efforts to divide and confuse the electorate. 

To show you how bad it is, Republican John McCain who with Ted Kennedy proposed comprehensive immigration reform, has gone over to the forces of nativism and xenophobia. 

Republicans are targeting Hispanic and Latino immigrants this election season instead of blacks. Is it any wonder that there are so few African-Americans in the Republican Party and will it be any wonder that few Hispanics and Latinos will flock to the GOP "Big Tent?" 

Republicans have to fall back on "wedge" issues every election because they have nothing to offer. They won't touch the real issues like jobs, drugs, education, crime and the Gulf oil spill except to talk about them and spin the subject. 

And heaven forbid you say "we're all in this together" when there is a conservative or Tea Party Republican around. 

 

Ron Lowe 

 

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Thanks 

 

I wanted to express my gratitude to Becky O'Malley and the staff at the Berkeley Daily Planet for their efforts in keeping the paper alive.How in the world, are people going to find out what is going on in this town if it weren't for the Planet's informed news? All of a sudden, there is new construction on the South Bart station and empty apartment houses keep mushrooming all over this town, but most of us don't have a clue as to what made it happen.Thanks also for offering an opportunity for people in this town to vent out their feelings through the letters to the editor. 

I have been very distressed, however, by the despicable attacks on the paper by a small group of Zionists who are bent on destroying the paper.Having been brought up in Belgium during World War 2, I had first hand exposure to the horror of the Holocaust and the persecution of the Jews.Unfortunatetely, I believe that groups of people who have been persecuted often persecute others afterwards.There is no excuse for the harsh treatment of the Palestinians by Israel, their perpetual expansion into Palestinian land and their hoarding and acquiring lethal weapons which is a dangerous threat to the whole world. 

I wish I had a lot of money I could donate to the Berkeley Daily Planet so it could be openly published again and I hope that some wealthy readers will make it happen.In the meantime, thank you and keep up the good work. 

 

Andree Julian 

 

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Democracy and Education 

 

Schwarzenegger's latest cuts to all Californians prove that we need democracy in our state government now more than ever. 

Because a minority of the legislature can hold the budget process hostage, we'll have another costly, late, and reckless budget that doesn't represent the people. It's no coincidence that the only state with minority rule on both budget and revenue also suffers from the worst deficit and the most painful cuts. We need 50% votes on both budget and revenue now. 

The governor has shown that he's scared of the student movement to save public education, but he can't appease us by while harming our families and communities instead. A real commitment to education and to California means an investment in children and the working class. That kind of crucial support can never be delivered while California's revenue stream is in the hands of a minority of legislators. 

As Cal students, we care about the wellbeing of all Californians, not just our own fees. I want my younger siblings and little cousins to have the opportunities I have, but will they be able to reach higher education at all in a state that denies neessary medical care and childcare? We need sustainable solutions for California that don't just alternate between cutting social programs and education. Funding for both is required to produce a well-educated work force, and the only way to get funding is through a democratic budget and revenue process. 

 

Eli Wirtschafter 

UC Berkeley '13 

Berkeley HS '09 

 

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Measure C Video; Pools and 3-Card Monte; Measure C is Ill-Timed; Measure C-Berkeley voters have Stockholm Syndrome. 

Measure C Video 

I'm disappointed that you buried the video so completely. It is clearly of considerable news value and public interest -- Shirley Dean and Kriss Worthington joining with Tom Bates to denounce the anti-C campaign's tactics in very harsh terms. By hiding it underneath an ill-informed reader analysis that contains numerous false statements (including some of the very same falsehoods that Shirley, Kriss and Tom were denouncing), you have "buried the lede" in a pretty substantial way. 

Robert Collier 

*** 

Pools and 3-Card Monte 

Why does the City need Measure C? 

It shouldn't come as any surprise that those people who have owned their property since before Prop 13 pay less than those who purchased property more recently. The surprise comes when you look at the total property tax generated today vs the property tax generated pre-Prop 13 in constant dollars. 

The City makes more money today in constant dollars than it did pre-Prop 13. Where does that money go? 

The vast majority goes to employee salaries and benefits as well as retirement payments. I know from personal experience the bulk of City employees are hard working and conscientious. I also believe that they are very well paid and the benefits the City offers its employees go well beyond the benefits offered in the private workplace. 

Add to that the fact that the City has had an explosion in its workforce since Prop 13 -- currently over 1,600 employees. We have many more City workers than any city of comparable size in California. Even with all the outsourcing the City has done (your curbside recycling is done by an outside contractor, not by the City), the City still employs nearly twice as many people as Hayward which has 50% greater population. 

The City has been planning to cut back pool hours for some time because the cost of operating the pools is too great. Building new pools, or renovating old pools will not change the mathematics of operation. If we want pools, then we need to pay for them with taxes, not with bonds. 

Vote no on C. Don't increase our indebtedness without a way to operate the pools in the future. 

Vincent Casalaina 

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Measure C is Ill-Timed 

Measure C is an ill timed bond measure that places too high a financial burden on the tax payer. At a recent NEBA meeting where the issue was debated, someone correctly pointed out that the Measure's maintenance component is a Trojan Horse.
Currently the pools are maintained at a yearly cost of about one million dollars. Measure C proposes that it be raised to three and one half million. The bond portion will be paid off in thirty years but the maintenance component is in perpetuity and indexed for inflation.
The Trojan Horse is the additional two and a half million dollars that the city will collect from every tax payer. I suspect that the city intends to use it to ease the budget deficits: four million this year and sixteen and one half million for 2011.
The city is using children and the elderly as a front for this back door tax increase. The claims that BHS cannot allow the middle school access to its pool because of its own intense use is false. A random check of this pool during school hours and Saturdays will confirm it. The decision to demolish the warm water pool used by the elderly is in the hands of the BUSD, which claims that it needs the space for additional classrooms for an increasing student population. Many non Berkeley residents attend BHS and during these hard financial times it could save the warm pool by denying these out of towners access. I personally know one of these students whose parents live in Montclair in a million dollar plus home. This past December, Councilman Wozniack, the featured speaker at an event, was asked how many of these children attend Berkeley schools. It is not a trivial number.
In politics, truth is the best disinfectant.

Robert Cabrera 

*** 

Measure C-Berkeley voters have Stockholm Syndrome. 

Pro-C politicians and their flock-of –tax-me-I-have-Stockholm-Syndrome voters are questioning the homeowners who rightfully ask what value they are getting for the money. They are playing a zero-sum value game since they refuse to discuss accounting tricks and expenses like most budget conscious adults.It’s YES or NO. The pools have value, but it’s limited to a FAIR PRICE(109 million over 30 years is not a good deal). The pro-C backers and the politicians who want to secure their fat pensions have resorted to negating discourse about financing to their typical name-calling and comments about Teabaggers, liars etc. 

The fact remains this: If you charge a special tax for pools that can be upwards to 3.5 million maximum, then any excess taxes collected can be used for whatever they desire. This is an accounting shell game and general tax because any money that WERE for pools in the general tax now is free to go to obligations and budget holes. 

It’s not a pool tax-it’s an accounting scheme. 

Measure C proponents will have you believe that the hostage(pools) will be shot if they don’t get what they want. This is the worst marketing campaign and financial terrorist hit job in Berkeley to date. What happened to contract negotiation? But then again, I wouldn’t want to be across the table discussing math with such people anyway. Making a Youtube Video and saying we are wrong without any factual information is the best they can muster. 

The $$$ full glossy pro-C mailers(underwritten by the Bond Vampires probably) are lording our children and crippled elderly in front us us to help secure millions in profits for the financial industry and allows Mayor Bates to continue his credit financing binge. 

Justin Lee

 

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Civil Plea in Favor of Measure C  

It is a pity that such a valuable civic resource--municipal pools that serve a wide array of Berkeley citizens--has become such a contested issue 

I am writing in favor of Measure C for ALL swimmers. I truly want there to continue to be four municipal pools in Berkeley. I have seen the Master Swimmers, the Barracudas, the Senior Aerobics classes, the parents and tot swim programs, the programs for adults with a fear of water, children learning to swim and hopefully thus avoidingthe tragedy of drowning, and family swim hours that occur at all four pools. 

But I happen to be a swimmer at the Warm Pool for the past seventeen years, and it is the value of the Warm Pool that I know first-hand.So, I would like to say a few words about the great value of this civic resource. In these pages you have heard about the many disabled children and adults who have been helped by the therapeutic 92-93 degree temperature of the Warm Pool. Many of those who receive benefits from the Warm Pool are quite disabled; and the Warm Pool provides them with some relief from their pain and physical and mental stress. 

However, there are at least two other groups of swimmers at the Warm Pool. One is people who have been in a car accident or had some other kind of accident for which they need the therapy provided by the Warm Pool. The other group is the one to which I belong. When I began swimming at the Warm Pool, I was quite disabled from a herniated disk. Fortunately for me, with the help of the Warm Pool and other therapies, I was able to return to my full-time job. I have been able to earn a very good living and pay my taxes as a homeowner, business owner in Berkeley, and employee of a small public utility. 

I feel that the story of people like me has not been told enough--people who can resume their lives. People who do not need to be supported by disability or other social welfare programs. I am in no way writing against these necessary social programs. I just want to point out that the relatively inexpensive resource of a Warm Pool in Berkeley has had, and continues to have, a profoundly beneficial effect for many people who are able to resume their employment. This alone is a fact worth considering when deciding whether to vote for Measure C. I hope you will vote for Measure C. Many of your fellow citizens are counting on you. 

Judi Berzon 

Oakland 

*** 

Warm Pool is Health Care 

We are retired Berkeley homeowners with two rental units and we will vote enthusiastically yes on Measure C. We know people for whom the Warm Pool is not just optional recreation but actually IS their health care. And we also know how important Measure C will be for youth in our community. This includes six, eight, twelve year old disabled kids who depend on the Warm Pool for their only recreation-- playgrounds might as well be in a parallel universe. It also includes South and West Berkeley youth, more of whom do not know how to swim than those in other parts of town and thus are at greater risk of drowning. (Nationwide, 58% of minority youth can't swim!)
If Willard Pool closes July 1st--as it will if Measure C fails--it will spell the end of spring and fall swim lessons at Willard Middle School as well as "After School at the Pool", where many kids hone their water skills. It will also mean that the thriving Barracudas youth team, which badly needs more and wider, safer lanes at King Pool, will instead face even greater crowding and scheduling problems. Seems to me it's not much of a legacy for our generation to leave.
I hope readers realize that the "Y" is simply not an option to replace the Warm Pool. It is too small, too shallow, and already too heavily in use. I also hope that whatever you may think of the School District's decision to demolish the gym, that ship has sailed. Why punish the Warm Pool community by denying their need?
For us, the benefits of Measure C well outweigh the modest cost, even in challenging economic times. I hope you'll join us in voting yes on "C" this Tuesday.

Donna Mickleson 

 

Seven hundred, 700 swimmers use the warm-pool at BHS, not just a few dozen as detractors insist in print and in whispered anti-warm-pool propaganda. My figure includes hard data: the ‘captured’ names of articulate and literate users over a 17 month period, plus a conservative, rational estimate of ‘uncaptured’ names. 

About one hundred of these counted warm-pool users are parents of pre-literate, pre-articulate children; these latter babies are not counted; thus that 100 really is 200. The 700 could therefore be said to be 800. 

Five hundred fifty people gave me their names (on paper!) for an ongoing letter or newsletter supporting saving the warm-pool (at least until something equal is ready-to-use) ; about thirty decided not to give me their names. My collecting of names continues as conditions permit. 

While I busy myself with my swim routines, I notice every day new people whom I have never seen before and whom I hope to ’capture’ when I am better prepared to chat with them; (they number at least one hundred twenty). This is true for every program of which I am aware at the pool, of which there are several, public and private. 

My collected data does not include place-of-residence. Estimates vary there and I do not care to guess what percentage resides in Berkeley. 

Retention of therapy and recreation resources such as the existing warm-pool seems to me to be essential for the public good, generally speaking, and should seem essential to anyone who is at all rational, especially given the numbers above presented. 

Regional parks and city parks in the east bay employ tens of thousands of acres of land. On the market, land here goes for hundreds of thousands of dollars per acre. Parks here thus are worth billions of dollars. Maybe there are ten acres here and there that could be sold for emergency funds from time to time. 

Our warm-pool uses five thousand square feet, about one seventh of an acre. The football field consumes over two hundred thousand square feet, about six acres. 

Let us discuss, rhetorically, selling the football field; a high-rise developer would very likely fork over a handy few million bucks. 

In the ongoing spirit of sacrificing one community for the sake of another, as we observe where BUSD’s directors feel justified pulling the rug out from under the 700-800 warm-pool users, I suggest that the dangerous sport of BHS childrens’ football be abandoned and their field be sold to the highest bidder, rezoned of course for commercial use. (Regarding football, please see recnt letter enclosed below.) 

Taxes and bond-issues could thereby be forgotten for a moment, perhaps until our ramshackle economy again rears its ugly head and gets to its hoofed feet. 

The Real Cost of Football  

The public schools, BUSD, builds a new stadium as you read this, now, …mostly for football games at BHS, ironically just as the bottom drops out of funds for freshman sports. But just think: another sparkling new building to brag about. BHS is right up there with UC Berkeley regarding stadia, bread and circuses. 

And ironically again this work begins as we just begin to understand scientifically, at the deepest level of truth, the damage football causes to the brains of players, now suspected of being typical, universal, unavoidable, irreversible, and disgusting. 

Who is most guilty of supporting this blissfully ignorant, vile, continuing slow murder of young athletes, right here in Berkeley? Regents? School boards, coaches, parents, friends? All the above? 

Swimming pools are highly efficient ways of providing exercise options. …And lots of chances for spectator enjoyment at competitions. 

Compare the local high school, BHS (city-run) warm-pool’s much greater real-estate efficiency with that of the football field (plus associated areas adjacent), which latter adds-up to an area of about two-hundred-fifty thousand square-feet, used by a couple or three dozen people at a time at the most, (as I have witnessed hundreds of times over a time span of fifteen years). 

The warm-pool room at BHS is just five thousand square-feet, one-fiftieth or two percent as large as the football plus track fields, which latter consumes half of the city block between Bancroft and Channing. 

The football field area and vicinity is thus fifty times larger than the warm-pool room, and probably football is at least fifty times as dangerous as swimming if not more. 

Six percent of retired NFL football players suffer from dementia caused by repeated head injuries, concussions. All examined brains showed tau-protein damage in deceased players. This is per major articles in the New Yorker and the journal Science. (Malcolm Gladwell wrote “Offensive Play,” in Oct 19, 2009 New Yorker, p50, 10 pages. Greg Miller wrote “A Late Hit for Pro Football Players,” 7 Aug 2009 in Science, p670, vol 325, 3 pages.( [1] )) Also a channel nine report on the news hour, 29 Oct 2009. 

Should we consider the benefits to spectators? Football is a so-called spectator sport. All those cheering, mostly sedentary spectators make football fields and stadia more efficient, one might claim. 

But let us talk about beneficial meaningful and regular exercise for users, mostly just students per unit ofarea. Let us argue that 100 students per day benefit from the 250 thousand square feet at the football field area, vicinity, and 100 pool-users per 5, five thousand square feet . 

This gives us a clear, useful picture: 100/250,000 field, vs. 100/5,000 pool. These give us 2500 feet of territory per football player or runner, the size of a house , vs. 50, fifty feet per swimmer, about 7x7, about the size of a big bed. The cost of the real estate per football athlete is therefore about fifty times the cost per swimmer. 

All the longstanding American glorification of the dangerous sport of football does little to deal with obesity and diabetes now plaguing more average young people, while excellent exercise such as swimming is largely ignored and avoided by schools, perhaps to the students’ eventual great, heartbreaking, expensive peril. 

Why do we insist on devoting huge area per football-athlete to do his entertaining thing and tiny area for the more average seated studious pupil to learn? The sedentary students receive compensating benefits one might argue; but sadly, required healthy, regular, pleasant exercise like swimming appears not to be one such benefit. 

Gladwell compares football to dogfighting: “The emotions of the dogs are conspicuous, but… the passions of the owners of the dogs… their fondness for these fighters is manifest.” 

The author, Gladwell is pessimistic: “There is nothing to be be done so long as fans stand and cheer. We are in love with football players, with their courage and grit… nothing can compete with the destructive power of that love.”  

This is appalling, horrific. This is sacrifice, demanding that young men give their lives in gladiatorial displays for the ignoble pleasure of gamblers and blood-thirsty spectators. I retch. 

[1] Science is the most read and respected journal of science; 3 pages constitute a major article. 

 

Terry Cochrell is a disabled,Berkeley retired architect.

When you are looking at your June ballot pamphlet, it might be a good idea to look into the future as well as the past. 

Looking to the future, in November there will be a bond issue of over $200 million that will include new classrooms and a new gymnasium at Berkeley High School at the site of the existing landmarked Old Gym and warm water pool.  

Looking back to 2000, Berkeley voters passed Measure AA, a bond issue for $116.5 million which focused on building new classrooms at Berkeley High. That money was spent for a variety of purposes, but no new classrooms were built. There was a need for classrooms in 2000 and there is perhaps a greater need now. 

The BUSD testified against granting landmark status to the old gymnasium building, saying that they were not bound by the restrictions that landmark status would impose on a private building owner. The Berkeley Landmarks Commission voted to landmark the Old Gym in 2008.  

The BUSD proceeded to hire architects to design a new classroom buildingat the site of the Old Gym and warm water pool. The architects were not told to study whether the proposed classrooms and gymnasium could be accommodated within the existing building. Little known to Berkeley citizens, the architects were assigned to design a new bleacher/ stadiumwith 2200 seats estimated to cost $10.4 million. This would be built before the classroom/gym building! 

In a city which prides itself on being “green”, BUSD seems to ignore the fact that the greenest building is one which already exists. On average, it takes 40-50 years to regain the energy wasted when a building is demolished. 

Concerned about the decision to demolish the Old Gym, a group of 22 volunteers, mostly design professionals, met at Berkeley High in 2008 to study the feasibility of accommodating the BUSD’s program within the Old Gym. They met for one morning. Many interesting ideas were generated in this brief study session and a report was presented to the BUSD. The were not interested. 

Being a member of the study group, I felt that a single unified plan should be developed. As a retired architect, I had time to pursue this task. I was pleased to find that the existing Old Gym could comfortably accommodate 18 classrooms rather than the BUSD program for 15 classrooms. Most would have lofty ceilings and high windows. A two story high gymnasium with ground floor spectator entry would fit comfortably. Theexisting warm water pool, which was recently upgraded by the City of Berkeley, would be retained. Based on the cost of the recent work at the Richmond Plunge, the total cost for renovating the pool and locker room would be within the$3 million which the voters approved for this purpose in 2000!. This contrasts with about $10 million for a newwarm water pool in the current Measure C ballot. 

Why not keep the existing warm water pool and not spend $10 million (of the $22.5 million measure C money) on a new facility? Why not renovate the Landmarked Old Gym to provide the needed classrooms and gymnasium? Is a new stadium with 2200 seats the highest priorityfor Berkeley High? 

You can view the architect’s plans for BUSD’s proposed buildings at: www.bakervilar.com  

Click on educational, Berkeley High School South of Bancroft. 

Henrik Bull,FAIA
May 12, 2010

It is unusual for politicians in Berkeley to be unified on any single issue. The campaign for “YES” on Measure C is a necessary bond measure to ensure the ongoing health and viability of Berkeley’s aging aquatic system. 

Swimming pools are a vital and necessary resource for any community – swimming is NOT a luxury, bourgeois sport. Rather, drown-proofing is a NECESSARY part of education for any community situated on the water. It is a highly recommended activity for people of all ages, and a vital cross-training element for athletes involved in other sports from track and tennis to basketball and volleyball. 

Berkeley happens to be blessed with a climate that makes year-round outdoor swimming feasible. Swimming pools are as important to education as are schools and libraries. Pools also bind communities socially and add a priceless element to social and educational experiences. 

The Campaign for Measure C is necessary because the City of Berkeley will not use its available resources from the general fund to finance the necessary improvements. The Campaign AGAINST measure C is coordinated by a group that notoriously opposes any and all new tax and bond measures in Berkeley. But the opposition is not just a garden variety, Reagan-Jarvis anti-tax loonies. Rather, they are a thoughtful group, led by Marie Bowman, and have become frustrated by the tendency of Berkeley politicians to avoid tough decisions by punting them into ballot issues. 

Measure C is necessary because Mayor Tom Bates, City Manager Phil Kamlarz and their minions on the City Council and School Board have REFUSED to make general fund money available for these improvements, and have REFUSED to apply for available grants that could also finance the projects. Indeed, the Campaign for Measure C notes in their literature that, “Berkeley has a AA+ bond rating from Standard & Poors, in the top 1 percent of all cities nationwide.” Bowman points out that the COB never applied for Community Development Block Grants (CDBG) that were available. She also notes that bond issues are not traditionally used to finance day-to-day operations of any aspect of city government. But this has become a default mechanism for Berkeley politicians. This is consistent with other Berkeley political habits including REFUSING to set performance standards for city contractors, and not implementing a system for followup on deliverables. In summary, the current system seems designed to avoid accountability in many areas. Making this a bond measure is yet another attempt at avoiding financial accountability. 

The fact that this came to a ballot issue, rather than financing it from available resources is a window into the deep corruption in Berkeley. A couple of weeks ago, I attended a “rally” for Measure C at the Willard Pool. Imagine my surprise to see that one of the campaign coordinators was Lars ______________, also known as one of Tom Bates’ most visible political operatives. Previously, I’ve known Lars to work on Bates’ campaign, WHILE he was employed by Bates’ administrative staff at City Hall. This picture is further skewed and confusing because Mayor Bates repeatedly REFUSED to look into allegations of systemic failures in the aquatic system at the Berkeley YMCA. And Lars was involved in the effort to officially ignore the situation. Why the sudden interest on the part of Mayor Bates in aquatic programs and safety? The dissonance occurs because the COB gives the Berkeley Y over $250,000/yr. but has repeatedly turned its back on complaints about poor aquatic administration and sexual activity in the men’s’ locker room of the Berkeley Y. They recognize the importance of a healthy pool system for the good of the community and their political asses. At the same time, the Mayor and Council have REFUSED to even investigate the allegations of sexual activity in the men’s locker room at the Y because they are afraid they may appear to be “anti-gay.” 

Sadly, Mayor Bates, the City Council, the School Board and their members have all conspired to blackmail the city with this bond measure. If it doesn’t pass, the city’s recreational aquatics system faces certain death. Vote YES on Measure C. Then vote the rascals out next time around. 

 

H. Scott Prosterman moved to California for a job in the aquatics industry in 1999. Previously, he has published articles in the DP calling out health code, hygiene and code deficiencies at the Berkeley YMCA.

The MV Rachel Corrie is one of the ships in the international aid Gaza Freedom Flotilla that was attacked by Israeli naval forces on May 31, 2010. Remember Rachel Corrie, the 22-year old peace activist from Washington State, who attempted to stop a bulldozer operated by the Israeli military from demolishing homes and other buildings in Gaza. Rachel was struck and killed. Some witnesses claimed she was struck deliberately, but an Israeli inquiry found her death to be an accident. 

At last year's San Francisco Jewish Film Festival, I saw "Rachel," a documentary about the 2003 incident. The film depicts the circumstances surrounding her death. The documentary is not just about Corrie's death. It is also about activists who fight injustice without hope of winning, but do so without despair.  

The film is also about the ongoing conflict in Gaza, which stretches back to the creation of Israel in 1947. Then, the United Nations partitioned the land, allotting the Jews 55 percent of Palestine. The Arabs did not agree to this partition. In the 1948 “war of independence” (called the “El Naqua,” the catastrophe, by the Arabs), Israel ended up with 78 percent of the area of Palestine. This war displaced 750,000 Palestinians and over 450 Arab villages were erased. In the war of 1967, the remaining Palestinian territory was captured by Israel. Out of this captured land, Israel created the West Bank and the Gaza Strip by chopping up the land into isolated enclaves surrounded by Jewish settlements and Israeli occupation forces. The Palestinians lost 78 percent of their land to Israel and are left with 22 percent. Recently, Israel has erected a wall or fence, which cuts deep into Palestinian territory, joining large Jewish settlement blocks to Israel, further confining the Palestinians to isolated enclaves. Israel continues to establish new settlements (called outposts), demolishing homes and uprooting plantations in the process. And the Israeli-Palestinian conflict goes on and on. 

At the time, I commended the Jewish Film Festival for showing the film. Unfortunately, some within the Jewish community see a "new anti-Semitism" when criticism of Israel is depicted in films like "Rachel." I like to think that "Rachel" sparked a healthy debate within the Jewish Community about the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The mostly Jewish audience at the documentary enthusiastically welcomed the film. 

Prior to showing the film, the audience booed and hissed at the right-wing representative of the Voice of Israel invited to calm those critics who attempt to enforce the axiom that there shall be no public criticism of Israel. However, the Voice of Israel representative was not there to dialogue, but rather only to chastise. The crowd refused to be chastised. Then the large theater audience enthusiastically welcomed the film and the Q and A afterwards with Cindy Corrie, Rachel's mother.  

I have urged our San Francisco Bay Area theater groups without success to stage the play "My Name Is Rachel Corrie," which is composed from Rachel Corrie's journal entries and e-mails. The play was edited by Katherine Viner and Alan Rickman and directed by Rickman. It had a successful run in London at the Royal Court Theatre where it went on to win the Theatregoers' Choice Awards for Best Director and Best New Play, as well as Best Solo Performance for actress Megan Dodds. The Royal Court wanted to stage the production in Rachel's home country first. The New York Theatre Workshop agreed to stage the show in March 2006, but succumbed to "pressures" and delayed the production. The Royal Court took this as a cancellation. I understand the play has been performed at the The Seattle Repertory Theatre in 2007 and a one-time performance by Kitchen & Roundhouse Theatre in Silver Spring, Maryland, also in 2007. Hopefully, now other theater groups will stage the play. 

It is fitting to remember Rachel's fight to end injustice as the world contemplates Israel's attack on the Gaza Freedom Flotilla.

In recent weeks, the Measure C campaign has found widespread support for saving Berkeley’s pools. From the hills to the flats, from young parents to the elderly and disabled, enthusiasm is high. But our opponents have made a never-ending series of false allegations about Measure C’s financing and other details. No matter how often we rebut the false claims, they keep popping up with wilder embellishments and ever-more bogus numbers. Here is a voter guide with the straight facts: 

 

 

FICTION	FACT
Berkeley does not need a 92-degree Warm Pool because the Downtown YMCA has two, and UC Berkeley has one	The Downtown YMCA has one 92-degree wading pool that is 3.5 feet deep, too shallow for most adults, which is already at full capacity; it also has one 86-degree pool, too cold for many elderly and disabled, which is at full capacity in most time periods. UC Berkeley has no warm pool.
The Warm Pool’s 92-degreewater temperature is dangerously hot for most users and is only suitable for a tiny minority	Warm pools around the Bay Area are 92 degrees and have a wide range of programming for all ages, including early swim instruction for children. Examples include the Betty Wright Center in Palo Alto and the Timpany Center in San Jose.
Instead of building new pools, the existing pools should be rehabbed, which would be greener and cheaper.	The decision by the School Board to remove the Warm Pool from the High School campus was unanimous and is irreversible. Therefore there is no Warm Pool to rehab. Measure C would rehab Willard and West Campus outdoor pools, and would rehab and expand King Pool.
The Barracudas youth team and Masters teams do not need a municipal pool because they could train and compete at the Berkeley High School competition pool.	The High School pool is occupied by High School teams during most weekday hours, and it has no capacity for use by non-students.
Another pools ballot measure can be tried in a year or two from now. There’s no hurry.	The Warm Pool and Willard Pool are slated for permanent closure in the next year if Measure C is not approved, and citywide budget cuts will endanger programming, hours and maintenance at the remaining two pools. Measure C is the culmination of years of exhaustive public process about the pools, and it is virtually impossible to start again from scratch.
Measure C would increase pools maintenance costs by $3.5 million per year, adjusted for inflation.	Measure C provides $980,000 annually for programs, staffing, hours and maintenance, adjusted for inflation, largely to offset projected budget cuts. Measure C’s total expenditure by 2040 is capped at $3.5 million, most of which is the normal repayment of bond principal and interest.
Funds are likely to be siphoned off to the rest of the city budget and not spent on the pools	Measure C funds must be used exclusively for the purposes described in the ballot statement – for repair and rebuilding of the pools, and program and operating costs. Any use of the funds for non-pools purposes would be illegal.
Berkeley’s debt is skyrocketing and it cannot afford more.	Despite the budget crisis, the city’s finances are in solid shape. By law, the city must run a balanced budget, and its projected deficit is being closed with budget cuts. Berkeley has an AA+ bond rating from Standard and Poors, in the top 1 percent of all cities nationwide.
Measure C’s Mello-Roos financing structure is unusual and risky.	Mello-Roos Community Facilities Districts (CFDs) have been used by hundreds of California cities and school districts for new facilities and programs. Berkeley’s Mello-Roos CFD #1 was created by voters in 2000 to pay for earthquake preparedness equipment purchases by the fire and police departments. Measure C would create Mello-Roos CFD #2.
Measure C borrows money for operating expenses. This is irresponsible budgeting.	Measure C has two halves – the bond measure for capital costs, and an annual tax for pools operations to guarantee the pools’ hours and programs despite the budget crisis. No bond funds can be spent on operations.
The $22.6 million cost is way too high. More competitive bidding could save millions.	The $22.6 million cost was calculated by Cummings Corp., a well-respected project management company. As the city does with all bond projects, it will put Measure C projects out to fully competitive public bid.
Measure C would pay $40 million in interest to financiers. This is too high.	Total interest payments are projected at $17.6 million over 30 years.
Berkeley’s tax burden is much higher than any other city locally	In February 2008, the City Manager conducted a detailed study of the property tax burden in Berkeley, Oakland and Albany. It found Berkeley’s taxes were above Oakland’s but below Albany’s. Since then, Albany’s tax increases have outpaced Berkeley’s.

For more Q&A, please see the Frequently Asked Questions list on the Measure C campaign website: www.berkeleypools.org/faq.html 

Robert Collier is a co-chair of the Yes on Measure C campaign. See www.berkeleypools.org and www.facebook.com/berkeleypools.

In the June 8 election, Berkeley has the choice of deciding whether to embrace all our city’s residents – old as well as young, disabled as well as able-bodied – or whether to succumb to conservative wedge-issue tactics that seek to divide us. 

Measure C will benefit all pool users in Berkeley, from the Barracudas youth team to young parents to neighborhood lap swimmers. But no one has higher stakes than the users of the Warm Pool. For us, it quite literally is our lifeline. 

Several of the writers of this article are disabled, and all of us need the Warm Pool’s 92-degree deep water to allow us to get exercise and gain the mobility that we don’t have on dry land. 

For Daily Planet readers who are able-bodied, it may be difficult to realize just how much a municipal pool can change someone’s life. But please understand that once in water – warm water, mind you, not just regular pool water – our battered bodies transform into new, mobile forms. It is physically, mentally and spiritually rejuvenating. 

We urge you to watch the Measure C campaign’s video, which is about all the city’s four pools but includes a very nice segment on the Warm Pool. The video is 10 minutes long, and we guarantee it will surprise you. It may even move you to tears – as it did for many of us as we watched the footage of the Parent-Tot class, or the class for Special Needs children. Please see the “media” section of the Measure C campaign website, www.berkeleypools.org. 

In 2011, the Warm Pool will lose its longtime home at the Old Gym at Berkeley High School, so the pool must be rebuilt at a separate location. Measure C provides a new home at West Campus, the site of the former Berkeley Adult School at Addison and Browning streets. For all of Berkeley, the rebuilt indoor Warm Pool will be a wonderful complement to the three outdoor pools at King, Willard and West Campus. And for West Berkeley neighborhoods, the Warm Pool will be a huge bonus – it will be operated year-round and will be a perfect place for parents with toddlers and young children during the cold-weather months when the West Campus outdoor pool is closed for the season. 

For all these reasons, Measure C is supported by every single elected official in Berkeley – the unanimous City Council, School Board and Rent Board, plus former Mayor Shirley Dean, State Senator Loni Hancock, and a wide variety of community groups. 

Unfortunately, Berkeley’s anti-tax conservatives are cynically trying to use the Warm Pool as a wedge issue against Measure C. Led by Marie Bowman, who seems to be positioning herself as a Berkeley hybrid of Sarah Palin and Howard Jarvis, they are making a series of wild and false claims that the Warm Pool is unnecessary and too expensive. 

It’s a fact-free zone. For example, they claim that the Warm Pool is Olympic size. In fact, it is only one-sixth of Olympic size. They claim that the UC Berkeley campus has a Warm Pool that could be an alternative for city residents. In fact, no such pool exists. 

Most absurdly, they claim that the Warm Pool’s 92-degree water is unhealthy for tots, children, the pregnant, arthritic, seniors and the obese. This claim is directly contradicted by aquatics facilities in the Bay Area and around the nation. The Berkeley Pools Task Force, which was convened by the City Council and School Board in 2008-2009, closely examined aquatics industry standards and guidelines for the Warm Pool, and finally recommended a 92-degree temperature. 

The Bay Area's two largest warm pools -- the Betty Wright Swim Center in Palo Alto and the Timpany Center in San Jose -- are 93 degrees and 92 degrees, respectively, and offer a wide variety of programming, from early swim classes for all ages to programs for the elderly and disabled. The Downtown Berkeley YMCA holds all its parent-child swim lessons and its preschool swim lessons in its small, 92-degree warm wading pool (which is too small for most adults and many children, however). The American Swim Academy has four 92-degree pools in Fremont, Newark, Livermore and Dublin, which offer a wide variety of swim classes for toddlers and children. 

Our opponents also claim that the Warm Pool does not need to be rebuilt because it could be retained and remodeled (“a greener alternative”) at Berkeley High School. But the School Board has decided unanimously that the Warm Pool must be removed from the High School to relieve the severe overcrowding on campus. This decision is wildly popular among Berkeley parents and students, and it is essentially irreversible. By pretending otherwise, our opponents are just trying to create animosity between Warm Pool users and school supporters. These wedge tactics do not change the fact that if Measure C is not approved, Berkeley will have no Warm Pool, period. 

But our opponents will stop at nothing. As a cover for the anti-Measure C campaign, Marie Bowman even has violated our privacy by launching a pseudo-Warm Pool website, BerkeleyWarmPool.org, showing photos of many Warm Pool users without their permission. Several of us have written Marie, who is owner of the website, to demand that she remove our photos, but she has not responded. 

But this is par for the course. The anti-Measure C campaign is a callous effort by conservatives who would deprive our community of the pools we need to survive and would try to drive wedges between Berkeley residents. 

Berkeley deserves much better. Let’s save our pools, protect our health, preserve our quality of life, and unite our community. Please vote “Yes” for Measure C! 

______________________________________ 

The authors are Berkeley residents and users of the Warm Pool

After months of discussion, two voter surveys, and intense lobbying by pool advocates, the City Council voted to place a $22,500,000 (plus built-in inflator) Community Facilities bond on the June 8, 2010 ballot.This measure requires a 2/3 majority to pass.It would:provide for a replacement indoor warm pool of about 2250sf and associated facilities constructed at West Campus, to replace the warm pool at the BHS gym scheduled for demolition by BUSD;construct a new all-purpose 25 meter pool and associated facilities at King;and renovate the existing pool and associated facilities at Willard.Over the life of the bond, the average annual tax cost for a 1900 sf residence is estimated at $70, and at $297 for a 10,000 sf commercial space.Since the measure includes an unusual levy for ongoing maintenance (ordinarily paid out of the General Fund), after the bond is repaid in 2040 there would remain an annual maintenance tax of $24 for the average homeowner.And as the measure is based on property square footage, these forgoing taxes would be proportionately higher for larger properties. 

The NEBA (Northeast Berkeley Association) board met with proponents and opponents, and discussed this measure extensively at its March and April meetings.At this time, the NEBA Board is neither officially opposing or supporting this bond measure. The NEBA board, in general, strongly supports adequate community swim facilities, but nevertheless has reservations about this particular bond measure.NEBA would prefer a smaller, more focused and realistic budget and plan to renovate and maintain those pool facilities that will be widely used by the community, including the King and Willard pools.The threat to close down the Willard pool if the bond measure fails is unconvincing and a form of unacceptable strong-arming. 

In particular, the NEBA board has reservations about the proposed construction of a “warm pool’ at a construction cost of almost $10,000,000 plus ongoing maintenance costs.“Warm pool” is a misnomer, since the proposed 92 degree farenheit temperature is appropriately called a “therapeutic pool” and is, in the vernacular, a “hot pool”.The Aquatic Exercise Associationguidelines for pool temperature indicate that a temperature of 90 degrees and above is only suitable for certain limited types of therapy and rehabilitation, and for Parkinson’s Disease.A lower temperature is recommended for most other potential users of a warmer-than-normal pool, such as pregnant women, older adults, the obese, the arthritic, and those with multiple sclerosis.It appears that there are only about 100 Berkeley users of the existing therapeutic pool at Berkeley High School.A new therapeutic hot pool would thus serve very few Berkeleyans and at most a few hundred regional users--without regional financial contribution.Current user fees are subsidized by about $20 per swim and there has been no effort to explore higher user fees for those who can afford it or who can get health insurance reimbursement, or for non-Berkeleyans.In any event, a direct subsidy to all current users for use elsewhere would be minuscule compared to the bond cost.The YMCA has two therapeutic pools and there are other possible resources at UCB. 

The NEBA board also feels that the size and timing of this bond measure is inappropriate given the City’s overall unfunded longterm liabilities in the hundred of millions of dollars (yet to be fully accounted for as promised), its $16+ million annual operating deficit, the shockingly poor state of the local and national economy, and BUSD plans to float a new $200M+ facilities bond in November 2010.The NEBA board was unhappy with the BUSD decision to tear down the existing therapeutic pool at BHS and hopes BUSD will reconsider so that this pool may be renovated.The board also frowned upon the unorthodox use of bond money for staff and maintenance functions ordinarily paid by the City’s General Fund, and the floating of yet another revenue measure that is purported to benefit the entire community but is only to be paid for by property owners. 

In summary, in the foreseeable future NEBA would like to see a better and smaller plan for our community pools that does not include a $10,000,000+ therapy pool for the benefit of a few hundred persons at most. The NEBA Board understands that some voters will support this particular pool bond measure in the belief that it is right for Berkeley or that the good parts outweigh the rest.The NEBA board urges voters to proceed with caution and care. 

For your information, below is a summary of the official ballot arguments for and against the measure: 

For: municipal pools are a treasure but all four are near the end of their useful lives; there’s no time to lose;all pools will become more energy efficient;operating funds will be guaranteed; supporting this measure will result in a legacy for Berkeley. 

Against: Berkeley already has 15 pools, 9 public, 3 nonprofit, and 3 private; warm pool users can be provided with passes to the YMCA and Cal Stars pools; new regional facilities should be regionally funded; BUSD should not be demolishing the warm pool at BHS and it could be rehabbed for 1/3 the cost; all BUSD pools should be available to the general community as in other jurisdictions; Berkeley finances are already stretched too thin, more taxes and fees are impending, and essential needs have not been established or prioritized. 

Rebuttal to the Argument For: according to the Aquatic Exercise Association, the Cal and YMCA pools should meet the needs of nearly all warm pool swimmers, and membershipcosts would be minuscule compared to this measure;the proposed 91F temperature of the new warm pool is not recommended for tots, children, pregnant women, the arthritic, seniors and the obese;BUSD will be demolishing a certified National Landmark;Berkeley faces skyrocketing debt and hundreds of millions in unfunded liabilities. 

Rebuttal to the Argument Against: Berkeley’s naysayers want to shut down pools; Berkeley has 4 municipal pools, not 9;maintenance costs will actually be lower; Berkeley’s debt is not skyrocketing;no adequate alternatives to the new warm pool exist; youth swim teams need better training conditions. 

The Obama administration's move to the right is about to give conservatives a victory they could not have anticipated, even under Bush. HUD, under Obama, submitted legislation, called PETRA, to Congress that would result in the privatization of all public housing in America. 

The new owners would charge ten percent above market rates to impoverished tenants, money that would be mostly paid by the US government (you and me, the taxpayers). To maintain the property, the new owners would take out a mortgage for building repair and maintenance (like a home equity loan), with no cap on interest rates. 

With rents set above market rates, the mortgage risk would be attractive to banks. Either they make a huge profit on the mortgages paid for by the government, or, if the government lowers what it will pay for rents, the property goes into foreclosure. The banks get it and can sell it off to developers. 

Sooner or later, the housing budget will be cut back and such foreclosures will happen. The structure of the proposal and the realities of Washington make it a virtual certainty. 

The banks and developers make a fortune, with the taxpayers paying for it. The public loses its public housing property. The impoverished tenants lose their apartments, or have their rents go way up if they are forced into the private market. Homelessness increases; government gets smaller. The banks and developers win. It is a Bank Bonanza! The poor and the public lose. 

And a precedent is set. The government can - privatize any public property: Schools, libraries, national parks, federal buildings - just as has begun to happen in California, where the right-wing governor has started to auction off state property and has even suggested selling off the Supreme Court building. 

The rich will get richer; the poor and public get poorer. And the very idea of the public good withers. 

This is central to the conservative dream, in which there is no public good - only private goods. And it is a nightmare for democracy. 

The irony is that it is happening under the Obama administration. Barack Obama, while running for office, gave perhaps the best and clearest characterization of what democracy is about. Democracy, he has said, is based on empathy - on citizens caring about and for each other. That is why we have principles like freedom and fairness for everyone. It is why social responsibility is necessary. The monstrous alternative is having a society where no one cares about or for anyone else. 

HUD, under the Obama administration, is about to take a giant step toward that monstrous society. 

Here is a quote from the PETRA bill. It's intent is to: 

provide the opportunity for public housing agencies and private owners to convert from current forms of rental assistance under a variety of programs to long-term, property-based contracts that will enhance market-based discipline and enable owners to sustain operations and leverage private financing to address immediate and long-term capital needs and implement energy-efficiency improvements. 

Along the way, tenants' rights will be trampled, since tenants could not longer seek redress from the government through their public officials - because the government would no longer own the buildings. 

Stop PETRA. This is urgent. There is a hearing next Tuesday, May 25, before the House Financial Services Committee and the Subcommittee on Housing, organized by Rep. Maxine Waters. Phone: 202-225-2201. Fax: 202-225-7854. 

To write to the committee, go to this web site: 

Write to your Congressperson now. 

If you want to sign a petition, go here: 

Here is a letter from the National Association of HUD Tenants: 

Here is an informational web site, with letters, background information, and alternative proposals: 

And do what you can to get the word out. This requires a national discussion. 

 

George Lakoff is Goldman Distinguished Professor of Cognitive Science and Linguistics at the University of California at Berkeley. He is the author of The California Democracy Act, a grassroots California ballot initiative now organizing public support at camajorityrule.com. 

This work by Truthout is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 3.0 United States License.

I applaud the recent U.S. House of Representative vote to repeal of the 1993 "don't ask, don't tell" policy that allows homosexuals to serve in the military only if they don't disclose their sexual orientation. The House vote came after a similar vote in the U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee. I object, however, that the repeal, if passed, will not be immediate. Rather repeal will go into effect only after the $5 million Pentagon study is received on December 1 and after the President, the Secretary of Defense, and the Joint Chiefs of Staff certify that the repeal. I only wish President Obama had fulfilled his campaign pledge by repealing the policy by executive order after becoming president.  

What happens if the study recommends against repeal?  

What's to certify and study anyway? Consider there are about 30 countries in the world, including nearly all of the NATO members, as well as South Africa, Brazil, and the Philippines that allow homosexuals to serve openly in the military. And on May 16, 2010, representatives from Great Britain, Canada, Australia, Israel, and the Netherlands met at the Brookings Institute to discuss how the militaries in those countries handled allowing gays and lesbians to serve in their militaries. The consensus was that, in spite of concerns before the change, when gays and lesbians were allowed to serve, it was a non-issue.  

In 2000, Aaron Belkin, a political science professor at the University of California, Santa Barbara, and Melissa Sheridan Embser-Herbert, a veteran of the U.S. Army and Army Reserve, and Professor and Chair, Department of Sociology at Hamline University in Saint Paul, Minnesota, co-authored an exhaustive 44-page study on Canada, which, after a series of lawsuits in 1991, changed its policies to allow gays to openly serve in the military. The study, which at the time was regarded as the most comprehensive academic study of homosexuality in a foreign military ever completed, concluded that the change in policy had "not led to any change in military performance, unit cohesion, or discipline." 

A recent poll showed that 75 percent of Americans support openly gay people serving in the U.S. military. 

Then why a study? Probably because Congressional leaders and the White House are trying to appease homophobic Congresspersons who will ultimately oppose the repeal anyway.  

Repeal "don't ask, don't tell" immediately. It is the right thing to do.

The $11.1 Water Bond Proposition now on the November ballot would pay for the overhaul of California's aging and overburdened water system. If passed by the voters, the bond will ultimately cost taxpayers $22 billion when interest is included. Putting aside the merits or demerits of the bond measure, can California, now in a budget crisis, afford it.  

 

How bad is the problem? Governor Schwarzenegger says California's budget deficit will reach $41.8 billion by the budget year ending in June 2010. This probably means more deep cuts in education, health, social services, corrections, and transportation. California owes $8.8 billion in short-term loans that have to be paid off by June and over $120 billion in outstanding bonds and interest that will be paid over decades. The state's pension fund, CalPers, has $16.3 billion more in liabilities than assets plus California faces a $51.8 billion for the health and dental benefits of state retirees and future retirees.  

 

California now has the lowest credit rating of any state in the nation, just above junk bond status. One major problem is the rise in California's debt-service ratio (DSR). That is, the ratio of annual general fund debt–service costs to annual general fund revenues and transfers. This is often used as one indicator of the state’s debt burden. The higher it is and more rapidly it rises, the more closely bond raters, financial analysts, and investors tend to look at the state’s debt practices, and the more debt–service expenses limit the use of revenues for other programs. According to the California Legislative Analyst's Office, debt servicing is projected to comprise 9 percent of general fund revenues by the end of 2014-15.  

 

The over 9 percent DSR is considerably higher than it has been in the past. In part, this reflects the sharp, recent fall–off in general fund revenues, which drives up the ratio for a given level of debt service. To the extent additional bonds are authorized and sold in future years beyond those already approved, the states debt–service costs and DSR will be higher. As of October 30, 2009, the LAO reports that California has $66.5 billion of outstanding general fund debt and over $64 billion of authorized, but unissued general fund bonds.  

 

Also please note that groups like the Sierra Club, Clean Water Action, Environmental Justice Coalition on Water and Food, and Water Watch among others, oppose the Water Bond Proposition because it is also bad water policy.  

 

Until California's fiscal house is put in order or at least a fiscally-sound budget passes, the prudent course may be to avoid taking on new debt, even for ostensibly worthwhile projects such as the $11.1 billion Water Bond Proposition. Voters should keep this in mind when considering whether to vote for the Water Bond Proposition (2010) this November. 

 

 

I watched the news today, oh boy! Channel 7 at 11 flashed back to Air Force One as it touched down at SFO in a light drizzle. From there, a caravan of stretch limos black as polished coffins carried the lucky man who made the grade through barricaded streets to a Nob Hill fundraiser for Senator Boxer. Hundreds of fans paid dearly to see and hear the lucky man press flesh and crack jokes in the Fairmont Hotel’s Edwardian opulence. The limos soon departed for an even more sybaritic reception at the Getty mansions on Pacific Heights’ Gold Coast. Yes, that’s Getty, as in Getty Oil.  

It’s Day 35 of the worst environmental disaster in U.S. history and President Obama is clearly having the time of his life. The Huffington Post ran photos last week of a state dinner the Obamas hosted for our neighbors from across the dying Gulf of Mexico, the Calderons. Michelle and Barack moved easefully through backdrops resembling the Hapsburgs’ Schönbrunn Palace in Vienna early in 1914.  

Unlike his immediate predecessor in the White House, Obama is comfortable in his skin and behind the shield of his dazzling smile. The audience ate up his rock star celebrity as — 2000 miles away and a mile closer to Hell — a submarine Chernobyl daily vomited an uncontrolled cloud of emulsified death inexorably curling southeast to where the Gulf Stream will hook and convey it round the world. More effectively than the atmospheric cloud from a burning Soviet reactor, the plume will kill everything that comes in contact with it. The teeming rookeries of pelicans and herons, the clams, oysters, shrimp, and crabs near the shore and the fishermen who depend on them, they are already doomed. Unless you have some shrimp in the freezer, kiss your jambalaya good bye.  

Obama has not found time in his busy schedule yet to visit the Gulf, but he has sent members of his dream team down there to demonstrate a fecklessness matched only by their deference to the private sector. As with the gang Obama assembled to run the nation’s finances, he has left it to the very industry that caused the calamity to stop and remediate it, warning BP for the cameras that he will hold the company responsible for a cleanup even he must know is impossible. That is apparently all that the public will get from an administration that has as little intention of serving its interest as the previous one. So far, a radiant smile has covered for inaction.  

Obama’s bodily ease reminded me of a president who had virtually none. Polio permanently wrecked Franklin Roosevelt’s command of his lower body at the age of 39 

From then on, his smile covered the pain with which he lived for the next 24 years. But both Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt shared twin qualities for which no amount of tooth enamel can substitute: a moral compass and steel will to follow its needle.  

The Roosevelts were, after all, practicing rather than professing Christians. For every one of his four inaugurations, Franklin Roosevelt’s used the old family bible printed in Amsterdam in 1686. At his request, FDR’s hand rested on a verse from St. Paul’s First Epistle to Corinthians:: “And now abideth faith, hope, and charity; but the greatest of these is charity.” It’s a message not likely to get much traction at the University of Chicago’s Department of Economics with which Professor Obama has such close ties. It has no place in an ambitious lawyer’s resumé.  

FDR had nothing to prove to the high and mighty whom he knew all too well. “We felt that someone in the White House cared for the little guy,” an old CCC vet once told me of the man loathed by the nation’s big guys for his meddling in their affairs. His spartan stateroom on the presidential yacht Potomac now berthed in Oakland,, and the knotty pine-paneled bedroom of his cottage at Warm Springs, Georgia, measure the distance we have come to the bloated grandeur of Air Force One and the deference presidents now expect and receive from all but their bosses on Wall Street.  

This president spoke with resolve at the Fairmont about a catastrophe he seems not comprehend except as a problem for his PR staff. His stern rebukes of the company that has been gushing lies with the force of heavy crude at the wellhead can no longer cap the magnitude of the tragedy. Down in the Gulf, the planet screams out in agony, but the lucky man hasn’t noticed that the light has changed.  

Skeptics about and opponents of Measure C commonly claim that the Warm Pool is beneficial to or used by a relatively few people.Let's see. 

Most all of us know that regular exercise is of primary importance to health, and also that exercise in water is a very low stress way to get it. But suppose your sprained joint or strained muscle, wrenched back or knee, is bad enough that being in regular pool water just makes it stiffer. Then you're a potential warm pool beneficiary. 

Unfortunately, many peopledon't know what a warm pool is, or don't know that one exists nearby. In over 20 years, I've heard many stories from Warm Pool users who value the pool's benefits profoundly, decrying that after decades living in Berkeleyand years in need of a Warm Pool, they found out about ours only by accident. There's one of the fittest 60 year olds I've ever seen, a triathlete, who comes in to manage his injuries. Or a woman, over 80, who was bedridden after cancer surgery and chemo; she tried pools in Albany and El Cerrito, but couldn't tolerate the cold; she says the Warm Pool saved her life, and keeps her alive, able to walk, and independent. (What's that worth, in social value, in new taxes?) Between the two extremes of instances I've given,are many people who somehow discovered the pool, and arrived, often with back problems, in fear and doubt that they'd ever be able to return to their stressful jobs and accustomed lives, who did just that. Some depend on the pool to continue working. Others "graduate." They are part of us, even though they don't need to appear at the pool anymore. There are many others, including the classically "disabled." 

Beyond mere ignorance of its existence, realization of the true value of the Warm Pool has been limited by its situation at Berkeley High, where use has been possible only after school hours, in early years, after 5PM. Programming priority was given to disabledby the federal grantthat helped set up the program, so use concentrated there, as did advocacy andpublic perception of the pool. 

Freed from those constraints, a new Warm Pool can realize tremendous inherent value never possible before. High revenue uses such as therapy from medical care providers, and swim lessons from both private teachersand COB will be possible to accommodate for the first time. Private swim schools all over the US use 90-94 degree water to teach all ages and levels of swimming, and make money at it. 

Onesays, for effective swim lessons: "Keep the water temperaturewarm...90-94 ideal,” says the United States Swim School Association, an organization of over 250 swim schools nationwide...”a 90 degree pool is like 70 degree air."
Private warm waterpools host aquatic therapy, as well, because they find it is profitable. Such high-revenue uses have scarcely been possible at the current pool, but would be with a new one. 

Measure C opponents keep repeating that 92 degree water is so hot it threatens danger for what sounds like almost everyone. Aquatics professionals say "90 degree water is like 70 degree air,"warm; that's why they use it for teaching. Does it seem the anti-C forces care about pools at all, or the truth, or just whatever they think can help their anti-tax goal? 

Public pools, like private ones, recognize that warm water is optimal for pre-schoolers: to introduce babies to water, and teach basic skills and strokes early, to minimize risk of drowning community-wide. Berkeley's Downtown YMCA has over 20 hours of such pre-schooler programming exclusively in its shallow and tiny warm pool, which was in fact designed for such use by kids. The suggestion by opponents of Measure C that this YMCA pool could host disabled adults overlooks the fact that adult disabled tend to be over 4 1/2 feet tall, and wouldn't get sufficient buoyancy from the shallow water. The new Warm Pool would be big enough to be optimal for both teaching kids and adult therapy. The current Warm Pool finds time for just three hours of parent-tot programming for pre-schoolers, none for swim lessons at all; one hour a week is available for warm water family swim where the Y has over ten. With COB aquatics, all the rest is outdoors. With a new warm pool, Berkeley could strike a better balance. 

Skeptics about the value of a warm pool have tended to say it's of benefit for just a small disabled minority. I hope the above is enough to make clear that just the opposite is true: A Warm Water Pool has profound value all across the community,and a high potential for revenue to support its operations. Even if the vanishingly remote chance to persuade BUSD to keep the pool at Berkeley Highwere realizable, a better argument mightbe that the truly energy-efficient option is a new pool at a site where the full potential of a Warm Water Pool can be realized. 

You decide. 

Gary Marquard is an Oakland resident.

There were three troubling news items this past two weeks relating to Autism. Two relate to police violence, and the third sadly involves Hershey's Foods Corporation. 

Thirteen year-old Kaaron Guillory was pepper-sprayed by a Sacramento police sargent on school property. He now faces felony charges of assaulting the sexrgeant and resisting arrest. Mr. Guillory is autistic, and was regularly harassed by bullies while attending Rosa Parks Middle School. He had only been attending the school for two months, yet due to the indifference of school officials, and actions of the police officer, the student's mother decided homeschooling would be the safest option for him. A bully had initiated a fight with Kaaron Guillory, and a police officer forcefully intervened. The police sergeant was not reading the cues exhibited by the teenager's autistic response to the situation. The sergeant made the teenager more confused and agitated, instead of making attempts to calm the student down. Kaaron became so upset that he smashed his hand into a window, which, when pushed to the limit, is not an uncommon way for an autistic person to express an extremely high level of frustration and confusion. A spokesperson for the police department said that pepper-spraying someone they know is a special needs student is within police guidelines. The sergeant involved claimed that student assaulted him, and that he was unable to subdue and handcuff the 13 year-old special needs student without the aid of pepper-spray. Belinda Torres, Kaaron's mother, said that her son was "disoriented at the scene, and at the hospital he kept saying, 'Mom, what happened?' He didn't understand as well." She also stated that her son has become "more withdrawn".  

From the beginning, Belinda Torres had tried to communicate her son's disability to the school; she explained that there were issues of bullying and that her son needed to be safe while attending school. For two months, nobody at the junior high did anything to help Kaaron Guillory acclimate to his new school. Then when a fight breaks out, Kaaron ends up being labeled a criminal, instead of being treated as a victim.  

Autistics who are able to pursue a public education, must be able to do so in safe and tolerant environments. Autistics must also be free of police aggression. If the sergeant had better training in how to interact with Autistics, he could have deescalated the situation instead of making it worse. There is an underlying prejudice in police culture against citizens with certain types of disabilities. Police are trained to view people with social disabilities as dangerous. There also needs to be more restrictions on weapons like pepper-spray and tasers, especially in situations such as this when an officer knows an individual is disabled.  

Over in Georgia, Clifford Grevemberg, an 18 year-old Autistic was tased twice by police officer while waiting outside a restaurant. Clifford's older brother was inside the restaurant ordering food. Two Tyree Island police officers wrongly believed the teenager was drunk, because he was sitting on the sidewalk and had a "fixed gazed" when spoken to. The officers told Clifford to stand up and demanded to see ID, while they grabbed his arms. After the Autistic failed to respond, they pushed him down, breaking a tooth. Then Clifford was tased twice. Clifford faces charges this July. Eye witness accounts say that at no time did Clifford fight with the police or try to run away. Police Chief James Price blamed the Grevemberg family in the press, saying that Clifford should not have been "left unattended".  

Dover, Delaware was the location of the NASCAR Autism Speaks 400. The race is named after Autism Speaks, an organization which considers Autistic disorders to be diseases which need to be cured, and eradicated. A division inside the organization is called Cure Now. Autism Speaks had an ad campaign which insisted that Autistic children caused chaos in families and were burdens on parents. Furthermore, Autism Speaks perpetuated the dangerous myth that common childhood vaccinations were causing Autism. Autism Speaks threatened legal action against a 14 year-old Autistic girl for making a website which parodied the organization. As well they threatened suit against another Autistic individual for selling t-shirts which read: “Autism Speaks can go away. I have Autism, I can speak for myself.”  

Sadly, Hershey's Foods Corporation was a major sponsor of the NASCAR Autism Speaks 400. As an Autistic person, I am intrigued by things going around in circles, but NASCAR is insipid, and represents the antithesis of conservation. And Hershey's didn't just associate itself with any race, it associated itself with a race co-organized by a pseudo-science organization reminiscent of X-Men villains that try to vanquish the “mutant menace”.  

Autistic adults have a lower quality of life, on average, than people who are neuro-typical. Unfortunately, the patterns of ignorance and abuse towards Autistics are being repeated on autistic youth. 

 

 

My wife and I used to ride Amtrak between Martinez and Klamath Falls a couple of times a year to visit relatives. Amtrak dubbed this train route, “The Coast Starlight.” I would recommend this train to my worst enemy. 

The train would often stop for several hours at a time as it waited for tracks to become available. Amtrak has a lower priority than freight trains in this area. One time we were delayed on this train for approximately twelve hours. I could complain much more, but it is off subject. 

On one trip, as the train was traveling over a wide expanse of marsh, the train engineer over the loudspeakers explained to us the significance of the wetlands that exist here in the San Francisco Bay Area. These wetlands are the biggest that exist anywhere on the planet. They play an extremely important role in the ecosystem that supports life on Earth. They are host to thousands upon thousands of species including insects, amphibians, reptiles, birds, fish and mammals. Without these wetlands, the ecosystems on the Earth could go into a tailspin, one in which massive amounts of life everywhere would perish. 

The destruction of the Marsh in Florida due to petroleum is an extremely significant development on multiple levels. We will not know the full effects on the biosphere of the Earth until several decades have passed. The fact that the seafood industry will be devastated, as well as the tourist industry in that area, coupled with the reduction in offshore drilling that ought to take place, will be another blow to the economy. 

The change in our environmental system that will take place, as a domino effect on the environment, could become as massive as the one that led to the extinction of the dinosaurs. 

The wetlands in the Bay Area are similarly important to our existence and are similarly vulnerable to the effects of a petroleum accident. We must not jeopardize the west coast with more offshore drilling. 

In the 1970’s, Charleton Heston starred in a movie called, “Soylent Green.” The movie was roughly based on a short story by science fiction author Harry Harrison. The scenario of the movie included global warming, and was about an extremely overpopulated Earth in which people fought for basic necessities such as food and water, as well as a place to sleep. 

At the end of this movie it turns out that the ocean is dying due to overharvesting and overpolluting. This is a doomsday scenario since the plankton in the ocean provides about eighty percent of the breathable oxygen in our air. 

I believe that this oil slick is bad enough to bring about such a doomsday scenario. The quantity that seems to be spewing upward based on the reports that I’ve seen might mean that if this leak isn’t soon halted, it could contaminate the entire ocean. And that, my friends, will spell the end of us. 

Our politicians ought to realize that the life their saving by addressing this problem could be their own.

Financial reform is on the way.And Wall Street is breathing a sigh of relief.Puzzled?You’re not alone.Many of us who watched in horror as the casino spirit that pervades our mega-banks and hedge funds nearly destroyed the world’s financial system and crippled the U.S. economy have been waiting for the Hanging Judge to come out of his chambers to dispense rough justice.But instead, the bills that have emerged from the House and the Senate and that will now be reconciled into a single piece of legislation mete out a few ankle bracelets, some fines, and a stern warning that the sheriff will be watching carefully once the felons go back to work. 

 

It’s not that the Obama administration has not pressed for some necessary changes at the banks, trading houses, and hedge funds.It’s that the administration, as in many other areas, has balked once again at pushing for necessary structural changes and instead has settled for some pretty good tweaking of the machinery.The Tim Geithner and Larry Summers team have, as the business consultants say, sub-optimized the administration’s windfall acquisition.What did it acquire?Pure Political Gold: They were handed the most powerful populist backlash against the greedy, corrupt, and reckless ways of the financial sector that this country has seen in nearly a century.And instead of reining in the masters of the universe who have profited mightily as the country has fallen into a hole, the Obama administration has decided to tighten some basic rules and give them a stern warning that this time the regulators will be watching like hawks.No, really, we mean it this time.Meanwhile, the lords of finance are breathing easier.Now they can go back to lording over our politics and economy. 

 

The areas in which we are almost certain to see some tinkering are clear. There will likely be some sort of audit of the Federal Reserve Bank and the hundreds of billions it handed out to banks to save them from themselves.The robust attempts to substantially narrow the Federal Reserve’s supervision powers or to regularly audit the secretive agency have been neutered or completely excised.And keep in mind, a lot of the watering down of real reform is being done by Democrats working with Republicans. That way everyone can keep pontificating in front of television cameras about how shocked they are that gambling has been going on on Wall Street while never endangering those campaign donations they’ll need come November. 

 

When the final bill is cobbled together we are also likely to see some sort of resolution agency with the authority to force the liquidation of any bank or institution that threatens the broader financial system. The Senate bill calls for a special insurance fund that the biggest banks would have to pay into so that there would be money on hand for bail-outs and unwinding the multi-billion dollar messes banks have been creating for themselves.That provision has met with so much Republican resistance that it may not make it to the final piece of legislation. Democrats are already announcing that they are not “wedded” to the concept.As if we thought they were ‘wedded’ to anything other than reelection.Of course, the current arrangement is to use taxpayer money to fix bank messes. 

 

Banks may also be forced to reduce their proprietary trading business (in which they risk their own money on big market bets) but don’t count on it.The administration helped to torpedo an amendment that would have pushed them out of that business. 

 

There will be new capital ratio standards, which means the banks will probably have to increase the amount of money they set aside to cushion the blow of future losses.The Senate bill also wants no single banking company to use acquisitions to grow to more than 10 percent of U.S. financial liabilities.We’ll wait and see if this piece makes it through.The Dems and the Obama people have essentially refused to take on the real challenge of forcing too-big-to-fail institutions to break into separate giant businesses that would not threaten to cripple our economy. 

 

As for the sometimes dangerous but much-traded financial concoctions that are called derivatives, Missouri Democrat Blanche Lincoln has pushed hard on a provision to force banks to spin off their swaps business into separately capitalized entities. Lincoln is caught in a brutal primary election scheduled for June 8 in which she needs to seem tough on Wall Street.Chris Dodd has already made attempts to introduce amendments that would give Geithner the power to undermine Lincoln’s spin-off rule.The big banks are now focusing nearly all their lobbying firepower on killing Lincoln’s provision so most likely it will be cut completely from the compromise bill that Obama signs or the banks will get one of the many who do their bidding to put in another provision that neuters the only amendment with any bite. 

 

We will probably see over-the-counter derivatives like foreign exchange swaps, forced through central clearing houses and on to electronic exchanges to supposedly increase the “transparency” of the trading business in these custom-tailored bets. 

 

The final legislation will likely create a so-called Consumer Protection agency to patrol abusive credit products but no one should expect much from this rather squishy and vague provision.The administration has made a big deal of saying it doesn’t want car dealers exempt from the rules of this new agency as the House bill provides.OK, no problem with that, but did car dealers plunge us into a near Depression? 

 

Does all this improve the regulatory oversight and controls of our financial sector?Yes.Is it enough to ensure that the stomach-wrenching, job-destroying meltdown that we are still emerging from can’t happen again?Not by a long country mile!The White House actually lobbied against amendments that would have introduced real changes in the structure and the incentives that drive the financial sector of our economy. The Brown Kaufman amendment, for example, would have ensured that the six biggest banks were broken up into smaller pieces that the government might actually be able to regulate effectively.Some of these amendments were designed to force banks, which benefit from federal guarantees, to stick to the traditional business of banking and push all the super-leveraged betting businesses into non-bank companies that would also be regulated.The administration and the leaders in both the House and Senate wouldn’t even let some of the more courageous amendments reach the floor for a vote or, as with Brown Kaufman, they let it through only after lobbying against it and be assured that it stood no chance of getting into their bills. 

 

Take the Collins Amendment, which would have forced bank holding companies and non-bank financial companies to have the same minimum risked-based capital requirement guidelines as the FDIC-insured deposit banks.In other words, Collins wanted the new risk-based capital requirements to serve as a “floor” for all financial businesses.Without that kind of cross-harnessing, the bonus-driven Vegas-style wagering will simply move to another part of the holding company or another section of the financial world and could still end up threatening government-insured banking institutions. And we know what happens when those institutions are in peril. Anyone in the mood for another taxpayer bailout?Tim Geithner, the man who has been most liberal with taxpayer money, begs to differ.He argues that setting that kind of baseline is too restrictive and that foreign banks would get a jump on the U.S. banks.Leave it to the discretion of our regulators, the administration has been telling the senators.Never mind that that same regulatory discretion has cost U.S. taxpayers the better part of a trillion dollars in bailouts, credit guarantees, and cheap money to Wall Street and the big banks.What it has cost us in lost jobs and economic productivity may never be tallied. 

 

With Geithner and Summers designing its strategy, the Obama administration has refused to challenge the power of the big money men and the mega-banks.That would require breaking up the biggest of these leviathans to reduce their influence over the economy and the policies of the nation.It would require forcing all financial institutions to significantly boost their risk-based capital reserves.It would require the separation of the traditional banking businesses that benefit much of the economy from the proprietary betting businesses that do little but create profits for bankers, traders, fund managers and their wealthy investors. 

 

When Mr. Obama sits at his desk to sign the final bill into law, our biggest bankers will be relieved that after all this hue and cry, things will finally return to business as usual. 

 

 

Has the drone war in Pakistan’s rugged frontier finally come home? Was Faisal Shahzad, the bumbling Times Square bomb maker a blowback from the Obama Administration’s increased use of killer robots? David Sanger of the New York Times asks the question, and the New York Post says an “anonymous law enforcement” source claims Shahzad was driven to his act after witnessing drone attacks in Pakistan. 

In fact, there is little evidence that the bomber ever saw drone assaults, or even that he received training. While one wing of the Pakistan Taliban initially claimed credit, they later denied it. If he was trained in Pakistan it was by that country’s version of the Gang That Couldn’t Bomb Straight. 

But the question is real, and if the U.S. thought that killing people at a great distance was not likely to end up being a messy business, then the White House is deeply deluded. 

The drone war has stirred up considerable anti-Americanism in Pakistan. Some of the designers of the current counterinsurgency war in Afghanistan, David Kilcullen and Andrew Exum, have denounced it as a “technology” fix that has alienated Pakistanis by chalking up a kill ratio of 50 civilians for every targeted Taliban or al-Qaeda leader. “Every one of these dead noncombatants represents an alienated family, a new desire for revenge, and more recruits for a militant movement,” the two wrote in the New York Times. 

The number of civilian deaths caused by the drones is a sharply debated issue. The Long War Journal blog puts the number at around 30, Pakistani sources argue the figure is over 1,000, and a recent study by the New American Foundation concludes that civilian casualties make up about 30 percent of the fatalities. 

But the word “civilian” is a slippery one, because no one knows exactly what criteria the U.S. uses to distinguish a “militant” from a civilian. Is someone with a gun a “militant”? Since large numbers of males in the frontier regions of Pakistan carry guns, that definition would end up targeting a huge number of people. Is someone who offers hospitality to a Taliban member a “militant” and, thus, a legitimate target, even if it includes his whole extended family? 

Who is targeted and how those decisions are made are the subjects of a growing controversy that has sparked at least one lawsuit in the U.S. and spilled over into international law. 

According to the CIA, the drone war is legal, although the intelligence organization refuses to even admit it is using the killer robots in Pakistan. “The agency’s counterterrorism operations—lawful, aggressive, precise, and effective—continue without pause,” says CIA spokesman Paul Gimigliano. 

No one disputes the program is “aggressive,” particularly under the Obama administration, which has launched more drone attacks in a little over a year than the Bush Administration did in eight.  

Whether the attacks have been “precise” and “effective” is debatable. A drone did kill Pakistan Taliban leader, Baitullah Mehsud, but only after 16 tries in which over 300 people were killed, at least half of whom were civilians. The Agency also took credit for killing Baitullah’s successor, Hakimullah Mehsud, but reports of his demise turned out to be premature. The Pakistan Taliban leader surfaced in early May to claim credit for the Times Square bomber. 

But “lawful” is promising to cause the Obama Administration a major headache. 

The CIA strikes are “a clear violation of international law,” argues Notre Dame Law School professor Mary Ellen O’Connell, who says it would be like Mexican authorities bombing houses and hotels in the American Southwest because they may harbor drug lords. 

In testifying before the House Subcommittee on National Security, Kenneth Anderson, a professor at Washington College of Law at American University warned that “CIA officers or for that matter military officers or their lawyers” could be called before “international tribunals or courts in Spain or some place that say you’ve engaged in extra judicial execution or simple murder and we’re going to investigate and indict.” 

Last October, Philip Alston, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Extrajudicial Executions, said, “The CIA is running a program that is killing significant numbers of people, and there is absolutely no accountability in terms of the relevant international law.” He called on the U.S. “to reveal more about the ways in which it makes sure that arbitrary extrajudicial executions aren’t, in fact, being carried out though the use of these weapons.” 

This lack of accountability is the target of a lawsuit, filed Mar. 16, by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), demanding “information on when, where and against whom drone strikes can be authorized, the number and rate of civilian casualties and other basic information essential for assessing the wisdom and legality of using armed drones to conduct targeted killings.” 

“The government’s use of drones to conduct targeted killings raises complicated questions,” said Jameel Jaffer, director of the ACLU’s National Security Project. “These questions ought to be discussed and debated publicly, not resolved secretly behind closed doors.” 

However, the CIA has problems with being open that have nothing to do with national security. The agents and contractors who fly and direct the drones are civilians, who are prohibited from waging war by the Geneva Conventions. 

“In terms of international armed conflict, those CIA agents are, unlike their military counterparts, but like the fighters they target, unlawful combatants,” says Gary Solis, law professor and author of “The Law of Armed Conflict.” According to Solis, the CIA employees, like their targets, “are fighters without uniforms or insignia, directly participating in hostilities, employing armed force contrary to the laws and customs of war.” 

This is hardly an arcane legal issue. The Obama Administration is in the process of vastly increasing the number of lethal drones for the U.S. military, adding everything from more Predators and Reapers—the current killers of choice—to unmanned attack aircraft and tanks, and tiny but deadly “nanobots.”  

Many of these will be directed by military personnel—next year the Air Force will train more drone pilots than fighter and bomber pilots—but some will end up with the CIA. 

For the time being, drones are super weapons. But they aren’t the first, and it’s instructive to consider a few examples from the past.  

At one point in European history the armored knight was pretty much invincible, until someone figured out that a peasant welding a crossbow could bring down a very expensive piece of military technology with a simple bolt.  

In Vietnam the U.S. spent many hundreds of thousands of dollars developing a sniffing device to seek concentrations of urine indicating enemy campsites, which would then be bombed by B-52s. The Vietnamese finessed that piece of high tech with buckets of buffalo pee hung in trees. 

And NATO thought they had bombed Yugoslavia’s armor back to the Middle Ages during the Kosovo War, until they found out that most the “tanks” were wooden dummies with little primus stoves in them to fool infrared detectors. 

“The more the drone campaign works, the more it fails,” says Naval Post Graduate School analyst John Arquilla. “Increased attacks only make the Pakistanis angrier at the collateral damage and the sustained violation of their sovereignty,” 

Drones are a high tech solution to a deeply complex political problem. The longer they stalk the skies over Pakistan, Yemen and Somalia, the more difficult those political problems become. It is time to stop bombing and start talking. 

News from the web-o-rama blogosphere... Summary of today's items: 

• Berkeley's "Measure C" is in the news and today's column offers some analysis and links to handy information, along with an embarrassing personal story for your amusement. 

• A precious library, the Water Resources Center Archives, is under severe threat from state budget cutbacks. One of the bestest libraries you've probably never heard of... read more, below. 

• Speaking of troubled waters, Berkeley's own Professor Bob Bea has recently been providing quite a bit of insight into the unfolding situation in the Gulf of Mexico. We link to some of his interesting commentary. 

• Berkeley's own Robert Reich has issued a call to action. Help try to end "too big to fail" - see below. 

Measure C: A Not So Easy Choice

There was a certain night, some years ago, in my life. A really lousy night. Life's uncertainties had caught up with me. All hell was breaking loose in my personal affairs. I found myself quite sleepless - quite restless. I set out on a long walk to try to clear my mind and failed to make much progress on the mental aspects of that walk until, quite by accident, I realized that I was in Strawberry Canyon not far from a UC outdoor swimming pool that is a favorite of many. 

At that hour, of course, the pool was locked up and quiet. There was only the tail end of a party winding down in the nearby building. I walked the trails through the woods at the periphery and, to my surprise, found a hole in the fence. The pool was locked but also, unofficially, open. Temptation. 

I'm generally a pretty timid person when it comes to law breaking - heck, I often use hand signals while cautiously biking - but what with the turbulent waters of my life that night I decided to slip in, strip down to the bathing suit God gave me, and do some therapeutic laps. ("Strip down" -- "Eww, gross". Well, for the record, I may have been nekkid but I did have the decency to not pee in the pool because that would have been gross.) 

The evening did me a world of good. I went home to cope with my troubles with a much clearer mind and an invigorated body. There was some embarrassment when I noticed that a couple of the party goers who had strolled outside were watching, with apparent bemusement, as I put my clothes back on but, c'est la vie. 

All of this is to say that I have at least some glimmer of an appreciation of the value of publicly accessible pools. Some supporters of Measure C on the upcoming ballot will tell you that it's a matter of community values and legacy - "We don't want to lose one square foot of our beautiful municipal pools" [Youtube - Video - quoting Linda Maio during a pro-C rally]. I quite agree on the importance of our pools. 

I only wish that I could personally support Measure C. I can't. Let me go through some reasons and, more importantly, toss some source material at you to help you make up your own mind. No reason to trust me - please look into it yourself and be an informed voter on whatever side you pick. 

Right here in this edition of the Berkeley Daily Planet is a piece by Mr. Robert Collier in defense of Measure C. This is a good compass to use to start mapping out some of the arguments for and against, even though I disagree with some of his statements. 

One of his key points concerns the (in his view) "myth" that "Another pools ballot measure can be tried in a year or two from now. There's no hurry". In response he cites the (in his words) "fact" that "The Warm Pool and Willard Pool are slated for permanent closure in the next year if measure C is not approved." 

Indeed they are! In fact, the current warm pool is slated for permanent closure regardless of whether or not measure C is approved. The only questions for the warm pool are when and if a replacement will be ready. There is urgency in the sense that seamless availability of a municipal warm pool is better than a delay - but it is also true that if Measure C fails we can try again later, perhaps with a better measure. (What's wrong with C specifically? I'll get to that.) The heart-string tugging of Measure C proponents stretches the truth here (which is not to make light of the consequences of extending interruptions of service). 

Where Measure C begins to look sketchy to me is illustrated by some of Mr. Collier's other alleged "Facts" vs. "Myths". Where it looks quite sketchy to me is in the ambitions of the plans for what kind of pools to build. Links galore, follow: 

Mr. Collier cites as "myth" that "Funds are likely to be siphoned off to the rest of the city budget and not spent on pools..." and the "fact" that "Measure C funds must be used exclusively for the purposes described in the ballot statement." Now, have you read the ballot statement ? It's really quite remarkable in its indirectness. It is but two paragraphs long. The second, says: 

For additional detail and background information on the pools bond, please use Records Online to access City Council Resolutions 64,797-N.S., 64,798-N.S., and 64,799-N.S.  

To view those resolutions you have to jump several hoops. I'll save you a step. Start here at "Records Online" , select the "Document Type" called "Resolutions", select the "Legislative Body" called "City Council" and search on 64797, then 64798, then 64799. And, enjoy the legalese. 

See how easy it is to figure out what you are actually voting on? 

If you puzzle out those resolutions, as far as I can tell, the City of Berkeley is perfectly free to redirect general funds from the pools to other projects and make it up with borrowed Measure C money. 

A related so-called "myth" that Mr. Collier cites is that "Measure C borrows money for operating expenses. This is irresponsible budgeting." Borrowing money for operating expenses is irresponsible (akin to paying your electricity bill on your credit card for more than you can afford to quickly pay off in full). The only question is, does Measure C do that? Mr. Collier argues that "No bond funds can be spent on operations" and, yet, the Council Resolutions upon which we are voting seem to allow such a possibility. It is true that measure C includes a tax for operations that is separate from the tax from repaying bonds but it does not appear to be true to me that bond money can not be spent on operating expenses. The new pools include expansions of service and the start-up operating expenses of those can be funded using Mello-Roos bonds. 

At the heart of the matter, though - at least to my weary eyes (perhaps I should go for a swim) is this: 

Mr. Collier cites the so-called "myth" that: "The $22.6 million cost is way too high." 

In response to that "myth" he names a prestigious consulting agent who came up with that figure. What Mr. Collier hasn't told you is what instructions were given to that consultant - what plans they were trying to cost out. 

Here is a link to The Berkeley Citywide Pool Masterplan prepared by the "Pools Task Force" which included Mr. Collier. This is the "vision" document which informed the City Council resolutions upon which we are voting. 

The proposal Council considered is for some quite fancy pools. For fun, I suggest you take note of the proposed water slides, for example. I've nothing against water slides but as far as I can tell we could have been voting on four pools, including the warm water pool, for $10M strictly on capital expenditures while keeping operating expenditures "clean". Instead, we're voting on a project that includes too many "vanity" features at too great an expense with far too sketchy a financing model. 

Please consider a no vote on Measure C and also please consider urging our elected representatives to come up with a better plan as quickly as possible. 

The Water Resources Center Library

You may have heard, over the many years, that it's a bit difficult to work out exactly how much water should be moved from Northern California to the Central Valley for agriculture, or to LA for household use. Or you may have heard about the tricky and often legally contentious issues around the management of fish populations like salmon. Or, perhaps you've heard about the tricky engineering feats required to upgrade California's bridges. 

You may wonder (and if you haven't, you should now wonder) where the people who work those issues in practice get some of the obscure information they need to do their engineering or design their legislation or plan their bridge renovations. As it turns out... 

In its wisdom, some 50 or so years ago, the state legislature created a library archive to collect information about the condition and history of the state's water resources. Today that library, the Water Resources Center Archives, is rightly hailed as the nation's premier library on water resources. It is the "go to" research destination for private consultants, for the state government, and even for the federal government. It's on-line resources have been used by nearly half a million people. Approximately 65% of the physical materials it maintains are unique to that library and quite precious. 

Naturally, recent budget troubles in the University of California system have led to the threat of dismantling this library. No, really, it is under threat of losing the experts who maintain it and having the archived materials scattered about and generally rendered far less accessible, and far less likely to be updated in the future. Go figure. Why would any politician be in favor of obscuring vital information about California water resources? ("It's Chinatown, Jake"?) 

This reporter (yours, truly) is working on some more in depth coverage to be offered soon but, for now, please check out the advocacy site respectwaterarchives.org . It matters and Mr. Daniel Holmes (who is behind that web site) is helping to assemble some support to save that library. 

Oil and Water Don't Mix

Berkeley's own professor Robert G. Bea has been in the news a bit these days albeit in regards to a sad matter: the oil gushing into the Gulf of Mexico. 

You may have caught him on "60 minutes". 

I would like to call your attention to the raw footage of an interview he gave to KGO (channel 7, on TV) in which he anticipated the failure of the "top kill" effort and gave a quite compelling account of just went wrong to lead to the disaster: Professor Bea on KGO.  

Bowling at Bankers

The other day my wife and I were getting ready to check out at the express lane at Berkeley Bowl. As we approached the line I did a double take and then whispered to my wife about the guy ahead of us "Hey, do you recognize him? That's Mr. Robert Reich". 

She didn't entirely believe me until she heard his distinctive voice and cadence talking to the clerk. 

I, of course, got all nervous and was trying too hard to not bug him to actually succeed at not bugging him. At the same time I was trying to think of something clever to say. My wife noticed this and, ever the mixer, loudly said "Try not to stare! :-)". 

Damn. No choice and nothing clever to say. I managed, as he looked over, to blurt out: "Uh, hi. I like your blog." Well, I'm no Leah Garchik but Mr. Reich quipped "At least somebody reads it." And, as we all had biked there that day, he passed along that the Bowl was offering some discounts that day for folks with bike helmets. Sound economic advice. 

I do like his blog. Recently he issued a call to action: What You Can Do to Bring Wall Street Under Control.  

Lord Palmerston—twice England’s prime minister during the middle 1800s—once commented, “England has no permanent friends and no permanent enemies, only permanent interests.” Watching the fallout over Brazil’s and Turkey’s recent diplomatic breakthrough on Iran brings Palmerston’s observation to mind: while U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was hailing our “friends” support for tough sanctions aimed at Teheran, much of her supporting cast were busy hedging their bets and deciding that their interests just might lay elsewhere. 

True, Russia and China signed on, but their endorsement was filled with ambiguity and diplomatic escape hatches.  

As Clinton was dismissing the efforts of Brazil and Turkey, Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi said his country “expressed its welcome and appreciation for the diplomatic efforts of all parties.” A Foreign Ministry spokesman added that the agreement to send 58 percent of Iran’s nuclear fuel to Turkey for enrichment “will benefit the process of peacefully resolving the Iran nuclear issue through dialogue and negotiations.” 

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev called for “urgent consultations with all interested parties, including Iran, to decide what to do next,” hardly a call to arms. His First Deputy Prime Minister, Sergi Ivanov, said that while his country was “supportive” of the U.S., it was drawing a “red line” at sanctions that were “suffocating” or would affect ordinary Iranians. 

He then added a pinch of Palmerston: “We have a completely different position. We have a trading relationship, and the potential to develop it. We have energy interests, human interests, and tourism.” 

The Russians also made it clear that they would be unhappy with unilateral sanctions by the U.S. and the European Union. Such unilateral actions would be “of an extraterritorial nature beyond the agreed decision of the international community and contradicting the principle of the rule of international law, enshrined in the UN Charter,” according to the Russian Foreign Ministry. 

The U.S. State Department’s claim that the “international community” is behind the U.S. is increasingly sounding like whistling past the graveyard.  

Indian Foreign Minister SM Krishna said the Brazil/Turkey/Iran deal was “a constructive move,” and pointed out that India has a “deep desire to have a friendly relationship” with Iran. He also pointed out that “The U.S. has its own foreign policy and India has its own.”  

The Arab League’s General Secretary Amr Moussa said he hoped the agreement would “solve the current problem regarding the Iranian nuclear file.”  

United Nation Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said, “We hope that this and other initiatives may open the door to a negotiated settlement.”  

France’s President Nicholas Sarkozy, normally hawkish on Iran, called the deal a “positive step.” 

Even the North Atlantic Treaty Organization’s (NATO) Supreme Commander, U.S. Admiral James Stavridis said the fuel swap deal was a “a potentially good development.”  

This should hardly come as a surprise; just follow the ruble, the yuen, and the franc. 

In his visit to Ankara earlier this month, Medvedev said, “Russia and Turkey are strategic partners, not only in words but genuinely.” That was certainly strange talk about a key member of NATO with which Moscow has gone to war in the past. 

But with rubles at stake, who worries about history?  

Medvedev and Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan signed 17 agreements worth some $25 billion, including building four nuclear power plants. The two countries also discussed Russian participation in a Black Sea- Mediterranean pipeline that would make Ankara a player in the Central Asia energy game. The Turks also seem to be more favorably disposed toward Moscow’s South Stream natural gas pipeline to Europe.  

And lastly, the Russian president said he would push to raise bilateral trade from $40 billion a year to $100 billion within five years. 

If the U.S. thinks the Russians are going to have a falling out with the Turks over the Iran sanctions, then delusion is the order of the day in Washington. 

And China? Brasilia’s number one trading partner, which loaned Petrobras $10 billion to develop Brazil’s huge South Atlantic subsalt oil deposits? And just signed an agreement with Brasilia to develop a joint defense industry (no doubt lured by the $20-plus billion that Brazil is handing out in defense contracts)? Will China go to the mat for the U.S. over the Iran sanctions? See “order of the day” above. 

France appears to be playing the dog that didn’t bark. Might Gallic discreetness have anything to do with a $12 billion defense deal with Brazil for 50 helicopters and four Scorpene submarines? Could it be the $10.2 billion Brasilia is shelling out for 36 of France’s Rafale fighter jets? The Rafale is very a cute airplane, not terribly fast, that came in third in an open competition with fighters made by Boeing and Saab. But as Rhys Thompson of ISN Security Watch notes, “The Brazilian government reiterated that the final choice of a fighter jet would be based on political and strategic considerations and not primarily guided by technical aspects.” In short, we buy your cookies, you be nice to us in return (and maybe lower European Union tariffs for Brazilian agricultural goods). 

As more and more countries line up behind the Turkish-Brazilian deal, it looks less and less likely that the Security Council will pass sanctions, in part because the deal is a good one and represents a sea change in international power relations. But also because countries like Russia, China, India, and France are also keeping Lord Palmerston’s dictum in mind.  

 

 

 

 

 

Less than six months out from the November 2nd US midterm elections, pundits continue to predict that Republicans will reduce Democratic majorities in the House and Senate, perhaps take control of the House. Seven factors will determine the final outcome. 

First, the economy will play an important role. While most Americans feel the economy has stabilized, there remains a great deal of apprehension. Although 55 percent of recent poll respondents feel the US is headed in the wrong direction, most trust Democrats more than Republicans to address jobs and the economy. 

Nonetheless, if US unemployment remains in the nine percent range, this will hurt Democratic candidates. And, that’s probably going to be the case; economicrecovery is not going to be rapid, due to the fact that small businesses aren’t hiring – a situation the Obama Administration is trying to get Congress to address. 

Second, many pundits believe the election will be a referendum on President Obama. At this point, Obama is like Ronald Reagan in that voters like him personally more than they like his specific policies. The President’s favorability ratings exceed his unfavorable scores by a twelve-point margin; however, his job approval ratings show an even split. 

Third, Congress is much more unpopular than is the President. The latest polls indicate that 65-75 percent of Americans disapprove of the job Congress is doing. But there is dissatisfaction with both Parties; in voters’ eyes Democrats and Republicans share the blame and voters split on whether to support a generic Democrat or Republican on November 2nd. 

There is an anti-incumbent mood in the country. A recent Pew Research Poll found that 27 percent of respondents were unlikely to vote for an incumbent candidate. And there is continuing anger over the bailouts. The same poll found that 49 percent of respondents were less likely to vote for a candidate if they had voted for “providing major loans to banks during the 2008 financial crisis" 

Fourth, the Tea Party Movement is impacting the Republican Party. An ABC News/Washington Post poll indicated that 27 percent of respondents supported the Tea Party movement – although opinions differed about what this movement represented. In the past several weeks we’ve seen Tea Party activists play a major role in Republican primaries in Utah and Kentucky. Some of the Tea Party candidates represent radical positions, such as getting rid of Social Security and Medicare, and it remains to be seen how well this will play in a general election. 

Fifth, non-political events could affect the November 2nd outcome. 2010 has already seen a failed attempt to ignite a massive bomb in Times Square, the disruption of transatlantic air traffic by ashes from the Eyjafjallajökull volcano, depression of the international economy by economic turmoil in Greece, and a massive oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico. Another event – the capture of Osama bin Laden or the collapse of the global economy – could prove decisive. 

Nonetheless, as November 2nd draws closer, it seems more likely that how well Democrats and Republicans do will depend less on exogenous factors such as how voters feel about President Obama or the Tea Party movement, and more on endogenous considerations such as the relative financial strength of the Democratic and Republican Parties and the quality of their candidates. 

Sixth, Democrats have raised more money than Republicans. For example, at the end of April, DCCC (Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee) had $27.3M cash on hand compared to the NRCC's $11.4M. However, ROLLING STONE recently reported that Bush villains Karl Rove and Ed Gillespie are leading an independent fundraising effort to benefit Republican candidates. In some races the financial hand of Rove could prove to be decisive. 

Finally, even in a tumultuous year, what will be decisive is the quality of the Democratic and Republican candidates. For example, Democrats are prepared to cede a Senate seat in North Dakota, where Democratic Senator Byron Dorgan is retiring, because they don’t have a compelling candidate to compete with Republican John Hoeven. On the other hand, Oregon incumbent Democratic Senator Ron Wyden is expected to easily win reelection in November, because Republicans don’t have an effective candidate. But in Missouri, where Republican Senator Kit Bond is retiring, the competition is expected to be very close; the prospective opponents will likely be Democratic Secretary of State Robin Carnahan and archconservative Republican Congressman Roy Blunt. 

On November 2nd it’s probable that Democrats will lose seats in the House and Senate but still retain control of both bodies. Voters are angry, but their anger is diffuse, directed at incumbents in both Parties. There’s unlikely to be a strong tide that will carry sweep Republicans into power across the country. 

The wild card is the economy and, more generally, unforeseen catastrophic events. In a strange year, there’s an unusual amount of uncertainty in the election. 

Bob Burnett is a Berkeley writer. He can be reached at bobburnett@comcast.net

“Old age is not a disease -- it is strength and survivorship, triumph over all kinds of vicissitudes and disappointments, trials and illnesses.” Margaret Eliza Kuhn (1905-1995) 

What follows is a statement of some of the facts of life as they relate to elders’ health in terms of longevity, awareness, and self-help. My premise is that we – like Maggie Kuhn -- are responsible senior citizens. She identified 6 myths about old age... That it’s a disease, a disaster. That we are mindless, sexless, useless, powerless. And that we are all alike.  

Longevity refers to “great duration of life, length or duration of life.” According to IBM, by 2030, 20% of the United States population will be 65 years of age or older.Human longevity runs in families. For unexplained reasons, the Caspian Republic of Georgia holds the record for the longevity of its population. Wikipedia records that the oldest person in history whose age has been verified by modern documentation was Jeanne Calment (1875–1997, 122 years and 164 days). 

Some animals do not age, although non-aging animals tend to be more primitive species.For animals that do age, the likelihood of death increases each year after progeny are raised to independence. 

Women as a group live longer than men. 

Awareness:“The patient's autonomy always, always should be respected, even if … the decision is contrary to best medical advice and what the physician wants.” [Murad "Jack" Kevorkian, M.D. (1928- ), ] With only 1 in 4 people having an advance directive in place, critical decision-making will be left to others at the end of life. While it is important to have an “advance health care directive”, you should be aware that it does not ensure that you will receive the treatment you want, or not receive treatment that you do not want. Suppose you are a senior citizen with no family and that you live alone, which is not that unusual. Is there anything else you can do in your own behalf?  

The HIPAA Privacy Rule is supposed to protect the privacy of individually identifiable health information and the confidentiality provisions of the Patient Safety Rule and to improve patient safety. Despite HIPAA, many physicians’ offices and clinics use patient sign-in sheets or call out the names of their patients in their waiting rooms. 

The ultimate barrier between patient and physician/hospital is the P.O.L.S.T. – Physician Order(s) for Life Sustaining Treatment, placed in one’s chart by the physician. At best, the advance directive merely guides him/her. A “POLST” form states what kind of medical treatment a patient wants toward the end of life. Signed by both doctor and patient, it helps provide seriously ill patients with a bit more control over their end-of-life care.  

Self-Help:Mary Ann Wilson, a registered nurse in the field of geriatrics, and no spring chicken herself, is founder and host of Sit and Be Fit, an award-winning exercise show broadcast on PBS television channels, currently on KCSM and KTEH. She demonstrates a variety of exercises for the elderly and people with limited mobility. They can be done with little effort while sitting in or using a chair. She also demonstrates occasional standing exercises. Three of Wilson’s DVDs are in the Berkeley Public Library Collection: “Sit and be fit. All American workout”, “Sit and be fit: Balance & fall prevention workout”, and “Sit and be fit: Osteoporosis workout II.” 

Completion of the 8-hour Mature Driver Program (e.g. AARP’s driver safety education program offered at some senior centers) for drivers age 55+ may result in lowered automobile insurance. The completion certificate is valid for 3 years and can be renewed by completing a 4-hour course. The DMV has published a senior driver’s handbook, “Senior guide for safe driving,” available online or phone (800)777-0133. 

Medicare does not fund hearing aids. We must work on this! In the meantime, the Hearing & Speech Center of Northern California is a non-profit agency located in San Francisco.Its mission is toprovideprofessional services to support people with hearing or communication challenges in achieving their goals.There are no solid, consistent data on the numbers of people with hearing loss. Taken together, studies suggest that: 

• 30% of all people over the age of 65 have hearing loss
• 65% of all people over the age of 85 have hearing loss
• 50% of people with hearing loss are of working age (18 – 64)

Many senior centers provide hearing loss support groups. A “Coping with hearing loss” class is offered at the North Berkeley Senior Center on Wednesdays at 1:15 P.M. 

Long Term Care and Aging constitutes a portion of the California Commission on the Status of Women’s current budget and legislative concerns; Violence and Women veterans are other agenda concernsimpinging on older women. Nationwide, 59% - 75% of long-term caregivers are women; California leads with an estimated 3.4 million caregivers. The aging population has far more women than men, twice as many women as men over the age of 85. The Governor has issued his revised budget proposal containing drastic cuts. In June, the Commission will begin public hearings throughout the state to provide a forum for Californians to voice their opinions. www.women.ca/gov 

xxxx 

Maggie Kuhn would have cheered “Two old women; an Alaska legend of betrayal, courage and survival”, Velma Wallis’ recounting of a legend based on Athapascan and Gwich’in Indians folklore. (Fairbanks, AK: Epicenter Press, 1993.) Wallis is an Athabascan Indian and a bestselling novelist whose work has been translated into 17 languages. Here, extracted from her book, is the legend of the two elders:

“These nomads were The People of the arctic region of Alaska, always on the move in search of food. During this unusually bitter chill, the cold hovered menacingly. The hunters were fed first, as it was their skills on which The People depended. Many of the women and children suffered from malnutrition, and some would die of starvation. 

In this particular band were two old women cared for by The People for many years. The older woman's name was Ch'idzigyaak, for she reminded her parents of a chickadee when she was born. The other woman's name was Sa', meaning "star," because at the time of her birth her mother had been looking at the fall night sky, concentrating on the distant stars during her labor.  

"The council and I have arrived at a decision." The chief paused as if to find the strength to voice his next words. "We are going to have to leave the old ones behind." 

The two women sat old and small before the campfire with their chins held up proudly, disguising their shock. In their younger days they had seen very old people left behind, but they never expected such a fate. They stared ahead numbly as if they had not heard the chief condemn them to a certain death--to be left alone to fend for themselves in a land that understood only strength.” 

 

The tale continues as, abandoned but united, Ch'idzigyaak and Sa' venture forth to establish their camp, jointly manage their survival, and courageously make it through the oppressive winter. When the weather improves, The People return. They discover the old women’s achievements. Now they need their knowledge. Sa’ and Ch'idzigyaak do share with those who abandoned them but they also require a promise: 

“The People kept their promise. They never again abandoned any elder. They had learned a lesson taught by two whom they came to love and care for until each died a truly happy old woman. They shared because they too had learned: ‘Then I [we] realized the importance of being with a large group. The body needs food, but the mind needs people.’ ” 

 

Helen Rippier Wheeler can be reached at pen136@dslextreme.com 

No email attachments; use “Senior Power” for subject.

I love music. I play the saxophone, and recently I have been teaching myself how to play the clarinet. Despite some similarities, I find learning the clarinet somewhat difficult. Among my problems is making a smooth transition from lower to higher notes. This has taken a considerable amount of time, concentration, and very repetitive practice Leaping from below middle C to high C without screeching is a challenge. But it is very important to me to play gracefully and musically. 

You might be wondering, if you got this far, why I'm babbling about this. An obvious question is whether I'm being too self-indulgent. No, I don't believe I am. Please read on. I know that many individuals and families are experiencing far more serious problems than how to reach the high notes. Working people are losing their jobs, poverty is on the increase, foreclosure rates are high, families are under considerable stress, the environment is killing people every day, many millions who are sick cannot afford health care.. Then, of course, there are the killing fields in Afghanistan and Iraq. And nor do nonhuman animals escape suffering and destruction. What a mess. Like many other activists, who are generally empathetic people, this obsessed clarinet player is also deeply troubled about these issues. The widespread suffering is very, very painful to virtually all of us. Yet I, as well as many of you, continue to be involved politically, doing with others whatever I can. 

I have asked myself the question of whether there is any underlying principle that has propelled me over the many decades that I have been active, despite the frustrations, obstacles, and disappointments. Yes indeed. I think there is. The answer is implied in my musical involvement. Metaphorically speaking, I would like us to live in a society in which a major concern of people everywhere is similar to mine at the moment, to gracefully reach the high notes on their instrument. In other words, during our very short life span people deserve to experience the joy of living. I would like to believe that struggling for a better life for all, ranging from our own families to strangers we have never met, will move us closer to achieving the peace of mind and the joy that the human race is entitled to. Yes, that's why the object of our efforts cannot be only ourselves. Still, those who are more fortunately situated should feel free to enjoy life while you are helping others to enjoy it too.  

Harry Brill
150 San Carlos Avenue
El Cerrito, Ca. 9453

I’ve avoided wild turkeys as a subject since that unpleasant business with the Sierra Club a couple of years ago, when I caught hell for writing that the environmental impact of these introduced birds had not yet been documented. Now, finally, there’s a study, published last year in the journal Western Birds, entitled “Food Habits of the Wild Turkeys in National Forests of Northern California and Central Oregon.”Does it shed badly needed light on the controversy? Well, sort of. 

The case against the turkey seems to have two main arguments. First, wild turkeys are aliens; the ones in California are primarily Rio Grande and Merriam’s turkeys from the Southwest. Thus they’re a new, and unpredictable, element in our ecosystems, and might outcompete native birds like the California quail. (However, a very similar species was present in Southern California until about 11,500 years ago, and a couple of prehistoric turkey bones have been found in caves in Northern California.) 

Second, wild turkeys are omnivores. Back east, they’re known to eat a lot of acorns and the occasional lizard or salamander. Concern has been expressed about turkey predation on vulnerable species, although I don’t know whether they’ve ever been caught in the act. If a turkey happened to consume a newt, a highly toxic amphibian, that would be one less turkey. 

I have a suspicion that a lot of the anti-turkey animus comes from the fact that these are large, loud, untidy birds that sometimes become aggressive with people. Also, their presence makes turkey hunters happy. These are not major themes in the public discourse, though. 

So here’s the Western Birds article, whose authors spent three years collecting, classifying, and analyzing over 400 turkey droppings in the El Dorado, Modoc, Plumas, Tahoe, and Mendocino National Forests, plus two national forests in Oregon. The feces of tom and hen turkeys, it seems, are visibly distinct, so it was possible to categorize the diets of both sexes. Plant remains in the droppings were identified to species where possible. 

The turkeys were found to have been eating variable proportions of plants and insects. Plants were broken down into grasses, sedges, forbs (herbaceous flowering plants), coniferous trees, shrubs, seeds, roots, ferns, and agricultural grains. Acorns were apparently subsumed under seeds. The birds consumed more seeds and flowers than stems, roots, and leaves. Grass consumption ranged from 1.3 percent among spring males in the Modoc National Forest to 66.8 percent for summer males in the Plumas National Forest. Females in Oregon’s Deschutes National Forest favored conifer seeds in spring. In the Modoc, 95.8 percent of the spring males had been eating forbs. 

In California, hens ate a higher proportion of insects than toms.
This may indirectly reflect the dependence of young turkeys on insects, since females have to show the poults what’s edible and what’s not. The difference between the sexes did not show up in the Oregon sample. 

No small vertebrates were reported, though. Are the turkeys off the hook?Maybe, maybe not.The way the data are presented, you can’t really conclude that none were found. It’s also curious that acorns weren’t analyzed as a separate category. 

There’s also a credibility issue. Two of the authors of the article are contract biologists with MGW Biological Surveys in McKinleyville. Contract biologists are a mixed bag; I don’t know about MGW, but some have acquired the reputation of finding what their clients want them to find. The other two are affiliated with the National Wild Turkey Federation, a turkey hunters’ interest group. These folks have conducted other research projects which (surprise!) absolve turkeys of wrong-doing. One found that turkeys are blamed for more damage to vineyards than they actually cause. 

The NWTF’s web site (www.nwtf.org) is worth a visit. Its on-line Turkey Shoppe offers all kinds of turkey wearables, collectibles, and paraphernalia, including turkey-track ties, turkey trailer hitch covers, and a beard rack. A beard rack is where you display the hairlike chest plumes of trophy-rank tom turkeys. If you’ve seen Errol Morris’s early film “Vernon, Florida,” you’ll be familiar with the concept. 

I am not bashing turkey hunters. But, I suspect that like most hunters they’re primarily interested in maintaining a good-sized population of their favorite huntable critter, with other environmental considerations taking a back seat. That’s why elk hunters in the Rockies have lobbied to eradicate wolves; why hunters in Hawai’i have blocked efforts to remove feral pigs and goats from remnant native forests. 

In short, these are not the people you’d go to for an impartial assessment of how wild turkeys are affecting their environment. 

It’s like relying on Monsanto to evaluation the impact of genetically modified crops, or on BP to…you get the idea. 

I don’t know whether Western Birds is peer-reviewed, but perhaps its editors should have thought twice about accepting the article. 

We’re still waiting to hear from scientists who don’t have a dog, or a turkey, in this fight.

About a dozen people joined eminent UC entomologist Jerry Powell on Saturday, May 29, 2010 for a leisurely butterfly-watching walk along trails at the top of Berkeley’s Panoramic Hill. 

Views from the higher southeast elevations of Panoramic Hill were stupendous. The Bay spread out, visible from Santa Clara County to San Pablo Bay, sunny skies prevailed, and light breezes made for a pleasant ramble through meadows along the crest, then back along one of the fire trails on the shady north-facing slope of Strawberry Canyon.  

A coyote, hawks and songbirds completed the wildlife cameos along the walk.The late rains meant that much of the seasonal landscape is still green. 

More than a dozen butterfly species were spotted and identified by Powell and others on the walk.They included the California Ringlet, Lorquin’s Admiral, Umber Skipper, Sara Orangetip, Field Crescent, Mournful Duskywing, Red Admiral, Chalcedon Checkerspot, Anise Swallowtail, Pipevine Swallowtail, Pale Swallowtail, and Western Tiger Swallowtail. 

Powell said that there were fewer species than he expected of this time of year, possibly due to the cooler weather earlier this spring.  

Powell is a Professor in the Graduate School at UC Berkeley and Director Emeritus of the Essing Museum of Entomology, where he started working in 1961.His primary research interest is certain types of small moths. 

When the group finally spotted a Sara Orangetip—a white butterfly with vivid orange patches on the wing ends—fluttering along the trail in Strawberry Canyon, I thought of Berkeley native David Brower hiking these same hills as a boy in the 1920s, and looking for butterflies, including the Orangetip. 

At that time the Berkeley hills were undeveloped in their upper reaches, but also largely unprotected.Residential development would eventually sweep to the summit, north of the UC campus and south of Claremont Canyon.In the 1970s a sustained, and ultimately successful, struggle began to protect most of Claremont Canyon from residential development.  

Hundreds of residential lots had already been subdivided for development, but almost all were eventually bought and incorporated into the East Bay Regional Park District.  

The walk was sponsored by the Claremont Canyon Conservancy, a non-profit that grew out of that land use struggle and now works to protect and restore the natural environment of the canyon behind the Claremont Hotel. 

This Saturday, June 4, the Conservancy is sponsoring another free walk, a “geology ramble” led by Martin Holden, from 10 am to noon.Meet at the Stonewall Road trailhead to the Claremont Canyon Regional Preserve.A vigorous climb is involved. 

For more details see the Conservancy website at http://ccconservancy.homestead.com/home.html 

See Professor Powell’s website, and if you want to know more about butterflies, visit the North American Butterfly Association (NABA) website.

I'm ba-aack! And I've finally come up with an actual title for my column, which pretty much describes my life as well. I'll still mostly be writing about stuff related to old houses, though it may cross into real estate, land use, historic preservation, and whatever else the editor allows me to rant about. But I consider the comedy part of the title to be as important as the restoration part. 

In my last column, which was like September of 2008 or something, we were discussing hardware. But I'm not going to back to that right now, though no doubt I'll get to it eventually if I manage to keep writing on some kind of schedule. Instead, I want to relate my own experience with my (so far) vain attempt to get my mortgage modified. 

As many of you know, I am the proud owner of the 1905 Jesse Matteson House in Oakland- in my view one of the finest Arts and Crafts houses in the entire United States, and nicknamed by my friend Paul Duchscherer “the bunga-mansion.” (Because it's too big to be a bungalow.) By rights, it should probably be a house museum with a staff and a fundraising arm and lots of restoration architects at its beck and call. In which case it would no doubt be struggling as many house museums are right now, but that's a subject for another time. 

The Second Great Depression has cut my income in half, while not reducing the 6.375% interest rate on my first mortgage. Refinancing is not an option, since the stated income mortgages that were such a boon to self-employed people like me are gone as well. Not to mention that my house is now underwater, also thanks to those who destroyed the economy. And before you reach for those mental tomatoes about people who took out mortgages they couldn't afford and lied on their applications and blah, blah, blah- first of all, that is a line of BS put out by the banks that should have been completely discredited by now, second of all, when I took out this mortgage I COULD afford it and my FICO score was 818. And by the way, I am still paying the mortgage, on time, though I am now spending my inheritance in order to do that. So STFU. 

So when Obama's mortgage modification plan went into effect I figured I'd give it a try, especially since my lender (GMAC) had decided to turn itself into a bank just so it could get some of the TARP money. I knew I didn't want to negotiate with them directly- dealing with the kind of mindless idiocy I was likely to encounter causes me to swear and slam down the phone in most cases. I decided to go through a housing counselor, organizations or people approved by HUD to help homeowners with the process. I chose an organization called the Neighborhood Assistance Corporation of America, or NACA, mostly because of their record of going after predatory lenders successfully, and also because they were pretty “in your face” about it. Because, you know, I'm so tactful and reticent myself. 

After attending the requisite introductory meeting (last October), I first had to fill out a whole bunch of forms online, detailing my income and expenses and so forth. One of the required forms is called a Hardship Affidavit, where there is a whole page of boxes to check off, various reasons why you can't afford your mortgage payment anymore- essentially asking the lender to take pity on you because your income went down, or you had to take time off to care for your aging parents, or you got cancer, or whatever. There were (number) boxes in total, and I was able to check off nearly all of them. Then on another page you get to explain in more detail why your life totally sucks. By the end of it you feel like a contestant on the old game show Queen For A Day. (For those too young to remember, three women contestants would come on the show and relate their tale of woe- whoever was the most pathetic won a washing machine or something...) 

To say the process is not set up for people with multiple income sources would be an understatement- I have writing income, royalties, consulting income, book sales, rental income (I rent out rooms in my house), and a part-time retail job.  

Having filled out the online forms, I then had to fax hard copies of some of the exact same forms, as well as tax returns, mortgage and HELOC statements, property tax statements, etc. to NACA. Since there was no form for self-employment online, I sent a Profit and Loss statement instead, since this is what GMAC required. As I should have expected, this was not acceptable, because anyone who dares to ask for a modification is by definition a deadbeat who would be perfectly capable of slicing and dicing their Quickbooks file like Martin Yan on speed. Instead, I was informed, I would have to provide six months of bank statements with all my business deposits and expenses circled. My protest that this would in no way reflect reality, given that some expenses went on credit cards, and some cash income went straight to petty cash, which was duly recorded in Quickbooks but didn't show up on a bank statement, fell on deaf ears. So I dutifully circled as instructed, and faxed the pertinent pages. 

As a reasonable person I figured the pertinent information was what they wanted. What was I thinking?!! No, they wanted every effing page of every freaking statement (I have three accounts), including the page on which you balance your checkbook, the page which contains nothing but your average daily balance, and even the page which says “This page intentionally left blank.” Next time you read a story about mortgage modifications in which some bank spokesperson says that “Homeowners are not submitting complete paperwork”- this is what they're talking about!! Now, if you are the average person, you quite rightly threw those useless pages in the recycling bin. Will the bank accept this excuse? Of course not. Which is how I found myself at the local Chase branch, the one where I closed my accounts three months ago (that's a whole other column too- in the meantime see moveyourmoney.info), paying $30 to get copies of the statements with missing pages, all so I could fax in “This page intentionally left blank.” 

Six months of bank statements including the useless pages makes for a sixty page fax. Unless you work in an office with a seriously industrial fax machine, you can't fax that many pages at once. But you can't fax them in batches. And even if you manage to fax all 60, invariably they won't all go through, and they only receive 28 of them. I finally started taking them to the NACA office to have them do the faxing. The last time I was there I met a woman from San Francisco who had come over for the same purpose. I asked how long she had been working on her modification. “A year,” she said. 

To be continued 

"BERKELEY WORLD MUSIC FESTIVAL," -- June 5. Event features free continuous performances by some of the finest world music artists. Venues include performances in various Telegraph Ave. cafes and shops, near UC campus and a featured concert in People's Park, 1-6 p.m., sponsored by Amoeba Music. 

Noon-9 p.m.www.berkeleyworldmusic.org.< 

 

924 GILMAN ST. -- All ages welcome. 

FILTH, Gr'ups, Monster Squad, Fleshies, Abrupt, June 4, 7 p.m. $10.  

Amber Asylum, Morne, Embers, Serpent Crown, June 5, 8 p.m. $8.  

Another Breath, Soul Control, Age of Collapse, Streetwalkers, All Teeth, June 6, 5 p.m. $8.  

Subhumans, MDC, A-Heads, Sahn Maru, June 11, 7 p.m. $12.  

Ceremony, Paint it Black, Until Your Heart Stops, Purple Mercy, June 13, 5 p.m. $12.  

$5 unless otherwise noted. Shows start Friday and Saturday, 8 p.m.; Sunday, 5 p.m. unless otherwise noted. 924 Gilman St., Berkeley. (510) 525-9926, www.924gilman.org.< 

 

ALBATROSS PUB  

Whiskey Brothers, First and third Wednesdays, 9 p.m. Free.  

George Cotsirilos Jazz Trio, June 12, 9 p.m.  

Free unless otherwise noted. Shows begin Wednesday, 9 p.m.; Saturday, 9:30 p.m. unless otherwise noted. 1822 San Pablo Ave., Berkeley. (510) 843-2473, www.albatrosspub.com.< 

 

ARMANDO'S  

Rory Snyder Quartet and Fortune Smiles, June 4, 8-11 p.m. $10.  

Elliott Randall Band, June 5, 8-11 p.m. $10.  

La Gaite, June 6, 3-6 p.m. $10.  

"West Coast Songwritiers Association Songwriters Competition," June 9, 7 p.m. $5.  

Patrick Wolff Trio, June 11, 7:30 p.m. $10.  

Jeffrey Halford and the Healers, June 12, 8 p.m. $10.  

The Hopeful Romantics, June 13, 3 p.m. $10.  

707 Marina Vista Ave., Martinez. (925) 228-6985, www.armandosmartinez.com.< 

 

ASHKENAZ  

Sophis and Kalbass Kreyol and Africombo, June 4, 9:30 p.m. $10-$13.  

Markus James and the Wassonrai, June 5, 9:30 p.m. $10-$12.  

Bandworks, June 6 and June 8, Sunday, 2 p.m.; Tuesday, 7:30 p.m. $5.  

Balkan Folkdance, June 9, 8 p.m. $7.  

We All We Got featuring Sellassie and More, June 10, 9 p.m. $10.  

Luv Fyah, June 11, 9:30 p.m. $10.  

Tom Rigney and Flambeau, June 12, 9 p.m. $10-$13.  

Jeff Johnson, June 13, 7 p.m. $10-$12.  

1317 San Pablo Ave., Berkeley. (510) 525-5054, www.ashkenaz.com.< 

 

BLAKE'S ON TELEGRAPH  

International Student Party, Alma Desnude and DJ Run, June 4, 9 p.m. $10.  

Caldecott, Big Nasty, Jonathon Beast and the Bathroom Floors, June 11, 9 p.m. $10.  

For ages 18 and older. Music begins at 9:30 p.m. unless otherwise noted. 2367 Telegraph Ave., Berkeley. (510) 848-0886, www.blakesontelegraph.com.< 

 

CRAB COVE VISITOR CENTER At Crab Cove, you can see live underwater creatures and go into the San Francisco Bay from land. You can also travel back in time to Alameda's part. The goal is to increase understanding of the environmental importance of San Francisco Bay and the ocean ecosystem. Crab Cove's Indoor Aquarium and Exhibit Lab is one of the largest indoor aquariums in the East Bay. 

Foreverland, June 11, 5:30 p.m. Free.  

Free unless otherwise noted; parking fee may be charged. 1252 McKay Ave., Alameda. (510) 521-6887, www.ebparks.org.< 

 

DUNSMUIR HISTORIC ESTATE Nestled in the Oakland hills, the 50-acre Dunsmuir House and Gardens estate includes the 37-room Neoclassical Revival Dunsmuir Mansion, built by coal and lumber baron Alexander Dunsmuir for his bride. Restored outbuildings set amid landscaped gardens surround the mansion. The gardens and grounds at the mansion are open to the public for walking. Free Self-Guided Grounds Tour booklets are available at Dinkelspiel House. 

Chris Hillman and Herb Pedersen, Crooked Still, Wronglers, Laurie Lewis and the Right Hands, June 5, 10:45 a.m.-6 p.m. $40-$45.  

$4-$5; free members and children under 6. 2960 Peralta Oaks Court, Oakland. (510) 615-5555, www.dunsmuir.org.< 

 

ED REED, SEKHOU SENEGAL, ASSANE AND OUSSEYANE KOUYATE June 11. Point Richmond Music presents a summer concert. Event held in downtown Point Richmond on Park Place, just off I-580. 

Free.5:30 p.m.www.pointrichmond.com/prmusic/index.htm.< 

 

FREIGHT AND SALVAGE  

"Freight Open Mic," Tuesdays. $4.50-$5.50.  

Tito y su Son de Cuba, June 4, 8 p.m. $18.50-$19.50.  

Robin Flower and Libby McLaren, June 5, 8 p.m. $20.50-$21.50.  

Dr. K's Home Grown Roots Revue: Maurice Tani & 77 El Deora, Claudia Russell and the Folk Unlimited Orchestra, Don't Look Back, June 6, 8 p.m. $14.50-$15.50.  

Old Blind Dogs, June 10, 8 p.m. $20.50-$21.50.  

John and Hope Keawe, June 11, 8 p.m. $20.50-$21.50.  

Phil Marsh with the Cleanliness and Godliness Shuffle Band, June 12, 8 p.m.  

$18.50-$19.50.  

Austin Lounge Lizards, June 13, 8 p.m. $20.50-$21.50.  

Music starts at 8 p.m. unless otherwise noted. 2020 Addison St., Berkeley. (510) 548-1761, www.freightandsalvage.org.< 

 

JAZZSCHOOL  

Ratzo B. Harris Trio featuring Sheldon Brown, June 4, 8 p.m. $15-$18.  

Mark Levine & The Latin Tinge with special guest Claudia VillelA, June 5, 8 p.m. $15.  

Kitt Weagant, June 11, 8 p.m. $15.  

Raz Kennedy and Pollyanna Bush, June 12, 8 p.m. $15-$18.  

Dick Conte Quartet, June 13, 4:30 p.m. $15.  

Friday and Saturday, 8 p.m.; Sunday, 4:30 p.m. unless otherwise noted. 2087 Addison St., Berkeley. (510) 845-5373, www.jazzschool.com.< 

 

JUPITER  

"Americana Unplugged," Sundays, 5 p.m. A weekly bluegrass and Americana series.  

"Jazzschool Tuesdays," Tuesdays, 8 p.m. Featuring the ensembles from the Berkeley Jazzschool. www.jazzschool.com. 

8 p.m. 2181 Shattuck Ave., Berkeley. (510) 843-8277, www.jupiterbeer.com.< 

 

KIMBALL'S CARNIVAL  

"Monday Blues Legends Night," 8 p.m.-midnight. Enjoy live blues music every Monday night. Presented by the Bay Area Blues Society and Lothario Lotho Company. $5 donation. (510) 836-2227, www.bayareabluessociety.net. 

522 2nd St., Jack London Square, Oakland. < 

 

LA PENA CULTURAL CENTER  

Chicho Trujillo, June 4, 8-10 p.m. $15-$18.  

Las Bomberas de la Bahia and Rebel Diaz, June 5, 9 p.m. $10-$12.  

3105 Shattuck Ave., Berkeley. (510) 849-2568, www.lapena.org.< 

 

SHATTUCK DOWN LOW  

"It's the Joint," Thursdays, 9:30 p.m. Featuring DJs Headnodic, Raashan Ahmad and Friends. $5.  

"King of Kings," Doors 10 p.m. $6-$8.  

"Live Salsa," Wednesdays. An evening of dancing to the music of a live salsa band. Salsa dance lesson from 8:30-9:30 p.m. $5-$10.  

"Thirsty Thursdays," Thursday, 9 p.m. Featuring DJ Vickity Slick and Franky Fresh. Free.  

For ages 21 and older. 2284 Shattuck Ave., Berkeley. (510) 548-1159, www.shattuckdownlow.com.< 

 

STARRY PLOUGH PUB  

The Starry Irish Music Session led by Shay Black, Sundays, 8 p.m. Sliding scale.  

For ages 21 and over unless otherwise noted. Sunday and Wednesday, 8 p.m.; Thursday-Saturday, 9:30 p.m. unless otherwise noted. 3101 Shattuck Ave., Berkeley. (510) 841-2082, www.starryploughpub.com.< 

 

UPTOWN NIGHTCLUB  

Buzzcocks, Dollyrots, Images, June 4, 9 p.m. $30-$35.  

Downer Party, Definite Articles, June 5, 9 p.m. $8.  

Oakland Active Orchestra, June 8, 9 p.m. Free.  

Night Genes, Antioquia, June 9, 9 p.m. Free.  

Filth, Fracas, Verbal Abuse, One in the Chamber, June 10, 9 p.m.  

Red Meat, B Stars, East Bay Grease, June 11, 9 p.m. $10.  

Sugar and Gold, Sir Lord Von Raven, Planet Booty, June 12, 9 p.m. $10.  

1928 Telegraph Ave., Oakland. (510) 451-8100, www.uptownnightclub.com.< 

 

YOSHI'S  

Dave Holland Quintet, June 4 through June 6, Friday and Saturday, 8 and 10 p.m.; Sunday, 2 and 7 p.m. $18-$22.  

Junius Courtney Big Band, June 8, 8 and 10 p.m. $14.  

Catherine Russell, June 9 through June 10, Wednesday, 8 p.m.; Thursday, 8 and 10 p.m. $14-$20.  

The Jack DeJohnette Group feat. Rudresh Mahanthappa, David Fiuczynski, George Colligan and Jerome Harris, June 11 through June 13, Friday and Saturday, 8 and 10 p.m.; Sunday, 2 and 7 p.m. $18-$25.  

Shows are Monday through Saturday, 8 and 10 p.m.; Sunday, 2 and 7 p.m., unless otherwise noted. 510 Embarcadero West, Oakland. (510) 238-9200, www.yoshis.com.<

ALBANY HIGH SCHOOL LITTLE THEATER  

Albany Chamber Strings Orchestra, June 8, 7:30 p.m. Program features works by Beethoven, J.S. Bach, Boyce, Borodin, Bartok. Free. (415) 883-4959. 

Albany High School, 603 Key Route Blvd., Albany. (510) 558-2575.< 

 

ALPHONSE BERBER GALLERY  

"Sweeter Than Roses," June 10, 3:30 p.m. Program features works by Henry Purcell. $8-$15. (510) 649-9492. 

2546 Bancroft Way, Berkeley. < 

 

BERKELEY CITY CLUB  

Pacific Mozart Ensemble, June 13, 5 p.m. "Jazz and Pop'' program features a variety of performances in various musical styles. $15-$25. (510) 848-8022. 

2315 Durant Ave., Berkeley. (510) 848-7800, www.berkeleycityclub.com.< 

 

CROWDEN MUSIC CENTER  

"Very First Concerts: Learn to be a Conductor," June 5, 11 a.m. This classical series for younger listeners gives you the chance at hands-on musical activities. Free. (510) 559-6910. 

1475 Rose St., Berkeley. (510) 559-6910, www.crowdenmusiccenter.org.< 

 

FINNISH BROTHERHOOD HALL  

"2010 Jazz and Pop Concert," June 5, 7:30 p.m. Program features an assortment of musical groups playing music of various genres. $15-$25. (510) 848-8022. 

1970 Chestnut St., Berkeley. (510) 845-5352, www.finnishhall.com.< 

 

FIRST CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH OF BERKELEY  

Sacabuche with Paul Elliott and Nigel North, June 10, 8 p.m. Program features works by Orlando di Lasso, Andrea Gabrieli, Giovanni Gabrieli, Claudio Monteverdi, Heinrich Schutz, Hans Leo Hassler and Alessandro Grandi. $32-$38. (510) 642-9988, www.bfx.berkeley.edu. 

"Magnificat," June 11, 8 p.m. Program features motets by Chiara Margarita Cozzolani. $32-$38. (510) 642-9988, www.bfx.berkeley.edu. 

Marion Vebruggen Trio, June 11, 5 p.m. Program features works by Telemann, Handel and Bach. $32-$38. (510) 642-9988, www.bfx.berkeley.edu. 

"Early Music Discovery for Children," June 12, 10 a.m.-noon. Kids can try out early music instruments, supervised by skilled practitioners. (888) 722-5288, www.earlymusic.org. 

Artek, June 12, 8 p.m. Program features works by Monteverdi. $32-$38. (510) 642-9988, www.bfx.berkeley.edu. 

Music's Re-Creation, June 12, 5 p.m. Program features works by William Lawes, John Jenkins, William Young and Matthew Locke. $25. (510) 642-9988, www.bfx.berkeley.edu. 

"Festival Finale Celebration: Vespers in Venice from Monteverdi to Vivaldi," June 13, 4 p.m. Featuring Magnificat, ARTEK, Marion Verbuggen Trio, AVE, Sacabuche, Music's Re-creation and Archetti and soloists performing works by Monteverdi, Rovetta and Cavalli. $32-$38 (510) 642-9988, www.bfx.berkeley.edu. 

2345 Channing Way, Berkeley. (510) 848-3696, www.fccb.org.< 

 

HILLTOP COMMUNITY CHURCH  

Winds Across the Bay, June 5, 5 p.m. Program features works by Gershwin, Mailman, Bernstein, Holsinger, Gould. Free. (510) 243-0514. 

3118 Shane Dr., San Pablo. (510) 223-2431.< 

 

LAFAYETTE-ORINDA PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH  

Voices of Musica Sacra, June 8, 7:30 p.m. Program features the complete choral works of Samuel Barber. $15-$20.  

49 Knox Drive, Lafayette. < 

 

LAKE MERRITT UNITED METHODIST CHURCH  

Oakland Civic Orchestra with Malin Fritz, June 6, 4 p.m. Program features works by Schubert, Elgar and Dvorak. Free. (510) 238-7275. 

1330 Lakeshore Ave., Oakland. < 

 

MOUNTAIN VIEW CEMETERY  

Eric Symons, June 6, 4 p.m. The guitarist performs with Wendy Loder, violin/coloratura soprano. Free.  

5000 Piedmont Ave., Oakland. < 

 

PIEDMONT PIANO CO.  

"Orlando's Sardana," June 7, 7 p.m. Program features works by Pau Casals, Heitor Villa-Llobos, Samuel Barber, Richard Strauss and J.S. Bach. $20. (510) 547-8188. 

1728 San Pablo Ave., Oakland. (510) 547-8188, www.piedmontpiano.com.< 

 

ST. ALBAN'S EPISCOPAL CHURCH  

Cello Haven, June 10, 8 p.m. Program features works by Villa Lobos, Bach and a Russian Liturgical Chant. Free. (510) 234-4502. 

St. Alban's Episcopal Church,, 1501 Washington Ave., Albany. < 

 

ST. JOHN'S PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH  

Voices of Musica Sacra, June 6, 7:30 p.m. Program features the complete choral works of Samuel Barber. $15-$20. (800) 838-3006. 

San Francisco Renaissance Voices, June 9, 8 p.m. Program features Josquin Des Prez's "The Armed Man.'' $15-$20.  

2727 College Ave., Berkeley. (510) 845-6830, www.stjohns.presbychurch.net.< 

 

ST. MARK'S EPISCOPAL CHURCH OF BERKELEY  

"Marais-a-thon," June 9, 11 a.m.-7 p.m. Barefoot Chamber Concerts presents an all day musical event to benefit the American Viola da Gamba Society. $13-$15.  

Ave Artists Vocal Ensemble, June 10, 5 p.m. Jonathan Dimmock leads Ave in a program of 27 works that bring to life the Tenebrae Responsories for Maundy Thursday, Good Friday and Holy Saturday in a searing, dramatic concert. $35. (510) 642-9988, www.bfx.berkeley.edu. 

Wildcat Viols, June 10, Noon-12:50 p.m. Barefoot Chamber Concerts presents the group performing Purcell Fantazies. $13-$15.  

2300 Bancroft Way, Berkeley. (510) 848-5107, www.stmarksberkeley.org/.< 

 

ST. STEPHENS CATHOLIC CHURCH  

Voices of Musica Sacra, June 4, 7:30 p.m. Program features the complete choral works of Samuel Barber. $15-$20.  

1101 Keaveny Court, Walnut Creek. < 

 

TRINITY CHAMBER CONCERTS  

Horns a Plenty, June 5, 8 p.m. Program features a mix of Bach, Sousa, ragtime, Dixieland and swing. $8-$12. (510) 549-3864. 

New Esterhazy Quartet, June 9, 8 p.m. Program features works by Haydn. $15-$25. (510) 549-3864. 

$12 general; $8 seniors, disabled persons and students. Trinity Chapel, 2320 Dana St., Berkeley. (510) 549-3864, www.trinitychamberconcerts.com.< 

 

UNITARIAN UNIVERSALIST CHURCH OF BERKELEY  

Kensington Symphony Orchestra, June 5, 8 p.m. Geoffrey Gallegos conducts a program featuring works by Moses Sedler, Strauss and Brahms. $12-$15. (510) 524-9912, www.kensingtonsymphonyorchestra.org. 

One Lawson Road, Kensington. (510) 524-2912, www.uucb.org.< 

 

WALNUT CREEK PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH  

Contare Con Vivo, June 5, 7:30 p.m. Program features works by Eric Whitacre, Marman Dello Joio, Stephen Paulus and others. $10-$40. (510) 836-0789. 

1801 Lacassie Ave., Walnut Creek. (925) 935-1574, www.wcpres.org.<

ALTARENA PLAYHOUSE  

CLOSING -- "Sylvia," through June 13, Friday and Saturday, 8 p.m.; Sunday, 2 p.m. Jun. 3 and 10, 8 p.m. Can long-married empty-nesters Greg and Kate learn to love their adopted new family member, an abandoned street-smart mutt named Sylvia? Will Sylvia bring them closer together or compete for their affection? $19-$22.  

1409 High St., Alameda. (510) 523-1553, www.altarena.org.< 

 

AURORA THEATRE COMPANY  

"A Marvelous Party: A Noel Coward Celebration," through June 26, Wednesday, 7:30 p.m.; Thursday and Friday, 8 p.m.; Saturday, 2:30 and 8 p.m.; Sunday, 2:30 p.m. This exhilarating evening of song and sparkling repartee features Coward's witty lyrics and contagious melodies. $18-$45.  

Aurora Theatre, 2081 Addison St., Berkeley. (510) 843-4822, www.auroratheatre.org.< 

 

CALIFORNIA SHAKESPEARE THEATER  

"The Pastures of Heaven," by Octavio Solis, through June 27, Tuesday-Thursday, 7:30 p.m.; Friday and Saturday, 8 p.m.; Sunday, 4 p.m. Jonatahn Moscone directs this adaptation of John Steinbeck's novel about the search for happiness in the author's own Salinas Valley.  

$112-$220 for series. Bruns Memorial Amphitheater, 100 Gateway Blvd., Orinda. (510) 548-9666, www.calshakes.org.< 

 

LA VAL'S SUBTERRANEAN THEATRE  

CLOSING -- "Twelfth Night," by William Shakespeare, through June 12, Thursday-Saturday, 8 p.m. Impact Theatre presents this classic Shakespeare comedy. $10.  

1834 Euclid Ave., Berkeley. (510) 464-4468.< 

 

MASQUERS PLAYHOUSE  

OPENING -- "Fuddy Meers," by David Lindsay-Abaire, June 4 through July 10, Friday and Saturday, 8 p.m.; Sunday, 2 p.m. Claire, a sweet amnesiac, wakes up each morning remembering nothing. Her family must teach her who she is, each day. When she is kidnapped, the adventures really begin. $18.  

105 Park Place, Point Richmond. (510) 232-4031, www.masquers.org.< 

 

THEATREFIRST  

"The Drawer Boy," by Michael Healey, June 12 through July 4, Thursday-Saturday, 8 p.m.; Sunday, 2 p.m. An actor visits two aging farmers and uncovers their long-buried family secret. $10-$30.  

Old Oakland Theatre, 461 Ninth St., Oakland. (510) 436-5085, www.theatrefirst.com.< 

 

TOWN HALL THEATRE  

OPENING -- "Proof," by David Auburn, June 5 through July 3, Thursday-Saturday, 8 p.m.; Jun. 13 and 20, 2 p.m.; Jun. 27, 7 p.m. Catherine lives in the shadow of her father's legacy -- a legacy of brilliance and insanity. The question is: How much of this brilliance and insanity did she inherit? $22.50-$29.50.  

3535 School St., Lafayette. (925) 283-1557, www.thtc.org.< 

 

WILLOWS CABARET AT THE CAMPBELL THEATRE  

CLOSING -- "You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown," through June 6. The Red Baron patrols the skies, the Doctor is in, and the "blankie'' is in jeopardy again. $14-$32.  

636 Ward St., Martinez. (925) 798-1300, www.willowstheatre.org.<

A GREAT GOOD PLACE FOR BOOKS Joshua Braff, June 9, 7 p.m. The author talks about "Peep Show.'' Katherine A. Briccetti, June 10, 7 p.m. The author talks about "Blood Strangers.'' Kristin Craven, June 11, 7 p.m. The author talks about "Perfectly Revolting: My Glamorous Cartooning Career.'' Kristen Chandler, June 12, 4 p.m. The author talks about "Wolves, Boys and Other Things That Might Kill Me.'' 6120 LaSalle Ave., Oakland. (510) 339-8210, www.greatgoodplace.indiebound.com.< 

BOOKS INC., ALAMEDA Mary Stutts, June 8, 7:30 p.m. The author talks about "Missing Mentor: Women Advising Women on Power, Progress and Priorities.'' Free. Readings at 7:30 p.m. unless otherwise noted. 1344 Park St., Alameda. (510) 522-2226, www.booksinc.net.< 

BOOKS INC., BERKELEY Jonathan Balcombe, June 7, 7 p.m. The author talks about "Second Nature.'' T.J. Stiles, June 10, 7 p.m. The author talks about "The First Tycoon: The Epic Life of Cornelius Vanderbilt.'' Neil Landau, June 11, 6 p.m. The author talks about "101 Things I Learned in Film School.'' 1760 4th Street, Berkeley. (510) 525-7777, www.booksinc.net.< 

MOE'S BOOKS Sin Soracco, June 8, 7:30 p.m. The author talks about "Low Bite.'' Paul Hoover and Nguyen Do, June 9. The author talks about "Sonnet 56.'' Maxine Chernoff, Rachel Loden & Donna de la Perriere, June 10. Chernoff talks about "The Turning,'' Loden talks about "Dick of the Dead'' and de la Perriere talks about "True Crime.'' 10 a.m.-11 p.m. daily. 2476 Telegraph Ave., Berkeley. (510) 849-2087, www.moesbooks.com.< 

MRS. DALLOWAY'S Suzanne Gordon, June 4, 7:30 p.m. The author talks about "When Chicken Soup Isn't Enough.'' Elizabeth Jones, June 5, 4 p.m. The author talks about "Awaken to Healing Fragrance.'' Bernardo Atxaga, June 9, 5:30 p.m. The author talks about "The Accordionist's Son.'' Jake Silverstein, June 10, 7:30 p.m. The author talks about "Nothing Happened, Then it Did.'' Michael Sledge, June 11, 7:30 p.m. The author talks about "The More I Owe You.'' 2904 College Avenue, Berkeley. (510) 704-8222.< 

NEFELI CAFI Tom Odegard, Marc Hofstadter, Judith McCombs, June 11, 7 p.m. The authors read their poetry. 1854 Euclid Avenue, Berkeley. (510) 841-6374.< 

UNIVERSITY PRESS BOOKS Marina Levina and Grant Kien, June 10, 6 p.m. The author talk about "Post-Global Networkd and Everyday Life.'' 2430 Bancroft Way, Berkeley. (510) 548-0585, www.universitypressbooks.com.<

DESTINY ARTS CENTER  

"Moving for Peace," June 12, 3 p.m. More than 100 youth performing artists celebrate community and creativity. Free.  

1000 42nd St., Oakland. www.destinyarts.org.< 

 

SHADELANDS ART CENTER  

Students from Diablo Ballet and Civic Arts Education, June 4, 7 p.m. Program features classical variations from popular ballets and a premiere of new work by program directors Viktor Kabaniev and Tina Kay Bohnstedt. $10. (925) 943-5846. 

111 N. Wiget Lane, Walnut Creek. <  

COUNTERPULSE  

Scott Wells and Dancers, through June 19, May 28-30, Jun. 4-6, 8 p.m.; Jun. 18-19, 8 and 9:30 p.m. Program "Ball-ist-ic'' features high-flying, gravitydefying dance. $18-$22. www.scottwellsdance.com. 

1310 Mission St., San Francisco. (415) 626-2060, www.counterpulse.org.< 

 

DANCE MISSION THEATER  

"Life, Love and Rituals," June 11 through June 13, 8 p.m. Program features choreography by Peter Litwinowicz, Peter Litwinowicz and Jose Ivan Ibarra. $20.  

3316 24th St., San Francisco. (415) 826-4441, www.dancemission.com.< 

 

PALACE OF FINE ARTS THEATRE  

"San Francisco Ethnic Dance Festival," June 5 through June 27, Saturday, 2 and 8 p.m.; Sunday, 2 p.m.; Benefit gala June 11, 6 p.m. From the powerful dance and music of Haiti to a special Mexican Bicentennial Tribute, event presents an unparalleled cultural feat, including four new works representing the cultures of the Congo, Afghanistan, China and Mexico, and the debut of 26 world premieres. $22-$44. www.worldartswest.org. 

3301 Lyon St., San Francisco. (415) 567-6642, www.palaceoffinearts.org.< 

 

PENA PACHAMAMA  

"Carnaval Del Sur," Saturdays, 8:30 p.m. Sukay, Eddy Navia and the Pachamama Dancers present a program of Latin music and dance. $13.50.  

"Cuban Nights," Fridays, 8:30 p.m. Fito Reinoso, Sukay and Eddy Navia present Latin dancing Buena Vista style. $13.50.  

"Flamenco Thursdays" with Carola Zertuche, Thursdays, 8:30 p.m. Music and dance with performers of traditional flamenco. $10.  

Georges Lammam Ensemble, Sundays, 8:30 p.m. Event features music and dancing from the Middle East. $10.  

For ages 21 and older. 1630 Powell St., San Francisco. (415) 646-0018, www.penapachamama.com.< 

 

YERBA BUENA CENTER FOR THE ARTS The center's visual arts exhibitions feature contemporary art and popular culture by local, national and international artists. There are four rounds of exhibitions in the galleries each year. 

SF Ballet, through June 5, May 7, 8 p.m.; May 8, 2 and 8 p.m.; May 9, 2 and 7 p.m.; May 11-14, 8 p.m.; May 15, 2 and 8 p.m.; May 16, 2 p.m.; May 21, 8 p.m.; May 22, 2 and 8 p.m. Spring program features "Petite Mort,'' choreographed by Jiri Kylian, "French Twist'' by Ma Cong and "Songs of Mahler" by Michael Smuin.  

$3-$6; free the first Tuesday of every month. Tuesday, Wednesday and Sunday, noon-5 p.m.; Thursday-Saturday, noon-8 p.m. 701 Mission St., San Francisco. (415) 978-2787, www.ybca.org.<

AFRICAN AMERICAN ART AND CULTURE COMPLEX  

Jack Curtis Dubowsky Ensemble, June 11, 7:30 p.m. Ensemble presents program "Submerged Queer Spaces: Music and Architectural Remains.'' $12-$20. (415) 762-2071. 

762 Fulton St., San Francisco. www.aaacc.org.< 

 

DAVIES SYMPHONY HALL  

San Francisco Symphony, June 10 and June 12 through June 10, 8 p.m. Program features works by Mozart, Berg and Beethoven. $15-$130.  

201 Van Ness Ave., San Francisco. (415) 864-6000, www.sfsymphony.org.< 

 

FLORENCE GOULD THEATRE AT THE LEGION OF HONOR MUSEUM  

Jon Nakamatsu and the Stanford Woodwind Quintet, June 5, 2 p.m. Avedis Chamber Music Series presents the pianist in concert, performign works by Joseph Jongen, Theodor Blumer, Beethoven and Jean Francaix. $15-$20. (415) 452-8777. 

San Francisco Symphony, June 6, 2 p.m. Program features works by Beethoven, Debussy and Schubert. $15-$56. (415) 864-6000, www.sfsymphony.org. 

Lincoln Park, 34th Avenue and Clement Street, San Francisco. (415) 392-4400, www.avedisconcerts.org.< 

 

GREEN ROOM OF THE SAN FRANCISCO WAR MEMORIAL AND PERFORMING ARTS CENTER  

Kurt Rhode Concertino with Axel Strauss and Chris Froh, June 7, 8 p.m. Featuring works by Martin Bresnick, Johannes Brahms Jacob ter Veldhuis, Lou Harrison and Rhode. $15-$20.  

Pacific Mozart Ensemble, June 11, 7:30 p.m. "Jazz and Pop'' program features songs in various musical styles. $15-$25. (510) 848-8022, www.pacificmozart.org. 

War Memorial Veterans Building, 401 Van Ness Ave., San Francisco. < 

 

HERBST THEATRE  

Geraldine Walther and Friends, June 6, 3 p.m. Chamber Music San Francisco presents the violinist with the Grammy-winning Takacs Quartet, performing works by Schubert and Bach. $32-$44.  

401 Van Ness Ave., San Francisco. (415) 392-4400, www.cityboxoffice.com.< 

 

KNUTH HALL  

"25th Annual Irving M. Klein International String Competition: Semifinals," June 10 through June 13, Thursday, 8 p.m.; Saturday, 10 a.m., 8 p.m.; Sunday, 4 p.m. Program features works by Bach and Hyman. $5-$50. (415) 338-2467. 

Free. Creative Arts Building, San Francisco State University, 19th Avenue and Hollaway, San Francisco. (415) 338-1431.< 

 

LEGION OF HONOR MUSEUM DOCENT TOUR PROGRAMS -- Tours of the permanent collections and special exhibitions are offered Tuesday through Sunday. Non-English language tours (Italian, French, Spanish and Russian) are available on different Saturdays of the month at 11:30 a.m. Free with regular museum admission. (415) 750-3638.  

ONGOING CHILDREN'S PROGRAM --  

"Doing and Viewing Art," For ages 7 to 12. Docent-led tours of current exhibitions are followed by studio workshops taught by professional artists/teachers. Students learn about art by seeing and making it. Saturday, 10:30 a.m. to noon; call to confirm class. Free with museum admission. (415) 750-3658. 

ORGAN CONCERTS -- 4 p.m. A weekly concert of organ music on the Legion's restored 1924 Skinner organ. Saturday and Sunday in the Rodin Gallery. Free with museum admission. (415) 750-3624. 

San Francisco Friends of Chamber Music, June 6, Noon. Program features works by Michel Pignolet de Monteclair, Marin Marais, Michel Lambert, Anne-Danican Philidor and Francois Couperin. (415) 710-0551. 

$6-$10; free for children ages 12 and under; free for all visitors on Tuesdays. Tuesday-Sunday, 9:30 a.m.-5 p.m. Lincoln Park, 34th Avenue and Clement Street, San Francisco. (415) 750-3600, (415) 750-3636, www.thinker.org.< 

 

NOE VALLEY MINISTRY  

"San Francisco Guitar Summit," June 5, 8 p.m. Featuring Matthew Montfort, Teja Gerken and the San Francisco Guitar Quartet. $16-$18.  

1021 Sanchez St., San Francisco. (415) 454-5238, www.noevalleymusicseries.com.< 

 

NOTRE DAME DES VICTOIRES  

Notre Dame des Victoires Choir, June 5, 8 p.m. Program features works by Morales, Guerrero, Vasquez, Pujol and Victoria. $10-$15. (415) 397-0113. 

659 Pine St., San Francisco. < 

 

OLD FIRST CHURCH  

Paul Dresher Ensemble Double Duo, June 4 and June 6, Friday, 8 p.m.; Sunday, 4 p.m. Program features works by Paul Dresher, Sam Adams and Martin Bresnick. $14-$17.  

San Francisco Composers Chamber Orchestra, June 11, 8 p.m. Program features new works by Bay Area composers, performed by the composers themselves. $12-$15. www.sfcco.org. 

Miriam Abramowitsch and Kumaran Arul, June 13, 4 p.m. Program features works by Gustav Mahler, Franz Liszt and Schubert. $14-$17. (415) 474-1608. 

1751 Sacramento Street, San Francisco. (415) 474-1608.< 

 

SAN FRANCISCO CONSERVATORY OF MUSIC  

San Francisco Girls Chorus, June 4 through June 5, 8 p.m. Program features works by Stravinsky, Dvorak and others. $18-$32. (415) 392-4400. 

The Musical World of Sheli Nan, June 5, 1 p.m. Program features works by Bill Barbini and the Ariel Quartet. Free.  

Symphony Parnassus, June 6, 3 p.m. Program features works by Dylan Mattingly and Brahms. $15-$22. (415) 613-2616. 

$15 to $20 unless otherwise noted. Hellman Hall, 50 Oak St., San Francisco. (415) 864-7326, www.sfcm.edu.< 

 

ST. GREGORY NYSSA EPISCOPAL CHURCH  

Bay Choral Guild, June 4 through June 6, Jun. 4, 8 p.m.; Jun. 5, 8 p.m.; Sun., 4:30 p.m. Program features works by Sanford Dole and Brahms. $6-$25. www.baychoralguild.org. 

500 De Haro Street, San Francisco. < 

 

ST. MARK'S LUTHERAN CHURCH  

Mostly Motets, June 5, 7 p.m. Program features works by William Byrd, Josquin Desprez and others. $12-$16.  

San Francisco Choral Artists, June 13, 4 p.m. Program features 25 works selected from the 130 works premiered under Artistic Director Magen Solomon. $10-$30. (415) 979-5779. 

1111 O'Farrell St., San Francisco. (415) 928-7770, www.stmarks-sf.org.< 

 

WAR MEMORIAL OPERA HOUSE  

San Francisco Opera, June 5 through July 1, Jun. 5, 8 and 11, 7:30 p.m.; Jun. 16, 23 and Jul. 1, 7 p.m.; Jun. 20, 26, 1:30 p.m. Francois Gounod's "Faust'' stars teno Stefano Secco in the title role alonside soprano Patricia Racette and Marguerite. $15-$360. www.sfopera.com. 

San Francisco Opera, June 9 through July 2, Jun. 9 24, 29, 7:30 p.m.; Jun. 15, 18, Jul. 2, 8 p.m.;; Jun. 27, 2 p.m. "The Girl of the Golden West'' featuring conductor Nicola Luisotti, soprano Deborah Voigt and tenor Salvatore Licitra. $15-$360. (415) 864-3330, www.sfopera.com. 

San Francisco Opera, June 10 through June 30, Jun. 10, 19, 22, 25, 30, 7 p.m. "Die Walkure'' features stunning soprano performances by Nina Stemme and Eva-Maria Westbroek and Mark Delavan as Wotan in this second installment of Wagner's "Ring'' cycle. $15-$360. (415) 864-3330, www.sfopera.com. 

301 Van Ness Ave., San Francisco. (415) 865-2000.<

AMERICAN CONSERVATORY THEATER  

"The Tosca Project," by Carey Perloff and Val Caniparoli, through June 27. Loosely structured around the themes of Puccini's "Tosca,'' this imaginative new work is gorgeously choreographed, achingly moving and scored with some of the best music ever made, from Hendrix to Stravinsky.  

Geary Theater, 415 Geary St., San Francisco. (415) 749-2228, www.actsf. org.< 

 

CHANCELLOR HOTEL UNION SQUARE  

"Eccentrics of San Francisco's Barbary Coast," Friday and Saturday, 8 p.m. Audiences gather for a 90-minute show abounding with local anecdotes and lore presented by captivating and consummate conjurers and tale-tellers. $30.  

433 Powell St., San Francisco. (877) 784-6835, www.chancellorhotel.com.< 

 

CLIMATE THEATRE  

"The Clown Cabaret at the Climate," First Monday of the month, 7 and 9 p.m. Hailed as San Francisco's hottest ticket in clowning, this show blends rising stars with seasoned professionals on the Climate Theater's intimate stage. $10-$15.  

"Devil in the Deck," through June 5, 8 p.m. Paul Nathan plays Jack Swindle, a con man cursed at birth by a bad tarot reading. Jack spends his life cheating at cards to cheat death and break the gypsy curse. $25-$35.  

 

285 Ninth St., Second Floor, San Francisco. www.climatetheater.com.< 

 

CURRAN THEATRE  

CLOSING -- "In the Heights," through June 13, Tuesday-Saturday, 8 p.m.; Wednesday, Saturday, Sunday, 2 p.m.; May 16, 7:30 p.m. Hear the story about the bonds that develop in a vibrant, tight-knit community at the top of the island of Manhattan. $30-$99.  

445 Geary St., San Francisco. (415) 512-7770, www.shnsf.com or www.bestofbroadway-sf.com.< 

 

THE CUSTOM MADE THEATRE CO.  

"Durang Me," by Christopher Durang, June 10 through July 10, Thursday-Saturday, 8 p.m.; Sunday, 7 p.m.; No show Jul. 4. Featuring two of Durang's scripts, "Sister Mary Ignatius Explains It All For You'' and "The Actor's Nightmare.'' $18-$28.  

965 Mission St., San Francisco. < 

 

CUTTING BALL THEATER  

"'Bone to Pick' and 'Diadem'," through June 20. Eugene Chan's "Bone to Pick'' reimagines the myth of Ariadne, Theseus and the Minotaur in a postmodern exploration of love, war and complicity. "Diadem,'' also by Chan, is a romantic retelling of the earlier parts of Ariadne's myth.  

The EXIT Stage Left, 156 Eddy St., San Francisco. (415) 419-3584, www.cuttingball.com.< 

 

EUREKA THEATRE  

"Verry McVerry," June 6, 7 p.m. Maureen McVerry makes her solo debut for this night of comedic cabaret. $17. (415) 347-5625. 

215 Jackson St., San Francisco. (415) 255-8207, (415) 978-2787, www.42ndstmoon.org/42newweb/finding/eureka.htm or www.ticketweb.com/.< 

 

EXIT THEATRE  

"Giant Bones," by Stuart Bousel, through June 19, Thursday-Saturday, 8 p.m. Bousel weaves together four of Peter S. Beagle's "Innkeeper's World'' stories into this dramatic narrative. $15-$50. (415) 816-9661, www.brownpapertickets.com. 

156 Eddy St., San Francisco. (415) 673-3847, www.theexit.org.< 

 

THE JEWISH THEATER SAN FRANCISCO  

EXTENDED -- "Andy Warhol: Good for the Jews?" by Josh Kornbluth, through June 20, Thursday-Saturday, 8 p.m.; Sunday, 2 and 7 p.m. This one-man performance examines the legacy of Andy Warhol and the ten Jewish luminaries he painted. $15-$45.  

470 Florida St., San Francisco. (415) 292-1233, www.tjt-sf.org.< 

 

MAMA CALIZO'S VOICE FACTORY  

"The Golden Girls: The Pride Episodes," through June 25, Monday-Wednesday, 7 and 9 p.m. The "girls'' are back with two new episodes in time from Pride Month, starring Heklina, Cookie Dough, Matthew Martin and Pollo Del Mar. $20-$25.  

1519 Mission St., San Francisco. (415) 368-1244, www.voicefactorysf.org.< 

 

THE MARSH  

"The Mock Cafe," Stand-up comedy performances. Saturday, 10 p.m. $7.  

"The Monday Night Marsh," An ongoing series of works-in-progress. Monday, 8 p.m. $7.  

CLOSING -- "The Festival of New Voices II: The Next Wave of Solo Performance," through June 13, Wednesday and Thursday, 7:30 p.m.; Friday, 8 p.m.; Saturday, 5, 5:30, 8:30 and 9 p.m.; Sunday, 3 p.m. Showcase features new solo theater pieces by up-and-coming artists from the Marsh's 2009/10 Performance Initiative, including pieces by Sia Amma, Pidge Meade, David A. Moss, Marilyn Pittman, Sigal Shohan, Kenny Yun and others. $15-$50. (800) 838-3006. 

1062 Valencia St., San Francisco. (415) 826-5750, www.themarsh.org.< 

 

NEW CONSERVATORY THEATRE CENTER  

"Proud and Bothered," through June 26, Thursday-Saturday, 8 p.m.; Sunday, 2 p.m. Gomez, a professional Gay Pride MC takes the walk of shame in this comedic tell-all. $22-$34.  

25 Van Ness Ave., San Francisco. (415) 861-8972, www.nctcsf.org.< 

 

NOH SPACE  

CLOSING -- "The Breath of Life," by David Hare, through June 6, Thursday-Saturday, 8 p.m.; Sunday, 5 p.m. Two women dumped by the same man meet on the Isle of Wight. $18-$25.  

2840 Mariposa St., San Francisco. < 

 

OFF-MARKET THEATER  

"ShortLived 3.0," through June 26, Friday and Saturday, 8 p.m. The largest audience-judged playwrighting competetion in the nation returns with experienced playwrights, unknown up-and-comers and local, independent theater companies. $20. www.pianofight.com. 

"City Solo," June 6 through June 20, Sunday, 7 p.m. Rotating solo show features the pieces "My Diary, No Grownups Allowed,'' by Janine Brito, "I Didn't Sign Up For This,'' by Julia Jackson, "I Am Sooooo Gay,'' by Thao P. Nguyen and "Lady Parts,'' by Martha Rynberg. $15-$20.  

OPENING -- "SummHER Lovin," June 7 through June 28, Monday, 8 p.m. PianoFight's "Monday Night ForePlays'' series returns with the fifth allnew installment of their female-drive variety show. $20.  

965 Mission St., San Francisco. < 

 

ORPHEUM THEATRE  

CLOSING -- "Wicked," Tuesday-Saturday, 8 p.m.; Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday, 2 p.m.; Oct. 11 and Dec. 27, 7:30 p.m.; Nov. 27, 2 p.m.; Dec. 21 and 28, 8 p.m. "Wicked'' is the untold story of the witches of Oz. Long before Dorothy drops in, two other girls meet in the land of Oz. One, born with emerald-green skin, is smart, fiery and misunderstood. The other is beautiful, ambitious and very popular. "Wicked'' tells the story of their remarkable odyssey, how these two unlikely friends grow to become the Wicked Witch of the West and Glinda the Good Witch. $30-$99.  

1192 Market St., San Francisco. (415) 512-7770, www.shnsf.com.< 

 

RRAZZ ROOM AT HOTEL NIKKO  

"Ryan O'Connor Eats His Feelings," by Ryan O'Connor, June 7, 8 p.m. Actor, singer, comedian and vlogger O'Connor stars in this blending of all things pop culture. $18.  

222 Mason St., San Francisco. (415) 394-1111, www.therrazzroom.com.< 

 

SAN FRANCISCO COMEDY COLLEGE CLUBHOUSE (800) 838-3006, www.clubhousecomedy.com.  

"Hump Day Comedy," Host Rich Stimbra and a variety of stand-up comics will get you over the Wednesday work hump. BYOB for 21 and over. Wednesday, 8 p.m. $5. 

"Naked Comedy," A comedy showcase featuring some of the best comedians in San Francisco. BYOB for 21 and over. Saturdays, 9 p.m. $10. 

414 Mason St., Suite 705, San Francisco. (415) 921-2051, www.sfcomedycollege.com.< 

 

SHELTON THEATER  

"Shopping! The Musical," by Morris Bobrow, A quick-paced musical about those obsessed with buying things. Friday-Saturday, 8 p.m. $27-$29. www.shoppingthemusical.com. 

Big City Improv, Friday, 10 p.m. $20. (510) 595-5597, www.bigcityimprov.com. 

533 Sutter St., San Francisco. (415) 433-1227, www.sheltontheater.com or www.sheltontheater.com.< 

 

STAGE WERX THEATRE  

"Ungrateful Daughter," by Lisa Marie Rollins, through June 12, Thursday-Saturday, 8 p.m. Hear one black girl's story of being adopted into a white family who aren't celebrities. $20-$25.  

"Bi-Poseur," by Paolo Sambrano, June 6 and July 18, 7 p.m. Paolo Sambrano stars in this one-man show about a possibly bi-polar man coping with life. $15. www.brownpapertickets.com/event/109491. 

533 Sutter Street, San Francisco. < 

 

THICK HOUSE  

"The Bakla Show II," through June 12, Thursday-Saturday, 8 p.m. Myths are retold and realities unfold in this theatrical exploration of Filipino Queer identities inspired by traditional myths, legends and folktales. $10-$20.  

1695 18th St., San Francisco. www.thickhouse.org.<

ALBASTUDIOS AND GALLERY  

OPENING -- "The Language of Clay," June 4 through July 1. Exhibition features selected works from the members of Orchard Valley Ceramic Arts Guild.  

"The Eyes Have It," June 5 through June 6 and June 12 through June 6, 11 a.m.-6 p.m. Exhibition features works by 11 artists and Blue Eyed Bandit the dog.  

4219 Martin Luther King Jr. Way, Oakland. < 

 

AMES GALLERY  

"New Show," through June 30. Exhibition features drawings by Deborah Barrett, Ted Gordon, Dwight Mackintosh, Inez Nathaniel Walker, AG Rizzoli, Barry Simons and others.  

2661 Cedar St., Berkeley. (510) 845-4949, www.amesgallery.com.< 

 

ANNA EDWARDS GALLERY  

"Poverty, Protest and Resistance," through June 30. Exhibition features photographs of political struggle and global poverty by Francisco Dominguez and Robert Terrell.  

237 E. 14th St., San Leandro. (510) 636-1721, www.annaedwards.com.< 

 

BEDFORD GALLERY  

"Dutch Impressionism and Beyond," through June 27. Exhibition features selections from the Beekhuis Collection.  

$3 general; $2 youth ages 12 through 17; free children ages 12 and under; free Tuesdays. Tuesday, Wednesday, and Sunday, noon-5 p.m.; Thursday-Saturday, noon-5 p.m. and 6-8 p.m. Dean Lesher Regional Center for the Arts, 1601 Civic Drive, Walnut Creek. (925) 295-1417, www.bedfordgallery.org.< 

 

CHANDRA CERRITO CONTEMPORARY  

"Stillness," June 4 through July 24. Exhibition features works by Keira Kotler.  

480 23rd St., Oakland. (415) 577-7537, www.chandracerrito.com.< 

 

FLOAT  

CLOSING -- "Enigma," through June 12. Exhibition features works by James Barnes MacKinnon and Dave Meeker, as well as sonic textures and ambient grooves by dj fflood.  

Free. Tuesday-Saturday, 10 a.m.-10 p.m.; by appointment. 1091 Calcot Place, Unit 116, Oakland. (510) 535-1702, www.thefloatcenter.com.< 

 

GARAGE GALLERY  

CLOSING -- "Collages," through June 6. Exhibition features works by Susan Jokelson.  

3110 Wheeler St., Berkeley. (510) 549-2896, www.berkeleyoutlet.com.< 

 

GIORGI GALLERY  

CLOSING -- "The Portrait Show," through June 4. Exhibition features works by Nina Katz, Gage Opdenbrouw, Brett Armory, Beth Grossman, Craig Upson, David Molesky, Nicholas Coley, Ian Nitta, Rae Douglass, Ryan Blackman and Grey Dey.  

Free. Wednesday through Friday, 1 p.m. to 6 p.m.; Saturday and Sunday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. 2911 Claremont Ave., Berkeley. (510) 848-1228, www.giorgigallery.com.< 

 

HALL OF PIONEERS GALLERY  

"Oakland Chinatown Pioneers," Twelve showcases, each focusing on historic leaders and personalities of the community.  

Free. Monday-Friday, 10 a.m.-3 p.m. Chinese Garden Building, 275 Seventh St., Oakland. (510) 530-4590.< 

 

JOYCE GORDON GALLERY  

"Cross Roads," through June 28. Collaborative exhibition features works by Chukes and Ruth Tunstall Grant.  

Free. Wednesday-Friday, noon-7 p.m.; Saturday, noon-4 p.m.; Monday by appointment. 406 14th St., Oakland. www.joycegordongallery.com.< 

 

PHOTOLAB  

CLOSING -- "Loud and Fast: 15 Years of Punk Rock Performances," through June 5. Exhibition features black and white photographs by Larry Wolfley.  

2235 5th St., Berkeley. (510) 644-1400, www.photolabratory.com.< 

 

PRO ARTS GALLERY  

"East Bay Open Studios," June 5 through June 6 and June 12 through June 6, 11 a.m.-6 p.m. Showcase features works from over 460 artists.  

Free. Tuesday-Saturday, noon-6 p.m.; Sunday, noon-5 p.m. 550 Second St., Oakland. (510) 763-4361, www.proartsgallery.org.< 

 

ROYAL NONESUCH GALLERY  

"I-Object," June 4 through June 29. Featuring works by Laura Boles Faw, Justin Hoover, David Pena Lopera and Kathryn Williamson.  

4231 Telegraph Ave., Oakland. (415) 690-3041, www.royalnonesuchgallery.com.< 

 

TRAYWICK CONTEMPORARY  

"The Oblivion Before the Beginning," through June 26. Exhibition features works by Diana Guerrero-Macia.  

895 Colusa Ave., Berkeley. (510) 527-1214.<

Pianist-songwriter Julian Waterfall Pollack will appear with his fellow Berkeley High alums, bassist Noah Garabdeian and drummer Evan Hughes, to celebrate his new CD INFINITE PLAYGROUND (Junebeat Records), on Monday, June 7, 8 p. m. at Yoshi's Jazz Club, Jack London Square in Oakland. Tickets: $14. 238-9200; www.yoshis.com 

Pollack, son of Berkeley musicians Allan Pollack and Susan Waterfall, co-founders of the Mendocino Music Festival, former student at Crowden School, has been hailed as an unusually talented—and swinging—young pianist since playing in the Berkeley High Jazz Ensembles and at local venues like the JazzSchool, where he returned with his trio this winter. He's been praised by the likes of Marian McPartland, of NPR's Piano Jazz ("A wonderful new player on the jazz scene ... Watch out for this kid!"), Tootie Heath of the Heath Brothers ("I want to be the first to say it: Julian is a genius.") and other noted players, including saxophonist Joe Lovano and vibraphonist Dave Samuels. 

Pollack, who's played piano since five, and started out listening to Oscar Peterson at eight (he still cites Peterson as an influence), says his goals in music are "to contribute beauty" and clarity, and "to blur the lines" between jazz, classical and pop. (More at: www.julianpollackmusic.com ) 

He’s played at clubs like Small's, opening for Chick Corea at the Blue Note in New York, at festivals from Montreux to Monterey and last New Year's Eve at Chez Panisse. He will play July 15 at the Mendocino Jazz Festival, in an ensemble featuring him and his mother on pianos, playing "Hallelujah, America!", a program of American music including works by Copland, Carter, Harrison, Cage, Gershwin Crumb, Stephen Foster, and John Adams' "Hallelujah Junction."

This past Sunday, I opted to spend my 1,492^nd sunny weekend afternoon in a darkened theatre, so I drove from Oakland through the Cold-to-Hot tunnel to the Dean Lesher Center for the Arts in Walnut Creek to see The Marvelous Party at Center Rep. Bay Area Critic Circle awarded this company best musical last year, so I wanted to see what was up out there.I found I could joyously give the late Sir Noël Coward the criticism he so loved! 

When I was a little boy and urged my pop to come play catch with me around noon on a Saturday, my wise father, fearing for his red-headed son’s sunburn, would always sing, “Only Mad Dogs and Englishmen Go Out in the Mid-Day Sun.”By Coward, of course.When my great uncle and aunt who played vaudeville would visit, they would duet on lovely airs that I later found were Cowardly.A few years ago, I played Charles in Blithe Spirit, then directed Design for Living (his bisexual, triad comedic romance) at THTC, and deeply invested my time in listening to all of Noel’s lyrics to use them for entr’acte music.As NC quipped about critics, “I have always been very fond of them . . . I think it is so frightfully clever of them to go night after night to the theatre and know so little about it." So I fancy that I was “in the know” about this revue. 

All quotations are from Coward’s indefatigable, perceptive jeux d’esprit and his very deep well of songs.Charming melodies, but for the most part just a ditty on which to hang his bon mots. The players sing these very complicated, syncopated, internally rhymed lyrics seemingly in one voice, which is no mean feat. It is a revue, a look-back, on the incredible life and creativity of an iconic figure, as we picture him somewhere at a London drawing room cocktail party, looking dapper and gay in smoking jacket while balancing cigarette holder and martini, and speaking something unbelievably clever to his rapt minions as his haunting melody “Mad About the Boy” plays in the background. 

The set places us perfectly in a rich dark blue and gold Art Deco foyer or dance floor of a grand hotel’sballroom, with ever-changing backdrop from blue sky to pink neon showing through the double French doors.The accompanying band plays in the upstage alcove while varied red ruffled drapes turn to starry lights. They even change chandeliers. The lighting never calls attention to itself, but seamlessly serves the scene right down to the follow-spot operator who never loses aim. 

It is as polished and posh as is due a Coward revue.All three Equity actors show us what it means to be professional.The words of Coward and all his bon mots are articulated in full studied British Received Pronunciation; when they speak, though they hit all the right vowel changes, articulate their final consonants and vary their pitch appropriately, it’s still an American actor doing a very good imitation.When they sing all pretense disappears, and you relax into their comedic shenanigans or sophisticated torch songs. 

Tenor Mark Anders and Baritone Carl J. Danielsen look British and both play it with the panache, easy confidence, and mastery of the material that comes when one is the “deviser” of the piece.Their “2 Pianos 4 Hands” was a hit a few years ago; they toss off their piano virtuosity as if it’s all-in-good-fun. 

Molly Bell’s blonde marcelled hairdo and versatile soprano recalls the fashion and musical styling of the period.Ms. Bell is probably now a candidate for best actress in a comedy/musical; she ends the first act with a tour de force monologue about her latest show with a combination of mimicry, timing, and acrobatics that raised the energy at the interval and had the audience murmuring about how good they were.“Watching her energy just exhausts me,” one lovely elderly lady commented while standing in line for the ice cream they served up at the apron of the stage—something they do at every English theatre. 

The choreography of Patricia Wilcox is mostly subtle with perfect gestures and dancing in place, until she breaks out with surprises that hike our spirits:Molly Bell’s Charleston captures the joy and sex of the Lost Generation’s exuberance, Anders and Danielsen trade off coats and piano playing in a perfectly rehearsed shtick.As Coward said, “I like the kind of spontaneity you get with five weeks of rehearsal.” 

The first act is English Music Hall all the way right down to the sign on the easel announcing the next act and the Cockney in his derby leaning against the lamppost. The plotting of the variety of selections to change moods that lift and then soothe our spirits is smoothly planned.In the midst of the first act they boost us with a highlight of some hoofing of the first caliber, not just kick/ball/change but some buck’n’wing in a Fred and Ginger-like duet between Carl Danielsen and Molly Bell (pictured above).  

There is no investment in trying to believe the illusion, and everything changes every three minutes or so.However, the barrage of wit and cleverness is somewhat overwhelming even for those in the know, so I recommend purchasing some liquid lubrication (booooze!) in the lobby that you can take into the theatre after the interval.One last Coward quotable: "I will accept anything in the theatre . . . provided it amuses or moves me. But if it does neither, I want to go home." Everybody came back from intermission. 

Definitely worth the price of admission; if I’d seen it in NYC for 100 USD, I’d be all aflutter. 

A MARVELOUS PARTY:The Noël Coward Celebration presented by Center Repertory Theatre, Michael Butler, Artistic Director and Scott Denison, Managing Director playing at Margaret Lesher Theatre, Lesher Center for the Arts, 1601 Civic Drive, Walnut Creek, CA 94596  

Wed 7:30 pm, Thu-Sat 8 pm, with Matinees Sat & Sun 2:30 pm through June 26. 

Tickets: www.centerrep.org or 925-943-SHOW (7469) 

 

Words and Music by: Noël Coward; Devised by: David Ira Goldstein, Carl J. Danielsen, Mark Anders and Patricia Wilcox.Directed by David Ira Goldstein, musical direction by Brandon Adams; musical staging by Patricia Wilcox; musical arrangements by Carl J. Danielsen; s cenic design by Bill Forrester, sound design by Jeff Mockus, lighting design by Kurt Landisman, props management by Laraine Gurke, costume design by David Kay Mickelsen, wigs by Judy Disbrow.Stage Management by Corrie Bennett 

 

With: Mark Anders, Molly Bell, Carl J. Danielsen. 

 

John A. McMullen II is the newest member of the San Francisco Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle. 

Comments /lucrative job offers to EyeFromTheAisle@gmail.com 

 

 

I’ve avoided wild turkeys as a subject since that unpleasant business with the Sierra Club a couple of years ago, when I caught hell for writing that the environmental impact of these introduced birds had not yet been documented. Now, finally, there’s a study, published last year in the journal Western Birds, entitled “Food Habits of the Wild Turkeys in National Forests of Northern California and Central Oregon.”Does it shed badly needed light on the controversy? Well, sort of. 

The case against the turkey seems to have two main arguments. First, wild turkeys are aliens; the ones in California are primarily Rio Grande and Merriam’s turkeys from the Southwest. Thus they’re a new, and unpredictable, element in our ecosystems, and might outcompete native birds like the California quail. (However, a very similar species was present in Southern California until about 11,500 years ago, and a couple of prehistoric turkey bones have been found in caves in Northern California.) 

Second, wild turkeys are omnivores. Back east, they’re known to eat a lot of acorns and the occasional lizard or salamander. Concern has been expressed about turkey predation on vulnerable species, although I don’t know whether they’ve ever been caught in the act. If a turkey happened to consume a newt, a highly toxic amphibian, that would be one less turkey. 

I have a suspicion that a lot of the anti-turkey animus comes from the fact that these are large, loud, untidy birds that sometimes become aggressive with people. Also, their presence makes turkey hunters happy. These are not major themes in the public discourse, though. 

So here’s the Western Birds article, whose authors spent three years collecting, classifying, and analyzing over 400 turkey droppings in the El Dorado, Modoc, Plumas, Tahoe, and Mendocino National Forests, plus two national forests in Oregon. The feces of tom and hen turkeys, it seems, are visibly distinct, so it was possible to categorize the diets of both sexes. Plant remains in the droppings were identified to species where possible. 

The turkeys were found to have been eating variable proportions of plants and insects. Plants were broken down into grasses, sedges, forbs (herbaceous flowering plants), coniferous trees, shrubs, seeds, roots, ferns, and agricultural grains. Acorns were apparently subsumed under seeds. The birds consumed more seeds and flowers than stems, roots, and leaves. Grass consumption ranged from 1.3 percent among spring males in the Modoc National Forest to 66.8 percent for summer males in the Plumas National Forest. Females in Oregon’s Deschutes National Forest favored conifer seeds in spring. In the Modoc, 95.8 percent of the spring males had been eating forbs. 

In California, hens ate a higher proportion of insects than toms.
This may indirectly reflect the dependence of young turkeys on insects, since females have to show the poults what’s edible and what’s not. The difference between the sexes did not show up in the Oregon sample. 

No small vertebrates were reported, though. Are the turkeys off the hook?Maybe, maybe not.The way the data are presented, you can’t really conclude that none were found. It’s also curious that acorns weren’t analyzed as a separate category. 

There’s also a credibility issue. Two of the authors of the article are contract biologists with MGW Biological Surveys in McKinleyville. Contract biologists are a mixed bag; I don’t know about MGW, but some have acquired the reputation of finding what their clients want them to find. The other two are affiliated with the National Wild Turkey Federation, a turkey hunters’ interest group. These folks have conducted other research projects which (surprise!) absolve turkeys of wrong-doing. One found that turkeys are blamed for more damage to vineyards than they actually cause. 

The NWTF’s web site (www.nwtf.org) is worth a visit. Its on-line Turkey Shoppe offers all kinds of turkey wearables, collectibles, and paraphernalia, including turkey-track ties, turkey trailer hitch covers, and a beard rack. A beard rack is where you display the hairlike chest plumes of trophy-rank tom turkeys. If you’ve seen Errol Morris’s early film “Vernon, Florida,” you’ll be familiar with the concept. 

I am not bashing turkey hunters. But, I suspect that like most hunters they’re primarily interested in maintaining a good-sized population of their favorite huntable critter, with other environmental considerations taking a back seat. That’s why elk hunters in the Rockies have lobbied to eradicate wolves; why hunters in Hawai’i have blocked efforts to remove feral pigs and goats from remnant native forests. 

In short, these are not the people you’d go to for an impartial assessment of how wild turkeys are affecting their environment. 

It’s like relying on Monsanto to evaluation the impact of genetically modified crops, or on BP to…you get the idea. 

I don’t know whether Western Birds is peer-reviewed, but perhaps its editors should have thought twice about accepting the article. 

We’re still waiting to hear from scientists who don’t have a dog, or a turkey, in this fight.

About a dozen people joined eminent UC entomologist Jerry Powell on Saturday, May 29, 2010 for a leisurely butterfly-watching walk along trails at the top of Berkeley’s Panoramic Hill. 

Views from the higher southeast elevations of Panoramic Hill were stupendous. The Bay spread out, visible from Santa Clara County to San Pablo Bay, sunny skies prevailed, and light breezes made for a pleasant ramble through meadows along the crest, then back along one of the fire trails on the shady north-facing slope of Strawberry Canyon.  

A coyote, hawks and songbirds completed the wildlife cameos along the walk.The late rains meant that much of the seasonal landscape is still green. 

More than a dozen butterfly species were spotted and identified by Powell and others on the walk.They included the California Ringlet, Lorquin’s Admiral, Umber Skipper, Sara Orangetip, Field Crescent, Mournful Duskywing, Red Admiral, Chalcedon Checkerspot, Anise Swallowtail, Pipevine Swallowtail, Pale Swallowtail, and Western Tiger Swallowtail. 

Powell said that there were fewer species than he expected of this time of year, possibly due to the cooler weather earlier this spring.  

Powell is a Professor in the Graduate School at UC Berkeley and Director Emeritus of the Essing Museum of Entomology, where he started working in 1961.His primary research interest is certain types of small moths. 

When the group finally spotted a Sara Orangetip—a white butterfly with vivid orange patches on the wing ends—fluttering along the trail in Strawberry Canyon, I thought of Berkeley native David Brower hiking these same hills as a boy in the 1920s, and looking for butterflies, including the Orangetip. 

At that time the Berkeley hills were undeveloped in their upper reaches, but also largely unprotected.Residential development would eventually sweep to the summit, north of the UC campus and south of Claremont Canyon.In the 1970s a sustained, and ultimately successful, struggle began to protect most of Claremont Canyon from residential development.  

Hundreds of residential lots had already been subdivided for development, but almost all were eventually bought and incorporated into the East Bay Regional Park District.  

The walk was sponsored by the Claremont Canyon Conservancy, a non-profit that grew out of that land use struggle and now works to protect and restore the natural environment of the canyon behind the Claremont Hotel. 

This Saturday, June 4, the Conservancy is sponsoring another free walk, a “geology ramble” led by Martin Holden, from 10 am to noon.Meet at the Stonewall Road trailhead to the Claremont Canyon Regional Preserve.A vigorous climb is involved. 

For more details see the Conservancy website at http://ccconservancy.homestead.com/home.html 

See Professor Powell’s website, and if you want to know more about butterflies, visit the North American Butterfly Association (NABA) website.

I'm ba-aack! And I've finally come up with an actual title for my column, which pretty much describes my life as well. I'll still mostly be writing about stuff related to old houses, though it may cross into real estate, land use, historic preservation, and whatever else the editor allows me to rant about. But I consider the comedy part of the title to be as important as the restoration part. 

In my last column, which was like September of 2008 or something, we were discussing hardware. But I'm not going to back to that right now, though no doubt I'll get to it eventually if I manage to keep writing on some kind of schedule. Instead, I want to relate my own experience with my (so far) vain attempt to get my mortgage modified. 

As many of you know, I am the proud owner of the 1905 Jesse Matteson House in Oakland- in my view one of the finest Arts and Crafts houses in the entire United States, and nicknamed by my friend Paul Duchscherer “the bunga-mansion.” (Because it's too big to be a bungalow.) By rights, it should probably be a house museum with a staff and a fundraising arm and lots of restoration architects at its beck and call. In which case it would no doubt be struggling as many house museums are right now, but that's a subject for another time. 

The Second Great Depression has cut my income in half, while not reducing the 6.375% interest rate on my first mortgage. Refinancing is not an option, since the stated income mortgages that were such a boon to self-employed people like me are gone as well. Not to mention that my house is now underwater, also thanks to those who destroyed the economy. And before you reach for those mental tomatoes about people who took out mortgages they couldn't afford and lied on their applications and blah, blah, blah- first of all, that is a line of BS put out by the banks that should have been completely discredited by now, second of all, when I took out this mortgage I COULD afford it and my FICO score was 818. And by the way, I am still paying the mortgage, on time, though I am now spending my inheritance in order to do that. So STFU. 

So when Obama's mortgage modification plan went into effect I figured I'd give it a try, especially since my lender (GMAC) had decided to turn itself into a bank just so it could get some of the TARP money. I knew I didn't want to negotiate with them directly- dealing with the kind of mindless idiocy I was likely to encounter causes me to swear and slam down the phone in most cases. I decided to go through a housing counselor, organizations or people approved by HUD to help homeowners with the process. I chose an organization called the Neighborhood Assistance Corporation of America, or NACA, mostly because of their record of going after predatory lenders successfully, and also because they were pretty “in your face” about it. Because, you know, I'm so tactful and reticent myself. 

After attending the requisite introductory meeting (last October), I first had to fill out a whole bunch of forms online, detailing my income and expenses and so forth. One of the required forms is called a Hardship Affidavit, where there is a whole page of boxes to check off, various reasons why you can't afford your mortgage payment anymore- essentially asking the lender to take pity on you because your income went down, or you had to take time off to care for your aging parents, or you got cancer, or whatever. There were (number) boxes in total, and I was able to check off nearly all of them. Then on another page you get to explain in more detail why your life totally sucks. By the end of it you feel like a contestant on the old game show Queen For A Day. (For those too young to remember, three women contestants would come on the show and relate their tale of woe- whoever was the most pathetic won a washing machine or something...) 

To say the process is not set up for people with multiple income sources would be an understatement- I have writing income, royalties, consulting income, book sales, rental income (I rent out rooms in my house), and a part-time retail job.  

Having filled out the online forms, I then had to fax hard copies of some of the exact same forms, as well as tax returns, mortgage and HELOC statements, property tax statements, etc. to NACA. Since there was no form for self-employment online, I sent a Profit and Loss statement instead, since this is what GMAC required. As I should have expected, this was not acceptable, because anyone who dares to ask for a modification is by definition a deadbeat who would be perfectly capable of slicing and dicing their Quickbooks file like Martin Yan on speed. Instead, I was informed, I would have to provide six months of bank statements with all my business deposits and expenses circled. My protest that this would in no way reflect reality, given that some expenses went on credit cards, and some cash income went straight to petty cash, which was duly recorded in Quickbooks but didn't show up on a bank statement, fell on deaf ears. So I dutifully circled as instructed, and faxed the pertinent pages. 

As a reasonable person I figured the pertinent information was what they wanted. What was I thinking?!! No, they wanted every effing page of every freaking statement (I have three accounts), including the page on which you balance your checkbook, the page which contains nothing but your average daily balance, and even the page which says “This page intentionally left blank.” Next time you read a story about mortgage modifications in which some bank spokesperson says that “Homeowners are not submitting complete paperwork”- this is what they're talking about!! Now, if you are the average person, you quite rightly threw those useless pages in the recycling bin. Will the bank accept this excuse? Of course not. Which is how I found myself at the local Chase branch, the one where I closed my accounts three months ago (that's a whole other column too- in the meantime see moveyourmoney.info), paying $30 to get copies of the statements with missing pages, all so I could fax in “This page intentionally left blank.” 

Six months of bank statements including the useless pages makes for a sixty page fax. Unless you work in an office with a seriously industrial fax machine, you can't fax that many pages at once. But you can't fax them in batches. And even if you manage to fax all 60, invariably they won't all go through, and they only receive 28 of them. I finally started taking them to the NACA office to have them do the faxing. The last time I was there I met a woman from San Francisco who had come over for the same purpose. I asked how long she had been working on her modification. “A year,” she said. 

To be continued 

AFRICAN AMERICAN MUSEUM AND LIBRARY AT OAKLAND The Oakland Public Library's museum is designed to discover, preserve, interpret and share the cultural and historical experiences of African Americans in California and the West. In addition, a three-panel mural is on permanent display. 

Free. Tuesday-Saturday, noon-5:30 p.m. 659 14th St., Oakland. (510) 637-0200, www.oaklandlibrary.org.< 

 

ALAMEDA MUSEUM The museum offers permanent displays of Alameda history, the only rotating gallery showcasing local Alameda artists and student artwork, as well as souvenirs, books and videos about the rich history of the Island City. 

Free. Wednesday-Friday and Sunday, 1-4 p.m.; Saturday, 11 a.m.-4 p.m. 2324 Alameda Ave., Alameda. (510) 521-1233, www.alamedamuseum.org.< 

 

BADE MUSEUM AT THE PACIFIC SCHOOL OF RELIGION The museum's collections include the Tell en-Nasbeh Collection, consisting of artifacts excavated from Tell en-Nasbeh in Palestine in 1926 and 1935 by William Badh, and the Howell Bible Collection, featuring approximately 300 rare books (primarily Bibles) dating from the 15th through the 18th centuries. 

"Tell en-Nasbeh," This exhibit is the "heart and soul" of the Bade Museum. It displays a wealth of finds from the excavations at Tell en-Nasbeh, Palestine whose objects span from the Early Bronze Age (3100-2200 BC) through the Iron Age (1200-586 BC) and into the Roman and Hellenistic periods. Highlights of the exhibit include "Tools of the Trade" featuring real archaeological tools used by Badh and his team, an oil lamp typology, a Second Temple period (586 BC-70 AD) limestone ossuary, and a selection of painted Greek pottery.  

"William Frederic Bade: Theologian, Naturalist, and Archaeologist," This exhibit highlights one of PSR's premier educators and innovative scholars. The collection of material on display was chosen with the hopes of representing the truly dynamic and multifaceted character of William F. Badh. He was a family man, a dedicated teacher, a loving friend, and an innovative and passionate archaeologist.  

Free. Tuesday-Thursday, 10:30 a.m.-3 p.m. Holbrook Hall, Pacific School of Religion, 1798 Scenic Ave., Berkeley. (510) 848-0528, www.bade.psr.edu/bade.< 

 

BERKELEY ART MUSEUM AND PACIFIC FILM ARCHIVE  

"Thom Faulders: BAMscape," through Nov. 30. This commissioned work, a hybrid of sculpture, furniture, and stage, is the new centerpiece of Gallery B, BAM's expansive central atrium. It is part of a new vision of the gallery as a space for interaction, performance, and improvised experiences.  

"Nature into Action: Hans Hofmann," through June 30. This installation drawn from BAM's extensive Hans Hofmann collection reveals the relationship between nature as source and action as method in the great abstract painter's work.  

"What's It All Mean: William T. Wiley in Retrospect," through July 18. This retrospective surveys the witty, idiosyncratic, and introspective work of William T. Wiley, a beloved Bay Area artist and "a national treasure'' (Wall Street Journal). Layered with ambiguous ideas and allusions, autobiographical narrative and sociopolitical commentary, Wiley's art is rich in self-deprecating humor and absurdist insight.  

"Perpetual and furious refrain / MATRIX 232," through Sept. 12. Exhibition features works by Brent Green.  

"No Right Angles: The 40th Annual University of California Berkeley Master of Fine Arts Graduate Exhibition," through June 20. Exhibition features work by UC Berkeley's graduating M.F.A. students.  

"Marisa Olson: Double Bind," through Aug. 31. With a pair of provocative YouTube videos, Olson unravels the promise and pitfalls of online participatory culture.  

2626 Bancroft Way, Berkeley. < 

 

BLACKHAWK MUSEUM  

AUTOMOTIVE MUSEUM -- The museum's permanent exhibition of internationally renowned automobiles dated from 1897 to the 1980s. The cars are displayed as works of art with room to walk completely around each car to admire the workmanship. On long-term loan from the Smithsonian Institution is a Long Steam Tricycle; an 1893-94 Duryea, the first Duryea built by the Duryea brothers; and a 1948 Tucker, number 39 of the 51 Tuckers built, which is a Model 48 "Torpedo'' four-door sedan.  

ONGOING EXHIBITS --  

"International Automotive Treasures," An ever-changing exhibit featuring over 90 automobiles.  

"A Journey on Common Ground," An exhibit of moving photographs, video and art objects from around the world exploring the causes of disability and the efforts of the Wheelchair Foundation to provide a wheelchair for every person in need who cannot afford one.  

ONGOING EVENT --  

Free Public Tours, Saturday and Sunday, 2 p.m. Docent-led guided tours of the museum's exhibitions. 

$5-$8; free for children ages 6 and under. Wednesday-Sunday, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. 3700 Blackhawk Plaza Circle, Danville. (925) 736-2280, (925) 736-2277, www.blackhawkmuseum.org.< 

 

CALIFORNIA HISTORICAL SOCIETY  

HISTORY WALKABOUTS -- A series of walking tours that explore the history, lore and architecture of California with veteran tour guide Gary Holloway. Walks are given on specific weekends. There is a different meeting place for each weekend and walks take place rain or shine so dress for the weather. Reservations and prepayment required. Meeting place will be given with confirmation of tour reservation. Call for details.  

678 Mission St., San Francisco. (415) 357-1848, www.californiahistoricalsociety.org.< 

 

CHABOT SPACE AND SCIENCE CENTER State-of-the-art facility unifying science education activities around astronomy. Enjoy interactive exhibits, hands-on activities, indoor stargazing, outdoor telescope viewing and films. 

Center Admission: $10.95-$14.95; free children under 3; Movies and evening planetarium shows: $6-$8. Telescope viewing only: free. Wednesday-Thursday, 10 a.m.-5 p.m.; Friday-Saturday, 10 a.m.-10 p.m.; Sunday, 11 a.m.-5 p.m.; Also open on Tuesdays 10 a.m.-5 p.m. after June 29. 10000 Skyline Blvd., Oakland. (510) 336-7300, www.chabotspace.org.< 

 

HABITOT CHILDREN'S MUSEUM A museum especially for children ages 7 and under. Highlights include "WaterWorks,'' an area with some unusual water toys, an Infant Tree for babies, a garden especially for toddlers, a child-scale grocery store and cafe, and a costume shop and stage for junior thespians. The museum also features a toy lending library.  

$6-$7. Wednesday and Thursday, 9:30 a.m.-1 p.m.; Friday and Saturday, 9:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m.; Closed Sunday-Tuesday. 2065 Kittredge St., Berkeley. (510) 647-1111, www.habitot.org.< 

 

HAYWARD AREA HISTORICAL SOCIETY MUSEUM The museum is located in a former post office and displays memorabilia of early Hayward and southern Alameda County. Some of the features include a restored 1923 Seagrave fire engine and a hand pumper from the Hayward Fire Department, founded in 1865; a Hayward Police Department exhibit; information on city founder William Hayward; and pictures of the old Hayward Hotel. The museum also alternates three exhibits per year, including a Christmas Toys exhibit and a 1950s lifestyle exhibit. 

EVENTS --  

50 cents-$1. Tuesday-Saturday, 11 a.m.-4 p.m. 22701 Main St., Hayward. (510) 581-0223, www.haywardareahistory.org.< 

 

JUDAH L. MAGNES MUSEUM The museum's permanent collection includes objects of Jewish importance including ceremonial art, film and video, folk art and fine art, paintings, sculptures and prints by contemporary and historical artists. 

"Projections," Multimedia works from the museum's extensive collections of archival, documentary and experimental films. Located at 2911 Russell Street.  

SPECIAL EXHIBITS --  

$4-$6; free for children under age 12. Sunday-Wednesday, 10 a.m.-4 p.m.; Thursday, 11 a.m.-8 p.m. CLOSED APRIL 3-4 AND 9-10; MAY 23-24 AND 28; JULY 4; SEPT. 3, 13 AND 27; OCT. 4; NOV. 22; DEC. 24-25 AND 31. 2911 Russell St., Berkeley. (510) 549-6950, www.magnes.org.< 

 

LINDSAY WILDLIFE MUSEUM This is the oldest and largest wildlife rehabilitation center in America, taking in 6,000 injured and orphaned animals yearly and returning 40 percent of them to the wild. The museum offers a wide range of educational programs using non-releasable wild animals to teach children and adults respect for the balance of nature. The museum includes a state-of-the art wildlife hospital which features a permanent exhibit, titled "Living with Nature,'' which houses 75 non-releasable wild animals in learning environments; a 5,000-square-foot Wildlife Hospital complete with treatment rooms, intensive care, quarantine and laboratory facilities; a 1-acre Nature Garden featuring the region's native landscaping and wildlife; and an "Especially For Children'' exhibit.  

WILDLIFE HOSPITAL -- September-March: 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. The hospital is open daily including holidays to receive injured and orphaned animals. There is no charge for treatment of native wild animals and there are no public viewing areas in the hospital. 

EXHIBITS --  

SPECIAL EVENTS --  

$5-$7; free children under age 2. Wednesdays-Sundays, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. 1931 First Ave., Walnut Creek. (925) 935-1978, www.wildlife-museum.org.< 

 

MEYERS HOUSE AND GARDEN MUSEUM The Meyers House, erected in 1897, is an example of Colonial Revival, an architectural style popular around the turn of the century. Designed by Henry H. Meyers,the house was built by his father, Jacob Meyers, at a cost of $4000.00. 

EXHIBITS --  

$3. Fourth Saturday of every month. 2021 Alameda Ave., Alameda. (510) 521-1247, www.alamedamuseum.org/meyers.html.< 

 

MUSEUM OF AFRICAN-AMERICAN TECHNOLOGY SCIENCE VILLAGE A science museum with an African-American focus promoting science education and awareness for the underrepresented. The science village chronicles the technical achievements of people of African descent from ancient ties to present. There are computer classes at the Internet Cafi, science education activities and seminars. There is also a resource library with a collection of books, periodicals and videotapes. 

$4-$6. Monday-Friday, 10 a.m.-5 p.m.; Saturday, noon-6 p.m.; Sunday, 2 p.m.-6 p.m. 630 20th St., Oakland. (510) 893-6426, www.ncalifblackengineers.org.< 

 

MUSEUM OF CHILDREN'S ART A museum of art for and by children, with activities for children to participate in making their own art.  

ART CAMPS -- Hands-on activities and engaging curriculum for children of different ages, led by professional artists and staff. $60 per day.  

CLASSES -- A Sunday series of classes for children ages 8 to 12, led by Mocha artists. Sundays, 2 p.m. to 4 p.m.  

OPEN STUDIOS -- Drop-in art play activities with new themes each week.  

"Big Studio." Guided art projects for children age 6 and older with a Mocha artist. Tuesday through Friday, 4 p.m. to 5 p.m. $5.  

"Little Studio." A hands-on experience that lets young artists age 18 months to 5 years see, touch and manipulate a variety of media. Children can get messy. Tuesday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. $5.  

"Family Weekend Studios." Drop-in art activities for the whole family. All ages welcome. Saturday and Sunday, noon to 4 p.m. $5 per child.  

FAMILY EXTRAVAGANZAS -- Special weekend workshops for the entire family.  

"Sunday Workshops with Illustrators," Sundays, 1 p.m. See the artwork and meet the artists who create children's book illustrations. Free. 

EVENTS --  

"Saturday Stories," 1 p.m. For children ages 2-5. Free. 

OPENING -- "What the World Needs Now." June 6 through July 15. Exhibition features artwork by Bay Area children in grades K-12 on themes of social justice, community awareness and world peace, selected by a jury of artists, professionals and community leaders.  

Free gallery admission. Tuesday-Friday, 10 a.m.-5 p.m.; Saturday-Sunday, noon-5 p.m. 538 Ninth St., Oakland. (510) 465-8770, www.mocha.org.< 

 

OAKLAND MUSEUM OF CALIFORNIA  

ONGOING EVENTS --  

"Art a la Carte," Wednesdays, 12:30 p.m. Art docents offer a variety of specialized tours focusing on one aspect of the museum's permanent collection. Free with museum admission.  

"Online Museum," Thursdays, 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. Explore the museum's collection on videodisks in the History Department Library.  

Docent Gallery Tours, Saturday and Sunday, 1:30 p.m. 

"Mini Okubo: Citizen 13660," through Aug. 1. Curated by Senior Curator of Art Karen Tsujimoto, this small exhibition of Okubo's poignant works on paper from the Museum's collection charts Okubo's odyssey.  

$5-$8; free for children ages 5 and under; free to all on the second Sunday of the month. Special events are free with museum admission unless noted otherwise. Wednesday-Saturday, 10 a.m.-5 p.m.; Sunday, noon-5 p.m.; first Friday of the month, 10 a.m.-9 p.m. 1000 Oak St., Oakland. (510) 238-2200, www.museumca.org.< 

 

PACIFIC PINBALL MUSEUM  

"Pinball Fantasies," through June 30. Exhibition features works by Shane Pickerill.  

1510 Webster St., Alameda. www.pacificpinball.org.< 

 

PARDEE HOME MUSEUM The historic Pardee Mansion, a three-story Italianate villa built in 1868, was home to three generations of the Pardee family who were instrumental in the civic and cultural development of California and Oakland. The home includes the house, grounds, water tower and barn. Reservations recommended. 

EVENTS --  

$5; free children ages 12 and under. House Tours: Monday-Saturday, 10 a.m.-4 p.m.; Sundays by appointment. 672 11th St., Oakland. (510) 444-2187, www.pardeehome.org.< 

 

SAN LEANDRO HISTORY MUSEUM AND ART GALLERY The museum showcases local and regional history and serves as a centerpiece for community cultural activity. There are exhibits on Ohlone settlements, farms of early settlers, and contributions of Portuguese and other immigrants. There will also be exhibits of the city's agricultural past and the industrial development of the 19th century.  

ONGOING EXHIBIT --  

"Yema/Po Archeological Site at Lake Chabot," An exhibit highlighting artifacts uncovered from a work camp of Chinese laborers, featuring photomurals, cutouts and historical photographs. 

Free. Thursday-Sunday, 11 a.m.-3 p.m. 320 West Estudillo Ave., San Leandro. (510) 577-3990, www.ci.sanleandro. ca.us/sllibrarymuseum.html.< 

 

SHADELANDS RANCH HISTORICAL MUSEUM Built by Walnut Creek pioneer Hiram Penniman, this 1903 redwood-framed house is a showcase for numerous historical artifacts, many of which belonged to the Pennimans. It also houses a rich archive of Contra Costa and Walnut Creek history in its collections of old newspapers, photographs and government records. 

EXHIBITS --  

$1-$3; free-children under age 6. Wednesday and Sunday, 1 p.m.-4 p.m.; Closed in January. 2660 Ygnacio Valley Road, Walnut Creek. (925) 935-7871, www.ci.walnut-creek.ca.us.< 

 

SMITH MUSEUM OF ANTHROPOLOGY AT CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY, HAYWARD The museum houses significant collections of archaeological and ethnographic specimens from Africa, Asia and North America and small collections from Central and South America. The museum offers opportunities and materials for student research and internships in archaeology and ethnology. 

SPECIAL EXHIBITS --  

Free. Monday-Friday, 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Meiklejohn Hall, Fourth Floor, 25800 Carlos Bee Blvd., Hayward. (510) 885-3104, (510) 885-7414, www.isis.csuhayward.edu/cesmith/acesmith.html.< 

 

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, BERKELEY HEARST MUSEUM OF ANTHROPOLOGY  

ONGOING EXHIBITS --  

"Native California Cultures," This is an exhibit of some 500 artifacts from the museum's California collections, the largest and most comprehensive collections in the world devoted to California Indian cultures. The exhibit includes a section about Ishi, the famous Indian who lived and worked with the museum, Yana tribal baskets and a 17-foot Yurok canoe carved from a single redwood.  

"Recent Acquisitions," The collection includes Yoruba masks and carvings from Africa, early-20th-century Taiwanese hand puppets, textiles from the Americas and 19th- and 20th-century Tibetan artifacts.  

"From the Maker's Hand: Selections from the Permanent Collection," This exhibit explores human ingenuity in the living and historical cultures of China, Africa, Egypt, Peru, North America and the Meditteranean. 

$1-$4; free for children ages 12 and under; free to all on Thursdays. Wednesday-Saturday, 10 a.m.-4:30 p.m.; Sunday, noon-4:30 p.m. 103 Kroeber Hall, Bancroft Way and College Avenue, Berkeley. (510) 643-7648, www.hearstmuseum.berkeley.edu.< 

 

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, BERKELEY MUSEUM OF PALEONTOLOGY  

ONGOING EXHIBITS --  

"Tyrannosaurus Rex," A 20-foot-tall, 40-foot-long replica of the fearsome dinosaur. The replica is made from casts of bones of the most complete T. Rex skeleton yet excavated. When unearthed in Montana, the bones were all lying in place with only a small piece of the tailbone missing.  

"Pteranodon," A suspended skeleton of a flying reptile with a wingspan of 22 to 23 feet. The Pteranodon lived at the same time as the dinosaurs.  

"California Fossils Exhibit," An exhibit of some of the fossils that have been excavated in California. 

Free. During semester sessions, hours generally are: Monday-Thursday, 8 a.m.-10 p.m.; Friday, 8 a.m.-5 p.m.; Saturday, 10 a.m.-5 p.m.; Sunday, 1 p.m.-10 p.m. Hours vary during summer and holidays. Lobby, 1101 Valley Life Sciences Building, #4780, University of California, Berkeley. (510) 642-1821, www.ucmp.berkeley.edu.< 

 

USS HORNET MUSEUM Come aboard this World War II aircraft carrier that has been converted into a floating museum. The Hornet, launched in 1943, is 899 feet long and 27 stories high. During World War II she was never hit by an enemy strike or plane and holds the Navy record for number of enemy planes shot down in a week. In 1969 the Hornet recovered the Apollo 11 space capsule containing the first men to walk on the moon, and later recovered Apollo 12. In 1991 the Hornet was designated a National Historic Landmark and is now docked at the same pier she sailed from in 1944. Today, visitors can tour the massive ship, view World War II-era warplanes and experience a simulated aircraft launch from the carrier's deck. Exhibits are being added on an ongoing basis. Allow two to three hours for a visit. Wear comfortable shoes and be prepared to climb steep stairs or ladders. Dress in layers as the ship can be cold. Arrive no later than 2 p.m. to sign up for the engine room and other docent-led tours. Children under age 12 are not allowed in the Engine Room or the Combat Information Center.  

$6-$14; free children age 4 and under with a paying adult. Daily, 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Pier 3 (enter on Atlantic Avenue), Alameda Point, Alameda. (510) 521-8448, www.uss-hornet.org.<

"CHOCOLATE AND CHALK ART FESTIVAL," -- June 5. The sidewalks along North Shattuck Ave. in the Gourmet Ghetto neighborhood in Berkeley will host artists young and old, professional and greenhorn at this annual event, including a chalk art contest judged at 4 p.m. with prizes up to $250, chocolate sampling and more. 

10 a.m.-5 p.m.(510) 548-5335, www.chocolateandchalkart.com.< 

"TEMESCAL STREET FAIR," -- June 6. Enjoy food and drinks from Lanesplitter Pizza and Pub, La Calaca Loca Taqueria, Bakesale Betty, The Avenue, Barlata, Sr24 and much more. Event also features fine crafts and community booths. Event takes place on Telegraph Avenue in Oakland between 45th and 51st Streets. 

Noon-6 p.m.(510) 860-7327, www.temescaldistrict.org.< 

 

924 GILMAN ST. -- All ages welcome. 

Subhumans, MDC, A-Heads, Sahn Maru, June 11, 7 p.m. $12.  

$5 unless otherwise noted. Shows start Friday and Saturday, 8 p.m.; Sunday, 5 p.m. unless otherwise noted. 924 Gilman St., Berkeley. (510) 525-9926, www.924gilman.org.< 

 

FREIGHT AND SALVAGE  

Austin Lounge Lizards, June 13, 8 p.m. $20.50-$21.50.  

Music starts at 8 p.m. unless otherwise noted. 2020 Addison St., Berkeley. (510) 548-1761, www.freightandsalvage.org.< 

 

GAIA ARTS CENTER  

"Superfest International Disability Film Festival," June 4 through June 5, Friday, 11 a.m.-5 p.m.; Saturday, noon-5 p.m. Event shines a spotlight on 13 remarkable films in this two-day festival celebrating disability culture. $5-$20. www.culturedisabilitytalent.org/superfest/index.html. 

2120 Allston Way, Berkeley. < 

 

LA PENA CULTURAL CENTER  

"Like Brand New: La Pena Celebrates its 35th Anniversary," June 5, Noon-6 p.m. Celebrate with this street carnival and fair at Prince and Shattuck streets. Free.  

3105 Shattuck Ave., Berkeley. (510) 849-2568, www.lapena.org.< 

 

LIVE OAK PARK  

"Live Oak Park Fair," June 12 through June 13, 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Event features over 100 premier artists and crafts people showcasing contemporary art, fine crafts, handcrafted jewelry and accessories, couture clothing, handmade quilts and baskets and more. Free. (510) 227-7110, www.liveoakparkfair.com. 

1300 Shattuck Ave., Berkeley. < 

 

UPTOWN NIGHTCLUB  

Buzzcocks, Dollyrots, Images, June 4, 9 p.m. $30-$35.  

1928 Telegraph Ave., Oakland. (510) 451-8100, www.uptownnightclub.com.<

ASIAN ART MUSEUM OF SAN FRANCISCO The Asian Art Museum-Chon-Moon Lee Center for Asian Art and Culture recently unveiled its new building in San Francisco's Civic Center. The building, the former San Francisco Public Library, has been completely retrofitted and rebuilt to house San Francisco's significant collection of Asian treasures. The museum offers complimentary audio tours of the museum's collection galleries.  

$7-$12; free children under age 12; $5 Thursday after 5 p.m.; free to all first Sunday of each month. Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday through Sunday, 10 a.m.-5 p.m.; Thursday, 10 a.m.-9 p.m. 200 Larkin St., San Francisco. (415) 581-3500, www.asianart.org.< 

 

BEAT MUSEUM Formerly located on the California coast in Monterey, the Beat Museum now sits in historic North Beach. The Museum uses letters, magazines, pictures, first editions and more to explore the lives of leading beat figures such as Jack Kerouac, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Allen Ginsberg, Neal Cassady and many others. A gift shop and bookstore are open to the public free of charge. 

SPECIAL EVENTS --  

"North Beach Walking Tour,", A 90-minute walking tour of North Beach with Beat Museum curator Jerry Cimimo. See the bars, coffeehouses, homes, and other Beat-related highlights of North Beach. Call for info. $15. 

$4-$5. Monday-Sunday, 10 a.m.-7 p.m. CLOSED MONDAY. 540 Broadway, San Francisco. (800) KER-OUAC, www.kerouac.com.< 

 

CABLE CAR MUSEUM The museum is located in the historic Cable Car Barn and Powerhouse. Visitors can see the actual cable winding machinery, grips, track, cable and brakes, as well as three historic cable cars, photo displays and mechanical artifacts. The best way to get to this museum is by cable car; street parking is practically non-existent. 

SPECIAL EVENTS --  

Free. April 1-Sept. 30: daily, 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Oct. 1-March 31, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. 1201 Mason St., San Francisco. (415) 474-1887, www.cablecarmuseum.org.< 

 

CALIFORNIA ACADEMY OF SCIENCES  

"Nightlife," Thursdays, 6 p.m. Every Thursday night, the Academy transforms into a lively venue filled with provocative science, music, mingling and cocktails, as visitors get a chance to explore the museum.  

"Where the Land Meets the Sea," Exhibition features sculpture by Maya Lin.  

BENJAMIN DEAN LECTURE SERIES --  

"Extreme Mammals," through Sept. 12. Exhibition features a far-reaching survey of members of the mammal family.  

$14.95-$24.95. Daily, 9:30 a.m.-5 p.m. Golden Gate Park, San Francisco. (415) 379-8000, www.calacademy.org.< 

 

CALIFORNIA HISTORICAL SOCIETY  

HISTORY WALKABOUTS -- A series of monthly walking tours that explore the history, lore and architecture of California with veteran tour guide Gary Holloway. Walks take place rain or shine so dress for the weather. Reservations and prepayment required. Meeting place will be given with confirmation of tour reservation. Tour price includes admission to the Museum.  

MUSEUM -- The museum's permanent collection is made up of the Fine Arts Collection, consisting of 5,000 works of art that represent the history of California from pre-Gold Rush days to the early decade of the 20th century; and The Photography Collection, containing nearly a halfmillion images in an array of photographic formats documenting the history of California in both the 19th and 20th centuries. The Library and Research Collection contain material relating to the history of California and the West from early exploration time to the present including texts, maps, and manuscripts.  

"Landscape and Vision: Early California Painters from the Collections of the California Historical Society," open-ended. An exhibit of oil paintings including a large number of early landscapes of California, from the museum's collection.  

"Extreme Mammals," through Sept. 12. Exhibition explores mammals, from the towering to the tiny.  

"Think California," through Feb. 5. Exhibition features artworks, artifacts and ephemera exploring California's colorful history.  

$1-$3; free children under age 5. Wednesday-Saturday, noon-4:30 p.m. 678 Mission St., San Francisco. (415) 357-1848 X229, www.californiahistoricalsociety.org.< 

 

CARTOON ART MUSEUM  

ONGOING EXHIBIT --  

"An Exploration of Cartoon Art," This exhibit explores the history of cartoon art including works from the most renowned and creative cartoonists of the last century. The exhibit traces the evolution of cartooning through its many forms including animation, comic strips, comic books, editorial cartoons and underground cartoons.  

CARTOONING CLASSES FOR KIDS -- Saturday, 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. For children ages 6 to 14. Call for schedule. Free with admission. 

"Small Press Spotlight on Jamaica Dyer," through June 13. Exhibition features works by the Santa Cruz artist.  

"60 Years of Beetle Bailey," through Sept. 19. Exhibition showcases the comics of Mort Walker.  

$2-$6; free children ages 5 and under; the first Tuesday of the month is paywhat-you-wish day. Tuesday-Sunday, 11 a.m.-5 p.m. 655 Mission St., San Francisco. (415) 227-8666, www.cartoonart.org.< 

 

CHINESE HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF AMERICA The CHSA Museum and Learning Center features a permanent exhibition, "The Chinese of America: Toward a More Perfect Union'' in its Main Gallery, and works by Chinese-American visual artists in its Rotating Galleries.  

ONGOING EXHIBIT --  

"Leaders of the Band," An exhibition of the history and development of the Cathay Club Marching Band, the first Chinese American band formed in 1911. 

$1-$3; free children ages 5 and under; free for all visitors first Thursday of every month. Tuesday-Friday, noon-5 p.m.; Saturday-Sunday, noon-4 p.m. 965 Clay St., San Francisco. (415) 391-1188, www.chsa.org.< 

 

CONTEMPORARY JEWISH MUSEUM The museum, formerly known as the Jewish Museum San Francisco, has a new addition designed by Daniel Libeskind and is dedicated to exploring the richness and diversity of Jewish thought and culture.  

GALLERY TOURS -- Sunday and Wednesday, 12:30 p.m. Free. 

"As It Is Written: Project 304,805," through Oct. 3. Exhibition centers around a soferet (a professionally trained female scribe) who writes out the entire text of the Torah, at the Museum, over the course of a full year. She will be one of the few known women to complete an entire Torah scroll, an accomplishment traditionally exclusive to men.  

"Our Struggle: Responding to Mein Kampf," through June 15. Linda Elia presents a a host of artists' page-by-page response to Hitler's notorious memoir and manifesto.  

$4-$5; free for children under age 12; free third Monday of every month. Sunday -Thursday, noon-6 p.m. DEC. 25, NOON TO 4 P.M.; CLOSED JAN. 1. 736 Mission St., San Francisco. (415) 655-7800, www.thecjm.org.< 

 

DE YOUNG MUSEUM The art museum has now reopened in a new facility designed by Swiss architecture firm Herzog and de Meuron and Fong and Chan Architects in San Francisco. It features significant collections of American art from the 17th through the 20th centuries; modern and contemporary art; art from Central and South America, the Pacific and Africa; and an important and diverse collection of textiles. 

$6-$10; free for children ages 12 and under; free for all visitors the first Tuesday of every month. Tuesday-Thursday and Saturday-Sunday, 9:30 a.m.-5:15 p.m.; Friday, 9:30 a.m.-8:45 p.m. Golden Gate Park, 50 Hagiwara Tea Garden Drive, San Francisco. (415) 863-3330, www.deyoungmuseum.org.< 

 

GLBT HISTORICAL SOCIETY AND MUSEUM The museum is a project of the GLBT (Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender) Historical Society. 

$2-$4. Tuesday-Saturday, 1-5 p.m. 657 Mission St., Suite 300, San Francisco. (415) 777-5455, www.glbthistory.org.< 

 

INTERNATIONAL MUSEUM OF WOMEN  

101 Howard Street, Suite 480, San Francisco. (415) 543-4669, www.imow.org/home/index.< 

 

LEGION OF HONOR MUSEUM DOCENT TOUR PROGRAMS -- Tours of the permanent collections and special exhibitions are offered Tuesday through Sunday. Non-English language tours (Italian, French, Spanish and Russian) are available on different Saturdays of the month at 11:30 a.m. Free with regular museum admission. (415) 750-3638.  

ONGOING CHILDREN'S PROGRAM --  

"Doing and Viewing Art," For ages 7 to 12. Docent-led tours of current exhibitions are followed by studio workshops taught by professional artists/teachers. Students learn about art by seeing and making it. Saturday, 10:30 a.m. to noon; call to confirm class. Free with museum admission. (415) 750-3658. 

ORGAN CONCERTS -- 4 p.m. A weekly concert of organ music on the Legion's restored 1924 Skinner organ. Saturday and Sunday in the Rodin Gallery. Free with museum admission. (415) 750-3624. 

$6-$10; free for children ages 12 and under; free for all visitors on Tuesdays. Tuesday-Sunday, 9:30 a.m.-5 p.m. Lincoln Park, 34th Avenue and Clement Street, San Francisco. (415) 750-3600, (415) 750-3636, www.thinker.org.< 

 

MARKET STREET RAILWAY MUSEUM The museum will permanently display a variety of artifacts telling the story of San Francisco's transportation history, including dash signs, fare boxes, a famed Wiley "birdcage'' traffic signal and more. 

Free. Wednesday-Sunday, 10 a.m.-6 p.m. 77 Steuart St., San Francisco. (415) 956-0472, www.streetcar.org.< 

 

MEXICAN MUSEUM  

THE MEXICAN MUSEUM GALLERIES AT FORT MASON CENTER ARE CURRENTLY CLOSED --  

The Mexican Museum holds a unique collection of 12,000 objects representing thousands of years of Mexican history and culture within the Americas. The permanent collection, the Museum's most important asset and resource, includes five collecting areas: Pre-Conquest, Colonial, Popular, Modern and Contemporary Mexican and Latino, and Chicano Art. The Museum also has a collection of rare books and a growing collection of Latin American art. 

Fort Mason Center, Building D, Buchanan Street and Marina Boulevard, San Francisco. (415) 202-9700, www.mexicanmuseum.org.< 

 

MUSEO ITALOAMERICANO The museum, dedicated to the exhibition of art works by Italian and Italian-American artists, has a small permanent collection of paintings, sculptures, photographs and works on paper by such renowned artists as Beniamino Buffano, Sandro Chia, Giorgio de Chirico and Arnaldo Pomodoro.  

DOCENT TOURS -- Wednesdays, 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. Free. 

"From Toscana to Sonoma," through June 27. Exhibition features recent works by Douglas Gayeton.  

$2-$3; free children under age 12; free to all first Wednesday of the month. Wednesday-Sunday, noon -4 p.m.; first Wednesday of the month, noon-7 p.m. Fort Mason Center, Building C, Buchanan Street and Marina Boulevard, San Francisco. (415) 673-2200, www.museoitaloamericano.org.< 

 

MUSEUM OF ANCIENT CIVILIZATIONS AT SAN FRANCISCO STATE UNIVERSITY  

EXHIBITS --  

Free. Monday through Friday, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Humanities Building, Room 510, SFSU, Font Boulevard and Tapia Drive, San Francisco. (415) 405-0599, www.sfsu.edu/~museumst/.< 

 

MUSEUM OF CRAFT AND FOLK ART The museum, now open at a new downtown location, features craft and folk art from various cultures, both past and present, and includes styles ranging from utilitarian objects to contemporary art. 

"Clare Rojas: We They, We They," through Aug. 22. Where neo-folk meets contemporary art, artists operate as "authors'' of the collective voice. The new exhibition showcases the first solo exhibition of the Bay Area artist who identifies and inserts herself in the folk art continuum. MOCFA is proud to present new work that has yet to be seen by the public.  

$4-$5; free for youths under age 18. Tuesday-Friday, 11 a.m.-6 p.m.; Saturday-Sunday, 11 a.m.-5 p.m. 51 Yerba Buena Lane, Mission Street between Third and Fourth streets, San Francisco. (415) 227-4888, www.mocfa.org.< 

 

MUSEUM OF PERFORMANCE AND DESIGN  

EXHIBITS --  

Free. Wednesday-Saturday, noon-5 p.m. Veterans Building, 401 Van Ness Avenue at McAllister, 4th Floor, San Francisco. (415) 255-4800, www.mpdsf.org.< 

 

MUSEUM OF THE AFRICAN DIASPORA A new museum exploring and celebrating the influence of the African Diaspora on global art and culture through interactive, permanent and changing exhibits and special programs. The museum occupies the first three floors of the new St. Regis Hotel at Third and Mission streets.  

PERMANENT EXHIBITS --  

"Celebrations: Rituals and Ceremonies," "Music of the Diaspora,'' "Culinary Traditions,'' 'Adornment,'' "Slavery Passages,'' and "The Freedom Theater.'' 

SPECIAL EVENTS --  

"Urban Kidz Film Series," Noon-3 p.m. An offshoot of the San Francisco Black Film Festival, featuring a striking assemblage of short and feature films designed to spark the imaginations of the 5-to-12-year-old set. $10 adults; children free. (415) 771-9271. 

SPECIAL EXHIBITS --  

$5-$8; free children age 12 and under. Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday, 10 a.m.-6 p.m.; Thursday, 10 a.m.-9 p.m.; Sunday, noon-5 p.m.; CLOSED MARCH 13 THROUGH MARCH 21. 685 Mission St., San Francisco. (415) 358-7200, www.moadsf.org.< 

 

NATIONAL MARITIME MUSEUM LIBRARY (THE J. PORTER SHAW MARITIME LIBRARY) Closed on federal holidays. The library, part of the San Francisco Maritime National Historic Park, focuses on sail and steam ships on the West Coast and the Pacific Basin from 1520 to the present. The museum library holdings include a premiere collection of maritime history: books, magazines, oral histories, ships' plans and the San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park's 250,000 photographs. 

Free. By appointment only, Monday-Friday, 1-4 p.m., and the third Saturday of each month. Fort Mason Center, Building E, Third Floor, Buchanan Street and Marina Boulevard, San Francisco. (415) 560-7080, (415) 560-7030, www.nps.gov/safr/local/lib/libtop.html.< 

 

PACIFIC HERITAGE MUSEUM The museum presents rotating exhibits highlighting historical, artistic, cultural and economic achievements from both sides of the Pacific Rim. The museum features a permanent display documenting the history and significance of the Branch Mint and Subtreasury buildings. 

Free. Tuesday-Saturday, 10 a.m.-4 p.m. 608 Commercial St., San Francisco. (415) 399-1124.< 

 

RANDALL MUSEUM  

ONGOING EXHIBITS --  

"Earthquake Exhibit," Learn about plate tectonics. Make a small quake by jumping on the floor to make a "floor quake'' that registers on the seismometer in the lobby. See the basement seismometer that registers quakes around the world. Walk through a full-size earthquake refugee shack that was used to house San Franciscans after the 1906 earthquake that destroyed so many homes.  

"Creativity and Discovery Hand in Hand," A photography exhibit that gives visitors a look into the wide variety of programs the Museum offers in the way of classes, workshops, school field trips, and special interest clubs.  

"Toddler Treehouse," Toddlers may comfortably climb the carpeted "treehouse'' and make a myriad of discoveries, from the roots to the limbs.  

"Live Animal Exhibit," Visit with more than 100 creatures including small mammals, amphibians, reptiles, raptors and small birds, insects, spiders and tide pool creatures.  

ONGOING EVENTS --  

"Saturdays Are Special at the Museum," Saturdays, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. A series of drop-in ceramics and art and science workshops. All ages are welcome, though an adult must accompany children under age 8. $3 per child, $5 per parent-child combination.  

"Bufano Sculpture Tours," first and third Saturdays of the month, 10:15 a.m. A tour of the giant animal sculptures of Beniamino Bufano. The sculptures were carved out of stone in the 1930s and include a giant cat and a mother bear nursing her cubs.  

"Animal Room," Visit some of the animals that live at the museum, including reptiles, raptors, tide pool creatures and small mammals.  

"Meet the Animals" Saturdays, 11:15 a.m. to noon. See the Randall's animals close-up and in person.  

"Animal Feeding," Saturdays, noon. Watch the animals take their meals.  

"Golden Gate Model Railroad Exhibit," Saturdays, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. 

DROP-IN ART AND SCIENCE WORKSHOPS -- 1-4 p.m. $3-$5.  

SPECIAL EVENTS --  

"Third Friday Birders," 8 a.m. The hike through Corona Heights Park allows participants to enjoy the early morning views and learn more about the feathered inhabitants of the area. Children aged 10 and older if accompanied by adult. 

"Film Series for Teenagers," Fridays, 7 p.m. 

"Drop-in Family Ceramics Workshop," Saturday, 10:15-11:15 a.m. $5. 

"Golden Gate Model Railroad Exhibit," Saturday, 11 a.m.-4 p.m. 

"Meet the Animals," 11:15 a.m.-noon. 

"Meet the Animals," Saturdays, 11:15 a.m. Learn about the animals that live at the Randall Museum. 

"Drop-in Family Ceramics Workshop," Saturday, 1:15-2:15 p.m. 

"Animal Feeding," Saturday, noon. 

Free. All ages welcome; an adult must accompany children under age 8. Tuesday-Saturday, 10 a.m.-5 p.m.; CLOSED ON CHRISTMAS. 199 Museum Way, San Francisco. (415) 554-9600, www.randallmuseum.org.< 

 

SAN FRANCISCO CABLE CAR MUSEUM The museum is located in the historic Cable Car Barn and Powerhouse. Visitors can see the actual cable winding machinery, grips, track, cable and brakes, as well as three historic cable cars, photo displays and mechanical artifacts. The best way to get to this museum is by cable car; street parking is practically non-existent. 

Free. October 1-March 31: Daily, 10 a.m.-5 p.m.; April 1-September 3-: 10 a.m.-6 p.m.; Closed on New Year's Day, Easter Sunday, Thanksgiving and Christmas. 1201 Mason St., San Francisco. (415) 474-1887, www.cablecarmuseum.com.< 

 

SAN FRANCISCO MARITIME NATIONAL HISTORICAL PARK One of only a few "floating'' national parks, the San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park includes four national landmark ships, a maritime museum, a maritime library and a World-War-II submarine named the USS Pampanito.  

HYDE STREET PIER -- Demonstrations, ship tours, programs, music and special events offered throughout the day. Check ticket booth for schedule. At the foot of Hyde Street, Hyde and Jefferson streets.  

Entering the Pier is free but there is a fee to board the ships.  

HISTORIC SHIPS AT THE HYDE STREET PIER -- The historic ships at the Pier are the 1886 square-rigger "Balclutha,'' the 1890 steam ferryboat "Eureka,'' the 1895 schooner "C.A. Thayer'' (not available at this time due to restoration), the 1891 scow schooner "Alma,'' the 1907 steam tug "Hercules,'' and the 1914 "Eppleton Hall,'' a paddlewheel tug.  

"Balclutha." This historic ship, a three-mast square-rigger, has undergone extensive repairs and preservation work. She now contains more original materials and fittings than any other historic merchant square-rigger in the United States. The Balclutha is a designated National Historic Landmark. At Hyde Street Pier.  

"Eureka." Explore this 1890 ferryboat with a 40-foot walking-beam engine. The boat once carried passengers and autos across the San Francisco Bay. At Hyde Street Pier. Daily, call for times of boat tour.  

"C.A. Thayer." A three-mast schooner used in the lumber and cod fishing trades. At Hyde Street Pier.  

"Alma." Between 1850 and the early 1900s, the best highways around the San Francisco Bay area were the waterways and the delivery trucks and tractortrailer rigs of the time were the flat-bottomed scow schooners. Able to navigate the Sacramento/San Joaquin Delta region's shallow creeks, sloughs and channels, the scows' sturdy hulls could rest safely and securely on the bottom providing a flat, stable platform for loading and unloading. Made of inexpensive Douglas fir, scow's designs were so simple they could be built by eye or without plans.  

"Hercules." Tugs in the early part of the 20th century towed barges, sailing ships and log rafts between Pacific ports. Because prevailing north/west winds generally made travel up the coast by sail both difficult and circuitous, tugs often towed large sailing vessels to points north of San Francisco. In 1916 Hercules towed the C.A. Thayer to Port Townsend, Wash., taking six days to make the trip. At the end of the sail era, the Hercules was acquired by the Western Pacific Railroad Company and shuttled railroad car barges back and forth across San Francisco Bay until 1962.  

"Eppleton Hall." Built in England, the steam side-wheeler plied the Wear and Tyne rivers of Northeast England. Designed to tow ocean-going colliers (coal-carrying sail vessels) the tugs saved transit time getting the sail vessels upriver to load. The side-wheelers were also used to tow newly built ships out to sea. From 1969 to 1979, the Eppleton Hall served as a private yacht. She was modified for an epic steam via the Panama Canal to San Francisco, passing through the Golden Gate in March of 1970.  

HISTORIC SHIP AT FISHERMAN'S WHARF --  

"USS Pampanito." This World-War-II-era submarine is berthed at Fisherman's Wharf. The submarine celebrated her 50th anniversary in November of 1993 and is perhaps best known for her participation in a "wolf pack'' attack on a convoy of enemy ships during World War II. The entrance fee includes a taped audio tour that describes what life on this submarine was like. At Pier 45, near foot of Taylor Street. Monday through Thursday, Sunday and holidays, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.; Friday and Saturday, 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. $9 general; $5 seniors, $4 active duty military, $4 youth ages 6 to 12; free children under age 6. (415) 775-1943.  

ONGOING EVENTS --  

"Historic Ship Volunteer Work Party," Saturday, 9 a.m. Become part of an effort to preserve four of the park's nautical treasures. Work on a different ship each Saturday. Bring work clothes, work shoes and lunch. Call for meeting place. (415) 332-8409.  

Unless noted otherwise, events take place on the Hyde Street Pier, located at the foot of Hyde Street on Jefferson Street. 

EXHIBITS -- Current Exhibits at the Visitor Center:  

"What's Your Pleasure? Recreational Boats of California's Past," openended. This exhibit includes 1940s Sacramento Hydroplanes, a Russian River launch from the 19th century, classic wooden motor launches and motor boats, and other smaller crafts.  

"Hydroplanes and Racing Boats," open-ended. A small exhibit showcasing 1930s racing engines and hydroplane boats.  

"Frisco Bound," an exhibition about immigration to San Francisco, clipper ships, and the Gold Rush era.  

"Hyde Street Ship Models," an exhibit of models of the historic ships at the Hyde Street Pier.  

"Discovery Room," a preview of the Maritime Library where visitors can look up documents and photographs.  

(415) 447-5000. 

SPECIAL EVENTS --  

"Adventures at Sea: Life Aboard a 19th century Sailing Ship," Daily, 2:15 p.m.-3 p.m. Take a guided tour of the sailing ship Balclutha and learn about the hardships and awards of the sailors show fought for survival during the treacherous Cape Horn passage. Vessel admission. 

"Modeler's Workshop," Saturdays, 9:30 a.m. Learn how to build ship models from experts. Meet on the car deck of the Eureka. Vessel admission. 

VISITOR CENTER -- Daily, 9:30 a.m.-5 p.m.  

Entering the Pier is free but there is a fee to board the ships. The fee allows access to all ships and is good for seven days. $5; free children under age 16. May 28-Sept. 30: daily, 9:30 a.m.-7 p.m.; Oct. 1-May 27: Daily, 9:30 a.m.-5 p.m. Foot of Hyde Street, San Francisco. (415) 561-7100, www.nps.gov.< 

 

SAN FRANCISCO MUSEUM OF CRAFT AND DESIGN A museum celebrating and promoting the art of contemporary craft and design. The museum showcases diverse exhibitions from regional, national and international artists, working in mediums such as wood, clay, fiber, metal and glass. 

EVENTS --  

"FourSite: 4 Artists, 4 Materials, 4 Sites," through Sept. 18. Artists Tanya Aguiniga, Paul Hayes, Tom Hill and Christine Lee transform the museum space with four distinct, large-scale installations of fiber, paper, metal and wood.  

$2-$4; free youths under age 18. Tuesday-Saturday, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. 550 Sutter St., San Francisco. (415) 773-0303, www.sfmcd.org.< 

 

SAN FRANCISCO MUSEUM OF MODERN ART  

ONGOING EXHIBITS --  

"Matisse and Beyond: The Painting and Sculpture Collection," This newly reconceived exhibition of SFMOMA's modern art collection features paintings, sculptures and works on paper from the first 60 years of the 20th century. Featured artists include: Joseph Cornell, Ellsworth Kelly, Yves Klein, Salvador Dali, Frida Kahlo, Piet Mondrian, Pablo Picasso, Diego Rivera, Andy Warhol and Paul Klee.  

"Between Art and Life: The Contemporary Painting and Sculpture Collection," This new presentation of the SFMOMA collection features works from the past five decades by Louise Bourgeois, Robert Gober, Eva Hesse, Anish Kapoor, Sherrie Levine, Brice Marden, Gordon Matta-Clark, Barry McGee, Bruce Nauman, Robert Rauschenberg and Kara Walker.  

"The Art of Design: Selections from the Permanent Collection of Architecture and Design," The exhibit will feature 100 selections from their architecture, graphic design and industrial design collections on a rotating basis. It features classic works plus new designs by up-andcoming artists.  

"Picturing Modernity: Photographs from the Permanent Collection," Photography is possibly the quintessential modern art medium because its 160-year history corresponds almost exactly with Modernism's duration as a cultural movement. This exhibit looks at the photograph's unique pictorial ability and its ever-growing pervasiveness in modern culture, putting the medium in dialogue with paintings and other kinds of art.  

KORET VISITOR EDUCATION CENTER -- This facility includes multimedia display technology, "Pick Up and Go'' guides for adults and children, art videos, and a community art gallery created by participants in school, teen and family programs. Thursday, 6 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.; Friday and Saturday, 11 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. 

SPECIAL EVENTS --  

"Tony Labat's I Want You," The latest installment in the newly launched program series "Live Art at SFMOMA.'' The artist invites denizens of the Bay Area to make their own demands of the public which riffs on the iconic "I Want You'' army recruitment campaigns of World Wars I and II, he asks you what you would do if you had only one minute to seize the voice of authority, to be the finger-pointing Uncle Sam. 

"Dispatches from the Archives," through July 6. How does a museum best known for showing the work of others choose to publicly present itself?This presentation in the Koret Visitor Education Center showcases museumproduced ephemera, design pieces, and publications, while revealing the museum's long history of innovative programming and exhibitions. The materials are culled from SFMOMA's Library and Archives, which have recently processed and catalogued thousands of items spanning the museum's 75-year history. From exhibition posters and magazines to belt buckles and chocolate bars, the exhibition illustrates the story of an institution that cherishes the spirit of innovation.  

"Ewan Gibbs: San Francisco," through June 27. This suite of drawings, commissioned by SFMOMA, offers an evocative glimpse of San Francisco's urban landscape and landmarks.  

"The View from Here," through June 27. Just as photography has been instrumental in shaping California's popular image, the state -- and San Francisco, in particular -- has played a key role in the history of photography as an art form.  

"Paul Klee: Three Exhibitions from the Djerassi Collection," through Aug. 1. Carl Djerassi's generous promise to give SFMOMA a substantial group of intimate works - mostly drawings, prints, and watercolors - by Paul Klee allowed the museum to begin in 1984 what would become an ongoing series of exhibitions devoted to this beloved artist.  

$7-$12.50; half price on Thursdays after 6 p.m.; free for all visitors on the first Tuesday of every month. Monday, Tuesday and Friday through Sunday, 10 a.m.-5:45 p.m.; Thursday, 10 a.m.-8:45 p.m. 151 Third St., San Francisco. (415) 357-4000, www.sfmoma.org.< 

 

SAN FRANCISCO PERFORMING ARTS LIBRARY AND MUSEUM  

ONGOING EXHIBITS --  

"Dance in California: 150 Years of Innovation," This permanent exhibit traces the history and artistic range of modern dance in California, with photographs and documents highlighting the achievements of Lola Montez, Isadora Duncan, Ruth St. Denis, Martha Graham, the Christensen brothers, the Peters Wright School, the company of Lester Horton, Anna Halprin and Lucas Hoving.  

"Maestro! Photographic Portraits by Tom Zimberoff," This permanent exhibit is a comprehensive study of a generation of national and international conductors. In Gallery 5.  

"San Francisco 1900: On Stage," In Gallery 4.  

"San Francisco in Song," In Gallery 3. 

Free. Tuesday-Friday, 11 a.m.-5 p.m.; Saturday, 1-5 p.m. San Francisco War Memorial Veteran's Building, 401 Van Ness Ave., Fourth Floor, San Francisco. (415) 255-4800, www.sfpalm.org.< 

 

SEYMOUR PIONEER MUSEUM The museum, owned by The Society of California Pioneers, houses a permanent research library, art gallery and history museum. Exhibits include a photography collection documenting California history. 

$1-$3. Wednesday-Friday and the first Saturday of the month, 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Society of California Pioneers, 300 Fourth St., San Francisco. (415) 957-1859, www.californiapioneers.org.< 

 

TREGANZA ANTHROPOLOGY MUSEUM AT SAN FRANCISCO STATE UNIVERSITY The museum, founded in 1968, houses collections of archaeological and ethnographic specimens from Africa, Oceania, Asia, and North America as well as small collections from Central and South America. There are also collections of photographs, tapes and phonograph records from Africa and Europe. In addition, there is an archive of field notes and other materials associated with the collections. The museum also houses the Hohenthal Gallery that is used for traveling exhibits as well as exhibits mounted by students and faculty. 

Free. Museum office: Monday-Friday, 8 a.m.-noon and 1 p.m.-4 p.m.; Hohenthal Gallery, SCI 388: Monday through Friday, 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Science Building, SFSU, 1600 Holloway Ave., San Francisco. (415) 338-2467, www.sfsu.edu/~treganza/.< 

 

WALT DISNEY FAMILY MUSEUM  

"Peter Pan," through June 27. Exhibiton features concept drawings, sketches, model sheets and much more.  

104 Montgomery St., San Francisco. (415) 345-6800, www.disney.go.com/disneyatoz/familymuseum/index.html.< 

 

ZEUM Zeum is a technology and arts museum for children and families featuring exhibits and workshops that cover a variety of fascinating subjects. 

EVENTS --  

$6-$8. 11 a.m.-5 p.m., Wednesday-Sunday. 221 Fourth St., San Francisco. (415) 820-3220, www.zeum.org.<

BERKELEY PUBLIC LIBRARY, CENTRAL BRANCH  

"Bay Area Nature," through July 1. Exhibition features photography by Satoko Myodo-Garcia.  

Free. Monday-Tuesday, noon-8 p.m.; Wednesday-Saturday, 10 a.m.-6 p.m.; Sunday, 1-5 p.m. 2090 Kittredge St., Berkeley. (510) 981-6100, www.berkeleypubliclibrary.org/.< 

 

CARMEN FLORES RECREATION CENTER  

"El Corazon de la Communidad: The Heart of the Community", Painted by Joaquin Alejandro Newman, this mural installation consists of four 11-foot panels that mix ancient Meso-American and contemporary imagery to pay homage to local activists Carmen Flores and Josie de la Cruz.  

Free unless otherwise noted. Monday-Friday, 10 a.m.-7 p.m. 1637 Fruitvale Ave., Oakland. (510) 535-5631.< 

 

CREATIVE GROWTH ART CENTER  

OPENING -- "Straight to the Bone," June 4 through July 23. Exhibition features works by Regis-R, Prince of Plastic and Creative Growth artists.  

Free. Monday through Friday, 11 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. 355 24th St., Oakland. (510) 836-2340 X15, www.creativegrowth.org.< 

 

DAVID BROWER CENTER  

"Water, Rivers and People/ Agua, Rios y Pueblos," through Aug. 31. Exhibition depicts those who are fighting to defend rivers and the people who depend on them.  

2150 Allston Way, Berkeley. < 

 

FLOAT  

OPENING -- "Surrender," June 13 through July 31. Exhibition features digital paintings by Android Jones and light sculptures by Michael Clarke.  

Free. Tuesday-Saturday, 10 a.m.-10 p.m.; by appointment. 1091 Calcot Place, Unit 116, Oakland. (510) 535-1702, www.thefloatcenter.com.< 

 

JACK LONDON SQUARE  

"37 Artists," June 5 through June 6 and June 12 through June 6, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Featuring watercolors, acrylic, mixed media, oils, pastels, photography, sculpture and more. artrospection.com/jls. 

Foot of Broadway, Oakland. (866) 295-9853, www.jacklondonsquare.com.< 

 

JOHANSSON PROJECTS  

"If Only ," through July 17. Exhibition features works by Rune Olsen.  

Free. Thursday-Saturday, noon-6 p.m. 2300 Telegraph Ave., Oakland. (510) 444-9140, www.johanssonprojects.com.< 

 

LAWRENCE HALL OF SCIENCE  

$5-$7; free children under age 2. Wednesdays-Sundays, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. 1931 First Ave., Walnut Creek. (925) 935-1978, www.wildlife-museum.org.< 

 

OAKLAND ASIAN CULTURAL CENTER  

"Oakland's 19th-Century San Pablo Avenue Chinatown," A permanent exhibit of new findings about the rediscovered Chinatown on San Pablo Avenue. The exhibit aims to inform visitors about the upcoming archaeological work planned to explore the lives of early Chinese pioneers in the 1860s.  

Free. Monday-Friday, 10 a.m.-5 p.m.; Saturday, 11 a.m.-4 p.m. Pacific Renaissance Plaza, 388 Ninth St., Suite 290, Oakland. (510) 637-0455, www.oacc.cc.< 

 

OAKLAND INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT  

"Going Away, Coming Home," A 160-foot public art installation by Mills College art professor Hung Liu. Liu hand painted 80 red-crowned cranes onto 65 panels of glass that were then fired, tempered and paired with background panes that depict views of a satellite photograph, ranging from the western United States to the Asia Pacific Area. Terminal 2.  

Free. Daily, 24 hours, unless otherwise noted. Oakland International Airport, 1 Airport Drive, Oakland. (510) 563-3300, www.flyoakland.com.< 

 

OAKLAND MARRIOTT CITY CENTER  

OPENING -- "Spirits Known and Unknown," June 4 through July 31. Exhibition features photographs of Kamau Amen-Ra.  

1001 Broadway, Oakland. (510) 451-4000.< 

 

RICHMOND ART CENTER  

CLOSING -- "Cream From the Top," through June 5. Exhibition features surfacing talent from fine arts programs at California College of the Arts, Mills College, San Francisco Art Institute, San Francisco State University, University of California, Berkeley and University of California, Davis.  

Free. Tuesday-Sunday, noon-5 p.m. 2540 Barrett Ave., Richmond. (510) 620-6772, www.therichmondartcenter.org.< 

 

WOMEN'S CANCER RESOURCE CENTER  

"Edible East Bay," through June 25. Exhibition featurse works by Zina Deretsky, Kieren Dutcher, Rosalie Z. Fanshel and more.  

5471 Telegraph Ave., Oakland. <

ARDENWOOD HISTORIC FARM Ardenwood farm is a working farm that dates back to the time of the Patterson Ranch, a 19th-century estate with a mansion and Victorian Gardens. Today, the farm still practices farming techniques from the 1870s. Unless otherwise noted, programs are free with regular admission.  

$1-$5; free children under age 4. Tuesday-Sunday, 10 a.m.-4 p.m. 34600 Ardenwood Blvd., Fremont. (510) 796-0199, (510) 796-0663, www.ebparks.org.< 

 

BLACK DIAMOND MINES REGIONAL PRESERVE Originally the home of several Native American tribes, white men began coal mining in the area in the 1860s. The preserve today features old mines and displays of the history of the area. 

SPECIAL EVENTS --  

"Sleuthing Animal Signs," June 12, 10 a.m.-12:30 p.m. Search for animal clues. 

Free unless otherwise noted; $5 seasonal parking fee on weekends. Daily, 8 a.m. to dusk Somersville Road, about five miles south of state Highway 4, Antioch. Information: (925) 757-2620, Tickets: (925) 555-1212, www.ebparks.org.< 

 

BLACKHAWK MUSEUM  

AUTOMOTIVE MUSEUM -- The museum's permanent exhibition of internationally renowned automobiles dated from 1897 to the 1980s. The cars are displayed as works of art with room to walk completely around each car to admire the workmanship. On long-term loan from the Smithsonian Institution is a Long Steam Tricycle; an 1893-94 Duryea, the first Duryea built by the Duryea brothers; and a 1948 Tucker, number 39 of the 51 Tuckers built, which is a Model 48 "Torpedo'' four-door sedan.  

$5-$8; free for children ages 6 and under. Wednesday-Sunday, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. 3700 Blackhawk Plaza Circle, Danville. (925) 736-2280, (925) 736-2277, www.blackhawkmuseum.org.< 

 

CHABOT SPACE AND SCIENCE CENTER State-of-the-art facility unifying science education activities around astronomy. Enjoy interactive exhibits, hands-on activities, indoor stargazing, outdoor telescope viewing and films. 

Center Admission: $10.95-$14.95; free children under 3; Movies and evening planetarium shows: $6-$8. Telescope viewing only: free. Wednesday-Thursday, 10 a.m.-5 p.m.; Friday-Saturday, 10 a.m.-10 p.m.; Sunday, 11 a.m.-5 p.m.; Also open on Tuesdays 10 a.m.-5 p.m. after June 29. 10000 Skyline Blvd., Oakland. (510) 336-7300, www.chabotspace.org.< 

 

CHILDREN'S FAIRYLAND A fairy tale theme park featuring more than 30 colorful fantasy sets. Designed especially for children ages 10 and under, there are gentle rides, a train, the "Peter Rabbit Village,'' puppet shows, story-telling and lots of slides and animals. Admission price includes unlimited rides, special shows, guest entertainers and puppet shows.  

OLD WEST JUNCTION -- Children's Fairyland's newest attraction is a Wild West-themed town sized just for children, with a livery stable, bank, jail and a water tower slide.  

PUPPET SHOWS -- Saturday and Sunday, 11 a.m., 2 p.m. and 4 p.m. All shows are at the Open Storybook Theatre. Free with regular Fairyland admission.  

ARTS AND CRAFTS CENTER -- Activities on Saturday and Sunday, noon to 3 p.m.  

ANIMAL OF THE DAY -- Saturday and Sunday, 1-1:20 p.m. at the Humpty Dumpty Wall. Learn about one of Fairyland's animal friends. 

SPECIAL EVENTS --  

"Animal of the Day!" Saturdays and Sundays, 1-1:20 p.m. Come up close and learn about Fairyland's creatures. 

"Arts and Crafts," Noon-3 p.m. Event features arts and crafts projects for children and their families. $6. 

"Puppet Show: The Wind In The Willows," through May 30 and June 5 through May 30, 11 a.m. and 2 and 4 p.m. The story by Kenneth Graham of Mr. Toad, Badger, Mole and Ratty comes to life at Fairyland. It's up to Mr. Toad's friends to save the day when he gets into trouble. Will it work out in the end? Come to Fairyland and see. Puppets and script by Randal Metz, with scenery by Lewis Mahlmann.  

Blake Maxam, June 5 through June 6, 1:30 and 2:30 p.m. "The Wizard of Ahhhhs'' astounds and amazes children of all ages with his magic show.  

$6; free for children under age 1; $2 for a Magic Key. No adult admitted without a child and no child admitted without an adult. Summer (June through Labor Day): Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.; Saturday and Sunday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Fall and Spring: Wednesday through Sunday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.; Winter: Friday through Sunday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. CLOSED DEC. 25-JAN. 4. 699 Bellevue Ave., Oakland. (510) 452-2259, www.fairyland.org.< 

 

COYOTE HILLS REGIONAL PARK The park is located on the shoreline of Fremont Bay and features rich wetland areas as well as Ohlone Indian shellmound sites. Hiking in the park allows scenic views of San Francisco Bay and southern Alameda County. The 12-mile Alameda Creek Trail runs from the Bay east to the mouth of Niles Canyon and features an equestrian trail as well as a bicycle trail; hikers are welcome on both. The park conducts naturalist programs and has a visitor center with a nature store and Ohlone, natural history and wildlife exhibits.  

SPECIAL EVENTS -- Free unless otherwise noted.  

"Bird Walk Gawk," June 5, 8-11 a.m. Discover patterns of behavior, migration and habitat on this birding outing. 

"Skills of the Past: Obsidian Arrowheads," June 6, 3-5 p.m. Experience firsthand the skill of turning a volcanic rock into a functional Stone Age cutting tool. 

"Learn to Construct a Tule Boat," June 6 and June 27, Jun. 6, 9 a.m.-2 p.m.; Jun. 27, 9:30 a.m.-3:30 p.m. On June 6, help gather tule, then see a slideshow on California tule boats. On June 27, build a three person tule boat and launch it for a paddle around the lake. 

"Introduction to Ohlone Culture," June 12, 11 a.m.-12:30 p.m. Practice string making and learn about Ohlone tools. 

Free unless otherwise noted; A parking fee may be charged. Registration required for events. April through October: daily, 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.; October through April, 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., unless otherwise posted. 8000 Patterson Pass Road, Fremont. (510) 636-1684, (510) 795-9385, www.ebparks.org.< 

 

CRAB COVE VISITOR CENTER At Crab Cove, you can see live underwater creatures and go into the San Francisco Bay from land. You can also travel back in time to Alameda's part. The goal is to increase understanding of the environmental importance of San Francisco Bay and the ocean ecosystem. Crab Cove's Indoor Aquarium and Exhibit Lab is one of the largest indoor aquariums in the East Bay. 

SPECIAL EVENTS --  

"Catch of the Day," Sundays, 2-3 p.m. Drop by to find out more about the Bay and its wildlife through guided exploration and hands-on fun. 

"Sea Squirts," 10-11:30 a.m. and 11 a.m.-12:30 p.m. Discover the wonders of nature with your little one. Registration is required. $6-$8. 

"Sea Siblings," Tuesdays, 9:30 a.m. and 11 a.m. Explore the natural world and take part in a theme related craft. Designed for the 3-5 year old learner. Registration is required. $4. (888) 327-2757. 

"Nature by Parachute," June 6, 1-2 p.m. Explore nature in a whole new way, with parachute play. 

"Children's Storytime and Exploration," June 12, 9-10:30 a.m. Watch duckling, ladybug and crabs at the pond. 

Free unless otherwise noted; parking fee may be charged. 1252 McKay Ave., Alameda. (510) 521-6887, www.ebparks.org.< 

 

CROWDEN MUSIC CENTER  

"Very First Concerts: Learn to be a Conductor," June 5, 11 a.m. This classical series for younger listeners gives you the chance at hands-on musical activities. Free. (510) 559-6910. 

1475 Rose St., Berkeley. (510) 559-6910, www.crowdenmusiccenter.org.< 

 

DUNSMUIR HOUSE AND GARDENS HISTORIC ESTATE Nestled in the Oakland hills, the 50-acre Dunsmuir House and Gardens estate includes the 37-room Neoclassical Revival Dunsmuir Mansion, built by coal and lumber baron Alexander Dunsmuir for his bride. Restored outbuildings set amid landscaped gardens surround the mansion.  

ESTATE GROUNDS -- Self-Guided Grounds Tours are available yearround. The 50 acres of gardens and grounds at the mansion are open to the public for walking Tuesday-Friday, 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Booklets and maps of the grounds are available at the Dinkelspiel House. Free.  

GUIDED TOURS -- Docent-led tours are available on the first Sunday of each month at 1 p.m. and 2 p.m. (except for July) and Wednesdays at 11 a.m. $5 adults, $4 seniors and juniors (11-16), children 11 and under free. 

Dunsmuir House and Gardens, 2960 Peralta Oaks Court, Oakland. (510) 615-5555, www.dunsmuir.org.< 

 

FOREST HOME FARMS The 16-acre former farm of the Boone family is now a municipal historic park in San Ramon. It is located at the base of the East Bay Hills and is divided into two parts by Oak Creek. The Boone House is a 22-room Dutch colonial that has been remodeled several times since it was built in 1900. Also on the property are a barn built in the period from 1850 to 1860; the Victorian-style David Glass House, dating from the late 1860s to early 1870s; a storage structure for farm equipment and automobiles; and a walnut processing plant. 

Free unless otherwise noted. Public tours available by appointment. 19953 San Ramon Valley Blvd., San Ramon. (925) 973-3281, www.ci.sanramon. ca.us/parks/boone.htm.< 

 

HABITOT CHILDREN'S MUSEUM A museum especially for children ages 7 and under. Highlights include "WaterWorks,'' an area with some unusual water toys, an Infant Tree for babies, a garden especially for toddlers, a child-scale grocery store and cafe, and a costume shop and stage for junior thespians. The museum also features a toy lending library.  

ONGOING EXHIBITS --  

"Waterworks." A water play gallery with rivers, a pumping station and a water table, designed to teach about water.  

"Little Town Grocery and Cafe." Designed to create the ambience of shopping in a grocery store and eating in a restaurant.  

"Infant-Toddler Garden." A picket fence gated indoor area, which includes a carrot patch with wooden carrots to be harvested, a pretend pond and a butterfly mobile to introduce youngsters to the concept of food, gardening and agriculture.  

"Dramatic Arts Stage." Settings, backdrops and costumes coincide with seasonal events and holidays. Children can exercise their dramatic flair here.  

"Wiggle Wall." The floor-to-ceiling "underground'' tunnels give children a worm's eye view of the world. The tunnels are laced with net covered openings and giant optic lenses. 

SPECIAL EXHIBITS --  

$6-$7. Wednesday and Thursday, 9:30 a.m.-1 p.m.; Friday and Saturday, 9:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m.; Closed Sunday-Tuesday. 2065 Kittredge St., Berkeley. (510) 647-1111, www.habitot.org.< 

 

HAYWARD SHORELINE INTERPRETIVE CENTER Perched on stilts above a salt marsh, the Center offers an introduction to the San Francisco Bay-Estuary. It features exhibits, programs and activities designed to inspire a sense of appreciation, respect and stewardship for the Bay, its inhabitants and the services they provide. The Habitat Room offers a preview of what may be seen outside. The 80-gallon Bay Tank contains some of the fish that live in the Bay's open waters, and the Channel Tank represents habitats formed by the maze of sloughs and creeks that snake through the marsh. The main room of the Center features rotating exhibits about area history, plants and wildlife. Part of the Hayward Area Recreation and Park District.  

ONGOING EXHIBIT --  

"Exploring Nature," An exhibit of Shawn Gould's illustrations featuring images of the natural world. 

SPECIAL EVENTS --  

"Nature Detectives," 11 a.m.-noon. An introduction and exploration of the world of Black-Crowned Night-Herons. Ages 3-5 and their caregivers. Registration required. 

"Weekend Weed Warriors," 1-4 p.m. Help the shoreline to eliminate the non-native plants that threaten its diversity. Ages 12 and older. Registration required. 

"Waterfowl of the Freshwater Marsh," 10 a.m.-1 p.m. Join an expert birder to go "behind the gates'' to areas of the marsh that are not open to the public. 

Free. Saturday and Sunday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. 4901 Breakwater Ave., Hayward. (510) 670-7270, www.hard.dst.ca.us/hayshore.html.< 

 

JEWISH COMMUNITY CENTER OF THE EAST BAY  

"Shabbat Celebration for Young Children," Saturday, 10:30 a.m.-noon. Join other families with young children to sharethis weekly Jewish holiday of joy and renewal.  

1414 Walnut St., Berkeley. (510) 848-0237, www.jcceastbay.org/.< 

 

JUNIOR CENTER OF ART AND SCIENCE A center dedicated to encouraging children's active wonder and creative response through artistic and scientific exploration of their natural urban environment. The center's classes, workshops, exhibits and events integrate art and science.  

EXHIBITS -- Three educational exhibits are mounted in the "Children's Gallery'' each year. A docent-led tour, demonstrations, hands-on activities and art projects are available to school groups throughout the year.  

"Jake's Discovery Garden," Jake's Discovery Garden is a new interactive studio exhibit designed for preschool-aged children and their adult caregivers that teaches young visitors about the natural environments found in their backyards, playgrounds and neighborhoods. 

SPECIAL EVENTS --  

Free; programs and special exhibits have a fee. September through May: Tuesday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.; Saturday, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. June through August: Monday through Thursday, 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. 558 Bellevue Ave., Oakland. (510) 839-5777, www.juniorcenter.org.< 

 

LA PENA CULTURAL CENTER  

Jose Luis Orozco, June 12, 10 and 11:30 a.m. $5-$12.  

3105 Shattuck Ave., Berkeley. (510) 849-2568, www.lapena.org.< 

 

LAKE CHABOT REGIONAL PARK The 315-acre lake offers year-round recreation. Services include canoe and boat rental, horseshoe pits, hiking, bicycling, picnicking and seasonal tours aboard the Chabot Queen. For boat rentals, call (510) 247-2526. 

Free unless noted otherwise; $5 parking; $2 per dog except guide/service dogs. Daily, 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. 17930 Lake Chabot Road, Castro Valley. (510) 562-PARK, www.ebparks.org.< 

 

LAWRENCE HALL OF SCIENCE  

$6-$12; free children ages 2 and under. Daily, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. University of California, Centennial Drive, Berkeley. (510) 642-5132, www.lawrencehallofscience.org.< 

 

LINDSAY WILDLIFE MUSEUM This is the oldest and largest wildlife rehabilitation center in America, taking in 6,000 injured and orphaned animals yearly and returning 40 percent of them to the wild. The museum offers a wide range of educational programs using non-releasable wild animals to teach children and adults respect for the balance of nature. The museum includes a state-of-the art wildlife hospital which features a permanent exhibit, titled "Living with Nature,'' which houses 75 non-releasable wild animals in learning environments; a 5,000-square-foot Wildlife Hospital complete with treatment rooms, intensive care, quarantine and laboratory facilities; a 1-acre Nature Garden featuring the region's native landscaping and wildlife; and an "Especially For Children'' exhibit.  

WILDLIFE HOSPITAL -- September-March: 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. The hospital is open daily including holidays to receive injured and orphaned animals. There is no charge for treatment of native wild animals and there are no public viewing areas in the hospital. 

SPECIAL EVENTS --  

$5-$7; free children under age 2. Wednesdays-Sundays, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. 1931 First Ave., Walnut Creek. (925) 935-1978, www.wildlife-museum.org.< 

 

THE MARSH BERKELEY  

"The World's Funniest Bubble Show," through June 27, Sunday, 11 a.m. Bubble Man Louis Pearl presents his fun and family-friendly antics. $7-$50.  

The Gaia Building, 2120 Allston Way, Berkeley. Info: (415) 826-5750, Tickets: (800) 838-3006, www.themarsh.org.< 

 

MUSEUM OF CHILDREN'S ART A museum of art for and by children, with activities for children to participate in making their own art.  

ART CAMPS -- Hands-on activities and engaging curriculum for children of different ages, led by professional artists and staff. $60 per day.  

CLASSES -- A Sunday series of classes for children ages 8 to 12, led by Mocha artists. Sundays, 2 p.m. to 4 p.m.  

OPEN STUDIOS -- Drop-in art play activities with new themes each week.  

"Big Studio." Guided art projects for children age 6 and older with a Mocha artist. Tuesday through Friday, 4 p.m. to 5 p.m. $5.  

"Little Studio." A hands-on experience that lets young artists age 18 months to 5 years see, touch and manipulate a variety of media. Children can get messy. Tuesday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. $5.  

"Family Weekend Studios." Drop-in art activities for the whole family. All ages welcome. Saturday and Sunday, noon to 4 p.m. $5 per child.  

FAMILY EXTRAVAGANZAS -- Special weekend workshops for the entire family.  

"Sunday Workshops with Illustrators," Sundays, 1 p.m. See the artwork and meet the artists who create children's book illustrations. Free. 

EVENTS --  

"Saturday Stories," 1 p.m. For children ages 2-5. Free. 

SPECIAL EVENT --  

"Saturday Stories," 1 p.m. For ages 2-5. Free. 

Free gallery admission. Tuesday-Friday, 10 a.m.-5 p.m.; Saturday-Sunday, noon-5 p.m. 538 Ninth St., Oakland. (510) 465-8770, www.mocha.org.< 

 

OAKLAND ZOO The zoo includes a Children's Petting Zoo, the Skyride, a miniature train, a carousel, picnic grounds and a gift shop as well as the animals in site specific exhibits, which allow them to roam freely. Included are "The African Savanna,'' with its two huge mixed-animal aviaries and 11 African Savanna exhibits; the Mahali Pa Tembo (Place of the Elephant), with giraffes, chimpanzees and more than 330 other animals from around the world; "Simba Pori,'' Swahili for "Lion Country,'' a spacious 1.5-acre habitat offering both a savanna and woodland setting for African lions; "Footprints from the Past,'' an anthropology exhibit showcasing four million years of human evolution and an actual "footpath'' of the first hominids to emerge from the African savanna; "Sun Bear Exhibit,'' a stateof-the-art space the zoo has developed for its two sun bears; and Siamang Island, a state-of-the-art, barrier-free area that emulates the gibbons' native tropical rain forest habitat. Also see the Malayan Fruit Bats from the Lubee Bat Conservancy in Florida that are now roosting in trees at the zoo. In addition there are special exhibits and events monthly.  

ONGOING EXHIBITS --  

"Valley Children's Zoo," The three-acre attraction offers a completely interactive experience for both children and adults. The exhibits include lemurs, giant fruit bats, otters, reptiles, insects and more. Daily, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.  

"Endangered Species," An exhibit of photographs about the most endangered animals on the Earth and what can be done to save them. At the Education Center. Open daily during zoo hours. ONGOING EVENTS --  

"Valley Children's Zoo," Daily, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. The three-acre attraction will offer a completely interactive experience for both children and adults. The exhibits include lemurs, giant fruit bats, otters, reptiles, insects and more. Free with regular Zoo admission.  

"Wildlife Theater," Saturday, 11:45 a.m.; Sunday, 1:45 p.m. On Saturday mornings listen to a story and meet a live animal. On Sunday afternoon meet live animals and learn cool facts about them. Meet in the Lobby of the Zoo's Maddie's Center for Science and Environmental Education. Free with regular Zoo admission. (510) 632-9525, ext. 142. 

SPECIAL EVENTS --  

$7.50-11; free children under age 2; $6 parking fee. Daily, 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Knowland Park, 9777 Golf Links Road, Oakland. (510) 632-9525, www.oaklandzoo.org.< 

 

POINT PINOLE REGIONAL SHORELINE The 2,315-acre parkland bordering Pinole, Richmond and San Pablo offers views of Mount Tamalpais, the Marin shoreline and San Pablo Bay. There are trails through meadows and woods, and along the bluffs and beaches of San Pablo Bay. Visitors can hike, ride bikes or take the park's shuttle bus to reach the 1,250-foot fishing pier at Point Pinole. 

$5 per vehicle; $4 per trailered vehicle; $2 per dog (guide/service dogs free). Daily, 5 a.m. to 10 p.m., unless otherwise posted. Giant Highway, Richmond. (510) 562-PARK, www.ebparks.org.< 

 

ROBERT SIBLEY VOLCANIC REGIONAL PRESERVE East Bay residents have several volcanoes in their backyard. This park contains Round Top, one of the highest peaks in the Oakland Hills. 

Free. Daily, 5 a.m. to 10 p.m. 6800 Skyline Blvd., Oakland. (510) 562-PARK, www.ebparks.org.< 

 

SCHARFFEN BERGER CHOCOLATE FACTORY This hour-long tour covers the history of chocolate making, from the cultivation of cacao beans to the finished product. After a chocolate tasting, visitors take a walking tour of the factory floor. Open to children 10 and up. Reservations required. 

Free with reservation. Every hour on the half-hour, 10:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m. 914 Heinz Ave., Berkeley. (510) 981-4066, www.scharffenbergertour.com.< 

 

SHADOW CLIFFS REGIONAL RECREATION AREA The 296-acre park includes an 80-acre lake and a four-flume waterslide, with picnic grounds and a swimming beach. Water slide fees and hours: (925) 829-6230. 

$6 per vehicle; $2 per dog except guide and service dogs. May 1 through Labor Day: daily, 6 a.m. to 9 p.m.; shortened hours for fall and winter. Stanley Boulevard, one mile from downtown, Pleasanton. (510) 562-PARK, www.ebparks.org.< 

 

SULPHUR CREEK NATURE CENTER A wildlife rehabilitation and education facility where injured and orphaned local wild creatures are rehabilitated and released when possible. There is also a lending library of animals such as guinea pigs, rats, mice and more. The lending fee is $8 per week.  

ONGOING EVENTS --  

"Toddler Time," Learn about animals by listening to stories and exploring. Themes vary by month. Call for schedule. $7 per family.  

"Day on the Green Animal Presentations," Meet an assortment of wild and domestic animals. Wildlife volunteers will present a different animal each day from possums to snakes, tortoises to hawks. Saturday and Sunday, 2:30 p.m. 

CHILDREN'S EVENTS --  

Free. Park: Tuesday-Sunday, 10 a.m.-5 p.m.; Discovery Center: Tuesday-Saturday, 10 a.m.-4:30 p.m.; Animal Lending Library: Saturday-Sunday, 10 a.m.-3 p.m.; Wildlife Rehabilitation Center: daily, 10 a.m.-4:30 p.m. 1801 D St., Hayward. (510) 881-6747, www.haywardrec.org/sulphur_creek.html.< 

 

TILDEN REGIONAL PARK This park is large and contains hiking trails, a golf course, a miniature scaled train to ride, The Brazilian Building and picnic areas. 

SPECIAL EVENTS --  

"Toddlers and Friends," June 6, 10:30-11:30 a.m. Toddlers caan explore the meadows, ponds and trails in the Nature Area. 

"Sushi Basics Workshop," June 13, 11:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m. Learn the natural and cultural history of this cuisine and prepare and taste seven basic types of sushi. $29-$39. 

Free unless otherwise noted. Daily, 5 a.m. to 10 p.m. Entrances off Wildcat Canyon Road and Grizzly Peak Boulevard, Berkeley. (510) 525-2233, www.ebparks.org.< 

 

USS HORNET MUSEUM Come aboard this World War II aircraft carrier that has been converted into a floating museum. The Hornet, launched in 1943, is 899 feet long and 27 stories high. During World War II she was never hit by an enemy strike or plane and holds the Navy record for number of enemy planes shot down in a week. In 1969 the Hornet recovered the Apollo 11 space capsule containing the first men to walk on the moon, and later recovered Apollo 12. In 1991 the Hornet was designated a National Historic Landmark and is now docked at the same pier she sailed from in 1944. Today, visitors can tour the massive ship, view World War II-era warplanes and experience a simulated aircraft launch from the carrier's deck. Exhibits are being added on an ongoing basis. Allow two to three hours for a visit. Wear comfortable shoes and be prepared to climb steep stairs or ladders. Dress in layers as the ship can be cold. Arrive no later than 2 p.m. to sign up for the engine room and other docent-led tours. Children under age 12 are not allowed in the Engine Room or the Combat Information Center.  

$6-$14; free children age 4 and under with a paying adult. Daily, 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Pier 3 (enter on Atlantic Avenue), Alameda Point, Alameda. (510) 521-8448, www.uss-hornet.org.<

ARDENWOOD HISTORIC FARM Ardenwood farm is a working farm that dates back to the time of the Patterson Ranch, a 19th-century estate with a mansion and Victorian Gardens. Today, the farm still practices farming techniques from the 1870s. Unless otherwise noted, programs are free with regular admission.  

$1-$5; free children under age 4. Tuesday-Sunday, 10 a.m.-4 p.m. 34600 Ardenwood Blvd., Fremont. (510) 796-0199, (510) 796-0663, www.ebparks.org.< 

 

BAY AREA RAIL TRAILS A network of trails converted from unused railway corridors and developed by the Rails to Trails Conservancy.  

BLACK DIAMOND MINES REGIONAL PRESERVE RAILROAD BED TRAIL -- This easy one mile long rail trail on Mount Diablo leads to many historic sites within the preserve. Suitable for walking, horseback riding, and mountain biking. Accessible year round but may be muddy during the rainy season. Enter from the Park Entrance Station parking lot on the East side of Somersville Road, Antioch.  

IRON HORSE REGIONAL TRAIL -- The paved trail has grown into a 23 mile path between Concord and San Ramon with a link into Dublin. The trail runs from the north end of Monument Boulevard at Mohr Lane, east to Interstate 680, in Concord through Walnut Creek to just south of Village Green Park in San Ramon. It will eventually extend from Suisun Bay to Pleasanton and has been nominated as a Community Millennium Trail under the U.S. Millennium Trails program. A smooth shaded trail suitable for walkers, cyclists, skaters and strollers. It is also wheelchair accessible. Difficulty: easy to moderate in small chunks; hard if taken as a whole.  

LAFAYETTE/MORAGA REGIONAL TRAIL -- A 7.65 mile paved trail converted from the Sacramento Northern Rail line. This 20-year old trail goes along Las Trampas Creek and parallels St. Mary's Road. Suitable for walkers, equestrians, and cyclists. Runs from Olympic Boulevard and Pleasant Hill Road in Lafayette to Moraga. The trail can be used year round.  

OHLONE GREENWAY -- A 3.75-mile paved trail converted from the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe railway. Suitable for walkers, strollers and skaters. It is also wheelchair accessible. The trail runs under elevated BART tracks from Conlon and Key Streets in El Cerrito to Virginia and Acton Streets in Berkeley.  

SHEPHERD CANYON TRAIL -- An easy 3-mile paved trail converted from the Sacramento Northern Rail Line. The tree-lined trail is gently sloping and generally follows Shepherd Canyon Road. Suitable for walkers and cyclists. It is also wheelchair accessible. Begins in Montclair Village behind McCaulou's Department Store on Medau Place and ends at Paso Robles Drive, Oakland. Useable year round. 

Free. (415) 397-2220, www.traillink.com.< 

 

BAY AREA RIDGE TRAIL The Bay Area Ridge Trail, when completed, will be a 400-mile regional trail system that will form a loop around the entire San Francisco Bay region, linking 75 public parks and open spaces to thousands of people and hundreds of communities. Hikes on portions of the trail are available through the Bay Area Ridge Trail Council. Call for meeting sites.  

ONGOING EVENTS --  

ALAMEDA COUNTY -- "Lake Chabot Bike Rides." These rides are for strong beginners and intermediates to build skill, strength and endurance at a non hammerhead pace. No one will be dropped. Reservations required. Distance: 14 miles. Elevation gain: 1,000 feet. Difficulty: beginner to intermediate. Pace: moderate. Meeting place: Lake Chabot Road at the main entrance to the park. Thursday, 6:15 a.m. (510) 468-3582.  

ALAMEDA-CONTRA COSTA COUNTY -- "Tilden and Wildcat Bike Rides." A vigorous ride through Tilden and Wildcat Canyon regional parks. Reservations required. Distance: 15 miles. Elevation gain: 2,000 feet. Difficulty: intermediate. Pace: fast. Meeting place: in front of the North Berkeley BART Station. Wednesday, 5:30 p.m. (510) 849-9650. 

Free. (415) 561-2595, www.ridgetrail.org.< 

 

BICYCLE TRAILS COUNCIL OF THE EAST BAY The Council sponsors trail work days, Youth Bike Adventure Rides, and Group Rides as well as Mountain Bike Basics classes which cover training and handling skills.  

ONGOING EVENTS --  

"Weekly Wednesday Ride at Lake Chabot," Wednesdays, 6:30 p.m. A 13- to 20-mile ride exploring the trails around Lake Chabot, with 1,500 to 2,000 feet of climbing. Meet at 6:15 p.m. in the parking lot across from the public safety offices at Lake Chabot in Castro Valley. Reservations requested. (510) 727-0613.  

"Weekly Wednesday 'Outer' East Bay Ride," Wednesdays, 5:30 p.m. Ride some of the outer East Bay parks each week, such as Wild Cat Canyon, Briones, Mount Diablo, Tilden and Joaquin Miller-Redwood. Meeting place and ride location vary. Reservations required. (510) 888-9757. 

Free. (510) 466-5123, www.btceb.org.< 

 

BLACK DIAMOND MINES REGIONAL PRESERVE Originally the home of several Native American tribes, white men began coal mining in the area in the 1860s. The preserve today features old mines and displays of the history of the area. 

SPECIAL EVENTS --  

"Sleuthing Animal Signs," June 12, 10 a.m.-12:30 p.m. Search for animal clues. 

Free unless otherwise noted; $5 seasonal parking fee on weekends. Daily, 8 a.m. to dusk Somersville Road, about five miles south of state Highway 4, Antioch. Information: (925) 757-2620, Tickets: (925) 555-1212, www.ebparks.org.< 

 

BOTANIC GARDEN  

EVENTS --  

"Winged Visitors in Your Garden Sanctuary," June 5, 9:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. Learn about the creatures in your garden sanctuary. 

Intersection of Wildcat Canyon Road and South Park Drive, Tilden Regional Park, Berkeley. www.ebparks.org.< 

 

COYOTE HILLS REGIONAL PARK The park is located on the shoreline of Fremont Bay and features rich wetland areas as well as Ohlone Indian shellmound sites. Hiking in the park allows scenic views of San Francisco Bay and southern Alameda County. The 12-mile Alameda Creek Trail runs from the Bay east to the mouth of Niles Canyon and features an equestrian trail as well as a bicycle trail; hikers are welcome on both. The park conducts naturalist programs and has a visitor center with a nature store and Ohlone, natural history and wildlife exhibits.  

SPECIAL EVENTS -- Free unless otherwise noted.  

"Bird Walk Gawk," June 5, 8-11 a.m. Discover patterns of behavior, migration and habitat on this birding outing. 

"Learn to Construct a Tule Boat," June 6 and June 27, Jun. 6, 9 a.m.-2 p.m.; Jun. 27, 9:30 a.m.-3:30 p.m. On June 6, help gather tule, then see a slideshow on California tule boats. On June 27, build a three person tule boat and launch it for a paddle around the lake. 

"Skills of the Past: Obsidian Arrowheads," June 6, 3-5 p.m. Experience firsthand the skill of turning a volcanic rock into a functional Stone Age cutting tool. 

"Introduction to Ohlone Culture," June 12, 11 a.m.-12:30 p.m. Practice string making and learn about Ohlone tools. 

Free unless otherwise noted; A parking fee may be charged. Registration required for events. April through October: daily, 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.; October through April, 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., unless otherwise posted. 8000 Patterson Pass Road, Fremont. (510) 636-1684, (510) 795-9385, www.ebparks.org.< 

 

CRAB COVE VISITOR CENTER At Crab Cove, you can see live underwater creatures and go into the San Francisco Bay from land. You can also travel back in time to Alameda's part. The goal is to increase understanding of the environmental importance of San Francisco Bay and the ocean ecosystem. Crab Cove's Indoor Aquarium and Exhibit Lab is one of the largest indoor aquariums in the East Bay. 

SPECIAL EVENTS --  

"Catch of the Day," Sundays, 2-3 p.m. Drop by to find out more about the Bay and its wildlife through guided exploration and hands-on fun. 

"Sea Squirts," 10-11:30 a.m. and 11 a.m.-12:30 p.m. Discover the wonders of nature with your little one. Registration is required. $6-$8. 

"Sea Siblings," Tuesdays, 9:30 a.m. and 11 a.m. Explore the natural world and take part in a theme related craft. Designed for the 3-5 year old learner. Registration is required. $4. (888) 327-2757. 

"Nature by Parachute," June 6, 1-2 p.m. Explore nature in a whole new way, with parachute play. 

"Children's Storytime and Exploration," June 12, 9-10:30 a.m. Watch duckling, ladybug and crabs at the pond. 

Free unless otherwise noted; parking fee may be charged. 1252 McKay Ave., Alameda. (510) 521-6887, www.ebparks.org.< 

 

DUNSMUIR HOUSE AND GARDENS HISTORIC ESTATE Nestled in the Oakland hills, the 50-acre Dunsmuir House and Gardens estate includes the 37-room Neoclassical Revival Dunsmuir Mansion, built by coal and lumber baron Alexander Dunsmuir for his bride. Restored outbuildings set amid landscaped gardens surround the mansion.  

ESTATE GROUNDS -- Self-Guided Grounds Tours are available yearround. The 50 acres of gardens and grounds at the mansion are open to the public for walking Tuesday-Friday, 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Booklets and maps of the grounds are available at the Dinkelspiel House. Free.  

GUIDED TOURS -- Docent-led tours are available on the first Sunday of each month at 1 p.m. and 2 p.m. (except for July) and Wednesdays at 11 a.m. $5 adults, $4 seniors and juniors (11-16), children 11 and under free. 

Dunsmuir House and Gardens, 2960 Peralta Oaks Court, Oakland. (510) 615-5555, www.dunsmuir.org.< 

 

FIFTY-PLUS ADVENTURE WALKS AND RUNS The walks and runs are 3-mile round-trips, lasting about one hour on the trail. All levels of ability are welcome. The walks are brisk, however, and may include some uphill terrain. Events are held rain or shine and on all holidays except Christmas and the Fifty-Plus Annual Fitness Weekend. Call for dates, times and details. 

Free. (650) 323-6160, www.50plus.org.< 

 

FOREST HOME FARMS The 16-acre former farm of the Boone family is now a municipal historic park in San Ramon. It is located at the base of the East Bay Hills and is divided into two parts by Oak Creek. The Boone House is a 22-room Dutch colonial that has been remodeled several times since it was built in 1900. Also on the property are a barn built in the period from 1850 to 1860; the Victorian-style David Glass House, dating from the late 1860s to early 1870s; a storage structure for farm equipment and automobiles; and a walnut processing plant. 

Free unless otherwise noted. Public tours available by appointment. 19953 San Ramon Valley Blvd., San Ramon. (925) 973-3281, www.ci.sanramon. ca.us/parks/boone.htm.< 

 

GARIN AND DRY CREEK PIONEER REGIONAL PARKS Independent nature study is encouraged here, and guided interpretive programs are available through the Coyote Hills Regional Park Visitor Center in Fremont. The Garin Barn Visitor Center is open Saturday and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. In late summer, the Garin Apple Festival celebrates Garin's apple orchards. The parks also allow picnicking, hiking, horseback riding and fishing. 

Free; $5 parking fee per vehicle; $2 per dog. Daily, 5 a.m. to 10 p.m. 1320 Garin Ave., Hayward. (510) 562-PARK, (510) 795-9385, www.ebparks.org/parks/garin.htm.< 

 

GREENBELT ALLIANCE OUTINGS A series of hikes, bike rides and events sponsored by Greenbelt Alliance, the Bay Area's non-profit land conservation and urban planning organization. Call for meeting places. Reservations required for all trips.  

ALAMEDA COUNTY --  

"Self-Guided Urban Outing: Berkeley," This interactive smart growth walking tour of central Berkeley examines some of the exciting projects that help alleviate the housing shortage in the city as well as amenities important to making a livable community. The walk, which includes the GAIA Cultural Center, Allston Oak Court, The Berkeley Bike Station, University Terrace and Strawberry Creek Park, takes between an hour-and-ahalf to two hours at a leisurely pace. Download the itinerary which gives specific directions by entering www.greeenbelt.org and clicking on "get involved'' and then "urban outings.'' Drop down and click on Berkeley. Free. 

Free unless otherwise noted. (415) 255-3233, www.greenbelt.org.< 

 

HAYWARD REGIONAL SHORELINE With 1,682 acres of salt, fresh and brackish water marshes, seasonal wetlands and the approximately three-mile San Lorenzo Trail, the Hayward Shoreline restoration project is one of the largest of its kind on the West Coast, comprising 400 acres of marshland. Part of the East Bay Regional Park District. 

EVENTS --  

Free. Daily, 5 a.m. to 10 p.m. 3010 W. Winton Ave., Hayward. (510) 562-PARK, www.ebparks.org/parks/hayward.htm.< 

 

HAYWARD SHORELINE INTERPRETIVE CENTER Perched on stilts above a salt marsh, the Center offers an introduction to the San Francisco Bay-Estuary. It features exhibits, programs and activities designed to inspire a sense of appreciation, respect and stewardship for the Bay, its inhabitants and the services they provide. The Habitat Room offers a preview of what may be seen outside. The 80-gallon Bay Tank contains some of the fish that live in the Bay's open waters, and the Channel Tank represents habitats formed by the maze of sloughs and creeks that snake through the marsh. The main room of the Center features rotating exhibits about area history, plants and wildlife. Part of the Hayward Area Recreation and Park District.  

ONGOING EXHIBIT --  

"Exploring Nature," An exhibit of Shawn Gould's illustrations featuring images of the natural world. 

SPECIAL EVENTS --  

"Nature Detectives," 11 a.m.-noon. An introduction and exploration of the world of Black-Crowned Night-Herons. Ages 3-5 and their caregivers. Registration required. 

"Weekend Weed Warriors," 1-4 p.m. Help the shoreline to eliminate the non-native plants that threaten its diversity. Ages 12 and older. Registration required. 

"Waterfowl of the Freshwater Marsh," 10 a.m.-1 p.m. Join an expert birder to go "behind the gates'' to areas of the marsh that are not open to the public. 

Free. Saturday and Sunday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. 4901 Breakwater Ave., Hayward. (510) 670-7270, www.hard.dst.ca.us/hayshore.html.< 

 

JOHN MUIR NATIONAL HISTORIC SITE The site preserves the 1882 Muir House, a 17-room Victorian mansion where naturalist John Muir lived from 1890 to his death in 1914. It was here that Muir wrote about preserving America's wilderness and helped create the national parks idea for the United States. The house is situated on a hill overlooking the City of Martinez and surrounded by nine acres of vineyards and orchards. Take a self-guided tour of this well-known Scottish naturalist's home. Also part of the site is the historic Martinez Adobe and Mount Wanda.  

ONGOING EVENT --  

Public Tours of the John Muir House, Begin with an eight-minute park film and then take the tour. The film runs every 15 minutes throughout the day. Wednesday through Friday, 2 p.m.; Saturday and Sunday, 1 p.m., 2 p.m. and 3 p.m.  

MOUNT WANDA -- The mountain consists of 325 acres of grass and oak woodland historically owned by the Muir family. It offers a nature trail and several fire trails for hiking. Open daily, sunrise to sunset. 

JOHN MUIR HOUSE, Tours of this well-known Scottish naturalist's home are available. The house, built in 1882, is a 14-room Victorian home situated on a hill overlooking the city of Martinez and surrounded by nine acres of vineyards and orchards. It was here that Muir wrote about preserving America's wilderness and helped create the national parks idea for the United States. The park also includes the historic Vicente Martinez Adobe, built in 1849. An eight-minute film about Muir and the site is shown every 15 minutes throughout the day at the Visitor Center. Self guided tours of the Muir home, the surrounding orchards, and the Martinez Adobe: Wednesday-Sunday, 1 a.m.-5 p.m. Public tours or the first floor of the Muir home: Wednesday-Friday, 2 p.m.; Saturday-Sunday, 2 p.m. and 3 p.m. Reservations not required except for large groups.  

$3 general; free children ages 16 and under. Wednesday-Sunday, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. 4202 Alhambra Ave., Martinez. (925) 228-8860, www.nps.gov/jomu.< 

 

KENNEDY GROVE REGIONAL RECREATION AREA The 95-acre park contains picnic areas, horseshoe pits and volleyball courts among its grove of aromatic eucalyptus trees.  

$5 parking; $2 per dog except guide/service dogs Through September: daily, 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. San Pablo Dam Road, El Sobrante. (510) 223-7840, www.ebparks.org.< 

 

LAKE CHABOT REGIONAL PARK The 315-acre lake offers year-round recreation. Services include canoe and boat rental, horseshoe pits, hiking, bicycling, picnicking and seasonal tours aboard the Chabot Queen. For boat rentals, call (510) 247-2526. 

Free unless noted otherwise; $5 parking; $2 per dog except guide/service dogs. Daily, 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. 17930 Lake Chabot Road, Castro Valley. (510) 562-PARK, www.ebparks.org.< 

 

LINDSAY WILDLIFE MUSEUM This is the oldest and largest wildlife rehabilitation center in America, taking in 6,000 injured and orphaned animals yearly and returning 40 percent of them to the wild. The museum offers a wide range of educational programs using non-releasable wild animals to teach children and adults respect for the balance of nature. The museum includes a state-of-the art wildlife hospital which features a permanent exhibit, titled "Living with Nature,'' which houses 75 non-releasable wild animals in learning environments; a 5,000-square-foot Wildlife Hospital complete with treatment rooms, intensive care, quarantine and laboratory facilities; a 1-acre Nature Garden featuring the region's native landscaping and wildlife; and an "Especially For Children'' exhibit.  

WILDLIFE HOSPITAL -- September-March: 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. The hospital is open daily including holidays to receive injured and orphaned animals. There is no charge for treatment of native wild animals and there are no public viewing areas in the hospital. 

EXHIBITS --  

SPECIAL EVENTS --  

$5-$7; free children under age 2. Wednesdays-Sundays, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. 1931 First Ave., Walnut Creek. (925) 935-1978, www.wildlife-museum.org.< 

 

LIVERMORE AREA RECREATION AND PARK DISTRICT  

4444 East Ave., Livermore. (925) 373-5700, www.larpd.dst.ca.us/.< 

 

MARTIN LUTHER KING JR. SHORELINE This 1,200-acre park situated near Oakland International Airport offers picnic areas with barbecues and a boat launch ramp. Swimming is not allowed. The Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Grove, a group of trees surrounding a grassy glade, is at the intersection of Doolittle Drive and Swan Way. The area also includes the 50-acre Arrowhead Marsh (part of the Western Hemisphere Shorebird Reserve Network) and a Roger Berry sculpture titled "Duplex Cone,'' which traces the summer and winter solstice paths of the sun through the sky. 

Free. Daily, 5 a.m. to 10 p.m., unless otherwise posted Doolittle Drive and Swan Way, Oakland. (510) 562-PARK, Picnic reservations: (510) 636-1684, www.ebayparks.org.< 

 

MILLER-KNOX REGIONAL SHORELINE A 295-acre shoreline picnic area with a secluded cove and swimming beach, and a hilltop offering panoramic views of the north Bay Area. 

Free. Daily, 5 a.m. to 10 p.m., unless otherwise posted. 900 Dornan Dr., Richmond. (510) 562-PARK, Picnic Reservations: (510) 636-1684, www.ebparks.org.< 

 

MOUNT DIABLO STATE PARK The 3,849-foot summit of Mount Diablo offers great views of the Bay Area and an extensive trail system. Visitors to the park can hike, bike, ride on horseback and camp. Notable park attractions include: The Fire Interpretive Trail, Rock City, Boy Scout Rocks and Sentinel Rock, Fossil Ridge, Deer Flat, Mitchell Canyon Staging Area, Diablo Valley Overlook, the Summit Visitor Center (open Wednesday through Sunday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.), the Art Gallery, the Observation Deck and the Mitchell Canyon Interpretive Center. 

Free. $6 per vehicle park-entrance fee; $5 for seniors. Daily, 8 a.m. to sunset. Mount Diablo Scenic Boulevard, from the Diablo Road exit off Interstate Highway 680, Danville. (925) 837-2525, www.mdia.org or www.parks.ca.gov.< 

 

OAKLAND ZOO The zoo includes a Children's Petting Zoo, the Skyride, a miniature train, a carousel, picnic grounds and a gift shop as well as the animals in site specific exhibits, which allow them to roam freely. Included are "The African Savanna,'' with its two huge mixed-animal aviaries and 11 African Savanna exhibits; the Mahali Pa Tembo (Place of the Elephant), with giraffes, chimpanzees and more than 330 other animals from around the world; "Simba Pori,'' Swahili for "Lion Country,'' a spacious 1.5-acre habitat offering both a savanna and woodland setting for African lions; "Footprints from the Past,'' an anthropology exhibit showcasing four million years of human evolution and an actual "footpath'' of the first hominids to emerge from the African savanna; "Sun Bear Exhibit,'' a stateof-the-art space the zoo has developed for its two sun bears; and Siamang Island, a state-of-the-art, barrier-free area that emulates the gibbons' native tropical rain forest habitat. Also see the Malayan Fruit Bats from the Lubee Bat Conservancy in Florida that are now roosting in trees at the zoo. In addition there are special exhibits and events monthly.  

ONGOING EXHIBITS --  

"Valley Children's Zoo," The three-acre attraction offers a completely interactive experience for both children and adults. The exhibits include lemurs, giant fruit bats, otters, reptiles, insects and more. Daily, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.  

"Endangered Species," An exhibit of photographs about the most endangered animals on the Earth and what can be done to save them. At the Education Center. Open daily during zoo hours. ONGOING EVENTS --  

"Valley Children's Zoo," Daily, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. The three-acre attraction will offer a completely interactive experience for both children and adults. The exhibits include lemurs, giant fruit bats, otters, reptiles, insects and more. Free with regular Zoo admission.  

"Wildlife Theater," Saturday, 11:45 a.m.; Sunday, 1:45 p.m. On Saturday mornings listen to a story and meet a live animal. On Sunday afternoon meet live animals and learn cool facts about them. Meet in the Lobby of the Zoo's Maddie's Center for Science and Environmental Education. Free with regular Zoo admission. (510) 632-9525, ext. 142. 

SPECIAL EVENTS --  

$7.50-11; free children under age 2; $6 parking fee. Daily, 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Knowland Park, 9777 Golf Links Road, Oakland. (510) 632-9525, www.oaklandzoo.org.< 

 

PLEASANTON RIDGE REGIONAL PARK This 3,163-acre parkland is on the oak-covered ridge overlooking Pleasanton and the Livermore Valley from the west. A multi-purpose trail system accommodates hikers, equestrians and bicyclists. 

Free. Daily, 5 a.m. to 10 p.m. Foothill Road, Pleasanton. (510) 562-PARK, www.ebparks.org.< 

 

POINT PINOLE REGIONAL SHORELINE The 2,315-acre parkland bordering Pinole, Richmond and San Pablo offers views of Mount Tamalpais, the Marin shoreline and San Pablo Bay. There are trails through meadows and woods, and along the bluffs and beaches of San Pablo Bay. Visitors can hike, ride bikes or take the park's shuttle bus to reach the 1,250-foot fishing pier at Point Pinole. 

$5 per vehicle; $4 per trailered vehicle; $2 per dog (guide/service dogs free). Daily, 5 a.m. to 10 p.m., unless otherwise posted. Giant Highway, Richmond. (510) 562-PARK, www.ebparks.org.< 

 

REI BERKELEY A series of lectures on hikes and outdoor equipment. 

"Hiking the John Muir Trail," June 8, 7 p.m. Join backpackers Phil Kohlmetz and Shawn Lum for slides and highlights of their 32-day adventure hiking this trail.  

"Free Hands-on Bicycle Classes," June 13 and June 27, 11 a.m.-noon. Join an REI bike technician to learn how to keep your bike in top condition.  

Events are free and begin at 7 p.m. unless otherwise noted. 1338 San Pablo Ave., Berkeley. (510) 527-4140.< 

 

ROBERT SIBLEY VOLCANIC REGIONAL PRESERVE East Bay residents have several volcanoes in their backyard. This park contains Round Top, one of the highest peaks in the Oakland Hills. 

Free. Daily, 5 a.m. to 10 p.m. 6800 Skyline Blvd., Oakland. (510) 562-PARK, www.ebparks.org.< 

 

RUTH BANCROFT GARDEN One of America's finest private gardens, the Ruth Bancroft Garden displays 2,000 specimens from around the world that thrive in an arid climate. Included are African and Mexican succulents, New World cacti, Australian and Chilean trees, and shrubs from California. 

DOCENT TOUR SCHEDULE -- Saturdays, 10 a.m. Docent-led tours last approximately an hour and a half. Plant sales follow the tour. By reservation only. $7; free children under age 12.  

SELF-GUIDED TOURS -- Monday-Thursday, 9:30 a.m.-noon; Friday, 9:30 a.m.; Saturday, 9:30 a.m. and 5 p.m.; Sunday, 5 p.m. Self-guided tours last two hours. No reservations required for weekday tours; reservations required for Friday and Saturday tours. Plant sales follow the tours. $7; free children under age 12.  

Gardens open only for tours and special events listed on the garden's telephone information line. 1500 Bancroft Road, Walnut Creek. (925) 210-9663, www.ruthbancroftgarden.org.< 

 

SHADOW CLIFFS REGIONAL RECREATION AREA The 296-acre park includes an 80-acre lake and a four-flume waterslide, with picnic grounds and a swimming beach. Water slide fees and hours: (925) 829-6230. 

$6 per vehicle; $2 per dog except guide and service dogs. May 1 through Labor Day: daily, 6 a.m. to 9 p.m.; shortened hours for fall and winter. Stanley Boulevard, one mile from downtown, Pleasanton. (510) 562-PARK, www.ebparks.org.< 

 

SULPHUR CREEK NATURE CENTER A wildlife rehabilitation and education facility where injured and orphaned local wild creatures are rehabilitated and released when possible. There is also a lending library of animals such as guinea pigs, rats, mice and more. The lending fee is $8 per week.  

ONGOING EVENTS --  

"Toddler Time," Learn about animals by listening to stories and exploring. Themes vary by month. Call for schedule. $7 per family.  

"Day on the Green Animal Presentations," Meet an assortment of wild and domestic animals. Wildlife volunteers will present a different animal each day from possums to snakes, tortoises to hawks. Saturday and Sunday, 2:30 p.m. 

CHILDREN'S EVENTS --  

Free. Park: Tuesday-Sunday, 10 a.m.-5 p.m.; Discovery Center: Tuesday-Saturday, 10 a.m.-4:30 p.m.; Animal Lending Library: Saturday-Sunday, 10 a.m.-3 p.m.; Wildlife Rehabilitation Center: daily, 10 a.m.-4:30 p.m. 1801 D St., Hayward. (510) 881-6747, www.haywardrec.org/sulphur_creek.html.< 

 

SUNOL REGIONAL WILDERNESS This park is full of scenic and natural wonders. You can hike the Ohlone Wilderness trail or Little Yosemite. There are bedrock mortars that were used by Native Americans, who were Sunol's first inhabitants. 

SPECIAL EVENTS --  

"Sunol Sunday Hike," Sundays, 1:30-3 p.m. A natural history walk in Sunol Regional Wilderness. 

"Sunol Sunday Hike," Sundays, 1:30-3 p.m. A natural history walk in the wilderness. 

"Atlatl and Dart Making Workshop," June 13, 9 a.m.-2 p.m. Learn about the history of dart-throwing in hunting. 

Free unless otherwise noted; $5 parking; $2 dog fee. Geary Road off Calaveras Road, six miles south of Interstate Highway 680, Sunol. (510) 652-PARK, www.ebparks.org.< 

 

TILDEN REGIONAL PARK This park is large and contains hiking trails, a golf course, a miniature scaled train to ride, The Brazilian Building and picnic areas. 

SPECIAL EVENTS --  

"Toddlers and Friends," June 6, 10:30-11:30 a.m. Toddlers caan explore the meadows, ponds and trails in the Nature Area. 

"Sushi Basics Workshop," June 13, 11:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m. Learn the natural and cultural history of this cuisine and prepare and taste seven basic types of sushi. $29-$39. 

Free unless otherwise noted. Daily, 5 a.m. to 10 p.m. Entrances off Wildcat Canyon Road and Grizzly Peak Boulevard, Berkeley. (510) 525-2233, www.ebparks.org.<

ASHKENAZ Balkan Folkdance, June 9, 8 p.m. $7. 1317 San Pablo Ave., Berkeley. (510) 525-5054, www.ashkenaz.com.< 

ELKS LODGE, ALAMEDA "All You Can Dance Sunday Socials," Sunday, 4-6 p.m. Marilyn Bowe and Robert Henneg presents monthly socials with ballroom, swing, Latin and rock & roll themes. www.dancewithme.info. 2255 Santa Clara Ave., Alameda. (510) 864-2256.< 

JACK LONDON SQUARE "Dancing Under the Stars," June 4 and June 11, 8:30-10 p.m. The Linden Street Dance Studio provides free dance lessons to all at the foot of Broadway. Foot of Broadway, Oakland. (866) 295-9853, www.jacklondonsquare.com.< 

LA PENA CULTURAL CENTER "The Rebirth," June 7, 8-10 p.m. Participate in this street dance event. Free. 3105 Shattuck Ave., Berkeley. (510) 849-2568, www.lapena.org.< 

SHATTUCK DOWN LOW "Live Salsa," Wednesdays. An evening of dancing to the music of a live salsa band. Salsa dance lesson from 8:30-9:30 p.m. $5-$10. For ages 21 and older. 2284 Shattuck Ave., Berkeley. (510) 548-1159, www.shattuckdownlow.com.< 

STARRY PLOUGH PUB "Ceili and Dance," Traditional Irish music and dance. The evening begins with a dance lesson at 7 p.m. followed by music at 9 p.m. Mondays, 7 p.m. Free. For ages 21 and over unless otherwise noted. Sunday and Wednesday, 8 p.m.; Thursday-Saturday, 9:30 p.m. unless otherwise noted. 3101 Shattuck Ave., Berkeley. (510) 841-2082, www.starryploughpub.com.<

"CHOCOLATE AND CHALK ART FESTIVAL," -- June 5. The sidewalks along North Shattuck Ave. in the Gourmet Ghetto neighborhood in Berkeley will host artists young and old, professional and greenhorn at this annual event, including a chalk art contest judged at 4 p.m. with prizes up to $250, chocolate sampling and more. 

10 a.m.-5 p.m.(510) 548-5335, www.chocolateandchalkart.com.< 

"TEMESCAL STREET FAIR," -- June 6. Enjoy food and drinks from Lanesplitter Pizza and Pub, La Calaca Loca Taqueria, Bakesale Betty, The Avenue, Barlata, Sr24 and much more. Event also features fine crafts and community booths. Event takes place on Telegraph Avenue in Oakland between 45th and 51st Streets. 

Noon-6 p.m.(510) 860-7327, www.temescaldistrict.org.< 

 

ASHKENAZ  

"I Like My Bike Night," First Friday of the month, 9 p.m. This monthly series brings bicycle innovators, enthusiasts, artists and organizations together under one roof, as well as encourages regular Ashkenaz show-goers to leave their cars in the driveway and arrive at the venue by bicycle instead. $8-$25.  

1317 San Pablo Ave., Berkeley. (510) 525-5054, www.ashkenaz.com.< 

 

AUCTIONS BY THE BAY  

"ArtiFacts: A Lecture Series for Collectors," Guest curators, scholars and conservation experts from throughout the Bay Area discuss the art of collecting. First Sunday of every month, 3 p.m. $7.  

Auctions by the Bay Theater-Auction House, 2700 Saratoga St., Alameda. (510) 835-6187, www.auctionsbythebay.com.< 

 

BAY AREA FREE BOOK EXCHANGE  

"Free Books," Saturday and Sunday, 9 a.m.-6 p.m. Donate your unwanted books and receive new titles for free.  

10520 San Pablo Ave., El Cerrito. (510) 526-1941, www.bayareafreebookexchange.com.< 

 

CALIFORNIA GENEALOGICAL SOCIETY AND LIBRARY  

"California Genealogical Society and Library Free First Saturday," 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Event takes place on the first Saturday of every month, 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Trace and compile your family history at this month's open house event. Free. www.calgensoc.org. 

2201 Broadway, Suite LL2, Oakland. (510) 663-1358.< 

 

CALIFORNIA HISTORICAL SOCIETY  

HISTORY WALKABOUTS -- A series of walking tours that explore the history, lore and architecture of California with veteran tour guide Gary Holloway. Walks are given on specific weekends. There is a different meeting place for each weekend and walks take place rain or shine so dress for the weather. Reservations and prepayment required. Meeting place will be given with confirmation of tour reservation. Call for details.  

678 Mission St., San Francisco. (415) 357-1848, www.californiahistoricalsociety.org.< 

 

CHABOT SPACE AND SCIENCE CENTER State-of-the-art facility unifying science education activities around astronomy. Enjoy interactive exhibits, hands-on activities, indoor stargazing, outdoor telescope viewing and films. 

Center Admission: $10.95-$14.95; free children under 3; Movies and evening planetarium shows: $6-$8. Telescope viewing only: free. Wednesday-Thursday, 10 a.m.-5 p.m.; Friday-Saturday, 10 a.m.-10 p.m.; Sunday, 11 a.m.-5 p.m.; Also open on Tuesdays 10 a.m.-5 p.m. after June 29. 10000 Skyline Blvd., Oakland. (510) 336-7300, www.chabotspace.org.< 

 

DUNSMUIR HOUSE AND GARDENS HISTORIC ESTATE Nestled in the Oakland hills, the 50-acre Dunsmuir House and Gardens estate includes the 37-room Neoclassical Revival Dunsmuir Mansion, built by coal and lumber baron Alexander Dunsmuir for his bride. Restored outbuildings set amid landscaped gardens surround the mansion.  

ESTATE GROUNDS -- Self-Guided Grounds Tours are available yearround. The 50 acres of gardens and grounds at the mansion are open to the public for walking Tuesday-Friday, 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Booklets and maps of the grounds are available at the Dinkelspiel House. Free.  

GUIDED TOURS -- Docent-led tours are available on the first Sunday of each month at 1 p.m. and 2 p.m. (except for July) and Wednesdays at 11 a.m. $5 adults, $4 seniors and juniors (11-16), children 11 and under free. 

Dunsmuir House and Gardens, 2960 Peralta Oaks Court, Oakland. (510) 615-5555, www.dunsmuir.org.< 

 

FRANK OGAWA PLAZA  

"Oakland Artisan Marketplace," Fridays, 10 a.m.-4 p.m. The City of Oakland and Cultural Arts & Marketing Department presents a weekly market featuring fine arts and crafts of local artists. Free. (510) 238-4948, www.oaklandartisanmarketplace.org. 

14th Street and Broadway, Oakland. < 

 

GAIA ARTS CENTER  

"Superfest International Disability Film Festival," June 4 through June 5, Friday, 11 a.m.-5 p.m.; Saturday, noon-5 p.m. Event shines a spotlight on 13 remarkable films in this two-day festival celebrating disability culture. $5-$20. www.culturedisabilitytalent.org/superfest/index.html. 

2120 Allston Way, Berkeley. < 

 

JACK LONDON AQUATIC CENTER  

"Oakland Artisan Marketplace,"' Saturdays, 11 a.m.-6 p.m.; Sundays, 10 a.m.-4 p.m. The City of Oakland and Cultural Arts & Marketing Department presents a weekly market featuring fine arts and crafts of local artists. Free. (510) 238-4948, www.oaklandartisanmarketplace.org. 

115 Embarcadero, Oakland. < 

 

JACK LONDON SQUARE  

"Dancing Under the Stars," June 4 and June 11, 8:30-10 p.m. The Linden Street Dance Studio provides free dance lessons to all at the foot of Broadway.  

"East Bay Open Studio," June 5 through June 6 and June 12 through June 6, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. The Pavilion Building hosts over 35 local artists presenting their work.  

"Pacific Coast Farmers' Market Cooking Demonstration," June 6, 11:30 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. Join Chef Sim Peyron for a cooking demonstration that utilizes fresh seasonal ingredients that can be purchased from local farmers.  

"Dog Days of Summer," June 13, 10 a.m.-3 p.m. Take your dog for a walk and join the Oakland SPCA in getting a photographic portrait of your pet.  

Foot of Broadway, Oakland. (866) 295-9853, www.jacklondonsquare.com.< 

 

LA PENA CULTURAL CENTER  

"Like Brand New: La Pena Celebrates its 35th Anniversary," June 5, Noon-6 p.m. Celebrate with this street carnival and fair at Prince and Shattuck streets. Free.  

"Sounds of A New Hope," June 10, 8 p.m. FIST UP Film Fest presents a documentary film about the life of Filipino-American MC Kiwi. $5.  

"Trust Your Struggle Collective, World Bridges, and ALAY," June 11, 8 p.m. Event features music, art, photography, food and live silk-screening. $10.  

3105 Shattuck Ave., Berkeley. (510) 849-2568, www.lapena.org.< 

 

LAFAYETTE VETERAN'S MEMORIAL HALL  

"Governing According to Garamendi," June 7, 6:30 p.m. Meet California's newest face in Congress. $7-$22. www.commonwealthclub.org. 

3780 Mt. Diablo Blvd., Lafayette. < 

 

LAWRENCE HALL OF SCIENCE  

$6-$12; free children ages 2 and under. Daily, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. University of California, Centennial Drive, Berkeley. (510) 642-5132, www.lawrencehallofscience.org.< 

 

LIVE OAK PARK  

"Live Oak Park Fair," June 12 through June 13, 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Event features over 100 premier artists and crafts people showcasing contemporary art, fine crafts, handcrafted jewelry and accessories, couture clothing, handmade quilts and baskets and more. Free. (510) 227-7110, www.liveoakparkfair.com. 

1300 Shattuck Ave., Berkeley. < 

 

OAKLAND ASIAN CULTURAL CENTER  

"Asian Pacific American Heritage Festival 2010," through June 5. Event features culinary workshops, a film screening, a literary night and jazz performances. See website for full line up, times and more. $8-$20.  

Free. Monday-Friday, 10 a.m.-5 p.m.; Saturday, 11 a.m.-4 p.m. Pacific Renaissance Plaza, 388 Ninth St., Suite 290, Oakland. (510) 637-0455, www.oacc.cc.< 

 

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, BERKELEY PACIFIC FILM ARCHIVE Exploring cinema from the Bay Area and cultures around the world, the Pacific Film Archive offers daily film screenings, including rare and rediscovered prints of movie classics; new and historic works by world famous directors; restored silent films with live musical accompaniment; retrospectives; and new and experimental works. Check Web site for a full schedule of films.  

"First Impressions: Free First Thursdays," first Thursday of every month. Special tours and movie presentations. Admission is free. 

Single feature: $5-$8; Double feature: $9-$12 general. PFA Theater, 2575 Bancroft Way, Berkeley. (510) 642-5249, www.bampfa.berkeley.edu.< 

 

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, BERKELEY, MORRISON LIBRARY  

"Lunch Poems," First Thursday of the month, 12:10-12:50 p.m.  

 

2600 Bancroft Way, Berkeley. (510) 642-3671.< 

 

USS HORNET MUSEUM Come aboard this World War II aircraft carrier that has been converted into a floating museum. The Hornet, launched in 1943, is 899 feet long and 27 stories high. During World War II she was never hit by an enemy strike or plane and holds the Navy record for number of enemy planes shot down in a week. In 1969 the Hornet recovered the Apollo 11 space capsule containing the first men to walk on the moon, and later recovered Apollo 12. In 1991 the Hornet was designated a National Historic Landmark and is now docked at the same pier she sailed from in 1944. Today, visitors can tour the massive ship, view World War II-era warplanes and experience a simulated aircraft launch from the carrier's deck. Exhibits are being added on an ongoing basis. Allow two to three hours for a visit. Wear comfortable shoes and be prepared to climb steep stairs or ladders. Dress in layers as the ship can be cold. Arrive no later than 2 p.m. to sign up for the engine room and other docent-led tours. Children under age 12 are not allowed in the Engine Room or the Combat Information Center.  

$6-$14; free children age 4 and under with a paying adult. Daily, 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Pier 3 (enter on Atlantic Avenue), Alameda Point, Alameda. (510) 521-8448, www.uss-hornet.org.<

The film on Doctors without Borders will be playing at the Rialto Elmwood in Berkeley and the Opera Plaza in San Francisco, opening on June 4. 

A warning: After seeing “Living in Emergency” — Mark Hopkins’ sweeping and intimate look inside the world of Médicine Sans Frontieres (“Doctors Without Borders”) — the first thing I did was write MSF a $100 check. You may feel similarly moved. 

MSF, a 40-year-old organization that supports 27,000 volunteers in more than 60 countries, won the 1999 Nobel Peace Prize for bringing comfort to the victims of war in some of the world’s most desolate and dangerous places. While most volunteers are local, around 10% of MSF volunteers are professional practitioners who hail from Europe, Asia and the Americas. This riveting 93-minute film follows four international volunteers as they deal with the challenges of trying to save lives in war-ravaged Congo and post-war Liberia. 

Filmed over the course of two years in Liberia, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Pakistan, Niger, Kenya, Canada, the US and the MSF headquarters in Paris, the film was intended, in the director’s words, to “explore the limits of idealism” by “immers[ing] people in the MSF experience.” One of the film’s most striking images is the sign outside Monrovia’s Mamba Point Hospital that reads: “Free Hospital Care.” While the US still debates universal health care, free life-saving surgeries are available in the capital city one of Africa’s poorest countries — thanks to the volunteers of MSF. 

Dr. Chris Brashiers — a charismatic original with a pierced eyebrow and mannerisms reminiscent of George Clooney and Mel Gibson — has seen a lot during his tours with MSF. On his latest return to Liberia, the camera captures his response as his car rolls down the streets of Monrovia: “It’s nice not seeing anyone with guns,” he marvels. Brashier, an Australian now based in France, describes his discovery that “sometimes when people are poor, they’re more human.” Having experienced several life-changing MSF tours, Brashier ow finds it difficult to live in a European city where people seem to be acting out shallow, fictional masquerades instead of living anything like a real existence. “Most people in the world have a difficult time getting through the day, the week, a year,” Brashier says. “I wouldn’t have known that. Now I know.” 

There are graphic moments that go far beyond anything you may have experienced on an episode of “ER.” Amputations. A child with a head horribly disfigured by a mysterious swelling. A man whose intestines have exploded from his belly moaning as an MSF doctor, working by the flashlight, slowly massages the errant organs back inside the man’s body. 

There are apocalyptic scenes of young Congolese men waving machetes and prancing down the street holding assault rifles like dancing partners as they pop off rounds. And there are the inevitable scenes of the aftermath — a father whose ear has been shorn off by the bullet that entered his head (the doctors save his life) and the frightened boy whose arm has been nearly ripped off by a bullet (he is bandaged and comforted; his arm saved). 

The doctors are committed, exhausted, resigned, sardonic and as riveting to watch as any A-list Hollywood actor. In a world of abiding stress and anguish, small affronts and petty squabbles can flare into resentment. Chiara Lepora, a beaming, hard-charging Italian doctor and Head of Mission flies into troublespots in an attempt to solve personal disputes and winds up burying her face in her hands as personal critiques erupt into accusations and insults. “Anger and frustration are part of the process,” she observes, but it’s useless to get mad at each other: “We need to get mad at war.”  

One prevailing problem is the angst of trying to do more with always limited resources. Lepora sums up the anger and frustration of Davindra Gill, a young doctor doing his first (and probably his last) MSF stint in Liberia. She compares Gill to Col. Kurtz in Joseph Conrad’s “Heart of Darkness” and concludes: “If you put a reasonable person in an unreasonable situation, becoming crazy is the most reasonable thing you can do.” 

Liberia is bad, Lepora says, but the West Point district of the capital, is “catastrophic” (a fact the camera crew confirms with stark, gritty imagery). Still, she confesses, “not to intervene would be a criminal mistake.” Becoming a MSF volunteer comes with the baggage of tough choices, the main one being that “you can’t help everyone.” Lepora, who initially seems the most indomitable spirit in the film, begins to crack and fray. Her always-smiling face is suddenly wracked by the tremors of suppressed emotion as she struggles to explain the “nonsense” of trying to leave the battlefronts and return to another life, still knowing that “there is something that needs to be done and you aren’t there to be doing it.” “The Congo is a car crash,” she says with a tearful smile. “And there are car crashes everywhere.” 

Some of the four doctors will go on to other tours. Some will quit after their first experience. One of those who will return is Tom Krueger, a surgeon from Tennessee who calls his volunteering “a selfish thing.” He explains his discovery that “fixing other people is a way of fixing myself. I can’t fix the world but I can find a broken person and put them back together. That’s something.” 

At the end of Lepora’s tour, the community gathers to say goodbye. One young man, noting MSF’s limitations, warns against depending on “expatriates” because they will always leave you: they never choose to stay. “But MSF is not about individuals,” he adds. “It is about everyone. The work will go on.” 

Readers of this week's Online Planet will find a brand new, and we hope stimulating, feature "Don't Miss This," a list of especially interesting cultural, political and community events in the Bay Area. Given that "June is Busting Out All Over", listing announcements for the coming month is a daunting task. Herewith are just a few of the attractions available in June: 

"1001", a new play by Jason Grote, Berkeley City Club, 2315 Durant Avenue. Now through June 20. 

Chanticleer: "For the Soul's Salvation: Music for England's Monarchs." June 2nd, 8:00 p.m. First Congregational Church, Berkeley 

Berkeley World Music Festival, People's Park, Berkeley, June 5th, Noon - 9:00 p.m. 

"Actors Reading Writers", Local actors reading short stories, directed by Rica Anderson and Thomas Lynch, Berkeley City Club, Monday, June 7th, 7:30 p.m. Free, but donations welcome. 

East Bay Chapter of the Great War Society monthly meeting, Saturday, June 12th at 10:30 a.m., Albany Veteran's Hall, 

1325 Portland Avenue. Topic: World War I. 

"Walk Like MADD," Mothers Against Drunk Driving, Saturday, June 5th, 8:00 a.m., Lake Merritt, 666 Bellevue Avenue, Oakland 

Live Oak Fair, Live Oak Park, 1301 Shattuck Avenue, Berkeley, June 12th & 13th, 10:00 to 6 p.m. 

Summer Sounds, Free Outdoor Concerts every Wednesday, 12 - 1 p.m., Oakland City Center Plaza Stage 

 

 

Again, this is just a sampling of all that's going on in June. We trust you'll find some of the above events to your liking.