News

A federal appeals court in San Francisco has granted a stay that will block gay and lesbian couples from getting married until at least December while a case that challenges California's ban on same-sex marriage moves forward. -more-

The University of California at Berkeley has been forced, by the California Department of Public Health, to abandon significant portions of its “Bring Your Genes to Cal” orientation program for incoming freshmen. The Department of Health informed UC Berkeley that major aspects of the orientation program – described as an “experiment” by the university – are unlawful. Today the university announced significant changes to the program to comply with the state’s demands – although questions remain concerning the program. -more-

The California Department of Public Health has instructed the University of California, Berkeley, not to proceed with a portion of its ground-breaking program to educate students about genetic testing and personalized medicine. -more-

The United Auto Workers (UAW) and the University of California today jointly announced that UC postdoctoral scholars voted to ratify their first union contract. The Union announced that postdocs approved the contract by an overwhelming vote of 2588 to 121, or 96 percent in favor, in balloting that concluded Aug. 11. The postdocs’ union, Postdoctoral Researchers Organize/UAW, and UC reached a tentative agreement on July 31, 2010. -more-

Friday was the last day for candidates for Berkeley city offices to file the requisite paperwork to appear on the November ballot. -more-

Clean-tech firms seek to reuse a variety of rare, potentially toxic materials. New businesses emerge as manufacturers prepare for modules' end of life. -more-

Berkeley has one new historic landmark—a 127 year old Victorian house familiar to those who travel through the central part of town—as the result of efforts of a neighborhood history group and favorable action at the August 5, 2010, regular meeting of the Landmarks Preservation Commission. -more-

Public officials switched on a 50-foot long, 130-ton tunnel-boring machine today and made the first grinding cuts into a retaining wall that will eventually become the fourth bore of the Caldecott Tunnel, project spokesman Jeff Weiss said today. -more-

Other Change of Hobbit, Berkeley's pioneering science fiction-fantasy bookstore, now in spacious new digs at 3264 Adeline Street, between Harmon and Alcatraz, near popular destinations like The Vault and Sweet Adeline's, has been forced to contemplate the future—the near future—and survival in a gloomy economy. -more-

Dear Friends-

Over the past year and a half as your Councilmember, I have been an independent voice on the Berkeley City Council, fighting for District 4 and continuing Dona Spring’s legacy of progressive leadership. -more-

State Senator Loni Hancock, Assemblymember Nancy Skinner and Berkeley Mayor Tom Bates have all joined in endorsing Josh Daniels as a consensus choice in the Berkeley School Board race. -more-