Opinion

Last Thursday night we were sorry to learn that Berkeley’s beloved Pat Cody, who founded Cody’s Books along with her late husband Fred, had died at 5:30 that evening, with her children at her side. We put a brief version of these comments on line on Friday, and Pat’s son Anthony Cody sent us an obituary which we published. We asked friends and admirers to send along their reminiscences of Pat, and since then we have been hearing about the mark she left on the world from some of the many people whose lives she touched. -more-

Last night (Tuesday, October 5) a League of Woman Voters debate on Measure R, on the Berkeley ballot in the upcoming election, served as the arena for dramatic revelations about the financial muscle behind the advisory ballot measure which purports to give citizens the opportunity to endorse their mayor’s “green vision” for downtown development.

As they say in clichéd movies about investigative reporting, all you have to do is “follow the money.” Measure R opponents, including anti-R debaters Councilmember Jesse Arreguin and Planning Commissioner Patti Dacey, showed up clutching the hot-off-the-internet documentation of California Form 460, the Campaign Disclosure Statement, which was made available only yesterday. .

It revealed that the “Berkeley Alliance for Progress – Yes on Measure R” committee has raised $32,450 so far, of which by far the greatest percentage,$25,000, came from—wait for it—billionaire Sam Zell’s Equity Residential Corporation. .

Yes, that Sam Zell. The same one who bought the L.A Times and the Chicago Tribune and sucked them dry, ran them into bankruptcy. -more-

UC-BP opens a new raptor- and bat-free hall? (From Richard Brenneman's Blog)

UC Berkeley, which bill’s itself as The Nation’s Finest Public Research University™, is opening a new center, and they promise it’s free of bats and raptors.

But there’s at least one old bat who’ll be on hand for it’s dedication today, former Reagan Secretary of State and military/industrial entrepeneur George Shultz, and as for the raptors, what about the center’s namesake, UC Regent Richard Blum, whose been steadily feasting off the carcass of America’s dying public universities for years? -more-

Whitman Deceives -more-

The Reader Commentary from Cathy Campbell, Karen Hemphill, William Huyett and Eric Weaver carefully avoids any discussion of the Bond Authorization limit of $210 million for Measure I. In 2000 we voted for a $116.5 Bond Issue which promised new classrooms at Berkeley High as the highest priority. In the ensuing 10 years no new classrooms were built. Instead, the money was spent on a $10 million bus and transportation center, and another $10+ million will be spent on a new "high school stadium under construction". Neither the transportation center nor the Stadium (also called Field House in recent BUSD literature) were mentioned in the 2000 Measure AA voter's manual. -more-

With sample ballots and election materials landing in mailboxes, we want to tell Berkeleyans why we are voting “Yes” on Measures H & I and, why we encourage all residents to join us to protect our community’s investments in our schools and to build for the future. -more-

Latest issue of the Pepper Spray Times. -more-