News

The Downtown Berkeley Association has sent out this press release alerting supporters (and opponents?) to call the KQED Forum radio program regarding Measure S, which the DBA supports. -more-

The U.S. Navy's Blue Angels will be roaring over parts of the Bay Area starting this afternoon as San Francisco Fleet Week gets under way. -more-

A politically motivated and almost universally discredited "push" poll almost sucked the juice out of the ASUC's nearly unanimous vote to oppose Measure S, Berkeley Mayor Tom Bates' anti-sitting law October 3rd, 2012, at the ASUC Senate meeting in Eshelman Hall. -more-

If you are watching the presidential debate at home today, and wishing it were that easy to see the candidates for mayor of Berkeley (surely you are), here's your big chance.

See five candidates in a face-to-face showdown, courtesy of the Gray Panthers and Paul Kealoha Blake.

Warning: each part is about an hour long, so it will take a few minutes to load. -more-

A three-alarm fire at a Berkeley home this morning displaced a family of five, a deputy fire chief said. -more-

Santa Monica, CA -- On Friday, September 28 the California State Park and Recreation Commission voted unanimously to rename Eastshore State Park as McLaughlin Eastshore State Park in honor of San Francisco Bay champion Sylvia McLaughlin. -more-

On the eve of President Barack Obama's 20th wedding anniversary, opponents of a ballot measure that would prohibit sitting on sidewalks in commercial areas of Berkeley are holding a curb-sit and kiss-in tonight, according to organizers. -more-

A seagull is being blamed for causing a high-voltage power line to fall in a Berkeley neighborhood this morning, sparking a fire that spread to a home, a Berkeley fire official said. -more-

Thousands of PG&E customers in Berkeley lost power tonight, a PG&E spokeswoman said. -more-

[Editor's update: A Planet reader called and asked what "BCA" stands for. A fair question-- oldtimers know, but most of our readers probably don't. It's "Berkeley Citizens' Action", Berkeley's seminal and still most prestigious progressive organization, which started in the early 1970s.]

BCA members met today and determined their endorsements on Measures and Propositions. Here are the results:

Berkeley Measures
Measure M – Repair Streets and Watershed YES
Measure N – Rebuild Willard and Warm Pools YES
Measure O – Maintain and Operate New Pools YES
Measure P – Continue to fund Parks, Libraries & Emerg. Svcs YES
Measure Q – Utility Users Tax YES
Measure R – Redistricting NO
Measure S – Sit/Lie NO
Measure T – West Berkeley Plan NO
Measure U – Sunshine Ordinance NO
Measure V – FACTS Initiative YES

Alameda County Measures
Measure A1 - Oakland Zoo NO ENDORSEMENT
Measure B1 - Transportation Sales Tax YES

State Propositions
Proposition 30 - Jerry Brown’s Tax Increase YES
Proposition 31 - Austerity Budget NO
Proposition 32 - Censors Unions & Workers NO
Proposition 33 - Auto Insurance Scam NO
Proposition 34 - End the Death Penalty YES
Proposition 35 - Attempts to Control Human Trafficking & Sex Slavery NO ENDORSEMENT
Proposition 36 - Revise “Three Strikes” Law YES
Proposition 37 - Label (GMO) Genetically Engineered Foods YES
Proposition 38 - Molly Munger’s State Income Tax NO
Proposition 39 - Income Tax Increase for Multi-state Businesses YES
Proposition 40 - Referendum on State Senate Redistricting Plan YES -more-

This November Berkeley will use Ranked Choice Voting (RCV) to elect city council members and, for the first time, the mayor. RCV is actually not a novel idea. A click on Wikipedia's entry for “instant runoff voting” (another name for the system) shows that RCV is used all over the world as well as in a number of U.S. cities. It is designed to do just what "instant runoff" implies: simulate a runoff between the top candidates if no candidate achieves a first round majority.

This is clearly a big saving in money and resources. It ensures that we can elect our leaders in the high turnout presidential election, so candidates don't have to raise and spend money in two separate elections. Berkeley voters cast RCV ballots for councilmembers in 2010, and seemed to use them very effectively.

Instead of having one column listing all the candidates for each office, there will be three separate columns, headed First Choice, Second Choice, Third Choice. Each column will have the identical list of candidates and divided arrows next to each candidate’s name. The voter marks his or her first choice by connecting the arrow associated with that candidate in column one, then a second choice in column two and third choice in column three.Casting a vote is that simple. -more-

Four opponents of Berkeley’s current mayor learned Wednesday, at a face-off with his honor, that there's strength in numbers, as they vied to stop his fourth term. -more-

The Cal Berkeley Democrats endorsed ten candidates for the congressional, state, and local elections at their endorsement meeting this Thursday night, including current Berkeley City Councilmember Kriss Worthington for the mayoral race, Max Anderson for District 3 and the Progressive slate for the Berkeley Rent Board. -more-

Three prominent Berkeley Democratic clubs endorsed a "No on S" position this week, lending new momentum to the campaign to defeat the "sit-lie" measure on this November's ballot. -more-

Editor's Note: Many Berkeley residents are supporting Democrat Dr. Ami Bera's campaign for Congress against Republican Dan Lungren in the Sacramento area. -more-

Another quake in Berkeley on the Hayward fault. About 9:25 a.m., magnitude 2.7, depth about 4.5 miles. Did you feel it? Here's where it was: -more-

The 20^th anniversary Berkeley Indigenous Peoples Day Powwow and Indian Market will be celebrated on Saturday, October 13, between 10 AM and 6 PM at Martin Luther King Civic Center Park. -more-

Are you confused about the upcoming election? Below you'll be able to find all the articles about the November 2012 election that have appeared to date in the Planet, in reverse chronological order, except that the editorial endorsements are at the top so they’re easier to find. We’ve pretty much abandoned the idea of publishing election-related articles in this separate section every week because there are just too many of them, but here’s where to search if you’re looking for something about the election in back issues.

Editorials: