Extra

Flash: Berkeley Earthquake in Claremont District was 2.5 Magnitude at 7:42

Dan McMenamin (BCN)
Thursday September 10, 2015 - 09:29:00 AM

A 2.5-magnitude earthquake was reported this morning in Berkeley, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. -more-



Page One

Press Release: Court of Appeal Upholds Berkeley Rent Control Regulation Prohibiting Market Rate Increase after Evicting Tenant under False Pretense

From Matt Brown
Wednesday September 09, 2015 - 09:43:00 AM

Characterizing the landlord’s eviction notice as a “transparent attempt to circumvent the provisions of local rent control” protections, the California Court of Appeal for the First Appellate District upheld a ruling by the Berkeley Rent Board and the Superior Court (Alameda County Case No. RG 13702962) that a landlord who makes a “false representation that [he] intend[s] to occupy the premises” cannot then “re-rent the premises at a higher rental rate than could have been charged to the former tenant.” The case (A 143671) has been certified for publication – http://www.courts.ca.gov/opinions/documents/A143671.PDF -more-



Fifteen Berkeley Homes Without Water This Morning

Rachel Matsuoka (BCN)
Friday September 04, 2015 - 02:21:00 PM

A Berkeley water main broke this morning, shutting off water in a residential neighborhood, according to the East Bay Municipal Utility District. -more-



Weekend Bart Closure: Transit Agencies Provide Transbay Service

Keith Burbank (BCN)
Friday September 04, 2015 - 11:52:00 AM

Transit agencies are pitching in get people between the East Bay and San Francisco this weekend as BART's Transbay Tube closes for three days.

San Francisco Municipal Railway, Alameda-Contra Costa Transit District, San Mateo County Transit District and Golden Gate Transit will team up to provide 77 buses to take people across the Bay, BART spokeswoman Alicia Trost said. -more-



Updated: Shooting at Rockridge BART Station on Saturday Night

Bay City News
Sunday September 06, 2015 - 09:20:00 PM

A person was shot multiple times Saturday evening at the Rockridge BART station in Oakland, BART police said. -more-



Features

How Europe's Royalty Shaped the 20th Century and More

Joanna Graham
Wednesday September 09, 2015 - 08:42:00 AM

One of my minor obsessions is European royalty, the British monarchy being the one about which I know the most. For this reason, ever since Queen Elizabeth II’s Diamond Jubilee in 2012, I’ve been idly wondering when, exactly, Elizabeth would pass her great-great-grandmother Victoria’s length of reign. The answer—as the whole world now surely knows—is this Wednesday, September 9th, on which day Elizabeth will become the longest reigning monarch in all of English history, which, if one counts in the Anglo-Saxons, and the Celts before them, disappears eventually into the misty reaches of the long ago legendary past. (William of Normandy, the conqueror of 1066, is the first king we know of who reigned over a unified island—Scotland and Wales of course, excepted.) -more-


Public Comment

New: Proposed Significant Community Benefits for 2211 Harold Way Project Are Inadequate

Charlene M. Woodcock
Wednesday September 09, 2015 - 08:39:00 AM

Berkeley's 2010 Measure R calls for meeting "Berkeley's climate action goals by concentrating housing, jobs and cultural destinations near transit, shops, and amenities, preserving historic resources, enhancing open space, promoting green buildings; and allowing for 2 residential buildings and 1 hotel no higher than our existing 180 foot [sic] buildings."

The 2211 Harold Way project fails to meet several of the Measure R requirements. It is at least ten feet taller than our existing tall buildings. It endangers a landmarked historic resource. Demolition of the very successful cultural destination the Shattuck Cinemas is a huge detriment that would not be successfully mitigated by the developer's new proposal to include ten screening rooms in the project.

The Berkeley Downtown Area Plan requires that taller exceptions to height limits must contribute significant community benefits.

The mitigation of an extreme detriment, demolition of Berkeley's highly-valued cultural and economic resource the Shattuck Cinemas, and its inadequate replacement cannot be claimed as a Significant Community Benefit. -more-


New: Water and Sewage Problems in Downtown Berkeley Construction

Kelly Hammargren
Sunday September 06, 2015 - 09:12:00 PM

If you haven’t taken a walk around downtown Berkeley and neighborhoods in the last few weeks, please do so as soon as possible. The drought is taking a toll on our mature trees and young trees too. While we work hard to decrease our water usage and stop watering, the fallout is dying mature trees and the number is rapidly increasing. The impact can easily be seen on McKinley behind the Police Station at 2100 Martin Luther King Jr Way and along many streets and even on UC Berkeley Campus. If you are one of the conscientious citizens conserving water, you may have drought stressed trees and dying trees in your own yard and/or neighborhood.

This situation brings us to rain water capture, gray water reuse. The climate scientists tell us we can expect perpetual drought with an occasional wet year. Climate change with increasing temperatures is accelerating and it is critical that rainwater capture and gray water reuse is included in all new construction from first design and not an inadequate gesture as an after thought from public pressure.

Two large buildings under review have the potential for significant rainwater capture should those desired rains ever come. The Center Street Garage in a normal rain year would have over 500,000 gallons of rainwater for potential capture. 2211 Harold Way would have over 400,000 gallons of rainwater for potential capture. 100% rainwater capture is not realistic, but certainly the proposed 7500 gallon cistern at the Center Street Garage and promised 20,000 gallon cistern at 2211 Harold Way are wholly inadequate. -more-


Israel and the Iran Deal: Who has the Power?

Joanna Graham
Wednesday September 02, 2015 - 02:14:00 PM

Author's Note: This op-ed was written (struggled over) for a couple of weeks before today’s (Wednesday, September 02, 2015) announcement that Senator Barbara Mikulski (D-MD), will support the Iran agreement, insuring that it will be veto-proof in the Senate and thus implemented. As I have here argued, I believe the president’s victory has major implications for U.S.-Israel relations and for Israel’s American Jewish supporters.


On the U.S. left, there has long been a “which is the dog/which the tail?” argument with regard to our government and the state of Israel. Is the Israel lobby so powerful that it controls the foreign policy of the World’s Only Superpower? Did we actually go to war in Iraq because it was good for Israel? Or—as Noam Chomsky, for example, has long argued—is Israel’s power merely apparent because Israel serves U.S. interests and will therefore evaporate the moment Israel shifts from the asset to the problem category?

-more-


New: Vallejo Poised to Cement Its Toxic Future

Peter Brooks
Wednesday September 09, 2015 - 09:46:00 AM

Tucked on Vallejo’s waterfront, less that one mile from our revitalizing downtown, is an old mill that the City wants to turn into a cement factory.

The draft Environmental Impact Report was secretly completed and placed -- without notice -- on the City website. Citizens now have about 40 days to respond and only one public meeting is planned. -more-


New: Spreading the Work Makes Climate and Human Sense

Charles Siegel
Wednesday September 09, 2015 - 09:40:00 AM

I enjoyed your editorial "Building Berkeley Better," which makes the point that I made with the Flexible Work Time Initiative, Measure Q on the 2014 ballot: we would have a smaller carbon footprint and we would be happier, if we worked shorter hours to spread the useful work, rather than producing things we don't need and don't want to create more unnecessary work. -more-


New: The GOP & Reagan

Jagjit Singh
Wednesday September 09, 2015 - 08:41:00 AM

The GOP presidential wannabees have taken a hard right turn from the sublime to the ridiculous – in a virtual twilight zone. -more-


New: Tax the Rich 4th Year Birthday Party

Harry Brill
Wednesday September 09, 2015 - 08:35:00 AM

On Monday, September 14, 5-6pm near the top of Solano the East Bay Tax The Rich Group will be celebrating its fourth year birthday. Four years ago, to protest the extraordinary and unjustified inequality that most Americans experience, we decided to have a one day rally. We were repelled by the unjust practices of big corporations and the federal government, particularly toward racial minorities and low income Americans generally. -more-


Iran Epilogue

Jagjit Singh
Friday September 04, 2015 - 11:38:00 AM

Mercifully, Congress has pledged enough votes to support the nuclear deal with Iran. What is disturbing about this debate is the number of lawmakers who support Prime Minister Netanyahu against their own commander in chief. Perhaps the free junket to Israel seized by many lawmakers may have persuaded some members of Congress to ‘switch sides.’ What is most striking about the demagoguery is the ostrich in the sand mentality to ignore historical precedents. -more-


Migrants

Tejinder Uberoi
Friday September 04, 2015 - 11:25:00 AM

Prime Minister Tony Abbott of Australia has employed the navy to stop boats packed with refugees, from reaching Australia’s shores. Others have been held at detention centers on small islands where many of the children have suffered sexual abuse; many of the detainees are given marijuana in exchange for sex, a dirty secret that the Austrian government has gone to great lengths to hide. Reporters face up two years for blowing the whistle; contrast that with lengthy sentences’ for failure to report similar abuses in Australia. Abbot seems to be suffering from a serious bout of amnesia, conveniently forgetting that Australia was colonized by convicts from the UK. -more-


Royal Exploitation

Carol Denney
Friday September 11, 2015 - 08:42:00 AM

I’m not sure what’s more horrifying- the amount of historical inaccuracy in Joanna Graham’s essay or the casual way she dismisses all of Scotland and Wales. -more-


September Pepper Spray Times

By Grace Underpressure
Friday September 04, 2015 - 03:53:00 PM

Editor's Note: The latest issue of the Pepper Spray Times is now available.

You can view it absolutely free of charge by clicking here . You can print it out to give to your friends.

Grace Underpressure has been producing it for many years now, even before the Berkeley Daily Planet started distributing it, most of the time without being paid, and now we'd like you to show your appreciation by using the button below to send her money. -more-


Editorial

New: Building Berkeley Better

Becky O'Malley
Sunday September 06, 2015 - 09:01:00 PM

Labor Day weekend used to be about more than backyard barbecues and mall sales—and in some places it still might be. Seems to me there used to be an Alameda County Labor Day picnic. A quick Google produced no evidence for 2015, though there was one in 2014—but I might just have missed the notice.

Labor, in this context, has always meant union labor, but the percentage of workers represented by unions continues to shrink. In January, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that the 2014 union membership rate nationwide—the percent of wage and salary workers who were members of unions—was 11.1%, down 0.2 percentage point from 2013. And this doesn’t even take into account all those people who wish they had jobs, but can’t find them. The latest figures seem to say that unemployment is dropping, the lowest it’s been since 2008 at 5.1%, but job growth—the number of new jobs created—was a good deal slower than the gurus thought it should be.

Labor Day picnics I have known in the past, both here and in Michigan, were an opportunity for Democratic primary candidates to show their chops and press the flesh with union members, but these days money seems to speak louder than glad-handing at picnics. Candidates of both parties, however, continue to promise Jobs, Jobs, Jobs—but what exactly does that mean? -more-


The Editor's Back Fence


Columns

10 Reasons Trump Wins GOP Nomination

Bob Burnett
Friday September 04, 2015 - 04:14:00 PM

New York real-estate mogul and media personality, Donald Trump, is the odds-on favorite to win the Republican presidential nomination. Here are the top ten reasons why Trump will prevail. -more-


New: ECLECTIC RANT: Credit Card Changes Benefit Consumers

Ralph E. Stone
Sunday September 06, 2015 - 09:07:00 PM

The Credit Card Accountability, Responsibility and Disclosure (CARD Act) changed how credit card issuers must apply your credit card payments. -more-


ON MENTAL ILLNESS: "Crisis" Often Merely A Perception

Jack Bragen
Friday September 04, 2015 - 11:17:00 AM

When a number of challenges exist at once, it can seem overwhelming, as though the universe wants to do us in. Things can snowball in our thinking to the point where we feel as though we are having a crisis. However, some of the time, not all of the time, the perception of crises is merely a perception. This perception could be reinterpreted and downgraded to the feeling that we are in a "difficult time" that we must just muddle through. -more-


SENIOR POWER: Amend the Constitution?

Helen Rippier Wheeler, pen136@dslextreme.com
Friday September 04, 2015 - 11:20:00 AM

When the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was finally signed, women were provided the right to vote in 1920. It had been introduced 42 years earlier. Sixteen other nations had already guaranteed this right… -more-


Arts & Events

Library Rally Today at 5:30

Pat Mullan
Wednesday September 09, 2015 - 08:33:00 AM

Front Steps of Berkeley Public Library, Shattuck at Kittredge, downtown Berkeley

6:15 Sign up for public comment at the Board of Library Trustees (BOLT) meeting
6:30 Speak out at the BOLT public comment session

The library director, Jeff Scott, resigned under pressure, effective today.
But the rampant weeding, mistreatment of staff and breach of trust with the community is not just about one person.

We're calling for an immediate investigation of what went wrong, and how the library can learn from these mistakes.

We're calling for the 34 librarians to be returned to their work of buying and weeding the book collection, and having access to the book budget.

We're calling for BOLT to leave the Deputy Director position open to allow for continuing applications. This will enable the new Director to choose a Deputy from the greatest, professional pool of applicants.

Please meet up on this WEDNESDAY evening to persuade the BOLT to renew, rebuild and restore the community's trust in the library.

And get your friends to sign the petition!

Thanks!

www.savethebplbooks.org -more-


New Esterházy Quartet Plays Beethoven’s 14th String Quartet & Grosse Fugue

Reviewed by James Roy MacBean
Friday September 04, 2015 - 11:39:00 AM

On Sunday, August 30, The New Esterházy Quartet presented the third and final concert at Berkeley’s Hillside Club in their series devoted to the Late Quartets of Ludwig von Beethoven. The Sunday program featured the14th Quartet in C-sharp minor, Op. 131, and the Grosse Fugue. Prior to performing these works, New Esterházy violist Anthony Martin noted that they would play these works through without stopping to re-tune their period instruments between movements; and he begged our indulgence if by the end of each work their instruments were no longer in tune. This, of course, is a problem with period instruments and gut strings. I for one do not mind the re-tuning between movements that occurred, for example, during Wednesday evening’s concert, though some members of the audience had problems with this. (Pace Larry Bensky.) My attitude toward period instruments is to cherish the advantages they offer while tolerating their limitations. In any case, on a hot, humid Sunday afternoon, in a packed to the brim Hillside Club where 200 bodies were seated in the audience, thereby raising both the room temperature and the humidity, both of which are inimical to gut strings, The New Esterházy Quartet managed to complete each work without a pause and without sounding out of tune. To this I can only say “Bravo!” -more-


Steve Jobs: The Man in the Machine: Landmark California. Opens September 4

Reviewed by Gar Smith
Friday September 04, 2015 - 11:27:00 AM

Alex Gibney's new biopic about Steve Jobs—the charismatic force-and-face forever associated with the rise of the iRevolution—is a long (127 minute) scramble of a film that lacks the designed beauty and functional simplicity of an Apple product. It's more like the kind of term paper compiled in the era of Google searches. -more-


Back Stories

Opinion

Editorials

New: Building Berkeley Better 09-06-2015

The Editor's Back Fence

New: Click On This 09-06-2015

Public Comment

New: Proposed Significant Community Benefits for 2211 Harold Way Project Are Inadequate Charlene M. Woodcock 09-09-2015

New: Water and Sewage Problems in Downtown Berkeley Construction Kelly Hammargren 09-06-2015

Israel and the Iran Deal: Who has the Power? Joanna Graham 09-02-2015

New: Vallejo Poised to Cement Its Toxic Future Peter Brooks 09-09-2015

New: Spreading the Work Makes Climate and Human Sense Charles Siegel 09-09-2015

New: The GOP & Reagan Jagjit Singh 09-09-2015

New: Tax the Rich 4th Year Birthday Party Harry Brill 09-09-2015

Iran Epilogue Jagjit Singh 09-04-2015

Migrants Tejinder Uberoi 09-04-2015

Royal Exploitation Carol Denney 09-11-2015

September Pepper Spray Times By Grace Underpressure 09-04-2015

News

Flash: Berkeley Earthquake in Claremont District was 2.5 Magnitude at 7:42 Dan McMenamin (BCN) 09-10-2015

Press Release: Court of Appeal Upholds Berkeley Rent Control Regulation Prohibiting Market Rate Increase after Evicting Tenant under False Pretense From Matt Brown 09-09-2015

Fifteen Berkeley Homes Without Water This Morning Rachel Matsuoka (BCN) 09-04-2015

Weekend Bart Closure: Transit Agencies Provide Transbay Service Keith Burbank (BCN) 09-04-2015

Updated: Shooting at Rockridge BART Station on Saturday Night Bay City News 09-06-2015

How Europe's Royalty Shaped the 20th Century and More Joanna Graham 09-09-2015

Columns

10 Reasons Trump Wins GOP Nomination Bob Burnett 09-04-2015

New: ECLECTIC RANT: Credit Card Changes Benefit Consumers Ralph E. Stone 09-06-2015

ON MENTAL ILLNESS: "Crisis" Often Merely A Perception Jack Bragen 09-04-2015

SENIOR POWER: Amend the Constitution? Helen Rippier Wheeler, pen136@dslextreme.com 09-04-2015

Arts & Events

Library Rally Today at 5:30 Pat Mullan 09-09-2015

New Esterházy Quartet Plays Beethoven’s 14th String Quartet & Grosse Fugue Reviewed by James Roy MacBean 09-04-2015

Steve Jobs: The Man in the Machine: Landmark California. Opens September 4 Reviewed by Gar Smith 09-04-2015