The next city manager will be selected by a supermajority if the mayor has her way. -more-
An open letter to Mayor Shirley Dean and members of the Berkeley City Council: -more-
Shotgun Players opened its fourth outdoor annual summer theatrical tour Sunday afternoon at Willard Park with an original adaptation of Rudyard Kipling’s collection of animal stories “The Jungle Book.” -more-
A San Jose man was arrested Monday in connection with a botched home invasion robbery in South Berkeley, but his alleged accomplice remained on the loose. -more-
OAKLAND – Now more than ever, candidates, party officials and voters seem to be saying that it’s getting easier to be Green. -more-
When the hard hats and dump trucks clear out of City Hall and the public flows back in, citizens may be greeted by more than new furniture, repainted walls and council agendas. -more-
On this week’s council agenda there are two different proposals to streamline the city’s tortuous council meetings. One was written by City Auditor Ann-Marie Hogan and the other by Mayor Shirley Dean. -more-
A plan to spruce up downtown took a highly visible step forward Monday as crews began cutting down trees along University Avenue, part of a taxpayer-funded revitalization effort. -more-
The firefighters from six departments who came to Tilden Park Sunday were training to fight a major fire – everyone’s worst nightmare, but always a threat in the East Bay Hills. -more-
Balancing property owners’ and tenants’ rights is a delicate dance, especially in today’s tight housing market. -more-
The Ed Roberts Campus proposed for the Ashby BART station got a boost from the federal government Saturday, when United States Secretary of Transportation Rodney E. Slater presented the sponsoring organization with a check for $300,000. -more-
Barbara Zimmerman, professor of film theory in Ithaca, N.Y., recently described the Bay Area as a “media paradise.” All that flickers and streams and pixilates is in our town, and the East Bay Media Center has begun its annual Summer Media Camp to de-mystify the tools for young people in this virtual Eden. -more-
People who park cars for a company that contracts with the city can expect a wage hike on July 1. And so can other low-wage workers whose employers service the city. -more-
The disturbing vitriol with which people spit out lawyer jokes seems to establish that most Americans feel every member of the legal profession is somehow tied to the O.J. Simpson case, Pat Riley the motorcycle lawyer or the million-dollar settlement for the poor old lady who spilled molten McDonald’s coffee in her lap. -more-
I would like to register my support for the University’s effort to solve the vexing problem of affordable student housing. I would also like to dissuade the University from proposing a beefed-up, three-block “megastructure” on the Southside of Berkeley as its most intelligent response to this need. -more-
SAN FRANCISCO – William Shakespeare’s “The Taming of the Shrew,” an Elizabethan slapstick comedy about a husband who uses physical and emotional abuse to train his wife to be submissive and dutiful, is a tough play for 21st century audiences. -more-
The Berkeley Public Library Foundation announced this week that it received a $300,000 challenge grant from the Kresge Foundation, the largest gift to date in its “We Love the Library” campaign. -more-
A Berkeley woman went shopping for a new car recently and learned that someone had stolen her identity. -more-
Will Berkeley residents buy goods and services in town more than they do now? Councilmember Linda Maio believes education is the answer to preserving customers for the independent businesses that pump character and cash into the community. -more-
North Atlantic Books, a Berkeley publisher, purchased a 27-acre farm in Gustine in the Central Valley Thursday as part of a nonprofit program combining preservation of farmland with the Berkeley Youth Alternative’s (BYA) organic-agriculture program. -more-
Police are investigating whether one man was responsible for two eerily similar crimes that were reported just minutes apart early Thursday morning. In both cases, the suspect asked the victim for the time before issuing a threat and stealing some of their belongings. -more-
The East Bay Amateur Radio Club will conduct its annual “Field Day” this weekend at Caesar Chavez Park at the Berkeley Marina. -more-
Berkeley Marina Radisson Hotel workers and their supporters were celebrating victory Thursday, with the news that hotel management had accepted unionization. -more-
Few California governors have made themselves as visible as Gray Davis did for one week this spring, as he traveled the state pushing his transportation plan. He set the price tag at $5.2 billion in all his speeches and press releases, even though the actual cost would be three times that. -more-
Throughout July, the Pacific Film Archive will present restored prints of two dozen classic Hollywood features, in a series saluting the 200th anniversary of the Library of Congress. All the films are in preservation-quality 35mm. -more-
Business and property owners and city officials offered mixed opinions about the value of retaining zoning quotas for restaurants and hair salons on Telegraph Avenue during a planning meeting Wednesday. -more-
Last week Kala Art Institute of Berkeley announced the winners of this year’s Fellowship awards. -more-
As expected, the Berkeley Unified School Board voted Wednesday night to place a school bond and a special tax measure on the November ballot. -more-
The Shotgun Players will present a theatrical adaptation of Rudyard Kipling’s coming-of-age epic, “The Jungle Book” on Saturday at 7 p.m. at the Julia Morgan Center for the Arts. The play, adapted by King Middle School teacher Richard J. Silberg, will feature giant puppets, live music and theatrical acrobatics by Bay Area performers. -more-
Rick Young, the second-year Boalt Hall law student who has been protesting the university’s plans for construction of a three-story 1,000- to 1,400-car parking structure, will go to trial Aug. 4 on misdemeanor charges. -more-
Rob Cunningham, who has served as editor of the Berkeley Daily Planet since its launch last year, will step down from his post on July 15, Publisher Arnold Lee announced today. Cunningham will be succeeded by Judith Scherr, who has worked as the newspaper’s lead reporter since May 1999. -more-
Resources for Community Development, a Berkeley-based organization that builds affordable housing, is having a grand opening of Miramar Court and the Mariposa Apartments at Alameda Point, the former Alameda Naval Air Station on June 29 from 4-6 p.m. -more-
Ah Paris – the city that has never heard of soap, deodorant, pooper-scoopers or artistic constraints. -more-
Two incidents of vandalism occurred this week in the Safeway supermarket at 1444 Shattuck Ave. -more-
Jobs for youth and health services for low-income people are among the programs that made it to the proposed liberal/progressive budget presented at Tuesday night’s council session. The council will vote on the proposals next week. -more-
Most every year, around this time, the mayor and the liberal/progressive faction of the council each publish dueling versions of how to spend the few dollars left over from the city’s fixed costs. -more-
The Berkeley Police Review Commission reviewed its concerns last week about the rule that allows the commission only 120 days to investigate complaints of misconduct against Berkeley Police Officers. -more-
SAN FRANCISCO – On Sunday, BART will operate longer trains for the San Francisco Pride 2000 Parade in San Francisco. -more-
Four young men were arrested for allegedly defacing two buildings with black spray paint about 1:30 a.m. Saturday. -more-
A family fight erupted about 10 p.m. Monday on the 1200 block of Ninth Street when a woman’s two daughters visited her and her partner. -more-
Berkeley Community Media is finally able to send its old equipment the way of carbon paper, floppy disks, wooden tennis racquets and 1,200-baud modems. In a long-awaited move, Berkeley-TV Channel 25 has landed a bevy of new cameras and computers, making the painstaking process of linear editing a thing of the past. -more-
A proposal to place a $116.5 million school bond and a special maintenance tax on the November ballot will be considered tonight by the Berkeley Unified School District Board of Education. -more-
Berkeley’s three-decade history of standing up to countries whose policies are said to violate human rights took an abrupt turn Monday when the Supreme Court upheld a challenge to a Massachusetts law boycotting Burma. -more-
The Board of Directors of BCM is seeking applicants of diverse background and affiliation and with strong ties to community organizations and groups. -more-
Peter Gooderham, Counsellor of Politico-Military/European Affairs at the British Embassy in Washington, D.C., will be the featured speaker at a noontime lecture Thursday on the UC Berkeley campus. -more-
A woman seated on the trunk of her car at 4:30 p.m. Wednesday in a commercial parking lot at 2930 Sacramento St., was threatened by a driver who drove toward her car at high speed. -more-
By Marilyn Claessens -more-
