Members of an African American parent group at Berkeley High expressed anger Thursday that the school planned a program to aid failing students without consulting them. -more-
Habitot Children’s Museum “Back to the Farm” An interactive exhibit gives children the chance to wiggle through tunnels, look into a mirrored fish pond, don farm animal costumes, ride on a John Deere tractor and more. “Recycling Center” Lets the kids crank the conveyor belt to sort cans, plastic bottles and newspaper bundles into dumpster bins. $4 adults; $6 children age 7 and under; $3 for each additional child age 7 and under. Monday and Wednesday, 9:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.; Tuesday and Friday, 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Thursday, 9:30 a.m. to 7 p.m.; Saturday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Sunday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. (closed Sundays, Memorial Day through Labor Day) Kittredge Street and Shattuck Avenue 647-1111 or www.habitot.org -more-
Two-sport star reportedly unhappy with new offense -more-
While UC Berkeley planners say they must retrofit buildings for earthquake safety on the northeast quadrant of the campus, at least one local resident is questioning the need for the work and the increased traffic the remodeled buildings might bring. -more-
As part of the city’s effort to address the power crisis, Mayor Shirley Dean will bring a recommendation to the City Council Tuesday that could lead to a citywide community-based energy conservation plan. -more-
When the trustees of the College of California commissioned Frederick Law Olmsted to develop a plan for their new campus in 1864, they also asked him to design a residential neighborhood southeast of the college property, between the college and the proposed state school for the deaf and blind. -more-
LOS ANGELES — It took a decade, but the last of 250 GPS monitoring stations was installed this week, allowing scientists to record, with unprecedented precision, the minute movements of the Earth associated with earthquakes, seismologists said Friday. -more-
LOS ANGELES — In its strongest stance yet against standardized testing, the National Education Association on Friday voted to support legislation giving parents the ability to let their children skip the tests. -more-
Physicists have taken some of the most precise measurements so far of the behavior of matter and antimatter, and their findings could help explain why the universe is filled with something rather than nothing. -more-
A Walnut Creek pharmacy suspected of selling contaminated cortisone shots that caused three deaths must stop compounding medicine, an administrative law judge ordered Friday. -more-
SACRAMENTO — After months of struggling to keep the lights on and his political fortunes intact, Gov. Gray Davis’s re-election committee is launching a statewide radio advertising campaign. -more-
WASHINGTON — President Bush, after faulting the Kyoto climate treaty for excluding developing nations from its requirements, wants to cut U.S. aid for helping Third World countries combat global warming. -more-
NEW YORK — Some of the country’s top colleges and universities are changing their rules to better calculate how much financial aid students need, The New York Times reported Friday. -more-
ALEXANDRIA, Va. — Former FBI agent Robert Hanssen pleaded guilty to spying for Moscow in an agreement aimed at providing a full accounting of the damage from one of America’s gravest espionage cases. -more-
SILVER SPRING, Md. — Steve Perna is wired, though not from his morning coffee. -more-
Dear Tom and Ray: -more-
Wall Street’s buyers have vanished, perhaps to seek out such summertime comforts as the swimming pool and a good book. Why shouldn’t they? After all, the season promises to be chilly for the stock market. -more-
LOS ANGELES — The Walt Disney Co.’s ambitious attempt to open a chain of virtual theme parks has come to an end with the announcement that DisneyQuest in Chicago will close at the end of the summer. -more-
PARIS — A locked iron gate and double metal doors now block the entrance to a cave in western France that archaeologists say contains the most important prehistoric engravings ever discovered in Europe. -more-
OKINAWA CITY, Japan — Ending a stalemate that threatened to cast a shadow over a key security alliance, the United States surrendered an American serviceman accused of rape to Japanese authorities Friday, allowing police formally to arrest him. -more-
An African American firefighter filed a lawsuit against the city of Berkeley and the California Occupational Health and Safety Administration (CALOSHA) for racial and disability discrimination on Tuesday, claiming that the two entities had prevented him from fighting fires due to safety rules that discriminate against black workers. -more-
Habitot Children’s Museum “Back to the Farm” An interactive exhibit gives children the chance to wiggle through tunnels, look into a mirrored fish pond, don farm animal costumes, ride on a John Deere tractor and more. “Recycling Center” Lets the kids crank the conveyor belt to sort cans, plastic bottles and newspaper bundles into dumpster bins. $4 adults; $6 children age 7 and under; $3 for each additional child age 7 and under. Monday and Wednesday, 9:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.; Tuesday and Friday, 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Thursday, 9:30 a.m. to 7 p.m.; Saturday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Sunday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. (closed Sundays, Memorial Day through Labor Day) Kittredge Street and Shattuck Avenue 647-1111 or www.habitot.org -more-
On a misty Tuesday morning 12 teens made their way slowly up the winding roads of the Berkeley Hills. With a left on Prospect Street, up past Memorial Stadium, a right onto Panoramic Way, and a turn somewhat resembling a backwards G to somehow remain on Panoramic, the 12 students trudged on with great determination. -more-
Berkeley Police Sergeant Eric Gustafson isn’t worried yet. -more-
The Meiklejohn Civil Liberties Institute, a nonprofit organization based in Berkeley, has assembled a delegation to attend the U.N. World Conference Against Racism in South Africa – the nation where what is perhaps the most important battle against racism in recent history, the fight against apartheid, was fought and won. -more-
SACRAMENTO — The state Senate Judiciary Committee has approved a measure that would expand a civil rights law protecting transsexuals from job and housing discrimination. -more-
LOS ANGELES — As the number of charter schools grows nationwide, school districts should make sure they are held to the same standards as other public schools, the nation’s largest teachers’ union said Thursday. -more-
LOS ANGELES — The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission has ordered a company to stop large shipments of radioactive materials because of concerns the packages could break open in an accident. -more-
SACRAMENTO — Three pit bulls attacked a 43-year-old Sacramento woman as she was walking down the street, tearing an artery in her leg, before a construction worker and a sheriff’s deputy stepped in to save her, police said. -more-
The wife of Rep. Gary Condit was questioned by law enforcement officers Thursday in the disappearance of former federal intern Chandra Levy, according to the congressman’s lawyer. -more-
Nearly 5 million Pacific Gas and Electric Co. ratepayers could lose out on billions in power price refunds if they are not represented as a committee in its bankruptcy case, an attorney with the U.S. Trustee told a federal bankruptcy judge Thursday. -more-
The Swedes have a way of taking over derivative forms and making them their own, a point made by authors Barbara and Rene Stoeltie in “Country Houses of Sweden.” -more-
WASHINGTON — Two-thirds of Americans – both adults and teenagers – say they support the legal drinking age of 21, says an Associated Press poll. Teen-agers support the law even though teen drinking remains widespread. -more-
WASHINGTON — President Bush named veteran prosecutor Robert Mueller to take over the FBI and begin repairing the nation’s premier law enforcement agency after embarrassments ranging from bungled Oklahoma City bombing documents to the discovery of an FBI spy. -more-
WASHINGTON — Researchers have found serious abnormalities in cloned mice, a finding that strengthens the belief of many scientists that the technique used to clone Dolly the sheep should not be used on humans. -more-
WASHINGTON — Treasury Secretary Paul O’Neill, citing continued strong demand in such key sectors as autos and housing, predicted on Thursday that a $40 billion flood of tax rebate checks this summer will give the economy a needed boost that should carry into next year. -more-
NEW YORK — Stocks fell Thursday as profit warnings from Federated Department Stores and British telecom firm Marconi reminded investors how badly business is suffering here and abroad. -more-
Families from all over the East Bay joined Berkeley residents for a daylong Fourth of July celebration at the Marina Wednesday. -more-
UC Berkeley Museum of Paleontology Lobby, Valley Life Sciences Building, UC Berkeley “Tyrannosaurus Rex,” ongoing. A 20 by 40-foot replica of the fearsome dinosaur made from casts of bones of the most complete T. Rex skeleton yet excavated. When unearthed in Montana, the bones were all lying in place with only a small piece of the tailbone missing. “Pteranodon” A suspended skeleton of a flying reptile with a wingspan of 22-23 feet. The Pteranodon lived at the same time as the dinosaurs. Free. Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Saturday and Sunday, 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. 642-1821 -more-
The Board of Education will consider a resolution to investigate the use of biodiesel fuel for its school buses tonight, at the last regular meeting before the board’s one month summer recess. -more-
No self-respecting James Joyce scholar would fail to be in Dublin on June 16, 2004; but this year, anyway, Berkeley is the place to be. -more-
WALNUT CREEK — State officials say they will attempt to shut down a pharmacy believed to be the source of cortisone shots tainted by meningitis that caused three deaths. -more-
EL SEGUNDO — Aviation experts building a flying replica of the world’s first airplane have found the Wright stuff was a little wrong. -more-
OPEC’s decision not to increase oil output beyond current levels offered little to cheer consumers, but some energy analysts suggested that motorists and buyers of home heating oil might still benefit if Iraq moves quickly to resume its crude exports. -more-
GENEVA — After 15 years of knocking at the door of the World Trade Organization, China is finally on the verge of entering the global trade forum. -more-
“Discretionary” money is a rare bird these days in the jungle of school finances. -more-
Throw the rascals out; vote third party in
Editor:
The residents of the 19th century Victorian at 1545 Dwight Way would be the first to admit how spacious and attractive their front porch is, but they tend not to sit out on it too much. -more-
Berkeley Lite’s an occasional column of commentary, illuminating those who’d like to shine us on. -more-
AT&T Communications of California Inc. is accusing Pacific Bell Telephone Co. of overcharging for access to its local telephone infrastructure to keep competition at bay, according to suit filed Monday in U.S. District Court. -more-
SACRAMENTO — California enters the third day of the new fiscal year Tuesday without a state budget, while Democrats are faced with rounding up an additional Republican vote because a lawmaker left for a trip abroad. -more-
WASHINGTON — Consumers, a key force keeping the economy afloat, continued their vigorous spending in May. That, along with improvements in manufacturing and solid construction activity, made economists more hopeful the country will be able to skirt a recession this year. -more-
WASHINGTON — The Bush administration is proposing the first new offshore drilling in the Gulf of Mexico in more than a decade with plans to offer new oil and gas leases in an area covering 1.47 million acres, Interior Secretary Gale Norton announced Monday. -more-
ZAMBOANGA, Philippines — A Muslim separatist group said Monday it was looking into an unconfirmed report that its rebels saw members of the extremist Abu Sayyaf moving hostages, including an American the abductors say they beheaded. -more-
A 78-year-old woman was nearly killed Saturday afternoon when an attempted purse snatch escalated on the 2300 block of McGee Avenue. -more-
Coming off of a rousing victory over Modesto Christian on Friday, the St. Mary’s boys’ basketball team went into the weekend portion of the Cal Basketball Team Camp with hig spirits. But after an easy win over outmanned Mater Dei, the Panthers came crashing back down to earth. -more-
Campaign finance reform will be taken up by the House of Representatives just after returning from the Fourth of July recess, sometime during the week of July 9. The League of Women Voters warns that now is the critical time for concerned citizens to mobilize to get Congress to pass no bill other than the ”real reform bill,” the Shays-Meehan Campaign Finance Reform Bill. -more-
The City Council decided not to include a campaign finance reform program as part of the $524 million budget approved last week because the city manager’s office decided the proposed program had not been thoroughly studied. -more-
Philips Lighting Company, one of the world’s largest lighting company’s with 10,000 employees in North America alone, has chosen Berkeley as the place to show the nation how its energy efficient light bulbs can help ease the growing energy crisis. -more-
A night of stories was the idea, and a lot of people seemed to have it Friday night as an eclectic group of writers, scholars and performers assembled for a panel discussion at the Julia Morgan Theater. -more-
SAN FRANCISCO – News that Gov. Gray Davis intervened in contract negotiations between Bay Area Rapid Transit and several unions has cooled most BART employees, delaying a possible strike that was scheduled to begin at midnight Saturday. -more-
RICHMOND – Unidentified attackers killed two young men on a residential street shortly before midnight Friday, police said. -more-
LOS ANGELES – A laid-back but focused attitude prevailed Sunday morning among representatives of movie and television actors and producers negotiating to avoid an industry-crippling strike. -more-
SAN QUENTIN — San Quentin State Prison, the forbidding, 149-year-old stone fortress that is home to California’s death row, may have served its time. -more-
SAN FRANCISCO — Gov. Gray Davis is asking a state court for a 60-day cooling-off period to avert a BART strike. -more-
American business men buy IDs in back-alley market -more-
CHICAGO — United Airlines is pulling the plug on its $4.3 billion purchase of US Airways – a deal that has been in trouble for months because of a weakened economy, industry woes and antitrust concerns. -more-
