Parents and administrators of a nonprofit Berkeley school are mobilizing against a play-equipment manufacturer, that allegedly failed to properly inform them about the risk of arsenic contamination of the play structure they acquired. -more-
You’d think that at the age of 68 I’d have something better to do than march in the streets of Genoa facing menacing Italian polizie armed with gas masks and truncheons and the even more menacing anarchists and revolutionaries seeking opportunities to destroy property before the cameras. -more-
924 Gilman St. Music at 8 p.m. unless otherwise noted. July 13: Special Duties, Oppressed Logic, Violent Society, Zero Bullsh*t, Born Dead; July 14: Lonely Kings, Onetime Angels, Stay Gold, Thought Riot, Youth Gone Wild; July 15, 5 p.m.: Bobbyteens, Los Rabbis, Finky Binks, Off Balance; 924 Gilman St. 525-9926. -more-
924 Gilman St. Music at 8 p.m. unless otherwise noted. July 13: Special Duties, Oppressed Logic, Violent Society, Zero Bullsh*t, Born Dead; July 14: Lonely Kings, Onetime Angels, Stay Gold, Thought Riot, Youth Gone Wild; July 15, 5 p.m.: Bobbyteens, Los Rabbis, Finky Binks, Off Balance; 924 Gilman St. 525-9926.
A group of public housing residents complained to the City Council Tuesday of a rat infestation they said is threatening their children and keeping them up at night. -more-
Editor: -more-
Every wonder why Berkeley High – with all the graduates it sends to top notch universities, with its incredible roster of illustrious alumni – doesn’t have an endowment to rival that of a small liberal arts college? -more-
The flier said “in seven days”… I felt the excitement of the seventh-day itch. The six other itches intensified my state of utter turbulence. I was a little out of control, moving around my attic and basement creating more storage space. I dreamed of a warehouse, or an abandoned lot. -more-
SACRAMENTO – An administrative law judge mediating talks between the state of California and energy companies says the state is likely owed “hundreds of millions of dollars” in refunds, much less than the $8.9 billion the state wants. -more-
OAKLAND – It was Keith Batt’s childhood dream to become a police officer. But after just nine nights patrolling the tough streets of west Oakland, his dream was shattered. -more-
SACRAMENTO – A San Francisco charter school run by a for-profit company will reopen next month under state charter, ending three years of bickering with the local school board. -more-
WASHINGTON – The U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee approved $135 million for California water projects Thursday. -more-
WASHINGTON – Federal authorities have opened an initial criminal inquiry into whether Rep. Gary Condit obstructed justice or encouraged perjury in the investigation of Chandra Levy’s disappearance, law enforcement officials said Thursday. -more-
If you thought the Berkeley Arts Festival was over, and that the busy schedule of musical events was burned out, flown by, finished, think again. -more-
Here’s a malady homeowners want to avoid: The “while you’re at it syndrome.” -more-
Comfort and ease evoke the spirit of today’s country look. Americans, spurred on by the nation’s bicentennial 25 years ago, continue to look to a simpler time to reduce stress on their daily lives. -more-
SAN FRANCISCO – Oakland is a city on the rise and it just won’t take any more slights. No more references to it having “no there there.” No more stereotypes as a crime-plagued city. And, please, stop the unflattering comparisons to its famous neighbor across the Bay. -more-
SAN FRANCISCO – Napster escaped a legal mess Thursday when it settled a suit filed by heavy metal band Metallica, but the embattled song-swapping company still faces a federal judge’s order demanding the service remain offline until it prevents all unauthorized song trading. -more-
SAN JOSE – Computer chip maker Advanced Micro Devices Inc. barely beat Wall Street’s dramatically lowered expectations for its second-quarter earnings Thursday and gave a grim outlook for the current quarter. -more-
The City Council increased a loan Tuesday for the downtown library renovation project, which is four months behind schedule and an estimated $2 million over budget. -more-
All-American will get a shot at more caps in Nordic Cup -more-
The Berkeley-based Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund filed a lawsuit in Alameda County Superior Court Wednesday morning against taxi services provider Friendly Cab Company, alleging that it discriminates against passengers who use guide dogs. -more-
With Berkeley High headed for rebuilding seasons in both football and boys’ basketball, the last thing the Yellowjackets needed was to lose two veteran players. But that’s exactly what has happened, as rising seniors Mohammed Nitoto and Chevallier Patterson will transfer to McClymonds for the next school year. -more-
Examples of work from the Young Writers’ Camp; see story on p. 1 -more-
Some school officials are cautiously optimistic that the latest round of reforms proposed for Berkeley High’s ninth-grade curriculum will make being a freshman less overwhelming than it has been in years past – particularly for students who arrive at the school at risk of failing. -more-
Saulius Kuzminskas, 6-foot-11 forward, has elected not to return to the Cal basketball team, deciding instead to play professionally in his native Lithuania. -more-
Teresa is reading her piece about her grandmother, Baby, who tries to ride a scooter but falls instead, head over heels; eight stitches are required to close up her burst-open chin. The audience cracks up when Teresa rolls her eyes and tells us this grandmother is a judge! -more-
Senate subpoenas energy provider’s financial records for investigation -more-
Gay and lesbian chorus sings music for social causes -more-
CORNELIUS, Ore. – Turn left at the American flag. Follow the dirt road lined with yellow dandelions. Pass the old house with the wooden porch and the dark brown llama in the front corral. Park in the back, where the rooster is crowing and the air is rich with a mixture of animal dung and ripening fruit. -more-
HOUSTON – When Compaq Computer Corp. announced earlier this year it was restructuring, the company hoped natural attrition would allow it to shave thousands of jobs. -more-
More than 70 people showed up at North Gate Hall for a public hearing Monday night, to challenge UC Berkeley’s Northeast Quadrant Science and Safety Project. -more-
A recent U.S. Supreme Court decision could make a Berkeley ordinance restricting tobacco advertisements near schools unenforceable, legal experts say. -more-
Class helps older adults stay on their toes -more-
Teachers and parents of the Berkeley site of Hickman Charter School are increasingly concerned about the impact a state Senate bill restricting home-school funding could have on their children’s education. -more-
A car fire atop a three-story parking building was extinguished by the Berkeley Fire Department in less than half an hour on Tuesday. -more-
Parents of disabled children who attend Berkeley schools made an impassioned appeal to the school board last week to reform the district’s special education programs. -more-
The San Francisco Mime Troupe brings its new musical play “1600 Transylvania” to Berkeley next weekend with Saturday and Sunday afternoon performances at Cedar Rose Park. -more-
Mayor Shirley Dean has put a new recommendation on the City Council’s agenda that asks the city manager to undertake a study of the growing number of day labors that congregate on Hearst Avenue in west Berkeley looking for short-term work. -more-
And now, it seems, there’s four candidates for the local State Assembly race. -more-
The City Council is expected to approve funds tonight for completion of the High Efficiency Traffic Signal program that will govern the city’s intersections with signal lights that burn cheaper, longer and brighter. -more-
SAN FRANCISCO — Online grocer Webvan Group Inc. closed Monday and said it would file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. -more-
NEW YORK — Bargain-hunting and news of an unsolicited bid for AT&T’s cable TV business helped revive blue chip and technology stocks Monday, pushing the major indexes higher after a weeklong slump. -more-
WASHINGTON — ETrade Securities, one of the largest online brokerage firms, has been fined $90,000 by a self-policing brokers’ group for allegedly violating advertising rules by making misleading claims. -more-
Mr. Confetti, the marionette, kicked and danced and even spun on his hands, moving to the beat of a group of animated Taiko drummers; juice from fresh-picked peaches poured down shirt fronts as market-goers strolled in the sun; connoisseurs fingered hand-made quilts and looked longingly at Elaine Pruitt’s sparkling “wearable art.” And even in the stress-free environment of Sunday’s first-ever West Berkeley Market, there were folks ready to enjoy a “quickie” massage. -more-
AC Transit holiday service doesn’t get it done for poor and disabled -more-
Thornton Wilder’s Pulitzer winner is first play by contemporary writer at the California Shakespeare Festival -more-
Berkeley Junior Giants short on volunteers -more-
Concerned about the constant challenges Berkeley’s large disabled community faces when it participates in special events, the Commission on Disability is currently working on a new set of guidelines for the accessibility of city-funded events. -more-
The school board chugged through a busy agenda Thursday, at its last regular meeting until Aug. 15. It reviewed summer construction plans, discussed new policies proposed for next year and approved plans for independent audits in key areas of district operations. -more-
CHICO – Curtis Scott is a 45-year-old prison guard who really wants to teach third grade. -more-
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-
SAN FRANCISCO – State power regulators are poised to protect consumers from a problem they don’t yet confront — phone companies trying to shut down their service because they haven’t paid for all the sodas, pizzas, and lattes they used their cell phones to buy. -more-
Proposition 34’s contribution limits effectively waived by new regulation, reform advocates say -more-
Herbert George Baker, a professor of Botany and Integrative Biology at UC Berkeley for 33 years, died July 2, at Piedmont Gardens in Oakland after a long illness. He was 81. -more-
MODESTO — The mother of missing federal intern Chandra Levy pressed Rep. Gary Condit on Monday to take a lie detector test. -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-
