Just two months after hundreds of UC Berkeley office assistants, childcare workers and library assistants walked off the job, the university’s clerical employees, locked in a bitter contract dispute with the university over wages and workplace safety, began a new round of voting Tuesday to authorize a second strike. -more-

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Wednesday, Oct. 16 -more-

Alameda High was supposed to be just another speed bump in Berkeley High’s road to a third straight volleyball league championship, but they turned out to be more of a traffic jam. -more-

City Council spared two popular programs from the chopping block Tuesday, including winter swimming at Willard Pool. But as officials dealt with city budget forecasts, they agreed that additional across-the-board cuts would be inevitable. -more-

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ANAHEIM – Everywhere the Anaheim Angels go, the question is the same: Pitch to Barry Bonds or walk him? -more-

Board of Education members want a raise. But first, they’ll have to get past a skeptical public. -more-

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HELENA, Mont. — A U.S. senator is demanding an explanation from the National Park Service for why it cut short the season of a Yellowstone National Park ranger who earlier was ordered to stop speaking out about unscrupulous hunters. -more-

OAKLAND – A significant budget gap is plaguing the Oakland Unified School District and county officials have appointed a fiscal advisor while they wait to find out just how much money is missing. -more-

OAKLAND – A 17-year-old boy has been arrested on suspicion of shooting an Oakland police officer in the head last month, police said. -more-

SAN FRANCISCO – Immigration activists in 12 states are rallying and lobbying congressional representatives this week in an election-season effort to generate support for legalizing undocumented workers. -more-

SAN FRANCISCO – Opening statements are scheduled to begin today in San Francisco Superior Court in a legal dispute over possession of Giants slugger Barry Bonds’ 73rd home run baseball. -more-

REDWOOD CITY – A Foster City man charged with murdering his family by driving off a cliff into the Pacific told rescuers that his foot was stuck on the accelerator, according to court records. -more-

Former priest arrested -more-

SACRAMENTO – State regulators announced Tuesday measures to add volunteers to help monitor nursing homes and to expand a consumer assistance program for residents and their families. -more-

SAN FRANCISCO – It was all smiles Tuesday at the San Francisco Board of Supervisors meeting, where the sometimes contentious panel voted 11-0 to give the city’s Olympic bid a vital green light – three years ahead of schedule. -more-

SACRAMENTO – More of the fastest-growing businesses, as ranked by Inc. Magazine, are from California than from any other state, negating an impression the state’s business climate is too unfriendly, state officials said. -more-

SAN FRANCISCO – Pressplay, the joint online music venture of Sony Corp. and Vivendi Universal SA, has inked a deal with BMG to add its music catalog to the song streaming and download service. -more-

WASHINGTON – The maker of America’s fastest train is shopping around a new product that could bring high-speed rail service to areas outside the Northeast. -more-

SAN FRANCISCO – The one suspect investigators had in the Zodiac killings of the late 1960s does not match DNA evidence, a newspaper reported Tuesday. -more-

LAS VEGAS – Protesters capped a weekend of demonstrations and arrests at the Nevada Test Site and the planned Yucca Mountain radioactive waste dump with a rally in Las Vegas claiming minority communities are disproportionately contaminated by federal nuclear facilities. -more-

PORTLAND, Ore. – A man accused of conspiring to fight U.S. troops in Afghanistan after the Sept. 11 attacks pleaded innocent Tuesday. -more-

SAN DIEGO – The trial of a former toxicologist accused of poisoning her husband began Tuesday with prosecutors using a series of passionate e-mails and a glass drug pipe to illustrate the twin obsessions they claim led her to commit murder: a torrid office affair and an addiction to methamphetamine. -more-

VOLCANO, Hawaii – Mauna Loa is stirring after an 18-year pause, and an eruption could be devastating to the neighborhoods built on the giant volcano’s slopes in the intervening years, scientists said Monday. -more-

WASHINGTON – Hikers, mountain climbers, hunters and others who could find themselves lost or hurt will have a new way to call for help: a handheld device that signals the same satellite rescue system that has watched over pilots and boaters for two decades. -more-

NEW YORK — So far this season, David Letterman has gotten the prime-time help he asked for from CBS. -more-

Ready to get rid of that old mercury thermometer? You may want to hold off a bit. -more-

To the Editor: -more-

Wednesday, Oct. 16 & Nov. 14 -more-

SAN FRANCISCO — At long last, Barry Bonds will get his chance. -more-

The University of California, pushing to conclude a year-old contract dispute with 18,000 secretaries, library assistants and childcare workers, has imposed an Oct. 31 deadline on the employees’ union to accept a two-year, 3.5 percent salary increase. -more-

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SAN FRANCISCO – The San Francisco Giants have announced that tickets to possible World Series games between the Giants and Anaheim Angels at Pacific Bell Park will go on sale to the general public on Wednesday morning. -more-

Tom Bates’ campaign officials refuted allegations Monday that the progressive candidate for mayor accepted illegal campaign contributions financed by tobacco and logging interests. -more-

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ST. LOUIS — Marc Bulger had every reason to be jittery. -more-

A small group of union activists held a teach-in on the UC Berkeley campus Monday, supporting hundreds of lecturers and clerical employees striking at five other UC campuses over wages and job security. -more-

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LOS ANGELES — An Orange County man on a Bali surfing trip to celebrate his 41st birthday is missing after a bombing on the resort island, his family and friends said Monday. -more-

SAN RAFAEL — Marin County health officials and community groups soon will be polling residents as part of an effort to learn why the scenic, affluent region north of San Francisco is home to one of the nation’s highest rates of breast cancer. -more-

ARCATA — Officials planned a Town Hall meeting Tuesday to see how residents feel about a city proclamation opposing an attack on Iraq. -more-

VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE — The nation’s missile defense system was successfully tested Monday night as a Minuteman II missile was destroyed in the atmosphere by an interceptor missile. -more-

Highland Hospital reports a man in stable condition Monday following a shooting in Oakland Sunday evening. -more-

MARTINEZ — The Martinez Police Department says a man was placed in custody Monday after he went on an alleged crime spree that included robbing a house, crashing a stolen vehicle into a police car and attempted carjacking. -more-

HALF MOON BAY – An Oregon firefighter who grew a 1,173-pound pumpkin set a new West Coast record at the 29th Annual Safeway World Championship Pumpkin Weigh-Off in Half Moon Bay Monday. -more-

Sea lions attacked after release -more-

LOS ANGELES — Bill Simon is sorry. -more-

SAN FRANCISCO — As dockworkers finished their first weekend back to work, both the union and port operators agreed on one thing: It’s still slow going. -more-

SAN FRANCISCO — While the battle between Microsoft Corp. and the open-source software movement dominates headlines, another phenomenon is shaping the marketplace — at least for servers used by businesses. -more-

SAN DIEGO — Teams of security officers with the U.S. Coast Guard have surveyed a handful of ports nationwide to determine whether they are vulnerable to a terrorist attack, a newspaper reported Monday. -more-

DENISON, Iowa — Up to 11 badly decomposed bodies, possibly belonging to immigrants who were being smuggled into the country, were found in a Union Pacific rail car parked at a grain elevator outside of town, authorities said Monday. -more-

SAN FRANCISCO — More than 1,000 lecturers at five University of California campuses picketed Monday instead of teaching their classes as part of a two-day strike they hope will pressure the administration to compromise on contract issues. -more-

LOS ANGELES — A study of 80 men — 40 who saw combat in Vietnam and their twins who did not — suggests the size of a region of the brain involved in storing memories can predict one’s vulnerability to post-traumatic stress disorder. -more-

GARDEN GROVE — After weeks when nothing seemed to go right on the campaign trail, Bill Simon was finally playing to a friendly crowd: the Rip Roaring Republican Rally. -more-

SACRAMENTO — With high-tech art and music studios, ballet and tap dance classes and a theater, the Natomas Performing and Fine Arts Academy in Sacramento looks more like a private university than a public school. -more-

PHILADELPHIA— Dom Spatano, who runs a deli in the Reading Terminal Market downtown, said Monday he has changed what he puts in his kids’ lunchboxes because of the biggest meat recall in U.S. history. -more-

PHILADELPHIA— Dom Spatano, who runs a deli in the Reading Terminal Market downtown, said Monday he has changed what he puts in his kids’ lunchboxes because of the biggest meat recall in U.S. history. -more-

LOS ANGELES — Anthony LaPaglia hit an artistic high with the 2001 film “Lantana,” in which he created a striking portrait of a police detective in full-blown midlife crisis. -more-

If the opening hearing for 32 students who took over a UC Berkeley campus building is any indicator, the total bill for the remaining hearings will be at least $400,000, according to estimates by university officials. -more-

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Tuesday, Oct. 15 -more-

LOS ANGELES – Sultan McCullough had the busiest day of any Southern California tailback in the last 15 years, and he didn’t mind a bit. -more-

He’s the heir apparent. But he’s got a race on his hands. -more-

To the Editor: -more-

Sophomore Mike Muñoz scored a dramatic overtime goal to lift the Cal men’s soccer team to a 2-1 win over Washington on Sunday. -more-

Where would you go if the Bay Area was attacked with biological weapons? Where would you turn for information or treatment? -more-

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LOS ANGELES - The fifth-ranked Cal women’s soccer team lost its second straight game on Sunday, falling 2-0 to No. 15 USC. The Bears fell to 0-2 in Pac-10 play (7-4-1 overall) after losing, 1-0, to UCLA on Friday. The Trojans improved to 6-4-3 overall, 1-1 in the Pac-10. -more-

BALI, Indonesia — Terrified tourists tried Sunday to flee this island paradise that turned into an inferno, with the death toll from a pair of bombings climbing to 187 and fears growing that al-Qaida has taken its terror campaign to the world’s largest Muslim country. -more-

To the Editor: -more-

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Field hockey wins Big Game -more-

OAKLAND – The Oakland police were investigating a homicide Sunday morning that took place on the 5900 block of Monadnock Way in east Oakland. -more-

n Suspended registration -more-

The East Bay Municipal Utility District has completed construction of an 11-mile emergency pipeline that would let water flow between Castro Valley and San Ramon. -more-

Bay Area Rapid Transit officials are scheduled to unveil the first of the transit system’s new fare gates and ticket vending machines at the Concord BART Station this week. -more-

SAN FRANCISCO — Lately quite a few large food companies have gotten into the organic food market, giving California organic farmers, often the foes of large agriculture businesses, something of a shock. -more-

Dead tree-sitter identified -more-

Marijuana advocate could get up to five years for growing -more-

LOS ANGELES – Nearly one-fifth of the $64 million Gov. Gray Davis has raised for his re-election has been donated by people he appointed to state boards and commissions, according to a report published Sunday. -more-

LONG BEACH – A geologist searching for earthquake faults at a construction site found something even more earth-shattering: the 100,000-year-old fossilized remains of a North American camel. -more-

SAN FRANCISCO – Longshoremen are back at work after a 10-day lockout, but who’s in charge on the West Coast docks? -more-

LOS ANGELES – California’s unemployment rate dropped slightly to 6.3 percent in September from August’s revised figure of 6.4 percent, state officials reported on Friday. -more-

SAN FRANCISCO — Four congregation members were injured Sunday after a fellow member drove through the front doors of the church following services. -more-

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LAKEWOOD — Rep. Loretta Sanchez and her sister are working toward a historic goal, becoming the first sisters elected to Congress. -more-

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While most of the United States will celebrate Columbus Day this Monday, Berkeley will remember the consequences of colonialism. For the past 10 years, the city has designated the Saturday nearest to Oct. 12 – the date Christopher Columbus arrived in America – as Indigenous Peoples Day. Today, more than 100 Native American groups will gather at Martin Luther King Jr. Park to dance, sing and remember. -more-

Berkeley is world renouned as a home of knowledge and learning. Our children deserve world-class schools that live up to Berkeley’s superb reputation. Our local school district does a good job with its limited resources. However, if we are serious about bringing a world-class education to every single child in Berkeley we need to make our schools a higher priority and enlist the help of the entire community as well as our county, state and federal officials. -more-

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Ask any musician what kind of music his band plays. You’re likely to get “it’s hard to categorize” followed by some long dizzying string of styles like post-punk-rockabilly-surfer-metal. Even if resisting musical definitions weren’t de rigueur, most musical categories fall short in their attempt to help listeners navigate the CD bins of today’s music stores. -more-

Saturday, Oct. 12 -more-

The Berkeley High Yellowjackets continued to run roughshod over their opposition on Friday, using a 48-point first half to propel them to a 57-0 win over Encinal High. -more-

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One running back piling up yards the St. Mary’s High defense was able to handle. Two running backs piling up yards the defense was almost too much for the Panthers to handle. -more-

Forty-six anti-war protesters were arrested Friday morning as they tried to block workers from entering the Federal Building in San Francisco, authorities said. -more-

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When Cal has the ball -more-

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FREDERICKSBURG, Va. — A man filling up his car at a Virginia gas station was shot to death Friday in what may have been the most brazen attack yet by the Washington-area sniper, committed as a state trooper investigated an accident just across the street. -more-

Lion at S.F. zoo dies -more-

SAN FRANCISCO — Federal officials, union leaders and the city of San Francisco hope to match hundreds of soon-to-be displaced airport screeners with jobs elsewhere in the security industry. -more-

The reopening of West Coast ports brought little relief to the Ross Glove Co., which has 70,000 pairs of leather gloves stitched in the Philippines still stuck on a ship in the Long Beach, Calif., harbor. -more-

SACRAMENTO — Household International Inc., one of the nation’s largest lenders, will pay $484 million to settle illegal lending allegations by state attorneys general and state financial regulators, California officials said Thursday evening. -more-

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It is said that our natural gravitation toward music comes from the first sounds we ever hear – the rhythmic beating of our mother’s heart. If this is true, world-renowned percussion master John Santos must have heard his mother’s heart beating loud and clear. Tonight, the founder and director of the critically acclaimed Machete Ensemble will take his band to the stage of La Pena Cultural Center. In collaboration with four Bay Area poets, the 10-piece group will perform a truly unique combination of Afro-Cuban music and spoken word. -more-

Friday, Oct. 11 -more-

The St. Mary’s High girls volleyball team, down two games to none against Salesian High on Thursday, pulled off a tremendous comeback that might just have saved their season. -more-

The Berkeley Unified School District and Berkeley Federation of Teachers have reached a tentative agreement solidifying the controversial six-period day at Berkeley High School. -more-

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NEW YORK — Frank Gorshin may best be known as The Riddler of the 1960s “Batman” television series, dishing out short, corny verbal puzzles aimed at stumping his superhero nemesis. -more-

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Bay Area activists took to the streets of San Francisco and Oakland Thursday evening to show their opposition to the House of Representatives’ 296-133 vote giving President Bush broad authority to use military force in Iraq. -more-

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LOS ANGELES — Viacom Inc. will use its vast media holdings, including the Paramount studio, CBS and MTV, in a global anti-AIDS campaign, the company said Wednesday. -more-

Girls Tennis – Berkeley 4, Alameda 3 -more-

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Friday -more-

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SAN FRANCISCO — A man with the environmental activist group Earth First! has died after a fall of more than 50 feet from a redwood tree, raising concerns about the dangers of tree sits, often used to stop logging operations. -more-

SACRAMENTO — A Northern California Indian tribe has declared a “state of emergency” over fish kills on the Klamath River, and asked Gov. Gray Davis to issue a similar declaration for the tribe’s reservation. -more-

Members of a gay and lesbian community center say they were shocked to find the find the word “Fag!” and a swastika scribbled on their outdoor bulletin board earlier this week, as reported in the Daily Planet Oct. 8. -more-

Police are searching for suspects in a string of northwest Berkeley residential burglaries and a spate of prowling cases in northeast Berkeley. -more-

Theodore Allen “Ted” Dungan, a chemical engineer, architect, civic leader and conservationist, died at age 93 on Sept. 28 of natural causes. -more-

Assault with pick axe -more-

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OAKLAND — The city of Oakland could become the West Coast headquarters of United Airline’s fuel purchasing and supply subsidiary, United Aviation Fuels Corp. -more-

Date-rape coasters hot item -more-

Fishermen caught -more-

LOS ANGELES — Republican gubernatorial candidate Bill Simon expressed his “sincere regret” on Thursday over his now-disproven allegation that Democratic incumbent Gray Davis illegally accepted a campaign check in the state Capitol. -more-

SACRAMENTO — More students passed the state’s high school exit exam than originally reported, state Department of Education officials announced Thursday. -more-

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NEW YORK — Two executives who oversaw WorldCom’s financial record-keeping pleaded guilty Thursday to charges stemming from a federal probe of the company’s multibillion-dollar accounting scandal. -more-

SUNNYSIDE, Wash. — Hispanic voters can be found working anywhere from the Microsoft campus in Redmond to the ladies’ wear department in the Sunnyside Wal-Mart. -more-

JERUSALEM — The United States will give Israel three days notice before attacking Iraq, a senior Israeli official said Thursday, giving the country time to prepare for a possible Iraqi strike. -more-

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SACRAMENTO — These are gifts to die for. -more-

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SACRAMENTO — Saying the energy crisis no longer threatens Californians, an anti-tax group sued Gov. Gray Davis Thursday to end the state of emergency the governor declared nearly two years ago. -more-

Vista Community College wants a home, and soon, the 28-year-old Berkeley school should have one. -more-

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A photography exhibit in downtown Berkeley, commissioned by the Alameda County Community Food Bank, will present startling images of the many faces of hunger throughout the month of October. The 40 photograph exhibit titled “Hunger: What Will You Do About It?” by Berkeley-based documentary photographer David Bacon, will be held at the Civic Center at 2180 Milvia St., and in the Police Review Commission lobby at 1900 Addison St. -more-

Thursday, Oct. 10 -more-

The Cal Golden Bears have made themselves a most unwelcome guest so far this season, and they hope to keep up their rude ways on Saturday against USC. -more-

Berkeley’s lofty goal of recycling 75 percent of its waste might be in jeopardy. But city officials will soon have a chance to do something about it. -more-

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He’s 22 years old. He’s a graduate student at UC Berkeley. And he could be your next City Councilmember. -more-

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City Council took its first step Tuesday to ban smoking within 20 feet of any doorway or air intake vent on public buildings. Council unanimously passed the first reading of the anti-smoking ordinance. -more-

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SAN JOSE — Convicted Yosemite murderer Cary Stayner should die for his crimes, a jury decided Wednesday, rejecting defense pleas to show him mercy because of a traumatic childhood, mental illness and an inability to control his urges. -more-

UC Berkeley lawyers agreed Wednesday to postpone student conduct hearings for 32 pro-Palestinian activists until the Alameda County Superior Court rules on a lawsuit filed by the students against the university. -more-

Two Berkeley High School teachers may face disciplinary action for their role in a student’s detonation of a dry ice bomb on school grounds Wednesday afternoon. -more-

n Grand Theft -more-

Black, Hispanic and American Indian enrollment rose sharply at the University of California’s medical and law schools this fall, although the numbers still were below affirmative action levels. -more-

OAKLAND – A 14-year-old Oakland boy killed his mother's ex-boyfriend with a butcher knife on Monday as the man was attacking the boy's mother and sister, police said. -more-

SAN FRANCISCO — A third mediation attempt to resolve the legal tug-of-war over San Francisco Giants’ star Barry Bonds’ 73rd home run ball failed Wednesday as both men claiming ownership of the historic shot could not reach a settlement. -more-

Oakland car tricks continue -more-

SAN JOSE – Colleges around the country are buying millions of coasters that test for “date-rape” drugs in drinks. But some experts say the coasters are ineffective and could lead to more assaults by creating a false sense of security. -more-

LOS ANGELES – The Bush administration weighed in Wednesday on the contentious battle over California’s efforts to clean its air, joining automakers in arguing a state mandate that seeks to curb tailpipe emissions is pre-empted by federal law. -more-

SAN FRANCISCO – A lawyer for the California Department of Transportation argued to a federal appeals court in San Francisco Wednesday that the agency has a constitutional right to allow private citizens to hang American flags but not other kinds of banners on freeway overpasses. -more-

LOS ANGELES (AP) — West Coast dockworkers headed back to work under court order Wednesday, facing a huge backlog of cargo that built up over 10 days but could take more than two months to clear. -more-

SAN FRANCISCO — Yahoo Inc. said Wednesday its financial recovery picked up steam in the third quarter as its popular Web site persuaded more visitors to pay for online services. -more-

LOS ANGELES — A group that accused Gov. Gray Davis of illegal fund-raising retracted the allegation Wednesday as Republican opponent Bill Simon sought to contain political fallout from having turned the claim into a campaign issue. -more-

FREMONT – The Santa Clara County District Attorney's Office announced today that a Fremont couple has been charged with 22 felony counts in connection with an allegedly fraudulent contracting company they owned and operated. -more-

BISMARCK, N.D. — Duck hunters in two boats died in separate accidents after their vessels capsized or sank in choppy North Dakota lakes. Three bodies were recovered by Tuesday as divers continued searching for a fourth man. -more-

ROCKVILLE, Md. — The longest lull yet in the Washington sniper’s killing spree brought little relief Monday as jittery residents flooded police with calls upon hearing car backfire, firecrackers or breaking glass. -more-

OAKLAND — The Police Department has fired a veteran narcotics officer for alleged misconduct stemming from a 2001 case involving several hundred dollars worth of cocaine. -more-

Tuesday -more-

Stolen flowers -more-

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About 300 protesters filled UC Berkeley’s Sproul Plaza Wednesday, toting anti-war signs and banners and chanting “stop the war on Iraq.” -more-