At least a dozen anti-war protesters and six longshoremen were injured Monday morning when Oakland police fired wooden dowels, bean bags and other less lethal weapons at a group picketing at the Oakland port. -more-
Henry Norr was suspended without pay from Hearst Corporation’s San Francisco Chronicle for participating in an anti-war demonstration last week. Becky O’Malley wrote an excellent article in the Berkeley Daily Planet on April 4, criticizing the Chronicle’s actions for policy reasons. But what the Chronicle did to Norr wasn’t just an ethical lapse or an assault on journalistic freedom. It was illegal as hell. -more-
Three years ago, $1,175 per month for a three-bedroom flat in the East Bay was pretty reasonable by most measures. But for Felix Germain, a UC Berkeley graduate student with a small income and family to support, it was back-breaking. -more-
Henry Norr isn’t letting a suspension stop him from making his voice heard. -more-
Berkeley Camera Club, meets Tuesday evenings at 7:30 p.m. at the Northbrae Community Church, 941 The Alameda. Share slides and prints and learn what other photographers are doing. Monthly field trips. 525-3565. -more-
Whenever I speak to a group that comes to my Temple to learn about Judaism, I begin by asking the participants to look around the sanctuary. I then ask if they have any questions about what they are seeing or what they do not see. What they are not seeing is found in the majority of synagogues in our country: flags. -more-
City Council meets Tuesday at 5 p.m. to discuss possible budget cuts to compensate for a projected $11 million city deficit over the next two years. -more-
For years, the city of Berkeley has led its citizens to believe that its general plan and its constituent area plans actually articulate municipal public policy. -more-
In 1979 a group of local Chilean refugees came together as Grupo Raiz (Roots Group). They played as house band for Berkeley’s La Peña Cultural Center, home away from home for the Bay Area’s Latin American diaspora. -more-
In the mid-1990s, the well- known French filmmaker Claude Berri warned that without protection from American cultural exports, “European culture is finished.” He had plenty of pessimistic company. In that era, French Culture Minister Jack Lang spoke in terms of America’s irrepressible “cultural imperialism.” Strict programming quotas were enacted to prevent U.S.-made TV shows from overwhelming foreign prime time. -more-
Hambone Ham Tech with Derique, actor, acrobat and veteran of the Pickle Family Circus, will perform at 4 p.m. at the Berkeley Public Library, West Branch, 1125 University Ave., at San Pablo Ave. 981-6270. -more-
A group of European journalists, at a UC Berkeley forum last week, took their American counterparts to task for not being more skeptical of their government during wartime. -more-
Perched high in the Berkeley hills, Büldan Seka’s exotic army of colorful and heroic ceramic figures wait, ready to belay the eyes of passing bicyclists, walkers and commuters. Easily visible from the street, Seka’s garden at 707 Spruce St. is crowded with strange, exotic animals, colorful, voluptuous females and tall and mysterious males, many standing over seven feet tall. -more-
The cash-strapped city of Albany is considering building a sprawling retail complex on its southern border with Berkeley. The project threatens to create traffic hazards on the Gilman Interchange. -more-
In recent weeks, Berkeley High School has been the site of a teach-in, a die-in and a walkout, among other anti-war activities. But thanks to Michael and Vicki Larrick, it all happened in the shadow of an American flag. -more-
Thursday’s Chronicle Op-Ed page featured a column by a smiling fellow identified as a Readers’ Representative, entitled “Credibility at Stake.” The title was right; the column was flat wrong. His conclusion: “If it were up to me … the sign over the entrance to The Chronicle would read ‘Check your activism at the door.’” -more-
Residents and officials from American Baptist Seminary of the West squared off Tuesday over the seminary’s proposed campus expansion in the Benvenue neighborhood. -more-
Baghdad’s residents are being pounded by the U.S. military policy of shock and awe. Designed to be “the non-nuclear equivalent of the impact that atomic weapons dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki had on the Japanese,” the purpose is to “take the city down ... [until] they are physically, emotionally and psychologically exhausted.” President Bush describes this terrorism as liberation. -more-
Women in Black Vigil, held every Friday from noon to 1 p.m. at UC Berkeley, Bancroft Way at Telegraph Ave. wibberkeley@yahoo.com -more-
Even as the country has been plunged into a war, something positive might still come out of all this. Whatever the outcome of the pending crises, and whatever their duration, a significant portion of this country just may have been reawakened to become active, involved participants — players, voters, protesters, hell-raisers. -more-
Walking through Berkeley’s Arts District, along Addison Street — Berkeley’s Broadway with its theaters, arts and music venues and restaurants — it's impossible to miss the Addison Street Window Gallery. -more-
Berkeley schools Superintendent Michele Lawrence told a group of city officials and parents over the weekend that elementary school libraries may face serious cuts next year and that district staff, stretched to the limit in the midst of a budget crisis, simply don’t have the time to come up with a creative solution. -more-
The Occupied Territories: What is the Future? This symposium with professors from Israel and Palestine takes place from 5:30 to 9 p.m. in room 2050 in the Valley Life Sciences Building on the UC campus. -more-
I heard the pop-pop of a gun outside my bedroom window late one night last month, but I didn’t get up right away. I waited for more noises. I heard a scream and someone running. I kept still, hoping the commotion was the result of friendly fireworks, but it was too late for Chinese New Year and too early for Independence Day. -more-
Four Israeli and Palestinian scholars and leaders will be in Berkeley to discuss options for peace. -more-
An hour northwest of Berkeley lies the city of Sonoma, full of clean air, rolling hills and seductive vineyards. Though the town weathered a burst of notoriety in 1846 — as the rebellious center and 25-day capital of the California Republic — today it is known more for its pleasures than its politics: good food and wine, art galleries, boutiques, small shops and history. -more-
I took my infant daughter, Percy, to her first protest march a few weeks ago in the hopes that nine pounds and 10 ounces of pure political muscle in pink footsie pajamas might be just enough to tip the scales toward peace. -more-
This week, 125 years ago, Berkeley was incorporated as a town. On that day, April 1, 1878, it was not yet large enough to be a city; that would happen in 1908 just before Old City Hall was dedicated in 1909. -more-
