University of California clerical workers overwhelmingly have approved a new contract, ending a bitter, two-year fight with UC management over wages and workplace safety. -more-
Sarah Jones has a hard time sitting still. -more-
Departing Planning Director Carol Barrett gets the Harry Truman Award for this week. Truman, you may recall, said, “If you can’t stand the heat, get out of the kitchen,” and that’s exactly what Barrett is doing. -more-
You wouldn’t know it from the burly 41-year-old’s sanguine demeanor, but when William Mendoza returns home next week, he will face the threat of murder, torture and kidnapping at the hands of paramilitary agents opposed to the union activism that Mendoza and other union leaders have been engaged in for the last two decades. -more-
For four years the Crowden Music Center has brought some of the Bay Area’s finest chamber musicians to Berkeley as part of its Sundays at Four concert series. This weekend, the center is hosting the Empyrean Ensemble, a professional contemporary music ensemble in residence at the University of California, Davis. -more-
In his first state of the city address, Mayor Tom Bates touted a congenial City Council, praised new development and warned of a looming budget deficit. He also promised to enhance the city’s business environment and to improve educational services for the city’s youth. -more-
The education establishment has shown itself to be an advocate of low standards, false educational theory, poor selection and training of teachers, and it is incredibly wasteful with taxpayer dollars. Today’s teachers suffer from the inability to pass on the accumulated knowledge of civilization from one generation to the next. Teachers unions operate as political organizations while masquerading as professional groups, and now they want to eliminate one of the few objective tools we have to measure their performance. -more-
Local UC lab escapes federal contract review -more-
In an unlikely alliance, UC Berkeley’s mathematics department joined with the Aurora Theater Company last week for a discussion at the Bechtel Engineering Center entitled “Hardy and Ramanujan in Berkeley.” -more-
Lawyers for Tod Mikuriya, M.D. — a psychiatrist who has lived and practiced in Berkeley since 1970 — have filed a motion to dismiss the case against him brought by the Medical Board of California (MBC). -more-
JAKARTA, Indonesia — News of controversial Indonesian cleric Abu Bakar Bashir’s upcoming public trial is throwing new light on the horrific Bali nightclub bombings that killed 193 people in this southeast Asian nation last October. -more-
A PEOPLE OF STARTS -more-
In a small corner of West Berkeley, next to a noisy set of train tracks and behind a copper-colored gate, lies one of the most remarkable sites in the East Bay: a twisting, colorful community garden, overflowing with flowers, artwork and purpose. -more-
It is a week of both celebration and anxiety for homeless advocates in Berkeley. -more-
The article “West Berkeley Struggles to Maintain Character“ (April 25 edition), by John Geluardi, was mostly accurate in its portrayal of the struggle of craftspeople, artists and manufacturers to preserve their important contributions to West Berkeley. However, it was incorrect in asserting that the upcoming public workshop “will, in effect, reconvene the West Berkeley Committee.” -more-
Less than two years after taking over the Department of Planning and Development, Director Carol Barrett submitted her resignation late last week to take a planning job in the city of San Marcos, Texas, her home state. -more-
The vision of the city of Berkeley moving steadily toward ecological health by way of urban redesign and honest assessment of the future is quite different from the vision of Berkeley championed by the O’Malleys’ recast Berkeley Daily Planet. The O’Malley vision aspires to maintain the memory and coziness of the past at all costs. It is the positions of privilege of the established property owners here, the building styles and small sizes acceptable to the Berkeley Architectural Heritage Association (BAHA) and the desire of a number of vocal neighborhood activists to keep things from changing. -more-
During a tour of Bay Area churches Sunday, the Rev. Jesse Jackson stopped into Berkeley’s Mt. Zion Baptist Missionary Church to lend his support to local hotel employees who have been without a union contract for nearly two years. -more-
This weekend’s 34th anniversary celebration of the People’s Park riot wouldn’t have been the same without a little controversy. -more-
Forget about furs and champagne. Forget about the world-class singers and spectacular staging on the other side of the bay, and forget about spending $100 or more for a ticket. If you love opera, love the combination of music and theater, do not miss the Berkeley Opera’s flawed but exciting production of “Eugene Onegin” at the Julia Morgan Theater. -more-
Sally Streets, East Bay director emeritus of Berkeley Ballet Theater, received the Isadora Duncan Award for Sustained Achievement Monday night for her work as a dancer, choreographer, instructor and mentor. -more-
For more than a decade, a tiny little hole in the wall on north Shattuck Avenue has been hoppin’ and boppin’ to the melodies of live modern jazz. You won’t find it in the phone book under nightclubs, but the joint is jumpin’ nevertheless. The secret is in the cheese. -more-
An Alameda County Superior Court judge on Thursday ordered developers to delay demolition of the John M. Doyle House until May 19, giving preservationists a chance to appeal the court’s April 29 decision that rejected their request for a formal environmental review of the project and cleared the way for developers to go ahead with plans to replace the building with a five-story, 35-unit residential and retail complex. -more-
