Berkeley firefighters battled a two-alarm fire in a vacant West Berkeley office building after the blaze was first reported at 4:25 a.m. Tuesday. -more-

If good fences make good neighbors, Dan McLoughlin doesn’t think the folks who are moving next door look too promising. -more-

Health care patient advocates have filed two class action lawsuits in Bay Area state courts against hospital conglomerate Sutter Health, asking the court to halt what they call the corporation’s “price-gouging” of uninsured patients and return “unfair” profits back to the public. -more-

The ninth-annual How Berkeley Can You Be? Parade and Festival will run in conjunction with the city’s first Car Free Day on Sunday. -more-

A proposal to transfer control of the El Cerrito High School educational radio station to a private non-profit has sent shockwaves through the West Contra Costa School District. -more-

With a taxpayer revolt mounting, Mayor Tom Bates is trying to shore up voter support for three proposed tax hikes, arguing that Berkeley has been a model of fiscal discipline during its prolonged budget crisis. -more-

Despite rumors to the contrary floating around the city in recent days, UC Berkeley and powerhouse hotelier Carpenter & Co. are continuing to hammer out a deal that would add yet another tower to the tallest intersection in Berkeley. -more-

Found: One Bullet Hole -more-

Growing corn in America’s heartland, distilling it into alcohol and mixing it with gasoline to power vehicles may sound like an ingenious way to be freed from dependency on foreign oil, cut down on air pollution and begin the transition to a renewable energy source. -more-

At least three of the 10 fourth-grade students who scored in the “far below basic” category in California Standards Test (CST) taken at Berkeley’s John Muir Elementary School last spring were deaf students who received higher grades on that test, but were placed in the lower category because the test had to be signed to them. -more-

Skateboard Triggers Grass Fire -more-

Frustrated Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) members Monday night blasted city planning staff for failing to forward the commission’s critical comments to Zoning Adjustments Board (ZAB) members before they voted on a controversial project in a newly created city historic district. -more-

Large contingents from the arts community and supporters of the Berkeley-East Bay Humane Society turned out for the airing of a proposal to landmark two vintage West Berkeley buildings owned by the humane society and occupied, in part, by the artists. -more-

KATHMANDU—While world attention is preoccupied with the Middle East, Nepal is falling apart. -more-

After the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, Australia’s Prime Minister John Howard told the U.S. Congress, “America has no better friend anywhere in the world than Australia.” This might soon change. -more-

I write to a friend in Maryland this week, asking her how the presidential election is going there. -more-

The people who fought against the king of England and his armies in order to establish the United States of America quickly declared, in writing, that they had rights that must be respected by their new government. They were building on the Magna Charta of 1215 in England and the Petition of Right of the English Parliament in 1628. -more-

POLICE DUTIES -more-

George Santayana, the great Spanish-American philosopher, told us that those who don’t learn from history are condemned to repeat it. This profound observation has been invoked out of context ad nauseam. Nevertheless, its real meaning stays fresh because it was intended for events like the Holocaust and for situations like ours today in Iraq. Many Americans didn’t learn the lessons of Vietnam, and so here we are, trapped in that genuine rarity, a disaster in which history repeats itself. The parallels between the two wars are breathtaking. -more-

Among the legislation sitting on the governor’s desk awaiting his signature is a bill that takes an important step towards the establishment of a system of universal access to preschool in California. -more-

Darvag, the East Bay theater company now staging Bahram Beyzaie’s Death of Yazdgerd at Ashby Stage through this weekend, has produced plays since 1985, often in Farsi. -more-

As a way to voice their concern about the murders this summer in Berkeley, community members, city officials and several youth organizations turned out to Wednesday evening rallies held at the site of three different killings. -more-

FRIDAY, SEPT. 17 -more-

It’s daybreak at Berkeley’s Ohlone Dog Park and the pressure is on Rebecca Denison. -more-

An article in Sept. 14-16 edition of the Daily Planet about the Berkeley Bohemia exhibit incorrectly stated the title of Charles Keeler’s collection of poetry. The correct title is “The Simple Home.” -more-

FRIDAY, SEPT. 17 -more-