Recording retailer and developer Kenneth Sarachan filed plans Thursday to build an apartment and retail complex at the long-vacant Berkeley Inn site at the corner of Telegraph Avenue and Haste Street. -more-
In a city that lives and breathes politics, Saturday was enough to leave even Berkeley’s biggest political junkies a little short of breath. -more-
Berkeley’s Civic Arts Commissioners are being lobbied to make the Berkeley Marina home to “Spaceship Earth,” a 350,000-pound sculpture commemorating the late environmentalist David Brower. -more-
Thanks to changes in state law and a revised city ordinance, condos are making a comeback in Berkeley. -more-
Three months after Oakland passed a law that effectively sent four pot clubs packing, Berkeley is making sure it doesn’t roll out the red carpet for them. -more-
For those who can’t wait until November to see democracy in action, Tuesday’s City Council meeting will include a first-of-its-kind vote. -more-
In what the California Public Interest Research Group (CALPIRG) calls a “mixed message,” Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger last week split the baby on two bills designed to lower the cost of college textbooks, signing one that sets up a framework for possible book price reductions but vetoing a second bill that would have urged colleges to set up textbook rental services. -more-
Incoming UC Berkeley Chancellor Robert Birgeneau is expected to meet privately this week with members of the college’s Hate and Bias Task Force to discuss last week’s suspected hate crime against seven female Muslim students. -more-
When the City Council revisits the dreaded creeks issue next week, Councilmember Betty Olds will finally be allowed to participate. -more-
All of the 184 Reports of human rights violations since 9/11 involve violations of rights and liberties under the U.S. Constitution Bill of Rights and Fourteenth Amendment; U.N Charter Article 55 and 56, and articles in the three human rights reporting treaties the U.S. ratified in 1992 and 1994: International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), Convention on Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD), and Convention Against Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CAT). -more-
At 73 years old, after 44 years of running his own business, and recent triple bypass surgery, my father went out in search of a job. Retirement was not his thing. -more-
On Sunday at the How Berkeley Can You Be Parade, I engaged in a spirited conversation with Robyn Few, who had a table set up at Civic Center Park. Robyn Few, in case you haven’t heard, is the former sex worker who spearheaded the campaign to get Measure Q on the November ballot. Measure Q, if passed, will make the arrest and prosecution of prostitutes the lowest priority for Berkeley law enforcement—a possible first step, according to measure proponents, to legalizing a profession that no one expects to go away in any case. The measure is garnering widespread attention as yet another wacky, “only-in-Berkeley” concoction, so talking to Robyn while costumed, dreadlocked, half-naked people meandered by seemed fully appropriate. -more-
When it was reported that George Bush had emerged from the vicious Republican convention with an 11-point lead over John Kerry, many Berkeley political activists seemed ready to concede defeat. “Kerry has blown it,” they moaned, “I’ve started to plan my relocation to Patagonia.” -more-
The Willard garden has been a source of visual delight for both students and community members for many years. Beyond this, it is an important part of our educational program. There is a large and plentiful vegetable garden as well as the ornamental garden that fronts the school. Our garden coordinator, Matt Tsang, has been on the Willard staff for eight years. -more-
Earlier this month the Cal Band announced a competition for the lyrics to a new fight song, the first for the band since 1978. The winning lyrics will accompany the new tune “California Triumph” written by UC Berkeley graduate student Hirokazu Hiraiwa. -more-
Upstage at the Aurora Theatre is a massive, offset portal of dark wood, monumental as though made of stone, through which the audience can see a sky with clouds that brighten as night seems to fall over the empire in Ellen McLaughlin’s version of Aeschylus’ tragedy, The Persians. -more-
I had a breakthrough of sorts this summer: I learned to identify skippers. A couple of skippers, at least. Thank God for good field guides, in this case Jeffrey Glassberg’s Butterflies Through Binoculars and Jim Brock and Kenn Kauffman’s Butterflies of North America. There’s a real satisfaction in being able to assign names to things, even things as obscure as the umber skippers in my back yard. -more-
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-
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-
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-
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-
As our family party was getting underway this weekend, Peter laid down the law: “Okay, no more dumping on Kerry, from now until the election.” For a group like ours, that’s hard, really hard. On almost any political topic, everyone has an opinion or five, even the toddlers. There’s no question of Bush, of course, but as charter members of the chattering classes we all have our own ideas about how to get rid of him. As the election approaches, it’s too easy for the chattering classes to turn into the nattering classes, preparing to say “he should have taken my advice” if Kerry doesn’t win. Yesterday’s New York Times and this week’s Nation were full of scoldings for Kerry and his advisors from all kinds of commentators who think they know how to run political campaigns, despite having spent the better part of their lives as scribblers. They’ve done their scribbling in the best venues, granted, and they’ve managed to make a living giving unsolicited advice, but in the last analysis how do they know what they’re talking about? -more-
A week or so ago the Planet received an invitation to a fundraiser for realtor Laurie Capitelli, who’s running for Berkeley City Council in District 5. It had been re-sealed and re-addressed to us, which seemed odd, and when we opened it a little slip of paper fell out with an anonymous typed note: “The Developers’ Ball? They are urging a vote for their pro-development candidate. Interesting cast of endorsers.” -more-
