Along the back hallway of North Berkeley’s Jefferson Elementary School, the teacher and 20 students of Room 203 have mounted a display on the recent South Asia earthquake and tsunami. -more-
A group of environmental activists yesterday launched a campaign to get Apple Computer to “think different” about what happens to old computers and music players—and the lead and other toxic materials they contain. -more-
The recount of Berkeley’s Measure R has left the medical marijuana initiative 166 votes short of victory, and supporters still dissatisfied with the count hoping that legal action would overturn the outcome. -more-
The City Council in closed session Monday authorized the city attorney to file a lawsuit against UC Berkeley unless the university satisfies concerns about the environmental impact of its latest Long Range Development Plan (LRDP). -more-
Planning commissioners and members of the Zoning Adjustments Board will face full agendas this week for their first meetings of the new year. -more-
As controversy continues to surround the events unfolding at Campus Bay, a site where hazardous chemicals were produced for a century, Richmond officials are pondering a change in city statutes. -more-
The U.S. Supreme Court refused Monday to consider a challenge to Berkeley’s Living Wage Ordinance, handing a victory to the city and the employees of Skates On The Bay Restaurant. -more-
Several Berkeley residents plan to protest Sunday’s display of the remains of a Jerusalem commuter bus blown up by a suicide bomber last January. -more-
Berkeley Unified School District Superintendent Michele Lawrence told an overflow, standing-room only crowd at the Berkeley Alternative High School Monday night that seniors from the school would be included in Berkeley High School’s graduation ceremonies at the Greek Theater this spring. -more-
Public presentation of the latest state-mandated six-month report by the Fiscal Crisis Management Assistance Team on the Berkeley public schools will highlight this week’s meeting of the BUSD Board of Directors, scheduled for Wednesday night, 7:30 p.m., at the district headquarters at 2134 Martin Luther King Jr. Way. -more-
Several years ago, my friend Amy insisted on taking Ralph and me to dinner. Although it was somewhat embarrassing to allow a 26-year old to treat us to an expensive meal, we acquiesced to her demands. -more-
On Jan. 16, an event dubbed a “Rally against Global Terrorism” will be held in Martin Luther King Park, downtown Berkeley. The main purpose of the rally is to oppose Barbara Lee’s position in support of international law. -more-
Berkeley has done a good job so far in fighting uncontrolled urban sprawl and the auto-dominated lifestyle it requires. Berkeleyans have bravely banned big-box chain retail stores and the unthinkable regional shipping center, and we’ve reveled in our local, non-national-chain boutiques, restaurants and gourmet supermarkets. But now we are facing the stark consequences of our chosen lifestyle in an unexpected place—uncontrolled sprawl in the local veggie bins. -more-
Film critic David Thomson will host a wide-ranging series of films at UC Berkeley’s Pacific Film Archive this month by way of illustrating the themes and opinions expressed in his latest book, The Whole Equation: A History of Hollywood. -more-
You can see one from almost any spot with almost any view, but there aren’t many palms in the usual street tree spots in Berkeley. The few that you do see in the curb strips were probably guerilla trees, planted privately without a by-your-leave. They can safely be grandfathered in, most of the time. One notable exception is where they’re under powerlines. You can’t prune a palm around powerlines because, except for taking off leaves, you can’t prune a palm at all. -more-
Before Berkeley introduced wheelchair-accessible taxis last summer, Patricia Berne’s world didn’t expand beyond a few blocks from a BART station. -more-
Opponents of the nine-story Seagate Building, already approved by the city for a half-block frontage along Center Street in downtown Berkeley, Thursday filed a 68-page appeal asking the City Council to halt the project. -more-
Have construction crews working in the polluted marsh at the edge of Richmond’s Campus Bay been operating in violation of city code? -more-
A six-month progress report released this week by the Fiscal Crisis Management Assistance Team (FCMAT) on the Berkeley Unified School District says that the district “continues to make good progress in five operational areas” of education management. -more-
Ask Nancy D. Waters, principal of John Muir Elementary School, how much her school focuses on music and “beep be diddly do wop wop wop” will be her reply. Or she might break out a riff on her baritone saxophone as she has been known to do at the school’s Monday-morning “singing and signing assemblies.” -more-
Already approved for construction by the city Zoning Adjustments Board, the proposed Ed Roberts Center for the disabled faces one more regulatory hurdle. -more-
Berkeley Police Chief Roy Meisner didn’t hand in his badge when he retired Dec. 30. -more-
On Wednesday, one day before Sen. Barbara Boxer decided to sign a Democratic challenge to Ohio’s electoral votes, a father/daughter pair from Berkeley marched into her Washington D.C. office and delivered a letter urging her to do just that. -more-
California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger had a chance to mount an imaginative and energetic campaign to solve the state’s education crisis, but instead retreated to stale proposals in his State of the State Address on Jan. 5. -more-
Berkeley Iceland has received a 15-day extension to submit a plan to bring its 64-year-old skating rink up to code. -more-
Berkeley High School has produced a number of outstanding people over the years and Yule Caise is no exception. Graduating in 1982, and giving a commencement speech at the graduation, Yule attended Harvard University where he majored in visual and environmental studies. -more-
West Oakland Councilmember and mayoral candidate Nancy Nadel says she wants to use some of Oakland’s newly-passed Measure Y violence prevention money on something she calls “peacemaking circles.” Ms. Nadel says that a judge in Nogales, Ariz. has used the circles with couples involved in domestic violence, and that a training in the technique was attended early last year by OPD Lt. Lawrence Green of North Oakland, who, she reports, “thought it was very useful.” The technique is also apparently being used, with some success, in both Massachusetts and Minnesota. -more-
We live in an all-encompassing culture of fear, which affects what we read, watch on TV, and talk about—even sports, where for example, it’s no longer sufficient to run a marathon, now one must compete in a 100-mile scamper through the Colorado Rockies i n order to risk dying of a heart attack or being eaten by a bear. -more-
Kudos to Mayor Tom Bates for his forthright criticism of UC Berkeley’s environmental impact report. -more-
I and many other residents of Berkeley were thrilled to read Mayor Bates’ fightin’ words in response to the final version of UC Berkeley’s 2020 Long Range Development Plan and the accompanying environmental impact report. I suppose that the mayor would not stick his neck out so publicly without an expectation of City Council support. Yet one hesitates to congratulate the mayor or the council too quickly, since in previous encounters with the university, similar city blustering has been followed by rapid retreat with the city’s municipal tail tucked demurely between its little municipal legs. Undoubtedly the message UCB received from those prior encounters contributed greatly to the university’s current arrogance. Nonetheless, it looks like 2005 may bring meaningful and even courageous action against UC expansion, and we should wholeheartedly support our Mayor and City in their strong stand on our behalf. -more-
The Berkeley City Club, one of Berkeley’s great historic, architectural, and cultural edifices, opens its doors this month for a public event. -more-
Next time you hear someone rustling furtively in the bushes beside your house, just as night’s falling, check it out before you call the cops. It might be just me, frantically hunting snails to feed some shrews. -more-
Our often amazing Gov. Schwarzenegger has outdone himself this time. He’s going to improve education and save money at the same time by tying teachers’ pay to how well their students do. It’s a safe bet that if California’s per-student expenditures on education continue to be among the lowest in the country, our students will continue to fail—thus saving the state money. It’s a brilliant idea—amazing that no one has thought of it before. But the problem is that teacher pay represents a pretty small part of California’s billion-dollar budget shortfall, so keeping teachers on short rations won’t do all that much to save money. We have a modest suggestion: How about taking the concept and applying it to other branches of government? What if all state and local employees were paid by how well they did their job, instead of by how much they’ve been able to squeeze out of government with well-placed campaign contributions to the right people? -more-
The citizens of Berkeley have shown, yet again, that they can’t be fooled by the army of lawyers and planners (including the local firm DCE) that the University of California has arrayed against them to support yet another grandiose expansion plan. Both City Hall and numerous individuals with sharp pencils and good educations (often courtesy of UC Berkeley) have dissected the environmental impact report supplied for the university’s long range development plan, and lambasted it both for what it contains and for what it doesn’t contain. What the report discloses is horrendous enough: many more square feet of building mass in undisclosed locations, accommodations for many more cars, and other manifestations of uncontrolled growth. But even worse is what it doesn’t disclose, for example the University’s plans for development of its toxic site at the former Richmond Field Station, rechristened Campus Bay for marketing purposes, and the future of Lawrence Berkeley Lab, dependent of course on whether the federal government decides to re-invest in UC management skills. -more-
