For San Pablo city officials, it isn’t a casino so much as an economic godsend, a chance to save an impoverished city that will die without it. -more-

Is there enough room in West Berkeley for the green grocer and the guy in the hard hat? That is a question the Planning Commission started to consider Wednesday at its first public hearing/workshop on the proposed West Berkeley Bowl. -more-

While the Berkeley Unified School District awaits a decision by the Berkeley City Council on whether or not the city will close down a block of Derby Street, a BUSD-contracted architectural firm is moving forward to develop proposals for temporary use of the district-owned adjoining property. -more-

Starting this summer Marin Avenue is scheduled to slim down for its 21,000 daily motorists. -more-

The City Council has authorized up to $75,000 to prepare a lawsuit against UC Berkeley. -more-

Caltrans announced Thursday that it is “moving full speed ahead” with perhaps the most eagerly awaited transit project in Contra Costa County and one of the least loved in Berkeley. -more-

A sharply-divided Peralta Community College Trustee board this week narrowly approved Chancellor Elihu Harris’ request to authorize a Facility Land Use Plan. The decision followed a contentious debate. -more-

The Berkeley Historical Society has announced that it is sponsoring the first Berkeley Historical Society Life Magazine-style photo essay competition, and the Berkeley Daily Planet has agreed to be a co-sponsor. A total of $1,028 will be awarded for 12 prizes: first prizes, $127, second, $75, third, $50. -more-

When they came for Hadi Saleh, they found him at home in Baghdad with his family. First, they bound his hands and feet with wire. Then they tortured him, cutting him with a knife. He died of strangulation, and before fleeing, his assailants pumped bullets into his dead body. -more-

Taste of the Himalayas Restaurant -more-

GRAFFITI -more-

Click here to view the latest work by Justin DeFreitas -more-

THE STUPIDIPTY OF THE POLITICAL LEFT -more-

Now that we’ve heard the announcement that the Chinese government is going to rent two giant pandas to the Oakland Zoo—and before City Councilmember Henry Chang comes up with another five or six year project to occupy his publicly-financed hours—perhaps the time has come for Oakland to rethink this whole idea of an at-large councilmember. -more-

The election of a new Iraqi Assembly is a milestone in the occupation and, therefore, an opportunity for Americans to consider our options in Iraq: one would be to stick with the Bush “plan” to tough it out, another to withdraw our troops, and a third to proceed in some novel direction. This analysis considers the second option, a speedy withdrawal. -more-

Frat Pack, Not Rat Pack -more-

Yule Fuel -more-

The recent meeting between President Bush and the Congressional Black Caucus grabbed headlines because Bush and the group spent the last four years snubbing each other. What did not make news was a meeting Bush had with black evangelical leaders the day before his get-together with the caucus. -more-

Unless U.S. senators have a collective spine transplant (our own Barbara Boxer is thankfully excluded from this group) they will soon confirm Alberto Gonzales as the United States Attorney General. I mention spinelessness because it seems to be the new Democratic policy to “work with” the Bush administration, no matter how outrageous its proposals are. For example, if the Bush administration were to suggest strip mining the entirety of Yosemite National Park (as they probably will) we can be sure that some—if not most—of the Democrats will decry that and, instead, propose that they only strip mine half of Yosemite. Then, when a bill sails through the congress providing that three-quarters of the park be strip mined, the Democrats will trumpet that they got the best deal they were capable of. After all, they wouldn’t want to offend any middle of the road potential voters. -more-

The recount of Berkeley’s Measure R ended Jan. 10, with the Alameda County Registrar of Voter declaring this initiative had failed by 161 votes. However, inefficient counting methods, denial of voter intent, and flawed machinery combined to make this recount meaningless. Americans for Safe Access, a Berkeley based patient’s rights group, along with several individual voters, are contesting this count with a motion filed in Superior Court. -more-

We live in an era of privatization of essential social services. The most recent to come under attack is social security, a reform enacted during the New Deal which the Bush administration now wants to roll back. -more-

Lewis and Mary Suzuki will soon celebrate their fifty-second wedding anniversary, but a fair-sized book could be written about their adventures and misadventures before they ever got together, starting with Lewis’ father jumping ship in 1912, entering San Francisco illegally, and making his way to L.A., where he made a precarious living as a musician. In 1917 He went back to Japan, married, then re-entered the U.S. legally, starting a dry-cleaning business and a family in L.A. -more-

Giacomo Puccini’s Il Trittico (The Triptych), an unusual omnibus of three one-act operas, will be presented by Berkeley Opera this Saturday and Sunday and Feb. 2 and 6 at Julia Morgan Theater, sung in Italian with English supertitles. -more-

FRIDAY, JAN. 28 -more-

On early summer mornings John Muir would climb the stairs of his house to the bell tower above the attic. Here he would meditate and survey grand vistas of fruit orchards and the sweep of hills. Admiring the 360-degree views, his gaze may have turned farther east toward his beloved Sierras. With peace of mind, he would descend to his daily work, managing the ranch and fighting to save America’s resources. -more-

FRIDAY, JAN. 28 -more-